In continuation of their tradition of belligerency, Answering Islam has posted an early reaction in objection to our publishing of Han Kung on the Prophet Muhammad(P). There are several issues in this reaction by Jochen Katz, the de facto dictator of Answering Islam, that needs to be pointed out and corrected.
We shall briefly respond to each of the allegations, which are:
- Jochen Katz seems to come to too fast a conclusion in assuming that I (MENJ) have exclusive control of Bismika Allahuma‘s editorial policies. We do not know how he runs things at his website, nor do we care about it. It should be stated right here from the start that Bismika Allahuma is an online collaboration of several Muslim individuals who are concerned about the deen and wish to see a site facilitating their rebuttals to the Christian and anti-Islamic forces on the Internet. Bismika Allahuma does not revolve around one individual by the name of “MENJ”. We run things here in accordance to a shura’, Muslim consultation. This is not my personal site, which can be accessed here. Katz needs to stop imposing his Nazi heritage on us in equating Bismika Allahuma with “MENJ” and “MENJ” with Bismika Allahuma as, save for the fact that I have indeed co-founded this site with a partner, this project is not my own and I assume no control over it, unlike how Katz may be safely assumed to have dictatorial control over his website.
- Jochen Katz takes issue with a simple sentence: “the Christian opinion on Prophet Muhammad(P)“. We have never said that Kung’s opinion represent all Christians or that Kung’s words is the sole canonical authority that all Christians must follow. Katz must have been reading too much into the text. Again, how things are run at Bismika Allahuma is totally different from how Katz with his dictatorship run things at his website. However, to satisfy Katz’s ego and to make our explanation clearer, we have reworded the text. We hope that Katz will no longer have any complaints about how the sentence was worded.
- Since Katz have wasted his (and our) time complaining about such a minor issue about whether Kung is speaking on behalf of “THE Christian” community or one of the various diverse Christian opinions, we will not be bothered to address the rest of his polemical diatribe. As usual, Katz loves to split hairs and as a testament to his undying hatred of the Prophet Muhammad(P), tries to cast doubt on the scholarly credentials of Hans Kung. Now, we know who Hans Kung is, and he is a well-known authority who is often invited to speak at universities in the Muslim World. Now who is one obscure (Nazi!) German mathematician by the name of “Jochen Katz” is, compared to the world-renowned Catholic theologian
We believe that Katz has been making up stories in his polemic about the “non-Catholicity” of Hans Kung, as to the best our knowledge, Kung is still a Catholic priest and is introduced as such in every lecture he attends. According to his Wikipedia entry: “He [Kung] was not excommunicated and remains a Roman Catholic priest.” by the name of Hans Kung? - Lastly, Katz decides to beat a dead horse by preaching about the so-called “falsehood” of the Prophet Muhammad(P). Since Katz was so hung up about Kung’s glowing tribute to the Prophet Muhammad(P) and questioned Kung’s “representation” of the Christian community
Although we have never stated that this is so! , may we be justified in saying that Katz’s opinion is only one opinion and does not represent ALL Christians in their opinion of the Prophet(P)?
With this brief assessment, we end our response here. See also The Küng Controversy: An Analysis of Jochen Katz’s Recent Tirade. And only Allah knows best! 
The author is the co-founder and executive editor of Bismika Allahuma.
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