Muslims don't hate non-Muslims

Submitted by Keith Williams (United States), Oct 20, 2008 at 03:18

Hi Lin,

Yes I am a Muslim and I converted to Islam from Christianity. Islam is under attack from all sides. We can save ourselves by not attacking Islam and Muslims. We must attack the terrorist without attacking the religion and the innocent Muslims. We all have to do our part in the war against terror. Islamaphobia is not the answer and will only cause division and works against us and for the terrorist cause which is part of their strategy. Let's not play into their hands. Extremism is wrong. Islam does not condone extremism. We must work together and be part of the solution. It is not about Islamic fundamentalism or the various Islamist political movements. Rather, it is about a small group among the 1.2 billion Muslims on earth that carries out and promotes terrorism in the name of Islam. Respecting the difference is crucial if the terrorists are to be defeated. This can sometimes be difficult, because parts of the terrorists' messages resonate with the perceptions and experience of many Muslims. This is why we have to be careful with the hate that is being spread in our media because that can push opinions and sympathy to the terrorist. We cannot afford to legitimize the terrorist cause as a cause for Islam. They do not speak for Islam. Nonetheless, the distinction is crucial, and the first step in making it is to listen to what the terrorists are actually saying. We have to make that distinction or you will play into the terrorist cause of trying to rally more Muslims to their side. We need Muslims to be part of the solution by including them and not being Islamaphobic because fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to fighting. That is playing into the terrorists hands. Please do your part to stop the spreading of hate. Stop spreading un-truths like: Barack Obama is a Muslim. Stop spreading hate by saying that a person has to change their name to be a Christian or whatever. That is not true. You do not have to change your name. There is no such thing a a Christian or Muslim name. There are common names that many Muslims have because some of the companions of the profit had those names at the begining of Islam and so Muslims name their children those names but also remember that Arabs had those names before Islam and also most Arabs in Syria and Lebanon were and some still are Christians before Islam came. Your statements could be dangerous and can lead to misunderstandings. Also, it does not matter if a person is an Arab or whatever. What matters is the character of the person. Stereotyping someone is not right.

Peace

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