Faithstreet.com: In his recent Washington Times article about the way Islamic law has shaped how Muslims live, Daniel Pipes reveals several surprising “facts” about Islam.

For example, I was surprised to learn that Muslims not eating pork has resulted in “catastrophic deforestation” — even though United Nations studies have shown that South America and southern parts of Africa (both largely Christian) have the highest levels of deforestation, while the Middle East and North Africa (both largely Muslim) has shown little change. Also, Prophet Muhammad specifically forbade cutting trees unless absolutely necessary, even in times of great need. Jews also don’t eat pork, either, but I don’t see Pipes blaming Judaism for deforestation.

Next, I was surprised to learn that high government standards are distressing and the cause of widespread harm. Pipes alleges that Islam’s “unattainably high standards for governmental behaviors” led to “systematically deploying slaves as soldiers.” While some Muslim regimes had slaves, Islam also combated slavery and promoted human equality — a fact explored by scholars like historian Lerone Bennett, Jr.:

As a religious ethic, Islam was unusually effective in cutting across racial lines. All Moslems, whatever their color, were brothers in faith. “If a Negro slave is appointed to rule you,” Mohammed said, “hear and obey him, though his head be like a dried grape.” In this climate, a man could be a slave today and a prime minister tomorrow. An extraordinarily large number of Negroes played heroic roles in the rise and spread of Islam . . . [and] there were . . . numerous black generals, administrators, and poets . . . . [R]ace was not a crucial factor in the Islamic world.

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