Column: Islam--the misunderstood religion

The founders, some 300 years ago, had the vision and foresight to establish freedom of religion and prohibit any laws restricting the free exercise thereof. Because of this, people of all religions have chosen to live in America. But now the scope of these freedoms is curbed for many Muslims, as more and more are being profiled, denied visas even for education, have their phones tapped, etc.

Every day Muslims are in the news (Fox News seems fixated on them), generally in the following context: picture of a bearded man, followed by some name the newscaster mispronounces every time, something about an explosion or explosive or some virus or some toxic chemical being made in an apartment. The connection between a Muslim and some sinister activity has been reinforced so much in the media that people disregard statements promoting the peaceful side of Muslims and Islam. Frankly, this is a great misfortune. Our modern American society must try to deal with Muslims by trying to understand the values of Islam and the culture and history of Muslims rather than by closing the channels of reason and allowing others to foster stereotypes, misconceptions and bias notions toward Muslims.

Muslims simply profess Islam, a religion which emphasizes belief in one God (Allah), the creator of this universe, the provider and protector of mankind and all the living and non-living things therein. He has no partner in His creation and He alone is running the affairs of this universe and He alone is worthy of worship. God places total responsibility on each individual for his or her actions for which they are answerable to God (and to society to a certain degree). Furthermore, Islam places great value on the protection of human life, be it a Muslim or a non-Muslim. It provides honor, dignity and stature to women that was unprecedented in human civilization and provides guidelines to establish a just and peaceful society.

In practice, however, Muslims around the world do not present a good model of these and other Islamic teachings. They are doing things that are contrary to what Islam requires of them and as a result, they become targets of criticism. Positive and balanced criticism is essential, but undue criticism that steps into the realm of propaganda is wrong. Today in the West, religious and academic scholars, blinded by their preconceived notions and prejudices, are consumed in criticizing Islam and Muslim societies. They create suspicion and fear regarding Islamic laws and the spread of Islamic ideas. Some in their failure to curb Islam have stooped so low as to make slanderous remarks about Muhammad (pbuh) and Islam.

In September 2001, when a large number of innocent lives were lost because of the highly condemnable act of some Muslims, it provided an ideal opportunity for some to further spew out their venom against Muslims and Islam. (Some groups of our society were in fact probably waiting for such an opportunity). Numerous books and articles have since been written, and continue to be written, spreading hate about Islam and about Muslims, branding them with all kind of names.

On the other hand, there are others, who in their professional pursuit and intellectual honesty, such as Hodgson, Armstrong, Sells, Wolfe and others have presented a rather objective analysis of Islam and its impact on mankind, thereby promoting religious understanding and harmony rather than widening conflicts between religious ideologies.

Given these two sides, ask yourself if you would want to live in a society under persistent fear where its character is determined by hatemongers, where people live behind walls of hatred and apprehension, or in a society with mutual trust and harmony among its members. The choice may seem obvious, as presented above, but the difficulty is in fulfilling it in reality.

In closing, I urge the saner elements of Duke community and community at large to exert social pressure against policies and individuals that try to create dissensions in the fabric of our society.