( dpa )- An Islamic body called on Muslims Sunday to be rational in their response to the anti-Islam film made by Dutch opposition populist politician Geert Wilders.
The Jeddah-based Islamic Jurisprudence Assembly condemned in a statement the 16-minute film, which warns of radical Islam and the alleged Islamization of the Netherlands.
The assembly urged Muslims to show "full rationality in dealing with the issue in the interest of Muslims and Islam."
The film, called Fitna , which means the split between believers and infidels, draws direct parallels between the text of the Koran and the terrorist acts and violence carried out by Muslim extremists.
The assembly condemned the film as "a crime" and "a deliberate provocation" of Muslims and urged western politicians and clergy "to stand firmly against extremism increasingly targeting Muslims."
Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen called on the Islamic world to be level-headed in its response to the film in an interview published in the Saudi-owned Asharq al- Awsat newspaper Sunday.
"Criticism can not be a justification for aggression and threats, even when it is hurtful," Verhagen said.
The Dutch foreign minister again distanced his government from the text of the film, which he said made generalizations and was polarizing.
The jurisprudence assembly is part of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which comprises 57 Islamic states.