America is not and never will be at war with Islam: US President Barack Obama

زائر

Syed Asadullah

Islam and the West

Friday, Jun 05 2009


We meet at a time of great tension between the United States and Muslims around the world, tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of coexistence and cooperation but also conflict and religious wars. More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims and a Cold War in which Muslim majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations. Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam. Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims. The attacks of September 11, 2001, and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only to America and western countries but also to human rights. All this has bred more fear and more mistrust. So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, those who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity. And this cycle of suspicion and discord must end. I've come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap and share common principles, principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings. I do so recognizing that change cannot happen overnight. – US President Barack Obama, addressing the Muslim World from Cairo

Islam and Pluralism



Montreal: Buddhism and Islam are two religions we do not hear mentioned in one breath very often. So it was with great excitement that I went to attend the conference, Buddhism & Islam – Encounters, Histories, Dialogue and Representation held at McGill University, May 29 and 30, 2009. The conference indeed turned out to be eye-opening. … This conference gave a much needed comparative religious perspective. More such efforts are needed to bring out the fact that most religious people when left to themselves are able to live together in a collaborative and cooperative way, enriching all the cultures and religions involved. This ‘cultural translation’ is an ongoing process, in spite of the hoopla surrounding fundamentalisms of all sorts today. - Juhi Shahin

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad



In the early 1980s, Hafiz Saeed joined the mujahidin war in Afghanistan which also brought him into close contact with Abdullah Azzam and Osama bin Laden. Their ‘dedication to jihad’ inspired him immensely. ‘Osama was a man of extraordinary qualities,’ he recalled. (10) Azzam, a Palestinian who had worked as a professor of Islamic jurisprudence at the University of Jordan in Amman had a huge influence on Hafiz Saeed. … Azzam helped Hafiz Saeed establish Markaz Dawal al-Irshad (MDI), an organization for Islamic preaching and guidance which was ideologically affiliated with wahabi Ahle Hadith. … Hafiz Saeed founded LeT in 1990, soon after the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan, as a military wing of the MDI to wage jihad against the Indian authorities in Kashmir. The LeT announced its arrival on the Kashmir jihad scene on 5 February 1993 with a ferocious attack on an Indian military force in Poonch district that killed at least two soldiers. Two of the guerrillas were also killed. Since then the outfit has been responsible for hundreds of guerrilla raids in the disputed territory. Within a short span, LeT emerged as the fiercest militant organization—it possessed not only thousands of well trained and highly motivated fighters, but also a huge propaganda network. Its main publications in different languages had a circulation of hundreds of thousands. Its main publication, Al-Dawat, had more than 80,000 copies printed and sold at major bookshops across the country. (13). LeT had worked in close coordination with the ISI, which also provided support to launch the militants across the border. LeT’s main stress was on jihad against Hindus, who it regarded as the worst polytheists, and against Jews who it claimed were ‘singled out by the Qur’an as the enemies of Islam’. LeT leaders maintained that Hindus and Jews were their main targets because they were ‘the enemies of Islam and Pakistan’. (26) A party document, ‘Why are we waging jihad’, argued that jihad was the only way to avenge history and re-establish the lost glory of Islam. It vowed to take back Spain, where Muslims had ruled for 800 years, and to re-establish Muslim rule in India. It said that LeT was fighting to liberate not just Kashmir, but the whole of India. It was one of the reasons why LeT’s attacks against Hindus had been so savage. In many cases the victim were beheaded. In December 2000 LeT extended its jihad from Kashmir to mainland India. – renowned Pakistani journalist and author Zahid Husain

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Syed M. Asadullah

» Islam,Terrorism and Jihad
» Islam and the West Monday, Jun 01 2009