Posted by
Dan England on Friday, September 15, 2006 7:33:50 PM
Pope Benedict is under fire from Muslims throughout the world for recent comments he made about a book on Islam. Read the article from
MyWay.com titled "The Turkish Lawmaker Compares Pope to Hitler"
here.
Pope Benedict
:"The emperor (Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos) comes to speak about the issue of jihad, holy war...He said, I quote, '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.'"Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam:
"What he (the Pope) has done is that he has quoted very offensive remarks by some emperor hundreds of years ago...It is not helpful (because) we have been trying to bridge the gap, calling for dialogue and understanding between religions." Aslam added that Muslims have a history of tolerance. She noted that when Spain drove out the Jewish population in 1492 AD they were welcomed by Muslim nations.
What Aslam left out was that in the same year (1492 AD) Ferdinand and Isabella re-conquered Spain from the Muslims who had invaded and conquered Spain in 711 AD. Read about it
here.
(Paul Halsall, "Medieval Sourcebook: Ibn Abd-el-Hakem: The Islamic Conquest of Spain", on Fordham.edu.) Furthermore, Aslam left out the fate of non-Muslims (including Jews and Christians) during Muslim rule of Spain from 711 AD to 1492 AD. During most of Muslim rule, non-Muslims were allowed to worship, but were severely limited.
According to Warren H. Carroll, Ph.D., among other limitations:
"...from the time of Muhammad to the early twentieth century, the conversion of any person from Islam to Christianity was absolutely forbidden and punished by death. (In many recorded instances this punishment was relentlessly carried out.) Every Muslim and all his descendants were regarded as legally bound forever to Islam." Read Dr. Carroll's paper
here titled "What Was the Standard Policy of Muslim States in Spain toward Christians?"
The article further expands on the full extent of religious and other limitations on non-Muslims.
Meanwhile, Pope Benedict has clarified his comments. Read the
BBC News story titled "Pope 'meant no offence' to Islam"
here.
Michelle Malkin has more on this. Read her post titled "I support the Pope"
here.