Dear Tony

Submitted by Sarah Thompson (Canada), Jul 3, 2006 at 16:28

Dear Tony

I read articles on people killing in the name of Islam and I find it very outrageous. I mean, I remember someone telling me that there was this video online in where a man had chopped off some person's head in the name of Islam- not sure if that's exactly true, some even say that there are people with guns on the roofs of mosques trying to single out tresspassers, which I think is totally barbaric because there are non-muslims that enter and leave mosques and they usually come out intact and alive.

I've heard a lot of stupid acts done in the name of Islam, however it is not Islam. I've also heared that the terrorists in the 9/11 attack read the Qur'an before they came whirling in on the twin towers. I find all this very odd, I mean, sure they read the Qur'an, big deal if they read the Qur'an, but the main thing is that whatever they read vanished, or maybe they only had one goal and they refused to listen to what the Qur'an was saying. Sometimes I feel that this whole thing is something that has been planned out...I mean, whoever is suppose to be a leader, becomes a leader. No matter if it seems the whole country is going against Harper or Bush, but if these people have to be on top...well they get on top.

Lies have always been spread on someone or something that is seen as a threat. In the past, if a woman was seen as a threat to a man's superiority she was considered as a loose women, a whore, someone not to be trusted. Women like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Station were said to anti-christian. Over the years Islam has always been seen as a threat. Today is no different. The popular myth of "The sword of Islam" is far from the truth, and is totally false. The Qur'an itself says clearily that their is to be no force in to this way of life. Islam has spread in certain countries not by force but by pure will. Islam is a threat due to this. So if you want Isam to go down, spread myths about it. Make people think it is a terror filled faith with nothing but hate smothered all over it. Is it working? In a way, it is giving certain people the wrong Idea of Islam, but is it seriously stopping converts to Isalm? Nope. In America alone there is a steady pace of people converting to Islam. I believe there are two reasons for it, one, this whole thing on Islam being crazy may cause certain people to study Islam, and second certain people just come across it, either because they are in need of spiritual fulfillment , or they come across the religion while doing a project, reading the newspaper, hearing someone speak about it, having a Muslim friend.

You can look at Islam kind of like an apple with a bruise. The apple overall is still edible and fine, it is just the bruise on it that gives you second thoughts. The bruise represents those claiming to be Muslims while killing people, the rest of the apple is fine and represents the good Muslims that actually follow Islam and don't go off killing people. When we look at Islam, unfortunatley for us, the media loves to show the bruised side. The side filled with those that don't even follow Islam, yet claim to be Muslims: the Qu'ran likes to call these people hyporcrites that will find a little place in the deepest part of hell where they will have no escape- so much for being a suicide bomber in hopes of going to heaven when suicide is a straight ticket to the gateways of hell. They say killing non-muslims unjustly is a gateway to heaven....sorry but the truth is killing non-muslims unjustly is a major sin, why? because it is murder.

I know Saudi Arabia doesn't allow women to drive, I'm not sure why, and at first I thought Islam stops women from driving. But Islam doesn't stop women from driving, women can drive, they can have careers, they have the right to vote, they can argue and have their own voice heard, they aren't seen as sinful, they can take money from their husbands without asking if the family really needs it, the women is given a mahr which is any amount of money a women wishes from her husband so that if the marrige doesn't work out, she has enough money to keep herself stable, Any money that she earns is rightfully hers, she does not have to give away a penny to her husband, her husband must provide clothes for her when he clothes himself, her husband must provide frood for her, when he feeds himself, and he is to not to abuse her rights. I think the no driving for women law is some weird law they enforced. Many places have weird laws, I think somewhere in Canada you can't eat an icecream on the sidewalk, on Sundays- odd but true.

The stoneing is when a husband or a wife cheats on his or her spouse. It is not only for women, but for men too. If a man cheats on his wife then he is stoned to death, same goes to the woman, a man is not excused for cheating on his wife. The chopping of hands is to those that steal. If you steal then that is your punishment. The killing of the Christian girls is horrible, but it is not a law in Indonesia. The Christians and Muslims in the area have been battling it out for a while. An unidentified group of people attacked these poor girls- if they were Muslims or not is something I do not know. It could be non-muslims who believe that "God knows his own", and went off killing these girls to give Islam a bad name, or it could be some idiotic so-called Muslims - I don't believe it is a law to kill Christian school girls though.

When we look at the two punishments, the one on stoning and the other on chopping off hands, not all of us will be able to understand the 'why?' just by reading them. I never understood either. I remember reading about stoning to death, and chopping off hands and became confused and shocked. When I first read it I couldn't understand why, what about another chance? It was only later, through reading and looking at our society did I begin to understand. One example would be when I saw this interview on a man that had killed his mother. He had said something like- forgive me this was a while ago- but he said that his mother would always bring these men into their house, and that she would play with other men while having a husband. This developed a feeling of hatred for women as that man grew. It showed me that Islam has these laws so that a sudden chain of events do not end up occuring. With stealing we have to remember that usually serious crimes first begin with small crimes, if the small crimes are left with a slap on the wrist, will it really stop these huge crimes? There are incidents of criminals chopping of the hands of women in an attempt to get the gold bracelets on their arms. If we were to put these laws in our own country, people would think twice before stealing or cheating on their spouse. It is not just a slap on the wrist, and they know that.

Another thing in Islam that bothered me was the Hijab. I couldn't undestand the concept of Hijab until after, until I looked at our society and realized why. First the Hijab reduces crimes such as sexual assault. If two identical women with an equal amount of beauty, were walking down the street, one dressed in the full Islamic covering and the other in a mini skirt, and shirt that had the word 'cutie' spread across her chest, and there was a man, looking for a tease, looking for a girl to play around with. Who would he most likely go for? Usually, a man of that type would go for the girl in the mini. Another reason is, is that in this society when we go for a job are looks matter a lot- not just the way we dress and comb are hair- but our features. It is known that people that are beautiful, compared to the people that are ugly get a higher salary. Even if the ugly person may have gone to a university or college a year more than a beautiful person, the beautiful person may have a salary similar to a person that has had a years' more worth of education just for being beautiful! Some people are wondering if we should have a law regarding beautiful people and ugly people. However, the concept of hijjab gives women a higher salary, not because of their beauty but because of their experience, and education. The concept of Hijab gives me good money without looking like I came out of ELLE magazine. Another reason for this hit me when I read an article by J.K Rowling who talked about girls and this whole issue of being thin and what-not. The concept of Hijab reduces the stress of being this huge beautiful figure. You can be this sassy person for you're husband, and not compare yourself to the extremely beautiful goddess walking down the street because she's as covered as can be.

It seems that some people are teaching their children anything but Islam. For example, if you were to look at the Muslim community today, you would notice that it is totally divided, half are following Islam and the other side have completely ignored certain teachings of Islam. Right now we need someone to bring control over Islam. Yes some parents do teach their children about religion, but there are others that don't know how to teach in the proper way. One bad way to teach your children is to go on about Islamic rules, then do something totally different, another is to lecture your children about Islam but not listen to their concerns, and third is to 'terrorize' your children with long talks about Islam at each and every turn. Islamic countries are trying to teach their children, and are trying to provide a better education system, and are trying to incorporate both religion and math, science, geography and so on. However, the problem is the type of teaching. My friend who came from Pakistan tells me that the studies there are hard, and you have to memorize word for word. I think that is a horrible way to teach because memorizing won't increase knowledge, but understanding a topic will. And then I wonder, how did these Muslims get this way? Was it the wrong leaders? Was it war that caused them to be this way?

When I mean over the line, I mean when they totally disregard the teachings of Islam and start mutilating a women's genitals. This is not part of Islam. Nor does the Qur'an command anyone to do such an act. There are people that have no knowledge of Islam, and when you tell them to go read the Qur'an and understand it they ignore you and say that they know enough. In poor places some people get their daughters married to the holy book itself or to a two year old boy! This is crazy, and stupid, and unislamic. I have met Muslims, that when you tell them to read the Qur'an more, and understand Islam, they reply by turning their heads. Some do this because they don't want to stop drinking, when they think of the Day of Judgment, they start making excuses such as "i never knew i could not eat pork!", they don't want to have to know that praying is a must- they just don't- so they continue on with their actions.

In the Qur'an you don't kill the girl who gets raped. You kill the rapist. So whatever this mother did is not right. If her son raped her daughter, then he is the one that should be given capital punishment, not the daughter. There is also no such thing in the Qu'ran that it is a shame for the daughter to be raped by her brother. I have no clue where people get this but it is not in the Qur'an. Your bad deeds are not to be the burden of others, if you do something bad then that is your fault and you will receive punishment for your action.

I have nothing against non-muslims either, and I hope one day we can all understand each other. Me and my friends understand each others faith and for us we have only become stronger.

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