The fact that the New York Times was willing to publish the following
letter was a pleasant surprise. But as you can see in the published
version of my letter, it changed my point that in a mere seventy-nine years
Islam’s forces had conquered from the Iberian Peninsula to the Indus
Valley to two centuries. I found that quite troubling. I don’t know whether
that change was due to historical ignorance or considerations of political
correctness concerning Islam. If the latter, it is another disturbing sign of
where things are going in this country.
4 West Eden Court
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108
Tel. 734/477-9942
February 18, 2015
letters@nytimes.com
To the Editor:
The statement by the Danish Prime Minister which Roger Cohen
cites in his February 17, 2015 column that, “We are not in the
middle of a battle between Islam and the West” ignores the real
possibility that the nub of the problem is embedded in Islam
itself as suggested by centuries of the historical record and the
Koran itself.
Within a mere seventy-nine years following Mohammed’s death,
Islam’s forces conquered a region extending from the Iberian
Peninsula to the Indus Valley. After John Adams and Thomas
Jefferson met with Tripoli’s envoy in London in 1786 concerning
the seizure of American ships in the Mediterranean they reported
to John Jay: “We took the liberty to make some inquires concerning
the ground of their pretensions to make war upon nations who had
done them no injury…The Ambassador answered us, that it was
founded on the laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their
Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledge their
authority, were sinners; that it was their right and duty to make
war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves
of all they could take as prisoners; and that every Mussulman who
was slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.” (The Diplomatic
Correspondence of the United States from the Treaty of Peace
to the adoption of the Present Constitution. Vol. II., p. 342)
Considering the litany of events in the West that Cohen cites
following 9/11, it is an abysmal failure of nerve exhibited by
most in the West not to confront Islam simply because any and
all discussion is deemed islamophobic, hence unfit to be printed,
or unfit to be dealt with candidly by a Western leader such as
the Prime Minister of Denmark.
Sincerely yours,
John Howard Wilhelm, Ph.D.,
Economics
The Opinion Pages | LETTERS NEW YORK TIMES MARCH 9, 2015
Confronting Islamic Extremism
The statement by the Danish prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, that “we are not in the middle of a battle between Islam and the West” ignores the real possibility that the nub of the problem is indeed embedded in Islam, as suggested by the historical record and the Quran.
Within the first two centuries of Islam’s existence, its forces conquered a region extending from the Iberian Peninsula to the Indus Valley. After John Adams and Thomas Jefferson met with Tripoli’s envoy in London in 1786 concerning the seizure of American ships in the Mediterranean, they reported to John Jay: “We took the liberty to make some inquires concerning the ground of their pretensions to make war upon nations who had done them no injury. … The Ambassador answered us, that it was founded on the laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority, were sinners; that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners; and that every Mussulman who was slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.”
Considering the litany of events in the West that Mr. Cohen cites following 9/11, it is an abysmal failure of nerve exhibited by most in the West not to confront Islam simply because any and all discussion is deemed Islamophobic, hence unfit to be printed, or unfit to be dealt with candidly by a Western leader such as the prime minister of Denmark.
John Howard Wilhelm, Ann Arbor, Mich.MARCH 9, 2015