Samir Khalil Samir

The problem with Islam is the almost undistinguishable mingling, of politics and religion, which distorts the latter. Common citizenship between Christians and Muslims. A frank dialogue not for proselytism, but for love of the truth of man and woman. The testimony of Christians in Arab countries. A guideline from the great Egyptian Islamologist.

The wave of migrants seeking refuge in Europe seems endless. Among them, Muslims are the ones who find it harder to adapt to a lifestyle considered "decadent". Integration implies acceptance of Westerner values, the dignity of women in the first place. Christians do not have to "defend themselves from the Islamic invasion," but they ought to meet and bear witness to their faith in charity and love.

Salafis, Wahhabites and Muslim Brotherhood respond to crisis in Islam with a return to the origins and a war against the "infedels." Their belief is similar to that of Al Qaeda and Daesh. War between Sunnis and Shiites. Saudi Arabia's proselytism and the spread of the fundamentalist mosques. Once a model to imitate, Europe has become an example of "decadence" to be fought against

There are good relations between Christians and Muslims in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan. The difficulties were born and nurtured by Saudi Arabia and its Wahhabite Islam, as well as with the Muslim Brotherhoods in Egypt. Sunnism of this ilk are similar to al Qaeda and Daesh. The contribution of Christians to Arab culture involves modernity, education, the role of women in society. Arabic culture unites Christians and Muslims in the East.

Islam continues to dwell in the ambiguity of a contradictory relationship between the Koran, the sayings and the life of Mohammed. This is where the Islamic State finds the justification for its most violent and cruel acts. Islamic thought and the Islamic system needs to be revised and politics separated from religion.

The kidnapping and murder of a priest near Rouen (France) and the various attacks in Würzburg, Munich, Ansbach (Germany) were carried out by young people, who were indoctrinated with ease. Germany was a model for the integration of refugees. But radical Islam cannot be assimilated. It is supported by Saudi Arabia and Qatar. There is no other road other than integration. But we must tell the truth: the Koran contains elements of war and violence. Western politicians suffer from ignorance and a loss of all moral sentiment.

There are many positive aspects in the meeting between the Pope and the supreme Sunni authority, along with silence on some issues. For Al Tayyib Islam has nothing to do with terrorism. But Isis uses the black flag of Muhammad, the prophet's sword, the sentences of the Koran. The terrorists take their bloodthirsty statements from many imams. The urgency of a new renaissance of Islam, reinterpreting tradition in modernity: a task interrupted by fundamentalism.

The Islamist, Salafi-tinged fever is spreading everywhere. Any fight against terrorism smacks of hypocrisy if the countries that support and finance Wahhabism, namely Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, are not criticised. Integration requires strict rules, as in Austria and Sweden. Local mosques cannot get foreign funding, sermons must be in the local language, and imams must be trained locally. France and Belgium, secular states, penalise Catholics and favour Muslims for votes and contracts.

At the root of the political and economic problems that have resulted in the current standoff between the two regional powers, is two diverging forms of Islam: a more tolerant and rational Shia Islam as opposed to a more fundamentalist and violent Sunni Islam. Saudi Arabia is expanding its hegemony through economic aid, building mosques and supplying Wahhabi imams. Fundamentalism – a bed partner with IS ideology – is even emerging in tolerant countries: Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia. There is an urgent need to reform Islam if it is to be rescued from its most profound crisis in the last two centuries.

Egyptians footed the bill for the new canal. As the fight against terrorism continues in the Sinai, electrical power is restored. On the left, some acknowledge positive results. However, ousted President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood find too many defenders in the West, who fail to see that Egypt culturally belongs to the Middle East.

A well-known Islam expert looks at a new law adopted by the United Arab Emirates that outlaws “all forms of discrimination based on religion, caste, creed, doctrine, race, colour or ethnic origin”. Equality is foreign to Islam. The new law punishes anyone who promotes “religious hate” or funds organisations that spread hatred. In the highly educated UAE, "Christians are treated well."

The 'caliph' urges all Muslims to carry out their ‘hijrah’, emigration, to move from an Islam of peace to one of war, imitating Muhammad and his Hegira (in 622). The message rekindles something deeply embedded in the Islamic world and among traditionalists and Salafists. Islam is both peace and war and it is time for Muslims to reform their view of history. Islamic holy war and the Crusades are not comparable.