The Islamic Reformation

Those who call for an Islamic 'Reformation' are missing the point: it has already happened, unfortunately.

Ali Eteraz
Source: Guardian Unlimited

Since 2001 a plethora of writers have made calls for an Islamic "Reformation". Many hopes (and careers) are pinned on the idea, but there is no such thing coming. The Islamic reformation has already happened. The Muslim equivalent of nailing the 95 theses was the desecration of a graveyard and the stoning of a woman for adultery.

According to 18th century records, the Ottoman empire - Islam's ruling power - had not flogged, imprisoned, or passed the death sentence on adulterers for nearly 400 years. Under the kanun - secular Ottoman imperial law - the highest punishment for adultery had been a fine. The traditionalist Ottoman jurists had relied on the Quran's "four witnesses" rule, which had made proving adultery virtually impossible.

Along came a self-professed Islamic reformer named Abdul Wahhab. He was trained classically but attracted to Ibn Taymiya - who 400 years earlier had broken away from Sunni traditionalism. Wahhab said that procuring a confession was enough to stone someone to death and proceeded to do so.

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