Letter: Clarifying Quran’s take on jihad, Allah

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2006 | 7:27 a.m.

I'll try answering letter writer Brian Ascenzo's questions on the Quran ("In search of direct Quran passages," Oct. 16). I'm not Muslim; haven't read Quran in Arabic; and under Islamic law haven't really read it. Still, I'll try. My graduate adviser, whose method I follow, was French Jesuit cultural theorist Michel de Certeau. His "way of proceeding" required these steps: (1) resist chauvinism; (2) memorize ancient map of region; map military/missionary activity for 14 centuries; (3) predict anomalies; (4) read noncomparatively.

"Jihad" means (Sura 2:190): "Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah loves not transgressors." Repel attackers (in Saudi Arabia; Iraq; Afghanistan) within attack limits. With time, "aggressors" expand globally (oil). This answers the first question. The answer to the second (Must followers kill all nonbelievers?) is then no (also to the third: Are all infidels combatants?) Quran mentions Israel: "O Children of Israel: Remember the favor I have bestowed upon you and that I exalted you above the nations" (122) (answer to fourth). Finally, Quran states: "We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto Us [sic] and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received ...." (2:136).

So, Mr. Ascenzo, Allah (your God) doesn't hate you.

Sherry Rosenthal, Las Vegas