THE CANADIAN ISLAMIC CONGRESS
MEDIA COMMUNIQUE
February 17, 2006
ISLAMIC CONGRESS CONDEMNS PAKISTANI CLERIC'S "IRRESPONSIBLE,
DANGEROUS" ACTION IN OFFERING REWARD FOR CARTOONIST'S DEATH
-- TOTALLY AGAINST TEACHINGS OF QUR'AN SAYS CIC PRESIDENT
Calling the action a "blatant insult to Islam, to Muslims, and to the
Qur'an," the Canadian Islamic Congress responded quickly to today's news
that a Pakistani cleric has reportedly offered $25,000 US for the death of
the cartoonist whose offensive sketches of Muhammad appeared last fall in
a Danish newspaper.
Called a "fatwa" (a religious edict or ruling) by some media, the reward
reportedly offered by prayer leader Mohammed Yousaf Qureshi to a crowd of
about 1000 outside the Mohabat Khan mosque in the conservative northwest
city of Peshawar, included $25,000, a new car, and additional funds from
undisclosed local business leaders totalling an estimated $1 million.
Quereshi was quoted as telling listeners: "This is a unanimous decision by
all imams of Islam that whoever insults the prophet deserves to be killed
and whoever will take this insulting man to his end, will get this prize."
"He certainly does not speak for me or anyone I know and respect," stated
CIC national president and frequent guest Imam, Dr. Mohamed Elmasry just
prior to attending today's Friday prayers.
The CIC's position statement also categorically stresses that neither the
cleric's action nor his verbal pronouncements speak for Canada's 700,000
Muslims, or for Islam as a whole:
"What has been said and done by this irresponsible individual is totally
against the teachings of the Qur'an, which condemns the taking of human
lives. On behalf of all Canadian Muslims, the CIC repudiates and utterly
rejects any call for death or injury to those charged with insulting our
faith. Only God is ultimate arbiter and judge of those who do wrong."
CIC national president Dr. Mohamed Elmasry also noted that Quereshi seems
to have missed the fact that the management of Jyllands-Posten, the Danish
paper that first published a set of cartoons of mocking the Prophet
Muhammad -- including a caricature of him wearing a bomb-shaped turban --
has publicly apologized for running them last fall.
"At a time when thoughtful and concerned Muslims the world over are looking
for a healing and proactive resolution to this crisis, the very idea of
violent retribution is repugnant," the CIC statement concluded. "We
sincerely hope the world will turn a deaf ear to ignorant and regressive
voices that are trying to create conflict and look instead to those working
for peace and understanding."
CONTACTS:
Dr. Mohamed Elmasry
(519) 746-4107 (O)
(519) 498-1350 (Cell)
e-mail: np@canadianislamiccongress.com
Mrs. Wahida Valiante
(905) 771-1023
e-mail: nvp@canadianislamiccongress.com