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All right, so Jalal Chaudry spoke imprecisely from a Muslim perspective. But his comments are an "insult to all Muslims"? Here's one from the Touchy Touchy Department, via the Scotsman, with thanks to Twostellas:
A MUSLIM leader was at the centre of a furious row today after being accused of comparing Pope John Paul II to the Prophet Muhammad.Jalal Chaudry sparked an angry reaction from across Edinburgh by describing the late Pope as "God's messenger of peace on this earth".
A furious group of worshippers from Edinburgh's Central Mosque have told Mr Chaudry to resign as chairman of the Islamic Society of Scotland and apologise to the Muslim community....
Mr Chaudry, a senior member of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), was accused of comparing the Pope to Muhammad following comments in Monday's Evening News.
Mr Chaudry, who represented Edinburgh Muslims at this week's requiem Mass for the Pope, said a "small minority of extremists" were now spreading hatred in the community following his tribute to the Pope. "I am astonished and saddened that my statement about John Paul II has been misunderstood and interpreted wrongly," he said....
Inyat Bunglauala said the statement to the Evening News was "not a wise choice of words".
"To name the Pope as God's messenger is problematic because we only recognise the prophets as this, and Muhammad was the last one," he said....
Shopworker Mohammad Iqbal, 50, of Howden Hall Road, reacted angrily to Mr Chaudry's comments, saying he should resign from all Islamic organisations. "Jalal is not authorised to speak on behalf of the Muslim community and the Pope is not a messenger from God," he said.
"It was very wrong of Jalal to say this about the Pope and it has made a lot of people very angry indeed. John Paul II was a peacemaker and we agree with a lot of his views, but that is all.
"These comments are an insult to all Muslims and Jalal should make a public apology and resign. He should not be allowed to be a spokesman for our community."
Posted by Robert at April 8, 2005 1:36 AM
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Not a wise choice of words for a moslem, but i cannot resist a giggle.
Mr. Chaudry has shown himself to be a reasonable person; bet he is forced to resign.
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at April 8, 2005 2:46 AM
I think this man should apologise to the Christian world for comparing a great Western religious leader to a demon-inspired rapist/murderer/pedophile.
To compare the Pope to Mohammed is surely a minor form of blasphemy (comparing Mo to Jesus is the ultimate blasphemy and insult).
To paraphrase:
***These comments are an insult to all Christians and he should make a public apology ... ***
Posted by: DianaC at April 8, 2005 4:20 AM
I must take more notice of The Scotsman, a lot of interesting stories seem to be published by them before anyone else.
This is the sort of thing that needs to be widely publicised. That the sort of ecumenical dialogue we take for granted is anathema to Islam.
at April 8, 2005 4:34 AM
Muslims seemed to be offended by everything.
I am offended that they compare John Paul II, a man that promoted world peace with a brigand such as Mohammed that used violence and deception to create and spread his ideology.
Much more about Islam offends me as well. However this is just another way that Islam is in your face that rates near the top ten of my objections.
Posted by: epg at April 8, 2005 5:42 AM
The Pope should in no way be compared to Mohammed.
The Pope was a good man.
The Pope was an honest man.
The Pope was not a pedophile.
The Pope was not a rapist.
The Pope was not a murderer.
The Pope was not insane.
at April 8, 2005 8:55 AM
Another temper-tantrum by a bunch of adults with their intellectual/emotional development arrested at the two-year-old level.
at April 8, 2005 10:23 AM
I think DCWatson put it perfectly, maybe Jalal Chaudry should have a good long think about whether an obviously peaceful and moderate Muslim like himself is at home supporting that fascist ideology.
Posted by: Daffersd at April 8, 2005 11:20 AM
In a documentary on the Pope's life by Frontline, Gilbert Levine, the organizer and conductor of the Holocaust memorial concert in Rome in 1994, described an incident where he was present while the pope was in prayer. He said that he felt absolutely no pressure from the pope for conversion and an almost overwhelming experience of closeness to God through his Jewish perspective. The experienece, he says, made him a more observant Jew.
John Paul II was the first pope to officially recognized that the convenant between the Jews and God still applies; I am not sure what that acknowledgement amounts to theologically, but the idea must at the very least entail acceptance of the theological legitimacy of Jewish belief, which, of course, rejects Jesus as a messiah and son of God. It seems the pope held that the binding agreements and relationships between God and the Jews as a people exist despite any theological shortcomings on that score.
These ideas should be reviewed and compared with Muslim belief. Not only is it impossible to imagine an imam with a broad following praying with those who reject Muhammad as a prophet, but imams would surely advocate da'wa, resistence, or even attacks, in appropriate cicumstances, like apostacy.
Hugh once identified the acceptance of apostacy as a benchmark for Islamic tolerance. The point here goes a bit further. Tolerant Muslims, especially those with influence, should not only be able to accept those who reject the prophet, even by those who were once Muslim, but should be able to pray with those who deny that Muhammad was a prophet without any suggestion of da'wa.
This is one of the most fundamental problems with Islam: insistence on Islamic domination will naturally squash any effort at genuine mutual respect between religions, and, of course, these kinds of reactions, insistence on Islamic superiority, and aggression against non-believers, that includes potential violence, is all spelled out in the Qur'an, the perfect book, by the perfect man.
Posted by: JTF at April 8, 2005 1:28 PM
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