Posted on 08/03/2002 1:27:38 PM PDT by sarcasm
Muslims are shoe bombers.
Hijackers. Suicidal terrorists.
They have no respect for our laws and stick to themselves.
They raise money for destruction.
Some cover their heads with cloth; others have suspicious sounding names.
Mustafa Ujaama. Abdullah Higazy. Al-Muhajir.
They need to be watched. They live in America but are un-American.
They're the enemy.
Those impressions -- ignorant as they are scarring -- would strike a visitor from outer space who crash-landed in America.
Stepping from the flying saucer, the alien's antenna would be atwitter, picking up media messages, a lot of which show Muslims as a threat, as a cause for fear.
Therein lies a problem.
Reporters must cover events that happen and the people involved, regardless of who they are. Sometimes, however, journalistic heat is absent of light.
Insight is AWOL; depth is shallow.
And the public gets a lack of context and balance.
Which is why a travel-weary Martian would scamper back onto the spaceship, even if the kindest Muslim on Earth walked up.
But history, recent and distant, shows that Muslims have richly shaped our world and country.
Do the math. Literally.
One of the most influential mathematicians on the planet was a Muslim -- Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, who lived during the ninth century.
He wrote "On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals," which helped spread Arabic numerals in Islamic territories -- and to the West.
Al-Khwarizmi also penned a groundbreaking book on a topic that has kept high schoolers quivering in the centuries since: quadratic equations.
His book of numerical proofs was translated into Latin.
"The word in its title, al-jabr ... gave the entire process its name in European languages -- algebra," according to a PBS documentary on Islam.
Medieval Muslims contributed to our world in other ways.
In medicine, Ibn al-Haytham, dubbed "a father of optics," explained how human vision occurs; and a Persian doctor, Al-Rhazes, was the first person to distinguish measles from smallpox.
In astronomy, Muslims created one of the first observatories to study the heavens.
Even the paper you are holding has a connection to the religion and culture.
Muslims transferred papermaking from China, where it was invented, to Europe, which later gave rise to the print revolution.
If you are reading this sitting on a sofa, you can also thank Muslims for that: sofa comes from the Arabic word for the raised platform, or "suffah," that the prophet used to welcome people.
That's, of course, ancient history.
The bridge connecting those epochs to the present has been this:
Islam.
At its core, Islam calls on believers not only to practice virtue but to eradicate that which is harmful or evil in the world. What makes up moral behavior of the devoted Muslim has been summed up by a prophet like this:
To remain conscious of God (Allah) in private and in public; speak justly whether angry or pleased; show moderation when poor or rich; and rekindle friendship with those who have broken it off.
The religion also says, "If anyone saves a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind."
That doesn't sound at all like a belief that encourages people to fan out into the world, jump on planes and crash them into skyscrapers, killing thousands of innocents.
The Sept. 11 terrorists, who justified their actions by saying it was all done in the name of Islam, bastardized the religion.
They cast shadows on millions of good Muslims, in particular those in America who are as red, white and blue as you and I.
Muslims are doctors. Lawyers. Small-business owners.
They follow the law of our land and vote -- nearly 80 percent of them are registered.
They reach out beyond the mosque or religious community: More than nine out of 10 Muslims support donations to non-Muslim social service programs.
They are involved in local schools, politics and the military.
The women wear hijabs -- headscarves -- to show modesty; some Muslims have names you might recognize or even admire.
Muhammad Ali. Cat Stevens. Hakeem Olajuwon.
They are more than 6 million strong in the United States, coming in all hues.
They are patriotic, love this country and denounce terrorism.
They are our fellow Americans. Our friends.
Muslims.
Cat Stevens endorsed the fatwah of Rushdie...I've heard that Cat has moved away from that position.
What drivel.
FMCDH
They are involved in local schools, politics and the military.
The women wear white cloaks--sometimes red or black--even green-- with little hoods--so do the men; some have names you might recognize or even admire.
Nobody knows how many they are. They may be more than 6 million strong in the United States, coming in all hues.
They are patriotic, love this country and denounce terrorism.
They are our fellow Americans. Our friends.
Members of the Ku Klux Klan.
Name one.
FMCDH
Except for Jews.
I guess the old question, "What have you done for us lately?", as in the last 500 years comes to mind.
He wrote "On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals," which helped spread Arabic numerals in Islamic territories -- and to the West.
Well, that's true. He copied some mathematics from the Hindus and got the name "al jabr" stuck on it. The Hindus really get tired of Muslims trying to steal the credit for their ancient mathematical achievements.
They are patriotic, love this country and denounce terrorism.
They are our fellow Americans. Our friends.
Nazis.
They are patriotic, love this country and denounce terrorism.
They are our fellow Americans. Our friends.
The Mafia.
They are patriotic, love this country and denounce terrorism.
They are our fellow Americans. Our friends.
Communists.
They are patriotic, love this country and denounce terrorism.
They are our fellow Americans. Our friends.
Heroin pushers.
Actually it spread the use of Hindu numerals (which are now called Arabic numerals), but it was an influential book.
American Muslims--your silence is deafening!
They're the enemy.
At least there are a few sensible words in the article.
This is the problem that the students at the University of North Carolina are having. They're being force fed these early portions of the Koran (when it was tolerant), and they will not be told about the later portions of the Koran which Muhammed made after Jews and Christians refused to follow his illiterate nonsense.
The later portions about making war upon people of the book (Jews and Christians) or ridiculing the trinity (Christians) are the ones we see in such "spectacular" form these days.
ummmm...I think it was "bastardized" looooong before 9-11. In the meantime, what are our gentle Muslim friends doing to de-bastardize Islam? We're waiting...
Too bad he didn't end the article there; the remainder simply pulled an otherwise promising piece into a flaming nose dive. Jihad-style.
Does this guy do palmistry too?
I'm sorry, I must've missed the denouncements.
When was the rally against Terrorism by Muslim Americans?
Can someone tell me when the Muslims in this country stood up and said they were against terrorism? Funny, I haven't seen ONE do it yet. At least, they don't denounce terrorism without blaming America for the attacks first because of our "Zionist" policies in the Middle East!
If I missed the denouncements and rallies, please provide articles, with dates, times and pictures showing the rally. I'd genuinely like to see then so I could stop harboring all this anger against Muslims. Really, I would.
But since the denouncements and anti-terrorism rallies by Muslim "American's" didn't happen, I think they all need to say "thank you America for your hospitality" and quietly leave.
No, I think we get your message, but you know, I am really getting sick of Muslim apologists saying how nice they are. Was anyone going around saying how nice Japanese naval pilots were after Pearl Harbor? I don't think so, and the Islamic terrorists killed more people than the Japanese did at Pearl Harbor. I have about had my fill of Muslim apologists.
I was thinking of posting an original article contradicting the basic premise... then along came this really bad public-relations opus and the opportunity is just too good to pass up.
IMHO, invention is nice; I'm glad the ancients were so intellectually curious... but invention is one thing...development is another.
There is not a single significant invention or discovery in the world that has been fully developed by any group or nation other than those with a Christian background or history; (Note: I am not saying the inventor/developer was Christian, just that they came from societies with Christian roots.)
Naturally, there are some things the Muslems have fully developed... whining and temper tantrums, shedding innocent blood and oppression of their own people.
BTW, "mathimatics" didn't even get a proper start until the Hindus discovered the concept of "zero" and incorporated the concept into practicality by establishing a numerical symbol (the dot) that could be used in a relative position... that was 20 centuries ago...long before "Islam" was invented (Well! I guess they did invent something after all!).
So the muslims gave us Hindu numbers and Chinese paper???
Toss in nearly the totality of peaceful quotes from the koran, and poof - a religion of mathematicians, scientists, and pacifists.
But history, recent and distant, shows that MuslimsDon't believe it? Check a muslim history here: Islamic Server of MSA-USChave richly shaped our world and countryare bloodthirsty savages, bent on slaughtering the infidels, as the rest of the koran commands.
Haven't seen any moslems of note denounce terrorism. Their scriptures tell them to kill all non-moslems.
This is the Seattle PI. You can't believe anything they say, especially their editorials. The PI is even sub-standard fish wrap.
You posted something [anything] from the P-I without a barf alert attached?
In 1968 who assassinated Robert Kennedy? (a) Abbe Hoffman (b) Tiny Tim (c) Charles Manson (d) Muslim male extremist between the age of 17 and 40 In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by: (a)Olga Corbutt (b)Sitting Bull (c)Arnold Schwartzeneger (d)Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 In 1979,the U.S. embassy in Iran was taken over by: (a) Lost Norwegians (b) Elvis (c) A tour bus full of 80-year-old women (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by: (a) John Dillinger (b) The King of Sweden (c) The Boy Scouts (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 In 1983, the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by: (a) A pizza delivery boy (b) Pee Wee Herman (c) Geraldo Rivera making up for a slow news day (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked, and a 70 year old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard by: (a) The Smurfs (b) Davy Jones (c) The Little Mermaid (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40. In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a U.S. Navy diver was murdered by: (a) Captain Kid (b) Charles Lindberg (c) Mother Teresa (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by: (a) Scooby Doo (b) The Tooth Fairy (c) Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid with dynamite left over from the train job. (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by: (a) Richard Simmons (b) Grandma Moses (c) Michael Jordan (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 In 1998, the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by: (a) Mr. Rogers (b) Hillary, to distract attention from Wild Bill's women problems (c) The World Wrestling Federation to promote its next villain: "Mustapha the Merciless" (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 iN 1999, The USS Cole was attacked and more than 15 American Sailors were killed by: (a) David Letterman (b) Shaquille O'Neil (c) The Cookie Monster (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked and flown into buildings killling thousands of people by: (a) Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd (b) The Supreme Court of Florida (c) Mr. Bean (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against: (a)Enron (b)The Lutheran Church (c)The NFL (d)Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by: (a) Bonny and Clyde (b) Captain Kangaroo (c) Billy Graham (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 In 2001 Phillipene Missionaries Gracia and Martin Burnham were kidnapped, held for over a year, and Martin subsequently killed by: (a) Mr. Rogers (b) Scooby Doo & Shaggy (c) Ronald Reagan (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 On July 4th 2002, 2 Innocent Airline Passengers Were Killed, And 3 Others Injured at the ticket counter of El Al Airlines in the LAX International terminal by: (a) Hulk Hogan after losing the WWF Title (b) The cast of Monty Python (c) Senator Lil' Tommy Daschle (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 41If you answered anything other than D to all questions above, you need to study harder. :)
He wrote "On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals," which helped spread Arabic numerals in Islamic territories -- and to the West"So what was it we're supposed to be giving the muslims credit for?? Oh yeah. This is one piece of Hindu culture that the muslims did not utterly destroy, due to the fact that islam is a religion of peace.
Al-Rhazes was Persian, but may not have been Islamic (Zoroastrianism still exists although suppressed in Iran.)
Many of the so-called "Arab" contributions were actually lifted from India (note even the Arab mathematician gave the numerals their proper attribution - the Hindu numerals), China, or the Byzantine Empire. The Arabs did spread a lot of culture around because of their role as traders and travellers across the Mideast and the "Silk Road." But to consider them the chief instigators and innovators is just not correct.
Also, many of the most creative and innovative Muslims were not Arab at all, but rather Persian Sufis, who were almost continually criticized for being too "liberal."
This headscarf thing is really beginning to bug me, too. Many women in various Muslim countries didn't wear hijab until they were *forced into it* by wahhabists. Turkish and Bosnian women don't wear head coverings at all. Educated Kuwaiti, Pakistani, and Afghan women in the 60s and 70s *used* to wear just light gauze scarves that rested on top of the hair and actually looked attractive. After the invasion of wahhabists, they went to head-to-toe coverings.
It is really terrible that the "public face" of Islam in the US is getting taken over by rigid, puritanical, cover-them-head-to-toe wahhabism.
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