83ahadith, one is left to choose between edicts that are
terrible (fl ogging adulterers) and those that are worse
(stoning them). So a multiplicity of interpretations is
no panacea if all options are bad.
It seems to me that the Qur’an contains two cen-
tral messages, and I would be interested to hear you
refl ect on how they might be open to a reformist
approach— because, as generally understood, they
seem inimical to pluralism, secularism, and
everything else you’re espousing.
The fi rst is the demonization of infi dels. However
I squint my eyes or cock my head, a hatred and fear
of infi dels seems central to the Qur’an. Muslims
are told to have no friends among them and are as-
sured that Allah will mock, curse, shame, and de-
stroy them on the Day of Judgment. In fact, their
very skins will testify to their misdeeds, and they
will burn for eternity in hellfi re. There’s simply no
question that, under Islam, being an infi del is
considered the worst possi ble deviation from the
good life. Again, this idea isn’t foreign to other
religions— Judaism and Chris tian ity both have a
version of it. The difference is in emphasis. The evil
of unbelief is spelled out in the Qur’an on almost
every page, and one fi nds only a few stray lines— for
example, “There is no compulsion in religion”
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