Samir Khalil Samir, SJ

A group of men stop to pray in the Milan Gallery. Municipal police called but say they can not stop them. But all public demonstrations must be authorized and the law must be above everything.

It is the only way to overcome the contrast between the verses of the Koran and sayings of the Sunna (tradition) of Prophet of Islam that sometimes do not point in the same direction. Some praise women or speak neutrally about them, others say they are temptresses and that hell is populated by women. Also, some verses speak of equality between men and women, some of inequality. Today the question is a juridical rather than cultural one.

The British government has blocked the Dutch member of parliament from entering the country, because of his controversial opinions about Islam. For some, human rights are being set aside in the West in order to avoid displeasing Muslims; for others, silence is better than provocation. But the problem of the connection between Islam and violence remains a question that no one wants to address. A commentary by the Islamologist Fr. Samir Khalil Samir.

Is the Jesus of the Qur‘an that of the Gospels? Should Christians consider Muhammad a prophet? Some Saudi experts seem to think so and want to build dialogue on blackmail (a church in Saudi Arabia in exchange of a profession of faith about the prophet Muhammad). Christianity and Islam are however different and sometimes opposed to one another. Instead of syncretism or blackmail, the only path is that of mutual respect.

The Catholic baptism of the well known journalist, Magdi Allam, Egyptian and non practising Muslim, has been criticised and despised by the Islamic world. Added to this, is the embarrassment in Christian quarters, of those fearful of seeing a new crusade being launched by Benedict XVI and the Church. Instead, just as with the Regensburg address, this baptism is a message in defence of religious freedom, of evangelisation and of co-existence between religions.

Egyptian Jesuit Fr. Samir Khalil Samir, an expert on Islam, comments to AsiaNews on the creation of a new dialogue Commission and explains: the road is long, but it must be travelled. Moreover, it is important to create a similar context for Shiites, an essential branch of Islam. Not to be forgotten: it all began with Benedict XVI’s Regensburg Address.

Debate has been raised by the proposal of Rowan Williams, the Anglican primate, to insert parts of sharia into British legislation. To integrate Muslims into Europe, the practice of hospitality is better. Europeans appear to be abandoning the same humanist ideals that attract many, Muslims and non-Muslims.

Vatican representatives and Muslim thinkers will meet in Rome next March to hammer out a few guidelines for dialogue between Christians and Muslims. There is a risk of hollowness or falsity if the dialogue addresses theology alone, and not the concrete problems of the two communities.

There is a lot of good in the document sent to Benedict XVI and Christian leaders: greater convergence between Muslim currents; attention to Christian vocabulary; the desire for dialogue. There is also some ambiguity and difficulty. But it is a first step: now it is necessary to open up the dialogue to the secular world. The great sura of tolerance. An ample analysis from our expert on Islam.

Some theories about an alleged Muslim plan to convert the world are a myth. But it is fair to say that some Muslims are engaged in constant propaganda and that at a social and cultural level Islam is colonising the West. Saudi Arabia provides the money; the process of de-Christianisation offers the religious motive; ignorance and a sense of embarrassment in many Western governments do the rest. Here is the third (and last) part of an analysis by Fr Samir Khalil Samir, an Egyptian Jesuit and Islam expert.

Mohammad Ahmad Hegazi, the young Egyptian man who converted to Christianity and wants his conversion recognised in law, could be put to death for apostasy. This is one way for the Muslim world to protect itself against conversions; another one is through laws that exalt Muslim propaganda but ban that by other religions. In Egypt about 10,000 Christians become Muslim every year but rarely for religious reasons. However, Islam is sick from the lack of spirituality and the reduction of religion to its ethnic, sociological and political element. Here is the second part of an analysis by Fr Samir Khalil Samir, an Egyptian Jesuit and Islam expert.

The case of Mohammad Hegazi, young Egyptian converted to Christianity, who wishes to be legally recognized as such, has opened a new debate in the Islamic world on conversions, which are often seen as acts of apostasy that merit death. What has emerged is a veritable obsession in Islam for personal conversions, this religion having been reduced more to an ethnic and sociological submission. There is even talk of a plan to convert Europe and the world to Islam, to which European governments are giving a hand. The first part in an analysis by Fr Samir Khalil Samir, Egyptian Jesuit, expert on Islam.