Islamism & Islamophobia Abroad - News & Analysis

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 12 Jan 2012 10:36

abhishek_sharma wrote:MP clerics issue fatwa against Surya Namaskar

Why can't this be an individual choice, the INC in its race to get the community to always feel suspicious and discriminated so as to create a permanent votebank is creating a Frankenstein.

uddu · Post by **uddu** » 12 Jan 2012 16:33

It is voluntary. They are trying to break a world record earlier held by Kazakhstan.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 456318.cms
Now regarding the Maulavis and all crying foul, i still don't understand what's not offensive to Islam. If a Hindu can say Aslam alaikum and even attend iftar party wearing a skull cap like our dear Lalooji, why can't a Muslim do the same? Why is Islam so intolerant? I don't understand.
And by the way it's being promoted as an exercise for good health and according to Islamic Mullahs it's unIslamic, everything is.

member_20617 · Post by **member_20617** » 12 Jan 2012 20:51

In Islam

-once you join you are not allowed out or you can be killed (Islam is a one way street; Islam is like a black hole where even light cannot escape!

-men are allowed to marry 4 wives but women are not allowed to marry more than one. Men can also have umpteen concubines (So much for sex equality)

-men are supposed to enjoy 72 houris in heaven but women cannot have 72 hourras (my terminology). She has to be content watching her husband enjoying sex with Houris.

-if a man regrets divorcing his wife, he can only take her back after she has consummated her marriage with another man and her second husband divorce her again. Basically she is treated like a football! In fact worse than a football – may be a doormat is a better comparison.

-If a woman is raped, she has to produce 4 witnesses to prove her case (as if someone would rape a woman in the presence of witnesses or witnesses would allow the rape to happen and then wait for the woman to call them as witnesses!)

-Muslims are not allowed to hear any Kaffir sermons or bhajans but Kaffirs have to tolerate their azaans (call for prayers)

-Both men and women are allowed to marry non - Muslims provided that their partners accept Islam. But Muslims are not allowed to change their religion to marry non- Muslims. (This is to swell their numbers)

-Muslims must pray 5 times towards Kaaba but millions of non - Muslims have been slaughtered for centuries for praying in front of an idol (Isn’t Kaaba an idol worship?)

-Forcefully converting or killing non – Muslims is acceptable

-Under the pretext of ‘Jihad’ killing non – Muslims is acceptable (By the way, have you come across any single Maulvi/Imam who has laid down his life for Islam – they only use gullible ones as cannon fodder!)

-God can only speak in Arabic (Koran was revealed to Mohamed in Arabic – what a way to limit God)

-‘Almighty’ God/Allah needed the third version (Islam) to make it a perfect and final religion! Imperfect Allah previously produced imperfect Judaism and Christianity!

-Allah is so powerless that he needed a man called Mohamed to spread ‘his’ message

-Allah is dependent on Mohamed

-Koran is perfect (even though it was first written 200-300 years after Mohamed’s death; irrespective of the loss/misinterpretation of the message after so many years)

-Muslims wrongly think that all the knowledge of this universe is contained in a single book called Koran

-Slavery is allowed (Again so much for equality!)

-Muslims will rise from their graves on the judgement day (Can anyone rise from their grave?)

-Mohamed went to Heaven and ‘saw the light of God’ (If God lives somewhere then surely God is perishable according to Laws of Physics!)

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 12 Jan 2012 20:56

^^^

Shankaraa ji,

this is not what this Thread is about. Please read the first post! If you want to discuss Islam request the moderators to make a new thread for you!

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 13 Jan 2012 01:43

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/01/ex-co ... arity.html
Ex-Congressman gets year in prison for lobbying for jihad-funding Islamic "charity

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A former Michigan congressman and U.S. delegate to the United Nations has been sentenced to a year and one day in prison for lobbying for a Missouri-based Islamic charity that had been identified as a global terrorist organization.
Mark Deli Siljander, 60, a Republican who served in Congress from 1981-1987, pleaded guilty in July 2010 to obstructing justice and acting as an unregistered foreign agent in connection with his work for the Islamic American Relief Agency, based in Columbia, Mo.In his plea agreement, Siljander acknowledged that he lobbied between March and May 2004 on behalf of the IARA for the organization to be removed from a U.S. Senate Finance Committee list of charities suspected of funding international terrorism. The charity closed in October 2004 after being designated a global terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

member_20617 · Post by **member_20617** » 13 Jan 2012 13:46

^Sorry, RajeshAji!

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 14 Jan 2012 01:50

Cute.
Redefining Islam for the 21st century
by Tehmina Kazi

A series of declarations were listed above the poster, including "Women have an Islamic right to hold leadership positions and as members of the board of directors and management committees", and "Women have an Islamic right to be full participants in all congregational activities."

As trivial as these rights may sound to the average secular ear, a fast-growing group of Muslim activists have proved their determination to fight for every single one.

It goes without saying that progressive activists are still met with stiff resistance, which extends to threats and intimidation in some cases. Kalsoom Bashir, of Muslim women's consultancy Inspire, related that extremist films were published about her on YouTube after the Guardian documented her struggle for women's empowerment.

This week I attended the launch of the Muslim Institute's new quarterly, Critical Muslim, which promises to usher in a new era of organised critical thought on issues relating to Islam and Muslims. Crucially, this criticism is constructive rather than personal. It is underpinned by values such as truth, justice, compassion and wisdom – values that are both Qur'anic and secular.

At the very least, contributors share a deep concern about the problems that 21st-century Muslims find ourselves mired in. There is often dissatisfaction with the lack of nuance and insight in traditional religious leaders' responses, but this is accompanied by a keen awareness of the numerous agendas that often hijack this discussion.

This brings me to another unique feature of the critical Muslim movement: we are taking control of our own destiny, without allowing external forces to dictate the terms. For example, the recent "Happy Christmas 4ALL" Facebook campaign was an organic response to the frustration of seeing "Muslims ban Christmas" fabrications in the press. It turned into a celebration of the diverse ways in which people of all faiths and none mark the season. One Muslim friend even shared a picture of her Christmas tree, with a twist – it was festooned with the "Ninety-nine Names of Allah". Actions like these are a testament to the values of the critical Muslim movement.

Critical Muslim

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 14 Jan 2012 03:06

^ There are a number of Muslims who do feel they can do good and change things within the ambit of Doctrinal Islam. But that's a sad task. A Javed Akhtar or Shabana however liberal they may consider themselves cannot change doctrine. Bukhari or Dr Zawahari or Mullah Omar know more about Islam than them. Islam recommends force to confirm to the book. Such voices can be made to clam up overnight when the reigns of Islamic power are delivered to the faithful. It's always a losing fight, once the doctrinal conditions are laced against one.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 14 Jan 2012 03:38

harbans wrote:Islam recommends force to confirm to the book. Such voices can be made to clam up overnight when the reigns of Islamic power are delivered to the faithful. It's always a losing fight, once the doctrinal conditions are laced against one.

Therefore, the hands of the coercive clergy need to be cut with surgical precision, and the reigns of power must be firmly grasped by the liberal. New doctrines can then be given concrete form and shape. After all, the Qur'an itself shows contempt for doctrinaire systems in its time: Qur'an 2.111-112 --

"And they say,'None will enter Paradise except one who is a Jew or a Christian.' That is [merely] their wishful thinking, Say, 'Produce your proof, if you should be truthful'"

"Yes [on the contrary], whoever submits his face in Islam to Allah while being a doer of good will have his reward with his Lord. And no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve."

So the pathways are there, the memes are there, though they may be recessive. They must be made dominant, IMHO.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 14 Jan 2012 03:54

Carl, the premises are not just a quote here or there. The fundamental behind the Koran is Jihad. It is the Pillar of Islam. It demands confrontation. Piousness is not a pillar to Islamic Jannat. Jihad is a sure one. Jihad is violence to the unbeliever in Islam. There is no outlet within Islam to curtail that because that is what was it's founders core advocation and exhortation to it's adherents. For those that Islam battles, it is best to create conditions where moderate and anti violence Muslims can quietly leave to faiths of their choice. In Islam itself there is no accommodation. Forget it. That accommodation or hope of it is a very dangerous path.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 14 Jan 2012 05:36

harbans wrote:For those that Islam battles, it is best to create conditions where moderate and anti violence Muslims can quietly leave to faiths of their choice. In Islam itself there is no accommodation. Forget it. That accommodation or hope of it is a very dangerous path.

But that doesn't tend to happen. What is happening is that the moderate and anti-violent Moslems form a periphery around the violent types, and the covertly hostile face of the violent core has been able to allow such a space to form. In the West, for those Moslems who are attracted to Jesus, the Islamists have managed to create a "finding the Jesus in Islam" periphery, where one can love Jesus without taking the leap of disconnecting and confronting the violent jihadists. I posted one such article on this forum, too.

The way out is to cross-breed Islam with a movement that is focussed on meditation, so that the recessive non-violent and meditational memes of Islam become dominant in the offspring of this mating. The product of this engagement will be a community that can lay claim to the name and estate of its Islamic parent. In fact, it can demonstrate and claim a superior, evolved status post-metamorphosis.

One good example would be movements like those of some Indian Gurus like Shri Shri Ravi Shankar, etc. Significant numbers of disciples are from Moslem societies, including TSP. Something as simple as hatha-yoga is very popular in Iran, and so is Buddhist literature. That has its own impact, just like it is having on American Christianity. Christian colleges in the US are making yoga a part of their curriculum, whereas not too long ago yoga was denounced by some churches as non-Christian, etc. So also, those Moslems who benefit from such an infusion of Vedic culture will remain Moslem, but their outlook and status on the reality scale will be changed forever. That kind of conviction does manage to withstand the pressure of Islamist ignorance, and does tend to get passed down generations.

If this is done in a concerted manner, real change is possible. I do not agree agree with your black-and-white characterization of Islamic philosophy and its possibilities, though historically that ideology has certainly predominated. But geopolitical circumstances have changed, and it needs to be taken full advantage of. Otherwise humanity will be doomed. There's enough leeway for interpretation in that philosophy, enough for Balaram to stick his Plough into and let rip. All He needs is a cup full of Vaaruni.

Virupaksha · Post by **Virupaksha** » 14 Jan 2012 06:02

Carl ji,

All IMHO onlee, Before we can get to the stage, your process can go through "naturally", things will get a LOT LOT LOT worse. And the time frame is centuries.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 14 Jan 2012 06:36

But that doesn't tend to happen. What is happening is that the moderate and anti-violent Moslems form a periphery around the violent types, and the covertly hostile face of the violent core has been able to allow such a space to form.

Carl, this part of what you say is true. However this happens as many believe that the core is peaceful and all religions are same.blah blah. That's why in liberal Muslim families till College time you'll find their kids pretty much thinking like you and me. In a non-dharmic psec country like ours, some genuinely believe their religion means peace and no evil to others. The odd guy he/she encounters with some anti pathy to Muslims can be traced to in some way a RSS/VHP kind of background..so despite all the killings, bombings, mayhem the society in itself remains immure till matters of outrage play their inevitable part like cartoons in some Danish magazine or Rushdie/ Taslima say something..the reaction of the community is so strong that it jars. Then we have A Roys and Digvijays who openly endorse the communal safron being cause or the evil Jew..that attitude on the part of the non-muslim evokes the feeling which may have plenty of truth in it too..that the periphery around the radical is the moderate Muslim. BUt just think of it another way..and you will once you go through the entire Hadith..that there are Muslims a lot of them that are victim of the doctrine..and if we give them an outlet free of fear, we start making things better for ourselves and those that want to get out of the clutches of a violent Islam.

member_21708 · Post by **member_21708** » 15 Jan 2012 13:18

Muslim Brotherhood Declares "Mastership of World" as Ultimate Goal

Of course, all Islamists have the same goal: the establishment of a sharia-enforcing caliphate. The only difference is that most are prudent enough to understand that incremental infiltration and subtle subversion—step by step, phase by phase, decade after decade—are much more effective for securing their goals than outright violence. Then, once in power, “they will become much more savage.”

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/01/ibrah ... world.html

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 15 Jan 2012 18:17

Guys, let's take the discussion about Islam's tenets to the appropriate thread. This is purely about Islamism & Islamophobia...

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 15 Jan 2012 18:47

Salman Rushdie India visit: Govt rules out ban, author unfazed

NEW DELHI: Government on Tuesday ruled out barring Salman Rushdie from visiting India in the wake of a demand by a top Islamic seminary to cancel his visa even as the controversial author said he does not need a visa to come to this country.

Official sources said 65-year-old Rushdie holds a Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card which entitles him to visit this country without a visa.

The sources said since PIO card guarantees any such person hassle-free travel without any document, Rushdie is not required to apply to any authority of the Government of India seeking permission for his proposed visit to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival this month end.

"He had travelled to India in the past using PIO card. We have never stopped him. We have no intention to stop any PIO card holder to travel his or her home country in future either," a source said.

Rushdie remained unfazed over the demand by Darul Uloom Deoband to block his planned trip to India and suggested it was misplaced.

"Regarding my Indian visit, for the record, I don't need a visa," posted Rushdie on microblogging site Twitter after Deoband demanded that the Indian government cancel the author's visa as he had hurt religious sentiments of Muslims in the past.Indian-origin Rushdie also has a British passport.

"Why should Congress stop this(Rushdie trip)?," Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid asked. "If there is a legal provision to stop someone then it should be put. But whatever step is taken should be taken within legal framework not outside it," he said.

Vice Chancellor of Darul Uloom Maulana Abul Qasim Nomani said yesterday that the "Indian government should cancel his visa as Rushdie had annoyed the religious sentiments of Muslims in the past."

Political parties reacted to the Deoband demand amid some finger pointing. BJP's Nirmala Seetharaman alleged there is a "very big game" behind the visa row and accused the Congress of being behind it.

Samajwadi Party's Shahid Siddiqui said the Government's approach exposed its "double standards" on the issue of giving travel documents to Rushdie and the late painter M F Husain.

Rushdie had earned the wrath of Muslims worldwide due to the alleged blasphemous content in his novel "The Satanic Verses" which was published in 1988.

The novel, which was banned by India, had sparked outrage in the Muslim world, including a fatwa against him by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, on February 14, 1989.

Sanjoy Roy, managing director of Teamworks Productions which is organising the Jaipur Literature Festival said, "A literary platform like the Jaipur festival provides a space for free speech in India's best democratic traditions.

"Salman Rushdie has attended several literary events and forums in India in recent years without incident. This includes his attending the Commonwealth Writers Prize awards in 2000, and the Jaipur Literature Festival in 2007. "In plural societies such as ours, it is imperative that we continue to allow avenues for unfettered literary expression," said Roy.

tejas · Post by **tejas** » 16 Jan 2012 22:13

Why cannot the sickular Kangress govt revoke his PIO status. He has insulted the sensibilities of so many "minority" brethren.
BTW if tomorrow I profess a belief that my peanut butter sandwich has divine powers and should be worshiped do I become a minority with quota deserving status

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 17 Jan 2012 00:10

They already committed faux pas among Western liberals by being the first to ban his book Satanic Verses and made Rushdie an important figure.
Before the ban no one knew about his book!

Now they are being silent and claim PIO status etc.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 17 Jan 2012 00:30

I wonder on what basis Taslima Nasreen was given protection - given she is a Bangladeshi national? Unless she was an asylum seeker of some sort

akashganga · Post by **akashganga** » 17 Jan 2012 02:21

Well said. You will see the following in all islamic countries:

* they do not allow non-muslims to become permanent residents/citizens
* worse arab countries do not even allow non-arab muslims to become residents/citizens of their countries
* even non-arab muslim countries such as malaysia, iran, tajkisthan, etc do not

allow muslims from other ethnic backgrounds to settle in their countries.

Almost all non-muslim countries including India allow people from other cultures who have resided in their countries for a long time to acquire citizenship. There must be something in the islamic religion which makes them so insecure that they cannot tolerate other cultures. But they go all over the world and demand equal rights.

Shankaraa wrote:In Islam

-once you join you are not allowed out or you can be killed (Islam is a one way street; Islam is like a black hole where even light cannot escape!

-men are allowed to marry 4 wives but women are not allowed to marry more than one. Men can also have umpteen concubines (So much for sex equality)

-men are supposed to enjoy 72 houris in heaven but women cannot have 72 hourras (my terminology). She has to be content watching her husband enjoying sex with Houris.

-if a man regrets divorcing his wife, he can only take her back after she has consummated her marriage with another man and her second husband divorce her again. Basically she is treated like a football! In fact worse than a football – may be a doormat is a better comparison.

-If a woman is raped, she has to produce 4 witnesses to prove her case (as if someone would rape a woman in the presence of witnesses or witnesses would allow the rape to happen and then wait for the woman to call them as witnesses!)

-Muslims are not allowed to hear any Kaffir sermons or bhajans but Kaffirs have to tolerate their azaans (call for prayers)

-Both men and women are allowed to marry non - Muslims provided that their partners accept Islam. But Muslims are not allowed to change their religion to marry non- Muslims. (This is to swell their numbers)

-Muslims must pray 5 times towards Kaaba but millions of non - Muslims have been slaughtered for centuries for praying in front of an idol (Isn’t Kaaba an idol worship?)

-Forcefully converting or killing non – Muslims is acceptable

-Under the pretext of ‘Jihad’ killing non – Muslims is acceptable (By the way, have you come across any single Maulvi/Imam who has laid down his life for Islam – they only use gullible ones as cannon fodder!)

-God can only speak in Arabic (Koran was revealed to Mohamed in Arabic – what a way to limit God)

-‘Almighty’ God/Allah needed the third version (Islam) to make it a perfect and final religion! Imperfect Allah previously produced imperfect Judaism and Christianity!

-Allah is so powerless that he needed a man called Mohamed to spread ‘his’ message

-Allah is dependent on Mohamed

-Koran is perfect (even though it was first written 200-300 years after Mohamed’s death; irrespective of the loss/misinterpretation of the message after so many years)

-Muslims wrongly think that all the knowledge of this universe is contained in a single book called Koran

-Slavery is allowed (Again so much for equality!)

-Muslims will rise from their graves on the judgement day (Can anyone rise from their grave?)

-Mohamed went to Heaven and ‘saw the light of God’ (If God lives somewhere then surely God is perishable according to Laws of Physics!)

Brad Goodman · Post by **Brad Goodman** » 17 Jan 2012 04:36

Three Fundamental Mistakes in Dealing With Islam

Muslim theology is violent, because violence has always been a tool of its expansion. When we ask Muslims to disassociate themselves from violence, we are really asking them to disassociate themselves from Islam. And this they will not do. They will contextually condemn some acts of terror, depending on the identity of the perpetrators and the targets, and the impact of the acts on the nation and ideology of the Muslim or Muslims in question. But they will dub other acts of terrorist as valid resistance. The differences are not moral, but contextual.

The Muslim world is a gray zone full of alliances written on sand where every principle can be bent at need, but is dominated by a religion that pretends to be morally absolute. This is an inherent contradiction. And like most moral conflicts it is resolved through self-deception. Our absolute standards have no meaning when applied to the Muslim world. They have moral force, but little practical relevance.

Islamic moderation is not theology, but pragmatism. Its fanatics are the most trustworthy, and its pragmatists the least trustworthy. We have put our faith in the moderation of the pragmatists, but confusing pragmatism with moderate beliefs, morals or friendship is no better than lapping at the sand of a mirage and calling it water.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 17 Jan 2012 07:08

Link has video report:
Is rapid rise in UK Sharia law cases a cause for concern?

There has been a rapid rise in the use of Sharia law to settle legal disputes in the UK, with the number of cases being dealt with by informal courts trebling in recent years, according to the largest Sharia body.

The courts have no legal standing, but many Muslims and some non-Muslims see them as a quicker and more efficient way to resolve disagreements.

But there is also opposition from some groups who argue that the practice discriminates against women, as the BBC Asian Network's Divya Talwar reports.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 17 Jan 2012 07:10

Mumbai college asks controversial question about Islam
By Rehan Ansari, TwoCircles.net,

Mumbai: A prestigious college in Mumbai has created a controversy by asking some inappropriate questions about Islam in Class XI examination. The very first question of History paper for II Unit Examination 2011-2012 (Class XI, Arts) at S.I.E.S College, says followers of Islam spread Islam through a holy war and asks students to rewrite the sentence by choosing one word from the given three: Jizyah, Jihad, Bhakti Movement.

The Q. 1 A) section has six questions and asks students to rewrite each by choosing from the given set of answers.

The first question is this: The followers of Islam spread out to spread the new religion through a holy war….

Three options are: a) Jizya, b) Jihad, c) Bhakti Movement

The fifth question of the section asks who emphasized worship of God through prayers and pilgrimage to Mecca. The three options for this question are: a) Sikhs b) Sufis c) Bhakti Reformers

S.I.E.S. (South India Education Society) College of Arts, Science & Commerce is a prominent educational institution of Mumbai. The exam for History paper was conducted on 11th Jan. 2012.

TCN has got to know that no history books taught at the college has any such controversial remarks about Islam.

TCN tried to contact the SIES college principal to get his comment but his office told us that he is out of town.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 17 Jan 2012 07:11

Rise in Muslim population opens business avenues in Kenya

Mostly Somali immigrants/refugees.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 17 Jan 2012 07:16

And from Tampa, Florida:

Convert to Islam rejects ties to terror suspect in Tampa

TAMPA — He is the cameraman in a few YouTube videos showing terror suspect Sami Osmakac railing against infidels. At times, he and Osmakac trade places, one filming and the other talking.

His rhetoric is as passionate as Osmakac's. He too tells Muslims to follow a righteous path and criticizes nonbelievers. But Russell Dennison said he is something Osmakac isn't — a proud American.

"I'm a Muslim by faith," said Dennison, 30, a convert to Islam who also uses the name Abdullah Abdul Malik. "But I am an American by birth and proud of that."

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 17 Jan 2012 07:21

I was reading a book about the Mongols in the middle ages. The net effect of the Mongol invasion was that it destroyed the Arab political Islam when they captured Baghdad. Since then the Arab hold on political Islam has vanished except to return under the tutelage of the British after World War I.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 17 Jan 2012 10:00

Jaisse Karam Kareaga waisa phal mile UQstan, Yeh Hai Karmo ka gyan

Sharia law compatible with human rights, argues leading barrister

leading barrister has called for the UK to become more sharia-literate, while arguing that Islamic law can be compatible with the toughest human rights legislation.Sadakat Kadri told the Guardian that so-called "sharia courts", such as the Muslim arbitration tribunal, were good for "the community as a whole" by putting Sharia on a transparent, public footing and should be more widely accessible to those who want to use them.Kadri said they played a role in safeguarding human rights: "It's very important that they be acknowledged and allowed to exist. So long as they're voluntary, which is crucial, it's in everyone's interests these things be transparent and publicly accessible. If you don't have open tribunals, they're going to happen anyway, but behind closed doors

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 17 Jan 2012 10:04

http://press.princeton.edu/blog/2012/01 ... n-muslims/
( Scholarly Knifes being Sharpened Now)
What is the future of a new generation of European Muslims?

In Europe, the increasing presence of Islam has often provoked concerns about a threat to security and liberal democracy. Jonathan Laurence’s The Emancipation of Europe’s Muslims challenges these ideas and shows how the transformation of a new generation into European Muslims has consisted of a complex mix of achievements and tensions. The book recently received a terrific review in The Economist. Jonathan was kind enough to answer a few questions about his unique look at European Islam, the debates surrounding it, and the connection to the Arab awakening:
Q: Anders Breivik was recently declared insane by the court. His act of violence is widely condemned, but aren’t his anti-multiculturalist views fairly widespread?For Breivik, the year is 1683 and an Islamic empire is storming the Gates of Vienna. Some of the views in his Internet-age manifesto are popular, although what he did in Oslo and Utoya is of course condemned. An Italian politician from a party in government spoke approvingly of the Norwegian’s belief that Europe had “given up on its cultural identity without a fight.” In December, a poll showed 76% of the French public thinks Islam is “progressing too much.” So the vocal concern over Islam’s growth and Muslims’ integration is no longer the exclusive domain of the far right. It has become ritual for heads of government to declare the failure of multiculturalism, a catchall description increasingly taken to mean the arrival of Muslims in Europe. Breivik may be legally insane, but he is not alone in thinking that Europe is at a turning point vis-à-vis its growing Islamic minorities.

Q: What does this mean for integration policy in European countries, and how have Muslim groups reacted? Is this what the Minaret and Burka bans were about?On the one hand, the focus on religious fundamentalism led to several well known bans on Islamic symbols in public spaces, from headwear to architectural design. It also provoked acrimonious debate about whether Islam “belongs” and if its associated practices –in all their diversity—can be reconciled with national identity. On the other hand, history tells us this is fairly standard treatment for a new minority entering the crucible of the nation state and joining the general citizenry. Increasingly, however, Muslim communities perceive the sum total of public debate as something akin to religious persecution or a kulturkampf against Islam. It’s not just the religious conservatives or the pious, but Muslims as a “group” who increasingly feel stigmatized. Last month, community eminences in France, Germany (and the US) independently cited the Nazi era and the gradual marginalization of German Jews to describe the political environment. It is not the most encouraging sign, obviously, if the main icebreaker between Muslims and non-Muslims is whether it’s 1683 or the mid-1930s outside.
Q: How did it come to this point, and is this a dead end? Or are there trends in other directions?The competing narratives of victimization –and self-affirmation—are not new. But Muslims and non-Muslims do seem to be talking past one another at a moment when they need to be in constructive conversation. Nonetheless, it’s important to recognize the degree of cooperation that already exists between community leaders and European governments. A recent stunt to name Europe’s “tallest minaret” (35 meters) after Nicolas Sarkozy is not as ironic as it first appears. In many ways, European Islam has flourished in the past decade. When Sarkozy was interior minister in 2002–4, he helped forge the still-running French Council for the Muslim Religion and started a trend among his European

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 17 Jan 2012 10:37

I have posted the link in Internal Security Watch thread as well. This is closer to home, in Kerala India.
CM orders an enquiry, on e-mail monitoring *
1. Madhyamam daily (which has a pro-Muslim leaning) comes up with a report that Kerala Police SB CID have asked the IT Cell to monitor e-mail communication of around 250 Muslims. This includes business men, MPs and intelligentsia.
2. A TV channel "India Vision" also had this as the prime news yesterday. They also showed clippings of the original confidential memo send out by the SB CID Chief.
3. The standard refrain was about the selective targetting/profiling of people from a specific community and checking if they had contacts with SIMI. The paper and the TV channel repeated that none of the people in the list were even suspects in any previous terrorist incidents.

* Sorry the news report is in Malayalam. No other news papers or TV channels even highlighted this in their editions. Dont know if this because of inter-news paper/tv channel rivalry, or because of the authenticity of the claim.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 18 Jan 2012 22:47

Islam with Chinese Characteristics
China's bold but chimerical quest for soft power in the Islamic world

A good read. Commercially driven penetration of Islamism.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 18 Jan 2012 22:51

Germany Teaches Islamic Theology

One of Germany’s oldest universities has opened the country’s first department of Islamic theology to educate a new generation of enlightened Muslim preachers, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) reported.

“Religion needs to be thought through,” Education Minister Annette Schavan, who is herself a graduate in Catholic theology, said.

Opening the theology department at Tuebingen University, Schavan said the department was a “milestone for integration” of Muslims who make up 5 percent of the population.

The course, to start at the University of Tubingen, will offer bachelor programs in Islamic studies.

Students will be offered advanced Western academic qualifications.

Though the teaching will be conducted in German, Arabic, the language of the Qur’an, will be a compulsory subject.

The three professors at the department had to satisfy an Islamic advisory council that they were devout Muslims.

Tubingen department is one of four new centers in Germany dedicated to the study of Islamic theology.

Tuebingen, a public university where tuition is free, is one of Europe’s leading centers of academic Christian theology.

The University started in 1477 with around 80 students. Now the student strength of the university is 24,000 which includes German and international students.

Being one of Germany’s oldest universities, internationally noted in medicine, natural sciences and the humanities, the university is associated with some Nobel laureates, especially in the fields of medicine and chemistry.

Facing resistance from conservatives, the Education Minister rejected claims that a hardline brand of Islam would dominate at the school.

Germany would now contribute to “advances in Islamic theology,” Schavan said.

Yet, she argued that graduates would be the best antidote to “hate preachers.”

The government of Chancellor Angela Merkel has been facing criticism over the funding of the department, the first of four around the country.

Tuebingen University is not the first public funded institute to teach Islam in Germany.

In 2009, public schools allowed Muslims to study their faith for the first time in Germany.

Germany has between 3.8 and 4.3 million Muslims, making up some 5 percent of the total 82 million population, according to government-commissioned studies.

The government move comes as the Western European country is gripped by a fierce debate on immigration and integration.

The controversy was spurred in 2009 by central banker Thilo Sarrazin, who accused Muslim immigrants of undermining the society which is becoming less intelligent because of them.

Chancellor Merkel weighed in, saying that multiculturalism has failed in Germany.

But the remarks have drawn angry reactions, with German president Christian Wulff stressing that Islam is part and parcel of German society.

German politicians have also called for recognizing Islam as an official religion in the Christian-majority country.

arun · Post by **arun** » 19 Jan 2012 20:44

Islamist coup plot foiled in Bangladesh, says army

member_20317 · Post by **member_20317** » 19 Jan 2012 22:44

Arnab says its Paki sponsored. Maroof had three quarters of a valid point, in that we are willing to put money in Afghanistan but not doing much per capita in Bangladesh and Nepal.

Wonder what/whose intel.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 21 Jan 2012 02:22

(Ahmadiyya) visitors clearing up misconceptions of Islam in Canada

“So what we are trying to do is just trying to convey the message to people in North America and Canada that Quran contains the message of peace and that message of equal rights for everyone, including women and non-Muslims."
[...]
The group also wants to dispel the belief that religion is the cause of wars and that Islam's Prophet Muhammad is a warrior. Instead, Raza pointed out, Islam means peace and believers simply convey their message to others and then let them decide.
"We believe in Jesus Christ as a true prophet of God," said Raza. "You can see that we revere his mother so much that Muslim women are encouraged to walk in her foot steps, she's the chosen one.
[...]
"They asked about everything," said Raza. "They were so interested that for at least 35 to 40 minutes they spent reading every banner. They came five minutes before the start of the exhibition and when they left it was 12:35. And the rest of the time they kept on asking questions about five daily prayers and what we do if we are travelling, about fasting, about our system, about our scholars - whether they are holy people or just scholars - is there any middle man between you and God, all of these things. They were very serious."
The organization hopes to hold an interfaith conference in Parry Sound, possibly in the summer, once it's made contact with local churches.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 21 Jan 2012 02:23

Rushdie to miss festival over death threat

Author Salman Rushdie said Friday he would not be attending a literary festival in the north-western Indian city of Jaipur as he had been informed by intelligence agencies of threats to his life from paid assassins.

"I have now been informed by intelligence sources in Maharashtra and Rajasthan that paid assassins from the Mumbai underworld may be on their way to Jaipur to 'eliminate' me," Rushdie said in a statement.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 21 Jan 2012 02:25

Taking up the anti-gay sentiment with vigour:
BBC: Hate leaflets: 'I thought gay death call was aimed at me'

A gay man from Derby has described the moment he fled his home in fear after a leaflet calling for homosexuals to be executed was put through his door.

He was one of many people who reported the leaflets, distributed by a group of Muslim men, to police.

Three men have now been found guilty of stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Ihjaz Ali, 42, Kabir Ahmed, 28 and Razwan Javed, 27, were found guilty at Derby Crown Court.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 21 Jan 2012 02:29

So Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasreen are verboten due to crazy mullahs but MFH is welcome? Did any of the literatuers at Jaipur bemoan the absence?

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 21 Jan 2012 02:31

Like prisons, the homeless are also a target for the proselytising eye:

Muslim Students Feed America’s Homeless

MurthyB · Post by **MurthyB** » 21 Jan 2012 05:07

This is quite interesting. I follow both jihadwatch and loonwatch. Some guy named Eric Allen Bell made a documentary against 'islamophobia', on the protests against the construction of a mosque in Murfeesboro Tennessee

Not Welcome Documentary

The state of Tennessee is not just in the Bible Belt, it is the shiny gold buckle of the Bible Belt. "Not Welcome" chronicles the backlash against construction of a new Islamic center in Murfreesboro TN - a small Southern town with nearly 200 churches, where one mosque is one mosque too many. Rapture ready Evangelicals parade down Main Street carrying signs of fear and hate, a group sues to stop construction, arson, vandalism and explosive town meetings capture this tiny bedroom community outside of Nashville, TN - a town that has become a battlefront in the culture war in America. An up close look at this recent wave of American Islamophobia and that part of the human psyche that allows religious superstition to divide a people.

That would make him a 'secular progressive', interested in freedom and liberty, all good stuff.

Then he writes the following article on the dailkos about loonwatch

Loonwatch.com and Radical Islam

After over a year of communication with Loonwatch.com in the making of "Not Welcome" I have come to the realization that this organization is fundamentally a radical Islamic front, covering up for terrorism, spreading distorted information about the reality of rapidly spreading Islamic fundamentalism - through lies of omission. To tell a half truth is to tell a lie and the lie that Loonwatch.com tells everyday is to cover up the atrocities within Islam and only focus on attacking its critics.

Finally, on his website I noticed a link to another article he wrote

Atman is Brahman

So he is also an advaitin. Didn't see that last one coming.

Loonwatch as a radical islamic front, yeah, I knew that. Lots of taqiyya on display there, and sometimes quite blatant too when the mask slips.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 21 Jan 2012 05:22

CAIR Asks Maryland Mayor to Disinvite Anti-Islam Speaker

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on Mayor Richard Meehan of Ocean City, Md., to reconsider his speaking invitation to retired Lieutenant General William G. "Jerry" Boykin, who believes that "[Islam] should not be protected under the First Amendment" and that there should be "no mosques in America." Boykin is scheduled to speak at the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast on January 26.

[...]

Boykin's views came under scrutiny in 2003 when media reports revealed that in a public discussion of his efforts to capture a Muslim Somali warlord, Boykin said: "I knew my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol." Speaking in uniform, the general said America's "spiritual enemy. . .will only be defeated if we come against them in the name of Jesus."

Since then, Boykin has continued to openly attack Islam and portray Muslims as a "threat," even stating that there can be no interfaith dialogue or cooperation between Muslims and Christians.