Controversy rages about Pope's comments on Islam

[Al-khiyal]

KUWAIT CITY: An Islamist MP called on the Kuwaiti government on Saturday to stop issuing licences for new churches in the Gulf emirate over Pope Benedict XVI's remarks implicitly linking violence and Islam.

Daifallah Buramia also vowed to put forward draft legislation in a bid to "reduce the number of churches in Kuwait," in response to the remarks which he described as an offence to Islam and the Prophet Mohammed.

Kuwait is one of the most liberal of the Gulf Arab states towards the Christian community. It has about a dozen churches for its 200 Christian nationals and some 250,000 foreigners.

A number of MPs said Saturday they would call for a special session of parliament, which is currently in recess until October 30, to debate the pope's comments.

During a trip to his native Germany Tuesday, the pope cited a 14th-century Christian emperor who said the Prophet Mohammed had brought the world "evil and inhuman" things "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

Kuwait MP urges curbs on churches over Pope's comments

[Al-khiyal]

Havana, Sept 16, IRNA - - Pope Benedict XVI must apologize and withdraw his recent remarks linking Islam and violence that have offended Muslims all over the world, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.

"The Pope must not take lightly the spread of outrage that has been created. The Vatican must now take full responsibility over the matter and carry out the necessary steps to rectify the mistake," the prime minister told Malaysian journalists covering the 14th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit here on Friday, reported Bernama.

Abdullah, who is chairman of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said it was regrettable that the remarks showed insensitivity to Muslim feelings and would surely hinder efforts to foster good relations between Islam and Christianity.

Benedict provoked the outcry on Tuesday when he quoted a criticism of Islam and Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) by 14th century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus in a theological lecture in Germany.

"It is unfortunate that such an eminent figure like the Pope has not shown leadership in promoting good relations between religions.

"Instead, his statement has had the effect of sowing more seeds of discord and will not be conducive for dialogue among religions," Abdullah said.

He said that judging from the reactions of various quarters around the world, obviously the Pope's words could lead to further tension between religions.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar urged Muslims to be patient and not to get too emotional.

However, he said it was incumbent on the Muslim world to condemn the statement so that it would not be repeated.

He said such statements were not in the interest of world security and, moreover, hampered efforts to avoid cultural and religious clashes...

Pope must apologize, says Malaysia's PM Abdullah

[Al-khiyal]

AMMAN, Sept 16 (KUNA) -- Jordanian religious, parliamentary and media figures condemned on Saturday Pope Benedict's remarks against Islam saying they only serve extremism. President of The Arab and International Affairs Committee of the Jordanian National Assembly Mohammad Abu Hdeib told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) the Pope's speech calls for a strong condemnation especially because it comes from a top religious figure.

Abu Hdeib called the Muslim and civilized world to unite their efforts to find out the reasons behind such remarks. The Pope's statements, he said, increase the credibility of those who speak about a crusaders attack on Islam.

"We do not want such remarks to serve extremism. Islam is a peaceful religion based on dialogue," he added.

He pointed to many Qur'an verses which denounce violence and preach people to be merciful. "The Pope needs to re-read Islamic history, culture and religion," he added.

Head of Shura Council Sheikh Hatim Al-Manaseer demanded that the Pope apologizes to the Islamic nation for his provocations against Islam.

He said the Pope statements reflect "his ignorance" in the religion of Islam and its teachings.

Jordan condemns Pope's remarks on Islam

[Al-khiyal]

A HARDLINE cleric linked to Somalia's powerful Islamist movement has called for Muslims to "hunt down" and kill Pope Benedict XVI for his controversial comments about Islam.

Sheikh Abubukar Hassan Malin urged Muslims to find the pontiff and punish him for insulting the Prophet Mohammed and Allah in a speech that he said was as offensive as author Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses.

"We urge you Muslims wherever you are to hunt down the Pope for his barbaric statements as you have pursued Salman Rushdie, the enemy of Allah who offended our religion," he said in Friday evening prayers.

"Whoever offends our Prophet Mohammed should be killed on the spot by the nearest Muslim," Malin, a prominent cleric in the Somali capital, told worshippers at a mosque in southern Mogadishu.

"We call on all Islamic Communities across the world to take revenge on the baseless critic called the pope," he said.

Reached by telephone on Saturday, Malin confirmed making the remarks that were echoed in less strident form by other senior clerics in the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS).

Another SICS executive member, Sheikh Ahmed Abdullahi, vented similar anger at the pope's "barbarous criticism" but stopped short of calling for his murder.

"He must apologise because he has offended the most honorable person who ever lived in the world," Abdullahi said.

The German-born leader of the Roman Catholic Church has been condemned in the Muslim world for comments he made at a Tuesday lecture, in which he implicitly denounced links between Islam and violence, particularly with reference to jihad, or "holy war."

The pope also quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who said innovations introduced by the Prophet Mohammed were "evil and inhuman."

Somalia, a Horn of Africa nation of some 10 million mainly moderate Muslims, has been wracked by instability for the past 16 years but has recently seen the rise of fundamentalist Islamists who seized the capital in June.

Somali cleric calls for Pope's death

[Al-khiyal]

Security around Pope beefed up

[Al-khiyal]

Benedict XVI will be back in the public eye today. But anger is still growing among Muslims at what he said about their faith:

Pope Benedict XVI remained out of sight yesterday as the furore over his comments on Islam and jihad worsened, with Muslim leaders demanding a personal apology and churches being attacked in the Palestinian territories.

His response came via Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the new Vatican secretary of state, who said the Pope was "extremely upset" at the offence he had caused. The pontiff "esteems Muslims", insisted Cardinal Bertone, because they "adore the only God".

Pope Benedict was sitting out the storm at his summer residence near Rome. He is expected to meet crowds there today, his first public appearance since returning from the tour of Germany on which the controversy started.

The Pope was speaking on Tuesday at the University of Regensburg. He quoted a Byzantine emperor as saying the Prophet Mohamed had only brought "evil and inhuman" things to the world, and had commanded followers to spread their faith by the sword.

Some Muslims seized on this equation of Islam and violence as a papal attempt to revive the Crusades. Other, calmer Islamic voices saw it as a bit rich, coming from the leader of the church that spilt blood in the name of Christ. The Pope also quoted the emperor as saying: "God is not pleased by blood." But his words led to protests by governments, including those of Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, which he is supposed to visit in November.

Having been Pope for 17 months, Benedict has yet to make clear his strategy towards Islam, although he agrees it is one of the challenges of the age.

In 2001 his predecessor John Paul II became the first pope to step into a mosque, during a trip to Syria. Also that year, in a papal prayer he read in Rome, John Paul apologised for "the violence used by some Christians in the service of truth". The Vatican said this meant the Crusades, as well as the Inquisition and complicity with persecution of Jews.

In 1996, long before he became Pope Benedict XVI, the then Cardinal Ratzinger said Islam had difficulty adapting to modern life. Last year he accused Muslim leaders in his home nation of Germany of allowing the youngsters in their community to fall into "the darkness of a new barbarism".
While some Vatican observers believe the Regensburg speech may have been a conscious attempt to challenge Islam, the Vatican is stressing that it was not specific to any faith - rather "a clear and radical rejection of the religious motivation for violence".

Benedict did appear to be attempting new relations with Muslim leaders before this controversy. The Turkish visit was being seen as an attempt to engage afresh with a country he once said should not be allowed to join the EU because its predominantly Islamic culture clashed with the Christian roots of Europe.

Yesterday, Cardinal Bertone stressed that during the trip to Germany, Pope Benedict had also warned secular Western culture to avoid being scornful towards God.

He had spoken out against Western cynicism that "considers the mockery of the sacred a right to freedom" (a reference, in part, to the row over the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed), said Cardinal Bertone. "In reiterating his respect and his esteem for those who profess Islam he hopes that they are aided in understanding the right sense of his words, so that this not easy moment may be quickly overcome."

Here, the Muslim Council of Britain said the Pope had "made a good first step" in "recognising the hurt he caused".

Islam vents rage at Pope

[Al-khiyal]

Muslims protest at 'Crusades' mentality as Pope fails to apologise