PBS documentary on Islam

Submitted by Tamzin Jans (France), Dec 19, 2002 at 12:41

Dear Mr. Pipes,
Your article was interesting to read in that it shows how necessary it is to have those very documentaries that you criticize about Islam. Muslims are the only ones that can talk about their religion as they are the ones who know the most about it.

I do not consider a documentary on Mohammed's life as proselytizing. Of the three religions -Islam, Judaism and Christianity - Christianity is the only religion that does have missionaries. I am not a Muslim and am not about to become one as a result of one documentary. Nor am I going to become Jewish because of the Walt Disney film about Moses, because you might as well compare that to proselytising too. Please give some credit of brains to the people who watch these things!

Islam badly needs to revamp its image in the light of 9/11. There is nothing wrong in showing a documentary about Islam in a positive way. After all, President Bush authorized a video to be sent to Arab countries showing how well the Muslims are treated in America and what a wonderful life they have. That, too, can be thought of as positive propaganda.

What you write about the treatment of women in Islam is true but it must be said that it is the minority of women in these extreme cases. The vast majority of Muslim women are well-treated and as strange as it may seem to the West, many of them actually want to observe the purdah. The covering up of women is considered the right of free women as opposed to prostitutes and slaves (in Mohammed's time) who go without any covering as they wish to be bought by a potential buyer. The free woman does not need to show her "wares" to another man and therefore, she is uncovered only for her husband. Whether you believe in this or not, that is what Muslims believe. They do not consider the wearing of the purdah as an oppression which is what the Christian world thinks it is.

When I read your article, I realized that there are still people who need to open up their minds and their hearts. It is sad to see a journalist advocating the banning of free expression, because this documentary is only that. Muslims are desperately trying to raise their esteem in the eyes of non-Muslim Americans since they are being continually bad-mouthed since 9/11 as if all of them were terrorists. There is nothing wrong with showing the positive side of a religion.

As for Muslims having killed several thousand Americans, need I remind you of the fact that USA has been on the receiving end because the American policy since WWII has been one of domination of this part of the world. If Americans are going to set up military bases in Muslim countries, they will inevitably find themselves in clashes, cutural and otherwise, with the Muslim people who may not agree to US military presence in their countries.
Thousands of South Koreans marched recently to protest the killing of two children in South Korea by some US soldiers who were acquited by a military court. Do you really think this makes the American military likeable? It is unfortunate that, as always, it is the innocent people of any country that get hurt because of the decisions of their politicians and their militaries.

Most of the Muslims of this world were probably not even aware of either the existence of Al-Qaeda or that anyone was planning anything against the innocent American people. However, since this moment, the Muslim and Arab people have all suffered from various degrees of racism and anger. Timothy McVeigh was an American terrorist but no one puts all the American people or the Christian religion at fault due to the criminal act of this one man. So why do all the Muslim people have to suffer the consequences of 9/11?

It is because of this that Islam has to review its image in USA and the PBS documentary is an excellent way of doing this. Please welcome this as this is the only way to bridge the gap between the peoples of this earth - unless, of course, we want more terrorism and more war. This will heal the wounds far better than anything the politicians can come up with.

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