A Catholic News Agency article entitled Vatican, Al-Azhar team up to counter religious justification for violence dated February 21, 2017, is quoted below in part:
The Vatican and one of Islam’s most renowned schools of Sunni thought are joining forces to discuss how they can work together in combating religious extremism that uses God’s name to justify violence.
On Feb. 21 the Vatican announced that Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, will travel to Cairo to participate in a special seminar at the Al-Azhar University.
He will be joined by the council’s secretary, Bishop Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, and the head of their Office for Islam, Msgr. Khaled Akasheh, to discuss the theme “The role of al-Azhar al-Sharif and of the Vatican in countering the phenomena of fanaticism, extremism and violence in the name of religion.”
The meeting will take place “on the vigil” of Feb. 24 in honor of Pope Saint John Paul II’s visit to the university on that day in 2000. It will also be attended by the Holy See’s ambassador to Egypt, Archbishop Bruno Musarò, as well as various representatives from Al-Azhar.
Currently Ahmed al Tayyeb, the Imam of al Azhar is considered by some Muslims to be the highest authority the 1.5-billion strong Sunni Muslim world and oversees Egypt’s al-Azhar Mosque and the prestigious al-Azhar University attached to it. [Emphasis added.]
Founded in the Fatimid dynasty in the late 10th century together with the adjoining mosque, the university is one of the most renowned study centers for the legal principals of Sunni Islam. [Emphasis added.]
This joint effort between the Holy See and the Al-Azhar University almost seems like a beam of light piercing through the black background of the ISIL flag, but it is doubtful that its opacity will allow any of its light to shine through.
While it is good to be optimistic, it is better to be realistic. How likely are the leaders of ISIL going to listen to Imam Ahmed al Tayyeb, who is only considered "by some Muslims," not all, not a majority and not even half of the Muslims "to be the highest authority...." [2] Moreover, ISIL is not recruiting from "the university," notwithstanding that it is "one of the most renowned study centers for the legal principals of Sunni Islam." [3] And if Imam Ahmed al Tayyed is so authoritative and influential, why is he even speaking to a Catholic pope and not directly with ISIL leaders? What good exactly will it do by talking to a pope that ISIL had wanted to kill (according to a report by Express, published on December 13, 2015, entitled ISIS threat to POPE: Fears for Holy Father as terror nuts plot 'FINAL MASSACRE' in Rome [4]), and probably still wishes to do so? [4]
Although it is not likely that ISIL will be able to kill the pope because of the level of security surrounding him, it is possible that whatever messages that will come out of the joint discussions between the Vatican and the university, intended for ISIL and to combat "religious extremism", will be dead on arrival.
In conclusion, those on the side of ISIL are not blind to the fact that this pope is an embattled pope facing a schism in the Catholic Church, even though those on the other side of ISIL are perhaps still blind to the reality that Islam has already been split irreconcilably between the moderate and the extreme factions.
[1] http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-al-azhar-team-up-to-counter-religious-justification-for-violence-13909/
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/626279/ISIS-threat-to-POPE-Fears-for-Holy-Father-as-terror-nuts-plot-Rome-massacre
No comments:
Post a Comment