Council of ex-Muslims met in London

The Council of Ex-Muslims met in London recently. On this website you can find an extensive description of their meetings.

Prayer for Egyptian woman and her sons

Middle East Concern asks us for prayer for this situation. How lovely to live in democracies... and how tough it can be for our brothers and sisters in the lands of Islam.

On 21st October Middle East Concern requested prayer for Kamilia, an Egyptian Christian, and her two twin sons, Mario and Andrew, aged 14. She is appealing against the loss of custody of her sons to her ex-husband who changed the religious registration on the sons' birth certificates from "Christian" to "Muslim" three years ago.

We regret to report that Kamilia's appeal has been denied. However, a further submission is being prepared by her lawyers. Mario and Andrew will remain with Kamilia while the appeal process continues.

On 24th September an appeal court awarded custody to her ex-husband in spite of (i) Egyptian law's Article 20 that grants custody of children to their mothers until the age of 15 (ii) a fatwa, i.e. religious ruling, from Egypt's most senior Islamic scholar, Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, stating that Kamilia should retain custody.

Egyptian Christians request our prayers that:

a. Kamilia, Mario and Andrew will know the presence and enabling strength of Jesus each day
b. Kamilia will regain legal custody of Mario and Andrew
c. Mario and Andrew's religious registration will be restored to "Christian"
d. All officials and lawyers involved will be convicted by the Spirit of the injustices in this case and act fairly
e. All non-Christians involved will hear the true message of Jesus, and be drawn to His acceptance and forgiveness of all that respond to His love for them

Book by Luxenberg on the Qur'an in English: a must read!

We wrote here earlier on the great book by Christoph Luxenberg, on the language and the origins of the Qur'an.

The book was only available in German for a long time but it isnow available in an English version:

Christoph Luxenberg, The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran (revised and enlarged ed.), Berlin (Verlag Hans Schiler) 2007, ISBN-10: 3-89930-088-2, ISBN-13: 978-3-89930-088-8, Hardcover, 355 pages, 40.00 €

For more information and to order online see: http://www.verlag-hans-schiler.de/index.php?title=Christoph+Luxenberg+The+Syro-Aramaic+Reading+of+the+Koran&art_no=M0088

Pope Benedict XVI opens Christian-Muslim dialogue with very interesting speech

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 6, 2008 - Catholics and Muslims must show the common belief that we are members of one family loved by God our Creator, and uphold the dignity of every human person, says Benedict XVI.The Pope affirmed this today when he received in audience the members of the newly formed Catholic-Muslim Forum at the conclusion of its three-day seminar. The forum is comprised of 29 members of each creed and was formed by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and representatives of the 138 Muslim leaders who sent an open letter to Benedict XVI and other Christian leaders in October 2007.

After greeting the participants of the forum, the Holy Father assured them of his prayerful attention to the progress of the seminar. He expressed the awareness "that it represents one more step along the way towards greater understanding between Muslims and Christians within the framework of other regular encounters which the Holy See promotes with various Muslim groups."

Sweet words... is the pope denying the crucial differences? I think not, our holy father is as evangelical as I hope to be! Read more on ZENIT.

Islam and public order: house of cards

What would happen to Islam if the governments of the Muslim world would no longer come to its defence whenever Islam is 'under attack'? I think the religion as it is would collapse. It cannot do without the use of force.

The Moroccan government has banned an issue of the French magazine L'Express International, claiming it insults Islam in articles exploring the relationship between that religion and Christianity. Information Minister Khalid Naciri said Sunday that he had no choice but to ban the current issue because of the offensive nature of the articles it contained. The minister said the kingdom's press code allows the government to shut down or ban any publication deemed to offend Islam or the king. Naciri did not specify exactly what was considered offensive, but told The Associated Press that our country should not be used by anyone to spread articles that could be prejudicial to our religion or undermine public order.

Indeed. Censorship. Do not let people think for themselves. The brain-police is needed, or the house of cards collapses.

FREE book by Martin Kramer: Ivory Towers on Sand

Ivory Towers on Sand: The Failure of Middle Eastern Studies in America by Martin Kramer is available for free as a pdf file. This book was published by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Washington DC, US.

The book appeared six weeks after 9/11 and had a great impact as it discusses the presuppositions of the American institutes that made them complety miss what was happening inside the world of Islam.
Download the book from HERE.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments;
Preface;
Introduction;
An American Invention;
Said's Splash;
Islam Obscured;
Misstating the State;
The Beltway Barrier;
The Cultivation of Irrelevance;
Conclusion: When Gods Fail;
Appendix;
Index.

Muslim convert to Catholicism tells Pope Islam is not inherently good

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Muslim-born journalist baptized by Pope Benedict XVI at Easter asked the pope to tell his top aide for relations with Muslims that Islam is not an intrinsically good religion and that Islamic terrorism is not the result of a minority gone astray.

As the Vatican was preparing to host the first meeting of the Catholic-Muslim Forum Nov. 4-6, Magdi Allam, a longtime critic of the Muslim faith of his parents, issued an open letter to Pope Benedict that included criticism of Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. In the letter, posted on his Web site Oct. 20, Allam said he wanted to tell the Pope of his concern for “the serious religious and ethical straying that has infiltrated and spread within the heart of the church.”

He told the Pope that it “is vital for the common good of the Catholic Church, the general interest of Christianity and of Western civilization itself” that the Pope make a pronouncement in “a clear and binding way” on the question of whether Islam is a valid religion. The Catholic Church’s dialogue with Islam is based on the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (”Nostra Aetate”), which urged esteem for Muslims because “they adore the one God,” strive to follow his will, recognize Jesus as a prophet, honor his mother, Mary, “value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.”

The council called on Catholics and Muslims “to work sincerely for mutual understanding” and for social justice, moral values, peace and freedom. Allam told Pope Benedict he specifically objected to Cardinal Tauran telling a conference in August that Islam itself promotes peace but that “’some believers’ have ‘betrayed their faith,’” using it as a pretext for violence.

“The objective reality, I tell you with all sincerity and animated by a constructive intent, is exactly the opposite of what Cardinal Tauran imagines,” Allam told the pope. “Islamic extremism and terrorism are the mature fruit” of following “the sayings of the Quran and the thought and action of Mohammed.”