King Abdullah of Jordan: ‘Middle Eastern Muslim Community the Primary Target of War Waged by Terrorists’
By Michael Ireland, Senior Reporter, ASSIST News Service answritermike@gmail.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ANS, Feb. 5, 2015) --
His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan has said that the global Muslim
community is the primary target of the war waged by terrorists in the
Middle East, adding that “my region is on the front lines.”
“We have seen a few days ago
the savage murder of our hero, fighter pilot Muath Kasasbeh, by the
hands of ISIS criminals. Jordanians are united in sorrow and outrage,
but remain as ever committed to protect our country and religion,” King
Abdullah said in Washington, Thursday in an address at an annual meeting
of religious figures and world leaders, delivered on his behalf by
Jordan’s Ambassador to US Dr. Alia Bouran.
In his address,details of which were made available to ANS by the Jordan
Information Bureau at the Jordanian Embassy in Washington, D.C., King
Abdullah said that tragic events witnessed in the Middle East have again
made clear that the threat of terrorism is global, adding: “These
criminals aim to stamp out life and rights everywhere. Their hate and
murder has reached Asia, Europe, Africa, America and Australia. By the
brutal killing of their prisoners and captives, they seek to hold
families across the world hostage to their cruelty.”
“This is a war the world cannot
afford to lose. But to win it, all of us must be in it. To stand as
partners in the fight against today’s threats, and to go beyond, to
build the conditions for humanity to live together in peace,” King
Abdullah told his audience.
“Truly, we are called to
dialogue; truly, we come together for the world’s common good. In this
spirit, all Jordan welcomed His Holiness [Pope Francis] when he made his
Holy Land Pilgrimage last year. And the entire Muslim world welcomes
the consistent statements he has made against insulting and deriding
other faiths. His Holiness and I stand as one in our commitment to
mutual respect.”
King Abdullah said at the meeting that from his early years, he was taught that Islam demands respect and caring for others.
“Among the very names of God,”
he said, “we hear: the Compassionate, the All-Merciful…. The Prophet
Mohammad, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ‘None of you has faith
until you love for your neighbor what you love for yourself.’ This is
what it means to be a Muslim.”
King Abdullah added: “I am a
Hashemite, a descendant of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). My father the
late King Hussein taught me, by everything he did, our traditions of
service, moral courage, justice, and brotherhood. He was a soldier who
believed in peace, as I have been a soldier and believe in peace. This
is what it means to be a Muslim. These are the values I teach my
children and they will hand on to theirs.”
In the address, the King said
that more than a thousand years before the Geneva Conventions, “Muslim
soldiers were ordered not to kill a child, a woman, or an old person,
not to destroy a tree, not to harm a priest, not to destroy a church.
These are the same values of Islam we were taught in school as children:
not to destroy or desecrate a place where God is worshipped.”
King Abdullah said he noted
“with grief and outrage” the recent attacks in some countries against
Christian and minority communities.
“This is an offense against
humanity as well as Islam. Arab Christians are an integral part of our
region’s past, present and future. The Holy Quran forbids coercion in
religion and commands mercy.”
King Abdullah also stressed
that Muslims remember how, in the earliest days of Islam, 1,400 years
ago, the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia took in and protected Muslims
fleeing persecution. “From that time till today, our world has been
strengthened by our mutual respect and help.”
He added: “Jordan is a Muslim
country, with a deeply rooted Christian community. Together, the
Jordanian people make up an indivisible society, friends and partners in
building our country. Consensus, tolerance, moderation, the rule of
law: these have helped make Jordan an oasis of stability, and the same
values will ensure our future.”
The Monarch said the Hashemite
Kingdom of Jordan, “also takes seriously our moral obligations to
others. Despite scarce resources, the people of Jordan have opened their
arms to refugees fleeing regional violence. Jordan has taken in
thousands of Iraqi Christians since the ISIS attacks. This is in
addition to giving shelter to 1.4 million Syrian refugees. The crisis
has made my country the world’s third-largest refugee host.”
The King noted that throughout
the Muslim world today, “men and women are putting themselves on the
line to fight hatred, injustice, sectarianism, sedition (fitnah) and
cruelty. They are working for development, inclusion, human rights,
opportunities for women and youth, healthy children, and global welfare.
They are teaching young people the truth about our faith, and giving
them the tools they need for positive lives.”
In his remarks, King Abdullah
stressed the need to speak out against misperceptions and those who sow
hatred, saying: “The Islamophobia we are seeing in some places is an
evil and a danger not only to Muslims, but to all people. It plays right
into the hands of murderers and thugs and undermines unity when our
world needs it most.”
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