How Should Non-Muslims Approach Islamic History?

"The present conflict between Islamist extremists and the world order is in many respects a confrontation between interpretations of religious history, and therefore between differing methods of interpreting religious history. Radical Islam, particularly in its Wahhabi form, as the state cult in Saudi Arabia which inspires the terrorists of al-Qaeda and its allies, treats the record of Islamic revelation as an unchanging source of authority, which may neither be interpreted nor questioned. In reality, classical Islam, prior to the emergence of Wahhabism only 250 years ago, viewed all aspects of Islamic revelation, from the holy scripture of Qur'an to the details of the life of the Prophet Muhammad, as subject to debate."

"Some Christian commentators have mirrored the colossal intellectual error of the Islamists, in ignoring controversy within Islam. Non- and anti-Muslim polemicists argue, like Muslim radicals, that Islamic textual and canonical authority is rigid and unchallengeable. These mainly Christian critics then select out of the Islamic past the elements they consider most shocking to Western sensibilities and hold them up as fundamental to the belief of all Muslims anywhere."
TCS: Tech Central Station - How Should Non-Muslims Approach Islamic History?