The Islamic community in Taiwan on Wednesday called for peace and tolerance as a US pastor insisted this week he will proceed with his plans to burn copies of the Koran tomorrow to mark the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“The entire thing is hard to fathom. No matter what religion you practice, the basic tenets call for peace,” said Husein Abu-Ilyaas Chen, the imam of a mosque in Kaohsiung. “We will pray to Allah for him [the pastor], that he will not be tempted by the devil and will be directed onto the right path.”
Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, and his 50-plus followers have vowed to burn copies of the Islamic holy book in a bonfire tomorrow, on what he is calling “International Burn-a-Koran Day.” The gesture is also a protest against a plan to build an Islamic center near the ground zero site of the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, Jones said.
Chen said the Islamic community as a whole condemns the action of the terrorists who carried out the attack and those who continue to inflict harm on others.
“But it is important to recognize that those are the actions of a few individuals and are not representative of the entire religion,” he said.
“In the Bible, Jesus Christ teaches that if a man strikes you on the right cheek, you should turn the left one to him also,” Chen said. “What happened to that principle? The world will never experience true peace if everyone practices an eye for an eye.”
Ishag Ma (馬孝棋), the imam of the Grand Mosque in Taipei and secretary-general of the Chinese Muslim Association, also denounced Jones’ plan, saying that while everyone has a right to freedom of expression, burning the Koran will only perpetuate a vicious cycle.
“We should be able to deal with disagreements and communicate our differences in a rational manner,” Ma said. “The Koran itself is unoffending. It is a book and a tool to teach people to have charity, tolerance and respect.”
Ma acknowledged that a small number of Muslims are engaged in extremist activities, but stressed that they are a minority within the religion and their views do not reflect the sentiments of all those who practice the Islamic faith.
According to Ma, there are about 200,000 Muslims in Taiwan, about 150,000 of whom are Indonesian migrant workers. In Taiwan, mosques can be found in Taipei, Chungli, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung.
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