I read the Guardian story, and I saw some of the 'letters from readers' about the issue. One pointed out that a lot of the reason for the fright middle class UK feels is the way the Koran gets translated so many different ways. For example, this was one letter ...
"Could this fear of Islam, for this is what it appears to be, have something to do with ever larger numbers of people reading the Koran? Why should they? Well, if people were less willing to take for granted what they read, hear or watch in the media such a situation could arise. For instance, I read a board held by suicide bomber. This, I was told by a reporter, was a verse taken from the Koran. Sure that this was not so, I decided to investigate for myself. I was immediately intrigued to find that there are many translations of the Koran. It took some time butI eventually confirmed that the verse I had read on the television came from Shakir's tranalation of verse 9:30, which reads: "And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!" I have since found a number of verses which seem either racist, bigotted or seem to call for the killing of non-Muslims, some even appearing to call for the destruction of the very societies which have given Muslims sanctuary.
If Muslims could state that the Koran is a history book and that they no longer support the violent verses contained within it it would go a long way to relieving the anxieties of many who do try to understand the religion."
I read the Guardian story, and I saw some of the 'letters from readers' about the issue. One pointed out that a lot of the reason for the fright middle class UK feels is the way the Koran gets translated so many different ways. For example, this was one letter ...
"Could this fear of Islam, for this is what it appears to be, have something to do with ever larger numbers of people reading the Koran? Why should they? Well, if people were less willing to take for granted what they read, hear or watch in the media such a situation could arise. For instance, I read a board held by suicide bomber. This, I was told by a reporter, was a verse taken from the Koran. Sure that this was not so, I decided to investigate for myself. I was immediately intrigued to find that there are many translations of the Koran. It took some time butI eventually confirmed that the verse I had read on the television came from Shakir's tranalation of verse 9:30, which reads: "And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!" I have since found a number of verses which seem either racist, bigotted or seem to call for the killing of non-Muslims, some even appearing to call for the destruction of the very societies which have given Muslims sanctuary.
If Muslims could state that the Koran is a history book and that they no longer support the violent verses contained within it it would go a long way to relieving the anxieties of many who do try to understand the religion."