Accusations against Islam are not something new but since 9/11 have found new heights. The latest attack has come in the shape of a newly published book named “Infidel” written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, which is her autobiography.

She was born in Somalia in 1969, the daughter of a warlord. Because of her father’s opposition to the government, the family went into exile, first to Saudi Arabia and then to Kenya. She and her family faced harsh conditions both in the form of forced religion and racial discriminations there. In 1992, she was forced to marry with a Somalian from Canada and on her way to join him, she stopped off in Germany and arrived in the Netherlands.  To get asylum she lied about her full name, age and country and she was granted Dutch citizenship. In 2003 she became the Member of Parliament of Netherlands. In 2004, she wrote “Submission” a short and highly controversial film about female oppression under Islam that led to the murder of Theo van Gogh, its director. In 2006, Dutch media reported about her false claims about asylum and citizenship. The Dutch government cost doubts about her status as a Dutch national and after facing various allegations on this matter she moved to USA where she is working as a fellow at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute in Washington DC.

She lost her faith in Islam and changed her religion in 2002. She believes that Islam is a “backward religion,” cruel and a form of “the new fascism.” According to her, “Violence is inherent in Islam — it's a destructive, nihilistic cult of death. It legitimates murder." Muslims believe that Quran is a literal word of God but she has said “Quran is not a holy document. It is a historical record, written by humans. . . . It spreads a culture that is brutal, bigoted, fixated on controlling women, and harsh in war."

Quran is a big book which provides details about the things in life. Under the Islamic teachings the simple meanings of the verses used in Quran are not enough, for better understanding Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) has explained particulars of Quran with details and most of the Muslims follow two things as principles of Islam, Quran and Sunnah (Sayings and actions of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). Every verse in the Quran has been explained with full details in many Tafsirs (explanations) written by many Muslim scholars under the guidelines provided by the Prophet.

Islam gives Muslims the right to protect themselves against any kind of aggressions but it strongly prohibits the killing of someone because of their religion. There are absolutely no orders to kill innocents in Quran and Sunnah. But still people find verses in Quran about War and killings, than few persons will take those verses - completely out of the contexts- and use them for their own purposes. Someone will use the same to kill others in the name of Islam because they feel Quran orders them to do it, and people like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the so called intellectual, would use it to fright non-Muslims that beware Muslims are coming to behead you. One can understand that both are on the wrong side and using Quran for their own intentions.

But who is responsible for these and many other ill-concepts about Islam?  Only West! No, Muslims are more responsible than anyone else for these misconceptions about Islam and Quran. The main reason behind all this is the ignorance in many parts of the Muslim world.

Learning is the basic part of Islam and it is not associated with religious education only. So from early days of Islam (from 6^th century) Muslims started taking a keen interest in education. That continued for centuries and Muslims produced some great scholars, researchers. Muslim part of the world was a hub of knowledge and the work of Muslim scholars, scientists laid down the foundation of many new areas of learning.

But gradually Muslims relinquished the good work done by their forefathers. In the mean time, West started to wakeup and by the 18^th century, Muslims were defeated in many parts of the world and their countries were also occupied by Europeans. Most of the Muslim countries regained independence around the middle of 20th century but education system is still far behind - if compared to the rest of the world - in terms of standards and literacy rates. In fact, Muslim world finds itself languishing at the bottom of world literacy rates and there is no university in the entire Muslim world which could be ranked amongst the top global universities.

The point is clear that from hundreds of years Muslims are away from a proper education system which resulted in addition of many bad customs and traditions in their societies. Though those things had no relation with Islamic teachings still prevails and Ayaan Hirsi Ali and many others were born in the same era under the same worst conditions.  But does that mean situation was bad there due to Islam only? Many African countries are non-Islamic but still face the same kind of corruption, tyranny, women rights and customs as in Muslim African countries. But why, if bad things are only linked with Islam why they are having the same conditions?

I fully agree that there are many things wrong in Muslim world but with that I fully believe that it is not due to Islam. Islam does not teach anyone to force someone to do things or to be corrupt. If Islam is a brutal religion, then why do many notable and highly educated persons in the West embrace it? Did someone force them to do it or they started killing people after changing their old religion? The answer is no.  Ms. Ali has also admitted that most of the Muslims don’t want to kill others and want to live peacefully. But if few people are doing bad things in the name of Islam, how can she and other critics of Islam have determined that the fault is in the religion?

Indeed, the fault is not in the religion but it’s in the thinking of those people who wrongly associating bad things with Islam.