A message that i sent to Sam Harris in response to a debate he had with Robert Wright.



The link to the debate on youtube :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y2YidHb65A

My message in response :

Dear Mr. Sam Harris My name is Muhammad and I'm writing to you after watching one of your debates with Mr. Robert Wright. Since the debate was long and a lot was said, many thoughts came rushing through my mind as both of you spoke. Of course thoughts which are based upon my personal point of view which in its turn is based on what i know Islam and Muslims to be. I am no scholar in any subject, nor do i claim to understand every detail of my belief system ( Islam ). Sometimes i am not even able to explain to myself " why am i certain that there is a God?". However, I don't see why is it necessary to comprehend all the details and the rationals behind every law and tradition that muslims do or abide by. I have lived in three different countries in three different continents in four different languages and a diversity of cultures. I never felt the need to understand all the laws and traditions within those systems. And i got along just fine understanding only that which for me is both relevant and understandable. Under absolutely no circumstances do i support the killing or the harming of anybody. (except justly by the authorities and only to prevent further damages to other people that will certainly come from that person). The reason I decided to write this letter is that my wife and I are peaceful people. The thousands of muslims i personally know are wonderful people. My wife has a hair cover ( born to a christian mother and a communist agnostic father, and chose to embrace the islamic tradition willingly a few years before she met me, so that there is no way she did it for me or for anyone else except for herself). I was beaten by a bunch of racist thugs, who were jewish, because i'm an arab/muslim/Palestinian decedent, on a beach in the state of Israel. I am sure those guys also were certain that muslims are bad and dangerous and that Islam is a major danger to them because they are free and prosperous! My wife is terrified when she walks alone in the streets of Stockholm, Sweden, where she was born and raised, because not once, muslim women were beaten by racists who also are certain that muslims are a danger and harming them is justified. To support your claim you cited a survey that shows 34% percent of british muslims between the ages of 19-34 believe that whomever leaves the faith should be killed ! Well first i'm glad to hear that the majority does not believe so. and then later, very swiftly, you said that the vast majority of these 34% would not act upon this belief and would not kill someone who leaves the faith. It is ridiculous to what extent muslims, and religious people in general, have no clue about the context of things they believe in. Instead of using this statistic in making people aware of the danger of muslims, i would use it to explain that even muslims don't understand their belief system. Probably because they never dig deep in things which are not relevant to them. I read the Quran, in arabic, my mother tongue, among the 6000 verses, there were a handfull of verses ( that talk about violence )that did stop me and made me read them again. The impression i got from the context of these verses has nothing of relevance to me what so ever. They need to be discussed on a high level with theologians and linguists. But certainly with me, the average person, they have nothing to do. "Muslims are bad and dangerous" = Muslims portrayed in a negative way = Muslims killed, left to die, beaten, not hired, discriminated against, slurred, hated or at least looked at suspiciously. In your debate with Mr. Wright, you left me with this impression, and i am sure that many non-muslims got the same impression too and i can only hope that no one will act upon that impression in trying to harm those Dangerous muslim men, women and children. I heard many people who intentionally portray muslims as negative and dangerous, but i never bothered because they are doing it intentionally. But when i got this feeling from your discourse, knowing certainly that you have no intention in being either a racist or a discriminant, that's when i felt the need to share with you my genuine feelings. In the end i wanted to also point out that there are many things with muslims and arabs that are wrong. Did you know an arab (muslim or christian) might kill a person for referring to his sister in a slur? Most arabs ( muslims and christians ) that i know personally do not even dare to consider the option that God does not exist! While my western friends ( muslims and christians ) are more than willing to discuss God with an open mind. I personally detest arranged marriage. In many muslim societies arranged marriage is still dominant and girls do not get to chose their life partner. But this phenomenon is even wider spread in India among hundreds of millions of hindus. and not for a religious reason but for cultural reasons ( including throwing acid on the faces of women who are rebellious). therefore i would not dismiss these problems as " because of the religion ". I would rather treat these people with pity rather than hold them accountable for things they were marinated in and never even dared to reflect on. Thank you for your time and thank you for your work. i really appreciate your open mind. Muhammad Sweden