Jesuit On The Rescent Beheading Of A Young Tunisian

....violence does not represent the majority of Islam. Far from it! But it's also true that violence has its seed in the Koran, and finds life of Muhammad and his depredations ... which are sometimes very violent. Muslims must condemn this violence, not just by saying "but this is not Islam." Unfortunately, even that is Islam and found in the Koran. There is actually a seed of violence within Islam and the Koran, which today is taken up by the radical tendencies. Every radical group has its imam, issuing fatwas authorizing such violence, fatwas based on Islamic tradition. And the terrorists act believing that they are worshiping God!

Islam needs, like all religions, to be rethought!
Perhaps in the seventh century, such violence was understandable, among people who lived in the desert. But now it must be condemned and the religious center of Islam saved. Even the Bible has violent passages in the Old Testament. And I remember the great biblical scholar, the current Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, had written to denounce the violence done in the name of God and the Bible.But none of us Christians, although we recognize the Old Testament as a revealed text, would dream of applying what is written in some of those books to the letter. It would be unacceptable. If no one says anything, let alone Muslims, the seed of violence will grow. The rejection of violence must be absolute and radical, for all those who believe in God, for all those who believe in man, in the name of God and in the name of humanism!

Link (here) to full text of Fr. Samir Khalil Samir, S.J. article.

Father Samir entered the Jesuit order on the 26 October 1955, in Aix-en-Provence (France) and undertook the study of Philosophy, Theology and Islamic studies. He graduated with a thesis on oriental Catholic theology and Islamic studies. Thereafter, he established 20 schools for reading and writing in Egypt and then taught for 12 years at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. In 1986, he moved to Lebanon during the civil war there and now teaches at the Saint Joseph University, specialising in Catholic theology and Islamic studies.