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The following is adapted from a lecture delivered on July 16,
2006, by ·Bernard Lewis, Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University, during a Hillsdale College cruise
in the British Isles.· I think yopu'll find it worthwhile.
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Let me illustrate the significance of this with one example:
Germany has constitutional separation of church and state, but in the
German school system they provide time for religious instruction. The
state, however, does not provide teachers or textbooks.
They allow time in the school curriculum for the various churches and
other religious communities—if they wish—to provide religious
instruction to their children, which is entirely optional.
The Muslims in Germany are mostly Turks. When they reached sufficient
numbers, they applied to the German government for permission to teach
Islam in German schools. The German authorities agreed, but said
they—the Muslims—had to provide the teachers and the textbooks. The
Turks said that they had excellent textbooks, which are used in Turkey
and Turkish schools, but the German authorities said no, those are
government-produced textbooks; under the principle of separation of
church and state, these Muslims had to produce their own.
As a result, whereas in Turkish schools in Turkey, students get a
modern, moderate version of Islam, in German schools, in general, they
get the full Wahhabi blast. The last time I looked, twelve Turks have
been arrested as members of Al-Qaeda—all twelve of them born and
educated in Germany.
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In 3328 words, Professor Lewis pretty much defines the whences,whys and hows of Islam.
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myPOD
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