I will tell suicide bombers to fear God and refrain from doing suicide bombing because what they are doing is against the teachings of Islam. In doing so they are i) seeking to die an illegitimate death, ii) seeking to kill people killing whom is not acceptable to Islamic teachings, and iii) bringing a bad name to the religion of God.

2. HOW DOES ISLAM DEFINE APOSTASY? IS IT PERMISSIBLE FOR A MUSLIM TO CONVERT TO ANOTHER FAITH? HOW CAN LAWS AGAINST APOSTASY AND BLASPHEMY BE RECONCILED WITH THE KORANIC INJUNCTION OF "NO COMPULSION IN RELIGION"?

Apostasy is an English word whose Arabic equivalent is irtidad . It means an act of leaving one's religion. The Qur'an mentions the possibility that some people would resort to it during the life of the prophet but does not mention any punishment for it. Hadith, the statement of the prophet transmitted by people, mentions that if a person apostates, he should be killed. The statement of the Hadith is referring to the case of apostasy mentioned in the third possibility of doing Jihad above. The people who directly received God's message through the messenger had to receive the divine punishment of death if they didn't declare their belief in it. Of course, if such people disbelieved after declaring belief in it, they would again deserve to be killed for the same reasons. Such punishment was, however, not applicable to any other time except the era of the prophet.

There are at least three passages in the Qur'an that mention acts of blasphemy committed by some people during the prophet's time. In none of these cases any punishment was suggested. All cases of killings reported in the prophet's time were the ones that were resorted to for punishing the enemies of God and His messenger, which punishment they received during the lifetime of the messenger. Such punishments had nothing to do with the Islamic law that was to be enforced by humans. It was a divine law that was implemented during the prophet's time under God's direct guidance. After the demise of the prophet the direct communication with God terminated, and so did the possibility of killing anyone for reasons other than the two mentioned in the Qur'an: in retribution for a murder or creating disorder and mischief on earth. Both these punishments could only be enforced by an Islamic state.

As clarified above, indeed nobody is forced to acquire a religion nor to leave one according to Islamic teachings. However, the verse often quoted to prove the point (there is no compulsion in religion) has nothing to do with this concept.

3. WHAT ARE THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN ISLAM? HOW DOES ISLAM'S VIEW OF MALE-FEMALE EQUALITY DIFFER FROM THE WESTERN VIEW?

In Islam women have the right to be educated, choose careers if they so desire, have the final say in approving life partners, get shares in the inheritance of the wealth bequeathed by their parents, husbands, and sons or daughters etc. However, like men, they have to remain chaste and be dressed modestly. Compared to men, their modest dressing requires two extras measures: i) proper covering of their bosoms and ii) concealment of any measures of beautifying themselves except for what has een done on faces, hands, and feet. The disclosure of adornment can however be done before close relatives. In case she gets married, a Muslim woman must respect the fact that although she is an equal partner in the affairs of the household, in case of serious disputes she will give in to her husbands opinion. Her husband can divorce her directly, while she can seek divorce from either him or a competent court of law.

The western concept of man-woman equality is absolute but unnatural; the equality in Islam is qualified and natural: Two humans can be absolute equals and be good friends; however they can't be absolute equals and run a project. One of them has to be the ultimate in-charge of it. In Islam a home is a serious project the ultimate in-charge of which is the husband. The wife is the person that makes a home by cooperating and adjusting with her husband. The difference in roles of the two genders is applicable only in the husband-wife relationship.