Although officials seeking to defuse the row may try to persuade opinion-makers and believers that the Pope's words are sufficient, it is not clear they will be convinced, writes Michael Jansen.
There were mixed Arab and Muslim reactions to yesterday's statement of regret by Pope Benedict XVI over his remarks about Islam. While he expressed sorrow for the offence caused, and said his use of a quote from a medieval text characterising Islam as "evil and inhuman" did not express his "personal thoughts", he did not issue a straightforward apology. Although officials seeking to defuse the row may try to persuade opinion-makers and believers that the Pope's words are sufficient, it is not clear they will be convinced.
Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Ghul said the controversy over the Pope's remarks would not derail his visit to Turkey at the end of November when he plans to celebrate the name day of StAndrew in Istanbul with Orthodox ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew. But the patriarch, who said he was deeply disturbed by the tensions occasioned by the remarks, may not be so keen on a visit from the Pope.
Pope Shenouda III, head of Egypt's Orthodox Coptic Church, observed: "Any remarks which offend Islam and Muslims are against the teachings of Christ."
Muhammad Habib, a spokesman for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said the Pope had not made a "clear apology" and Mahmoud Ashur, a scholar formerly with Cairo's al-Azhar mosque, the Sunni world's Vatican, stated: "It is not enough. He should apologise because he insulted the beliefs of Islam. He must apologise in a frank way and say he made a mistake."
Muhammad al-Nujeimi, a professor at the Institute of Judicial and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, observed that the Pope "is evading apology and what he said [ yesterday] is a repetition of previous statements". On Saturday Sheikh al-Azhar Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, the supreme Sunni jurisprudent, condemned the Pope's remarks as "reflecting ignorance of Islam and attribute to the faith things that have nothing to do with it". The Council of Guardians in Shia Iran, the body which vets legislation to see it does not conflict with Islamic law, agreed. The Council said the Pope's remarks "emanated from [ his] ignorance of Islam".
Professor Juan Cole, an expert on Islam at the University of Michigan, argues that the Pope demonstrated such ignorance when he said in the offending address that Surah II of the Quran belonged to the Meccan period of the Prophet Muhammad's ministry while he was weak and under serious threat from the ruling pagan clique. However, Surah II was, in fact, revealed at Medina when he was ruler of the city and head of the Muslim community. The relevant Verse 256 states unequivocally, "There is no compulsion in religion." In Dr Cole's view, the Pope was "misled by the medieval polemic on which he depended . . . the Quran . . . forbids coercion in religion. The only violence urged in the Quran is in self-defence of the Muslim community."
Muslim analysts reacting to Western criticism of Muslims for being hyper- sensitive over verbal slights make the point that when Islam and Muhammad are criticised or slighted, they become defensive and often belligerent. The Iranian Council of Guardians spoke for many Muslims when it stated, "[ The] Pope has linked Islam to violence and challenged jihad [ holy war] at a time when he apparently closed his eyes to the crimes being perpetrated against defenceless Muslims by major powers under the banners of Christianity and Judaism."