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CAIRO In a bid to promote bonds between Egypts Muslims and Christians, Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning in the Sunni Muslim world, has launched a project aimed at tackling tensions between followers of the two faiths in the country.
Family House will group Muslim and Christian scholars to whom all Egyptians will resort to solve their problems, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Dr. Ahmed El-Tayyeb told a news conference.
He said the idea has been discussed with leaders of the Coptic Church in Egypt.
I expect the committee to meet within a week or two, he added.
The move followed a deadly bombing attack outside a church in the northern coastal city of Alexandria on New Years eve, killing at least 25 people and injured scores.
The attack followed a threat by an Al-Qaeda affiliate in Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq, to attack Egypts Copts.
The attack drew widespread condemnations, with Al-Azhar denouncing it as running against the true spirits of Islam.
The church bombing has sparked calls and marches for cementing national unity between Egypts Muslims and Copts.
Hundreds of Muslims and Christians took to the streets in Cairos district of Shobra on Saturday to denounce the church attack.
However, there were some skirmishes between angry Copts and security forces after the attack.
El-Tayyeb said the committee will address all issues that cause tension between Muslims and Copts.
The committee will be a voice of Al-Azhar and the Church to show Islams tolerance towards Christians and the Christianitys tolerance towards non-Christians, he said.
...The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar has earlier rejected threats against Christian Copts and their worship places, underlining that Muslims have a duty to defend all worship places, including churches, against threats
The church is in the shield of Al-Azhar, Dr El-Tayyeb said in an interview with Al-Mosawwar magazine last week.
Muslims are demanded to defend all worship places, not only mosques but also churches.
If there is not to be a Reformation in Islam the way it was in Christianity, then at least the children shouldn't be taught to hate.This only highlights that there is a general cultural hatred and intolerance towards all non Muslims that exists Muslim countries, which leads to such horrific acts. Why should there be bombings and human shields in the first place? The governments and clerics are not only not doing enough, but they are also the responsible parties for fueling the flames of intolerance and violence. The real solution therefore rests in their leaders and educators, not in these token acts after the slaughter of innocents has taken place.
it takes so little to impress coyote ---of course---bombing an EXISTING
church of dhimmis who kiss the feet of Imams ---is illegal in islamic law.
I knew that Dhimmis are "permitted" to exist if they agree to subjugation to
islamic rule
coyote's all time fave AL AZHAR has issued fatwahs ----way back ----more than
40 years ago------the HOLY EDICT regarding jews was that ANY ISRAELI
REGARDLESS OF AGE OR GENDER is a legal target of HOLY BEHEADING
BY HOLY MUSLIMS (this edict justified those long ago airport attacks which
are a kind of NOSTALGIC memory for -----well----you know who)
Coyote's ALL TIME FAVE Al Azhar has ---in the past few years ----
issued FURTHER fatwahs legalizing the killing of any jew regardless of
age or gender----ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
Her all time fave hero SHAYKH ABDEL RAHMAN now rots from
the gangrenous diabetic feet up -------in a New York Jail for ---to her
DELIGHT bombing the WORLD TRADE CENTER in 1993 ---well--
she is not so delighted -----the operation sorta failed Only about
six or seven people died for the glory of ISA/ALLAH in that HOLY
action.
an interesting -----side-bar------even USA jewish children lay dead in the
gutter because of the HOLY AL AZHAR EDICTS of which COYOTE is so
PROUD. well---only a few so far.--------but-----a few non jewish children
too.
That's a dream that isn't grounded in reality. There aren't that many Muslims in the West to make a difference. And, if anything, Muslims in the West are busy importing this same culture of intolerance and Shariah into Western countries. The Western countries are also partly responsible because of their liberal PC culture of tolerating intolerance, which in essence enables this mindset. Checked what's been happening in Europe?Reformation will probably start in the west and spread east...
Shariah Law will not allow reformation. Islam will never change.If there is not to be a Reformation in Islam the way it was in Christianity, then at least the children shouldn't be taught to hate.This only highlights that there is a general cultural hatred and intolerance towards all non Muslims that exists Muslim countries, which leads to such horrific acts. Why should there be bombings and human shields in the first place? The governments and clerics are not only not doing enough, but they are also the responsible parties for fueling the flames of intolerance and violence. The real solution therefore rests in their leaders and educators, not in these token acts after the slaughter of innocents has taken place.
Analyses - Madrassas | PBS - Saudi Time Bomb? | FRONTLINE | PBS
it takes so little to impress coyote ---of course---bombing an EXISTING
church of dhimmis who kiss the feet of Imams ---is illegal in islamic law.
I knew that Dhimmis are "permitted" to exist if they agree to subjugation to
islamic rule
coyote's all time fave AL AZHAR has issued fatwahs ----way back ----more than
40 years ago------the HOLY EDICT regarding jews was that ANY ISRAELI
REGARDLESS OF AGE OR GENDER is a legal target of HOLY BEHEADING
BY HOLY MUSLIMS (this edict justified those long ago airport attacks which
are a kind of NOSTALGIC memory for -----well----you know who)
Coyote's ALL TIME FAVE Al Azhar has ---in the past few years ----
issued FURTHER fatwahs legalizing the killing of any jew regardless of
age or gender----ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
Her all time fave hero SHAYKH ABDEL RAHMAN now rots from
the gangrenous diabetic feet up -------in a New York Jail for ---to her
DELIGHT bombing the WORLD TRADE CENTER in 1993 ---well--
she is not so delighted -----the operation sorta failed Only about
six or seven people died for the glory of ISA/ALLAH in that HOLY
action.
an interesting -----side-bar------even USA jewish children lay dead in the
gutter because of the HOLY AL AZHAR EDICTS of which COYOTE is so
PROUD. well---only a few so far.--------but-----a few non jewish children
too.
Time to put the bottle down Rosie
Have hope---there's more
The head of the Sharia Court in Jerusalem says he is motivated by the Koran to engage in interfaith dialogue.
The Koran orders the Muslims to come to dialogue with all the people of the holy books the Christians and the Jews, said Kadi Iyad Zahalka. (The Arabic word for an Islamic judge is kadi.)
Also, God orders us to make this dialogue in wise ways and peaceful ways. The Koran said we must do this dialogue in good words and good speech.
Zahalka was speaking to a room of Muslims, Jews and Christians who gathered Oct. 7 at the Jewish Community Services Building to hear him and Rabbi Ron Kronish, the director of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel, discuss why they talk to one another.
The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and the Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia sponsored the event, which was part of the religious leaders speaking tour around the United States.
The two also appeared at Gladwyne Presbyterian Church.
Kronish said such dialogue contributes to the other peace process.
While Kronish lauded U.S. Secretary of State John Kerrys efforts in bringing Israeli and Palestinian negotiators together to resume peace talks, the rabbi and the kadi both said that dialogue on a person-to-person level is equally important to achieving long-term peace.
Zahalka, who was born in a village near Haifa, heads the Jerusalem court that rules on personal matters concerning the Muslim citizens of Israel. He said the majority of Muslims around the world share his interpretation of the Koran that they should meet people of other faiths in a peaceful manner but that the small minority of Muslims who are fundamentalist skew the worlds view of Islam.
The peaceful voices are talking at a low volume, said Zahalka. He added that he thinks the media pays too much attention to the radical elements of Islam and that his efforts at interfaith dialogue allow people to get a more accurate view of his religion.
We are meeting. We are talk*ing, and this way we can express the idea that Muslims have humanistic values and that we can together join forces against the challenges that we have in modern times.
Kronish, a graduate of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, said the key to reaching greater understanding among different peoples is spending significant time together. Often, he said, the breakthroughs happen at casual meals rather than formal events.
Hamas, Fatah leaders in Eid phone call
GAZA CITY (AFP) -- Leaders of rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas spoke via telephone on the eve of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, stressing the need for reconciliation, a Hamas official said Tuesday. Gaza prime minister Ismail Haniyeh spoke to President Mahmoud Abbas of the "need for a return to national unity and an end to division" during the late night conversation, a Hamas official said on condition of anonymity.The two men exchanged greetings for Eid al-Adha, which Muslims began celebrating on Tuesday.
Hamas, Fatah leaders in Eid phone call | Maan News Agency
Hamas, Fatah leaders in Eid phone call
GAZA CITY (AFP) -- Leaders of rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas spoke via telephone on the eve of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, stressing the need for reconciliation, a Hamas official said Tuesday. Gaza prime minister Ismail Haniyeh spoke to President Mahmoud Abbas of the "need for a return to national unity and an end to division" during the late night conversation, a Hamas official said on condition of anonymity.The two men exchanged greetings for Eid al-Adha, which Muslims began celebrating on Tuesday.
Hamas, Fatah leaders in Eid phone call | Maan News Agency
' so typical of isa-respecting treachery and hypocrisy sherri----has just endorsed a
post by Coyote describing a bid of friendship between a rabbi and a Qadi for both
their people and -----now endorses the reformation of an alliance designed to destroy
the jews of the middle east. Some things never change -----there is nothing so
enduring as the love between DEPRAVED SOULMATES
A former French colony in western Africa, Senegal is a Muslim-dominated country where a Christian minority is well respected and has lived peacefully with the Muslim majority for ages. What has made Senegal so successful in maintaining interfaith peace and avoiding the religious tensions that plague other countries...
...Prof. Nesper noticed that the Senegalese take pride in the good and stable relations between Muslims and Christians in their country. Several reasons may explain the interfaith peace there. One is the Senegalese idea of Teranga, a conception of their own hospitality they feel that they need to live up to, which includes being good to the other, Nesper explained. Its common to see Muslims invite Christians to feasts on Muslim events, and Christians invite Muslims to Christian holiday celebrations.
A second reason is the familiarity that Senegals upper and middle classes have with Christianity. The first president of Senegal was a Catholic, and every head of state since him has had a Catholic wife, said Nesper, So at the very top of society, we have interfaith families. At the middle-class level, many Muslim families send their children to Catholic schools which means that the educated part of that country is on rather familiar terms with Christianity by virtue of their early schooling.
A third reason is the small number of Christians in the country. Representing less than five percent of the Senegalese population, the Christian minority is not perceived as a great threat to the well-being of the Muslim majority.
A final possible reason has to do with religious leaders. One of the Catholic leaders Nesper spoke to is a priest who grew up as a Muslim and converted to Catholicism when he was 15 or 16 years old. He sees himself as a person who really understands both because, in a certain way, hes both Christian and Muslim, said Nesper. He said that he took whatever opportunities he could to speak with the Muslim religious leaders in the community about issues of mutual concern. Senegalese practice Sufi, a mystical branch of Islam, which emphasizes the importance of religious leaders. As a result, Muslim religious leaders play a critical role in political affairs, both at the local as well as the national level.
