Southern California InFocus

August 07

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Letters to the Editor

By InFocus News Staff

Edhi should be awarded Nobel Prize

I was delighted to see the photograph of Haji Abdul Sattar Edhi on your cover page of your July 2007 issue. This man should have been awarded the Noble Prize before anyone else, as his dedication to his humanitarian work is unbelievable. I met him in Abu Dhabi and was highly impressed. Edhi’s achievements in Pakistan in the last three to four decades are countless and inspiring.

S. Imtiyaz Desnavi

Chino Hills, Calif

Going simple is peace of mind

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Ammar Kahf’s article on Frito Lay’s products. The points he mentioned were very enlightening. I feel many people, including myself, don’t even know about this point of view that has its own legitimate stance.

One important point I feel our community should take heed is how Muslim businesses abuse the term ‘halal’ and overprice Muslims who only eat at "zabiha" places. This is totally wrong and should be stopped. There need to be more laws in tact such as the Halal Food Act that punishes such vendors who advertise zabiha meat while they buy non-zabiha meat from the local supermarket. Why don’t these vendors focus on creating nice, clean and professional establishments and restaurants where they don’t have to resort to such ill-conceived and un-Islamic practices. This way the consumer is treated right and he feels Islam is ‘simple’ and not burdensome. So when he is charged $8 for a burger at a nice, clean and wholesome place, it can be worth it! I thank Mr. Kahf and InFocus for shedding light on this confusing subject.

Arif Salman

Garden Grove, Calif.

Why blame Islam?

Individuals, not religions, carry out inhuman acts Islam is a religion of peace, accepted and practiced by 1.5 billion people worldwide. It is the fastest-growing religion in the world, and if it was what some critics claim, why should the people from all walks of life from around the world keep embracing Islam? Where is the sword now?

In Islam, a person has the right to defend himself, his family, his country or his neighbor(s), which justifies the resistance being offered by the people of Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Iraq, Kashmir and Palestine, to attacks on their soils by the so-called liberators, who are actually the occupiers.

The Holy Qur’an clearly states that if a person saves one life, it’s as if he saved humanity, and if a person kills one human being, it’s as if he killed humanity.

What is happening in the enslaved Muslim countries is a natural reaction to occupation, bombings, killing and terrorizing of innocent civilians (children, old men and women), rapes, in addition to looting of resources, national antiques and artifacts, above all destruction of property by the occupiers.

We assure those who bash Islam that if there was no occupation in this world by foreign invaders, there would be no resistance – the so-called terror.

We would like those who criticize Islam to explain the following acts committed by the Christians on Jews, other Christians and Muslims alike, throughout history:

Hundreds of thousands of Muslim men, women and children killed by the crusaders, who were Christians.

Inquisition of Jews and Muslims from Spain by Queen Isabella, a Christian.

Atrocities committed on millions of Jews and Christians by Adolph Hitler, a professed Christian.

Hundreds of thousands of Christians killed every year by the Irish Christians, including the British and the IRA, both Catholics and Protestants, during the past few centuries. Why are they not blamed to be "Christian Terrorists?"

Both of them believe in Jesus Christ, who told them to turn the other cheek, and both of them believe in the same Lord, Who commanded that "Thou shall not kill." Period.

Timothy McVeigh, who bombed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, was a Catholic. Are all Catholics terrorists?

The bombings, killings, rapings and lynchings of both American Indians and black slaves (Afro-Americans) during the past 200 years in the United States.

Will those filled with hate for Islam blame Christianity for the above inhuman acts by Christians in various parts of the world?

Lastly, as a brother in humanity, we recommend those filled with hate get an education in the history of Islam and Muslims, before they dare to write nasty letters full of personal, ingrain hate and vendetta.

May God Almighty show you the light, Amen.

By Qazi

Via email

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