There Is No Debate

I am really tired of opening up the FreeP only to encounter yet ANOTHER article about how Muslims are evil terrorists. Let’s end what Brendan Cavalier calls a “debate” (“Look Hard at Islam’s Leaders”) once and for all. Is Islam a peaceful religion? It is. Period. I don’t quite understand why the so-called “debate” has to continue and why people who, may i politely point out, ARE NOT muslims, can continue making gross generalizations about the religion. If you’re NOT Muslim and have NOT studied the religion and it’s history, then keep your opinion to yourself. You’re spreading the same kind of ignorance that caused Pat Robertson to call the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) a terrorist. I can’t even imagine how someone could come up with such a gross description of the prophet unless that person was making a statement with no proof to back themselves up whatsoever. That’s what Pat Robertson did, what Jerry Falwell did, and what a number of BU students in the pages of the FreeP are doing. People like them take the rest of the American people (who are perhaps more educated or willing to learn) two steps back. The ignorance persists, apparently, despite countless statements, pamphlets, and videos about Islam put out by the Muslims in America. “The Muslims world has failed to answer the question” as to whether or not Islam is a peaceful religion, says Brendan Cavalier. I just did. The Arab word for peace, salaam, is a root of the word Islam. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) himself, a “walking Qur’an”, emphasized teachings of peace and tolerance. “To you your religion,” says the Qur’an, “and to me, mine.” Also, the two conditions of going to war in Islam, as explicitly stated in the Qur’an, are if a) the other people attack first or b) if you’re defending the rights of a people who cannot defend themselves. Suicide, in case you’re wondering, is a sin that lands one in Hell. Therefore, no matter what Muslim leaders in the Middle East say (and we could have a whole discussion on how those so-called Muslim leaders are not really Muslim at all) suicide bombings are not justified by Islam. So why were parts of the world rejoicing at September 11th? Because they don’t like American foreign policy, or how America has interfered in the Middle East for purely financial regions. And that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t like the average American, it means they don’t like the political leadership. Lest we forget (since quite a few Americans have never visited a third-world country) these people are largely illiterate, poor, and incredibly incredibly desperate. Putting the religion issue aside altogether, is there really any other way for Palestinians to fight back against Israel? Isn’t the fact that they have to resort to killing themselves sending a red flag up for anyone? The fact that they’re happy about a misfortune really, if you think about it, shows the true misery of their situation. And did you really expect a tattered people who are fighting for their lives (and, in a lot of countries, it is partially because of the US policies that they are) to start candelight vigils for people they don’t know? Here’s a point: they might be too busy mourning their husbands, their sons, their wives, and their daughters. In Palestine, they’re too busy fighting the US-funded Israeli tanks with stones. Do Americans weep profusely for the thousands upon thousands of people killed (in a mass genocide) in Bosnia or in Kosova? No, quite frankly, they don’t. That doesn’t lessen the magnitude of September 11th in any way and please don’t forget the millions of American Muslims who observed moments of silence along with the rest of the country. We felt it along with the rest of you and what really killed us what that that those innocent civilians were murdered in the name of Islam. Again, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) NEVER EVER killed civilians in warfare. He also fought ONLY when absolutely unavoidable, after treaties and talks were exhausted and fruitless. That can be proved by a number of historical texts. Calling him a terrorist is completely, horrifically wrong. To say that the violent side of Islam is “most popular nowadays” is wrong, also. Islam, in case anyone has noticed, is the second largest and in the world. It is THE fastest growing. There are millions upon millions of Muslims all over the world, in every country imagineable, and most of us aren’t the terrorists that everyone likes to label us. In fact, most of us don’t agree with the political leadership in our respective countries, either. To say that the “militant” religous leaders ARE NOT a ” ‘small faction’ ” is ridiculous, because, in a Chicago alone there are at least 15 different mosques in the area and at least 15 different leaders of those mosques and not one is an extremist. There are “newsworthy” extremists, yes, but recall how we sometimes discuss how the news reports only the negative things that happen in the world. Why doesn’t someone show a Muslim leader encouraging efforts to develop a good relationship with the US government and being tolerant of other people? Trust me, there are many many leaders that preach those exact ideas at Friday sermons. Saying that Islam has an “extremely violent side” is disgustingly inaccurate; that would be like me saying that Christianity and Judaism are extremely violent reglions just because parts of the Old Testament mention what amounts to genocide by the Israelites. I wouldn’t, however, make that point except to counterbalance what people say about Islam. I am not Christian and I’m not Jewish and therefore i have not right to take things out of context and make up things about the religions. Neither do Pat Robertson, or Jerry Fallwell, or the numerous students and professors who have climbed up on their “soapboxes” and babbled about something they know nothing about. Maria Khwaja SED ’06 (857) 472-1375 PS-i know this is too long but could you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE print it????? PLEASE?