Too often someone writes or says that Muslims should speak out against the violence committed in the name of Islam.
Are these complainers in a cocoon? Muslims do speak out about the violence. The complainers probably don’t read what is even in local dailies.
Maybe they spend too much time on Fox News. Someone put on the Coffee Party site a snippet from Fox News of an interview with Reza Aslan, author of “Zealot: Jesus of Nazareth”. The interviewer kept repeating “How can a Muslim write about Jesus?” In another era, many would ask, “How can a black women be an interviewer on TV?” Or today, “How can a non-Muslim write about Islam?” or “How can a non-Muslim even ask questions about Islam?”
As to speaking out, many Muslims do. A group of Muslim scholars in Britain condemned the violence and the cartoons both but counseled patience and restraint.
One writer who stands out from several that I have read recently is Ahmed Tharwat, a broadcaster and writer in the Twin Cities. He wrote “I am Ahmed – non-terrorist”. He wrote for many Muslims that he is tired of being held responsible for the actions of a few out of over a billion Muslims.
