There has been a protest
outside the Central Mosque of Harrow, London today by a group called 'Stop
Islamisation of Europe'. This organization was protesting against the building
of a new Masjid in the area.
Why does the West still feel threatened from Islam which is a religion of utmost
peace?
Whither International Relations?
Shehzad Saleem
Renaissance (March 02)
Almost six months have passed since that fateful morning of September 11 when
several thousand innocent civilians of the United States were mercilessly
massacred by a team of suicide pilots. The ghastly incident landed like a bolt
from the blue and left the world shell-shocked. This time it was not the ‘Japs’.
A band of ‘aggrieved’ Muslims had gone on rampage. Besmeared with the blood of
peaceful citizens, these pilots or the masterminds behind them could never have
imagined the extent of the carnage they were ultimately able to pull off.
The affects produced by this incident are far reaching and have influenced
almost every domain of life. One such domain is the sphere of international
relations. Of particular mention in this regard, is the question of Islam’s
relationship with other religions and polities of the world. This question
assumes great significance when it is taken into account that the perpetrators
of this terrorist activity have put forth religious arguments for the mass
murder they committed.
In my opinion, when we look at the arguments presented by these diehards and at
the general Muslim stance regarding Islam and its relationship with other
religions of the world, we find that there is something desperately wrong with
the Muslim approach.
As a student of Islam, I have tried to ascertain in my humble capacity what
exactly is ‘that wrong’. In the following pages, my findings appear in the form
of a research article that spans the whole of this journal. I would request the
serious reader to critically and carefully go through this work and send me
his/her observations. I would specifically ask activists engaged in
interfaith-dialogue to spare some time for this article.
Detailed article:
http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=400
videos:
http://www.studying-islam.org/showvideolinks.aspx?catid=17