Perhaps the biggest external threat Muslimdom ever faced was when Baghdad was attacked by the golden hordes of the pagan Mongol Genghis Khan in the early 13th century. The caliph was killed, thousands were massacred and the country put to ruins.

Ironically, while Genghis Khan’s descendants ruled that country for a century, in the process they converted to Islam, the religion of the vanquished. That was all by peace- ful and gradual assimilation.

Similarly, Muslim Sufis took Islam to China and southeast Asia — an area where no Muslim army had ever set foot — by wisdom and peaceful preaching. Today, as a result of that inspiring spiritual persuasion, Indonesia stands as the world’s largest Muslim country.

With this background, it appears anticlimactic that some conservative Muslims should feel so threatened that, whenever the Quran is burned or Muhammad shown in unfavorable light, they feel compelled to voice their protest violently, often killing innocent people who had nothing to do with that transgression, and destroying property. Do they feel this "jihad" (of killing non-Muslims) earns them a place in paradise?

Has the religion, which was so resilient a thousand years ago, become so fragile suddenly?

Today, we are seeing a re-enactment of the 2011 drama when Pastor Terry Jones’ congregation burned a copy of the Quran in Gainesville, Fla. We ask Terry Jones: Did your congregation and/or Christianity grow as a result, and Islam evaporate? Simultaneously, we ask Muslims who went on rampage in retaliation: Did your numbers suddenly increase? Did you gain respect worldwide?

But Muslims have not simply been "victims" of such atrocities; they have also been the perpetrators. For example, let us recall when the Taliban (Muslims) destroyed Buddha’s beautiful, historical and inspiring rock carvings in Afghanistan in 2001. We ask the Taliban: Did Buddhism "die" as a result? Did the status of Amida Buddha (Buddhism’s spiritual reality) and/or of Shakyamuni Buddha (Buddhism’s founder) decline?

On the other hand, all reports show that Buddhism’s beautiful, nonviolent response to that destruction — via prayers for peace — attracted more followers worldwide, as opposed to the above-mentioned violent Muslim response. What a beautiful lesson for fundamentalist Muslims.

We need visionary and mature leadership on all sides.

Finally, journalists need to find a better way to put some balance into their stories. Merely based on news reports nowadays, it appears as if the entire Muslim world is in flames because of this unfortunate Sam Bacile (aka Nakoula Basseley Nakoula) episode involving the purported showing of the inflammatory video "Innocence of the Muslims" on YouTube.

I spoke to a friend in Karachi, who explained that, on the street next to the U.S. consulate, people were going about their business as usual. Schools were functioning, shops were open and the stock market was doing its usual gyrations.

Thus, journalists have to, somehow, find imaginative ways of showing that the happenings in the entire country are not represented by whatever video clip is being shown. News reporting with balance is news reporting par excellence.

Finally, a thought for vitriolic Muslims: As the Internet grows, chances are that more people will put up anti-Islam posts. Are you going to track down everyone to "punish" them? Or will you continue on the "brave and easy path" of punishing others in revenge?

Islam has not collapsed thus far, in spite of assaults from several non-Muslim powers over the past thousand years. Will it succumb to assaults from frenzied forces internally?

Respect is earned by deeds, and not by misdeeds. It is very easy to get people to hate someone; it is much more difficult to get people to like someone.

Quo vadis, fellow Muslims?