...what you barely know anything about. Shall I start from the beginning? I was in class. Had a discussion with Person A over the Holocaust of Jews in World War II. Suddenly, Person A says (paraphrased), "The same thing would happen if the extremists in Indonesia were to take over the country and implement Syariah Law. What would happen to the Hindus?" I was... stunned, so to speak. We weren't discussing religion, and Person A was definitely not the sort of person who'd you like to have conversations about religion with (not because of Person A's character, but because I barely know this Person A, so discussing such a deep issue to which I feel very strongly about would be awkward, especially since I have a feeling Person A is not too open-minded in these waters) so having Person A suddenly pop this question out no where caught me by surprise. Since there was little relevance to our main topic of discussion, we in-awkwardly proceeded to further divulge the theme at hand. Now, It was only after the discussion that I realised how annoyed I was (to say the least). I was most annoyed because Person A strikes me as a very well-read person. OK, good. But no matter how well read you are, nothing gives you the right to make judgments of my religion when, in fact, judging by what you said, you barely even know anything about Islam. How in the world is implementation of the Syariah supposed to cause another Holocaust? Excuse me? Was Person A seriously comparing Islam - a religion of peace - to Nazism - an ideology of hate? Now, of course, Person A was talking about extremists here and the extremists will do what they do best, which is practically nothing beneficial in the long-term. But really, if Person A were to word the sentence such as, "What if the extremists were to take over Indonesia?" and not "What if the extremists were to implement Syariah Law...?" I would not be as annoyed as I am now. Tell me - what is wrong with the Syariah Law? Is there anything in Islam that discriminates those of other religions? Two incidents that closely relates to two figures very close to the heart of Muslims - one closer than the other, our Prophet and Umar Al-Khattab - comes to mind. Firstly, the one relating to our Prophet. Below is a translation of a covenant between him and the Christian monks of Mount Sinai (lo and behold, is this what discrimination is supposed to mean?) : Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them. No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses. Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate. No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants. No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world). Taken from http://muslim-canada.org/charter1.html

(Apologies, but I can't find the original Arabic text online. In case you're having doubts [manalah tau... muslim-canada.org doesn't look very credible], the document is currently in the keeping of the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul [at least it was there in 1987] according to NY Times [assuming that it is the same document, which I pretty much think it is]) And, the other incident, relating to Umar. When the Ruler of Palestine surrendered the land to Umar, he invited Umar to the Church of Holy Sepulchre (a very sacred site for Christians, which, if I'm not mistaken, is believed by them to be the birthplace of Isa A.S.). When Umar wanted to perform his solat, he went outside of the church and performed it there. When the Ruler asked (in my own words, but I think it is somewhat to similar effect), "Why did you not pray in the church? I would allow it." Umar said (again, in my own words), "I did not pray in the church for fear that later Muslims would turn this place into a mosque because they saw me praying in here." Tell me now, How, then, is Islam comparable to Nazism - an ideology that discriminates people and propagates hate? I blame half of this on the disregard for political correctness and detailed truthfulness in international media. I also blame Muslims for not implementing the correct interpretation of Syariah. I assume that the world hasn't seen real Syariah in a long time, even since the fall of the Khulafa Al-Rasyidin. While we love our fellow Muslims, Saudi Arabia is definitely not a model Muslim nation, and should not be regarded as such by non-Muslims. Now, I am not a believer of pluralism, nor am I saying that all religions are equal*, but we have to realise that the moral of the story is: Never make assumptions or judgments of other people's religions, even if we disagree with the religion down to the very last ritual - only believe things of another religion for which the facts are present. There's no reason to pretend that no "funny" urban legends about other religions exist among some Muslims (just as some urban legends - too widespread, unfortunately - exist of Islam among practitioners of other religions or beliefs) - because it is hypocritic to hate the misconceptions people have of us while at the same time, we endorse the misconceptions people have of others. *To any non-Muslim readers: I believe in religious freedom as outlined by the Qur'an, but I have strong faith in the truthfulness of my own religion, just as you might have of your own. However, I do not mean to be provocative or xenophobic in professing my belief that all religions are not equal - it's just something natural for anyone professing any belief to believe theirs is true while others are otherwise.