(NYT) It is not just the poverty,

November 16, 2001 8:49 AM

(NYT) It is not just the poverty, the illiteracy and the absence of any commonly accepted social contract that define our sense of wretchedness; it is, rather, the increasing awareness among us that we have failed as a civil society by not confronting the historical, social and political demons within us. . .
posted by semmi (8 comments total)

i like that last line from the pakistani businessman's letter...
Holy Prophet Muhammad, on returning from a battle, said: `We return from little Jihad to greater Jihad.' True Jihad today is not in the hijacking of planes, but in the manufacturing of them.

perched here on this sliver of history, there seem to be endless possibilities for change good and bad...articles like this lean me towards thinking the changes will be good.
posted by th3ph17 at 9:52 AM on November 16, 2001

Wonderful article, semmi. Thanks.
posted by silusGROK at 10:25 AM on November 16, 2001

And the proof that it is possible is Turkey, which remains Muslim while embracing modern liberal democracy and capitalism and freedom for its women.

It is possible -- but ultimately only if the people of Islam want it to happen.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 10:51 AM on November 16, 2001

The first step of the solution is separation of church and state. Without it, nothing else matters.
posted by yesster at 11:02 AM on November 16, 2001

The best example is the United States, where millions of Muslims live, work, and prosper, and are free to practice their religion any time and any place.
posted by cell divide at 11:06 AM on November 16, 2001

"True Jihad today is not in the hijacking of planes, but in the manufacturing of them"

That's beautiful.
posted by frednorman at 11:10 AM on November 16, 2001

My worry is that self-criticism is something that generally only the rich (like the author of the piece Friedman quotes) can afford -- ie, not a lot of the Arab Muslim world.
posted by lbergstr at 2:16 PM on November 16, 2001

Ibergstr:I think the first mistake is to assume that other societies have the same worldviews and ambitions as the West. The second mistake is the notion that they are poor.
The real issues are the freedom of choice, education, economic opportunities.
posted by semmi at 3:29 PM on November 16, 2001