Saturday, March 11, 2006
Muslims Speak Out - 2 Cases
It's common to hear calls for Muslims to speak out against the violence being waged in the name of Islam. It's rare when one does. Dr. Wafa Sultan, a Syrian-American psychiatrist living outside Los Angeles, is a brave person who has gone on Arabic TV with her message that violence and extremists are distorting her religion. She deserves a lot of credit for doing so, and ,for telling her story, so does the New York Times:
"Today, thanks to an unusually blunt and provocative interview on Al Jazeera television on Feb. 21, she is an international sensation, hailed as a fresh voice of reason by some, and by others as a heretic and infidel who deserves to die.
In the interview, which has been viewed on the Internet more than a million times and has reached the e-mail of hundreds of thousands around the world, Dr. Sultan bitterly criticized the Muslim clerics, holy warriors and political leaders who she believes have distorted the teachings of Muhammad and the Koran for 14 centuries. ..........
"The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions or a clash of civilizations," Dr. Sultan said. "It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality."
......
"She went on, "We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people."
"the conference prominently featured Amr Khaled, a 38-year-old preacher from Egypt who .... sought to emphasize that 'we are here to build bridges for dialogue,' and suggested that a continuing boycott of Danish goods in Arab countries could stop if Danes and their government reached out with initiatives like help for small businesses, or health care.
Other participants were less conciliatory.
'We are here today, because we want to tell you that every Muslim in the world is very angry,' said Tareq Alsuwaidan, general manager of the Kuwaiti satellite channel Al Resalah.
'We request an official apology from your government to the Muslim nation as it happened in Norway,' he said. He also demanded that the European Union enact a law 'that forbids the insult to religious figures.'"
.........
"Sheikh Youssef el-Qardawi, 79, who is based in Qatar and is host of a weekly show on Al Jazeera television, said the trip to Copenhagen looked like surrender. "You have to have a common ground to have a dialogue with your enemy," he said on Al Jazeera. "But after insulting what is sacred to me, they should apologize.""
I didn't find much "Hope" in the article. Unless it was the hope that the Danes would offer concessions and rewards for bad behavior. That seems to be the primary theme emeging from most such meetings. I suppose that's preferable to the death threats that Dr. Sultan got for expressing her views.
"Today, thanks to an unusually blunt and provocative interview on Al Jazeera television on Feb. 21, she is an international sensation, hailed as a fresh voice of reason by some, and by others as a heretic and infidel who deserves to die.
In the interview, which has been viewed on the Internet more than a million times and has reached the e-mail of hundreds of thousands around the world, Dr. Sultan bitterly criticized the Muslim clerics, holy warriors and political leaders who she believes have distorted the teachings of Muhammad and the Koran for 14 centuries. ..........
"The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions or a clash of civilizations," Dr. Sultan said. "It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality."
......
"She went on, "We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people."
She concluded, "Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people and destroying embassies. This path will not yield any results. The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them.""
That view may not be held by many other Muslims, at least not in public. According to another article in the same issue of the NYT, the Danish Foreign Ministry sponsored a conference with Muslims to improve relations but seemed to get only expressions of Anger and Hope:"the conference prominently featured Amr Khaled, a 38-year-old preacher from Egypt who .... sought to emphasize that 'we are here to build bridges for dialogue,' and suggested that a continuing boycott of Danish goods in Arab countries could stop if Danes and their government reached out with initiatives like help for small businesses, or health care.
Other participants were less conciliatory.
'We are here today, because we want to tell you that every Muslim in the world is very angry,' said Tareq Alsuwaidan, general manager of the Kuwaiti satellite channel Al Resalah.
'We request an official apology from your government to the Muslim nation as it happened in Norway,' he said. He also demanded that the European Union enact a law 'that forbids the insult to religious figures.'"
.........
"Sheikh Youssef el-Qardawi, 79, who is based in Qatar and is host of a weekly show on Al Jazeera television, said the trip to Copenhagen looked like surrender. "You have to have a common ground to have a dialogue with your enemy," he said on Al Jazeera. "But after insulting what is sacred to me, they should apologize.""
I didn't find much "Hope" in the article. Unless it was the hope that the Danes would offer concessions and rewards for bad behavior. That seems to be the primary theme emeging from most such meetings. I suppose that's preferable to the death threats that Dr. Sultan got for expressing her views.
