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U.S. Evangelist Graham Says Islam is an "Evil & Wicked" Religion
With additional reporting by Neveen A.Salem
WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - One of America's most powerful Christian leaders says he stands by his comments on Islam dubbing it an "evil and wicked religion", news agencies reported Tuesday.
"While saying he calls to love people regardless of their faith, evangelist Franklin Graham on Sunday wouldn't back away from his recent statement on a national news program that Islam 'is a very evil and wicked religion'," said U.S. newspaper, the
Charlotte Observer.
Graham is the eldest son of evangelist Billy Graham, and is the president of the Samaritan's Purse, a Christian relief organization.
His father counseled a long list of U.S. presidents said NBC News. Billy Graham also gave an invocation speech alongside Imam Muzzamil Siddiqi, of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. during the Day of Remembrance on September 14 - which was called for by President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura in honor of those killed in the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.
Franklin has emerged as a major figure among evangelical Protestants, offering prayers at national events, including the benediction at President Bush's inauguration.
On Friday, Graham's views were aired on "NBC Nightly News". In an interview Graham gave last month near Wilkesboro, at the dedication of a chapel in his parents' name, he said, "We're not attacking Islam but Islam has attacked us. The God of Islam is not the same God. He's not the son of God of the Christian or Judeo-Christian faith. It's a different God and I believe it is a very evil and wicked religion."
In his prepared statement, which he sent to the Observer Sunday, Graham said, "It is not my calling to analyze Islam or any other religions, though I recognize that all religions have differences. In the past, I have expressed my concerns about the teachings of Islam regarding the treatment of women and the killing of non-Muslims or infidels."
"I don't believe this is a wonderful, peaceful religion," said Graham. "When you read the Koran and you read the verses from the Koran, it instructs the killing of the infidel, for those that are non-Muslim."
Asked by NBC News to clarify his statement, Graham repeated his charge that Islam, as a whole, is evil.
"It wasn't Methodists flying into those buildings, it wasn't Lutherans," said Graham. "It was an attack on this country by people of the Islamic faith."
His comments were challenged by former Charlottean, Ali Akber, who helped organize a meeting between local Jews and Muslims after September 11, before he relocated to Maryland, said the
Observer.
"That's spreading hatred," said Akber. "It is the same God. We just don't worship the same way. We all believe in God and charity and worshipping and not doing any evil."
"Islam never teaches hatred, Islam never teaches terrorism," says Imam Hassan Al-Qazwini of the Islamic Center of America, NBC News reported.
The White House also distanced itself from Graham's remarks Friday, saying the President "views Islam as a religion that preaches peace," and that the alleged terrorists do not represent what Islam teaches.
None of the other Christian leaders contacted by NBC News, including Jerry Falwell, who made scathing anti-Islamic remarks in an interview earlier this year, and Pat Robertson, would comment on Graham's attacks.
"Obviously, Mr. Graham is tone deaf in this respect," says Newsweek religion editor Ken Woodward. "He's certainly not his father's son in terms of discretion."
A presidential friend and supporter now finds himself at odds with both the Muslim world and the message from the White House.
A U.S.-based Muslim advocacy organization, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said yesterday that it had sent a letter to Graham, to discuss his remarks reported the
New York Times.
Nihad Awad, CAIR's executive director, said that he wrote to ask Graham to meet with him and Muslim scholars. Awad said he wanted to give Mr. Graham "a chance to know Islam first-hand."
In his letter, Awad said, "negative impressions of Islam are most often based on a lack of accurate and objective information."
Last year, Jerry Falwell made similar negative comments on Islam and refused to meet with American Muslims in order to explain or rectify his comments. In an interview earlier this year regarding President Bush's Faith Based Initiative, Falwell stated that Islam should be excluded from benefiting from federal funding for social services as it "teaches hate."
" I think the Moslem faith teaches hate. I think there's clear evidence that the Islam religion, wherever it has majority control--and I can name a dozen countries -doesn't even allow people of other faiths to express themselves or evangelize or to exist in their presence.... I think that when persons are clearly bigoted towards other persons in the human family, they should be disqualified from funds. For that reason, Islam should be out the door before they knock. If you're not going to minister to blacks, whites, all colors and religions, and you're not going to allow freedom of expression in every circumstance...you should not be allowed to dip into the pork barrel," he said.
"Islam is growing among African American young people. It's growing in the prisons. And whenever Islam, God forbid, ever gets a majority in the United States - like Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya, all the Moslem countries - free expression will disappear," Falwell continued.
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