AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Bill Clinton, the former President of the United States, while condemning insults against Muslims and discrimination based on religion, citing a verse from the Holy Quran, emphasized the necessity of mutual understanding among nations and respect for cultural and religious differences.
Clinton delivered a speech at the interfaith gathering "Many Religions, One Florida" at the Koinonia Worship Center in the city of Hollywood, Florida. At this ceremony, while criticizing insults against Muslims because of their beliefs, he emphasized that the improper behavior of some individuals cannot be attributed to a particular religion or culture.
The former President of the United States, in part of his remarks, referred to his personal experience and said that when his daughter had read the Quran at the age of 15, he also suggested that she study this holy book of Muslims.
According to Clinton, familiarity with the Quran confronted him with the concept that differences among nations and ethnic groups should provide the ground for mutual understanding, not a reason for alienation and humiliation.
To emphasize this point, he cited verse 13 of Surah Al-Hujurat: "O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another." Clinton also expressed dissatisfaction with the continuation of religious wars and cultural conflicts and said that improper behaviors occur among followers of different religions and should not be attributed to a religious tradition.
Sheikh Ali Qaradaghi, the head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, also in reaction to these remarks, emphasized the necessity of expanding the grounds for understanding and peaceful coexistence. He warned that political differences with some governments or groups are sometimes generalized to the domain of religion, and as a result, Islam and the rituals of Muslims become the target of insults. However, some commentators also considered Clinton's remarks to have political considerations and to be related to partisan competition in America.
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