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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria's (Sunni) Mufti: Islam commands us to protect Judaism
2010-01-19
Syria's foremost Muslim leader declared on Tuesday that Islam commands its followers to protect Judaism, according to Army Radio.

"If the Prophet Mohammed had asked me to deem Christians or Jews heretics, I would have deemed Mohammed himself a heretic," Sheikh Ahmed Hassoun, the Mufti of Syria, was quoted as telling a delegation of American academics visiting Damascus.
Ah. Said all this in English I bet. What does he say in Arabic?
Hassoun, the leader of Syria's majority Sunni Muslim community, also told the delegates that Islam was a religion of peace, adding: "If Mohammed had commanded us to kill people, I would have told him he was not a prophet."

Religious wars were the result of politics infiltrating systems of faith, he said, asking:

"Was Moses of Middle Eastern or European descent? Was Jesus a Protestant or a Catholic? Was Mohammed Shi'ite or Sunni?"

According to the Mufti, the conflict between Israel and its Arabs neighbors has nothing to do with an Islamic war against Judaism.

"Before you got American citizenship, and I got Syrian citizenship, we were all brothers under the dome of God," he said.

Jews had once lived in Syria peacefully and with fair treatment, he added, explaining that his own grandfather had a Jewish partner. "Jews lived in Syria for years and they still have a role in Syrian society," he said.
Syria is ruled by Alawite Shiites. The vast majority of Syrians are Sunnis.
Posted by: Anonymoose

#3  I will give him a little credit for saying something that surely takes some degree of moral courage in a hotbed of Arab nationalism like Syria. And on a purely theological basis, I think he is probably correct. Less than a thousand years ago many Jews were forced to flee Christian lands for protection in Muslim kingdoms.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder   2010-01-19 22:22  

#2  robert spencer's comments on this are here
Posted by: lord garth   2010-01-19 14:14  

#1  As long as Jooooos stay in their proper place, pay the Jizya, bow to Muslims, are patients when Muslim boys throw stones at them and smile when a Muslim invites himself to have coofee at their house and just walks away with their daughter.

Jews had once lived in Syria peacefully and with fair treatment

Fair like defined by Muslims.
Posted by: JFM   2010-01-19 11:09  

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