Response to The Myth of Moderate Islam by Dr Patrick Sookhdeo

Submitted by Dr Fred Charatan (United States), Sep 15, 2006 at 09:54

I agree with his scholarly review of Islam. There is much evidence for us to believe that jihad is a religious duty for every devout Muslim. And Sharia, the divinely given law, contains cruel and unusual punishments, such as stoning for adultery, amputation of the hand for thievery, and flogging publicly for the consumption of alcohol.

It's impossible not to see that such archaic, unchangeable laws originated out of the primitive society of the 7th century desert. For example, what sense is there in a law that amputates the hand of a thief, thereby converting the thief into a beggar for the rest of his life, and denying him the re-education and reform he needs? Evidently Islam does not believe in the repentance and reform of thieves !

It is also difficult to understand why suicide bombing is either regarded with silence or approval on the part of the Umma or Muslim community, instead of universal condemnation as a crime against humanity, not as shahad, or martyrdom guaranteeing paradise for the heinous deed., something that motivated the 9/11 attackers.

And Muslims are extraordinarily sensitive to fancied insults, witness the Danish cartoons, and the current comments of Pope Benedict merely quoting the medieval Emperor Manuel II Paleologus who was critical of Islam. While demanding apologies from the Pope, they should first apologise themselves, for their acts of terror against innocents.

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