Islamists vs Reformers

Outside the European Parliament in Brussels, I sat down with a man known online as the “Imam of Peace” to discuss one of the defining ideological battles shaping the Middle East and increasingly Europe itself: the war between Islamist extremism and reformist Islam.

Unlike many Western commentators who cautiously tiptoe around these questions, Imam Mohammad Tawhidi spoke with extraordinary bluntness.

“The Muslim Brotherhood cannot coexist with free societies,” he told me.

He openly defended Gulf fatwas against the Muslim Brotherhood and described Islamist ideologues such as Osama bin Laden and Ayatollah Khomeini as enemies not only of the West, but of Islam itself. According to him, the modern Islamist movement hijacked religion and transformed it into a political weapon.

Iran’s Dangerous Message

One of the central themes of our discussion was Iran’s role in destabilizing the Middle East. Tawhidi argued that the regime in Tehran operates not as a normal state but as a revolutionary ideological project driven by a divine mandate claimed by the ayatollahs.

“Iran is sending a very dangerous message,” he warned. “If it doesn’t get what it wants, it will destroy the entire region.”

He pointed to attacks and operations targeting Gulf states such as the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar, arguing that Tehran seeks to pressure neighboring countries into intervening on its behalf whenever conflict escalates. For Tawhidi, the problem is not merely geopolitical. It is ideological.

“You are not dealing with communists or normal politicians,” he said. “You are dealing with mullahs who believe they rule through divine authority.”

A Different Islam

Perhaps the most striking part of the conversation was Tawhidi’s contrast between Islamist regimes and Gulf modernization projects such as the UAE.

“One country sends rockets to Mars,” he told me. “Another sends rockets to its neighbors. We are not the same.”

He repeatedly returned to the idea that Islam should guide people spiritually rather than dominate society through fear, violence and coercion.

“God is the God of peace, not the God of executions and butchering,” he said.

Tawhidi praised initiatives like the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi - a complex containing a mosque, church and synagogue side by side - as examples of what a peaceful and modern Muslim society could look like. In his view, countries such as the UAE represent a future-oriented Islamic civilization built around technology, trade, coexistence and stability rather than martyrdom, jihadism and revolutionary chaos.

The Future of the Region

Tawhidi spoke emotionally about the Iranian people, particularly Iranian women, whom he described as among the most oppressed populations in the Muslim world. He argued that a free Iran would unleash enormous scientific, artistic and economic potential currently crushed under authoritarian religious rule.

At the same time, he warned that Europe still fundamentally misunderstands the ideological nature of Islamism. For decades, many Western leaders treated Islamist movements as ordinary political actors rather than revolutionary religious organizations seeking long-term societal transformation. According to Tawhidi, that mistake has had catastrophic consequences both in the Middle East and increasingly across Europe itself.

The battle shaping the future of the region, he argued, is no longer simply between countries. It is between two visions of Islam itself: One built around modernity, coexistence and progress. The other around ideological absolutism, revolutionary violence and permanent conflict.