Most scholars -- and President Bush -- insisted that the new enemy was not Islam as a whole but a radical extreme wing of so-called Islamists. But recently, one after another, prominent evangelical Christians have been condemning all Islam, the Qur'an, its interpretations (the Hadith), and the Prophet Muhammad. Is that hate speech? Is it dangerous? Is there any truth to it? Lucky Severson reports.
LUCKY SEVERSON: In October in Solapar, India, what started as a protest against the Reverend Jerry Falwell turned into a deadly riot that killed eight and injured 90. The evangelist had called Muhammad -- the founder of Islam -- a terrorist. Critics say Falwell's remarks create hate and fear.JOHN ESPOSITO (Professor of Islam, Georgetown University): It perpetuates this theology of hate, which is very dangerous. They are not violent people. But their level of intolerance can in fact feed violent actions.
SEVERSON: Reverend Falwell later retracted his remark, but Georgetown professor John Esposito, an expert on Islam, says the damage had already been done.
Professor ESPOSITO: America increasingly has been viewed as waging a war against the Muslim world. That gets played internationally and reinforces the perception overseas that the Bush administration must be waging this kind of war because Mr. Bush, the attorney general, many leading members of Congress are born-again Christians and members of the Christian Right, and these ministers are spokespersons for the Christian Right.
SEVERSON: Falwell joins a growing chorus of Christian Right commentators and ministers condemning Islam. The Reverend Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, has repeatedly called Islam evil.
Reverend FRANKLIN GRAHAM (Evangelist): The God of Islam is not the same God of the Christian or the Judeo-Christian faith. It is a different God, and I believe a very evil and a very wicked religion.Reverend MOODY ADAMS (Evangelist): I like Muslim people. Those that I have known. I think they are very nice people. I think they are being victimized by a very, very dangerous book -- the Qur'an.
SEVERSON: The Reverend Moody Adams travels from his home in Louisiana to churches as far away as Africa. The evangelist preaches not so much about the Bible but the Qur'an.
Rev. ADAMS: When a Christian kills, he's disobeying Scripture, and he's refusing to follow the example of his leader, Jesus Christ. When a Muslim kills, he's obeying his Scripture. He's following the example of his leader, Muhammad.SEVERSON: Hussein Ibish heads the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. And he is very worried about what he sees as the spread of hatred and suspicion.
HUSSEIN IBISH (American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee): The kind of defamation we see coming from the religious Right and other social conservatives really has produced a climate of anxiety and suspicion that makes people very vulnerable and feel exposed.
SEVERSON: But it is no longer only Christian conservatives who are speaking out. Robert Spencer, a Catholic writer, has just published a book called ISLAM UNVEILED. And he agrees with what the religious Right has said about Islam, but says their comments have gone too far.
ROBERT SPENCER (Author, ISLAM UNVEILED): Overstated as they were, there was a core of truth in many of them that people are overlooking because of the way they were represented.SEVERSON: The vast majority of religious leaders denounce the attacks on Islam, but still the number and volume are increasing.
Some scholars say the attacks have always been there, but 9/11 brought them out in the open. Pat Robertson, the religious broadcaster, describes Muhammad as an absolute wild-eyed fanatic -- "a killer." And then he's invited on the Sunday talk shows to talk about it.
Prof. ESPOSITO: They get national coverage and often there is no one to respond to the fallacies of what they are saying.
Mr. IBISH: They're getting away with saying this stuff and still being respectable.President GEORGE BUSH: Islam as practiced by the vast majority of people is a peaceful religion.
SEVERSON: The president has spoken publicly on behalf of Islam and against hatred at least 17 times since September 11. Critics say it's the attorney general who has dropped the ball.
Prof. ESPOSITO: If anybody ought to be saying something, it is the attorney general. It is well known that he is a member of the Christian Right.
Little crimes and big ones spawned by ignorance and hate. In Mesa, Arizona, two men allegedly shot and killed an Indian gas station owner because they thought he was a Muslim. In Ohio, a man crashed his car into the Islamic Center of Cleveland.
SEVERSON: With the exception of the bombing in Oklahoma, where Muslims were instantly and wrongly suspect, in nearly every terrorist attack against the U.S. or U.S. citizens, the suspects have been Muslim. That includes the assassination of the American diplomat in Jordan, and the killers of the young American missionary shot recently in Lebanon. Hussein Ibish says it's only a small minority of Muslims who use the Qur'an to justify terrorism.
Prof. ESPOSITO: They will quote the passage that says, "slay the unbelievers wherever you find them." They don't quote the full passage. They don't quote the end of the passage where it says, "and when the unbelievers cease to threaten you, when they cease, then remember that God is [com]passionate and you have to stop fighting."
Mr. SPENCER: There are modern Muslim elements, and certainly they are formulating new understandings of the Qur'an and the Hadith that are necessary to neutralize this kind of violence. As of yet they do not have very much influence within the Islamic world.
