Category Archives: Sharia Law

Christian minister sacked from radio gig; hurts delicate Muslim sensitivities

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From the Telegraph U.K.

From the I’m sorry, so sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, please forgive me file.

Case of Christian minister dismissed from radio station over alleged ‘Muslim insults’ to go to European Court of Justice

A Christian radio presenter who claims he was sacked for offending Muslims is to have his case considered by the European Court of Justice.

By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent
Published: 6:15PM BST 01 Sep 2009The Rev Mahboob Masih, a minister in the Church of Scotland, says he was dismissed from his position as a volunteer on Awaz FM after a “lively” debate about differences between Christianity and Islam.

He took the case to an employment tribunal, arguing that he was unfairly dismissed and discriminated against on the grounds of his religion.

The Asian community station in Glasgow, which receives public money, denied discrimination and claimed the tribunal could not hear the case as Mr Masih was not a paid employee.

Now the case has been passed to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg for judges to make an important ruling on whether volunteers are protected by anti-discrimination legislation.

Raymond Williamson, an employment judge, said: “I ask myself the question, ‘can it be right that the respondent, a creature of statute, partly funded out of public funds and set up with the aim of promoting social cohesion, should be able to discriminate on religious grounds against the volunteer staff it is obliged to engage as a condition of its licence?'”

Andrea Minichiello Williams, a barrister and founder of the Christian Legal Centre, which backs alleged victims of religion discrimination, said: “We are grateful for the brave decision of Employment Judge Williamson.

“Rev Masih looks forward greatly to the European Court case as this will give Christians throughout Europe a unique opportunity to have their rights confirmed in law.”

As The Sunday Telegraph reported in January, Mr Masih had hosted a Saturday morning show on Awaz FM for six years before he fell out with management in July 2008.

An on-air discussion with his co-host and a guest about a prominent Muslim speaker, Zakir Naik, led to accusations that they were trying to “create friction”.

Mr Masih later said sorry to listeners and claims he was asked to make another apology at a local mosque, which the station denies.

He says he was sent a letter terminating his contract and telling him that he had “failed to remain neutral” and had allowed his guest to “make comments which led to offending various members of the community”.

A spokesman for Awaz FM said: “We are deeply disappointed that it has come this far. We don’t judge people on creed, colour or religion.”

Young American Muslim fears honor killing after leaving Islam

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Eurabian Safari

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by Thomas Landen Hudson New York

Muslim area BrusselsIt is hot in Brussels. Ramadan has begun. The faithful in the predominantly Muslim borough of Molenbeek are not allowed to eat or drink from sunrise until sunset. Non-Muslim policemen, patrolling the streets of Molenbeek in their sweltering cars, are not allowed to eat or drink either. As every year during Ramadan, that they have been told by their superior, Philippe Moureaux, the Socialist mayor of Molenbeek, they have to respect Muslim sensitivities and not to “provoke” Muslims by violating Islamic Ramadan restrictions in public. In effect, Islamic or Sharia law is already applied – for everyone – in the Muslim areas of Brussels.

 Barely two miles from Molenbeek lies Brussels’ European district. One of its huge glass and concrete buildings is the European Parliament where the elected representatives from the 27 members states of the European Union (EU) convene. The 736 MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) have just returned from their summer break. They are mostly unaware of life in Molenbeek. Most of them never go to that part of the city. It is probably a sensible decision, because Molenbeek is known to be unsafe for non-Muslims. Nevertheless, it is a shame that Europe’s politicians are unaware of day-to-day life just around the corner. It means that most of the 736 MEPs, who make up the second largest democratically elected assembly in the world (after India), do not know what life really is like in an ever growing section of Europe’s urban areas. A walking tour of Molenbeek should be compulsory for every MEP.

 Some friends in Brussels organize one-hour trips through Molenbeek. They go in an inconspicuous car, driven by a local who knows the escape routes, and with a bodyguard. Otherwise the risk would be too great. These trips are called “safaris.” Similar “Eurabia Safaris” are organized in other European cities. One of the highlights – though absolutely not the most dangerous one – of the safari in Rosengaard, the Muslim section of the Swedish city of Malmö, is a short stop, to give the visitor the opportunity to take a quick snapshot, in front of Malmö’s “Jihadskörkortsteori” (Jihad Driving School).

 The Sharia areas of Europe are expanding rapidly across Western Europe. While currently still restricted to what the French officially call the ZUS (zones urbaines sensibles – sensitive urban areas) these areas are growing fast. Even today, eight million of the sixty million inhabitants of France already live in one of the country’s 751 ZUS.

 The month of Ramadan is traditionally the most dangerous time of the year in Europe’s sensitive areas. After sunset, the Ramadan ban on eating, drinking and engaging in sexual activities expires until the following sunrise. Ramadan is a period of nightly feasts for Muslims. Young Muslims are extremely touchy. These feasts easily spill over into nightly spasms of mayhem, vandalism, and violence. Europe’s Ramadan riots often go on for days or weeks, during which hundreds of cars, shops and public buildings are set on fire.

 In Muslim countries, such as Indonesia, the police step up patrols during Ramadan in order to crack down on illegal nightly activities. In Europe, however, the police have been given orders to adopt an extra-low profile not to “provoke” Muslim populations. In countries such as Britain, police officers have had to attend “Ramadan awareness” courses. They have even been ordered, “for reasons of religious sensitivity,” to avoid the execution of arrest warrants for Muslims during the month of Ramadan. During Ramadan, Europe is a tinder box. Continue Reading →

Digging up the Saudi past: some would rather not

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Nice little read that sheds light on the Muslim mindset.  So much for that “religious tolerance” crap they continue to spout.

A visitor looks at a bronze lion from the 1st centry BC at an exhibit at the Saudi National Museum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Arabian Peninsula has a rich, largely unexplored history - dotted with ancient kingdoms and crisscrossed by caravan routes carrying frankincense to the Mediterranean that drew in the Romans. But its treasures are little known outside a small circle of archaeologists and academics.

A visitor looks at a bronze lion from the 1st centry BC at an exhibit at the Saudi National Museum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Arabian Peninsula has a rich, largely unexplored history - dotted with ancient kingdoms and crisscrossed by caravan routes carrying frankincense to the Mediterranean that drew in the Romans. But its treasures are little known outside a small circle of archaeologists and academics.

Toronto Star…

 RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Much of the world knows Petra, the ancient ruin in modern-day Jordan that is celebrated in poetry as “the rose-red city, ‘half as old as time,'” and which provided the climactic backdrop for “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”

But far fewer know Madain Saleh, a similarly spectacular treasure built by the same civilization, the Nabateans.

That’s because it’s in Saudi Arabia, where conservatives are deeply hostile to pagan, Jewish and Christian sites that predate the founding of Islam in the 7th century.

But now, in a quiet but notable change of course, the kingdom has opened up an archaeology boom by allowing Saudi and foreign archaeologists to explore cities and trade routes long lost in the desert.

The sensitivities run deep. Archaeologists are cautioned not to talk about pre-Islamic finds outside scholarly literature. Few ancient treasures are on display, and no Christian or Jewish relics. A 4th or 5th century church in eastern Saudi Arabia has been fenced off ever since its accidental discovery 20 years ago and its exact whereabouts kept secret.

In the eyes of conservatives, the land where Islam was founded and the Prophet Muhammad was born must remain purely Muslim. Saudi Arabia bans public displays of crosses and churches, and whenever non-Islamic artifacts are excavated, the news must be kept low-key lest hard-liners destroy the finds.

“They should be left in the ground,” said Sheikh Mohammed al-Nujaimi, a well-known cleric, reflecting the views of many religious leaders. “Any ruins belonging to non-Muslims should not be touched. Leave them in place, the way they have been for thousands of years.”

In an interview, he said Christians and Jews might claim discoveries of relics, and that Muslims would be angered if ancient symbols of other religions went on show. “How can crosses be displayed when Islam doesn’t recognize that Christ was crucified?” said al-Nujaimi. “If we display them, it’s as if we recognize the crucifixion.” Continue Reading →

What Islam Says about Music

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From Islam-Watch: Big H/T to jdamn for this.

When non-Muslims, particularly Westerners, hear the news of Islamists burning/vandalizing music stores in Pakistan, they get struck with disbelief. How could this be possibly true a religion prohibit music? Here’s what Islam truly says about music…

Islam bans, prohibits, music
Star singer Cat Steven (Yusuf Islam) gave up music
after converting to Islam, but later realized it’s hard
being pure Muslim and returned to singing.

Is music forbidden in Islam? This article will consider this question.

It is often said that music is prohibited in Islam. Upon hearing this statement most people doubt that such an absurd claim could possibly be true.

If the religion of Islam actually does forbid music, even the majority of devout Muslims would probably find this to be very strange and a cause for concern. Why in the world would a religion prohibit Music? Do any other minor or major religions prohibit music? What did Muhammad have to say about this matter? This article will also consider the many benefits of music.

Let’s examine what the Islamic texts and traditions have to say about this subject. The first two hadiths that we will consider have been selected from Sahih Bukhari, what, Muslims believe, to be canonical text of Islam. Muslims believe them to be authentic utterances of the Islamic prophet and should therefore be obeyed.

Hadith: Sahih Bukhari: Volume 7, Book 69, Number 494v:

Narrated Abu ‘Amir or Abu Malik Al-Ash’ari:
that he heard the Prophet saying, “From among my followers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks and the use of musical instruments, as lawful. And there will be some people who will stay near the side of a mountain and in the evening their shepherd will come to them with their sheep and ask them for something, but they will say to him, ‘Return to us tomorrow.’ Allah will destroy them during the night and will let the mountain fall on them, and He will transform the rest of them into monkeys and pigs and they will remain so till the Day of Resurrection.”

Hadith: Sunan Abu-Dawud: Book 41, Number 4909:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas’ud:

Salam ibn Miskin, quoting an old man who witnessed AbuWa’il in a wedding feast, said: They began to play, amuse and sing. He united the support of his hand round his knees that were drawn up, and said: I heard Abdullah (ibn Mas’ud) say: I heard the apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say: Singing produces hypocrisy in the heart.

Hadith Qudsi 19:5:

“The Prophet said that Allah commanded him to destroy all the musical instruments, idols, crosses and all the trappings of ignorance.”

Muhammad also said:

  1. “Allah Mighty and Majestic sent me as a guidance and mercy to believers and commanded me to do away with musical instruments, flutes, strings, crucifixes, and the affair of the pre-Islamic period of ignorance.”
  2. “On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will pour molten lead into the ears of whoever sits listening to a songstress.”
  3. “Song makes hypocrisy grow in the heart as water does herbage.”
  4. “This community will experience the swallowing up of some people by the earth, metamorphosis of some into animals, and being rained upon with stones.” Someone asked, “When will this be, O Messenger of Allah?” and he said, “When songstresses and musical instruments appear and wine is held to be lawful.”
  5. “There will be peoples of my Community who will hold fornication, silk, wine, and musical instruments to be lawful ….” — ‘Umdat al-Salik r40.0 Continue Reading →

New UK documentary segment on the rapid Islamification of England.

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I used to like horror films. Not so much now:

Clowns bad. 80 year old paedophile good. A typical Saudi day under Sharia.

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6a00e54eeb143188340115722d9c5a970b-120wi  JEDDAH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s religious police is cracking down on summer festivals that the government hopes will promote domestic tourism, in the latest battle between liberals and conservatives in the world’s biggest oil exporter.

The Saudi government is trying to promote internal tourism but restrictions on singing, dancing and mixing of unrelated men and women by the powerful religious establishment has complicated the effort.

Conservative clerics backed by some powerful members of the Saudi royal family oppose efforts to liberalize the country of 25 million, where women are also forbidden from driving.

“These acts contradict the faith and must not be done, taught, spread or encouraged,” religious police spokesman Abdullah al-Mashiti told al-Watan daily this week, referring to circus acts such as fire-eating and lying on beds of glass that he believes is a form of magic outlawed by Islamic Sharia law.

“They must be fought and those performing them must be reported and punished so as to be deterred and their evil restricted,” he said.

The religious police is one of the key instruments of clerical control in society, with powers to enforce gender segregation in most government and commercial buildings and search for drugs, alcohol or other items seen as immoral.

Jeddah’s summer film festival was canceled this year despite the support of local governor Prince Khaled al-Faisal. King Abdullah, who ascended the throne in 2005, is seen as backing the reformers but he must balance the opposing forces.

“Unfortunately such actions carried on by religious police do not adhere to the official political will and they sabotage the government efforts to improve and maintain the internal tourism industry,” said Mahmoud Sabbagh, a newspaper columnist.

This month music concerts were also banned from the Abha tourism festival, in the mountainous southwest of the kingdom.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s entertainment firm Rotana managed to stage screenings of a Saudi comedy movie last December, but religious police disrupted shows in Riyadh.

“There are no activities here, and when they do have activities they are not accessible to women,” said Samar Edrees, who travels abroad regularly to escape the restrictions.

“Here they have festivals that only target children and men, there is nothing for us to do and there are no cinemas.”

 

FOX NEWS… A Saudi Arabian father forced his 10-year-old daughter to return to her 80-year-old husband Sunday, after she was found hiding at the home of her aunt for 10 days, Arab News reported.

The young girl’s husband, who denies he is 80 despite family claims, accused the aunt of violating the terms of his marriage, allowed by Sharia Law.

“My marriage is not against Sharia. It included the elements of acceptance and response by the father of the bride,” he told a local newspaper.

A member of the National Society for Human Rights said there are no regulations in place to stop the marriage of young girls, which is seen as harmful to their wellbeing.

“Such marriages are considered a gross violation of charters on the rights of children, which the Kingdom has signed and which set the age of adulthood at 18,” Maatouq Al-Abdullah told Arab News.

Kingston court denies Shafias right to communicate with their remaining children

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From the National Post.

A Kingston court rescinded Tuesday Mohammed Shafia and his second wife Tooba  Mohammed Yayha’s previous grant to communicate with their surviving children. Their son Hamed has also been denied the privilege of communicating with his siblings. All three have been formally charged with four counts of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of their three teenage daughters, (Hamid’s sisters) and Mohammed’s first wife. The bodies of Zianab, Sahari and Geeti Shafia and Rona Amir Mohammed were pulled from a submerged car at the Kingston Locks in late June. It is suspected that the murders may be honour killings. The three surviving children are in the care of Montreal child protective services.

——–

KINGSTON, Ont. — A Montreal couple accused in the death of their three daughters and the husband’s first wife in June have been denied the right to speak to their remaining children, a judge has ruled.

Mohammad Shafia, 56, and Tooba Mohammed Yahya, 39, are charged with four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the deaths of four women.

According to the Kingston Whig-Standard, the couple was ordered to cease communication shortly after their arrest. A court order allowing the couple to communicate with their children was brought into effect three weeks ago.

The exemption was rescinded Tuesday in a Kingston, Ont., court.

The couple’s 18-year-old son, Hamid Mohammed Shafia, who is facing the same charges, was also denied the right to speak to his remaining three siblings.

The bodies of the Shafia sisters Zainab, 19; Sahari, 17; and Geeti, 13 along with the 50-year-old Rona Amir Mohammad were pulled out a car submerged in the Rideau Canal near Kingston on June 30.

The family had originally told police investigators that their eldest daughter Zainab had taken the family vehicle for a joyride the night before the bodies were found. It was later reported that the daughter had been rebellious and that the killings may have been linked to “honour.”

Montreal Gazette

Islam shows its usual tolerance in the Philipines:

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From The Manila Times by way of The Religion of Peace:

Islam shows its multi faith tolerance to church in Kosovo

Islam shows its multi faith tolerance to church in Kosovo

many Filipinos were shocked to learn from a privileges speech of Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Piumentel Jr., the untiring advocate of federalism (out of concern for the Muslim Filipinos), that in Marawi City and Sulu province it is forbidden to display the cross—the symbol of Christianity—at the top or frontage of buildings, including church spires.

Christians are also proscribed from singing religious hymns. This makes it impossible for Catholics to hold sung High Masses and Protestants to melodiously exclaim their joy at the blessings of Amazing Grace.

Is intolerance toward Christian symbols and hymns in Marawi and Sulu the specter of Talibanization rearing its ugly head? Some Marawi City people are proud of their city being the Philippines’ “lone Islamic City.” They exult over trycyles there that proclaim their being the “Gift of Allah” and not of Jesus.

We oppose intolerance—especially religious intolerance. It cheers us to see many churches, chapels and mosques all over our country. We would lambast any act of intolerance by religious majorities against minorities.

The Muslim intolerance towards Christians in Marawi and Sulu must be stopped. It could be a sign of incipient Talibanization, the germ of a potential nationwide tragedy. It could turn the Mindanao problem from a socioeconomic and ethical one of injustice into a painful, widespread and bloody religious war.

Chechen rebels order separatist leader death-website

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25 Aug 2009 07:54:05 GMT

Source: Reuters

MOSCOW, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Chechen rebels called on Tuesday for prominent separatist leader Akhmed Zakayev to be killed, saying he had abandoned Islam by recognising the legitimacy of the restive region’s Kremlin-backed government. Zakayev, who lives in London, represents the moderate wing of the separatist movement and has clashed with radical Islamist insurgents in Russia’s southern republic of Chechnya. Islamist rebel website www.kavkazcenter.com said Zakayav had recognised the authority of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of the region. “Public remarks show that he (Zakayev) has fallen away from Islam,” the website said, adding that Doku Umarov, Chechnya’s most wanted separatist leader, was behind the order. “The court has ruled that the killing of this apostate is a duty for Muslims.” It did not say what court had issued the ruling. Zakayev, 50, fought Russia as a senior rebel commander in two wars with Moscow in 1994-2000. After Russia regained control of the province, he fled to Europe and acted as an official rebel envoy until 2007. Russia has tried to extradite Zakayev for 13 alleged crimes including kidnapping and murder, but a British court rejected the request in 2003, causing a diplomatic row. Kadyrov said last month that he would welcome Zakayev’s return and possibly offer him a job in the regional culture ministry. But there were no indications Russia was ready to drop charges against him. Kadyrov faces strong criticism from human rights bodies after kidnappings and killings of human rights and charity activists in Chechnya. He denies any link to the killings. (Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman, editing by Tim Pearce)

Ireland’s new blasphemy law labeled return to Middle Ages

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From Canada’s National Post:

Peter O’Neil, Europe Correspondent, Canwest News Service Published: Sunday, August 23, 2009

Irish cross

h/t Grace @ Vladtepesblog

DUBLIN — The Irish government plans to bring into force a new law in October that critics say is a return to medieval justice.

The legislation, aimed at providing judges with clear direction on the 1937 Constitution’s blasphemy prohibition, imposes a fine of up to 25,000 euros — about $39,000 — for anyone who “publishes or utters matter that is [intentionally meant to be] grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion.”

Police with a search warrant will be able to enter private premises and use “reasonable force” to obtain incriminating evidence.

The initiative has stunned some Irish and international commentators who say it contradicts Ireland’s recent emergence as a more multicultural, tech-savvy country that has in recent years showed its independence from the Roman Catholic church by liberalizing its divorce law.

“It is a wretched, backward, uncivilized regression to the Middle Ages,” said prominent atheist author Richard Dawkins in a statement last month, arguing that the law risks shattering Ireland’s new image as a “modern, civilized . . . green and pleasant silicon valley.”

One Canadian publication lightheartedly warned lawyers attending the Canadian Bar Association’s annual conference in Dublin this month to watch their language as they head out to one of the countless pubs in Ireland’s capital.

A blog in the New York Times, meanwhile, featured in its coverage a YouTube link to a famous blasphemy scene from the Monty Python comedy classic Life of Brian.

While some have noted that even countries like Canada still have their own blasphemy laws still on the books, the prohibition in western countries is typically considered obsolete.

Canada’s last prosecution was in 1935, and the statute is now trumped by free speech provisions in the Charter of Rights.

“You’re not introducing new blasphemy laws in the 21st century,” Michael Nugent, chairman of the group Atheist Ireland, told Canwest News Service.

“There are a lot of countries that have blasphemy laws but typically they aren’t enforced. The United Kingdom abolished theirs last year. These are hangovers from earlier times and certainly in most western countries are anachronisms. Introducing a new blasphemy law seems irresponsible to us.”

Nugent said his group intends to come up with a suitably outrageous blasphemy to challenge the law if Ireland’s justice minister, Dermot Ahern, implements the law — passed by parliament in July — in October.

Ahern has angrily dismissed critics, arguing that, as a republican, he would have preferred to have no blasphemy law at all.

He said he was obliged to come up with clear provisions after the Supreme Court, in a blasphemy ruling a decade ago, dismissed the case because the state had provided no clear definition or sanctions.

A spokesman for Ireland’s legal community, meanwhile, said he accepts Ahern’s rationale that the new law was a logical compromise between doing nothing and holding a referendum.

Ken Murphy, speaking for the Law Society of Ireland, said he doesn’t expect a legal crackdown on blasphemers and suggested that the media reaction is overblown.

“It seems to be more an issue for the international media than it is for the people of Ireland,” he told Canwest News Service.

But the critics are questioning why the government didn’t just live with the legal void.

Media reports say there is no indication that the Roman Catholic church, still reeling from a report earlier this year about widespread sexual abuse at homes for children over many decades, has taken a position on the matter or lobbied government.

“No one can think of a single thundering priest, austere vicar, irate rabbi or miffed mullah ever calling for tougher penalties for blasphemy,” wrote Padraig Reidy in the British newspaper The Guardian.

Atheist Ireland’s Nugent also noted that three previous justice ministers never felt the need to respond to the 1999 court decision.

While Ahern has said the likelihood of a blasphemy prosecution is minimal, Nugent said the law as written creates an incentive for groups to show the kind of widespread “outrage” required to justify a prosecution.

Top 10 reasons why sharia law is not good for any society, anywhere

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The following article is from American Thinker. Though written in 2005, it’s message is still relevant and poignant, perhaps even more so today. It is lengthy, but well worth reading.

As I write this, England has 85 active sharia courts with more promised to come. Canada faces a lively and unapologetic sharia underground and has seen a disproportionate share of recent, suspected honour killings. Italy and France struggle with near impossible sharia demands as does Australia, Belgium, Holland, Ireland, Scotland, Spain and the United States, to name a scant few. Christians world-wide are being persecuted in the name of Islamic law along with thousands of Muslims with a particular cruel bent toward women and children. Muslim gays are being tracked, tormented, ridiculed, beaten, jailed and murdered.  Anti-Semitism, anti-Western and anti-Israeli rhetoric have all increased.

James Arlandson writes a thoroughly researched and thoughtful article complete with abundant source material on whether Islam is just in it’s laws that Muhammed himself invented, practiced and introduced to the world. The article in short, says NO to the query for 10 verifiable reasons.

ten reasons why sharia is bad for all societies

By James Arlandson

Traditional Muslims who understand the Quran and the hadith believe that sharia (Islamic law) expresses the highest and best goals for all societies. It is the will of Allah.
But is Islam just in its laws that Muhammad himself practiced and invented?

This article says no for ten verifiable reasons.

Here are four points you must read, before reading this article:

First, sometimes these ten points quote the Quran or omit it; sometimes they quote the hadith (reports of Muhammad’s words and actions outside of the Quran) or omit it. This is done only to keep down the length of the article. No one should be fooled into believing that these harsh and excessive laws were invented in the fevered imagination of extremists who came long after Muhammad. These harsh and excessive laws come directly from the founder of Islam in his Quran and in his example in the hadith. Continue Reading →

Varallo Sesia, Italy says no to burqini, loves bikini

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Italian city bans burqini

“We don’t have to be tolerant all the time”. “Imagine a western woman bathing in a bikini in a Muslim country. The consequences could be decapitation, prison or deportation. We are merely prohibiting the use of the burqini”. Mayor Gianluca Buonanno, of Varallo Sesia, Italy.

http://www.whydemocracy.net/house/news/files/imagecache/weblog/files/images/Burqini.gif http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_wW9TmD1IBxc/SiBV1zF_X9I/AAAAAAAAA1I/rrWgKWT_3Fc/s400/sabina+gadecki+bikini1.JPG

THE anti-immigration mayor of a northern Italian city has barred Muslim women from wearing the controversial body-concealing swimsuit known as a burqini, it was reported.

Women wearing the garment made up of a veil, a tunic and loose leggings face a fine of 500 euros ($850) if spotted at swimming pools or riversides in the northern Piedmont town of Varallo Sesia, said the ANSA news agency today.

“The sight of a ‘masked woman’ could disturb small children not to mention problems of hygiene,” mayor Gianluca Buonanno was quoted as saying.

“We don’t have to be tolerant all the time,” he said.

Justifying the move, Mr Buonanno said: “Imagine a Western woman bathing in a bikini in a Muslim country. The consequences could be decapitation, prison or deportation. We are merely prohibiting the use of the burqini.”

Last week a swimming pool in Paris refused entry to a burqini-clad Muslim on similar grounds, adding to tensions over Muslim dress in France.

The incident came as French MPs conducted hearings on whether to ban the burqa after President Nicolas Sarkozy said the head-to-toe body covering and veil was “not welcome” in France, home to Europe’s biggest Muslim minority.

Mr Buonanno belongs to Italy’s Northern League, a party allied with the centre-right People of Freedom led by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. It has backed several initiatives hostile to Muslims.

Taliban cuts off fingers of those who vote.

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This story has a lot of meaning. I am pretty confident the Taliban would indeed allow a vote if they thought for a moment that they would win it. Chavez and Hamas for instance were OK with the election that got them in power. Not so much any subsequent one in a fair and democratic manner.

So what does this say? That contrary to many amateur analysts expounding, the Taliban are not popular amongst the Afghan people and that despite any Islamic issues we in the west may and do still have with the people of Afghanistan they do not like nor desire the Taliban as a political/criminal/political entity, nor could they be expected to, given how they treat the Afghans at every opportunity, when in a position to do so.

From CNN by way of TROP

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) — Making good on a threat of election day violence, the Taliban sliced off the index fingers of at least two people in Kandahar province, according to a vote monitoring group.

Electoral workers count votes at a school in Kabul.

Electoral workers count votes at a school in Kabul.

After they cast their ballots, the fingers of Afghan voters are stained with ink to prevent them from voting multiple times. The fingers of the two women in Kandahar, a stronghold of the Taliban, were cut off because they voted, said Nader Naderi of the Free and Fair Election Foundation.

The Taliban had vowed to disrupt Thursday’s election and the risk was too great for some Afghans to venture out, especially in the southern provinces that form the heartland of the radical Islamist group. Continue Reading →