The Koran states, "It was thanks to God's mercy that you dealt so leniently with them. Had you been cruel or hard-hearted, they would have surely deserted you. Therefore pardon them and implore God to forgive them . . . put your trust in God. God loves those that are trustful" (p. 56, 3:159). This is a teaching of the Koran that is very hard to live by when something as terrible as the September 11th tragedy occurred. It is very hard to forgive those that conduct such a horrific deed, those that have so much hatred in their hearts that they are impossible to love. How are we to forgive an act that we don't even truly understand?
             The Koran clearly says that Allah approves of Muslims' engaging in war, but Islamic law is essentially a law of peace, where war is just and permissible only as a defensive measure, on grounds that are extremely necessary (text, 375). How do these Muslim extremists justify the extreme necessity to murder thousands of innocent people? Maybe it is because they see all Americans as the evil they are trying to escape from. The Koran does state, "Believers, do not make friends with any but your own people. They will spare no pains to corrupt you" (p. 52, 3:118). These extremists feel that we are corrupting them, and that by destroying us, they are following the word of Allah. They do not see Americans as individual people who have different views from each other. They don't see what is in our hearts. They only see what is on the outside. They justify this discriminatory practice with the Koran. "The wrongdoers will be known by their looks . . ." (P. 377, 55:35). The terrorists do not see our individuality. They see us a "white people" trying to destroy their faith, and since the Koran views war as just and permissible, then their acts of terror are justified because of the ultimate end. They see the end
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