BUT, ALLAH IS INDEED THE GOD OF ISRAEL!
Jewish video explaining the validity of the word ‘Allah’ being a semitic word for God
Posted: September 25, 2012 Filed under: Christianity, Islamophobia, Judaism Leave a comment »
THE ROOTS OF FRENCH CHURCH
HATRED FOR MUSLIMS AND ISLAM
STILL TAUGHT IN
CHURCH
“CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS DO NOT WORSHIP THE SAME GOD, THE FIRST ONES WORSHIP THE HOLY TRINITY, AND THE LATTER WORSHIP A DEMON!”
www.pugiofidei.com/nations.htm
THE UNITED KINGDOM
OF GREAT ISRAEL
ANTI-ISLAM HATRED
In the Education System in Mauritius once controlled by the Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church, all non Christians, mainly the Hindus and the Muslims, were classified as HEATHENS (PAÏENS) and “heathens” were segregated from the good Christians while lining up for Christian morning prayer time, for example, at the Primary school of Saint Jean Bosco in Curepipe-Road, Plaines Wilhelm’s.
Together with the Jews, the French carried out horrendous atrocities on the Algerian and other Muslim populations, mass murdered men, women and children, stole their wealth and natural resources and enslaved the entire Muslim population. On top of that, they had to preach hatred in their Churches against Muslims and Islam. In Mauritius they brought Africans that they enslaved in chains, and treated them atrociously although they were forcibly baptised in the Catholic religion. Then, they turned their sadistic wrath and cruelty and racism on the Indians who were forced to come to Mauritius after their parents had been slaughtered by the British invaders and occupiers of their lands in Hindustan on “signed indentured contracts”.
Anti-Christian France has tried vainly to impose their fascist LAÏCITÉ (a kind of racist and Freemasonic anti-Christian secularism) on to Muslims as well, but Islam will never tolerate this abomination to rule over Muslims.
Roman Catholics had discarded the Hindu religion as a polytheist religion and never demonised it because it posed no threats to the Christian faith. But, Islam was and is a powerful rival and they were and are scared by it to such an extent that they feel they had to preach hatred against Prophet Muhammad, the Last in the Abrahamic line of Prophets, against Islam, Arabs and Muslims. This has not stopped to this very day. Here are a few gems preached by Bishop Louis Pavy in 1853 in his Cathedral of Alger in occupied Algeria, during … Lent (Carême), a trend that has continued in the Christian literature, in Christian Pauline State subservient politics, in Churches, on the web, etc.
Prophecy, miracles, integrity … none of those are to be found in Mahomet, that man of plunder and blood who preaches his doctrine with a sword bringing death on one third of the then known world.
Prophet ? He could not even predict (deviner) that one day he would be
poisoned!
Miracles,
precious witness of our faith ! None
with Mahomet! Proof of his
powerlessness, deception, and mistake.
I read the account
of his 18 miracles! These are
useless phenomena, childish tales, poor magic tricks that would make our famous
magicians laugh!
Mahomet falsely
claimed that the Qur’ân was the Miracle of Miracles!
You can see
exploding in Mahomet duplicity, cruelty, the thirst for carnal pleasure,
booty, domination, vengeance, and pride to the highest degree!
His 21 spouses, his
4 concubines, and that infamous law that granted him the right to have any
Muslim woman and even a little girl of 8 years of age!
Mahomet is not sent
by God!
The Qur’ân is
bombastic in its language, violent, sensual, suppresses all remorse and
introduces fatalism.
Conquered by the
flesh, Mahomet accepts like a divine prerogative (law), his absolute
domination.
Mahomet borrowed from all existing religions and Apocrypha, incoherently, and came up with such a stupidity like: ‘There is no God but God, and Mahomet is his prophet!”
Mahomet crowns
himself by pride for his own person!
The Qur’ân denies
the divinity of Jesus-Christ.
Is
the god of Mahomet the true God? No!The false prophet has made up a new god fashioned according to him!
His unique god is the cruellest of tyrants!
His unique god is a god without a heart; he does not love, and does not ask to be loved.
The god of Mahomet changed the eternal beauty of heaven into a place of prostitution, with orgies … lustfulness (lechery)…
The god of Islam, is such a foul, filthy, obnoxious (immonde) being!
Oh, no, this is not the true God of heaven and earth, the God of the nations, the God of the prophets, the God of Moses, the God of Jesus Christ!
It is not you, Ô Holy Trinity that this man has so violently fought!
It is not you Ô Holy father, Ô Eternal Word (Verbe), Ô Spirit of light and charity!
It is not you, Jesus, the salvation and the life of my soul…This man Mahomet, has not known you! He could not have loved you, not he!
Forgive us, Lord, if, to defend your name, I have spoken of another god than you!
Islam is a false religion, blasphemous and heretical.
Morality in Islam ? Blood
associated with voluptuousness, war against the infidels, permanent war, war
that has to be carried out to total extermination or to the payment of taxes!
After reading the Qur’ân, I learned nothing !
The Muslims who
read the Qur’ân prays by just repeating void and empty formulae (creuses et
vides!). Such prayers are an insult
because they are addressed to a god that does not exist!
And science? It appeared to Muslims like lightning
and disappeared!
What progress
have they achieved in agriculture? None !
Muslims abandoned
to sterility those beautiful provinces of Syria
and Africa, so fertile and so much populated
at a time when Islamism pounced on them!
And the family ? The husband is a capricious despot!
The wife is a
slave!
No education, not
even elementary for her!
No mosque to pray!
The advice of Mgr Pavy, to convert Muslims:
To bring them peace!
The purity and the inviolability of Christian marriage!
Forgiveness!
Freedom!
Sweet resignation (acceptance by submission) that will make
them regard their tears like precious pearls and regard the thorns of their
pain as many flowers added to the Crown of Christ.
Amen!
From the sermon of Louis Pavy, Bishop of Alger in the Alger
Cathedral, in occupied Algeria,
during Lent (le Carême) of 1853.
“John Paul II kissing the Qur’ân,
a book denying the Holy Trinity, denying the divinity of Jesus Christ and
containing calls to murder, to hatred, to violence, to lewdness!!!””
(“Karol Jozef Wojtyla, an Antichrist « beatified » by his own”
- Saturday 15 January 2011 - www.catholique-sedevacantiste.com)
We cannot even talk freely to our Christian and Catholic Brothers and Sisters of the Faith because of this visceral hatred for Islam, Arabs and Muslims as taught in their Churches – and because of willing ignorance. As for the Catholics, they were already so messed up that Rome decided to make it worse for them by the Pastoral Council Vatican II that brought about so many abominable and heretical reforms within the Catholic Dogma itself. The day established Roman Catholicism died for good (although not in the hearts and way of life of many) was when it recognised and legitimised the racist and apartheid entity known as Israel on stolen Palestinian lands and did/does almost nothing to prevent the descendants of Jesus Christ, of the Apostles, of the Early Christians and of the Saints and Martyrs to be exterminated by the Jews who even brag they have crucified Jesus and would do it again, and are out murdering entire nations with the help of decadent Christians and of Atheists, of course!
So, the task is almost impossible to try and convince enough Christians (and others) to understand the ugliness of their own creed before they start criticising and even demonising Islam and Muslims or joining the war effort, the Crusade for the extermination of entire defenceless nations that have never wronged them.
It was therefore not that hard for the Jews who control the entire western war machine, financial, political, judiciary, academic and cultural institutions of the west to feed the Christians with some more poison to make them not hate only Muslims and Islam, but even Christians and Jesus in the name of progress, liberalism and reform.
Given the hatred of Islam by the Europeans who are scaring the entire continent with the hoax of the “total Islamisation of Europe”, including France (former Jean-Marie Lepen’s National Front prominent member Thomas Joly and others), Muslims are being treated as second class citizens and being fought against on all sides, and discriminated against and demonised on a daily basis. The French are being terrorised with the “Muslim threat” and warned that if they do not stop the Muslims, they will become Muslims “Dhimmis” in their own lands! It is farcical!
BAFS
Monday 24th of September 2012
Pour commencer,
"celui qui prétend être le prophète d’Allah, Mahomet, devrait avoir des
lettres de créances", c’est-à-dire la prophétie, les miracles et
l’intégrité de l’ensemble de sa vie... "Rien de tout cela se trouve chez
Mahomet, cet homme de pillage et de sang qui prêche sa doctrine à coup de
cimeterres, en promenant la mort sur un tiers du globe alors connu !
Prophète ? "Il n’a même pas su deviner qu’un jour le poison lui serait servi par des mains soumises."
Et les miracles ? "Mahomet répète jusqu’à satiété que Moïse, Jésus-Christ et les autres prophètes ont fait des miracles, témoignage précieux pour notre foi, mais que lui n’est pas chargé d’en faire : il n’est chargé que de la prédication ; voilà la confession de son impuissance et par conséquent de son imposture et de son erreur." Par ailleurs, dit Monseigneur, "j’ai lu le récit de ses 18 miracles, d’après les auteurs arabes. Ce sont des phénomènes sans raison d’être, des contes puérils où tout au plus des tours de sorcellerie qui feraient rire de pitié nos fameux prestidigitateurs... Tantôt ce sont des arbres qui se promènent, des pierres qui parlent et autres niaiseries que nous avons honte de rapporter ici. Voilà tout son bagage de thaumaturge !" Et manque d’arguments et de miracles Mahomet fait croire que "le miracle des miracles, c’est le Coran, prodige qui dépasserait en beauté toutes les formes humaines..."
"4 ou 5 chapitres du Coran sont assez agréablement tournés, j’en conviens ; mais... qu’est-ce que peuvent faire 5 chapitres pour racheter les prodigieuses niaiseries, les maximes jetées sans ordre, les hiéroglyphes bizarres, les non-sens habituels et les flagrantes contradictions qui remplissent les 114 chapitres de ce tome indigeste ?"
"Dans le Coran je n’ai rien trouvé de bien neuf. Presque tout, excepté les infamies, y est emprunté et contrefait. Ce qui est vrai se trouve dans le Pentateuque et dans l’Evangile ; ce qui est faux, dans le Talmud, dans les légendes arabes ou sabéennes, dans les évangiles apocryphes... Or, on voudrait faire descendre fraîchement du Ciel ce qui est déjà vieux sur la terre, et ce que je rencontre au fond de la boue !"
"Le sabre n’est point un argument pour l’intelligence humaine".
"Parce que Jésus s’était choisi 12 apôtres parmi les fidèles, Mahomet en choisit 12 parmi ses sectateurs, ce qui l’a fait appeler par un écrivain du Moyen Age le ’copieur de Dieu’."... "A la place de la simplicité, de la douceur, de la bénignité, de l’esprit de paix et de pardon, de la pauvreté volontaire, de l’humilité, de l’amour des souffrances de Jésus, vous voyez éclater dans Mahomet la duplicité, la cruauté, la soif des jouissances, du butin, de la domination, de la vengeance et de l’orgueil, à leur paroxysme le plus élevé."
"Pourquoi suis-je obligé, poursuit Monseigneur Pavy, de taire ses 21 épouses qu’il se donne après s’être engagé à n’en avoir que 4, sans compter ses 4 concubines, et cette infâme loi qui lui accorde toute femme musulmane dont le coeur se sentira incliné vers lui", fût-ce une fillette de 8 ans ?... "Donc, il n’est pas l’envoyé de Dieu".
"Le Coran exprime, en de pompeuses paroles, les grandes idées des vertus naturelles, et lâche en même temps ouvertement la bride aux penchants les plus violents et les plus sulfureux... Il supprime les remords en introduisant le fatalisme... Mahomet, vaincu par la chair, accepte comme une loi divine sa domination absolue", par ses instincts les plus indignes.
"Mahomet emprunte à chacune des religions existantes à son époque une portion de ses doctrines, et de cet amalgame incohérent qui prétend ménager le Chrétien, le juif, le sabéen, l’idolâtre, il forme son symbole et lui donne pour suprême couronnement son aphorisme : ’Il n’y a de Dieu que Dieu, et Mahomet est son prophète’... Il se fonde sur l’amalgame des doctrines, et se couronne par l’orgueil de la personne"... "Mais la vérité n’est pas une propriété dont on puisse abandonner même une parcelle, dans l’intérêt prétendu de la paix".
"Le Coran nie la divinité de Jésus-Christ".
"Est-ce le Dieu véritable que le dieu de Mahomet ? Non ! Le faux prophète a donc fait un dieu nouveau ? pas davantage. Il a fait de son dieu ce qu’il a fait de tout le reste, un bizarre assemblage des qualités les plus opposés ; il l’a arrangé à sa façon."
"Son dieu unique, mes frères, est si faible qu’il n’ose jurer par lui-même !... Son dieu unique est le plus cruel des tyrans, puisqu’il fait lui-même tout dans l’homme, jusqu’au péché, puisqu’il ordonne à tous de croire à la nouvelle révélation du Coran, et déclare en même temps qu’il ne veut pas que les infidèles puissent y croire. Son dieu unique est un dieu sans coeur ; il n’aime pas, et il ne demande pas qu’on l’aime !"
Le dieu de Mahomet "change l’éternelle beauté du ciel en un lieu de prostitution, dont les orgies dépassent en lubricité multiple et stérile tout ce que l’idolâtrie elle-même, dans ses conceptions les plus abjectes, avait pu rêver. Le dieu de l’islam, c’est un être tellement immonde, en sa complaisante faiblesse, que si l’autorité chargée de la garde des moeurs rencontrait dans nos rues quelque chose de semblable, elle devrait à l’instant l’arrêter et le dérober aux yeux d’un public, hélas, pourtant si facile ! Et se serait là le vrai Dieu ?"
"Oh, non, non, ce n’est pas là le vrai Dieu du ciel et de la terre, le Dieu des nations, le Dieu des prophètes, le Dieu de Moïse, le Dieu de Jésus-Christ. Ce n’est pas Vous, ô Sainte Trinité, que cet homme a violemment combattue. Ce n’est pas Vous, ô Père saint, ô Verbe éternel, ô Esprit de lumière et de charité ! Ce n’est pas Vous, Jésus, le salut et la vie de mon âme... Cet homme, Mahomet, ne vous a pas connu, il n’a pas su vous aimer, lui. Pardon, Seigneur, si, pour la défense de votre nom, j’ai parlé d’un autre dieu que vous !"
"L’islam est une prétendue religion que certains Français entourent encore de tant de respect.... Quelle morale est-ce donc, mes frères, que celle dont votre évêque n’ose pas exposer les principes, même pour les flétrir ?"
La morale de l’islam ? "L’association du sang à la volupté, la guerre à l’infidèle, guerre permanente, guerre qui doit durer jusqu’à leur entière extermination ou soumission au tribut."
"En lisant l’Evangile, j’ai appris à prier ; en lisant le Coran, je n’ai rien appris, et le musulman, j’en suis sûr, n’y apprend, lui, qu’à répéter de creuses et de vides formules. Je serais tenté de dire qu’une telle prière est un outrage, puisqu’elle s’adresse à un dieu qui n’existe pas, ou qui existe avec des attributs tout opposés à ceux que lui prête la doctrine du musulman."
Et la science ? "Elle a paru, chez eux, comme un météore ; elle est restée, chez nous, comme un soleil dont les feux alimentent sans cesse l’activité de l’intelligence humaine... Quel progrès ont-ils fait dans l’agriculture ? Aucun ; et, tandis que nos moines défrichaient l’Europe, les musulmans ont abandonné à la stérilité ces belles provinces de la Syrie et de l’Afrique, si fertiles et si peuplées à l’époque où l’islamisme s’abattit sur elles."
"Et la famille ? L’époux y est un capricieux despote, la femme une esclave ; point d’instruction, même élémentaire, pour elle ; point de mosquées où elle puisse prier avant l’âge de la vieillesse."
Les conseils de Mgr Pavy, pour convertir les musulmans qui nous entourent ? "Y porter non la guerre, mais la paix ; non la licence du toit domestique, mais la pureté et l’inviolabilité du mariage chrétien ; non la vengeance, mais le pardon ; non ce fatalisme désespérant, qui compromet autant la puissance de Dieu et sa miséricorde que la liberté humaine, mais cette douce résignation qui lui fait compter les larmes comme autant de perles précieuses et les épines de la douleur comme autant de fleurons ajoutés à la Couronne du Christ. Amen."
Extraits du sermon prononcé par Monseigneur Louis Pavy, évêque d’Alger, en la cathédrale d’Alger pendant le Carême de... 1853.
Prophète ? "Il n’a même pas su deviner qu’un jour le poison lui serait servi par des mains soumises."
Et les miracles ? "Mahomet répète jusqu’à satiété que Moïse, Jésus-Christ et les autres prophètes ont fait des miracles, témoignage précieux pour notre foi, mais que lui n’est pas chargé d’en faire : il n’est chargé que de la prédication ; voilà la confession de son impuissance et par conséquent de son imposture et de son erreur." Par ailleurs, dit Monseigneur, "j’ai lu le récit de ses 18 miracles, d’après les auteurs arabes. Ce sont des phénomènes sans raison d’être, des contes puérils où tout au plus des tours de sorcellerie qui feraient rire de pitié nos fameux prestidigitateurs... Tantôt ce sont des arbres qui se promènent, des pierres qui parlent et autres niaiseries que nous avons honte de rapporter ici. Voilà tout son bagage de thaumaturge !" Et manque d’arguments et de miracles Mahomet fait croire que "le miracle des miracles, c’est le Coran, prodige qui dépasserait en beauté toutes les formes humaines..."
"4 ou 5 chapitres du Coran sont assez agréablement tournés, j’en conviens ; mais... qu’est-ce que peuvent faire 5 chapitres pour racheter les prodigieuses niaiseries, les maximes jetées sans ordre, les hiéroglyphes bizarres, les non-sens habituels et les flagrantes contradictions qui remplissent les 114 chapitres de ce tome indigeste ?"
"Dans le Coran je n’ai rien trouvé de bien neuf. Presque tout, excepté les infamies, y est emprunté et contrefait. Ce qui est vrai se trouve dans le Pentateuque et dans l’Evangile ; ce qui est faux, dans le Talmud, dans les légendes arabes ou sabéennes, dans les évangiles apocryphes... Or, on voudrait faire descendre fraîchement du Ciel ce qui est déjà vieux sur la terre, et ce que je rencontre au fond de la boue !"
"Le sabre n’est point un argument pour l’intelligence humaine".
"Parce que Jésus s’était choisi 12 apôtres parmi les fidèles, Mahomet en choisit 12 parmi ses sectateurs, ce qui l’a fait appeler par un écrivain du Moyen Age le ’copieur de Dieu’."... "A la place de la simplicité, de la douceur, de la bénignité, de l’esprit de paix et de pardon, de la pauvreté volontaire, de l’humilité, de l’amour des souffrances de Jésus, vous voyez éclater dans Mahomet la duplicité, la cruauté, la soif des jouissances, du butin, de la domination, de la vengeance et de l’orgueil, à leur paroxysme le plus élevé."
"Pourquoi suis-je obligé, poursuit Monseigneur Pavy, de taire ses 21 épouses qu’il se donne après s’être engagé à n’en avoir que 4, sans compter ses 4 concubines, et cette infâme loi qui lui accorde toute femme musulmane dont le coeur se sentira incliné vers lui", fût-ce une fillette de 8 ans ?... "Donc, il n’est pas l’envoyé de Dieu".
"Le Coran exprime, en de pompeuses paroles, les grandes idées des vertus naturelles, et lâche en même temps ouvertement la bride aux penchants les plus violents et les plus sulfureux... Il supprime les remords en introduisant le fatalisme... Mahomet, vaincu par la chair, accepte comme une loi divine sa domination absolue", par ses instincts les plus indignes.
"Mahomet emprunte à chacune des religions existantes à son époque une portion de ses doctrines, et de cet amalgame incohérent qui prétend ménager le Chrétien, le juif, le sabéen, l’idolâtre, il forme son symbole et lui donne pour suprême couronnement son aphorisme : ’Il n’y a de Dieu que Dieu, et Mahomet est son prophète’... Il se fonde sur l’amalgame des doctrines, et se couronne par l’orgueil de la personne"... "Mais la vérité n’est pas une propriété dont on puisse abandonner même une parcelle, dans l’intérêt prétendu de la paix".
"Le Coran nie la divinité de Jésus-Christ".
"Est-ce le Dieu véritable que le dieu de Mahomet ? Non ! Le faux prophète a donc fait un dieu nouveau ? pas davantage. Il a fait de son dieu ce qu’il a fait de tout le reste, un bizarre assemblage des qualités les plus opposés ; il l’a arrangé à sa façon."
"Son dieu unique, mes frères, est si faible qu’il n’ose jurer par lui-même !... Son dieu unique est le plus cruel des tyrans, puisqu’il fait lui-même tout dans l’homme, jusqu’au péché, puisqu’il ordonne à tous de croire à la nouvelle révélation du Coran, et déclare en même temps qu’il ne veut pas que les infidèles puissent y croire. Son dieu unique est un dieu sans coeur ; il n’aime pas, et il ne demande pas qu’on l’aime !"
Le dieu de Mahomet "change l’éternelle beauté du ciel en un lieu de prostitution, dont les orgies dépassent en lubricité multiple et stérile tout ce que l’idolâtrie elle-même, dans ses conceptions les plus abjectes, avait pu rêver. Le dieu de l’islam, c’est un être tellement immonde, en sa complaisante faiblesse, que si l’autorité chargée de la garde des moeurs rencontrait dans nos rues quelque chose de semblable, elle devrait à l’instant l’arrêter et le dérober aux yeux d’un public, hélas, pourtant si facile ! Et se serait là le vrai Dieu ?"
"Oh, non, non, ce n’est pas là le vrai Dieu du ciel et de la terre, le Dieu des nations, le Dieu des prophètes, le Dieu de Moïse, le Dieu de Jésus-Christ. Ce n’est pas Vous, ô Sainte Trinité, que cet homme a violemment combattue. Ce n’est pas Vous, ô Père saint, ô Verbe éternel, ô Esprit de lumière et de charité ! Ce n’est pas Vous, Jésus, le salut et la vie de mon âme... Cet homme, Mahomet, ne vous a pas connu, il n’a pas su vous aimer, lui. Pardon, Seigneur, si, pour la défense de votre nom, j’ai parlé d’un autre dieu que vous !"
"L’islam est une prétendue religion que certains Français entourent encore de tant de respect.... Quelle morale est-ce donc, mes frères, que celle dont votre évêque n’ose pas exposer les principes, même pour les flétrir ?"
La morale de l’islam ? "L’association du sang à la volupté, la guerre à l’infidèle, guerre permanente, guerre qui doit durer jusqu’à leur entière extermination ou soumission au tribut."
"En lisant l’Evangile, j’ai appris à prier ; en lisant le Coran, je n’ai rien appris, et le musulman, j’en suis sûr, n’y apprend, lui, qu’à répéter de creuses et de vides formules. Je serais tenté de dire qu’une telle prière est un outrage, puisqu’elle s’adresse à un dieu qui n’existe pas, ou qui existe avec des attributs tout opposés à ceux que lui prête la doctrine du musulman."
Et la science ? "Elle a paru, chez eux, comme un météore ; elle est restée, chez nous, comme un soleil dont les feux alimentent sans cesse l’activité de l’intelligence humaine... Quel progrès ont-ils fait dans l’agriculture ? Aucun ; et, tandis que nos moines défrichaient l’Europe, les musulmans ont abandonné à la stérilité ces belles provinces de la Syrie et de l’Afrique, si fertiles et si peuplées à l’époque où l’islamisme s’abattit sur elles."
"Et la famille ? L’époux y est un capricieux despote, la femme une esclave ; point d’instruction, même élémentaire, pour elle ; point de mosquées où elle puisse prier avant l’âge de la vieillesse."
Les conseils de Mgr Pavy, pour convertir les musulmans qui nous entourent ? "Y porter non la guerre, mais la paix ; non la licence du toit domestique, mais la pureté et l’inviolabilité du mariage chrétien ; non la vengeance, mais le pardon ; non ce fatalisme désespérant, qui compromet autant la puissance de Dieu et sa miséricorde que la liberté humaine, mais cette douce résignation qui lui fait compter les larmes comme autant de perles précieuses et les épines de la douleur comme autant de fleurons ajoutés à la Couronne du Christ. Amen."
Extraits du sermon prononcé par Monseigneur Louis Pavy, évêque d’Alger, en la cathédrale d’Alger pendant le Carême de... 1853.
PRESS RELEASE: Conway Hall cancels hall booking for debate event with Tommy Robinson, head of the English Defence League
Posted: September 26, 2012 Filed under: Debates, MDI Press Release, MDI UK 7 Comments »PRESS RELEASE: 26th September 2012
MDI regretfully announces that the venue for our public debate with Tommy Robinson on ‘Islam and Islamophobia: which is a threat to Britain?’ – the Conway Hall – has cancelled our booking for 4th October 2012.
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Conway Hall, has decided based upon advice from the Police, and
under pressure from various anti-fascist organisations and at least one
MP, that the event may put the public at risk to public health and
safety concerns under the current climate. Despite the security
procedures of MDI within the building, the Venue Director was concerned
about the safety of attendees outside the hall when going to, and
leaving the event. Therefore, Conway Hall has informed Muslim Debate
Initiative that for the time being, they will have to cancel the hire of
the hall to MDI for this public event.
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We regret the decision of Conway Hall to not allow MDI at this time to host Tommy Robinson of the English Defence League as part of an open public debate.
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We at Muslim Debate Initiative
believe strongly in the need for debate, as a means to discuss and
express intellectual and political difference of opinion, and thereby
facilitate the public to reach a educated conclusion and judgement upon
any matter. MDI believe that there should be no limits to what can be
sincerely debated, and no restrictions as to what intellectual or
political position can be enunciated for the deliberation of the public
and the pursuit of truth and clarity.
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It should be noted that both the Police, and the Conway Hall agreed
that there were no perceived threats of disruption coming from the
Muslim community. Rather, it is MDI’s experience that the Muslim
community overwhelmingly welcome such debates, and are eager for such
open and frank discussions to occur. MDI feel that the Muslim community,
and the wider community are being denied the chance to openly debate
the real issues and express their worldviews freely, for the purpose of
seeking a real solution to the current issues we face. It seems that
open debate and discussion is being straight-jacketed into only the
approved discourse which pervades accepted mainstream political
discussion. We feel that to seek real solutions, the only way forward
should be for people to express, debate and prove their intellectual,
confessional and political standpoints, no matter how controversial, .
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MDI has a proud history of both mainstream and controversial
debates, with mainstream and controversial speakers, which were
conducted civilly and respectfully but frankly and robustly.
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Despite the cancellation of the hire booking, MDI will re-organise and re-schedule the event for another venue in another part of England,
and a suitable time/date where we can be sure of no disruption. We will
keep all our subscribers, regular attendees and guests informed once we
have secured a new location and time. Please note, the re-scheduled
event may not necessarily occur on the 4th October 2012, please standby
for further updates.
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MDI will continue its commitment to initiate open, frank and robust
debate, and push the boundaries of intellectual and political
discourse.
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To see the official statement by Conway Hall, and contact that them with any Press queries, please click here:
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Members of the Press can get into contact with MDI on: press@muslimdebate.co.uk
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Clarification (Added 27th September 2012)
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Unite Against Fascism, were not responsible for
the cancellation of the event. They sent no correspondence to us, to
request us to cancel the event. Although they understood the reasons for
MDI to host the event, they disagreed with offering a platform for
fascists as a matter of principle. However, as far as we are aware,
they committed no official actions to prevent the event from taking
place. The anti-fascist organisations referred to in this Press Release,
refer to other groups and individuals.
Muslim Debate Initiative
http://thedebateinitiative.com/
What Catholic Christians can learn from Islam
Posted: September 27, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »by Paul Williams
It is a joy to me to hear a wise Christian monk get to the heart of Muslim prayer when so many other Christians (usually fundamentalist evangelicals) think Salat is just an empty ritual. Maybe it has something to do with him being a Catholic…Benedictine Father William Skudlarek shares lessons he learned from Muslims about prayer.
Public Debate: Was Jesus Crucified? James White vs Sami Zaatari – 19th September 2012
Posted: September 27, 2012 Filed under: Debates, MDI UK Leave a comment » The video of the MDI debate last week, is now up. See Sami Zaatari and american Christian apologist, James White debate on the intriguing topic of: “Was Jesus Crucified?”The Patient Noose
Posted: September 25, 2012 Filed under: articles by Abdullah, Islamophobia, Liberalism 1 Comment » The current reality of Western Liberal ‘Tolerance’, is similar to a patient executioner. The Liberal ideology in West views all beliefs systems that are fundamentally different to itself as its enemy. The history of Western Liberalism has shown it consistently executing, eradicating and castrating all resistant beliefs to its world order and vision.<div>So when people from lands it has previously defeated, immigrate to the West to supply it with cheap labour – and whose children subsequently rediscover their ideological heritage; Liberalism’s pretension to freedom of conscience and expression is tested for the first time and exposed as a facade.The Western concept of tolerance is merely the delayed onset of its intolerance. It ‘mercifully’ gives people time to conform themselves to its belief system via ‘integration’. However, once its patience has expired, it will not permit any difference to exist within its societies. Using the labels of ‘extremist’ and ‘Islamist’ it will systematically persecute, coerce and pressure its minorities to conform in belief and practice. Those Muslims who are adamant in holding onto their beliefs and their practice, it targets first. Although at first, it seems to praise those Muslims who, despite holding onto their beliefs, do not seek to practice them in the ‘modern world’ (i.e. moderates). In the end, they too will suffer the same fate as their brethren; for Liberalism suffers not that beliefs antithetical to its world view, should live.
The moral of the story is, while Muslims may invoke the dogma of ‘freedom’ to find protection for themselves; they should come to realise that their enemies invoke ‘freedom’ to bring about their very destruction.
And in the end, ‘Freedom’ only protects its own adherents.
BBC: What did the Islamic civilisation ever do for us?
Posted: September 25, 2012 Filed under: Islamic history, Science, Uncategorized Leave a comment »The Financial Interests behind Islamophobia
Posted: September 25, 2012 Filed under: Islamophobia 1 Comment »Jewish expert on Semitic languages exposes Evangelical Christian myth of an Islamic ‘Moon-god’
Posted: September 23, 2012 Filed under: Christian extremism, Christianity, Islam, Islamophobia, Judaism Leave a comment »MDI Debate Video: Is Muhammed Prophesied in the Bible?
Posted: September 22, 2012 Filed under: Christianity, Debates, MDI UK 25 Comments » The video of last week’s debate, “Is Muhammed Prophesied in the Bible?” featuring James White debating Zakir Hussain, is now up:MDI Canada members help diffuse anti-Mosque protest in Toronto
Posted: September 20, 2012 Filed under: Islamophobia, MDI Canada 3 Comments »Mosque protest goes to the dogs
By Terry Davidson,Toronto SunTORONTO - A much anticipated dog walk protest outside an east-Toronto mosque Friday turned out to be a hopelessly neutered event. Around 20 demonstrators turned up outside the Salahuddin Islamic Centre for the Walk Your Dog in Front of a Mosque protest. It was organized in response to a Jewish man who was arrested at a recent Islamic demonstration following an altercation in which his dog was kicked by a demonstrator.
Around 20 humans and three dogs – two retrievers and a pomeranian — turned up for the two and a half hour event and converged at the entrance of the mosque, located on Kennedy Rd. south of Eglinton Ave. E.
Some devout Muslims consider dogs to be unclean and avoid them.
“We wish we had a better turnout, but there were extenuating circumstances,” said organizer Ron Banerjee, citing traffic and rain for the poor attendance. The “events such as the kicking of dogs the poisoning of dogs in countries like Spain and England” on the part of staunch Muslims, he said, must be challenged.
One Catholic demonstrator turned up with his pomeranian.
“Being kind to animals and being tolerant of other people shouldn’t be limited to the West,” he said.
A group of Muslims belonging to the mosque — men dressed in long thobes and women in burkas – met the demonstrators.
Tabasum Hussain, a Muslim woman, called it pointless.
“I don’t really see the benefit or what it’s supposed to achieve, other than cause friction,” said Hussain, who claims to have had dogs as pets. “There is nothing in Islam to say that we should ill-treat dogs.”
Towards the end, one Muslim arrived with two friendly Siberian Huskies. All the while, both sides bickered about religious and cultural differences, at several points reverting to name calling.
The event also attracted its share of rabid anti-Islamists. Eric Brazau, a convicted felon once arrested for allegedly harassing a group of Muslim women, turned up to make “a stand.”
“If we look at what is happening around the world today … how is it that we can say that there is no problem with Islam?” he said, referring to recent attacks on U.S. embassies in countries such as Libya and Sudan.
Toronto Sun
Dr. Tabasum Hussain, right, a member of the mosque pets the head of Duncan Jaffray’s golden lab Chelsea. Jaffray was just walking by and became unwittingly part of the protest.(Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)
Upcoming MDI Debate: Is Muhammed (saaw) in the Bible?
Posted: September 16, 2012 Filed under: articles by Abdullah, Debates, MDI, MDI UK 21 Comments »
Brother Zakir Hussain, debates seasoned American Christian scholar, Dr James White on the fascinating and evocative topic: Is Muhammed (saaw) in the Bible?
Attendance is free, and open to all.
Oxford Debate: Can the West Live with Islam?
Posted: September 7, 2012 Filed under: articles by Abdal-Hakim Murad, Debates, Liberalism, Militant Secularism, Secularism 1 Comment »Sir Jonathan Phillips of Keble College, Oxford, chairs a debate between Professor Nigel Biggar, Theology Faculty, University of Oxford, and Islamic Studies lecturer, Tim Winter, University of Cambridge; on the topic : Can the West Live with Islam?
The debate was held on 2nd July 2012
This debate was not hosted by MDI.
10 People Who Give Christianity a Bad Name
Posted: September 6, 2012 Filed under: Christian extremism, Christian terror, Christianity Leave a comment » 10 People Who Give Christianity a Bad Name.Atheists and the ‘Multi-verse argument’ – Appendix 1: A Rational Investigation into the Purpose of Life
Posted: August 31, 2012 Filed under: articles by Abdullah, Atheism 11 Comments »
Appendix 1 – A Rational Investigation of the Purpose of Life
Atheists and the ‘Multi-verse argument’
When we think about the existence of finite and limited objects, the only explanation that our thoughts can conclude is that there must exist a First Cause. Without a First Cause, nothing would exist, as finite objects would have come from nothing, or would have had no start point at all. This would be absurd, as it would not explain why these objects possessed specific attributes that they did not give themselves.
In the past, Atheist thinkers have advanced the idea that finite objects came about as a result of being caused by another, previous set of finite objects, which in turn were caused by others, ad infinitum. However, this would mean that any specific finite thing had come from an infinitely long chain of points prior to its own existence. Since infinity cannot be exhausted or traversed, it would be impossible for any point on this infinitely long chain to ever be reached, or even pinpointed. Equally, it can be observed that an ‘infinite chain’ of causes would ultimately have no start point – this is no different from claiming that something comes from nothing. The concept of infinite chains of things, which depend on the existence of a prior thing in the chain, ends up with no ultimate cause, and consequently is called the ‘infinite regression fallacy’ in philosophy.
Whilst many Atheist scientists are now forced to admit the existence of a First Cause to the universe, they still insist on maintaining intellectual bias in their work, and continue to deny the First Cause possessing any will or intentionality. They claim that this First Cause does not possess will or intention, and so must be random. They argue that the reason that our universe came into being was not as a result of choice or will by this First Cause, but rather due to it randomly creating an infinite number of possible universes, which would guarantee that every possible universe would exist – including ours.
This theory is called the ‘Multi-verse’ even though there exists no scientific evidence for the existence of infinite numbers of other universes, nor the randomness of the First Cause called ‘the Multi-verse’ – but by mentioning it in scientific theories and promoting discourse amongst scientists, the general public are being falsely led to believe it to be a theory based upon scientific evidence.
The assumption that there is an infinite number of universes caused by a random ‘universe generator’ (i.e. the Multi-verse) has blinded people to a fundamental rational problem with the concept of the Multi-verse. The first problem is whether we can scientifically prove or disprove a concept that was mentally conjured up from nothing, namely that there exists an infinite number of universes alongside us. By inventing the concept of a ‘multi-verse’, Atheists have fallen victim to the accusation they most commonly level at others, namely, inventing fantasies to fill in the gaps of their worldview.
However, this is not the only problem Atheists face if they use the ‘multi-verse’ to explain why the universe we inhabit was brought into existence. Atheists now have to answer the question: what makes the Multi-verse create universes in the first place?
This question is followed by a subsequent question: that for each particular universe created by the Multi-verse, why did it create each universe with the specific or unique characteristics it possesses? What decided what each universe would turn out to be?
If the bias of Atheism compels Atheists to eliminate the possibility of intentionality (or will) in the First Cause, then there can remain only two explanations for why the Multi-verse creates universes: either the Multi-verse possesses a mechanism inside itself that causes it to make universes, or the Multi-verse is compelled to make universes by something outside it.
The first possibility is that the Multi-verse is made to create universes by an internal mechanism. For example, the hands of a clock tell the time only because there is an internal mechanism that moves them into position.
Having an internal mechanism means that there is something which makes universes that is more fundamental than the Multi-verse. This mechanism would then be the actual First Cause – not the Multi-verse itself. However, we would still have to ask why this more fundamental mechanism causes the Multi-verse to make universes?
If this mechanism consisted of a number of different components which could interact with each other it would be finite and limited, since only things that are limited can interact with each other. This is because the interaction between objects means that these objects impose a limit upon each other. For example, a nail interacts with a plank of wood, by pushing down on the wood to affix it to a position. Simultaneously, the wood interacts with the nail by holding the nail in its place. If the nail was infinitely large, the wood could not contain it, and if the wood was infinitely large, there could be no place at all for the nail.
Of course, the existence of limits amongst the components of the internal mechanism within the Multi-verse, would mean the Multi-verse is not infinite (as it is comprised of limited components). Furthermore, more questions can be raised, including what created these limited components and what assigned each component to its function?, If the answer is again something else ad infinitum, then this would begin another infinite regress, which has been already demonstrated to be an impossibility.
Alternatively,if this mechanism was said to consist of only one infinite component, then it ceases to be a mechanism, and the question would need to be asked, what is making that one infinite component create universes? This is like saying that if we open up a clock, to see what is making the clock hands move; there is a smaller clock inside. The question as to what are making the clock hands move is still not answered conclusively, but merely moved on to another mysterious object.
This would bring us full circle back to where we started with the problem behind the ‘Multi-verse’ explanation, i.e. with no answers at all.
Now we have rationally disproved the first possibility, let us examine the second possibility. The second possibility is that something else outside the Multi-verse is causing it to create universes, but this results in the same problem as the first explanation above. In this explanation, the Multi-verse is still not the First Cause of creating universes, but rather it is this ‘something else’ instead that would then be the First Cause. Secondly, for something else to affect the state and behaviour of the Multi-verse means it is being ‘physically interacted’ with by something else. To be physically interacted with means that the Multi-verse is a limited and finite object, because limits are what allow an object to be interacted with and affected by other things, which means it cannot be an infinite and unlimited thing.
After examination, we see that both the options of either an external cause compelling a Multi-verse to create universes, or an internal cause to the Multi-verse, compelling it to create universes, do not provide the final answers. If the Multi-verse possesses an infinite number of sequences within either its internal mechanisms or external causes, this would result in an infinite chain of causes, which leaves us with no answers to a definitive start or First Cause. This would lead to another infinite regress fallacy.
The only possibility is that an ultimate First Cause is the first and only initiator of the creation of universes. The only explanation as to why it creates universes is because it initiated such an action itself. The capacity to initiate actions, without prior cause, or automatic internal mechanism, is the proof for the existence of will (i.e. intentionality) in the First Cause. Therefore we can conclude that the First Cause is infinite, and possesses a will, and intends the actions it undertakes.
[MDI Upcoming Release] A Rational Investigation into the Purpose of Life
Posted: August 31, 2012 Filed under: articles by Abdullah, Atheism, MDI | Tags: atheism Leave a comment »
The treatise will aim to be an exposition of the intuitive path many thinkers have taken, to come to an awareness of the truth of Islam, without the need for miracles, spiritual experiences or pursuit of their subjective tastes.
The treatise will not only equip readers with a method by which they can take anyone on an intellectual journey to the truth of Islam, but will also establish the reader’s beliefs firmly on rational grounds. The treatise aims to be purely rational, objective and impartial. It was written after Abdullah al Andalusi’s lecture in the USA on ‘The Purpose of Life’, as a response to requests from viewers who wanted further reading.
The treatise is structed as follows:
- Main section – determining the purpose of life through rational observation of the universe.
- The need for revelation and deducing a criteria to validate a claim to revelation
- An investigation into the validity of the claims of Pagan, Polytheist and Karmic revelation narratives (Hinduism, Buddhism)
- An investigation into the validity of claims of Abrahamic revelation narratives (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
- Appendix 1: Refutation of the Atheist ‘multi-verse’ argument
To read the appendix, click here.
My thoughts on Channel 4′s ‘Islam: The Untold Story’ program, by Tom Holland
Posted: August 29, 2012 Filed under: articles by Abdullah 10 Comments »
I just saw the Channel 4 program ‘Islam: the untold story’ by author Tom Holland. I found it very amusing, he tried to come up with a alternative explanation for Islam (presumably the ‘untold story’) and admitted failure (along with arch orientalist, Patricia Crone).
To boil it down, the programs logic went like this:
1.Tom doesn’t want to believe Islam came from super-natural causes, because history ‘must have materialistic explanations’.
2. Tom proposes that the 8th Century ‘Arab empire’ invented the background story of the Quran and Muhammed (saw) in order to justify the divine right of the Arab leader to be obeyed (which is funny, considering how Islam goes into more detail regarding morals, manners, rituals and dua – a little long winded for an Arab emperor who justs wants people to obey him!)
3. Islamic sources say that the Quran first was revealed in Mecca
4. Tom notices the Author of the Quran seems to talk about a great deal about different geographical places, times and histories – therefore Tom feels it ‘could’ have actually originated from different geographic locations and different communities (like syria?!), and allegedly, Muhammed (saw) was invented to play the role of the revealer of it, much later on.
5. Tom admits that the theory does not fit well, because it does not explain how the Quran was produced and compiled from all these different sources, into one book, and how this book was then disseminated to the masses of ‘Arabs’ of whom were meant to have already been fighting for it, and memorised it. The Quran seems to point to one origin, and Muhammed (saw) and the Quran seemed to originate together, from the same time and location (an isolated place in a desolate location i.e. Mecca). Tom admits he is confused (well Tom, I’m glad I didn’t have to say it first…)
6. Tom then suggests that it is because Mecca is so isolated, it could have been why it was deliberately chosen by the ‘Arab empire’ in the first place as the perfect alibi for its cover story!
In essence, Tom says its hard to know anything about Islam for sure, because it came from an Isolated place (i.e mecca). Of course, he then suggests, that this was EXACTLY why Mecca was chosen to be the claimed origin of Islam in the first place! This is called circular reasoning, and is a poor argument. Its like me saying that the Queen of England is a shape-shifting Alien Lizard . If you tell me “but she looks human”, I will say, EXACTLY, it is BECAUSE she looks human, that she must actually be a shape shifting alien lizard – as surely an alien would want to look human to blend into human society unnoticed!
They should have renamed the program: Tom’s flight of Fantasy: The untold story”
What next from Tom Holland? Was Jesus an invention of the Roman Empire, to justify why Roman emperors should be obeyed by the people too?!
Tommy Robinson, head of the English Defence League, will publicly debate Abdullah al Andalusi on Islam and Britain
Posted: August 28, 2012 Filed under: Debates, English Defence League, Islam, Islamophobia, MDI, MDI Press Release, MDI UK 27 Comments »
In the last decade there has been a sharp
rise in anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic feeling throughout Europe and the
U.S.A. What could be the cause of this?
The Islamophobic narrative claims that the West is under attack by an
alien and insidious ideology, brought to its shores by immigration,
cultivated and unresisted by a weak and intimidated ‘Liberal
establishment’. Under this narrative, various Islamophobic groups and
individuals in the UK have risen under the banner patriotism to fight
against this perceived threat to Britain, and re-claim their country for
its people.
The rise of hatred against Islam masks rising discontent against
immigration and economic policies, and the ‘clash of civilisations’
narrative is merely a scapegoat that allows the UK government to deflect
from explaining the blowback resulting from its foreign policy. Muslims
living in the UK are no more likely to be a threat to British society
then any other community, but like the Jews of the 20s and 30s, they are
now the target of xenophobia and mistrust. If the Fascists can
successfully cultivate this hatred, they may be able to make change to
the landscape of British politics permanently into a dark future which
threatens values of tolerance, co-existence and right of conscience for
all.
Which of these narratives is true? The Muslim Debate Initiative invites controversial speakers for both points of view to openly debate this important topic for the British community.
There will be a question and answer session for the audience to participate and address the speakers.
Tommy Robinson, leader of the English Defence League (EDL), debates Abdullah Al Andalusi, speaker and Muslim thinker on the burning question: Is Islam a threat to the west, or is Islamophobia a threat? – you decide.The event will be held on 4th October 2012, in the Conway Hall, Holborn, Central London, UK. Event begins at 7:00pm (doors open at 6:30pm). Hall capacity, 350.
Which of these narratives is true? The Muslim Debate Initiative invites controversial speakers for both points of view to openly debate this important topic for the British community.
There will be a question and answer session for the audience to participate and address the speakers.
Tommy Robinson, leader of the English Defence League (EDL), debates Abdullah Al Andalusi, speaker and Muslim thinker on the burning question: Is Islam a threat to the west, or is Islamophobia a threat? – you decide.The event will be held on 4th October 2012, in the Conway Hall, Holborn, Central London, UK. Event begins at 7:00pm (doors open at 6:30pm). Hall capacity, 350.
UPDATE: Conway Hall has cancelled the Hall booking, please await further updates to a new location, time/date for this debate.
New Website Up and Running! www.Muslimdebate.org ***New Update***
Posted: August 22, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized 2 Comments » Our new and upgraded website is now up and running:http://www.muslimdebate.org/
We kindly request our readers to visit the new website for new updates and articles.
****UPDATE****
Our new website will allow comments to be made for our articles, just like on this site, comments can be made through your facebook account.
Exposing the Myth of the Islamic Threat-Mr.Islam Answers back radio show
Posted: August 20, 2012 Filed under: Islam, Islamophobia, Videos | Tags: Articles By Shadid Lewis, Refutations Leave a comment »Sydney’s Shaykh Mustapha al Majzoub Martyred in Syria
Posted: August 20, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized 4 Comments » Shaykh Mustapha al Majzoub, a local religious figure that travelled to Syria to provide humanitarian aid to those sufferring as a result of the ongoing turmoil, was killed earlier today. He was buried by his older brother, another prominent religious figure in Sydney and member of the Syrian National Council, Dr. Fedaa al Majzoub.While the circumstances of his death remain uncertain, it has been suggested that Sh. Mustapha was killed in a rocket attack in Salma, a town in the Aleppo Governorate.
Earlier this year, Sh. Mustapha addressed a rally in Sydney regarding the current events in Syria.
Here is an excerpt.
The opportunity to learn from his insights is immense. In his final Facebook post, which he wrote recently from Syria, Sh. Mustapha stated:
One important lesson I learnt where I am is:The reaction in Sydney in the last few hours has been astounding. Hundreds attended memorial events with less than an hour notice. Facebook pages and local Muslim media sites have posted dozens of items. Sh. Mustapha’s lectures on Youtube have been revisited and his blog posts are being shared en masse.
never judge a person by the greatness of his biceps or the width of his shoulders or the loudness of his voice or his aggressiveness in front of other Muslims or by the hype talk he repeats, rather judge him by his steadfastness at calamities and on the battlefields. subhanallah I met brothers here who from the first instance you might think they are too merciful or weak (due to the way they treat other Muslims), however on the battlefields they are lions that roar. They are stern and firm, they scare their enemies more than 100 men with big muscles. like the way the companions where described in the Quran. (they are merciful towards one another and stern against their enemies).
SubhanAllah, a memorial event planned for less than 24 hours after his death was required to relocate to the largest masjid in Sydney because of the expected turnout. Indeed, I expect that nothing short of a major natural disaster will prevent the masjid from being filled to capacity, inshaAllah.
Thus, Sh. Mustapha’s words earlier in the year are astoundingly true. The light of the Muslim Nation burns brighter with every sacrifice. Now he is aiding in the brightness of that light, reminding us that the martyrs are not dead, that there problems in our world that extend beyond which brand of milk is best, that words are worthless without action, that we aren’t certain to reach the next Ramadan just because we are under 50 years of age, that every prayer we make may be our last and, most importantly, that only the justice of Islam can heal the world of the tyranny that infects it.
May Allah swt grant his family strength in this difficult time. MashaAllah, his father in Sydney has requested that no condolences be given but, rather, that he be congratulated for his son’s ultimate sacrifice.
Australian Christian group defends “honour killings”
Posted: August 13, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: honor killing, honor killings, honour killing, honour killings, so-called honor killings, so-called honour killings 1 Comment » Australian Christian group defends “honour killings”
American terrorist shoots gun at Chicago mosque
Posted: August 13, 2012 Filed under: Islamophobia, Militant Secularism, US terrorism, Violent extremism | Tags: american terrorism, american terrorist, chicago mosque, david conrad, shoots at mosque, u.s. terrorism, u.s. terrorist 5 Comments »
Shots fired at Chicago mosque
Hiroshima Anniversary
Posted: August 10, 2012 Filed under: Christian extremism, Christian terror, Cultural criticism, Militant Secularism, Secularism, US terrorism, Violent extremism 4 Comments »
The Threat of Right Wing Terrorism
Posted: August 9, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sami Zaatari, Christian extremism, Islamophobia, Violent extremism Leave a comment »The genius preservation of the 7+3 recites within the five (5) Othman’s Quran copies (*)
Posted: August 8, 2012 Filed under: Cool stuff, Islamic history, The Qur'an | Tags: arabic words, islam, othman, religion 2 Comments » Khaliff Othman five (5) copies of Quran was designed to compile the 7+3 recites in a genius fashion. To have an idea of how it was achieved, the differences among recites shall be explained at the first place. Differences among recites – are only in the pronunciation(s) and never in the meaning – are categorized as follows:A) Words of Quran that has only one single recite:
Majority of Quran words fall under such category. Majority of Quran’s words are recited/pronounced in a single fashion. These words were typically written at all of the Othman’s five (5) copies.
B) Words of Quran that has more than one recite:
This divides into two sub-categories:
1) Quran words that have different recites but when they (the recites) are written in DOT-LESS state the writing will appear the same … Then they will be written DOT-LESS in all of the Othman’s five (5) copies:
Example:
Quran (49:6) “if there comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate”
(إن جاءكم فاسق بنبأ فتبينوا)
The word (فتبينوا = Fatabayyano = Investigate) has another recite as (فتثبتوا = Fatathabbato = Ascertain).
The two Arabic words “Fatabayyano” or “Fatathabbato” would look similar if written DOT-LESS, (فىىىىوا), So all Othman’s five copies showed the word in a DOT-LESS state to give the freedom to the reader to recite it either “Fatabayyano” or “Fatathabbato”. Notice that both recites wouldn’t change the meaning of the verse.
Writing the word in its DOT-LESS form typically in all of the five (5) books, achieved the following goals:
a) The DOT-LESS state signals to the reader that “this word” has multiple recites.
b) To give all different recites equal weight of authenticity. No recite is “preferred” above the other.
c) To give the reader the freedom to read the DOT-LESS word using any one of the “known official recites” he likes/chooses.
2) Quran words that have different recites and when they (the recites) are written they will appear different, even at their DOT-LESS state … Then each different recite is written in a different book of the five (5).
Such cases appear when:
a) One recite incorporates an additional (or less) letter than other recite(s).
b) One recite incorporates an additional (or less) word than other recite(s).
Example of an additional (or less) letter:
Quran (2:132) “And Abraham instructed his sons …”
“ووصى بها إبراهيم …” … The First word is (ووصى = Wa-Wassa) has another recite as (وأوصى = Wa-Awsa).
Visit this link for more information: http://www.nquran.com/index.php?group=NewJamea&sora=2&khelaf=0&aya=132
Notice the additional letter (أ) between the two different recites (ووصى) and (وأوصى) … “Wa-Wassa” and “Wa-Awsa”, which even if written DOT-LESS they would still look different. So, the first recite (ووصى = Wa-Wassa) was shown in one of the Othman’s five (5) books … and the other recite (وأوصى = Wa-Awsa) with the additional letter (أ) was shown in another book. Notice that both recites mean the same (instructed), thus the meaning of the verse is the same using any of the recites.
Example of an additional (or less) word:
Quran (9:100) ” … gardens beneath which rivers flow” can be recited ” … gardens from beneath which rivers flow”. Notice the additional word “from” in the latter recite.
In Arabic: ” جنات تجري تحتها الأنهار” can be recited with additional word “من = from” as:
“جنات تجري من تحتها الأنهار”
Visit this link for more information: http://www.nquran.com/index.php?group=NewJamea&sora=9&khelaf=0&aya=100
The additional word “من” makes the two recites differ in writing even DOT-LESS. So, the first recite (without “from”) was shown in four of the Othman’s five (5) books .. and the other recite (with the additional word “من = from”) was shown in the fifth book (specifically; the copy that was sent to Mecca). Notice that both recites (gardens beneath) and (gardens from beneath) still mean the same even an extra word existed in one of the recites.
Writing different recites that whether written dotted or dot less they would still look different in completely different books, achieved the following goals:
a) If different recites were written consecutive to each other, at the same line, at the same book, then they might look as if they were divinely inspired in a repeated form which needs to be read in a “repeated manner” every time a Muslim reads such verse! In other words, to avoid reading with recite (A) AND recite (B) every time a Muslim reads the verse.
b) If one of the recites was written in the body of the page and the other recite was written in the foot/side note, at the same page, at the same book, this might give the false impression that:
> The foot/side note was a “correction” to what’s written in the body!
> Or, The body recite was more preferable than the foot/side noted recite!
c) Writing different recites in different books makes it clear that a Muslim can read with recite (A) OR recite (B) at equal weight of authenticity with no preference of a recite above another.
It worth to mention that the Quran writing committee was made of four famous Sahabah (disciples) of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), (1) Zaid bin Thabit (one of the Quran writers from the Prophet’s days), (2) Abdullah Bin Al-Zubair, (3) Sa’eed Bin Al-As. (4) Abdul Rahman Bin Al-Harith Bin Hisham.
May Allah bless them all with his mercy along with Khaliff Othman who ordered such genius work to be achieved in the way of preservation of Allah’s Revelations, the Quran, the Final Testament to mankind.
Quran 15:9 “Indeed, it is We [Allah] who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian.”
For all different Quran recites, verse by verse, with audible recites, pls. visit: http://www.nquran.com/index.php?group=jame3
(*) Translated by this article author from the book: “مناهل العرفان في علوم القرآن” “Manahil Al-Irfan Fi Oloum Al-Quran” (Fountains of Knowledge on Quran Sciences) – Authored by: Mohammed Abdul Azeem Al-Zarqani – Approved by Al-Azhar Al-Shareef University – Cairo – To download the original book: http://www.almeshkat.net/books/open.php?cat=7&book=1562
Quran in REAL context,fight those who do not believe(9:29): Refuting David Wood
Posted: August 8, 2012 Filed under: Christianity, Debates, Islam, Uncategorized | Tags: Articles By Shadid Lewis, Quran, Refutations 8 Comments »Quran in REAL context,Fight those who do not believe(9:29):Refuting David Wood
Posted: August 8, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »Surveillance photo of Missouri mosque attacker
Posted: August 7, 2012 Filed under: Christian extremism, Christian terror, Cultural criticism, Islamophobia, Militant Secularism, US terrorism, Violent extremism 3 Comments »
If this man attends your church, please do the right thing and notify the police immediately.
Ground zero, Missouri, U.S.
Posted: August 7, 2012 Filed under: Violent extremism, Christian extremism, Militant Secularism, Christian terror, Islamophobia, MDI Canada, Cultural criticism, US terrorism 2 Comments »
A photo of where the Islamic Society of Joplin mosque once stood in Joplin, Missouri.
Calls by Islamophobe bloggers to forcibly “eradicate Islam” in America are apparently being taken seriously by a small group of extremists, like the one who burned down this mosque. As much as I would like to be politically correct and guess that this may be the work of a Chinese-American, or a Hindu Indian-American, or an Afro-American, or a Zen Buddhist… my instinct is that it is probably going to be another one of those “freedom loving”-white-American-from-a-Christian-family types. If so, I hope average mainstream Americans will stop turning a blind eye to extremism in their community and start protesting in the streets to condemn such violence as well as the hate rhetoric that leads to it.
Let us see what the investigation will reveal before we jump to any solid conclusions though.
Mosque in Missouri Burned Down
Posted: August 6, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sami Zaatari, Christian extremism, Islamophobia, Violent extremism 2 Comments » A day after a right wing terrorist shot and killed 6 people at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, a Mosque in Missouri has been burned to the ground. The Mosque was already subject to an arson attack on July 4th. Such attacks should not come as a surprise, with the high level of Islamophobia we have seen over the past years being propagated among the likes of Robert Spencer, and Pamela Gellera, such attacks are bound to happen. Such attacks make it all the more imperative for good people to stand up against Islamophobia, and to refute their bigoted propaganda.From the Associated Press:
A mosque in southwest Missouri burned to the ground early Monday in the second fire to hit the Islamic center in little more than a month, officials said.
The fire at the Islamic Society of Joplin was reported about 3:30 a.m. Monday, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office said. The sheriff’s department said the building was a total loss. No injuries were reported and no charges have been filed.
Imam Lahmuddin, who leads the mosque and was in the building until late Sunday, said he was “sad and shocked” about the fire.
“I’m still in front of the building looking at the damage and nothing can be saved,” Lahmuddin said in a telephone interview Monday.
“But since we are people of faith we just can remember that this is a thing that happened because God let it happen, and we have to be patient, particularly in the month of Ramadan, control our emotions, our anger.”
A blaze at the same building July 4 caused minor damage and was determined arson. No arrests were made and the FBI has offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to charges in that fire.
The agency released video footage of what appeared to be a man starting the July blaze that did not cause extensive damage. Sharon Rhine, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office, said the center’s security cameras were burned in the Monday fire.
The FBI is investigating the cause of the latest fire and whether or not it was also the result of arson, said agency spokeswoman Bridgett Patton.
A Washington-based Muslim civil rights organization meanwhile called for more police protection at mosques and other houses of worship following the Joplin fire and a deadly attack at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. The Council on American-Islamic Relations also offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever started the mosque fire.
About 50 families belong to the Islamic Society of Joplin, which opened in 2007 as a mosque and community center. The FBI led an investigation in 2008 when the mosque’s sign was torched. That crime also remained unsolved.
Lahmuddin, who has lived in Joplin for about four years, said several people were at the center late Sunday. He said despite the attacks, the center’s members have good relationships with residents and other churches. He said many are doctors at area hospitals.
On Sunday, a gunman killed six people at a Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee. The imam said it was a cause of great concern that both faiths had seemingly come under attack.
“I heard that yesterday, and this morning we see this happen in our place,” he said. “We are more fortunate that no one here got hurt in this incident.”
U.S. Gunman enter Sikh Temple and guns down 6 people, thinking it was a Mosque
Posted: August 5, 2012 Filed under: articles by Abdullah, Christian extremism, Islamophobia 19 Comments »Police: 7 dead, including suspected gunman, in shooting at Sikh temple near Milwaukee
Wentlandt said police do not believe a second shooter was involved. He said tactical units went through the temple. They found four people dead inside and three outside the building, including the suspected shooter, he said.
It’s unclear how many others were wounded. Wentlandt said he had been told the officer who exchanged gunfire with the suspect and another person had been taken to hospitals. He said the officer was shot multiple times and is in surgery.
The spokeswoman for the area trauma center said three victims were being treated there, including one in surgery.
Sukhwindar Nagr, of Racine, said he called his brother-in-law’s phone and a priest at the temple answered and told him that his brother-in-law had been shot, along with three priests. The priest also said women and children were hiding in closets in the temple, Nagr said.
Sikh rights groups have reported a rise in bias attacks since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Washington-based Sikh Coalition has reported more than 700 incidents in the U.S. since 9/11, which advocates blame on anti-Islamic sentiment. Sikhs don’t practice the same religion as Muslims, but their long beards and turbans often cause them to be mistaken for Muslims, advocates say.
Sikhism is a monotheistic faith that was founded in South Asia more than 500 years ago. It has roughly 27 million followers worldwide. Observant Sikhs do not cut their hair; male followers often cover their heads with turbans — which are considered sacred — and refrain from shaving their beards.
There are roughly 500,000 Sikhs in the U.S., according to estimates. The majority worldwide live in India.
MDI Comment
Years of Islamophobic hatred against Muslims, and the promotion of the conspiracy theory known as ‘Stealth Jihad’, has yet again lead to deluded Americans becoming radicalised and enacting acts of violence upon the perceived ‘enemy in their midst’ that Islamophobes like to preach their vile hatred at. In this case, the attacker, no doubt stirred on by the Islamophobic teachings, happened to mistake Sikhs for Muslims. The tragedy is no less, or more, horrific for that. The thoughts of MDI are with the victims’ families, as well as our concern for the safety of American Muslims. To all the Islamophobes out there, their blood is on your hands.
The position of Women in islam by Sister Dr Aafia Siddiqui
Posted: August 5, 2012 Filed under: articles by Abdullah, Dawah, Women in Islam 1 Comment »A wonderful Islamic lecture by Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who is now falsely imprisoned by U.S government for being shot by her captors during her interrogation under suspicion of ‘terrorist activities’ by the U.S Military in Afghanistan.
No terror charges were ever proven against her.
The Atheist Criteria For God
Posted: August 2, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sami Zaatari, Atheism, Proof of God Leave a comment »A MUST WATCH! … How to critically analyse an argument. “101″ Critical thinking.
Posted: August 1, 2012 Filed under: Atheism, Cool stuff, Dawah, Debates, lectures, Uncategorized 3 Comments »The Lost Gospels
Posted: August 1, 2012 Filed under: Christianity, The Bible 26 Comments » Here’s an interesting documentary presented by an Anglican priest. The documentary explores how several books of early Christianity, didn’t make it into the Bible, books that were revered and read by many of the early Christians. Off course don’t expect any evangelical missionary to tell you any of this.Sunday Express Retracts Story About School Teaching Extremism
Posted: August 1, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sami Zaatari, Islamophobia, The News Leave a comment » @font-face { font-family: “Arial”; }@font-face { font-family: “Cambria”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }So another retraction of an Islamophobic story that turned out to be empty and baseless, yet even with the retraction, the original stories at the time have an affect on the readers, and it simply continues the negative attention towards Muslims. So even though the story is retracted, the original damage is still done, and make no mistake this isn’t the only false story that has made the news.
From the Guardian:
The Sunday Express has apologised and paid damages to a London school it falsely claimed taught an extreme form of Islam.
Northern & Shell‘s Sunday title published a front-page story on 12 June 2011, headlined “Spies in schools to hunt fanatics”, in which it wrongly stated that the King Fahad Academy in Acton, west London, taught extreme Islam.
The article, which was also published on the paper’s website, falsely suggested that the academy school had been infiltrated by Islamic fanatics.
Clare Kissin, counsel for the King Fahad Academy, said in a statement at the high court in London on Tuesday: “The King Fahad Academy does not teach an extreme form of Islam, nor does it teach its students antisemitism or any form of racism and it has not been infiltrated by Islamic fanatics.”
The Sunday Express apologised for the article and said it regretted the distress caused. The paper agreed to pay an undisclosed amount in damages and legal costs to the school.
Dr Sumaya Alyusuf, director of the King Fahad Academy, said in a statement: “I am very pleased that the newspaper has withdrawn and apologised for these allegations.
“The school can now concentrate on its mission to provide a world class international education to students through a well-balanced curriculum, which aims to produce citizens who appreciate the multicultural world in which we live.”
Does Quran 2:256 show that Islam is a religion of peace? Response to David Wood.
Posted: July 29, 2012 Filed under: Islam, Islamophobia, Videos | Tags: Articles By Shadid Lewis 5 Comments »New Website Coming Soon
Posted: July 29, 2012 Filed under: MDI 8 Comments » MDI will be launching a new website during August, the time frame we are looking at is the start of Eid. The new website will feature all our latest articles and debates, so once the new website is launched, all readers should visit there for our latest updates as the current site we are using will not be used any longer.EDL Members Threaten to Burn Mosques
Posted: July 27, 2012 Filed under: Christian extremism, English Defence League, The Muslim Archives Leave a comment » I wonder what the reaction would be if a Muslim street movement went around threatening to burn Churches down? This is yet another story displaying what a truly peaceful movement the EDL truly are. Islamophobia Watch:Three men from an anti-Islamic group were arrested on Saturday during a march against plans for a new mosque in Chelmsford.
More than 30 members of the English Defence League waved placards saying “no to radical Islam”, while others shouted racial slurs during a rally from the Plough Inn in Duke Street to the High Street.
The controversial right-wing group was marching against plans for a new mosque in Regina Way, Chelmsford, as part of the Waitrose supermarket development.
Police officers surrounded the mob as they reached Superdrug in the High Street and formed a blockade so that they could not go any further. The protest then spilled back towards Shire Hall where it drew crowds of onlookers.
Chairman of the EDL southeast Paul Pitt told the Chronicle: “We are campaigning hard against this mosque and making sure that it does not happen. Chelmsford has just become a city, we do not want to see a mega mosque here.”
Three EDL members, none of whom was from Chelmsford, were arrested at 3pm on Saturday on suspicion of committing racially aggravated public order offences.
As the shouting grew and a crowd gathered at Shire Hall, police dragged the rowdiest members down the steps and into their police van, waiting by the Saracen’s Head pub. A 35-year-old man from Rochester in Kent, a 19-year-old man from Dagenham and an 18-year-old man from Yateley in Hampshire have been released on bail pending further inquiries.
Mum-of-four Sandra Waller, 59, of Chelmsford, was out shopping when she saw the demonstration. She shouted at the protesters before having a heated stand-off with one of the EDL members.
She told the Chronicle: “It does not matter who you are, we are all human beings. I bet they have never even read the Koran. Everyone has good and bad in them. It should be universal love. It’s disgusting that this is even happening in Chelmsford.”
After enjoying a few pints in The Plough, the protesters marched down Duke Street just after 2pm shouting obscenities, the majority too offensive to print. In unison, they sang: “You burn our poppy, we burn your mosque.”
Greengrocer Paul Matthams, 66, of Chelmsford, said: “Everyone has a different opinion but there are too many immigrants in this country and it costs us money. I have lots of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian friends but it is ridiculous to let so many people in because so many of the natural inhabitants are suffering a great deal. Especially Chelmsford, they keep building new houses and we have not got the road infrastructure. It will only get worse if more people come in.”
The mosque proposed for Victoria Road is part of plans Waitrose has put forward to Chelmsford City Council. Muslim Association, Jamaat of Essex plans to build a four-storey community centre in Regina Way, in the place of a small mosque, which had been there for 20 years before being demolished.
The other mosque in Chelmsford, which caters for a different branch of Islam, is based on Moulsham Street, and has reported a growth in its membership in the last few years.
It had already been alerted by the police on Saturday morning that a demo was taking place. A group of young men from that mosque joined the crowd outside Shire Hall to see what was going on.
Sales manager Wasim Akhtar, 25, said: “We were alerted by the police and thought that we would come down to see what was going on. We think it’s very poor behaviour. We just wanted to come and see how racist Essex is, but we are impressed with the general public’s reaction.
“They are being very supportive to British Muslims. I think that what the EDL are proposing is ridiculous and they don’t have any argument. The mosque is not going to affect them – they are just looking for a reaction or more recruits.”
Ella Rodriguez, 20, of Chelmsford, said: “It is shameful and there is no need for this type of behaviour. I came up to see what was going on because the street was so crowded. There is no need to be racist, but if you feel that strongly about it, there are better ways to express your opinion.”
Chris Dickson, 17, is planning on joining the British Army as an infantry soldier. He said: “Everyone is entitled to their opinion but there are probably better places to do it than in a town centre where there are a lot of different nationalities. I agree with their message.”
A 15-year-old boy added: “My friend is Muslim and was here with me when they started shouting abuse at her. She got really upset and has left.”
One of the EDL members, who did not wish to be named, said: “We hold these flash mobs to see what reaction we get. Then we will hold a meeting and decide whether to do a demo or not. We have agreed with the police that we won’t do one during the Olympics.”
Muslim street preacher controversy “undresses” Islamophobes
Posted: July 25, 2012 Filed under: Catholicism, Christian extremism, Cultural criticism, Guest article, MDI Canada, Militant Secularism, Secularism, The Bible | Tags: anti-islam, anti-muslim, ezra levant, hasheem kamena atangana, islamophobe, Islamophobia, michael coren, street preacher hasheem, sun news, sun news media, terry davidson, the toronto sun, toronto sun 2 Comments »
by Omar Qayum
Here we go again! The Toronto Sun’s Terry Davidson has found another example of Muslims “misbehaving” in the Greater Toronto Area. Terry is the same provocateur who fueled the East End Madrassah and Islamic Books and Souvenirs store controversies. Little is known about this individual, including his/her gender, as Terry’s bio page on the Toronto Sun website is empty. Regardless, Terry seems to be the Sun’s designated exploiter of fringe issues and individuals in the Muslim community. His latest hit piece focuses on a lone “Muslim cleric,” Al-Haashim Kamena Atangana, who preaches outside Toronto’s Eaton Centre. According to a letter written to the Sun, Mr. Atangana wishes “that Toronto becomes the first City in North America to introduce laws that would make it illegal for women to dress provocatively,” in order to protect them from being sexually assaulted or raped.
While many have attacked Mr. Atangana’s views, I see no point in condemning “village idiots” as they are best dealt with through marginalization. However, the Sun Media’s front page portrayal of him as a “Muslim cleric” reeks of tabloid journalism and is further proof of their Islamophobic agenda. Mr. Atangana is as much a “Muslim cleric” as Terry Jones and Fred Phelps are “Christian pastors.” I personally know many of the individuals who set up Islamic information booths outside the Eaton Centre. None of them are clerics or have anything to do with Mr. Atangana—he is a one man show. They have even tried to reason with him on multiple occasions but to no avail. Fortunately for his kind, our laws afford all Canadians, including the Sun Media Corporation, the right to voice their opinions no matter how bigoted, offensive or moronic they may be. Yonge and Dundas Square is host to many “colorful” individuals including “pastors” David Lynn and Philip Ness-Thomas who frequently condemn homosexuals and share their “utopian” vision for the world. You can see Phillip holding a sign saying “Jesus Makes A Better Master Than Sin” right behind Mr. Atangana here. Somehow I doubt Sun Media will do an exposé on their views as defaming Christianity is not part of their “No Spin” agenda. Their current strategy is to consistently dig dirt on Muslims and indict mainstream Islam through their lackeys at the Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC).
Tarek Fatah, founder of the MCC, took reservation to Mr. Atangana telling Western women how to dress. Yet Tarek and his MCC goons see no hypocrisy in calling for the banning of face veils worn by some Canadian Muslim women. Tarek then connects Mr. Atangana’s views to some idiotic global Islamist rape conspiracy of “uncovered” women. How does Tarek know the perpetrators are even practicing Muslims let alone Islamists? Aren’t Islamists devout Muslims who seek Shariah law to punish sexual crimes? Tarek fully well knows that the Shariah punishment for rape is capital punishment. Yet he shamelessly asks why no “mosque or mullah” has denounced the alleged sexual assault of a Muslim woman at Toronto’s Pakistani consulate. When churches and synagogues start denouncing every Christian or Jewish sexual predator, we will too. The fact of the matter is that Tarek and the MCC are not interested in distinguishing between law abiding Muslims and criminals who often have nothing to do with Islam. They are useful pawns to right-wing bigots as they are willing to brand the majority of Muslims who oppose them as “Islamists.”
Then there are the disingenuous spokeswomen of the MCC, Raheel Raza and Farzana Hassan. I used to think of Raheel as a reasonable Muslim elder until the MCC allied itself with blatant Islamophobes like the Jewish Defence League and Canadian Hindu Advocacy in order to prevent Muslim students from praying in public schools—a constitutional right guaranteed to every Canadian. She then went on the Sun News Network, with host Ezra Levant, and accused me of exhibiting “threatening” and “aggressive” behavior towards her. If that was true, why didn’t she summon one of the numerous police officers on scene? My entire conversation with her was caught on video, including the part where her husband, Sohail Raza, tells her not to talk to me and whisks her away. So much for not allowing men to tell women what to do!
Both Raheel and Farzana blasted Mr. Atangana for his views and asked that he be prevented from speaking in public; Raheel went to the extent of saying that “he should be locked up for life.” Imagine this coming from the same MCC that claims to stand for free speech. If these useless Desi aunties find opposing views so overbearing, I will gladly pay for their tickets back to Pakistan—on the condition that they never come back. The reality is that when organizations like the MCC and Sun Media speak of “freedom of speech and religion,” they really mean freedom for their speech and religion, not yours! Furthermore, Raheel had the audacity to claim that Mr. Atangana was blaming victims when this is precisely the MCC’s shtick. Since 9/11 the MCC has been working overtime to tarnish mainstream Muslims while downplaying the rise of Islamophobia in the West.
It is my view that Tarek Fatah and the MCC are either self-hating Muslims or only Muslims by name. In a recent Facebook post, Tarek proudly states that he has “two lovely agnostic daughters.” This is interesting considering his daughter, Natasha Fatah, claims to be a Muslim in a March 2012 Toronto Life article on the Valley Park Middle School prayer controversy. Either Natasha lost her faith in the last four months or one of them is a liar. Then again, according to the “MCC School of Islamic Thought,” Muslims can be agnostics and atheists too. Perhaps many of the personalities at the MCC would make excellent cast members in future Transformers movies—only as Deceptions of course.
The Sun’s resident Catholic bigot Michael Coren also weighed in on the issue. Michael immediately took a jab at Mr. Atangana’s middle name “Kamena,” claiming it to be an insult from “his time in the Middle East.” Aside from the fact that it is a South Asian slur meaning scoundrel, Michael is the real kameena for advocating nuclear strikes on the Iranian people in a past article. Furthermore, Michael contradicted himself when he disapproved of regulating Western women’s clothing, but approved of banning Muslim girls from playing soccer while wearing headscarves. He also wasted no time in spinning Mr. Atangana’s views as inherent to Islam and went on to make the ludicrous claim that the New Testament teaches “gender equality.” I challenge Michael to refute the following blatantly misogynistic passages in the New Testament as they are precisely why Catholic women are forbidden from becoming ordained priests:
►men are the heads of women, 1 Corinthians 11:2-10
►women are to be submissive to their husbands, Ephesians 5:21-24
►women are to remain silent in church, 1 Corinthians 14:34-35
►women are not to have authority over men, 1 Timothy 11:15
►women are to be domestic, Titus 2:4-9
It is sad to see how we have degenerated into a society of extremes and ignorance. People who think decency laws alone are the solution must ask why societies with conservative dress codes have significant levels of sex crimes. Experts partly attribute this to the alarming rates of pornography consumption in the Muslim world coupled with absurd cultural demands that make marriage extremely difficult. To ignore this reality and indict Islamists instead is blatant fear and hate mongering. Our Prophet Muhammad (SAW) warned us not to make marriage difficult, lest there be tribulation in the land.
Then there are those who believe “re-appropriating” the word “slut” via a “SlutWalk” will yield fruitful results. This is akin to hip-hop artists popularizing the usage of the word “nigga” as a means of combating racism—this is misguidance at best. A recent study conducted by Professor Susan Fiske of Princeton University showed that when men were exposed to bikini-clad women, they tended to associate them with first-person action verbs like I “push,” “handle” and “grab,” but associated third-person action verbs like she “pushes,” “handles” and “grabs” when shown fully clothed women. Perhaps Sun Media should consider this when exploiting women daily through its “Sunshine Girls.” Ignoring the negative effect that provocatively dressed women have on both genders in an increasingly hyper sexualized society is grossly irresponsible. Does this mean that women, regardless of the way they are dressed, should be sexually abused? Absolutely not! But men and women must make informed decisions on how their attire will impact them and society at large—pragmatism alone will not suffice.
There is no doubt that adultery, rape, incest, fornication and other forms of sexual immorality are abominations in Islam and other faith traditions. Sex crimes are committed globally for various reasons and under unique social circumstances. Hence, a holistic approach is required to effectively combat this evil that not only affects women, but children and men too. This includes serious education, resources, wisdom and spirituality. Individuals and organizations like Mr. Atangana, Tarek Fatah, the MCC and Sun Media Corporation do us all a disservice by trivializing such serious issues for petty gain. The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) called us an ummatun wasatun, a middle nation, and it is in moderation that I believe the best solution lies.
Omar Qayum is a volunteer at the North American Muslim Foundation (NAMF).
Americanization of Canada? 83 bombs, 29 guns found in bunker north of Toronto
Posted: July 25, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sadat, Christian extremism, Christian terror, Cultural criticism, Islamophobia, MDI Canada, Militant Secularism, Secularism, US terrorism, Violent extremism 1 Comment »
by Sadat bin Anwar
Last year, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper had famously stated that “Islamism” is the biggest post-9/11 security threat to Canada. CSIS informant Mubin Shaikh, liberal Muslim Tarek Fatah, and others of their ilk were basically parroting these remarks and gaining brownies points from Islamophobes across the country. Meanwhile, at around the same time as this controversial statement was made, Harper’s Conservative government was busy calling for an end to Canada’s long-gun registry plan, thereby loosening the rules around gun registration and moving the country a step closer towards the American model of gun control (or lack thereof). In April of this year, the government was able to successfully pass bill C-19, and universal gun registration in Canada came to an abrupt end. The very Canadian idea that possession of all firearms must be registered with the federal government is now over. Canadian Muslims, who are one of the least likely groups in Canada to own or operate firearms (Mubin Shaikh being a notable exception), are most likely not supporters of this new bill. Ironically, it is not Muslims but rather Mr. Prime Minister himself and his Conservative government that are more plausibly posing the greatest threat to Canadian security and safety.
One of the big news stories in Canada in the month of July was the arrest of two men in Barrie, a town about a hundred kilometers north of Toronto. Donald Feldhoff, 54, and his father William Feldhoff, 75, have now been arrested in connection with a murder that took place back in 1978. After their arrest, a total of 83 bombs were found in their home-made bunker, as well as 29 guns including a machine gun. Unidentified chemicals have also been found. The sheer number of these explosive devices would put just about any start-up al-Qaeda terrorist cell to shame.
Although it is not clear as to how many of these guns were legally owned or not, and if any of them were registered or not, what it does indicate overall is that the threat of Americanization of Canadian towns and rural areas is very real. The idea of finding an underground bunker with paramilitary-like ammunition supplies is something more reminiscent of WASP American militias preparing for an imagined doomsday, irresponsibly claiming and parading their “right to bear arms”. It is not something that we imagine would exist in peace-loving Canada, let alone so uncomfortably close to a major urban center like Toronto. In many ways, this is a shock to Canadians. If these two seemingly normal chaps could be up to such terroristic mischief, who is to say that my neighbour might not be doing the same thing? As much as we must resist the idea of discriminating against specific races or groups of people, I must admit that I may not look at my Anglo-Saxon or white European neighbour in the same way again.
Coming back to Canada’s now-defunct long-gun registry, I will be fair and admit that it had many critics, not only gun-toting right-wingers. Its ineffectiveness and unpopularity are what led to its ultimate demise. What is hoped for by many Canadians such as myself, however, is that the gap that it has left is filled with a more effective replacement. In addition to this, more effective measures must be taken by Canada Border Services to stop the flow of illegal guns from the U.S., something we cannot blame bill C-19 for.
But clearly, however it is to be done, gun violence is something that needs to be brought under control. Residents of the Greater Toronto Area would know exactly what I am talking about; it has been a bloody summer so far. Whether gun violence in the streets of Toronto, or “white radicalization” in smaller towns and rural areas, the government must take action and stop creating smokescreens around the real security problems that Canada faces.
American films and culture– easily the most violent in the world today– coupled with the massive number of illegal guns that are smuggled across the U.S.-Canadian border every year, are the biggest security threat against Canada. We should not let political-correctness stop us from discussing and debating the very real threat of the Americanization of Canada, a dangerous trend that our present government is encouraging us towards.
The Missionary Threat to Judaism
Posted: July 25, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sami Zaatari, Judaism 1 Comment » Here is an interesting lecture given by a Jewish Rabbi, that speaks of the missionary threat posed to Judaism, as many may (not) be aware of, many Jews face the same problems Muslims do when it comes to missionaries and their attempts of evangelising. Missionaries use the same tactics they use on Muslims, onto Jews, looking for any gullible folk amongst both parties, and to begin twisting both scriptures in order to trick the Muslim and Jew into the evangelical mindset.A first look at a Muslim tartan
Posted: July 23, 2012 Filed under: Cool stuff, Islam | Tags: british muslims, islam in britain, islam in scotland, islamic tartan, muslim tartan, scottish islam, scottish muslims, scottish tartan 1 Comment »
Azeem Ibrahim (not pictured), a research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, has designed the first “Islamic tartan.” For the full story, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/azeem-ibrahim/why-we-need-an-islamic-ta_b_1677245.html?utm_hp_ref=religion#slide=1230381
Is The Original New Testament Lost?
Posted: July 23, 2012 Filed under: Christianity, The Bible Leave a comment » An interesting and informative discussion surrounding whether the original NT is lost:Meet James Holmes: A Presbyterian Christian
Posted: July 22, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sadat, Christian extremism, Christian terror, Christianity, Cultural criticism, Islamophobia, Liberalism, MDI Canada, Militant Secularism, Secularism, Uncategorized, US terrorism, Violent extremism | Tags: american terrorism, american violence, aurora colorado, aurora shooting, batman killer, christian terrorism, colorado, colorado shooting, james holmes, james holmes christian, the dark knight, the dark knight rises, the dark knight rises killer, the dark knight rises shooting 9 Comments »
by Sadat bin Anwar
By all accounts, James Holmes appears to have been a normal American man. The killer responsible for one of the worst mass shootings in American history that resulted in 12 dead and 58 injured had been a neuroscience student at the University of Colorado and had worked as a “big brother” at a Jewish summer camp, Camp Max Strauss, in 2008. This last bit of information has in some sense relieved many American Muslims, since some right-wing hate websites had already begun conjecturing that James Holmes must have belonged to an al-Qaeda terrorist cell (see, for example, the website for Roman Catholic Imperialist).
The possibility that Holmes may have been Jewish, however, was not entertained even momentarily by the media, and the information that he actually belonged to a Presbyterian church was immediately released on the heel of the reports about his involvement in the Jewish camp, lest there be any misunderstanding on this point. It turns out, in the end, that Holmes was a Christian. He was not only a nominal one, but has been described as “heavily involved” in his local Christian church.
The purpose of mentioning these facts is not to blame Christianity or Judeo-Christian civilization for Holmes’ wicked massacre of innocents. Sober and reasonable people will realize that his actions probably have more to do with mental sickness and America’s love for guns than it has to do with theology. If at all, Holmes’ church and the wider Christian community to which he belonged may be partially to blame for not detecting his spiral into madness earlier, but probably not for creating it. The purpose of mentioning his religion in this article at all is to exonerate American Muslims of blame, since their very security and safety in Christian America is being increasingly and rapidly undermined by ten years of right-wing media spin and propaganda which attempts to blame much of America’s ills on Muslims.
I not only convey my condolences to the families of the innocent victims of this horrific bloodbath, but equally to the family and the church that Holmes belonged to. We pray that the vicious cycle of gun violence and rampage shootings that afflicts America will one day see an end.
UPDATE– 22/08/2012
In response to Isaac Amirian’s comments and in the interest of the full truth, it appears that James Holmes may have been an agnostic and not a Christian– if, that is, we can take any of what he said or wrote in recent weeks/months seriously. After all, around the same time that he supposedly described himself as an “agnostic”, he was also declaring himself to be “the Joker”. We don’t actually have Holmes’ official match.com page, as far as I know, but rather some screenshots taken of his page by someone else. Still, I did not attempt to malign or blame Christianity for Holmes’ crimes in my article. At the time that I authored the article, the evidence was suggesting (and to some extent still suggests) that Holmes was not only a Christian, but a practising Presbyterian Christian. We have a neighbour who described him as very active in a local Presbyterian church; we have another pastor who says that he saw Holmes in his church just weeks before the shooting. Nonetheless, I explicitly stated in the article that “sober and reasonable people will realize that his actions probably have more to do with mental sickness and America’s love for guns than it has to do with theology.”
Double Standards in Media Coverage
Posted: July 22, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sami Zaatari, The News 2 Comments »Three Arrested After EDL Protest
Posted: July 21, 2012 Filed under: Christian extremism, English Defence League, Islamophobia, The News Leave a comment » Here’s a shocker, EDL members, arrested yet again.Press Association:
Three men have been arrested on suspicion of committing racially aggravated public order offences at a protest staged by members of the English Defence League.
Around 30 people took part in the demonstration in Chelmsford city centre, a spokesman for Essex Police said.
A 35-year-old man from Rochester in Kent, a 19-year-old man from Dagenham, Essex, and an 18-year-old man from Yateley in Hampshire are currently in custody.
The protest started at around 2.30pm on Saturday and was contained by police, who had received no prior notification of the demonstration taking place.
It was concluded by 4.30pm, the spokesman said.
Misquoting Jesus: Scribers Who Altered the Gospels
Posted: July 21, 2012 Filed under: Christianity, The Bible Leave a comment »Australia Update and Engaging in discussion with Dr. James White
Posted: July 21, 2012 Filed under: Christianity, Debates, MDI Australia, The Bible 8 Comments » In Australia, MDI is currently focusing upon it’s Ramadan activities continuing from last year, Alhamdulillah. The primary project is an opportunity for communal charity during the month to provide for orphans around the world, promoting specifically the idea that charity can be easily made, if done in a group. Last year we encouraged Muslims to donate 50 cents per day in the month of Ramadan and from a pool of donors were able to sponsor two orphans for a 12 month period and provide food packs for families suffering from famine in Somalia.This year we have also introduced ‘Waste not Want not’. An initiative to encourage Muslims to refrain from wasting food during the Holy Month. On average, people in the Western world waste over 100kg of food each per annum at the consumption stage. This doesn’t include the food lost at the production and sales stages. MDI is suggesting that Muslims donate the monetary value of any food they waste during Ramadan to the orphan sponsorship pool and already we have had the opportunity to discuss it at a community iftar.
However, I cannot forget my duties to the world of interfaith discussion! You may be aware that earlier in the year I held a dialogue with Jason Cebalo on the topic of the deity (or not) of Jesus. This discussion was held in March at Sydney University and was basically an extension of a brief dialogue that we had in a small café in Parramatta late last year.
Dr. James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries (whom I consider to be a friend) started reviewing some of my comments on his webcast in May and I initially felt it would be appropriate to start responding to some of his suggestions, given that he is reaching the end of his analysis.
However, after realising that it; a)Would probably take me until the end of Ramadan to complete a portion of a worthwhile commentary, b) Dr. White’s key issues are summarised in his book, ‘The Forgotten Trinity’, (particularly, Chapter 6) and c) I’m not sure that I support the idea of reviewing debates in such a manner, I have instead turned to an elementary analysis of said chapter in The Forgotten Trinity, with some references to other sections in the text and some of the comments I made in the aforementioned debate which have relevance.
The textual evidence for the Incarnation
Dr. White opens Chapter 6 by referring to two verses in the Gospel
according to John that Orthodox Christians would typically associate
with the ascription of divinity to Jesus, namely, John 1:1 and 20:28.
Interestingly, John 1:18 is omitted from the list, but this may be
unintentional.Essentially, the key issue in these verses is the application of the term theos (θεός) to Jesus.
The anarthrous θεός – a clear evidence?
In Chapter 4 of The Forgotten Trinity, Dr. White discusses John 1:1 in further detail, going into some detail to refute the idea that there is any value in translating theos in the verse as ‘a god’. However, even a student of New Testament manuscript traditions would be able to illustrate that there are textual variants, albeit relatively late, that state ho theos (ὁ θεός) instead of simply theos with regards to the Word.
Instead of the rendering found in most manuscripts:
καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος (ka theos en ho logos) [and god was The Word] and the Word was a god
We find in some manuscripts:
καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος (ka ho theos en ho logos) [and The God was The Word] and the Word was God
While I am happy to accept the rationale presented by Dr. White for not automatically translating the anarthrous (i.e. without a definite article) theos as ‘a god’, I don’t think this is a significant concession to the Christian argument by any means. I expect that the first question any thinking Muslim would ask is, why do these textual variants exist, if the meaning of John 1:1 is so obvious?
Reed (2003) outlines briefly the range of interpretations that arose due to the lack of definite article (in the majority of manuscripts):
From the point of view of early church history, heresy develops when a misunderstanding arises concerning Greek articles, the predicate nominative, and grammatical word order. To illustrate, the early church heresy of [Modalism] understood John 1:1 to read, “and the Word was the God”; while the early church heresy of Arianism understood John 1:1 to read, “and the word was a God
It is interesting to note, here, that Modalism is known to have existed at least as early as the first part of the 3rd Century CE, when Sabellius was a priest, because this indicates the potential for the definite article variants to have existed much earlier than the current manuscript evidence confirms.
However, the key question is now amplified. If the meaning of John 1:1 is so obvious, how did Modalism and Arianism arise, using the very same text as evidence for their respective Christologies?
Why am I discussing this point? Because Dr. White suggested in one of his more recent webcasts that we Muslims do not give the Christian Scriptures a fair go. This assertion was made very clear when placed against one of the arguments I made in the debate.
I suggested to the Christian audience (and any that may have happened to watch the debate since) that the claiming divinity for Jesus (or anyone for that matter) is an extraordinary claim and that such a claim would require exceptional evidence. In response, Dr. White has asked, “What more than revelation?”
But what revelation is he speaking of? The likes of John 1:1 which are a) understood drastically differently by those that believe it is revelation and b) present in entirely different textual forms. Dr. White describes John 1:1 as “literary artistry” that the writer must have spent significant time planning. Yet there are literally dozens of different English renditions of the text and there is no authoritative interpretation of the precise meaning of the text.
Hardly what I would consider to be rock solid evidence
I am He
Interestingly, Dr. White suggested in a recent webcast that I was being overly simplistic with my criticism of the Christian use of the ‘I am’ statements, in the Greek New Testament manuscripts, ego eimi, (ἐγώ εἰμι). He seemed to agree with me in some way, in that the language link to the statements in Exodus and Deuteronomy is not quite there in of themselves, but suggested that that is not exactly what Christians are saying.
Dr. White instead refers to Exodus 3:14 as being linked to the ‘I am’ statements in John via Isaiah. Let’s first look at the standard Septuagint version of Exodus 3:14:
καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸς μωυσῆν ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν καὶ εἶπεν οὕτως ἐρεῖςτοῖς υἱοῖς Iσραηλ ὁ ὢν ἀπέσταλκέν με πρὸς ὑμᾶς
I have underlined the statements ego eimi ho on (I am the One) and the repeat of ho on (the One) in the verse, where it states ‘the One has sent me to you’.
In Hebrew, the wording is a little different. The Masoretic Text states for the first section underlined:
אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה
ehyeh asher ehyeh
I will be what I will be
Likewise, the closing of the verse uses אֶהְיֶה to say ‘I will be has sent me to you’.I will be what I will be
Today, most English translations will translate these sections of the passage as ‘I AM Who I AM’ and ‘tell them I AM sent you’.
Note, the capitalisation of ‘I AM’ is not a mistake. Several versions that I consulted capitalise ‘I AM’ in their texts.
The mind doesn’t really have to stretch far to be able to draw a fairly simply conclusion about the motive here. Obviously, there is an attempt to link this passage to the ego eimi statements in John. Dr. White suggests that this can be done via Isaiah.
So, the next question for the thinking Muslim (or Muslimah) is, are the links between John, Isaiah and Exodus apparent?
Dr. White gives several examples for the reader to consider, first to illustrate the links between John and Isaiah that he considers to be intentionally present. Looking at Isaiah 43:25, Dr. White finds it remarkable that the Hebrew, אָנֹכִי אָנֹכִי הוּא (anochi anochi huw, lit. I, I, [am] He) is rendered as ego eimi ego eimi in the Septuagint. Aside from the fact that this is a peculiar passage in Isaiah, using a proto-Semitic and highly archaic Hebrew pronoun which is not easily rendered into another language, I personally find no significance to this comparison and do not see any reason for a link to the use of ego eimi in John.
Dr. White continues by suggesting that ani huw in Isaiah (I [am] He) is a euphemism for the Tetragrammaton, YHVH, rendered in English as ‘LORD’. The question I would ask here is, what purpose does it serve? The very chapters Dr. White quotes of Isaiah do use the Tetragrammaton, often in conjunction with ani and anochi. For example:
Isaiah 43:11
אָנֹכִי אָנֹכִי יהוָה (anochi anochi YHVH)
Isaiah 43: 15
אָנֹי יהוָה (ani YHVH)
I could give more examples, but the point is clear. What exactly is ‘ani huw’ a euphemism for, if the word it is supposed to harmlessly represent (that’s what a euphemism does) is also present in the same portion of the text?
Dr. White then suggests a link between the Septuagint version of Isaiah 43:10 and John 13:19. He proposes that both verses essentially have the same meaning, even to the extent of them having the same words, “When one removes the extraneous words”. He presents the comparison as such:
Isaiah 43:10: hina pisteusete… hoti ego eimi
John 13:19: hina pisteusete… hoti ego eimi
However, this is a bit of a simplification of the texts, unless I am reading a different version of the Septuagint to Dr. White.
With the sections quoted by Dr. White underlined and bolded
Isaiah 43:10 states
γένεσθέ μοι μάρτυρες κἀγὼ μάρτυς λέγει κύριος ὁ θεός καὶ ὁ παῖς ὃνἐξελεξάμην ἵνα γνῶτε καὶ πιστεύσητε
καὶ συνῆτε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι ἔμπροσθένμου οὐκ ἐγένετο ἄλλος θεὸς καὶ μετ’ ἐμὲ οὐκ ἔσται
John 13:19 states:
ἵνα πι στεύητε ὅταν γένηται ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι
At first glance, one would be immediately able to recognise that there must be a lot of ‘extraneous words’ in the verse from Isaiah for there to be any similarity in the texts. Looking a little harder, even a non-reader will be able to recognise that there is an editing problem with Dr. White’s transliterated comparison of the texts. It should be more like:
Isaiah 43:10: hina… pisteusete… hoti ego eimi
John 13:19: hina pisteusete… hoti ego eimi
The next question: Is the point really still there when we add the necessary ellipse?
I must emphasise I am no scholar of the Greek language and cannot undertake an analysis to the level that Dr. White would be capable of. But, with my limited ability, I am yet to be convinced with the examples given. However, there are more that he presents, which inshaAllah we will examine.
I think that forms a good opening to discussing some of the issues raised by Dr. White over the past few months on his webcast. InshaAllah, this analysis will continue during the month of Ramadan.
The full version of the Reed article can be found here:
http://fdier.free.fr/ReedSemiticJohn.pdf
End Political Correctness: Begin Profiling White Males Now!
Posted: July 21, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sami Zaatari, The News, Violent extremism 3 Comments » In the wake of America’s recent shooting spree, much has been said about opening a debate on guns within America, but in my view the focus is misdirected. Rather than opening up a debate about guns in America, we should open serious discussions in moving towards a system of profiling, white profiling that is.The recent shooting massacre is not a unique event, but a trend amongst young white males, a trend we have seen at schools, universities, and now the cinema. Let us not also forget about the massacre spree that also took place in Norway last summer, the single worst terrorist attack in the history of Norway, all of it conducted by yet another white male.
This is where we must leave political correctness at the door, and place the safety of the citizen at the forefront, innocent people are being shot dead in the cinema, and we as a civilized society cannot stand for this. The solution is simple, all white males between the ages of 16-40 must be profiled with a detailed security check at premises such as schools, universities, malls, and cinemas in order to prevent such tragedies from occurring. There must also be a vigorous security check on white males seeking to purchase weaponry. At the end of the day when I’m in the cinema, I don’t want to constantly be looking over my shoulder when I see a white person entering the cinema, in the fear of being shot dead. I must say though that the sight of white looking males will make me slightly nervous from now on, don’t blame me, the white shooters made me have this slight edginess.
But in spite of the high threat we face from white males and their shooting sprees, we as a society must not give in. So to stand up to these persons, I will go to the cinema and watch the Dark Knight Rises, for if I don’t, they win, and we lose. We must not allow these white shooters to infringe or restrict our lives in fear of being shot by them when we go out to school, university, malls, and the cinema.
So the next time I am in the cinema and I become unsettled by the white male that walks in, I will still be proud and dignified in the fact that I came to the cinema, thereby defying the white shooters and their terror spree.
The debate is simple my friends, we know what we must do, and we must act at once: Begin profiling white males in order to preserve the safety and security of our children and loved ones.
…
Now if you thought all of the above was a bunch of nonsense, then great, that was the whole point, because the very exact same type of language and thinking has been constantly applied to Arab Muslims by several commentators, analysts, and politicians. But when you apply the same language, the same thinking, onto others, you see how ridiculous and comical it sounds, but it’s not a comedy, this is an actual reality being applied to Muslims.
The Dark Knight (and the crescent moon) rises
Posted: July 20, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sadat, Christian terror, Cultural criticism, MDI Canada, Militant Secularism, Philosophy, Spiritual Truth, Uncategorized, US terrorism, Violent extremism | Tags: the dark knight rises, the dark knight, james holmes, american terrorist, american terrorism 7 Comments »
by Sadat bin Anwar
Beginning today, millions of Muslims will not only be beginning their Ramadan fasting from food and drink, but some like me will also have to fight the untimely temptation of sneaking a peek at Christopher Nolan’s latest and final film instalment of the Batman trilogy– The Dark Knight Rises– in order to hopefully engage that time in higher spiritual pursuits. The films’ socially relevant themes of chaotic anarchy and recurring terrorist threats facing the people of a major metropolis (the fictional Gotham) caught my attention and imagination ever since its first instalment, Batman Begins, released in 2005. If the post-9/11 political undertones of that first film were not apparent enough, the main villain’s name also happened to be “Ra’s al-Ghul”, Arabic for “The Demon’s Head” (the English word “ghoul” actually derives from the Arabic). In the Batman comics, this scoundrel is described as a “700-year old terrorist.” At least this time round, the villain in the latest film, who is named Bane, allegedly has more in common with U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney than any connection he may have with Islam (American right-wing political commentator Rush Limbaugh has recently suggested that the Obama team may have influenced the name of this villain which sounds just like Bain Capital, the financial services company that Romney once managed!)
Films as big as this invariably take on an almost religious fervour and following. I remember how shortly after the release of James Cameron`s Titanic in 1997, there were fanatical addicts of that film who had become completely obsessed with it, with some of them actually falling into deep bouts of related depression. There appears to be something intrinsic to human beings that makes us want to dedicate our all and everything to a certain brand, object, cause, issue, country, symbol, ideology, or personality. Perhaps it is a mutation of the “God gene” that leads the empty modern man or woman to fulfill his or her need for submission and the desire for mystical and spiritual experience through any arbitrary, misguided or hollow means, be it a song or the latest blockbuster Hollywood film. The search for something that can supplant the power of True Religion and Perfection continues on, as remote and unlikely of a goal as that may be.
The latest and most outlandish of such a “religious” expression in regards to The Dark Knight Rises film has come from user comments on the review aggregate website, Rotten Tomatoes. In response to some negative reviews of the film from critics like Christy Lemire, certain users had called for her and others to be beaten up ”with a thick rubber hose into a coma” and left to “die in a fire”. (That puts a whole different spin on one of the film’s main promotional mottos, “A fire will rise.”) In response to such death threats, Rotten Tomatoes decided to temporarily put a freeze on user comments until the hopefully-just-proverbial fire dies out and the temperature of the violent rhetoric cools down.
Whether the issued death threats emanated from “worshippers” of the fictional character of Batman or those of the director Christopher Nolan, or both, is unclear. What is apparent, however, is that this illustrates and speaks of an undeniable aspect of the human psyche and spirit which longs to deify something or someone, and the new idols are often no less fantastic and absurd than the ones that they have replaced. Modern, “rational” agnostic types who have foresaken organized religion and “evolved” beyond such “primitive” emotions as the ones displayed by Muslims are apparently themselves not immune from spiritual relapse.
In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne is told that in order to accomplish his mission, he must become more than just a man; he must become a symbol. For a minority of extreme fans of the film franchise, Christopher Nolan’s Batman really has become a symbol, and a holy one at that. Disagreement over the virtues of Nolan’s depiction and vision of the beloved comic book character is a type of blasphemy that is not to be tolerated, and especially not during these first few holy days of the film’s inauguration at the box office.
As the Ramadan moon rises, so does Nolan’s final instalment in this gripping trilogy. The front rows of the cinemas and the mosques in the coming days and weeks are sure to be filled with dedicated flocks of the faithful.
UPDATE- 20/07/2012
It is with great regret that I mention here that the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in a cinema in Colorado last night was marked with a horrific terrorist bloodbath in which the violent rhetoric discussed above may have translated into actual reality. 24-year old James Holmes walked into a packed theater and threw canisters of (possibly chemical) gases into the audience and mercilessly unloaded his AR-15 assault rifle into the crowd. At the present time, 12 people are confirmed dead, with more than 50 injured. Holmes’ apartment was also found to be booby-trapped with “very sophisticated” explosives. His exact motive is not clear at this time.
Our condolences go out to the families of the victims.
The Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) Sermon on Ramadan
Posted: July 20, 2012 Filed under: Islam, Spiritual Truth Leave a comment » Baihaqi reported on the authority of Salman Al-Farsi (Radhi Allah‘Anh) that Prophet (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasalaam) delivered a sermon
on the last day of the month of Sha’ban. In it he (Sallallaahu
Alaihi Wasalaam) said,
“O People! The month of Allah (Ramadan) has come with its mercies,
blessings and forgivenesses. Allah has decreed this month the best of
all months. The days of this month are the best among the days and the
nights are the best among the nights and the hours during Ramadan are
the best among the hours. This is a month in which you have been
invited by Him (to fast and pray). Allah has honoured you in it. In
every breath you take is a reward of Allah, your sleep is worship,
your good deeds are accepted and your invocations are answered.
Therefore, you must invoke your Lord in all earnestness with hearts
free from sin and evil, and pray that Allah may help you to keep fast,
and to recite the Holy Qur’an. Indeed!, miserable is the o ne who
is deprived of Allah’s forgiveness in this great month. While
fasting remember the hunger and thirst o n the Day of Judgement. Give
alms to the poor and needy. Pay respect to your elders, have sympathy
for your youngsters and be kind towards your relatives and kinsmen.
Guard your tongue against unworthy words, and your eyes from scenes
that are not worth seeing (forbidden) and your ears from sounds that
should not be heard.
Be kind to orphans so that if your children may become orphans they
will also be treated with kindness. Do repent to Allah for your sins
and supplicate with raised hands at the times of prayer as these are
the best times, during which Allah Almighty looks at His servants with
mercy. Allah Answers if they supplicate, Responds if they call, Grants
if He is asked, and Accepts if they entreat. O people! you have made
your conscience the slave of your desires.
Make it free by invoking Allah for forgiveness. Your back may break
from the heavy load of your sins, so prostrate yourself before Allah
for long intervals, and make this load lighter. Understand fully that
Allah has promised in His Honour and Majesty that, people who perform
salat and sajda (prostration) will be guarded from Hell-fire o n the
Day of Judgement.
O people!, if anyone amongst you arranges for iftar (meal at sunset)
for any believer, Allah will reward him as if he had freed a slave,
and Allah will forgive him his sins. A companion asked: “but not all
of us have the means to do so” The Prophet (Sallallaahu Alaihi
Wasalaam) replied: Keep yourself away from Hell-fire though it may
consist of half a date or even some water if you have nothing else.
O people!, anyone who during this month cultivates good manners, will
walk over the Sirat (bridge to Paradise) o n the day when feet will
tend to slip. For anyone who during this month eases the workload of
his servants, Allah will make easy his accounting, and for anyone who
doesn’t hurt others during this month, Allah will safeguard him from
His Wrath o n the Day of Judgement. Anyone who respects and treats an
orphan with kindness during this month, Allah shall look at him with
kindness o n that Day. Anyone who treats his kinsmen well during this
month, Allah will bestow His Mercy o n him o n that Day, while
anyone who mistreats his kinsmen during this month, Allah will keep
away from His Mercy.
Whomever offers the recommended prayers during this month, Allah will
save him from Hell, and whomever observes his obligations during this
month, his reward will be seventy times the reward during other
months. Whomever repeatedly invokes Allah’s blessings o n me, Allah
will keep his scale of good deeds heavy, while the scales of others
will be tending to lightness. Whomever recites during this month an
ayat (verse) of the Holy Qur’an, will get the reward of reciting the
whole Qur’an in other months.
O people!, the gates of Paradise remain open during this month. Pray
to your Lord that they may not be closed for you. While the gates of
Hell are closed, pray to your Lord that they never open for you. Satan
has been chained, invoke your Lord not to let him dominate you.”
Ali ibn Talib (Radhi Allah ‘Anh) said: “I asked, ‘O messenger of
Allah, what are the best deeds during this month’?” ‘He replied:
‘O Abu-Hassan, the best of deeds during this month is to be far from
what Allah has forbidden’.”
Luton Against Islamophobia
Posted: July 20, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sami Zaatari, English Defence League, Islam, Islamophobia, lectures, MDI, Violent extremism 2 Comments » MDI speaker Abdullah Al Andalusi was invited to take part in a panel discussion on the threat of Islamophobia, here was the speech he delivered at the event:The threat of Islamophobia is real, the only ones who deny this threat, are the Islamophobes themselves, after all, if there is no supposed threat, then there is no problem, and they can carry on spreading their fear-mongering and bigotry at the expense of Muslims.
The Centre of American Progress investigated how much money was being spent in order to spread fear of Islam and Muslims amongst several Islamophobic think tanks and organisations, and the number was $40 million dollars. Mind you, this amount was only in regards to well known major Islamophobic organisations, not every single Islamophobic organisation in existence, so the figure in total would be far higher:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/08/islamophobia.htmlMDI will be tackling the issue of Islamophobia head on in October, when we will hold a public debate with the English Defence League, on whether Islamophobia, or Islam, is the biggest threat to the west. More details concerning that event will be released in due time, so stay tuned for that.
Does the Quran Command The Muslims To Go And Behead Non-Believers?
Posted: July 20, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sami Zaatari, Islam, The Qur'an 2 Comments » One often-quoted verse used against Muslims is that of Surah 8, ayat 12. The verse reads as:008.012 Remember thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message): “I am with you: give firmness to the Believers: I will instil terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them.”So Islamophobes claim that this verse proves that Islam promotes terrorism and that the Quran orders Muslims to go and chop people’s heads off along with their fingertips.
However so, had they bothered to do some basic research, they would find out that this verse was referring to a SPECIFIC BATTLE. The verse is talking about a battle that took place, the battle of Badr.
Al-Maududi’s introduction to this Surah writes:
NameLet see what Ibn Kathir’’s commentary had to say regarding this verse:
The Surah takes its name AL-ANFAL (The Bounties) from the first verse.
The Period of Revelation
It was revealed in 2 A. H. after the Battle of Badr, the first battle between Islam and kufr. As it contains a detailed and comprehensive review of the Battle, it appears that most probably it was revealed at one and the same time. But it is also possible that some of the verses concerning the problems arising as a result of this Battle might have been revealed later and incorporated at the proper places to make it a continuous whole. At any rate, in the whole Surah there is nothing that might show that it is a collection of a couple of discourses, that have been patched up together. (http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/maududi/mau8.html)
Allah commands the Angels to fight and support the BelieversSo as you can see, these events were taking place during a battle, and the stipulations of these commands were meant for battle. Now during the course of a battle in those days you would aim for the neck to get an immediate blow, and off course you would also aim for their fingers, taking out the fingers of the opposing soldier would neutralize him as he wouldn’t be able to properly carry or use his sword anymore. That’s how battles were fought back then, end of story.
Allah said next,
((Remember) when your Lord revealed to the angels, “Verily, I am with you, so keep firm those who have believed.”)
This is a hidden favor that Allah has made known to the believers, so that they thank Him and are grateful to Him for it. Allah, glorified, exalted, blessed and praised be He, has revealed to the angels — whom He sent to support His Prophet, religion and believing group — to make the believers firmer. Allah’s statement,
(I will cast terror into the hearts of those who have disbelieved.) means, `you — angels — support the believers, strengthen their (battle) front against their enemies, thus, implementing My command to you. I will cast fear, disgrace and humiliation over those who defied My command and denied My Messenger, f
(so strike them over the necks, and smite over all their fingers and toes.) strike them on their foreheads to tear them apart and over the necks to cut them off, and cut off their limbs, hands and feet. It was said that,
(over the necks) refers to striking the forehead, or the neck, according to Ad-Dahhak and `Atiyyah Al-`Awfi. In support of the latter, Allah commanded the believers,
(So, when you meet (in fight Jihad in Allah’s cause) those who disbelieve, smite (their) necks till when you have killed and wounded many of them, then bind a bond firmly (on them, take them as captives).) [47:4]
Ar-Rabi` bin Anas said, “In the aftermath of Badr, the people used to recognize whomever the angels killed from those whom they killed, by the wounds over their necks, fingers and toes, because those parts had a mark as if they were branded by fire.” Allah said,
(and smite over all their fingers and toes.)
Ibn Jarir commented that this Ayah commands, “O believers! Strike every limb and finger on the hands and feet of your (disbelieving) enemies.” Al-`Awfi reported, that Ibn `Abbas said about the battle of Badr that Abu Jahl said, “Do not kill them (the Muslims), but capture them so that you make known to them what they did, their ridiculing your religion and shunning Al-Lat and Al-`Uzza (two idols).” Allah than sent down to the angels,
(Verily, I am with you, so keep firm those who have believed. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who have disbelieved, so strike them over the necks, and smite over all their fingers and toes.)
In that battle, Abu Jahl (may Allah curse him) was killed along with sixty-nine men. `Uqbah bin Abu Mua`it was captured and then killed, thus bring the death toll of the pagans to seventy,
The Month of Ramadan
Posted: July 20, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sami Zaatari, Islam, Spiritual Truth 1 Comment » The holy month of Ramadan is upon us, the month in which the Noble Quran was sent down and revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Muslims around the world will undertake the rite of fasting from sunrise to sunset for the next month. The fasting is for the Muslims to realize and to be thankful for what they have, it is a spiritual month for Muslims to contemplate, and to try and better themselves in any way possible.Many of the things we have, such as food and water, we take for granted. When we have meals served to us routinely on a daily basis, it becomes as casual and expected as the sun rising. Not only do we have the luxury of having meals on a daily basis, we have the luxury of picking and choosing what delicacy we would like to have, should I have pasta, steak, or fish? Should I have Mcdonalds, Subway, or Pizza Express? So we don’t even realize how lucky we are to have such a benefit, compared with those who have a daily struggle to be able to feed themselves and their family. For millions of people around the world, it is a literal situation of life and death if they’re not able to eat.
By fasting, the Muslim is able to appreciate the burden and struggle of those who do not have the basics of food and water, and it allows the Muslim to appreciate what he has, to be thankful, and to reflect. So when the Muslim breaks his fast, during the Iftar, he realizes all of this, and is very appreciative of the food he is eating at that very moment, after a day of fasting.
The rite of fasting is a practice and tradition the Muslims have continued and carried on from the Prophets of old, all Prophets, such as Abraham, Moses, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, David, Jesus, and Muhammad (peace be upon them all) all partook in the act of fasting, and taught this upon their people.
Even if one were not a Muslim, one can still appreciate the benefit of having such a month as Ramadan.
Islamophobes Lose: Judge Orders Mosque to be Opened
Posted: July 19, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sami Zaatari, Christian extremism, Islamophobia, The News Leave a comment » After a 2-year struggle, Muslims will finally be able to use their mosque and Islamic centre. From the Associated Press:A federal judge ordered a Tennessee county on Wednesday to move ahead with opening a Muslim congregation’s newly built mosque after a two-year fight from opponents.
The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro sued Rutherford County earlier in the day and asked District Judge Todd Campbell for an emergency order to let worshippers into the building before the holy month of Ramadan starts at sundown Thursday.
Federal prosecutors also filed a similar lawsuit.
The future of the mosque had been in question since May, when a local judge overturned the county’s approval of the mosque construction. This month he ordered the county not to issue an occupancy permit for the 12,000-square-foot building.
Campbell ordered the county to move ahead on approving the mosque for use, although it wasn’t immediately clear if that could happen by Thursday. Final inspection of the building is required.
The contentious fight over the mosque stems from a 2010 lawsuit filed by a group of residents who made repeated claims that Islam was not a real religion and that local Muslims intended to overthrow the U.S. Constitution in favor of Islamic religious law.
Those claims were dismissed, but opponents won with a ruling that overturned the approval to build the mosque on the grounds that county didn’t give adequate public notice of the meeting.
Although the county advertised that meeting in the same way it has advertised others, the judge said extra notice was needed because the mosque construction was “an issue of major importance to citizens.”
In court on Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Jerry Martin said the chancery court judge, in essence, created a separate “mosque standard” applicable only to someone who wants to build a mosque.
Citing acts of vandalism, arson and a bomb threat against the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, Martin said, “The Muslim community in
Rutherford County has been under siege for the last two years. Now, after doing everything right, they are told that they can’t move in.”
Martin asked the federal judge to fulfill a promise made by the congregation’s religious leader, Imam Ossama Bahloul, to the children of the congregation that justice would be done and they would be allowed to worship in their new space.
The congregation is being represented by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and local civil rights attorney George Barrett. The suit filed in federal court in Nashville alleges violations of federal law and the constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion and equal protection.
“If ICM were a Christian church, it would have been granted a certificate of occupancy and would be worshipping in its new facility today,” a memorandum to the federal court reads, citing 20 instances of Christian churches that have been allowed to build since 2000. ” … The discriminatory treatment of the mosque also sends a powerful message to the Muslim community that they are second-class citizens, not worthy of the same rights or protection as Christian churches.”
Attorneys for Rutherford County did not oppose the temporary restraining order. County attorneys have argued in chancery court hearings that treating the mosque differently from other applicants was discriminatory and a violation of their rights.
County Attorney Jim Cope said after the hearing that he felt vindicated by Campbell’s ruling.
Mosque leader Bahloul said he had been reluctant to involve the mosque in the lawsuit but felt he had no choice after the certificate of occupancy was refused.
He said Campbell’s ruling means a lot to Muslims in Tennessee and their supporters.
“I think this is an opportunity for us all to celebrate the freedom and liberty that, in fact, exist in America and to teach our young people to believe even more in the U.S. Constitution,” he said.
An attorney for the mosque opponents did not return a call seeking comment.
EDL Member Get’s 3 Month Prison Term
Posted: July 18, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sami Zaatari, English Defence League, Islamophobia, Violent extremism Leave a comment » And in familiar news, another member of the ‘peaceful’ ‘non-violent’ movement, known as the English Defence League, is sent to jail for assault. How many has it been for arrests this year alone? Let alone in the past 3 years since the inception of this movement? Not to forget, this movement is openly supported by Robert Spencer.Courtesy of Islamophobia-Watch:
Hope Not Hate reports that thanks to photographic evidence they were able to give the police, an English Defence League member, Steven Crispin, has been convicted of an attack on two Muslim brothers during an EDL anti-mosque protest in Dagenham last year, in the course of which he kicked one of the victims and fractured his jaw. Unfortunately a decision was taken not to charge Crispin with a racially aggravated offence and he received a jail sentence of just three months.
In December last year another EDL member, John McAndrew, received a 14-month custodial term to serve a minimum of seven months having been convicted of participating in the attack on the brothers. He was subsequently handed a five-year CRASBObanning him attending EDL demonstrations or entering mosques, Islamic cultural centres and Muslim festival sites.
The Muslim Debate Initiative shall be debating the head of the EDL, Tommy Robinson, in October, that should be very interesting indeed. More news on that to follow.
Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes Linked to Negative Media Reporting
Posted: July 18, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sami Zaatari, Islamophobia, The News, Violent extremism Leave a comment » Well this is hardly a surprise, a recent report and study has shown that anti-Muslim coverage and reporting, has been a direct cause of anti-Muslim sentiment. This has something that many, including Muslims, have long been warning about, that the negative biased media coverage against the Muslim community is a direct contributing factor to the stigma many Muslims are attached with in society.Several media agencies these days purposely create negative sensationalist stories, as well as headlines, surrounding Muslims, and obviously when this becomes a consistent pattern, many in society will become swayed by such reporting. Several media outlets barely ever cover positive stories concerning Muslims, after all, that would be boring, and go against the coverage they’re trying to feed their audiences.
From the Asian Image Reporter:
‘Anti-Muslim reporting’ has led to an increase in hate crimes against Muslims a report says.
Journalists and media experts have submitted recommendations to Leveson Inquiry to address racist media portrayal of Muslims and it’s wider social impact.
The report ‘Race and Reform: Islam and Muslims in the British Media’ draws on first-hand interviews with 16 journalists, media experts, community representatives and politicians and aims to address inaccurate anti-Muslim narratives in British media and their social impact, from the 1990s to 2011.
It also examined a large range of significant academic studies, policy reports, opinion polls, and surveys.
Submitted by Unitas Communications, the report found a disturbing correlation between the rise of anti-Muslim narratives in the media over the last decade, a rise in Islamophobic sentiment in wider British society and a rise in hate crimes against members of Muslim communities over this period.
Findings in specific studies found the Muslim world was associated with the words ‘extremism and terrorism’, ‘despotism’ and ‘sexism’.
It also found that in a study of 351 articles over a random selected one week period in 2007 – 91% of articles proved to be negative. And 12 of 19 publications had no positive associations at all.
Ninety-six percent of tabloid articles were negative compared with 89% of broadsheet articles.
References to ‘radical Muslims’ outnumbered references to ‘moderate Muslims’ by 17 to one. Imagery associated with articles depicting Muslims generally depicted Muslims as a homogenous mass.
Report author Dr. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, Chief Research Officer at Unitas Communications, said: “Although there are mixed views about the term ‘Islamophobia’, our analysis of existing research to date on how the British media has reported on Islam and Muslims over the last two decades shows that this reporting has been overwhelmingly negative, stereotypical and inaccurate.
“This is due largely to poor journalistic standards in the tabloid press, which sets the wider news agenda in print and broadcasting.
“Within the last decade in particular, spikes in anti-Muslim reporting have correlated with an increase in negative perceptions of British Muslims in wider society.
“This in turn has correlated with a dramatic rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes, which now appear to be at record levels.”
The report states: ‘Contrary to conventional wisdom anti-Muslim discourses did not originate after the 9/11 attacks, but predated those attacks by some decades.’ ‘After 9/11 the scrutiny on Islam and Muslims led to an escalation of inaccurate anti-Muslim reporting in the British Media. The primary driver of this kind of reporting was the populist tabloid press.’ Among the report’s eight key recommendations to the Leveson Inquiry for media reform were.
• More robust enforcement powers for the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) to deal with third-party complaints, with a more equal right of reply and harsher penalties for violations of the press code of conduct including fines.
• A better press code of conduct revised with assistance from the Equality & Human Rights Commission to ensure media compliance with existing equalities legislation.
• Establish a PCC advisory panel on issues relating to Islam and Muslims.
• Greater engagement between media agencies and minority groups, including measures to improve diversity in employment.
• Protection for journalists from editorial pressure to generate inaccurate stories.
• There was also an under-representation of minorities and Muslims in the media. And there was a call for more to be done to increase representation.
Contributors included Political Editor of the Daily Mirror Jason Beattie, Director of POLIS and former Channel 4/ITN Programme Editor Charlie Beckett, Executive Director of the Daily Telegraph Group The Rt. Hon. Lord Guy Black, former Mail on Sunday and Daily Star reporter Richard Peppiat, former Independent on Sunday Deputy Editor and Journalism Professor Brian Cathcart, Chair of Campaign for Press & Broadcasting Freedom Professor Julian Petley, former Asia Editor at BBC World TV Rita Payne, Head of Diversity at The Guardian Yasir Mirza, and former Deputy Features Editor at The Times Burhan Wazir.
Hey, but according to Robert Spencer, Islamophobia is just a myth
You Alone
Posted: July 17, 2012 Filed under: Beauty, Islam, Monotheism, Spiritual Truth, The Qur'an 5 Comments »
Piety & Politics
Posted: July 16, 2012 Filed under: Fr Frank's Rants Leave a comment » FATHER FRANK’S RANTSRant Number 497 16 July 2012
Piety & Politics
Friday in Tehran. A large, bearded man in high-ranking military uniform and wearing a black-and-white scarf cries. He is distressed, he sobs uncontrollably. People all around are visibly moved. Some shed tears. An unforgettable scene. The air in the auditorium is thick with fervour, with emotion, with passion. Why? Because the expected Deliverer, the restorer of justice, the Hidden Imam, the Imam al-Muntazhar, once again has failed to return.
In Iran last week for a Conference on Mahdism and Art, the priest lectured on the Hidden Imam theme in one of J.L. Borges’ tales, The Approach to al-Mu’tasim. A condign esoteric subject, I found, as hardly anyone in the audience had heard of the great Argentinean writer. Never mind. A seed was planted, insh’allah. And I learned from the questions. ‘Could the mysterious hero of Borges’ story have been Jesus?’ a bright-eyed young man asked me afterwards. First time I thought of that. The hearer’s mystical insight at work, perhaps?
However, the sobbing general at the Conference was Hasan Firooz-Abadi. In charge of the Basij, Iran’s voluntary revolutionary militia. Loved by some, detested by others. Yet, the fellow interested me. Because he represents a live example of a notable conjunction now lost in the West – indeed execrated – that between piety and politics.
The awaited Redeemer of Shia’ Islam, the Twelfth Imam, is a paradoxical figure. A more-than-mortal man who keeps out of sight, he is also all-too present and active in the hearts and minds of believers. President Ahmadinejad for instance invokes him frequently. (Peculiar though how the President’s name was never mentioned during the Conference – not even once. What could it mean?) Politically and doctrinally speaking, the Hidden Imam matters. And to people like the pious General he obviously matters a great deal. His tears were not faked. They were real. His were cries of longings, of yearnings and of hope. Felt expressions of deliverance from the darkness of the present age, like a rare Christian really looking forward to the Second Coming of Christ.
Nonetheless, the Basij name is mud in the Western media. They are loathed and reviled. Verily, the idea of a body of moral enforcers, of fighters against moral harm, must strike panic and terror in the hearts of dogmatic secularist regimes like those of France, Germany and our increasingly pathetic, drifting Ukania. Why? Maybe it goes back to that utilitarian thinker, Englishman John Stuart Mill.
In the pamphlet ‘On Liberty’ Mill offers a negative definition of political freedom. ‘Do no harm’ is the slogan. Your freedom ends where someone else’s begins….But Mill does not define what counts as harm. Coshing an old lady over the head to steal her purse clearly harms her and hence it is wrong. What about practices that harm people not physically but morally? Hard porn, for example? Or racial abuse? Or incest? Or prostitution? The harm they cause is not physical yet it is real. Thus Roger Scruton, the greatest living conservative philosopher, writes that ‘The concept of harm…brings with it precisely that reference to shared moral intuitions which the idea of utility and the negative concept of freedom were designed to replace’. Mill’s idea of man, his liberal individualism, in other words, is too atomistic. It does not do justice to the reality of man’s social life, rooted in communitarian institutions.
That the State has an interest in the physical welfare of its citizens no one will deny. Witness the public campaigns against smoking, hard-drinking, obesity and the like. But physical well-being is only one side of the coin. Society is also harmed by certain practices, the Basij would contend. Of course, where are the limits between individual freedom and societal rights? The debate is on. One thing is clear, though: the old, time-hallowed sins and crimes, laid down in God’s revelation, like incest, bestiality and sodomy, in the West are now either relegated the private sphere, out of reach from the law, or even extolled as downright virtues. Indifferent matters of personal liberty or choice. People, it appears, no longer care about them.
It is different in Iran. God still matters. Iranians, unlike post-Christian Brits, ‘do God’. God’s word, the Qur’an, is uncontested. The Book is universally venerated and, at least in principle, followed. Self is subordinated to community, to the whole. Justice, rooted in revelation, is the overarching principle at the basis of legislation. Hence the Basij are no aberration.
Bizarre? Yet till recently in
Britain a luminary like Lord Denning, former Master of the Rolls, could
argue that ‘without religion there is no morality…and without morality
there is no law’. The good peer even kept the Bible by his side when
deliberating. He was no soft touch when it came to punishment – a mugger
who had hurt an old pensioner was sentenced to 25 strokes of the birch.
Why, o why can’t we get judges like that today? It really would work
wonders. Not ‘hug a hoody’, as silly PM David Cameron once urged, but
‘birch a hoody’ might sensibly fix the problems of feral, violent
youths…
Don’t get me wrong. Iranians struck me as pretty laid back about the
Basij guys. After Tehran, I stayed with the family of a friend in the
famed city of Isfahan. All observant and practising Muslims – and indeed
believers in the Hidden Imam – they smiled at mention of the moralistic
Basij but expressed no downright hostility or sense of dread.
Naturally, Iranians are good Muslims all right but they are also a
proud, independent-minded and individualistic people. (Evinced
especially in the eccentric way they drive!)They are certainly not, pace Western propaganda, a people crouching in fear under a 1984 menacing,
all-invasive control. A healthy diversity of opinions prevails about
things. And a Sufi painter I met there just e-mailed me with some
amazing words of wisdom concerning matters of the invisible world.Come to think of it…could I possibly, fleetingly have rubbed shoulders with the Hidden Imam in the magic streets of Isfahan? Been in receipt of his grace, his truth, his enlightening secrets?
Mumkin. It is possible…
Revd Frank Julian Gelli
Rohingya Muslims face ethnic cleansing at hands of Buddhist extremists
Posted: July 16, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sadat, Violent extremism | Tags: buddhist extremism, buddhist violence, burma, burmese, burmese muslims, genocide, Islamophobia, myanmar, rohingya, rohingya muslims 4 Comments » It is time for the world– including Muslims– to learn more about the desperate plight of the Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar.
PLEASE VISIT http://www.rohingya.org/portal/
Evangelical Hearing Test
Posted: July 15, 2012 Filed under: Monotheism, The Bible, The Qur'an Leave a comment » Evangelical Christians’ ability to hear seems to stop abruptly at a particular point in this video hearing test. Watch the entire 7-minute video patiently to see how.Great balls of fire
Posted: July 15, 2012 Filed under: Beauty, Cool stuff, Proof of God, Spiritual Truth | Tags: god's creation, Proof of God 1 Comment »
From Australian Geographic
Newborn nerve cells navigate their Universe. Some microscope images
could have come from a powerful telescope. This neurosphere was cultured
from an adult mouse brain in a project aiming to determine how new
brain cells are born in the adult brain.
With nascent neurons (yellow) navigating amongst associated astrocytes (red), it reminds me of a meteorite in the night sky and highlights the mirror relationship between microcosm and macrocosm. In the century old words of Cajal, “As long as our brain is a mystery, the Universe, the reflection of the structure of the brain will also be a mystery.”
With nascent neurons (yellow) navigating amongst associated astrocytes (red), it reminds me of a meteorite in the night sky and highlights the mirror relationship between microcosm and macrocosm. In the century old words of Cajal, “As long as our brain is a mystery, the Universe, the reflection of the structure of the brain will also be a mystery.”
In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, there are Signs for people with intelligence: those who remember God, standing, sitting and lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: ‘Our Lord, You have not created this for nothing. Glory be to You! So safeguard us from the punishment of the Fire. (Surat Al Imran: 190-191)
Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved?
Posted: July 15, 2012 Filed under: Catholicism, Christianity, Liberalism, Militant Secularism | Tags: christianity, liberalism 1 Comment » Apart from the article’s intrinsic interest, it is instructive for Muslims to know the great diversity that exists in contemporary Christianity. In fact it is probably more accurate to speak of Christianites, plural!
by Ross Douthat of The New York Times (published July 14th).
IN 1998, John Shelby Spong, then the reliably controversial Episcopal bishop of Newark, published a book entitled “Why Christianity Must Change or Die.” Spong was a uniquely radical figure — during his career, he dismissed almost every element of traditional Christian faith as so much superstition — but most recent leaders of the Episcopal Church have shared his premise. Thus their church has spent the last several decades changing and then changing some more, from a sedate pillar of the WASP establishment into one of the most self-consciously progressive Christian bodies in the United States.
As a result, today the Episcopal Church looks roughly how Roman Catholicism would look if Pope Benedict XVI suddenly adopted every reform ever urged on the Vatican by liberal pundits and theologians. It still has priests and bishops, altars and stained-glass windows. But it is flexible to the point of indifference on dogma, friendly to sexual liberation in almost every form, willing to blend Christianity with other faiths, and eager to downplay theology entirely in favor of secular political causes.
Yet instead of attracting a younger, more open-minded demographic with these changes, the Episcopal Church’s dying has proceeded apace. Last week, while the church’s House of Bishops was approving a rite to bless same-sex unions, Episcopalian church attendance figures for 2000-10 circulated in the religion blogosphere. They showed something between a decline and a collapse: In the last decade, average Sunday attendance dropped 23 percent, and not a single Episcopal diocese in the country saw churchgoing increase.
This decline is the latest chapter in a story dating to the 1960s. The trends unleashed in that era — not only the sexual revolution, but also consumerism and materialism, multiculturalism and relativism — threw all of American Christianity into crisis, and ushered in decades of debate over how to keep the nation’s churches relevant and vital.
Traditional believers, both Protestant and Catholic, have not necessarily thrived in this environment. The most successful Christian bodies have often been politically conservative but theologically shallow, preaching a gospel of health and wealth rather than the full New Testament message.
But if conservative Christianity has often been compromised, liberal Christianity has simply collapsed. Practically every denomination — Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian — that has tried to adapt itself to contemporary liberal values has seen an Episcopal-style plunge in church attendance. Within the Catholic Church, too, the most progressive-minded religious orders have often failed to generate the vocations necessary to sustain themselves.
Both religious and secular liberals have been loath to recognize this crisis. Leaders of liberal churches have alternated between a Monty Python-esque “it’s just a flesh wound!” bravado and a weird self-righteousness about their looming extinction. (In a 2005 interview, the Episcopal Church’s presiding bishop explained that her communion’s members valued “the stewardship of the earth” too highly to reproduce themselves.)
Liberal commentators, meanwhile, consistently hail these forms of Christianity as a model for the future without reckoning with their decline. Few of the outraged critiques of the Vatican’s investigation of progressive nuns mentioned the fact that Rome had intervened because otherwise the orders in question were likely to disappear in a generation. Fewer still noted the consequences of this eclipse: Because progressive Catholicism has failed to inspire a new generation of sisters, Catholic hospitals across the country are passing into the hands of more bottom-line-focused administrators, with inevitable consequences for how they serve the poor.
But if liberals need to come to terms with these failures, religious conservatives should not be smug about them. The defining idea of liberal Christianity — that faith should spur social reform as well as personal conversion — has been an immensely positive force in our national life. No one should wish for its extinction, or for a world where Christianity becomes the exclusive property of the political right.
What should be wished for, instead, is that liberal Christianity recovers a religious reason for its own existence. As the liberal Protestant scholar Gary Dorrien has pointed out, the Christianity that animated causes such as the Social Gospel and the civil rights movement was much more dogmatic than present-day liberal faith. Its leaders had a “deep grounding in Bible study, family devotions, personal prayer and worship.” They argued for progressive reform in the context of “a personal transcendent God … the divinity of Christ, the need of personal redemption and the importance of Christian missions.”
Today, by contrast, the leaders of the Episcopal Church and similar bodies often don’t seem to be offering anything you can’t already get from a purely secular liberalism. Which suggests that perhaps they should pause, amid their frantic renovations, and consider not just what they would change about historic Christianity, but what they would defend and offer uncompromisingly to the world.
Absent such a reconsideration, their fate is nearly certain: they will change, and change, and die.
Who is threatening whom?
Posted: July 15, 2012 Filed under: articles by Paul Williams, Christian extremism, The News, US terrorism, Zionism 2 Comments »
US military bases in the Gulf region. (From Stephen Sizer’s excellent website)
Is the Quran In Its Original text?
Posted: July 14, 2012 Filed under: Islam, Shabir Ally, The Bible, The Qur'an | Tags: "shabir ally", islam, Quran 3 Comments »Islamophobia – for Muslims, read Jews. And be shocked
Posted: July 14, 2012 Filed under: Cultural criticism, Islam, Islamophobia, Militant Secularism, The News 3 Comments »
Imagine our alarm if nearly half the UK population said they believed that ‘there are too many Jews’
by Owen Jones The Independent
Friday, 13 July 2012
To be a prominent Muslim means suffering a daily diet of bigotry and
even outright hatred. This week, Mehdi Hasan – who, other than my
colleague Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, is Britain’s only prominent Muslim
journalist – wrote of how, every day, he is attacked as a “jihadist” and
a “terrorist”. He has been described as a “dangerous Muslim shithead”, a
“moderate cockroach”, and worse. The message from his critics is clear:
Muslims have no legitimate place in public life.
Mehdi Hasan was right to speak out, but it must not be left to
Muslims alone to take on this bigotry. A tide of Islamophobia has swept
Europe for many years, and – shamefully – all too few have taken a
stand. Even many who regard themselves as “progressives” have either
remained silent or even indulged anti-Muslim prejudice. It’s time for
Muslims and non-Muslims alike to join forces against the most widespread
– and most acceptable – form of bigotry of our times.
Think I’m exaggerating? Consider that the far-right’s main target of choice is no longer Jews or black people: it’s Muslims. The BNP portrays itself as a crusade against the “Islamification” of Britain; in the 2010 election, it launched a “Campaign Against Islam”. Its leader, Nick Griffin, describes Islam as “wicked” and a “cancer”, and has blamed Muslims for problems such as drugs and rape. The English Defence League stages frequent – and often intimidating – street rallies protesting against Muslims.
But anti-Muslim prejudice isn’t simply confined to the far-right fringes. I attended a Stockport sixth form with a large Muslim student population. The reality of their lives is all but airbrushed out of existence. When they appear at all, it’s generally as fanatics, extremists or a community somehow “harbouring” dangerous extremists. (When do Britain’s whites face the absurdity of being called on to crack down on far-right fanatics supposedly in their ranks?) One study took a selection of newspapers in a single week: 91 per cent of reports featuring Muslims were negative.
One of my Muslim fellow students was Dr Leon Moosavi, fast becoming a national authority on Islamophobia. He battles against the widespread denial that anti-Muslim prejudice is a problem. But consider that, in one poll conducted by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, 45 per cent of Britons agreed that “there are too many Muslims” in Britain. Imagine if nearly half the population admitted to believing that “there are too many Jews” in Britain: how loud would our alarm be?
Of course, it is not just a British problem: the poison of Islamophobia has infected Europe’s political mainstream. According to a Pew Research Center survey, nearly six out of 10 Europeans believe that Muslims were “fanatical”, and half believed they were “violent”. As here, the European far-right aims fire at Muslims above all other groups. In the Netherlands, an anti-Muslim party led by Geert Wilders is the third largest in parliament. Wilders compares the Koran to Mein Kampf, calls Islam a “Trojan Horse” in Europe and demands that the country’s 850,000 Muslims be paid to leave the country. Wilders doesn’t languish on the fringes: the current Dutch cabinet depended for two years on his party’s support.
Or take sleepy Switzerland, where the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) is the biggest party in the country’s Federal Assembly. The SVP won a referendum on the banning of minarets, which the party’s general secretary described as “symbols of Islamic power”. During the vote, Geneva’s mosque was repeatedly vandalised. Farhad Afshar, the president of the Coordination of Islamic Organisations, had no doubt what signal was sent by this vote: “that Muslims do not feel accepted as a religious community”. But it gets even darker than that. In June, the Zurich-based SVP politician Alexander Müller was forced to stand down after tweeting: “Maybe we need another Kristallnacht… this time for mosques.” The parallels with anti-Semitism could not be more overt.
In France – where recently 42 per cent polled for Le Monde believed that the presence of Muslims was a “threat” to their national identity – a record number voted for the anti-Muslim National Front in April’s presidential elections. Denmark’s third largest party is the People’s Party, which rails against “Islamisation” and demands the end of all non-Western immigration. The anti-Muslim Vlaams Belang flourishes in Flemish Belgium. But those who take a stand against Islamophobia are often demanded to qualify it with a condemnation of extremism. When is this ever asked of other stands against prejudice? When we condemn anti-Semitic hate, must we criticise repressive Israeli policies in the same breath? It would be absurd – they are completely separate issues, and indeed millions of Jews across the world oppose the actions of Israel’s government.
Anti-Muslim hate is a European pandemic. I’m proud to stand with Mehdi Hasan and other Muslims facing Islamophobia. But – I implore, I beg fellow non-Muslims – stand with them too, before this hatred spirals further out of control.
Think I’m exaggerating? Consider that the far-right’s main target of choice is no longer Jews or black people: it’s Muslims. The BNP portrays itself as a crusade against the “Islamification” of Britain; in the 2010 election, it launched a “Campaign Against Islam”. Its leader, Nick Griffin, describes Islam as “wicked” and a “cancer”, and has blamed Muslims for problems such as drugs and rape. The English Defence League stages frequent – and often intimidating – street rallies protesting against Muslims.
But anti-Muslim prejudice isn’t simply confined to the far-right fringes. I attended a Stockport sixth form with a large Muslim student population. The reality of their lives is all but airbrushed out of existence. When they appear at all, it’s generally as fanatics, extremists or a community somehow “harbouring” dangerous extremists. (When do Britain’s whites face the absurdity of being called on to crack down on far-right fanatics supposedly in their ranks?) One study took a selection of newspapers in a single week: 91 per cent of reports featuring Muslims were negative.
One of my Muslim fellow students was Dr Leon Moosavi, fast becoming a national authority on Islamophobia. He battles against the widespread denial that anti-Muslim prejudice is a problem. But consider that, in one poll conducted by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, 45 per cent of Britons agreed that “there are too many Muslims” in Britain. Imagine if nearly half the population admitted to believing that “there are too many Jews” in Britain: how loud would our alarm be?
Of course, it is not just a British problem: the poison of Islamophobia has infected Europe’s political mainstream. According to a Pew Research Center survey, nearly six out of 10 Europeans believe that Muslims were “fanatical”, and half believed they were “violent”. As here, the European far-right aims fire at Muslims above all other groups. In the Netherlands, an anti-Muslim party led by Geert Wilders is the third largest in parliament. Wilders compares the Koran to Mein Kampf, calls Islam a “Trojan Horse” in Europe and demands that the country’s 850,000 Muslims be paid to leave the country. Wilders doesn’t languish on the fringes: the current Dutch cabinet depended for two years on his party’s support.
Or take sleepy Switzerland, where the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) is the biggest party in the country’s Federal Assembly. The SVP won a referendum on the banning of minarets, which the party’s general secretary described as “symbols of Islamic power”. During the vote, Geneva’s mosque was repeatedly vandalised. Farhad Afshar, the president of the Coordination of Islamic Organisations, had no doubt what signal was sent by this vote: “that Muslims do not feel accepted as a religious community”. But it gets even darker than that. In June, the Zurich-based SVP politician Alexander Müller was forced to stand down after tweeting: “Maybe we need another Kristallnacht… this time for mosques.” The parallels with anti-Semitism could not be more overt.
In France – where recently 42 per cent polled for Le Monde believed that the presence of Muslims was a “threat” to their national identity – a record number voted for the anti-Muslim National Front in April’s presidential elections. Denmark’s third largest party is the People’s Party, which rails against “Islamisation” and demands the end of all non-Western immigration. The anti-Muslim Vlaams Belang flourishes in Flemish Belgium. But those who take a stand against Islamophobia are often demanded to qualify it with a condemnation of extremism. When is this ever asked of other stands against prejudice? When we condemn anti-Semitic hate, must we criticise repressive Israeli policies in the same breath? It would be absurd – they are completely separate issues, and indeed millions of Jews across the world oppose the actions of Israel’s government.
Anti-Muslim hate is a European pandemic. I’m proud to stand with Mehdi Hasan and other Muslims facing Islamophobia. But – I implore, I beg fellow non-Muslims – stand with them too, before this hatred spirals further out of control.
Sam Shamoun Fails Again at Making Comparisons
Posted: July 14, 2012 Filed under: articles by Sami Zaatari, Shabir Ally 27 Comments » Sam Shamoun and his fellow missionary Anthony Rogers recently displayed their lack of critical thinking skills when they equated the act of consensual marriage, to that of a rapist marrying his rape victim. So in the eyes of these missionaries, consensual actions, are equal to nonconsensual actions, such as forced sex, i.e. rape.Sadly, this wasn’t the first time in which Shamoun displayed his lack of critical thinking skills when it came to comparing two drastically different things, another example of this came in a debate he took part in, alongside Shabir Ally many years ago. Suffice to say, Shamoun was publicly humiliated by Shabir Ally due to his faulty comparisons, and became a laughing stock while on stage (he even started laughing himself because he realised how silly he had been made to look). The video speaks for itself:
79 Percent of Muslims say Christianity Should Have Strong Role in Britain
Posted: July 14, 2012 Filed under: Catholicism, Christianity, Cultural criticism, Islam, Militant Secularism, The News | Tags: Britain, christianity, Christians, Hindus, islam, religious values, secularism, UK 3 Comments »
The proportion of Muslims who agreed (79 per cent) was higher than for Christians themselves (70 per cent)
by Nick Allen (Telegraph UK)
People were asked to agree or disagree with the statement “Our laws should respect and be influenced by UK religious values”.
The proportion of Muslims who agreed (79 per cent) was higher than for Christians themselves (70 per cent).
The ComRes poll for the BBC appeared to contradict calls by some politicians to remove faith from the public arena.
Hindus (74 per cent) also gave more support than Christians to a
strong role in public life for the UK’s traditional, Christian religious
values.
The results suggested that people of different religions would rather
there is some kind of faith-based framework to life in Britain, even if
it is not based on their own religion.
Several years ago the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster,
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, warned that Christianity was “all but
vanquished” as the guiding principle for Britain’s moral framework.
But, according to the poll, 91 per cent of Muslims agreed that religion “has an important role to play in public life” while 73 per cent of Christians also agreed.
Atheists have recently stepped up their campaign against the role of religion in public life, including using advertisements on the sides of buses.
But the poll suggested that, even with baptisms, church weddings and attendance at Sunday church services declining, people are unwilling for secularism to replace religion completely.
The poll also found that only 54 per cent of Christians and 52 per cent of Muslims agreed that the media reported their religion accurately.
VANITY OF VANITIES
But, according to the poll, 91 per cent of Muslims agreed that religion “has an important role to play in public life” while 73 per cent of Christians also agreed.
Atheists have recently stepped up their campaign against the role of religion in public life, including using advertisements on the sides of buses.
But the poll suggested that, even with baptisms, church weddings and attendance at Sunday church services declining, people are unwilling for secularism to replace religion completely.
The poll also found that only 54 per cent of Christians and 52 per cent of Muslims agreed that the media reported their religion accurately.
VANITY OF VANITIES
On Wednesday, foreign-backed insurgents assassinated Press TV's 33-year-old correspondent, Maya Naser, in the Syrian capital city of Damascus. Born on July 30, 1979 in Syria, Naser studied political science at KUPLAN University, NY, US. He was fluent in Arabic and English and had worked in many countries including the USA, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain. This edition of News Analysis discusses the issue along with the current crisis in Syria.
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