"Is Islamic law "extremist"?

Robert Spencer at JihadWatch comments on moderation and extremism in Islam. While Muslims attempt to convince non-Muslims, especially Westerners, that Islam is peaceful and "moderate", their argument for reform are ineffective for they don't and can't convince the extremist and "an exercise in self-deception.

He is responding to a piece by Abdurrahman Wahid in the Washington Post.

Here is Spencer:

...What peaceful Muslims like Wahid need to do is not spend their time writing articles in Western media outlets, but convincing the mujahedin. I am all for real moderate Muslims, but if I can see that a moderate's account of Islamic teaching is inaccurate, a mujahid will certainly be able to also. And if that moderate's moderation won't convince Muslims, what's the point of it? To make non-Muslims feel better? I would rather have the truth than feel better on the basis of half-truths, thank you.

Reform isn't accomplished by deception or self-deception. Reform is accomplished by acknowledging the problem and coming up with ways to deal with it. Let Wahid confront the specific Qur'anic passages, Hadith passages, examples from the life of Muhammad, and rulings of the madhahib that the mujahedin use to recruit and motivate Muslims to commit violence and attempt to subvert Western societies, and find new ways to understand those passages that will be convincing to Muslims...

Read it all.