Egyptian Grand Mufti on Violence

Egypt’s Islamic Grand Mufti Makes Rare Visit to Jerusalem after Decades of Opposition
THE REPUBLIC: CAIRO — A top Egyptian Islamic cleric paid a rare visit to Jerusalem Wednesday, breaking with decades of opposition by Muslim leaders on traveling to areas under Israeli control.

The Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa wrote on his Twitter account that the symbolic visit was in solidarity with the Palestinians' claim to east Jerusalem, under Israel's control since it was captured in the 1967 Mideast war. He prayed in the Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site, during his two-hour visit.

Gomaa called the trip an unofficial visit, clearly an attempt to defuse criticism he is already facing for breaking an unofficial ban by Muslim clerics and most Egyptian professional and private associations on visiting Israel or Israeli-controlled Palestinian territories. The Egyptian Coptic Church, and most Muslim clerics around the region generally uphold the ban as well. » | Sarah El Deeb | Associated Press | Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The Archdhimmi of Canterbury to Join Christian and Muslim Scholars in Cambridge for the Promotion of Peace!
SUNDAY EXPRESS: The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams is to join Christian and Muslim scholars for the start of a conference aimed at promoting understanding between the two faiths.

Dr Williams and the Grand Mufti of Egypt Sheikh Ali Gomaa will be among those addressing A Common Word, a conference at Cambridge University involving academics from around the world.



The event coincides with the first anniversary of the publication of A Common Word Between Us and You, a letter from 138 Islamic scholars, clerics and intellectuals.



Addressed to Pope Benedict XVI and other Christian leaders, the letter warned that the survival of the world could be at stake if Muslims and Christians could not make peace with each other. 



"If Muslims and Christians are not at peace, the world cannot be at peace. With the terrible weaponry of the modern world - with Muslims and Christians intertwined everywhere as never before - no side can unilaterally win a conflict between more than half of the world's inhabitants. 



"Our common future is at stake," the letter said. "The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake."



The scholars also used quotations from the Bible and the Koran to illustrate similarities between the two faiths, such as the requirement to worship one God and to love one's neighbour. 


In a letter of response published earlier this year, Dr Williams welcomed the document as a "significant development" in relations between Christians and Muslims. Faith Leaders Promote Peace >>> | Sunday October 12, 2008

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More Claptrap on Islam! This time from David Cameron and the Grand Mufti of Egypt
THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY: Speaking today at the 'Islam and Muslims in the World Today' Conference organised by the University of Cambridge, Conservative Party Leader, David Cameron, will say:
(Please check against delivery)

"I was unable to attend yesterday, but Sayeeda Warsi, Dominic Grieve and the chair of one of my policy group's, Pauline Neville-Jones, were, and have relayed to me some the key issues that were raised.

The need to define our common values.

The impact of modernity on traditional Islamic societies.

And the need to build greater understanding of Islam by others - and of Western society and culture by Muslims.

These are questions that fall under the wide-ranging disciplines of political science, theology, and sociology, but what underpins them all is a question as old as humanity itself: how do we live together?

In this country, there have been times when this question has been uppermost. 

While conflict between Catholics and Protestant in Britain was bloody, we were spared the worst excesses witnessed on the continent.

The Glorious Revolution and the two Jacobite rebellions were periods of crisis for the coherence of our country. 

Subsequent Catholic emancipation was a long and slow process, but ultimately successful. 

The incorporation of East European Jewish immigrants, particularly a 100 years ago, and the Ugandan Asians 30 years ago can also be regarded as successes in integration into a British identity.

Each time, Britain has been able to rise to the challenge and sustain our coherence and unity.

We have done so through a combination of a steadfast faith in our institutions and values, such as freedom under the rule of law, pluralism and tolerance….

……and because society - not only the majority community but the minority community too - were prepared to stand together as one.

There is no reason to think we cannot do the same today.
David Cameron: Islam and Muslims in the World Today (more)

Mark Alexander