“The problem is not political Islam but authoritarian Islam," says Mustafa Akyol

Mustafa Akyol (Photo: Today's Zaman)

Speaking to the Washington Times’ Luke Montgomery, columnist Mustafa Akyol said:

In Islamic history, we have a tradition of pluralism. At times, pluralism was attacked and those were bad times for Islamic civilization, so I think we need to have more pluralism. In order to have that, you need neutral states without an official doctrine. I’m not advocating a strong separation between religion and politics, but I’m an advocate of the secular state in the sense that it is neutral towards different religious communities. In other words, the problem is not political Islam but authoritarian Islam.

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