Senior government and politics major Rashad Ahmed had been busy all week with his 19 credits, his commitments to the Muslim Students Association and the normal hustle and bustle of college life.
But when he saw the newspaper headlines about the controversy surrounding Pope Benedict XVI’s recent quoting of a text that described Islam as an “evil and inhuman” religion, Ahmed was shocked – but not surprised.
“There’s so much violence occurring today, it’s hard to keep up with everything,” he said. “There’s always something popping up.”
Since Tuesday, the Muslim world has responded to Benedict’s comments with frustration, outrage and violence. Although the pope issued an apology Sunday, his statement expressed remorse for the violent international reaction – not for his negative statement about Islam.
As the rest of the world is caught up in yet another religious confrontation, Catholic and Muslim students on the campus said while the dispute has not held their attention, they are still dismayed and astounded by both Benedict’s comments and the riots, fires and murder of a nun that occurred this week as a result.
In a speech to university professors during a visit to Germany nearly a week ago, Benedict quoted from a book describing a conversation between Manuel Paleologos II, a 14th-century Byzantine Christian emperor, and a Persian scholar on the differences between Christianity and Islam.
According to The Washington Post, Benedict said: “The emperor comes to speak about the issue of jihad, holy war. He said, I quote, ‘Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.'”
Benedict’s insult – although quoted from another source – was irresponsible and ignorant, said junior Jehanzeb Hussain, an accounting and government and politics double major and a Muslim.
“I know it’s lame, but to quote Spiderman, ‘With great power comes great responsibility,'” he said. “The pope represents Christianity and Catholicism across the world; he has a whole conservative following, and he’s the head of it all. He can’t say something stupid like that.”
Although Hussain said he has not closely followed the issue, he added he was not caught off guard by the intense reaction.
“When the pope says something like that, he should keep in mind that there’s 1.6 billion Muslims in the world,” Hussain said. “You can’t really say something like that without offending all of them.”
However, Muslim students agreed the violent reaction was inappropriate and unjustified, they said.
“The word ‘Islam’ itself means peace, so for people to react in a violent manner because of something the pope said [is wrong],” Ahmed said. “There’s no reasoning to attacking or killing a nun … From an Islamic standpoint, the Muslims that did that were in the wrong.”
But for some Catholic students, the violent reaction from some Muslims simply proved the pope’s statement, they said.
“I understand that they would be pissed off, but they’re just playing into what the pope said,” said sophomore accounting major Chris McGrath. “That they take a statement and react violently, they’re doing what he said they would do.”
Erin Curran, a junior communication and family studies double major, is also troubled by the chaos.
“I think they have a right to be mad, but I don’t think it should ever come down to violence,” she said.
Unlike the controversy early this year surrounding the decision of many international newspapers to print cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet Mohammad in a negative and mocking light, students said they hope this conflict will die down quickly.
But students also added they doubt other confrontations will not occur in the future.
“The religions have been against each other forever; the Crusades were the Muslims and the Christians fighting over the holy land, and it’s still continuing today,” McGrath said. “I don’t know if there’s a solution for the two.”
Contact reporter Roxana Hadadi at roxanadbk@gmail.com.