How do Muslims think? A Navy buddy of mine thinks he knows, and to make sure I do too he forwards messages like the one below. Please don’t miss my reply to the message, immediately following.
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the message forwarded to me:
By Dr. Arieh Eldad an M.D. at Hadassah Hospital in Israel
I was instrumental in establishing the “Israeli National Skin Bank”, which is the largest in the world. The National Skin Bank stores skin for every day needs as well as for war time or mass casualty situations.
This skin bank is hosted at the Hadassah Ein Kerem University hospital in Jerusalem where I was the Chairman of plastic surgery.
This is how I was asked to supply skin for an Arab woman from Gaza , who was hospitalized in Soroka Hospital in Beersheva, after her family burned her. Usually, such atrocities happen among Arab families when the women are suspected of having an affair.
We supplied all the needed Homografts for her treatment. She was successfully treated by my friend and colleague, Prof. Lior Rosenberg and discharged to return to Gaza .
She was invited for regular follow-up visits to the outpatient clinic in Beersheva.
One day she was caught at a border crossing wearing a suicide belt.She meant to explode herself in the outpatient clinic of the hospital where they saved her life. It seems that her family promised her that if she did that, they would forgive her.
This is only one example of the war between Jews and Muslims in the Land of Israel . It is not a territorial conflict. This is a civilizational conflict, or rather a war between civilization & barbarism. Bibi (Netanyahu) gets it, Obama does not. I have never written before asking everyone to please forward onwards so that as many as possible can understand radical Islam and what awaits the world if it is not stopped.
Dr Arieh Eldad
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my reply concerning the message:
Dear Chief,
I read this message entitled “How Muslims Think.” At the end of the article the author refers to “radical Islam”. Not all Muslims practice “honor killing,” the killing of women who have suffered rape or been accused of extra-marital relations. To use the author’s phrase, “radical” Muslims do this, that is, those who adhere to rules which oppress women by letting men off the hook in matters of sexual relations. Islam is not the ideology responsible for such oppression of women. Rather, a mysogynist form of patriarchy is . And this radical form of patriarchy is found in many of the world’s great religions, including Christianity.
Please do not forward such messages which paint all Muslims with the same brush. Kindly Christians object when they are lumped together with bad-actors who call themselves Christian but don’t deserve the name. Kindly Muslims also rightfully object when they are lumped together with murderous terrorists or mysogynists.
After retiring, Chief, I asked my denomination to commission me as an interfaith peacemaker. In that work I make it my business to make friends of people from other religions. I have made a special effort to make friends among Muslims, because after 9-11 I realized that the kindly Muslims in America would be under suspicion. I know many kindly Muslims in Delaware. They are just as much opposed to terrorism and mistreatment of women as you are, Christian friend. If you want to read about how Delaware Muslims are cooperating with people of other faiths to make a more peaceful and just society, please visit my blog at www.interfaithreflections.com.
Thanks,
— Tom
Peace be unto you
Thanks Tom for your kindly words for the remarks made by this unG’dly person. You know SATAN is a busy mind set and we must Stand tall against his fight against Humanity.
Love, Truth,Peace,Freedom and Justice for all of Humanity.
Thanks, Umar and Irfan for your continuing work in interfaith peacemaking. I would like to add a comment in response to Umar’s characterization of the author of the forwarded message as “ungodly.” I don’t sit easy with that. Sometimes we feel that we are following God’s will, or to put it another way, that “God is on our side,” but later, after experiencing affairs from the standpoint of a former enemy, we come to see that our earlier opinion was insufficiently informed, and that our enemy’s love for God was perhaps no less genuine than ours. We may be blessed by this opening of awareness when warring ceases, and years quiet grief and silence grievances. I received such a blessing when I returned to Vietnam forty years after fighting there. At one time I might have sat comfortably with the phrase “godless Communists,” but I no longer perceive my former enemy as ungodly. Perhaps one day we shall receive such clearer awareness with regard to the present raging conflict in Israel-Palestine.
Tom,
Thanks for an apt response to this message. Interfaith dialog is the need of the hour. As we have seen hatred and misinformation campaign is too easy to spread but we can together counter that through dialog and mutual respect towards people of all faith. Thanks again!
Dear Tom, during this Blessed month of Ramadan, we are constantly reminded of the sacrifice and suffering our Holy Prophet Muhammad (SWT) endured among the backward and barbaric Arab Bedouins of his day as he converted the whole of a peninsula and more to civilized belief in the One God. If he were alive today, he would be waging the same battle against those who call themselves his “followers.” Mercy killings of baby girls and backward misogynistic customs of that day and time have managed to survive centuries of reform.
I can not thank you enough for recognizing those who fall victim to a very narrow and extreme form of one’s distorted belief in Islam. Just as slavery in this country massaged into place a very distorted view of family and community life for African American, so has the “concentration-style restrictions” that Israel has placed on the people of Gaza. Feeling trapped and relegated to a meager way of life, creates pressures on the social fabric of any community. The good doctor should try more to understand the hate and barbarism of his own Jewish community before labeling the emotional “mindset” of an entire religious community.
Dear Abdullah,
Abdullah, thank you for a comment that adds very important detail to this post concerning misognistic practices among some Muslims. I hear some Christians complaining that moderate Muslims do not speak out. They are, of course, mistaken. Voices such as yours are loud and clear among interfaith activists. Unfortunately they get less media attention than vitriolic ones. Amateur journalists–bloggers, photojournalists, video makers, etc.–need to educate the public toward more critical insights.
Excellent! Thank you very much for your work, Tom.
It is a true inspiration for the rest of us to continue our efforts in this direction.
Thanks for leaving a comment, Anvar. My Christian friends, my wife and grandchildren enjoyed your Iftar hospitality so much! You too are doing excellent work in local interfaith peacemaking. As the Israel-Palestine situation grows more grave, and some voices for justice take on a self-righteous surity, pro-active interfaith dialogue becomes more and more essential for the preservation of a civil society. Keep up your good work in the American-Turkish Friendship Association!
TCDavis recently posted…How Do Muslims Think?
Peace be unto you/ASA
Thanks Abduallah for putting my statements with facts that i called Un-G’dly. For sure when you take someone else land and call it yours, kill women and children :etc; i still stand by what I said in my earlier statement.
Thanks, Tom, for your piece and for the discussion that it is generating.
Cesar
Thanks, Cesar. I appreciate your efforts to broaden pastoral services at the hospital so that children of families from many faith traditions find the support they need in times of crisis.
TCDavis recently posted…How Do Muslims Think?