Is Islam to blame?

When Irshad Manji is saying that there are few examples in secular societies of alienation to match the Muslim' she is ignoring the fact that kids who committed London attack on July 7, 2005 were living in a secular society. We cannot say that they were living in a Muslim Society. And she is ignoring the facts about Unabomber, Columbine, Red Lake High School Minnesota, and Oklahoma Bomber. And I am sure there are lot of other stories out there.

Is Islam to blame?: "Secular society doesn't compete well on this score. Who gets deathly passionate over tuition subsidies and a summer job?"

Which is why I don't understand how moderate Muslim leaders can reject, flat-out, the notion that religion may also play a part in these bombings. What makes them so sure that Islam is an innocent bystander?

Off course we cannot ignore the fact that London Bombers were Muslims and they followed the wrong path but we cannot blame Quran for that. It is the interpretation that we need to look into. People take verses of Quran out of context and use them for their own purpose.

Yet that's exactly what British Muslim leaders are doing. To be sure, I stand with those who insist that certain Koranic passages are being politically exploited. Damn right, they are. The point is, however, that they couldn't be exploited if they didn't exist.

There would have been no violence if bombs or guns and knives had not existed. There would have been no bombs or guns or knives if technology had not existed. There would have been no technology if human brain would have not existed. I dont think this kind of logic will lead us to anywhere other than losing focus from the main problem. It is better that we stop blaming Allah or Quran rather focus on the matter of misinterpretation of Quran and Shriah otherwise these kind of debates would be futile.

In fact, Irshad you have pointed out in your own article that Muslims use verses of Quran out of context.

A high-profile gathering of 22 clerics and scholars at the London Cultural Center produced a statement, later echoed by a meeting of 500 Muslim leaders. It contained this line: "The Koran clearly declares that killing an innocent person [is] tantamount to killing all mankind." I wish. In fact, the full verse reads, "Whoever kills a human being, except as punishment for murder or other villainy in the land, shall be regarded as having killed all humankind."

This verse is more than enough to debate with the hardliners. However, if we start rambling in another direction then our purpose to engage them in a dialogue will be lost.

Militant Muslims easily deploy the clause beginning with "except" to justify their rampages.

By the way how do we know that Jihaddist Narrative exploits the last part of this verse. And we don't know exactly what Jihaddist narrative is, and why they (Jihaddis) are doing this. Probably there is more than one narrative. For example, let's take the Jihaddist narrative that pitches Sunni against Shiite. It is more are less political and we do not find it in Quran. I wish I knew more about this terrorism and stuff. As a Muslim it is our responsibility to know more about this so that as we can debate the virtues of Moderation with the hardliners.