Brave Muslim Cleric Appeals to Rabbis in Hebrew in Rare Gesture of Peace

A Lebanese Muslim cleric decries violence, calling for tolerance and understanding among the monotheistic religions.

Israeli Jewish and Muslims leaders meet. (Photo: Flash90)

A Shi’ite Lebanese cleric, in an extremely rare gesture, has reached out to Jews and Christians worldwide, denouncing violence.

“We call on rabbis, priests, cardinals and Muslim clerics, Sunni and Shia, to underemphasize the verses, the traditions and the religious texts that call for violence, as they are more dangerous than nuclear weapons,” Sayyed Muhammad Ali Husseini, secretary general of the Arabic Islamic Council, a Sh’itie group, wrote on his Facebook page in Hebrew on Sunday.

“Various religious texts calling for the use of violence and ruthlessness to achieve goals are extremely dangerous when used by groups we have warned against in the past,” he continued in a long, detailed post. “These texts religiously sanction acts of violence and murder. Obviously, these are texts that were implemented in specific, limited situations; they cannot necessarily be applied to our time, since every situation has its own unique circumstances.”

Husseini has seemingly launched a campaign for inter-religious tolerance, as this was not the first time that he conveyed such a message. He posted a video on Facebook earlier in January, addressed to the “offspring of Isaac and Ishmael, our cousins, the children of the Prophet Abraham.”

“Not all Jews are bad, and not all Muslims are terrorists,” he states in the latest clip. “Let’s put the disagreements aside and distance ourselves from evil and hatred…. Let us meet in a positive atmosphere, let us open up to each other and spread a culture of tolerance, this is my message,” he says in broken Hebrew.

Jerusalem Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar shakes hands with Muslim Sheikh Samir Assi of Acre outside the synagogue in the capital where the massacre took place in November. (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

The Shi’ites in Lebanon have come under the tutelage and sponsorship of the Ayatollah regime in Iran, but Husseini rejects this path. “It is not new for the Iranian regime to explicitly proclaim its security, economic, political and even religious control of Lebanon,” he told Emirates TV channel Al-Aan in May 2014. “We have warned of this and condemned it, and shall never accept it.”

Eddy Cohen, a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University’s Communications Department who helped Husseini translate his messages into Hebrew, told Israel’s IDF Radio on Sunday that he did know whether or not Husseini’s ideas were popular in Lebanon. He noted, however, that the Shiite cleric seemed unconcerned about spreading his posts in Hebrew on Facebook, which could be dangerous, as Islamic terrorists are known to silence dissenting voices.

“He is a moderate, and most Lebanese are sick of war and hostilities,” Cohen said.

By: United with Israel Staff

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