MUST READ: DIALOGUE INSPIRED BY THE "SECULAR ISLAM SUMMIT"

The articles are listed in the order they should be read, beginning at top:


A Muslim-bashing feeding frenzy
Guest Commentary
Mike Ghouse President, Foundation for Pluralism
March 14, 2007

As a Muslim fighting for reform within our Muslim world, I watched the Secular Islam Summit, aired earlier this week on CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck show, with great anticipation. I believe in religious pluralism and the separation of mosque and state. I know Muslims need to speak up against extremism.

But that's not what we got with the "Secular Islam Summit," held at the Hilton Hotel in St. Petersburg, Fla. The summit was supposed to be about Islam, yet there was hardly a Muslim at the podium. With the exception of two panelists — Hasan Mahmud, director of sharia law at the Muslim Canadian Congress, and author Irshad Manji, who believes the Qur'an is the basis for being a Muslim — the summit was filled with Islam bashers, some of them ex-Muslims. The event should have been called the Anti-Islam Summit. It's a shame CNN and Beck got suckered into giving so much air time to this fraudulent gathering of Islam bashers.

The summit was just an attempt by extremists of another persuasion — hatred of Islam — who want to destroy Islam. Whether it was former Muslim "Ibn Warraq" with his book title, "Why I am Not a Muslim," or Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi, a political and human rights activist, the theme was the same: They want one-fifth of humanity to disappear. At this "landmark Secular Islam Summit," there were no "moderate" Muslims.

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RE: Muslim-bashing feeding frenzy
Guest Commentary
John Lobenstein ReligionAndSpirituality.com
March 19, 2007

In his March 14, 2007 Guest Commentary "A Muslim-bashing feeding frenzy" Mike Ghouse, president of the Foundation for Pluralism, was overly critical of the Secular Islamic Summit, yet he offered no real counterarguments.

He seemed to be reduced to criticism of the messengers but not their messages. One of his primary concerns was that none of the presenters is on his list of preferred speakers. This, therefore, automatically disqualified them as knowledgeable. He claimed there was an insufficient number of devout practicing Muslims on the panels. Why does one have to be Muslim to understand Islam?

There are thousands of sources of information about Islam, its history, its personalities, its religious precepts and the stated goals of its most public speakers and leaders. One might ask, how many Muslims have previously been Christian, Jewish or members of other religions? If they have not, then why are they qualified to be critical of other faiths?

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Re: Muslim bashing feeding frenzy
Guest Commentary
Mike Ghouse ReligionAndSpirituality.com
March 20, 2007

On March 13, Religion and Spirituality.com published a Guest Commentary by Mike Ghouse on a recent Secular Islamic Summit, and on March 17 John Lobenstein's response to Mr. Ghouse's commentary. Here is Mr. Ghouse's response to Mr. Lobenstein.

It is indeed a pleasure to read John Lobenstein's piece on the Secular Islamic Summit. It propels me to have a dialogue, where we can acknowledge each other's point of view and share a thoughtful opinion.

The St. Petersburg summit was billed as a Secular Islamic Summit, and the expectation of Muslims or anyone was to be to enlightened with the theme, as the name suggested. Further, one would expect a range of experts on the subject and certainly a Muslim perspective on it. The issue was not about a preferred speaker, Mr. Lobenstein, the issue was about the lineup of speakers.

If the goal was to bring out a secular perspective on Islam, it also meant that the panorama was going to be broad-based for eventual adoption, hence the exercise. Thanks to you for nailing the problem: Firstly, the spectrum of speakers was not there to give value to the predicted outcome; secondly, the speakers were known Islam-bashers; and thirdly, the three Muslims in the conference were not the mainstream Muslims. Shouldn't one expect a slanted outcome? To begin with, the input was flawed; it did not deliver the product that the majority consumes. The producers may love their fruit, but where is the buyer?

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Apostasy and reform in Islam
Guest Commentary
Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq Professor, Upper Iowa University
March 21, 2007


This column is part of a dialogue that has been inspired by the Secular Islam Summit that took place in St. Petersburg, Fla., on March 4 and 5. See Mike Ghouse's initial Guest Commentary, a response by John Lobenstein and Mr. Ghouse's reply to Mr. Lobenstein.

I have been following discussions about the Secular Islam Summit before it took place as well as afterward. The summit was attended mostly by non-Muslims, ex-Muslims and only two to three avowed Muslims who appeared to have no connection with the mainstream Muslim community. There was a public declaration when the summit ended. The mainstream Muslim community ignored the summit for the most part, considering it an Islam-bashing propaganda sand-castled on Islamophobia.

Some mainstream Muslim communities and organizations condemned or dismissed this summit as irrelevant or even malicious. I also read the exchange between Mr. Robert Spencer of the Jihad Watch website, one of the patrons of the summit, who needs little introduction, and Mr. Mike Ghouse of the World Muslim Congress, an American Muslim committed to engage the Muslim community in upholding and promoting the ideals of pluralism, justice and peace.

Regardless of the way mainstream Muslims may view this summit and might even dismiss it, some serious underlying issues and problems might be glossed over, which is the focus of this write-up. Relevant also is that it seeks a common ground, to identify the points of tangency and convergence and collectively build consensus toward common good.

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Pertinent Links:

1) A Muslim-bashing feeding frenzy

2) RE: Muslim-bashing feeding frenzy

3) Re: Muslim bashing feeding frenzy

4) Apostasy and reform in Islam

5) Islamic Secular Summit