Sebastian Kurz Quotes
We want Austrian-style Islam, not one controlled by other states.
Kurz, Sebastian. Statement on the new Islam Law. BBC News, 25 Feb. 2015.
This quotation illustrates that a narrow orthodox view of Islam is not the only one in Arab nations. Khaled is not an obscure cleric, but a popular television personality. While his views are considered heresy by many orthodox Muslims, the narrow view is by no means universal. Orthodox Islamists believe that God has commanded that all mankind be Muslims and the ones who are not are either ignorant so need to be “educated”, or evil and therefore should be killed. However, Muhammad ordained that an exception should be made for “Children of the Book”—Jews and Christians who revere the Old Testament. This was at a time when Christians would not allow any other form of worship but Christianity. Christianity, Judaism and most other religions have become tolerant of other religions and allow open alternative worship. Islam which early on led the way to tolerance, has in many countries gone back to the intolerance that existed amongst many Christians at the time of Muhammad.
The Roman Empire of 70 million people contained at the time 7 million Jews—the vast majority of the world’s Jews.
The cooperation between the Jews and Muslim Arabs invading Southern Spain represented a “Golden Age” for both groups. However, the Spanish Christians not only despised the Jews because they would not convert, but that they worked with and thrived with the Arab Muslims who the Christians viewed as invaders and occupiers of their land.
Islam was not very strong at this point and the followers of Muhammad were relatively few and the Medina area contained Arab Non-Believers, Jews as well as the new Muslims. Muhammad drew up this document and got the non Muslims to agree to it. Not only were Jews able to practice their religion freely (as were the non-Muslim Arabs) but there was not tax on the non Muslims that was imposed later when the Muslims were much stronger relative to others. Also, which surprises many Jews and Muslims alike, the Community – the Ulma – the People included the Jews and Arab Non Believers. Today it is only the Muslims.
Not all the relations between Irish Catholic and Protestants were hostile. There was a commonality in their Irish nationality and many protestants—especially the educated and more sophisticated—were opposed to the restrictions imposed by England on the rights of the Roman Catholic to practice their religion. See {639274} for another example.
Incredibly enough the same statement was issued as a Cabinet order by Frederick The Great {602503} in June 22 of the same year. It was unlikely that Frederick followed American politics so closely that he would have learned of Franklin’s statement, but Franklin was attuned to all the events of Europe, and this official act of the Emperor was big new for religious toleration enthusiasts. Therefore we suspect that Franklin was quoting Frederick without attribution.
Sebastian Kurz is an Austrian politician who has served as Chancellor of Austria since January 2020, a position he previously held from December 2017 to May 2019. Kurz has also been chairman of the Austrian People's Party since May 2017.
