A defence of Islam
In "The anti-Islamic polemic" (October 29), Shelley Walia tries, and succeeds to a good extent, in defending Islam. But one gets a feeling that he has got a major point wrong in the article. He says "...misinterpretations exist because of people's ignorance of Syro-Aramaic language in which the Koran was initially written." It is a well-known fact that the Qur-an (better spelt this way than the Koran) was "sent down as an Arabic Qur-an" as testified by itself in Q12:2 and 42:7. It is also worth noting that the Qur-an is a rare religious book in a language, which is still in use. The Qur-an in languages other than Arabic are mere translations. The Arabic and Syriac languages are related and it may be that what Shelley says is partially correct, in keeping with the Qur-an's nature of conveying more than one message through an Ayat (verse).
Kamil Mohammed,
Aluva, Kerala
Shelley Walia's assessment of West's attitude to Muslims is timely. Right from day one of the inception of Islam, the non-believers have targeted Muslims. Since 9/11, Muslims all over the world are being labelled "terrorists". Look at the events of the last 100 years; Hitler butchered millions of Jews, the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki destroyed two cities apart from their inhabitants, U.S. policies are still killing people in Afghanistan and Iraq... Why blame the Muslims?
Kamal Sani,
Hyderabad
The West is paranoid about Islam. Islam does not teach terrorism and no Muslim is a born terrorist. No madrasa teaches terrorism. The West disseminates certain lies that Islam was spread by the sword, it believes in forcible conversion of other people, and it teaches its adherents to wage Jihad against non-Muslims. The absence of a moral authority among Muslims such as the Pope, the absence of a society scrupulously practising the lofty Islamic ideals and the tendency to focus on theological differences rather than on social and ethical concerns are factors hindering the Muslims from clarifying Islam's position on terrorism.
Islam being the fastest growing religion in the World poses a threat to American hegemony. As a result America breeds contempt for Islam and spreads misinterpretations about Islam.
Dr. T. Marx,
Karaikal, U.T. of Pondicherry
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Magazine
