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September 15, 2006

Vatican: Pope's Comment On Islamic Violence May Lead To Islamic Violence

The speech by Pope Benedict XVI in Regensburg University, Germany, in which he quoted Byzantine emperor Manuel Paleologos II, has been creating an avalanche of condemnation from the Muslim world.

The speech was made on Tuesday, September 12, and in a small section of this speech, Benedict quoted the 14th century emperor who had said: "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

Yesterday, Turkey's senior Islamic cleric, Ali Bardakoglu condemned the Pope for the remarks saying they were "full of enmity and grudges" and indicated "hatred in his heart". The condemnations may scupper a planned visit by the Pope to Turkey, scheduled for November. Bardakoglu had said on NTV: "I do not think any good will come from a visit to the Muslim world by a person who has such ideas."

Since his comments, the issue has escalated, in a manner similar to the escalation of the furor over the Danish cartoons. Even though the Pope's comments were extracted out of context, it could well be that the issue will, like the cartoons, provoke violence from Muslims, and thereby prove the validity of Manuel Paleologos II's analysis of Islam.

Muslims themselves will not appreciate any irony in using violence to prove that Islam is non-violent.

Reactions are captured in various news sources - Der Spiegel, the Guardian, the Times, Associated Press, CNN, Radio Free Europe and others.

Iranian Islamist news from IRNA commented, and as Iran is breaking international law, we will break their copyright and reproduce their article in full.

Pope's views on Jihad regrettable, says FO of Pakistan

Pakistan's Foreign Office on Friday deplored Pope Benedict's remarks against Islam. Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam in a statement regretted that a respected religious leader of his stature had made partisan remarks against Islam. She said the pope's statement proved that he was unaware of the life of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). She said the pope's highly controversial and regrettable statement could fan religious disharmony.

Pope Benedict XVI courted controversy during a visit to his native Bavaria town in Germany on Tuesday when he fleetingly criticized the Islamic concept of jihad. The spokesperson said the pope was a respected personality not only for Christians but also for Muslims and he should avoid issuing controversial statements. Religious scholars and leaders also criticized Pope's remarks and urged him to play a positive role in bringing Islam and Christianity closer.

The pope's attitude is very different from that of his predecessor. Instead of bringing Islam and Christianity closer, he is straining relations between the two religions, Khurshid Ahmed, head of the Institute of Policy Studies in Islamabad, said.

"In the present political atmosphere such views can be exploited by those who are trying to malign Muslims and Islam. We expect the pope to play a positive role in promoting relations between religions and civilizations," Ahmed said.

Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a JUI lawmaker, urged the pope not to take inspiration from US President George W. Bush. "The pope is a respected personality not only for Christians but for Muslims also. He should not lower his stature by giving Bush-like statements", he said. "Jihad is a tool for defence and we expect the pope to speak against aggression," he said.

The pope's statement is highly irresponsible, senior scholar Javed Ahmed Ghamdi said. The concept of jihad is not to spread Islam with sword, Ghamdi said in a statement. The pope's statement was an attempt to jeopardize a remarkable unity displayed by Christians and Muslims against recent Israeli aggression in Lebanon, a spokesman for the Jamaat-i-Islami said.

Meanwhile, police in occupied Kashmir on Thursday seized newspapers carrying Pope Benedict's statement. The Muslim League, a Kashmiri liberation group, called for a protest on Friday over the pope's comments.

A motion was carried unanimously today in the Pakistan parliament, condemning the Pope's "comments". The issue for Pakistan has come as a welcome distraction from the failure of the government and the opposition Islamist parties of the MMA (which include the Jamaat-e-Islami) to reach an agreement over changes to the appalling Islamic rape laws, which we will be discussing shortly.

When the issue of changing the so-called Hudood Ordinances, which ensure that a woman who has been raped must have four witnesses, or be accused of adultery, the MMA threatened to resign their seats in the National Assembly. As a fudge compromise, the amendments to the controversial bill have been postponed, a measure which has been condemned by women's rights groups in Pakistan and by critics around the globe. The issue of condemnation of the Pope has allowed some sense of unity of purpose in Pakistan's fractured political scene.

Din Syamsuddin, chairman of Muhammadiyah, the second largest Islamic association in Indonesia, which has 30 million members, said: "The pope's statements reflect his lack of wisdom. It is obvious from the statements that the pope doesn't have a correct understanding of Islam. Whether the pope apologizes or not, the Islamic community should show that Islam is a religion of compassion."

Such a hope is unlikely to come into being. Fauzan Al-Anshori, chairman of the Islamist group the Indonesian Mujahedeen Council, said: "Muslims can't eliminate jihad from the Islamic discourse, the same way Christians can't do away with the doctrine of Trinity."

Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood has condemned the speech and has said that Islam was a religion of "peace and reason", which does not explain why Qaradawi supports the killing of Israeli civilians by suicide bombers.

Dr Jameel al-Lowahiq, professor of Shariah at the Taif University in Turkey, said: "The lecture of the present pope, particularly at the time of deep international crisis, betrays the utter lack of prudence and propriety in sensing the consequences of making such a statement."

One comment the Pope had made in his speech, which came from himself and not from the 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel Paleologos II was this: "Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul."

This comment is probably far more challenging to Islam than Paleologos' simple truthful statement. The fact that Mohammed went to war against unbelievers is something Muslims at one hand seem proud of, even though on the other hand they lie that that Islam means "peace", when it literally means "submission."

To say: "Violence is incompatible with the nature of God" indicates that Mohammed, the high priest of violent jihad, was not "of God", which any sane analyst outside of Islam would have to admit was true. Since when did men of God kill civilians, indulge in genocide (against the Banu Qurayzah tribe in Medina) and have sex with nine year old girls?

This issue will run and run, I fear, and it will end in bloodshed of innocents. Such is always the way of Islam when it feels "offended". The cartoon protests in February, when at least 30 people died, are proof of that.

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UPDATE: Already the aggression is starting. Little Green Footballs shows a photograph of Muslim students in Allahbad, India today, burning an effigy of Benedict XVI, and someone stamping on the burning effigy. LGF point out the Pakisan foreign office spokeswoman's actual words. Tasnim Aslam, with no sense of irony, stated: "Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence."

So Islam the "tolerant" religion is once again getting its abaya in a knot in the 9 days left before Ramadan begins, and is working itself into a lather that will ultimately end in riots, and probably acts of violence and bloodshed, to prove that Islam is not violent. This issue, like the Danish cartoon issue is now out of the hands of the West. It has been gaining its own momentum, spurred on by proponents of Islam. The context of the comments is now an irrelevance. The Islamic beast wants its pound of flesh, whether it deserves it or not.

The Catholic News reports that Archbishop Luigi Padovese, the apostolic vicar in Anatolia, Turkey, thinks that the Pope should still come to Turkey, despite the threatening tones of Bardakoglu. Speaking to AsiaNews, Padovese said that when he first read of the reports about Tuesday's speech "I was certain that there would be a media frenzy." He said that "the Pope's remarks are being taken out of context for ulterior motives." He claimed that Islamic media outlets "were looking for an excuse to make a lot of fuss."

Father Federico Lombardi who directs the Vatican's press office, made a statement in which he said that the Pope had not meant "to undertake a comprehensive study of jihad and of Muslim ideas on the subject, still less to offend the sensibilities of Muslim faithful." He stressed that the Pope had been making "a clear and radical rejection of the religious motivation for violence."

Aye, there's the rub. The history of Islam, the first nine surahs of the Koran and many of the Hadiths specifically speak of war and violence, and Mohammed himself was a warmongering individual who had no regrets at inflaming violence. And the more the Catholic Church stresses that violence is against God, it is unwittingly touching a nerve in Islam. Islam IS violent. Mohammed WAS violent. And Muslims know this and do not want to be reminded of it by God's Vicar, who claims that violence is ungodly. All the insecurities of Islam are being rattled at once, and the more the Vatican tries to explain, the more it emphasises the difference between Islam and Christianity.

Mohammed al-Masir, a professor at the Al-Azhar (Sunni) University in Cairo said: "We cannot have dialogue with those who offend our prophet, our culture, and our faith."

Deutsche Presse-Agentur via Monsters and Critics reports that the Organisation of Islamic Conference, currently meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has condemned the Pope's quoting of Manuel Paleologos II as "a complete distortion of the facts, which shows deep ignorance of Islam and Islamic history."

The OIC ruled that it was vital that "the Vatican will issue statements that reflect its true position and views on Islam and Islamic teachings," and to stop "indulging in polemics concerning the Crusades and religious wars prosecuted by the church in Europe, in addition to the persecution of Muslims in Inquisition courts in the name of Christ's peaceful and tolerant message."

The tone of the Iranian regime's Islamist media organ, IRNA has become more strident. It is is clear from the tone that from now on, as happened with Abu Laban's delegations to the Middle East to misrepresent the cartoon issues to the Muslim world, the misrepresentation of facts has already begun:

Islamic World reacts wrathfully to Pope's anti-Islamic remarks

Uncalculated and insulting remarks made by Pope Benedict XVI, the seventy-nine-year-old leader of the world Catholic Christians, has led to the rise of a strong wave of anger and hatred by the world Muslims. Pope Benedict XVI in his Tuesday address, titled "Piety, Wisdom, and Universities: Memories and Reactions" at Regensburg University, claimed that contrary to the Christian faith, Islam rarely follows the rules of logic. Quoting the context of a book titled "The Bizantic Empire," pope not only insulted Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), but also ridiculed the ideas of Holy Jihad and other holy Islamic rituals.

He said for instance that the idea of Jihad in Islam takes roots in aggressive mood of the mankind, and is on direct contrast with divine teachings, as well as the rules of logic.

Former Catholic cardinal, Joseph Radzinger, known today as Pope Benedict XVI, was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1927, and is the seventh German sanctified as Pope by vatican. His insulting remarks on Islam that have enraged the world Muslims have merely resulted in Vatican's declaring that Pope had never meant to insult Islam.

The question in world public opinion today is "How come the leader of the world Christians, that according to Federico Lombardi, the Press and Public Relations Chief in Vatican believes in holding dialogues among religions, is sowing the seeds of hatred and discord against the followers of the world's second largest religion? German religious affairs commentator Wolfgang Cooper had before his appointment at the high religious position predicted that Cardinal Ratzinger could emerge as a personality who sows the seeds of discord among monotheists if he would become a pope.

The following excerpts are a sample of the Islamic World reactions to Pope's intriguing remarks, that are predicted to be a part of another Western anti-Islamic plot:

The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) on Friday expressed regret over Pope's anti-Islamic remarks, asking Benedict XVI to provide more clear explanation about his stands on Islam.

Provisional Friday Prayer Leader of Tehran Seyyed Ahmad Khatami, too, expressed regret that the leader of the world Catholic Christians is so ignorant of the reality of Islam. He added, "Unfortunately the Pope has openly insulted Islam, by introducing the justice seeking and peace loving religion of God, as an aggressive warmonger faith."

Head of the French Islamic Council asked Vatican to provide in more details about the real intentions behind Pope's remarks.

Head of the North American Islamic Association emphasized, "Pope's criticism against Islam is not based on realities, and is obviously biassed."

The heads of Pakistani political parties voiced strong objection against Pope's remarks against the Holy Prophet (PBUH), and issued a joint communique in which they have stressed "The Christian world, too, should be ashamed hearing these blasphemous remarks."

The Spokesman of Pakistan's Foreign Ministry issued a communique condemning Pope's remarks against the grand personality of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the golden history of Islam.

One of the founders of Morocco's Justice and Islamic Development Party said that Pope's recent remarks on Islam are insulting against over one billion Muslims around the globe. He added, "I fear lest Pope Benedict XVI is under the influence of the Zionist tendencies of the US President George W. Bush.

Head of Turkey's leading parliamentary fraction, Justice and Development, Saleh Kapusuz, said at the Turkish Parliament, "Pope's remarks in which he has introduced Islam as a religion relying on aggression either have roots in ignorance or in treachery."

And so, today, a church office was bombed in Gaza, according to Reuters AlertNet and Elsevier. The church office is run by the Greek Orthodox Church. The explosion happened at dawn, and no-one was injured. Reuters states: "It was unclear if the blast was connected to comments made by Pope Benedict about Islam that have sparked a backlash from Muslim leaders.'

Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, today said: "The Pope should reconsider his statements and must stop offending the Muslim religion." The topic of the Pope was the subject of a pro-Hamas radio show aimed at children.

Hopefully the attack on the church office, which damaged the door of the building, was not related to the Pope's comments. We reported on April 28 that in Qalqilya on the edge of the West Bank, Hamas atcivists had been threatening the branch of the YMCA. Muslim clerics were trying to close the branch and firebombs had been thrown at the building. The deputy mayor of Qalqilya, Hashem al Masri is a Hamas member. He had said then that the name YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) was a "challenge to the city...I know it is not civilized to attack it, but it is a challenge to the feeling of our people."

On 9 September, before the speech made by Pope Benedict, the Qalqilya YMCA was burned down, stated World NetDaily.

In Gaza, where Hamas also has control, there are 3,000 Christians living amongst 1.4 million Muslims. Already there are problems with Christians being discriminated against and put under pressure. The attack on the church may be part of Hamas' own policies of antagonism towards Christianity. But with the Muslim world in anger, Christians, even those who are not Catholic, may easily become accessible targets.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at September 15, 2006 7:17 AM

Comments

Posted by: Sir Henry Morgan at September 15, 2006 2:50 PM

Posted by: Vitali at September 15, 2006 4:14 PM

Posted by: Terror-Free Oil at September 15, 2006 5:07 PM

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