Dispatch From the Religion of Peace

That title usually signals a snarky post on my part, highlighting some terrible atrocity committed in the name of Islam. Well, not today.

Here is a very nice post by an Iraqi named Alaa:

Congratulations to all our Christian brothers and peoples around the world on Easter Holiday. I have recently discovered a saying attributed to the prophet Mohammed (PBU) that may surprise some of you quite understandably, in view of the present day practices of our contemporary “Khawarij” heretics. “What is religion but love”, the prophet is reported to have said. What a revelation! This is a statement of a prophet, i.e. a tenet and precept of the faith. It follows that any act of hatred and violence inspired by vengeance or spite is against religious faith. Even an act of War must not be inspired by hatred but by quite opposite sentiments; hence “Love thy enemy”, the famous concept of Christianity, can be understood in this context.

It's worth remembering that their are people like this out there, we are helping them, and they appreciate it. Blogger Ali (from Baghdad), on the second anniversary of the fall of Saddam's statue:

Two years now and "they" still wonder
And "they" still ask Was it worth it?
Was it right?
Two years and it seems to me Like it was yesterday
Two years and "they" keep trying
To silence the voice inside us
Yet it only grows louder

[...]

Two years since I started dreaming
Dreams that have a chance
And are becoming true
Two years since I regained my heart
And then I found her...
And she found me...
And the world looked beautiful!
And "they" think they can separate us?!
Think again, or keep wishing.

[...]

Two years and some are still
Trapped in the past
And some cannot withstand the moment
And want to arrive without struggle to a better future
While others just enjoy what is already better now
And work to meet the future, bettered with them.
Two years and they ask Should I be grateful?
Am I?
Do I even need to answer that!?
YES, and to the last breath!

The whole poem is here.