Pope enlightened about Islam… Clerics accept Pope’s apology!

Hamburg: In an open letter to Pope
Benedict XVI, 38 top Muslim clerics from around the world have accepted
his words of regret for his controversial remarks last month about
Islam but pointed out “errors” in his understanding of the Koran.

Though the letter, signed mainly by Sunni
ulema or scholars, is not to be handed to a Vatican official till
Sunday, it has already been published on the website
(www.islamicamagazine.com) of Islamica, a California-based magazine.

Referring to the pope’s quotation of an
emperor who said Islam had brought “evil and inhuman things”, the
scholars said: “Muslims appreciated your unprecedented personal
expression of sorrow, and … assurance that your quote does not
reflect your own personal opinion.”

Instead they challenged Benedict’s
interpretation of a verse from the Koran, “There is no compulsion in
religion”, which the pope suggested was superseded by Mohammed’s
“instructions” on holy war.

They denied this was overridden by Islamic
rules of war, adding, “If a religion regulates war and describes
circumstances where it is necessary and just, that does not make that
religion war-like, any more than regulating sexuality makes a religion
prurient.”

Ali Jum’a, grand mufti of Egypt, was among
the signatories, along with figures from Syria, Yemen, Oman, Kosovo,
Turkey and Uzbekistan.

The group also challenged Benedict’s
quotation in the September 12 lecture at the University of Regensburg
in Germany of an early Islamic writer who said, “God is not bound, even
by his own word.”

The 38 signatories said it was wrong “to
conclude that Muslims believe in a capricious god who might or might
not command us to evil”.

Describing the letter as “the first of its
kind for several centuries”, Islamica said it would be handed over to
the Vatican’s top diplomat in Jordan, the papal nuncio, on Sunday.

The Shia community was represented among
the signatories by an Iranian ayatollah, Muhammad Ali Taskhiri, who
heads an Islamic unity group.

The letter was written “in the spirit of good will” and to “engage with the papacy on theological grounds”, Islamica said.

“It is imperative that both sides share a
responsibility for peace to move the debate away from the anger of the
streets toward a frank and sincere dialogue of hearts and minds,” the
magazine added.

News reports of the pope’s lecture, in
which he concluded with an appeal to “our partners in the dialogue of
cultures” to join in debate, led to riots in several countries and the
murder of an Italian nun in Somalia.

AP reports that the Jordanian-based editor of Islamica,
Sohail Nakhooda, said signatories to the letter accepted the pope’s
”personal expression of sorrow and assurance that the controversial
quote did not reflect his personal opinion.”

Thanks to CNN IBN ||| http://www.ibnlive.com/news/clerics-accept-apology-enlighten-pope-about-islam/24007-2.html


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October 14, 2006 | Filed Under General World 

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