Recent events in the Muslim world raise urgent concerns and questions about the state of Islam in today’s world. Acts of terrorism committed “in the name of Islam” aside, both the Saudi rape case and the Sudan teddy-bear-teacher incident are disturbing examples of the troubling conditions of the global Muslim community.

In the Saudi rape case, the rape victim was sentenced to a much harsher punishment (prior to her pardon) for indecency and having an illicit affair than were the men who gang-raped her. This decision raises questions about the injustice of an oppressive and patriarchal Saudi government that dubiously claims to be Islamic in both letter and spirit.

Perhaps even more disturbing is the case of the British teacher in Sudan who was initially sentenced (again, before being pardoned) to imprisonment and lashing for allowing her students to name a teddy bear “Muhammad.” More alarming than the sentence were the mobs of Sudanese Muslims displaying their “piety,” as they called for the teacher’s death. This scene of angry and intolerant mobs mirrors a picture-perfect Hollywood scripting of Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations.”

For reflective Muslims, these events illustrate the betrayal of fundamental moral principles laid down by the Koran and by our beloved Prophet Muhammad. These incidents beg the question that Stanford Muslims hope to address in the coming weeks: Is the Muslim world in need of reform?

The answer seems to be an obvious yes. Yet when one hears “reform,” we are reminded of the Christian experience of reformation since the 15th century in Europe. The Muslim world does not share the historical and theological contexts that shaped Western reform. As such, we are in need of unique Islamic reform that draws on the long forgotten and corrupted principles articulated in the Koran and by Prophet Muhammad. The injustices committed in the name of our religion, coupled with ignorance and intolerance in some of our Muslim communities, make reform necessary.

Yet such a reform must be inherently rooted in Islamic principles and ideals. Our reform cannot be an attempt to appease our colonizers and masters, because any reform grounded on the wishes of Western ideologues (whether Christian fundamentalists or secular extremists) undermines the effort; rather, it must be based upon our Islamic principles in a sincere and faithful attempt to return to the essence of our religion and fulfill our duty to question, understand and live the principles of our faith. The Islamic notion of reform is not a transformation of the Islamic faith, but a reform of our understanding and articulation of our religion. Such a reform is a struggle to interpret and practice Islam in a way that is faithful to the texts yet compatible with contemporary realities. This struggle is not only essential if the Muslim world is to be part of the global community, but it is also true to the essential Islamic concept of jihad.

Often mistranslated as “holy war,” the Arabic term jihad literally means “a struggle.” The Islamic concept of jihad is a fundamental part of the faith that defines our purpose in life. Submission to God — the meaning of “Islam” and our purpose as human beings — is nothing other than jihad: a constant struggle to subdue our human capacities of aggression, injustice, greed, hate, lust, anger, arrogance and to strive towards God — an upward spiritual climb, toilsome and difficult, yet of absolute and utmost importance.

Yet the notion of jihad is to struggle in all senses of the word: internally and externally, personally, socially and politically. Therefore, it is inevitable that at times this struggle against the lower tendencies of human nature will be manifested in military conflict against injustices, and this is also undeniably a part of the faith; yet this is only one element of jihad, and arguably of much lesser importance than the struggle to reform one’s self before all else.

Part of the Muslim jihad, perhaps the most important after our inner spiritual struggle, is to understand and live our faith in a way that is not merely an external and superficial manifestation of Islam, but is true to the fundamental moral principles that are espoused in our texts. We must be cognizant of contemporary realities and challenges that the Muslim world and the global community face, and confront those realities and challenges with an understanding of our faith that goes beyond the intellectual stagnation that so often plagues our community.

Some of the biggest such challenges that the Muslim world must face up to in today’s world are those of intolerance and coexistence, extremism and terrorism, patriarchy and women’s rights, and the role of Shariah (Islamic law) in governance. To confront such challenges is our jihad. And that is exactly what the Muslim community at Stanford is doing. During Islam Awareness Series 2008, which runs from Jan. 31 to Feb. 24, we will have some of the most profound scholars of Islam in the nation tackle these issues and offer their insight as to our present situation and where we are headed.

For more information, please visit http://msan.stanford.edu.

Zaid Adhami ‘10 is the vice president of the Muslim Student Awareness Network (MSAN).