Moderate Muslims

Submitted by Lynn Provencio (United States), Nov 4, 2002 at 00:30

If moderate, mainstream Muslims actually disagree strongly with the actions and opinions of militant Muslims, as commenters here and other places have said, they would be wise to speak out very strongly against their militant brothers and even help apprehend them, and prevent them from carrying out terrorist plans. Otherwise, all non-Muslims see or really know of Islam is what terrorists show them, especially in the US.

That is already making life hard for American Muslims. If the majority of Muslims are not our enemies, then they should show it by both words and actions, or they will certainly be grouped with the extremists. As the attacks increase, so will the reaction. I understand the hesitancy to turn in a fellow Muslim or countryman, but silence implies assent, at least to the western mind.

I heard an interesting conversation a few days ago. A professional man who is from Iran said that his parents, who live in Iran, wished that the US would attack there and depose their government, because it's so miserable. That surprised me, but it echoes what someone said commenting on this article.

---

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".