If the pope called for the destruction of all the mosques in Europe,
the uproar would be cataclysmic. Pundits would lambaste the church,
the White House would rush out a statement of deep concern, and rioters
in the Middle East would kill each other in their grief. But when the
most influential leader in the Muslim world issues a fatwa to destroy
Christian churches, the silence is deafening.
On March 12, Sheik Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, the grand mufti of Saudi
Arabia, declared that it is “necessary to destroy all the churches of
the region.” The ruling came in response to a query from a Kuwaiti
delegation over proposed legislation to prevent construction of churches
in the emirate. The mufti based his decision on a story that on his
deathbed, Muhammad declared, “There are not to be two religions in the
[Arabian] Peninsula.” This passage has long been used to justify
intolerance in the kingdom. Churches have always been banned in Saudi
Arabia, and until recently, Jews were not even allowed in the country.
Those wishing to worship in the manner of their choosing must do so
hidden away in private, and even then the morality police have been
known to show up unexpectedly and halt proceedings.This is not a small-time radical imam trying to stir up his followers
with fiery hate speech. This was a considered, deliberate and specific
ruling from one of the most important leaders in the Muslim world. It
does not just create a religious obligation for those over whom the
mufti has direct authority; it is also a signal to others in the Muslim
world that destroying churches is not only permitted but mandatory.
The Obama administration ignores these types of provocations at its peril. The White House has
placed international outreach to Muslims at the center of its foreign
policy in an effort to promote the image of the United States as an
Islam-friendly nation. This cannot come at the expense of standing up
for the human rights and religious liberties of minority groups in the
Middle East. The region is a crucial crossroads. Islamist radicals are
leading the rising political tide against the authoritarian, secularist
old order. They are testing the waters in their relationship with the
outside world, looking for signals of how far they can go in imposing
their radical vision of a Shariah-based theocracy. Ignoring provocative
statements like the mufti’s sends a signal to these groups that they can
engage in the same sort of bigotry and anti-Christian violence with no
consequences.
Mr. Obama’s outreach campaign to the Muslim world has failed to
generate the good will that he expected. In part, this was because he
felt it was better to pander to prejudice than to command respect. When
members of the Islamic establishment call for the religious equivalent
of ethnic cleansing, the leader of the free world must respond or risk
legitimizing the oppression that follows. The United States should not
bow to the extremist dictates of the grand mufti, no matter how
desperate the White House is for him to like us.
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