Islam and modernity.

• Author: Altintas, Mustafa
• Position: Letters - Letter to the Editor

I have read Grenville Byford's article ("Meanwhile in Ankara," March) with interest since I am a Turkish citizen residing in the United States. It is not often that I come across a knowledgeable scholar such as him when it comes to a balanced comparative view of the big three faiths of the world.

Byford is very much on the mark in his rendering of the evolution of Christianity and Judaism vis-a-vis "modernity," His analysis of Islam and its evolution that did not quite happen is, however, deficient as compared to that of the Judeo-Christian faith system. I would agree with him that Mutezile was the progressive movement with the greatest potential but was cut off from the mainstream. His suggestion that the Wahabi movement was innovative (and seemingly progressive) is, on the other hand, far-fetched at best. One has to try very hard to find a shred of a progressive element in this sect. Fortunately, he mentions the part about the killing, i.e. the perverted charter of killing the non-believers. This by itself is lunacy and I just can't imagine that any intellectual good come out of it. It is, in fact, the basis of the so-called "Muslim terrorism" today. What's interesting is, though, how this curious little sect and its primitive mindset came to rule a big swath of the...