Moderate Islam and moderate muslim is a label used within counterterrorism discourse as the complement of "Islamic extremism", implying that the support of Islamic terrorism is the characteristic of a "radical" faction within Islam, and that there is a "moderate" faction of Muslims who denounce extremist violence such as Islamic terrorism, militant Jihadismand radicalIslamism. Moderation in Islam or moderate Islam is also a term that occurs as interpretation of the Islamic concepts of Wasatiyyah or Wasat as well as Iqtisad and Qasd. These terms are used in the Quran, for example to describe the muslim community: Moderate views, in the first sense, are widespread according to opinion polls. A majority in eleven Sunni Muslim countries are very negative towards the Islamic State. Moderate perceptions are especially common among Muslims in the western world, for example Euroislam. Of US Muslims, 82 percent are concerned about Muslim global extremism, 81 percent believe that suicide bombing can never be justified, and 48 percent believe Muslim leaders have not done enough to prevent extremism.
Criticism
Several Muslim scholars have noted the harm caused by using the term "moderate." It implies that being fully Muslim is dangerous, and that terrorism and extremism are the norm in the Islamic tradition. The writer Shireen Younus explains, "The qualifier of “moderate” suggests that there is something innately violent about Islam. It leads to the false conclusion that a small group of “moderates” is standing in opposition to a large swath of violent, ISIS-supporting radicals. This is simply not true because the reality is the complete opposite. When the media talks about “moderate Muslims”, they are perpetuating a dangerous narrative of Islam as a violent religion that is at odds with American society." The Doctor of Law Lorenzo G. Vidino describes the term as "inherently controversial, vague and subjective" and Muslim scholars such as Dr Debbie Almontaser have argued that Muslim populations predictably find the "moderate Muslim" label offensive. Adrian Cherney and Kristina Murphy argue that the categorisations of moderate/extremist are not neutral, and that their widespread deployment "deprives Muslims of the agency to define the parameters of the debate around counterterrorism and also the terms of reference through which they are labelled as either for or against terrorism." Although some Muslims do employ the use of such language, it is seen by others as further stigmatising Muslim communities and Islam. The Pakistani born journalist Sarfraz Manzoor also explains that the "moderate Muslim" label offensive, as he believes that it implies ordinary Islam is not inherently peaceful. Others believe that it implies that "moderate Muslims" are not "fully Muslim", or that the term equivalates "progressive" or "secular" with "moderate". Others, such as Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan reject the term as a Western notion stating that there is only one Islam. The general criticism of this term is that it implies that the "Islam" and "Muslim" refer to something inherently violent, giving the impression that they need an adjective to assure otherwise.
Related branches of Islam
is sometimes seen as a subset of moderate orientations of Islam, while other moderate views may be conservative.
Moderate islam should not be confused with moderate islamism. Before the 2008 Egypt election, the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood was described as moderate Islamists in comparisons to the more radical Islamists in the country's Salafist party, although the movement has always taken a stand against secularism, it has been banned in the country and later has been classified as a terrorist organization by several countries. The Ennahdha Party of Tunisia has been described as a moderate Islamist party since the 1980s, when it advocated a "Tunisian" form of Islamism recognizing democracy, political pluralism and a "dialogue" with the West. In 2011, a spokesman for the party described it as moderate Islamic rather than Islamistic, since it does not want a theocracy.
