Samir Khalil Samir

The program - truly revolutionary - wants to rethink the value of women, fraternisation between the sexes, the relationship of equality with Christians. And it also desires to clarify interpretations on the sayings of Mohammed and the myths of fundamentalist Salafism, rejecting the influences that come from Saudi Arabia.

Absurd accusations against the Coptic community of keeping two women who converted to Islam captive. The psychosis of a country that prohibits changing of religion. Islamic attacks against Shenouda, the criticism of the imam of Al-Azhar against Benedict XVI. Europe must open up channels for cultural dialogue with Islamic countries, rejecting secularism and fundamentalism. Just like the pope said.

The Pope spoke for the first time about «Christianophobia» and reiterated the fact that violence runs counter to God and counter to Reason. Islamic terrorism is ideological blindness. Gratitude for expressions of solidarity from the Muslim world. The path of the Church and the Synod is a path of dialogue and forgiveness: there can be no peace without justice and no justice without forgiveness. A comment from the scholar of Islam Fr. Samir (Part Two).

In his address to the Roman Curia, the Pontiff underlined communion with the Orthodox, the richness of Eastern traditions and the urgent need to reject violence in the context of tension in the Middle East. A comment from the scholar of Islam Fr. Samir (Part One).

New strengths in mission emerge at the Synod for the Middle East: the scourge of extremism that suffocates Christians and Muslims, the need to recognize Christians as citizens with full rights in society, the right to the proclamation of the gospel. A summary of the week’s proceedings by an expert at the synodal assembly.

How does the Pope see the Synod, the problems of the region and its churches? Here are some notes: the apostolic tradition of the Eastern Churches, their diversity and unity with the pope. The suggestion for the Orthodox, the importance of the mission and proclamation of Christ the Saviour, even for Muslims. The emphasis on "the land" of Israelis, Palestinians, Muslims and Christian witness of a "land" which is not of this world.

With only a few days to go until the assembly of bishops from the Middle East, the region is dominated by tensions between Sunnis and Shiites; stalemate between Israelis and Palestinians, persecution especially in Egypt. The Synod will also be able to make proposals for politics. But most of all it must reawaken the duty and mission of Christians in the Middle East: the freedom and right to offer witness to God's love in front of Jews and Muslims.

For the expert on Islam, the law is an invitation for European Muslims to strive for integration and marginalize Salafi trends of opposition and conflict. Moreover, the burqa has no justification in the Koran or Islamic tradition, it is merely a custom of Saudi Arabia (and some other countries) which confirms chauvinism and the "the woman’s grave".

A masterful commentary of the Instrumentum Laboris made public by Benedict XVI in Cyprus. The urgent issues for Christians in the Middle East (survival, emigration, immigrant Asian Christians, religious freedom): unity with orthodox witness in the Jewish and the Islamic worlds, shaping contemporary society in modernity and peace.

A 600 page document by Prof. Tahir ul-Quadri, against violence, signals the beginning of a new season in the Islamic world. Like the pope in Regensburg, he says that God is reason and is against violence. Now a movement of people is needed to purify the disfigured face of Islam.

The death of the highest authority in the Sunni Islamic world, the rector of Al-Azhar. Challenged for some positions, but a courageous figure who has sought to harmonize the demands of faith and ethics of Islam with the complex situations of the contemporary world.

Algeria’s Minister of Religious Affairs is incensed when the bishop of Algiers calls for the repeal of laws that limit freedom of conscience and worship in his country, where a Protestant church was recently set on fire. The minister tells him to do what his French predecessors did for years, namely prevent Muslims from converting to Christianity.