|
|
| ISLAM |
Posted by : nlkhalid
Post Date : February 15, 2007 02:02:13 AM |
Moderators : wahs yulclatip
Go to page : 1 2 3 |
|
| Re : SUFI ISLAM |
Posted by :
Guest |
| July 07, 2010 06:14:06 PM |
Location :
Marawi |
|
True Muslims do not shed the blood of other Muslims who follow a different sect. There is no justification for these murders either in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan or Pakistan (all these Muslim states experience or are now experiencing bombings inside mosques). I am beginning to think that these bombings must be the handiwork of the enemies of Islam who want to sow dissensions and conflicts in certain Muslim states and project Islam as a violent faith. |
|
|
| SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY |
Posted by :
nlkhalid |
| July 09, 2010 03:13:37 AM |
Location :
tihamaland |
SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY...ARABS FAVOR WAR WITH IRAN?
First was the rumor that KSA have secretly agreed to let a corridor for Israel/USA’s bombers through its airspace and then this...
The unspeakable truth that hangs in every Muslim’s lip that they dare not talk about is the Sunni-Shia thousand years of endless wars. The last major war (not to mention Pakistan/Iraq/Afghanistan) between the Muslim divide that saw the death of a million Muslims was the Iran-Iraq war. If the devil western-warmongers continue to fuel these wars for their own selfish ends; the Middle East could be in flame that will fulfill End Time Prophecies that we are all so familiar with.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
U.A.E. diplomat mulls hit on Iran's nukes
By Eli Lake
ASPEN, Colo. | The United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States said Tuesday that the benefits of bombing Iran's nuclear program outweigh the short-term costs such an attack would impose.
In unusually blunt remarks, Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba publicly endorsed the use of the military option for countering Iran's nuclear program, if sanctions fail to stop the country's quest for nuclear weapons.
"I think it's a cost-benefit analysis," Mr. al-Otaiba said. "I think despite the large amount of trade we do with Iran, which is close to $12 billion … there will be consequences, there will be a backlash and there will be problems with people protesting and rioting and very unhappy that there is an outside force attacking a Muslim country; that is going to happen no matter what."
"If you are asking me, 'Am I willing to live with that versus living with a nuclear Iran?,' my answer is still the same: 'We cannot live with a nuclear Iran.' I am willing to absorb what takes place at the expense of the security of the U.A.E."
Mr. al-Otaiba made his comments in response to a question after a public interview session with the Atlantic magazine at the Aspen Ideas Festival here. They echo those of some Arab diplomats who have said similar things in private to their American counterparts but never this bluntly in public.
The remarks surprised many in the audience.
Rep. Jane Harman of California, a former ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, told The Washington Times after the session that "I have never heard an Arab government official say that before. He was stunningly candid."
John R. Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the comments reflect the views of many Arab states in the Persian Gulf region that "recognize the threat posed by a nuclear Iran."
"They also know — and worry — that the Obama administration's policies will not stop Iran," he told The Times in a separate interview.
Arab leaders, Mr. Bolton said, regard a pre-emptive strike as "the only alternative."
The U.A.E. ambassador "was thus only speaking the truth from his perspective," Mr. Bolton said.
Patrick Clawson, the director of research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said of the ambassador's comments: "This is a significant increase in the concern from the United Arab Emirates."
"Important Arab officials have privately indicated to me personally and to my colleagues that they would prefer an American military strike on Iran to an Iran with nuclear weapons. However, one can never be certain what they are saying in private to other audiences," Mr. Clawson said.
Senior Obama administration officials, including Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, have not ruled out the use of a pre-emptive military option against Iran.
However, administration officials have sought to play down that option, notably because of heavy U.S. military commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan and the danger that Iran would respond by disrupting the flow of oil through the strategic Strait of Hormuz or by encouraging more terrorist attacks in the West and in the region.
Iran has been developing uranium-enrichment facilities, some in underground military facilities, in violation of its obligations to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Military specialists have said a strike on as many as two dozen Iranian facilities could set back Tehran's nuclear program that U.S. officials have said appears on track to build nuclear arms in a period of as little as two years.
The United Arab Emirates is the union of seven Arabian Peninsula emirates, with a historically weak federal government based in Abu Dhabi. The emirate of Dubai has been a banking center for Iran's Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps and was used as a major transshipment point for the cover nuclear-supplier network headed by Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan that supplied nuclear technology to Libya, Iran and North Korea.
Mr. al-Otaiba said that his country would be the last Arab country to cut a deal with Iran, if Tehran were to go nuclear. But he predicted other wealthy Arab states in the Gulf would dump their alliances with the U.S. in favor of ties with Tehran if President Obama does not stop the Islamic republic's quest to become a nuclear power.
"There are many countries in the region that if they lack assurance that the U.S. is willing to confront Iran, they will start running for cover with Iran," he said. "Small, rich, vulnerable countries do not want to stick their finger in the big boy's eye if they do not have the backing of the United States."
The U.A.E. ambassador "was thus only speaking the truth from his perspective," Mr. Bolton said.
Patrick Clawson, the director of research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said of the ambassador's comments: "This is a significant increase in the concern from the United Arab Emirates."
"Important Arab officials have privately indicated to me personally and to my colleagues that they would prefer an American military strike on Iran to an Iran with nuclear weapons. However, one can never be certain what they are saying in private to other audiences," Mr. Clawson said.
Senior Obama administration officials, including Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, have not ruled out the use of a pre-emptive military option against Iran.
However, administration officials have sought to play down that option, notably because of heavy U.S. military commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan and the danger that Iran would respond by disrupting the flow of oil through the strategic Strait of Hormuz or by encouraging more terrorist attacks in the West and in the region.
Iran has been developing uranium-enrichment facilities, some in underground military facilities, in violation of its obligations to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Military specialists have said a strike on as many as two dozen Iranian facilities could set back Tehran's nuclear program that U.S. officials have said appears on track to build nuclear arms in a period of as little as two years.
The United Arab Emirates is the union of seven Arabian Peninsula emirates, with a historically weak federal government based in Abu Dhabi. The emirate of Dubai has been a banking center for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was used as a major transshipment point for the cover nuclear-supplier network headed by Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan that supplied nuclear technology to Libya, Iran and North Korea.
Mr. al-Otaiba said that his country would be the last Arab country to cut a deal with Iran, if Tehran were to go nuclear. But he predicted other wealthy Arab states in the Gulf would dump their alliances with the U.S. in favor of ties with Tehran if President Obama does not stop the Islamic republic's quest to become a nuclear power.
"There are many countries in the region that if they lack assurance that the U.S. is willing to confront Iran, they will start running for cover with Iran," he said.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jul/6/uae-ambassador-endorses-bombing-irans-nuclear-prog/ |
|
|
| REALITY SHOW WITH A CAUSE |
Posted by :
nlkhalid |
| July 29, 2010 04:13:15 PM |
Location :
tihamaland |
A Reality Show Where Islam Is the Biggest Star
By LIZ GOOCH
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Bright studio spotlights illuminated the faces of four nervous young men, arms linked as they anxiously awaited their fate. Cameramen stood poised, ready to capture the climactic moment. Finally, the chief judge broke the suspense.
Two of the contestants had been eliminated. The other two had taken a step closer to their dream. Winners and losers, each clad in crisp, dark suits and formal black hats, took turns hugging each other.
The competition is called “Imam Muda,” or “Young Leader” — a Malaysian venture into religious-themed reality TV.
The basic premise may replicate that of reality shows, but here, inside an auditorium at one of Kuala Lumpur’s largest mosques, are notable variations on the tried-and-true formula.
Before each episode, the contestants have gathered to recite a prayer, while the challenges they are judged on have included washing corpses in preparation for burial and ensuring that animals are slaughtered according to Islamic principles.
The prize pool, too, offers a clear indication of the detour the show takes from the usual reality show script. Cash and a new car are up for grabs, but the winner will also be offered a job as an imam, or religious leader, a scholarship to study in Saudi Arabia and an all-expenses-paid pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam’s holiest city.
The show, which debuted in May with 10 contestants — whittled down from more than a thousand applicants with backgrounds ranging from banking to farming — has built an impressive following among young Malaysians. It is the most-watched show ever on Astro Oasis, a Muslim lifestyle cable channel, and its Facebook page has more than 50,000 fans.
Viewership is expected to soar on Friday, when the winner will be announced in a live broadcast from a convention hall. The two finalists have spent recent days in their hometowns, giving sermons and organizing community events. During the finale, they will be required to debate religious and news topics, as well as recite passages from the Koran.
Some political commentators say the show’s popularity reflects the increasing Islamization of this Muslim-majority nation of 28 million. The program’s creators, who are already planning a second season, say they are trying to provide an entertaining way of making Islam more relevant to the lives of the young and extending the role of religious leaders beyond the mosque.
A collaboration between Astro Oasis and a regional government’s Islamic affairs department, the show requires the contestants, ages 18 to 27, to master and demonstrate the duties of an imam through both practical and theoretical activities. In addition to preparing unclaimed corpses for burial, a task that some contestants said was particularly memorable, the men have also had to counsel wayward teenagers, console elderly people abandoned by their children and display their Koranic knowledge.
Izelan Basar, the show’s creator and Astro Oasis’s channel manager, said his aim was to find a way to make Islam more appealing to young people.
“In every religion, the toughest challenge is to attract the youth,” he said, noting that most of the country’s imams were older men.
In preparation for the show, producers surveyed young people about the type of imam they wanted to see in their mosques.
“They said, ‘We want someone who can talk on the same wavelength, who can be one of us, an imam who can play football, can talk about the World Cup, can talk about the environment and U.F.O.’s, for example,’ ” Mr. Izelan said.
While an imam’s main duties include delivering Friday sermons and leading prayers, Mr. Izelan said that contestants were also coached for the show in public speaking, suitable dress, how to talk with children, even how to hold their cutlery, as well as studying the Koran.
Malina Ibrahim, 32, a banker who watches “Imam Muda” at home with her parents, predicted that the show would encourage young people to follow Islam more closely.
“If you have a husband in your family with that kind of knowledge, people will look up to you,” said Ms. Malina while eating lunch with friends in a food court in the city center.
The judge each week is Hasan Mahmood al-Hafiz, a former national grand imam. He says he is looking for someone with a strong grasp of Islam, but also general knowledge and communication skills, “strong morality” and open-mindedness. There is a shortage of young men with the qualities to make a good imam, he said, something he hopes the show will help change.
Through most of the show’s run, the contestants have been confined to a hostel, cut off from family and friends, newspapers, television and the Internet. One contestant, Mohammad Taufek bin Mohammad Noh, was permitted to leave briefly for his wedding, but he had to return to the hostel after the ceremony.
So the contestants heard only snippets about the show’s success from the crew, and some seemed pleasantly surprised that their performances had gained such a following, especially with female viewers.
Ahmad Hazran bin Ahmad Kamal, 25, a banker who was eliminated in the semifinal last week, confessed that while he had no problem addressing a crowd, he became nervous when talking to girls.
“But if they want to marry me, why not?” he said, smiling shyly.
On Friday, the show’s fans will discover whether Hizbur Rahman bin Omar Zuhdi, 27, or Asyraf bin Mohammad Ridzuan, 26, will be named Malaysia’s first “Imam Muda.” Mr. Hizbur, a religion schoolteacher, said he hoped to “use ‘Imam Muda’ as a platform to become a model for teenagers and the community.”
“The benefit of this program — fame — is an asset to attract youngsters to live the religion,” he said.
Mr. Asyraf, who had already worked as an imam for four months, said he joined the show because he wanted to reach more people and improve his knowledge of Islam.
“I feel so happy and blessed,” he said after learning that he had made it to the finals.
Mr. Izelan, who said he had fielded inquiries from television stations in Turkey and Egypt about producing similar shows, seems genuinely taken aback by the success of “Imam Muda.”
“We have provided a platform and some level of fame,” he said. “Where they go now is up to them.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/world/asia/29imam.html?th&emc=th |
|
|
| WILDER'S ANTI-MUSLIM SPEECH |
Posted by :
nlkhalid |
| August 05, 2010 04:41:30 AM |
Location :
tihamaland |
WILDER’S CHILLING ANTI-MUSLIN SPEECH (AUTHOR OF THE VIDEO ‘FITNA’)
(I received this e-mail from a cousin asking for my reaction)
The only part of this speech that I found offensive are the lies against the prophet but in general...this guy’s apprehension; call it paranoia or fear of Islam’s forthcoming conquest of the world is justified. He is the same Islam’s nemesis who made the controversial video ‘Fitna’ that was even more offensive to Muslims than the following speech that he delivered in front of a Jewish audience. He is no different from Bush/Obama, Netanyahu or Lieberman. To them...Islam is a threat and I say yes! It’s payback time.
Except for Saudi Arabia and Iran...I can’t remember any Muslim country that did not suffer under brutal colonial conquest by the Evils of European Empires whose role in the world the American Empire has assumed. I believe in the justness of Crime and punishment, yang and yin, heaven and hell. Call it ‘karma’ if you may. The Western power’s sins against Muslims and Islam is unfathomable...God will not let them get away with it. You cannot slaughter millions, drive away people from their homes, make children orphans and expect God to wink for your evil deeds unless of course...the devil is your god. It is ARMAGEDDON NOW...the battle between the forces of Good and Evil and this man’s fear is justified. Islam’s spiritual conquest of the world is coming...the time is here and now.
Muslim culture is a slap in the face of a fornicating west. A modestly dressed Muslim woman is spunk in the face of a barely dressed almost naked western woman walking down the street. A non-drinking Muslim man is a direct insult in the face of a drunken western man who barely able to let the day pass without drinking. A pious Muslim is an insult to a Christian who barely if ever goes to church. A Muslim represents what Christians are not...and that is the naked truth that keep them fuming.
Is it not Allah who declared: “...MY MESSENGER AND I WILL PREVAIL”
nlk
__________________________________________________________
This Will Give You Cold Chills!
Geert Wilders is a Dutch Member of Parliament.
(Embedded image moved to file: pic18467.jpg)
In a generation or two, the US will ask itself: Who lost Europe ?'
Here is the speech of Geert Wilders, Chairman, Party for Freedom, the
Netherlands , at the Four Seasons, New York , introducing an Alliance of
Patriots and announcing the Facing Jihad Conference in Jerusalem .
Dear friends,
Thank you very much for inviting me.
I come to America with a mission. All is not well in the old world. There
is a tremendous danger looming, and it is very difficult to be optimistic.
We might be in the final stages of the Islamization of Europe. This not
only is a clear and present danger to the future of Europe itself, it is a
threat to America and the sheer survival of the West. The United States as
the last bastion of Western civilization, facing an Islamic Europe.
First I will describe the situation on the ground in Europe . Then, I will
say a few things about Islam. To close I will tell you about a meeting in
Jerusalem .
The Europe you know is changing.
You have probably seen the landmarks. But in all of these cities,
sometimes a few blocks away from your tourist destination, there is another
world. It is the world of the parallel society created by Muslim
mass-migration.
All throughout Europe a new reality is rising: entire Muslim neighborhoods
where very few indigenous people reside or are even seen. And if they are,
they might regret it. This goes for the police as well. It's the world of
head scarves, where women walk around in figureless tents, with baby
strollers and a group of children. Their husbands, or slaveholders if you
prefer, walk three steps ahead. With mosques on many street corners. The
shops have signs you and I cannot read. You will be hard-pressed to find
any economic activity. These are Muslim ghettos controlled by religious
fanatics. These are Muslim neighborhoods, and they are mushrooming in
every city across Europe . These are the building-blocks for territorial
control of increasingly larger portions of Europe , street by street,
neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city.
There are now thousands of mosques throughout Europe . With larger
congregations than there are in churches. And in every European city there
are plans to build super-mosques that will dwarf every church in the
region. Clearly, the signal is: we rule.
Many European cities are already one-quarter Muslim: just take Amsterdam ,
Marseille and Malmo in Sweden . In many cities the majority of the
under-18 population is Muslim. Paris is now surrounded by a ring of Muslim
neighborhoods. Mohammed is the most popular name among boys in many
cities.
In some elementary schools in Amsterdam the farm can no longer be
mentioned, because that would also mean mentioning the pig, and that would
be an insult to Muslims.
Many state schools in Belgium and Denmark only serve halal food to all
pupils. In once-tolerant Amsterdam gays are beaten up almost exclusively
by Muslims. Non-Muslim women routinely hear 'whore, whore'. Satellite
dishes are not pointed to local TV stations, but to stations in the country
of origin.
In France school teachers are advised to avoid authors deemed offensive to
Muslims, including Voltaire and Diderot; the same is increasingly true of
Darwin . The history of the Holocaust can no longer be taught because of
Muslim sensitivity.
In England sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal
system. Many neighborhoods in France are no-go areas for women without head
scarves. Last week a man almost died after being beaten up by Muslims in
Brussels , because he was drinking during the Ramadan.
Jews are fleeing France in record numbers, on the run for the worst wave of
anti-Semitism since World War II. French is now commonly spoken on the
streets of Tel Aviv and Netanya , Israel . I could go on forever with
stories like this. Stories about Islamization.
A total of fifty-four million Muslims now live in Europe . San Diego
University recently calculated that a staggering 25 percent of the
population in Europe will be Muslim just 12 years from now. Bernhard Lewis
has predicted a Muslim majority by the end of this century.
Now these are just numbers. And the numbers would not be threatening if
the Muslim-immigrants had a strong desire to assimilate. But there are few
signs of that. The Pew Research Center reported that half of French
Muslims see their loyalty to Islam as greater than their loyalty to
France . One-third of French Muslims do not object to suicide attacks.
The British Centre for Social Cohesion reported that one-third of British
Muslim students are in favor of a worldwide caliphate. Muslims demand what
they call 'respect'. And this is how we give them respect. We have Muslim
official state holidays.
The Christian-Democratic attorney general is willing to accept sharia in
the Netherlands if there is a Muslim majority. We have cabinet members
with passports from Morocco and Turkey .
Muslim demands are supported by unlawful behavior, ranging from petty
crimes and random violence, for example against ambulance workers and bus
drivers, to small-scale riots. Paris has seen its uprising in the
low-income suburbs, the banlieus. I call the perpetrators 'settlers'.
Because that is what they are. They do not come to integrate into our
societies; they come to integrate our society into their Dar-al-Islam
Therefore, they are settlers.
Much of this street violence I mentioned is directed exclusively against
non-Muslims, forcing many native people to leave their neighborhoods, their
cities, their countries. Moreover, Muslims are now a swing vote not to be
ignored.
The second thing you need to know is the importance of Mohammed the
prophet. His behavior is an example to all Muslims and cannot be
criticized. Now, if Mohammed had been a man of peace, let us say like
Ghandi and Mother Theresa wrapped in one, there would be no problem. But
Mohammed was a warlord, a mass murderer, a pedophile, and had several
marriages - at the same time. Islamic tradition tells us how he fought in
battles, how he had his enemies murdered and even had prisoners of war
executed. Mohammed himself slaughtered the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza.
If it is good for Islam, it is good. If it is bad for Islam, it is bad.
Let no one fool you about Islam being a religion. Sure, it has a god, and
a here-after, and 72 virgins. But in its essence Islam is a political
ideology. It is a system that lays down detailed rules for society and the
life of every person. Islam wants to dictate every aspect of life. Islam
means 'submission'. Islam is not compatible with freedom and democracy,
because what it strives for is sharia. If you want to compare Islam to
anything, compare it to communism or national-socialism, these are all
totalitarian ideologies.
Now you know why Winston Churchill called Islam 'the most retrograde force
in the world', and why he compared Mein Kampf to the Quran. The public has
wholeheartedly accepted the Palestinian narrative, and sees Israel as the
aggressor. I have lived in this country and visited it dozens of times. I
support Israel . First, because it is the Jewish homeland after two
thousand years of exile up to and including Auschwitz, second because it is
a democracy, and third because Israel is our first line of defense.
This tiny country is situated on the fault line of jihad, frustrating
Islam's territorial advance. Israel is facing the front lines of jihad,
like Kashmir, Kosovo, the Philippines , Southern Thailand, Darfur in
Sudan , Lebanon , and Aceh in Indonesia . Israel is simply in the way.
The same way West-Berlin was during the Cold War.
The war against Israel is not a war against Israel . It is a war against
the West. It is jihad. Israel is simply receiving the blows that are
meant for all of us. If there would have been no Israel , Islamic
imperialism would have found other venues to release its energy and its
desire for conquest. Thanks to Israeli parents who send their children to
the army and lay awake at night, parents in Europe and America can sleep
well and dream, unaware of the dangers looming.
Many in Europe argue in favor of abandoning Israel in order to address the
grievances of our Muslim minorities. But if Israel were, God forbid, to go
down, it would not bring any solace to the West It would not mean our
Muslim minorities would all of a sudden change their behavior, and accept
our values. On the contrary, the end of Israel would give enormous
encouragement to the forces of Islam. They would, and rightly so, see the
demise of Israel as proof that the West is weak, and doomed. The end of
Israel would not mean the end of our problems with Islam, but only the
beginning. It would mean the start of the final battle for world
domination. If they can get Israel , they can get everything So-called
journalists volunteer to label any and all critics of Islamization as a
'right-wing extremists' or 'racists'. In my country, the Netherlands , 60
percent of the population now sees the mass immigration of Muslims as the
number one policy mistake since World War II. And another 60 percent sees
Islam as the biggest threat. Yet there is a greater danger than terrorist
attacks, the scenario of America as the last man standing. The lights may
go out in Europe faster than you can imagine. An Islamic Europe means a
Europe without freedom and democracy, an economic wasteland, an
intellectual nightmare, and a loss of military might for America - as its
allies will turn into enemies, enemies with atomic bombs. With an Islamic
Europe, it would be up to America alone to preserve the heritage of Rome ,
Athens and Jerusalem .
Dear friends, liberty is the most precious of gifts. My generation never
had to fight for this freedom, it was offered to us on a silver platter, by
people who fought for it with their lives. All throughout Europe ,
American cemeteries remind us of the young boys who never made it home, and
whose memory we cherish. My generation does not own this freedom; we are
merely its custodians. We can only hand over this hard won liberty to
Europe 's children in the same state in which it was offered to us. We
cannot strike a deal with mullahs and imams. Future generations would
never forgive us. We cannot squander our liberties. We simply do not have
the right to do so.
We have to take the necessary action now to stop this Islamic stupidity
from destroying the free world that we know.
Please take the time to read and understand what is written here, Please
send it to every free person that you know, it is so very important. |
|
|
| Re : WILDER'S ANTI-MUSLIM SPEECH |
Posted by :
Guest |
| August 07, 2010 04:56:37 PM |
Location :
Unknown |
|
I agree. Except those lies about the Prophet and an obviously poor knowledge of Islam (or deliberately maligning Islam), Geert Wilders is telling the truth about Islam being the fastest growing religion in the world. Though he focuses in Europe, same is happening all over the world. Islam keeps marching on. And enemies of the faith like Wilders should really be worried. |
|
|
| DHIMMA (PROTECTION OF NON-MUSLIMS) |
Posted by :
nlkhalid |
| August 11, 2010 02:39:19 AM |
Location :
tihamaland |
Dhimma - Protection of religious minorities in Islam
8/8/2010 - Interfaith - Article Ref: WP1008-4249
By: Mark R. Cohen
Washington Post* -
Americans must transcend ignorance on mosque near Ground Zero
The proposed Ground Zero mosque in New York (like a similar mosque opened recently in Roxbury, Mass.) has triggered a fierce controversy, with advocates and opponents engaged in a vigorous war of words. Some of that debate has taken place recently in the pages of the Washington Post's "On Faith" section.
In a thoughtful On Faith post, John Kiser weighed in in favor of the construction of the mosque and emphasized the need for better understanding of Islam. Several of the many negative reader-responses to his article mentioned the concept of "dhimmitude" as ostensible proof of Islam's inherent intolerance. Reflected in these responses is a common misconception about Islam's treatment of its religious minorities.
The term "dhimmitude" was coined in 1982 by the Maronite-Christian President of Lebanon, Bashir Gemayel, referring to the state of subordination to Muslims that Christian Lebanese would not tolerate. It was made famous in western discourse by Bat Ye'or, the pseudonym of an Egyptian Jewish emigre of the 1950s who writes about the status of Jews and Christians from the rise of Islam in the seventh century to modern times. She portrays a demeaning Islamic policy towards these non-Muslims, a policy aimed at humiliating and even persecuting them, and, by extension, a foundation of modern Muslim anti-Semitism.
As an historian of Jewish-Muslim relations, I feel that a clarification is necessary. The dhimma status conferred upon non-Muslims has its skeletal origins in the Qur'an and its characteristic elaboration in the so-called Pact of 'Umar, ascribed to the second Caliph after Muhammad's death, who ruled 634-644. The term "dhimma" actually means "protection," specifically the protection granted to non-Muslim People of the Book, mainly Jews and Christians. This included protection of property, freedom of religion, and the right of communal autonomy. This "policy" of Islam, in its classical, authentic form, reflects a certain kind of tolerance--but not the kind of tolerance we think of today. Protection didn't come without a price: payment of an annual head tax (usually limited to adult males) and maintenance of a "low profile," acknowledging the superiority of Islam.
In the Middle Ages, tolerance as we know it was not a virtue, not for Judaism, not for Christianity and not for Islam. Each saw itself as the recipient of a new, divine election, replacing its predecessors and charged with the responsibility of asserting its superiority, of keeping others in a lowly position, of proselytizing, even to the point of forcing others to convert. This hierarchical relationship determined interreligious relations throughout the Middle Ages. In the Islamic world, other monotheists occupied a low rank in this hierarchy, but it was a rank nonetheless. The dhimmis were never excluded from the social order of the Islamic polity, nor were they expelled from majority society, as they were in medieval Christendom. They were second-class subjects, to be sure, but they benefitted from the protection conferred by their dhimma status. Moreover, the strictures of the Pact of 'Umar were frequently ignored, by dhimmis and rulers alike.
During roughly the first half of Islamic history, from the seventh through the twelfth or thirteenth centuries, Muslims and dhimmis lived, not in an interfaith utopia, but in a live-and-let-live situation, each recognizing its assigned place in the hierarchical order of things. Within this hierarchy many different religions and ethnic groups lived side-by-side, occupying the same physical space, creating a pluralistic mosaic of cultures and religions. But tolerance, if by "tolerance" we mean the equality of all peoples, did not exist. Nor should we expect it to have existed. What is important is that, despite, or perhaps by virtue of the dhimma system, non-Muslims and Muslims interacted rather comfortably in day-to-day affairs, shared fully in economic life, and practiced medicine in the same hospitals. Episodes of persecution--and they periodically occurred--were almost always triggered when dhimmis were perceived to be violating the low rank to which they were assigned by Islamic law. Yet some dhimmis occupied important positions in Islamic government, with the tacit consent of Muslim rulers and in violation of the code of the dhimma. Finally, non-Muslim intellectuals studied, often in interdenominational settings, the same scientific, philosophical, and medical texts as did Muslims--Arabic translations of works originally written in Greek. They argued about religion and philosophy in sessions that were governed by rules of gentlemanly conduct. These were intellectual exchanges, not polemical "trials" in which the minority was guaranteed to lose out to the majority. The deep immersion of non-Muslims in Arabic-Islamic culture is the basis of the "Golden Age" conception of harmony. There was harmony, though it had its limits.
Applying contemporary standards of tolerance to medieval Muslim history and policy does a disservice to the prospects of reconciliation in our times. The assumption by some that an inherent medieval Islamic intolerance prevailed and that it underlies present-day Muslim terrorism is a distortion of reality. On the other side, the self-ascribed mission of the small minority of "card-carrying" Islamist fundamentalists to revive the pristine Islam of the Qur'an is itself a distortion that conveniently overlooks the pluralism of medieval Islam and the promise of freedom of religion embedded in the Qur'an and in other foundational Islamic texts. Until non-Muslims begin to understand Islam in all its facets, we will be destined to live in ignorance of the "real" Islam and to act out of fear. The presence of Muslims in our midst, and of mosques like the one planned near Ground Zero, which will be an educational center as well as a place of prayer, is one good way of transcending this ignorance.
Mark R. Cohen is The Khedouri A. Zilkha Professor of Jewish Civilization in the Near East in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University and a Rabbinical graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary). He is the author, among many books, of Under Crescent and Cross: The Jews in the Middle Ages, and is the first recipient of the Goldziher Prize for scholarship promoting better understanding between Jews and Muslims, awarded by Center for the Study of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations at Merrimack College.
Source: On Faith
http://www.islamicity.com/articles/Articles.asp?ref=WP1008-4249 |
|
|
| BURN A QUR'AN DAY |
Posted by :
nlkhalid |
| August 15, 2010 08:08:36 PM |
Location :
tihamaland |
A BURNING ISSUE AT GROUND ZERO: BURN A QUR’AN DAY ON 9/11 (END OF RAMADAN)
by acson005 , Sunday, August 15, 2010, 03:35
This controversy has been going for weeks…many may have already heard or read about it somewhere in the world of media. What struck me as odd is the date.
During the end of the 2nd Millennium [2000]…Christmas day and Edi Al Fitr (End of Ramadan) coincided and believe it or not; due to a solar Eclipse. Although most of the Muslim world did not end their fast…many of those who saw the Eclipse ended their Ramadan fast due to a Muslim tradition to end the fasting once you see the New Moon.
I marked this event as strange because of an authentic prophecy by the Prophet that says; “…signs of the End Times will appear at the end of the second millennium (century?).” A solar eclipse on Christmas day few days before the end of the second millennium is a sign of the end times for Christianity.
…that many will burn a Qur’an at ground zero (some are likewise proposing to burn a Talmud) on September 11 is real strange because it is ‘Eid Al Fitr’ marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan; the birth month of the Noble Qur’an.
Wow…THAT WILL BE A REAL SIGN OF THE TIMES.
Even if they burn every copy of the Qur’an…Islam’s spiritual conquest of the world is unstoppable with millions of the faithful having memorized the Qur’an by heart. It is what made Islam unique among all other religions. I hope that Muslims will not respond in kind by burning the Bible. By doing so; Muslims will bring down themselves to the level of what Christianity had become…a dying religion.
______________________________________________
Controversy swells as Obama supports Ground Zero mosque
by Carlos Hamann Sat Aug 14, 1:23 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama's endorsement of a controversial plan to build a mosque just blocks from Ground Zero poured fuel Saturday on a raging debate over religious freedom and sensitivities over the 9/11 attacks.
Muslims "have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country," Obama said at an Iftar meal at the White House for Muslims breaking their Ramadan fast late Friday.
That includes "the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan."
Obama had remained on the sidelines over plans to build an Islamic cultural center, which includes a mosque, two blocks away from the gaping Ground Zero hole where the Twin Towers were destroyed on September 11, 2001.
But after a New York city commission on August 3 unanimously approved the plans, the president came out to fully support the project.
"This is America," Obama said, "and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are."
SNIP
A Florida church has already said it will hold a "Koran-burning" on September 11 -- which this year coincides with Eid al-Fitr, the end-of-Ramadan holiday.
Rest of article here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100814/ts_afp/uspoliticsreligionattacksobama_20100814172344/print |
|
|
| THE MESSIAH |
Posted by :
nlkhalid |
| August 16, 2010 09:02:28 AM |
Location :
tihamaland |
Lebanon bans Iranian biopic of Jesus
Sun, 15 Aug 2010 15:33:30 GMT
Two Lebanese television networks have been banned from showing The Messiah, a biopic of Jesus Christ by Iranian director Nader Talebzadeh.
Lebanon's NBN and Al-Manar television channels started airing the Arabic version of the TV series at the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.
The same two channels issued statements later saying that it would no longer be broadcast out of respect for other Lebanese religious groups.
Lebanon has over 18 religious groups which include Sunni and Shia Muslims, Christians and Druze.
Christian priests and politicians protested to the program, saying that the topic might endanger national coexistence.
Catholic Maronite Archbishop Bechara el-Rai said that the 17-episode program does not show respect to "Jesus, the church and Christianity."
Information Minister Tarek Mitri said that although he was against censorship, he agreed with the cancellation because of Lebanon's religious diversity.
"There is a special case in Lebanon which is considered a country of dialogue and a country where Christians and Muslims meet," AP quoted Mitri as saying.
Talebzadeh's The Messiah is a 2008 feature-length production that was subsequently adapted into a TV series.
It has won the Inter-Religious Dialogue award of Italy's 2007 Religion Today Film Festival.
The film was made based on the Qur'an and the Gospel of Barnabas, which conforms to the Islamic interpretation of Christian origins.
Christians believe Jesus was the son of God, who died by crucifixion, was resurrected, and then ascended to heaven.
Muslims, however, do not believe Jesus was only a prophet who ascended while still alive.
"He is never the son of God, he is a prophet, and also he was not crucified -- someone else was crucified in his place," Talebzadeh said in a CNN interview in 2008.
The director's biopic shows Judas Iscariot being crucified instead of Jesus.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=138822§ionid=351020203 |
|
|
| STOP ISLAMIZATION OF AMERICA |
Posted by :
nlkhalid |
| August 18, 2010 08:23:38 PM |
Location :
tihamaland |
STOP THE ISLAMIZATION OF AMERICA :-)
____________________________________________
How the "ground zero mosque" fear mongering began
By: Justin Elliott
Salon.com* -
A group of progressive Muslim-Americans plans to build an Islamic community center two and a half blocks from ground zero in lower Manhattan. They have had a mosque in the same neighborhood for many years. There's another mosque two blocks away from the site. City officials support the project. Muslims have been praying at the Pentagon, the other building hit on Sept. 11, for many years.
In short, there is no good reason that the Cordoba House project should have been a major national news story, let alone controversy. And yet it has become just that, dominating the political conversation for weeks and prompting such a backlash that, according to a new poll, nearly 7 in 10 Americans now say they oppose the project. How did the Cordoba House become so toxic, so fast?
In a story last week, the New York Times, which framed the project in a largely positive, noncontroversial light last December, argued that it was cursed from the start by "public relations missteps." But this isn't accurate. To a remarkable extent, a Salon review of the origins of the story found, the controversy was kicked up and driven by Pamela Geller, a right-wing, viciously anti-Muslim, conspiracy-mongering blogger, whose sinister portrayal of the project was embraced by Rupert Murdoch's New York Post.
Here's a timeline of how it all happened:
REST OF ARTICLE:
http://www.iviews.com/Articles/articles.asp?ref=SA1008-4259 |
|
|
| SPLITTING OF THE MOON |
Posted by :
nlkhalid |
| August 22, 2010 05:33:30 AM |
Location :
tihamaland |
“THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MOON” is a possible prelude to the break-up and splitting asunder of the moon precisely as foretold in the Qur’an.
_____________________________________________
IS THE MOON SHRINKING OR CRACKING/CRUNCHING (RELUDE TO A SPLIT)…?
by acson005 , Friday, August 20, 2010, 20:08
QUR’AN
36:39 and [in] the moon, for which We have determined phases [which it must traverse] till it becomes like an old date-stalk, dried-up and curved:
54:1 THE LAST HOUR draws near, and the moon is split asunder!
_____________________________________________
The incredible shrinking Moon: Cracks in the surface of our nearest neighbour reveal it is getting smaller
By Daily Mail Reporter
Cracks in the surface of the Moon suggest that our nearest neighbour in space is getting smaller.
Like a deflating balloon, the satellite is contracting as its interior cools, scientists believe.
The discovery was made after a probe captured images of unusual fault lines called 'lobate scarps' in the lunar highlands.
SNIP
Similar cracks were first seen in photos taken near the Moon's equator by the Apollo astronauts.
Fourteen new lobate scarps have now been identified by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, researchers reported in the journal Science.
Rest of article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1304627/Cracks-surface-Moon-reveal-closest-neighbour-actually-shrinking.html |
|
|
|
|
