穆斯林改革者真的以为自己是第一个注意到伊斯兰教中存在性别差异的人吗？在婚姻、见证人证词、继承等方面，过去的穆斯林只是没有意识到这些差异，还是愚昧到无法理解——正如现代改革者所认为的那样——性别差异等同于不公、压迫和虐待？他们是否也无能到无法采取任何行动？只有两种选择：要么过去的人真的那样愚蠢和/或不道德；要么现代改革者是把并不存在的不公强加在过去之上。

Do Muslim reformers really believe they are the first to notice that gender disparities exist in Islam? When it comes to marriage, eye witness testimony, inheritance, etc., were Muslims of the past just unaware of these disparities, or were they too ignorant to understand — as the modern reformers do — that gender disparity is tantamount to injustice, oppression, and abuse? And were they too incompetent to do anything about it? Only a couple of options. Either past people really were that stupid and/or unethical. Or modern reformers are projecting non-existent injustices onto the past.

作为相关的例子，接纳跨性别者的观念正变得越来越流行。这一奇特的社会正义议题一旦正式成为现状，就会立即使过去的每一个社会都被视为不公正、不宽容，因为它们没有认识到我们现代开明之人所认识到的跨性别问题。直到另一个社会正义议题在五到十年后出现，然后又是下一个……如果人们的伦理不断变动，受制于仓促的文化变迁，那么少数真正有原则、相信永恒真理的人，无论如何都必然、持续地被视为野蛮落后的蛮人。我本人则full心接受自己的“野蛮”。许多人不理解，当今时代最珍视的许多信念实际上是多么肤浅和狭隘。如果将当今人们最反感的伊斯兰法律和伦理中那些“野蛮”的部分，与人类世界大部分历史中所提供的内容相比，并没有什么显著差异。但现代的倾向是把过去看作一个充满野蛮与压迫的黑洞。从神学角度看，穆斯林并不认同这种观点——早期的时代是最好的时代。因此这将引发冲突与误解。我们不愿意把自己的过去抛到车轮底下，因为我们并没有自欺欺人。我们的这种不愿意使许多同时代的人非常、非常愤怒，甚至是暴力式的愤怒。

As a related example, the idea of transgender acceptance is becoming ever more popular. As soon as this peculiar social justice issue officially becomes status quo, that will immediately render every past society as unjust and intolerant for not recognizing what we modern enlightened people have come to realize about transgenderism. Until the next social justice issues comes along in another 5-10 years. And the next… If people’s ethics are constantly in flux and at the mercy of haphazard cultural shifts, those few who do have principles and believe in timeless Truth will necessarily and perpetually look like barbaric and backwards savages regardless. I, for one, wholeheartedly embrace my “savagery.” Many don’t understand how shallow and provincial so many of the most cherished beliefs of modern times really are. If you compare those “savage” parts of Islamic law and ethics that people find most objectionable today to what was on offer for the vast majority of human history throughout the world, there are no significant differences. But the modern tendency is to view the past as a black hole of barbarity and oppression. Theologically, Muslims don’t share that view—the earlier times were the best of times. So this will create conflict and misunderstanding. We are not willing to throw our past under the bus because we aren’t deluded. Our reluctance makes a lot of our contemporaries very, very angry. Violently so.