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Islam is a religion of compassion: Dalai Lama
CHICAGO: Monday, April 17, 2006 (IANS) - The revered Dalai Lama's ringing
endorsement of Islam as a religion of compassion is expected to help repair
the Muslim image in the US where 38 per cent of the people see the
practitioners of the religion in a poor light.
The Dalai Lama, who has just begun a visit to the US via San Francisco, on
Sunday met Muslim and other religious leaders from over 30 countries who
have gathered to find ways to check the declining image of Islam.
He said: "Some people have an impression that Islam is militant. I think
that is totally wrong. Islam is one of the world's great religions and it
carries, basically, a message of love and compassion."
The organisers of the San Francisco interfaith conference, the Zaytuna
Institute, are aware of the Dalai Lama's huge goodwill among a growing
number of Americans, 38 per cent of whom told a recent Gallup poll they
found nothing to respect about practitioners of Islam.
His visit came in response to an invitation from Imam Seyed Mehdi Khorasani,
a prominent California religious figure. The Imam had met the Dalai Lama
last year in the US and called for help to form a "United Nations of
Religion" to counter extremist violence.
The Dalai Lama gave the example of his homeland of Tibet where Buddhists and
Muslims have existed together in peace for centuries.
Perhaps he was speaking from personal experience. Soon after he was
discovered as the 14th Dalai Lama in 1937 at the age of two, his passage
from his native village of Tengster to Lhasa ran into some difficulty.
General Ma Pu-feng, a corrupt Muslim warlord in charge of administering
Amdo, of which Tengster was a part, sensed a great opportunity to make some
money once he found out the boy was an incarnation of an important lama.
Ma told the delegation accompanying the Dalai Lama he would let the boy
leave for Lhasa in exchange for 100,000 silver dollars. On discovering later
that Tenzin Gytaso was indeed the incarnate Dalai Lama, the general raised
his price to 300,000 silver dollars.
Lhasa arranged the ransom but had problems finding a way to send the money.
Officials then found a group of Muslim merchants on their way to Mecca for
the Haj pilgrimage.
The money was sent through the pilgrims and the way was cleared for the
young Dalai Lama to travel on.
It is unusual for Islamic leaders in the US to reach out to a non-Muslim
spiritual figure to play their advocate.
The San Francisco meeting came even as federal prosecutors made public
in-flight recordings of Flight 93, one of the four planes hijacked by
terrorists Sep 11, 2001.
The recordings, which were played during the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui,
the man regarded as the 20th would-be 9/11 hijacker, reopened wounds of many
in the US. As the plane crashed, hijackers were heard repeatedly saying
"Allah is great".
The recordings, played to press for imposing a death sentence on Moussaoui,
did not help the image of Islam.
While the Dalai Lama has now described Islam as a religion of peace, he has
in the past also criticised both Islam and Christianity for their practice
of seeking converts.
It remains to be seen how the coming together of moderate Muslim leaders and
the Dalai Lama would be perceived by the more extremists among Muslims in
the US and outside.
Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama's visit comes ahead of the upcoming trip of
China's President Hu Jintao to Washington for a summit meeting with
President George W. Bush.
While the convergence of their presence is said to be fortuitous, it comes
at a time when there is some talk of possible rapprochement between the
Dalai Lama and Beijing over the issue of Tibet.
China just organised its first major Buddhist conference since 1949 but
chose not to invite the Dalai Lama, saying his presence would have a
"de-harmonising" effect.
However, there are behind-the-scenes moves to work out a possible visit by
the Dalai Lama to China for the first time since he went into exile in India
in 1959.
Articles in this Issue:
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World Tibet Network NewsPublished by the Canada Tibet CommitteeMonday, April 17, 2006 |
3. Islam is a religion of compassion: Dalai Lama
CHICAGO: Monday, April 17, 2006 (IANS) - The revered Dalai Lama's ringing
endorsement of Islam as a religion of compassion is expected to help repair
the Muslim image in the US where 38 per cent of the people see the
practitioners of the religion in a poor light.
The Dalai Lama, who has just begun a visit to the US via San Francisco, on
Sunday met Muslim and other religious leaders from over 30 countries who
have gathered to find ways to check the declining image of Islam.
He said: "Some people have an impression that Islam is militant. I think
that is totally wrong. Islam is one of the world's great religions and it
carries, basically, a message of love and compassion."
The organisers of the San Francisco interfaith conference, the Zaytuna
Institute, are aware of the Dalai Lama's huge goodwill among a growing
number of Americans, 38 per cent of whom told a recent Gallup poll they
found nothing to respect about practitioners of Islam.
His visit came in response to an invitation from Imam Seyed Mehdi Khorasani,
a prominent California religious figure. The Imam had met the Dalai Lama
last year in the US and called for help to form a "United Nations of
Religion" to counter extremist violence.
The Dalai Lama gave the example of his homeland of Tibet where Buddhists and
Muslims have existed together in peace for centuries.
Perhaps he was speaking from personal experience. Soon after he was
discovered as the 14th Dalai Lama in 1937 at the age of two, his passage
from his native village of Tengster to Lhasa ran into some difficulty.
General Ma Pu-feng, a corrupt Muslim warlord in charge of administering
Amdo, of which Tengster was a part, sensed a great opportunity to make some
money once he found out the boy was an incarnation of an important lama.
Ma told the delegation accompanying the Dalai Lama he would let the boy
leave for Lhasa in exchange for 100,000 silver dollars. On discovering later
that Tenzin Gytaso was indeed the incarnate Dalai Lama, the general raised
his price to 300,000 silver dollars.
Lhasa arranged the ransom but had problems finding a way to send the money.
Officials then found a group of Muslim merchants on their way to Mecca for
the Haj pilgrimage.
The money was sent through the pilgrims and the way was cleared for the
young Dalai Lama to travel on.
It is unusual for Islamic leaders in the US to reach out to a non-Muslim
spiritual figure to play their advocate.
The San Francisco meeting came even as federal prosecutors made public
in-flight recordings of Flight 93, one of the four planes hijacked by
terrorists Sep 11, 2001.
The recordings, which were played during the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui,
the man regarded as the 20th would-be 9/11 hijacker, reopened wounds of many
in the US. As the plane crashed, hijackers were heard repeatedly saying
"Allah is great".
The recordings, played to press for imposing a death sentence on Moussaoui,
did not help the image of Islam.
While the Dalai Lama has now described Islam as a religion of peace, he has
in the past also criticised both Islam and Christianity for their practice
of seeking converts.
It remains to be seen how the coming together of moderate Muslim leaders and
the Dalai Lama would be perceived by the more extremists among Muslims in
the US and outside.
Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama's visit comes ahead of the upcoming trip of
China's President Hu Jintao to Washington for a summit meeting with
President George W. Bush.
While the convergence of their presence is said to be fortuitous, it comes
at a time when there is some talk of possible rapprochement between the
Dalai Lama and Beijing over the issue of Tibet.
China just organised its first major Buddhist conference since 1949 but
chose not to invite the Dalai Lama, saying his presence would have a
"de-harmonising" effect.
However, there are behind-the-scenes moves to work out a possible visit by
the Dalai Lama to China for the first time since he went into exile in India
in 1959.
Articles in this Issue:
- Dalai Lama Enlisted To Change Islam Image
- Dalai Lama Pleads for Defending Islam
- Islam is a religion of compassion: Dalai Lama
- Giant Mao statue erected in Tibet
- Dalai Lama's Tibet visit likely in July
- Dalai Lama has message of learning
- Fake Tibetan Medicine May Cause Serious Legal Problems
- Don't protest Hu's US visit'
- Seattle Tibetans Not to Demonstrate Hu's Visit
- China's leader to visit Seattle Hu likely will see protests, adulation during Seattle visit
- Hu Jintao grant Tibet's independence
- JUST LISTEN TO KASHAG
- White House Out to Lunch With China Hu Jintao is anxious to please, but the U.S. remains aloof
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