I refer to the letter Bring back rational Islam.

I share the writer's concern about the lack of rational debate in Islamic society be it anywhere in the world. It is the same everywhere. It appears that rationality has become a 'Western plot'. In Islam, no one is allowed to be rational because that is what the West does and Islam hates the West.

Hating the West is an irrational emotion to begin with. Opposed to rational thinkers in the West are some Muslims who seem intent on avoiding rationality and instead concentrate on practicing emotional knee-jerk reactionism - like startled rabbits they shoot off in any direction at the slightest noise.

My other concern about the writer's letter is that he or she seems to think that the situation was once different. But that is looking backwards. There never was a time when rational debate was allowed to guide the Islamic population at large unlike in the West.

What little rational debate that did take place was only allowed by the permission of some Caliph or other, a little bit like the Roman Catholic Pope permitting the debate on whether the world was round or flat.

The moment the debate began to make the flat earth proponents look bad, the debate was curtailed. The same in Islam today. The moment a debate looks like challenging some theory held dear by some self-proclaimed 'mullah', it is either cut short or a government moves in to silence the opposition.

It would seem that today, rationality is the furthest thing from Muslims' collective mind.