In Response to “America’s Amazing Record”1

I write in response to your article, “America’s Amazing Record” which appeared in the Nov. 23rd edition of The Exponent in which you describe “religious Muslims” as “terrorists” who “oppose freedom” and seek to threaten us on a very personal level. This is negative stereotyping which has no place in journalism, much less in an edition of The Exponent which deals with diversity.

The religion of Islam, which literally means “peace” and “submission,” categorically prohibits the killing of civilians, women, and children. As the Qur’an says:

“Whosoever kills a human being…it shall be as if he had killed all of humankind, and whosoever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all humankind” (5:32).

As the Prophet Muhammad instructed his soldiers, “Do not kill women, children or the elderly. Do not cut down fruit-bearing trees. Do not destroy an inhabited place.”

Terrorists like the Taliban, al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi are members of the Salafi/Wahhabi sect. They are a small minority of fanatics considered heretics by the main body of Muslims. What is erroneously labeled as “Islamic” fundamentalism is a political movement, not a religious one. They are anarchists who claim to act in the name of Islam while violating every single tenet of the Muslim faith. They have been denounced as non-Muslims by Sunni, Shi‘ite, and Sufi Muslims.

It is erroneous and unjust for you to label one billion Muslims, the second largest and fastest growing religion in the world, as freedom-hating terrorists on the basis of the actions of a deviated minority. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is no more a “Muslim” terrorist than Timothy McVeigh is a “Christian” terrorist. Why is it that when a so-called “Muslim” commits a terrorist act, he is denounced as a “Muslim” terrorist, and when a so-called “Christian” commits a terrorist act, he is merely called a terrorist? Why this double standard? If you want to play that game, we can call the Irish Republican Army, ETA, the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nations, Hitler, the Nazis, Francisco Franco, Benito Mussolini, European colonialists, imperialists, segregationists, and racists as “Christian” terrorists.

Even our “Commander in Chief,” President Bush, has made a clear distinction between Islam, Muslims, and terrorism. As he explained,

These acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith. And it’s important for my fellow Americans to understand that. The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don’t represent peace. They represent evil and war. When we think of Islam, we think of a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. Billions of people find comfort and solace and peace. And that’s made brothers and sisters out of every race - out of every race. American counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors; members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms and dads. And they need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect. Women who cover their heads in this country must feel comfortable going outside their homes. Moms who wear cover must not be intimidated in America. That’s not the America I know. That’s not the America I value.

The vast majority of victims of terrorism in Iraq are Muslims. Many of them have died in defense of democracy, supporting the government, cooperating with the Americans, and attempting to exercise their democratic rights. You do them a great disservice and dishonor when you make sweeping generalizations that “religious Muslims” are “terrorists.” According to the Qur’an, “If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein forever: and the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him” (4:93). How can such terrorists be “Muslims” when they are the greatest murderers of Muslims and slaughter them in mosques in the middle of prayer? As far as religious Muslims are concerned, terrorists are infidels worthy of eternal damnation. I trust we can all agree on that point.

• 1. This response was published in the December 14th, 2005, edition of The Exponent of Northern State University (6). The work was a reaction to Leah Tetzlaff’s “America’s Amazing Record”, a piece that had appeared in the November 23rd edition of newspaper (8).