The Malice of Moderate Islam

Stop Calling Us Moderate Muslims for We Find the Term Insulting.



When I was serving in the army, I had a warrant officer who was not too happy with my lunch time routine. Every day at around one, I will make my way to an unused store room adjacent to the vehicle servicing bay for my afternoon prayers. As most may know, Muslims are obligated to offer 5 daily prayers. The second one for the day conveniently falls around the time when most people head off for lunch.



I didn’t modify the store room or anything like that. All I did was to lay down a prayer mat for five minutes, and I would leave quietly with nothing untouched. This would be my routine for the rest of the week except Friday, when I would leave the camp for a compulsory congregation at the nearest mosque.



One day, she could take this routine no more and decide to confront me once and for all.



“Why do you need to pray all five times a day? Why can’t you be a moderate Muslim like the rest? It’s very disruptive to your work, understand?” she barked to me one afternoon while I was seeking permission to leave the camp for Friday prayers.



My warrant officer is known for throwing tantrums, but one can hardly blame her for her choice of words. My National Service stint was served against the backdrop of September 2001. The terms “moderate Islam” was fresh out of the oven then and it was being passed around like flavour of the month. Barely a day went by without the term being referred to at least once in the popular media. From the Ministers to the men in the street, everyone was keen to have it on their lips.



Interestingly, local Muslim leaders too adopted the term hook, line and sinker without much thought as to the origins or real meanings of the term “moderate Islam”.



In the dictionary, the term “moderate” is popularly defined as being of medium quantity, extent or amount. What it means to be moderate is to do less than the full extent. For example if an air-conditioner was set at level 5, you would moderate it down to level 2 when it gets too cold. Perhaps this is why my warrant officer perceived being moderate as praying a little less than what is required.



Ironically, the term may have been coined with well-meaning intentions in mind. Muslims who kill in the name of Islam have taken on an ominous spotlight in the media of the time and the concept of moderate Islam was a desperate attempt to decouple the mainstream majority from more radical elements within the community.



Therefore, terrorists were deemed as extreme Muslims, or “extremists”. The law abiding ones were deemed as “moderate”.



Here then lies the fundamental problem. Islam clearly does not condone the killing of innocent civilians. The Quran has stated very explicitly that murder is not to be committed by its adherents, as commanded by the following verses:



“…take not life, which God hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law: thus doth He command you, that ye may learn wisdom.”



(Al-Anaam, Chapter 6 Verse 151)



“… if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.”



(Al-Ma’idah, Chapter 5 Verse 32)



Therefore, a Muslim who prays five times a day, stays away from vice but commits the murder of innocent civilians has therefore ignored these preceding commandments. He will then be our real “moderate Muslim” because he is not doing the full extent of what the religion has commanded him to do.



The Muslim who adheres to the commandments of Islam strictly and stays away from all that is forbidden, including murder and the disrespect of other people’s faith, will then be our real “extreme” Muslim for he is following the faith to its full extent.



The logic may be utterly simplistic, but that is exactly how it is. The term moderate Islam is very misleading at best and extremely insulting at worst. It seems to suggest that a well-behaved Muslim is supposed to moderate his practices and ignore the full extent of what Islam has commanded him to do. The reality is the world will be a much safer place if Muslims adhere to their religion fully as Islam preaches peace and justice for all mankind, despite the faith that they belong to.



It is essential that we dismantle terms like moderate Islam, extreme Islam, fundamental Islam and a variety of other western-minted euphemisms that does no justice neither to the people nor the religion. They only serve to polarise the religion in a kaleidoscope of confusing adjectives.



Islam is very simply Islam. The Quran does not come in any other version and the message of peace and submission to one God is universal despite the domination or creed that its adherents prescribe to.



As for the rest of my stint at the army camp, I referred the denial of Friday prayer cases over to the Ministry of Defence. In Singapore, the rights of all religions to practice is sanctified in the constitution and protected by regulations.



Needless to say, I encountered no difficulty after that in leaving for the mosque at the end of the week. The warrant officer still gave me a hard time once in a while though, but at least the became more subdued. I guess she saw the value in moderating her tantrums.