Excerpt:
The Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE) has issued a statement expressing its "great sorrow" over the death of French Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy. According to the FIOE statement:
The Federation of Islamic Organisations in Europe (FIOE) received with great sorrow, the news of the death of the French thinker, Roger Garaudy, known to the world as a distinguished philosopher with a life of diverse contributions and interactions across the world. The late Roger Garaudy rose to prominence in the field of thought and philosophy, and for his opinions and stances, won many friends and opponents, from different schools of thought, in the distinct phases of his life. In addition, his embracing of the Islamic religion was a crowning moment in a journey distinguished by ideological diversity, which embodied a special place for him among the Muslims, who saw in him an example of the confluence of civilisations and cultures. Whether people agree or disagree with pioneering thinkers, they cannot in any way ignore the vibrant ideological and human life of a thinker, who spent close to a whole century of our lifetime, with a keen concern for achieving understanding between nations, and interaction between civilizations. The Federation of Islamic Organisations in Europe extends its condolences to the family of the great thinker, Roger Garaudy, his admirers, and the Muslim public in France, on the death of this man who left this world, yet lives on through his works, philosophical legacy, and humane example; we ask Allah, the Almighty, to receive him with His Bountiful Mercy, and to accept him among the righteous.