Posted on 06/19/2002 1:56:45 PM PDT by ZULU
Reprinted from NewsMax.com
Islamic Scholar Warns U.S. of 'Two-Faced' Muslims
NewsMax.com Wires
Thursday, June 20, 2002
WASHINGTON – A leader of the small worldwide Muslim reform movement is warning the West against wishful thinking as the U.S. government promotes an intensive dialogue with Islam.
"The dialogue is not proceeding well because of the two-facedness of most Muslim interlocutors on the one hand and the gullibility of well-meaning Western idealists on the other," Bassam Tibi said Tuesday in an interview with United Press International.
Syrian-born Tibi, who claims to be a direct descendant of the prophet Mohammed and teaches political science at Goettingen University in Germany, appealed for intellectual honesty in these exchanges.
This Is 'Peace'?
"First, both sides should acknowledge candidly that although they might use identical terms these mean different things to each of them. The word 'peace,' for example, implies to a Muslim the extension of the Dar al-Islam – or 'House of Islam' – to the entire world," explained Tibi, who is also a research scholar at Harvard University.
"This is completely different from the Enlightenment concept of eternal peace that dominates Western thought, a concept developed by Immanuel Kant," an 18th-century philosopher.
This Is 'Tolerance'?
"Similarly, when Muslims and the Western heirs of the Enlightenment speak of tolerance they have different things in mind. In Islamic terminology, this term implies abiding non-Islamic monotheists, such as Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, as second-class believers. They are 'dhimmi,' a protected but politically immature minority."
According to Tibi, the quest of converting the entire world to Islam is an immutable fixture of the Muslim worldview. Only if this task is accomplished, if the world has become a "Dar al-Islam," will it also be a "Dar a-Salam," or a house of peace.
Tibi appealed to his co-religionists to "revise their understanding of peace and tolerance by accepting pluralism." Furthermore, he said, Muslim leaders should give up the notion of Jihad in the sense of conquest, as opposed to Jihad as an internal struggle of the individual.
Liberal Mush
Tibi's advice comes at a time when the U.S. government is urging American Muslim leaders to promote understanding for the United States in Islamic regions. To Tibi, this is more of a diplomatic endeavor than the promotion of a more profound theological understanding between Islam and the Judeo-Christian worldview prevalent in the West.
But Muzammil Siddiqi, one senior Islamic scholar the State Department consults with, told UPI he found that his efforts in furthering contacts between Muslim, Christian and Jewish theologians were having some success.
Indian-born Siddiqi is the director of the large Islamic Center of Orange County in California. In consultation with the State Department and in cooperation with the University of Kentucky, he traveled back and forth between the United States and the Middle East trying to convince Muslim theologians and jurists to meet with American church leaders.
"I have found that many, though not all, were ready to welcome visitors from America and also to come here to explore with Christians and Jews what we have in common," Siddiqi said.
Though Siddiqi's center is heavily engaged in interfaith activities, he made it clear that to him, as indeed for conservative Christians, syncretism – the mixing of religions – was anathema.
Common values should be sought out, he explained, and the equality of all believers respected, be they Muslims, Christians, Hindus or Buddhists. But the purity of the faith must not be compromised.
In an article in the prestigious Hamburg weekly Die Zeit, Tibi gave anecdotal evidence of how daunting a task this dialogue with Islam can be.
Staring in Horror at the Bible
The bishop of Hildesheim in Germany paid an imam a courtesy visit in his mosque. The imam handed the Catholic prelate a Koran, which he joyfully accepted. But when the bishop tried to present the imam with a Bible, the Muslim cleric just stared at him in horror and refused to even touch Christianity's holy book.
"The bishop was irritated because he perceived this behavior as a gross discourtesy," wrote Tibi, "but the imam had only acted according to his faith. For if an imam gives a bishop a Koran, he considers this a Da'Wa, or call to Islam."
This, explained Tibi, must be borne in mind when one engages in a dialogue with Muslim "scholars," for it corresponds to a verse in the Koran: "And say ... to those who are unlearned: 'Do ye submit yourselves?'" (Surah 3:20).
Copyright 2002 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
Wrt the Bishop of Hildesheim anecdote:
To tell the truth, I'm tempted, despite myself, to believe this is apocryphal because of the sheer unworldliness of the Imam in this passage. If such assumptions and attitudes are typical, it would show the unbelievable effrontery and high handedness of Islamic 'holy men'. So much so, that their understanding of the real world should be brought into serious question.
That pretty well sums up the entire situation.
If these reporters can get to the truth, why can't the State Department? It took me a few months of exposure to Middle Eastern Muslims in grad school to come to these same conclusions. I have to wonder if anyone in the State Department has even met a Muslim, much less tried to do business with one.
I wonder if Tibi is available for a new job. I'm willing to take him as Secretary of State in trade for Powell, 100 civil servants, and a camel to be named later.
I take it you have had dealing with Muslims? I have heard unless you get your money up front, a Muslim will re nig on the deal as Muslims do not believe in being in debt and will use religion to back out of paying.
Bassam Tibi is a direct descendant of Muhammed. Only such a person will receive a hearing of any kind amongst Muslims. Wish him well.
Islam list
If people want on or off this list, please let me know.
Added to my dictionary.
Better be careful. Somebody might mistake this for one of those "sex threads" and it'll end up with 350 posts!
As near as I can tell from seeing how they use this word, what they really mean by "humiliation" is how enraged they feel when anything happens that prevents them from getting/having absolutely everything they want.
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