Pope Benedict XVI, His Companions and Their Deceptions

by Khalid Jan

Humanity is currently passing through an extremely turbulent time. Fear and artificial circumstances are created by people in power to plunge humanity into chaos and suffering. On the global stage, Muhammad (saw), the Qur’an and Islam are presented as the root cause of every perceivable conflict humans suffer from.  

From commoner on the street, to the Pope on pulpit, both are eager to become popular overnight by evilizing Islam in any manner possible. Journalists and writers, totally unfamiliar with the Qur’an and Islam, are routinely writing articles and editorials on a subject of which they know nothing about.

This paper examines the Pope’s September 12, 2006 lecture in Regensburg, Germany, and his early writings when he was a Cardinal. In addition, anti-Qur’an and anti-Islam speeches and writings by few of his Jesuit companions, are also introduced to show how united their struggle is to, by any means, secularize the Qur’an and Islam.  

The Roman Catholics in general, are a kind, loving, humble and generous people. Contents of this paper are in no way intended to hurt the religious feelings or convictions of any one of them.

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“The current Pope has personally endorsed a document called "Dominus Iesus", published in August 2000, by Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It has been ratified and confirmed by Pope John Paul II "with sure knowledge and by his apostolic authority." This document states that people outside of Christianity are "gravely deficient" in their relationship to God, and that non-Catholic Christian communities had ‘defects’.” (http://www.important.ca/christian_relations.html)

“We do indeed know how thy heart is distressed at what they say.” [Qur’an 15:97]

“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”

- Sir Winston Churchill

Khalid Jan

“In the Islamic tradition, God has given His word to Mohammed, but it's an eternal word. It's not Mohammed's word. It's there for eternity the way it is. There's no possibility of adapting it or interpreting it."

The above statement is attributed to the current Pope. It was made by the Pope’s former student and friend Father Joseph Fessio, a Jesuit and professor of theology at Ave Maria University, on the ‘Hugh Hewitt Show’[1] which aired on January 5, 2006. In September of 2005, a secret seminar at Castelgandolfo in Italy was presided over by the Pope. The subject matter discussed was “The Islamic Concept of God and its consequences for a secular society.”[2] This and many more statements were made by the Pope, in the presence of Father Fessio.[3] On January 21, 2006, Father Fessio made a clarification of his interview in letters to the editor of Washington Times as follows: “I made a serious error in precision when I said that the Koran "cannot be adapted or applied" and that there is "no possibility of adapting or interpreting it." This is certainly not what the Holy Father said. Of course the Koran can be and has been interpreted and applied. I was making a (too) crude summary of the distinction that the Holy Father did make between the inner dynamism of the Koran as a divine text delivered as such to Mohammed, and that of the Bible, which is both the Word of God and the words of men inspired by God, within a community that contains divinely appointed authorized interpreters (the bishops in communion with the pope).”[4] This letter of clarification was in response to Diana West’s January 20, 2006 editorial in Washington Times ‘Silence that speaks volumes.’ She made few observations of Father Fessio’s statement, including the following: “But this is one bombshell that has yet to explode because no one wants to touch it.”[5] In any case, credit must be given to the Pope for his courage for making a statement of truth.  

In 1996, Father Fessio published a book titled ‘Salt of the Earth’ by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. The ABC Radio National’s presenter Stephen Crittenden, while interviewing Father Fessio on the 20th of September 2006, quoted a short passage from ‘Salt of the Earth:’ “The Qur'an is a total religious law, which regulates the whole of political and social life and insists that the whole order of life be Islamic. Sharia shapes society from beginning to end…Islam has a total organization of life that is completely different from ours; it embraces simply everything…There is a very marked subordination of woman to man; there is a very tightly knit criminal law, indeed a law regulating all areas of life, that is opposed to our modern ideas about society. One has to have a clear understanding that it is not simply a denomination that can be included in the free realm of a pluralistic society.”[6] This passage is one of the missing links which connects to his September 12, 2006 Regensburg ‘shock treatment’ lecture.   

Let’s go over a segment of the transcript of that radio interview between Father Fessio and Hugh Hewitt:

“HH: Father Fessio, before the break, you were telling us that after the presentation at Castel Gandolfo by two scholars of Islam this summer with Benedict in attendance, as well as his former students, for the first time in your memory, the Pope did not allow his students to first comment and reserve comment, but in fact, went first. Why, and what did he say?”[7]

“JF: Well, the thesis that was proposed by this scholar was that Islam can enter into the modern world if the Koran is reinterpreted by taking the specific legislation, and going back to the principles, and then adapting it to our times, especially with the dignity that we ascribe to women, which has come through Christianity, of course. And immediately, the Holy Father, in his beautiful calm but clear way, said well, there's a fundamental problem with that, because he said in the Islamic tradition, God has given His word to Mohammed, but it's an eternal word. It's not Mohammed's word. It's there for eternity the way it is. There's no possibility of adapting it or interpreting it, whereas in Christianity, and Judaism, the dynamism's completely different, that God has worked through His creatures. And so, it is not just the word of God, it's the word of Isaiah, not just the word of God, but the word of Mark. He's used His human creatures, and inspired them to speak His word to the world, and therefore by establishing a Church in which he gives authority to His followers to carry on the tradition and interpret it, there's an inner logic to the Christian Bible, which permits it and requires it to be adapted and applied to new situations. I was...I mean, Hugh, I wish I could say it as clearly and as beautifully as he did, but that's why he's Pope and I'm not, okay? That's one of the reasons. One of others, but his seeing that distinction when the Koran, which is seen as something dropped out of Heaven, which cannot be adapted or applied, even, and the Bible, which is a word of God that comes through a human community, it was stunning.”[8]

The interview clearly reveals Father Fessio’s anti-Qur’an, anti-Islam and anti-Muslim sentiments. He says, “…there were more Muslims born in France than people of traditional French background….” Aren’t ‘Muslims born in France’ human? Why, a ‘man of God’ would go to such an extent of making distinction between the Children of Adam and Eve? Further, he says, “Muslims, many of them, perhaps a majority of them are serious about their faith. They're devout. But they have a religion whose principle is based on God's word, not in the words of men, but God's word delivered directly to Mohammed, which can't be interpreted, can't be changed, can't be adapted. And that word is to conquer the word, or render everyone subject to the one true religion, which is Islam. I mean, it is not a religion of stasis or peace.”[9] These are the words of a ‘student and friend’ of Pope Benedict XVI, a Provost ‘appointed by the Holy See.’[10]  

Before embarking on his mission to ‘Biblicize’ the Qur’an, and ‘Catholicize’ Islam, it would be of benefit to Father Fessio to go over the very basics of his own religion, as it stands today. In the summer of 2005, Pope Benedict XVI wrote an encyclical[11] ‘Deus Caritas Est’ which means ‘God is Love.’ This encyclical is derived from various Latin words, including the word ‘Eros.’[12] This word in Greek has romantic and sexual connotation. The term erotic is also derived from ‘Eros:’[13] “The nation's largest Catholic archdiocese, run by Roger Cardinal Mahoney, has covered current hymnals with an adhesive sticker, hiding the sexual and demonic artwork recently exposed in the feature film documentary ‘Rape of the Soul’.”[14]  

A functional society cannot exist in a harmonious way unless a level of fear is introduced by the authorities. For example, taxes are paid within due date for fear of getting penalized; a vehicle is not driven without a valid license, insurance and registration for fear of getting caught by the police; laws of the land are obeyed for fear of  being pursued by various government agencies. At certain times, authorities even create artificial fear to psychologically control the masses.  

If, as the Pope is suggesting, ‘God is Love,’ then the door becomes wide open for self-gratification, immorality and sin. When a thief steals, a killers kills, a robber robs, a rapist rapes, and if they happen to be believers in ‘God is Love’ doctrine, they have then no fear of God. This fear, in actuality, reminds the person that acts of brutality and violence ignites God’s anger, and that Hell fire can be his or her abode after death. This flawed doctrine of ‘God is Love’ infected the Roman Catholic Church’s hierarchy which then channeled down to the masses through the clergy. Because of this very doctrine, little children were sexually molested, robbed of their innocence by priests in the dark dungeons of Churches around the world. Nuns made pregnant by Godless priests were forced to have abortions.[15] The “ROMAN CATHOLIC priests in the United States are dying from Aids at least four times as fast as the general population, largely as a result of homosexual contact that the church hierarchy has anxiously sought to hush up, according to an extensive study published in the Kansas City Star.”[16] Sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church was so rampant that in a 1962 document, Vatican told bishops ‘to cover up sex abuse’ scandals.[17] Spiritual, mental and physical corruption is the end result when ‘Fear of God’ gets replaced by ‘God is Love.’ How beautifully the Bible describes this Fear of God: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”[18]

Is Father Fessio aware that children, young girls and disadvantaged women are being smuggled from eastern European and third world countries for sexual exploitation into the Western European nations, such as Italy and Spain?[19] In the land of John Paul II, Poland, an annual ‘Eroticon’[20] festival takes place. One of the main attractions of this festival is when women break ‘sexual record’ by having intimate relationship with men one after the other in front of a live audience. Poland is 80%, Spain 83% and Italy 97% Roman Catholic. If Islam ‘is not a religion of peace,’ as Father Fessio suggests, then where is that ‘dignity which Christianity ascribes to women’ when “350,000 men from Germany travel to Asia, Africa...to avail themselves of the services of prostitutes or to purchase a wife.”[21]

The Pope and Father Fessio are worried about the depopulation of Christians in the West.[22] To resolve the problem of depopulation in the West, they should go after the greedy corporations, immoral politicians, and the mass media outlets that are pushing their agenda for an ‘alternative life style’, ‘Pet Parenting,’ ‘non-religious sub-culture’, and so forth. Christian babies are not going to grow on trees unless these immoral ideologies are trampled by the Pope in Saint Peter’s Square. Hence, neither the Pope nor Father Fessio has any good reason to blame Islam or its teachings for the depopulation of ‘traditional’ people in the West.   

The Spiritual death to Catholicism and countless of its followers did not occur suddenly, but through centuries of evils taking root within the Roman Catholic Church, and its extensions throughout the world. The dark cloud that hangs over the Roman Catholic Church is not going to disappear overnight. It will continue to thicken accumulating more electrostatic charge which may, one day, release its anger by pulling the plug on the ‘Throne of St. Peter.’ The cries and wailing of those little children who were raped, abused and sexually molested by the Roman Catholic priests are capable of tearing the seven firmaments of the heavens above. If the sin of Adam is a hereditary stain which is passed onto every child who comes into this world,[23] then, most definitely, sins of the disgraced priests must also pass onto to the Roman Catholic Church and its extensions: where are the Roman soldiers who are needed once again to nail another innocent man onto the ‘Cross’ for the sins of the rotten lot of the ‘Holy Roman Catholic Church?’

In Father Fessio’s interview, he refers to two so called ‘scholars,’ one ‘Pakistani Muslim Scholar Rashan’[24] who thinks that ‘Islam can enter into dialogue with modernity, but only if it radically reinterprets the Koran…’ and the other ‘Egyptian born Coptic Catholic’ – a Jesuit named Father Samir Khalil Samir who had a book with him containing ‘100 Questions on Islam’ by ‘key Islamic leaders’ who aim to conquer Europe. Any Muslim, who has the correct Islamic belief and sound understanding of its teachings, would never think in such an irrational manner of ‘conquering Europe.’ Muslims in the West can’t even organize their own ‘ghettoized’ institutions leave aside the prospect of even running a single functional government somewhere in Europe.  The majority of Western Muslims desire to live peacefully with their fellow citizens. As the Qur’an says: “People, We created you all from a single man and a single woman, and made you into races and tribes so that you should recognize one another. In God’s eyes, the most honored of you are the ones most mindful of Him: God is all knowing, all aware.”[25]  

The Pope and his companions are using the cold war doctrine of “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” The secularist and the hardcore reformists some with PhD titles glued to their names calling themselves ‘scholars of Islam,’ are frequent guests at Castlegandolfo, such as Father Christian Troll, a Jesuit, who is heavily influenced by late Professor Fazlur Rahman.[26] The Pope, Father Fessio, Father Troll, Father Samir, and Cardinal Pell are working tirelessly to completely reshape the teachings and understanding of the Qur’an, and subsequently Islam – but on whose behalf?

Stephen Crittenden, during his interview, asked Father Fessio if “the Christian Church regard Muhammad of Mecca as a Prophet of God?” To this, Father Fessio responds “We must believe, as Christians, that Muhammad is not a prophet, and that therefore whatever comes from Muhammad is either coming from his own imagination or his own reflection, or from borrowings.” Stephan Crittenden then asks Father Fessio “It’s not a true revelation?” Father Fessio responds “No. It’s coming from the evil one I mean those are the only sources there can be from the Christian of view.”[27] According to Young People's Bible Dictionary “Other names or expressions for Satan are devil, John 8:44; the evil one, Matt. 13:19”[28] So, in Father Fessio’s view, ‘whatever comes from Muhammad’ is from Satan. Little does he know that in two short verses, the Qur’an refutes him: “No evil ones have brought down this (Revelation)[29] and “Nor is it the word of an evil spirit accursed?”[30] Due to his misperceived assertions, Father Fessio unfolded one of many miraculous features of the Qur’an. One such is ‘coherent and argumentative precision in refuting its critics.’

Further, in his interview with Hugh Hewitt, Father Fessio says “…Islam is stuck. It’s stuck with a text that cannot be adapted, or even be interpreted properly.” This statement directly contradicts what he said in his January 21, 2006 clarification letter to the Washington Times. Moreover, Father Fessio in support of secularism says “I mean Jesus is the one who says 'Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God'. Muhammad didn't say that.”[31] This saying of Jesus should be in reverse order: God first and Caesar second. Else the only meaning that can be extracted from this passage is that the masses should submit to authority first, and then to God. What if the authority is Godless and prevents people from submitting to God? A classic example is Stanislaw Wielgus who resigned “minutes before his inauguration as Archbishop of Warsaw” because of his communist-era collaboration with the secret police. “Historians estimate that up to 15% of Polish clergy agreed to inform on their colleagues in the communist era.”[32] Concerning Muhammad, he appeared with his Prophetic mission in Arabia centuries after Caesar to call Humanity back to Monotheism. In one of the verses of the Qur’an, God says “You, who believe, obey God and the Messenger, and those in authority among you.”[33] Here, God comes first, then His Messenger second, and authority – i.e. modern Caesar – third. How beautifully the Qur’an corrected the above New Testament passage attributed to Jesus.

In fact, at present, it is Christianity and the Western civilization[34] that is ‘stuck,’ frozen in time, and dying. Christianity adapted to modernity, and changed the very essence of the teachings of Jesus Christ. They embraced the corrupt, unethical, and dehumanized code of life put forward by the Godless politicians, self-centered Darwinist, disoriented philosophers, and confused atheists in order to put the Church on a ‘politically correct’ secularized path. The materialistic ways of life have destroyed the lives of a great number of citizens of the Western world. Compared to the so called ‘developing’ or the ‘Third World’ countries, people in the West are generally well off and can easily acquire the material goods they desire, and yet, “stress is epidemic in the western world,”[35] and “During 1990-1994, a total of 154,444 persons committed suicide in the United States,”[36] and “Europe has the world's highest suicide rate and cases are rising among young people, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).”[37] For the past 2,000 years, what has the Roman Catholic Church done for the dying humanity which Islam couldn’t do in 1,400 years? By secularizing Islam, will the killings, forced prostitution, abuse of women, drug trafficking, suicide, and many more social ills in the West disappear?  

The Roman Catholic Church, since its inception, deprived good-hearted Christians of belief in One True God. It wrapped the True Monotheism taught by Abraham, Moses and Jesus in Greek and Roman mythologies.[38]  The ‘Vicar of Christ’ became one of the richest people on earth.[39] Ordinary working class people barely making ends meet,[40] on top of paying generous tribute to ‘Caesar,’ had to channel ‘Peter's Pence’ to the Pope for his expanded luxurious lifestyle. Moreover, in the bygone era “The cardinals’ wealth was enormous. In addition to the gifts from European monarchs, the cardinals were directly connected to that elaborate system which sucked gold from all over Europe. Half of the revenue of the Holy See was theirs by right – half of the Peter’s Pence, half the income from taxes, from gifts. At every election the pope, by custom, gave each cardinal handsome gifts in specie.”[41] This trend continues even today.[42] Alas, how far away have they gone from the teachings of Jesus. A man sent by God 2,000 years ago to teach humanity the ‘Art of Living.’ To resist the material things of this life so the heart can directly connect with God. Jesus had no palace, no cardinals, no Bishops, no Jesuits, and no priests, not even a decent refuge to cover his head: “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”[43] Such beautiful words, full of wisdom and spiritual heights from the lips of beloved Jesus can only touch the hearts of those who are truly God conscious.

The Jesuit order, founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola, is an intellectual, missionary and propaganda arm of the Roman Catholic Church.[44] Through their educational and academic institutions, they penetrate into diverse social, cultural and religious circles where they intellectually and psychologically condition people for an alternate subculture based on directives given by the Church or governments.[45] Jesuits are the ones who work on top, and then let their social-programming flow down through ‘pre-designated channels’ for implementation. They “were expelled from Portugal (1759), France (1764), Spain (1767), Naples (1767), and Russia (1820).”[46] Their expulsion was based on nothing but accumulation of worldly riches and corruption.[47] “Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus discovered archival notes that indicate that long dead Jesuit, John Leary, had been involved in the sexual abuse of boys and young men sometime during his tenure at Gonzaga University, where he served as president from 1961 to 1969.”[48]  

According to father Fessio, “…Christians in the United States are the ones who will be able to save not just Christianity, but Western civilization….”[49]  These words of hopelessness are coming from the mouth of a Jesuit, a student and close friend of the Pope. What is the reason for asking America to save Christianity and the ‘Western Civilization?’ Who actually is endangering Father Fessio’s Christian civilization that he is desperately in need of America’s Evangelical Christians - who themselves are in the graveyard of the spiritually dead: “O you of little faith.”[50] In 1998, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger warned Roman Catholics not to read Anthony de Mello’s books, an Indian Jesuit priest. Partly because he felt ‘the moral corruption’ at the heart of the Catholic Church, and therefore he added some ‘eastern wisdom’ into his books to fill spiritual vacuum absent from Church’s teachings.[51]

Robert of Geneva was Archbishop of Cambrai in 1368, and cardinal in 1371. “He was recognized by France (his protector), Scotland (France’s ally), Spain, and Naples. Several German states also recognized him.”[52] He butchered more than 4000 citizens of Cesena – a city in Northern Italy. He was referred to as ‘the Butcher of Cesena.’ The amazing aspect of this sad episode in history is the people he butchered were Christians. Was this ‘Butcher of Cesena inspired by this Biblical passage: “Show no mercy; have no pity! Kill them all—old and young, girls and women and little children.”[53] Following the footprints of Robert of Geneva, Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney is well on his way to create global fear of Islam and hatred of Muslims in the West.

In his speech at Naples, Florida, Cardinal Pell made following comments about the Qur’an and Islam: “On the other hand one or two people I met, who had lived in Pakistan and suffered there, claimed to me that the Koran legitimized the killings of non-Muslims. In my own reading of the Koran, I began to note down invocations to violence. There are so many of them, however, that I abandoned this exercise after 50 or 60 or 70 pages. Islam is not a tolerant religion.”[54] The ending of his speech is enough to open the gates of anti-Muslim sentiments in the West. The fallacies in his comments are quite apparent.

His speech is nothing but distractive propaganda. A tool frequently used to divert the attention of the masses from the real issues. As of 2006, “The total number of accusations against Catholic clergy in the United States now stands at more than 12,000 since 1950.”[55] Roughly 83% of America is Christian.[56] According to FBI, “An estimated 16,692 persons were murdered nationwide in 2005, an increase of 3.4 percent from the 2004 figure.”[57] Every year, around 55,000 young Europeans die due to alcohol consumption.[58] Who distills, manufactures, sells, exports and serves alcohol in Europe? Who manufactures, distributes and exports guns and ammunition in the West?  

On Archdiocese of Sydney’s website, nowhere is it mentioned that Cardinal Pell has any academic credentials either in the Arabic language or in the exegesis of the Qur’an from a reputed academic institution. Therefore, he has no authority to publicly make statements about the Qur’an based on his reading of ‘50 or 60 or 70 pages’ of an English translation. He committed a logical fallacy called ‘unsupported claims.’ The Qur’an is in the Arabic language. No rendering of its meaning is considered the Qur’an. As a result, he commits another fallacy known as ‘false analogy.’ Many chapters and verses of the Qur’an have context which is called in Arabic ‘Asbâb un-Nuzûl’ or ‘Reasons and Occasions of Revelation.’ This contextual information is found in many books of Traditions of the Prophet.  

“On Feb. 9, 1950, Joseph R. McCarthy, an obscure Republican senator from Wisconsin, uttered the words that would make him the symbol for an age. ''I have in my hand,'' he said, ''a list of 205 Communists that were made known to the Secretary of State and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department. McCarthy had no such list. He knew nothing about Communists in the federal government or anywhere else. But to millions of Americans he provided a simple explanation for Communism's growing strength around the world.”[59] After 56 years, Cardinal George Pell lands in Florida, approaches the podium, and gives a talk on a subject of which he knows nothing about.

In light of the arguments presented above, it is clear that Cardinal Pell made his anti-Qur’an, anti-Islam speech firstly to provoke Muslims, and secondly, to use it as propaganda to divert the attention from the horrible sexual crimes committed by Roman Catholic priests. Without any reservations, he can be safely called a deceiver: “These wise teachers will fall into the trap of their own foolishness.” [60]

If speeches made by the Pope and Cardinal Pell coupled together with interviews given by Father Fessio are seen from a timeline perspective, their public addresses connect in perfect harmony. 1.) Secret meeting at Castel Gandolfo, September 2, 2005. 2.) Father Fessio’s radio interview on January 5, 2006. 3.) Cardinal Pell’s speech on February 4, 2006 at Naples, Florida. 4.) Pope’s lecture on September 12, 2006 in Germany. Are these sequential events a chance, a coincidence? No, they are part of the plan to spread misconceptions about the Qur’an, create fear of Islam, and to make an unknown Pope popular overnight. No wonder “Pope Benedict XVI, in the first full year of his papacy, was far and away the editors' choice as newsmaker of the year.”[61]  

“In an interview in 2004 for Le Figaro Magazine, Ratzinger said Turkey, a country Muslim by heritage and staunchly Secularist by its state constitution, should seek its future in an association of Islamic nations rather than the EU, which has Christian roots. He said Turkey had always been "in permanent contrast to Europe" and that linking it to Europe would be a mistake.”[62] On August 1, 2005, the late Italian racist and anti-Islam ‘journalist’ Oriana Fallaci met Pope Benedict XVI at Castelgandolfo. At the conclusion of her visit, she said: “I feel less alone when I read the books of Cardinal Ratzinger.”[63] David Gibson, ‘a journalist and Catholic convert,’ in his recent book ‘The Rule of Benedict: Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World’ writes that the Pope “Blames Islam for much of slave trade.”[64]  

On the one hand, the Pope and his companions are making provocative statements about Qur’an, Muhammad and Islam, whereas on the other hand, the Pope “worries about clash between religions and cultures.”[65] How is it possible to engage in a Cross Cultural Dialogue when no ground rules exist? And if there do exist any, they are repeatedly broken by the Pope and his companions: “A truthful witness does not deceive, but a false witness pours out lies.”[66]

“Julius Streicher, editor of the infamous Nazi broadsheet Der Stürmer in Weimar-era Germany. To arouse anti-semitic sentiments among the weekly’s working class Christian readership, Streicher regularly published truncated quotations from Talmudic texts that, in their shortened form, appear to advocate greed, slavery, and ritualistic murder.”[67]  

With regards to the purpose of his speech delivered on September 12, 2006 at the University of Regensburg, it was a staged event primarily to provoke Muslims, and to make an obscure German Pope popular. As to the contents of his speech, it has no spiritual dimension whatsoever to start with. His reflections are over secularization of Europe, separation of reason from faith, removing Greek thought from the New Testament, and that Christianity is based on reason and Islam is not. Since the speech was delivered by a Pope, at once, it became a ‘Hollywood style’ success.  

Let’s focus on Pope’s brief thoughts over the issue of ‘reason’ and Islam. He says: “In the seventh conversation edited by Professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the jihad (holy war). The emperor must have known that surah 2, 256 reads: There is no compulsion in religion. It is one of the suras of the early period, when Mohammed was still powerless and under threat.”[68] The verse 256 of chapter 2 of the Qur’an has nothing to do with either ‘Jihad’ or Muhammad being ‘powerless and under threat.’ There are six contextual reports related to this verse. All six of them talk about individuals at the time of the Prophet Muhammad coercing some people to accept Islam. In this relation ‘There is no compulsion in religion’ verse was revealed.[69] In order to attribute reason to Christianity and violence to Islam, both the Pope and Professor Khoury ignored the context in which the verse was revealed.  Why did the Pope quote the Byzantine emperor, absolutely no rational explanation?  

The Pope quotes the emperor asking the ‘educated Persian’ from the text edited by Professor Khoury as follows: “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”[70] This is the ‘bolt from the blue’ which provoked Muslims all over the world. It is indeed difficult to comprehend how the Pope, considered by many as an ‘academic,’ quotes such a statement where the person engaged in dialogue with the emperor has no name. If a legal public case involving two persons is presented to a court of law, one having a proper name and the other referred to as an ‘educated German,’ the judge will simply dismiss the case, throw both parties in dispute and the lawyers out of the court.  

The condition of Spain before Muslim rule was a miserable one, especially for the Jews. They were forcefully baptized, prohibited from conducting business with the Christians, ordered not to abstain from eating Pork, and if they were found to have practiced rites of their religion, orders were given to behead, burn or stone them to death. When oppression reached its peak, Jews and the Christian ruler of Ceuta, Count Julian,[71] amid a civil war sought help from the Muslims in Africa. In 711 CE, Muslims reached Spain. Finally, after less than 300 years of brutal Visigoths rule, oppression was lifted from the land. This newly acquired freedom “brought advantages to many elements of society.”[72] In the annals of history, it is known as the ‘Golden Age’ for Spanish Jews.[73]  

When Muslims arrived in Spain, they were in Europe. Their rule turned lifeless cities into glamorous metropolises. Justice and peace established a tolerant climate where people of diverse faiths lived side by side. Students from other parts of Europe came to study philosophy, science and medicine from Jewish, Christian and Muslims scholars. Physical manifestation of esthetic beauty, imagination, art, poetry, architecture, agriculture, commerce, and many other achievements were everywhere.[74] The force that made them spread their wings of intellectual renaissance was none other than faith and reason.  When their rule ended, they were given the choice of either convert to Roman Catholicism or leave Spain.[75] In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI appears on the stage, and proclaims that ‘Christianity is based on reason’, and Islam is not.  

In the interest and well-being of humanity, it is about time that the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI and his team of Jesuits examine the condition of their hearts based on the teachings of Jesus Christ present in numerous New Testament passages. They must also correct their clouded view of Muhammad, Qur’an and Islam. Reading and quoting texts written by those hostile to Islam, is not a sensible approach in developing mutual understanding and respect between Islam and Christianity. From a position of power, spreading disinformation is the worse kind of injustice an individual or an institution can commit. The era of the Visigoths, Moors, Crusaders and Ottomans is long over. Propaganda and misleading statements from the pulpit of the Roman Catholic Church is not going to make the Qur’an or Islam disappear from the West. Both are here to stay.  

To sum up, no words come closer than the words of Jesus: "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."[76]

 The author can be reached at kj@khalidjan.com

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References

[1] http://www.townhall.com/TalkRadio/Show.aspx?ContentGuid=d7cb9962-7ced-4e17-850c-fc09264f4cba&RadioShowId=5

[2] Islam's Irrationality, By Ilana Mercer, FrontPageMagazine.com | September 28, 2006

[3]  http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HA10Ak01.html;.

[4] http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20060120-091649-2218r.htm

[5] http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20060119-085302-6865r.htm

[6] http://www.abc.net.au/rn/religionreport/stories/2006/1744967.htm

[7] http://www.radioblogger.com/archives/january06.html#010506 – transcript of interview

[8] http://www.radioblogger.com/archives/january06.html#010506  transcript of interview

[9] http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1553225/posts

[10] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12517a.htm - Catholic Encyclopedia

[11] A letter sent to all Churches

[12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eros_%28love%29

[13] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eros_%28love%29

[14] http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2006/4/prweb375489.htm - April 20, 2006

[15] http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1128225631

[16] The Independent, February 1, 2000, reported by Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles

[17] http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1020400,00.html - August 17, 2003

[18] Proverbs 1:7 NIV Bible

[19] http://www.helpsavekids.org/country2.html

[20] http://www.eroticon.pl/

[21] http://www.dw-world.de/popups/popup_printcontent/0,,1304070,00.html - Deutsche Welle

[22] http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1553225/posts

[23] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11312a.htm - concept of ‘Original Sin’ in Christianity.

[24] He’s most probably referring to late Professor Fazlur Rahman

[25] Qur’an 49:13, Translation by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, Oxford University Press 2005

[26] Pope Benedict XVI: The Mind of the Man by Sandy Lender, Saint Austin Review, Nov / Dec 2005

[27] http://www.abc.net.au/rn/religionreport/stories/2006/1744967.htm

[28] http://www.bibletexts.com/glossary/satan.htm

[29] Qur’an 26:210

[30] Qur’an 81:25

[31] http://www.abc.net.au/rn/religionreport/stories/2006/1744967.htm

[32] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6238165.stm

[33] Qur’an 4:59, The Qur’an, Oxford World Classics 2005

[34] Why Europe chooses extinction by Spengler – Asia Times Online, Apr 8, 2003

[35] http://www.stressfree.com/stress.html

[36] http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00049117.htm

[37] http://society.guardian.co.uk/mentalhealth/story/0,,1390711,00.html

[38] Pagan Christianity: The Origins of Our Modern Church Practices by  Frank Viola

[39] THE VATICAN BILLIONS by Avro Manhattan

[40] Embezzlement high for Catholics - http://www.thenewstribune.com - January 5th, 2007

[41] The  Bad Popes, Russell Chamberlin, Sutton Publishing 2005 p. 141

[42] ‘Vatican 'cashes in' by putting price on the Pope's copyright.’ The Times, January 23, 2006

[43] Matthew 8:20

[44] The Secret History of the Jesuits by Edmond Paris; Truth Left Behind by Steve Wohlberg

[45] http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9516/9516.prologue.html

[46] Truth Left Behind and The Left Behind Deception - By Steve Wohlberg

[47] http://www.socinian.org/polish_socinians.html

[48] http://www.nwjesuits.org/newsPub/Provincial/09%2008%2006%20Provincial%20Statement.pdf

[49] http://www.radioblogger.com/archives/january06.html#010506  transcript of interview

[50] Matthew 6:30 New International Version of the Bible

[51] http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_35_115/ai_53475486

[52] The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2001-05

[53] Ezekiel 9:5-6 - New Living Translation of the Bible – Old Testament

[54] http://www.sydney.catholic.org.au/Archbishop/Addresses/200627_681.shtml

[55] http://channels.netscape.ca/news/article.adp?id=20061028145109990008

[56] http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/beliefnet_poll_010718.html

[57] http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/offenses/violent_crime/murder_homicide.html

[58] http://www.euro.who.int/mediacentre/PressBackgrounders/2001/20011001_2

[59] http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B07E6DC123EF93AA15751C1A9659C8B63

[60] Jeremiah 8:9 New Living Translation of the Bible

[61] http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0607173.htm, YEAREND-VOTES Dec-15-2006

[62] http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=8,1089,0,0,1,0

[63] http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/dominic_lawson/article1619225.ece

[64] Harper Collins 2006 p. 212

[65] http://news.bostonherald.com/international/view.bg?articleid=173483 Friday, December 22, 2006

[66] Proverbs 14:5 New International Version of the Bible

[67] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contextomy

[68] http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=46474 – Catholic World News

[69] Reasons & Occasions of Revelation of the Holy Quran by Abu Al-Hassan An-Naisaburi p. 88

[70] http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=46474 – Catholic World News

[71] http://www.jewish-history.com/Occident/volume7/jan1850/visigoths.html

[72] http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-70371/Spain - p. 95

[73] http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=992&letter=S & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Spain

[74] http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199301/the.other.1492.htm

[75] http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/program/neareast/andalusia/pdf/8.pdf

[76] Matthew 7:1-5 Revised Standard Version of the Bible

Posted January 18, 2007 with the kind permission of the author.