A Muslim author and critic of Islamic fundamentalism who was baptised a Catholic by Pope Benedict said on Sunday Islam is “physiologically violent”.
Allam’s conversion to Christianity was a secret until the Vatican disclosed it
VATICAN CITY: A Muslim author and critic of Islamic fundamentalism who was baptised a Catholic by Pope Benedict said on Sunday Islam is “physiologically violent” and he is now in great danger because of his conversion.
“I realise what I am going up against but I will confront my fate with my head high, with my back straight and the interior strength of one who is certain about his faith,” said Magdi Allam.
In a surprise move on Saturday night, the pope baptised the 55-year-old, Egyptian-born Allam at an Easter eve service in St Peter’s Basilica that was broadcast around the world.
The conversion of Allam to Christianity — he took the name “Christian” for his baptism — was kept secret until the Vatican disclosed it in a statement less than an hour before it began.
Writing in Sunday’s edition of the leading Corriere della Sera, the newspaper of which he is a deputy director, Allam said: “... the root of evil is innate in an Islam that is physiologically violent and historically conflictual.”
Allam, who is a strong supporter of Israel and who an Israeli newspaper once called a “Muslim Zionist,” has lived under police protection following threats against him, particularly after he criticised Iran’s position on Israel.
He said before converting he continually asked himself why someone who had struggled for what he called “moderate Islam” was then “condemned to death in the name of Islam and on the basis of a Koranic legitimisation.”
His conversion, which he called “the happiest day of my life,” came just two days after Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden accused the pope of being part of a “new crusade” against Islam.
Still, Allam’s highly public baptism by the Pope shocked Italy’s Muslim community, with some leaders openly questioning why the Vatican chose to shine such a big spotlight it.
“What amazes me is the high profile the Vatican has given this conversion,” Yaha Sergio Yahe Pallavicini, vice-president of the Italian Islamic Religious Community, said. “Why could he have not done this in his local parish?”
Allam, the author of numerous books, said he realised that his conversion would likely procure him “another death sentence for apostasy,” or the abandoning of one’s faith. But he said he was willing to risk it because he had “finally seen the light, thanks to divine grace.”
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