Opinion

JUST DON’T APOLOGIZE

PAKISTAN’S ex-ambassador to Britain, Akbar Ahmed, a leading authority on Islam, has some advice for President Obama on his speech to the Muslim world this week.

Because Obama’s father was Muslim, Ahmed says he believes that the president “has an instinctive understanding of Muslim culture. He can . . . reach to the heart of the Muslim world like no other American president can.”

What should Obama say?

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Says Ahmed: “Obama has to get the message across that we are not your enemies. Tell them, ‘America wants you to live in peace and dignity.’ And stress a long-term commitment to the region.”

He adds that the president should also make clear that America, too, wants to live in peace by saying: “Yes, Islam talks about peace, but there are many Muslims who say hostile things about the US, and while we know this is not Islam, we want to be assured that we will not be attacked again.”

Ahmed says Obama would make a huge impact if he were to mention that Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) took his oath of office on Thomas Jefferson’s Koran. It would show enormous respect, something Muslims long to receive from the West.

Obama should remind Muslims that their hero, the Sultan Saladin, was their most generous ruler toward Jews and Christians. His physician, Maimonides, was Jewish. And in the 7th century, Christians and Muslims were known to pray together in Damascus’ Umayyad Mosque. Says Ahmed: “This is the tradition of Islam, but it is gone.”

This is the legacy to which Obama should call all Muslims.

What is the one thing Obama should not do?

Apologize.

“He is representing a superpower,” Ahmed says. “He should not seem apologetic, but instead just show courtesy and grace.”

kirstenpowers@aol.com