An open letter to Muslims

An open letter to Muslims

In light of the recent protests by many of your people, and the violence which has gone along with it, starting with the burning in effigy of His Holiness, Benedict XVI and the cursing of his name, continuing with the burning of Christian churches, some not even Roman Catholic, and culminating with the murder of a Roman Catholic nun whose only offense was in doing charitable work for the poor in Somalia, I feel that it is time to express what I, and what a great number of other westerners, think as regards your or your brothers’ actions.

First of all, I am given to understand that a lot of this response has been the result of accepting, on face value, what a large number of western media have reported in their headlines: That the Pope has somehow insulted or attacked Islam. I would first suggest that you look at the vastly inaccurate statements that this media has made about Islam and about Muslims over the course of many years. You may want to consider that this same media has repeatedly made many inaccurate statements about Christians as well. In short, as regards Western media, and at least insofar as religion is concerned, you may not want to believe everything that you read.

It also appears that some among you have actually read at least a part of what His Holiness has said, and have taken offense to a quotation which he made from a fifteenth century Byzantine emperor. At the risk of offending you again, I will recite the text of that quotation again.

“Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

I should point out something that any reasonable person would immediately understand: that quoting a person does not imply agreement with that person. I should also point out that any Muslim who had a knowledge of their own culture, and had any confidence in it, could proudly cite both Arab and Islamic contributions to civilization, from the passage of Greek philosophy to the West, to their contributions in logic and mathematics, to the development of the university, and could proudly and thoroughly refute the charge of the Byzantine emperor.

The fact that these many people could not says, at least to those of the West, that you or your brothers are in fact either ignorant of your heritage, or are acting on the belief that you are unable to repeat these glories of the past. To us of the West, their, and your, failure to use argument rather than threats and firebombs, rather than being an indication of your strength, are to us a sure sign of your weakness. Where we come from, we think that only bullies and blackguards try to compel by force what they cannot achieve by argument or persuasion.

I am given to understand as well that some among you have taken offense that His Holiness, and others, have characterized much of the Dar Al Islam, the House of Islam, as having been taken by the sword. If so, you are taking offense about that which is a manifest historical truth, spoken of by both Western and Islamic historians. The whole of Al-Maghrib, of northern Africa, from Egypt to Mauritania, was taken by the sword by the seventh century, as was Palestine and the Holy Lands, and all the land from Baghdad to Bombay by the thirteenth century. The whole of the Turkish empire, the former empire of the Emperor whose words were quoted above, was taken by the Islamic Turks in 1453. These all are indisputable facts. To take offense at that which is true does not speak much as regards your love of the truth.

In fairness, it must be admitted that some among you have avoided this general rush to judgment, like the Grand Mufti of Syria, who has quite reasonably requested further clarification; and further, there have been many who, upon hearing the clarification of His Holiness this last Sunday, have understood that he had not wished to cause offense, have agreed that there has been misunderstanding, and have relented from this course of violence. Those who have taken this action have our respect, and have preserved their own honor: we believe that it is an act of the wise and the good to admit it when they have been mistaken, and to turn away from their mistakes.

But as for those others, who act neither wisely nor righteously: know that you have spoken and acted falsely, and that you have attempted to malign a good and honorable man, one who is honored and respected as their spiritual leader by one sixth of the people of this world, and is honored by many millions of other people in the West. Know that by attempting to dishonor this good and holy man, you have in fact dishonored yourselves.

It is becoming apparent to us of the West that such people are attempting to pick a fight, or worse, to act like bullies, and to threaten violence unless we act in accordance with their wishes. While some among us are weak and foolish, and will wish to give in to such threats, know also that there are many more among us who will never give in to such threats, and who are willing to fight to their enemy’s death to make sure that those threats are never carried out. There are many, from Napoleon to Hitler, who have tried to impose their will on the West. They all now lie in the graves of failures, not martyrs.

One of our leaders once said that it was not our duty to die for our country, but rather, it was our duty to make our enemies die for their country. History has shown that we of the West have been very efficient at making that happen. Recent events have also demonstrated that same fact, even when led by as inefficient a leader as our current one. Know that the only effect of pursuing this present course of action would be to give us more resolve to prevail, and to replace our current leaders with even more ruthless and effective ones. Finally, know that we would prefer never to start such a fight; know also that once started, we will do everything in our power to finish it.

But history and recent events have also shown that we are quite good at putting aside differences, and becoming friends and partners with those who had once been our sworn enemies. We would much prefer having you as friends than enemies. We therefore invite you to continue the discussion which His Holiness had wished to begin, and to do as our common Lord and God has asked us to do, in the words of our Prophet Isaiah: Come, let us reason together.