I appreciated Tahla Ahmed's letter arguing that schools should teach students more about Islam ("Teach students about Islam," Oct. 3). I agree. Social studies should include moderate exposure to the history and principal tenets of all major religions, with some historical background on the role of religion and ritual in ancient cultures. You cannot have any understanding of human history and culture without recognizing that from prehistoric times people have sought ways of relating to what they felt was beyond them or that religions once established have frequently been co-opted by political actors indifferent to their original principles.
It seems remarkable that educated Americans apparently knew more about Islam 200 years ago than now and respected it as a religion possessing an honorable history. Both Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote respectfully of Islam and Muslims. How is it that modern Americans who profess to be so proud of our cultural traditions know nothing of the writing or attitudes of those very American authors? Clearly, our schools have failed them. We can and should do better.
Katharine W. Rylaarsdam