Egypt's Mufti Urges Muslims to Endure Insults Peacefully
Condemning the publication of the cartoons in France as an act verging on incitement, Egypt's Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa said it showed how polarized the West and the Muslim world had become.
Gomaa said Muhammad and his companions had endured "the worst insults from the non-believers of his time. Not only was his message routinely rejected, but he was often chased out of town, cursed and physically assaulted on numerous occasions. "But his example was always to endure all personal insults and attacks without retaliation of any sort. There is no doubt that, since the Prophet is our greatest example in this life, this should also be the reaction of all Muslims."
His statement echoed one by Al-Azhar, Egypt's prestigious seat of Sunni learning, which condemned the caricatures showing the Prophet naked but said any protest should be peaceful.
An official at the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt, whose population of 83 million people is 10 percent Christian, also condemned the cartoons as insults to Islam.
Last week, some Egyptian protesters scaled the U.S. Embassy walls and tore down the flag. They clashed with police for four days, although most of the thousands of Egyptians who took to the streets did so
peacefully.
The cartoons in France's Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly have provoked relatively little street anger, although about 100 Iranians demonstrated outside the French embassy in Tehran.
By Sadroddin Musawi
Other links:
Protests Held in Tehran to Condemn Insulting Cartoons
Many Killed in Pakistan Protests against Anti-Islam Film, Cartoons
Afghans Stage Fresh Protests against Anti-Islam Film, Cartoons
Lebanon Muslims Protest insulting Film, Cartoons
