The Demonisation of Islam.

These days, it seems that for every column I write, there's one that gets rejected. Why is this happening? Am I getting too radical, starting to think that I can write whatever I want just because I'm a columnist? Am I getting too big for my britches?

But then again, isn't that what column writing is about? Airing your opinions? As long as it's not libellous, seditious or otherwise illegal and damaging, shouldn't the column be the voice of the columnist? If only. Newspaper writing in Malaysia has never been that straightforward.

So, once again, thank God for this blog, where I can rant the rants that would never otherwise see the light of day. This is another one that didn't make the cut:

It was just one of the many forwarded emails a person gets on any given day, with the “Fwd: Fw…” heading, familiar to email users, indicating that the message has been passed around to many people.

I would have deleted it, if not for the heading, which piqued my interest. The email was titled “Eye Opening and Mind Shocking: Mass Marriage in Gaza.”

Since it was in a region of the world that interests me and from a friend who doesn’t usually send me rubbish, I opened it.

Pictures of doe-eyed Palestinian brides greeted me. Their faces were expertly made up, hair prettily coiffed, white gowns resplendent and hands protectively enveloped by their grinning husbands-to-be.

The girls looked like they were between 6 to 10 years old. The grooms, on the other hand, were strapping young men in their 20s.

Yes, it was disturbing. But what was actually more disturbing was how this unsettling event was used, along with other carefully picked pieces of information, to launch an attack against Islam.

The article, apparently written by a PhD. holder, accused Islam of encouraging pedophilia and the Prophet Muhammad of being a child molester because of his marriage to Aisha.

It’s at points like these that I wish cursing were allowed in columns. I would have a few very choice phrases to throw at the author of this particular piece of excrement.

All around the world, there are people who dedicate their lives to promote better inter-faith understanding and greater tolerance between religions. People make all sorts of sacrifices, sometimes even their lives, just to make the world a better place for all faiths.

And while these unsung heroes go about their Herculean labours, there are others who make it their life’s work to tear down other people’s faiths.

Very often it is Islam that is on the receiving end. Almost every day emails are circulated among millions of people. They denigrate this religion, painting it as being a vile and evil belief practiced by bad people. Almost every day, some new condemnation is cooked up and hurtled at the believers of the religion which’s name means peace.

People often forward these emails without even trying to ascertain where they originate. After all, with our busy daily schedules, who has the time to do so? But sometimes, it pays to see whose message it is we are spreading.

This email was originated from an American-based anti-Muslim website that spews venom, oozes hate and calls for violence against Muslims. All those who don’t subscribe to this stance, including the F.B.I. and even President Obama, are considered enemies.

To put it simply, it is the American-Christian equivalent of Al Qaeda’s propaganda machine and recruitment spiel. “It’s us against them. We are on the side of God, they are the evil Satan. It’s a Holy War. Defend your faith against these infidels, blah, blah, blah.”

Isn’t it amazing though that these defenders of the faith, be they Christian or Muslim or whatever, are always eager to point a damning digit at someone else but ready to make excuses for their own skeletons?

Take this crusader for example. He’s so eager to point out that Muhammad married a child bride. Does he mention that Mary, the mother of Christ, was married when she was about 13 or 14? Granted, Christian dogma states she was a virgin and remained one till she was assumed into heaven. The point, though, is that she was a child bride too, right? What about King David,
who sent a man to his death simply because he coveted his wife? Not very nice, is it?

The email also spoke and criticized the fact that the Prophet had more than one wife. What about King Solomon, who was said to have had a thousand wives and concubines? What about the Mormons of today, who believe in polygamous marriages?

Islam was spread through the sword? What about the Spanish Inquisition? What about the great Hindu empires of the past? What about the pilgrim fathers in America, who brought Christianity, disease and big guns with them on their boats to the New World?

Many of the practices of yore seem weird, barbaric or inhumane by today’s standards. The Egyptian gods and pharaohs married their own siblings. Hindu widows would commit sati, immolating themselves on their husbands’ funeral pyres. Pagan Romans used to serve lions a diet of Christian du jour.

But upon closer inspection, most of the things that happened then often did so for a good reason, if only people would take the time to learn what those reasons are. For example, women got married younger because life expectancies were much lower. Looking at everything through modern eyes would be to get a cock-eyed view of the past.

What really bites is that it is Islam that continues to be demonized. The responsibility for acts committed by some deluded souls is placed squarely on the collective head of the whole global Muslim community. Muslims and Islam is painted with broad brush strokes as being hate-filled, violent, terrorists and extremists.

Yes, some Muslims are jerks. I mean, we had a whole bunch of them dragging a severed cow’s head on the streets of Shah Alam recently. But some Christians are jerks too. There are also Hindus who are jerks, just as there are jerks in Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism and just about every other religion under the sun. They’d probably be jerks even if they were agnostic!

These card-carrying defenders need to realise that most religions have a spotted history. You can’t go through centuries and millennia of existence without slathering yourself in ignominy at some point or the other. So, for every finger that you point at other people, you’d find four more pointing back at you.

It would be better if these physicians healed themselves.