Mr. Adnan Oktar's Live Conversation with Mr. Ramzi Khoury, the Senior Advisor for the Arab Region to the UN Alliance of Civilizations (September 22nd, 2012; 22:00)

Excerpt from Mr. Adnan Oktar's Live Conversation on A9 TV dated September 22nd, 2012 

DIDEM URER: We will have a Skype connection and I can present your guest if you like

ADNAN OKTAR: Who is our guest?

DIDEM URER: Our guest is Mr. Ramzi Khoury, he is the senior advisor for the Arabic Region to United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. Mr. Ramzi Khoury has served as the private consultant of Mr. Mahmud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian National Authority. He also is a strategic communications consultant, journalist and columnist. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Strategy Falcons LLC, an Arab Strategic communications company based in Dubai, with offices throughout the world. And currently he is the senior advisor to the UN Alliance of Civilizations workgroup, insha'Allah.

ADNAN OKTAR: Okay, then. Let us talk to our Master Ramzi. As-salamun Alaykom, welcome Mr. Ramzi, how do you do?

Mr. RAMZI KHOURY: As-salamun Alaykom Mr. Oktar. I am very well Mr. Oktar, very well.

ADNAN OKTAR: Masha'Allah. Well, let us take your beautiful questions and give beautiful responses so that we can have a nice conversation insha'Allah. Please go on..

Mr. RAMZI KHOURY:  As you know Mr. Oktar, as the UN AOC, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, we are very worried about the latest crisis that has spread some violence in the Middle East and other Islamic countries which is promising to expand or extend the divide between the Muslim World and the West. Therefore I have some questions related to this crisis that is worrying us right now. My first question is; Some leaders are inciting youth to go out to demonstrate against the film trailer. These demonstrations sometimes turn violent. What does Islam say in regards to self expression on one hand and violence on the other hand?

ADNAN OKTAR: This is of course very wrong as a method. I mean a Muslim always explains things with compassion, with reason, with love, with a reasonable way of explaining by honoring the other party, by convincing the other party. And a Muslims attitude towards defamation is again reasonable. That is because Almighty Allah says in the Qur'an – I seek refuge with Allah from the satan; "[A good action and a bad action are not the same.].. Repel the bad with something better and, if there is enmity between you and someone else, he will be like a bosom friend. [41/34]" Almighty Allah says; "Make allowances for people, command what is right, and turn away from the ignorant. [7/199]"    

A Muslim is duty bound to be compassionate. A Muslim is duty bound to be merciful, to be rational. Yet of course some centers are testing Muslim countries. I mean to see how devoted they are to their religion, how devoted they are to Allah and to the Book, to what extend they are able stand, to which kind of an assault. Such a test is administered in this respect. That is a pschological testing. Muslims showing that they always are merciful, rational and compassionate will spoil this dirty trick.

Mr. RAMZI KHOURY: Well, in the same regard, some youth come out and protest against the film trailer believing that this is an opportunity to collect "hasanat" [good deed]. Can you explain this concept in Islam, the concept of "hasanat" [good deed] and can a Muslim collect "hasanat" through violence?

ADNAN OKTAR: It is a good thing that they want to collect good deeds. How are they to collect good deeds? By advocating the Unity of Islam, by advocating the Union of Islam, by advocating the alliance of all Muslim countries, by wanting Israel, Azerbaijan, Armenia and even Russia to be a part of this Unity of Islam, by feeling compassion also towards irreligious people, towards atheists, towards Christians, Jews and everyone else and by knowing that all of them are the servants created by Allah. Muslims will be collecting the real good deeds if they assume such an attitude. The greatest good deed is to advocate the Unity of Islam, it is to advocate the union of Muslims, it is to ensure that Christians will be able to freely worship [according to their religion], to ensure that Jews will be able to freely worship [according to their own religion] and to ensure that the whole World to become brothers; that is the most perfect form of religious service. If they do not perform these religious services, all other methods would come to mean that they have become the servants of the system of the dajjal, the antichrist. A sincere Muslim is duty bound to advocate the Mahdi, he is duty bound to advocate the Unity of Islam, he is duty bound to pray to Allah for the Jesus Messiah to appear on earth, and he is duty bound to experience this joy and excitement. Being against the Mahdi, being against the Unity of Islam, being against the [second] coming of the Jesus Messiah (pbuh) and causing scenes can only be the attitude of the proponents of the dajjal (antichrist).        

Mr. RAMZI KHOURY: Well, one of the slogans the demonstrators are shouting during the protests is "defend the Prophet" and others are saying ;" Lebbeyk Ya Rasul Allah" which is an answers to a call from the Prophet to come out and act. These are emotional calls to come out and act against the film trailer obviously. But my question to you is; Does the Prophet need defense? If so, what kind of defense does he need?

ADNAN OKTAR: Of course, they will be defending our Prophet (saas). Yet while doing so, they should be doing that by communicating his miracles. For instance he foretold that in the End Times two comets will appear as the portent of the appearance of Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh), he said that one of those comets, the comet Lulin, will have two tails and it will be very shinny and that it will go towards the opposite direction of other comets. If they had communicating even only this part in Europe, if they had propagated the miracle Prophet (saas) showed by foretelling the appearance of two comets in the End Times, in our days, everyone would be embracing our Prophet (saas) with admiration and with a great love. Our Prophet (saas) foretold that the water of the River Euphrates will be stopped. They should not be covering up these miracles, they should be propagating them, they should be propagating our Prophet's miracles, they should be propagating the fact that he is a true Prophet. What does our Prophet (saas) say? He says that [in the End Times] there will be Lunar and Solar eclipses in the month of Ramadan with fifteen days intervals. These have all happened, that is a great miracle, they should be talking about this. For instance, he said that there will be a raid to the Kaba about the same days and that the way to the pilgrimage will be hindered. They should be telling everyone about this. He foretells that Iraq will be invaded by foreign countries about the same times. They should be telling everyone about this. If they do so all the World will understand that our Prophet (saas) is a true prophet and the enthusiasm and faith of such ignorant people would increase in the perfect sense of the word and thus they do not deviate into such void and wrong paths, such crazy paths. Since the superior morality of our Prophet (saas) and his miracles, these wonders are not being propagated, since they have been hiding these facts and since they haven't been advocating the Unity of Islam such a foulness and such a poor judgment has developed in people. When they propagate the beautiful and right acts, people would not deviate into such invalid paths, insha'Allah.

Mr. RAMZI KHOURY: Well, some politicians and religious leaders are claiming that the film trailer, the Danish cartoons that created a crisis in the past and other incidents are proofs that there is a Crusade against Islam, and they are calling on Muslims to rise up and fight in defense of their religion. Do you believe that there is a Crusade against Islam as such?

ADNAN OKTAR: The fact of the matter is that they are trying to provoke the bigots. They are trying to exhibit bigots, expose them and disclose their character. There actually is an unruliness among the bigots. Bigots, those bigots who present themselves saying that they are Muslims are merciless, ruthless and cruel. Those are actually people who really want terror, they indeed are enemies to women, they indeed are merciless towards children, they indeed are merciless among themselves as well. They have such a psychopathic and abominable understanding. Consequently by making the distinction in between a bigot and a Muslim, it should be ensured that both Muslims and Europeans and Americans assume an attitude against bigots. Yet Islam should be supported by Europe, Muslims and everyone else. I mean there are bigots among Christians, among Jews and among Muslims as well. Bigotry is a grave danger in the World. It is bigotry that Europe is actually against anyway, not real Islam.

Mr. RAMZI KHOURY: Well, President Sampaio came out a few days ago only calling on the world to shoulder responsible citizenship but also responsible leadership, because there are some parties out there that are using the crisis for political gain. Can you talk about your view regarding using religion, inciting public religious sentiments to achieve political gain?

ADNAN OKTAR: They cannot come up with a solution for that. I mean that will either lead to a collosal disaster so much so that such a disaster would result in the World making havoc of each other or else abiding by the system of the Mahdi, Muslims would gather around a single person and then an air of spring would come upon the whole Islamic World. Love, peace, brotherhood, democracy, art and science would then embrace all around with beauty and an amazing sense of aesthetics and an amazing sense of justice would prevail all around. Christians, Jews, Muslims, irreligious people, atheists and everyone else would be tremendously comfortable in this environment similar to that of Paradise. And that can only be possible with the system of the Mahdi. I am not the one saying this, our Prophet (saas) says so. The Islamic World that think nothing of the our Prophet's (saas) words are in a wretched position today, majority of them are miserable. They are being humiliated everywhere, they are oppressed everywhere. Some are being killed, some are being beaten, some are being slandered, houses of some of them are being burnt. But if they gather around the Mahdi, a festive air, a joyous, beautiful happiness and glory would pervade the whole World. People should not stand out against this. The descend of the Jesus Messiah (pbuh) and abiding by the Mahdi.. They should be awaiting both of them with love and excitement and they should be asking that from Almighty Allah. They should be asking to become a student of the Mahdi, a student of the Jesus Messiah. Unless they fail to demand this, this affliction upon the World will be hardened exponentially. I have said that before. I said that it would be hardened exponentially and it is exponentially increasing in Turkey and also in the Islamic World. The only solution is to abide by the Mahdi as is due, to look for the Mahdi and ask for the appearance of the Jesus Messiah (pbuh) with fervor and enthusiasm from Allah, to ask for becoming his student and for abiding by him. There is no other way. Yet if some people consider this to be in vain, afflictions are at their door anyway. There is no way out other than this.

Mr. RAMZI KHOURY: Finally one issue of great concern is the status of Christians who are living in Muslim majority countries, especially in the Middle East. I know that you've touched on this subject during your answers today but as you know in Iraq Christians were murdered, in Palestine many Christians are feeling that the environment is changing against them and they are migrating. Today the Syrian Christians are extremely worried about the future. They are worried that there will be an Islamist regime that will oppress them, that their status is going to change if the regime changes in Syria. So Christians in the Middle East are extremely worried. Do you have a message for them and do you have the same message to the Muslim majority that is in the Middle East? 

ADNAN OKTAR: If there is one single leader heading the Muslims, he would be the addressee. At the moment there is no such addressee in the Muslim World. I mean there are thousands of different addressees in each and every country. There are many scholars, hodjas and sheikhs yet the Muslim World does not have a potent authority. If there is one single potent authority, and that will be the Mahdi, when such a point is raised up to him the matter would be solved fundamentally, in fact such an incident would never take place and even if it did it would be solved instantly. But at the moment it seems like there is a system that does not have an ear, that does not have an eye, that does not have a brain. That is because the Islamic World is headless, leaderless. A different voice comes from every single corner. Some interpret things this way and some interpret things that way, some harbor hostility towards Christians, some harbor hostility towards Jews, some attack irreligious people, some attack everyone else apart from their own friends, apart from their own sect, some are hostile towards Wahhabis, some are hostile towards Shia, some are hostile towards Sunnis. Such a wave of insanity prevails. This also is valid for some Christians, and such a spirit of insanity prevails also among some Jews. Yet when they all pledge allegiance to one single leader, there will be an instant tranquility, an instant serenity will be formed in the Islamic World and an environment of love, peace, brotherhood and democracy will be formed. With a single word coming from the Mahdi all things will be solved. Europe might be taking this lightly at the moment yet they will be obliged to this after a while. America is taking this lightly now yet they too will be obliged to it after a while. Before it is too late, before incidents reach to a disastrous point , they should take my advice. There has to be a leader heading the Islamic World. And that cannot be just anyone, the Islamic World would not accept anyone else, they would not accept anyone other than the Mahdi. They should look for him and they will find him. That is also valid for the Jesus Messiah (pbuh), if they look for him they will find him. But if they do not take my advice, the Last Day is imminent, the disasters are at the door, may Allah forbid.

Mr. RAMZI KHOURY: Thank you Mr. Oktar, for answering my questions and it is a pleasure to be on the Show.

ADNAN OKTAR: I thank you as well. I was very pleased and honored by your attendance. Insha'Allah we will meet again. We'd like to see you in Turkey as well.

Mr. RAMZI KHOURY: Thank you very much.