Monday, Jul. 21, 2008
THE MAKING OF A ZEALOT
Your report on accused world Trade Center plotter Mahmud Abouhalima and Muslim radicals ((Cover Story, Oct. 4)) demonstrates that you unfortunately believe Islam has a dark side. But Islam is a very peaceful religion. It is too bad that when someone does an evil deed and claims to be a Muslim, all Muslims and Islam itself are considered to be evil. Murder is not tolerated in Islam, and the murder of civilians is especially un-Islamic. The very word Islam comes from the Arabic word al-salaam, meaning peace. People fear Islam without understanding its true nature. Omar Reda Maple Grove, Minnesota aol: Omar Reda
The public concern over terrorism is not unfounded. The U.S. has never been as free of it as Americans pretend. Before the media wax too self-righteous over the World Trade Center conspiracy, let us remember that 1993 marks the centenary of another ''great conspiracy.'' In 1893 the Governor of Illinois pardoned the surviving defendants of the Haymarket bombing case, which came out of the 1886 riots between police and labor protesters in Chicago. He condemned the case as a fraud and the resulting executions of defendants as judicial murder. Following the pardon, a monument was dedicated to those who had been found guilty with the words of a hanged defendant on the pedestal: ''The day will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you are throttling today.'' Let's hope, in your continuing coverage of this newest ''bombing conspiracy,'' that those words do not become prophetic. Richard L. Huff Keithville, Louisiana
$ If an unknown man like Abouhalima (''Mahmud the Red'') is considered a threat to the entire world and deserves a TIME cover, then you will have to issue an encyclopedia to focus on the macrothreats to the U.S. and other countries. Murat Sinag Berkeley, California
Let the defense counsel of Mahmud the Red claim that his trial is about Islam and not about the bombing of the World Trade Center. Any religion with its foundations enmeshed in brutal wars and the use of jihads, and with some adherents who display an inclination toward bizarre violence, deserves nothing less than serious scrutiny by all right-thinking persons. Gbenga Oduntan Lagos, Nigeria
Don't judge a religion by the actions of some of its followers. And please spare us the sensational headlines that promote prejudice and fear in people ignorant of Islam. If you had made an effort, you would have discovered the Islam that is attracting large numbers of converts around the world. You need a Muslim on your staff. Saadi Alikhan Strongsville, Ohio
I was sorry to see your article on religious fanaticism limited to Islam. Even here in the U.S., Fundamentalist religious zealots are utilizing tactics of terror, intimidation and murder to press their agenda of stopping abortions. When religious fervor crosses over to acts of terrorism it becomes a social plague for all our society that must be carefully controlled. William B. Nash Burlington, Vermont
Be careful about singling out islamic terrorism as ''violence in the name of faith.'' During the reign of Charlemagne in the 8th century, heathens were executed for refusing baptism. Beginning in the 11th century, Crusaders trying to drive Arabs out of the Holy Land committed countless atrocities. Shortly after Columbus made his first trip, the Spanish Inquisition began taking action against Jews and, later, Muslims. In 1637 the Pequot Indian tribe was murdered by Massachusetts militiamen who called themselves ''faithful followers of Jesus Christ.'' After the Spanish-American War, American soldiers chased down Filipino rebels and burned their villages because the U.S. claimed the right to Christianize them. Today Christian Serbs are slaughtering Bosnian Muslims, and antiabortion fanatics wave their Bibles in one hand and torch family-planning clinics with the other. When it comes to violence, Christians take a backseat to no one. Forrest G. Wood Bakersfield, California