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Grand Mufti of Al-Azhar University, Ali Gomaa |
Here is another point of view to explore.
On the other hand, if Mufti Gomaa is calling the Christians (or any one) infidels he is wrong. Indeed, the word Kafir is not the problems as long as it means denier of my version of truth; otherwise it is used as a denigrative word. There is a great example set by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) when the other side did not accept his signature as Muhammad, the messenger of God on the peace treaty, as they did not believe he was a prophet. What did the Prophet do? He understood their point of view and changed the name to Muhammad son of Abdullah for the sake of peace and for the sake of creating a model, where we learn to accept the otherness of other.
Quraan reccomends one to tell the truth, but it does not permit one to condemn other faiths. It amounts to inviting others to denigrate you. It is clear in Sura Kafirun, to you is your faith and to me is my faith without putting each others faith down. Each one of the six verses teaches one to treat the other with respect. (http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/07/sura-kafirun-un-believers.html)
The word Islam is derived from the word peace which is beautifully explained in the parenthesis of 5:16 below by Asad. As Muslims, we claim Islam means peace… obviously it is not to Sheikh Gomaa bent on making declarations that have unintended consequences to destroy peace between the communities.
There are bad dudes in every religion. Falwell, Robertson, Jeffress and others in Christianity make other Christians cringe; a few Rabbis do the same and the Right wingers among Hindus are no saner. The sad part is they all have a following.
Most things from Middle East Forum and David Horowitz are driven by money; they have to paint Islam as a villain to earn their bucks. They have deliberately misrepresented the translation or perhaps used one of the two wrong translations to make their buck. The translation in the article for 5:16 is blatantly anti-Christian, whereas, it is not the case in actual Quraan translation I have quoted below.
5:16 (Asad) through which God shows unto all that seek His goodly acceptance the paths leading to salvation [29] and, by His grace, brings them out of the depths of darkness into the light and guides them onto a straight way. [(The word salaam, here rendered as’ “salvation”, has no proper equivalent in the English language. It denotes inner peace, soundness and security from evil of any kind, both physical and spiritual, and the achievement of what, in Christian terminology, is described as “salvation”: with the difference, however, that the Christian concept of salvation presupposes the existence of an a-priori state of sinfulness, which is justified in Christianity by the doctrine of “original sin”, but is not justified in Islam, which does not subscribe to this doctrine. Consequently, the term “salvation” – which I am using here for want of a better word- does not adequately convey the full meaning of salaam. Its nearest equivalents in Western languages would be the German Heil or the French salut, both of which express the idea of spiritual peace and fulfillment without being necessarily (i.e., linguistically) connected with the Christian doctrine of salvation.(Quran Ref: 5:16 )]
5:17 (Asad) Indeed, the truth deny they who say, “Behold, God is the Christ, son of Mary.” Say: “And who could have prevailed with God in any way had it been His will to destroy the Christ, son of Mary, and his mother, and everyone who is on earth-all of them? For, God’s is the dominion over the heavens and the earth and all that is between them; He creates what He wills: and God has the power to will anything!”
5:18 (Asad) And [both] the Jews and the Christians say, “We are God’s children, [30] and His beloved ones.” Say: “Why, then, does He cause you to suffer for your sins? Nay, you are but human beings of His creating. He forgives whom He wills, and He causes to suffer whom He wills: for God’s is the dominion over the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and with Him is all journeys’ end.” [Cf. Exodus iv, 22-23 (“Israel is My son”), Jeremiah xxxi, 9 (“I am a father to Israel”), and the many parallel expressions in the Gospels.(Quran Ref: 5:18 )]
As a Muslim I condemn the efforts of Mr. Gomaa in creating chaos and conflicts, principally wrong approach to building societies where peace prevails
Mike Ghouse
Committed to cohesive societies
www.MikeGhouse.net
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Top Muslim Declares All Christians ‘Infidels’
http://www.meforum.org/3085/muslim-declares-christians-infidels