March 03, 2007
An American Muslim.
"Over the last 30 years of American Islamic life, Hathout and his anti-hierarchical sentiments have butted heads with a renewed conservatism that took hold of the world’s Muslims during the financial rise of the oil monarchy in Saudi Arabia and its ultratraditional Wahhabi math-hab (school) of Islam...Hathout is trying to counter foreign interference into Islam in the U.S. by emphasizing its American side, and by stressing that Saudi Wahhabists are no more qualified than American Muslims to speak on Islamic issues."
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Excellent!
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Really interesting article. This guy seems to be talking sense-- the question is, is anyone listening? One could argue that the article was essentially a puff piece, with no quotes from anyone disagreeing with Hathout's views, and no exploration of his "downside" apart from those remarks he made in 2000. But he sounds like a genuinely interesting guy. Where any religion is concerned, it always tends to be the extremists who speak loudest. It's good to have some voices to counter that. Thanks for posting this, HW!