Day Of Rage

To demonstrate that Pope Benedict XVI's offhand quote of Byzantine Emperor Manuel Paleologus deliberately misconstrued Islam as a religion of violence and anger, Muslim leaders throughout the Middle East are calling for a special Yaum al Ghadab, or "Day of Rage" on Friday after mosque.

Well, what isn't a day of rage over there?

But don't get the wrong idea; apparently they won't be doing the usual rioting and rampaging:

We must not try to interpret Islamic terms and cultural signals by using our Western ideas," said Fawaz Gerges, a professor in the department of international affairs and Middle Eastern studies at Sarah Lawrence College, and an ABC News consultant. Gerges pointed out that in Islamic culture "ghadab" means anger or frustration. A day of rage does not mean a day of jihad (war), added Gerges.

Mimi Daher, a Muslim woman working in the ABC Jerusalem bureau, explained that the Grand Multi in Jerusalem reflected this cultural mindset today when he said, "Muslims have to express their anger. Was the pope expecting Muslims to clap their hands to him while hurting their faith and prophet? Of course not. We call on Muslims throughout the world to react in a disciplined manner, according to our Islamic faith."

"Disciplined manner" is a repeated theme among Islamic moderate leaders who encourage people to protest. As Gerges reminded me, when the cleric al-Qaradawi called for a day of rage, he stressed repeatedly that it should be civilized, urging Muslims to behave with civility and dignity. "We must show the world that we are still civilized even when we are aggrieved," he said.

You might equate civilized and dignified protest with orderly street marches, speeches, and letter writing campaigns, but that would be interpreting Islamic terms and cultural signals by using our Western ideas.

It takes a certain disciplined manner to properly burn a flag, bomb a church or torch a car, after all.

Source: ABC