Rushdie Haunted by his unholy Ghosts — Page 5
Rushdie: Haunted By His Unholy Ghosts 5 as far back as the Middle Ages. He writes in Christianity and the World Religions: For his part, Luther had spoken out in favour of translating and publishing the Qur’an, but only so that everyone could see what an accursed, shameful, desperate book it was, full of lies, fabrications, and all sorts of horrors. (Kung, Christianity and the World Religions p. 20). Hans Kung has tried to give a schematised formula to describe the attitude of Western Christendom, over the centuries, toward Islam, as that which started From ‘Ignorance through Arrogance to Tolerance’. He is not too far off the mark but I think he is being rather gen- erous in implying that Christian scholars are more tolerant now. It may certainly be true of the general public, but the scholarly opinion is more determined than ever to maintain their distorted picture of Islam through their sheer hatred of the religion of Muhammad(sa). A more appropriate schematised formula that could apply to those scholars today would be From Ignorance through Arrogance to Abhorrence! COM PA R ISON OF AT TAC K S A comparison can be drawn between the physical attacks on Islam in its very early years and the contemporary ones. During the time of the Holy Prophet(sa), especially in the various battles, the Muslims were always at a disadvantage. They were outclassed physically; they were fewer in numbers; they were poorly equipped; they had fewer camels and horses; and most of them were untrained in the art of warfare and on the field of battle. The Meccans, however, were far greater in numbers (sometimes in the ratio of 3:1); they had much greater provisions, weapons, horses and camels; and above all, they were all well-trained and seasoned soldiers. But it was the Muslims who were awarded vic- tories time and time again because they were in a different class