Islam's March

To the Editors:

That old refrain about the glory of Islamic contributions to world civilization during the Middle Ages [April 16] is getting tiresome. What have they given the world since then? It doesn't wash! No, the retrogression has been pronounced for 700 years, and your kindness to Islam as a civilizing faith is not warranted by recent events.

Myron S. Rudd Cincinnati

Just back from living in Egypt, I was very pleasantly surprised by your open-minded, sensitive, even courageous reporting on Islam. I was inspired by what I saw of the Islamic way, a way that allows people to live and let live, apparently secure in the knowledge that Allah is with them and with all others they meet. Suzanne Grenager

Lewisherry, Pa.

These Islamic countries are still bastions of barbarism, a disgrace to all the civilized values.

G.J. Advani Chicago

Your coverage is fraught with subtle and blatant misrepresentations. The mistakes amount to heresy. Take care, O TIME, take care.

Abdu-Rafiq Na'im Levy Oneonta, N. Y.

Edward Said's article on Orientalism came like a breath of fresh air. It is high time that the American press stopped depicting Muslim Arabs as greedy desert bandits or cold-blooded terrorists.

Jim Weaver Athens, Ohio

Perhaps the most significant point in the resurgence of the Islamic faith is the corresponding decline in the Christian religions. While leaders of Western churches have pandered to the apparent wishes of a potential membership among its youth, Islam continues to demand strict adherence to its rigorous codes.

E. T. Gendron Wantagh, N. Y.

You say: "Muslims believe the Ka'ba is the spot where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Ishmael at God's command." According to Genesis 22:2, it was Isaac whom Abraham prepared to sacrifice. Have the Muslims decided that it was Ishmael, not Isaac, whom Abraham prepared to sacrifice?

Mary E. Ferguson Sandy Spring, Md.

Yes, according to Islamic tradition.

Post-Mortem on Bhutto

Innocent he said he was and innocent Zulfikar Ali Bhutto [April 16] will always be in the minds and hearts of the poor people of Pakistan. His positive achievements far outnumber the misdeeds he may have committed. The only popular and nationally recognized political personality ever to emerge after independence is gone. A great leader has been taken away from his people by force.

Shamoon S. Habib Irving, Texas

It is a sad, mad world all right. So much ballyhoo about the Bhutto hanging. The Pakistani judiciary established his involvement, so why all this rooftop show for Bhutto? Anyone who will deprive another of his life forfeits the right to live.

P. Narendra Menon Bombay

That Bhutto is now a part of history is hard to accept. As a Bengali, my shock at his execution was in marked contrast to my feeling toward him during the Bangladesh struggle. Time seems to heal wounds after all.

Zakariya Mohyuddin Nashville

Raping Rapists

If some of our courts see it as fair and just to execute murderers [April 16], then, logically, it would follow that it is fair and just to steal from thieves and rape rapists. I can't imagine what would be done with pot smokers or pornographers.

John Jonik Haver ford, Pa.

We Were There

The day the cruise ship Angelina Lauro caught fire at Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands [April 9], I was aboard the Navy destroyer U.S.S. Carry anchored about a mile away.

The Carry's crew had just stepped ashore when we were called back and told we would have to offer assistance to the burning ship. With the winds we had that night it was not an easy task to position our ship and to hold it there while we fought the fire for eight hours. But there was no mention of our even being there that night. I think the whole crew of the Carry did one helluva good job.

Rene S. Suarez F.P.O. New York City

Carter's Levy

What's wrong with Carter? He wants to remove controls on the oil companies [April 16], then tax the "windfall profits" his actions create! Taxation is levied to provide money to run this country; it isn't supposed to be a form of punishment invoked at the whim of the President.

Peter Horrocks Marina Del Rey, Calif.

Nuclear Need?

"The U.S. needs nuclear power" [April 16]? Come now! We need food, air, water and reasonable shelter. None of these necessities requires nuclear energy, only a change in lifestyle.

Terry Fox Narberth, Pa.

By advocating an increase in nuclear energy, you ignore the lessons of industrial history. Time after time we have rushed to reap the profits of new discoveries without fully exploring the human and environmental costs. The question of adequate safeguards does not reflect a doubt in technology, but a grave doubt of the human factor, both in judgment and greed.

Jim Abb Ann Arbor, Mich.

A recent blackout for more than 48 hours in the Back Bay section of Boston struck home. It is neither romantic nor fun to be without energy. If we don't allow our technological people to continue with research for safer nuclear plants, we will be trapped in the OPEC squeeze for our bucks.

Carolyn Patkowski Boston

Big Business, the U.S. Government and nuclear energy: they are kind of like a drunk driver, a sleepy passenger and a fast-moving car.

Richard Budd Tempe, Ariz.

H-Bomb Recipe

As pragmatic as it may seem, Milwaukee's Judge Warren's comments on barring an article describing how the hydrogen bomb works [April 9] spell out his court's dilemma in alarmingly clear terms. Perhaps as Writer Moreland has already demonstrated, there is no secret involved. But I can think of no reason why we should simply distribute the recipe for H-bombs like so many political leaflets.

Jim Cornell New London, Conn.

Judge Warren worries that such an article "could pave the way for thermonuclear annihilation for us all." To me, the threat lies not in information that an intelligent journalist pieced together from many sources in the public domain. The menace is in the existence of H-bombs ready for use, and in the imperfection of the human beings who control them.

Margaret J. LeSchack Lexington, Mass.

As I see it, the real issue is motive. Why would a man, presumably having concern for his country, want, indeed insist, all the way to the courts under the specious "free speech" catchall, on publishing something useful only to those with destructive purpose?

Sally Diamond London

"A Terrible Headache"

I don't think Sadat and Begin were at all at ease when signing the "peace treaty" [April 9]. They have deep suspicions of each other's intentions. Both of them are quite well versed in politics and realize that the papers they have signed are a self-deception because the sources of conflict remain. The Palestinian problem was not solved, and the future of the whole region became even more unpredictable. The other Arab states have clearly shown that they are not going to make a "peace hero" of Sadat.

As for the U.S., it would pay the enormous cost of trying to implement the settlement without any hope of celebrating a real and just peace, but it is risking receiving a terrible headache.

Ivan Ronov

Novosti Press Agency

Moscow

A Good Cry

I must take exception to the prediction in the review of Zeffirelli's The Champ [April 9] that "there won't be a wet eye in the house." In fact, the sobbing and sniffling in the theater must have prevented me from hearing that "soppy" music. What I heard was lovely.

Tear-jerking devices? Yes! Boggling plot? Sure! But the performances were certainly convincing: there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Let's face it, America loves a good cry.

Sharon Kessinger New York City

An Israeli People

Libya's Muammar Gaddafi [April 9] only shows his own ignorance in stating: "There is no such thing as an Israeli people. Before 1948, world geography knew of no state such as Israel." A man in his position ought to be aware that history did not begin some time in the Middle Ages. Until the Jewish Diaspora, beginning around 70 A.D., Palestine was indeed an Israeli state; until then, except for their 70-year captivity in Babylon, the Israeli people had occupied the area for at least 2,000 years.

Nancy Silver Cochran Ithaca, N. Y.

Hands Off!

The Letters column is for letters, not pictures of former covers. We who read letters want to see what other readers have to say, not to see a reprint of a cover we already saw. You have the entire remainder of the magazine. Shape up and keep your hands off our space.

L. Craig Schoonmaker New York City

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