Why are Muslims making such fuss about what pope said?

Answer 1

The way I read the reference, the Pope put forward a quote from a Byzantine emperor who claimed that Mohammed's contribution to Islam was evil.

Answer 2

1."We need the pope to admit the big mistake he has committed and then agree on apologizing, because we will not accept others to apologize on his behalf”

2.The statement issued by the Vatican "was not an apology" but a "pretext that the pope was quoting somebody else as saying so and so."

3. A man who organises his own succession to the Papacy with a ruthless purge of potential dissidents and supervises the selection of Cardinals with great care leaves little to chance. .no doubt he knew what he was saying and why.

4. What was the purpose of a quote but to endorse that description? This is evident because he did not question it in any way. Till today he did not retract what he said or say he was sorry he uttered what proved to be explosive words.

5. Most Muslims are well aware that violence is an inappropriate way to protest accusations that Islam is a violent faith, but why do they even care what the pope says?

6. The real reason for the uproar is that so many Muslims feel under attack by the West.

7. Two Muslim countries have been invaded by the United States and its allies since 9/11, and another, Lebanon, has been bombed to ruins by Israel with full U.S. and British support.

8. At least 20 times as many Muslims have died in these brutal wars as the number of Americans who died in the 9/11 attacks, and almost none of them had anything to do with that terrorist atrocity.

9. So the suspicion grows among Muslims that all this is not really about 9/11 at all, and almost any minor insult to Islam from the West is enough to trigger outrage from Morocco to Indonesia.

Answer 3

I read the Washington Post story and also the official transcript of the speech.

It appeared to be a scholarly and religious discussion to a group of theology students and faculty. You have to try really hard to take the Pope's somewhat-negative reference to what a long-dead Byzantine emperor wrote as any kind of insult to Islam. If anything, it was negative to what the ignorant emperor said.

My concern is that hysteria in Islam is becoming institutionalized. There are many thoughtful intelligent Muslims - and some of them are provoking this hysteria rather than quelling it. A bit cynical, don't you think?

Answer 4

Here is a link to the English translation of the Pope's controversial speech: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060912_university-regensburg_en.html

With love in Christ.

Answer 5

Muslims have learned that violence gets attention.