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Awwa encouraged young Muslims to champion an online protest campaign by sending protest mails to the Vatican radio website. |
CAIRO — The International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) has declared an end to dialogue with the Vatican over Pope Benedict XVI adamancy to retract his offensive anti-Islam remarks, urging Muslims worldwide to stage a one-hour sit-in inside mosques on Friday, September 22.
"Officials in the Vatican and San Diego society have officially notified us that Pope Benedict has refused to take out the anti-Islam remarks from his lecture as requested by the IUMS," Dr Mohammed Selim Al-Awwa, IUMS Secretary-General, told IslamOnline.net.
Last week, the pontiff delivered a lecture in 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."
Ever since, the leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics had come under increasing pressure to make an unequivocal apology and retract his remarks.
"In the face of this position, the IMSU urged Muslims worldwide to show dissatisfaction with the insult to their faith and prophet on Friday," Awwa stressed.
He called for a one-hour sit-in inside mosques after the Friday prayer, adding that empty streets across the Muslim would speak of Muslim protest and dissatisfaction.
Prominent Muslim scholar and IUMS chairman Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi has called on Muslims to hold a day of "peaceful" anger Friday to protest the offensive remarks made by the pontiff.
He warned against attacking churches, individuals or property, regretting that some Christian places of worship had been attacked over the past few days.
The pope's speech had triggered widespread condemnation from Muslim scholars, religious authorities, high-level officials, inter-faith experts and Egypt's Christians.
Pope Benedict XVI insisted Wednesday, September 20, that worldwide Muslim anger over his speech was the result of an "unfortunate misunderstanding".
He said the controversial quotes did not reflect his personal opinion, and hoped it could yet lead to dialogue between religions.
No Dialogue
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| Muslims are urged to peacefully demonstrate their protest against the pope's anti-Islam remarks Friday. (Reuters) |
Awwa has announced the end of dialogue between the IUMS and the Vatican over the pope's position.
"For three days we have been in contacts with our friends in the Vatican who showed a much appreciated flexibility and agreed to remove the anti-Islam remarks from the pope's lecture," he recalled.
"Though they had told us that the Vatican Secretary of State has agreed to this, they phoned me yesterday (Wednesday) and said the pontiff refused to remove anything from his lecture."
The Vatican website had included a footnote in the online version of the pope's lecture that it would be later replaced by a permanent modified version.
"This pope seems to oppose the idea of inter-faith dialogue especially that he has shut down the dialogue division in the Vatican once assuming the papacy," said Awwa.
"We urged all Arab and Muslim countries to take firm action against this deliberate insult to Islam and ask their ambassadors to boycott all official Vatican activities and conferences."
Awwa 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.
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