Salihah - Thanks.

Submitted by Pat (United States), Dec 13, 2006 at 17:25

Salihah, you're a person I would be proud to know.

I count on people like you to do things like walk out of the mosque if the imam preaches violent jihad. No one did that in the Jersey City mosque where most of the people who attacked the World Trade Center in 1993 worshipped. There must have been some Muslims who knew what was in the works before 9/11, but none of them came forward, either. Even if they had no specifics, they still could have spoken up.

You love America and so do I. We share something very important and I hope we can do what is necessary to preserve the freedoms we have from those who would impose universal Islamic rule. Their goals may be unrealistic but we can't just ignore them. Again, you have to make a choice. Are you willing to go against Muslims who threaten what you have here in America? Just saying you're opposed to violence is not enough. What will you do when a man kills someone and cites Sharia law as justification? Everything I read suggests that Islam is incompatible with American life because it doesn't recognize any community other than Islam. Some people proclaim their right to establish separate communities ruled by Sharia law. Is that something you would support?

You're an exception to the rule. Too many Muslims speak out only when they feel put upon. They don't demonstrate against al Qaeda. They cheer it on. Those are the ones I worry about, and so should you.

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".