Editor,
In response to the Letter “Are we misreading Islam” (ST November 22, 2013) by Fabian Lyngdoh my answer to the title would definitely be in the affirmative and further I would like to enlighten the author that his reliance was based on historians who have attempted to malign Islam through their pen. I suggest that Lyngdoh refers to authentic historical sources which would definitely clear his perception with regards to Islam. Noted historians like Thomas Carlyle, De Lacy O’Leary, Edward Gibbon and Diwan Chand Sharma are worthy to be referred here. It is worth quoting the remarkable lines of the 16th President of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln, “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” Though many efforts were made by some historians to malign Islam and portray it as a religion of terrorism but myth is to be exploded one day and the mere repetitions of a lie ad infinitum is not going to make it the truth as is evident from the increasing number of American and European converts to Islam. Professor TW Arnold writes in “The Preaching of Islam”, “When the Musllim Army reached the valley of the Jordan and Abu’Ubaidah pitched his camp at Fihl, the Christian inhabitants of the country wrote to the Arabs, saying:’ O Muslims, we prefer you to the Byzantines though they are of our own faith, because you keep better faith with us, and your rule over us is better than theirs, for they have robbed us of goods and our homes.’ The people of Amessa closed the gates of their city against the army of Heraclius and told the Muslims that they preferred their government and justice to the injustice and oppression of the Greeks”. The author has also expressed that some Muslim groups have marred the image of whole Islamic Community. Yes, of course, but that is not the monopoly of the Muslims. Adolf Hitler incinerated 6(six) millions Jews; he was a Christian. Can we blame Christianity for that? In Spain and Sicily Muslims were eliminated and not even a single Muslim was left alive or un-exiled. In the Baltic states where the Muslims were in majority, they were reduced into a minority by terror and persecution. In Greece all mosques were destroyed and closed down and how can we forget the colonial rule of the British in our country and the atrocities committed by them?
Further Mr. Fabian Lyngdoh’s quote from an author saying that Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him), whose anger, excited by the persecutions he faced at the hands of his own countrymen at Makkah, declared that Islam was to be spread by sword is absurd. I request the author to pick any authentic biography of Prophet Muhammad(the last and final messenger of God) wherein he can grasp the fact that the conquest of Makka h by the Prophet was a peaceful conquest and not even a single drop of blood was shed and the Prophet declared peace to all and forgave his opponents. I pray and hope that the author may not ‘misread Islam’ any more and look at it in using the right prism of correct history.
Yours etc.,
Zaki Siddiqui,
Via email
Reformation wanted!
Editor,
The recent incident of a lady being ostracised and arrested because she changed her denomination is not an isolated case. The same denomination has been indulging in such un-Christian acts in places where it enjoys majority. In one coal-laden village of Jaintia Hills, if a person who was still following the traditional religion dies, the Christians are prohibited by their elders to go to the dead person’s house and to take part in the funeral. No wonder, there are very few in the village who have not converted to Christianity. Some 15-16 years back, a well-to-do family in another village was targeted because they belonged to a different denomination. They were accused to be keepers of Taro. Youths were given alcohol by the elders to create trouble for the family. Finally the family had to shift and settle in another village and till date not a single taro incident is heard relating to this family. In many places, stones are pelted at houses belonging to other denominations and houses of members of the same kurare not spared. Therefore, a reformation of attitudes towards more tolerance and peaceful co-existence is the need of the hour.
Yours etc.,
P Lyngdoh,
Via email