Mohammad Khatami Quotes
The Islamic world is fed up with violence and extremism in the name of religion and is ready for an era of progressive, democratic Muslim governments …. After about two centuries of dispute between tradition and modernity in the world of Islam there must be a high level of mental preparation for the acceptance of a major transformation in the mind and lives of Muslims.
He was out of office and speaking as an individual. The then President was spewing hate and barbaric fundamentalism which represented the views of the Mullahs who control Iran. (The President has very little power and he can be overridden by the religious authorities whenever those authorities feel that Islam is being compromised.
Mohammad Khatami, President of Iran, Speech, February 10, 2006
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Essentially, he is advocating a reformation of the Islamic religion, much like that which has taken place in Christianity and Judaism. However, while most Muslims of the world are not extreme fundamentalists, most of the existing clerics (as did their Christian and Jewish counterparts years ago) turn any attempt at reform into blasphemy and sin. Throughout much of the Islamic world, Muslims who argue publicly for reform are at risk for their lives as the existing Muslim clerics generally encourage attacks on reforms or turn a blind eye to efforts to suppress reform.
Ironically, while Radical Fundamentalist Muslims abroad claim that Western materialism and dem0cracy is not only anti-Islamic but a danger to Islam, in America there has been a growing and thriving Islamic community which has had far less difficulty reconciling their religion and American democracy and values than have other religions such as the Amish and orthodox Jews. This ease of the transition and Islamic compatibility with modern America is perhaps the central reason for the hatred of America. Aslan argues that the Muslim reformation is succeeding very smoothly in America and is the model for Muslims throughout the world.
One remarkable aspect of this quote is that most Western nations have the exact same perception he claims the Islamic word does of what the West is doing. While the Western nations think the defense is necessary and desirable, the Muslim nations fundamentally believe that Christianity and Judaism should and will be supplanted by Islam. To the Islamic fundamentalist religion is a zero sum game. Every person in the world who is not a Muslim is an attack on Islam in that God wants all to follow Islam and wants the faithful to make it so.
The reason he claimed that Governor Taseer was a blasphemer was that the governor opposed death penalty for saying or writing anything that was heresy or blasphemy as interpreted be fundamentalist Muslims. The Governor knew he was taking a risk. See {620970} .
He was one of the first Islamic thinker to distinguish between the Koran and the requirements of Islam on the one hand and the traditions of the cultures of the Arabian Peninsula on the other. For example, there is no justification anywhere in Islamic theology for the “Honor Killing” of women; it was a long standing tradition of some of the cultures. But many Muslims and non-Muslims believe that the practice is a part of Islam. There are hundreds of other examples and Abduh tried to eradicate the influence of these traditions. He had traditional and extremist opponents in his lifetime as well as today.
This is a particularly noteworthy quotation as Muslims are often accused of intolerance and here is a Muslim who argues that it is the responsibility of religious leaders to present religion in a tolerant manner.
Sayyid Mohammad Khatami served as the fifth President of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 to 1992. Later, he was critical of the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
