.- Father
Khalil Samir, a professor at the Oriental Pontifical Institute of Rome
and St. Joseph’s University of Beirut, said this week that in order to
change the Islamic mentality, “which is fearful of reality,” an
“enormous educational effort” is needed at schools and universities,
while paying special attention to textbooks and teacher formation.
In statements
made to the Italian daily “Avvenire,” Father Samir, an expert in
Islamic issues, said, “The enlightened West should help the most
liberal Muslims to be heard in their countries and contribute to the
spread of their ideas by fostering the circulation and translation of
their works, inviting them to speak in Europe.”
“Above all,” he
stressed, “an enormous educational effort needs to be initiated at
schools and universities,” with special attention to textbooks and
teacher formation.
“This is a task
that would require generations to slowly change a mentality that is
fearful of reality. As Christianity teaches us, reason is not an
enemy, but rather an ally of faith,” he added.
Father Samir
explained that in Islamic schools, “the teaching methods are based on
repetition and memorization more than on logical reasoning. In
the family, parents do not give their children motives for obedience;
rather, it is imposed, sometimes through violence.”
The Koran, he
continued, “is learned by heart and applied in a mechanical and literal
way since, according to Islam, the text has been revealed directly by
God to Mohammed and contains all that is necessary for life, and no
interpretation is allowed.”
“If somebody
says an effort is needed to find a better application of it to today’s
world, he is accused of being a traitor of the most authentic spirit of
Islam and even deserves death for apostasy.” The result, he said, is
world that is “fearful of modernity.”
Father Samir
explained that such a mentality is “easily manipulated by the
statements and orders of radicals, who use religious sentiments for
political purposes and identify the West with the Great Satan.”
The recent
controversy over comics depicting Mohammed, he pointed out, was an
example of this situation in which reprisals were carried out not only
against the authors, but also “against the governments of those
countries in which they were published and, by extension, against the
West or Christians, with the tragic consequences which we have seen,
such as the assassination of Father Santoro.”
“This type of
mentality neglects the value of the person, drowning him in the
group. Reason must be exercised rather than letting oneself be
led by emotions. Unfortunately, reason is asleep in Islamic
countries,” Father Samir stated.
Expert says changing Islamic mentality requires enormous educational effort
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