Gee wiz, I guess that the Pope was wrong...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1875811,00.html
From the above source:
The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organisation of Sunni Arab extremist groups that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, issued a statement on a web forum saying the pontiff and the west were "doomed". The message, the authenticity of which could not be immediately verified, said: "We shall continue our holy war and never stop until God enables us to chop your necks and raise the fluttering banner of monotheism when God's rule is established governing all people and nations." (My emphasis)
And yet another
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/18/africa/ME_GEN_Muslims_Pope.php
"If the stupid pig is prancing with his blasphemies in his house . . . then let him wait for the day coming soon when the armies of the religion of right knock on the walls of Rome."
From the same article:
"Those who take benefit from Pope's comment and drive their own arrogant policies should be targeted of attack and protest."
And one more reasonable comment:
"His comments really hurt Muslims all over the world," Umar Nawawi of the radical Islamic Defenders' Front said Monday in Jakarta. "We should remind him not to say such things which can only fuel a holy war."
This latter comment is at least not violent in nature, but it assumes that violence is the answer to what Pope Benedict said ("...can only fuel a holy war.")
It doesn't have to fuel a holy war. Muslims can ignore what the Pope said, just as I can ignore what they say. Why does a fatwa have to be issued everytime a public person publicly disagrees? This doesn't seem very adab (or dare I say kosher?). Isn't it time for sensible people (including all true mujtahidun) to stand up to these fajarah and their lagwh? Surely the wise ones must know that this is not the way to taqwa.
If reason doesn't prevail, then perhaps Pope Benedict needs to read one of Urban II's famous addresses. Deus vult. Jus ad bellum est. Deo vindice.
Pax vobiscum
Interesting indeed - the pope declares that Muslim "live by the sword" citing an early (Byzantine) church official. This is not the interesting part; the interesting aspect of the situation is that the followers of Islam were so infuriated about said commentary that - you guessed it - they resorted to violence. Ironic?
ReplyDeleteI am not proclaiming that all muslims are extremist any more than I am saying that all christians are kkk. The concept of the many has just been skewed by the actions and ideology of the very few; this is truly sad indeed. I do not think that the pope was wrong to use this example, just misguided. He could have easily substituded a similar example regarding the crusades about, of all people, christians. Note that I no longer believe that the Pope is infalable as he is a man. However, for those who do - he never actually apologized for what he said, just for the fact that what he said was "misconstrued."
I'll leave you with this quote from the late, great Pope John Paul II: "the holy name of God must never be used to incite violence or terrorism, to promote hatred or exclusion."