Literal readings of holy texts lead to trouble

Re “Is Islam to blame?” Opinion, July 22

Irshad Manji plays into the hands of the terrorists when she proclaims that the Koran espouses extremism. Like the Bible, the Koran cannot be understood unless one places its verses in historical context.

Literal readings of the Bible inspired the atrocities of the crusaders and conquistadores and give fuel today to right-wing extremists such as the Ku Klux Klan and abortion clinic bombers. Does that mean that the Bible is to blame for evil done by fanatics who willfully chose to ignore the spirit of their holy text?

Muslim scholars have always understood that the verses in the Koran about jihad have to be interpreted with wisdom and common sense. The killing of civilians was clearly forbidden by the Prophet Muhammad, and traditional Muslim scholars have always rejected the murder of noncombatants.

Terrorists intentionally ignore the vast corpus of traditional Islamic law because they are uninterested in its rules -- they seek to kill for their own agenda and won’t be restrained by any holy writ. If Manji wants to persuade Muslims to reject the moderate interpretations of their religion and embrace the idea that the Koran favors terrorism, she will fail to “reform” the faith -- all she will do is radicalize a billion people. Is that what any of us wants?

Kamran Pasha

Los Angeles