Do go to AsiaNews for stories – they post about 5 or 6 a day on matters Asian – several today in which you’ll be interested.
On behalf of the World Union of Muslim Ulemas, Qatari Muslim scholar, Yusuf al-Qaradawi has called for day of anger this Friday. Interviewed by al-Jazeera, Al-Qaradawi said that Benedict XVI did not apologise and so the world’ Muslims should express their anger in an hour-long demonstration and sit-in inside mosques at the end of the prayer before Ramadan starts without attacking any church, place of worship or anyone’s else property. He also urged ambassadors of Muslim countries to make a formal written protest to the Holy See and boycott all ceremonies at the Vatican.
In Egypt some lawmakers have called for suspending diplomatic relations with Vatican.
In Palestine Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri stated that what the Pope said yesterday do not even appear to be “apologies”.
Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham followed suite saying that Pope Benedict XVI provided a “good but not enough” explanation for his recent remarks.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Pope Benedict’s remarks on Islam were in line with what he called a US-Zionist ‘crusade’ against Islam that began with the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and continued with the Muhammad cartoons and statements by some western politicians. The most important part of this project is to sow conflict between religions to reach their satanic objectives. Khamenei urged the faithful to include the ‘Great Satan”, that is the United States, in their protest against the Pope.
Some Jordanian Muslim and Christian lawmakers were part of the fifty or so protesters who took part in a sit-in organised by 14 trade unions in Amman that slammed Zionism. In their view, the Pope’s words “fuel a vicious campaign of hatred launched by international Zionism against our nation and future.” A Christian member of parliament, Awdeh Kawass, said that the Pope’s criticism was “insulting to all Arabs, both Muslim and Christians, and that his explanations are insufficient.”
For Saudi daily Al-Youm, Benedict’s remarks are not a “simple error”, but show “a total agreement with extreme rightwing ideas in the US about the clash of civilisation”.
I was hoping this would die down as of, you know…today. But if Friday’s a "Day of Anger…"
“Let us first read what the Pope actually said,” urged Ali el-Amin, Shia mufti of Tyre. Such a view of the controversy that surrounds Benedict XVI’s Regensburg speech reflects the prevailing attitude in multi-faith Lebanon. Even Hezbollah has limited itself so far to express surprise for remarks that “are contrary to the reality of the Muslim religion”, whereas the deputy chairman of the Higher Shia Islamic Council has called for dialogue and the rejection of violence.
In Christian quarters, reactions in the Muslim world are seen as politically motivated. For Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir the Pope’s remarks have been misunderstood. “The motivations behind the criticism are political,” he said. Benedict XVI “did not directly talk about Islam. “Christians and Muslims have an interest of working together, especially in Lebanon”.
Benedict XVI’s clarification yesterday of what he said at Regensburg University is “a positive and courageous step” and should put an end to the negative reactions in the Muslim world. It shows a “genuine desire on the Pontiff’s part for harmony of religions”, this according to an official statement released today by Mgr Lawrence J. Saldanha, archbishop of Lahore and chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan.
Indian Muslim religious leaders “welcomed with joy” Benedict XVI’s clarification with regard to its controversial September 12 speech at Regensburg University, calling it a “sign of religious tolerance and peace”.
“We are very happy that the Pope has tendered an apology. It a great sign of religious tolerance and peace from the Pope. We respect him for this,” said Indian Union Muslim League in Kerala Chairman Panakkad Syed Mohammedali Shihab Thangal.
For days, the mullah Ahmad Khatami has repeated clamorous statements against the pope, who “has not even read the Koran”, who “backs the policies of Bush”, and so on. But only 200 people participated in a rally held yesterday by the theological schools of Qom (the birthplace of Khomeini). This could be a sign of weakness or else, perhaps, an impact of the statement by Cardinal Bertone, reported on the front pages of all Iranian newspapers. The press is talking about the “apology” of the pope to Muslims.
Another sign of detachment from anti-pope rhetoric is the stand taken by the ex-president, Mohammed Khatami, who has suspended judgment on the speech of Benedict XVI in Regensburg until he reads it himself. Even the current Iranian president Ahmadinejad has prudently called for “Islamic theological analysis” into the papal address.
In reality, the Shiite clergy in Iran is using the polemic about the pope for its new upsurge in victimization. The Iranian year 1384 (2205 – 2006), which started shortly after the controversy of the Muhammad cartoons, has been dedicated by the authorities in Teheran to the figure of the prophet of Islam. For some months, the Iranian regime has been availing itself of every opportunity to present itself as the victim of “Islamophobia”, partly not to lag behind in the race to lead international Islamism and partly to alienate people from economic problems and domestic politics.
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