Please, call us Islamic

by Hayri Abaza, Soner Çağaptay, and Kayvan Chinichian
Hurriyet
December 2, 2009

http://www.islamist-watch.org/2782/please-call-us-islamic

Excerpt:

Islamophobia is rising in the West because so many of us confuse Islam with Islamism. This confusion also inadvertently helps organizations like al-Qaeda.

Not a day goes by that yet another publication or pundit uses the terms Islamic and Islamist interchangeably, not realizing that Islam is a religion and Islamism is an ideology. These people unwittingly ascribe the ideology and crimes of Islamists to all Muslims in the name of political correctness by simply avoiding the term Islamism.

Substituting the term Islamic for Islamist incorrectly brands all Muslims as Islamists. In the name of political sanity, we ask you, please call us Islamic because Islamism is an ideology we do not share.

A recent report published by the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, entitled "500 Most Influential Muslims" is the most recent publication that conflates Islamic and Islamist. Contrary to what its name suggests, the report gives more weight to Muslims who are Islamists than to Muslims who are not Islamist, suggesting that being an Islamist makes one more of an authentic Muslim.

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