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Defense
Secretary commends ISCA Chairman for upholding traditional
Islam
Remarks of May 3, 2002 emphasize importance
of supporting Muslim moderates
(Washington,
DC 05/07/02) Remarks Prepared for Delivery by Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz,
Monterey, CA, Friday, May 3, 2002.
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"Bridging the Dangerous Gap between the
West and the Muslim World"
"We
hear and read a lot today about the clash of cultures, or
what Samuel Huntington called the clash of civilizations.
Today, I would like to take a moment to go beyond the headlines
- both to get some altitude and to look a bit deeper at what
I believe is less a clash of cultures than a collision of
misunderstanding between the Muslim and Western worlds. ...
"Today
I'd like to tell you more about this view, and discuss three
related thoughts: First, Islam's tradition of tolerance and
moderation; second, what current voices of moderation are
telling us, and, third, what we can do to reach out to those
voices and strengthen them. ...
"And,
unfortunately, despite Islam's ancient tradition of tolerance,
there are individuals today who are coming under ideological
and even physical attack for defending tolerance. UCLA law
Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl has pointed out that in Islam's
first century and a half, 135 schools of law existed to give
Islam so much of its cultural dynamism. Today, with so much
learning from those and later schools dismissed as sinful,
he fears that perhaps 'we are in the dark ages of Islam' ...
"When
the American Shayk Muhammed Hisham Kabbani, a noted Muslim
scholar, spoke at a State Department-sponsored panel on terrorism
in January, 1999, he addressed what he called the "authentic,
traditional voice of Islam ... which is moderation and tolerance
and love - and living in peace with all other faiths and religions."
He went on to caution that there was, at that time, an imminent
threat of a catastrophic terrorist attack on American soil
by Islamic extremists.
"Following
his message, some Muslim organizations here in the United
States publicly condemned him for "false and defamatory
allegations against the Muslim community" and organized
a boycott against him. Learning, tolerance, and progress -
these are qualities extremists today consider subversive.
"The
system will progress when we become truly serious about supporting
those "brave men and women" who advocate the values
of "human dignity, free speech, equal justice, respect
for women and religious tolerance" that President Bush
spoke of in his January address. ... "
For the complete text, please visit the DOD Web site
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