Rabat – The International Union of Muslim Scholars (IAMS) has criticized a religious performance offered to celebrate Pope Francis’s visit to Morocco.
On Saturday, March 30, three representatives of the three Abrahamic religions performed a religious chant at the Mohammed VI Institute for Training Imams.
The performance marked the first day of the papal visit.
The performers started their chant with Muslim call for prayer (addhan), Jewish call for prayer known as Adonai, and Caccini’s motet Ave Maria. By combining the three in a single chant, the performance sought to convey messages of interfaith dialogue and peace, the central theme of the papal visit.
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While the chant, which were performed before King Mohammed VI and Pope Francis, received applause from the attendees, it has generated a backlash from some internet users.
Criticizing the performance, IAMS said that the “principle of tolerance, coexistence, and dialogue is a fixed and broad principle in Islam, but it does not mean giving up the constants and merging the great Islamic rites and the church chants, which contradict our creed and rituals.”
The union added that the Quran strongly warned of divine retribution against “violators of the constants of this religion.”
Jerusalem is for Muslims
IAMS also commented on the Jerusalem Appeal signed by King Mohammed VI and Pope Francis to preserve the statue of the holy site.
The King and the Pope signed the agreement to condemn Trump’s administration 2017 decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The appeal emphasized the importance of preserving the status of Jerusalem as a holy site for believers of the three Abrahamic religions.
“We believe it is important to preserve the Holy City of Jerusalem (Al-Quds Al-Sharif) as a shared heritage of humankind and to safeguard it, above all for the believers of the three monotheistic religions, as a symbol of peaceful coexistence and as a meeting place where mutual esteem and dialogue are fostered,” the Jerusalem appeal said.
For the union, however, Jerusalem is a holy site for Muslims only.
“The Union reaffirms that one of the nation’s primary duties is to preserve Al-Quds Al-Sharif as an Arab-Islamic Palestinian land, and not as a shared property among people of all faiths, even if it fits all of them, their churches, temples and rituals,” the union wrote.
IAMS is currently chaired by Moroccan Islamic scholar Raissouni, who was appointed as the body’s head in November 2018.
