Islam, Politics, & Religion: Charlie Rose

Here’s a fascinating twenty minute segment from the Charlie Rose show on PBS in which a number of prominent Muslims and scholars discuss the Paris tragedy, Islam, and politics.

The panelists help us to understand the difference between Islamists and jihadists and explain why understanding that difference is so important.

They also discuss the danger of the “presumption of collective guilt” or the idea of blaming the actions of a few on the entire group, noting that Islam represents a spectrum of views.

Other issues the panel discussed include the issue of free speech and what passes as offensive, and the appeal of ISIS and Boku Harem.

Another interesting part of the discussion examined the importance of of politics. One panelist noted, for example, that we cannot understand the rise of ISIS without understanding the political vacuum in Syria out of which the organization arose.

The panel includes Reza Aslan, author of No God but God, Will McCants, director of the Brookings Institution, Michael Hanna, a fellow at the Century Foundation, and Shadi Hamid, a fellow at the Brookings Institute and author of Temptations of Power.