Cairo, Iumsonline.net
- September
14th, 2006
 |
|
Dr.
Yusuf Al-Qaradawi |
The International
Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) issued a statement
in which it refuted the offensive remarks of the
Vatican’s Pope, Benedict XVI, about Islam and the
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
Prominent scholar, Dr.
Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, head of the IUMS, demanded the
Pope on Thursday, September 15th, 2006, to apologize
for these remarks.
Herein is the text of
the statement:
I, and Muslims all
over the world, were greatly surprised at statements
made by Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to
Germany when he spoke about Islam and its relation
with reason on one hand, and its relation with
violence on the other.
We expected that the
highest man of religion in the Christian world would
bide his time, refer to authentic references, and
consult others before talking about a great religion
like Islam. This religion has existed in its present
form for more than fourteen centuries and is now
followed by about one and a half billion people.
Moreover, it has a Divinely revealed Book; the
words of Allah to mankind—the Qur’an. The Qur’an is
being read today in the same form it was written in
the era of the third Caliph `Uthman Ibn `Affan (may
Allah be pleased with him) and is still being
recited in the same way it was recited in the era of
the Prophet. Moreover, it is memorized by tens of
thousands of people all over the world.
Though he was a
professor of dogma and of the history of dogmas at
the University of Regensburg, the Pope hastened to
criticize Islam, attacking its dogma and laws in a
way that was not expected from a person in his
position.
Amidst more than two
hundred thousand people, the Pope talked about Islam
without referring to its holy book, “the Qur’an,” or
to the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace and
blessings be upon him). He found it sufficient to
quote from a conversation that took place in the
fourteenth century between a Byzantine emperor and a
Persian Muslim intellectual.
Among the things said
by the emperor to the man is: “Show me what is new
in what Muhammad came with. Everything Muhammad
brought was evil and inhuman, such as his command to
spread by the sword the faith he preached.” The Pope
did not mention what the Persian intellectual said
in reply to the emperor. He neglected to mention
that Prophet Muhammad benefited humanity at large in
a way that was not done by Christianity or by
Judaism.
Prophet Muhammad came
with a message that struck the right balance between
this life and the Hereafter, between the light of
reason and the light of Revelation, between the
individual and society, and between rights and
duties. He (peace and blessings be upon him)
confirmed the fraternal relation between the classes
within any society, as well as between societies and
peoples as Almighty Allah says in the Qur’an, “O
mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female,
and have made you nations and tribes that ye may
know one another...” (Al-Hujurat 49: 13)
Islam legislated that
if someone inflicts harm on someone else, the
punishment is to be with the like of that which was
inflicted [e.g., an eye for an eye]. At the same
time, Islam recommends forgiveness and calls for
peace. Islam also enjoins that war should be
prepared for: “… that thereby ye may dismay the
enemy of Allah and your enemy…” (Al-Anfal 8: 60)
Furthermore, Islam has established woman’s rights
and honored her as a human being, a female, a
daughter, a wife, a mother, and as a member of
society. And it abrogated many things that were
regarded as “fetters” in Judaism [as expressed by
the Qur’an]. Almighty Allah says, “…He will
enjoin on them that which is right and forbid them
that which is wrong. He will make lawful for them
all good things and prohibit for them only the foul;
and He will relieve them of their burden and the
fetters that they used to wear…” (Al-A`raf 7:
157)
The Byzantine emperor
said that Prophet Muhammad brought only evil and
inhuman things, like spreading faith by the sword.
This is either a calumny or pure ignorance because
no one has ever fought against evil, called for
righteousness, enjoined respect for human dignity,
and respected man's natural disposition like Prophet
Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) who was
sent by Allah as “a mercy for all peoples”.
To say that he spread
Islam by the sword is a huge fabrication, for the
Qur’an commands: “Call unto the way of thy Lord
with wisdom and fair exhortation, and reason with
them in the better way…” (An-Nahl 16: 125)
In reality, Islam did
not gain victory by the sword, but it gained victory
“over” the sword which was withdrawn from the very
beginning, and for thirteen years it endured harm
and tribulation in the cause of Allah until Almighty
Allah revealed: “Sanction is given unto those who
fight because they have been wronged; and Allah is
indeed Able to give them victory; those who have
been driven from their homes unjustly only because
they said: Our Lord is Allah…” (Al-Hajj 22:
39-40)
Islam sanctioned
'jihad' only for self-defense and to resist
persecution, which is worse than slaughter, as
Almighty Allah says, “Fight in the way of Allah
against those who fight against you, but begin not
hostilities. Lo! Allah loveth not aggressors.”
(Al-Baqarah 2: 190) He also says, “… So, if they
hold aloof from you and wage not war against you and
offer you peace, Allah alloweth you no way against
them.” (An-Nisaa’ 4: 90) Islam does not accept
that anyone should embrace it under coercion, as
Almighty Allah says: “There is no compulsion in
religion. The right direction is henceforth distinct
from error…" (Al-Baqarah 2: 256)
What would the Pope
say about what is mentioned in the Bible, namely in
the book of Deuteronomy: On entering any land, Moses
and those with him are to kill all its males by the
sword… However, no one is to be left living in the
territories of the Land of Promise.
This means
annihilation, which was executed by the Christian
Europeans against the native American when they
entered America, and against native Australians when
they entered Australia.
We are disappointed
that the Pope did not provide evidence for his cut
and incomplete speech about Islam and its Prophet.
Some of the violence
practiced by some Muslims is legal, as confirmed by
religions, laws, and ethics, as in national
resistance against the occupation in Palestine,
Lebanon, Iraq, or any other place. To call this
violence or terrorism is surely unjust and a
distortion of facts. Still, some of this [violence]
has been denied by the masses of Muslims worldwide,
such as the events of September 11th. The main cause
of illegal violence is the oppression practiced
against Muslims everywhere while men of religion
[clergy] in the West say nothing about it, and some
of them may even sanctify it.
In his meeting with
the crowds, the Pope stated that “Allah in the
Islamic dogma is absolutely supreme and His will has
no connection with any of our sayings [or remarks],
or even with reason”. He also made a comparison with
Christian thought, which is absorbed by Greek
philosophy, clarifying that “this thought rejects
not acting in compatibility with reason” and all
that is in contrast with the Divine nature.
Had the supreme
Pontiff referred – or commanded any of his followers
to refer – to the primary source of Islam (the
Qur’an), he would have found tens – or rather
hundreds - of verses which praise using one's
reason, enjoining reflection, calling for
meditation, rejecting suspicion as far as dogmas are
concerned, and objecting to the following of one’s
vain desires and blindly imitating one's ancestors
and seniors. A prominent writer once observed:
thinking is an obligation in Islam.
It is sufficient for
us to quote Allah’s saying: “Say (unto them, O
Muhammad): I exhort you unto one thing only: that ye
awake, for Allah's sake, by twos and singly, and
then reflect…” (Saba’ 34: 46) And His saying,
“Have they not considered the dominion of the
heavens and the earth, and what things Allah hath
created …” (Al-A`raf 7: 185) Had the Pope
referred to the sayings of Muslim Imams, such as
Al-Ash`ari, Al-Maturidi, Al-Baqilani, Al-Juwayni,
Al-Ghazali, Ar-Razi, Al-Amidy, and others, he would
have found that they used to say: reason is the
basis of transmission [of religious texts], and
without reason there would be no transmission, nor
would the Revelation be authenticated, because
authentication of Prophethood cannot be established
without reason, and authentication of the
Prophethood of a certain person is not established
except by reason.
The authenticators
from among Muslim scholars would not accept that a
person embraced Islam merely following his
forefathers without reasoning or reflecting upon the
related bodies of evidence, even in general. The
author of Al-Jawharah said: “He whose monotheism is
based on imitation, is prone to refutation.”
Comparing Islam and
Christianity, we find that the latter does not pay
attention to reason as far as its beliefs are
concerned, as its instructions include: “Believe
then know.. have faith blindly.. close your eyes
then follow me”. Whereas, in Islam knowledge comes
before belief, and the latter is a consequence of
the former, as in Allah’s saying: “And that those
who have been given knowledge may know that it is
the truth from thy Lord, so that they may believe
therein and their hearts may submit humbly unto
Him…” (Al-Hajj 22: 54) Thus, they should “know”
so that they may “believe” and so their hearts may
“submit humbly unto Him”.
The great Imam, Sheikh
Muhammad `Abduh, wrote his book Islam wa
An-Nasraniyyah ma` Al-`Ilm wa Al-Madaniyyah [Islam
and Christianity with Science and Civilization] in
reply to one of the Christians of the East who had
claimed that Christianity could comprehend science
and civilization more than Islam could. The Sheikh’s
reply was backed by logic, history, and religious
and scientific facts, telling that the fundamentals
upon which Islam is established are the things that
bring forth culture and civilization. They include
belief in reason, rejection of religious authority,
combination of this worldly life and the Hereafter,
etc. Conversely, Christianity is based on
supernatural things and does not believe in
consideration of the norms affirmed by the Qur’an.
One of its religious philosophers, Augustin, said: I
believe in this because it is impossible, or
unreasonable!
Were Islam to deny or
neglect reason, how then could Muslims have
established such a great civilization that combined
science and faith, and between material creativity
and immaterial supremacy? For more than eight
centuries the world derived great benefits from this
civilization, including Europe which derived from it
the inductive experimental method that replaced the
Aristotelian syllogistic method, as testified by
scientific historians such as Jostaf Lebone, Pierre
Begolf, George Sarton, and others.
It was via Islamic
civilization that Europe came to know Aristotle’s
philosophy as explained by a Muslim jurist and
philosopher, Ibn Rushd [Averroes], without whom
Europeans would not have known Aristotle.
The Pope’s saying that
in Islam Allah’s will is absolute and nothing stands
in its way is true on the whole, yet still the
scholars of Islam have unanimously agreed that
Almighty Allah’s will is inseparably connected to
His wisdom; thus, He would not want a thing that is
in contrast with His wisdom, as one of His Fairest
Names which is repeated in the Qur’an is “The Wise”.
He is wise in what He creates and legislates: He
does not create anything without purpose, nor does
He legislate anything haphazardly. Besides, Almighty
Allah only does what is good and beneficial for His
creatures, as the Prophet of Islam said in his
private speaking with His Lord: “Good lies between
Your Hands and evil is not [to be attributed] to
You.” Additionally, the Mutazilites, who were Muslim
scholastic theologians, viewed that Allah “is to” do
what is good and beneficial for creation.
This is not the first
time in which the current Pope has adopted such a
negative attitude toward Islam and Muslims—an
attitude that shows negligence and apprehension, or
even more than this. In the first mass supervised by
him after he was elected at the end of April 2005,
he did not say a word about Muslims though he said
special words which were full of affection for the
Jews, or “the dear brothers,” as he described them.
In the city of Cologne, Germany, at the end of
August, during the World Youth Days, he met with
representatives of the Muslim community in the
bishopric of the city. In that meeting he simply
expressed that he was very worried because terrorism
was becoming widespread, and he confirmed that
“Muslims must get rid of their animosity” and that
“all the aspects of fanaticism - and whatever
violence that may be practiced by them - must be
faced”. This reprehensive tone had a negative effect
on Muslims, because of the narrow vision it
reflected, and the simplified perception of the
sources and causes of terrorism. Moreover, the Pope
met the Italian writer who resides in the United
States, Oriana Fallaci, who writes offensive books
and essays against Islam and Muslims. She sees no
difference between extremist Islam [as is described
by some] and moderate Islam. She views Islam as
being wholly extremist and sees an essential
contradiction between Christianity and Islam.
Such attitudes are
considered negative, as to Muslims, but today his
negative attitudes are connected to Islam itself.
Actually, we, Muslims, regard Christians as “the
nearest in love to Muslims,” [as expressed by the
Qur’an] and Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be
upon him) says, “Among mankind I have the best
claim to Jesus, the son of Mary”. Also, a Surah
[chapter] in the Qur’an is named after Mary (peace
be upon her), and another Surah is named after
Christ’s family, that is “the Surah of Ali `Imran”.
Moreover, Christ and his scripture have a wellknown
place in the Qur’an. We do not want to escalate the
situation. We just want an explanation for what is
going on and what is meant by all this. We also
demand the Pontiff to apologize to the Muslim Nation
for insulting Islam.
We hope that the Pope
would call for positive dialogue between religions
and a real dialogue between civilizations, instead
of clash and dispute. We responded to the invitation
of the Society of Saint Jedio in Rome to an
Islamic-Christian dialogue, and we attended a course
of dialogue with pontiffs of the church in Rome and
in Barcelona, in what was known as the
“Islamic-Christian Summit”. We also participated in
conferences held for Islamic-Christian dialogue in
Doha. Now the question is: Does the Pope want to
close the door on dialogue or make ready for new
crusades?
Bush has already
started this, declaring it explicitly in the name of
the Christian Right. We, however, call for peace,
because our religion commands us to do so. Still, if
we have to indulge in war, we shall do it, but it
will be hateful to us, and we shall then be looking
for either of the two good things [martyrdom or
victory]. The Qur’an says, “Warfare is ordained
for you, though it is hateful unto you; but it may
happen that ye hate a thing which is good for you…”
(Al-Baqarah 2: 216) Furthermore, our Prophet (peace
and blessings be upon him) says, “Do not wish to
face the enemy [in a battle] and ask Allah to save
you [from calamities], but if you should face him,
then be firm and patient and beware that Paradise is
under the shades of swords.” (Agreed upon
hadith)
Thus, we call for
tolerance, not fanaticism; for lenience, not
violence; for dialogue, not clash; and for peace,
not war. However, we do not accept that anyone
should attack our beliefs, laws, or values, or that
anyone speak ill of Prophet Muhammad (peace and
blessings be upon him). If this does occur, beware
that Allah has already given us permission to defend
ourselves, for Allah does not like the
wrong-doers.
President of the Union
Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi
