Pope Benedict XVI is being urged to retract comments he made linking Islam with violence after they provoked a wave a condemnation from across the Muslim world.
The pope provoked anger after criticising Islam and its concept of jihad on Tuesday during a six-day visit to his native Germany, citing a 14th-century Christian emperor who said that Prophet Mohammed had brought the world "evil and inhuman" things.
A statement issued by the Vatican on Thursday, saying the pope had never meant to offend Islam, failed to resolve the furore.
The Pakistani national assembly, parliament's lower house, unanimously passed a resolution on Friday demanding the Pope retract his remarks "in the interest of harmony among different religions of the world".
"The derogatory remarks of the pope about the philosophy of jihad and Prophet Mohammed have injured sentiments across the Muslim world and pose the danger of spreading acrimony among the religions," the resolution said.
In Qatar, prominent Muslim scholar shaikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi rejected the Pope's comments and said Islam was a religion of peace and reason.
'Lack of wisdom'
In Indonesia, Din Syamsuddin, the chairman of Muhammadiyah, the country's second largest Islamic organisation, said: "The pope's statements reflect his lack of wisdom.
"The language used by the pope sounds like that of his 12th-century counterpart who ordered the Crusades"
Hamid Ansari,Indian Muslim leader
"It is obvious from the statements that the pope doesn't have a correct understanding of Islam."
In Egypt, Muhammad Mahdi Akif, the leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, called for an apology.
"The remarks do not express correct understanding of Islam and are merely wrong and distorted beliefs being repeated in the West," Akif said in a statement.
Akif said the pope's comments "pour oil on the fire and ignite the wrath of the whole Islamic world to prove the claims of enmity of politicians and religious men in the West to whatever is Islamic".
Hamid Ansari, chairman of the Indian National Commission for Minorities, said: "The language used by the pope sounds like that of his 12th-century counterpart who ordered the Crusades."
'Full of enmity'
Ali Bardakoglu, head of the state-run religious affairs directorate in Turkey, said on Thursday that Pope Benedict XVI was "full of enmity and grudge" against Islam. He opposed the pontiff's planned visit to Turkey in November.
In Kuwait, two high-ranking Islamist officials also called on Pope Benedict XVI to apologise for his remarks.
Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian prime minister, joined the growing chorus of criticism, saying he had offended Muslims everywhere. He said there will be organised protests later in the day "to express Palestinian anger towards the comments that offended Islam and the Muslims".
Muslim Brotherhood
The Muslim Brotherhood, the Arab world's largest group of political Islamists, demanded an apology and called on the governments of Islamic countries to break relations with the Vatican if he does not make one.
The Pope quoted a 14th centuryemperor's remarks on Islam The Jordanian branch of the movement said the remarks would only widen a rift between Muslims and the West and revealed deep hatred towards Muslims.
Sheikh Hamza Mansour, who heads the Shura Council of the Islamic Action Front, Jordan's largest opposition party, said only a personal apology could rectify the "deep insult made by the provocative comments" to over one billion Muslims. In Iraq, the pope's comments were condemned at Friday prayers by followers of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Sheikh Salah al-Ubeidi, one of Sadr's aides, condemned "the offence to Islam and the character of the prophet". Violent protests
"This is the second time such an offence has been give before Ramadan," he said, referring to last year's publication of cartoons in a Danish newspaper that led to violent protests by Muslims around the world.
Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, told Aljazeera on Friday that the pope did not intend to harm the feelings of Muslims. He also appealed to the Islamic world to recognise that the controversial remarks were only a "minor part" of the speech.
"The pope intends to develop respect and dialogue toward other religions and cultures particularly Islam," he said.
-------------
As Pope Benedict XVI faces criticism from Muslim leaders for remarks made during a speech in Germany, the BBC's religious affairs correspondent, Rahul Tandon, looks at earlier views he expressed during his time as a cardinal. This is not the first time Pope Benedict has been at the centre of criticism for his views on Islam.
Before becoming Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger, as he was known, was considered a theological conservative.
He appeared to be uncomfortable with Pope John Paul II's attempts to improve dialogue with the Islamic world. His predecessor was the first pontiff to step inside a mosque, during a visit to Syria in 2001.
During his time as a cardinal, Pope Benedict opposed Turkey's bid to join the European Union, saying it belonged to a different cultural sphere, adding that its admission would be a grave error against the tide of history.
And in 1996, he wrote that Islam had difficulty in adapting to modern life.
'New barbarism'
However, since his consecration, Pope Benedict has surprised many with his attempts to improve dialogue with the Muslim world. He is due to visit Turkey in November as part of that process.
But there have been signs of his earlier views.
Last year he accused Muslim leaders in Germany of failing to steer their youth from what he described as the darkness of a new barbarism.
Pope Benedict is under increasing pressure to clarify the remarks he made during his speech at Regensburg University.
For many, that will require a clarification of the relationship he wishes to develop between the Catholic Church and Islam.
Internet News Sources
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From: Aminah
Sent: 9/15/2006 3:34 PM
Salam alikoum,
This Heinous and hostile declarations aroused the anger of the whole Islamic world.
Muslims seek Pope’s apology for Islam remark
Publish Date: Friday,15 September, 2006, at 02:06 PM Doha Time
PARIS: Pope Benedict XVI faced sharp reactions yesterday to a lecture in which he linked Islam with violence, with Muslim leaders in several countries demanding he apologise.
"We hope that the Church will very quickly... clarify its position so that it does not confuse Islam, which is a revealed religion, with Islamism, which is not a religion but a political ideology," the head of the French Council for the Muslim Religion (CFCM), Dalil Boubakeur, said.
Benedict provoked the outcry with comments on Tuesday in a theological lecture to staff and students at the University of Regensburg, in the most political part of a largely personal visit to his native Bavaria in southern Germany.
Couching his criticism in a historical reference to a 14th century Byzantine emperor, the pope implicitly denounced connections between Islam and violence, particularly with regard to jihad, or "holy war".
"He said, I quote, ‘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,’" Benedict said, quoting the Byzantine source on the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
The comments provoked an outcry among Muslims in several countries.
Turkey’s top Muslim religious leader described the pontiff’s remarks as hateful, prejudiced and biased.
"It is a statement full of enmity and grudge," said Ali Bardakoglu, the head of Turkey’s state-run religious affairs directorate. He also expressed opposition to the pope’s planned visit to Turkey in November.
"(The Pope’s words are) extremely regrettable and worrying ... both for the Christian world and for the common peace of humanity," Anatolian state news agency quoted Bardakoglu as saying.
Senior Islamic officials in Kuwait demanded an immediate apology from the pope to the Muslim world.
Haken al-Mutairi, secretary general of the Umma (Islamic Nation) party, urged him to apologise for calumnies against the Prophet Muhammad and Islam. Sayed Baqer al-Mohri, head of the assembly of Shia ulemas, echoed the call.
The speech at Regensburg University explored the historical and philosophical differences between Islam and Christianity, and the relationship between violence and faith.
Justo Balda Lacunza, a Vatican-based priest specialising in Islamic affairs, said the speech was not intended to look unfavourably on Islam, but was an "examination" of this relationship.
His reaction followed that of Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, who said earlier that he did not believe the pope’s words were meant as a severe criticism of Islam.
"He certainly doesn’t want to give... an interpretation of Islam as violent," he said.
But in Morocco, the daily Aujourd’hui warned of the possible damage done by Benedict’s words. It called on him to "prove that his ambition is not to spark a war of religions by pointlessly upsetting almost a billion faithful".
The president of Germany’s Central Council of Muslims, Aiman Mazyek, responded to Benedict’s comments by recalling violent chapters in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported yesterday.
"After the bloodstained conversions in South America, the crusades in the Muslim world, the coercion of the Church by Hitler’s regime, and even the coining of the phrase ‘holy war’ by Pope Urban II, I do not think the Church should point a finger at extremist activities in other religions," he said.
Benedict had also drawn criticism on Wednesday from a leading Muslim figure in Italy. Ejaz Ahmad, a member of a governmental consultative committee on Islam, called on him to retract his comments.
"The Muslim world is currently undergoing a deep crisis," Ahmad was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency. "Any attack from the West can aggravate this crisis."
The head of the Egyptian-based Muslim Brotherhood called on Islamic countries to threaten yesterday to break off relations with the Vatican unless Benedict withdraws his remarks.
Mohamed Mahdi Akef, whose organisation is one of the oldest, largest and most influential in the Arab world, said Pope Benedict "poured oil on the fire, aroused the anger of the whole Islamic world and strengthened the argument of those who say that the West is hostile to everything Islamic".
Akef said he condemned the Pope’s remarks because "they do not show a true understanding of Islam but are an extension of mistaken and distorted ideas current in the West.
Police in Indian-administered Kashmir seized newspapers yesterday carrying Pope’s strong criticisms, fearing a Muslim backlash in the flashpoint area.
"We’ve seized copies of (Indian) newspapers carrying the pope’s remarks. It has been done to prevent any tension here," a police officer said.
Copies of the Indian dailies were impounded at Srinagar’s high-security airport when they arrived from New Delhi, he said.
The Muslim league, a Kashmiri separatist group, called for a protest today over the pope’s comments. - Agencies
Article en francais:
http://permanent.nouvelobs.com/etranger/20060915.OBS1988.html
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Message 3 of 11 in Discussion
From: Al3ab9ari1
Sent: 9/15/2006 4:17 PM
Salam alikoum,
Pope does not say anything just because he has to say. His all words are guarded and weighed before he utters them. Then why Pope went extremely aggressive in his own home town? His statement was fully planned one. Since Pope is worried about Islam`s popularity, he wanted to give some adverse statement to check the rate of flow. This Pope has a complex history. He belongs to Germany where Jews were massacred in his childhood. He has seen Christians fighting the worst war ,the second WORLD WAR, in which his all norms of civil behaviour were thrown to dust. Now when he beacme Pope he noticed two things: 1) Christians are loosing interest in Christianity in the Western countries..as he admitted in his recent speech . 2) There is a rising interest of Western People in Islam and rate of flow to Islam has increased inspite of all the ill- propaganda about Islam.
This made him restless and he did not care for the seat he is holding ? He lowered its prestige. wassalam ,
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Message 4 of 11 in Discussion
From: houari_
Sent: 9/15/2006 10:22 PM
Salam,
I think it's all the same old blues again. What do you expect ??
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Message 5 of 11 in Discussion
From: Aminah
Sent: 9/16/2006 12:03 PM
Wa3alaikoum Salam,
His remarks do not express correct understanding of Islam and are merely wrong and distorted beliefs being repeated in the West.
I was not expecting a lie from a representative of all the churches .
Muhammad Ayash al-Kubaisi, a Sharia professor at Qatar University, has invited pope Benedict XVI to participate in a public debate to challenge his recent comments about Islam.
The professor sent the invitation in a letter to the pope on Thursday, reported Aljazeera.
It described the pope's statements as evidence of ignorance of Islamic teachings. It said such statements could allow the United States to justify their military operations in the Middle East and trigger cultural and religious clashes between the east and west.
The letter expressed shock at the pope's statement and said everyone expects the pontiff to join the efforts to bridge the gap between east and west.
Al-Kubaisi said that the pope should take a look at verse 2: 256 of the Pope Benedict actually quoted that exact verse, even citing the paragraph number, at the beginning of his remarks.
بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيم
لاَ إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ قَد تَّبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ فَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَيُؤْمِن بِاللّهِ فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَىَ لاَ انفِصَامَ لَهَا وَاللّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
[256] Nulle contrainte en religion! Car le bon chemin s'est distingué de l'égarement. Donc, quiconque mécroit au Rebelle tandis qu'il croit en Allah saisit l'anse la plus solide, qui ne peut se briser. Et Allah est Audient et Omniscient.
[256] There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in Tâghût and believes in Allâh, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allâh is All-Hearer, All-Knower.
[256] Es gibt keinen Zwang im Glauben. Der richtige Weg ist nun klar erkennbar geworden gegenüber dem unrichtigen. Wer nun an die Götzen nicht glaubt, an Allah aber glaubt, der hat gewiß den sichersten Halt ergriffen, bei dem es kein Zerreißen gibt. Und Allah ist Allhörend, Allwissend.
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Message 6 of 11 in Discussion
From: accurist2
Sent: 9/17/2006 9:38 AM
salam 3alaikoum
hey folks guess what, an ex Nazi talks about intolerence of islam, the spread of islam via the sword, and that islam is incompatible with reason!!!!!! can you beileive this !! he must know somthing about violence, torture and relgieouse intolerence. As an ex young Nazi, he must do, he drunk it as a teen ager day in day out so he must know about all these things. As a Catholique expert, sholar and preacher he must know all these things he studied them wrote theses about them taught them in faith coleges and universities arround the world. he must be proud of the history of his church through out hundreds of years, let me see Galileo, that nut case who kept saying that the earth was not flat!!!! how dear he challange the beacon of reason catholisism!! lets burn him that gives a lesson to every single nutt case with new irrational theories. and those unbeleivers in Iberia who don t mean what they say, lets send them the churche inquistion,a highly efficent methode that goes into the deep of humans sole to check his true faith via the mutulation and cutting of human boddy into peices, a brand new HI Tech invention tailored for this task.As a religiouse neo con who threw in the rubbish bin all the hard work that his predecessor did in the last three decades, he must know that also.what is commun word between nazism with its practices and beleifs and the catholic church history? to help you find it, its first letter is V.... no not victory, they both lost one lost the great war and the other is losing followers who revert to islam and losing churches which converts to bars and pups,( no wonder that guy is angry with islam this latter is cutting his yearly bonus profit that he gets from his creator. honestly won t you be angry if someone eles take your customers from you their fore deprives you from the lexuries that i wish to get i won t reason with this competitor will you ? you ll do your best to break him donw or push him to bunkrupcy) no the word i was looking for is VIOLENCE, that is the comun denominator between the two and our man in Rome has embraced them both as a young nazi and as a mature schlora and representative of "God" on earth.
Now that we sorted out his convictions lets see the reasons behinde this new release from teh enemies of our deen. I wrote in a previous message with regard to the conspiracy against islam and said that i don t beleive in an organized hidden group scheaming and planing against our deen, putting all the plans into practise using puppets in diffirence influencal spheres be it politics economy or religion. I am still standing on my position untill someone els prove me wrong. i ll be happy to accpet the conspiracy theory. my analyises is simple, i believ it was chutchill, correct me if i m wrong, who said in politics there no states freinds but states intersts or somthing close.its the trock philosphy, i do somthing for you in return you do somthing for me or for someone els. the french news paper liberation printed the cartoons of the prophet sws not to support the freedom of expression but to provoc the muslims in france knowing well that they will react emotionally which they shoudl do, therefore creating a situation of fear from islam in the french mind and so was the reason behind reprinting them in other contries. if the reason was freedom of expression why this same freedom of expression was stoped when Labe' Pierre expressed his support to the mouslim philospher Roger Garudy and was attached right left and centre. this is just one example of so many other example
The Pipe oops the Pump oops again sorry seems i cant get this word right, like lot fo things i do yes the P, O, P, E Practitioner Of Pure Exterminaition or Extrapolation works well in both.yes the Pop said what he said for teh following reasons i beleive:
1/he his a great congregation in the United states
2/ this congragation as suffred lot of set backs in recent years with all the pedophile scandales we v read about every time.
3/ catholic preists reputation in teh states is not at its best these days.
4/Islam is the fastest groing religion in the world ,even by the rate of one in a million reverts this rate is a fast rate to the pop.
5 losing followers means losing business. its hard getting new converts let alone losing olde ones and to what religion? not protestantism not anglican church, to islam.
6/ Bush can t stop saying "stupid" things, i the pope beleiv in to but Hide from the rest of the world. liek islamofachism.
7/i need to lift the pressure, my lieutanants in the states are living under due to all these scandals. and also make the american ppl and the christian world forget them as soon as possible.
so it is A+B if i say bad things about islam this will lift the pressure on My friend Bush who in returne will say good things about me after i m gonna get burnt by the world media and marches fo protest in the msulim world, thats all what they can do at the present time, which in return will be seen by all teh christain world as an attack to the freedom of ex[pression at the same time the pressure on my follow priests in the states will be lifted kz every single christain willbe busy attacking the reactionary reply of muslims.
by doing these hopefull if every things goes the Pipes' way, his congreaction will be seen with a soft eye in teh states he ll have the political support from all the neocons in the world who are rulling it these days.and he ll be moving step forward further to the clash of civilasation that he read about in a book written by that guy huntington" this guy is very clever he look like he knows every thing man!!! i must use his services for the after life he is doing a better job than me in the vatican"
i sound like i am deep in the heart of teh concpiracy theory i dinied at the begining of my article, acctually i ma far from it. its just that resent event makes look like it is a concpiracy but if it is it s not planned arround a table. these peopel happen to have diffirent aims and this aims are blocked by one enemy which makes itthe same enemy for all of them
Bush dont give a monkey if we are muslims or not as long as we give him the our rsources for free
so Does bTony teh Phony
The pop Dont care if we are riche civilised ppl as long as we are not muslims
and the footsoldeirs of both would always love to see us poor uncivilised so they can enjoy the standard of life they are enjoying now
don t u see its suits all of the three above beit conciouse planned or unconciouse random conspiracy
wa lil hadithi ba9ya
salam
From: "houari_"
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Message 7 of 11 in Discussion
From: houari_
Sent: 9/17/2006 2:31 PM
He offers regrets but not appology to Muslims. A man who just added more fuel to a burning fire. A man who provoques under the name of humanity and love, and stupidly expresses his evil intentions towards Muslims.
Doesnt this make it sound like another leader who lies under the name of liberty to achieve his personal objectives???
Whether the provocations or lies are from Benedict or Bush, it's always a broader war against Muslims.
Accurist you forgot to mention that few months ago Benedict had visited some sites in Europe where Jews have been executed by Nazis and asked God where was he when that happened. His aim of doing that is to please them...and remember the Bush saying you decide whether you are with us or against us...you dig, I'm tired now. :)
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From: Muchkill_algeria
Sent: 9/18/2006 6:56 AM
قصيدة هجاء في بابا الفاتيكان
أَقْصِرْ، فأنتَ أمامَ وهْمٍ حاشدِ يا من عَبَدْتَ ثلاثةً في واحدِ أَقْصِرْ، فموجُ الوهْمِ حولكَ لم يزَلْ يقتاتُ حبَّةَ كلِّ قلبٍ حاقدِ أَقْصِرْ فدونَ رسولِنا وكتابِنا خَرْطُ القَتَادِ وعَزْمُ كلِّ مجاهدِ يا أيُّها البابا، رويدَكَ إِنَّنا لنرى التآمُرَ في الدُّخانِ الصاعدِ في دينِنا نَبْعُ السلامِ ونهرُهُ نورٌ يَفيضُ به تبتُّلُ راشدِ فَلَنحنُ أوسطُ أمَّةٍ وقفتْ على منهاجِ خالقِها وقوفَ الصامدِ إنا لنؤمنُ بالمسيحِ ورَفْعِهِ ونزولِهِ فيا نُزولَ الرَّائدِ فعلامَ تصدُمنا بشرِّ بضاعةٍ معروضةٍ في سوقِ وَهْمٍِ كاسدِ؟؟ أنْساكَ تثليثُ العقيدةٍ خالقاً فَرْداً يتوقُ إليهِ قلبُ العابدِ أبديتَ بغْضاءَ الفؤادِ وربَّما أخفيْتَ منها ألفَ عقدةِ عَاقدِ أَتُراكَ تُدركُ سوءَ ما أحدثتَهُ ممَّا اقترفتَ منَ الحديثِ الباردِ؟ عجباً لعقلِكَ كيفَ خانَكَ وَعْيُهُ حتَّى أسأتَ إلى النبيِّ القائدِ؟ ! هذا محَّمدُ، أيُّها البابا، أما يكفي منَ الإنجيلِ أقربُ شاهدِ؟ بقدومِهِ هتفَ المسيحُ مبشِّراً بُشرى بموعودٍ لأعظمِ واعدِ قامتْ عليكَ الحجَّةُ الكبرى فلا تُشْعِلْ بها نيرانَ جمرٍ خامدِ إنْ كانَ هذا قَوْلَ مُرشدِ قومِهِ فينا، فكيفَ بجاهلٍ ومُعانِدِ؟! ما قيمةُ التَّاجِ المرصَّعِ، حينما يُطْوَى على وَهْمٍ ورأيٍ فاسدِ؟ يا أيُّها البابا، لدينا حُجَّةٌ كالشمسِ أكبرُ من جُحود الجاحدِ مليارُنا حيُّ الضمير، وإنْ تكُنْ عصفتْ بهِ منكمْ رياحُ مُكايدِ قعدَتْ بأمَّتِنا الخطوبُ، ولنْ ترَوْا منها إذا انتفضَتْ تَخاذُلَ قاعدِ
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Message 9 of 11 in Discussion
From: algeria_8
Sent: 9/19/2006 6:34 AM
Salam,
"Same old blues again!" tu me fais rapeller gringo. (que je salues).
C'est que le pape s’est laissé allé et ses propos sont dangereux, car si d’un point de vue universitaire, il s’agit bien d’une inexactitude grossière concernant la théologie musulmane, d’un point de vue politique, il alimente ici un dossier initié par les USA sur la relance d’une guerre de civilisations. Alors que l’Occident laic est menacé dans ses fondements, le devoir du pape est bien de proposer un retour au religieux, contre les déboires de la laicité, et non pas d’opposer des croyants musulmans à des croyants chrétiens. L’eglise doit redéfinir sa voie et ne pas être manipulée par le courant extrémiste occidental cherchant à relancer la croisade derrière les USA.
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Message 10 of 11 in Discussion
From: Al3ab9ari1
Sent: 10/4/2006 2:45 PM
Salam Alaykoum
Worth going thru and enriching oneself to realize the more we learn, the more we realize how little we have learned in our life time!! May Allah accept our prayers during this blessed month of Ramadan and guide us to right path, InshAllah Ta'aala
Remember me in your prayers!
Ps: Houari , you have to install power point if you want to see the attachment
PopeRemarksAndTheTruth.pps
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From: °º‡¤˙ИЇqΛλβϊ˙¤‡º°
Sent: 10/5/2006 3:57 PM
Walykumusalaam wrwb
Ameen Ya Rabb
JazakAllah khayr for this if its ok with you I'd like to post it in my other groups
Ramadhan Mubarak
UmmeKarima
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