Islamism & Islamophobia Abroad - News & Analysis (9-8-2014)

[gandharva]

ISIS a reaction to unjust occupation

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/ ... 103227.htm

[kmkraoind]

Drone captures ISIS member having sex with a donkey

In this link, apart from brave ISIS member having sex with a donkey, there is a link where Taliban member having sex with a goat.

Yellah needs to brushup his maths, now for a package, he needs to deduct some of the 72 houris and needs to add young boys, some donkeys and goats.

[member_22733]

Why o why does curiosity get the better of me and make me click those links

[SSridhar]

Australian PM orders crackdown on visas for radical Islamist preachers - Reuters

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Wednesday that he was ordering a crackdown to prevent radical Islamist preachers entering the country, amidst rising tension with the Muslim community following a series of security-related raids.

Abbott, who recently warned that the balance between freedom and security “may have to shift” to protect against radicalized Muslims seeking to carry out attacks, said hate preachers would now be “red-carded” during the visa process.

The tougher new system, which he said would not require new legislation, comes on the heels of a public meeting in Sydney last week by Hizb ut-Tahrir, an international group that says its goal is to establish a pan-national Muslim state.

Conservative commentators have seized on the speech to urge greater restrictions on radical preachers.

“What we want to do is to ensure that known preachers of hate do not come to this country to peddle their divisive extremist message,” Abbott told reporters in Sydney.

“What I’m doing is declaring that we will henceforth have a new system in place which will ensure that preachers of hate can’t come to Australia to peddle their extreme, divisive and alien ideologies.”

Australia is on high alert for attacks by radicalized Muslims or by home-grown militants returning from fighting in the Middle East, having raised its threat level to high and undertaken a series of high-profile raids in major cities.

Officials believe up to 160 Australians have been either involved in fighting in the Middle East or actively supporting groups fighting there. At least 20 are believed to have returned to Australia and have been said to pose a security risk.

Prominent Australian Muslims say their community is being unfairly targeted by law enforcement and threatened by right-wing groups, and there are concerns that policies aimed at combating radical Islamists could create a backlash.

The Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamist group, which has a limited following in Australia and does not advocate violence, has not canceled a public meeting planned for Friday in Sydney, said spokesman Uthman Badar.

The group was not surprised by the new policy, he said, but it was perplexed because no foreign speakers were invited to the Friday meeting, which is set to discuss U.S. foreign policy in Syria.

“We have long exposed government attempts to silence dissent against its unjust and brutal foreign policies and here we now see moves to legalize this silencing of dissent,” he said in a statement.

“The speakers, who have not even been announced, are all local. There are no ‘top draw’ or international speakers. Evidently, the prime minister is not interested in facts when seeking to silence political dissent or whip up Islamophobic hysteria.”

[Singha]

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/10 ... in-london/

LONDON (TheBlaze/AP) — Police in London have arrested four suspected Islamic terrorists in several raids throughout the British capital, and U.K. Telegraph defense editor Con Coughlin told Fox News that a plot to behead Londoners may have been foiled.

“This is a breaking story here in London, but the material that we have from Scotland Yard and the intelligence services is they have uncovered the first ISIS plot here in the U.K.,” Coughlin said on Fox News.

“Basically, British jihadists coming back to London and wanting to carry out a plot, and I’m told the plot was to behead people on the streets of London.”

Police said Tuesday the four suspects are aged 20 and 21, and they were arrested on suspicion of preparing or instigating acts of terrorism.

“What I’m told about this plot is this group did recently come back from Syria, was planning to carry out beheadings — I say plural — on the streets of London in the next few days or so,” Coughlin remarked, adding that the situation is still fluid and the information may change.

The suspects remain in custody, and homes and vehicles in west and central London are being searched as part of what police called an ongoing investigation into Islamic-related terrorism.

The terror threat in the U.K. was recently raised to “severe” because of the increase in the number of Britons traveling to Syria to join up with the Islamic State group. The government has said the militant group plans to strike targets inside Britain.

[UlanBatori]

[url=
http://www.wnd.com/2014/10/canada-mosqu ... to-behead/]Le Haute Etiquette Canadienne de Decaitacion[/url]

Canadian mosque instructs 4-year-olds on L'haute Etiquette in beheading.

[K Mehta]

I believe what we cover in this thread is not islamophobia but islamomisia, not fear of islam but hatred or anger towards it. The first step of understanding an issue is to name it right. If the mods and posters agree we can rename the thread?

[Brad Goodman]

‘Pregnant’ Austrian teens who joined Islamic State: We’ve made a huge mistake

[Brad Goodman]

Jihad of a more potent kind sweeps the world

[pankajs]

http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/1711

A Former Jihadist Dies: Anwar Shaikh, 1928-2006

On 25 November 2006 the British Muslim apostate Anwar Shaikh died in his home in Cardiff. I would like to pay him homage by reproducing my review of one of his last books, Islam and Terrorism.

Anwar Shaikh was born in 1928 in Gujrat, now in Pakistan, in a Muslim family that vaguely remembered its pre-conversion Hindu origin as Kashmiri Pandits. In an age of mounting religious tensions, however, he grew up to be a committed Muslim. Come 1947 and the Partition of India, he was living in Lahore, a Hindu/Sikh-majority city expected to remain with India yet allotted to Pakistan because it was the metropolis of Muslim-majority West Panjab. Consequently, the city became the flashpoint of the worst interreligious violence, ending in its complete cleansing of non-Muslims. The young Anwar Shaikh took part in the Partition violence against Sikhs and Hindus, killing three Sikhs with his own hands. Terrorizing the non-Muslims seemed like the right and natural thing to do for a Pakistani.

In 1956 he quit his job as a schoolteacher, migrated to Britain and established himself as a successful businessman. In his new environment, he developed second thoughts about his native religion. He married a Welsh lady and made it a point to integrate fully in British society and culture. From 1973 onwards, he went public with his criticism of Islam. He started publishing a periodical for critical discussion of Islam, Liberty, in both English and Urdu, and a series of books on the relation between Islam and topics such as nationalism, violence and sexuality.

His demythologizing observations about the Prophet and the Quran caused considerable anguish among Britain-based Muslims, especially when the clerics they consulted failed to come up with a reassuring refutation. In the 1990s, he had the honour of being targeted by a number of Pakistani clerics with dire fatwas, finding him guilty of apostasy and of insulting the Prophet but mercifully confining the implied death sentence to the jurisdiction of properly constituted Islamic states. He ought to be safe as long as he doesn’t travel to an Islamic state. Nonetheless, his home is equipped with a number of security precautions.

In his book Islam and Terrorism (2004, Principality Publishers, Cardiff PO Box 918, Penarth Road, Cardiff, UK), Anwar Shaikh sets out to discover and reveal the scriptural and historical roots of Islam’s current involvement with terrorism. The question has been occupying the minds of some Indian scholars for decades, but after recent Islamic terror attacks on Western interests, it seems that it is at last being taken seriously by Western audiences, politicians and scholars. Many of them are no longer prepared to swallow the easy answer that terrorism is un-Islamic and that it is only advertised as an Islamic Holy War by misguided individuals unrepresentative of true Islam.

All those people who say that acts of terror such as those on 11 September 2001 are un-Islamic, should tell us on what grounds an Islamic court could sentence an Osama bin Laden. The basis of Islamic law is the Quran along with the Prophet’s sayings and conduct (which has the value of precedent). So, can an Islamic terrorist cite the authority of the Quran and the Prophet in his justification, or can these sources be invoked to the opposite effect?

The answer, Mr. Shaikh argues, is quite straightforward. He says that Mohammed himself was a terrorist, the most authoritative precedent for contemporary Islamic terrorists. To prove his point, he presents long lists of quotations from the Quran, the better-known Hadith (tradition of the Prophet) and also some lesser-known Hadith collections. In this respect, his book is a treasure-trove of first-hand data on the foundations of Islam and its doctrine of Holy War (Jihad).

Numerous canonical statements affirm that the Mujahid or Holy Warrior undoubtedly counts as the best among Muslims, e.g.: “Acting as Allah’s soldier for one night in a battlefield is superior to saying prayers at home for 2,000 years.” (from Ibn-e-Majah, vol.2, p.162) Or: “Leaving for Jihad in the way of Allah in the morning or evening will merit a reward better than the world and all that is in it.” (from Muslim, 4639) Jihad, while not a duty for every individual Muslim, is a duty on the Muslim community as a whole until the whole world has become part of the Islamic empire.

The cult of martyrdom is an intrinsic part of the doctrine of jihad: the martyr “will desire to return to this world and be killed ten times for the sake of the great honour that has been bestowed upon him.” (Muslim 4635) And from Allah’s own mouth: “Count not those who were slain in God’s way as dead, but rather living with their Lord, by Him provided, rejoicing in the bounty that God has given them.” (Quran 3:163) Contrary to a recent tongue-in-cheek theory which reduces the heavenly reward for the fallen Mujahid from 72 maidens to mere grapes on the basis of some Arabic-Aramaic homonymy, a number of Prophetic sayings, in varied wordings mostly not susceptible to this cute Aramaic interpretation, confirm as Islamic belief that “the martyr is dressed in radiant robes of faith, he is married to houris (the paradisiac virgins)” etc. (Ibn-e-Majah, vol.2, p.174) This confirms that the suicide terrorists were not acting against Islamic tenets, as some soft-brained would-be experts in the media have claimed. On the contrary, to sacrifice one’s life in a jihadic operation against the unbelievers is the most glorious thing a Muslim can do.

In Jihad, it is perfectly permitted to deceive the unbelievers and subject them to terror. Anwar Sheikh provides all the scriptural references plus many precedents from history, which we cannot reproduce here. Suffice it to say there is ample evidence that Islam permits, and that by his personal example or by that of the men under his command, Mohammed has given permission for abduction, extortion, rape of hostages, mass-murder of prisoners, assassinations of enemies and dissidents, breaking of the conventions of civilized warfare, breaking of treaties, and suicide missions. From Osama bin Laden to the murderers of children in Beslan, North Ossetia, the Islamic terrorists are faithful followers of the Prophet.

For all his grim discoveries about the religion of the Muslims, Shaikh is not anti-Muslim: “I was not only born and bred as a Muslim but also fought grimly for the glory of Islam. Even today, my loved ones are Muslim. There is no way I can be anti-Muslim.” (p.306) Being a European outsider to Islam, I always get nasty replies when I say that “the problem is not Muslims, the problem is Islam”; but here you have it from the horse’s mouth. It is perfectly possible to retain warm feelings for Muslims yet leave Islam and even criticize Islam.

He continues with some practical advice to Muslims. Setting an example in his own life, he is showing them the way to integration in non-Muslim societies: “I am a citizen of Great Britain, therefore I have a legal and moral obligation to live like other Britons and raise my children as British citizens, who are free to practise any religion they like.” (p.306) This is admittedly a difficult thing to do for the believing Muslim, for the practical core of Islam is not some theological doctrine but the observance of Islamic law, preferably under an Islamic polity but otherwise even in a non-Islamic society. The idea of allowing their children the freedom to choose their own religion, i.e. to choose against Islam and for an allegedly false religion, is abhorrent to most believers. Yet, it is what they have to do if they want to integrate into Western (c.q. Hindu) society.

Unfortunately, Shaikh finds that the number of Muslims ignoring this common-sense rule has crossed a critical threshold to a point where it negatively affects not only Muslim-non-Muslim coexistence, but even the non-Muslim host society itself: “The Muslims in this country have not fully appreciated the hospitality that they have received. (…) It is no crime to be a Muslim in this country but it is a crime to be a terrorist because terrorism has demolished many of those civil liberties for which the West has worked for a long time and given tremendous sacrifices to gain them. Now, they have created such conditions that safety is becoming impossible without identity cards, emergency laws which authorise imprisonment without a trial”, etc. (p.307)

Remember the good old days when the bobbies, Britain’s police constables, did their rounds without carrying guns? It cannot honestly be denied that the behaviour of an ever-increasing number of young Pakistanis has contributed decisively to the sad discarding of this glorious tradition. Every non-brainwashed European can confirm that an influx of entire Muslim communities (as opposed to individuals or single families, who tend to blend in like most isolated immigrants do) has created a new set of problems for his society. The larger these Islamic islands in Western society become, the less willingness they show to adapt, and the more they insist on maintaining or restoring Islamic mores and laws within their communities and ultimately in society as a whole.

The one silver lining to the dark cloud of Islamic terrorism is that it alerts non-Muslim societies to the specificity of the problems which Islam poses. Westerners often feel guilty of xenophobia, “fear of what is strange or foreign”, when they criticize Islam. But the problem of Islam is not one of strangeness or foreign origin, as will readily become clear when you compare it with Buddhism. In Western culture, Buddhism is even stranger than Islam, which shares certain common roots with Christianity, yet people find Tibetans in their native dress colourful rather than threatening. There are no Buddhist gangs attacking peaceful citizens, nor are there Buddhist associations making separatist political demands such as the right to observe a separate law system. Buddhism may be strange, but informed people will agree that it is an enrichment to our society. Islam is less strange, yet its enriching contributions are unclear while its nuisance value is all too palpable. The stark reality of Islamic terrorism blows away the fog of doubt and timidity hitherto surrounding the painful question of how to evaluate Islam.

[pankajs]

Tufail Ahmad ‏@tufailelif 20m20 minutes ago

British Islamist Abu Rumaysah: Hitler Acted to Stop the Evil Doctrine of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/4542.htm …

[shiv]

I believe what we cover in this thread is not islamophobia but islamomisia, not fear of islam but hatred or anger towards it. The first step of understanding an issue is to name it right. If the mods and posters agree we can rename the thread?

+1

Islamophobia is an accusation made by Islamists against others. Anger towards it, or dislike "-mis-" as in misogyny is the right appendage. Islamomisia is a fine word. If it is original, my compliments.

[K Mehta]

+1

Islamophobia is an accusation made by Islamists against others. Anger towards it, or dislike "-mis-" as in misogyny is the right appendage. Islamomisia is a fine word. If it is original, my compliments.

Thanks shivji, Any recommendation from you is welcome.
It has been used earlier by people, not exactly original.I felt phobia was not correct because it indicates fear which I dont feel is what people feel, so i looked for word for hate. Only now googled to find it had been used before as well.
Islamophobia indicates people are afraid of islam, not just an accusation but also gives it an aura of something to be afraid of. It also says that it is a fear which is irrational. I feel that the general feeling is hatred/ rational dislike or disgust of islamism. Again islamomisia is also used as an accusation by islamists.
The perfect word would be islamismomisia, but that just being literal.

edit:people use islamomisia as below.
Islamophobia?

Islamophobia? A phobia is an irrational fear. it's irrational not to fear it and keep vigilant, because Islam wants you to fear it so it can dominate the world. This recently coined newspeak word is a reverse psychology con by Muslim and pro-Muslim disinfo. artists to make you stick your head in the sand to aid their infiltration so they can turn the West into a living hell like the Middle East.

Islamophobia is a stupid word

the word “Islamophobia” is so stupid. A phobia is an irrational fear, but secular Westerners actually have perfectly rational reasons to be at least wary of Islam …

[wig]

Thousands of Yazidi women sold as sex slaves 'for theological reasons', says Isil
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -Isil.html

Islamic State jihadists have given detailed theological reasons justifying why they have taken thousands of women from the Iraqi Yazidi minority and sold them into sex slavery.


A new article in the Islamic State English-language online magazine Dabiq not only admits the practice but justifies it according to the theological rulings of early Islam.


"After capture, the Yazidi women and children were then divided according to the Sharia amongst the fighters of the Islamic State who participated," the article says.


It says there is a difference between women from Muslim sects the jihadists regard as heretical, who can be considered as "apostates", and the so-called mushrikin - polytheists and pagans.

"Their women could be enslaved, unlike female apostates."

The women were seized when the group swept across parts of northern Iraq in early August.

When the jihadists attacked areas occupied by Yazidis, the West's attention focused on the tens of thousands of refugees who crowded on to the barren hills of nearby Mount Sinjar, before they were rescued by Kurdish fighters.

But thousands more were surrounded and captured in nearby towns and villages.

The article does not specify that they are to be used as sex slaves, but later on equates them with "concubines".

The Islamic State newsletter, released online at the weekend, also contains an article by John Cantlie, a British journalist being held hostage, in which he says he fears he will soon be killed like his four fellow hostages, James Foley, Steven Sotloff, David Haines and Alan Henning.

But most of it is devoted to theological justifications for Islamic State behaviour, citing early clerics and the practices of the Prophet Mohammed and his Companions during the early years of Islamic expansion.

"The enslaved Yazidi families are now sold by the Islamic State soldiers as the mushrikin were sold by the Companions before them," the article, entitled "The Revival of Slavery before the Hour", says.

It says that "well-known" rules are observed, including not separating mothers from their children - something which may account for the number of teenage girls being used in this way, according to their families.

It says that 20 per cent of women are being taken in this way, in accordance with rules demanding a fifth of property captured in war to be handed over as tax.

The women are also given the chance to convert to Islam.

"This large-scale enslavement of mushrik families is probably the first since the abandonment of this sharia law," the article says.

"The only other known case - albeit much smaller - is that of the enslavement of Christian women and children in the Philippines and Nigeria by the mujahedeen there."

[wig]

Horror of Kobani: Headless corpses left in the street and victims with their eyes 'cut out', the savagery of Isis laid bare

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 91199.html

excerpts of the horror

"Others with just their hands or legs missing. I have seen faces with their eyes or tongues cut out – I can never forget it for as long as I live."

Isis militants have laid siege to the town of Kobani for nearly four weeks and fought their way into it in recent days.

They have reportedly taken control of almost half of the town.

Belal Shahin, another Kobani refugee in Suruc, told MSNBC: “Isis came into the villages. They beheaded people as well as animals. They took animals and girls; they left nothing. Even animals don’t do what Isis are doing. They are doing these things and it’s not acceptable.

"But the whole world has blocked their ears in order not to hear. And they’ve become dumb. There’s nothing to stop them."

[wig]

Trojan Horse 'just the tip of the iceberg’-Plot to 'Islamise' state schools is far from over, says man sent to investigate

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/ed ... eberg.html

excerpts from the write up. worth going through.

Bhupinder Kondal, Oldknow’s successful head, was forced out by plotters who Islamised the secular academy, ran subsidised Muslim-only trips to Mecca, prevented children from celebrating Christmas and made racist remarks in assemblies. Ms Kondal has now returned to work, and the former chairman of governors has been removed.

However, Barry Henley, the new chairman, has dismissed the plot as a “malicious hoax” and an “Islamophobic witch-hunt”. The hard-line Oldknow Parents’ Association, created during the scandal to support the extremist leadership, remains active at the school.

Meanwhile, some head teachers and officials in neighbouring Dudley fear they have become the next target of a Birmingham-style Trojan Horse plot. Heads and school improvement officers in the town met last week to discuss the problem. “There have been concerted efforts by some Muslim communities in Dudley to push a Trojan Horse-style agenda on things like banning music and [calling for] single-sex swimming,” said one of those who attended.

Concerns about the alleged plot in Dudley are also linked to an incident in July in which a dog was hanged yards from a local primary school, Kates Hill, the same person said. Dogs are viewed as unclean by some Muslims

[SBajwa]

Check this out, this guy (though Shia and supporter of MQM from Karachi) is their supposedly "Islamic Preacher on TV.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aamir_Liaquat_Hussain

On the episode aired on 29 January 2010, Hussain claimed that the recent losses in Cricket matches of Pakistani team were due to the fact that their new shoe soles were green. With green being the color of Pakistani flag and the dome of Muhammad's tomb, the green soles were supposedly disrespectful towards Islam, and apparently the team was being divinely punished.[31][32][33] Hussain claimed that this was a matter of faith. He was criticised for his views in the press.[31][32][33] One satirist Nadeem Paracha, jokingly asked, "Marvelous. This should also mean that the Pakistani team should stop playing on grass and the hockey team should stop dribbling and running across green AstroTurf as well?"

[arun]

Bangladesh sacks Abdul Latif Siddique, Minister for Post and Telecommunications, for criticising Hajj by calling it a “massive waste of manpower” with the Minister reportedly having fled to India in order to escape the wrath of his Mohammadden co-religionists in Bangladesh:

Bangladesh Sacks Minister Who Criticized Hajj Pilgrimage

Latif Siddique to stay in India until situation right to return home

[Varoon Shekhar]

http://www.outlookindia.com/article/Mus ... try/292186 Juan Cole tries to answer Bill Maher and Sam Harris

Incredibly stupid, very predictable article by American academic Juan Cole, trying hard to equate violence and intolerance in the Moslem world, and by Moslems, with that of Christians, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists. The references to India are particularly idiotic. So many holes in his position, don't know where to start.

One can easily begin by mentioning that there are no Christians, Jews, Hindus or Buddhists needing 24 hour protection and bodyguards for criticising their religion; that in India and other non-Moslem countries one has the freedom to convert to another religion, that one can be an atheist or agnostic openly; that at the very least among Hindus, Buddhists and Jews( and probably Christians) there is no ideology or behaviour toward setting up a 'caliphate' based on their respective religions; there are no serious inter sectarian clashes between at least 3 of these religions, and much less nowadays in Christianity; that glorification of violence and conquest is at least denounced by a large section of the population in non-Moslem countries, in contrast with Moslem countries, where Islamic historical conquests are openly lionised and glorified.

Take it from there...

[ramana]

What the Liberals do is de-religionize the Islamists actions and thus get the Left-Liberal caucus to support the religion sanctioned terrorism of the jihadis.

[MurthyB]

I believe what we cover in this thread is not islamophobia but islamomisia, not fear of islam but hatred or anger towards it. The first step of understanding an issue is to name it right. If the mods and posters agree we can rename the thread?

I believe that the "Islamophobia" label is used sarcastically by most people who are "Islamorealists". "Islamophobia" has become a word to ridicule the idea that any criticism of Islam has to be suppressed, the western left-liberal viewpoint (identical to the Indian left viewpoint that instead uses the term "communal", "hindutvadi", "sanghi"), and has instead been co-opted by people who want to draw attention to Islam in all of its glory, while sarcastically describing that drawing of attention as "Islamophobia". Kind of how the phrase "Internet Hindu" has been co-opted by the very people it was meant to ridicule, and "Secular" has changed into a pejorative term to describe the anti-Hindu left in India.

[Agnimitra]

This is a quite a laugh.

[johneeG]

Check this out, this guy (though Shia and supporter of MQM from Karachi) is their supposedly "Islamic Preacher on TV.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aamir_Liaquat_Hussain

On the episode aired on 29 January 2010, Hussain claimed that the recent losses in Cricket matches of Pakistani team were due to the fact that their new shoe soles were green. With green being the color of Pakistani flag and the dome of Muhammad's tomb, the green soles were supposedly disrespectful towards Islam, and apparently the team was being divinely punished.[31][32][33] Hussain claimed that this was a matter of faith. He was criticised for his views in the press.[31][32][33] One satirist Nadeem Paracha, jokingly asked, "Marvelous. This should also mean that the Pakistani team should stop playing on grass and the hockey team should stop dribbling and running across green AstroTurf as well?"

I was thinking about this:
when did green become holy in malsI? As far as I know the story goes that Mohammad used a black flag. He even declared that the Mahdi would carry black flags from Khorasan(i.e. Afghanisthan & Balochisthan).

It seems that the angels wear the green dress and cushions in heaven are green. But, why would that make green holy? And why would people use green in their flags?

It seems that earlier malsI regimes used to have black, red, white, and green as their flags. Fatimid empire had green flag it seems.

So, the question is who started this trend of green is holy in recent malsI?

Green (Arabic: أخضر) is considered the traditional color of Islam. The Arabic word for "greenness" is mentioned several times in the Quran, describing the state of the inhabitants of paradise. Examples include:

Reclining on green Cushions and rich Carpets of beauty
— Sura 55, verse 76.[1]

Upon them will be green garments of fine silk and heavy brocade, and they will be adorned with bracelets of silver; and their Lord will give to them to drink of a Water Pure and Holy.
— Sura 76, verse 21.[2][3]

Al-Khidr ("The Green One") is a Qur’anic figure who met and traveled with Moses.[4]

The Green Dome, traditional site of the tomb of Muhammad, was painted green on the order of sultan Abdul Hamid II (r. 1876–1909).

Link

It seems these are very little things for a color to become holy.

Coming to the green dome thing:

The structure dates back to 1279 AD, when an unpainted wooden cupola was built over the tomb. It was later rebuilt and painted using different colours twice in the late 15th century and once in 1817. The dome was first painted green in 1837, and hence became known as the Green Dome.[

Link

So, why & when did green become holy in malsI?

Similarly, when was crescent made into a holy thing?

It seems that crescent was adopted under the Turkish rule. But, it seems this was just copied from Sassanids. Both Sassanids and Phonecian seem to have used it. Both of them seem to have been influenced by Hindhus of Bhaarath. The crescent is connected to the Goddess in both Phonecian and Sassanids. In Hindhuism also, the Goddess is shown wearing a crescent.

Ancient Phoenician Vexilloid:

Tanit was a Phoenician lunar goddess. Stele with Tanit's symbol in Carthage's Tophet, including a crescent moon over the figure.

Later, crescent and star was used by the Persia(Iran):

Iran, Mithra and Mithradates

Queen Purandokht, daughter of Khosrau II, the last woman and one of the last rulers on the throne of the Sassanid dynasty, 7th century.

The star and crescent was also the emblem of Mithradates VI Eupator. "His royal emblem, an eight rayed star and the crescent moon, represented the dynasty's patron gods, Zeus Stratios, or Ahuramazda, and Men Pharmacou, a Persian form of the native moon goddess."[10] Other scholars have suggested that the star and crescent are more directly related to the cult of the god Mithra. Ustinova associates the star and crescent motif attested in a number of finds in the Bosporan Kingdom (which date from the 5th century BC to the 1st century AD) with the cult of Mithras, and indicates the star and the crescent together constituted the emblem of Pontus and its kings, asserting that it was introduced to the Bosporus by Mithradates and his successors, where it is attested on coins, locally produced jewelry and other objects. She suggests that this emblem indicates "the possibility of an earlier association of the Pontic dynasty with the cult of mounted Mithra. Mithra in fact must have been one of the most venerated gods of the Pontic Kingdom, since its rulers bore the theomorphic name of Mithradates […] although direct evidence for this cult is rather meager."[11] McGing also notes the association of the star and crescent with Mithradates VI, discussing its appearance on his coins, and its survival in the coins of the Bosporan Kingdom where "[t]he star and crescent appear on Pontic royal coins from the time of Mithradates III and seem to have had oriental significance as a dynastic badge of the Mithridatic family, or the arms of the country of Pontus."[12]

As a Turkish scholar has observed:

The significance of the star and crescent on royal coins has also been frequently debated. Many scholars have identified the star and the crescent as royal symbols of the Pontic kingdom. Their appearance on every royal issue suggests they were indeed important symbols, and the connection of this symbol to the royal family is definite. The nature of it, however, is still uncertain. Kleiner believed they were symbols of an indigenous god and had their origins in Persia. He associated the star and crescent with the god Men and saw them as representations of night and day (the star may be considered the sun here). Ritter, on the other hand, suggested that the star and crescent symbols derived from Perseus, just as the star symbol of the Macedonians did. […] Ma and Mithras are two other deities with whom the star and crescent symbol are associated. Olshausen believed that the star and crescent could be related to a syncretism of Pontic and Iranian iconography: the crescent for Men and the star for Ahura Mazda. Recently, Summerer has convincingly suggested that Men alone was the inspiration for the symbol on the royal coins of the Pontic kingdom.[13]

A combined star and crescent motif is commonly found on later coins minted by the Sassanids.[14] This has led some researchers to suggest that Muslims adopted the symbol in the context of its use by Sassanian rulers. After describing the crowns of a number of Sassanid kings, which featured a crescent, sphere and crescent, or star and crescent, H. Ayatollahi remarks, "Sasani coins remained in circulation in Moslem countries up to the end of the first century (Hijra). This detailed description of Sasani crowns was presented because the motifs mentioned, particularly the crescent and star gradually changed into Islamic symbols and have often appeared in the decorative patterns of various periods of Islamic art." This author asserts that "The flags of many Islamic countries bear crescents and stars and are proof of this Sasani innovation.".[15]

Link

See the Turkish one (Turkish crescent in a German museum.):


In Hindhuism:
each phase of Moon is represented by a Goddess. Further, the Goddess is shown with a crescent.

However, in Hindhuism, not only Goddess but God also has crescent.


Notice the crescent on Shiva(God). This crescent is actually shown on the entire family of Shiva. Crescent represents the nithya-kala or eternal Kala.

So, it seems that originally the Arabs used to use a black flag. The Turks & Persians used other colors. They also introduced crescent.

But, there may be a hidden aspect here:
Allah himself may be related to moon. Thats why in Eid also, moon plays important role. What could be the connection of Allah and Moon.

I have suspected from some time that the word Allah seems related to the word Ila.

According to Hindhu stories, Ila was a princess who married Budha(Mercury). It seems that Budha(Mercury) was the son of Moon. So, the descendents of Budha & Ila were called Chandra Vamsha(or Lunar Dynasty). Since, they were descendents of Ila, they were also called Aila.

There is a famous lyric which goes as follows by Kancharla Gopanna(or Ramadas):
Yethiruga nanu dayachusedhavo ila vamsh-utthama Raama...

Moon was the son of Atri & Anasuya. He married the daughters of Dhaksha. One of his sons was Budha. & Budha married Ila(who was the daughter of Vaivasvata Manu.

But, Ila was not really daughter. She was actually born as a man. Later, she turned into a woman and then she again became a man. And finally settled down as a woman.(I think but I am not sure). Anyway, the point is that Ila was both man and woman.

I think Allah seems related to Aila. It seems Elohim is used in Old Testament as the plural of Allah. Both seem related to Aila.

I think Allah was also treated as both male and female deity by the Arabs. It seems to be taken from the phonecians and Iranians. I think the Turks turned Allah into a full time male God starting from 750 CE.

I think the word Mohammad may have meant a chief of tribe. So, there may have been several Mohammads.

[ramana]

K.Mehta will consider using for next edition of the thread. Right now folks are tuned to the existing word.

[Prem]

Yeh Nahi Sudhrenge
Reforming Islam

Moderates are at pains to explain away ISIS’ actions as “un-Islamic” through interpretation and contextualisation of the sources of Islam. Given the accessibility of information in this day and age, religion is no longer shrouded in sacred mystery. Once the awareness of the sources of religion explicitly sanctioning violent practices spreads, Rizvi argues, sustaining faith in the infallibility of the Quran would be difficult. There is a problem at the heart of Rizvi’s thesis. For starters, he presumes that faith in Islam survives and thrives because its adherents are unaware of its actual content due in part to the unfamiliarity with Arabic or inaccessibility of information about its literal content. In one fell sweep Mr Rizvi declares all faithful Muslims to be largely unaware of the violent and diabolical contents of their religion, which, if brought into the light of day, will expose the degenerate ethos of their religion and put its naive believers to abject shame.Most Muslims, as a matter of faith, do in fact take their religion in both letter and spirit and adhere quite literally to most of its tenets, yet do not conclude from it what ISIS does. Moderates like Reza Aslan who call for a liberal reinterpretation of religious content are but few. And yet these billions of faithful and several hundreds of trained Islamic scholars who take the Quran and hadith quite literally hold firmly to the conviction that Islam is indeed “a religion of peace”. How do they arrive at this generalisation in the face of the actual literal texts of Islam that seem to imply everything but that?
The problem with both Rizvi’s thesis as well as ISIS is that both have lost sight of the ‘middleness’ that defines Islam. Muslim modernists too, when they put modernist interpretation over the letter of the Quran to explain away violent meanings the extremists may derive, lose sight of this. The essence of Islam is adl and tawazun (balance and middleness). The sources of Islam have contents endorsing the use of force such as in the sources Rizvi cites in his article but, on the other hand, these very same sources contain teachings that command and celebrate peacemaking, justice, kindness and upholding of rights. Looking at it purely quantitatively, the latter far outweighs the former. The balance between these two sets of teachings is to be found in order to develop the true Islamic worldview that mediates between the two. This poised, comprehensive understanding does not need the prop of reinterpretation but understands that religion defines for us the extremities — conduct in warfare through teachings of firmness and courage against the enemy in war and strife — as well as, on the other end, teachings on forbearance, kindness and mercy at all other times.
As a teacher on Islam, I often feel the need to explain to my students the apparent discrepancy between the examples of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) forgiveness and mercy like in the Conquest of Makkah in which he declared general pardon, and the instances when retributive justice and execution of penal law or punitive measures were carried out. The two instances stand for and delineate the two extremities of what our responses to wrong can range within. The former stands for ihsan (unconditional good, more than what is justly due) and the latter for adl (absolute justice). While the latter is a necessary element, the former is the superior virtue. The variation in the prophetic example leaves it to his followers to decide when and in what circumstances which of the two are to be chosen as our response. Wisdom is to be able to make that choice correctly, depending on the nature and gravity of the situation one needs to respond to, the context and the likely consequences of our choice.
To glean this holistic, seasoned vision is what Islam calls hikmah (wisdom). When hikmah is absent, the resultant understanding is superficial, errant, flippant and unfair. That is precisely the mistake both ISIS and Rizvi’s open letter have made. Another vital insight is that law and commandments exist for and are bound by core ethical principles and values. Penal laws do not operate detached from the ethical base and moral foundation. Dissociated from the ethical content, they seem to be the brutal and barbaric edicts that ISIS and Rizvi make them out to be.The Quran says, “So give good tidings to My servants Those who listen to the Word, and follow the best (meaning) in it: those are the ones whom Allah has guided, and those are the ones endued with understanding” (39:17-18). Innumerable Quranic verses and hadith are very explicit about the doing of good, delivering justice, making peace, holding firm to what is true, keeping promises, being kind and gentle, etc. It is injustice to the Quran to pick out a few of its verses revealed in specific circumstances, to be applied in those specific circumstances within certain conditions, and take them to represent the entire ethos of the Islamic religion, eclipsing its much larger content of humane and egalitarian values. If these values were put at the core and followed as zealously as the letter of the law is feverishly applied by fanatical groups, Muslim societies today would have epitomised the highest and worthiest in human civilisation. With reference to these much more numerous contents of Islam, would following the very literal teaching of the Quran and sunnah engender anything but universal justice and goodness? Rizvi’s premise is clearly one-eyed.
Yet another problem is when Mr Rizvi calls for an “Islamic reformation” on the pattern of the Jewish and Christian reformation in the secular modern west. He is impressed with the fact that Christians and Jews can reject the violent contents of their scriptures, still retain faith and be considered part of their religious communities. There always have been serious doubts and questions about the authenticity and credibility of the contents of these scriptures even from within those religious traditions, and this takes away the concept of their infallibility. Yet there has been no such challenge of any serious proportions to the authenticity of the Quran’s content. The Quran begins hence: “This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah” (2:2).
The call to ape the secular reformation model is fundamentally problematic as it reeks strongly of eurocentrism built on neo-imperialist belief of the inherent superiority of the western model. Karen Armstrong has taken issue with those in the developed west who criticise ISIS while failing to understand the dynamics and lessons of history that have led to the rise of groups like ISIS. She writes, “Many secular thinkers now regard ‘religion’ as inherently belligerent and intolerant, and an irrational, backward and violent ‘other’ to the peaceable and humane liberal state — an attitude with an unfortunate echo of the colonialist view of indigenous peoples as hopelessly ‘primitive’, mired in their benighted religious beliefs. There are consequences to our failure to understand that our secularism, and its understanding of the role of religion, is exceptional...when we look with horror upon the travesty of ISIS, we would be wise to acknowledge that its barbaric violence may be, at least in part, the offspring of policies guided by our disdain.” The single lens Mr Rizvi views the world from is a tainted one. This takes away from him credibility as a well-meaning reformist offering prescriptions and fixes for the ailing Muslim world. The prescription for reforming Muslim society lies within Islam’s own ethos.

[shiv]

I believe what we cover in this thread is not islamophobia but islamomisia, not fear of islam but hatred or anger towards it. The first step of understanding an issue is to name it right. If the mods and posters agree we can rename the thread?

I believe that the "Islamophobia" label is used sarcastically by most people who are "Islamorealists". "Islamophobia" has become a word to ridicule the idea that any criticism of Islam has to be suppressed, the western left-liberal viewpoint (identical to the Indian left viewpoint that instead uses the term "communal", "hindutvadi", "sanghi"), and has instead been co-opted by people who want to draw attention to Islam in all of its glory, while sarcastically describing that drawing of attention as "Islamophobia". Kind of how the phrase "Internet Hindu" has been co-opted by the very people it was meant to ridicule, and "Secular" has changed into a pejorative term to describe the anti-Hindu left in India.

I think Islamophobia is a word invented to manufacture opinion that people are against Islam. When anyone says anything about Islam, the word Islamophobia has been applied as a "you farted" premise to accuse the speaker of being an Islam hating bigot. It is a word invented specifically to bran people who were said to be against Islam. The problem with the word is that it indicates bigotry of anyone speaking about Islam even before he can say something and brands him as a way of shutting off his opinion.

But Islam's primary fault - that of advocating death of opponents rather than debate or reform is left unsaid because the accusation of Islamophobia appears right away - as soon as Islam is discussed.

Islamomisia of course means " Islam hatred". Even that word may not be the exact word to describe opinions. But new words are welcome. For example: "I do not do Islamophobia or Islamomisia. I am Islamoneutral and therefore what I say about Islam is unbiased and always correct"

[Vivasvat]

Dogma and decline

Fouad Ajami, the Lebanese academic who died recently, once aptly described the general Muslim outlook as “A political tradition of belligerent self-pity”.

This pretty much sums up our attitude as we blame the world for our woes while feeling sorry for ourselves. The long decline of Islamic civilisation is placed at the door of scheming Westerners, and our backwardness is the fault of our colonial experience.

The chaos in Muslim states makes us wonder when the rot set in.

[K Mehta]

Last post on topic title.
The anger or hatred is actually not against Islam or Muslims per se, it is against Islamism and it's symbols such as burqa long beards, mark on forehead etc.
Islamism and blowback/consequences/ repercussions abroad might be more appropriate.
Respecting ramana's post on this. No more from me on this.

[arun]

Mohammadden religion inspired “justice” sees Shia Mohammadden Cleric Nimr al-Nimr sentenced to beheading followed by crucifixion by Sunni Mohammadden dominated Saudi Arabian Government for supporting pro democracy protests.

Saudi Court Sentences Iconic Shiite Spiritual Leader to Death

[wig]

Islamic State commanders 'using Yazidi virgins for sex'-Islamic State jihadists reportedly forcing virgins from Yazidi minority in Iraq into sex slavery

Islamic State (Isil) jihadists separated virgin women from the Yazidi minority sect in Iraq to take as sex slaves, according to a group that monitors Isil in Syria.


Earlier this month, Isil's English-language online magazine Dabiq confirmed rumours that "thousands" of Yazidi woman and girls had been kidnapped and kept as concubines when its fighters stormed towns and villages in Sinjar province.


Now, a source with in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, the "capital" of the extremist's territory, has given details of the practice to a local anti-Isil group that monitors the jihadists.


"Only the virgins" were taken as sex slaves by the jihadists, the source told the group 'Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently'.


The group is made up of sixteen activists in Raqqa who work to shed light on the jihadist's actions in the city.


The Telegraph is not able to independently verify their claims, but they have a good track record for accuracy in their reporting.

According to a report published on the group's website, the Islamic State source said that after the Yazidi women were captured in Iraq they were divided up, separating out "virgins" from married women and mothers.

The virgins were then distributed among "Isil soldiers" who had taken part in the battle in Sinjar province.

The virgin Yazidi women and girls were reportedly made to convert to Islam and then forced to marry the jihadist.

"After marrying her [and using her for sex], he might decide to divorce her and pass her onto another fighter", the source said.

Some of the women were brought to Raqqa province and given as gifts to the leaders of Isil, the source added.

The Isil emirs - leaders - then immediately took the girls out of Raqqa, instead keeping them in smaller towns in the northern Syrian countryside, such as Tal Abyad and Ain Issa, so that they would remain hidden.

"The inner circle of Isil leaders and security officials were careful that [the details] of this issue should not be known" by Raqqa civilians, the group said.

Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently had previously been wary of rumours of the practice of sex slavery, often writing them off as untrue propaganda.

But the group's Isil source confirmed the use of Yazidi women for sex by their captors, with money changing hands.

The report adds further weight to the admission in the Dabiq publication and supporting reports by international rights NGOs including Human Rights Watch, which have interviewed witness and relatives of women who were kidnapped by Isil.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... r-sex.html

[ashish raval]

^^ these rats are going to get their jahanoom for their karma pretty soon than they would expect to. I would love to feed them to pigs and sharks and not give them piece of the land on these earth.

[wig]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/wor ... Kommentare

the story of a 20 year old yazidi girl nadia, who managed to escape isil

During the ninth night of her captivity, Nadia seized an unexpected opportunity to flee.

Back on the first day, the men who kidnapped Nadia and the other young women as hostages and sex slaves had away taken their shoes. Escaping barefoot was out of the question. As the women could see from the windows, the surrounding terrain was rough and rocky, and they would end up with bleeding cuts and gashes all over their feet.

The house in which they were held captive had many rooms and the young women were frequently moved from one to another. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason for the frequent moves; they were apparently dependent on the whims of their captors. But in one room stood a wardrobe, inside of which Nadia found a pair of pink tennis shoes under some rags. Though they were a few sizes too small for her, they might just do.

Six men -- her captors, rapists and tormentors -- stood guard from day one. But on the ninth night, Nadia noticed that four of the men were apparently absent, perhaps sleeping elsewhere. Whatever the case, only two of the Islamic State fighters were sitting in the kitchen that night -- and they were distracted. It looked as though they were arguing.

The men had shut up Nadia alone that night and she didn't know where the other young women were. The lock on her door was defective and she was able to open it. She pulled out the tennis shoes that she had kept hidden, crammed her feet into them, slipped out of the room and was able to push open a terrace door. She scurried out of the house and rushed through the garden, filled with rustling dry bushes and trees. She was afraid that a dog would start barking, but she was lucky.

She came to a wall, a high wall, so it seemed -- reaching beyond her outstretched arms. "Now I had to climb over the wall," she says, "and I didn't have much time."



Nadia Murad-Pesse, 20, was born and raised in the Kurdish region of Syria by her mother Shama and father Murad. Her hometown of Kocho, which once boasted a population of 1,700, lies near the Sinjar Mountains not far from the border between Iraq and Syria.

Some households in the village, including hers, had a TV and Nadia's favorite broadcasts were music shows and horror movies, as long as the good guys won in the end. She even saw a World Cup soccer match, Germany versus Brazil, but ultimately felt sorry for the Brazilians and couldn't understand why her brothers made fun of the losing team.

Nadia has shoulder-length, dark brown hair with a touch of henna. Her shoulders are narrow, her voice is hoarse. She has scars on her forearm. She wrings her hands as she speaks and the words sometimes come haltingly, then pour out almost as a scream. It has been one and a half months since she escaped, but she still wakes up in tears at night, according to the relatives who have taken her in. Their home is located not far from the Iraqi Kurdish city of Dohuk, on the safe side of the front.

During the interview, in which Nadia talks about her nine-day ordeal, she is repeatedly shaken by crying fits, but she no longer wishes to remain silent. She is determined to tell her story, a detailed eyewitness account of how she was held hostage.

This past summer, Kurdish fighters in the border region of northern Syria and northern Iraq retreated before the rapid advance of IS troops. The fighters of the "caliphate," superbly armed and well-organized, seized control of large areas. More than 1.8 million people have fled the region, according to a United Nations report. From January to the end of September 17,386 civilians were wounded and 9,347 killed. In addition, Kurdish military officials estimate that thousands of young women were abducted.

Amid all this turmoil, Nadia's town was suddenly left unprotected.

On the night she snuck out of the house of her captors, Nadia found a protrusion along the garden wall and managed to clamber to the top. She was lucky in other ways, too: there was no barbed wire and no embedded shards of glass. It was pitch black on the other side of the wall. Far in the distance, she recalls, she could make out the dim, yellowish lights of a city. She was afraid to jump.

But she did so anyway.

Nadia landed safely and started running, quietly, but as quickly as she could. "Don't even think of running away!" the men had warned her. They claimed she would be recaptured within an hour, saying they had announced a reward for $5,000 (€3,950) for fugitives. The punishment for attempted escape, the men added, was death.

Nadia had a happy childhood growing up in her small town. Her father died 11 years ago, but he left the family a spacious rambler, with four large bedrooms, in which the children grew up: Nadia, her 12 brothers and two sisters. Nine of her brothers, both her sisters, and her mother are listed as missing. Nadia shows a picture of her mother on her mobile.

Nadia liked school and she was a model student, as she somewhat bashfully admits, finishing among the top two of her graduating class. History was her favorite subject. She dreamed of going to college someday, perhaps even becoming a teacher and buying an apartment of her own, with shelves filled with books.

Her family was not rich, but they were able to make ends meet. They had around 50 sheep, two dozen chickens and a few goats. Nadia's older brothers worked as day laborers while her mother sold milk, yogurt, eggs and cheese. Sometimes even Muslims from the neighboring towns came to make purchases. They got along fine with the Christians, but her mother always warned her about the Muslims: "Never trust them!"

Fair Game

Nadia has had three tattoos since childhood, each consisting of just one dot. She has one violet pinprick on the back of each hand and a dab of violet on the tip of the chin. They function as a kind of protection to ward off evil at key places on the body: on the hands, which are used to touch things, and near the mouth, so it can tell no lies.

Nadia and her family are Yezidis, a monotheistic religion that most likely dates back to the Middle Ages and is steeped in mysticism. An estimated 400,000 Yezidis, making up approximately 5 percent of the Kurdish population, live in northern Iraq and Syria. Islamic State fighters see the Yezidis as idol and devil worshipers -- in other words, as scum, as they never tire of telling their prisoners. And, as far as they are concerned, Yezidi women are fair game.

Islamic State fighters came to Nadia's town several times, always at intervals of one or two days. They were at pains to demonstrate their military strength, roaring into town and announcing that they were the new lords of the land. The men wore mirrored sunglasses, kept their faces masked with black scarves, and carried pistols and daggers in their belts, recalls Nadia. At first, they led the townspeople to believe that they were safe, as long as they handed over their weapons, mostly old hunting rifles and kitchen knives. They told the men of Kocho that disarmament was the price to pay they had to pay to avoid being killed by Islamic State fighters.

After the weapons were collected and piled up on the back of a pickup truck, the jihadists herded the residents into the school. They separated the men from the women and took away the men in small groups. The women heard shots all afternoon and were paralyzed with fear, says Nadia. Then the older women were separated from the younger ones. At the last moment, her mother slipped a gold ring from her finger and gave it to Nadia: "In case you need it," she whispered. This is Nadia's last memory of her mother.

Islamic State fighters used SUVs and minibuses to drive a total of 64 young women, including Nadia, to Mosul, the city that IS had captured in mid-June. During the nine days in which Nadia was a prisoner of the "caliphate," they stayed in five different places, and with every move they took the young women along with them.

'We Remained Steadfast'

The first house, Nadia recalls, belonged to a judge named Ghasi Hussein, who had fled the area, one of their captors told the young women. But in the future, as the man said, it will belong to them, in honor of Allah. Photos of the judge and his wife still hung on the walls, and he had had teacups printed with their likeness. The men and their prisoners stayed there for three days before they moved to a second, a third, a fourth and a fifth house.

Nine days can be longer than an entire lifetime, says Nadia, but she can remember every second of those nine days.

Sometimes they were given nothing to eat, other times just a putrid egg for six young women. For two long days, they received no water. It was extremely hot and their captors had given them a single glass of tea. They passed around the glass -- two tiny sips for each woman. If you convert to Islam, the men said, you'll be given as much fresh water as you want.

"We remained steadfast," says Nadia.

On another occasion, they were deprived of drinking water once again, only this time their captors put down a bucket of used bathwater. It tasted like soap and reeked of urine, but they had nothing else.

Their captors beat them, sometimes several times in a single day, for no apparent reason. There was a man with a beard who used an electric cable, while two others preferred wooden switches. Sometimes they were also punched and kicked, and they were repeatedly sexually abused.

Nadia doesn't give a literal account of these rapes. It is virtually impossible for her to talk about them, and it contravenes the conventions of her culture. She merely says: "We were taken individually to another room, to one of the men." Then she lowers her head, in silence, awash with shame.

"What else could we do?" she says after a while, now speaking very quietly. She says the men were merciless. Some women threw themselves at their tormentors' feet, kissed their knees and hands, and -- eyes filled with tears -- pleaded for mercy. It was no use. The men remained unmoved. It only entertained them.

Access to Money and Women

They also debated whether they could attack one of the men and kill him, she says. "But they always came in groups of three or four. And they were always armed. At one point we broke a window pane, and each of us women hid a shard of glass up our sleeves, so we could kill ourselves if we couldn't take it anymore."

There was a constant coming and going, with new men arriving all the time, carrying weapons and clad in black or khaki fantasy uniforms, and then the fighters would withdraw for long discussions. There is speculation that Islamic State members take drugs and fight under their influence, but Nadia observed nothing of the sort. Sometimes one of the men would smell like cigarette smoke, she says.

One of them tore her mother's gold ring from her finger and slipped it onto his own hand. Nadia swore: I will find this man one day, and I will cut off his finger, and I will take back my ring.

This man was probably a local, says Nadia, who notes that he spoke no Arabic, but rather the Kurdish dialect that is commonly used in her region. She says that there were two groups of IS fighters: men who appeared to be highly devout, who were leaders of a sort, and who spoke Arabic -- and men who spoke a mixture of Arabic and Kurdish, whose devotion seemed rather feigned, and whose accent divulged that they came from the border region. These were apparently fighters who had joined the presumed victors to gain access to money and women.

After she jumped over the wall, Nadia ran toward the lights and managed to reach downtown Mosul, once a burgeoning metropolis of almost 2 million people, and the second largest city in Iraq after Baghdad. But as she walked through the streets, Mosul seemed empty and deserted.


From time to time, she ducked into building entrances and behind bushes, to keep an eye out for possible pursuers. Although she knew she was in Mosul, she was unfamiliar with the city. Finally she came to a residential area and, suffering from severe exhaustion, picked a door at random.

After she knocked persistently, a sleepy-eyed man opened the door and shined his mobile phone light in her face. Nadia cried as she told him who she was and what had happened to her. The man pulled Nadia into the house and fetched his wife. The two of them hid Nadia behind a pile of odds and ends in a room, gave her a mattress, a blanket and water. Nadia took off her shoes and discovered that her toes were bleeding.

Nadia may one day write a testimony of what she has endured. She has heard of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. An uncle has told her that the judges there seek the truth, even after decades, and could eventually find the guilty parties and punish them. When the time comes, she intends to testify, even if it takes years. She won't forget anything.

[member_22872]

Dispatches - Undercover Mosque
In the first video, around 24:30, the preacher urges "bomb Indian businesses..."
http://vimeo.com/m/19598947
http://vimeo.com/85362804

[arun]

Canada having a spot of bother with converts to Mohammaddenism indulging in acts of Mohammadden religion inspired terrorism.

Convert to Mohammaddenism Martin Rouleau drove his car into two Canadian soldiers, killing one, in a Quebec parking lot on Monday in an attack "clearly linked to terrorist ideology." :

Man Who Killed Soldier With Car Was Radical Muslim, Authorities Say

Convert to Mohammaddenism Michael Zehaf-Bibeau attacks the Canadian Parliament killing one:

Ottawa gunman ID'd as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, a convert to Islam

[Gus]

nobody caught this?

this guy is a honorary paki.

you don't have to be born in pakiland to be a paki. you can watch some youtube, rant against infidels, grab an axe and swing at people - you are a paki.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigati ... ce-n233561

New York's top cop said that the man who attacked two rookie New York City cops with a hatchet Thursday before being shot to death had committed a terrorist act.

"I'm very comfortable this was a terrorist attack," said Police Commissioner Bill Bratton at a press briefing Friday.

Bratton also said that although suspect Zale Thompson was apparently “inspired” by terror groups, he was “self-radicalized.”

"We at this time believe that he acted alone," said Bratton. "We would describe him as self-directed in his activities."

Thompson, a 32-year-old from Queens, had “an extensive social media presence,” said Deputy Commissioner John Miller, and “the common thread that goes through these conversations is anti-Western, anti-government and in some cases anti-white.”

Most recently, according to Miller, Thompson’s on-line activities including visiting websites focused on specific terror groups, like ISIS and al Qaeda, and looking at acts of violence that included beheadings.

[arun]

Yet again news item that the Mohammadden religion mandated all enveloping garment for women, the Burka / Burkha / Burqua is being used as cover for illegal activities.

Investigators of the Air Intelligence Unit of Airport Customs says gold smuggling using burkha-clad women is the new trend as the smuggling syndicate keep experimenting their modus operandi from time to time.

News items such as this reporting use of the garment not once but four times on a single day to smuggle gold justifies the banning the Burka in public places by countries such as France:

The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of airport customs on Saturday detected at least four cases in which women were smuggling gold using burkha.

Investigators says gold smuggling using burkha-clad women is the new trend as the smuggling syndicate keep experimenting their modus operandi from time to time.

"We are observing a new trend," said Kiran Kumar, deputy commissioner, AIU.

Gold worth over Rs 3.55 crore were recovered from them.

The first case involved a Mauritius national who was bringing cut gold worth over around Rs 49.71 lakh, concealed inside her clothes. She arrived from Kuala Lumpur.

In the second case, gold bars worth over Rs 99.52 crore were seized from a woman coming from Dubai. Gold was seized from her husband as well.

The third case related a woman from Dummam, who arrived in a Jet airways flight. Gold worth over Rs 78.33 lakh was seized from her. Similarly, 9 gold bars worth over Rs 27.56 were seized from another woman, also coming from Dammam. ………………….

From DNA:

There's a hidden gold in that burqa

[arun]

Mohammaddens desecrate temporary Hindu shrine setting off riot in Delhi:

Trilokpuri clashes: East Delhi’s Trilokpuri simmers for 24 hrs, 13 hurt in riots

[Ambar]

Just a paki being a good paki that's all.

Paki Chemistry teacher in Londonistan arrested on terror charges.

A chemistry teacher has pleaded guilty to two Syria-related terror offences.

Jamshed Javeed, 30, of Levenshulme in Manchester, accepted he intended to travel to Syria to join rebels fighting against the government.

Javeed, who taught at Sharples School in Bolton, admitted two counts of engaging in conduct in preparation of terror acts.

He was remanded in custody after the Woolwich Crown Court hearing and will be sentenced in December.


It came as a huge shock to be informed by the police that they had arrested a member of staff”


Prosecutors say Javeed was arrested by counter-terrorism officers last December while preparing for a trip to Syria to join terror group Islamic State (IS), also known as Isis.

His family had earlier tried to stop him by taking and hiding his passport but he obtained a replacement document.

The teacher is said to have become rapidly radicalised from living an ordinary Western lifestyle to becoming someone determined to fight in the Middle East, having changed his appearance and behaviour from August 2013.

Greater Manchester Police said up until then, Javeed had been "an otherwise law-abiding man" who had a child, with another on the way.

Det Chief Supt Tony Mole, head of the North West Counter Terrorism Unit, said: "His family grew suspicious and were clearly intent on stopping him, but he ignored their pleas and told them he was determined to go through with his plans to travel to Syria."

Det Chief Supt Tony Mole of North West Counter Terror Unit: "No indication this gentleman wanted to be a fighter for a terrorist organisation"
Mr Mole added: "What this case tells us is that the earlier we can be told about someone's intentions to join a group like this the better. Ideally, we would like to stop people well before they get to this stage."

He warned that those trying to travel to Syria to fight with IS puts "themselves and their communities in a very vulnerable position".

"Anyone who goes out to fight with Isis could potentially be a serious danger to communities if they return," he said.

"By the time you have been trained, had experience, built up future friendships and fully engaged with that terrorist rhetoric, you potentially become a dangerous individual so we take a robust approach to people that wish to engage with terrorist organisations."

At the time of his arrest, Javeed said he felt the British government was not doing enough to help the situation in Syria and that his actions were "honourable".

Woolwich Crown Court, in south-east London, heard he no longer supports the actions of IS in Syria and Iraq.

'Appalled at brutality'
In a basis of plea submitted by his lawyers, Javeed insisted he is not an extremist and "has never supported and does not support the aims of Isis as now revealed and understood".

His motivation had been hearing reports of the "extreme suffering of the Syrian people at the hands of (President) Bashar al-Assad's vicious regime".

It added: "He does not support suicide bombings, the execution of hostages, or forcing non-Muslims to convert to Islam."

He is "appalled at the indiscriminate brutality" of IS and would not now travel to Syria, according to the basis of plea.

The court heard Javeed learned his younger brother Mohammed Javeed was planning to travel to Syria in August or September last year.

He transferred £1,400 to his bank account - knowing that £1,100 of that money would pay for his brother and a friend to fly to Syria.

Javeed did not recruit, advise or encourage anyone to travel to the country, according to the basis of plea that prosecutors will now consider.

'Isolated incident'
Sharples School head teacher Rachel Quesnel told the Bolton News: "It came as a huge shock to be informed by the police that they had arrested a member of staff. We acted on the advice of the local authority and the police and suspended the individual."

She added: "There was no evidence whatsoever to link any criminal activity to our school or the wider community and no evidence to suggest that any pupils, staff or the wider community were under any kind of threat.

"We would like to reassure all our stakeholders that this was an isolated incident, involving one individual, and is in no way a reflection on Sharples School."

[Hari Seldon]

the islamophobia in this doc is sickening to the gut (/snark)... posted sans further kament only....

[JE Menon]

Clearly, a lot of Christians must be shifting to Islam due to "non-tax incentives" ... else this panicky reaction does not make much sense. So, here we go again. BTW, two of the bishops seem to be of ethnic Tamil origin, and one of Chinese.