Does Islam needs its own Martin Luther? Does it need its own “Reformation,” which will lead to the separation of the Muslim “church” from the state? I have heard these questions frequently in the past decades from Westerners. They were right about one thing: Islam, despite being a religion that once cultivated an open, tolerant, enlightened civilization, has not yet made its peace with liberal modernity. Hence, a clash of values has been taking place, on various levels, between conservative Muslims and liberal values — with gruesome results such as stoning of adulterers or execution of blasphemers. So, when looked at from a liberal perspective, mainstream Islamic thought and practice indeed needs some kind of “reform.”
Yet many those who were calling for that reform in Islam were still making a mistake: They were comparing Islam to Christianity. These two religious, however, are quite different. Islam never had a dominant institution like the Church — especially the Catholic Church — that needs to be depoliticized or decentralized. That's not the issue. Meanwhile, Christianity never had a sacred law that encompasses all areas of life. With Islam, that sacred law — the Shariah — is the issue.
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