Antidote to the Clerics of Hatred

It's very good to find evidence that Arab moderates - no matter how few and far between - do exist. They provide hope for the future, and are a welcome antidote to this poison.  From MEMRI:

Former Dean of Islamic Law at Qatar University Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari: It is the Innocent Who Pay the Price for the Incitement by the Preachers of Hatred

The following are excerpts from an interview with former dean of Islamic law at QatarUniversity Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari. The interview aired on Al-Jazeera TV on December 9, 2007:

To view this clip, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1656.htm. 

"The Law Does Not Punish Those Who Incite; It Punishes... The Perpetrator"

Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari: "In my opinion, the people who try to impose a single religion, a single culture, or single political regime oppose the will of Allah. Allah created human beings, and the Koran says: 'but they will not cease to differ' until Judgment Day.

[...]

"Why did Allah create human beings different from one another? The development of the world, the enrichment of life, and the progress of Man and society can only take place when there is such diversity.

[...]

"When we follow those who preach hatred, confrontation, and conflict, we are the ones who end up losing. We do not have the power or the means for a confrontation. This means that our sons will turn into bombs. If we incite them against others, this means that instead of building our society, and establishing a culture of dialogue within the society, we use the religious pulpit and satellite TV for incitement. Of course, the people who incite get away with it, and are never held accountable, but my son is the one who will pay the price. That is the problem, and unfortunately, the law does not punish those who incite.

...

"I would like to tell you about something I read in the Saudi Al-Watan newspaper, [about] a mother who wrote a letter to Saudi journalist Layla Al-Ahdab. In it, she wrote that her eight-year-old daughter, in the third grade, was told by the teacher, during a lesson on monotheism, that there were three ways to disavow the polytheists: First, hating them. This means we should hate non-Muslims. We should emigrate from their countries. In other words, the Muslim communities in [the West] - the eight million, or I don't know how many, in Europe, and the six million in America - should all return to their countries, and if they are forced to stay there, they must harbor hatred towards them, because this is monotheism, it is part of our belief. This is not a personal opinion... Thirdly, we must reveal their falsehood.

[...]

"The mother wrote in her letter: Do they expect me to hate the Jewish scientist who discovered insulin, which I use to treat my mother? Am I supposed to teach my daughter that she should hate Edison, who invented the light bulb, which lights up the Islamic world? Should I hate the scientist who discovered the cure for malaria? Should I teach my daughter to hate people merely because their religion is different? Why do we turn our religion into a religion of hatred towards those who differ from us?

"One of the great sheikhs of the Council of Islamic Scholars, whose name I won't mention in order to avoid slandering him, responded to the mother: This is none of your business. Don't interfere in things that don't concern you. We know better than you when it comes to school curricula. He said that cooperation with the infidels is permitted, but only as a reward [for services] and not out of love. In other words, there should be no friendship.

"I would like to know how this can possibly be, when Allah allows me to marry a woman from among the People of the Book. How can I possibly not love the mother of my children? How can I harbor hatred towards her, and at the same time, sleep with her? I don't understand how this is possible."