Wise words from an Ayatollah and my reflections

http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-17/0712216293112724.htm

Cleric urges Christians to prevent desecration of sanctities
Tehran, Dec 21, IRNA

Iran-Sanctities-Rafsanjani Experts Assembly Head Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani here Friday called on the world Christians and the Christian leaders not to allow certain groups to insult Islam and its holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

Addressing the Eid-ul-Adha congregational prayers, Ayatollah Rafsanjani deplored desecration of Islamic sanctities in the West and said the sacrilegious practices are contrary to the spirit of divine religions.

"No Muslim would tolerate insult to Prophet Jesus (AS); So, one should not allow desecration of the divine religions," he added.

He said Muslims, based on Quranic injunctions, do not make any distinction among the divine prophets.

"I call on all the Christians, especially Christian ulema, to take commonalities of the divine religions into consideration," he urged.

He said Holy Quran has invited the divine religions to cooperate with Muslims on commonalities.
He insisted that commonalities of followers of divine religions are much more than their difference.

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I agree with Ayatollah Rafsanjani. I've always objected to insulting language and depiction of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). The problem is that the Ayatollah cannot reason with most of the Western world because they are so profane toward their "own" prophet Jesus (and Mary his mother) in day to day behavior, the media, "entertainment," lack of respect for their teachings that they have no basis of self respect of their own religion that they cannot extend it to Islam. If people are so faithless, profane and ignorant that they cannot be respectful toward their own God and beliefs, how can they be any less so with other religions? (Except there is a "politically correct" fear factor at work where people are hesitant to criticize Muslims while they try to censor Christianity in their own countries).

One of the reasons that Allah sent the angel Gabriel to enlighten the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) was that Allah recognized that there would have to be a people to hold fast and true to respect for Allah and the strictures of faith. Allah, who knows and sees all, observed how tempting it always is for humans to mingle the one faith in the true God with paganism. This was one of the Prophet Mohammad's (PBUH) first battles. Allah in his wisdom recognized that these people of Abraham through Ismail would rise up and have the vigor of faith that would resist centuries of reoccurrence and re-temptation of paganism (today disguised as "New Age" and "relativism.") This is one of the reasons that Allah chose the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and his people to rediscover their heritage and legacy from Abraham.

This does not mean that the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is the Paraclete predicted by Jesus. I can understand why scholars have thought so and I mean no disrespect. Remember though that Jesus was not commissioned by God to engage in prophecy for anything other than his immediate role as Messiah and the bringing of the New Covenant to replace the Old Covenant with the Jewish people (hence, the birth of Christians). If you study the scripture of Jesus you will see that he makes no predictions about secular events other than the fall of the Temple and then, far in the future, the end of times and his Second Coming. He does not even tell the Apostles of events over the next century. Therefore Jesus would not be speaking about events that would occur 700 years after him, such as the birth of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and how Islam would be part of God's plan. No, Jesus stuck very closely to his "mandate" and what God sent him to do. Jesus was continually humble and in connection with God's instruction and intention and never spoke of future human events. Therefore the Paraclete is an extension of the mere days, weeks, months, and ultimately several years of the ministry of Jesus on earth. He asked God to send the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete to instruct, hearten and strengthen the first Christians as they grew what Jesus gave birth to: The New Covenant and Christianity. The Paraclete was not a prediction of a future need but the fulfillment of the groundwork that Jesus had put into place of the New Covenant. Once the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles, disciples and Mary they had the knowledge, inspiration and heart to battle paganism and foster the Church that Jesus had, for all intents and purposes, given birth to on earth. The Pope, starting with the Apostle Peter, became Jesus's Vicar. You can think of the Pope as you would of a personal Imam, to a country, or a court, or a tribe. Just as a union of community has their Imam, Jesus appointed the Pope to be his Vicar for his community, the worldwide communion of Christians.

Notice that Christians did not have combat with the Jews. They offered Jesus to the Jews, but when they rejected Jesus as a group (though many did convert in those days), they offered Jesus to the gentiles who were pagans. This is where there was the great hunger for knowledge of the one God. Jesus brought understanding and knowledge of the Kingdom of God to those who still were pagans. It was paganism that Christianity combated, not Judaism. And because there was a great hunger for knowledge of our shared monotheistic God (Jew, Christian and Muslim), the pagans who knew not the one God but only imaginary multiple gods enmeshed in idolatry, the pagans converted to Christianity with eagerness, even amongst the worst of persecutions and tortures.

Paganism remains, however, one of humanity's great temptations. It is always a temptation because that is the flawed nature of humans. They seek powers that they can "interpret" and "manipulate" rather than walk the straight and narrow way of pious faith in God. Allah knows, of course, humans better than humans will ever know themselves. This is one reason that he knew that a vigorous and young community of faithful would need to hold tight to their fear of God and trust in him to set an example for all humanity. Unfortunately, our Muslim brothers and sisters see that extremists in their faith set a bad example and provoke pain, anger and terror in their own faith and outside of it. But likewise we live here in the "West" in a society that thinks that Jesus in a bottle of urine is "art" and so is the Blessed Virgin Mary painted with elephant dung.

So I am in complete agreement with the Ayatollah and praise his thoughts and words. But I think that the best thing that Muslims can do is be stout defenders of the dignity of Allah and of their Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) as an example. I can only hope that Christians regain their senses and remember fear of God and respect for what is "his" to have, clearly stated in the Bible and in the teachings of the Catholic Church. Right now secularists tempted by the new paganism are not going to give respect to Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) if they do not even have the decency to have self respect as children and servants to God.