Baladewa's letter is typical of the attitudes that we Muslims have when it comes to the fears and concerns that our non-Muslim friends have ([#1] Will Islam obliterate the Chinese? [/#] Feb 2). Sure, the Muslims ruled Spain for 700 years without obliterating Spanish culture or Christianity.

But that, alas, was about 600 years ago. How about coming up with a contemporary example of how wonderful and just we Muslims are towards our non-Muslim friends? Give me an example of a country that professes to be Islamic and upholds the right of freedom of religion for its non-Muslim citizens, because I can't really think of any.

Though I think Sam Chan was exaggerating when he speculated on the changes that would come if Keadilan were to come into power ([#2] People Power: Can we pay the price? [/#]), it is foolish to simply dismiss his concerns and fears with how the Abbasids ruled Spain all those centuries ago. Islam may be our official religion but we also have a very sizeable non-Muslim minority.

Of course, we can take the easy way out and tell everyone how just Islam is towards non-Muslims under its rule, but that mightn't necessarily mean much to a non-Muslim. After all, the crux of the matter, as always, is with the way our religion is practised.

Our main Muslim-dominated political parties do their best to "out-Islam" each other (and I for one am heartily sick of all this politicising of the religion), to the extent of making up unnecessary rules for those who practise Islam. And if these people (who are either in power or might be in power) treat their fellow Muslims in this way, can you blame a non-Muslim for viewing these people and Islam in a suspicious manner?