"The Burning Question" on the BBC

From DeenPort.com, I learned that the BBC World Service is "asking a number of high-profile figures what they would ask if they could ask just one question - and who they would put it to." After reading Karen Armstrong's response, I thought it was worth repeating:

"I'd like to ask the Prophet Muhammad what he thinks of the current situation.

I think I know what he would say, but I would like Western people to hear the Prophet's abhorrence of these actions done in his name, abhorrence with the intolerance and hatred and violence that he dedicated his life to transcending.

I'd also like to hear him tell Muslims who believe that he would have endorsed these vile actions to look more seriously at the compassion of the Koran.

As for the West, he would say: 'Look at the message of the Koran' - which is all about treating all people equally, and that includes my Muslims in disadvantaged parts of the world who are struggling to make sense of lives in violent and hopeless situations."

Karen Armstrong is the author of numerous books on or related to Islam, including: A History Of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, The Battle for God, Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet, Islam: A Short History, Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today's World, The Gospel According to Woman, and Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths.

Even though I can find plenty to criticize in some of her books, which are generally those that deal with issues closest to the core of Islam, I also feel that Karen Armstrong is a sincere commentator. Although she, like Professor John Esposito, is not the apologist for Islam that those on the Right sometimes make her out to be, she is certainly a welcome sympathetic voice whose books have enriched the on-going dialogue that the world is having about Islam.

Enjoy...