When denial can kill

Irshad Manji writes:

Three years ago I asked the political leader of Islamic Jihad in Gaza: "What's the difference between suicide, which the Koran condemns, and martyrdom?" "Suicide," he replied, "is done out of despair. But remember: most of our martyrs today were very successful in their earthly lives." The London bombers had immigrant parents who had worked hard to make something of themselves and several of the 9/11 hijackers came from wealthy families.

While our spokesmen assure us that Islam is an innocent bystander in today's terrorism, those who commit terrorist acts often tell us otherwise. For too long, we Muslims have been sticking fingers in our ears and chanting "Islam means peace" to drown out the negative noise from our holy book. Far better to own up to it.