What’s this? Not like the politically correct fellows at the BBC to venture into such dangerous territory:
Mein Kampf A Hit On Dhaka Streets
Street vendors in the Bangladeshi capital, we’re told, have discovered an “unusual bestseller”. One such colporteur, Mabul, informed Auntie Beeb that Mein Kampf is in constant demand and “all the rage among educated people”. Sales were particularly strong in the week running up to the Eid al-Adha Islamic holiday owing to the book’s popularity as a gift for friends and family.
But, “unusual bestseller”? Really? That Hitler’s autobiographical political manifesto should be in the same league as Dan Brown’s latest effort in a country with a predominantly Muslim population should come as no great surprise. It has for decades sold well in many parts of the Islamic world. What the article fails to address is why this is so.
If some people are to be believed, Islam and Nazism are two peas in a pod. “Churchill even observed the similarities between the Qur’an and Mein Kampf,” is the usual line put forward to bolster such claims. And it’s true, he did. I would, even as someone with a very positive outlook towards Islam, have to concede that vague parallels exist between the two books. Emphasis here on the word “vague”. Progressive and encouraging passages in the Qur’an far outweigh those of an unfavourable nature. The same can’t be said of Mein Kampf.
The oft cited connection between Hitler’s regime and the Islamic extremists of the day overlooks the countless Muslims who fought and opposed the Nazis. But, as with the superficial similitude between Mein Kampf and the Qur’an, said union has wrongly led some Muslims to believe they share the same goals and ideals as Hitler, and many non-Muslims to unfairly paint Islam as little short of Nazism.
It’s not – although, admittedly, some Muslims do behave like Nazis . . . .
