torc
27-03-04, 14:10
Times.March 26, 2004
Carey defends 'anti-Islam' speech
BY PA NEWS AND JENNY BOOTH
?
The former Archbishop of Canterbury has defended a controversial speech in which he criticised Islam as a faith "associated with violence throughout the world".
Lord Carey of Clifton cited suicide bombers and the rise of extremism as evidence of a violent battle for the soul of Islam which was spilling out and having a heavy impact the wider world.
In a lecture last night at the Gregorian University in Rome he said that Islam was resistant to modernity and Islamic societies had contributed little to world culture for hundreds of years.
Many Muslim countries were led by authoritarian regimes which had risen to power "at the point of a gun", he said.
And he accused Islamic spiritual leaders of not doing enough to condemn suicide bombers who claimed to be religious martyrs.
Lord Carey's remarks were delivered hours before his successor as Archbishop, Rowan Williams, is due to depart for a three-day seminar between Christian and Muslim scholars in America on the subject of "building bridges".
Muslim leaders in the UK accused him of "recycling" old religious prejudices. But Lord Carey defended his speech on BBC Radio 4's The World At One programme.
"It is meant to provoke a reaction. In the same way I look at the West and Christianity and am equally critical," he said.
"I'm looking at the way we build stereotypes of each other and the way we must transcend this, and I think that a person looking objectively at the entire speech - five and a half thousand words - will see there's a balance there ...
"So to twist it as an attack on the Islamic world would be far too simplistic and sadly it does suggest how polarised the world is at the present moment."
An official statement released by the Muslim Council said that Lord Carey should mind his own business.
"In his myopic vision of the Middle East, Lord Carey seems also to show little understanding of the role played by Western powers in propping up many of the regimes all over the world.
"We would suggest that rather than hectoring Muslims, Lord CareyÕs skills would be more usefully employed in halting the drift away from Christianity in Europe. The decline of the values and teachings of Jesus, peace be upon him, also concern us as Muslims."
In a wide-ranging speech, Lord Carey conceded that most Muslims were peaceful, but he said not enough moderates denounced the "radical activists" who carry out attacks in the name of Allah.
He said: "We look to them to condemn suicide bombers and terrorists who use Islam as a weapon to destabilise and destroy innocent lives.
"Sadly, apart from a very few courageous examples, very few Muslim leaders condemn clearly and unconditionally the evil of suicide bombers who kill innocent people.
"We need to hear outright condemnation of theologies that state that suicide bombers are martyrs and enter a martyr's reward."
This remark was greeted angrily by Manzoor Moghal, chairman of the Federation of Muslim Organisations in Leicester, home to 40,000 Muslims.
He said: "That is nonsense - we condemn suicide bombers, we go on radio, on television, we have made statements. What more can we do?
"We cannot be responsible for the criminal actions of others - they are not under our control. The archbishop has got it wrong.
"This is a disastrous statement from the former archbishop. He has fallen prey to the campaign tactics of racists in this country."
Mr Moghal also rejected Lord Carey's comments that Islamic culture had become sterile and its faith too inflexible.
Lord Carey said: "Although we owe much to Islam handing on to the West many of the treasures of Greek thought, the beginnings of calculus, Aristotelian thought during the period known as the Dark Ages, it is sad to relate that no great invention has come for many hundred years from Muslim countries.".
And in comments that provoked particular controversy, he added: "In the case of Islam, Mohammed, acknowledged by all in spite of his religious greatness to be an illiterate man, is said to have received God's word direct, word by word from angels, and scribes recorded them later.
"Thus believers are told, because they have come direct from Allah, they are not to be questioned or revised.
"In the first few centuries of the Islamic era, Islamic theologians sought to meet the challenge this implied, but during the past 500 years critical scholarship has declined, leading to strong resistance to modernity."
Mr Moghal said: "I think he will cause a lot of offence to the Muslim community - not only in Britain but throughout the world.
"His understanding is very poor and people are going to see the whole thing in a light which will portray him as a person who is ignorant in the true faith of Islam."
Ahmed Versi, editor of Muslim News, said: "We hope that the current Archbishop Rowan Williams - who is very different - will condemn these views."
A spokesman for Lambeth House said however that Dr Williams was "relaxed" about Lord Carey's remarks, and did not intend to comment on them.
Lord Carey admitted that he was not an expert on Islam, but defended his right to comment with the claim that while he was Archbishop he had spent much time with some of the most important names in the Muslim faith, trying to "build bridges of understanding between two great faiths".
"In retirement I continue to engage in dialogue through the Alexander Declaration Process which attempts to bring Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders together in Israel and Palestine," he said.
"I think I can say with some confidence that I have a reasonable idea of the challenges that Islam presents to Christianity and the West and the challenges that Islam faces today."
Êhttp://news.google.com/news?num=30&hl=en&edition=uk&newsclusterurl=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/9905049%3Fsource%3DEvening%2520Standard&q=&scoring=d
Carey defends 'anti-Islam' speech
BY PA NEWS AND JENNY BOOTH
?
The former Archbishop of Canterbury has defended a controversial speech in which he criticised Islam as a faith "associated with violence throughout the world".
Lord Carey of Clifton cited suicide bombers and the rise of extremism as evidence of a violent battle for the soul of Islam which was spilling out and having a heavy impact the wider world.
In a lecture last night at the Gregorian University in Rome he said that Islam was resistant to modernity and Islamic societies had contributed little to world culture for hundreds of years.
Many Muslim countries were led by authoritarian regimes which had risen to power "at the point of a gun", he said.
And he accused Islamic spiritual leaders of not doing enough to condemn suicide bombers who claimed to be religious martyrs.
Lord Carey's remarks were delivered hours before his successor as Archbishop, Rowan Williams, is due to depart for a three-day seminar between Christian and Muslim scholars in America on the subject of "building bridges".
Muslim leaders in the UK accused him of "recycling" old religious prejudices. But Lord Carey defended his speech on BBC Radio 4's The World At One programme.
"It is meant to provoke a reaction. In the same way I look at the West and Christianity and am equally critical," he said.
"I'm looking at the way we build stereotypes of each other and the way we must transcend this, and I think that a person looking objectively at the entire speech - five and a half thousand words - will see there's a balance there ...
"So to twist it as an attack on the Islamic world would be far too simplistic and sadly it does suggest how polarised the world is at the present moment."
An official statement released by the Muslim Council said that Lord Carey should mind his own business.
"In his myopic vision of the Middle East, Lord Carey seems also to show little understanding of the role played by Western powers in propping up many of the regimes all over the world.
"We would suggest that rather than hectoring Muslims, Lord CareyÕs skills would be more usefully employed in halting the drift away from Christianity in Europe. The decline of the values and teachings of Jesus, peace be upon him, also concern us as Muslims."
In a wide-ranging speech, Lord Carey conceded that most Muslims were peaceful, but he said not enough moderates denounced the "radical activists" who carry out attacks in the name of Allah.
He said: "We look to them to condemn suicide bombers and terrorists who use Islam as a weapon to destabilise and destroy innocent lives.
"Sadly, apart from a very few courageous examples, very few Muslim leaders condemn clearly and unconditionally the evil of suicide bombers who kill innocent people.
"We need to hear outright condemnation of theologies that state that suicide bombers are martyrs and enter a martyr's reward."
This remark was greeted angrily by Manzoor Moghal, chairman of the Federation of Muslim Organisations in Leicester, home to 40,000 Muslims.
He said: "That is nonsense - we condemn suicide bombers, we go on radio, on television, we have made statements. What more can we do?
"We cannot be responsible for the criminal actions of others - they are not under our control. The archbishop has got it wrong.
"This is a disastrous statement from the former archbishop. He has fallen prey to the campaign tactics of racists in this country."
Mr Moghal also rejected Lord Carey's comments that Islamic culture had become sterile and its faith too inflexible.
Lord Carey said: "Although we owe much to Islam handing on to the West many of the treasures of Greek thought, the beginnings of calculus, Aristotelian thought during the period known as the Dark Ages, it is sad to relate that no great invention has come for many hundred years from Muslim countries.".
And in comments that provoked particular controversy, he added: "In the case of Islam, Mohammed, acknowledged by all in spite of his religious greatness to be an illiterate man, is said to have received God's word direct, word by word from angels, and scribes recorded them later.
"Thus believers are told, because they have come direct from Allah, they are not to be questioned or revised.
"In the first few centuries of the Islamic era, Islamic theologians sought to meet the challenge this implied, but during the past 500 years critical scholarship has declined, leading to strong resistance to modernity."
Mr Moghal said: "I think he will cause a lot of offence to the Muslim community - not only in Britain but throughout the world.
"His understanding is very poor and people are going to see the whole thing in a light which will portray him as a person who is ignorant in the true faith of Islam."
Ahmed Versi, editor of Muslim News, said: "We hope that the current Archbishop Rowan Williams - who is very different - will condemn these views."
A spokesman for Lambeth House said however that Dr Williams was "relaxed" about Lord Carey's remarks, and did not intend to comment on them.
Lord Carey admitted that he was not an expert on Islam, but defended his right to comment with the claim that while he was Archbishop he had spent much time with some of the most important names in the Muslim faith, trying to "build bridges of understanding between two great faiths".
"In retirement I continue to engage in dialogue through the Alexander Declaration Process which attempts to bring Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders together in Israel and Palestine," he said.
"I think I can say with some confidence that I have a reasonable idea of the challenges that Islam presents to Christianity and the West and the challenges that Islam faces today."
Êhttp://news.google.com/news?num=30&hl=en&edition=uk&newsclusterurl=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/9905049%3Fsource%3DEvening%2520Standard&q=&scoring=d