THE REAL WAR IN ISLAM is between those who would bring Islam into the modern era and those who seek to maintain the purity of Islam as it existed in 700 A.D. -- or at least their perception of this purity. Islam unfortunately has never undergone a renaissance or reformation, and indeed, the internal mechanisms for such modification - ijtihad - were frozen over one thousand years ago. Thus today we have acts such as this:

Pakistani minister and woman’s activist has been shot dead by an Islamic extremist for refusing to wear the veil. Zilla Huma Usman, the minister for social welfare in Punjab province and an ally of President Pervez Musharraf, was killed as she was about to deliver a speech to dozens of party activists, by a “fanatic”, who believed that she was dressed inappropriately and that women should not be involved in politics, officials said. . . .

. . . The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in a recent report said that violence against women had increased alarmingly, with some of the incidents incited by Mullahs opposed to women’s emancipation.

The truth is that, while radical Islamists appear to be a minority, they are a completely ruthless minority acting in a sphere with no ethical or moral restraints. And if history teaches us anything, it is that a ruthless minority can easily overtake and impose their will on a majority population. Lenin and Mao are prime examples. Thus, while we must protect ourselves from the menace that is radical Islam, the ultimate solution to the problem is for Muslims to address and solve these issues internally. Unfortunately, that will mean much more innocent blood will be spilt, like that of Zilla Huma Usman.