(This article was written in 1992. It is reproduced here for the benefit of our patrons world-wide)

Poisonous Propaganda
Time magazine, in its June 15, 1992 issue, once again gave itself the "freedom" to pour forth its venom against Islam and Muslims. Its front cover and headlines were enough for any independent-minded person to grasp the depth of its hatred for Muslims. The front cover showed a minaret on the left hand side and a person holding a gun on the right hand side with the gun towering over the minaret. Since the main article was "The Sword of Islam", it would perhaps have been more instructive to show the sword rather than the gun, and the sword could have been drawn side by side with the thousands of nuclear bombs of USA. Then the question in the front page headline "Islam: Should the World Be Afraid?" would have been answered without writing a word. But Time magazine obviously had other aims. It wanted to have a go and as usual it spread its poison with rare abandon, as the following sentences and phrases indicate.... "terrorism, intolerance and revolution for export - the revival movement's three scourges", "Algeria suppressed the Islamic Salvation Front with a vengeance in January", "austere dictates of Islamic law", "repression without fervor" and "The wild card of Kabul".

It is happy to quote non-Muslims about Islam, especially those trained in Western universities. Once again, Salman Rushdie, the heretic is paraded as a hero of the West. Abdul Rashid Dostam, the militia leader who formerly supported the deposed communist chief of Afghanistan, Najibullah, is preferred by Time over other Afghani leaders. Apparently, any Muslim who at any time has been somehow corrupted with non-Muslim ideas is to be preferred to a Muslim who has not been so corrupted. In the same vein, Rashid Gannouchi, the exiled leader of the Tunisian Muslim movement, En-Nahda, is proudly assessed as a moderate. But there is ambivalence towards the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. He has surely "reformed" and is cultivating economic ties with the West but he has not revoked "the fatwa" of blasphemy against Rushdie. Even Saudi Arabia, which keeps Western economies afloat with its oil wealth, is not spared but is branded as sectist with a bedouin culture... "Saudi Arabia, though transformed on the margin by its oil wealth, remains in spirit at least a Bedouin culture that adheres to the 18th century brand of Islamic puritanism founded by Wahhabi revivalists, in alliance with the House of Saud".

Why this unceasing hate propaganda against Islam and Muslims, it might be asked, especially at a time when the West is trying to atone for its crimes against other peoples it oppressed and annihilated through centuries, like the Aborigines, the blacks, and the Jews? For example, at the present moment, euphemisms like "short-list" and "parallel market" are used for what used to be "black list" and "black market", so as not to hurt the feelings of blacks. It is true that while such cosmetic changes are taking place, the poor and the oppressed continue to be trampled. But the way the likes of Time seethe against Islam is something else. Some reasons for such behaviour immediately spring to mind.

1. It is an exercise in deception, to turn the attention of the public away from the real issues.

2. Time magazine is just giving vent to its pent up frustrations.

3. The secularist ideology has almost killed Christianity, but has not been able to shake the staunch faith of a billion Muslims. Time magazine is bewildered at this and its utter helplessness leads to such outbursts.

4. The inequalities and injustices of secularism are leading more and more people to accept Islam worldwide and such an attack on Islam is seen by Time as necessary to counter this.

I will elaborate on each of these in turn.

• Poisonous Propaganda
• An Excercise in Deception
• Time Magazine Gives Vent to Frustrations
• Secularism Has Destroyed Christianity
• Islam Has Stood The Test Of Time
• Muslim Beliefs and Actions Both Superior
• Islam Completes Women's Liberation