The Never-Ending Argument Over What Is "Real Islam"

IN THE commentariat, the world of higher learning (religious and otherwise) and the corridors of political power, the long-running, hot-tempered debate about the real nature of Islam shows no sign of reaching a conclusion. The temperature rises every time some ghastly act of violence is perpetrated by people who say they are inspired by their Muslim beliefs. Broadly it pits those who think that killers who practise violence in Islam's name are traducing the faith and perhaps mis-stating their own motives, up against those who insist that Islam's core beliefs (and not just some idosyncratic version of them) can easily prompt people to take up the sword.