ABSTRACT
Negative stereotypes about mainstream Islam are examined. The discussion of radicalisation often focuses on violence, yet beliefs can also be radically conservative. In Europe, most Muslims are ‘moderate’. In Muslim majority countries, liberal views are often stifled, yet even Iran has had more liberal interludes. Islam becomes an important aspect of identity, especially for young people. Individuals increasingly seek their own interpretation (ijtihad). The threat of being called apostate has constrained liberal views: it is dangerous to question the Qur’an as the literal word of God. Contradictory views in the Qur’an are hardly ever confronted. Liberal ideas are not explicitly taken up, there is no ‘liberal Islam’ with recognisable institutions. But there are liberal Muslim thinkers, and there is an Islamic feminist theology. The situation in some Muslim majority states is examined: briefly on Turkey, then Indonesia and Malaysia in greater detail. In Indonesia, non-Sunnis are under increasing pressure; liberal Muslims are prominent in challenges to this. Malaysia has been pronounced an Islamic state; non-Sunnis, there, are declared ‘deviant’ and the reach of Shari’a has been increased. The chapter ends with a look at Islam and liberal Muslims in W. Europe today, narrowing down on the Netherlands.
