To the editor:

While I appreciate the response from Maura and Jarek Piekalkiewicz, I think their clarification fell short. Their statement: “The term ‘Islamists’ that we used in our previous letter derives from the well-defined name of a monistic political ideology — Islamism, widely used in professional literature, similar to such terms as Communism and Fascism” (Public Forum, Aug. 3) is the core of my alarm at their previous letter. The terms “Islamist” and “Islamism” were introduced into literature by “Islamophobes” claiming not to be anti-Muslim, but their definition encompasses the majority of Muslims, thus subjecting all Muslims to hate, bias, bigotry and harassment. Islam IS an ideology and a way of life that permeates every aspect of every minute of Muslims’ lives. That is not different from many other religions that have political influences on their followers. To equate Islam with Communism or Fascism is a great injustice.

Their use of the term “Muhammadan religion” is unfortunate. This term is considered derogatory by Muslims. Islam is a universal religion practiced by one-fourth of the world’s population and takes pride in not being named after any individual even if it is the prophet and the messenger, who himself asked not to attribute it to him.

Not to belabor the point, I hope we can agree that the safety and protection of our nation should depend on the appropriate authorities holding individuals or groups accountable for their actions, not for their belief or ideology. If we deviate from that we risk turning our country into a police state protected by an Orwellian “thought police.”

Moussa Elbayoumy,

director,

Islamic Society of Lawrence