Islam is not the Problem

Response to Fort Wayne News Sentinel (Indiana) Letter to the editor "Islam is what corrupts its militants" Letter to the editor:

It is a tremendous public disservice for the Sentinel to publish the unfounded and misguided ravings of an extremist. In a letter entitled, “Islam is What Corrupts Its Militants“(April 14), Mr. R. Sauder boorishly characterizes Islam as a “fanatical religion,” that has “corrupted the people” in an irresponsible rant that pits Islam itself, not terrorism, as the imminent threat out to destroy us.

Sauder attempts to lay credence to these obtuse assessments by citing a market opportunist, academically qualified to assess nothing expertly but rising market trends. Remarkably enough, Mr. Winn’s sensationalist writing career began on the morning of September 11th 2001, ironically mining the instant market of American fear spawned by the regrettable atrocities.

Mr. Winn has proven himself neither to be an author of any import nor an authority on terrorism or Islam. In his published biography, he unsuccessfully attempts to exude authority by touting an “invested 4,000 hours of study of the religion of Islam” (less than 2 years). Mr. Winn’s only expertise seems to lie in hatemongering and fomenting incitement for the purpose of cashing in on fear and ignorance.

Sauder is as unjustified in his sweeping condemnation of Islam, a world faith credited by most historians as being the spark which ignited the Renaissance of the Western world, as he would be in purveying similar sentiments towards any of the world’s other great religious traditions, based on the worst some of their adherents had to offer.

If “Islam is a serious threat to America,” as Mr. Sauder categorically states, then how come that fewer than 20 Muslim-Americans (out of an estimated 8 million) have ever been indicted on charges of terrorism - many less convicted. How is it that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the Western world, a phenomenon which is emblematic of Islam’s inherent peaceful coexistence and shared lofty values with the Judeo-Christian masses in America and Europe?

I urge the editors of the Sentinel not to abet in disseminating unabashed incitement, or in perpetuating an overly-simplistic and generalized world view of Islam and Muslims. Publishing such venomous tirades in a credible mainstream periodical such as the Fort Wayne News Sentinel may be perceived by the informed of your readership as the true “threat to America.”

Sultan Muhammad Communications Coordinator Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago