Moderate Islam

Submitted by Anthony Letayf (Lebanon), Apr 25, 2005 at 18:33

The subject of "Is Islam a religion of peace" has been garnering momentum ever since 9/11. There is no doubt that certain members of the faith that constantly refer to themselves as fighting in the name of Islam exist but they are a minority.

As in all cases the public and the media take the extremists who are a minority to depict the whole. Critics of feminism view the movement as "man haters" and radicals but how many feminists are truly so.

Viewing the extreme elements of any movement make for interesting news while reporting and writing about the majority of such movements, many of whom are peaceful, doesn't stir much attraction.

As a catholic attending the American University of Beirut I can firmly tell you that Islam is a religion of peace. My circle of friends and confidents consist of Shiites, Sunnis, and Druze.

All of which sincerely denounce the actions taken by people like Bin Laden, Zarqawi and others of the like. It is unfair for us, the west coupled with the jewish and christian faiths, to pronounce Islam as a religion of terror based on the fact that disturbed elements of Islam like Bin Laden and his followers act in a certain manner. Let us not forget that the three Abrahamic religions all abide by the old testament and if Christians, Jews, and Islams are fundamentally similar, in essence, how can we state that Islam is any more radical than Jews and Christians. Are Ultra-Orthodox jews and the IRA not radicals as well.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".