Article by Shaykh Hamza in "The Best American Spiritual Writing 2008"

I didn't know Shaykh Hamza's "Why Holocaust Denial Undermines Islam" was included in The Best American Spiritual Writing 2008

"Muslim scholar Hamza Yusuf says Holocaust denial is a case of tragic gullibility. Writing in The Best American Spiritual Writing 2008, he says historical facts become accepted as reliable because they are based on multiple sources of evidence, not conspiracy theories.

"We are all entitled to our own opinions," he writes, "but not to our own facts."

Yusuf suggests that Holocaust denial unknowingly undermines truth claims of other historical events. Ultimately, though, it's not about assessing history. It's a measurement of pain. Yusuf writes: " … In order to validate our own pain, we deny the pain of others."

He nominates a more honest, compassionate approach — mutual acknowledgment of collective suffering.

"Perhaps in acknowledging that immense past of Jewish suffering … Muslims can help the Jewish community to understand the current Muslim pain in Palestine, Iraq and other places. In finding out about others, we encourage others to find out about us."

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20091010/NEWS06/910100329/1023/NEWS01/VU+series+examines+Holocaust+dynamics