A R C H I V E S
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Muslims Must Stand Against Zionist Attacks on... |
|---|
| Seiful_Islam |
| 10/15/02 at 04:59:17 |
| [img]www.inminds.co.uk/bis.gif[/img] [slm] [color=teal]Muslims Must Stand Against Zionist Attacks On Islam[/color] Clerics slam Falwell's 'terrorist' claim [color=blue]minister apologizes for insulting prophet Preacher says words were 'hurtful to the feelings of many,' and he meant 'no disrespect to any sincere, law-abiding Muslim' Lebanese clerics over the weekend railed against right-wing US clergyman Jerry Falwell, who called the Prophet Mohammed a terrorist during a television interview before apologizing to "any sincere, law-abiding Muslim" for his comments. The apology came after top Iranian and British officials condemned the remarks, which Falwell made last week on the CBS news show 60 Minutes. "I think Mohammed was a terrorist," Falwell said in the interview. "I read enough of the history of his life written by both Muslims and non-Muslims, (to know) that he was a violent man, a man of war." Falwell, a conservative Baptist and a leading voice for the Christian right in America, said Saturday he was sorry for the hurt feelings he caused. "I sincerely apologize that certain statements of mine made during an interview for (the Oct. 6 edition of) CBS's '60 Minutes' were hurtful to the feelings of many Muslims ... I intended no disrespect to any sincere, law-abiding Muslim," he said. Despite Falwell's apparent contrition, Lebanon's senior Shiite cleric urged Muslims on Saturday to confront what he called an attack on Islam in Falwell's reference to the Prkphet Mohammed as a "terrorist." In a statement, Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah said Falwell's remarks reflected the thinking of US President George W. Bush and his backers among the staunchly pro-"Israeli", US Christian right. "All Muslims must make a stand against this attack on Islam, its prophet and Muslims themselves," Fadlallah said. He stopped short of urging a violent reaction: "We do not desire physical violence against this person and those who share his views, including President Bush, who belongs to Zionized Christianity, but ... to stand up to this oppressive campaign against Islam and Muslims." Fadlallah said Falwell's remarks hinted at the US administration's bias toward "Israel". "If a preacher, or anyone else, spoke about Judaism and Zionist massacres in Palestine ... would the US administration permit this? If one mentioned the crimes of Zionism and Judaism, they would accuse him of anti-Semitism," he said. More criticism of Falwell's remarks came from the Maronite patriarch, Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, in his Sunday sermon. The patriarch said he was concerned Falwell's statement came at a time in which a US-led attack on Iraq appeared imminent. "Some fundamentalist extremists have made insulting statements about what a certain religion holds holy, which will have negative repercussions everywhere," Sfeir said. "This is especially true in the region, as if it was not already suffering from enough troubles," he continued. The vice-president of the Higher Shiite Council, Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan, also criticized Falwell's comments. Speaking at a memorial service in Mais al-Jabal on Saturday, he accused Falwell of "desecrating the best and most dignified person ever born on Earth." The comments also angered Muslims around the world, triggering Hindu-Muslim clashes in western India on Friday and Saturday that left at least nine people dead and 100 injured. Earlier in the week, there were protests in Kashmir, the disputed province at the heart of a military standoff between India and Pakistan, and outside the offices of CBS in New York. Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi on Wednesday condemned the remarks as encouraging violence. "What this American said encourages war among civilizations and ... should be confronted." British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, in Iran to seek Tehran's support for a tough UN resolution on Iraq, said Falwell's comments were "as much an insult to me as a Christian as to Muslims."[/color] |
| NS |
| 10/15/02 at 07:19:25 |
| Kashif |
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board |