King Hussein Quotes
Let me say this loud and clear. There is a world of difference between terrorist acts and the Islamic Shari'a. Islam is not only a religion, but a way of life. And at its heart lie the sacred principles of tolerance and dialogue.
This is a particularly noteworthy quotation as Muslims are often accused of intolerance and here is a Muslim who argues that it is the responsibility of religious leaders to present religion in a tolerant manner.
Religious and ethnic political conflict had broken out in Fiji. Some in the Christian majority strove to make Fiji officially a “Christian country” and marginalize the Indian Hindu minority. The archbishop opposed and thwarted them.
This statement was made in the aftermath of 9-11. However, three years earlier, at a Hamas meeting, the Cleric did not seem to be concerned about the lives of the innocent. See {617372}.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of Islamic clergy would not agree with his definition. Some of the Islamic modernists share his view, but there are relatively few of them in the Muslim counties and most reside in the West.
In September of 2005 a Danish Newspaper published some political cartoons showing the hypocrisy of some Muslims who use Islam to justify murder of innocents and terrorism. Many in the Middle East protested vehemently because the Prophet Muhammad's visage was depicted against Islamic tradition. Many Muslim leaders claimed that insulting religion was an “abuse” of freedom of speech including those from nations which regularly publish material that is virulent against Christians and Jews. Momani reprinted the cartoons and wrote this editorial arguing that the cartoons insulted Islam far less than the terrorism and murder—especially a recent murder of Muslims in Amman attending an Islamic wedding ceremony, He was fired by the newspaper owners and then actually arrested by the Jordanian authorities for “Insulting Religion.”
Hussein bin Talal was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, Hussein was a 40th-generation direct descendant of Muhammad.
