Thank you, Mr. Pipes...but as to Muhammad himself...

Submitted by Steven Malcolm Anderson (United States), Aug 6, 2002 at 15:22

Dear Mr. Pipes:

I thank you for your scholarship and vigilance over the years on the Near Eastern and Muslim situation and peril. The only disagreement I had with you was this article on Islam, as to whether its totalitarian evil was extrinisic or intrinsic. I believe it is intrinsic and from its very origins. To illustrate, please consider one incident in the life of the founder, Muhammad himself. He had an uncle who had long protected him, even though the uncle continued to adhere to the traditional polytheistic religion of his family and tribe. But after this uncle died, Muhammad was asked whether this uncle and his grandfather would be in Paradise or in Hell. He answered that they would both be burning in Hell because they were Pagans. This was his gratitude to his own kin and to the uncle who had protected him. I think this says something about the mind-set of Islamic belief. Of this we in the West must continue to be wary.

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