USA: Let’s Teach About Islam in Our Schools, Rabbi Says

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This is essential because there exists in our country among all Americans—whether Jews, Christians, people of other faiths, or non-believers—a huge and profound ignorance about Islam.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch |
Source/Credit: TIME |
By Eric H. Yoffie | December 23, 2014

We Americans need to teach about Islam in our public schools.

This is essential because there exists in our country among all Americans—whether Jews, Christians, people of other faiths, or non-believers—a huge and profound ignorance about Islam.

It is not that stories about Islam are missing from our media; there is no shortage of voices prepared to tell us that fanaticism and intolerance are fundamental to Islamic religion, and that violence and even suicide bombing have deep Koranic roots. There is no lack of so-called experts who are eager to seize on any troubling statement by any Muslim thinker and pin it on Islam as a whole. Thus, it has been far too easy to spread the image of Islam as enemy, as terrorist, as the frightening unknown.

How did this happen?

Part of the reason is the ignorance to which I referred. Part of the reason is the relatively modest number of Muslims in our country, preventing most Americans from forming the kind of friendships with Muslims that foster tolerance and understanding. Part of the reason is the sensationalist nature of our 24-hour news cycle. And part of the reason is the undeniable fact that there exists a radical fringe of Muslim fanatics who kill in the name of God and foment hatred of America and the West, subverting Islam’s image by professing to speak in its name.

But as the small number of Muslim extremists becomes ever more skilled at commanding attention and manipulating the media for their own purposes, it becomes more important for the rest of us to avoid tarring all Muslims with the brush of fanaticism. This means rejecting the stereotyping of Islam, categorically and unequivocally. This means recognizing that normative Islam, which has a billion adherents, is a religion that promotes kindness and compassion, opposes violence, and promotes a middle way between extremes. This means speaking up when American bigots demonize Muslims and bash Islam. And this means, above all, educating Americans in a serious way about the teachings of Islam.

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