Extremists?

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, defines ‘extremist’ as:

One who advocates or resorts to measures beyond the norm, especially in politics.

In Pakistan, this term is being used not in politics, but in religion.

The same dictionary defines ‘norm’ as:

A standard, model, or pattern regarded as typical: the current middle-class norm of two children per family.

The same dictionary defines ‘moderate’ as:

Opposed to radical or extreme views or measures, especially in politics or religion.

One will conclude, that according to these definitions, the Prophets (PBUT) of God fall under the category of extremists. Some names of the Prophets are:

§ Noah (PBUH),
§ Abraham (PBUH),
§ Lot (PBUH),
§ Saalih (PBUH),
§ Joseph (PBUH)
§ John (PBUH),
§ Jesus (PBUH),
§ Muhammad (PBUH), and others.

It is because of the fact that their views did not confirm the norms of society. On the other hand, the opponents of Prophets were moderates, as they were not of radical views but were conformists.

It is clear that according to these definitions, ‘extremist’ is not a negative term, while ‘moderate’ is not positive. So one should use better terminology, instead.

Tuesday July 26, 2005 - 12:07pm
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-7RwkHRY8fqN59oD2VY9B?p=5