People you are mistaken - Islam is religion of peace - come to Swat if you don't believe it. It's very peaceful and Taliban will show you what can be done with your country with very little effort. Just give us a chance is all we ask. It will be like giving peace a chance and you all mistaken people will love it. I love the thought.

Here is something for the root of the Islamic achievements - much of it would not have been possible without the Greeks and where the people's from the Middle Eastern region - more Persia, Baghdad and Egypt - almost never Arabia - did make significant advances in any field - it was not long before it was challenged - for being godless and libraries were burn and inventions smashed. These Islamic achievements were valued more in the West and were largely forgotten / suppressed in the Middle East by the religious elite - for this reason this region has produced little or nothing for almost one millennium!! "" According to scholar F. R. Rosenthal: "Islamic rational scholarship, which we have mainly in mind when we speak of the greatness of Muslim civilisation, depends in its entirety on classical antiquity…in Islam as in every civilisation, what is really important is not the individual elements but the synthesis that combines them into a living organism of its own…Islamic civilisation as we know it would simply not have existed without the Greek heritage." "" Source: Fjordman Essay: A History of Optics, part 1 of 6 http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/024647.php Fjordman's Essays cover a variety of scientific subjects - and their origins - he also delves into the reasons why science developed in say Europe but was stunted in say the Middle East. For example under - Islamic law of the Middle Ages - a scientific observation - like every action has an opposite reaction - would not have been allowed - because it would have been seen as being down to God's will - if God wills an opposite reaction then there would be one - and if he doesn't then there would not be an opposite reaction. Where Western science used a series of scientific laws - to develop modern scientific study - Muslims discarded these - in favour of the God willing or Inshallah scientific basis and so their scientific achievements are long forgotten. It is a clear indication of what can happen when religion is allowed to hold too much sway - read current political situation.

Well put, Douglas. The trite fawning by the BBC towards the islamic community - always with an eye to the fascist elements of the religion - is getting tiresome. It would be as if Pat Robertson were to be credited with having invented everything, with the implication then that we would somehow owe him a great debt. Even if it were true - so what? Why should we care? Thanks for the inventions and all; now please stop trying to subvert and convert our society.

My family, my friends and I will all vote for Mr Douglas Murray if he stood up for an election in my constituency of Leicester East. I am sickened by the anti-Semitic vitriol spewed out by ordinary muslims on the streets on London and other Western cities during the recent anti-Israeli demonstrations. I am sickened by the cowardly politicians and the BBC, who will not utter a single word of objection and I am sickened by the so called intellectuals who will lecture me on intolerance while at the same time carry placards proclaiming "We are Hamas"! Disgusting.

As a Hindu, what Duncan Murray has said is absolutely true. We as a culture and religion in the UK have attempted to integrate into the society and live our lives peacefully. What the muslims do, is impose cultural norms akin to the countries that they left for various reasons, the most common being for financial or political reasons

Kick islam's ass by joining the revolution taking place on the internet and bring it on the streets of europe, USA and whereever you can

Exactly Douglas. The other day a government minister noted the inflammatory effect of certain aspects of our foreign policy on certain members of the muslim population. I don't remember him asserting the UK's right to act in the UK's interest regardless of who it offends though.

Murray exposes a problem that goes way beyond the UK media. We are talking about a whitewash happening left and right of us. Wikipedia is infested with Islamic coloanilists trying to steal everyone's past. And no one even writes up an editorial about it. One problem with the article, its too short!!

not to get confused, we should remember that the Hindus are, toward other religions, the most tolerant people in the world--role models for us all. I just said this in order to note that the hypothetical i nthe article is just that, a hypothetical. PS--I'm not a Hindu.

Another brilliant article by Douglas Murray. The BBC should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves for rewriting history. It is a known fact that core elements of Islamic beliefs militated against scientific and cultural advancement. What have the Muslims contributed to the world other than suicide bombing and terrorism?