Propaganda will make Muslims more hated, says Muslim scholar

Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan delivers a speech to the General Assembly. Picture: Andrew O'Brien

Prince Ghazi bin Muhammed of Jordan, one of the world's leading Muslim scholars, has told the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland that terrorist propaganda will succeed in making Muslims 'even more hated than they currently are by most of the world.'

Prince Ghazi, who gave a major hard-hitting speech in the presence of the Princess Royal representing the Queen, began by condemning the Manchester terror attack saying terrorists did not represent Muslims.

“Let me start by condemning in the strongest possible terms in my name and in the name of his majesty King Abdullah 11, (the 2nd) these terror attacks of innocent young people,” said Prince Ghazi who is King Abdullah 11 (the 2nd) of Jordan’s personal envoy.

“We are particularly appalled to see them pretend to represent our religion. Obviously they do not.

“I believe they will find that this country is made of stronger stuff than they might ever imagine.”

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The prince, who works to promote better understanding between Muslims and Christians and has been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize, outlined his vision for the future including the “rise of global fundamentalist movements in all religions”, populism, extreme nationalism and xenophobia.

“Terrorist propaganda will succeed in making Muslims even more hated than they currently are by most of the world, and in some places Muslims will be in internment camps and other concentration camps,” he said.

He then referred to the founder of ISIS as a “criminal”, Boko Haram as “lunatics” and warned of further Islamist radicalisation.

“We will of course continue to have a growth of radical fundamentalism in Islam, but we will also have an Islamisation of radicals (so that angry young people with little faith will use Islam as an outlet for their anger, in addition to Islamisation of criminals - such as the late Abu Mus’ab Al-Zarqawi; the founder of ISIS - an islamisation of lunatics - such as Boko Haram - and the Islamisaation of really ignorant and gullible people , like most of the ‘lone wolf’ terrorists we see here in the West.”

He also raised the spectre of Islam being “wiped off the face of the Earth” by other religions, with a few exceptions.

“The other world religions - all of whom are enjoying their own fundamental renaissances, albeit not as spectacularly, with beautiful exceptions like Pope Francis, HM the Queen, wiill raise their voices in unison until they all demand together that Islam be wiped off the face of the Earth for not being enough of a religion of love.

“If this all sounds too bad to be true, unfortunately is isn’t. It is a mordant but serious warning.”