"But that is not the true Islam" ...in search of the 'True Islam'.

"But that is not the true Islam" ...in search of the 'True Islam'. HT: Bugun.

Journalist Levent Gültekin drew attention to an important debate. As is known, anyone touching upon problems that Muslims are facing meets with the objection, “But that is not true Islam.”

I have been faced with that problem in many international meetings that I attended. For example; when one gets up and asks a question like “Why isn’t there a decent election in Iran?”, the first “local” reaction to that would be “But Iran does not practice true Islam.” Or when one asks “Why aren’t women in Saudi Arabia allowed to drive alone?”, they promptly answer, “But that is not a place where true Islam is practiced.”

When another one says, “Look at Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)”, we reply “But that is not true Islam.”

Since there is not an example that would warrant us to say “This is true Islam”, the defense “But that is not true Islam” does not carry any conviction.

Meanwhile, as we try to explain away every “shameful” situation by saying “That is not true Islam”, we tacitly acknowledge that “There is no Islamic example to boast about.”

At a recent conference, a doctoral student whom I later learned was Iranian asked me, “Then is there a problem with Islam itself?”

Of course, as Muslims we do not accept that there is a problem either with Quran or our Prophet. But people answer the question “What is Islam?” not by referring to theoretical discussions but by looking at Muslims.

For this reason, the debate on “true Islam” has no scientific value at all.

There is no such thing as “true apple.” But “the apple you find on a market shelf” is the plain truth. Accordingly, “true Islam” is the very Islam that we live on the street, at home, in a bank, or in commerce.

Looking for an answer to the question “Does Islam allow for corruption” in a book on Islamic law (fiqh) will give us only fraction of the picture. The real answer should be found in how Muslims live.

To state it more clearly, if there really is something as “true Islam”, it should be the way Muslims live. Therefore, responding to criticisms with “That is not true Islam” amounts to beating the air.

Let’s not hide behind the true Islam that had been experienced during the times of Caliph Omar or in another period.

We had better face our reality. It’s no use responding to those who throw our condition, which came to constitute a disgrace, in our face by saying “But that is not true Islam.”

I heard it with sorrow from a relative who has recently gone to Mecca to perform a religious duty that, the ground outside the Hira cave where our prophet had received the first revelation was littered with plastic bottles and that some had even scribbled their names on the cave walls.

“The debate on true Islam” shows us that: Majority of Muslims resist facing the truth. And those who do not face the truth are carried away by most improbable thoughts and leaders, being swayed from one illusion to another.