GADDAFI’S BIBLE

“The Bible we have now is not the one that was revealed to Issa [Jesus] and the Old Testament is not the one that was revealed to Musa [Moses]. Muhammad is mentioned in both (original versions), but the Tora and Bible we have now, there is no mention of him…It means that it [the Bible] has been forged. The Prophet Muhammad was sent to mankind. Allah wanted mankind to have one religion. The Koran that we have is the only book that was sent by Allah. We believe in the Bible as well as the Tora.”

You may have heard the things that Libya’s life president, Muamar Gaddafi had to say about the Bible. It is the stuff that worldwide unrests are made of, were the subject the Koran rather than the Bible!

He had gone to Uganda to commission a mosque named after him essentially because he bankrolled it. The mosque was said to be the vision of one of Africa’s most notorious tyrants, Idi Amin Dada, a former president of Uganda who was chased out in a coup in 1979, and died in exile in Saudi Arabia some years ago.

It had taken all of 30 years to build this mosque, now one the most prominent structures in the skyline of the Ugandan capital, Kampala. And although the original idea was to make it the largest in the world, it is said that it may now rank second. So, it was an important occasion for Islam, the religion of peace, with some "long live Gaddafi" chanting 15,000 worshippers, including a number of other African leaders attended the ceremony, among them, the presidents of Somalia, Zanzibar and Djibouti.

Savouring the euphoria of an historic moment, Gaddafi told his audience that the Bible, holy book of the Christian is forgery. His words, as reported in the East African newspaper: “The Bible we have now is not the one that was revealed to Issa [Jesus] and the Old Testament is not the one that was revealed to Musa [Moses]. Muhammad is mentioned in both (original versions), but the Tora and Bible we have now, there is no mention of him…It means that it [the Bible] has been forged. The Prophet Muhammad was sent to mankind. Allah wanted mankind to have one religion. The Koran that we have is the only book that was sent by Allah. We believe in the Bible as well as the Tora.”

Of course Church officials in Uganda reacted to the statement, describing it is as “inflammatory,” but typically urged their flock to ignore his sentiments. No “fatwa” has been issued against him and there have been no public protests, violent or peaceful.

Interestingly the words coming out from leaders of the Church in Uganda have been explanatory and forgiving. The Catholic Archbishop of Kampala, Cyprian Lwanga told an Easter mass congregation to forget Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi's remarks. He reminded Gaddafi and those of his persuasion that the Bible was written before Muhammad was born. "How can we be blamed for not including what was not in existence?" he said, and asked “fellow Christians to forgive Gaddafi like Jesus forgave those people who crucified him on the cross."

Another cleric who spoke on the issue, Monsignor Paul Ssemwogerere of Kampala's Christ the King Church, said: "Since the Muslim community has already distanced itself from Colonel Gaddafi's sentiments, let's forgive him as Christians.,,We should pray for such people who don't know that in Uganda, we have an Inter-Religious Council that unites us regardless of our religious differences. Muslims and Christians live harmoniously without any problem."
Also seeking to defuse the row, President Yoweri Museveni assured his compatriots that he had a word with the Libyan leader about Christianity after the speech.

From the rest of the Christian world, especially Africa, mum has been the word. It seems to us at KINGDOMWatch as if Christians don’t care about the symbols of their faith or are too cowardly to express our opinions… as if peace in the world must be at the expense of Christianity.
No, we do not advocate violence, and categorically denounce violence as a means of resolving any issue. But Christians need to, at least, speak up more for the faith. Libyan Embassies across the major capital of the world should, by now, have had their phone lines, faxes and e-mails inundated with protest calls and mails. In-depth articles reacting to Gaddafi’s misinformation should have been all over the internet by now. But what do you have? Not a whimper from outside Kampala, as far as we know.

These things ought not to be so, dear brethren.