Controversy rages about Pope's comments on Islam

[Al-khiyal]

Anger mounted across the Muslim world Friday over remarks made by Pope Benedict XVI during a visit to Germany this week in which the pontiff quoted a 14th-century Christian emperor as calling aspects of the legacy of Islam's Prophet Mohammed "evil and inhuman."

In Pakistan, both houses of parliament - the National Assembly and the Senate - passed unanimous resolutions Friday calling on Pope Benedict to retract his remarks.

The National Assembly resolution said the pope's remarks hurt the feelings of Muslims worldwide, created a gulf between religions and demanded that the pope withdraw his remarks immediately "to promote inter-religion harmony."

In Egypt, the chairman of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement, Mohammed Mahdi Akef, expressed his "astonishment" over the German-born pope's remarks, saying the pontiff's statements demonstrated "ignorance of Islamic teachings" and showed Western clerics and politicians were "hostile to Islam."

The pope's remarks came Tuesday in Regensburg in his home state of Bavaria, when he was quoting a conversation that took place in Ankara in the year 1391 between Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an educated Persian on Christianity and Islam.

"Show me just what Mohammed 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," the pope quoted Manuel as saying.

As head of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is banned by law but tolerated in Egypt, was calling on Pope Benedict to apologize, the Vatican was attempting to shore up criticism of the pontiff on a day that saw a new Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, take office.

One of the first tasks awaiting Bertone, an Italian, who becomes the Vatican's new "prime minister" will be to repair the damage caused by Benedict's remarks.

In a statement issued Thursday, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi already assured the pope was keen to "cultivate an attitude of respect and dialogue toward other religions and cultures, obviously toward Islam too" and that what the pope took exception to was the "religious motivation of violence."

Lombardi was also quoted by daily La Repubblica Friday as saying the pope "never intended to offend the sensibility of Muslim believers," but such assurances appeared unlikely to bring a quick end to the controversy.

In Saudi Arabia, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) which groups together 57 countries with Muslim populations, in a statement criticized the "smear campaign" by the Pope against the Prophet Mohammed.

"The Organization of the Islamic Conference hopes that this campaign is not the prelude of a new Vatican policy towards Islam," the OIC said.

In India, where Muslims account for 13.4 per cent of the population of 1.1 billion, Muslim scholars and religious leaders termed Benedict's comments irresponsible and blasphemous and several northern cities saw protests.

"The pope should have been very careful about his utterances; what he said was nothing but blasphemy," Muslim Personal Law Board Member Kamal Farooqi told the Times of India newspaper, while the chief cleric at India's largest mosque, the Jama Masjid in Delhi, urged worshippers at Friday prayers to respond in such a way as to prompt an apology from the pope.

There were angry reactions in Iran and Syria also. A member of Iran's highest Islamic body, Ahmad Khatami, termed as "outrageous" Benedict's remarks during Friday prayers in Tehran while Syria's Grand Mufti Ahmed Badereddine Hassoun sent a letter to Pope Benedict XVI asking for an explanation.

In the first sign that Christian symbols might be targeted by protestors angry over the pope's remarks, a homemade bomb exploded at the entrance to the Roman Orthodox Church in Gaza City causing damage but no injuries.

Meanwhile in Europe, Muslim populations were adding their voices to the chorus of disapproval Friday. The head of the Muslim Council of Britain, Mohammed Abdul Bari called on the pope to "clarify" his remarks "in the interests of truth and harmonious relations" between Islam and Catholicism and wondered at the pope's quoting of "ill- informed and frankly bigoted" remarks.

In the northern French city of Lille, the rector of a mosque also criticized the comments as "a hateful provocation" a day after the head of the French Council of the Muslim Religion, Dalil Boubakeur, demanded a "clarification" from the Vatican over the pope's comments.

Anger mounts in Muslim world over Pope's remarks

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BAGHDAD, Sept 15 (KUNA) -- The Pope of the Vatican Benedict XVI's statements over Islamic and Jihad have triggered Friday dismay around the Arab and Islamic worlds, with many sheikhs and clerics asking the Pope to apologize.

The statements of Pope Benecit XVI are unjust to Islam, said Iraqi MP Ayad Jamaluddin. He recalled, in a statement to KUNA, that Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) had emphasized that the foundation of Islam was reason. Jamaluddin said Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, could stop bloodshed and conflicts. "In Islam, we have people who are thirsty for blood ... who use Quranic verses to justify their violence," added the MP. He said Benedict XVI has no right to accuse Islam of being violent. The Pope, he added, should have known that Islamic schools considered reason the foundation of the religion. Jamaluddin said the statements of the Pope would ignite further extremism in the Islamic world thus violence worldwide.

Dr. Salah Abdulrazzaq, a researcher in Contemporary Islam and Islamic Sects, said he felt it was strange that Benedict XVI would make such statements at a time politicians and clerics were rejecting violence and calling for peace. Speaking to KUNA, Abdulrazzaq said the statements would pave way for escalation of violence around the world. He warned against the abuse of the statements by extremists. "There are extremists groups who want to control the world and the fortunes of the Muslims, and their justifications are that the Pope has hatred feelings and considers Islam a bloody religion."

The Muslims Ulema Authority said the Pope's statement harmed the feelings of Muslims. It called on Benedict XVI to clarify the objectives of his statements.

The Islamic Da'wa Party, one of the largest Shiite parties in Iraq, condemned the statements of the Vatican leader and asked for an official apology. These statements, it said in a statement, blocked the way before civilized and humane dialogue."

Iraqis condemn statements of Benedict XVI on Islam, Jihad

[Al-khiyal]

An angered reaction from Ali Bardakoglu, head of Turkey's Ministry of Religious Affairs, in response to comments made by Pope Benedict XVI on a visit to Germany has made reverberations in the world press. Pope Benedict's comments, which appeared to link Islam with violence, elicited a call from Bardakoglu for the Pope to clarify his words and/or apologize.

An editorial in yesterday's New York Times noted that the Pope's anticipated November visit to Turkey was now in jeopardy, while the Washington Times talked of growing tension, and BBC mentioned "the growing anger of Muslims."

French newspaper Le Figaro also touched on the Pope's words on Islam, and the response they had elicited, noting that Muslims everywhere were "shocked." The Le Figaro article also noted "No one in Turkey has forgotten that as Cardinal Ratzinger, the Pope was always against this country's entrance into the EU."

An article in the Washington Times noted that the tension had increased in advance of the Pope's anticipated November visit to Turkey, pointing out that Bardakoglu's reaction to the Pope had included a string of accusations against Christianity.

Meanwhile, an article in the Arab News on the Pope's words in Germany posits that the "gulf between Muslims and Christians will only deepen" as a result of Benedict XVI's comments. Touching on Bardakoglu's reaction, the Arab News article notes that the head of Turkey's Ministry of Religious Affairs has always been against the Pope's November visit to Turkey.

World press notes growing tension over Pope's comments on Islam

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The first casualty of the Pope's Islam speech

3-page article

[Al-khiyal]

The world is about to witness the next wave of Muslim rage against the West.

Addressing an audience at Regensburg University in Germany on Sept. 12, Pope Benedict XVI delivered a controversial speech, in which he quoted 14th Century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II regarding the issue of jihad: "Show me just what Mohammed 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."

Muslim leaders from Turkey, Pakistan, Morocco, Kuwait, France and Germany loudly criticized the pope for his remarks and demanded an apology. A Vatican spokesman began the damage-control process Thursday by spreading the message that the Holy See fully intends to carry on Pope John Paul II's legacy of building bridges between religions and clarifying that Islam was not the focus of the speech.

But the damage has already been done.

While Muslim governments are still issuing official complaints against the pope's comments on Islam, the message of fury is quickly disseminating to the streets. Public demonstrations have already been organized to follow Friday prayers in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. These protests are likely to spread rapidly across the Islamic world, particularly in Egypt, Pakistan, Iran, Kashmir, Indonesia, the Philippines and Turkey.

Coming at a time of heightened feelings of religiosity among Muslims in the lead-up to Ramadan, the pope's remarks are bound to kick up a massive sandstorm - inspiring fiery speeches during Friday prayers on the U.S.-led "war on terror" being the new Crusade against Islam. The size and intensity of protests in different places will, of course, depend upon whatever local issues are currently in play that might distract attention from this issue. Protests might also be limited by a certain degree of "outrage fatigue" in places where Muslims have already been protesting the West for other reasons. But in the eyes of many Muslims now catching wind of the protests, the pope's speech is far more damning than, for instance, the Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed; a religious official of the highest order in the Christian West has publicly called Islam an inferior religion. The context in which the statements were made is certainly debatable, but it does not really matter in the end what the pope said. What matters is how it will play out in the Muslim world.

It is important to note that the public condemnation of the pope's remarks by Muslim leaders did not appear until two days after he made the speech. The motor of fury is still revving up. While the February cartoon uproar is still a fresh memory in the minds of many, it was largely overlooked during the flag-burnings and embassy-stonings that the outrage over the cartoons did not actually surface until months after they were first published. A group of Muslim clerics in Denmark made a conscious decision to publicize the cartoons and draw attention to the Western insensitivities toward Muslims worldwide by taking a tour throughout the Middle East. The campaign allowed the Muslim diaspora to vent their frustration over their economic and social troubles in Europe, while enflaming anti-Western sentiment already brewing throughout the Islamic world over a growing list of complaints involving the Iraq war, U.S. support for Israel, the Koran desecration scandal and the Abu Ghraib torture scandal.

In a similar way, the current protests will play into the hands of many looking for a distraction, a cause to unite Muslims or simply a catalyst to intensify Muslim extremism against the West.

In the wake of the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon, surrounding Arab regimes came under intense pressure as they battled between supporting Hezbollah against the Jewish state and taking a public stand against Shiite power in the region. A controversy fueling anger toward the West would be a welcome distraction in many of these police states. Syria, a secular majority-Sunni state ruled by an Alawite minority, will also likely seize the opportunity to foment such protests in a bid to consolidate the regime's position.

Iran, meanwhile, is in the midst of an aggressive geopolitical push to establish itself as the kingmaker of the region. Iran's biggest handicap is its label as a Persian Shiite state in a Sunni Arab world. Playing up the pope protests will assist Tehran in trying to overcome the Sunni-Shiite divide and unify Muslims in their opposition to the West. Iran, after all, is currently the only Muslim regime that is taking a strong stand against the United States and is actually maintaining the upper hand in the standoff through its nuclear gambit, its control over Hezbollah and its expanding influence in Iraq.

And let us not forget the jihadists. Al Qaeda thrives on offenses to the Muslim world to attract support for its transnational jihadist movement.

While the present imbroglio will be a serious flash point in tensions between Islam and the West, it can be cleared up more easily than the cartoon controversy. Whereas the cartoon uproar revolved around the Western adherence to free speech in addition to what was viewed as a serious offense to Islam, the pope's speech does not compromise core values of the West to the same degree. The "Crusade against Islam" theme will fester for a number of days, but can be defused with relative ease if the Vatican views it as its duty to clear up the issue. This will all depend on an official apology from the Holy See itself, and only time will tell whether the Vatican sees a need to put out this latest fire.

The political fallout from the Pope's speech

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Indian Congress, BJP flay Pope’s remarks on Islam

Pakistan Parliament demands Pope retract Islam comments

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Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone was formally installed Friday as the Vatican's new Secretary of State and immediately faced a brewing row between the Catholic Church and the Islamic world over controversial remarks made by Pope Benedict XVI about the Prophet Mohammed.

Bertone replaced fellow Italian Angelo Sodano as the Vatican's "prime minister" during a ceremony attended by the pope at his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, in the hills south of Rome.

A steadfast Benedict loyal who worked with Joseph Ratzinger when the two were at the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 71-year-old Bertone will act as the pope's closest advisor.

"I am aware of the responsibilities that (this post) bring with it, as well as the importance and complexity of the issues I will be facing on a daily basis," Bertone said.

One of the first tasks facing the new secretary of state will involve addressing the growing friction between the Church and the Islamic world caused by remarks made earlier this week by Benedict.

In a speech made during a visit to his homeland of Bavaria, Germany, the pope quoted a 14th century conversation that took place in Ankara between Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an educated Persian to drive home is point that "violence is incompatible with the nature of God".

Though a Vatican spokesman said Benedict "did not mean to hurt the feelings of believing Muslims," the remark sparked angry reactions in Turkey, Pakistan and other Islamic countries, with Muslim leaders interpreting the pope's words as an attack on their faith because of its endorsement of jihad, or holy war.

Vatican experts in Rome spoke of a papal "slip" and suggested that future pope speeches may be checked by the Secretary of State's office to ensure they do not spark further diplomatic incidents of this kind.

The controversy has cast a dark shadow over Benedict's planned trip to Turkey in November, with some observers suggesting it might now have to be postponed until the row quiets down.

In an interview published earlier this week by the Rome-based daily Il Messaggero, Bertone said the Catholic Church should play a role in persuading other faiths to embrace a culture of life and endorsed Benedict's condemnation of the use of violence in religious "holy wars".

"Addressing the world's other religious faiths is part of the Church's mission. We must all return to the original source of human life, which is love," he said.

Also on Friday, Benedict named Monsignor Dominique Mamberti as his new Secretary for Relations with States, the Vatican's equivalent of a foreign minister.

Mamberti, who is 54 and was born in Morocco from French parents, replaces Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, who takes over as President of the Governorate of the Vatican City State.

The appointments are the latest in a series decided by Benedict since his election last year.

New Vatican Secretary of State to tackle Pope-Islam controversy