28challenge those who resort to Islamist or other
forms of cultural extremism and to promote sec-
ular demo cratic counter- messages. Quilliam is a
secular or ga ni za tion, but by pointing to histor-
ical and contemporary pluralism in scriptural rea-
soning, we can challenge the rigidity of violent,
fundamentalist, or ideological dogma. We are a
registered charity in the US and rely on grants and
donations to survive. With the help of Islamic theo-
logians like Dr. Hasan, we tackle the two chal-
lenges I just mentioned of Islamism and overly
conservative religious dogma, promoting human
rights and demo cratic culture as an interpretative
framework. In doing so, we have sometimes upset
conservative Muslims, who started off as our allies
against Islamists. If we hadn’t addressed human
rights issues, they still would be. However, we can’t
remain silent on gender rights and personal free-
doms. It is very diffi cult, but we are duty- bound
to try to bring some of them closer to the reform
discourse— while also trying to address those at
the other end of the spectrum, who have become
virulently anti- Muslim.
My holding this dialogue with you may in itself
cause concern among some conservative and some
tribal (yet nonreligious) Muslims. Whereas I see
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