Mahathir

KUALA LUMPUR, October 5 (IslamOnline & News agencies) - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad Saturday, October 5, denounced conservative U.S. Baptist Minister, Reverend Jerry Falwell who called Prophet Mohammad (peace and blessings be upon him) "a terrorist."

"They don't understand anything, they don't understand Islam," the Prime Minister was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

Mahathir, 76, said the pastor had no right to make such a statement.

Asked if such a statement from a Reverend was an indication that the Christian community was ignorant of Islam, the premier said only an ignorant person would make such a remark.

"I'm not going to accuse all Christians, only one person made such a statement," he said.

Mahathir urged Muslims not take the matter too seriously.

Muslims make up 60 percent of Malaysia's 23 million people, Christians make up nine percent, Buddhists 19 percent and Hindus six percent.

Falwell made his remarks in an interview to be broadcast Sunday, October 6, on the CBS television network's "60 Minutes" program.

Falwell, a leader of the U.S. Evangelical Christian right, is no stranger to controversy or inflammatory remarks.

In the interview, Falwell also affirms the Christian Rights steadfast support for the state of Israel and hints that right-wing religious groups are influencing the U.S. government policy toward Israel.

Right-wing Christians believe the turmoil in the Middle East is a harbinger of the second coming of Christ, according to CBS News.

"I think Muhammad was a terrorist. I read enough by both Muslims and non-Muslims, [to decide] that he was a violent man, a man of war," Falwell says in the interview, according to an advance transcript released by CBS.

CBS released a partial transcript of the interview Thursday, October 3. Falwell's comments occur in a segment about American conservative Christians' political support for Israel.

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"In my opinion, Jesus set the example for love, as did Moses, and I think Muhammad set an opposite example."
Falwell was widely criticized last year for saying pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays and civil liberties groups secularized the United States and helped the September 11th attacks happen.
He has also previously labeled Muhammad a pedophile possessed by the devil.

An angry and immediate response to Falwell's comments came from American Muslim organizations.

Faiz Rehman, communications director of the American Muslim Council, a political advocacy group in Washington, accused Falwell of "verbal terrorism."

"Mr. Falwell is not following Jesus's example. He is preaching hatred; he is not preaching peace," Rehman said to the Washington Post.

"Anybody is free to be a bigot if they want to. What concerns us the most is the complete failure of mainstream religious and political leaders to repudiate this kind of anti-Muslim hate speech," said Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) spokesman Ibrahim Hooper.

"On the issue of bigotry, silence equals consent," Hooper said.  

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