misunderstanding of the west

Submitted by osman (Australia), Jun 3, 2003 at 22:47

firstly whan i arrived on your site all i saw was negative comments. I am a muslim and i do believe in peace. jihad is misunderstood by many people in the west. Jihad means struggle,a spiritual struggle with ones soul.it also means holy war yet in circumstances were eligible. our religion teaches us peace before violence we also have rights to protect our lives country and people. Just like you people.

our lord tells us to go to war when we are being persecutted .non believers are treated in this manner because they reject their creator,everything he has bestowed on mankind. yet you reject all he has given. is that really fairness? of course not.

true there are bad muslims but to label islam like this is totally unfair. I have a question for you : is it really bad not to steal lie commit adultery and murder people ? Islam teaches us not to do these. yes the punishment is vrey heavy but people should know to commit these they are commiting themselves to these punishments, therefore making you think ten times over before commiting these crimes. islam creates prevention before punishment.

Lastly yes there are bad muslims, but your critiscim should go to them not islam. as i said islam maens peace. if every person followed islam the way they should, the world would be a lot better place. please there are other muslims that try to follow islam in a manner of peace. and i hope that other muslims follow in peace and harmony thank 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".