What You Don't Know is Fooling You, Indeed! Which Islam Are You Talking About? Part II of IV

At a recent forum I attended in Washington DC, organizers didn't go other ways in addressing that mistaken Islam in such limited terms, quote: "The Islamist movement seeks to impose tenets of Islam, and specifically Shari'a law, as a legal, political, religious, and judicial authority both in Muslim states and in the West. It is generally composed of two wings-that which operates violently, propagating suicide-homicide bombing and other terrorist activities; and that which operates lawfully, conducting a "soft jihad" within our media, government, and court systems; through Shari'a banking; and within our school systems." End quote.

As it appears from the above, unfairly to common sense, organizers pinpointed "two wings, that which operates violently, propagating suicide-homicide bombing and other terrorist activities; and that which operates lawfully, conducting a "soft jihad". What about the Islam on behalf of which we remain truly faithful and desire for others what we desire for ourselves? What about that Islam on behalf of which billions of Muslims every year engage in a journey made of sacrifices and self privation aimed at sharing the suffering, hunger and thirst along with performing good acts in order to remind ourselves of the very daily existence many others face regardless of creed, race, gender and religion somewhere out there? As recently admitted Washington post's Anthony Shaddid about Obama's tour in the Middle East this June 2009, "lies by a generation of authoritarian Arab leaders to their people have given many a healthy skepticism of any public statement, whatever the source".

The United States of America proudly vows such a cult to modernism, Americanism in the name of its great ideals: freedom, expansionism, and lately, thanks to ecological consciousness, sustainability. In other words because America has conquered so much with so big and for so long, it has acquired such a strong mindset known not to do well with the interference of the outside norms... The United Nations questioned legitimacy when it comes to setting the rules and resolutions nations have to go by being redundantly challenged by United States "exceptionism" is a flat evidence of it's propensity to antiquated imperialism. Now that cold war is less intense than what it was a couple of decades ago, ideology and the fight it takes to prevail on one another seems to be the battle ground that draws more rethorics than common sense.

"Man is the enemy of what he does not know." says the Greek as well as the Arabic proverb to assess the scope and impact of such a limited description, stemming from obviously limited understanding of Islam at large. Islam is derived from the Arabic root "Salema": peace, purity. Islam dates back to the age of Adam and its message has been chronologically conveyed to man by God's prophets and messengers, including Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). Islam's message has been restored and enforced in the last stage of the religious evolution by God's last prophet and messenger, Muhammad (PBUH). Submission is the key, one way or another. Paradoxically the more we seem to rebel against that submission the more it is obvious that we demonstrate our dire need for some guidance of a spiritual order yet to be defined.