Sir — In the aftermath of every major jihadi attack, such as the one on the editorial offices of Charlie Hebdo, it has become a routine to widely proclaim that Islam, the religion of the perpetrators, has nothing to do with terrorism; that it is peaceful and that its followers are peace-loving.
It’s no one’s case that all Muslims are terrorists. But, it is a fact that radical Islam is the source of inspiration for terror attacks from 9/11 to 7/7 to 26/11. Notably, few intellectuals have had the courage to point fingers at the streaks of intolerance in the Quran and the biography of the Prophet, even though there are several verses that speak of violence against “non-believers”.
For example, Chapter 5/verses 33-34, say: “The only reward of those who wage war upon God and His Messenger...will be that they will be killed or crucified or their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off...”. Two poets, both critical of the Prophet, were also killed. later, the Prophet also praised the killers, according to Maxine Rodinson’s biography of Prophet Mohammed.