The idea of traditional Islamic culture has a negative connotation, especially in its religious context. This idea is more pervasive among the westerners. Ali Mazrui wrote an op-ed piece in Foreign Affairs (1997 -- http://www.foreignaffairs.com/print/53386) and according to him the negative or perhaps the misunderstood western view is a result of how it perceives “traditional” against its own secular views and ideas. I tend to agree with him.
Understanding Islam could be difficult, especially with our post-9/11 view of Islam. Islam is not just a religion. It is a way of life and a civilization, much like any other culture or a religion. Westerners, by and large, tend to believe that there is a wide gap between the western and Islamic values. Not so. Islam has institutions that teach moral values and humility much the same way as the secular and liberal western school of thoughts. The causal effect may be taking much longer.
The backwardness of Islam also took place in the west. For example, Mazrui pointed out that until 1960s, homosexuality was considered a crime in the UK. Now it is a way of life. It is, however, true that technological and cultural progress in the west has taken place at a much higher pace. Islam, on the other hand, has not kept up with the same pace.
The reform of Islam is not a clash between Islam the western civilization. It is a clash of culture within Islam. Islamic societies are on their path to establish modern institutions to assert their traditional views. Traditional and “backward” are not the two sides of a same coin.
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