Gadhafi: Some Guy Was Crucified Instead of Jesus...So, Will You Convert to Islam Now?

Approaches made by Muslims worldwide to clear Islam of the accumulating accusations of intolerance, ignorance and closeness, have culminated recently by Moammar Gadhafi, the Libyan leader, in Rome.

The post 9/11 era has seen perhaps the worst times for Arabs and Muslims in particular. Well, the culprits of this heinous crime were all Muslims.

Given the hegemony of the Israel lobby on most major news networks in the United States, the little tools at the hands of dedicated Muslims on the one hand and the chronic passiveness of some Arab governments, Islamophobia, Islamists, Islamification and terrorism have become the very first words that will pop into the minds of many westerners who would encounter an Arab or a Muslim.

This is a serious matter for the Muslim community that does not tolerate killing civilians, mutilating their bodies (decapitating), and most importantly coercing others to abide by the rules and the teachings of Islam.

If I were a Muslim who would only choose to follow the teachings of Prophet Mohammed peace be upon him, regardless of the Sunni and Shiite points of view, I would set the Prophet himself as an example of tolerance with Muslims and non-Muslims, even at times of war.
If I were a Shiite, I would set Imam Ali Bin Abi Taleb as another model of knowledge, justice and tolerance.
And if I were a Sunni Muslim, I would set Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab as yet another example. There are tons of such cases just a mouse-click away.

In contrast today, Moammar Gadhafi has his own unique way to promote Islam; a way that indicates to...let me soften it by saying ‘unenlightenment.”

When former US Secretary of Stated Condoleezza Rice had her first encounter with the Libyan leader, he actually asked her to convert to Islam.
Some say Gadhafi has his own quirky conception of Islam. He even proposed to delete some words from the holy Quran, just because he thought they were unnecessary repetitions, like the word “Qol” Arabic for “say, tell, inform...etc)

Recently in Italy, the Libyan leader again felt the dire need to promote Islam – the Gadhafi way. Or maybe he just wanted to make the headlines. He had no one to think of beside good looking Italian women aged between 18 and 35 “to exchange views.”

According to the Italian newswire ANSA, and at the behest of Gadhafi, one Italian modeling agency (Hostessweb) began searching for hundreds of girls across the country. Not only that, but the 68 year-old-all-black-hair leader had carefully set his criteria. Gadhafi’s advertisement conditioned that the Italian women should also be cute, at least 1.7 meters tall, and well dressed.”

Gadhafi, who is used to being accompanied by female bodyguards on state visits, was also bountiful. He gave the good-looking Italian women $75 dollars (the price to attend the event), a copy of the Quran and a copy of his “Green Book”.

Instead of ‘exchanging views’, the Libyan leader, described by many western media as a narcissist, gave a lecture about Islam.

He wanted those good looking ladies to convert to Islam, and he chose Jesus to make his approach.
ANSA quoted some of the participants as saying that Gadhafi told his audience that "you believe that Jesus was crucified, but that didn't happen. God took him to the heavens. They crucified some guy who looked like him."

What could possibly make a sedate man think that such an approach would tease the minds of those ‘cute’ Italian Christian women, enlighten them and trigger them to learn about Islam?

"I was expecting a party, not a lecture," one participant told ANSA. "All the girls expected a party with a gala dinner, instead, "he made a 45-minute speech on Islam and women's role in Islam. It was a bit of an indoctrination session," said Italian Journalist Paola Lo Mele.

Reuters placed Gadhafi’s soiree in the “oddly enough” section.
What more can there possibly be? Is there really a difference between Gadhafi and a masked head chopper? Actually, there is no difference for they are both depreciating Islam.

If I were a cute Italian girl attending Gadhafi’s whatever-it-was, I would have certainly asked him about abduction, lying and murder in Islam.
But since I’ll never be a cute Italian girl, nor will I ever sit with this man at the same table or in the same room, I’ll just ask him this, mano-a-mano, no cute girls involved:

Mr. Gadhafi, what does Islam say about a man who kidnapped two prominent religious figures and a reporter in 1978, and indirectly caused a civil war that resulted in hundreds of thousands of victims?
Mr. Gadhafi, what does Islam say about a man who lied to the world about kidnapping Imam Mousa al-Sadr, Sheikh Mohammed Yaacub and reporter Abbas Badreddine?
What would Islam say about someone who ordered the slaughtering of hundreds (some 1200) of inmates at the Bou Sleem prison in 1996?
Do you really think that Islam tolerates shooting down two civilian aircrafts (The French UTA with 170 passengers on board in 1989 and a Libyan plane with 157 passengers in 1992)?
Mr. Gadhafi, what does Islam say about a man like yourself?

The 31st of August of every year, marks the 1978 kidnapping of Imam Sayyed Mussa Sadr in Libya. The Imam is considered one of the most prominent Muslim Shiite figures who sought to apply the message of religion in real life. Imam Sadr was also among the religious figures who contributed in launching the Islamic-Christian dialogue in Lebanon, at a time civil war was ruining this country. The Imam did not have any ties with Libya or its ruler, however, he decided to visit Tripoli in the wake of the 1978 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, as part of a tour of Arab countries to rally support and prepare for an Arab summit over the war.

Libyan authorities claimed that Sadr, Yaacoub and Badreddine had left Tripoli for Rome, as Ghaddafi refrained from addressing the issue with then Lebanese president Elias Sarkis. An investigative panel was formed to carry out a fact finding mission in Tripoli and Rome, but Libya refused to receive the panel.
Investigators concluded that Imam Sadr and his companions had never left Libya and did not check into Italy.
Rome conducted two rounds of investigations into the case and authorities concluded that Libyan claims were baseless.