ASIA/JORDAN - King Abdullah II: Arab Christians are an integral part of our civilization

Wednesday, 23 December 2015

Amman (Agenzia Fides) – Arab Christians "are an integral part of our past, present and future" and right from the beginning "have been an essential partner in building our culture and civilization and in defending Islam". This is what King Abdullah II of Jordan said in a televised speech on Jordan state television on Tuesday, December 22, in which the Hashemite monarch expressed his delight to congratulate Jordanians who celebrate the birth of the Prophet Mohammad (celebrated in almost all the world on December 23) and the Christian solemnity of the Nativity of our Lord. King Abdullah – report Jordanian sources consulted by Agenzia Fides - stressed the symbolic value of the proximity between the two celebrations, at a time when many countries "suffer from the spread of extremism and violence", fed by those who betray "the true principles of Islam and Christianity",
On the eve of these two occasions, Abdullah stressed that "Islam is a religion of compassion", and that Christians and Muslims are united by "common values" totally opposed to the practices of those he described as "outlaws of Islam". In this context, the monarch reiterated that all Jordanians "live under the umbrella of equal citizenship that binds us together", and that since the great battle of Mu’tah, (when Mohammad had ordered Islamic forces in the fight against the Byzantine army not to harm the Christians of Syria) Arab Christians have been an essential partner in building our culture and civilization and in defending Islam".
The Islamic holiday of Mawlid al-Nabi, the birth of the Prophet Mohammad - that depends on the lunar calendar - in the year 2015 is also celebrated on December 23. The last time the Islamic and the Christian Christmas celebration coincided was 457 years ago. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 23/12/2015)


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