Its been the presumption amoung many that there has not been any positive Islamic voices or Moslems decrying the violence. there were two articles in today's Washington Post about some who are working against the violence. The first is a very respected Islamic scholar in Saudi Arabia who is speaking out against the "cartoon" violence:
http://www.antiwrap.com/?877 Saudi Teacher Counsels Calm to Angry Students By Faiza Saleh Ambah Special to The Washington Post Wednesday, February 8, 2006; A15 JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia -- Samir Barqah, a retired oil company administrator, was having a hard time holding the attention of the 20 or so boys gathered in his home for their Wednesday evening religion lesson. Some were sliding down the sofa. Several had their eyes closed under baseball caps placed low on their foreheads. But when the subject turned to the cartoons lampooning Islam's prophet Muhammad that were recently published in Europe, the group came alive. "I looked over the leaflets you brought in yesterday," Barqah, a father of five with two sons of his own in the class, said about handouts urging Saudis not to buy Danish goods. "We don't have to get angry, or take part in a boycott --" "And they should get away with insulting our prophet and make money off of us at the same time?" cut in Abdullah Jifri, a dark, intense 16-year-old with glasses. "We want to teach them a lesson so they'll never do it again," protested Yacoub al-Safi, 17. "The insult we have received is huge." Barqah, who wore a white skullcap and long white robe, gestured with his hand for calm: "It is God who protects the prophet from insult, not us." Outrage over the cartoons, first published in a Danish newspaper in September and reprinted in Europe more recently, has sparked demonstrations, economic boycotts and the torching of Danish embassies in Lebanon and Syria. Muslims believe it is blasphemous to create any image of the prophet and have been especially enraged by the insulting nature of some of the cartoons. The anger spread this month across a large swath of the Muslim world, from Indonesia to Turkey, at the doorstep of Europe. The controversy, one of the most intense in the Islamic world since the publication of Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses" in the 1980s, has provoked varied reactions here in the birthplace of Muhammad. Some Saudis have lauded the widespread reaction as Muslims' first unified stance in decades, a chance to flex their muscle and teach the West not to gratuitously offend their sensibilities. Others, like Barqah, say Muslims are reacting viscerally, not intelligently, and this, they say, goes against the very teachings of the prophet they are trying to defend. Since taking early retirement for medical reasons seven months ago, Barqah, 43, has become a full-time Islamic researcher, student and volunteer teacher. One of the three weekly lessons he hosts in his home is given by Sheik Abdul-Aziz Arafa, a Muslim scholar who teaches in Mecca at the Grand Mosque and at the Sawlatia school, a religious institute that is 125 years old. Arafa is fair and portly and wore the gray overcoat characteristic of the Grand Mosque's teachers. A white scarf with green markings was draped over his turban and across his shoulders. "Imagine the most beautiful man in the world, the most handsome," he said expansively, then waited a few seconds. "He is not 1 percent as beautiful as the prophet, God's prayers and blessings upon him. He was so beautiful because of his closeness to God. He was all light. He had no shadow, according to his companions. How can you take an imprint of that?" And the harm in trying? "It's not possible. It would be inaccurate. So what would be the use?" "What most people don't understand," he said, "is the strong bond, the powerful link that connects Muslims and their prophet, God's prayers and peace upon him. He is sitting with us right now. When we talk about him, he is present, listening, and when we send him greetings, he sends them right back." On Sunday evening, Barqah, who is prematurely gray with a full, short beard and rimless glasses, was sitting with his wife in his home office. Crammed bookshelves lined all four walls. Most of the volumes -- more than 5,000, he estimates -- are about Islam and the Hadith, the collected words and deeds of the prophet, which are the foundation of Islamic law and interpretations of the Koran. "During the last 23 years of his life, everything the prophet did, everything he said, was recorded in minute detail," Barqah explained. Part of being a devout Muslim today is following the examples set by the prophet almost a millennium and a half ago, Barqah said, and adapting them where needed. When Barqah gets into his Chevrolet, he said, he repeats the prayers the prophet said when he got on his camel. "When I trim my beard, I start from the right side. When I enter my house, I enter with my right foot. When my son just sneezed, I told him to say, 'God be praised.' That's what the prophet told us to do." Barqah leaned forward and lowered his voice slightly. "He even told us how to get close to our wives. He encouraged us to play and flirt first. He said to . . . even kiss our wives before we get close to them." He looked at his wife. "Right?" She blushed and nodded. Barqah got up to prepare for that evening's Islamic lesson. When eight men straggled in, Barqah offered them tea in clear glasses. Barqah carried in a stack of books and handed them out. The lesson consisted of Barqah reading a line from the study book and Arafa explaining it. With one hand leaning on his cane, Arafa started expounding, by turns frowning, glaring at his students, then a few seconds later, making a different point, smiling sweetly, lovingly at them. He emphasized points with sweeping gestures of his hands, and several times he nearly wept as he recounted how the prophet had suffered and how much he loved the generations of Muslims who were not yet born. Arafa prodded Barqah, busy taking notes in the margins of his book, for the next line. Barqah read, "How does one get closer to God?" "Obedience," exclaimed Arafa. "Obedience of God's word and following in the footsteps of the Pure One, by taking from the example of the life of the Loved One, by loving the person God loved most, the love of His heart, the prophet. . . . " "God's prayers and peace upon him," the men answered in unison. At the end of the lesson, Barqah mentioned the torching of the Danish Embassy in Syria. "Just this week I was telling my young students to take advantage of the situation and educate the West about the prophet, God's prayers and blessings upon him. But now, instead of getting an apology, it is us who are apologizing for the actions of some emotional, inflamed young people." He shook his head in dismay and recounted an anecdote. Muhammad lay bleeding and injured after being stoned by young men in the mountain city of Taif. But he never exacted revenge on them and turned it down when the angels offered it. "We have only to go back to his examples to see that he never returned an insult with an insult. He remained balanced and steady. He would not have been happy about the turn of events," Barqah said wistfully. -- Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion. Edmond Burke ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:196374 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
