"real" muslims

I know I have promised the finale to my silence of the media series for some weeks now, but the real world has concpired against me. I appreciate everyone's patience :) I will probably unveil the post in between Christmas and New Year's holidays.

Just as a preview, though, this email I received today is part of the problem that Muslims face. Says Mr Mohamed Mujeeb Ur-Rahman:

May Allah SWT bring all the bohras (who love to be identified as bohras more than being identified n called as Muslims) back to the real deen-e-islam. May Allah SWT save the ummah from the fitnahs and guide all Muslim to follow Quran n Sunnah. Amin.

Mr Mujeeb Rahman's concern for my welfare is touching, but if I ever have any doubt about my adherence to the true Deen e Islam, I regret to say that I won't be contacting Mr Mujeeb Rahman for advice. I'm not interested in replying to him, but I can certainly recomend Mullahs on the Mainframe to him on the off chance that his provincial mind is not fully welded shut.

But the occassional zealot online is not the only problem. Even fairly well-read and intellectual Muslim writers such as Ismail Royer (whose work in the A True Word magazine and whose essays on his personal blog, such as the one on Victimhood, are truly outstanding) also feel the need to judge other Muslims - this kind of holier-than-thou ness is not equal to, but not all that different from, the fanaticism of the Wahabis. It's a matter of degree.