Takfiring Michael Muhammad Knight.
Umar reviles Knight as a fraud, a kafir and a white supremacist:
Knight stated ” I still identify as Muslim”. Maybe this is something he has got from Reformed Jews whose foundation is disbelief in Judaism while wanting to maintain an attachment to the community. This is what Progressive Islam seeks to be; a community with a foundation of disbelief still wanting to identify themselves in some way as Muslims. But, unlike Judaism which has a dual existence as a religion and ethnic tribe and once you are born to a Jewish woman you are a Jew even if you are an atheist, Islam is a community of belief. Cease believing and you cease being Muslim and all of the rights of a Muslim be it marriage, burial, and what not are no longer available to you. I can “identify as a Romanov” but the blood of Russian royalty does not run through my veins so my claim need not be taken seriously.
In closing I will also say that the sad tale of Mr. Knight whose life would have been much better if he would have went to jihad in Chechnya and died for the cause of Islam before leaving the deen is also a white story. There are a lot of white Muslims I love dearly and have known for years ; Ismail Royer, Imam Suhaib Webb, Brother Muadh, Abu Noor, etc. However, Mr. Knight does represent a certain kind of Muslim that has grown since 9-11 ( where a white guy can get liberal street cred for converting to the religion of the oppressed).
What’s needed is for people who are struggling with Islam as Knight has and does is to not give up on it.