Muslims ask Pope and Christians to look at their history of violence

-26/09/06

Pope Be


Muslims ask Pope and Christians to look at their history of violence

-26/09/06

Pope Benedict XVI has told diplomats from Islamic countries that the peace of the world relies upon them learning to respect one another, to discuss differences constructively, and to recognise the call within both faiths to reject violence decisively.

In response, Muslim scholars have called for a reassessment of the past, and for the churches to face up to their own history of violence in a frank re-assessment of the historical relations between the two faiths.

The Popeís plea came in a special meeting on 25 September 2006 with Islamic leaders at the pontiffís residence, in which the leader of the worldís 1.2 billion Catholics stressed his respect for Muslims, following a furore about a speech in which he quoted a 14th century Christian emperor who referred to “evil and inhuman” aspects of the religion.

“I should like to reiterate today all the esteem and the profound respect that I have for Muslim believers,” Pope Benedict told the ambassadors of Islamic countries accredited to the Holy See, as well as representatives of various Muslim communities in Italy.

For the sake of the world, Christians and Muslims needed to learn to work together, Pope Benedict declared, “to guard against all forms of intolerance and to oppose all manifestations of violence”.

Pope Benedict XVI’s reference to dark aspects in Islam’s history also opened up fresh examinations of its own past as conqueror, inquisitor and patron of missionaries whose zeal sometimes led to harsh actions against those of other faiths, points out Brian Murphy of Associated Press.

Many Islamic leaders have appealed, in turn, for onlookers not to judge their faith’s nearly 1,400-year history solely by modern calls for ëholy warí, which they say is a clear distortion of the Quríanís teaching about jihad as a spiritual struggle, and Muslim rage over Benedict’s 12 September speech in Germany.

“There is this impression among Muslims that the pope was saying, ‘We are superior and we are without problems,'” explained Ali El-Samman, president of the interfaith committee for Egypt’s High Islamic Council. “The history books will tell you otherwise.”

In recent years the Vatican has tried to clear away some of its historical baggage, says Murphy. This includes a well-publicised (but subsequently overlooked) 2001 apology by Pope John Paul II for the medieval Crusades, which are widely seen both by Muslims and Orthodox Christians as Western invasions.

Meanwhile, a professor of Islamic law at Qatar University, Muhammad Ayash al-Kubaisi, has proposed on the website of the Al-Jazeera television that Christians should study their own turbulent past and that a constructive way forward might be a public debate about the history of Muslim-Christian relations.

In 1099 Christian crusaders captured Jerusalem and began wholesale attacks on its population, including Muslims and Jews, historians say. At the same time in other parts of the Muslim world, a golden age had its intellectual hub in Baghdad.

In the early 13th century, Crusaders sacked Constantinople, the ancient centre of Greek-led Byzantium, in part to use the plunder to fund more forays into Muslim lands. The Byzantine Empire never fully recovered from the blow.

“No religion is without their unholy periods,” commented the Rev Khalil Samir, a Vatican envoy for interfaith links in Lebanon. “To admit this is an important step to real understanding and dialogue.”

[Also on Ekklesia: Pope’s personal apology to Muslims fails to placate angry critics; Orthodox leader says Pope’s Turkey visit will go ahead; Christianity and Islam must move beyond triumphalism by Giles Fraser; Nun killed and West Bank churches torched after Pope’s speech; Muslims urged to repair Palestinian churches attacked after Pope’s speech; Pope’s controversial German speech on reason and religion; Muslim leader denounces religious extremism; Christendom remains the Pope’s real fallibility by Simon Barrow; Pope calls for peace among the faiths in Jerusalem; Both Christians and Muslims deplore attacks Nablus church attacks; Christian-Muslim Forum and Islam Expo seek to build bridges; Iraqi, Muslim and Palestinian support for peace hostages grows; World Summit of Religious Leaders condemns religiously sanctioned]


Muslims ask Pope and Christians to look at their history of violence

-26/09/06

Pope Benedict XVI has told diplomats from Islamic countries that the peace of the world relies upon them learning to respect one another, to discuss differences constructively, and to recognise the call within both faiths to reject violence decisively.

In response, Muslim scholars have called for a reassessment of the past, and for the churches to face up to their own history of violence in a frank re-assessment of the historical relations between the two faiths.

The Popeís plea came in a special meeting on 25 September 2006 with Islamic leaders at the pontiffís residence, in which the leader of the worldís 1.2 billion Catholics stressed his respect for Muslims, following a furore about a speech in which he quoted a 14th century Christian emperor who referred to “evil and inhuman” aspects of the religion.

“I should like to reiterate today all the esteem and the profound respect that I have for Muslim believers,” Pope Benedict told the ambassadors of Islamic countries accredited to the Holy See, as well as representatives of various Muslim communities in Italy.

For the sake of the world, Christians and Muslims needed to learn to work together, Pope Benedict declared, “to guard against all forms of intolerance and to oppose all manifestations of violence”.

Pope Benedict XVI’s reference to dark aspects in Islam’s history also opened up fresh examinations of its own past as conqueror, inquisitor and patron of missionaries whose zeal sometimes led to harsh actions against those of other faiths, points out Brian Murphy of Associated Press.

Many Islamic leaders have appealed, in turn, for onlookers not to judge their faith’s nearly 1,400-year history solely by modern calls for ëholy warí, which they say is a clear distortion of the Quríanís teaching about jihad as a spiritual struggle, and Muslim rage over Benedict’s 12 September speech in Germany.

“There is this impression among Muslims that the pope was saying, ‘We are superior and we are without problems,'” explained Ali El-Samman, president of the interfaith committee for Egypt’s High Islamic Council. “The history books will tell you otherwise.”

In recent years the Vatican has tried to clear away some of its historical baggage, says Murphy. This includes a well-publicised (but subsequently overlooked) 2001 apology by Pope John Paul II for the medieval Crusades, which are widely seen both by Muslims and Orthodox Christians as Western invasions.

Meanwhile, a professor of Islamic law at Qatar University, Muhammad Ayash al-Kubaisi, has proposed on the website of the Al-Jazeera television that Christians should study their own turbulent past and that a constructive way forward might be a public debate about the history of Muslim-Christian relations.

In 1099 Christian crusaders captured Jerusalem and began wholesale attacks on its population, including Muslims and Jews, historians say. At the same time in other parts of the Muslim world, a golden age had its intellectual hub in Baghdad.

In the early 13th century, Crusaders sacked Constantinople, the ancient centre of Greek-led Byzantium, in part to use the plunder to fund more forays into Muslim lands. The Byzantine Empire never fully recovered from the blow.

“No religion is without their unholy periods,” commented the Rev Khalil Samir, a Vatican envoy for interfaith links in Lebanon. “To admit this is an important step to real understanding and dialogue.”

[Also on Ekklesia: Pope’s personal apology to Muslims fails to placate angry critics; Orthodox leader says Pope’s Turkey visit will go ahead; Christianity and Islam must move beyond triumphalism by Giles Fraser; Nun killed and West Bank churches torched after Pope’s speech; Muslims urged to repair Palestinian churches attacked after Pope’s speech; Pope’s controversial German speech on reason and religion; Muslim leader denounces religious extremism; Christendom remains the Pope’s real fallibility by Simon Barrow; Pope calls for peace among the faiths in Jerusalem; Both Christians and Muslims deplore attacks Nablus church attacks; Christian-Muslim Forum and Islam Expo seek to build bridges; Iraqi, Muslim and Palestinian support for peace hostages grows; World Summit of Religious Leaders condemns religiously sanctioned]