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We wish to join the government of The Gambia to condemn in the most strongest terms, the move by the US lunatic dubbed pastor, Terry Jones to burn a copy of the Holy Qur'an, and the fight against the Islamic religion in general by the West.
It is indeed disheartening that whilst the West credit themselves with democracy , freedom, human rights and the entitlements of humanity, their actions speak quite the contrary of these core values of humanity.
It is an open secret that out of pride, arrogance and sycophancy, the Western countries, the US and the EU in particular, have waged an open war against Islam and the Muslim Ummah. Everything remotely reflecting Islam or Muslims is being targeted, ridiculed, criticised and condemned. Today the whole world is a testimony to the undesirable wars waged by the US and its Western allies against Muslim countries, notably Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, and Afghanistan just to mention a few, with the fight against terrorism often used to give these wars a progressive image when behind the scenes, their ultimate aim is to bring down the organised Islamic empire. This reality is justified by the fact that at home, these Western anti-Islamic coalition do not hide their anti-Islamic sentiments. They even take extra steps to solicit the backing of their laws in their quest to fight against Islam.
In the US for instance, denying the holocaust against the Jews has been criminalised whilst contempt of another religion, Islam to be precise, is categorised under the banner of free speech. France is now attempting to prosecute Muslim women for simply honoring their dignity and worth as women. Critical comments are also emerging out of the UK on the right of women to cover (veil) themselves in protection of their dignity. Compounding this naked aggression against Islam, these same countries have politically refused to recognise and honour Islamic liberation movements that are fighting to achieve national sovereignties for their countries and out of no justification brand such movements as terrorist organisations. The Hezbollah movement in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine are vivid examples of this reality. Yet, Western radical movements that under every just law and objective analysis are qualified to be accredited as rebels or bandits and deserve to be slapped with tough international action are supported and their grave atrocities against humanity condoned. Turn to Spain or Ireland and you will see what we are talking about.
These hard facts explain why Terry Jones is conducting himself in the most unacceptable manner up to the extent of provoking the entire Islamic Ummah by burning our spiritual guide, the Holy Qur'an. His arrogant behaviour is undoubtedly an act of war. As far as we are concerned, we consider Terry Jones and all his followers as a gang of lunatics who have neither sense of purpose nor direction. In fact, we seriously doubt his eligibility as a pastor; his conduct shows that he is very empty of the Bible. If he reality is a true Christian and understands the spirit of the Bible, he would not have done such an undesirable act. Any Christian who understands the Bible knows that the bible preaches peace, love, respect, harmony, and tolerance among others. If he had knowledge of these doctrines of the Bible, his actions would have been the contrary. Besides, it is known to all those who have sober knowledge of their religions that Islam preaches total social harmony which includes religious harmony that the whole world needs. Despite our age of information, geographical unification of countries and internationalisation of learning and economics, the world badly requires a strong movement to dispel aggression in the name of race and creed. Islam provides an excellent model implemented by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and proved of its practicality.
Allah epitomizes religious tolerance in the Qur'an in a nutshell: "Lakum deenukunm wa liya deen - your religion is for you and my religion for me". This need to be adopted worldwide as a slogan. There need be no restraints on preaching faith by appealing to reason. Holy Qur'an says: "Call unto the way of thy Lord with wisdom and fair exhortation, and reason with them in the better way". Beyond tolerance, Islam supports harmony with other religions. In the edict he issued in Hijri 5, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) gave full protection to Christians of conquered territories in all religious, spiritual, social, cultural, economic and legal matters; he had warned that anyone who went against these provisions was an accursed offender on lslam. Non-Muslim citizens were treated as equals of Muslims. In fact, it was incumbent on the governments to protect their lives and properties, so much so that they were exempt from military service. These are facts that need to be understood by the lunatic Terry Jones and his cohorts.
As far as The Gambia is concerned, the state would continue to defend the integrity of Islam, and promote the advancement of humanity through religious tolerance, harmony and peaceful coexistence; for we are convinced by experience that such is the only way to guarantee progress, peace and prosperity in the world.
April 15, 2011, All Africa
