Joshua Reicks letter misses a critical point. The graffiti in question was hate speech. It incited people to conduct violent acts against Muslims. That is what “Wipe Out Islam” means. It also spread dangerous misinformation about Islam. It is designed to inspire fear in the target group and to incite violence by members of the majority group.

I know because I was the target of such actions as a Jewish faculty member at Texas Tech, when Nazi hate propaganda was placed under my door, and a picture of Adolf Hitler was pasted on my office door. Whether or not a verbal or written statement is constitutionally protected hinges on whether it incites people to violence. This graffiti seems to do that.

As a professor of Islam and of African religions, however, I cannot sit idly by and let ignorant statements about the religion of Islam be disseminated without a response. The Arabic word “Muslim” comes from the same root word as “salaam.”

It is a cognate of the Hebrew Shalom. Both words mean peace. While the term “Islam” is usually translated as one who submits to the will of God, it can also be translated as one who seeks God’s peace.

I have lived for extended periods of time in such overwhelmingly Muslim countries as Senegal, Gambia, Morocco and Egypt. I have also been received warmly at the Ames Mosque and by Muslims throughout the state of Iowa.

Nowhere in the Quran does it suggest that people are obligated to commit murder. The concept of jihad, incorrectly translated as “holy war,” means struggle. The greater jihad, the greater struggle, is the struggle of faith, to live a life in accord with God’s will.

The lesser jihad, which can include armed struggle, is supposed to be only in defense of the faith, when enemies of Islam prevent people from practicing their faith or seek to transform Islamic societies into non-Muslim ones. It says over and over again in the Quran that God does not like the aggressor. It also forbids attacks on civilians or on nonmilitary property.

Throughout most of its history, Islam has extended religious protection to both Jews and Christians. Our present-day tensions reflect a long period of European and American domination of the Middle East and most of the Islamic world. Centuries of colonization, condescension and the extraction of wealth from the region have encouraged radical elements who have committed violent actions in the name of Islam.

Just as we can not assume that everyone who claims to be a Christian acts in a Christian way or everyone who claims to be a Jew acts in a Jewish way, we can not assume that everyone who claims to be a Muslim follows the religious teachings of Islam.

I urge members of the ISU community to take my course on Islamic Civilization this spring. It is far better to understand the religion of your neighbor than to write hate-filled graffiti or to defend this type of hate speech.

Robert M. Baum

Associate Professor

Religious Studies