‘Islam Rising’ Special Report

I read with great interest your special section on Islam. It is truly amazing how little our country really knows about it. Your defining of Jihad as a “struggle” was refreshing. It is important to add the definition of Allah as the Arabic word for “the God,” the creator of all worlds, the very same God of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, not to be thought of as a separate deity.

I was, however, puzzled by the way you referred to the religion of 1 billion adherents as an “ancient faith.” Since Islam developed nearly 600 years after the birth of Christ, and today is the fastest growing religion in the U.S. and the world, that makes it as contemporary as Christianity.

TARIK M. TRAD

Glendale