Showing posts with label Muslims in the West. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Muslims in the West. Show all posts
Friday, February 14, 2014
**MUST SEE** WHY WHITE WOMEN BECOME MUSLIM. ISLAM OPPRESSIVE TO WOMEN?
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Friday, September 21, 2012
19 Reported Dead as Pakistanis Protest Muhammad Video
19 Reported Dead as Pakistanis Protest Muhammad Video
Arshad Arbab/European Pressphoto Agency
Pakistani riot police officers chase a protester in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Friday.
By DECLAN WALSH
Published: September 21, 2012
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Violent crowds furious over an anti-Islamic film made in the United States convulsed several cities acrossPakistan on Friday in a day of state-sanctioned protests, and the nation’s leading television station reported as many as 19 people were killed.
Multimedia
Map
Spread of Protests Sparked by Anti-Muslim Video
Related
Times Topic: The 'Innocence of Muslims' Riots (Nakoula Basseley Nakoula)
U.N. Presses Pakistan Over the Fate of Hundreds of Missing People (September 21, 2012)
Related in Opinion
Roger Cohen: A 21st-Century Islam (Sept. 22, 2012)
Connect With Us on Twitter
Follow@nytimesworldfor international breaking news and headlines.
Twitter List: Reporters and Editors
Enlarge This Image
Aamir Qureshi/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Pakistani demonstrators battled with riot police in Islamabad on Friday.
It was the worst single day of deadly violence in one Muslim country over the film, “Innocence of Muslims,” since the protests began nearly two weeks ago in Egypt and later spread to two dozen countries around the world. Protesters have ignored the United States government’s denunciation of the film.
The violence on Friday in Pakistan began with a television station employee dying from gunshot wounds during a protest in the northwestern city of Peshawar, and far bigger protests in the southern port of Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, left between 12 and 14 people dead, Pakistani news media reported. Geo, the leading television station, was reporting 19 deaths by late Friday around the country.
The unrest came as governments and Western institutions in many parts of the Muslim world braced for protests after Friday Prayer — an occasion often associated with demonstrations as worshipers leave mosques. InTunisia, the authorities invoked emergency powers to outlaw all demonstrations, fearing an outpouring of anti-Western protest inspired both by the American-made film and by cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in a French satirical weekly.
American diplomatic posts in India, Indonesia and elsewhere closed for the day. In Bangladesh, several thousand activists from Islamic organizations took over roads in the center of the capital, Dhaka after prayers. They chanted “death to the United States and death to the French” and set on fire a symbolic coffin for President Obama that was draped with the American flag, as well as an effigy of Mr. Obama. They also burned the American and French flags. The protesters threatened to seize the American Embassy on Saturday, but a police order banned any further demonstrations. Separate protests took place outside of Dhaka as well.
European countries took steps to forestall protests among their own Muslim minorities and against their missions abroad. France had already announced the closure on Friday of embassies and other institutions in 20 countries while, in Paris, some Muslim leaders urged their followers to heed a government ban on weekend demonstrations protesting against denigration of the prophet.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls said officials throughout the country had orders to prevent all protests and crack down if the ban was challenged. “There will be strictly no exceptions. Demonstrations will be banned and broken up,” Mr. Valls said.
The German Interior Ministry said it was postponing a poster campaign aimed at countering radical Islam to avoid fueling protests among the country’s four million Muslims, The Associated Press reported.
Businesses in Pakistan closed and streets emptied across the country as the government declared a national holiday, the “Day of Love for the Prophet Muhammad,” to encourage peaceful protests against the controversial film that has ignited protest across the Muslim world for more than a week.
“An attack on the holy prophet is an attack on the core belief of 1.5 billion Muslims. Therefore, this is something that is unacceptable,” said Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in an address to a religious conference Friday morning in Islamabad.
Mr. Ashraf called on the United Nations and international community to formulate a law outlawing hate speech across the world. “Blasphemy of the kind witnessed in this case is nothing short of hate speech, equal to the worst kind of anti-Semitism or other kind of bigotry,” he said.
But the scenes of chaos in some parts of the country as the day progressed suggested that the government had failed to control public anger on the issue.
In Peshawar, where the television employee was killed, protesters attacked and burned two movie theaters, breaking through the windows with sticks and setting fire to posters that featured images of female movie stars.
Television footage showed the police firing in the air to disperse the crowd, and a hospital official said that at least 15 people, including three police officers, were injured.
In Islamabad, where thousands of protesters flooded toward the heavily guarded diplomatic enclave, Express News reported that the police ran out of rubber bullets because of heavy firing.
A television reporter said that when protesters in nearby Rawalpindi ran out of material to burn, they broke into several tire shops along a major road to steal fresh supplies.
The government cut off cellphone coverage in major cities, while the authorities in Islamabad sealed all exits to the city after Friday Prayer, state radio reported. Some Pakistanis were relying on e-mail and social media sites, like Twitter, to communicate.
Expressions of weary anger over the violence were common. “We are not a nation. We are a mob,” said Nadeem F. Paracha, a cultural commentator with Dawn newspaper, on Twitter.
Large shipping containers blocked roads through the center of several cities. Western diplomatic missions were closed for the day.
The State Department spent $70,000 on Urdu-language advertisements that were broadcast on several television channels, dissociating the American government from the inflammatory film.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced it had summoned the American chargé d’affaires, Richard Hoagland, asking him to have the anti-Islam film removed from YouTube, which has been entirely blocked in Pakistan for the past several days.
Alan Cowell contributed reporting from Paris and Julfikar Ali Manik from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/22/world/asia/protests-in-pakistan-over-anti-islam-film.html?_r=0
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Arshad Arbab/European Pressphoto Agency
Pakistani riot police officers chase a protester in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Friday.
By DECLAN WALSH
Published: September 21, 2012
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Violent crowds furious over an anti-Islamic film made in the United States convulsed several cities acrossPakistan on Friday in a day of state-sanctioned protests, and the nation’s leading television station reported as many as 19 people were killed.
Multimedia
MapSpread of Protests Sparked by Anti-Muslim Video
Related
Times Topic: The 'Innocence of Muslims' Riots (Nakoula Basseley Nakoula)
U.N. Presses Pakistan Over the Fate of Hundreds of Missing People (September 21, 2012)
Related in Opinion
Roger Cohen: A 21st-Century Islam (Sept. 22, 2012)
Connect With Us on Twitter
Follow@nytimesworldfor international breaking news and headlines.
Twitter List: Reporters and Editors
Enlarge This Image
Aamir Qureshi/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Pakistani demonstrators battled with riot police in Islamabad on Friday.
It was the worst single day of deadly violence in one Muslim country over the film, “Innocence of Muslims,” since the protests began nearly two weeks ago in Egypt and later spread to two dozen countries around the world. Protesters have ignored the United States government’s denunciation of the film.
The violence on Friday in Pakistan began with a television station employee dying from gunshot wounds during a protest in the northwestern city of Peshawar, and far bigger protests in the southern port of Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, left between 12 and 14 people dead, Pakistani news media reported. Geo, the leading television station, was reporting 19 deaths by late Friday around the country.
The unrest came as governments and Western institutions in many parts of the Muslim world braced for protests after Friday Prayer — an occasion often associated with demonstrations as worshipers leave mosques. InTunisia, the authorities invoked emergency powers to outlaw all demonstrations, fearing an outpouring of anti-Western protest inspired both by the American-made film and by cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in a French satirical weekly.
American diplomatic posts in India, Indonesia and elsewhere closed for the day. In Bangladesh, several thousand activists from Islamic organizations took over roads in the center of the capital, Dhaka after prayers. They chanted “death to the United States and death to the French” and set on fire a symbolic coffin for President Obama that was draped with the American flag, as well as an effigy of Mr. Obama. They also burned the American and French flags. The protesters threatened to seize the American Embassy on Saturday, but a police order banned any further demonstrations. Separate protests took place outside of Dhaka as well.
European countries took steps to forestall protests among their own Muslim minorities and against their missions abroad. France had already announced the closure on Friday of embassies and other institutions in 20 countries while, in Paris, some Muslim leaders urged their followers to heed a government ban on weekend demonstrations protesting against denigration of the prophet.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls said officials throughout the country had orders to prevent all protests and crack down if the ban was challenged. “There will be strictly no exceptions. Demonstrations will be banned and broken up,” Mr. Valls said.
The German Interior Ministry said it was postponing a poster campaign aimed at countering radical Islam to avoid fueling protests among the country’s four million Muslims, The Associated Press reported.
Businesses in Pakistan closed and streets emptied across the country as the government declared a national holiday, the “Day of Love for the Prophet Muhammad,” to encourage peaceful protests against the controversial film that has ignited protest across the Muslim world for more than a week.
“An attack on the holy prophet is an attack on the core belief of 1.5 billion Muslims. Therefore, this is something that is unacceptable,” said Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in an address to a religious conference Friday morning in Islamabad.
Mr. Ashraf called on the United Nations and international community to formulate a law outlawing hate speech across the world. “Blasphemy of the kind witnessed in this case is nothing short of hate speech, equal to the worst kind of anti-Semitism or other kind of bigotry,” he said.
But the scenes of chaos in some parts of the country as the day progressed suggested that the government had failed to control public anger on the issue.
In Peshawar, where the television employee was killed, protesters attacked and burned two movie theaters, breaking through the windows with sticks and setting fire to posters that featured images of female movie stars.
Television footage showed the police firing in the air to disperse the crowd, and a hospital official said that at least 15 people, including three police officers, were injured.
In Islamabad, where thousands of protesters flooded toward the heavily guarded diplomatic enclave, Express News reported that the police ran out of rubber bullets because of heavy firing.
A television reporter said that when protesters in nearby Rawalpindi ran out of material to burn, they broke into several tire shops along a major road to steal fresh supplies.
The government cut off cellphone coverage in major cities, while the authorities in Islamabad sealed all exits to the city after Friday Prayer, state radio reported. Some Pakistanis were relying on e-mail and social media sites, like Twitter, to communicate.
Expressions of weary anger over the violence were common. “We are not a nation. We are a mob,” said Nadeem F. Paracha, a cultural commentator with Dawn newspaper, on Twitter.
Large shipping containers blocked roads through the center of several cities. Western diplomatic missions were closed for the day.
The State Department spent $70,000 on Urdu-language advertisements that were broadcast on several television channels, dissociating the American government from the inflammatory film.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced it had summoned the American chargé d’affaires, Richard Hoagland, asking him to have the anti-Islam film removed from YouTube, which has been entirely blocked in Pakistan for the past several days.
Alan Cowell contributed reporting from Paris and Julfikar Ali Manik from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/22/world/asia/protests-in-pakistan-over-anti-islam-film.html?_r=0
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Taliban say attack on Nato's Camp Bastion is revenge for film
Taliban say attack on Nato's Camp Bastion is revenge for film
Violent protests have continued across the Middle East in response to a film made in the US seen as insulting to Islam
Mid-East protests
Friday: as it happened
Protests in pictures
Libyans speak out
Diplomat danger
The Taliban have told the BBC that they carried out an attack on Nato's Camp Bastion in Afghanistan in revenge for a film mocking Islam.
At least two US marines died when militants attacked the perimeter of the huge base in Helmand.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told the BBC that the target was US and UK soldiers and involved 10 insurgents.
Violent protests against Western embassies have swept the Muslim world amid widespread anger over the film.
Protests against the video - Innocence of Muslims - began on Tuesday in Egypt. On Friday, at least seven people died in escalating unrest in Khartoum, Tunis and Cairo.
Nato officials say insurgents used small arms, rockets and mortars in the attack on Camp Bastion.
Continue reading the main story
Protest timeline - main flashpoints
11 September
1. US embassy in Cairo attacked, flag torn down and replaced with black Islamist banner
2. Mob attacks US consulate in Benghazi, US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans killed
13 September
3. Protesters break into the US embassy compound in Sanaa, Yemen, amid clashes with security forces
14 September
4. Sudanese protesters attack US, German and UK embassies in Khartoum and clash with police. Three killed
5. One person killed in Lebanon in protest at a KFC restaurant
6. Protesters in Tunis attack the US embassy, with a large fire reported and shots heard. Two killed
7. Riot police in Cairo clash with protesters near US embassy. One person killed
In pictures: Anti-Islam film protests
Q&A: What is the anti-Islam film about?
Press gloomy on West's ties with Muslim world
The sprawling camp is home to troops from several countries and Friday's attack targeted the US compound, Camp Leatherneck.
Maj Martin Crighton from Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) told the BBC troops were conducting an assessment to determine the extent of the damage.
The video - produced in the US - depicts the Prophet Muhammad as a womaniser and leader of a group of bloodthirsty men. It has been circulating on YouTube.
Camp Bastion has a high level of security and is one of the world's busiest airports because of the huge number of helicopter and aeroplane flights landing and taking off.
The UK's Prince Harry is currently based there, on his second Afghan tour of duty.
Nato told Reuters that the prince was on the base at the time of the attack but was "never in any danger".
There are fears of a surge in violence in Afghanistan ahead of the withdrawal of foreign forces by 2014.Sending marines
Western countries have appealed for an end to the violent protests targeting their embassies.
On Friday The EU urged leaders in Arab and Muslim countries to "call immediately for peace and restraint".
The US is sending marines to defend its embassy in Khartoum and has called on Sudan to protect foreign diplomats.
US embassies have borne the brunt of the attacks.
Marines were deployed to Libya on Wednesday after the attack that killed the US ambassador and three other Americans and to Yemen on Friday after violence in Sanaa.
On Friday, US Vice-President Joe Biden his Sudanese counterpart, Ali Osman Taha, to express concern over the security of the US and other Western embassies in Khartoum.
"Vice-President Biden reaffirmed the responsibility of the government of Sudan to protect diplomatic facilities and stressed the need for the government... to ensure the protection of diplomats in Khartoum," a White House statement said.
A crowd of several thousand attacked the US embassy in Khartoum on Friday, and state radio said three protesters had been killed in clashes with security forces.
The German and UK embassies in Khartoum were also attacked, although the controversial film has no known links to either country.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged "national authorities in all countries concerned to swiftly ensure the security of diplomatic missions and protect diplomatic staff".
"It is vitally important that leaders across the affected regions should call immediately for peace and restraint, as has already been the case in many countries."
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Violent protests have continued across the Middle East in response to a film made in the US seen as insulting to Islam
Mid-East protests
Friday: as it happened
Protests in pictures
Libyans speak out
Diplomat danger
The Taliban have told the BBC that they carried out an attack on Nato's Camp Bastion in Afghanistan in revenge for a film mocking Islam.
At least two US marines died when militants attacked the perimeter of the huge base in Helmand.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told the BBC that the target was US and UK soldiers and involved 10 insurgents.
Violent protests against Western embassies have swept the Muslim world amid widespread anger over the film.
Protests against the video - Innocence of Muslims - began on Tuesday in Egypt. On Friday, at least seven people died in escalating unrest in Khartoum, Tunis and Cairo.
Nato officials say insurgents used small arms, rockets and mortars in the attack on Camp Bastion.
Continue reading the main story
Protest timeline - main flashpoints
11 September
1. US embassy in Cairo attacked, flag torn down and replaced with black Islamist banner
2. Mob attacks US consulate in Benghazi, US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans killed
13 September
3. Protesters break into the US embassy compound in Sanaa, Yemen, amid clashes with security forces
14 September
4. Sudanese protesters attack US, German and UK embassies in Khartoum and clash with police. Three killed
5. One person killed in Lebanon in protest at a KFC restaurant
6. Protesters in Tunis attack the US embassy, with a large fire reported and shots heard. Two killed
7. Riot police in Cairo clash with protesters near US embassy. One person killed
In pictures: Anti-Islam film protests
Q&A: What is the anti-Islam film about?
Press gloomy on West's ties with Muslim world
The sprawling camp is home to troops from several countries and Friday's attack targeted the US compound, Camp Leatherneck.
Maj Martin Crighton from Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) told the BBC troops were conducting an assessment to determine the extent of the damage.
The video - produced in the US - depicts the Prophet Muhammad as a womaniser and leader of a group of bloodthirsty men. It has been circulating on YouTube.
Camp Bastion has a high level of security and is one of the world's busiest airports because of the huge number of helicopter and aeroplane flights landing and taking off.
The UK's Prince Harry is currently based there, on his second Afghan tour of duty.
Nato told Reuters that the prince was on the base at the time of the attack but was "never in any danger".
There are fears of a surge in violence in Afghanistan ahead of the withdrawal of foreign forces by 2014.Sending marines
Western countries have appealed for an end to the violent protests targeting their embassies.
On Friday The EU urged leaders in Arab and Muslim countries to "call immediately for peace and restraint".
The US is sending marines to defend its embassy in Khartoum and has called on Sudan to protect foreign diplomats.
US embassies have borne the brunt of the attacks.
Marines were deployed to Libya on Wednesday after the attack that killed the US ambassador and three other Americans and to Yemen on Friday after violence in Sanaa.
On Friday, US Vice-President Joe Biden his Sudanese counterpart, Ali Osman Taha, to express concern over the security of the US and other Western embassies in Khartoum.
"Vice-President Biden reaffirmed the responsibility of the government of Sudan to protect diplomatic facilities and stressed the need for the government... to ensure the protection of diplomats in Khartoum," a White House statement said.
A crowd of several thousand attacked the US embassy in Khartoum on Friday, and state radio said three protesters had been killed in clashes with security forces.
The German and UK embassies in Khartoum were also attacked, although the controversial film has no known links to either country.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged "national authorities in all countries concerned to swiftly ensure the security of diplomatic missions and protect diplomatic staff".
"It is vitally important that leaders across the affected regions should call immediately for peace and restraint, as has already been the case in many countries."
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Friday, September 14, 2012
Feds ID anti-Islam filmmaker who sparked protests
Feds ID anti-Islam filmmaker who sparked protests
(CBS/AP) WASHINGTON - Federal authorities have identified a southern California man once convicted of financial crimes as the key figure behind the anti-Muslim film that ignited mob violence against U.S. embassies across the Mideast, a U.S. law enforcement official said Thursday.
Attorney General Eric Holder said that Justice Department officials had opened a criminal investigation into the deaths of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other diplomats killed during an attack on the American mission in Benghazi. It was not immediately clear whether authorities were focusing on the California filmmaker as part of that probe.
A federal law enforcement official said Thursday that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, was the man behind "Innocence of Muslims," a film denigrating Islam and the Prophet Muhammad that sparked protests earlier in the week in Egypt and Libya and now in Yemen. U.S. authorities are investigating whether the deaths of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Libya came during a terrorist attack.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation, said Nakoula was connected to the persona of Sam Bacile, a figure who initially claimed to be the writer and director of the film. But Bacile quickly turned out to a false identity.
A Christian activist involved in the film project, Steve Klein, told CBS News that Bacile was a pseudonym, and he told The Associated Press that Bacile was Christian. Klein had told the AP on Tuesday that the filmmaker was an Israeli Jew who was concerned for family members who live in Egypt.
Klein said he didn't know the real name of the man he called "Sam," who came to him for advice on First Amendment issues.
Klein said the film's financial backers are an anonymous group of Christians, Jews and Muslims with ties to the Middle East, CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reports. The film itself is amateurish, shot outside Los Angeles on a very low budget. Several actors told CBS News they only saw their scenes. They were horrified and frightened by the end result.
"I pray now for the family that lost, you know, that lost their loved ones, and I'm praying for the madness to stop," said Cindy, and actor who spoke to CBS News on the condition that only her first name be used.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the film is "disgusting and reprehensible." She called it a cynical attempt to offend people for their religious beliefs but said the U.S. would never stop Americans from expressing their views, no matter how distasteful.
Still, she said the film is no justification for violence or attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities and personnel.
(CBS/AP) WASHINGTON - Federal authorities have identified a southern California man once convicted of financial crimes as the key figure behind the anti-Muslim film that ignited mob violence against U.S. embassies across the Mideast, a U.S. law enforcement official said Thursday.
Attorney General Eric Holder said that Justice Department officials had opened a criminal investigation into the deaths of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other diplomats killed during an attack on the American mission in Benghazi. It was not immediately clear whether authorities were focusing on the California filmmaker as part of that probe.
A federal law enforcement official said Thursday that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, was the man behind "Innocence of Muslims," a film denigrating Islam and the Prophet Muhammad that sparked protests earlier in the week in Egypt and Libya and now in Yemen. U.S. authorities are investigating whether the deaths of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Libya came during a terrorist attack.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation, said Nakoula was connected to the persona of Sam Bacile, a figure who initially claimed to be the writer and director of the film. But Bacile quickly turned out to a false identity.
A Christian activist involved in the film project, Steve Klein, told CBS News that Bacile was a pseudonym, and he told The Associated Press that Bacile was Christian. Klein had told the AP on Tuesday that the filmmaker was an Israeli Jew who was concerned for family members who live in Egypt.
Klein said he didn't know the real name of the man he called "Sam," who came to him for advice on First Amendment issues.
Klein said the film's financial backers are an anonymous group of Christians, Jews and Muslims with ties to the Middle East, CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reports. The film itself is amateurish, shot outside Los Angeles on a very low budget. Several actors told CBS News they only saw their scenes. They were horrified and frightened by the end result.
"I pray now for the family that lost, you know, that lost their loved ones, and I'm praying for the madness to stop," said Cindy, and actor who spoke to CBS News on the condition that only her first name be used.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the film is "disgusting and reprehensible." She called it a cynical attempt to offend people for their religious beliefs but said the U.S. would never stop Americans from expressing their views, no matter how distasteful.
Still, she said the film is no justification for violence or attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities and personnel.
Superiority of Islam over other religions
Superiority of Islam over other religions
ARAB NEWS
Margaret Marcus, an ex-Jew discusses about the Qur’an and her views about Jews and Arab relations. She finally accepted Islam.
Although I did find the Hereafter mentioned in the New Testament, compared with that of the Holy Qur’an, it is vague and ambiguous. I found no answer to the question of death in Orthodox Judaism, for the Talmud preaches that even the worst life is better than death. My parents’ philosophy was that one must avoid contemplating the thought of death and just enjoy, as best one can, the pleasures life has to offer at the moment. According to them, the purpose of life is enjoyment and pleasure achieved through self-expression of one’s talents, the love of family, the congenial company of friends combined with the comfortable living and indulgence in the variety of amusements that affluent America makes available in such abundance. They deliberately cultivated this superficial approach to life as if it were the guarantee for their continued happiness and good-fortune.
Through bitter experience I discovered that self-indulgence leads only to misery, and that nothing great or even worthwhile is ever accomplished without struggle through adversity and self-sacrifice. From my earliest childhood, I have always wanted to accomplish important and significant things. Above all else, before my death, I wanted the assurance that I have not wasted life in sinful deeds or worthless pursuits. All my life I have been intensely serious-minded. I have always detested the frivolity, which is the dominant characteristic of contemporary culture.
As the years passed, the realization gradually dawned upon me that it was not the Arabs who made Islam great but rather Islam had made the Arabs great. Were it not for the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him) the Arabs would be an obscure people today. And were it not for the Holy Qur’an, the Arabic language would be equally insignificant, if not extinct.
Similarities between Judaism and Islam.
The kinship between Judaism and Islam is even stronger than Islam and Christianity. Both Judaism and Islam share in common the same uncompromising monotheism, the crucial importance of strict obedience to Divine Law as proof of our submission to and love of the Creator, the rejection of the priesthood, celibacy and monasticism and the striking similarity of the Hebrew and Arabic language.
In Judaism, religion is so confused with nationalism, one can scarcely distinguish between the two. The name "Judaism" is derived from Judah - a tribe. A Jew is a member of the tribe of Judah. Even the name of this religion connotes no universal spiritual message. A Jew is not a Jew by virtue of his belief in the unity of God, but merely because he happened to be born of Jewish parentage. Should he become an outspoken atheist, he is no less "Jewish" in the eyes of his fellow Jews.
Such a thorough corruption with nationalism has spiritually impoverished this religion in all its aspects. For them, God is not the God of all mankind, but the God of Israel. The scriptures are not God’s revelation to the entire human race, but primarily a Jewish history book. David and Solomon (may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him) are not full-fledged prophets of God but merely Jewish kings. With the single exception of Yom Kippur (the Jewish Day of Atonement), the holidays and festivals celebrated by Jews, such as Hanukkah, Purim and Pesach, are of far greater national than religious significance.
To be continued
(Courtesy of www.islamreligion.com)
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
ARAB NEWS
Margaret Marcus, an ex-Jew discusses about the Qur’an and her views about Jews and Arab relations. She finally accepted Islam.
Although I did find the Hereafter mentioned in the New Testament, compared with that of the Holy Qur’an, it is vague and ambiguous. I found no answer to the question of death in Orthodox Judaism, for the Talmud preaches that even the worst life is better than death. My parents’ philosophy was that one must avoid contemplating the thought of death and just enjoy, as best one can, the pleasures life has to offer at the moment. According to them, the purpose of life is enjoyment and pleasure achieved through self-expression of one’s talents, the love of family, the congenial company of friends combined with the comfortable living and indulgence in the variety of amusements that affluent America makes available in such abundance. They deliberately cultivated this superficial approach to life as if it were the guarantee for their continued happiness and good-fortune.
Through bitter experience I discovered that self-indulgence leads only to misery, and that nothing great or even worthwhile is ever accomplished without struggle through adversity and self-sacrifice. From my earliest childhood, I have always wanted to accomplish important and significant things. Above all else, before my death, I wanted the assurance that I have not wasted life in sinful deeds or worthless pursuits. All my life I have been intensely serious-minded. I have always detested the frivolity, which is the dominant characteristic of contemporary culture.
My father once disturbed me with his unsettling conviction that there is nothing of permanent value because everything in this modern age accept the present trends inevitable and adjust ourselves to them. I, however, was thirsty to attain something that would endure forever. It was from the Holy Qur’an where I learned that this aspiration was possible. No good deed for the sake of seeking the pleasure of God is ever wasted or lost. Even if the person concerned never achieves any worldly recognition, his reward is certain in the Hereafter. Conversely, the Qur’an tells us that those who are guided by no moral considerations other than expediency or social conformity, and crave the freedom to do as they please, no matter how much worldly success and prosperity they attain or how keenly they are able to relish the short span of their earthly life, they will be doomed as the losers on Judgment Day.
Islam teaches us that in order to devote our exclusive attention to fulfilling our duties to God and to our fellow beings, we must abandon all vain and useless activities, which distract us from this end. These teachings of the Holy Qur’an, made even more explicit by Hadith, were thoroughly compatible with my temperament.
Islam teaches us that in order to devote our exclusive attention to fulfilling our duties to God and to our fellow beings, we must abandon all vain and useless activities, which distract us from this end. These teachings of the Holy Qur’an, made even more explicit by Hadith, were thoroughly compatible with my temperament.
As the years passed, the realization gradually dawned upon me that it was not the Arabs who made Islam great but rather Islam had made the Arabs great. Were it not for the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him) the Arabs would be an obscure people today. And were it not for the Holy Qur’an, the Arabic language would be equally insignificant, if not extinct.
Similarities between Judaism and Islam.
The kinship between Judaism and Islam is even stronger than Islam and Christianity. Both Judaism and Islam share in common the same uncompromising monotheism, the crucial importance of strict obedience to Divine Law as proof of our submission to and love of the Creator, the rejection of the priesthood, celibacy and monasticism and the striking similarity of the Hebrew and Arabic language.
In Judaism, religion is so confused with nationalism, one can scarcely distinguish between the two. The name "Judaism" is derived from Judah - a tribe. A Jew is a member of the tribe of Judah. Even the name of this religion connotes no universal spiritual message. A Jew is not a Jew by virtue of his belief in the unity of God, but merely because he happened to be born of Jewish parentage. Should he become an outspoken atheist, he is no less "Jewish" in the eyes of his fellow Jews.
Such a thorough corruption with nationalism has spiritually impoverished this religion in all its aspects. For them, God is not the God of all mankind, but the God of Israel. The scriptures are not God’s revelation to the entire human race, but primarily a Jewish history book. David and Solomon (may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him) are not full-fledged prophets of God but merely Jewish kings. With the single exception of Yom Kippur (the Jewish Day of Atonement), the holidays and festivals celebrated by Jews, such as Hanukkah, Purim and Pesach, are of far greater national than religious significance.
To be continued
(Courtesy of www.islamreligion.com)
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Arab leaders slam anti-Islam film, denounce violent protests
Arab leaders slam anti-Islam film, denounce violent protests
A Libyan man holds a placard during a demonstration against the attack on the US consulate that killed four Americans, including the ambassador, in Benghazi, Libya. (AP)
ARAB NEWS
BRUSSELS/ALGIERS: Egypt, Algeria and Morocco on Thursday slammed an anti-Islam film that has sparked protests worldwide, but also denounced attacks on US missions by angry protesters.
Egypt’s Islamist President Muhammad Mursi vowed Thursday not to allow attacks on foreign embassies in Cairo, saying the Egyptian people reject such “unlawful acts.”
Speaking during a visit to the European Union in Brussels, Mursi said he had spoken to President Barack Obama and condemned “in the clearest terms” the Tuesday attacks on the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi in which the ambassador and three other Americans died.
Crowds protesting at the US Embassy in Cairo the same day climbed its walls and tore down an American flag, which they replaced briefly with a black, Islamist flag.
On Thursday, angry protesters stormed the US Embassy compound in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, tearing down and burning the US flag, in a scene reminiscent of the Cairo incident.
Officials were investigating whether the Libya rampage was a backlash to an anti-Islamic video with ties to Coptic Christians or a plot to coincide with the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Mursi, who was making his first visit to the West, also harshly criticized the film.
“We condemn strongly ... all those who launch such provocations and who stand behind that hatred,” Mursi said, adding that he had asked Obama “to put an end to such behavior.”
While criticizing the film, Algeria and Morocco also offered their condolences over the death of the US ambassador to Libya.
Morocco described as “shameful aggression” the attack on the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi, and presented its “sincere condolences” to the US government and people.
The Moroccan government stressed that the attack “cannot, in any case, be justified,” in a statement carried by the official MAP news agency.
Algeria’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, condemned the low-budget movie, “Innocence of Muslims,” reportedly made by an Israeli-American, which portrays Muslims as immoral and gratuitously.
Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci offered his condolences to his US counterpart Hilary Clinton, after the deadly attack.
Ministry spokesman Amar Belani meanwhile deplored “the irresponsibility of the authors of the film... which offends Islam and his prophet,” cited by the official APS news agency.
“The outrages on the sacred religious symbols... can only result in disapproval and indignation, because these provocations are designed to fuel hatred,” he added.
The US embassy in Algiers issued an emergency travel warning, urging US citizens to avoid large crowds, and to “be aware of the potential for protests or demonstrations at any time.”
In Morocco’s largest city Casablanca, between 300 and 400 Muslim activists gathered outside the US consulate, amid a heavy police presence, some shouting anti-US slogans, including “Death to Obama!“
On Thursday, Egyptian police used tear gas as they clashed with a stone-throwing crowd protesting outside the US embassy in Cairo, after 13 people were injured in overnight unrest, according to the health ministry.
— From reports of news agencies
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
A Libyan man holds a placard during a demonstration against the attack on the US consulate that killed four Americans, including the ambassador, in Benghazi, Libya. (AP)
ARAB NEWS
BRUSSELS/ALGIERS: Egypt, Algeria and Morocco on Thursday slammed an anti-Islam film that has sparked protests worldwide, but also denounced attacks on US missions by angry protesters.
Egypt’s Islamist President Muhammad Mursi vowed Thursday not to allow attacks on foreign embassies in Cairo, saying the Egyptian people reject such “unlawful acts.”
Speaking during a visit to the European Union in Brussels, Mursi said he had spoken to President Barack Obama and condemned “in the clearest terms” the Tuesday attacks on the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi in which the ambassador and three other Americans died.
Crowds protesting at the US Embassy in Cairo the same day climbed its walls and tore down an American flag, which they replaced briefly with a black, Islamist flag.
On Thursday, angry protesters stormed the US Embassy compound in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, tearing down and burning the US flag, in a scene reminiscent of the Cairo incident.
Officials were investigating whether the Libya rampage was a backlash to an anti-Islamic video with ties to Coptic Christians or a plot to coincide with the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Mursi, who was making his first visit to the West, also harshly criticized the film.
“We condemn strongly ... all those who launch such provocations and who stand behind that hatred,” Mursi said, adding that he had asked Obama “to put an end to such behavior.”
While criticizing the film, Algeria and Morocco also offered their condolences over the death of the US ambassador to Libya.
Morocco described as “shameful aggression” the attack on the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi, and presented its “sincere condolences” to the US government and people.
The Moroccan government stressed that the attack “cannot, in any case, be justified,” in a statement carried by the official MAP news agency.
Algeria’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, condemned the low-budget movie, “Innocence of Muslims,” reportedly made by an Israeli-American, which portrays Muslims as immoral and gratuitously.
Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci offered his condolences to his US counterpart Hilary Clinton, after the deadly attack.
Ministry spokesman Amar Belani meanwhile deplored “the irresponsibility of the authors of the film... which offends Islam and his prophet,” cited by the official APS news agency.
“The outrages on the sacred religious symbols... can only result in disapproval and indignation, because these provocations are designed to fuel hatred,” he added.
The US embassy in Algiers issued an emergency travel warning, urging US citizens to avoid large crowds, and to “be aware of the potential for protests or demonstrations at any time.”
In Morocco’s largest city Casablanca, between 300 and 400 Muslim activists gathered outside the US consulate, amid a heavy police presence, some shouting anti-US slogans, including “Death to Obama!“
On Thursday, Egyptian police used tear gas as they clashed with a stone-throwing crowd protesting outside the US embassy in Cairo, after 13 people were injured in overnight unrest, according to the health ministry.
— From reports of news agencies
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Protests erupt worldwide over anti-Islam film
Protests erupt worldwide over anti-Islam film
Arab News
Protesters break windows at the US embassy in Sanaa on Thursday. (AFP)
Thursday 13 September 2012
SANAA: Protests by Muslims angry at an anti-Islam film erupted across the Middle East and South Asia on Thursday, with hundreds of activists storming the US Embassy compound in Yemen’s capital and burning the American flag.
The protesters breached the usually tight security around the embassy and reached the compound grounds but did not enter the main building housing the offices. Once inside the compound, they brought down the US flag, burned it and replaced it with a black banner bearing Islam’s declaration of faith — “There is no God but Allah.
Protests were also held in Bangladesh, Morocco, Iran and Iraq, while Egyptians clashed with police outside the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt.
The protests followed the violent attack on the US Consulate in Libya's city of Benghazi, which protesters set on fire before killing the US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
In Iraq, a militia that carried out some of the most prominent attacks on foreigners during the Iraq war threatened US interests in the country.
“The offense caused to the messenger (Prophet Muhammad) will put all American interests in danger and we will not forgive them for that,” Qais Al-Khazali, leader of the Asaib Al-Haq militia, said.
In Morocco’s largest city Casablanca, between 300 and 400 Muslim activists gathered outside the US consulate, amid a heavy police presence, some shouting anti-US slogans, including “Death to Obama!"
Hundreds of supporters of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr also held a protest in the city of Najaf to voice their protest.
The demonstrators, circled by security forces, shouted slogans hostile to the United States and Israel, an AFP correspondent reported from the city, 150 kilometers (90 miles) south of Baghdad.
Sadr, in a statement, urged the Iraqi government to summon the US ambassador and to impose a ban on visitors from the United States. He also called for “Christians around the world to condemn such actions as this film.”
Sanaa attack
Before storming the grounds of the US Embassy in Sanaa, demonstrators removed the embassy’s sign on the outer wall, set tires ablaze and pelted the compound with rocks.
It was similar to an attack on the US Embassy in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Tuesday night.
In Egypt, protesters were clashing with police near the US Embassy in the capital Cairo for the third day in a row.
The violence has raised worries that further protests could break out around the Muslim world as anger spreads over the movie.
Yemeni security forces who rushed to the scene fired in the air and used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators and were eventually able to drive them out of the compound. It was not immediately clear whether anyone was inside the embassy at the time of the attack.
The Yemeni Embassy in Washington condemned the attack and vowed to ensure the safety of foreign diplomats and to step up security measures around their missions in the country.
Yemen is home to Al-Qaeda’s most active branch and the United States is the main foreign supporter of the Yemeni government’s counterterrorism campaign. The government on Tuesday announced that Al-Qaeda’s No. 2 leader in Yemen was killed in an apparent US airstrike, a major blow to the terror network.
The movie, “Innocence of Muslims,” came to attention in Egypt after its trailer was dubbed into Arabic and posted on YouTube. The video-sharing website blocked access to it Wednesday.
Apology
In Bangladesh, about 100 people burned the US flag and chanted slogans in Dhaka to register their protest.
The demonstrators, mostly students at Islamic seminaries, hit the flag with shoes before setting it ablaze in front of the Baitul Mokarram Mosque, Bangladesh’s biggest mosque.
“America should apologize immediately and arrest the people who’ve made the film,” Shah Ahmadullah Ashraf, head of Bangladesh Khalefat Andolon, a small Islamic party that organized the rally, told the crowd.
He said the US embassy in Dhaka could be targeted and called for nationwide protests after Friday prayers.
Bangladesh police said they had boosted security at the embassy to prevent any repeat of violence that left four Americans including the US ambassador dead in Libya on Tuesday.
'Death to America!'
In Tehran, up to 500 protesters chanted “Death to America!” and death to the movie’s director as they marched near the Swiss embassy, which handles US interests in the absence of US-Iran diplomatic ties.
Hundreds of police and security personnel prevented the crowd from approaching the diplomatic compound, which had been evacuated by Swiss diplomats as a precaution.
Iranian news agencies said the demonstration was called by the Student Islamic Society, a hard-line university group loyal to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that has held anti-Western rallies in the past.
US media initially cited someone claiming to be an American-Israeli calling himself Sam Bacile as saying he made the film on a $5 million budget with the help of 100 Jews, but no record of such a person has been found.
US President Barack Obama, in a telephone call to Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi on Wednesday, said he “rejects efforts to denigrate Islam, but underscored that there is never any justification for violence against innocents and acts that endanger American personnel and facilities.”
Iranian parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani responded by saying: “Obama’s comments that he respects the Muslim culture is a big and bold lie. The Americans and the Zionists do not tolerate other religions and cultures.”
Western embassies in Iran maintain a high level of vigilance over any protests.
Canada last week closed its embassy, citing concern over the safety of its diplomats.
In November last year, the British embassy was stormed and ransacked during a state-organized demonstration, prompting London to close that mission and order Iran’s diplomats out of Britain.
In 1979, in the wake of Iran’s Islamic revolution, protesters overran the US embassy in Tehran, taking 52 diplomats and other Americans hostage for 444 days. That incident led to the rupture of Iran-US ties.
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Arab News
Protesters break windows at the US embassy in Sanaa on Thursday. (AFP)
Thursday 13 September 2012
SANAA: Protests by Muslims angry at an anti-Islam film erupted across the Middle East and South Asia on Thursday, with hundreds of activists storming the US Embassy compound in Yemen’s capital and burning the American flag.
The protesters breached the usually tight security around the embassy and reached the compound grounds but did not enter the main building housing the offices. Once inside the compound, they brought down the US flag, burned it and replaced it with a black banner bearing Islam’s declaration of faith — “There is no God but Allah.
Protests were also held in Bangladesh, Morocco, Iran and Iraq, while Egyptians clashed with police outside the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt.
The protests followed the violent attack on the US Consulate in Libya's city of Benghazi, which protesters set on fire before killing the US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
In Iraq, a militia that carried out some of the most prominent attacks on foreigners during the Iraq war threatened US interests in the country.
“The offense caused to the messenger (Prophet Muhammad) will put all American interests in danger and we will not forgive them for that,” Qais Al-Khazali, leader of the Asaib Al-Haq militia, said.
In Morocco’s largest city Casablanca, between 300 and 400 Muslim activists gathered outside the US consulate, amid a heavy police presence, some shouting anti-US slogans, including “Death to Obama!"
Hundreds of supporters of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr also held a protest in the city of Najaf to voice their protest.
The demonstrators, circled by security forces, shouted slogans hostile to the United States and Israel, an AFP correspondent reported from the city, 150 kilometers (90 miles) south of Baghdad.
Sadr, in a statement, urged the Iraqi government to summon the US ambassador and to impose a ban on visitors from the United States. He also called for “Christians around the world to condemn such actions as this film.”
Sanaa attack
Before storming the grounds of the US Embassy in Sanaa, demonstrators removed the embassy’s sign on the outer wall, set tires ablaze and pelted the compound with rocks.
It was similar to an attack on the US Embassy in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Tuesday night.
In Egypt, protesters were clashing with police near the US Embassy in the capital Cairo for the third day in a row.
The violence has raised worries that further protests could break out around the Muslim world as anger spreads over the movie.
Yemeni security forces who rushed to the scene fired in the air and used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators and were eventually able to drive them out of the compound. It was not immediately clear whether anyone was inside the embassy at the time of the attack.
The Yemeni Embassy in Washington condemned the attack and vowed to ensure the safety of foreign diplomats and to step up security measures around their missions in the country.
Yemen is home to Al-Qaeda’s most active branch and the United States is the main foreign supporter of the Yemeni government’s counterterrorism campaign. The government on Tuesday announced that Al-Qaeda’s No. 2 leader in Yemen was killed in an apparent US airstrike, a major blow to the terror network.
The movie, “Innocence of Muslims,” came to attention in Egypt after its trailer was dubbed into Arabic and posted on YouTube. The video-sharing website blocked access to it Wednesday.
Apology
In Bangladesh, about 100 people burned the US flag and chanted slogans in Dhaka to register their protest.
The demonstrators, mostly students at Islamic seminaries, hit the flag with shoes before setting it ablaze in front of the Baitul Mokarram Mosque, Bangladesh’s biggest mosque.
“America should apologize immediately and arrest the people who’ve made the film,” Shah Ahmadullah Ashraf, head of Bangladesh Khalefat Andolon, a small Islamic party that organized the rally, told the crowd.
He said the US embassy in Dhaka could be targeted and called for nationwide protests after Friday prayers.
Bangladesh police said they had boosted security at the embassy to prevent any repeat of violence that left four Americans including the US ambassador dead in Libya on Tuesday.
'Death to America!'
In Tehran, up to 500 protesters chanted “Death to America!” and death to the movie’s director as they marched near the Swiss embassy, which handles US interests in the absence of US-Iran diplomatic ties.
Hundreds of police and security personnel prevented the crowd from approaching the diplomatic compound, which had been evacuated by Swiss diplomats as a precaution.
Iranian news agencies said the demonstration was called by the Student Islamic Society, a hard-line university group loyal to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that has held anti-Western rallies in the past.
US media initially cited someone claiming to be an American-Israeli calling himself Sam Bacile as saying he made the film on a $5 million budget with the help of 100 Jews, but no record of such a person has been found.
US President Barack Obama, in a telephone call to Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi on Wednesday, said he “rejects efforts to denigrate Islam, but underscored that there is never any justification for violence against innocents and acts that endanger American personnel and facilities.”
Iranian parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani responded by saying: “Obama’s comments that he respects the Muslim culture is a big and bold lie. The Americans and the Zionists do not tolerate other religions and cultures.”
Western embassies in Iran maintain a high level of vigilance over any protests.
Canada last week closed its embassy, citing concern over the safety of its diplomats.
In November last year, the British embassy was stormed and ransacked during a state-organized demonstration, prompting London to close that mission and order Iran’s diplomats out of Britain.
In 1979, in the wake of Iran’s Islamic revolution, protesters overran the US embassy in Tehran, taking 52 diplomats and other Americans hostage for 444 days. That incident led to the rupture of Iran-US ties.
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Rising anti-Islamic sentiment in America troubles Muslims
Rising anti-Islamic sentiment in America troubles Muslims
By Moni Basu, CNN
(CNN) – When the nation pauses to remember 9/11 next week, a group of Tennesseans will gather at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Franklin for a commemoration. But it will be more than that.
On the program, called "The Threat in Our Backyard," is a lecture on Islam in public schools and a short film on Sharia finance.
It's a program organized by people who feel the American way of life is threatened by Islam - in particular, Sharia, or Islamic law.
Sharia would bring ruin to America, says Greg Johnson, vice president of the 9/12 Project Tennessee, a sponsor of the event that advocates for shifting government back to the intent of the Constitution's authors.
He says he has nothing against Muslims, but he takes issue with the tenets of Islam.
Sharia, he believes, would mean that practicing homosexuals would be put to death, women would not be educated and would be married off to men chosen by their fathers, and non-Muslims would become kafirs - nonbelievers - relegated to second-class citizenship.
My Faith: After my mosque was torched
"And I don't want that coming to America," Johnson says.
He's not alone in his fears.
A tide of anti-Islam sentiment has been swelling across America in recent months, strong enough to prompt one imam to wish for the days immediately after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks when President George W. Bush declared that Muslims were not our enemies; that the war on terror was against a select few who acted upon their hate for America.
"In the 11 years since, we have retreated," says Abdullah Antepli, the Muslim chaplain at Duke University who likes to call himself the Blue Devil Imam.
Muslims make up less than 1% of the U.S. population. Yet, say Muslim advocates, they are a community besieged.
Hate crimes against Muslims spiked 50% in 2010, the last year for which FBI statistics are available. That was in a year marked by Muslim-bashing speech over the Islamic center near ground zero in Manhattan and Florida Pastor Terry Jones' threats to burn Qurans.
Why some American Muslims wear the hijab
Antepli likens the current climate to McCarthyism. Left unchecked, he says, anti-Muslim fervor, like racism and anti-Semitism, has the potential to evolve into something dangerous.
This year's holy month of Ramadan, which ended August 19, was marred by a spate of violence at U.S. Islamic centers that included a fire, a homemade bomb and pig parts. The incidents were unprecedented in scale and scope, says the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
At least seven mosques and one cemetery were attacked in the United States during Ramadan, according to the council and other groups that track such incidents.
Particularly visible on the anti-Muslim radar has been the state of Tennessee, where a mosque opened during Ramadan after two years of controversy. The new Islamic center in Murfreesboro opened a few weeks ago after delays caused by legal wrangling, community protests and vandalism.
Also in Tennessee, incumbent congresswoman Diane Black found herself publicly opposing Sharia after her opponent Lou Ann Zelenik made it a campaign issue.
Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter
State senatorial candidate Woody Degan's website also mentions Sharia:
"VOTE CONSERVATIVE! VOTE Anti-Sharia, VOTE Against Internet Taxes, Vote FOR Gun Carry Rights! VOTE for your PERSONAL RIGHTS!"
And Gov. Bill Haslam recently came under fire for hiring lawyer Samar Ali, a Muslim woman from Tennessee, to work in the international division of the state's economic development department.
Ali's critics called her Sharia-compliant and a website called Bill H(Islam) attacked the governor for pursuing "a policy that promotes the interest of Islamist (sic) and their radical ideology."
The website links to another that discusses, among other things, Islamic infiltration of public schools.
"I cannot stress enough the seriousness of their push to spread their religion to all non-Muslims throughout our country," says website author Cathy Hinners, another speaker at next Tuesday's 9/11 event in Franklin.
Why do Muslims pray five times daily?
"Why? Why are Muslims so adamant that we accept their religion? The answer is simple. The answer is in black and white. The answer is in the Muslim brotherhoods "Strategic Goal for North America." It's called a global caliphate. One religion, one government, one law... called Sharia."
In November 2010, more than 70% of voters in Oklahoma approved a ballot initiative to amend the state's constitution that banned courts from looking at "legal precepts of other nations or cultures. Specifically, the courts shall not consider international law or Sharia law."
The amendment died after a federal court ruled it discriminatory.
"That was very explicitly anti-Islamic," says Glenn Hendrix, an Atlanta lawyer who specializes in international law. "It specifically referenced Sharia."
This year, 33 anti-Sharia or international law bills were introduced in 20 states, making it a key issue. Six states - Louisiana, South Dakota, Kansas, Arizona, Louisiana and Tennessee - adopted such laws prior to 2012.
CNN Explains: What’s Ramadan?
Two Tennessee lawmakers attempted to pass a bill this year that would have made it a felony to practice Sharia, but it failed.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations says the anti-Sharia bills are based on draft legislation promoted by David Yerushalmi, an anti-Islamic lawyer from New York.
Yerushalmi founded the Society of Americans for National Existence, an organization devoted to promoting his theory that Islam is inherently seditious and Sharia is a "criminal conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.
"Ideally," says the center, "he would outlaw Islam and deport its adherents altogether."
Hendrix says anti-Sharia legislation is not necessary since U.S. courts ultimately are beholden to U.S. law.
But it sends a strong message to the Muslim community.
CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories
The American Bar Association, which opposes federal or state laws that impose blanket prohibitions on foreign laws, says such legislative initiatives stigmatize an entire religious community and "are inconsistent with some of the core principles and ideals of American jurisprudence."
Valarie Kaur, a legal advocate and hate crimes specialist, says proponents of anti-Sharia bills are battling an imaginary threat.
"There is no push to install Sharia law in the U.S.," she says. "Anti-Sharia bills target the religious principles of Muslim Americans and fuel anti-Muslim rhetoric and bias. As a Sikh American whose community has too often become the target of hate, I believe it's time to stand against all forms of racism and religious bigotry."
An attack at a Wisconsin Sikh temple last month killed six people. Many believe the shooter mistook Sikhs for Muslims. A Sikh gas station attendant in Arizona was the first victim of reprisal after the 9/11 attacks.
Kaur blames tough economic times and an amplification of hateful speech for incidents like the temple shooting and the momentum behind the anti-Sharia campaign.
For Muslims, Sharia - which means "path to the watering hole" in Arabic - is the divine law revealed centuries ago in the Quran that governs all aspects of life. More often than not, it's the most sensational parts of Sharia - like cutting off a thief's hand - that garner the most publicity.
U.S. courts bump up against it in cases of divorces, inheritance, child custody, enforcement of money judgments and commercial disputes or tort actions.
A trial court in New Jersey, for instance, ruled that a husband, who was Muslim, lacked the criminal intent to commit sexual assault on his wife because Sharia permits a man to have sex with his wife whenever he wants.
That's the kind of ruling that fuels anti-Sharia activists.
Nashville health-care investor Andrew Miller says there's no room for democracy within Islamic ideology. All you have to do is look to any Islamic state, he says.
"If you wanted to pray to a large rock and that was your God, I could care less," he says. "But the minute you want to put a gun to my head and say you will pray to this large rock and your family will or you will pay the price, that's when I see a bully. I see an overbearing ideology that wants to force and coerce people.
Miller describes himself as a tolerant person but not when it comes to people dictating how others will live.
"That's antithetical to the freedoms that we value, the liberty we value," he says.
The message that Islam is evil has been repeated so many times - sometimes directly, sometimes in a more subtle fashion - that it has sunk in as reality in the hearts and minds of many Americans, says Antepli, the Duke chaplain.
Part of it is fear of the unknown, he says.
"I, too, would have a monstrous image of Islam if I did not know any better."
But another part of it is orchestrated, he says, referring to "well-organized and polished" anti-Islam websites that have sprouted in recent years. Marry that with ignorance and the end result is lethal, Antepli says.
The Center for American Progress, a liberal research and advocacy organization, published a report last year that attributed the rise of Islamophobia to a "small, tightly-networked group of misinformation experts."
The report called "Fear, Inc." lists seven foundations that gave $42.6 million to think tanks to promote anti-Islamic thought.
It describes "deeply intertwined individuals and organizations" that "manufacture and exaggerate threats of 'creeping Sharia,' Islamic domination of the West, and purported obligatory calls to violence against all non-Muslims by the Quran."
The issue of Sharia, say some Muslims, has become a political hot potato in an election year.
GOP candidates Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann mentioned Sharia in their campaign speeches. This year's Republican Party platform makes mention of foreign laws:
"Subjecting American citizens to foreign laws is inimical to the spirit of the Constitution. It is one reason we oppose U.S. participation in the International Criminal Court. There must be no use of foreign law by U.S. courts in interpreting our Constitution and laws. Nor should foreign sources of law be used in State courts' adjudication of criminal or civil matters."
That's the message Miller hopes people will take away from next week's 9/11 meeting; that the tenets of Islam go against the constitution of the United States.
It's diametrically opposed to what people like Antepli and Kaur will be saying as America remembers the horror of terrorism. Hateful sentiment, they say, is not the answer.
Dan Gilgoff - CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
By Moni Basu, CNN
(CNN) – When the nation pauses to remember 9/11 next week, a group of Tennesseans will gather at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Franklin for a commemoration. But it will be more than that.
On the program, called "The Threat in Our Backyard," is a lecture on Islam in public schools and a short film on Sharia finance.
It's a program organized by people who feel the American way of life is threatened by Islam - in particular, Sharia, or Islamic law.
Sharia would bring ruin to America, says Greg Johnson, vice president of the 9/12 Project Tennessee, a sponsor of the event that advocates for shifting government back to the intent of the Constitution's authors.
He says he has nothing against Muslims, but he takes issue with the tenets of Islam.
Sharia, he believes, would mean that practicing homosexuals would be put to death, women would not be educated and would be married off to men chosen by their fathers, and non-Muslims would become kafirs - nonbelievers - relegated to second-class citizenship.
My Faith: After my mosque was torched
"And I don't want that coming to America," Johnson says.
He's not alone in his fears.
A tide of anti-Islam sentiment has been swelling across America in recent months, strong enough to prompt one imam to wish for the days immediately after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks when President George W. Bush declared that Muslims were not our enemies; that the war on terror was against a select few who acted upon their hate for America.
"In the 11 years since, we have retreated," says Abdullah Antepli, the Muslim chaplain at Duke University who likes to call himself the Blue Devil Imam.
Muslims make up less than 1% of the U.S. population. Yet, say Muslim advocates, they are a community besieged.
Hate crimes against Muslims spiked 50% in 2010, the last year for which FBI statistics are available. That was in a year marked by Muslim-bashing speech over the Islamic center near ground zero in Manhattan and Florida Pastor Terry Jones' threats to burn Qurans.
Why some American Muslims wear the hijab
Antepli likens the current climate to McCarthyism. Left unchecked, he says, anti-Muslim fervor, like racism and anti-Semitism, has the potential to evolve into something dangerous.
This year's holy month of Ramadan, which ended August 19, was marred by a spate of violence at U.S. Islamic centers that included a fire, a homemade bomb and pig parts. The incidents were unprecedented in scale and scope, says the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
At least seven mosques and one cemetery were attacked in the United States during Ramadan, according to the council and other groups that track such incidents.
Particularly visible on the anti-Muslim radar has been the state of Tennessee, where a mosque opened during Ramadan after two years of controversy. The new Islamic center in Murfreesboro opened a few weeks ago after delays caused by legal wrangling, community protests and vandalism.
Also in Tennessee, incumbent congresswoman Diane Black found herself publicly opposing Sharia after her opponent Lou Ann Zelenik made it a campaign issue.
Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter
State senatorial candidate Woody Degan's website also mentions Sharia:
"VOTE CONSERVATIVE! VOTE Anti-Sharia, VOTE Against Internet Taxes, Vote FOR Gun Carry Rights! VOTE for your PERSONAL RIGHTS!"
And Gov. Bill Haslam recently came under fire for hiring lawyer Samar Ali, a Muslim woman from Tennessee, to work in the international division of the state's economic development department.
Ali's critics called her Sharia-compliant and a website called Bill H(Islam) attacked the governor for pursuing "a policy that promotes the interest of Islamist (sic) and their radical ideology."
The website links to another that discusses, among other things, Islamic infiltration of public schools.
"I cannot stress enough the seriousness of their push to spread their religion to all non-Muslims throughout our country," says website author Cathy Hinners, another speaker at next Tuesday's 9/11 event in Franklin.
Why do Muslims pray five times daily?
"Why? Why are Muslims so adamant that we accept their religion? The answer is simple. The answer is in black and white. The answer is in the Muslim brotherhoods "Strategic Goal for North America." It's called a global caliphate. One religion, one government, one law... called Sharia."
In November 2010, more than 70% of voters in Oklahoma approved a ballot initiative to amend the state's constitution that banned courts from looking at "legal precepts of other nations or cultures. Specifically, the courts shall not consider international law or Sharia law."
The amendment died after a federal court ruled it discriminatory.
"That was very explicitly anti-Islamic," says Glenn Hendrix, an Atlanta lawyer who specializes in international law. "It specifically referenced Sharia."
This year, 33 anti-Sharia or international law bills were introduced in 20 states, making it a key issue. Six states - Louisiana, South Dakota, Kansas, Arizona, Louisiana and Tennessee - adopted such laws prior to 2012.
CNN Explains: What’s Ramadan?
Two Tennessee lawmakers attempted to pass a bill this year that would have made it a felony to practice Sharia, but it failed.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations says the anti-Sharia bills are based on draft legislation promoted by David Yerushalmi, an anti-Islamic lawyer from New York.
Yerushalmi founded the Society of Americans for National Existence, an organization devoted to promoting his theory that Islam is inherently seditious and Sharia is a "criminal conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.
"Ideally," says the center, "he would outlaw Islam and deport its adherents altogether."
Hendrix says anti-Sharia legislation is not necessary since U.S. courts ultimately are beholden to U.S. law.
But it sends a strong message to the Muslim community.
CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories
The American Bar Association, which opposes federal or state laws that impose blanket prohibitions on foreign laws, says such legislative initiatives stigmatize an entire religious community and "are inconsistent with some of the core principles and ideals of American jurisprudence."
Valarie Kaur, a legal advocate and hate crimes specialist, says proponents of anti-Sharia bills are battling an imaginary threat.
"There is no push to install Sharia law in the U.S.," she says. "Anti-Sharia bills target the religious principles of Muslim Americans and fuel anti-Muslim rhetoric and bias. As a Sikh American whose community has too often become the target of hate, I believe it's time to stand against all forms of racism and religious bigotry."
An attack at a Wisconsin Sikh temple last month killed six people. Many believe the shooter mistook Sikhs for Muslims. A Sikh gas station attendant in Arizona was the first victim of reprisal after the 9/11 attacks.
Kaur blames tough economic times and an amplification of hateful speech for incidents like the temple shooting and the momentum behind the anti-Sharia campaign.
For Muslims, Sharia - which means "path to the watering hole" in Arabic - is the divine law revealed centuries ago in the Quran that governs all aspects of life. More often than not, it's the most sensational parts of Sharia - like cutting off a thief's hand - that garner the most publicity.
U.S. courts bump up against it in cases of divorces, inheritance, child custody, enforcement of money judgments and commercial disputes or tort actions.
A trial court in New Jersey, for instance, ruled that a husband, who was Muslim, lacked the criminal intent to commit sexual assault on his wife because Sharia permits a man to have sex with his wife whenever he wants.
That's the kind of ruling that fuels anti-Sharia activists.
Nashville health-care investor Andrew Miller says there's no room for democracy within Islamic ideology. All you have to do is look to any Islamic state, he says.
"If you wanted to pray to a large rock and that was your God, I could care less," he says. "But the minute you want to put a gun to my head and say you will pray to this large rock and your family will or you will pay the price, that's when I see a bully. I see an overbearing ideology that wants to force and coerce people.
Miller describes himself as a tolerant person but not when it comes to people dictating how others will live.
"That's antithetical to the freedoms that we value, the liberty we value," he says.
The message that Islam is evil has been repeated so many times - sometimes directly, sometimes in a more subtle fashion - that it has sunk in as reality in the hearts and minds of many Americans, says Antepli, the Duke chaplain.
Part of it is fear of the unknown, he says.
"I, too, would have a monstrous image of Islam if I did not know any better."
But another part of it is orchestrated, he says, referring to "well-organized and polished" anti-Islam websites that have sprouted in recent years. Marry that with ignorance and the end result is lethal, Antepli says.
The Center for American Progress, a liberal research and advocacy organization, published a report last year that attributed the rise of Islamophobia to a "small, tightly-networked group of misinformation experts."
The report called "Fear, Inc." lists seven foundations that gave $42.6 million to think tanks to promote anti-Islamic thought.
It describes "deeply intertwined individuals and organizations" that "manufacture and exaggerate threats of 'creeping Sharia,' Islamic domination of the West, and purported obligatory calls to violence against all non-Muslims by the Quran."
The issue of Sharia, say some Muslims, has become a political hot potato in an election year.
GOP candidates Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann mentioned Sharia in their campaign speeches. This year's Republican Party platform makes mention of foreign laws:
"Subjecting American citizens to foreign laws is inimical to the spirit of the Constitution. It is one reason we oppose U.S. participation in the International Criminal Court. There must be no use of foreign law by U.S. courts in interpreting our Constitution and laws. Nor should foreign sources of law be used in State courts' adjudication of criminal or civil matters."
That's the message Miller hopes people will take away from next week's 9/11 meeting; that the tenets of Islam go against the constitution of the United States.
It's diametrically opposed to what people like Antepli and Kaur will be saying as America remembers the horror of terrorism. Hateful sentiment, they say, is not the answer.
Dan Gilgoff - CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Eid al-Fitr in 2012 is on Sunday, the 19th of August.
When is Eid al-Fitr in 2012?
Eid al-Fitr in 2012 is on Sunday, the 19th of August.
Note that in the Muslim calander, a holiday begins on the sunset of the previous day, so observing Muslims will celebrate Eid al-Fitr on the sunset of Saturday, the 18th of August.
Although Eid al-Fitr is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year, since the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar and the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar. This difference means Eid al-Fitr moves in the Gregorian calendar approximately 11 days every year. The date of Eid al-Fitr may also vary from country to country depending on whether the moon has been sighted or not.
The dates provided here are based on the dates adopted by the Fiqh Council of North America for the celebration of Eid al-Fitr. Note that these dates are based on astronomical calculations to affirm each date, and not on the actual sighting of the moon with the naked eyes. This approach is accepted by many, but is still being hotly debate
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Eid al-Fitr in 2012 is on Sunday, the 19th of August.
Note that in the Muslim calander, a holiday begins on the sunset of the previous day, so observing Muslims will celebrate Eid al-Fitr on the sunset of Saturday, the 18th of August.
Although Eid al-Fitr is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year, since the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar and the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar. This difference means Eid al-Fitr moves in the Gregorian calendar approximately 11 days every year. The date of Eid al-Fitr may also vary from country to country depending on whether the moon has been sighted or not.
The dates provided here are based on the dates adopted by the Fiqh Council of North America for the celebration of Eid al-Fitr. Note that these dates are based on astronomical calculations to affirm each date, and not on the actual sighting of the moon with the naked eyes. This approach is accepted by many, but is still being hotly debate
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Friday, January 20, 2012
What Drives People to Convert to Islam? (part 1 of 2)
What Drives People to Convert to Islam? (part 1 of 2)
The nature of religious faith is quite mysterious. As part of their religious faiths, people believe in a variety of deities. There are people who have religious faith in the unseen supreme inimitable power, and then there are others who believe in some humans as Gods, or animals (e.g. monkeys), fire, idols made of stone, and the list goes on.
A lot is associated with having a religious “faith”. Part of it has to do with beliefs passed on through generations. People’s identities therefore get tied to it. Many times, these beliefs and associated feelings are not completely demonstrable by reason or any rational arguments. There is nothing right or wrong with this, but that’s just how the nature of religious faith has come to be.
Almost everyone thinks they are right in their faith and beliefs. Being with people and groups with similar faith further strengthens people’s faith, and they see it as right, even though logical reasoning and argument sometimes can’t explain it all. That’s simple human psychology.
Islam’s arguments based on intellectual reasoning
Muslims believe however, that the Islamic religion is different in this context. One may argue that similar to other faiths there are aspects of it which are not completely demonstrable by reason, but on the other hand the Quranic text, which is God’s words addressing humanity at large, uses intellectual reason, critical thinking, and the process of reflection as a means not only to reinforce the faith of the believers, but also to call non-believers to ponder about the authenticity of Islam as the way of life for humanity at large. Although no religious beliefs can be fully based on logic and reasoning, Islam and Quran provide more than enough examples and an opportunity to examine the truth and the soundness of its message through the lens of empirical evidence and knowledge.
No one (Muslim or otherwise) would argue that critical thinking and reflection can be a major catalyst for changing ones life. Critical thinking has been used by many to improve their lives simply because a critical thinker asks probing questions about a situation, collects as much information as possible, reflects on the ideas collected and generated in context of the information available, keeps an open and unbiased mind, and carefully scrutinizes assumptions and seeks alternatives.
This is the reason, therefore, that new Muslim converts would attribute the use of intelligent reasoning, reflection and critical thinking when explaining their journey to Islam. Such people cut through the hysteria created in the media to view Islam from a critical lens and following the truth thus comes naturally to them as part of this process. How else can one explain the increase in conversions with the increase of anti-Islamic rhetoric? How else can one explain that more non-Muslim preachers have been converting to Islam than ever before? Although, as Muslims, we believe that guidance comes only from Allah, the use of a person’s God-gifted intellectual reasoning has a very powerful role to play in Muslim converts making that destiny changing decision. And once converted, they rarely go back to their old faiths, simply because a faith whose foundations are built on logic and reason is much less likely to be shaken down than one which simply builds upon a set of rites and sacraments.
Reasons attributed by new Converts
Some of the reasons given why people convert to Islam are the eloquence of the Quran’s language, its overwhelming scientific evidence and proofs, arguments rooted in intellectual reasoning, and the Divine wisdom behind various social issues. The uniqueness and beauty of the Quran’s text has been marveled by the best of Arab linguists and scholars, both Muslim and otherwise, from the days it was revealed until today. The more knowledgeable people are in the language, the more they appreciate the wonders of the textual fluency of the Quran. Revealed more than 1400 years ago, the Quran also has numerous scientific facts that are being validated by science only in this era. Furthermore, it is the only known religious text that challenges mankind to think, reflect and ponder over the creation at large, social issues, God’s existence, and more. The Quran, in many instances, challenges people to reflect and think on their own, rather than heeding the loose talk of those whose criticism is based on baseless foundations. Finally, the Quran provides a solution to numerous social issues, deviation from which has been known to cause societal chaos at all levels.
The Quran is a confident assertion of a Supreme Being; the only known religious book that has a confident assertion of a Supreme Being on all issues ranging from the creation of the universe to most particular components of the social milieu. Moreover, its Divine Text - the language and prose of the Quran - is very different from the language in the Prophet’s sayings, which demonstrates that the Quran is not from the creative imagination or inspired words of Prophet Muhammad, as many doubters have alleged in the past, and continue to do even today.
We can see that most of these reasons can only be attributed to the process of critical thinking and intellectual reflection. However, cold reasoning is not enough. The heart has to be engaged in the search: a search whose aim is to reach for the truth at its core. No wonder, then, that when such sincere people hear the Quran for the first time, and understand it, they say:
“We believe in it; surely, it is the Truth from our Lord. Indeed, even before it, we were Muslims!” (Quran 28:53)
http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/1931/
http://islaamdoon.blogspot.com/
The nature of religious faith is quite mysterious. As part of their religious faiths, people believe in a variety of deities. There are people who have religious faith in the unseen supreme inimitable power, and then there are others who believe in some humans as Gods, or animals (e.g. monkeys), fire, idols made of stone, and the list goes on.A lot is associated with having a religious “faith”. Part of it has to do with beliefs passed on through generations. People’s identities therefore get tied to it. Many times, these beliefs and associated feelings are not completely demonstrable by reason or any rational arguments. There is nothing right or wrong with this, but that’s just how the nature of religious faith has come to be.
Almost everyone thinks they are right in their faith and beliefs. Being with people and groups with similar faith further strengthens people’s faith, and they see it as right, even though logical reasoning and argument sometimes can’t explain it all. That’s simple human psychology.
Islam’s arguments based on intellectual reasoning
Muslims believe however, that the Islamic religion is different in this context. One may argue that similar to other faiths there are aspects of it which are not completely demonstrable by reason, but on the other hand the Quranic text, which is God’s words addressing humanity at large, uses intellectual reason, critical thinking, and the process of reflection as a means not only to reinforce the faith of the believers, but also to call non-believers to ponder about the authenticity of Islam as the way of life for humanity at large. Although no religious beliefs can be fully based on logic and reasoning, Islam and Quran provide more than enough examples and an opportunity to examine the truth and the soundness of its message through the lens of empirical evidence and knowledge.
No one (Muslim or otherwise) would argue that critical thinking and reflection can be a major catalyst for changing ones life. Critical thinking has been used by many to improve their lives simply because a critical thinker asks probing questions about a situation, collects as much information as possible, reflects on the ideas collected and generated in context of the information available, keeps an open and unbiased mind, and carefully scrutinizes assumptions and seeks alternatives.
This is the reason, therefore, that new Muslim converts would attribute the use of intelligent reasoning, reflection and critical thinking when explaining their journey to Islam. Such people cut through the hysteria created in the media to view Islam from a critical lens and following the truth thus comes naturally to them as part of this process. How else can one explain the increase in conversions with the increase of anti-Islamic rhetoric? How else can one explain that more non-Muslim preachers have been converting to Islam than ever before? Although, as Muslims, we believe that guidance comes only from Allah, the use of a person’s God-gifted intellectual reasoning has a very powerful role to play in Muslim converts making that destiny changing decision. And once converted, they rarely go back to their old faiths, simply because a faith whose foundations are built on logic and reason is much less likely to be shaken down than one which simply builds upon a set of rites and sacraments.
Reasons attributed by new Converts
Some of the reasons given why people convert to Islam are the eloquence of the Quran’s language, its overwhelming scientific evidence and proofs, arguments rooted in intellectual reasoning, and the Divine wisdom behind various social issues. The uniqueness and beauty of the Quran’s text has been marveled by the best of Arab linguists and scholars, both Muslim and otherwise, from the days it was revealed until today. The more knowledgeable people are in the language, the more they appreciate the wonders of the textual fluency of the Quran. Revealed more than 1400 years ago, the Quran also has numerous scientific facts that are being validated by science only in this era. Furthermore, it is the only known religious text that challenges mankind to think, reflect and ponder over the creation at large, social issues, God’s existence, and more. The Quran, in many instances, challenges people to reflect and think on their own, rather than heeding the loose talk of those whose criticism is based on baseless foundations. Finally, the Quran provides a solution to numerous social issues, deviation from which has been known to cause societal chaos at all levels.
The Quran is a confident assertion of a Supreme Being; the only known religious book that has a confident assertion of a Supreme Being on all issues ranging from the creation of the universe to most particular components of the social milieu. Moreover, its Divine Text - the language and prose of the Quran - is very different from the language in the Prophet’s sayings, which demonstrates that the Quran is not from the creative imagination or inspired words of Prophet Muhammad, as many doubters have alleged in the past, and continue to do even today.
We can see that most of these reasons can only be attributed to the process of critical thinking and intellectual reflection. However, cold reasoning is not enough. The heart has to be engaged in the search: a search whose aim is to reach for the truth at its core. No wonder, then, that when such sincere people hear the Quran for the first time, and understand it, they say:
“We believe in it; surely, it is the Truth from our Lord. Indeed, even before it, we were Muslims!” (Quran 28:53)
http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/1931/
http://islaamdoon.blogspot.com/
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
BBC News - Halal and kosher hit by Dutch ban
BBC News - Halal and kosher hit by Dutch ban: "Next month the Dutch parliament is expected to approve a ban on halal and kosher methods of slaughtering animals for food.
Those who proposed the ban say it is simply an issue of animal welfare, but it received strong support from the right-wing Freedom Party.
Many see it as a violation of their religious freedom, and among the Jewish community it is a worrying echo of a similar ban brought in by Hitler.
Anna Holligan reports from The Hague."
Those who proposed the ban say it is simply an issue of animal welfare, but it received strong support from the right-wing Freedom Party.
Many see it as a violation of their religious freedom, and among the Jewish community it is a worrying echo of a similar ban brought in by Hitler.
Anna Holligan reports from The Hague."
Sunday, September 11, 2011
9/11 lost decade: The American dream, and the missing years
9/11 lost decade: The American dream, and the missing years
The terror attacks of 2001 ushered in a decade of wars that shattered Iraq and Afghanistan, leaving the world's only superpower robbed of its confidence and stripped of its illusions
AP
The Tribute Light where the World Trade Center stood
ENLARGE
In America they speak of the "lost decade". The moment it began is obvious: the morning of 11 September 2001, when the world's lone superpower fell victim to the most devastating terrorist attack of modern times. Its end, however, is harder to date.
One answer is 1 May this year, when a team of Navy Seals tracked down and killed Osama bin Laden at his hideaway in Pakistan. A circle was complete; after almost 10 years of frustration, false leads and continuous war, the master planner of 9/11 had finally paid for his crime. But look at it another way and the answer is not so obvious.
In these 10 years America has lost much, in terms of lives, treasure and reputation. Most of all, perhaps, it has lost its illusions. One, that its home territory was invulnerable, beyond the reach of hostile foreigners, vanished on that terrible Tuesday morning. But a decade on, another no less cherished illusion has disappeared as well: the certainty that whatever happened in the world beyond, America was a place of infinite opportunity and ever-growing prosperity.
Formally, of course, the anniversary of 9/11 is today. But when one era closes, another begins. In a sense, this lost decade ended 72 hours earlier, on Thursday evening, when President Obama presented Congress with his plan to prevent the US economy from slipping back into the worst economic recession since the 1930s. It was a call to arms that mirrored George W Bush's in the same place when he declared his "war on terror". But this time, Mr Obama did not even mention 9/11. Instead, as rarely before, an American president acknowledged bitter economic reality. It has taken a decade.
The attacks of 11 September 2001 changed everything. If the 20th century in reality ended on Christmas Day 1991, at the moment the Soviet Union passed into history, the 21st century began only on that perfect autumn morning along the US mid-Atlantic seaboard, when apocalypse arrived. Things happened in between: the Balkan wars, a genocide in Rwanda, the painful birth of a new Russia, as well as the death of an English princess and the adventures of a White House intern. History, however, seemed on holiday until 9/11.
At each of the three sites – Ground Zero in New York, the Pentagon in Washington and the wooded meadow near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United's Flight 93 crashed – elaborate memorials have been erected and solemn ceremonies will today take place. But, however moving, these cannot convey the enormity of the event.
Even now, our minds do not have space to accommodate simultaneously the tragedies of that day: the destruction, the 3,000 lost lives, the shattered families, the heroism of New York's firefighters and the bravery of the passengers on UA93, who sacrificed themselves to prevent a direct hit on the US capital (with Congress in full session), just 20 minutes' flying time away. Even now, those images of planes ripping like darts into gleaming skyscrapers amid a giant burst of yellow, orange and black seem surreal, something from the realm of comic strip fantasy, not the recent history of lower Manhattan.
And then there's everything that flowed from 9/11: the wars, the changes in a wounded America's attitude to the world, either "with us or against us", as well as in foreign attitudes towards America, and the later terrorist attacks in Bali, London, Madrid and elsewhere. The sole comfort, such as it is, is that 11 September 2001 could have been even more dreadful; the initial plan was an operation involving not four but 10 hijacked aircraft, striking targets on the West Coast as well.
Could it have been prevented? Perhaps, but not without a huge slice of luck. The report on the attacks, published here in 2004 by the non-partisan 9/11 Commission and still a terrific read, identifies "four kinds of failure: in imagination, policy, capabilities and management". They are best dealt with in reverse order.
The management shortcomings consisted mainly in the shameful lack of co-operation between the FBI and the CIA, the two main counter-terrorism agencies, and the slow response of FBI headquarters to warnings from its agents in the field. Had the CIA told the bureau in 2000 and 2001 that two al-Qa'ida suspects who were among the future hijackers were in the US, the two might have been placed under surveillance; conceivably, the hijacking might have been disrupted.
In terms of capability, ie the military resources and strategies devoted to the terrorist threat, the Pentagon was still relying on Cold War thinking and Cold War weapons. Moreover, the country's defences faced outward, to counter any threat from abroad, not ones originating at domestic civil airports. On the policy front it was a similar story: before 9/11, the biggest foreign preoccupations were the Balkans, Saudi Arabia and the Middle East conflict. The US was well aware of al-Qa'ida – Bill Clinton had sent cruise missiles against its bases in 1998. Beyond that though, what was to be done: invade Afghanistan?
Today, much has changed. The FBI and the CIA seem to be working more smoothly together, though some tensions remain. Of less certain value, the federal government now boasts a revamped intelligence structure that places the 15 separate existing agencies under a single director of national intelligence, as well as a new bureaucratic behemoth, the Department of Homeland Security. The efforts of the latter may be seen in the numbing security procedures at airports, a domestic counterpart to the precautions that have turned US embassies abroad (not to mention the State Department in Washington) into concrete fortresses that are the very antithesis of diplomatic outreach.
And no one can complain about a lack of focus on terrorism by the Pentagon or White House. Counter-insurgency and asymmetric warfare are now core military missions. Unmanned drones are more widely used than ever; elite special forces have been greatly enlarged. On 1 May, they proved their worth with the spectacular Seals raid that killed Bin Laden and captured a trove of vital al-Qa'ida documents.
That was an obvious and long-overdue success. A less trumpeted success is that, despite every prediction to the contrary in the aftermath of 9/11, there have been no more attacks on mainland America. It has taken 10 years, but the US may be close to a knockout blow against al-Qa'ida, at least the original al-Qa'ida that Bin Laden ran.
However, of the failures identified by the commission, the biggest was that of imagination. Even with the full advantage of hindsight, it is still hard to grasp how a group of fanatics and social misfits, numbering half the size of an army platoon, in an operation costing just $500,000 and run from one of the poorest, most backward corners of the earth, could have wreaked such mayhem on the most powerful country in history – mayhem that resulted in direct insurance losses of $40bn, about the same as for Hurricane Katrina.
Yes, counter-terrorism specialists knew that, in theory, something like that could happen; much has been made of the daily intelligence report sent to President George Bush on 6 August 2001, a month before the attacks, with the heading "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US", and warning of "suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks". But the when, where and how were unspecified. What, in practice, was the much-maligned Bush supposed to do?
However, after 9/11, he made up for previous inactivity with a vengeance. In response to the attacks, directly or indirectly, the US embarked on three wars: first an entirely reasonable one against the Taliban government in Afghanistan that sheltered Bin Laden and his organisation and refused to turn them over; then the disastrous war of choice against Iraq; and third, the all-encompassing global "war on terror", aka GWOT.
In 2009, that moniker was amended to the more soothing Overseas Contingency Operations. But GWOT continues, more quietly but no less relentlessly than before. Those insurance losses pale into insignificance as well. According to one academic study, the final bill for this age of wars, the longest in US history, could run to $4trn.
The unquantifiable costs were no less great. The "war on terror" and all that flowed from it – the torture of suspects, the endless imprisonment of "enemy combatants" denied the most basic right of habeas corpus, CIA "ghost camps", extraordinary renditions, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib – did shocking damage to America's reputation. Even the election of the first black president who, having spent part of his childhood in the Muslim world, was peculiarly well-equipped to see the US as others see it, has failed to expunge the image of arrogance, unilateralism and sheer ignorance created by his predecessor. Indeed, Obama has continued many Bush-era policies, albeit with the roughest edges removed. Contrary to his initial promises, Guantanamo Bay remains open for business, and terrorist suspects will continue to be tried (if they are tried at all) in military courts. Drone attacks are more frequent than ever, despite the resentment they cause in populations the US is trying to win over.
At home, the panic of a decade ago has subsided. With a fatalism not usually associated with the most can-do country on God's earth, Americans increasingly accept that terrorism is a part of the world we live in. But the trauma of that terrible day lingers, and America's centres of power remain very jumpy places. Experts have long warned that a new attack might involve WMD, even some form of nuclear device. When Washington was struck by an earthquake last month, a single thought flashed through every mind: was this al-Qa'ida's 10th anniversary present? And not unreasonably so. Statistically, if the ground beneath the White House starts to shudder, the cause is rather more likely to be the work of terrorists than a quake in seismically tranquil Virginia.
Could there be another 9/11? A repeat of what happened then is highly unlikely, not least because people are alert. Witness the action of the passengers who overpowered the shoe-bomber Richard Reid in December 2001, and the would-be "underwear-bomber" who tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane as it prepared to land in Detroit on 25 December 2009. As usual, though, we are fighting the last war. Do the authorities have the imagination to foresee what shape the next attack might take?
Now to a hypothetical, but very relevant question: what if 11 September had never happened? Would America be very different? In some respects, the answer, of course, is yes. Airports would be more welcoming places. Deadly bombings and the mass murder of civilians would still be regarded as a blight on less fortunate lands, not for the US, blessed as it is by friendly neighbours and vast oceans that separate it from the world's turmoil.
It is even possible that George Bush, whose presidency seemed destined for mediocrity even before 9/11, might have been defeated after a single term. That he squeaked through in November 2004 was largely due to the country's unwillingness to change commander-in-chief in the midst of three wars. But whoever followed him in the Oval Office would surely not have been spared the worst economic and financial collapse since the Great Depression. And the consequences of this crisis – not terrorism – are the overwhelming concern and challenge for Americans today.
In fact, 9/11 does bear some blame for the severity of the crisis and lack of options open to Obama. Bush chose to pay for his wars with borrowed money, adding to the debt that ties his successor's hands. But you can't blame Osama bin Laden for the government's mania to deregulate.
Nor was Bin Laden responsible for the years of excessively low interest rates set by the Federal Reserve that fed the reckless mortgage lending that led to the sub-prime crisis, or for the equally reckless behaviour of the banks. Nor has he anything to do with America's chronic inability to live within its means. Consider the price of gold, safe haven par excellence in times of uncertainty. After 11 September, it shot up from $215 to $287 an ounce, but soon levelled out. A decade later it stands close to $1,900, six times higher.
And in politics too, the story is the same. Partisanship and endless squabbling have reduced the system to near-terminal dysfunction. Today's rancour and gridlock in Washington can be traced to several causes. They include the Republicans' belief that they were played for suckers by a cynical Bill Clinton, the left's belief in a "vast right-wing conspiracy" that led to Clinton's impeachment, and its enduring conviction that the 2000 election was stolen by a combination of Bush, a rigged voting system in Florida and the US Supreme Court.
Among those causes, however, 9/11 does not figure. In fact, the attacks generated a short-lived but extraordinary political unity. Today, the Patriot Act of October 2001 that gave sweeping extra powers to the police and other government agencies to combat terrorists is widely criticised, and not only from the left, as an encroachment on basic civil liberties. Few now remember that the bill passed the Senate by a majority of 98 votes to one – or that in a supremely moving moment on the evening of the terrible day itself, Senators and Congressmen, Democrats and Republicans alike, stood together on the steps of the Capitol and broke into an unscripted rendering of "God Bless America".
At that moment, Bush, his popularity at a stratospheric 90 per cent, could have used the moment to do bold things, unimaginable in normal times, and which might have mitigated the economic crisis that lay ahead. He could have reversed some of his tax cuts to pay for his wars; he could have imposed a petrol tax to raise revenue and reduce America's crippling dependency on oil from the very region where the terrorists originated. But for lack of will, or lack of imagination, he blew his chance. Then, just as now, compromise had to be on Republican terms: in other words, my way or the highway.
If Bin Laden can be blamed for anything, it is for causing the US to take its eye off the ball. The "war on terror" eclipsed all else. In its name the US would spend its blood and treasure to secure a safer world, in the mistaken belief that nothing could not be achieved by the might of American arms and the imposition of Western-style democracy. All the while, China and other rising industrial powers moved quietly but steadily forward. They captured American markets and American jobs, and bought vast quantities of US debt to enable the country to continue to consume more than it produced. The world's mightiest military power was now the world's biggest debtor.
And all the while, the truth was concealed. From Washington, presidents have continued to peddle the doctrine of "American exceptionalism". Their country was different from other countries, Bush told them, it had a special place in the world. It could make its own rules, and everything would come right in the end. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, such language was a necessary morale-booster for a traumatised nation. These days it is wilful evasion of reality. To Obama's credit, his speech on Thursday evening, acknowledging that the US faced a protracted "national crisis", contained remarkably little that sugared the pill of truth.
Whether his plan will make it across the great political divide is quite another matter. Nothing suggests Republicans have changed their calculation that by thwarting Obama at every turn, they increase their chances of recapturing the White House next year. But they should be careful. Political and economic cycles do not always coincide.
Intrinsic to America's can-do mentality is the expectation of a quick solution to every problem. Their failure to deliver instant results is a prime reason why Obama and, even more so, Congress are held in such low esteem. Bush was re-elected in 2004, but in the 2006 mid-terms the country returned control of Capitol Hill to the Democrats. In 2008, Obama and his party swept the board, only to lose the House of Representatives a bare two years later, on the wrong end of the biggest landslide in seven decades. The end product of this cycle of frustration is the anti-government Tea Party, which sends its breed of conservative Republicans to Washington with the express aim of dismantling Washington. And in 2012, who knows? Perhaps voters will send Obama packing. Perhaps they will say to obstructionist Republicans, enough is enough. But Bin Laden has little to do with these convulsions. They are caused by a far more insidious foe – the destruction not of buildings and lives, but of once-bedrock certainties, undermined not by al-Qa'ida but by global economic trends that, if anything, are likely to intensify in the decades ahead.
Ever since the Depression, a prime tenet of "the American Dream" has been that each generation will be better off than the one before it. Until the turn of the century, that was true. But since 2001 the poverty rate has risen; the median income has declined; the number of people without health insurance has grown; and the gap between rich and poor is wider than at any time since the 1929 Wall Street Crash.
Most dispiriting of all is unemployment. The headline figure is 9 per cent; throw in those who are not counted, or who have given up looking for work, and the true rate may be close to 17 per cent. No wonder two-thirds of the population believe the country is in decline, both at home and in terms of its influence abroad.
A decade after the horrors of 9/11, the world's lone superpower is learning anew one of history's constants, that economic crises can be even more intractable than wars. Wars unite, and what would the country not give to rediscover the sense of unity spawned in September 2001. But the idea of Democrats and Republicans holding hands and singing "God Bless America" to celebrate the passage of an economic grand bargain to put the country to rights? That wouldn't be an illusion, but a delusion.
Ten years of fear, conflict and the erosion of civil liberties
Ten years ago yesterday, the US was continuing to revel in the fall of communism, the dotcom revolution and minor sex scandals involving the ever-frisky members of Congress. If this wasn't, in the still-fashionable thesis, the end of history, it seemed as if it were taking an extended vacation. Since then, there has been rather too much history. And the cost in lost lives has been appalling – at least 236,500 people killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, according to the "Costs of War" study by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University in Rhode Island. That is nearly 80 times the death toll on 9/11, and the effects of those attacks do not end there.
Afghanistan
The Taliban are gone, but in their place are still war, terrorist attacks, corruption on an epic scale and such a formidable opium and cannabis harvest that parts of the country are, in effect, a drugs factory. And, in some areas (notably women's rights and education), gains are being set in reverse. For the nearly $450bn Congress estimates the US alone has spent waging war there, every Afghan man, woman and child could have been handed $15,000 – 10 years' average earnings. Life expectancy is under 45 years, and about a quarter of children don't live to see their fifth birthday. Only one in four adults can read or write.
Iraq
It is a measure of just how bad was the mayhem unleashed by the 2003 invasion that the present reduction of daily sectarian attacks to an average of 14 is regarded as some sort of triumph. But the years-long chaos, bloodshed and breakdown of civil society – only now being slowly rectified – have killed somewhere around 126,000 civilians (the Watson Institute's estimate). Those who survived no longer live in a totalitarian state, and there are open, if deeply flawed, elections. But the neocons' idea that Iraq would become a beacon of democracy in the region has remained a naive pipe dream. It is in other countries that pressure for real change has come, and it has come from the streets, not as a US import.
Al-Qa'ida
Ten years ago this morning, no one knew if the 9/11 attacks were the catastrophic opening bombardments in a constant state of guerrilla war writ horrifically large, or two dozen murderous terrorists who got lucky. Suddenly, al-Qa'ida was credited with the power to bring the developed world to its knees. Despite Bali, Madrid and London, that has not happened – partly because of resources and effort applied to prevent it, partly because of the haphazard nature of al-Qa'ida. And, today, Bin Laden is dead. Sighs of relief would be absurdly premature, and what goes unacknowledged in the West is that most people killed by al-Qa'ida (and there are thousands) are Muslim.
The Muslim world
If the 9/11 attacks were conducted on the premise that the US was antagonistic towards Muslims, the country's reactions to the atrocity have gone a long way towards proving that thesis in the eyes of millions of Muslims. The wars, tortures, drone attacks, suspicion that Arab oil was a major motivator and continued support for Israel have all made relations with the Muslim world poorer, despite President Barack Obama's more intelligent and emollient words. Nothing shows this more clearly than relations with Pakistan, ostensibly an ally in the "war on terror", but, in reality, a dysfunctional nuclear state where many are opposed to the US and all its works. A survey of Pakistanis in June by the Pew Research Center found that 69 per cent saw the US as an enemy.
Security
Airline passengers now have waits of up to two hours, control on liquids over 100ml entering the plane, short-term bans on hand luggage, body scans and the removal of shoes as part of security checks. Entering offices is no longer a matter of breezing past reception, but proving your ID, and visa restrictions abound. By 2008, 45 countries had introduced biometric passports and 100 million had been issued globally. Many planes are now bullet proof, with locked cockpit doors to secure the pilot and flight crew.
Britain
Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have cost the lives of 559 service personnel, and opened deep divisions back home. The political debate – within and between parties – has been disfigured by the wars. Critics claim they have made Britain a terror target, evidenced by the 7/7 attacks, several foiled plots and the intelligence services' repeated warnings about the threat from radicalised young British Muslims. Campaigners maintain the post-9/11 climate allowed a clampdown on civil liberties – including control orders, enhanced detention powers and identity cards – which has not yet receded.
World economy
The West had spluttered into a post-dotcom downturn by 2001, but 11 September is blamed for accelerating the decline of the US and the world economy. Several analysts claim the response to 9/11 contributed to the global credit boom that eventually started the catastrophic credit-crunch recession years later. But easy credit and the bonus-fuelled gambles of investment bankers inflicted far more damage to economies than Bin Laden ever did.
David Randall, Brian Brady and Nalini Sivathasan
Flight 93 memorial
Former US presidents George W Bush and Bill Clinton yesterday helped to dedicate a memorial in honour of passengers and air crew who fought back against 9/11 hijackers.
The Flight 93 National Memorial marks the spot where passengers and crew foiled the attack on Washington DC 10 years ago. They stormed the cockpit to try to regain control from four terrorists, but the Boeing 757 crashed in a field. There were no survivors. The memorial is part of a new 1,500-acre national park in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
More than 4,000 people, including relatives of those on board the United Airlines flight, listened to Mr Bush say the fightback was "one of the most courageous acts in American history". Mr Clinton said the 40 who fought the hijackers had given "the entire country an incalculable gift".
Richard Osley
http://islaamdoon.blogspot.com/
Monday, December 7, 2009
Islamophobia: As Unacceptable As Anti-Semitism (Pt. 1 of 2)
Islamophobia: As Unacceptable As Anti-Semitism (Pt. 1 of 2)
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From an article by John L. Esposito*:
Last year, at a European meeting of intelligence officials from the US and Europe, a Swiss participant commented on a proposed referendum on minarets. He was sure it would go nowhere since, as he said, Switzerland is a very pluralistic society; its Muslim population is relatively small and there are few mosques with minarets.
Enlightened Switzerland has now become part of an "Enlightened Liberal Europe" that is increasingly not all that liberal.
The stunning Swiss vote - 57 per cent - approving a referendum to ban minarets, should not have been all that surprising, considering the growing power of Islamophobia.
In both Europe and the US, right-wing politicians, political commentators, media personalities, and religious leaders continue to feed a growing suspicion of mainstream Muslims by fueling a fear that Islam, and not just Muslim extremism, is a threat.
In the aftermath of attacks in the US and Europe, the relevance and viability of multiculturalism as a policy was challenged by those who charged that such an approach contributed to domestic terrorism.
They argued that such a policy helped in retarding Muslim assimilation and civic engagement, perpetuated foreign loyalties, and provided a space for militant radicals.
The process of integration, in which immigrant citizens and residents could retain their religious and ethnic differences, was rejected by many, in particular the far-right in Europe, who demand total assimilation.
Modern-day prophets of doom have predicted that Europe will be overrun by Islam - transformed by the end of the century into "Eurabia".
The media, political leaders, and commentators on the right warn of a "soft terrorism" plot to take over the US and Europe.
Bernard Lewis, a Middle East historian and adviser to the Bush administration on its failed Iraq policy, received widespread coverage when he chided Europeans for losing their loyalties, self-confidence, and respect for their own culture, charging that they have "surrendered" to Islam in a mood of "self-abasement," "political correctness," and "multi-culturalism".
Daniel Pipes, a columnist, political commentator and relentless Muslim critic who wrote an article called "The Muslims are coming. The Muslims are coming", also declared: "Western European societies are unprepared for the massive immigration of brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene ... All immigrants bring exotic customs and attitudes, but Muslim customs are more troublesome than most."
Fortunately, many Muslim and Christian leaders, and major European politicians and human rights experts have condemned the minaret ban, and the Vatican has denounced it as an infringement of religious freedom...
* John L Esposito is a professor of Religion and International Affairs, professor of Islamic Studies and founding director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University
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