Falwell apologizes for Mohammed remark
Associated Press
Monday, October 14 – Online Edition, Posted at 12:23 PM EST
Lynchburg, Va. — Rev. Jerry Falwell has apologized for calling Islam's founder a terrorist, saying he "intended no disrespect to any sincere, law-abiding Muslim."
In a recent interview with CBS's 60 Minutes, the conservative Baptist minister said he had concluded from reading Muslim and non-Muslim writers that Mohammed "was a violent man, a man of war."
"I think (Prophet) Mohammed was a terrorist," he said.
Muslims round the world were enraged. A general strike in Bombay, called to protest against his comments, turned into a riot, and five people were killed.
On Saturday, Mr. Falwell issued a "statement of reconciliation."
"I sincerely apologize that certain statements of mine made during an interview for the September 30 edition of CBS's 60 Minutes were hurtful to the feelings of many Muslims," Mr. Falwell said.
He said he made the remarks in response to "one controversial and loaded question" at the end of an hour-long interview.
"That was a mistake and I apologize," Mr. Falwell said.
Leaders in the two main branches of Islam welcomed the apology.
Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, the grand sheik of Al-Azhar, a Sunni Muslim mosque in Cairo, said Mr. Falwell “deserves thanks for his return to the righteous path.” The sheik's comments came in a statement Monday to Associated Press.
In the Iranian city of Qom, an important Shia centre of learning, a high-ranking cleric said Mr. Falwell had shown courage.
“A person courageous enough to apologize for his errors is worthy of praise,” Ayatollah Hussein Mousavi Tabrizi told AP. “It's humanitarian and good Islamic behaviour to accept an apology from a person who admits making a mistake.”
Although other prominent Islamic leaders were ready to accept the apology, Sheik Zuheir Jaaed, deputy head of the Islamic Ulama Gathering, a Lebanon-based association of Sunni and Shia scholars, said Mr. Falwell's apology “will not calm us.” |
