There are Moderate Muslims

Submitted by Naeem Din (United States), Feb 8, 2006 at 09:54

Dear Dr. Pipes:

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to comment. Yes there are moderate Muslims who are horrified to see our religion being hijacked by extremists.

For example, the then head of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, Mirza Tahir Ahmad also opposed Khomeini's fatwa against Salman Rushdie.I don't know what the motivation was for the Danish newspapers to publish these cartoons. Maybe they just wanted to thumb their nose at the Muslim community in Europe. It does not really matter to me at this point.

Of far more concern to me is the Muslim community's reaction to these cartoons. There simply is no excuse for the death and destruction that we have witnessed. I really hung my head in shame when I saw that in Pakistan (my birthplace) demonstrators had three little children stand on the Danish flag as a sign of disrespect. What does that teach our children?

In the Palestinian territories too people are walking in the street on the Danish flag. All over the Muslim world, not only Danish but Israeli flags are being burned as well. The Danish flag carries a cross and the Israeli flag carries the Star of David, symbols of worlds other great monotheistic faiths. We have to show respect in order to demand respect. And all this business of making fun of the Holocaust is beyond my comprehension. It seems that a great dark age has descended on the Muslim world.

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