31a full- blown religious fanatic, so long as one
doesn’t try to impose the fruits of one’s fanat i cism
on others.Nawaz Indeed, and secular religious people may still
reject a human rights discourse to a degree— a state
of affairs that I would not be satisfi ed with. What I
hope is that people will arrive not just at secularism,
but also at demo cratic and human rights values. So
the task ahead of us is monumental, but secularism
is the prerequisite. This is a unique challenge for
Muslims today owing to the rise of Islamism and
jihadism, and to the historically Eu ro pean context
in which secularism is framed. This challenge is
not, however, insurmountable.
Ideally, I’d like all Muslims to be either reform-
minded or citizens who happen to be Muslims. You
won’t hear from that last group, however. They’re
not going to come to you and say, “Hey, Sam, I
don’t believe in all that and I’m Muslim,” because
they’re not engaging with society as Muslims.
They are lawyers, doctors, caretakers, cleaners,
and drivers. If all these people became just “citi-
zens” and interacted with their po liti cal structures
through their elected representatives, most of the
prob lem would be solved.
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