This refers to the article, “Islam through the looking glass” (June 14) by Sandhya Jain. Tarek Fatah may have be a prolific writer, but he seems to be venting anti-Muslim venom. His assertion that the Prophet was buried single-handedly by his son-in-law and cousin is factually incorrect. There were funeral prayers for him by tens of thousands of people taking turns. There was no funeral procession simply because he was buried in the room where he died and that is where his tomb lies today. Non-Muslims can be forgiven for not knowing this bit of history but it is inexcusable for Muslims to distort history in such manner.
As for Tufail Ahmad's call for reformation in Islam like Christianity, if he knew about the different trajectories of the two faiths, he would not have made such an assertion. Islam has no church and, therefore, has had no inquisitions, witch burnings or crusades. Those that want to write about Islam have every right to disagree with its message but there is no excuse for distortions.