I said they're heretics and I meant it.
Originally he said, "Shiites are Muslims but they are heretics and their danger comes from their attempts to invade Sunni society." Now he's saying: "In all my sermons, books and studies I was always calling on Muslims to seek a moderate line and be united irrespective of the school of thought they embrace. As long as a Muslim is witnessing that there is No God but Allah and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah, then he is a Muslim."
"Qaradawi Denies Being Pressured Into Criticizing Shia Muslims, " from Right Side News, October 5:
DOHA-BASED Islamic scholar Sheikh Yousuf al-Qaradawi has dismissed as "untrue" allegations made by an Iranian news agency that he had succumbed to "pressures by extremists" in voicing concern over the Shia expansion in Sunni-dominated countries. Sheikh Qaradawi, chairman of the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS), said in a statement, which was made available to Gulf Times, that he was surprised by the claims that he is not seeking the unity of the Muslim world. "I have always been against extremists everywhere. In all my sermons, books and studies I was always calling on Muslims to seek a moderate line and be united irrespective of the school of thought they embrace. As long as a Muslim is witnessing that there is No God but Allah and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah, then he is a Muslim," he said.
Don't see what the big deal is here. He's saying yes, the Shia are Muslims and thus entitled to various considerations, but in addition to the beliefs that make them Muslim they hold various beliefs which are heretical, and of which Sunni Muslims need to be wary. Analogous to how the Roman Catholic Church feels about Protestants: yes, they're Christians, but they hold some heretical beliefs of which Catholics need to be wary.
Looking at the Muslims as fellow human beings, I wish they were all so sensible. Looking on them as the enemy of much of what is decent and democratic, I'm not altogether unhappy that they expend energy fighting each other rather than running into our skyscrapers.
Looks like someone's been in Doha with the ugly stick.
"Analogous to how the Roman Catholic Church feels about Protestants: yes, they're Christians, but they hold some heretical beliefs of which Catholics need to be wary."
Except that Catholics and Protestants are long past thinking that anyone from the other side had no right to live. Even deserters, like Tony Blair and Cassius Clay, have the right to life.
"I have always been against extremists everywhere."
And what makes an extremist? Someone who doesn't subscribe to Sunni beliefs?
PMK, I'm saying that what Qaradawi is saying is analogous to what Catholics would say about Protestants. He seems to think that all Muslims should get along better than they do. Which, for us infidels, has its good and bad sides.
Mein Kampf, incidentally, contains a touching and entirely sensible looking plea for German Catholics and Protestants to work together.
A toad looking person, sorry he is a toad dressed to charm the princesses,, ??
Karl Pov,
What Catholics? What Protestants? None of this heresy talk has been heard for centuries. Not a single priest in my church ever sermonized about heretical Protestant beliefs. There is absolutely nothing analagous to what is happening in Islam. People can keep bringing up history but that belies the fact that it isn't happening today and hasn't happened in centuries, unlike in Islam. Islam has never stopped condemning others.
Mein Kampf? Hitler was an atheist.
Europe had long ago gotten past the reformation. Everyone was a German. Were German Catholics and Protestants fighting one another on religous grounds as late as the 1920s?
"Mein Kampf? Hitler was an atheist." --PMK
Actually, he was into paganism. And he also greatly admired Islam, therefore, I say Hitler was Islamic.
Though born into a Christian family, as an adult Hitler condemned Christianity as "weak," and that it should be destroyed "root to branch." And certainly his actions don't follow the teachings of Jesus, so in no way was Hitler Christian.
What do muslims have against dentists? Did the demonic prophet and/or allah prohibit dental care for all people, for all time?
Maybe rotten teeth are indicative of devout faithfulness in islam, caused in part by irascibility and a steady stream of heated invective. Bad for the teeth.
I'm dying to see a genuine smile on a muslim face complete with pearly whites, even if they're dentures.
I thought Hitler was into the occult. He was certainly demon possessed which puts him in lock step with most Muslims as the open doors in the spiritual realm allows those enities easy access to their souls.
I think Old Qaradawi is actually the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. What do you think?
P.S. been getting lots of emails about Obamas money connection to Islam.
Does evil really come out in a person's face? In too many cases of these clerics - yes. No wonder mohammed didn't want his picture painted - he must have been one ugly dude.
Now, growing old can really cause a case of the uglies too, but add that with hatred spread all over the face - and geez! The 'ugly stick' works overtime on these guys!
One would think that banging his head on the floor five times a day would have popped that ugly growth on his forehead by now.
1) Adolf Hitler cannot be shown to have been either an atheist or a pagan. (Himmler was the one into Nordic gods. Hitler and the other top Nazis put up with this eccentricity, but it's not clear any of them shared it.) He was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church and as far as I know never renounced it, although I'm sure Catholics would argue endlessly that somehow or other he ceased to be a Catholic at some point. (I would make the default assumption that he underwent the sacrament of confirmation.) That he was evil and that he acted against the Church's teachings, however, no more puts him out of the Church than it does a Catholic girl who uses birth control, of whom there are any number.
2) I learned in my Catholic high school that various Protestant beliefs are heretical, most obviously their rejection of the authority of the Bishop of Rome as Saint Peter's successor. It is true we don't use such terminology very much these days, but technically it remains valid. Thus I would say that Qaradawi calling the Shiites heretics is not necessarily inconsistent with his calling for peace with them, as Raymond appears to argue.