I would like to reply to Eric Koh's letter on PAS' jihad . I congratulate him for supporting PAS all this while.

As Muslims, we are taught to be compassionate, tolerant and to respect other people. Nevertheless, these are not the only few things that Islam teaches. Islam is such a complete 'way of life' that it encompasses all aspects of this world and the hereafter.

Islam teaches us to be compassionate. The Prophet Muhammad says in the Hadith , "A Muslim to a Muslim is like one body, when one part of the body hurts, the whole body will feel the pain". Muslims treat other Muslims as brothers and sisters. This is why when 'true' Muslims saw what the Americans and its allies are doing to our Muslim brothers and sisters in Afghanistan, we all feel the pain.

The second aspect which I would like to enlighten is the concept of jihad in Islam. It is true that the scope of jihad is large. But for 'true' Muslims, to die as a syuhada when participating in the 'holy war' - the ultimate jihad - is their aspirations. Those who die in the ultimate jihad are considered by Allah to be among the best of his servants. They are considered not dead but alive forever in heaven.

Lastly, when the Americans decided to blame Osama bin Laden for the Sept 11 terrorist attacks in the US, they did not even have the slightest idea who really did it. They were just looking for scapegoats.

Kindly remember, a few years back when a bomb exploded and destroyed the Oklahoma's government building in the US, Muslims were blamed. As a result, many Muslims were attacked and hurt. But it turned out that the person responsible was an American disillusioned by the American Dream. Did anybody apologise? Nay...Muslims were left to fend for themselves.

As 'true' Muslims, we feel the pain...and we will help our fellow Muslims to defend the integrity of Islam throughout the world.

I hope Eric will now understand.