Unfair to Prime Minister Erdogan

Br. Seyfeddin Kara (Crescent, May 2010) has been unfair to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan by imputing various motives for his policy vis-a-vis Israel and the Palestinians. Br. Kara should understand the dangers that Erdogan faces in the policy of bringing his country back to the Islamic fold.

   He has understood what happened to the Islamic party Refah and predecessors like Necemettin Erbakan who attempted to speed up the return to Islamic policies and were dismissed by the army. Brother Erdogan realises that he has to tread slowly and build up the Islamic forces and at the same time tactfully move out the pro-Israeli, pro-Western military officers before he succeeds completely in bringing Turkey back to its Islamic roots.

   We should offer him our du‘as, not work to undermine him.

 
 
Interesting look at Zionism

I always enjoy reading the Crescent magazine online; I am even more pleased to see you tackled Zionism as a topic. It is a strange phenomenon that continues to cause so much agony and despair while remaining taboo even among the few who know what it really means.  Reading about it from a credible Muslim perspective is always motivating and soothing.

   I would have liked reading your take on Ashkenazim.  The irony of a Khazar nation adopting Judaism as a religion, then suppressing their Sephardic breth-ren — the true decedents of the Jews — all the while claiming that the Holy land was somehow promised to them is always a rich topic to tackle.  It does not take more than a brief glimpse at the Talmud to understand how they justify being superior to the non-Jewish Goyim.  It seems God Almighty never really had a place in their perspective of life.

   As you mentioned in your article, the first step in getting this mess undone is to hold the self-appointed “leaders” all across the Ummah accountable for treason against their own people.  The long road to Jeru-salem starts in our own backyards.

 
 
 
Niqab and cultural imperialism

I am glad you tackled the issue of niqab and the West’s hypocritical stand about it (Crescent, May 2010). The argument the Westerners advance that it denies Muslim women their rights and therefore they want to ban the niqab is unacceptable. Islam mandates the hijab but for wearing it in countries like France, Muslim girls are banned from attending school. Does wearing the hijab prevent them from learning? Does the cloth over their heads also cover their brains? In the province of Quebec Muslim girls have been denied the right to play soccer while wearing the hijab. The entire controversy has to do with the West’s desire to control Muslim women. This is cultural imperialism. Muslim girls and women in hijab or niqab are seen as rejecting Western values.

 
 
American nuts

I would like to support the thoughts expressed by Dr. Tanvir Akhter in his letter, “America, a society of nuts” (May 2010). Muslims parents should wake up to the reality of material pursuits and the destructive impact it has on children. If non-Muslims are affected by it so much, how can Muslim children avoid the pressure, especially when they are viewed as outsiders? The pressure to conform is great; this applies to Muslim children not only in North America but also in Europe. Muslims beware!

 
 
Maryam’s story

I was deeply moved by Fahad Ansari’s story about Maryam and its contrast with that of Madeleine. The tragedy of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and her children should shame every Muslim unless he/she is totally devoid of emotion. This is America’s ongoing war on Islam notwithstanding Obama’s smooth rhetoric about respecting Islam. If we did the math, we would find that millions of Muslims have been murdered by the US.