Pope's Baptism of Muslim Misleads
Propaganda Surrounding "Prominent Muslim's" Baptism Is Deceptive
7 people were baptized by the Pope, but only the so-called Muslim was named. Are the other 6 less important? Why not headline the priests that convert to Islam as well?
On March 22, the Associated Press released an article that was picked up by the media and headlined around the world announcing the baptism of Egyptian-born Magdi Allam by the Pope himself at Easter Vigil. Magdi Allam is referred to as not just a "prominent Muslim", but as "Italy's most prominent Muslim commentator". There are a few problems with that misleading description, foremost being that Allam was technically not a Muslim.
Was Allam even Muslim?
Magdi Allam admits to having never practiced Islam. The fact that he had made Hajj (the Muslim pilgrimmage to Mecca) was soley to accompany his practicing mother, as he attests to himself.
An understanding of the meaning of "Islam" is important in understanding what makes a person a Muslim and another not Muslim. Islam is an action word (submission) - it is the submission of oneself to the will of God, with the inferred meaning of submitting to all of the rituals and laws laid down in the Qur'an (which literally means "that which is to be read"). Therefore, by Islamic standards, one who does not practice Islam is not a Muslim.
There is a saying in Islam that one can go in and out of Islam several times in a day (or "in and out of disbelief or "kufr"). The meaning is that whenever someone does something that is not in accordance with the will of God, for that moment they are not Muslim. For someone that, as a rule, does not practice Islam, they are not considered to be Muslim at all, by the standards of Islam. In short, either you submit or you don't.
So What Makes Allam a Prominent Muslim in the Press?
How does one who has never practiced Islam get bestowed the title of not only Muslim, but "most prominent Muslim"? The phrase evokes a vision of a pious, but upstanding religious man - valued by his community. The fact that he is a deputy editor of an Italian newspaper only makes him a prominent news man or a prominent editor, maybe even a prominent writer - but certainly not a "prominent Muslim".
Identifying Allam as such makes about as much sense as referring to the editor of the New York Post or the Wall Street Journal as the "Most Prominent Christian" or "Most Prominent Jew" in America. They are recognized as being prominent for their roles as editors for top-notch publication - unless, there is an ulterior motive in the designation.
Magdy Allam's story is no more than the story of an agnostic man married with kids to a Catholic woman. Frequently, when a marriage partner is agnostic and the other an adherent of any religion, the agnostic person will embrace the spouse's religion - especially when kids are in the picture. This is especially true in Catholicism, when conversion to Catholicism is technically supposed to take place in order for the marriage to be valid in the first place.
Does this Proclamation Serve Another Purpose? The Questions...
What does the fact that this article spread like wildfire through the media say about the West as a whole? A total of seven people were baptized along with Allam - yet none of them were named. Are not all people supposed to be considered equal in the eyes of God? Were the others considered as second class converts because they did not come from a target population?
Is making it appear to the world that a prominent Muslim converted to Christianity* an attempt to convince people that Islam has "received a blow" during a time when many have been misled to believe that Islam is the enemy? Is one supposed to feel better about their religion based upon the amount of converts or is it supposed to be about one's personal relationship with their God?
Media Bias
The media bias in that area is obvious - especially when there are no worldwide headlines such as this about the prominent Christians who convert to Islam - ones who were actually prominent in their religions (priests, ministers, pastors, etc.), such as the following:
- Dr. Jerald F. Dirks - Former minister (deacon) of the United Methodist Church. He holds a Master's degree in Divinity from Harvard University and a Doctorate in Psychology from the University of Denver. Author of The Cross and the Crescent: An Interfaith Dialogue between Christianity and Islam (ISBN 1-59008-002-5 - Amana Publications, 2001). He has published over 60 articles in the field of clinical psychology, and over 150 articles on Arabian horses
- Abdullah al-Faruq - Formerly Kenneth L. Jenkins, minister and elder of the Pentecostal Church
- Viacheslav Polosin - Former Archpriest of the Russian Orthodox Church
- Anselm Tormeeda - 14th century CE scholar and priest
- Khadijah 'Sue' Watson - Former pastor, missionary, professor. Master's degree in Divinity
- Ibrahim Khalil - Former Egyptian Coptic priest
- Martin John Mwaipopo - Former Lutheran Archbishop
- George Anthony - Former Catholic priest
- Dr. Gary Miller (Abdul-Ahad Omar) - Former missionary
Future as a Catholic: New Lessons to Be Learned
The fact that he took communion (albeit, without having been baptized) as a teen shows that he is not new to the Catholic Church. So, why all of this publicity now? It gets even more confusing when one examines his relationship with the Israelis, including prize monies and his latest book, Viva Israel, much of which is in contradiction to many Catholics' stance on such issues (as well as that of the Methodist, Presbyterian and other Protestant churches) - especially Christians residing in Palestine. It will be interesting to see what happens when Mr. Allam makes a trip to the "Holy Land" as a Catholic and find that he may end up an unwitting target - but not from Muslims - rather the Israeli Army that has repeatedly targetted and violated Catholic Churches in Jerusalem and elsewhere.
* The word "Christianity" is a correction done on 3/31/2008, prior to that "Islam" was mistakenly written in it's place.
