Disown Islam's violent past!
Reader comment on item: Erdoğan: "Turkey Is Not a Country Where Moderate Islam Prevails"

Submitted by B.N.Gururaj (India), Apr 13, 2009 at 23:12

If Erdogan wants to propound the view that there is only one Islam, which does not preach violence, he is kidding himself. If he wants, he can pull wool over his own eyes, not over the eyes of rest of the world. He cannot pretend as though the Prophet himself did not set clear precedents for committing violence against non-believers. He cannot pretend as though there are no verses in Koran which preach violence. The tone for violence against Pagans was set by the prophet by the massacre of Banu Kuraiza. The tone of iconoclasm was set by the destruction of idols in Kaaba upon victoriously entering Macca.

Whatever the followers of Islam have done all over the world in the last fourteen hundred years is merely trading the path blazed by the Prophet. By saying that there is only one Islam, which is not violent, Erdogan is disowning the Islamic past based on Koran, Sunnah, Hadit and subsequent history. Let him boldly proclaim so. Anyway, Kemal Ataturk of Turkey started the new trend of secularism in muslim country in the last century. Let Mr.Erdogan re-start that trend by disowning at least that part of Islam which flies in the face of what rest of the civilized world believes to be correct.

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