Pres. Obama: "Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims." (source)
A senior administration official: "[W]e are ensuring that [Osama bin Laden's body] is handled in accordance with Islamic practice and tradition." (source)
I happen to think that bin Laden's ideas were consonant with Islamic source documents and that he was, in a way, an Islamic leader in that while he did not really have the opportunity to regularly promulgate any teaching, he motivated many and was a model to many (many more than left-ists would concede).
ReplyDeleteThere is, however, no contradiction between the two statements you quote. That a Muslim is treated to an Islamic burial does not make that person an Islamic leader.
AMC said:
ReplyDeleteThere is, however, no contradiction between the two statements you quote. That a Muslim is treated to an Islamic burial does not make that person an Islamic leader.
1. Pres. Obama not only said OBL wasn't a Muslim leader, he also said OBL was "a mass murderer of Muslims". As such, it'd seem Pres. Obama regards OBL as an enemy of Muslims.
2. I'm pointing out an apparent inconsistency in the Obama administration, not Muslim practice. Why does the Obama administration think an enemy of Muslims should receive an Islamic burial?