Whats the mission of the Minaret of Freedom Institute?
We have a fourfold mission: to counter the common distortions about Islam; to show the origin of certain modern values that came out of Islamic civilization; to educate both Muslims and non-Muslims about the value of freedom and free markets; and to try to advance the status of Muslims, whether they live in the oppressive east or the hostile west. How difficult is it selling a Muslim audience on libertarian and free-market ideas? It depends on the particular idea. Most free market ideas are easy to persuade Muslim audiences on. They’re very much promoted by Islamic teachings and history. An example: The value of trade and traders is easy because the Prophet Muhammed was himself a merchant. On the other hand there is one free market idea that is very hard and almost impossible to sell to Muslims. That’s the permissibility of charging interest on a loan. On other libertarian ideas beyond market ideas, it depends really on what the issue is and to whom you’re speaking. For example, most M
