The word Islamophobia has taken root in our psyche. Thousands of articles, speeches and comments decry the ‘phobia’ which has taken hold throughout the world. It has become as familiar a phrase as Zipper and Xerox and Google which have entered the everyday lexicon of the spoken word. .This phenomenon calls for analysis and a
The most important Islamic contribution to the world was the number zero. That’s right. Zero. Like in nothing, nada, gurnisht, kloom.
clear perspective.
The controversy surrounding the New York City, ground-zero Mosque construction, for example, has pulled in political and religious figures from all corners of the United States, each voicing the accusation that Islamophobia has taken hold of our collective and individual senses. It seems, so is the word out there, that this continuing trend of animosity (or is it fear?) to Islam is a disturbing phenomenon which, if allowed to go unchecked, will curtail any understanding there may be between the Moslem world and those termed Islamophobes.
Islam may be grossly misunderstood.
Islam is, after all, a religion of peace. It is a religion that advocates the peaceful coexistence between believers and the infidel. It is a religion that stresses the sanctity of life and tolerance towards other beliefs, insisting that ‘live and let live’ is a sacrosanct tenet of the Koran. .
One minute, you say. You are not aware of this? Just ask President Obama and New York Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Patterson.
There are those who claim that the Koran admonishes the Moslems to subjugate, to kill and to destroy those who do not accept Mohammed as the prophet and the Koran as the book of religious codes and laws. Show me where it says so and I will explain to you, as they do, that what it says is not what is meant and that the words written there were somehow caught in Mohammad’s eye-teeth so that he didn’t clearly hear what he was saying. Understood?
Besides, Islam has given the world so much (just ask President Obama). How can it be rewarded with thankless fear and hate? Mr. Obama doesn’t understand why. I decided to find out why.
Therefore, since the President invoked the premise of all that Islam has given to the world, I searched and searched and researched in order to ascertain what exactly he was talking about. What did Islam give us all? I found many contributions.
First of all, I found that the most important Islamic contribution to the world was the number zero. That’s right. Zero. Like in nothing, nada, gurnisht, kloom. But I did not give up there.
I did find that since Islam’s appearance 1400-years-ago and the ‘zero’ contribution of that time, there are other great Islamic achievements and inventions which greatly benefit the world. These are accomplishments for which we must thank Islam and thus not allow Islamophobia to take further root in our everyday life.
Where shall I begin? There are so many, I’d be remiss if I left any out. Therefore, I apologize profusely in advance if I inadvertently forget to mention an accomplishment or invention or achievement. I hope the Moslem world will forgive me.
Islam has given the world the beautiful scenes of beheadings. How breathtaking are those pictures of Islamists chanting and invoking the name of Allah while they cut the throats of captured and kidnapped newsmen, engineers and nuns! I just wonder why they always cover their faces? Don’t they want Allah to recognize them when they come for their reward?
Islam has also given us the great power of speech with which to set afire the human imagination. The fact that every pulpit from which an inspiring Moslem preaches invokes the need to kill and destroy and to kill and annihilate and to kill some more is not a valid reason to fear Islam. Give Islam a break.
Just the fact that Moslem children are taught to hate and to despise and to kill all those who reject Islam justifies spreading Islamophobia throughout the world?
And is it justified if tens of thousands of innocent civilians have been murdered in the name of Islam’s Allah? And if the thirst for blood is infused into the veins of Moslem infants with their mother’s milk? Why are we so harsh to judge Moslem mothers who willingly and happily strap suicide belts to their children’s waists and cheerfully send them out to kill and murder unsuspecting innocents on buses, in shopping malls, restaurants and students in schools?
Islamophobia. That’s the reason!
Why are we so horrified as we watch the pictures of celebrating Moslem mothers dance across the screen while they hand out candies, dance in the streets and accept the congratulations of the masses for a job well done? Where but in the Moslem world can a mother voice her deep wish to see her son blown to pieces in a bloody rampage of murder rather than voice her hope for a child’s success in life? And if in some cases, a number of sons have already gone the route of suicide killing, how happy she is if another son follows their path. This dedication to a cause should be celebrated and upheld as an icon of true mother’s love, not ridiculed and abhorred.
There are at this moment dozens of areas of conflagration throughout the world of which ninety-percent or more involve Moslem rebels, insurgents and terrorists. They all have cause and reasons. So why should this fact influence our mindset and allow us to sink deeper into Islamophobia instead of understanding?
And if Shiites kill Sunnis and the latter returns the favor, how does that affect us? Thousands are murdered and annihilated in the Sudan. How exactly does that affect our next vacation?
Enslavement of women, honor killings, burkas. I can not fathom why Shari’a law is considered a harsh, no-holds-barred system of religious repression of women. Where exactly does it say in the Koran that women are the property of men?
Pedophile marriages? Public stoning and hangings? But you misunderstand.
Islam has given the world the beautiful notion of ‘reward’ in the afterlife. Not a reward for compassion for orphans and widows or food for the poor or medicine for the sick. No, not a reward for charity and healing and lending a helping hand to the unfortunate. That kind of behavior is left for the infidels. The Moslem world chases the glory of the reward which Allah will bestow upon those who kill and spill the blood of innocent people.
What’s so horrifying in the murder of four-hundred children in Chechnya? The ones who killed these children are bound to be rewarded by Allah. He approves.
Almost forgotten is another wonderful contribution Islam has given to the world. Remember the art of plane hijacking and high-sea pirating of cruise ships? Remember the beauty of watching how these Islamists murdered the Navy-Seal? Or how the invalid Mr. Klinghoffer was thrown overboard in his wheelchair? This is Islam's unique contribution to global good relations, an art invented and perfected by that religion.
Islamophobia? So Islamists murdered three-thousand people on 9/11! Is that a reason not to allow a mosque to be built on the grave of those they killed? Isn’t the creed to ‘forgive and forget’ a motto which has been implemented time and time again by the Western world throughout the ages?
These are but mere drops-in-the-bucket. There are so many more Islamic achievements and contributions which you can easily find in Google. Go there. You’ll be amazed and surely change your unwarranted attitude towards Islam.
As far as I’m concerned., I’m now cured of Isalmophobia. You can be too.