“They have certainly disbelieved who say that Allah is Christ, the son of Mary” (Qur’an 5:17). So Rola Tabsh has enraged some Muslims by acting as if people who say such things are worthy of respect.
“A Muslim Goes to Church and Another Storm Erupts in Lebanon,” by Donna Abu-Nasr, Bloomberg, January 4, 2019 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
A Lebanese Sunni Muslim lawmaker attended a New Year’s mass at a Maronite Catholic church, a common courtesy among the country’s 18 religious sects. Then as the television cameras rolled, she approached the priest and received a blessing — without communion.
Meant as a gesture of tolerance, the event quickly turned into a vicious social-media brawl fueled by the entrenched sectarianism that impedes Lebanon’s progress three decades after its civil war ended. Eight months on from an election, it remains without a government and with billions of dollars in aid untapped as tensions fester. The worsening economy and delay in forming an administration triggered strike action by some workers on Friday.
Some praised Rola Tabsh, a member of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s party, for joining the “peace and love” mass held Jan. 1 in Antelias, a town north of Beirut. Others blasted her for betraying her faith.
Tabsh at first expressed surprise at the criticism, saying she wasn’t the first Muslim to enter a church and that showing respect for others’ rituals doesn’t negate an individual’s faith. But that didn’t silence her opponents. So she then visited Dar al-Fatwa, the highest Sunni authority, where she was photographed listening attentively, a white scarf draped over her blond hair, to an explanation of Islamic principles.
The lawmaker said in a statement she’d confirmed her commitment to Islam and apologized to Allah — triggering another wave of criticism from those who supported her church visit.
“You’re apologizing because you entered one of (Allah’s) homes?” Dima Sadek, a news anchor and political show host, wrote on Twitter. “I still can’t believe that there’s someone in my country who would publicly apologize for going into a church.”…
Peter Buckley says
Maybe they’re just angry about the number of muslims converting to Christianity:
https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-03-02/why-some-muslim-syrian-refugees-are-converting-christianity
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/bishop-details-secrecy-of-christian-conversions-in-lebanon
FYI says
Some people leave islam and become Atheists:that’s fair enough because organized religion,it has to be said,especially the islamic variety,generally sucks.Let’s face it,in all religions,”holy” men are often two-faced,hypocritical charlatans in fancy dress.To those people who leave islam:Go and think for YOURSELF and be critical of ‘holy men’ and what they preach.
Some people leave islam and have no particular desire to be involved in any religion:it is perfectly reasonable to be Agnostic.it is certainly not the case that you MUST join another religion!i’m not a fan of organized religion myself……but we see islam preaches hatred and violence.There are no Two Chief commandments in islam:what would you PREFER?Hatred or Love,Violence or Peace?Choose.
Some people leave islam and become Christians:often BETTER Christians than the insufferably smug,naive, dhimmi Christians{catholic or protestant}we have in the west.
This is an Age of Apostasy,so I would trust such converts would be aware of the prophetic teachings of the Gospel that explain it{Matthew 24 v 3-14}:some of the best Christians I have ever encountered are… ex-muslims ….who could see through all the koranic errors..and differentiate between the islamic “allah” the BEST OF DECEIVERS k3:54{who CURSES Jews and Christians k9:30}and the actual Biblical God of Love.It only requires a little Wisdom to see the difference.In fact 2 Thessalonians 2 v 10-12 explains it…muslims who can figure that out are very lucky.
BTW Yasser Arafat… attended Catholic Church on a few occasions,usually at Christmass…I’ll bet he didn’t see the need to apologize to allah.
mortimer says
In Lebanon, they make a BIG DEAL when anyone says anything spriritual or religious and try to twist into something it isn’t. It’s a sick, back-biting culture. They’re always trying to score points to show who has bigger chutzpah.
mortimer says
When a Muslim politician merely tries to be nice to her voters, they try to twist it. Very sick. Trying to sabotage even gestures of kindness.
CogitoErgoSum says
Now connect the dots from this Muslim lawmaker to the Muslim lawmakers recently elect to the U.S. Congress. This woman did not know that what she did was considered wrong under Islam but she later received instruction from religious authorities on the proper way to act — and she submitted.
DMC says
She’ll probably have a bounty on her head now from the religion of peace and tolerance lol Islam ,
ntesdorf says
She would certainly be better off converting to Christianity: However she would then either need 24-hour security or go into anonymity overseas to protect her from the ‘peace-loving’ Muslims.