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Barack Obama for a 'new beginning' with Islam 6/5/2009 Asia News (www.asianews.it/) The president calls for an end to “suspicion and discord” do that a new chapter of cooperation can start.
On several occasions Obama’s address was interrupted by long rounds of applause and ended in a standing ovation.
CAIRO (AsiaNews) – In a 35-minute speech US President Barack Obama spoke of a “new beginning” and a “new age” in relations between the United States and Muslims around the world. The venue was Cairo’s al-Azhar University where he insisted that the “cycle of suspicion and discord [between the two] must end” and be replaced by a world based “upon mutual interest and mutual respect.”
In his address, which he elegantly adorned with quotes from the ‘Holy Qur’an’, the use of Arabic words and blessings as well as Muslim phrases regarding Muhammad (like Peace Be Upon Him) to convey great respect for Islam, President Obama tried to show that he and the United States consider Islam a great source of culture and civilisation. At the same time he called on the Muslim world not to look upon America through the “crude stereotype of a self-interested empire”. Indeed in praising the United States he highlighted the freedom Muslims enjoy in his country and their contribution to its life in areas like sport, science and politics.
On a personal note he said “I am a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims.” In a place like America he found the space that enabled him to rise to the presidency. “But my personal story is not so unique,” he explained, noting how people from different backgrounds can have opportunities in the United States.
Moving on to other issues, the president stressed how both the United States and the Islamic world faced certain challenges together because divided, either one will fail.
To start with, he emphasised the urgent need to fight violent extremism (not its Islamic version, which he did not mention, but all its forms). For this reason he justified the war in Afghanistan, a place where US troops will not be permanently based, insisting that everyone has a responsibility to stop extremism. After all groups like al-Qaeda do not kill only Christians and other non-Muslims, but take the lives of Muslims as well, sowing the seeds of divisions between Sunnis and Shias.
As for the war in Iraq, the US leader acknowledged that his nation was divided. Today however, he said “America has a dual responsibility: to help Iraq forge a better future – and to leave Iraq to Iraqis”.
On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Obama insisted that the “bond” between Israel and the United States “is unbreakable,” and that “Palestinians must abandon violence.” Then again “the situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable” and a solution must be found in which the “aspirations of both sides” are “met through two states”. Hence Hamas must put an end to the violence, and Israel must stop its settlements in the Occupied Territories (a somewhat ambiguous statement because it does not explicitly say whether existing settlements should be dismantled or not).
At the same time Arab countries should no longer use the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to “distract” their populations from other problems. They should instead work so that the Holy Land is a place where the three monotheistic religions live side by side.
In his address the president touched upon other issues like democracy, women’s rights, and religious freedom in Muslim countries, citing as an example the situation of Copts in Egypt.
He also talked about Iran, seen first and foremost in terms of Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Although he acknowledged that Iran has the right to develop peaceful nuclear power for civilian use, he insisted that Tehran should not have access to nuclear weapons which might lead to regional and world catastrophes.
Anticipating what others might say in relation to Israel’s nuclear weapons, the US president said that “No single nation should pick and choose which nations hold nuclear weapons. That is why I strongly reaffirmed America's commitment to seek a world in which no nations hold nuclear weapons.”
Obama also obliquely referred to Iran when he spoke about Israel’s right to exist, saying that “Threatening Israel with destruction – or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews – is deeply wrong” thus rebuking in a not so subtle way Iranian President Ahmadinejad for his outbursts on the Holocaust and Israel.
Finally the US president called for cooperation on several levels with Muslims. He said that multi-faith groups should work together to fight diseases and provide social services. The United States and Muslim countries should set up student exchange programmes. The US should invest in science and technology to nurture the development of the Middle East, Africa and South-East Asia.
On several occasions Obama’s address was interrupted by long rounds of applause and ended in a standing ovation.
Comments
Ted of Windsor, we all know about the violent forms of Islam. The point is that not all Muslims are bad; many of them are good. Yes, they reject Jesus' divinity; but hey, so does every other non-Christian. They're a different religion, what do you expect? Shouldn't we be battling terrorists instead of Muslims? Maybe if we stop calling them names, they will help us.
All religions have their radical branches, even Chrisitnaity. But that doesn't make Christianity bad.
Bulbajer | 6/7/2009
Subject: Islam again.
FYI. Doubt you would have time to read these at one time. Please consider to bookmark and pass on to friends who may be intersted.
Dear friends in Christ. - FYI - Here are some web links you may like to check or bookmark ... by Muslims & Christians. Many among the Christian laity and pastors are at a loss to respond to Islam as there has been minimal information given them in their religious education in elementary & secondary school, seminary. How many study Islam at university and if by a Muslim professor, the courses are focused to an Islamic interpretation of history and Islam. I was fortunate to have a non Muslim professor with sources that I would accept as historically accurate to give an overview of Islamic civilization from its beginnings to 1000. On the university campus with many local & international Muslim students attending classes as in History and Political Science, think most Muslim professors would focus on Islamic sources in their presentation. Talks on campus I have attended by Muslim professors to mixed audiences are guarded to avoid controversy (to be politically corect). One I attended off campus at Caboto Club with a largely Muslim audience was focused to Islam as peaceful and tolerant and following Islamic teachings re: Jesus and some city councilors and MP’s attended in support of the Muslim community following the prior event at the Baptist Church on Wyandotte St. with a former Muslim giving his public testimony which was hisorically correct.
For those attending the Catholic schools, the religion program is not focused to Apologetics but in the curriculum, includes key beliefs of other world religions, their practices and religious celebrations to promote a positive understanding and in the local Catholic secondary schools are many Muslims students.
It is erroneous of a Christians to state that we worship the same God, as Muslims reject Christians claim to Divinity of Jesus and the Trinity, to exalt the claims of Mohammed and Islam. Would Muslims accept that we and they believe that God is One. On a recent broadcast of Islamdunk, the Muslim UW broadcast, one of the two former Christian co hosts, stated that Christians are polytheists.
For Christians, Jesus is RRUE God and true man, the only Savior of mankind and Islam is not divinely revealed or Mohamed accepted as a prophet by Jews or Christians. Locally Muslims will tell you that Islam is a peaceful and tolerant religion but is it??? Consider that some local Muslims will gather to support Hamas a terrorist organization.
As Christians we believe that all persons are created to be an image of the living God and for Christians, faith in Jesus as our personal Savior and being Baptized with water and the Holy Sprit, in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, removes original Sin inherited from Adam and Eve and makes us a temple of the living God, to grown in knowledge and understanding of the One God revealed in Jesus with the Father and the Holy Spirit and to be a witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our life pilgrimage to be with God forever in eternity in the heavenly sanctuary.
Islam has revised salvation history such that Islam is/was and remains the original religion from Adam and Mohammed is the final prophet which neither Jews or Christians accept. Muslims have a plan for you which is to accept its teachings and which some ill informed Christians locally are doing, converting to Islam.
Its important that Christian parents study Islam and inform their children about it & those attending our local university.
With prayer for Muslims to accept Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior and for each of us to study Islam to defend our faith in Jesus Christ.(John R.)
Ten Myths About Islam (Preface)
A wise man named Francis Bacon once said that knowledge is power. Certainly this is true when dealing with foreign, and often hostile, ideologies that confront our Western civilization and way of life. One of these ideologies is Islam. Americans, and Westerners in general, whether Christian or not, are all too often still dangerously ill-informed about Islam. Many people in the West hear and believe the propaganda promoted by various Muslim groups, but fail to search out the facts about the history, theology, and psychology of the Islamic phenomenon.
While knowledge may be power, ignorance can render a person, a nation, or an entire civilization absolutely powerless. It is the intention of this book to dispel ignorance about Islam and to expose it to the light of open and honest investigation. How much does your average Westerner, your average American, your average churchgoer, or your average secularist, know about Islam? How can we sort through the varying images and claims made by and about Islam? What is truth, and what is falsehood, as far as what we are being told about the religion of Islam? Are we being lied to, and if so, then how can we detect these falsehoods and avoid them? http://www.studytoanswer.net/islam_myths.html
Muslims Reverence Jesus Christ
“Experience shows us an enormous difference between piety and goodness.”
- Blaise Pascal, Penseés
It is not uncommon for Muslims to proclaim that they have a respect and reverence for Jesus Christ. This is a claim that many Muslims in Western nations will often make, so as to encourage greater "dialogue" and openness toward Islam. Because Jesus Christ is mentioned at various points in the Qur'an, it is said to follow that the Qur'an honors Him. Indeed, Islam acknowledges that Jesus Christ was a prophet, that He was born of a virgin, and even that He was sinless. However, simply giving lip service to these facts does not necessarily mean that Muslims understand the significance of these points, or that they are therefore reverencing the Lord. This is because, in the process of speaking and teaching about Jesus, Islam rejects and denies many truths about the Lord that are of vital importance and that are clearly taught in Scripture. Further, though many Muslims will affirm their reverence for Jesus Christ in theory, it is not uncommon to see Muslims in practice denigrate the Person and name of Jesus as part of more systematic efforts to force Islamic chauvinism upon Christianity and Christians. [for more info pls see:.....] OPEN http://www.studytoanswer.net/myths_ch4.html
http://www.studytoanswer.net:80/islam_myths.html
Ted of Windsor | 6/7/2009
where's my earlier comment? about how this speech signals Obama is an enemy of Israel - how can one be evenhanded with Iran?!!!!!!!!! Allow them nuclear energy, NEVER! The fundamentalist Iranian regime will never comply with UN regulations! They must be struck before they strike.
mike | 6/6/2009
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