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"The Union is working in tandem with the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)," said Awa. |
CAIRO — The International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) has canceled an Islamic-Christian summit slated for November or December over offensive remarks made by Pope Benedict XVI and urged the ambassadors of Muslim states to the Vatican to adopt a unified stand during their meeting Monday, September 25, with the pontiff.
"We were setting the stage for such a summit, but it is now over after the pope's remarks, which disregarded feelings of up to one billion Muslims worldwide," IUMS's Secretary General Mohammad Selim el-Awa told IslamOnline.net Saturday, September 23.
The pontiff has delivered a lecture at a German university quoting claims by 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus that Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) brought only evil and inhuman "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
The remarks have sparked a widespread anger and condemnation in the Muslim world, with calls for a personal apology from the leader of the world Catholics.
"The Vatican and the IUMS used to hold this summit," said Awa. "But we have halted any dialogue with the Holy See until the pope retracted the insulting quotation from the minutes of his lecture."
The Union declared on Thursday, September 21, an end to dialogue with the Vatican over the pope's adamancy to retract his offensive anti-Islam remarks, urging Muslims worldwide to stage a one-hour sit-in inside mosques after Friday prayers yesterday as a protest.
Muslims from Malaysia to Egypt responded to the Union's call and demonstrated inside and outside mosques against the offensive remarks.
Unison
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| The pope's remarks have sparked worldwide protests. (Reuters) |
Awa urged Muslims worldwide to take a unified stance towards the pope.
"The Union is working in tandem with the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)," he noted. "We want to forge a unified stance in dealing with the pope's remarks."
"I'm in close contact with OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu over the issue," he added.
Awa said a meeting planned between the pope and the ambassadors of Muslim states to the Vatican dominated his talks the OIC chief.
"We want the ambassadors to adopt a unified stance during their meeting with the pope," he said.
Awa distanced the Union from any different stance that might be adopted by the ambassadors or any Arab or Islamic country.
"The Union is a grassroots reference of all Muslims and works for the welfare of the Muslim nation," he said.
"From day one, we have been closely following up the issue and remained in contact with effect Muslim organizations and activists worldwide to make sure that they speak in unison and insist that the pope must retract first his remarks from the lecture," Awa added.
Awa also encouraged young Muslims to champion an online protest campaign by flooding the Vatican radio website (webteam@vaticanradio.org) with protest mails.
Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning in the Sunni world, has snubbed a papal invitation to visit the Vatican and a proposal to invite the pontiff to deliver a lecture on Islam before an unequivocal apology from the pope.
The pope has so far did not apologize in person for the remarks but said he was "deeply sorry" for Muslim outrage and underlined that the provocative quotation did not represent his personal opinion on Islam.
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