016 - Rotary dreams for the XXI century

RC.Milano S.Ambrogio – 12-1996

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At the urging of James Lacy, our international president, and encouraged by the presidents of District 2050 and the St. Ambrose club, I present my contribution, which could be one of the missions of Rotarians in the early 21st century: a bridge between different cultures and peoples.

People are getting richer and poorer and richer in the world

We see that the world’s population has more than doubled in the last 50 years, while the production of world wealth has grown by far more, but the gap between rich and poor has not narrowed. On the contrary:

  • 79% of the total wealth produced in the world is in the West,
  • 20% of the world’s population consumes 80% of total wealth and is located in the West,
  • 20% of the world’s least affluent population has 0.5% of world production.

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018 - Islam and us: "Recognizing differences to dialogue"

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The Rotary Club awarded 100 million to Monsignor Cesare Mazzolari the other night for the Mapuordit health centre, which is intended to accommodate 2200 young people and 157 lepers serving a wide range of users within a radius of 150 kilometres. It is the first half of the sum promised. To the Rotarians of the Brescia Centro Club and the members of the Innerwill, gathered together to address the theme “Women in Islam”, Monsignor Mazzolari proposed a further objective: “We must bring women to be respected: it will be a long road, we must do it together and for this we must take a greater ownership of our culture.

“Culture “is something dynamic, it is an identity that we must reinterpret,” said during the meeting Professor Milena Santerini of the Catholic University of Milan – The problem of women divides us from Muslims, but certain practices are more tied to culture than to religion. The subordination of women exists, but it is a bit typical of the Mediterranean area. There are 700,000 Muslims in Italy, women are between two cultures. They come for family reunion, they live in the shadows. They offer us the challenge of welcome, education and understanding”.

Islamic law, observes Giuseppe Eid Samir, is the “source of the legal system, in an armoured society, in which one can enter but from which one cannot leave. The woman cannot judge a man, she inherits half of a brother and the Christian woman does not inherit from her Muslim husband”. All this is part of a cultural heritage. Our first task is to recognize differences, indispensable for dialogue. Migrations give us an opportunity: that of impressing a greater spiritualization on our lives.  For our part, we can make the value of religious freedom known. Regarding the promotion of the human values we can foster dialogue, but we must commit ourselves to being “agents of change”. Fanaticism can come from “ignorance, indoctrination and frustration”.

The other night meeting was introduced by the president of Brescia Centro, Luigi Magnani and the president of Innerwhill, Luciana Bertoli, the governor Angelo Borgese and the president of the Province, Alberto Cavalli. Professor Gianfranco Callegari proposed the service budget for Monsignor Mazzolari’s mission in South Sudan, a service that has involved many clubs and has already raised 130 million. The commitment of the Comboni Fathers is “Save Africa with Africa”, that is the motto of their founder. “It’s a long way, we need to train people: we will make it,” says the Bishop of Rumbek, today more confident, after the European resolution for Sudan: “I’m beginning to see more light; our hoarse voice is reaching more hearts and more minds”.

 

Giuseppe Samir Eid

 

Free web translation from the original in Italian

 

The published articles intend to provide the tools for a social inclusion of the migratory flow, shed light on human rights and the condition of life of Christians in the Islamic world from which the author come from. Knowledge of the other, of cultural and religious differences are primary ingredients to create peace in the hearts of men everywhere, a prerequisite for a peaceful coexistence and convinced citizenship in the territory.

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019 - The Arab world, the Islam and the west

The OASI – pages 40-41 – 12-2001

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West and Islam

It would be wrong to set the West, which is a geographical-political entity, against Islam, which is a religion. It is more appropriate to speak of the differences between the laws (leaving aside the customs and habits) of the West and those of the Islamic states. It would be useful for everyone to illustrate the substantial differences that exist between Italian law and that of the countries of Islam. And it is well known that the Sharia applied in interpersonal relations discriminates against non-Muslims. The ambassadors of the countries of the Arab League represent countries, with the exception of Lebanon, which all have Islamic religious law, Sharia, as the source of their constitution.

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021 - THE ARAB WORLD, ISLAM AND THE WEST THE INVISIBLE KNOTS OF DIALOGUE

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We welcome some clarification from Giuseppe Samir Eid, a Christian of Arab origin, on the terminology and current concepts cited in his book on Islam. Islam: Indicates total submission, the will of Allah, to be supreme, (Akbar, without associates) and acceptance of his decrees. Some Islamic schools claim that the God known to Christians, namely the Tri- nity, is not the same God worshiped by Muslims. Sharia: is the totality of the orders ex- tracted from the Sunna t of the Koran and any other laws deduced from these two sources of jurists from the VII to the IX centuries AD and which were crystallized thereafter. Koran: the word of God tran- smitted to the prophet Mohammed. Sunnah: the collection of what Muhammad said, did or accepted, his example of life. Madrassa or madaress: it is the place of teaching of the Koran, generally attached to mosques. This teaching still continues very often ‚to teach a traditional religion which conceives that the western way of life (assimilated to Christianity) is contrary to Islam and therefore proposes an Islamized West. The effect of this teaching on millions of people is intuitive.

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