It is not surprising that the letter from Arbibi Ashoy has elicited a response such as from Steve Oh . As Kassim SA had pointed out, that the Taliban carried out the killings of the South Koreans does not necessarily make it an Islamic act or carried out in the name of Islam, even if they claim it to be so.

In this case, their stated motive was to get their colleagues released from prison. Where Arbibi and Oh differ is in the compassion felt for the hostages and hence the outrage.

That not many Muslims are seen to be in uproar over the killings does not imply solidarity with the Taliban. Nor does it make them any less sympathetic for the plight of the hostages. However, against a backdrop of an illegal invasion of a sovereign nation, where many innocent lives have already been lost, (a view that many Muslims hold) it is only right to point out that the Koreans had a choice of not being there and that their safety was never assured.

At the end of the day the killings are a criminal act - and recognised as only that - and should not be held to account as a manifestation of some Islamic ideological struggle. If anything, the struggle is for sovereignty. That the means chosen are un-Islamic, well, let's tell that to the Taliban shall we?