Re: Islam by another name is Violence
By Letters To The Editor k.0706 (03/14/06)
For a religion columnist, J.Grant Swank Jr. does not have much knowledge about religion and seems to be very biased. I was astonished when I read his recent article, "Islam by another name is Violence", in which he made many false accusations and claims about the religion of Islam. His article lacks knowledge or even the least bit of research on Islam before trying to explain it to the world.
"That kind of talk deserves her neck cut through, according to the Koran," claims Swank. However, he does not provide a citation from the Koran. This is a false allegation and has no basis, in contradiction to his claim. Swank continues to explain that Islam is violence and remarks that "bloodletting is the claim of Muslims." If he were to go to the source of Islam, the Koran, he would find that he is incredibely wrong. Here are some verses from the Koran about violence and killing for your knowledge:
006.151. "...Whether open or secret; take not life, which God hath made sacred."
005.032. "If anyone slew a person...it would be as if he slew all of humanity: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all of humanity.
Also, Swank mentions that "When a Muslim female is slain because of dishonoring the clan, the male killer is not a killer but an extremely pious disciple." If he did his research, he would find that the only countries that "honor killings" occur and are overlooked is in Pakistan and Jordan, and that they are merely out of old cultural traditions with no basis in Islam.
And to top it all off, Swank makes a list of what is supposedly wrong in Islam compared to Christianity - with EVERY point being absolutely false, for these reasons:
*To say there is no Good Samaritan as compassion upon the helpless proves no research or knowledge on Islam whatsoever - one of the five pillars (main beliefs) of Islam is the payment of alms or charity (Zakah) by every Muslim individual at certa! in times of the year, which goes to orphans, the poor, etc.
* Yes, there is no Love Chapter in the Koran. That is because love is mentioned in every other VERSE throughout the Koran.
*"There is no hope." Almost every other verse in the Koran mentions that God is Oft-Forgiving. Some examples are:
- 004.099 "There is hope that God will forgive: For God doth blot out (sins) and forgive again and again." and "Never despair, for there is no sin too great for God to forgive."
*There is an entire chapter in the Koran about women and their importance, their rights, their treatment, and the respect due to them. Islam came in a time of ignorance in which female infanticide was widely spread and prohibited this act and brough! t back female life.
- 081.008 "When the female infant is questioned and asked for what sin was she killed?"
* "There is no Islamic history of hospitals, clinics, libraries, community centers, dispensaries, mental health institutions, missionaries..."
What about....
- Jabir Ibn Haiyan (Geber): The father of Chemistry
- Al-Kawarizmi (Algorizm): The father of Mathematics (Algebra, Algorithms, Calculus)
- Abu Al-Qasim Al-Zahravi (Albucasis): The father of Modern Surgery
- Ab! u Raihan Al-Biruni - Determined the circumference of the earth
-Al-Zarqali (Arzachel)- Invented the Astrolabe
- Al-Idrisi (Dreses) - The world map and the first globe
- The first University in the world was established a thousand years ago in Cairo, the famous Al Azhar, by the Fatimid Caliphs.
- The great library of Tripolis (Syria) contained more than three million volumes.
- Cairo established the first hospital library containing a large number of &! nbsp; books on medicine.
-The Muslims were the first to establish hospitals, dispensaries and medical schools in the world. They also founded the earliest school of pharmacy and produced the first pharmacopoeia.
These are just a few of the many, many contributions of Muslims.
So, it is obvious Swank lacks knowledge about Islam, and does not bother to do some research to get his facts straight. This is utterly unacceptable for a religion columnist with many articles on Islam and other religions. I don't believe Swanks is qualified for this position as religous columnist. A religous columnist should have knowledge about religions just the same as how a surgeon must know the anatomy of the human body.
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