By
Wessam Fauad, IOL Correspondent
MANAMA,
March 23, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – Muslim scholars taking part in a
two-day conference in Bahrain have called for the respect of all
religions and agreed on the need for continued efforts to promote the
true image of Islam and Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon
him) in the West.
Addressing
the opening session late Wednesday, March 23, prominent Muslim Scholar
Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi underlined the need to respect all religions,
including atheism.
He
said such respect would prevent the recurrence of crises like the one
triggered by the Danish caricatures which mocked Prophet Muhammad.
Al-Qaradawi,
chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, urged preachers
and media people to defend Prophet Muhammad by promoting his merciful
teachings.
Some
300 Muslim scholars are huddling together in Manama to explore a
strategy to prevent a repeat of the Prophet depiction in lampooning
cartoons.
Six
imams from Denmark, where the controversy originated, are also taking
part in the conference.
Twelve
cartoons, including one showing the Prophet with a bomb-shaped turban,
were first published by Danish daily Jyllands-Posten in September
and reprinted by European newspapers on claims of freedom of expression.
The
drawings, considered blasphemous under Islam, have triggered massive and
sometimes violent demonstrations across the Muslim world.
Introducing
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Participants called for promoting the true image of Islam and the Prophet in the West.
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The
participants agreed on the need for organized and continued efforts to
promote the truce image of Islam on the West.
"We
have a golden chance to address the European and Western public opinion
to tell them about our Prophet and our religion," said Hassan
Moussa, the chairman of the Imams Council in Sweden.
Egyptian
television preacher Amr Khaled agreed.
"Dialogue
is a tool to promote awareness in Western societies of what is sacred to
Muslims," he told the conference.
He
called for grooming young Muslims to be able to introduce their faith to
the Western mentality in a discourse non-Muslims would be able to
understand.
The
same viewpoint was echoed by Soliman Al-Buthi, spokesman of the two-day
conference.
"We
believe that the (cartoon) incident was because of ignorance about the
Prophet," he said.
He
said economic boycott of the Danish products was one of the means to
combat the ignorance and protest about what has happened.
"But
we need to educate the West about who the Prophet was and to have an
open dialogue with the West."
The
cartoons have prompted Muslim minorities in many Western countries to
champion local campaigns to raise awareness of the merits and
characteristics of the Prophet in West.
IslamOnline.net
has launched a multi-lingual Web site to acquaint non-Muslims with
the prophet.
A
majority of 4563 people who voted in a poll organized by IslamOnline.net
on the best solution to address mounting anti-Muslim discrimination see
dialogue as the best answer.
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