Friday, February 03, 2006
Muslim madness and a ray of hope
A second tragedy has befallen Hajj pilgrims, this time returning to Egypt.
An Egyptian ferry carrying about 1,300 people sank in the Red Sea overnight during bad weather, and rescue ships and helicopters pulled dozens of bodies from the water Friday, an official said. About 100 survivors in lifeboats were rescued.
An Egyptian Embassy spokesman told the British Broadcasting Corp. that "dozens of bodies of victims" had been pulled from the choppy waters between Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Local authorities: "The Coast Guard is doing everything in its power to try to rescue these people."
Actually, this is not exactly the case. Egypt has declined Isreal's offer to assist in search and rescue operations.
Via Drudge.
Meanwhile in Palestine, other insights into the religion of peace:
In mosques throughout Palestinian cities, clerics condemned the cartoons. An imam at the Omari Mosque in Gaza City told 9,000 worshippers that those behind the drawings should have their heads cut off.
"If they want a war of religions, we are ready," Hassan Sharaf, an imam in Nablus, said in his sermon.
About 10,000 demonstrators, including gunmen from the Islamic militant group Hamas firing in the air, marched through Gaza City to the Palestinian legislature, where they climbed on the roof, waving green Hamas banners.
"We are ready to redeem you with our souls and our blood our beloved prophet," they chanted. "Down, Down Denmark."
Once again, however, Grand Ayatolla Ali al-Sistani gives evidence that he is a man of reason in a sea of madness.
Al-Sistani, who wields enormous influence over Iraq's majority Shiites, made no call for protests and suggested that militant Muslims were partly to blame for distorting Islam's image.
He referred to "misguided and oppressive" segments of the Muslim community and said their actions "projected a distorted and dark image of the faith of justice, love and brotherhood."
"Enemies have exploited this ... to spread their poison and revive their old hatreds with new methods and mechanisms," he said.
The Muslim world is clearly in desperate need of more voices like al-Sistani's. Would his voice ever have been heard with Sadaam in power? I think not. Could the liberation of Iraq truly turn out to be a turning point in the trajectory of radical Islam? It's too soon to tell, but one can hope.
3 Comments:
By 
Cardinalpark, at
Fri Feb 03, 10:49:00 AM:
It would be nice if Al Sistani had a bigger pulpit and a louder microphone...
By Cassandra, at
Fri Feb 03, 05:07:00 PM:
Just looking at the revolutionary changes in the Arab media since the Iraq invasion, I'd say the cracks are visible. I've been very encouraged by a lot of what I've seen - there's a lot more of a receptive audience for moderation that we really hear about.
By saintknowitall, at
Fri Feb 03, 05:22:00 PM:
Cassandra, That is what the west has been saying for 1400 years. Islam is not only a religion, it is a a totalitarian political ideology.
