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Egyptian church bombing: an attack against faith
Dr Ali Gomaa, The Grand Mufti of Egypt
There is no religion worthy of the name that does not regard as one of its highest values the sanctity of human life. Islam is no exception to this rule. Indeed, God has made this unequivocal in the Quran by emphasizing the gravity of the universal prohibition against murder, saying of the one who takes even one life that "it is as if he has killed all mankind." Islam views murder as both a crime punishable by law in this world and as major sin punishable in the Afterlife as well. Prophet Mohammad said, "The first cases to be decided among the people on the Day of Judgment will be those of blood-shed"
The Islam that we were taught in our youth is a religion that calls for peace and mercy. The first prophetic saying that is taught to a student of Islam is "Those who show mercy are shown mercy by the All-Merciful. Show mercy to those who are on earth and the One in the heavens will show mercy to you." What we have learnt about Islam has been taken from the clear, pristine, and scholarly understanding of the Quran, "O people we have created you from a single male and female and divided you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another."
Terrorism, therefore, cannot be the outcome of any proper understanding of religion. It is rather a manifestation of the immorality of people with cruel hearts, arrogant souls, and warped logic. It is thus with great sadness and outrage that we witness the emergence of this disease in our nation with the recent bombing outside a church in Alexandria that killed tens of Egyptian citizens. There is no doubt that such barbarism needs to be denounced in the strongest of terms, and opposed at every turn.
Just as importantly, we must counter the deviant beliefs that underpin such gross transgressions. Despite their confused claims, terrorists are miscreants who have no legitimate connection to the pure Islamic way, whose history and orthodox doctrine are testaments to the Islamic commitment to tolerance, compassion and peace. The Quran is clear that "God has honored the children of Adam." Islam therefore makes no distinction among races, ethnicities, or religions in its belief that all people are deserving of basic human dignity. Furthermore, Islam has laid down justice, peace and cooperation as the basic principles of interaction between religious communities, advising Muslims that the proper conduct towards those who do not show aggression towards us is to act with goodness and justice. Indeed, this is the way of the true Muslim, for "God loves the just."
As in all matters, the Prophetic example is the best of all models. The Prophet considered non-Muslims and Muslims as participating in a social contract which was inviolable. The promise of a Muslim is sacrosanct, for as he said, "Whoever unjustly persecutes one with whom he has an agreement, or short-changes his rights, or burdens him beyond his capacity, or takes something from him without his blessing, I myself will be an argument against him on the Day of Judgement."
What sort of Muslim only deprives himself of the intercession of the Prophet of God in front of his Lord, but indeed puts himself at odds with him?
This act of terrorism was an affront to all Egyptians. It must not be used to sow discord in a country where Christians and Muslims have lived together in peace for centuries. It is vital for the peace of the region and wider world that the place of all religious communities and their full participation in society should continue to be fully protected and assured. We therefore welcome the firm resolve and assurances of all those in authority to make sure this will continue to happen.
Let me be clear by reiterating that Islam is utterly against extremism and terrorism but unless we understand the factors that provide a rationalization for terrorism and extremism we will never be able to eradicate this scourge.
This must be understood in order to build a better future that can bring an end to this grave situation that is destroying the world.
All Egyptians stand united against such behaviour. Sectarian conflict is foreign to Egypt, and those who seek to use this as a pretext to stoke sectarian tensions need to be opposed in every way possible. At such a sensitive moment, we Egyptians must not participate in the spreading of rumors of such tensions. Rather, we must remain united. We must continue to treat each other with the goodness and respect that have long characterized Egyptian society.
My heart, my thoughts, and my prayers go out to the families who lost their loved ones. We offer our deepest and sincerest condolences to the families of the victims and pray for a speedy recovery of the wounded. We demand the perpetrators to be brought to justice and stand the trial.
By Egypt's top Muslim leader responds to suicide bombing |
January 3, 2011; 6:48 PM ET
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Posted by: FarnazMansouri2 | January 4, 2011 5:59 PM
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tomsawyer2 writes: "there is a case of a majority Muslim nation granting equal citizenship status to non-Muslims. Iraq under the Baathists and continuing under Saddam Hussein did that."
There are examples of Oriental despots ruling Muslim countries who were less ruthless for the non-Muslims than the more normal Islamic ruler, but they were never able to get their Muslim nation to offer Equality.
Iraq is an example of that. Baathists themselves were nationalists and socialists and many of the leaders were atheists. They killed many Islamic leaders, and Saddam was particularly brutal, to reign in Islamic fervor. Despite that the Islamic nature of the society did not change significantly and under the Sistani, or Imam Mohammed Sadr (father of Muqtada) the Christians of Iraq were still considered quite filthy. For example, the laudromats http://www.sistani.org/local.php?modules=nav&nid=2&bid=59&pid=2863for the christians were and still are segregated. Sistani website lists the filthy things and
and as Sistani tells that
"108. The entire body of a Kafir, including his hair and nails, and all liquid substances of his body, are najis."
the believing Shia Muslims find mixing their laundry with those of the non-Muslims equivalent to tossing dog poop into their load when going to a mixed laundromat. The Baathists or Saddam did not interfere in the people religion as long as it did not affect their power. Later on, Saddam found it very useful to use Islam to fight the Iranians, and started wearing his Islam quite publicly.
So is that equality for the Kafirs?
Posted by: AKafir | January 4, 2011 5:26 PM
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Do you actually expect us to believe this garbage? We've heard all this before, usually before we hear Allahu Akbar, which is our clue to duck.
Posted by: shewholives | January 4, 2011 4:10 PM
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To answer the question from a-khaki-dissident above, there is a case of a majority Muslim nation granting equal citizenship status to non-Muslims. Iraq under the Baathists and continuing under Saddam Hussein did that. There were no dhimmis in that Iraq: all religions were equal.
Posted by: tomsawyer2 | January 4, 2011 2:46 PM
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Dr Ali Gomaa
May god be with you.
Mark
Always seek the truth.
Posted by: volkmare | January 4, 2011 2:25 PM
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There are still comments under this post by the same author:
Are these the ones you're asking about?
Posted by: WmarkW | January 4, 2011 12:31 PM
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AKafir
I am sure that none of the panelists nor essayests that appear here have direct access to the software to delete comments.
There are several possibilities. There may have been a software glitch that caused all of the comments to disappear. Someone at the WaPo who maintains the website may have clicked on the wrong thing and inadvertently deleted the comments. Or, someone at the WaPo may have observed the level of building acrimony on the thread, and decided to delete all the comments and start over.
Or the Grand Mufti may have requested, insisted, or demanded that the comments be removed, since I am quite certain, that in his position, he is not accustomed to criticism. The Wapo has no obligation to do what he says, but then, maybe he was making a real stink about it, so they just deleted the comments to quiet him down.
Posted by: DanielintheLionsDen | January 4, 2011 12:31 PM
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"I guess the Grand Mufti couldn't take the heat."
I do not know the policy of WP on who controls the deletion of the comments section. Can Ali delete the comments?
I had posted an article showing the genocide of the hindus by the Pakistan Islamic soldiers.
http://www.viewpointonline.net/a-khaki-dissident-on-1971.html
I asked and still ask if there is a single instance in the entire Islamic history at any place in the world where any Muslim majority country offered equal status to its Non-Muslims, and not the second class human status of a dhimmi?
Posted by: AKafir | January 4, 2011 12:15 PM
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I guess the Grand Mufti couldn't take the heat. I would guess that he is a very sheltered guy, used to having everyone agree with him.
Posted by: DanielintheLionsDen | January 4, 2011 9:12 AM
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This plea by the Mufti is too little too late. For three decades the Islamists have been inciting the general population against the minority Christian population who are the remnants of the indigenous population that built the Pyramids. The laws of the country are discriminatory against the minorities in general and against the Christians in particular. Imagine in this age a Christian in Egypt had to obtain a presidential decree to repair a church, and has to carry on his person an identity card that lists his religion. Although Christian Egyptians are among the most educated and enlightened they are systematically barred from holding positions of authority in the civil service.
In the late seventies, President Sadat in an effort to win over the Islamists in his fight against the Communists had introduced an article in the “constitution” making the Sharia the main source of legislation. Things went downhill from there. At present there are over 70 satellite TV stations that incite twenty four hours a day against the Christians and the intellectuals who do not support political Islam. Anyone who monitored the Egyptian scene would have seen this coming. Those Egyptians who truly care about the future of their country should strive to renegotiate their constitution to make it conform to the civilized standards for freedoms and equality. Being a prime tourist country their livelihood may depend on that.
Posted by: abrahamhab1 | January 4, 2011 6:16 AM
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Why have all the readers' comments been removed from this thread?
WHAT's UP?
Posted by: FarnazMansouri2 | January 3, 2011 9:50 PM
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The author lies. The persecution of Christians in Egypt in the last fifty years puts Egypt on the list of the top FIFTY COUNTRIES oppressing Christians.
To say that sectarian violence is foreign to Egypt is a hoot. Gomaa should recall that he is blogging in the Washington Post, not the Cairo Tribune. INformation has a way of getting out to Americans.
No sectarian violence, Gomaa? And where oh where are Egypt's Jews, a civilization dating back thousands of years? Where, Gomaa?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Copts