Grand Mufti Hits Out at Critics of Islam

Now wait a minute, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh. It is really just liars and enemies of Islam who speak of its "disrespect for human rights and freedom"? So I suppose the Sufi Sheikh Sultanhussein Tabandeh of Iran, author of A Muslim Commentary on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is a liar and enemy of Islam?

I could spend all day quoting passages from this book that contradict the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but this statement from Tabandeh about freedom of conscience will have to suffice for now: if an apostate from Islam "is obdurate, or all hope of his reconciliation vanishes, he must be executed."

Also, compare the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with the 1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, adopted by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). The latter affirms:

Article 24 All the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration are subject to the Islamic Shari'ah.

Article 25
The Islamic Shari'ah is the only source of reference for the explanation or clarification to any of the articles of this Declaration.

That means, of course, that the death penalty for apostates, the devaluation of the lives of non-Muslims, stoning for adultery, amputation for theft -- all of it is affirmed as over against the rights affirmed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

I suppose enemies of Islam wrote the Cairo declaration too?

From Arab News, with thanks to Anthony:

JEDDAH, 16 January 2005 — Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, the Kingdom’s grand mufti, said the people who attack Islam accusing it of encouraging terrorism and extremism and denying human rights are telling lies and know very well they are spreading falsehood.

Speaking at a conference organized by the Makkah-based Muslim World League on inter-culture dialogue, Al-Asheikh said critics of Islam are driven by their enmity of the faith. He called upon Muslims to project the true face of Islam without any excesses or compromises.

“The accusations directed against Islam by those who accuse it of terrorism, extremism and disrespect for human rights and freedom come from people who know they are telling lies. They know very well that what they say (against Islam) is false and deep inside they know they are committing injustice and aggression by behaving the way they do. It is the enmity against Islam deep inside them that drives them to attack Islam,” he told the delegates from different countries.

Posted by Robert at January 17, 2005 7:43 AM
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