Muslims, and some Christians, across the region have expressed anger over comments Benedict made Tuesday in Germany where he cited the words of 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who said everything the Prophet Muhammad brought was evil “such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”
The anger of course, was implying that Islam was tainted by violence...The Response?
Al-Qaida militants in Iraq vowed war on “worshippers of the cross” and protesters burned a papal effigy on Monday over Pope Benedict’s comments on Islam, while Western churchmen and statesmen tried to calm passions.
“We tell the worshipper of the cross (the pope) that you and the West will be defeated, as is the case in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya,” said a Web statement by the Mujahideen Shura Council, an umbrella group led by Iraq’s branch of al-Qaida.
The anger of course, was implying that Islam was tainted by violence...The Response?
Al-Qaida militants in Iraq vowed war on “worshippers of the cross” and protesters burned a papal effigy on Monday over Pope Benedict’s comments on Islam, while Western churchmen and statesmen tried to calm passions.
“We tell the worshipper of the cross (the pope) that you and the West will be defeated, as is the case in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya,” said a Web statement by the Mujahideen Shura Council, an umbrella group led by Iraq’s branch of al-Qaida.
“We shall break the cross and spill the wine ... God will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome ... (May) God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen,” said the statement, posted on Sunday on an Internet site often used by al-Qaida and other militant groups.
......I don't even get it. I'm not even sure how that makes ANY sense.
4 comments:
It will be interesting to know what the Persian said in reply to the Christian Emperor's remark on Islam, if at all he did. The truth anyway is, the Prophet propogated the use of the sword only to defend Islam not to spread the religion. So here lies the difference, violence for defence and unjustified violence. Muslims all over the world have a right to defend their religion against the unjust remark of a cocky Emperor, quoted by the Pope. This might seem like a justification of violence, yet seeing from the perspective of even a 'non-terrorist' muslim, in an increasingly Islamophobic world there is no point maintaining a cordial relationship with the rest. Infact, at this stage taking recourse to hatred might seem plausible to Muslims. This violence therefore is the construct of those who are pretending to fight against it.
At the first place, the Pope's remark was unnecessary. Being the head of the Catholic Church, his remarks are correctly or incorrectly representative of the sentiments of the entire Christian world. This only further alienates the Muslims, prompting them to believe that the war on terror is the war on Islam. This precisely is what the militant organistions like Al Qaeda want.
Interestingly however, the Church had nothing to say when atrocities were committed against Europe's Jews right under the papal nose(Pope Pius xii). It infact helped Germans in carrying out the Final Solution. Also,the church should look back at its own history of brutal crusades before making such remarks. Although raking up these issues will not do any good, it clearly shows the lack of commitment towards the cause of peace.
Islamic fundamentalism is dangerous, but such knee-jerk remarks could not be justified either. I am quite sure, Al queda actually is grateful to the Pope for having quoted that sentence.
So, uh, Who is this?
Well, that was me, Korobi. Your blog looks a bit like a closed shop. But the topic interested me, and i did have something to say.
Korobi!
That's awesome!
I imagined some White Kid with a political science degree...nice!
You still suck though.
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