A peevish response

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr

Pope Benedict XVI has proved himself to be an inept theologian. His address at Regensburg University in his native Bavaria is to be faulted more for its bad reasoning than for its political incorrectness.

It cannot even be said that his views, though wrong, were expressed in good faith. There is enough evidence to show that he wanted to take up the issue of Islamic terrorism that has become such a worrying factor to the Western world. And he was very much in his right to convey his views on the burning question: whether those committing inhuman and violent acts in the name of Islam are to be considered Muslims in the first place, or does Islam sanction such atrocities.

He could have done it in two ways. First, he could have cited The Koran and Prophet Mohammed to show that the concept of violence is opposed to the highest ideals of Islam. And by doing so he would have opened up a better dialogue between people of different religions, who are worried by the scourge of secularism and modernity. Or, he could have taken a partisan Christian position, which as leader of Roman Catholic Christians he was entitled to do, and offered a critique of Islam and its history. Instead, Pope Benedict XVI chose to walk into a bramble.

Manuel II Paleologos, who ruled from 1391 to 1425, was ruler only in name because the Turks were already in possession of tracts of Asia Minor which formed part of the Eastern Roman Empire, and it was but a matter of time before Constantinople capitulated — which it did in 1453. The emperor was a vassal of the Ottoman rulers, though he tried unsuccessfully to get European aid against the Turks. It was but natural that Manuel should attribute the military ferocity of the Turks — which is indeed an evil for a king on the losing side — to Islam and its Prophet. And the Pope does not even pause to tell us what the Persian scholar with whom Manuel was discussing the issue had to say in reply.

The Pope then goes on to establish that the idea of God and that of violence in incompatible, a perfect thesis in itself. But he should have shown greater intellectual courage and given instances from the history of the Roman Church and that of European Christendom to show how violence is a deviation from the true path of religion. He should have known, and so should have the learned Manuel II, that the first pogrom of the Jews in France was carried out by the Crusaders on their way to the Holy Land. It was done on orders from Pope Urban II. And then, of course, there is the evil of Inquisition hanging over the head of the Roman Church, though Pope John Paul II has uttered the mea culpa. So, even if he had intended to open a dialogue of faiths, the Pope took the wrong turn.

It can be seen that the Pope has committed a theological faux pas, and it was so easy to refute his thesis. And that is what Muslim scholars should have done in the last few days. Instead, what we witness are street protests across the Muslim world. The Muslim leaders, who are instigating these protests, are once again confirming the stereotypical image that Muslims do not know how to argue against their opponents, and all that they know is to protest and spout invective against others.

Muslims should remember that Prophet Mohammed was challenged and reviled by the Qureish tribe, who were the custodians of the Kaaba before he migrated to Medina. And there is no better refutation of the lie against Islam that it was spread at the point of sword than in the life of Prophet Mohammed.

The people from Medina accepted his preaching at the very time he was rejected in Mecca. But the Prophet did not reciprocate the hatred of his Qureish detractors and opponents in Mecca. Nor did he avenge them when he returned to Mecca on a short pilgrimage a few years later.

There is no better Muslim than Mohammed, and Muslims can do no better than to follow his example. If there is to be an honest dialogue of cultures, civilisations and faiths, it cannot be a wishy-washy affair. There has to be criticism and disagreement without getting into a brawl. Pope Benedict XVI is indefensibly wrong in his views about Islam. But the response cannot be hatred and threats of violence. There has to be a reasoned refutation.

Arab and Persian civilisations after the advent of Islam have created an admirable intellectual tradition, which has helped Europe to come out its Dark Ages. Arabs, Iranians, Turks, Indians and others must once again revive the intellectual fortunes of the East based in various religious traditions. Peevish resentment on the part of Muslims would be a sorry substitute to a cultured response.

The writer is a political analyst based in Delhi.