CHRONOLOGY / BLOG 6 – SUBMISSION TO SELF-APPOINTED LEADERSHIP

• Benedict "deeply sorry" for Muslim outrage but violence continues.

Benedict “deeply sorry” for Muslim outrage but violence continues

   CathNews (from Church Resources, Australia), www.cathnews. com/news/701/ 17.php , September 18, 2006 (re-issued January 04, 2007)
   This week CathNews presents the top stories from 2006. This story was originally published on 18 September.
   ITALY -- Pope Benedict [Ratzinger] told pilgrims yesterday that he is "deeply sorry" for the reaction to his quoted remarks of a medieval ruler who criticised Islam but violence continues with the killing of an Italian nun in Somalia and the firebombing of several churches in the Middle East.

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   "I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensberg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims," the Pope told pilgrims yesterday at his Castelgandolfo summer residence, according to a Reuters report.
   "These, in fact, were a quotation from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought," the Pontiff said.
   "I hope this serves to appease hearts and to clarify the meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with mutual respect."
   The comments, part of his regular Sunday Angelus blessing, came at his first public appearance since making the comments on Tuesday.
   New Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, had earlier announced on Saturday that the Pope was sorry Muslims had been offended and that his comments had been misconstrued. […]
   …, former Iranian President Khatami and current Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Susilo endeavoured to calm the situation, warning against jumping to conclusions about the meaning of the Pope's remarks in which he quoted criticism of Muhammad by 14th century Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaeologus.
   The emperor had said everything Muhammad brought was evil "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached". […]
   On Friday, a prominent hardline Mogadishu cleric called for Muslims to "hunt down" and kill the Pontiff for his remarks.
   "Whoever offends our Prophet Mohammed should be killed on the spot by the nearest Muslim," Sheikh Abubukar Hassan Malin told worshippers at a mosque in southern Mogadishu.
   "We call on all Islamic communities across the world to take revenge on the baseless critic called the Pope," he said, according to a Swissinfo report. […] 4 Jan 2007
HAVE YOUR SAY   Click here

   [RECAPITULATION: The emperor had said everything Muhammad brought was evil "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached". […] On Friday, … "Whoever offends our Prophet Mohammed should be killed on the spot by the nearest Muslim," Sheikh Abubukar Hassan Malin told worshippers at a mosque in southern Mogadishu. ENDS.]
   [MORE FACTS: As well as the Catholic nun, a Syrian Orthodox priest was beheaded also. See newsitem dated October 19, 2006 -- Fr Amer Iskender was kidnapped on October 9, a ransom was demanded, and his decapitated body was found some days later. ENDS.]
   [2nd RECAPITULATION: "These, in fact, were a quotation from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought," the Pontiff said. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Come on! If they did not express the Pope's thought, why did he quote them? The fact that people poured out of "places of worship" fired up to attack Christians of all sorts, shouting that they and the Pope ought to be killed, has proved the point that the mediaeval Emperor, AND THE CURRENT POPE, were both making.
   Apologies, as in this case, usually encourage the violent to step up the pressure on non-Muslims. The jihadists have nothing to lose if each increase in violence is met with soft words. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [3rd RECAPITULATION: "Whoever offends our Prophet Mohammed should be killed on the spot by the nearest Muslim," Sheikh Abubukar Hassan Malin told worshippers at a mosque in southern Mogadishu. ENDS.]
   [2nd COMMENT: To be killed by the nearest Muslim does NOT sound like a good start to the naive Benedict XVI's invitation to dialolgue! So, who whispered in the ears of the Western leaders after the September 11 attack on the U.S.A. that "Islam" means "peace," when every sensible scholar knows it means "submission"? And why has history, as a string of dates and facts, been removed from school courses gradually over the past 50 years? "An inconvenient truth," indeed, if the Muslim invasions, slave-taking, pillage, and rape had all been taught in history lessons to Westerners! AND to non-Westerners! ENDS.]
   [KORAN DOCTRINE: 9:5:- So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captive and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
   9:73:- O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/009. qmt.html #009.073 . KORAN ENDS.]
   [See the fuller version of the newsitem in date order, Sep 18, 06] http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#benedict_deeply_sorry [Jan 4, 2007]
• Where she counts for little at all.

Where she counts for little at all

   The Record (R.C. Perth W. Australia weekly), by Paul Gray, Vista page 4, Thursday, January 4, 2007
   Much more depends on the plight of women in Arab Muslim societies than most might imagine, writes The Record's national affairs editor, PAUL GRAY.
“Dogs and cats in the developed world have more rights than Arab women do in their own countries." So says the Saudi Arabian women's rights activist and journalist, Wajeha Al-Huwaider.
   Al-Huwaider was twice arrested and detained by Saudi Arabian police, in August and September 2006. She was instructed to cease and desist from all writing and activism concerned with the status of women in the Arab-Muslim world.
   In a recent English translation of Al-Huwaider's writings, the Middle East Media Research Institute drew attention to the abysmal status of women in the Arab world.
   The heart of the problem is that women are not protected by law in Arab countries, Al-Huwaider says. "Legislation in the Arab countries overtly discriminates against women, overtly oppresses their rights, and harms them as human beings.
   They are still treated as though they contaminate purity and arouse temptation and immorality.
   "The unresolved problems of women are not religious, but purely legal," Al-Huwaider says. "Legislation that takes away the rights of the woman as a citizen must be replaced by legislation guaranteeing her full rights.
   "All the Arab regimes are UN members, and have ratified the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which clearly decrees justice, equal rights and equal obligations for all citizens. Nevertheless, in our chauvinistic country" - here she refers to Saudi Arabia - "the woman is still considered the property of her family."
   Last May, Al-Huwaider wrote an article comparing the conditions of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba with the conditions for women living in the Arab-Muslim world.
   Guantanamo Bay, though a "terrible inhuman prison" according to Al-Huwaider, is a better place than the home in the Arab-Muslim world, from a woman's point of view.
   "In some Arab countries a woman is a prisoner in her [own] home, and can only move with permission of her guardian, or, more accurately, her jailor.
   "Second, in some Arab countries the woman's guardian is her owner, and the one who has the legal right to use her. He controls all her affairs, great and small. His role is very similar to that of a jailor at Guantanamo.
   "Third, a prisoner at Guantanamo, like many Arab women, is not the master of his own body. He has no power to control his own fate and his personal freedom has been taken away, along with his right to protest his situation.
   "Fourth, the prisoners in Guantanamo are not protected by law, and their lives are the property of their jailors, just as the lives of the Arab women are in the hands of their guardians. When a guardian feels that his wife has crossed a red line, she is doomed to die a terrible death."
[Picture] Femininity under Islam? Nigerian Amina Lawal waits in an Islamic courtroom in Katsina in northern Nigeria in 2003. She was appealing her sentence of death by stoning under the shariah - or Islamic law - for having a child out of wedlock. Her case caused international outrage, while shariah's imposition sparked riots when it was extended from civil law to criminal law in 12 northern Nigerian states in 2000. Thousands died in violence between Christians from southern ethnic groups and Muslims in the North.    PHOTO: CNS / REUTERS
   One point in which Guantanamo Bay prisoners are better off than Arab women is in clothing, Al-Huwaider suggests. While Guantanamo Bay prisoners wear practical, light coloured clothing suitable for the climate, Arab women "are forced to wear impractical and suffocating garments in colours that do not suit the scorching climate of our region."
   The brutal messages contained in the writings of Al-Huwaider are reinforced by the recently published UN Arab Human Development Report. The report points out that half of women in the Arab world are illiterate, and in all but four Arab countries fewer than 80 per cent of girls go to secondary school. The report also shows that the maternal mortality rate in Arab countries is about 270 per 100 000 live births, which is a rate almost twenty times higher than in the USA.
   Women are not allowed to vote in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Female workforce participation is only 33 per cent. The home in the Arab-Muslim world is described in the report as a place where "any type of violence against women may be practiced".
   The details of violence practiced against women in the Arab-Muslim world are well known and sometimes too grisly to put in print.
   Commenting on the UN report last week, journalist Janet Albrechtsen said in The Australian that what is needed is "nothing short of a Martin Luther-style reformation for Islam".
   At a time of year when Christians remember the unique missionary role of Mary, the mother of Jesus - a woman from the same region of the world where women now are so visibly oppressed - it is timely to remember the sufferings and status of Arab-Muslim women today.
   It may be considered fanciful to believe it possible to improve the living conditions of women in Arab-Muslim countries. Certainly the obstacles in the path of such a development are enormous. “Dogs and cats in the developed world have more rights than Arab women do in their own countries.” So says the Saudi women’s rights activist and journalist Wajeha Al-Huwaider.    These obstacles include not only the customary conservatism of the Arab-Muslim world, but also the significant absence of freedoms, including a free media in which such ideas can be discussed.
   Nevertheless, throughout history a great deal of human progress has been achieved in the face of seemingly insurmountable difficulties. From the perspective of Christianity, with its emphasis on the never to be neglected role of divine grace, the possibility of improvement in the living conditions of Muslim women can always be prayed for, at least, if not actually brought into existence.
   One of the central messages in Rodney Stark's classic book, A History of Christianity, bears this out. Stark demonstrates the essential role played by women in bringing about the transformation of the ancient pagan world. In many early Christian communities, women outnumbered men by as many as twenty to one. Women both carried and planted the seeds of Christianity throughout the pagan Mediterranean in the centuries before the Emperor Constantine.
   It is Stark's thesis that pagan Rome adopted Christianity because of these women-led missionary endeavours, and that the fabled conversion of Constantine himself, presented as a miraculous and sudden event in many early devotional traditions, was more of a symptom than a cause of the Roman Empire's adoption of Christianity.
   This process, it should be remembered, took centuries. The transformation of the Arab-Muslim world likewise cannot be expected to occur overnight.
   What seems certain is that when and if such a transformation occurs, it will occur largely through the agency of women. The securing of women's basic human rights is certain to have revolutionary effects throughout Islamic society. This is a matter which should be of vital interest to the West.
   In the course of the first four years after September 11, 2001, it has become increasingly clear that the greatest part of the struggle against totalitarianism arising from within the Arab-Muslim world will be political and civil rather than military.
   The building of political alliances with moderate forces in Arab-Muslim countries is essential. So too is any practical assistance which can be offered towards the development of a prosperous middle class whose vital interest is in the safe and peaceful business of trade, rather than the anger and violence of war.
   Another vital strategy for the West is to support women in the Arab-Muslim world - not least through the avenue of drawing attention to their situation and their needs.
   For the UN Arab Human Development Report, visit http://rbas. undp.org/ ahdr2005. shtml

   [COMMENT: Would another Martin Luther be able to reform a sect with scriptures and traditions like the following? Paul Gray, at last, seems to be facing some of the facts of Islam's expansions leading to domination, and reversal of human progress, but has a "clerical" type mindset, thus refusing to admit that the old texts are bad.
   Al-Huwaider also seems to be overlooking the disdain which the founder had for women. They are unclean, and her evidence is worth half a man's -- if not Muslim, their evidence is worth nothing.
   But Al-Huwaider's article has provided another excellent much-needed reminder of the Bush-Blair-Howard regime's inhumane illegal treatment of the civilians and prisoners-of-war at Guantanamo Bay (and, presumably, at the other illegal prisons run by the U.S. around the world, and maybe by the U.K. too). COMMENT ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE - Koran: 4:34 (or 38):- Men are superior to women on account of the qualities with which Allah hath gifted the one above the other, and on account of the outlay they make from their substance for them. Virtuous women are obedient, careful, during the husband's absence, because Allah hath of them been careful. But chide those for whose refractoriness ye have cause to fear; remove them into beds apart, and scourge them; but if they are obedient to you, then seek not occasion against them: verily, Allah is High, Great. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/004. qmt.html #004.034 . DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [TRADITIONS - HADITH: 3, 17:4206 ff (Muslim's collection):- There came to him a woman … and said: Allah's Messenger, I have committed adultery, so purify me. He turned her away. … go away until you give birth … wean him … He entrusted the child to one of the Muslims and … she was put in a ditch up to her chest and he commanded people and they stoned her. … he prayed over her and she was buried. ENDS.]
   [OLD TESTAMENT: Perhaps the Christians ought to read the strictures against non-Jews, and the orders to kill them, in the first seven books of the Old Testament, instead of having a woolly optimism that the current fad for mixing faiths is the same as people JOINING the New Testament groups, "all one in Christ Jesus." ENDS.] [Jan 04, 07]
• Terror link in rocket launcher arrest.

Terror link in rocket launcher arrest

   The Australian website, www.the australian. news.com. au/story/ 0,20867, 21014593- 601,00.html , AAP, Friday, January 05, 2007
   AUSTRALIA: A 28-YEAR-OLD Sydney man is facing 17 charges arising from an investigation into seven stolen rocket launchers.
   A joint operation by Australian Federal Police, New South Wales Police and ASIO led officers today to a house in Leumeah, in Sydney's southwest, where the 28-year-old man was arrested.
   AFP Assistant Commissioner Frank Prendergast, who is the AFP's counter terrorism national manager, said the 28-year-old man supplied two rocket launchers to one man, and five of the weapons to another man.
   "The person who received five is facing terrorism charges on another matter," Asst Commissioner Prendergast said. "It is a matter of great importance to us to recover the six outstanding weapons."
   The charged man is believed to be one link in a "chain of supply", Asst Commissioner Kaldas said.
   Late last year, police were investigating claims that a number of anti-tank rockets had been stolen by Australian soldiers and sold on the black market to criminal gangs or even terrorist groups.
   On September 30 last year, police recovered one of the rocket launchers, believed to be the property of the Australian Defence Force. The man has been charged with two counts of dishonestly receiving stolen property, seven counts of unauthorised possession of a prohibited weapon, and seven counts of unauthorised supply of a prohibited weapon. He has also been charged with possession of ammunition.
   The 28-year-old man was due to face Sydney's Central Local Court today. Details on the make of the missiles were unclear, but a number of reports suggested they were 66mm rocket launchers - a light, one shot, weapon designed to be fired from the shoulder by infantry.
   The weapon was designed by the US Army during the Cold War and packs enough punch to destroy a tank.
   NSW counter-terrorism police and Middle Eastern Crime Squad were thought to be looking for eight rockets said to have gone missing from army stocks some years ago.
   Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said the Defence Department was conducting a forensic audit of its rocket stocks and introduce radical measures to secure existing weapons.
   The investigation was to be spearheaded by the secretive Defence Security Authority, with assistance from the defence department's inspector-general.
   A second, wider security investigation examining all security aspects of the policies and practices that apply to the management of weapons, munitions and explosives across defence was set to be completed in the first half of this year.
   In a separate incident late last year, a 53-year-old sergeant from Victoria's Puckapunyal base was charged with the theft of army equipment, with police said to have removed "truckloads" of weapons and ordnance from his home.
   Earlier today, Chief of the Army, Lieutenant General Peter Leahy said the Defence Department was investigating claims that former soldiers may have sold anti-tank rockets on the black market to criminals or even terrorists.
   He told reporters in Canberra that the department was conducting an audit of all such weapons in its armories around the country.
   "We've done a fair bit of work to do a stocktake of our own and the defence force announced before Christmas that we are imposing extra restrictions on their use to make sure they are used only for operational purposes," he said.
   "I think that we've taken quite stringent steps to make sure that we have control over the weapons in our control and I think beyond that we should listen to what the Civil and other authorities are doing to investigate."
   Australian Federal Police will hold a press conference this afternoon in Sydney. - AAP

[COMMENT: "Terror link" is in the heading, but time will tell. ENDS.] [Jan 5, 07]
• Dad in Lebanese custody case willing to drop charges: lawyer.

Dad in Lebanese custody case willing to drop charges: lawyer

   Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC News), www.cbc.ca/ world/story/ 2007/01/10/ lebanon- custody. html , Last Updated 1:43 PM ET | Wednesday, January 10, 2007
   CANADA – The Lebanese-Australian man who took his Canadian children to Lebanon despite not having custody of them won't pursue charges against his estranged wife for grabbing them back if she agrees to hand the kids over, his lawyer says.
   Canadian Melissa Hawach, a Calgary resident who is originally from Saskatchewan, recovered her children a few days before Christmas. She travelled to Lebanon and enlisted the help of several ex-soldiers to grab her two girls in a daring operation at a seaside resort where they were staying with their father, Joseph Hawach.
[Picture] Cedar Lourdes Hawach. (Interpol)
   Ever since, Melissa Hawach and her father, Jim Engdahl, have been in hiding with the children: Hanna, 6, and Cedar, 3.
   Under Canadian law, Melissa Hawach has custody of the children. However, she is now wanted in Lebanon and could face charges of child abduction.
   "We are ready to drop all the cases against her, and everyone involved with her, if the children are returned," Tony Tebchrany, the father's lawyer, told Nahlah Ayed of CBC News during an interview in his office in Jdeideh.
[Picture] Hanna Anne Hawach. (Interpol)
   Two of the men who helped Melissa Hawach, an Australian and a New Zealander, are in a Lebanon jail awaiting trial for their role in the affair after being arrested at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport.
   Brian Corrigan and David Pemberton are accused of being paid mercenaries acting on Melissa Hawach's behalf. The men have said that they were simply helping out, and that they received no money for their assistance.
   Tebchrany's comments came following an in-camera hearing in Lebanon Wednesday to determine what if any charges should be brought against Melissa Hawach. The case could go to trial as early as next week – with or without the mother's presence.
[Picture] Joseph Hawach. (Interpol)
   Tebchrany said details of Wednesday's proceedings are secret and cannot be publicly discussed. But he said Melissa Hawach, whom he believes is still in Lebanon, is in a tenuous position.
   "There are legal channels in Lebanon. But to hire a gang – even if she was in the right – she's lost that right," he said.
   "There's no doubt she's in trouble."
   Interpol seeking father, who faces extradition
   Joseph Hawach, who is believed to be in hiding in Lebanon, is not willing to speak publicly about the case. Interpol has circulated a warrant for his arrest and extradition to Canada.
   He is wanted in Canada over allegations that he removed the children from their mother's care unlawfully. Hawach first took them to Australia on vacation last summer, with his estranged wife's permission, but then travelled with them to Lebanon without her consent.
   Under Lebanese law, a father automatically has the right to custody of his children in the case of a dispute, unless the mother can prove that he isn't fit to have it.
   Joseph Hawach also obtained a Lebanese court order that gave him custody of the children.
   Therefore, he has committed no crime, no matter what Canadian law says, Tebchrany said.
   Helpers' story discounted by lawyer
   In the interview with CBC News, Tebchrany also cast doubt on the assertions of the two men currently in jail, including their insistence that they conducted the operation for free.
   He said he has been told that Corrigan and Pemberton were well-equipped, carrying satellite phones and other surveillance equipment. He also alleged that they had a videotape in which Melissa Hawach tells her daughters not to be afraid of the men, because they were bringing them to her.
   This week, the lawyer acting for Corrigan and Pemberton, Mohammed Khalil, called their participation in the affair a humanitarian act.
   The men are facing a minimum of three years in prison with hard labour, since the alleged kidnapping involved minors.
   Tebchrany also accused the Canadian Embassy in Lebanon of being unco-operative in the investigation.
   "We have many indications that lead us to believe that the embassy may be aware of the whereabouts [of the mother and children]," he said.
   Foreign Affairs spokesman Rodney Moore said he couldn't comment on the accusations against the embassy, because the case is before the courts.
   The ministry has only said so far that it's still providing consular assistance to Melissa Hawach, and that it has asked the local authorities to help in ensuring the children return to their legal guardians. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#dad_in_lebanese    [RECAPITULATION: Under Lebanese law, a father automatically has the right to custody of his children in the case of a dispute, unless the mother can prove that he isn't fit to have it. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: It isn't just Lebanese law that the father has custody -- it is the cultural law of the Arabs and Muslims. Why don't the Westerners learn some factual truthful Comparative Religion and "Multicultural Contrasts" in their schools and universities? And read the footnotes and books that say the whole world is to be won for Islam, willingly or by compulsion. Kidnapping children and raising them as Muslim soldiers (Janissaries) was done for centuries by the Turkish Sultans. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [KORAN: 3:83 (or 3:77):- Are they seeking a religion other than Allah's, when every soul in the heavens and the earth has submitted to Him, willingly or by compulsion? … < www.submission. org/suras/ sura3.html #83 > DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [LOOK FORWARD: Mrs Melissa Hawach's book about her violent marriage, the kidnap, and the rescue, Flight of the Dragonfly is due out on Wednesday, March 26, 2008, HarperCollins Publishers, according to a March 23, 2008 newsitem. Aus. $35. ENDS.]
   [ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: The Sunday Times Magazine, then Metacrawler. ENDS.] [Jan 10, 07]
• Controversial mufti attacks Australia in TV interview

Controversial mufti attacks Australia in TV interview

   The Age (Melbourne, Australia), www.theage. com.au/news/ national/ controversial- mufti-attacks- australia/ 2007/01/11/ 1168105 116655.html , by Barney Zwartz, January 12, 2007
   EGYPT: CONTROVERSIAL Muslim leader Sheikh Taj al-Din al-Hilali has savaged Australia in an interview on Egyptian television, claiming there is no freedom or democracy for Muslims and that English people are the most unjust and dishonest.
   The Mufti of Australia said Muslims were more Australian than Anglo-Saxons because they came here voluntarily, that Australians played the "fear card" to keep Muslims down, and that racial prejudice was the reason for the 55-year sentence given to gang rapist Bilal Skaf.
   "Anglo-Saxons came to Australia in chains, while we (Muslims) paid our way and came in freedom. We are more Australian than them. Australia is not an Anglo-Saxon country -- Islam has deep roots in Australian soil that were there before the English arrived," Sheikh Hilali said.
   Australia's most controversial cleric was talking on the Egyptian news program Cairo Today, shown in Australia on the Orbit satellite network on Tuesday morning.
   The interview, in Arabic, was about the furore he created last year with a Ramadan sermon in which he compared scantily clad women with "uncovered meat", suggesting that they were responsible for rape, called women Satan's messengers to deceive men, and said thieves often stole because they were pressured by greedy women.
   After the "uncovered meat" sermon, which was rejected by Muslims across Australia, Sheikh Hilali offered to stand down as mufti if an independent panel -- he first suggested the federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner -- found he had blamed women for rape. His future will be decided next month by the eight-man executive of a new national board of imams. Sheikh Hilali is a member of the executive.
   During the half-hour program, Sheikh Hilali said the controversy showed how standards were skewed and claims were fabricated. "There is no freedom and no democracy (for Muslims) -- the most dishonest and unjust people are Western people and the English in particular."
   He said Australian law allowed freedoms that at times were "close to madness", that Australia had a third gender of "in-between people who are not male or female" and that Christian churches allowed people of the same sex to marry.
[Picture] Hilali: no freedom for Muslims. Photo: AP
   He also cited the Exclusive Brethren, saying they forbade TV, radio, mobile phones and mixed schooling but Prime Minister John Howard said that was their right and they were entitled to funding and social services.
   He said the cause of the controversy over the Ramadan sermon was domestic politics. "As we would say in Egypt, they play the fear card to keep the Muslim community down, and they start with me because I am known in that community."
   He insisted that he was not justifying rape and had been taken out of context.
   Presenter Amr Adib asked who was responsible for rape, and Sheikh Hilali replied that the man was responsible but the woman also had a responsibility for her behaviour.
   Fellow guest Sheikh Khalid al-Jindi, a regular commentator, interjected: "Is it the flies' fault if the food is on display? If you put petrol and then add a spark, won't the street be on fire?"
   Adib: "But where is the responsibility?"
   Sheikh Jindi: "The responsibility is first, second and third with the woman -- then with the man."
   Sheikh Jindi said they were not justifying anything, just trying to establish degrees of responsibility. Sheikh Hilali replied: "If I put it that way in Australia, the whole country would be in uproar."
   He mentioned a recent case in Australia in which a man was jailed for "forcing himself" on his wife. "Three-and-a-half years! I mean, it's a distasteful act, but . . ."
   Sheikh Hilali said that Islam in Australia had grown because of the controversy.
   On the gang rapes in Sydney, he said: "A young man can meet a woman, smile, arrange a meeting, and then end up in jail for 65 years. (Bilal Skaf was sentenced to 55 years, reduced to 38 on appeal.)
   "He was judged in the name of bin Laden. He deserved to be jailed, no question, but for 65 years? This is not really about the crime, it is about racial prejudice."
   Sheikh Hilali is still in Lebanon. His former spokesman Keysar Trad, president of the Islamic Friendship Association, said some of the comments seemed ill-advised but were not intended to be malicious.
   He said the sheikh's comments about coming to Australia voluntarily were to show that he loved Australia and saw himself as Australian.
   Mr Howard was asked about the sheikh's reference to convicts and replied: "I think it will bring a wry smile, if it's , . . . to the face of many Australians who sort of don't actually feel the least bit offended that many of our ancestors came here as convicts." #

   [RECAPITULATION: This is not really about the crime, it is about racial prejudice RECAP. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: He was talking about a Muslim who used "racist" taunts against non-Muslim females before, during and after raping them. Please do NOT dismiss Al-Hilali -- he is following his religion's teachings, so is helping other people to understand them. In his view, Muslims had a foothold in Australia before the British came! He would go well as a Professor of History -- in Mogadishu! or Riyyad!
   P.S. for young readers -- the Aborigines were here before the British, and showed not the slightest sign of stoning rape VICTIMS to death, cutting the hands off thieves, or cutting the heads off people who were not of their belief system. In many ways, they were less cruel than the British of those days, so could not possibly have been Muslims.
   Furthermore, the guards and officials who controlled the convicts did NOT arrive in manacles!
   The one freedom that Al-Hilali ought to exercise is the freedom to leave such an undemocratic prejudiced racist history-knowing country as Australia. COMMENT ENDS.] [Jan 12, 07]
• Westerners are dishonest: Sheikh.

Westerners are dishonest: Sheikh

   The West Australian, p 5, Friday, January 12, 2007
[Picture] He's at it again: Australian Muslim leader Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilaly has attacked Australia on Egyptian television.
   MELBOURNE: Controversial Muslim leader Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilaly has savaged Australia in an interview on Egyptian television, claiming there is no freedom or democracy for Muslims and that English people are the most unjust and dishonest.
   The Mufti of Australia said Muslims were more Australian than Anglo-Saxons because they arrived voluntarily, that Australians played the "fear card" to keep Muslims down, and that racial prejudice was the reason for the 55-year sentence given to gang rapist Bilal Skaf.
   "Anglo-Saxons came to Australia in chains, while we (Muslims) paid our way and came in freedom. We are more Australian than them. Australia is not an Anglo-Saxon country - Islam has deep roots in Australian soil that were there before the English arrived," Sheikh al-Hilaly said.
   He was talking on the Egyptian news program Cairo Today, shown in Australia on the Orbit satellite network on Tuesday morning.
   The interview, in Arabic, was about the furore he created in October with a Ramadan sermon in which he compared scantily clad women with "uncovered meat", suggesting they were responsible for rape.
   After the sermon, which was rejected by Muslims across Australia, Sheikh al-Hilaly offered to stand down as mufti if an independent panel - he first suggested the Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner - found he had blamed women for rape. His future will be decided next month by the eight-man executive of a new national board of imams.
   Sheikh al-Hilaly is a member of the executive.
   During the half-hour program, Sheikh al-Hilaly said the controversy showed how standards were skewed and claims were fabricated. "There is no freedom and no democracy (for Muslims) - the most dishonest and unjust people are Western people and the English in particular."
   He said Australian law allowed freedoms that at times were "close to madness", that Australia had a third gender of "people who are not male or female" and that Christian churches allowed same-sex marriage.
   He also said the Exclusive Brethren forbade TV, radio, mobile phones and mixed schooling but Prime Minister John Howard said that was their right.
   He said the controversy over his sermon was about domestic politics. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#westerners_are    [RECAPITULATION: "… Australia is not an Anglo-Saxon country - Islam has deep roots in Australian soil that were there before the English arrived," Sheikh al-Hilaly said.
   … the sermon, … was rejected by Muslims across Australia …
   "There is no freedom and no democracy (for Muslims) - the most dishonest and unjust people are Western people and the English in particular." ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: And, Muslims also have deep roots in Arabian soil, so why not go there? The sermon was in line with the principles of taqiyya, so like his other sermons has NOT been rejected by Muslims -- or else, why do so many people keep attending his Sydney mosque? If the Westerners and English in his opinion do not give freedom and democracy, and are dishonest and unjust, aren't there other countries which would be better for Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilaly and his followers to live in? He gave the talk on Egyptian TV -- did he bring back some Egyptian immigration application forms? ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE: Recite: 3:118 (or 3:114).
   4:89 (or 91):- … Take therefore none of them for friends … If they turn back, then seize them, and slay them wherever ye find them … www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/004. qmt.html #004.089 .
   5:51 (or 5:56):- O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/005. qmt.html #005.051 . DOCTRINE ENDS.] [Jan 12, 07]
• WA link to banned Muslim extremists.

WA link to banned Muslim extremists

   The West Australian, By KIM MACDONALD, p 5, Friday, January 12, 2007
   SINGAPORE: A prominent South-East Asian terrorism research centre claims sympathisers for a Muslim extremist group which has been banned in parts of Europe and the Middle East live in WA and raise funds here.
   The International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University said its intelligence showed that up to a dozen sympathisers with the group Hizb ut-Tahrir were in WA.
   The group claims to be a peaceful promoter of an Islamic superstate, but its alleged links with the terrorists behind the London bombings prompted British Prime Minister Tony Blair to call for it to be banned.
   The centre's head of terrorism research, John Harrison, said Indonesian members had flown to Perth for informal talks with local sympathisers several times in recent years, but they did not currently appear to be any threat.
   "Certainly there have been individuals associated with the group in Perth but any presence is strictly in a support role, in terms of fundraising," Dr Harrison said.
   The group was found to have booked a hall in Sydney under a false name for a conference to be held a day after Australia Day.
   NSW-based Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Wassim Doureihi – who has refused to condemn the attacks of September 11, Bali or London – said the conference aimed to discuss Muslim politics and the eventual possibility of an Islamic superstate.
   But Christian critics claimed the conference would be a recruiting ground for the extremist group.
   The group has been banned in the Netherlands and Germany after distributing anti-Semitic propaganda which called for Jews to be killed, and is also banned in several Middle Eastern countries.
‘Certainly there have been individuals associated with the group in Perth.’
TERRORISM EXPERT JOHN HARRISON
   Its members have also come under fire for praising suicide bombers as martyrs and describing Israel as an illegal state.
   The British plan to ban the group was shelved after authorities and civil liberty groups said the group posed no threat and that it was dangerous to push it underground.
   Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock yesterday reiterated claims that ASIO had also found the group posed no threat to Australian security.
   W A and Fedetal police declined to say whether or not they were aware of the group having a presence in the State.
   The group is active in 40 countries and has 5000 to 10,000 core members and tens of thousands of followers. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#wa_link_to    [RECAPITULATION: … called for Jews to be killed … ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE - Koran: 33:26-27:- And those of the People of the Book who aided them - Allah did take them down from their strongholds and cast terror into their hearts. (So that) some ye slew, and some ye made prisoners. And He gave you their land, and their dwellings, and their wealth, for an heritage – even a land on which ye had never set foot: for the might of Allah is equal to all things.
   [GUIDELINE - HADITH: 41:6985 (Sahih Muslim's collection):- … Allah's Messenger … saying The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree …
   [COMMENT: These are just a couple of anti-Judaism quotes. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [2nd RECAPITULATION: Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock yesterday reiterated claims that ASIO had also found the group posed no threat to Australian security.
   [2nd DOCTRINE - Koran:    2:193 (or 189):- … Fight the unbelievers until no other religion except Islam is left.
   71:26-27 (or 27-28):- And Noah said, 'Lord, leave not one single family of Infidels on the Earth: For if thou leave them they will beguile thy servants and will beget only sinners, infidels. DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [2nd GUIDELINE - HADITH: 4, 53:386: Narrated Jubair bin Haiya: Umar sent the Muslims to the great countries to fight the pagans. When Al-Hurmuzan embraced Islam, Umar said to him. "I would like to consult you regarding these countries which I intend to invade." […] Our Prophet, the Messenger of our Lord, has ordered us to fight you till you worship Allah Alone or give jizya (i.e. tribute); and our Prophet has informed us that our Lord says:– "Whoever amongst us is killed (i.e. martyred), shall go to Paradise to lead such a luxurious life as he has never seen, and whoever amongst us remain alive, shall become your master." […] GUIDELINE ENDS.] [Jan 12, 07]
• [Stop Muslim immigration letter and terror discussed; Act now on racist mufti.]

[Stop Muslim immigration letter and terror discussed]

WE DISAGREE    The West Australian, Various Letters to The Editor, p 19, Monday, January 15, 2007
   Jim Benson-Lidholm (Letters, 11/1), I feel sure, would agree that while there have been some excellent letters to the editor on immigration, Graeme Campbell's (Stop Islamic migration, 9/1) was not one of them.
   Mr Campbell complains that Australia is allowing "hordes" of Africans to come and live here. Without burdening us with the slightest hint of evidence he tells us that these hordes are bringing in diseases, live on welfare and have no affinity with our culture.
   But wait, there's more. Mr Campbell, again without even a passing nod to any facts or figures, goes on to warn us that there has been a "massive" increase in Islamic immigration. Then he crassly declaims "that while not all Islamic people are terrorists…. most terrorists are Islamic".
   Kalgoorlie's very own Forrest Gump seems not to have heard of ETA, the Basque separatist movement, the murderous thugs that have operated in Northern Ireland for 30 years, Black September, the Tamil Tigers, Shining Path and other South American terrorists–the list goes on and on with not an Islamic person in sight.
   Mr Campbell should perhaps ponder for a while the obvious truth that all over the world, people of every religion and no religion want the same things. They want justice, freedom, and acceptance – the very things that Australia and most Australians can provide. Daniel Baldwin, Bedford
[ETA, IRA, Tigers, Marxists, too]
   Unfortunately, Graeme Campbell has failed to adequately check his figures. The ABS figures show that the growth in numbers of Buddhists and Hindus entering Australia far outweighs that of Muslims.
   Similarly his claim that most terrorists are Muslims was misinformed because unfortunately he forgets about members of ETA, the IRA, the Tamil Tigers or the Marxist terror outfits in Columbia and the Philippines.
   These are just some of the many non-Muslim terrorist organisations and, in fact, at last count most terrorist organisations were shown to be non-Muslim. N. Brkich, Noranda.
[Unbelievable indeed; many no intention to assimilate]
   Replying to Jim Benson-Lidhohn's criticism of Graeme Campbell, one has to ask why it is that these people who have, as he says, suffered "unbelievable tragedy" in their lives find it convenient to go back to the scene of their tragedy for a holiday or to "find a wife" when living on welfare in our country. Perhaps their tragedy is in fact truly unbelievable.
   Most of the refugees who arrived here since World War I came from countries of Anglo-Celtic European origin and were culturally compatible and prepared to integrate into our society.
   To say that we're a nation of immigrants is the fatuous chant of the often self-hating pro-immigration lobby. In a sense, just about every country is a nation of immigrants if a long enough time scale is used. However, in this country, like the US, the greatest growth in population has come from the natural birthrate.
   What Mr Campbell said about most terrorists being Islamic is not a matter for historians, it is a matter of contemporary fact.
   It's nice to know that his organisation, West Coast Refugee Sanctuary Group, has supported more than a hundred refugees in the past couple of years and most have successfully assimilated. Perhaps we should make them responsible for the entire program.
   The truth is that many do not assimilate and have no intention of doing so and are disproportionately involved in crime and abuse of our laws and culture.

Act now on racist mufti

   Australia's leading mufti, Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilaly, has once again come out with verbal diarrhoea. The same man who recently compared scantily clad women to uncovered meat, and implied those women were to blame if they were raped, has now come out saying that Australians are liars, excused gang rapists as being OK and claims Muslims have more right to live in this country than descendants of convicts.
   Where does this man get off? Why is he not being deported for inciting racial-sexual-cultural violence and hate? If he thinks Australians are so horrible, he should leave.
   The words he breathes incite hate and can be classed as a form of terrorism. He has no respect for Australians – especially women – and I would like to think that most men and women living in this country would be disgusted with his comments.
   Sadly, those who have small brains would welcome his comments, take them as gospel and act on them, thus breeding a group of criminals.
   We are trying to rid ourselves of terrorism and hate crimes, so the Australian Government needs to get serious about acting against people who hide behind religion to incite hate and violence. We need to start looking more closely at those living in this country under false pretences.
   Sheikh al-Hilaly has again shown he has no right to live in this country when he spouts his evil hatred for the peaceful nation where he has enjoyed freedom for 20 years.
   If John Howard wants to get tough on terrorism here and overseas, then he needs to stand up right now and protect our beautiful country by being hard on extreme religious fanaticswho are against Australia.
   He should deport this pathetic little man and prove that we not stand for such unwelcome, foreign hatred. Kick him out under the terrorism laws. http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#act Enough's enough
   John Howard is wrong if he thinks Australians will react with only a wry smile to the latest comments by Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilaly – it will be more like with anger.
[Picture] Sheikh al-Hilaly
   They have had enough of the lefties changing everything in our culture to appease the cultural sensitivity of a group that has brought nothing to this world so far but terrorism.
   As for the mufti's comments that Muslims paid their way to Australia and came in freedom, they have paid for nothing. It is Australians who are now paying for them, both through the welfare system and the loss of their freedom and cultural identity to make this group of individuals feel part of our society.
Pity Muslims
   I feel sorry for the Muslim people of Australia with a religious leader who has the gall to have a shot at a country that he calls home. If he does not like this country, he can feel free not to come back.
   Australia is a proud country because of its multicultural society and he is just making it harder for all. I feel that the Muslim people may be better off with someone who is more compassionate and diplomatic.
Empty rubbish
   How very brave of Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilaly to firmly embed himself in the Middle East and start mouthing off about Anglo-Saxon convicts and all the rest of his pure unadulterated rubbish. A few Poms tried that on years ago and failed miserably.
   I'm fourth-generation Australian and proud of it. Instead of talking about bringing the troops home from Iraq, we should be tipping a few of his type out with the rest of the garbage.
   There is no place in Australia for people like him–end of story.
YOUR SMS
[No respect, you're not nice, not welcome]
   Comments made by the mufti again shows us he has no respect for Australia, its people and our way of life. Mufti, do the right thing and stay in Egypt. You and your comments are not nice and not welcome.

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#stop [CONTACT: letters@ wanews.com. au ENDS.] [Jan 15, 07]
• Senior Muslim likens mufti's rant to Hitler.

Senior Muslim likens mufti’s rant to Hitler

   The West Australian, p 13, Monday, January 15, 2007
   SYDNEY – A senior Muslim has attacked outspoken Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilaly, saying he had damaged Islam in Australia as much as Hitler damaged Christianity.
   The Australian Federation of Islamic Council legal adviser Haset Sali said the sheikh's diatribe on Egyptian television last week was insane and his comments horrified most Australian Muslims.
   "Hilaly increasingly chooses to rewrite what he thinks should be in the Holy Koran and his sick and vile comments in his recent interviews are not only un-Islamic but inhumane and highly disgraceful," Mr Sali said.
   John Howard also berated the mufti, saying Australia's Islamic community risks embarrassment and hurt if it does not act against him.
   The cleric told Egyptians white Australians were "liars" and Muslims were more entitled to be in Australia than people with a convict heritage.
   In comments aired in Australia last night, he said his detractors were racists who conspired to twist his words against him.
   The mufti also took a swipe at the Prime Minister, calling him "Mr Me Too" because "he waits for any news from America to say 'me too'."
   Asked if he was offended, Mr Howard said: "I have been insulted by experts."
   He said the mufti was entitled to return to Australia because he was an Australian citizen and had done nothing to breach that right.
   But he said it was in Islamic Australians' own interest to do something about the cleric because he was damaging their community.
   "I worry about the damage his behaviour is doing to the image of Islamic Australians within our broader community," Mr Howard said. "I don't want them to be hurt by him but they alone have it in their hands to stop that happening."
   Islamic Friendship Association president and close friend of the mufti, Keysar Trad, said he welcomed Mr Howard's comments about leaving the sheikh's fate in the hands of his own community.
   "I'm glad the Prime Minister recognises that this is an issue for Muslims. However, I do believe that people have the right to hear from the mufti himself," Mr Trad said.
   The mufti was not expected back in Australia before next weekend and he would advise him to further explain his comments on his return.
   NSW Premier Morris Iemma said he dismissed the sheikh's latest and earlier remarks. "We should not attach much credibility to him because he just doesn't have any," he said. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#senior    [RECAPITULATION: … Prime Minister, … "Mr Me Too"… news from America … say 'me too' … ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Clever! Some cynics think of the PM and politicians' business mentors as "Mr Me First". COMMENT ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE, Koran: 33:1:- O Prophet, fear thou Allah and obey not the unbelievers and the hypocrites; – Truly Allah is Knowing, Wise:
   33:48 (or 47):- And obey not (the behests) of the Unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and heed not their annoyances, but put thy Trust in Allah. For enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/033. qmt.html #033.048 .
   33:61:- Accursed, they will be seized wherever found and slain with a (fierce) slaughter. DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [REFLECTION: The more that the Unbelievers (i.e., non-Muslims) and Hypocrites (i.e., critical fellow-Muslims) criticise Al-Hilali's ignorant statements, the more pious Muslims will back his attacks on "Unbelievers". A future instruction from such imams might be to declaim aya 33:61. ENDS.]
   [2nd COMMENT: Most Muslim clerics' main education is learning the Koran off by heart, and hearing/reading commentaries and the dead-ends of the Hadith traditions about Mhd and the sharia law. Just as former PM Gough Whitlam thought that Poland was a creation after World War I, so many Muslim clerics have below-average knowledge of humanity's great struggles for progress and freedom, because their minds are set on repression of freedom, in the name of Allah.
   [PRONOUNCE NSW Premier Iemma's surname "Yemma". ENDS.] [Jan 15, 07]
• The Koran.

THE KORAN

Thrice Holy website, http:// thriceholy. net/Texts/ Koran5.html , found by MetaCrawler on January 15, 2007

[Elegantly displayed, with footnotes.] [Found Jan 15, 07]
• Undercover Mosques: The Transcripts. [Channel 4: Dispatches]

Undercover Mosques: The Transcripts

BRITAIN: MPACUK (Muslim Public Affairs Committee, United Kingdom), < http://mpacuk. org/content/ view/3266/ 34/ >, Monday, January 15, 2007
MPACUK has learnt of a Channel 4 documentary claiming to reveal Muslim preachers in certain Mosques urging their followers to ‘reject British Law’, ‘prepare for Jihad’ and to ‘hit girls for not wearing the hijab’. The Dispatches documentary, which will be aired at 8pm on Monday 15th January claims to have video footage of these preachers praising the Taliban and making various comments about non-Muslims. The documentary concentrates on a handful of mosques in the Birmingham area claiming that they promote extremism.

PART ONE
Tonight on Dispatches – an ideology of bigotry and intolerance spreading through Britain with its roots in Saudi Arabia
Sheikh Yasin: We Muslims have been ordered to do brainwashing
- on women’s rights
Abu Usamah: Allah has created the woman deficient
Sh Jibali: If she doesn’t wear hijab, we hit her
- gay rights
Abu Usamah: take that homosexual man and throw him from the mountain
- living in a multicultural society
Dr Mian: You have to live like a state within a state until you take over
- and holy war
Sh Feiz: The peak, the pinnacle, the crest, the summit, of Islam, is jihad
TITLES
A Dispatches investigation has uncovered a fundamentalist message, spreading from the Saudi Arabia religious establishment
through mosques run by major UK organisations
which claim to be dedicated to moderation and to dialogue with other faiths

Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham is a high-profile mosque
- and one we’d heard receives theological guidance from Saudi Arabia
Caption: Undercover filming
Our reporter went undercover last summer, joining thousands of worshippers
He’s staying anonymous
Caption: 12 August 2006
The theme of today’s lecture is – don’t believe in the arrests of alleged terrorists without proof
… as non Muslims are liars
Abu Usamah: I don’t believe them, because they are kuffaar, lying is part of their religion
Kuffaar is an Arabic word, meaning non-believer – an infidel
Abu Usamah: Unlike those kuffaar, they do whatever they want to do
It’s a term our reporter was to hear repeatedly being used in a derogatory way
Abu Usamah: they are liars, they are terrorists themselves, liars, they will come before the people and talk and they are lying, you can’t believe them, these are pathological liars
Shots of Green Lane website
Green Lane Mosque calls itself a “centre for interfaith communication”, welcoming people of all religions
But our reporter filmed there over four months, and found this speaker, Abu Usamah, was their main English-language preacher
He says Christians and Jews are enemies to Muslims
Abu Usamah: It has come to pass that the Christians and the Jews, America, the UK, France, Germany, they have come against the religion of Islam. Why give up your religion and your long legacy of Islam, to please someone who is an enemy to you?
Abu Usamah is an American convert and a very popular speaker at Green Lane
Abu Usamah (shaking hands with everyone): Hey, my man, how you doing?
He preaches against non-Muslim laws
Abu Usamah: We want the laws of Islam to be practised, we want to do away with the man-made laws
And says British popular culture is a threat
Abu Usamah: The popular culture, if you are a person who gives yourself to that, your mind is going to be controlled by the so-called powers that be, who make these man-made laws
Green Lane’s official website says the mosque is “designed to counter the negative publicity and stereotyping of Islam”
But after a few weeks, our reporter was told by fellow worshippers how to access another, much more difficult-to-find internet chatroom
It’s run by Green Lane Mosque, and broadcasts Abu Usamah’s speeches live to a small band of listeners
He says Muslims should obey British laws and contracts, if they don’t contradict Islam, but he condemns non-believers
Caption: Green Lane internet broadcast
Abu Usamah: No-one loves the kuffaar, no-one loves the kuffaar, not a single person here from the Muslims loves the kuffaar, whether those kuffaar are from the UK or the US. We love the people of Islam and we hate the people of kufr, we hate the kuffaar
Filmed undercover, he says he doesn’t agree with the violent actions of Muslim terrorists - but he prefers them to non-Muslims
Abu Usamah: I don’t agree with those individuals, but at the same time they are closer to me than those criminals of the kufr
Cap: Green Lane internet broadcast
Abu Usamah: He’s better than a million George Bushes, Osama Bin Laden, and he’s better than a thousand Tony Blairs, because he’s a Muslim
The mosque films some of Abu Usamah’s speeches, and they’re sold locally as DVDs
Caption: The Major Sins: Ahlus Sunnah Productions (2005)
In this one, he says even Muslims who don’t follow their strict rules can be ostracised as “kaffirs”
Abu Usamah: If you leave off the prayer out of negligence, then you are a kaffir. If he dies like that you have to bury him with the kuffaar. You can’t marry him
He preaches an ideal Islamic state
Abu Usamah: Muslims shouldn’t satisfied with living in other than the total Islamic state
His vision of the Islamic state includes extreme punishments, as he outlines in this DVD
DVD: The Major Sins: Ahlus Sunnah Productions (2005)
Abu Usamah: Whoever changes his religion from Islam to anything else – kill him in the Islamic state
The religious leader, or imam, can decide the punishments
Internet broadcast
Abu Usamah: If the imam wants to crucify him, he should crucify him. The person is put up on the wood and he is left there to bleed to death for three days
Abu Usamah condemns the Western interpretation of free speech, which means the Prophet can be insulted, but he can be censored
Abu Usamah: If I were to call homosexuals perverted, dirty, filthy dogs, that should be murdered, that’s my freedom of speech isn’t it? But they’ll say no, I’m not tolerant, but they feel that it’s OK to say something about the Prophet?
Our reporter has found these views being regularly preached at the head mosque of a major Muslim organisation

Green Lane Mosque, Birmingham, is the headquarters of the Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-hadith, a registered charity which runs over 40 mosques and branches as well as Islamic schools
It’s an influential affiliate of the Muslim Council of Britain, which has praised it as “a national body”, “respected for its educational and outreach programmes”
But our reporter secretly filmed Abu Usamah teaching that a “jihad” is coming against the unbelievers
Abu Usamah: Verily Allah going to bring a group of people that he loves and they love him, these people will who will be soft and kind to the believers and they will be rough and tough against the kuffaar, they will fight in the cause of Allah
I encourage all of you to be from amongst them, to begin to cultivate ourselves for the time that is fast approaching where the tables are going to turn and the Muslims are going to be in the position of being uppermost in strength, and when that happens, people won’t get killed – unjustly
After a few weeks, our reporter learns that Green Lane worshippers get regular religious instruction, direct from Saudi Arabia
Live, two-way video links are set up
Projected onto the wall is the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia
Caption: Saudi state television
He’s the country’s top religious leader– now being beamed live to worshippers in Birmingham
They ask questions through an interpreter, and get fatwas – religious rulings (CHK?)
By now, our reporter has become a regular at the mosque
The man who supervises the video links tells him they’ve recorded them
Man: We actually record them onto DVDs.
Reporter: You do?
Man: What we’ll do is, whatever the cost is of the DVDs you just contribute to that and it’s not a problem
And our reporter is given them
Man: These are the masters, whatever you want to do is fine
The DVDs show a Birmingham worshipper, who asks the Grand Mufti for a fatwa about understanding between Muslims and other religions
CAPTION: Saudi Broadcast, June 2006
Question: Some people say we shouldn’t call Christians and Jews kuffaar, and we should establish dialogue and good relations with them. What’s your answer to this?
His answer is uncompromising
Grand Mufti: This is not true. Jews and Christians who do not follow the Prophet Mohammed are kuffaar. They will go to hell
He says Muslims can’t help non-believers
Grand Mufti: Anyone who helps or defends an apostate, or a pagan, or an atheist, or anyone who attacks Islam, will be cursed
Green Lane Mosque is spreading a brand of Islam originating in Saudi Arabia – often known as Wahhabism
It’s a hardline theology, opposed by many British Muslims
Academic Dr Irfan Al Alawi investigates Wahhabism
He keeps his face hidden in interviews because of the dangers of his work
ASTON: Dr Irfan Al Alawi
Islamic Heritage Foundation
Dr Irfan Al Alawi: Wahhabis believe that you cannot show tolerance to other religions, so the religion of Islam has to rule the world. Green Lane in Birmingham, that mosque is one of the extreme Wahhabi centres in the UK
Caption: Saudi TV
Wahhabism is opposed to the traditional, tolerant beliefs of classical Islam, according to leading Muslim academic Abdal Hakim Murad
CAPTION: Abdal Hakim Murad
University of Cambridge
Hakim Murad: Its principle is totalitarian, it’s highly judgemental, it has no track record of dealing with other sorts of Islam or with unbelievers with any kind of respect. If you are outside the small circle of the true believers you are going to hell and therefore you should be treated with contempt
Non-believers are called “kaffirs” or “kuffaar”
It’s a term they use as an insult, according to moderate British Muslims like Dr Taj Hargey
ASTON: Dr Taj Hargey
Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford
Dr Taj Hargey: The word kaffir is a very pejorative, negative, disparaging term. When you call someone a kaffir, they are not worthy to be associated with. This kind of intolerance is something that gives rise to extremists
Many children were present at the Green Lane lectures our reporter filmed, where intolerance and bigotry were openly preached
In a DVD of a conference at Green Lane Mosque, a preacher called Sheikh Al-Jibali says Muslim children should be kept away from non-Muslims
Caption: Preparing to Stand Before Allah: Ahlus Sunnah Productions (2004)
Sheikh Al Jibali: What is sad to see is that many parents they send children to the kuffaar schools, they allow them to mix with the kuffaar, so that the lifestyle and beliefs of the kuffaar become deep rooted in the hearts of the kids
In a fatwa given in the video links, the Grand Mufti says children should be hit if they don’t pray
Saudi Broadcast, May 2006
Grand Mufti: Tell your children to pray when they are seven, and hit them when they are ten
The Ahl-e-hadith’s website directs readers to literature which says “Islam confers equal rights upon all”, regardless of sex
But in a crackly internet broadcast, Abu Usamah says women are “deficient”
Green Lane Internet broadcast
Abu Usamah: Allah has created the woman, even if she gets a Phd, deficient. Her intellect is incomplete, deficient. She may be suffering from hormones that will make her emotional. It takes two witnesses of a woman to equal the one witness of the man
Saudi-based clerics in the video links preach male supremacy
Caption: Saudi broadcast May 2006
Sheikh: Khunayn: Men are in charge of women. Wherever he goes she should follow him and she shouldn’t be allowed leave the house without his permission
Sheikh Al Jibali says the hijab must be enforced on young girls, if necessary with violence
Caption: Preparing to Stand Before Allah: Ahlus Sunnah Productions (2004)
Al Jibali:. By the age of ten, it becomes an obligation on us to force her to wear hijab, and if she doesn’t wear hijab, we hit her
Our reporter secretly filmed this preacher, Dr Bilal Philips, giving religious rulings at Green Lane
In a speech in the mosque, which was also broadcast in its internet chatroom, he claims marrying off a girl before puberty is permissible
He claims the Prophet Mohammed married a nine year old girl, so it’s permissible now
Dr Bilal Philips: The Prophet Mohammed practically outlined the rules regarding marriage prior to puberty, with his practice he clarified what is permissible and that is why we shouldn’t have any issues about an older man marrying a younger woman, which is looked down upon by this society today, but we know that Prophet Mohammed practised it, it wasn’t abuse or exploitation, it was marriage
RIGHT TO REPLY LIKELY FROM DR PHILIPS
Abu Usamah quotes what he says are the words of a companion of the Prophet, on the Islamic punishment for homosexuality
Abu Usamah: Do you practise homosexuality with men? Take that homosexual man and throw him off the mountain
And in a DVD, he attacks the idea of gay rights
DVD: Preparing to Stand Before Allah: Ahlus Sunnah Productions (2004)
Abu Usamah: They have given them unprecedented rights, so that your child can be exposed and introduced to lesbians. Now they say, if you discriminate against them, you are going to jail
He says Muslims should discriminate
Abu Usamah: We’ll discriminate, but we’ll discriminate in a way where we don’t get in trouble. The Muslim is a dentist and one of those people comes I’m going to take a big needle and stick it in his gum
Then he says it’s a joke, as it might get the mosque in trouble
Abu Usamah: They’ll take this and get us all in trouble
On the anniversary of the 7th of July bombings, a speech by Abu Usamah was broadcast in the Green Lane chatroom, condemning terrorism
Green Lane Internet Broadcast
Abu Usamah: We want to make an official statement here, no way are we in agreement to what took place last year on this day in the kuffaar calendar
But he does believe in jihad
Abu Usamah: But in saying that, we do not apologise for any aspect of this religion, there is jihad in Islam. What’s most beloved and favourite thing to Allah? Jihad in the Way of Allah
He says the real jihad will come when the senior Islamic clerics declare it – and prays it will come soon
Abu Usamah: We ask Allah to bring about the means and the ways in which the Muslims will get the power and the honour of repelling the oppression of the kuffaar, where we can go out and perform the jihad. We ask Allah to bring that time, so we can be participants in that
Abu Usamah he told us: “Islam allows for any Muslim to peacefully coexist here in the UK with non-Muslims even though the UK is not an Islamic society
He said he had made it clear that it is a religious duty on all Muslims to obey UK law and the carrying out of Islamic law could only be done in an actual Islamic state
He said: “Homosexuality is an abomination against Allah and all mankind and I will never condone it. Even though this is the case, I do not believe in disobeying the law when it comes to the way people deal with homosexuals.”

A hardline message, influenced by Saudi Arabian clerics, is preached at Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham
An imam from the mosque has helped advise the government
Abdul Hadi sat on a government taskforce on extremism, set up after the 7th of July bombings
He was part of its working group on combating extremism in mosques and imams
DVD: Preparing to Stand Before Allah: Ahlus Sunnah Productions (2004)
Yet this DVD shows he took part in a Green Lane conference in which other speakers urged Muslims to discriminate against homosexuals and hit girls who don’t wear the hijab
He seemed to have no worries at the extremism of the message
Abdul Hadi: It is very hard to conclude such a beautiful programme, but we have to
The head of the working group on mosques and imams was Lord Nazir Ahmed, Britain’s first Muslim peer
He’s previously praised Green Lane Mosque
In an interview with BBC radio in 2003, he named it as his favourite spiritual place in the country
Cap: Favourite Spiritual Places July 2003
Lord Ahmed: Number 20, Green Lane, Birmingham, is my favourite spiritual place
He said he’d worshipped there
Lord Ahmed: This is the most amazing place. When I walk into the mosque, I feel I am entering the biggest palace on earth
Lord Ahmed recently said he would ask the Lord Chancellor to meet an organisation called the Islamic Shari’ah Council, including its Secretary General, a preacher called Sheikh Suhaib Hasan
The meeting would be to discuss the introduction of Islamic divorce laws into the UK constitution
Undercover filming at Green Lane
Our reporter filmed Sheikh Hasan speaking at Green Lane
He’s a senior imam at a major mosque in East London, and a former President of the Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-hadith
In a speech downloaded from his mosque website, he proclaims the supremacy of Muslims in encounters with the non-believers
Masjid Al Tawhid internet broadcast
NO SUBTITLES
Sh Hasan: And Allah made the words of the kuffaar dung/down and the words of the believers supreme (footnote for the press – HE SAYS IT IS DOWN, NOT DUNG)
In speeches on other Islamic websites, he predicts the coming of an Islamic state
Suhaib Hasan: True Understanding of the Khilaafah
Sh Hasan: Allah has decreed this thing, that I am going to be dominant, the dominance of course is a political dominance
The Islamic state he predicts will have a single, lifelong ruler with no opposition parties or elections and it will bring in a strict version of Islamic law
Sh Hasan: The chopping of the hands of the thieves, the flogging of the adulterers and flogging of the drunkards
Then this state will launch jihad
Sh Hasan: Then jihad against the non-Muslims, against those people who are the oppressors
Sheikh Hasan told us that the word “kuffaar” was “not a racist or discriminatory term when heard in its Quranic sense”
He said he’d stated many times that the re-establishment of a “single Islamic state”, would be peaceful
He said he had often praised the British welfare state, its judicial, health and education systems
He said: “I have never promoted any form of extremism, whether religious or otherwise”

Lord Ahmed told us that Green Lane Mosque was one of many mosques he visited
He said: “It would be ludicrous to suggest that by visiting an institution I become responsible for, or aware of, every word spoken at that establishment
He said he had asked for the meeting with the Lord Chancellor on behalf of all Muslims, and said he was not aware of all the views held by Sheikh Hasan
Next, we investigate claims that radicalism, linked to the Saudi religious establishment has spread across the country
…. even reaching into Britain’s biggest and most mainstream mosque

PART TWO
A Dispatches reporter investigated one of Britain’s biggest and most mainstream mosques
Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham
uncovering a fundamentalist ideology emanating from the Saudi religious establishment
He found it promoting male supremacy
Abu Usamah: Allah has created the woman deficient
Green Lane preacher: If she doesn’t wear hijab, we hit her
Condemning non-Muslims
Abu Usamah: We hate the kuffaar, we do not give obedience to the kuffaar
and predicting a future jihad
Abu Usamah: The tables are going to turn, and the Muslims are going to be in a position of being uppermost in strength
Now he was to discover how preachers trained in Saudi Arabia are spreading the same message around the country
Last summer, a two-week Islamic Studies course was arranged at the mosque, and our reporter was accepted onto it
It was to be taught by clerics, flown specially from the University of Medinah, in Saudi Arabia
But then it was cancelled at short notice
Our reporter went to their office to find out more
The preacher Abu Usamah tells him what the aim of the course was
Abu Usamah: From what I know is, people were going to come and teach the course from Saudi Arabia. Part of the programme was, the students who did good like the first three or top five students, would get a scholarship to go. That was part of the conditions they had agreed with the Professors who are coming, because the Professors are from the university
Reporter: Of Medinah?
Abu Usamah: Yes
The most devout worshippers at Green Lane are being offered scholarships to Saudi religious universities
Abu Usamah: It’s for people like you
The aim is to train new preachers, according to Dr Irfan Al Alawi, who keeps his face hidden in interviews
Dr Al Alawi: Medinah University is a very hardcore Wahhabi institution. Over the years they have been giving bursaries to students from United Kingdom and throughout the world to recruit students to be brainwashed, then they are trained to go abroad and teach their poison and inject it into others
Medinah graduates are now spreading the word in mosques up and down the UK
Like Dr Bilal Philips, who says marrying girls before they reach puberty is permissible
.…. Sheikh Suhaib Hasan, who preaches a future Muslim supremacy
……. and Abu Usamah himself
Hakim Murad: This is one of the most important items I think on the Saudi radical agenda, to push out the more hospitable types of religious leadership and replace them with firebrands, trained and programmed in the major Saudi universities
Our reporter finds that Saudi-trained preachers are being promoted in DVDs and CDs throughout the UK
He found typical examples being sold in the car park at Green Lane Mosque
Children are buying them
And the stalls are manned by local kids
Reporter: Salamu aleikum brother
Reporter: Thank you brother
He buys a DVD of Sheikh Feiz, another Medinah-trained preacher
Reporter: Thank-you brother
- in which he preaches jihad
Cap: Death Series: Islam Productions
Sheikh Feiz: The peak, the pinnacle, the crest, the highest point, the pivot, the summit, of Islam, is jihad
He criticises Muslim parents who don’t want their children to learn this
Sh Feiz: Today, many parents, they prevent their children from attending lessons, why? They fear they might create or place in their hearts, the love, just a bit of love, of sacrificing their lives for Allah.
We want to have children and offer them as soldiers defending Islam. Teach them this, there is nothing more beloved to me than wanting to die as a mujahid, put in their soft tender hearts the zeal of jihad and the love of martyrdom
The Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-hadith, who run Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham told us it was “committed to promoting interfaith dialogue and political harmony in our society”
Scholars from many different backgrounds spoke at its mosque, and we had quoted many out of context
It had not known what each speaker would say beforehand and did not necessarily agree with everything that may have been said
It said the word kuffaar was a neutral term, and said:
“We reject the assertion …. that we are influenced by and teach an extreme version of Islam…We accept the rule of law and we treat our non-Muslim neighbours with respect.”
It said Islamic punishments are an effective deterrent in Islamic societies

The most notorious convert to preach in Britain was Sheikh Al Faisal, who studied Islam at Riyadh University
He circulated his own tapes, urging followers to kill and to plant bombs, and was jailed for inciting racial hatred
Al Faisal cassette: You have to bomb the Indian businesses, and as for the Jews you kill them physically
In an interview with the BBC, Al Faisal claimed that he learned his anti-Semitic views from his university training in Saudi Arabia
El Faisal: I learned at University that the Holocaust was orchestrated in order that the Jews will establish a homeland in Arab territories
The war to convert is waged on the internet
This website says it’s run by an Islamic charity, which is based in Saudi Arabia
It directs readers to a fatwa website, which says it’s supervised by a Saudi scholar
Readers can email in questions and get religious rulings
The rulings say Muslims in the West must have “an attitude of enmity and hatred of the kaffirs …. all of the kuffaar are the enemies of the Muslims”…
Jihad –“ pursuing the kaafirs in their lands…. and fighting them if they do not … submit to the rule of Islam” – is a “communal obligation” on Muslims
…. “men are superior to women and are better than women” and husbands can hit their wives – though only lightly
……. it recommends “prodding with the fist”

DVDs, books and the internet are all ways that the message is spread, according to Saudi expert Mai Yamani
Caption: Mai Yamani
Saudi analyst
Mai Yamani: Since the 1980s, there has been an increase in the export of Wahhabi teachings to the Muslim world, from Kosovo to Jakarta, and to the United States and Great Britain, supercharged with oil money
They sent in money for teachers, for schools, they printed books, they educated imams, so it is like a wave of teachings hitting at the shores of Western countries
Islamic bookshops in Britain are offered free literature
Hakim Murad: A number of bookshops known to me have actually gone out of business because they have been undercut by the more fundamentalist literature being supplied for free by Saudi Arabia
Dr Taj Hargey set up the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford to promote an Islam of tolerance and peaceful co-existence
He’s opposed to Saudi influence over British Muslim life
Dr Hargey: The Saudi funding of British Muslim institutions come from a variety of official, semi-official and private sources, in addition to government funding through the Ministry of Religious Affairs and other government agencies.
Money from Saudi has even reached the most famous mosque in Europe
London Central Mosque, better known as Regent’s Park Mosque, is the most recognisable symbol of moderate, mainstream Muslim life in Britain
It says it acts on behalf of the whole Muslim community in dealing with the government
The Saudi monarchy gave two million pounds to help build it, and in the 1990s, they built its educational and administrative wing
Wajid Shamsul Hasan was a trustee of the mosque in the 1990s, in his capacity as the Pakistan High Commissioner to Britain
He had concerns about the direction the mosque was taking
Aston: Wajid Shamsul Hasan
Trustee 1994-1996
Wajid: The Islam that I personally would like to follow is liberal Islam. This is a centre where 5,000 people once in a week gather, it should be a cradle for the promotion of liberal Islam, but unfortunately, because of the predominant Saudi influence and Saudi money that comes in, it is supportive of Wahhabism
Caption: Undercover filming
The mosque’s official bookshop is run by a company called Darussalam
It’s a British company, but it’s linked to Darussalam Publications - a global publishing house, whose head office is in Saudi Arabia
Our reporter visited – and bought another video of Sheikh Feiz, the Saudi-trained preacher – condemning the non-believer
Caption: Signs of the Hour: Islam Productions
Feiz: Kaffir, the worst word that can ever be written, a sign of infidelity, disbelief, filth, a sign of dirt!
He calls Jews “pigs” who will be killed when the end of the world comes
Feiz: This creature will say Oh Muslim behind me is the Jew come and kill him. They will be (snorting), all of them, every single one of them
Regular interfaith meetings with other religions take place at this mosque
Yet in a DVD bought from its bookshop, a British-based convert called Sheikh Khalid Yasin, who studied Arabic in Saudi Arabia, condemns the teachings of other religions
Cap: Changing the World Through Da’wah: IBC Ltd/1Islam Productions
Yasin: We don't need to go to the Christians or the Jews debating with them about the filth which they believe. We Muslims have been ordered to do brainwashing because the kuffaar they are doing brain defiling. You are watching the kaffir TV and your wife is watching it right now and your children are watching it and they are being polluted and they are being penetrated and they are being infected, so that you come out of the house and your children come out of the house as Muslims and come back as kaffirs
Cap: London Central Mosque website
In this DVD from the mosque bookshop, he preaches against the equality of women
Cap: Some Advice to the Muslim Women: 1 Islam Productions
Sh Yasin: This whole delusion of the equality of women is a bunch of foolishness…. There’s no such thing
In this DVD, he claims AIDS is a Western and Christian plot
Cap: Jihad or Terrorism?: Ahlussunnah wal Jama’ah
Yasin: Missionaries from the World Health Organisation and Christian groups went into Africa and inoculated people for diphtheria, malaria, yellow fever and they put in the medicine the AIDS virus, which is a conspiracy
The mosque bookshop sells speeches by the Green Lane Mosque preacher, Abu Usamah
In this one, he says Muslims and non-Muslims cannot coexist
Cap: Natural Disasters: WISE Islamic Centre
Abu Usamah: The fire of the Muslim and the non-Muslim, they cannot co-exist, one of them is going to impact the other. The non-Muslims have the authority, and they have the power, their lifestyle is going to impact upon the Muslims. Because the good and the bad, they do not co-exist
And they sell audio CDs of Murtaza Khan, a preacher who speaks in many UK mosques
He’s also an Islamic Studies teacher at Al Noor Muslim Primary School in Essex
In this CD from the mosque, he claims the Koran condemns Jews and Christians
CD: Time to Return to the Quran: Knowledge Books and Audio
Murtaza Khan: Those whom the wrath of Allah is upon, is the Jews, is the Christians
And he criticises Muslims who follow their ways
Murtaza Khan: We have become Jews in our clothing, Jews in our eating, Jews in everything that we do, and the other half is Christian in everything we do. Muslims are following one of these accursed nations. And people are still not waking up to understand the fact that these people are enemies towards us
He says Muslims should become doctors, so women don’t have to go to non-Muslim doctors
Murtaza Khan: We should have a sense of shame. For how long have we seen our mothers, our sisters, and our daughters have to go and uncover themselves before these filthy non-Muslim doctors?
Murtaza Khan told us: “My discourses have never been delivered with the intent to malign any individual/group or race. They are delivered to inspire Muslims to better themselves and then to play a positive role for their own and wider community in Britain.”

Al Noor Muslim Primary School told us: “We can confirm that Mr M. Khan is employed as a teacher at Al-Noor Primary School and can also categorically state that the alleged remarks .. do not reflect the views of this educational establishment. No extreme or discriminatory views are expressed or taught at our school by any of our teachers”

Darussalam International Publications Ltd, which runs the mosque bookshop, told us it sells a wide range of material and did not necessarily agree with it
It said it was “totally unfair” to blame them for the views expressed in the lectures

The current director general of Regents Park Mosque, Dr Al Dubayan, is from Saudi Arabia
A recent employment tribunal concerning a sex discrimination complaint at the mosque revealed that they had no jurisdiction over Dr Al Dubayan, because he’s actually a serving Saudi diplomat
Dr Hargey: It’s scandalous. The director general of this mosque is a Saudi diplomat, he leads the largest and most prestigious mosque in this country.
Dr Al Dubayan told us his diplomatic status had been extended to him as a courtesy by the Saudi Arabian government following his appointment
He said the mosque bookshop was run independently and he was seriously concerned to hear that inappropriate materials may be on offer
The materials had been removed immediately until it was ascertained whether they were “damaging to the principles of tolerance, multiculturalism and equal rights.”
He said: “It is simply not true that the London Central Mosque has become dominated by the influence of Saudi Arabia and its religious teachings”

The Saudi government says it’s cracked down on clerics who preach extremism
It says it does everything it can to “confront and combat extremism”
It’s a major ally of Britain
Caption: May 2006
Jack Straw: We proclaim our shared attachment to civilisation and to the basic human values, of respect, of dialogue and freedom
Haras Rafiq heads the Sufi Muslim Council, which promotes a tolerant Islam and is opposed to the spread of radical teachings
Haras Rafiq: A lot of these institutions that are set up by and funded by Wahhabis and their offshoots, are teaching Muslims youngsters to be isolationist, are teaching Muslim youngsters to be segregationalist, are teaching Muslim youngsters that America and Britain are against them and therefore they need to get up against them and fight against them or struggle against them
Hakim Murad: Some Wahhabis believe that this is how the West is to be brought down, by spreading Wahhabism in the heart of the West’s cities.
Next, we find radicalism, openly preached at a major mosque run by an organisation praised by Tony Blair for its support for multiculturalism and interfaith

PART THREE
A Dispatches reporter has uncovered a message of bigotry and intolerance spreading through Britain from the Saudi religious establishment
Sheikh Feiz: We want to have children and offer them as soldiers, put in their soft, tender hearts, the zeal of jihad
Now he was to find more radical speakers, preaching in a mosque run by a major organisation praised by Tony Blair for its interfaith work

While filming undercover, our reporter met this preacher - Dr Ijaz Mian
He’s a travelling speaker, who talks at different organisations in Britain
Our reporter filmed his talk at a mosque run by the Ahl-e-hadith organisation in Derby
It’s the same organisation that runs Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham, which our reporter found promoting extreme teachings
Dr Mian praises the Saudi religious police, saying they can imprison people for not praying
Dr Mian: They send the police, and they say, well, if you don’t come for prayer, close your shop, we will arrest you But if you don’t, then we have to bring the punishment on you, you will be killed, and nobody will pray on you
Dr Mian is yet another UK preacher who was taught in Saudi Arabia
He spent six years studying Islam at Ibn Saud University in Riyadh
He wants to see religious police operating on the street
Dr Mian: They would make sure that every person prays to Allah, five times. Every woman will be covered properly, hijab, otherwise the police will just collect them
He has a radical plan for this country
Muslims shouldn’t accept British democracy
Dr Mian: King, Queen, House of Commons. If you accept it, you are a part of it. You don’t accept it, you have to dismantle it. So you being a Muslim you have to fix a target, there will be no House of Commons. From that White House to this Black House, we know that we have to dismantle it
Muslims must grow in strength then take over
Dr Mian: You are in a situation in which you have to live like a state within a state, until you take over. But until this happens, you have to preach, until you become such a force that the people they just submit to you, hands up, until you become strong enough to take over
It’s an extreme vision – that Muslims will one day take over Britain and bring about an Islamic state with sharia law
Dr Mian invites our reporter to visit Birmingham, where he’s based
Dr Mian: We can come to you, you can come to us
He takes him up on the offer and a few weeks later they meet in Birmingham
Dr Mian takes him to Sparkbrook Islamic Centre, where he wants to arrange a talk
The centre is run by the UK Islamic Mission -- a major organisation dedicated to interfaith work
This is their annual conference last year in Birmingham
It runs over 45 mosques and branches in Britain and has 6,000 children in its part-time Islamic schools
The Prime Minister has said the UKIM “is extremely valued by the government”, particularly for its “multi-faith and multicultural activities"
Caption: UKIM website
Yet despite his radical views, Dr Mian has worked with the UKIM and given talks at its events
At their annual conference, he was a guest on stage
Today, he’s making a presentation to the UKIM committee at the Sparkbrook Islamic Centre
He suggests that the committee invites a small group of non-Muslims to the mosque and tries to convert them
Dr Mian: Every kaffir has a right to Islam
He says Muslims cannot accept non-Muslim rule
Dr Mian: You cannot accept the rule of the kaffir. We have to rule ourselves and we have to rule the others
Although his radical beliefs are obvious, the UKIM committee is happy to go ahead with his talk
UKIM man: If we invite people, would you be available to speak to them?
Dr Mian: Of course, this is my full time duty
UKIM Man: We will organise it
The UKIM hosts regular interfaith events at this mosque
Yet when our reporter joined the worshippers at Sparkbrook for a Friday sermon – he heard the UKIM imam preaching against non-Muslims
Preacher: God, help us win the fight against the kuffaar, in every field, in every department of life. We beg you to help us fight against the enemies of our religion. Help us fight the kuffaar
The UKIM runs dawah, or missionary centres, which spread the word
Our reporter visits one of them, at Alum Rock Islamic Centre, in Birmingham, to see what kind of materials they circulate
Reporter: Is the dawah centre open upstairs?
Dawah man: Yes, what do you want?
Reporter: I’m looking for some books
Man: yes, yes
He’s given some free leaflets
Man: Yes this one. If you start with these, these are easy to understand, for everybody who doesn’t know anything about Islam
They’re by a Pakistani religious leader called Sayyid Mawdudi
He was the founder of a fundamentalist political party in Pakistan called Jamaat-Islami
The UKIM literature outlines his radical message
Pamphlet: “Islam is a revolutionary ideology which seeks to alter the social order of the entire world”
Muslims form an “International Revolutionary Party”
The pamphlets contain some of the ideas that Dr Mian preaches …..
that Muslims must work towards doing away with all non-Islamic governments, and set up an Islamic state
The party Mawdudi founded, the Jamaat Islami, has links to the Saudi religious establishment
Although it stands in Pakistani elections, its aim is to set up an Islamic state run by shari’a law
Protesters: Long Live shari’a constitution!
The man who runs the missionary centre in Birmingham says the UKIM is an independent organisation, with its own objectives
… but he says they follow the same ideology as the Jamaat Islami
Man: ideologically we are affiliated to Jamaat Islami
Reporter: It’s the same ideology?
Man: Yeah you can say that, it’s the same ideology
He claims the UKIM shares the same ideology with other fundamentalist organisations, like Hamas in Palestine, and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt
Bookshop man: Some are in Pakistan, some are in Egypt, wherever they are their ideology is the same, so you can say our ideology is the same with them
Our reporter finds the UKIM accepts money from Saudi sheikhs
Every week at its Sparkbrook mosque, a list of donors is read out
Speaker: Saudi Arabian Professor Sheikh
Caption: August 2006
Our reporter attended a day of talks, arranged at the UKIM’s Sparkbrook mosque
When we contacted the UKIM, they said they had hired their centre out to another organisation, who arranged this event
In public, the UKIM has told Muslims they can participate in British democracy, and it invited politicians to its annual conference last summer in Birmingham
Rob Marris, Labour MP: I’m here as a friend of Islam and as a Labour politician
But in the day of talks in their mosque, invited preachers condemned democracy
Speaker: Today we find ourselves bearing the brunt of a pervasive attack against Islam, trying to win the hearts and minds of Muslims over to become advocates and supporters of a democratic system
Never will the Jews and Christians be happy with you until you follow their way, and their system and their way of life. Call the people to avoid and renounce the way of the Jews and the Christians, which is the way of freedom, which is the way of equality, which is the way of democracy
The next speaker is introduced as the deputy headmaster of Darul Uloom Islamic High School, a single faith secondary school in Birmingham
The government has urged single faith schools to promote “tolerance … inclusion … and understanding between different sections of society”
Deputy head: They talk about integration, there is an overt as well as a covert plan, a programme, they talk about you need to integrate, if you don’t you are a freak, you’re strange, there’s something wrong with you, like if you have something against homosexuality, they’ve got a name to call you now, you’re a homophobic man there is something wrong with you, not with this gay – sorry homosexual. Which part of this society are we supposed to take and adopt as our life, which one?
His criticism of Western society even extended to democracy itself
Deputy head: And they’ve got all these people, all these organisations talking about it, let’s be “democratic”. And I disagree with using the word democracy. They should call it according to the Islamic understanding of the word, which is kuffrocracy, kuffrocracy that’s their plan. It’s the hidden, cancerous aim of these people

Darul Uloom School told us that the deputy headmaster had left the school after this speech was made and said his views and opinions did not represent those of the school
It said: “We` promote the view that students should integrate and become good and upright citizens of this country”
The UKIM works with the police and invited officers to its annual conference
Police officer: I take huge comfort from the really positive messages from the Muslim community
But in the event which they allowed at their Sparkbrook mosque, another invited speaker said Muslims can’t join the police
Speaker: Is it correct, is it viable, to join the police? How can you be implementing the laws of kufr? It means a rejection of the concept of democracy, rejecting the entirety of the system
He mentions a Muslim who joined the British Army and was killed fighting the Taliban last summer
Speaker: There was an individual who was killed in Afghanistan recently - what was his name? His name was a Muslim name you know what they’d written in a tabloid newspaper? Hero of Islam!
A hero of Islam who went into the Muslim Afghanistan to kill Muslims. Why? Because they are implementing Islam
Then, he praises the Taliban fighters who killed him
The hero of Islam is the one who separated his head from his shoulders.
((((((IN LIEU OF THEIR STATEMENT TO COME, taken from the Oberver RTR and our letter)))))
The UKIM told us its Sparkbrook hall had been available for hire and said: “Some of the organisations that hired it allowed some speakers with views that are not our own. No more external groups will be allowed to hire our community hall at Sparkbrook”
It said the UK Islamic Mission has no organic links with Jamaa’t-e-Islami in Pakistan or any other Islamic party or society overseas
It said the UKIM believed in “genuine plurality, multiculturalism, universal human rights, cultural diversity

Dr Mian told us that he did not advocate that Islam would be forced upon anyone, and said we had not quoted his many speeches condemning terrorism and the killing of innocent people

Our investigation has uncovered religious bigotry and intolerance spreading from the Saudi religious establishment through major, mainstream British organisations
Haras Rafiq: The radicalising power of this ideology is extremely dangerous. We are losing our children to extremists
Hakim Murad: I regard what the Saudis are doing in the ghettoes of British Islam as potentially lethal for the future of the community

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#undercover_mosques_transcripts [NOTE: This was as sighted on the Internet on 08 Nov 2007.]
[COMMENT: Contrast the explanations given by these groups, with the actual words of their teachings. Their teachings follow their rulebooks. COMMENT ENDS.] [Jan 15, 07]
• Undercover mosque -- No 1 of Undercover Mosque series

Undercover mosque
No. 1 of Dispatches, Undercover Mosque series

   UK Channel 4, Dispatches, www.channel4. com/news/ dispatches/ , as displayed on YouTube at www.youtube. com/watch? v=peFQ Wuk4nuo , Number 1 of 6, January 15, 2007
   (ALSO, see a transcript and 16 comments at: http://mpacuk. org:80/content/ view/3266/34/ .)
   BIRMINGHAM:
   Presenter (a woman): Tonight on Dispatches … an ideology of bigotry and intolerance spreading through Britain with its roots in Saudi Arabia.
   Male: We Muslims have been ordered to do brainwashing.
   Presenter: On women's rights.
   Male: Allah has created the woman deficient.
   Male (in white long headgear): If she doesn't wear hijab we hit her.
   Presenter: Gay rights.
   Male: Take that homosexual man and throw him off the mountain.
   Presenter: Living in a multicultural society
   Male: You have to live like a state within a state until you take over.
   Presenter: And holy war. (0:33)
   Male: The pinnacle, the crest, the summit of Islam is jihad.
   (Black screen shows words Dispatches; Undercover Mosque    in white)
   Presenter: A Dispatches investigation has uncovered a fundamentalist message spreading from the Saudi Arabian religious establishment through mosques run by major UK [United Kingdom] organisations which claim to be dedicated to moderation and to dialogue with other faiths. Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham is a high-profile mosque and … receives theological guidance from Saudi Arabia. Our reporter/s went undercover last summer joining thousands of worshippers staying anonymous. The theme of today's lecture is Don't believe in the arrests of alleged terrorists (12 August 2006) without proof as non-Muslims are liars.
   Preacher: I don't believe 'em because they are kuffaar and lying is part of their religion.
   Presenter: "Kuffaar" is an Arabic word meaning a nonbeliever, an infidel.
   Preacher: Those kuffaar they do whatever they want to do.
   Presenter: It's a term our reporter was to hear repeatedly being used in a derogatory way
   Preacher: They are liars. They are terrorists themselves. Liars. They will come before the people and talk and they are lying. You can't believe 'em. These are pathological liars.
   Presenter: Green Lane Mosque calls itself a centre for interfaith communication [showing picture of internet webpage text] welcoming people of all religions. But our reporter filmed there over four months and found this [?] speaker Abu Asama was their main English-language preacher. He says Christians and Jews [2:22] are enemies to Muslims.
   Preacher: It has come to pass that the Christians and the Jews … America, the UK, France, Germany. They have come against the religion of Islam. Why give up your religion and your long legacy of Islam to please someone who is an enemy to you?
   Presenter: Abu Asama is an American convert, and a very popular speaker at Green Lane. He preaches against non-Muslim laws.
   Preacher: We want our Islam and our laws to be practised. We want to do away with the man-made laws.
   Presenter: And says British popular culture is a threat.
   Preacher: The popular culture … If you are a person who gives yourself to that, your mind is going to be controlled by the so-called powers that be who make these man-made laws. (3:09)
   Presenter: Green Lane's OFFICIAL website says the mosque is designed to counter the negative publicity and stereotyping of Islam, but after a few weeks our reporter was told by fellow-worshippers how to access another, much more difficult to find, website. It's run by Green Lane Mosque, and broadcasts Abu Asama's speeches live to a small band of listeners. He says Muslims should obey British laws and contracts if they don't contradict Islam, but he condemns nonbelievers.
   Preacher: No-one loves the kuffaar. No-one loves the kuffaar. Not a single person here from the Muslims loves the kuffaar. Whether those kuffaar are from the UK or from the US. We love the people of Islam; we hate the people of kufr, we hate the kuffaar.
   Presenter: Filmed undercover, he says he doesn't agree with the violent actions of Muslim terrorists, but he prefers them to non-Muslims.
   Preacher: (Regarding Osama Bin Laden) …but at the same time he is closer to me than those criminals …
   He is better than a million George Bushes, Osama Bin Ladin, he is better than a thousand Tony Blairs, because he's a Muslim.
   Presenter: The mosque films some of Abu Asama's preaching and they are sold locally as DVDs. In this one, he says that even Muslims who don't follow their strict rules can be ostracised as kaffirs.
   Preacher: If you leave off the prayer out of negligence, then you are kaffir. If he dies like that, you have to bury him with the kuffaar. You can't marry him.
   Presenter: He preaches an ideal Islamic state.
   Preacher: Muslims shouldn't be satisfied with living in other than the total Islamic state.
   Presenter: His vision of the Islamic state includes extreme punishments, as he outlines in this DVD.
   Preacher: Whoever changes his religion from El Islam to anything else, kill him in the Islamic state.
   Presenter: The religious leader, or imam, can decide the punishment.
   Preacher: If the imam wants to crucify him, he should crucify him. The person is put up on the wood, and he's left there to bleed to death for three days.
   Presenter: Abu Asama condemns Western interpretations of free speech, which means the Prophet can be insulted, but HE can be censored.
   Preacher: If I was to call homosexuals perverted, dirty filthy dogs, that should be murdered, that's my freedom of speech, isn't it? They'll say no, I'm not tolerant. But they feel that it's okay to say something about the Prophet.
   Presenter: Our reporter has heard these views being regularly preached at the head mosque of a major Muslim organisation. Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham is the headquarters of the powerful Jamiat Aleh Habeeb, a British charity which runs over 40 UK mosques and branches, as well as part-time Islamic schools. It's an influential affiliate of the Muslim Council of Britain, which has praised it as a national body respected for its educational outreach programmes. But our reporter secretly filmed Abu Asama teaching that a jihad is coming against the unbelievers.
   Preacher: Verily Allah is going to bring a group of people that he loves and they love him. These people will be soft and kind to the believers, but they'll be rough and tough against the kuffaar. They will fight in the cause of Allah. … the time that is fastly approaching where the tables are going to turn and the Muslims are going to be in a position of being uppermost in strength. And when that happens people won't get killed - unjustly.
   Presenter: After a few weeks our reporter learnt that Green Lane worshippers get regular religious instruction direct from Saudi Arabia. Live two-way video links are set up. Projected onto the wall is the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia. His country's top religious leader is now being beamed live to worshippers in Birmingham. They ask questions through an interpreter, and get fatwas -- religious rulings. By now our reporter had become a regular at the mosque. The man who … the video link told him that they recorded them.
   Voice: We actually record all of them on DVDs.
   Reporter: You do?
   Voice: Yes. So what we'll do is, you know, where the cost of the DVD is, whatever, you just, you know, contribute to our … okay?
   Presenter: And our reporter is given them.
   Voice: … Whatever you are going to do, whatever.
   Presenter: The DVDs show a Birmingham worshipper who asks the Grand Mufti for a fatwa about understanding between Muslims and other religions.
   Arabic question: …
   Translator: Some people say shouldn't call Christians and Jews kuffaar. We should establish good relations with them. What is your answer to this?
   Presenter: His answer is uncompromising.
   Grand Mufti: (Arabic sentences)
   Translator: This is not true. Jews and Christians who do not follow the Prophet Mohammed are kuffaar. They will go to hell.
   Presenter: He says Muslims can't help non-believers.
   Grand Mufti: (Crackling start to Arabic sentences)
   Translators: Anyone who helps or defends an apostate, or a pagan, or an atheist, or anyone who attacks Islam, will be cursed.
   Presenter: Green Lane Mosque is spreading a brand of Islam originating in Saudi Arabia, often known as Wahhabism. It's a hardline theology, opposed by many British Muslims. Academic Dr Erfan Al-Alawi investigates Wahhabism. He keeps his face hidden because of the dangers of his work.
   Dr Al-Alawi: Wahhabis believe you can NOT show tolerance to other religions. So, the religion of Islam has to rule the world. Green Lane in Birmingham - that mosque is one of the extreme Wahhabi centres in the UK.
   (Arabic chant)
   Presenter: Wahhabism is opposed to the traditional tolerant belief of classical Islam, according to leading Muslim academic Abdul Hakim Murak,
   Murak: Its principle is totalitarian. It's highly judgemental. They have no track record of dealing with other sorts of Islam, or with unbelievers, with any kind of respect. If you are outside the small circle of "the true believers" you will go to hell, and therefore you should be treated with contempt.

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#undercover_mosque    [RECAPITULATION: Wahhabism is opposed to the traditional tolerant belief of classical Islam … ENDS.]
   [KORAN: 5:33 (or 5:37):- The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His apostle and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement.
   48:16:- …Ye shall do battle with them, or they shall profess Islam. … DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [HADITH: Vol. 2, Bk. 19, No. 173 (Bukhari's collection):- […] Later on, I saw him killed as a non-believer.
   2, 23:414:- Narrated 'Urwa: ‘Āisha said, "The Prophet in his fatal illness said, 'Allah cursed the Jews and the Christians because they took the graves of their Prophets as places for praying'." … GUIDELINE ENDS.]
   [COMPLAINT: An English regional police force was asked to investigate the anti-community sentiments allegedly spoken by the preachers. Instead, they reported Channel 4 Dispatches to some authority akin to "thought police." To read more about this, visit www.islamophobia- watch.com /display/Search? searchQuery= undercover+ mosque& moduleId= 1290238. ENDS.]
   [REPLY: Dispatches Undercover Mosque Reply by Dr. Bilal Philips: www.youtube. com/watch? v=eqH7 NNTvhq U&mode= related& search= . ENDS.] [No. 1, Jan 15, 07]
• [No opposition parties or elections under a life-long ruler.] -- No 2 of Undercover Mosque

[No opposition parties or elections under a life-long ruler]
No. 2 of Undercover Mosque

   UK Channel 4, Dispatches, www.channel4. com/news/ dispatches/ , as displayed on YouTube at www.youtube. com/watch?v= MuCLC8 kjWCI , Number 2 of 6, January 15, 2007
   BRITAIN:
   [Kaffir, kuffaar, intolerance]
   Presenter: Non-believers are called kaffirs, or kuffaar. It is a term they use as an insult, according to moderate British Muslims like Dr Taj Madril
   Dr Madril: The word "kaffir" is a very pejorative, negative, disparaging term. When you call someone a kaffir they are not worthy to be associated with. This kind of intolerance is something that gives rise to extremists.
   [Children not to mix, and to be forced to pray]
   Presenter: Many children were present at the Green Lane lectures our reporter filmed, where intolerance and bigotry were openly preached. In a DVD of the conference at Green Lane Mosque, a preacher called Sheik Al-Jibali says Muslim children should be kept away from non-Muslims.
   Preacher: … children to the kuffaar school, they allow them to mix with the kuffaar, so that …
   Presenter: In a fatwa given in the video link, the Grand Mufti says that children should be hit if they don't pray.
   Arabic Preacher: (Translator) Tell your children to pray when they are seven, and hit them when they are ten.
   [Women, equal, or deficient?]
   Presenter: The … website directs readers to literature which says Islam confers equal rights upon all, regardless of sex. But in a crackly internet broadcast, Abu Busama says women are deficient
   Abu Busama: Allah … deficient … …
   Presenter: Saudi-based clerics in the video links preach male supremacy.
   Arabic Preacher: (Translator) Men are in charge of women. Wherever he goes, she should follow him, and she shouldn't be allowed to leave the house without his permission.
   Presenter: Sheik Al Kubali says the hijab should be enforced on young girls, if necessary with violence.
   Preacher: … it becomes an obligation on us to force her to wear hijab. And if she doesn't wear hijab we hit her.
   [Marriage before puberty]
   Presenter: Our reporter secretly filmed this preacher, Dr Bilal Silis (? Phillips), giving religious rulings in Green Lane. In this speech in the mosque, which was also broadcast on this internet chatroom, he claims marrying off of girls before puberty is permissible. He claims the prophet Muhammad married a nine-year-old girl, so it's permissible now.
   Preacher: … the rules regarding marriage prior to puberty … clarify … and that is why you shouldn't have any issues about an older man marrying a younger woman … looked down upon by the society today, but we know that Prophet Mohammad … it was marriage.
   Presenter: Dr Filis (? Phillips) told us we had quoted him out of context, and he said he was not advocating that Muslims … the laws of the UK. Muslims living in non-Muslim countries are obliged to abide by the laws of the country.
   [Homosexuals to be liquidated]
   Abu Busma quotes what he says are the words of a Companion of the Prophet on the Islamic punishment for homosexuality.
   Preacher: … homosexuality, … take that homosexual man and throw him off the mountain.
   Presenter: And on the DVD, he attacks the idea of gay rights.
   Preacher: They have given them unprecedented rights, so that your child can be exposed and introduced to, to lesbians. Now, they said, if you discriminate against them, you're going to gaol.
   Presenter: He said Muslims should discriminate.
   Preacher: But watch, we'll discriminate, but we'll discriminate in a way where we don't get in trouble. … (Laughter)
   Presenter: Then he said it's a joke, and it might get the mosque into trouble.
   Preacher: … get us ALL in trouble.
   Presenter: On the anniversary of the 7th of July bombings, a speech by Abu Busama was broadcast in the Green Lane chatroom, condemning terrorism. ike to make an official statement here. Nowhere are we in agreement with … last year … of the kuffaar calendar.
   Presenter: But he does believe in …
   Preacher: … don't apologise for any aspect of … there is jihad in Afghanistan … Allah, jihad …
   Presenter: He said the real jihad will come when the senior clerics declare it, and prays it will come soon.
   Preacher: … power … policy of taking over this society … jihad … Allah … that time, so we can be participants in that.
   Presenter: Abu Busama told us Islam allows for any Muslim to peacefully co-exist here in the UK with non-Muslims, even though the UK is NOT an Islamic society. He said he has made it clear that it is the religious duty of all Muslims to obey UK law; and the carrying out of Islamic law can only be done in an actual Islamic state. He said: "Homosexuality is an abomination against Allah and all mankind, and I will never condone it. Even though this is the case, I do not believe in disobeying the law when it comes to the way people deal with homosexuals."
   A hardline message influenced by Saudi Arabian clerics is preached at Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham. An imam from the mosque has helped advise the Government. Abdul Harif sat on a government taskforce on extremism set up after the 7th of July bombing. He was part of its working group on combating extremism in mosques and imams. Yet this DVD shows that he took part in a Green Lane conference in which other speakers urged Muslims to discriminate against homosexuals, and hit girls who did not wear the hijab. He seemed to have no worries at the extremism of the message.
   Preacher: … what we have to do.
   Presenter: The head of the working group on mosques and imams was Lord Nazir Ahmed , Britain's first Muslim peer. He previously praised Green Lane Mosque. In an interview with BBC Radio in 2003 he named it as his favourite spiritual place in the country.
   Lord Ahmed : Number 20 Green Lane, Birmingham, is my favourite spiritual place.
   Presenter: He said he had worshipped there.
   Lord Ahmed : This is the most amazing place. When I walk into the mosque I feel I am entering the biggest palace on earth.
   Presenter: Lord Ahmed recently said that he would ask the Lord Chancellor to meet an organisation called the Islamic shari’a Council, including its secretary-general, a preacher called Sheik Huheh Hassan. The meeting would be to discuss the introduction of Islamic divorce laws into the UK constitution. Our reporter secretly filmed Sheik Hassan speaking at Green Lane Mosque. He's a senior imam at a major mosque in East London, and a former president of the Makazi Jamiat Ale Hadeen. In this speech, downloaded from his mosque website, he proclaims the supremacy of Muslims in encounters with the non-believers.
   Sheik Hassan: (To be deciphered later)
   Presenter: In speeches and other Islamic websites, he predicts the coming of an Islamic state.
   Sheik Hassan: … I welcome the dominance … the political dominance
   Presenter: The Islamic state he predicts will have a single life-long ruler with no opposition parties or elections, and it will bring in a strict version of Islamic law.
   Sheik Hassan: (Will decipher later) … elections, and locking up the drunkards.
   Presenter: Then the state will launch jihad.
   Sheik Hassan: Then jihad against the … against those people who are the oppressors.
   Presenter: Sheik Hassan told us that the word "kuffaar" was not a racist or discriminatory term when heard in its Koranic sense. He said he'd stated many times that the re-establishment of a single Islamic state would be peaceful. He said he had often praised the British welfare state, its judicial, health and education systems. He said: "I have never promoted any form of extremism, whether religious or otherwise, or justified violence in conditions of peace.
   Lord Ahmed told us that Green Lane Mosque was one of many mosques he visited. He said: "It would be ludicrous to suggest that by visiting an institution I become responsible for, or aware of, every word spoken at that establishment." He said he had asked for the meeting with the Lord Chancellor on behalf of all Muslims, and he said he was not aware of all the views held by Sheik Hassan.
   Voice: Do brain-washing!
   Presenter: Next, we investigate claims that radicalism linked to the Saudi religious establishment has spread across the country. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#no_opposition_parties    [RECAPITULATION: Muslims living in non-Muslim countries are obliged to abide by the laws of the country. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Are they? Read the Koran. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [KORAN: 9:29:- Make war upon such of those to whom the Scriptures have been given … until they pay tribute out of hand, and they be humbled. < www.submission. org/suras/ sura9.html #29 >
   33:1:- O Prophet, fear thou Allah and obey not the unbelievers and the hypocrites; …
   33:48 (or 33:47):- And obey not (the behests) of the Unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and heed not their annoyances, but put thy Trust in Allah. … < www.submission. org/suras/ sura33.html #48 >
   AND read: 34:33 (or 34:32 or 34:34), 60:4, 49:1, 49:7. DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [2nd RECAPITULATION: The Islamic state he predicts will have a single life-long ruler with no opposition parties or elections, and it will bring in a strict version of Islamic law. ENDS.]
   [2nd COMMENT: History shows that absolute monarchies and/or "theocracies" always lead to serious oppression and the destruction of human rights, and have stunted human progress, whether pre-Christian, Inca, Aztec, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Islamic, or otherwise. In history those Islamic rulers who were progressive defied or disregarded many of the discriminatory and foolish strictures in the Koran and other Islamic writings. Sometimes they defied the ban on non-Muslims being ministers of state. When extremists used violence and took over, the Muslim society went backwards. ENDS.] [No. 2, Jan 15, 07]
• [Saudi preaching jihad dying, and to kill non-Muslim 'filth', 'pigs'] -- No 3 of Undercover Mosque

[Saudi preaching jihad dying, and to kill non-Muslim ‘filth’, ‘pigs’] No. 3 of Undercover Mosque

   UK Channel 4, Dispatches, www.channel4. com/news/ dispatches/ , as displayed on YouTube at www.youtube. com/watch? v=x5t5EqW X92k&mode= related& search , Number 3 of 6, January 15, 2007
   BRITAIN:
   Presenter (woman): Our reporter investigated one of Britain's biggest and most mainstream mosques, Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham, uncovering a fundamentalist ideology emanating from the Saudi religious establishment. He found it promoting male supremacy.
   Preacher: Allah created the woman deficient.
   Another preacher: And if she doesn't wear the hijab we hit her.
   Presenter: Condemning non-Muslims.
   Preacher: We hate the kuffaar. No-one loves the kuffaar.
   Presenter: And predicting a future jihad.
   Preacher: .. where the tables are going to turn and the Muslims are going to be in a position of being uppermost in strength.
   Presenter: Now he was to discover how preachers trained in Saudi Arabia are spreading the same message around the country. Last summer a two-week Islamic studies course was arranged at the mosque, and our reporter was accepted onto it. It was to be taught by a cleric flown specially from the University of Medina in Saudi Arabia. But then it was cancelled at short notice. (Knock, knock, knock.) Our reporter went to their office to find out more.
   Voice: (Indecipherable).
   Presenter: The preacher Abu Asama tells him what the aim of the course was.
   Voice: … come to teach the course from Saudi Arabia … first three … scholarship … that was part of the conditions that they had agreed with …
   Reporter: From Medina.
   Voice: Yes.
   Presenter: The most devout worshippers at Green Lane are being offered scholarships to Saudi religious universities.
   Voice: It's for people like you.
   Presenter: The aim is to train new preachers, according to Dr Erfan Al-Halawi, who keeps his face hidden in interviews.
   Dr Al-Halawi: Medina University is a very hard or Wahhabi institution. Over the years they have been giving bursaries to students from the United Kingdom and throughout the world to recruit students to be brainwashed, then they train to go abroad and teach their poison and inject it to others.
   Presenter: Medina graduates are now spreading the word in mosques up and down the UK. Like Dr Bilar [### CHECK] Phillips says marrying girls before they reach puberty is permissible, Sheik Buhay Hassan, who preaches of future Muslim supremacy, and Abu Asama himself.
   Male voice: This is one of the most important items, I think, on the Saudi radical agenda. To push out any hospitable [### CHECK] types of religious leadership and replace them with "firebrands" trained and programmed in the major Saudi universities.
   Presenter: Our reporter found that Saudi-trained preachers are being promoted in DVDs and CDs throughout the UK. He found typical examples being sold in the carparks at Green Lane Mosque. Children are buying them, and the stalls are manned by local kids.
   Voice: (Indecipherable).
   Presenter: He buys a DVD of Sheik Maey, another Medina-trained preacher, in which he preaches jihad.
   Sheik: The peak, the pinnacle, the crest, the highest point, the pivot, the summit of Islam, is jihad.
   Presenter: He criticises Muslim parents who don't want their children to learn this.
   Sheik: … parents, they prevent their children from attending lessons; why? They fear that they might create a place in their heart, the love, just a bit of the love, of sacrificing their lives for … We want to have children and offer 'em as soldiers … Islam. Teach them this, that, there is nothing more beloved to me, than wanting to die as a mujaheed. Put in their soft tender hearts the jewel of jihad and a love of martyrdom.
   Presenter: The .. Jumniat … El … Hadeef, which runs Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham, told us it is committed to promoting interfaith dialogue and political harmony in our society. Scholars from many different backgrounds spoke at its mosque, and we had quoted them out of context. It had not known what each speaker would say beforehand, and did not necessarily agree with everything that may have been said. It said the word "kuffaar" was a neutral term, and said: "We reject the assertion that we are influenced by, and teach an extreme version of Islam. We accept the rule of law and we treat out non-Muslim neighbours with respect."
   The most notorious convert to preach in Britain was Sheik Al-Feysal, who studied Islam at Riyadh University. He circulated his own tapes, urging followers to kill and to plant bombs, and was gaoled for inciting racial hatred.
   Voice: You have to bomb the … businesses, and as for the Jews, you kill them physically.
   Presenter: In an interview with the BBC, Al-Feysal claimed that he learned his anti-Semitic views during his university training in Saudi Arabia.
   Voice: I learnt at university that the Holocaust was orchestrated in order that the Jews will establish a homeland in Arab territories.
   Presenter: The war to convert is waged on the internet. This website says it's run by an Islamic charity which is based in Saudi Arabia. It directs readers to a fatwa website which it says is supervised by a Saudi scholar. Readers can e-mail in questions and get religious rulings. The rulings say that Muslims in the West must have an attitude of enmity and hatred of the kaffirs. All of the kuffaar are the enemies of the Muslims. Jihad, subduing the kaffirs in their land, and fighting them if they do not submit to the rule of Islam, is a communal obligation on Muslims.
   Men are superior to women and are better than women, and husbands can hit their wives, though only lightly. We'd recommend prodding with the fist.
   DVDs, books, and the internet are all ways that the message is spread. According to Saudi expert, Mayee Amadi:
   Woman expert: Since the 1980s, there has been an increase in the export of Wahhabi teachings to the Western world from Kosovo to Jakarta, and to the United States and Great Britain, supercharged with Oil Money. They sent in money for teachers, for schools, they printed books, educated imams -- so it's like a wave of teachings hitting at the shores of Western countries.
   Presenter: Islamic bookshops in Britain are offered free literature.
   Educated male voice: A number of bookshops known to me have actually gone out of business because they've been undercut by the more fundamentalist literature that's being supplied for free by Saudi Arabia.
   Presenter: Dr Taj Hagi set up the Muslim Educational Centre at Oxford to promote an Islam of tolerance and peaceful co-existence. He's opposed to Saudi entry into British Muslim life.
   Dr Hagi: The Saudi funding of British Muslim institutions come from a variety of official, semi-official, and private sources, in addition to government funding through the Ministry of Religious Affairs and other government agencies.
   Presenter: Money from Saudi has reached the most famous mosque in Europe, London Central Mosque, better known as Regent's Park mosque, the most recognisable symbol of moderate mainstream Muslim life in Britain. It says it acts on behalf of the whole Muslim community in dealing with the Government. The Saudi monarchy gave two million pounds to help build it, and in the 1990s it built an educational and administrative wing. The mosque's official bookshop is run by a company called Dar Es Salaam. It's a British company, but it's linked to Dar Es Salaam Publications, a global publishing house, whose head office is in Saudi Arabia. Our reporter visited and bought another video of Sheik Hayf, the Saudi-trained preacher, condemning the non-believers.
   Voice: The worst word that can ever be written, a sign of infidelity, … filth, a sign of dirt.
   Presenter: He calls Jews "pigs", who will be killed when the end of the world comes.
   Voice: This creature will say "Oh Muslim, behind me is a Jew. Come and kill him." (Choking oink). All of 'em. (Laughter from audience.) Every single one of 'em.
   Presenter: Regular inter-faith meetings with other religions take place at this mosque, yet in a DVD bought from its bookshop a British-based convert called Sheik Kaleed Yassin, who studied Arabic in Saudi Arabia, condemns the teachings of other religions.
   Sheik: We don't need to go to the Christians or the Jews debating with them about the filth which they believe. We Muslims have been ordered to do brain-washing, because the kuffaar, they are doing brain-defiling. You are watching the kaffir TVs and your wife is watching it right now, and your children are watching it right now, and they are being polluted, and they are being penetrated, and they are being infected, so that your children and you go out as Muslims and come back to the house as kaffirs.
   Presenter: In this DVD from the mosque bookshop, he preaches against the equality of women.
   Sheik: This whole delusion of the equality of women is a bunch of foolishness. There's no such thing.

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#saudi_preaching_jihad [No. 3, Jan 15, 07]
• [AIDS conspiracy; Jews and Christians enemies towards us.] -- No 4 of Undercover Mosque

[AIDS conspiracy; Jews and Christians enemies towards us]
No. 4 of Undercover Mosque

   UK Channel 4, Dispatches, www.channel4. com/news/ dispatches/ , as displayed on YouTube at www.you tube.com/ watch?v=y MztM0Z7 BYE , Number 4 of 6 (duration 5:32), January 15, 2007
   BRITAIN:
   Presenter (woman): In this DVD he claims that AIDS is a Western and Christian plot.
   Male voice: No. Missionaries from the World Health Organisation and Christian groups went into Africa and inoculated people for diphtheria, malaria, yellow fever and they put in the medicine the AIDS virus, which is a conspiracy.
   Presenter: The mosque bookshop sells speeches by the Green Lane mosque preacher Abu Busama. In this one he says Muslims and non-Muslims cannot co-exist.
   Abu Busama: (unintelligible words ) … kuffaar cannot co-exist. … … cannot co-exist.
   Presenter: And they sell audio CDs of Mekaza Khan, a preacher who speaks in many UK mosques. He is also an Islamic studies teacher in the Ah Nun [?] Islamic Primary School in Essex. In this CD from the mosque he claims the Koran condemns Jews and Christians.
   Preacher: Those whom the wrath of Allah … is a Jew … is a Christian.
   Presenter: And he criticises Muslims who follow their ways.
   Preacher: They have become Jews in our clothing, Jews in our eating, Jews in everything that we do, and the other half is Christian in everything that they do. Muslims are falling into one of these accursed nations, and these are still not waking up to understand the fact that these people are enemies towards us.
   Presenter: He says Muslims should become doctors, so women don't have to go to non-Muslim doctors.
   Preacher: There is … sense of shame … seeing our mothers, our sisters, and our daughters have to go and uncover themselves before those filthy non-Muslim doctors.
   Presenter: Mukaba Khan told us:-
   Male voice: "My discourses have never been delivered with the intent to malign any individual group or race. They are delivered to inspire Muslims to better themselves, and then to play a positive role for their own and wider community in Britain."
   Presenter: Al Noor Primary School told us:
   Male voice: "We can confirm that Mr M. Khan is employed as a teacher at Al-Noor Primary School, and can also categorically state that the alleged remarks do not reflect the views of this educational establishment. No extreme or discriminatory views are expressed or taught at our school by any of our teachers."
   Presenter: Dar Es Salaam International Publications Ltd which runs the mosque bookshop told us it sells a wide range of materials, and did not necessarily agree with it. It said it was totally unfair to blame them for the views expressed in the lectures.
   The current director-general of Regent's Park Mosque, Dr Aldou Bayan is from Saudi Arabia. A recent employment tribunal concerning a sex discrimination complaint at the mosque, revealed that they have no jurisdiction over Dr Aldou Bayan, because he is actually a serving Saudi diplomat. Dr Aldou Bayan told us that diplomatic status had been extended to him as a courtesy by the Saudi Arabian government following his appointment, as with his predecessors of different nationalities. He said the mosque bookshop was run independently, and he was seriously concerned to hear that inappropriate materials may be on offer. The materials had been removed immediately until it was ascertained whether they were damaging to the principles of tolerance, multiculturalism and equal rights. He said: "It is false and misleading to make a sweeping generalisation that religious teachings from Saudi Arabia promote extremism, and it is also false to assert that the ICC is dominated by the influence of such teachings."
   The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia told us:
   Male voice: "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an Islamic state, governed in accordance with the teachings of the shari’a. Islam is a religion of tolerance and respect for the human rights of all people, regardless of gender, age, religion or race. Islam is a religion without national borders. There is no such thing as the religious establishment in Saudi Arabia. Here, as in every society, one can find extremists, as well as conservatives and moderates. Saudi Arabia does not support radical or extreme ideology, and strongly condemns all those seeking to politicise Islam, preaching, inciting or fostering hatred and violence, or legitimising terrorist activity. To this end, many imams have been re-educated in recent years, and a misguided few have been dismissed. Any financial donations, public or private, are scrutinised according to the highest international standards to ensure that no funds are sent to extremist groups. Saudi Arabia has pioneered calls for greater international co-operation for the exchange of timely and specific information."
   Presenter: Har Es Refiq … is a … Muslim council which promotes a tolerant Islam and is opposed to the spread of radical teachings.
   Male voice: Wahhabis … are teaching Muslim youngsters to be isolationist. They are teaching Muslim youngsters that America and Britain are against them, and therefore they need to get up and fight with them or struggle against them. Some Wahhabis believe that this is how the West is to be brought down by spreading Wahhabism in the hearts of the West's cities.
   Presenter: Next, we find radicalism openly preached in a major mosque run by an organisation praised by Tony Blair for its support of multi-culturalism and interfaith …

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#aids_conspiracy_jews [No. 4, Jan 15, 07]
• [Children to have jihad put into their soft tender hearts, to be soldiers - Muslim preacher] -- No 5 of Undercover Mosque

[Children to have jihad put into their soft tender hearts, to be soldiers – Muslim preacher]
No. 5 of Undercover Mosque

   UK Channel 4, Dispatches, www.channel4. com/news/ dispatches/ , as displayed on YouTube at www.youtube. com/watch?v= V4Zv3BU mwqs , Number 5 of 6, January 15, 2007
   BRITAIN: A Dispatches reporter has uncovered a message of bigotry and intolerance spreading through Britain from the Saudi religious establishment.
   Preacher: We want to have children, and offer 'em as soldiers. Put it into their soft tender hearts, the jewel of jihad.
   Presenter: Now he was to find more radical preachers, preaching in a mosque run by a major organisation, praised by Tony Blair [UK Prime Minister at the time] for its inter-faith work. By filming under cover, our reporter met this preacher, Dr Ijad Nihan. He's a travelling speaker, who talks at different organisations in Britain. Our reporter filmed his talk at a mosque run by the Alahadeet organisation in Derby [pron. Darby]. It's the same organisation that runs Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham, which our reporter found promoting extreme teachings. Dr Nihan praises the Saudi religious police, saying they can imprison people for not praying.
   Preacher: They send the police, and they say "Well, if you don't come for prayers, close your shop, we will arrest you. But if you don't, then we have to bring the punishment on you. You will … be killed, and nobody will pray for you."
   Presenter: Dr Nihan is yet another U.K. preacher who was taught in Saudi Arabia. He spent six years studying Islam in Ibn Saud University in Riyyad. He wants to see religious police operating on the streets.
   <Preacher: They would make sure that every person prays to Allah. Five times! Every women will be covered from the top to the toes. Hijab! Otherwise the police will just collect them.
   Presenter: He has a radical plan for this country. Muslims shouldn't accept British democracy.
   Preacher: King, queen, House of Commons; if you accept it then you are part of it. You don't accept it, but you have to dismantle it. So, you being a Muslim you have to fix it up. There will be no such a thing as House of Commons. From that White House to this Black House, we know that we have to dismantle it.
   Presenter: Muslims must grow in strength, then take over.
   Preacher: You are in a situation in which you have to live like a state within a state, until you take over. But until this happens, you have to preach, until you become in such a force that the people, they just, just submit to you. Hands up. Until you become strong enough that you take over.
   Presenter: It's an extreme vision, that Muslims will one day take over Britain, and bring about an Islamic state, with shari’a law. Dr Nihan invites our reporter to visit Birmingham where he is based.
   Preacher: We can come to you, you can come to us.
   Presenter: He takes him up on the offer, and a few weeks later they meet in Birmingham. Dr Nihan takes him to Stalsbrook Islamic Centre, where he wants to arrange talks. The centre is run by the U.K. Islamic Mission, a major organisation dedicated to interfaith work.
   This is their annual conference last year in Birmingham. It runs over 45 mosques and branches in Britain, and has 6000 children in its part-time Islamic schools. The Prime Minister has said the U.K.I.M. is extremely valued by the Government, particularly for its multi-faith and multi-cultural activities. Yet, despite his radical views, Dr Nihan has worked with the U.K.I.M., and given talks at its events. At their annual conference he was a guest on stage. Today he's making a presentation to the U.K.I.M. committee at the Starsbrook Islamic Centre.
   Preacher: (Some words)
   Presenter: He suggests that the committee invites a small group of non-Muslims to the mosque to try to convert them.
   Preacher: (More words)
   Presenter: He says that Muslims cannot accept non-Muslim rule.
   Preacher: (More words)
   Presenter: Although his radical beliefs are obvious, the U.K.I.M. committee is happy to go ahead with his talk.
   Preacher: (Words)
   Presenter: The U.K.I.M. holds regular interfaith events at this mosque. Yet, when our reporter joined the worshippers at Starsbrook for a Friday sermon, he heard the U.K.I.M. imam preaching against non-Muslims.
   Translation: God, help us win the fight against the kuffaar in every field, in every department of life. We beg you to help us fight against the enemies of our religion. Help us fight the kuffaar.
   Presenter: The U.K.I.M. runs Dawah, or missionary centres, which spread the word. Our reporter visits one of them at Allanrocks Islamic Centre in Birmingham to see what kind of material they circulate.
   Voice: What do you want?
   Reporter: I'm looking for some books.
   Voice: Okay, yes.
   Presenter: He's given some free leaflets.
   Voice: Start with these; they are easy to understand for everybody who don't know anything about it.
   Presenter: They are by a Pakistani religious leader, Qud Said Madudi. He was the founder of a fundamentalist political party in Pakistan called Jemaah Islamaiya.
   Voice: (Harsh sounding words)
   Presenter: The U.K.I.M. literature outlines his radical message.
   Preacher: Islam is a revolutionary ideology which seeks to alter the social order of the entire world.
   Presenter: Muslims form an international revolutionary party. The pamphlets contain some of the ideas that Dr Nihan preaches, that Muslims must work towards doing away with all non-Islamic governments, and set up an Islamic state.
   Preacher: (Words)
   Presenter: The party will … has links to Saudi religious establishment … Pakistani elections, its aim is to set up an Islamic state run by shari’a law.
   Crowd: (Shouts)
   Presenter: The man who runs the missionary centre in Birmingham says the U.K.I.M. is an independent organisation with its own objectives, but he says they follow the same ideology as the Jemat Islami.
   Voice:
   Reporter: … ideology …
   Voice: Yeah, you can say that. Yeah.
   Presenter: He claims the U.K.I.M. shares the same ideology with other fundamentalist organisations, like Hamas in Palestine, and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
   Voice: (Words) Hamas in Palestine, and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt … the ideology is the same, … you can say that, the same idea.
   Reporter: Thank you very much.
   Presenter: Our reporter finds the U.K.I.M. accepts money from Saudi sheikhs. Every week at its Starsbrook mosque a list of donors is read out
   Voice: (Words)
   Presenter: Our reporter attended a donor talk arranged at the U.K.I.M. Starsbrook mosque. When he [? we] got to the U.K.I.M. they said they had hired their centre out to another organisation, who arranged this event. nbsp; In public the U.K.I.M. has told Muslims they can participate in British democracy, and they'd invited politicians to its annual conference last summer in Birmingham.
   Speaker: … is a friend of Islam, and is a Labour politician.
   Presenter: But in the day of talks in their mosque invited preachers condemned democracy.
   Preacher: Do we find ourselves bearing the brunt of a political attack against Islam, trying to win the hearts and the minds of the mujahadeen over to become advocates and supporters of a democratic system? There never was a … follow their ways and follow their system and follow their way of life … avoid and renounce the … of the Jews and the Christians … freedom … of equality … of democracy.
   Presenter: The next speaker is introduced as the deputy headmaster of Darralum Islamic High School, a single-faith secondary school in Birmingham. The government has urged single-faith schools to promote tolerance, inclusion, and understanding between different sections of society.
   Preacher: They talk about integration, … they talk about … they talk about

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#children_to_have [No. 5, Jan 15, 07]
• [It needs a rejection of the entire concept of the democratic system] -- No 6 of Undercover Mosque

[It needs a rejection of the entire concept of the democratic system]
No. 6 of Undercover Mosque

   UK Channel 4, Dispatches, www.channel4. com/news/ dispatches/ , as displayed on YouTube at www.youtube. com/watch? v=KvjvN ScmTQA , Number 6 of 6, January 15, 2007
   BRITAIN:
   Preacher: They talk about integration … … homosexual (laughter).
   Presenter: His criticism of Western society even extended to democracy itself.
   Preacher: … evil … democrat … office … people.
   Presenter: Dar Es Aloon school told us that the deputy headmaster no longer worked at the school, and said his views did not represent the school's. The former deputy head told us he had resigned, and said he did not believe that Muslims should isolate themselves from the non-Muslim community.
   The U.K.I.M. works with the police, and invited officers to its annual conference.
   Preacher: … very positive messages for the Muslim community.
   Presenter: But in the event which they allowed at their … mosque, another invited speaker said that Muslims can't join the police.
   Preacher: … they join the police.&nbps; How can you be implementing the rule of kufaar? It needs a rejection of the concept of democracy. Rejecting all the entirety of the system.
   Presenter: He mentions the Muslim who joined the British Army and was killed fighting the Taliban last summer.
   Preacher: He was an individual who was killed … Islam …
   Presenter: Then he praises the Taliban fighters who killed him.
   Preacher: (Words)
   Presenter: Starsbrook Islamic Centre told us that the hall had been hired out by another group, and said: "Under no circumstances should the U.K.I.M. or Starsbrook Islamic Centre be held responsible for the event." The U.K.I.M. said: "The event did not reflect our policy or culture." It said it had no organic links with Jamat Islami in Pakistan or any other Islamic party. It said it unequivocally rejected all our allegations, and said: "The U.K.I.M. seeks to promote a two-way understanding between Muslims and their non-Muslim compatriots.
   Dr Mian told us that he did not advocate that Islam would be forced upon anyone, and said that dismantling British democracy meant correcting its laws. He said we have not quoted his many speeches condemning terrorism and the killing of innocent people.
   Our investigation has uncovered bigotry and intolerance spreading from the Saudi religious establishment through major mainstream British organisations.
   Voice: The radicalising power of this ideology is extremely dangerous. We are actually losing our children to extremists. I regard what the Saudis are doing in the ghettoes of British Islam as potentially lethal to the future of the community.
   Male Channel 4 speaker: For a wealth of information and debate about issues from Channel 4's Dispatches, log on to channel4.com/dispatches . #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#it_needs_a [No. 6, Jan 15, 07]
• Australian police looking into Islamic hate DVDs.

Australian police looking into Islamic hate DVDs

   ReligionNewsBlog.com , www.religion newsblog.com/ 17198/ australian- police-looking- into-islamic- hate-dvds , News. com.au (Australia), Luke McIlveen, staff and wires; Jan. 18, 2007
   Federal police are investigating whether an Australian Islamic leader has incited violence in a series of DVDs in which he calls on youngsters to give up their lives in jihad, and calling Jews pigs.
   Sheik Feiz Mohammed's comments in the DVDs called Death Series have brought widespread condemnation from politicians and community groups.
   The Australian Federal Police said it was looking into the DVDs and whether the sheik's comments breached sedition laws and incited violence.
   If they did, the AFP would launch a full investigation and he could face charges.
   NSW Premier Morris Iemma said Sheik Mohammed, the leader of the Global Islamic Youth Centre in Liverpool, in Sydney's west, was inciting terrorism.
   In the DVDs, the Sydney-born cleric urges young Muslims to be prepared to sacrifice themselves for Islam.
   "We want to have children and offer them as soldiers defending Islam," he says.
   "Teach them this: There is nothing more beloved to me than wanting to die as a mujahid (holy warrior).
   "Put in their soft, tender hearts the zeal of jihad and a love of martyrdom."
   Mr Iemma said he had called on the Attorney-General (Philip Ruddock) to do whatever was necessary to have Sheik Feiz Mohammed's DVD withdrawn from sale.
   "This DVD goes a lot further than vilification," Mr Iemma said in Sydney.
   "The sort of incitement that's taking place, or that the DVD encourages, is incitement to acts of violence and acts of terror.
   "I will take the advice of the Attorney-General but there are specific laws in the Commonwealth jurisdiction on the sale of this material and that's why we'll be seeking the cooperation of the federal Attorney-General to take whatever steps are necessary."
   The sheik delivers his hateful rants on a collection of DVDs sold in Australia and overseas.
   "This is just more disgusting commentary from a sheik who has no understanding of the values that we live by in this country," Mr Iemma said.
   "I've called on the Commonwealth Attorney-General to take whatever necessary steps are available to try and have this DVD withdrawn (from sale).
   "They are disgusting, outrageous comments and he ought to be withdrawing them immediately."
   The Federal Government has denounced the DVDs with acting Attorney-General Kevin Andrews saying the situation was unacceptable.
   "The Australian Government denounces these reprehensible and offensive remarks," he said in Adelaide.
   "We particularly denounce the outrageous comments made about the Jewish community in Australia."
   Message of hate
   An Australian citizen, born in Sydney, Sheik Feiz has spent the past year living in Lebanon.
   "Today many parents, they prevent their children from attending lessons. Why? They fear that they might create a place in their hearts, the love, just a bit of the love, of sacrificing their lives for Allah," Sheik Feiz says in the video.
   "We want to have children and offer them as soldiers defending Islam. Teach them this: There is nothing more beloved to me than wanting to die as a mujahid (holy warrior). Put in their soft, tender hearts the zeal of jihad and a love of martyrdom."
   An Australian citizen born in Sydney who has spent the past year living in Lebanon, Sheik Feiz was exposed this week in a British documentary Undercover Mosque. [ See also www.youtube. com/watch?v= KBZhUboF0Q4 ]
   Investigators found Sheik Feiz's DVDs being sold by children in the carpark of the Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham and other Islamic bookshops. The entire set can be bought online for $150. [WEBMASTER'S NOTE: On September 12 and 13, 2007, www.greenlanemasjid.org showed a symbol and message "Under Construction !!" However, the sunrise and sunset times on the website can be accessed, to facilitate praying times. END.]
   "The peak, the pinnacle, the crest, the highest point, the pivot, the summit of Islam is jihad," he declares in the film, before denouncing "kaffirs" (non-Muslims).
   "Kaffir is the worst word ever written, a sign of infidelity, disbelief, filth, a sign of dirt."
   In an excerpt from a video lecture series called Signs of the Hour, Sheik Feiz then ridicules Jews as pigs.
   Sheik Feiz - who just two weeks ago said he felt like an "alien" in his own country - leads about 4000 followers through his Global Islamic Youth Centre in Sydney's southwest.
   He also accused Australian authorities of being over-zealous in their approach to clerics like him.
   "There are no sheiks preaching chaos there. No one is telling people to raise arms against the Australian community," he said.
   Sheik Feiz left for Lebanon just before the arrest of 23 men in Sydney and Melbourne in November 2005.
   Public response
   Mr Andrews would not say whether Sheik Feiz would be welcomed to return to Australia.
   "It's disturbing that this man is the head of a global youth Islamic organisation," Mr Andrews said.
   "All good-minded people, regardless of their religious beliefs or faith or none, I believe, would find these comments to be reprehensible and offensive - that is certainly the view of the Australian Government."
   Community Relations Commission chairman Stepan Kerkyasharian has called for the sheik to be charged over his comments.
   "The public prosecutor, the federal prosecutor should really have a close look at what is being conveyed by this guy and whether it is in breach of any laws and he should be charged," Mr Kerkyasharian told Macquarie Radio.
   Community groups have condemned the remarks of the sheik, who heads the Global Islamic Youth Centre in Liverpool, in Sydney's southwest.
   NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Vic Alhadeff said the sheik should not abuse his position to incite hatred.
   "It is of great concern when people in positions of influence, who should be demonstrating responsible leadership, abuse that power to incite racial hatred," Mr Alhadeff said.
   "As a Jewish community, we work well and closely with moderate sectors of the Muslim community.
   "Hate speech such as these remarks by Sheik Mohammed has no place in Australian society and must be vigorously condemned by all."
   With The Daily Telegraph and AAP
   Original title: Police probe sheik's DVDs

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#australian_police_looking [DOCTRINE: 5:59-60 (or 5:64-65):- O people of the Book! … some of them hath he changed into apes and swine … DOCTRINE ENDS.]
[DOCTRINE: So, calling Jews "pigs" is part of the Islamic scripture, and no amount of working "well and closely with moderate" Muslims will rub that out! NSW Jewish leader Vic Alhadeff ought to remove his blinkers, put his glasses on, and read the Koran, the Hadith, the Biography, and the shariah! Then he could meditate deeply on the parallels with parts of Jewish traditional texts such as the Torah and the Babylonian Talmud. ENDS.] [Jan 18, 07]
• Don't let the Church in Iraq die.

Don’t let the Church in Iraq die

   The Record (R.C. newspaper in W. Australia), By John Pontifex, p 12, Thursday, January 25, 2007
   A visiting charity officer in Iraq reveals the daily struggles of Christians in the country
   The desperate struggle of Iraq's Christian community to rebuild their lives is revealed by a charity project officer who braved a visit to the country.
   Despite a bomb falling barely 200 metres away, youngsters and their parents braved the streets to attend a catechetical class at Kirkuk Cathedral, in the north of the country.
   Delighted to be free of the dangers of Baghdad, seminarians relocated to Ainkawa, a suburb of Arbil in northern Iraq, are living in a cramped pre-fabricated building.
   Risking the roads fraught with dangers, lecturers including a Redemptorist priest are driving across the country to provide courses at Babel Theological and Philosophical College, which has also been moved to Ainkawa from Baghdad's bloody Al Dora district.
[Picture] Struggling: Christian communities in northern Iraq
   Iraqi priests, who cannot be named for security reasons, described their trauma while in captivity after being kidnapped during a spate of violence last year.
   And in the capital, where thousands of Christians live behind closed doors because of the fighting and extremism, the faithful overcame their fears and packed out churches for Christmas Mass.
   This portrait of a Christian community grappling with disaster comes in an account by Marie-Ange Siebrecht, who travelled across northern Iraq as Head of the Africa-Asia Department organising projects supported by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
   She said the situation had drastically worsened since her previous visit to Iraq in May 2003.
   She said: "Just after Saddam went, there were so many signs of hope. Now there are few if any signs of hope - people feel they can only turn to God for help.
   "God will not let down the people of Iraq - the cradle of Christianity. We should not let them die."
[Picture] Simple life: Students from St Peter's Seminary, relocated from Baghdad to temporary lodging in Arbil, northern Iraq
   Ms Siebrecht was barely 200 metres away when a bomb exploded outside a supermarket in Kirkuk, where she was staying with Mgr Louis Sako, the city's Chaldean-rite Catholic archbishop.
   With up to half of Iraq's 1.2 million Christians having fled the country since 2003, Aid to the Church in Need is sending essential aid - not just for those now in Syria, Jordan and Turkey but the many who are refugees in their own country.
   The Kurdish Government is providing key support for droves of Christians who have fled thesouth - especially Baghdad. Babel College has already received aid for running costs and ACN is planning to provide help for priests, especially those in desperate need in Baghdad.
   Christians arriving in the north urgently need Bibles and other catechetical material in Arabic and Aramaic because they cannot speak the local Kurdish language.
   Ms Siebrecht stressed how the Church was losing ground to mainly US Christian groups, which had evangelised very effectively since their arrival in Iraq soon after Saddam's downfall.
   The ACN project chief said the poverty she witnessed in the north was "very saddening". She described people living in temporary accommodation and lacking proper heating in sub-zero temperatures.
   She said: "How long is this chaotic situation going to last? I saw people who were really in a bad situation. There were queues and queues of people looking for jobs, and living on the little bits of money they brought with them. Who knows what will happen when that money runs out?"
   Aid to the Church in Need is running a Middle East appeal. Please send donations marked for the Middle East to: ACN, PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148 Ph: 02 9679-1929 or visit www.aidto church.org

   [COMMENT: Well, Marie-Ange Siebrecht, who said Iraq was "the cradle of Christianity," spoke more truly than she perhaps knew. One of the disputed Epistles states that Peter sent a greeting from the congregation in Babylon (whose ruins are a few miles from the Muslim-founded city of Baghdad). The Jerusalem apostles had previously sent Peter with John on a mission to Samaria (The Acts 8:14-25), he taught at Lydda and Jaffa (Acts 9:32 and 43), and Caesarea (Acts 10).
   But, since the American-British-Australian invasion of modern Iraq, the persecutions and terror against the Christians of Iraq have increased, not decreased.
   Evidently the supposed Anglo-Celt Christians who attacked the bloodthirsty Baathist socialist dictator Saddam Hussein, saying he was in the terrorist Axis of Evil and had weapons of mass destruction that could be assembled in 45 minutes, have no remedy for the Iraqi Christians.
   Perhaps those Orthodox and Catholic ceremonies with holy oils and incense have repelled Bush, Blair and Howard, who see other sorts of oil and gas, and to them it is profitable for their companies that they keep them out of the hands of the French and Russian branches of Multinational Corporations. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [RECAPITULATION: … up to half of Iraq's 1.2 million Christians having fled the country since 2003, … ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE: Koran/Qur'an 2:193 (or 2:189):- … Fight the unbelievers until no other religion except Islam is left.
   9:28:- O Believers! only they who join gods with God are unclean! …
   19:88-90 (or 91-93):- They say: "(Allah) Most Gracious has begotten a son!" Indeed ye have put forth a thing most monstrous! At it the skies are ready to burst, the earth to split asunder, and the mountains to fall down in utter ruin, … For it is not consonant with the majesty of (Allah) Most Gracious that He should beget a son. … www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/019. qmt.html #019.088 .
   48:29:- Those who follow Him are tender to one another, but ruthless to unbelievers. DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [A REVERIE on the John Pontifex article, but wandering to ancient Antioch and the Lutheran religious revival movement, is at "Remembering Iraqis. Reverie about Babylon (Iraq), St Peter's (Rome), and Antioch (Syria), while rambling through The Acts.
   [ON THE WEB: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#dont . ENDS.] [Jan 25, 07]
• 'Freak show' sheik muzzled.

‘Freak show’ sheik muzzled

   PerthNow powered by The Sunday Times (Perth, W. Australia), www.news.com. au/perthnow/ story/0,21598, 21123686- 5005361, 00.html , By Paul Carter, 06:23pm, January 26, 2007
   SYDNEY: SHEIK Taj al-Din al-Hilali pulled out of giving the Friday sermon at his Sydney mosque today after being warned to tone down his "freak show" rhetoric.
   Members of the Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA), which runs the popular Lakemba mosque, intercepted Australia's most senior Muslim cleric on his way to give the sermon.
   LMA president Tom Zreika said the sheik pulled out after being told his sermon had to be apolitical, avoiding talk of the Lebanese Muslim candidates expected to run at the March state election.
   The sheik yesterday ruled himself out of running, but said he would endorse the candidates, possibly all women, who are expected to run in the Sydney seats of Lakemba, Burwood and Auburn.
   The sheik must give the LMA an undertaking that his sermons will be apolitical before he is allowed to give another sermon at the mosque, Mr Zreika says.
   "The mosque is not going to become a campaign office," Mr Zreika said, adding the LMA has nothing to do with the candidates, who are yet to be named.
   The LMA's move is sure to meet with opposition as the sheik is popular at the southwestern Sydney mosque that regularly attracts thousands to Friday prayers.
   "People come to the mosque because of the controversy. He puts b*ms on seats," Mr Zreika said.
   "We will tolerate it if it's about Islam, but if it's in relation to the coming election then we are not going to tolerate it.
   "It's becoming a bit of a freak show. People come just to so see what he's going to say next."
   The mufti arrived home in Sydney this week after his two-month self-imposed exile to Mecca and Egypt, following a controversial sermon last year comparing immodestly dressed women to "uncovered meat".
   In an appearance on Egyptian television this month, his comments in Arabic were translated as saying Muslims were more entitled to live in Australia than Anglo-Saxons sent as convicts in chains, and that westerners were liars.
   The comments prompted politicians to call on the mufti to stay away from Australia, and New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma challenged the sheik to "bring it on" in a contest between the two for Mr Iemma's electorate of Lakemba, where the mufti is also based.
   But the mufti says he loves Australia and that his comments have been maliciously misinterpreted by the media and politicians. #

[COMMENT: Of course Al-Hilaly loves Australia. That's a worry! COMMENT ENDS.] [Jan 26, 07]
• Govt invited firebrand cleric in 2004. [Ismail Yusanto]

Govt invited firebrand cleric in 2004

   The West Australian Online, www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=351463 , AAP, 18:12 WST, January 29th, 2007
   AUSTRALIA: A radical Indonesian cleric who has called on Australian Muslims to prepare for jihad was invited to Canberra to speak at a security conference by the federal government three years ago.
   Ismail Yusanto, the chairman of the Indonesian arm of Hizb ut-Tahrir, sparked outrage on Sunday by telling a crowd of about 500 Muslims at Lakemba, in Sydney's south-west, that all military-aged Muslims should prepare for war.
   It has been revealed that Dr Yusanto had previously been invited to speak at a conference sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in August 2004.
   The conference, run by think-tank the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific, was opened by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.
   Dr Yusanto is also understood to be a regular guest at the Australian embassy in Jakarta.
   A paper reviewing the 2004 conference says Dr Yusanto took part in an "enlightening discussion" on the issue of the creation of an Islamic state.
   Hizb ut-Tahrir, which says it is non-violent, aims to create an Islamic superstate and is banned in a large number of countries.
   The group is now at the centre of a row between the state and federal governments, with NSW Premier Morris Iemma calling on Canberra to outlaw the group.
   Prime Minister John Howard and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock have refused to outlaw Hizb ut-Tahrir.
   NSW Premier Morris Iemma stepped up his demands on Monday for the federal government to outlaw the group, saying its leaders were quite plainly advocating a holy war with Australia.
   But the Commonwealth insists it can't use tough anti-terror laws to slap a ban on Hizb ut-Tahrir, and says NSW has the ability to outlaw the group itself if it wants.
   Mr Howard said the federal government would not ban Hizb ut-Tahrir unless it breached anti-terror laws.
   "There is often a thin line between stupid extravagant language and language which is deliberately designed to incite violence … or to threaten the security of the country," he told Southern Cross Broadcasting.
   "People can say a lot of ridiculous things and they should be able to say ridiculous things in a democracy without that language constituting violence and extreme incitement to violence."
   Mr Ruddock said if the NSW government wanted to outlaw the group because it did not approve of its views, it could do so.
   "If the state government believes it should be banned as an organisation simply because they don't like their views, I would suggest they've got power to do it," he told reporters.
   "Or if they think that you need to have a national scheme for banning organisations of that type whose views you don't like, refer a power along with your state Labor colleagues to enable us to do it."
   Mr Iemma said NSW was unable to ban the group because it, along with the other states, referred powers to exclude terror groups to the Commonwealth in 2002.
   "What's Mr Ruddock's problem in reviewing the status of this organisation?" he told reporters.
   "If he wants evidence, listen to what was said.
   "They're advocating war with Australia, on Australians."
   Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Wassim Doureihi told the Nine Network his group's efforts were not directed at Australia, or its domestic politics.
   "The purpose of the conference was to highlight the political reality that currently exists in the Muslim world," he said.
   Countries such as Iraq and Somalia which are subject to the tyranny and oppression of occupiers are the group's focus, Mr Doureihi said.
   He said the wishful call for an Islamic state ruled by shari’a law, and defended by jihad, is a self-defence reaction to the current occupation of Muslim countries by the west.
   "I don't think we should be concerned about the preparation for (a state's) self-defence against foreign aggression," he said.
   "We should be concerned, as we should be concerned about Iraq, about the foreign military aggression."
   However, Western Australia's Attorney-General Jim McGinty backed Mr Iemma's call, accusing Hizb ut-Tahrir of "threatening the very fabric of our community".
   Federal opposition immigration spokesman Tony Burke said Dr Yusanto should have been refused a visa because his radical views could incite conflict in Australia.
   "Why on earth this bloke was given permission to come to Australia is a complete mystery to me," Mr Burke told Macquarie Radio.
   A spokesman for the Immigration department said any person applying for an Australian visa had to meet strict character assessments, but refused to comment on specific cases.
   A spokeswoman for DFAT was unable to comment immediately. #

   [RECAPITULATION: NSW Premier Morris Iemma stepped up his demands on Monday for the federal government to outlaw the group, … RECAP. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Is this the same Premier Iemma (pronounced Yemma) who is willing to hand the Murray-Darling river system to PM Howard's government that has proved itself "immigration happy" with his "skilled intakes" etc., and is likely to sell Australia's water supply to global corporations? Oh deary me! COMMENT ENDS.]
   [REFERENCE: Also see the newspaper of Monday, January 29, pages 1 and 11, "Calls for ban after sermon on jihad;" "Firebrand outlines plan for fundamentalist state." END.]
   AMBIENCE: To get the full "flavour" of the culture, see p 11 about a gang rape film (Bilal and Mohammed Skaf in 2000 led a group that gang-raped four Australian women repeatedly), p 16 letter against a preacher of jihad hate, p 18 Iran says the USA is a terrorist state (true!), p 19 Lebanese elected leaders asking Hizbollah to stop their attempt to topple the parliament, p 20 a Pakistani suicide bomber, p 22 in Gaza, Palestine, it is Muslim versus Muslim, p 22 a "nutty" type Judaist hugged the Iranian president who denies that Hitler murdered millions of Jews and others, p 22 Britain is still training overseas-born people in nuclear science (in spite of the Pakistan-Iran-Russia revelations). Regarding the nuclear training, translate Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat. ENDS.] [Jan 29, 07]
• Britain's young Muslims get more radical

Britain’s young Muslims get more radical

   The Weekly Telegraph Issue No. 810 (Britain, Australian edition), , weekly@ telegraph. co.uk , by GRAEME WILSON, Political Correspondent, pp 1 and 2, Wed Jan 31 to Tue Feb 6, 2007
■ One in eight admires al-Qa’eda
■ 40pc want shari’a law
■ 75pc want women to wear veil
   A BLEAK picture of a generation of young British Muslims radicalised by anti-Western views and misplaced multicultural policies is revealed this week.
   A survey found disturbing evidence of young Muslims adopting more fundamentalist beliefs on key social and political issues than their parents or grandparents.
   Forty per cent of Muslims between the ages of 16 and 24 said they would prefer to live under shari’a law in Britain, a legal sysem based on the teachings of the Koran. The figure among over-55s, in contrast, was only 17 per cent.
   In some countries, people found guilty under shari’a law face penalties such as beheading, stoning, the severing of a hand or being lashed.
   The study, by the Right-wing think-tank Policy Exchange, also found a significant minority who supported Islamic terrorism.
   One in eight young Muslims said they admired groups such as al- Qa'eda that "are prepared to fight the West".
   Turning to issues of faith, 36 per cent of the young people questioned said they believed that a Muslim who converts to another religion should be "punished by death". Among the over-55s, the figure is only 19 per cent.
   Three out of four young Muslims would prefer Muslim women to "choose to wear the veil or hijab", compared with only a quarter of over-55s.
   Support was also strong for Islamic schools, according to the Populus survey of 1,000 people commissioned by Policy Exchange.
   Forty per cent of younger Muslims said they would want their children to attend an Islamic school, compared with only 20 per cent of over-55s.
   Britain's foreign policies were a key issue among the Muslim population as a whole, with 58 per cent arguing that many of the world's problems are "a result of arrogant Western attitudes".
   However, knowledge of foreign affairs was sketchy, with only one in five knowing that Mahmoud Abbas was the Palestinian president.
   The findings emerged as David Cameron, the Conservative leader, criticised the Government for trying to "bully" immigrant communities into feeling British by telling them to run up the Union flag in their gardens or spy on their children. But in a speech on Tuesday, Mr Cameron was due to warn the Muslim community that it cannot use the "screen of cultural sensitivity" to deny women their rights.
   The Policy Exchange report, Living Together Apart: British Muslims and the Paradox of Multiculturalism, says there is strong evidence of a "growing religiosity" among young Muslims, with an increasing minority firmly rejecting Western life.
   Munira Mirza, the broadcaster and one of the authors of the report, argued that multicultural policies pursued by the Government had succeeded in making things worse, rather than better.
   "There is clearly a conflict within British Islam between a moderate majority that accepts the norms of British democracy and a growing minority that does not."
   The report also raises questions about the scale of the problems created by Islamophobia, with 84 per cent saying they believed they had been "treated fairly" in Britain.
   There was also criticism of the decision by some councils to ban Christian symbols in case they offended Muslims or other communities.
   Three quarters said it was wrong for a council to have banned an advert for a Christmas carol service.
   Shahid Malik, the Muslim Labour MP for Dewsbury, said: "This report makes very disturbing reading and it vindicates the concern many of us have that we're not doing enough to confront this issue."
   Baroness Uddin, the Muslim peer, said: "Unlike their parents, our young people feel that this is their country and are saying why are we being told we do not belong here. There is also a problem of a lack of opportunities. Some people have been brutalised by their experiences with the police and this war on terror." #

   [RECAPITULATION: … young Muslims, with an increasing minority firmly rejecting Western life. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: So, Enoch Powell was right after all! The newcomers will feel aggrieved, and will not become "Britons". And there has been his prophesied "blood in the streets" already. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [TRADITION: 41:6985 (Sahih Muslim's collection):- … Allah's Messenger … saying The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree … www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ fundamentals/ hadith sunnah/ muslim/041. smt.html #041.6985 .
   9, 84:57:- "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him."
   9, 84:58:- Regarding a Jew who had become a Muslim, then returned to Judaism: "Mu'adh said, I will not sit down till he has been killed. … and he was killed. ENDS.]
   [MORE NEWS, ANALYSIS, and COMMENT: telegraph.co.uk/news ENDS.]
• Perth Islamic schools raided in fraud probe.

Perth Islamic schools raided in fraud probe

   The West Australian Online, www.thewest. com.au/def ault.aspx? MenuID=77& ContentID= 20104 , By SEAN COWAN, 6:45 WST, January 31, 2007
   PERTH: Police from the major fraud squad have raided Perth's three Australian Islamic College schools and the office of the schools' founder as part of an investigation into allegations of fraud involving government funding.
   The simultaneous raids took place at 9am yesterday when officers converged on the Dianella, Thornlie and Kewdale campuses, while a separate group raided the college's Booragoon head office.
   They seized boxes of documents from the head office, while officers at the schools took computers and hundreds of boxes of documents, including enrolment details.
   Staff from the Federal Education Department investigations unit also took part in the raids.
   No charges have been laid.
   Police said they were investigating allegations that the State and Federal governments' student subsidised funding programs had been defrauded. It is understood the allegations relate to the inflation of the schools' enrolment figures.
   The annual funding is based on the number of students at each school and is believed to be worth several thousand dollars per student. It is understood the colleges' three campuses claim to have about 2700 students, from 30 nationalities, and more than 260 teachers.
   In 2004-05, the State provided the college with $4.3 million in the form of per capita grants, which all private schools are entitled to.
   The school's founder Abdallah Magar, of Attadale, could not be contacted for comment yesterday as police swarmed over the office of his company, Magar Enterprises, which shares its offices with the college.
   Mr Magar, a former industrial chemist who came to Australia from Egypt in 1966, founded the college in 1986 after teaching weekend Islamic classes at the Perth Mosque for years. In 1990, he opened the Thornlie school, while Dianella was opened in 1996 and Kewdale in 2000.
   Last year, Mr Magar joined the public debate on the future of controversial Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilaly after the mufti made comments about Australian women.
   Mr Magar told The West Australian at the time that the issue had been blown out of proportion and that the media were to blame for creating the controversy. But he has also previously said that equipping young Muslims to resist the lure of radicals and extremists was an important part of the college's work. #

   [RECAPITULATION: In 2004-05, the State provided the college with $4.3 million in the form of per capita grants, which all private schools are entitled to. RECAP. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Why are "all private schools" entitled to per capita grants? or any sort of grants, for that matter! What misguided group interfered to change Australia's previous policies of funding only government schools? And, isn't that the group that has been and still is trying to further lower the standards for immigration? Will that group apologise now? ENDS.]
   [PROVERB: Whom God wishes to destroy, he first makes mad. (From the Latin Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat., as quoted in Hyman 1967, p 275.) ENDS.]
   [2nd RECAPITULATION: Mr Magar told The West Australian at the time that the issue had been blown out of proportion and that the media were to blame for creating the controversy. ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE: 8:30:- … the unbelievers plotted against thee … but Allah plotted : and of plotters is Allah the best!
   66:2:- Allah hath allowed you release from your oaths. … ENDS.]
   [LINK: News release of January 31st, 2007, by Mr Abdallah Magar, Director and Founder: http://aic. wa.edu.au/ PDF%20Files/ PRESS_ RELEASE. pdf . ENDS.]
   [UNRELATED QUESTION: What happened to the follow-up reporting of a prosecution of an alleged child sex abuser at the Perth Mosque, reported on June 11, 2006? ENDS.]
   [LOOK FORWARD: June 28, 2008; April 1, 2010. ENDS.] http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#perth_islamic_schools [Jan 31, 07]
• Barnabas Fund; © 2007, What is Shari'a?

What is Shari‘a?

"It is through the Shariah, commonly translated as "Islamic Law", that Islam is expressed in Muslim societies... Shariah had come to signify Islam per se. If Islam is submission to the Will of God, then Shariah is the path by which submission is enacted, the actual route map of religion as a way of life. Hence, for many Muslims, Islam is the Shariah and the Shariah is Islam." (Ziauddin Sardar, Desperately Seeking Paradise, London, Granta Books, 2004, pp. 216-217) What is Shari'a?, Barnabas Aid

Introduction
   In the twenty-first century there are increasing calls for greater shari‘a-compliance in the West, especially in the UK, and for full shari'a to be practiced in more Muslim-majority countries.
   Shari'a is an Arabic word meaning "path" or "way". Nowadays it is used to mean "Islamic law", the detailed system of religious law developed by Muslim scholars in the first three centuries of Islam. This law expresses the Islamic way of life and - much more than the Qur'an - is the key to understanding Islam.
   Shari'a covers all aspects of life and does not separate the secular sphere from the religious sphere. It provides a framework of dos and don'ts, rituals and rules within which a Muslim leads his or her life.
   Most Muslims hold that shari'a protects them from sin like a fence or a roadblock. It also serves as an identity marker separating Muslims from non-Muslims. Shari'a strongly influences the behavior and worldview of most Muslims, even in secular states where it forms no part of the law of the land.
The perfect divine norm
   Most Muslims believe that shari'a, as God's revealed law, perfect and eternal, is binding on individuals, society and state in all its details. They therefore believe that any criticism of shari'a is heresy. Most Sunni Muslims believe it to be completely unchangeable, although Shi'as allow for the possibility of interpreting and adapting it to new circumstances.
   Muslims who deny the validity of shari'a or criticize it in any way are labelled as non-Muslims (infidels or apostates) by traditionalists and Islamists. As such they face the threat of being prosecuted as apostates, a crime that carries the death penalty in shari'a.

Development and characteristics of shari'a
Shari'a systematizes all human acts
   Shari'a is a complex legal system derived from the Islamic source texts Qur'an and hadith (traditions recording Muhammad's words and deeds) through interpretation, commentary and case law. It was created in a context in which Muslims held political power, and thus lacks guidance for Muslims living as a minority under non-Muslims.
   Shari'a tries to describe in detail all possible human acts, dividing them into permitted (halal) and prohibited (haram). It subdivides them into various degrees of good or evil such as obligatory, recommended, neutral, objectionable or forbidden. It is a vast compendium of rules, regulating in detail all matters of devotional life, worship, ritual purity, marriage and inheritance, criminal offences, commerce and personal conduct down to minute details of behavior. It also regulates the governing of the Islamic state and its relationship to non-Muslims within the state as well as to enemies outside the state.
Schools of law
   Four Sunni orthodox schools of law, named after their founders, developed and were codified by the end of the tenth century. These are the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali schools. These schools differ in various details, including the way they arrive at legal decisions, but they accept each other as orthodox. The Shi'a version is very similar to the Sunni schools.
   The work of the founders was continued by their disciples, and over the centuries several widely accepted handbooks of law were composed by famous scholars which supposedly laid down all that was needed to be known about the law for all generations.
   Legal and scholastic experts interpret and apply shari'a by looking at the relevant Qur'an and hadith texts filtered through the long history of legal precedents, handbooks and commentaries. Modern Muslim jurists often differentiate between shari'a, the revealed divine law, and fiqh, the jurists' interpretation of shari'a.
Attempts at reform and the Islamist backlash
   Since the nineteenth century there have been efforts at reforming shari'a in a liberal direction in order to accommodate it to the modern world. Most reformers saw the return to the sources of Islam as the "golden key" that would cure Muslim societies of their backward state and political weakness.
   Many downgraded the authority of the four legal schools and of later traditions; this approach enabled jurists to select and mix from the different schools and to make the good of the community (maslaha) their ultimate guiding principle. Most such reformers stressed the importance of reason, and differentiated between a core of universal values in shari'a (that was unchangeable and eternal) and the larger part dealing with social relations (that was open to change and adaptation to new contexts).
   In the contemporary Muslim world, however, it is the traditionalists and especially the Islamists, upholders of the traditional view of shari'a, who are dominating Muslim public opinion. This leaves liberal reformers as a small minority surviving mainly in the West. Liberal reformers face heavy pressure from Islamists and traditionalists who brand them apostates and infidels and attack them verbally legally and physically.
Shari'a and modern standards
   Muslims often claim that shari'a was quite moderate by the standards of the seventh to tenth centuries when it was created. However it has remained unchanged since then, and is thus extremely harsh compared to modern Western standards. It infringes many modern principles of human rights, religious freedom and equality of all before the law. Shari'a inherently discriminates against women, non-Muslims and "heretical Muslims" as well as against Muslims who choose to convert to another faith.

Five main areas in which shari'a is incompatible with human rights
1. Hudud punishments
   These are the severe punishments prescribed by shari'a for some offences defined as being against God himself. The punishments for these crimes are seen as divinely ordained and cannot be changed by humans. These include 100 lashes or stoning to death for adultery; 80 lashes for false accusation of adultery; amputation of limbs for theft; 40 or 80 lashes for drinking alcohol; imprisonment, amputation or death (by crucifixion in serious cases) for highway robbery; and the death penalty for apostasy from Islam.
   Many Islamic scholars, academics and popular preachers support the present day application of hudud punishments, seeing them as identity markers of true Islamic revival. Well-known Islamic scholars responded negatively to a call in March 2005 by the popular Islamist professor, Tariq Ramadan, for a temporary stop to hudud punishments. One claimed any attempt at softening shari'a was giving in to Western Christian concepts.
2. Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims
   Discrimination on the basis of religion is fundamental to shari'a. Islam must be dominant and only Muslims are full citizens, so Muslims are treated as far superior to all others.
   Jews and Christians are defined as dhimmis (literally "people of the pact {of protection}" i.e. permitted to live). However this protection is on condition that they do not bear arms, know their lowly place in society, treat Muslims with respect, pay a special poll tax (jizya), and do not behave arrogantly. Numerous petty shari'a laws are used to restrict and humiliate dhimmis in their daily lives. They could practice their faith inside their synagogues and churches but not in public places (bells were not allowed to be rung). No new church buildings were allowed, nor were existing churches to be repaired. Dhimmis could not testify in a shari'a court against a Muslim. They could not share their faith with Muslims. They could not hold any public office that placed them in a position of authority over Muslims. At best, they could serve their Muslim rulers in administrative capacities.
   The general attitude of contempt for non-Muslims created by centuries of applying such laws means that, even in modern secular Muslim states that have constitutionally guaranteed equal rights to all citizens, non-Muslims are discriminated against in numerous ways.
   Pagan non-Muslims were, in classical shari'a, to be offered the choice of death or conversion to Islam.
3. Muslim heretics and apostates
   Muslims who accept teachings considered heretical by orthodox Islam are held by shari'a to have reverted to paganism and therefore to deserve the death penalty. The same is true for Muslims converting to another religion (apostates), who are considered as traitors. All schools of shari'a agree that adult male apostates from Islam should be killed. Even where the death sentence is not carried out, their marriages may be automatically dissolved and they face severe penalties such as exile, disinheritance, loss of possessions, threats, beatings, torture, and prison.
   Many liberal or secularist Muslims find themselves in danger of being classified as apostates for views which the religious establishment or militant Islamist groups hold to be heretical. Muslim "heretical" sects are severely persecuted. This is especially true of the Ahmadiyya sect in Pakistan and of the Bahai religion in Iran.
4. Holy War - jihad
   Shari'a lays down jihad as one of the most basic religious duties, clearly indicating by the regulations listed that jihad is understood as physical warfare. Linked to the concept of jihad is the division of the world into two opposing domains: the House of Islam (Dar al-Islam) and the House of War (Dar al-Harb). Muslims are supposed to wage jihad to change the House of War (where non-Muslims are politically dominant) into the House of Islam (politically dominated by Muslims). While some modern Muslims reject this aggressive understanding of jihad, most Muslims agree that jihad includes defending Muslim territory and Muslims from any form of aggression; this leaves the door open to interpreting any conflict involving Muslims as a case of defensive jihad. Islamic terror groups justify their atrocities by references to the shari'a rules on jihad.
5. Status of women
   Shari'a also discriminates on the basis of gender. Men are regarded as superior. Women are treated as deficient in intelligence, morals and religion, and must therefore be protected from their own weaknesses. Shari'a rules enforce modesty in dress and behavior and the segregation of genders. They place women under the legal guardianship of their male relatives. Women are inherently of less value than men in many legal rulings. A man is allowed up to four wives, but women can have only one husband. A man can divorce his wife easily; a woman faces great obstacles should she want to divorce her husband. A daughter inherits half as much as a son, and the testimony of a female witness in court is worth only half that of a male witness. In cases of murder, the compensation for a woman is less than that given for a man.
   In many Muslim societies gender segregation in public is imposed or encouraged. Shari'a courts often display a clear gender bias. This is seen in the widespread practice of accusing rape victims of illicit sexual relations (zina), an offence which carries punishments ranging from imprisonment and flogging to death by stoning. The victim is thus transformed into a culprit. Large numbers of Pakistani rape victims are in prison because of this.
   In a few countries, for example Turkey and Tunisia, secular codes have improved the situation for women. Recently Morocco passed a much more liberal version of the shari'a family code which gives greater equality to women.

Challenge of shari'a in Western countries
   Shari'a poses a challenge to Western societies because of the constant pressure in Muslim communities to implement it and expand its area of influence. For many Muslims in the West, secular law lacks legitimacy especially in the realm of family law. A recent survey showed that two-thirds of British Muslims would prefer to follow shari'a in cases where UK law conflicts with Islamic law. Many Muslims claim they have the right as a religious minority to follow their own customs and laws, including shari'a. There have been calls for partial incorporation of shari'a into British civil law. Some Muslim groups have campaigned for the legal incorporation of Islamic family law into the British legal system. In 1990 the Muslim Institute suggested "the creation of a Muslim legal framework to decide cases that may then be recognised as valid in British law".
Creation of a parallel alternative legal framework
   Many Muslims in the West try to live by shari'a regulations as far as possible, creating an unofficial enclave in which Islamic religious scholars and lawyers offer their services. This has created an alternative legal structure of shari'a courts and councils.
   The stronger the parallel network of Islamic institutions becomes, the more pressure is exerted on Muslims to use these in preference to non-Muslim institutions. Once a shari'a alternative is available, it becomes obligatory for Muslims to obey shari'a in that specific case. A serious question is the amount of social, family and community pressure brought to bear on the most vulnerable members of the Muslim community - mainly women and children - to abide by the verdicts of such courts even when they place them at a disadvantage as compared with verdicts achieved in the official British court system. For those living in insular and tightly knit traditional communities such pressures to conform must be virtually irresistible.
   Many Muslim leaders are constantly applying pressure on Western society, institutions and legal systems to adapt as far as possible to Muslim shari'a concepts and models, while at the same time constructing their own alternative shari'a systems.
Marriage and divorce
   Women are undoubtedly the main victims of the shari'a system which inherently favors the husband. British law, for instance, recognizes Muslim marriages that were performed abroad before the partners entered the UK. However British residents in the UK must contract marriage according to civil law in order for the marriage to be legally recognized. It is very common, even for well-educated Muslims, to think it unnecessary to register their marriages in the civil system. Some wrongly believe that the Islamic wedding ceremony is recognized by British law. In cases of divorce the women are then left with the much lesser legal rights of a "cohabitee". Some Muslim men knowingly exploit the ignorance of their wives so as not to have to pay maintenance and repay dowry should they divorce them. Widows may find they lack pension rights and rights to their husband's property.
   Another problem is that many Muslim women in the UK may get divorced under shari'a only, without getting their divorce ratified by a civil court. Some believe they are free to remarry, but under British law they are then committing bigamy (an offence punishable by seven years imprisonment).
Child marriages
   In several Muslim countries child marriages are legal. For many traditional Muslims, child marriages are acceptable because Muhammad married his favorite wife Aisha when she was six years old and consummated the marriage when she was nine. This is why, following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Iran's new rulers lowered the minimum age of marriage for girls to nine. Recently in India, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board attempted to gain an exemption for Muslims from the legal minimum marriage age of 18 set by Indian law. According to the board, child marriages are part of shari'a which is "absolute, final and non-negotiable".
   Even in Britain it is possible that child marriages are happening. The Sharia Council of Darul Uloom London gives some rules for divorce on its website, one of which clearly indicates that the council envisages the possibility of divorcing girls below the age of puberty.
Polygamy
   Under shari'a a man is allowed up to four wives. Polygamy is allowed in many Muslim countries but prohibited in Western countries. This raises problems of Muslim residents in the West who married another wife either before their immigration or while visiting their "home countries".
   The Muslim Parliament of Great Britain has complained that many families are being forced to live outside the law because their polygamous marriages are not recognized in the UK. One estimate gives the number of polygamous families in Britain at several hundreds.
Female genital mutilation (FGM)
   Female genital mutilation is widespread among some Muslim communities, especially Egypt, East Africa, Yemen and Indonesia. Some Muslim leaders condemn it as un-Islamic but many believe that it is ordained in the shari'a. They also believe it is essential for preserving women's chastity on which the all-important family honor largely depends. In 1994 the former Sheik of Al-Azhar, Egypt, Jad Al-Haqq Ali Jad Al-Haqq, ruled that circumcision is an Islamic duty for women as well as for men. In the UK it is a criminal offence under the 1985 Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act, but an estimated 7,000 girls in Britain are of an age to be at risk from this procedure at any given time. The law is being evaded by families taking the girls abroad for a holiday and having the procedure carried out there.
Veiling
   In shari'a there are differences between the various schools of law as to the extent of what a woman may reveal in public. The Hanafi and Maliki schools of law permit face and hands to be revealed in public, thus there is no need for a veil over the face. Among Hanbalis there are two opinions, some permitting the revealing of face and hands, others forbidding it. The Shafi'is demand that a woman's face and hands be covered in public, thus demanding some kind of veil over her face. It would seem that the majority of classical scholars agreed that a woman's face may be displayed, and a minority said the face must be covered. Practice thus differed regionally depending on which school of law was followed in that area.
   Both Qur'an and hadith urge modesty in women's dress and command them to cover themselves in public. The problem is a matter of interpretation of the original Arabic words used. One such word, jilbab, is obviously an outer garment, but what did it look like? Was it just a mantle-like garment that covered the under clothes, or did it cover head and face and ankles as well? Does another word, juyub, mean bosom only, or did it mean head, face, neck and bosom? Helmet-type veils

   Some modern Muslim women in the West are adopting the strictest version as a way of asserting their Muslim identity. It appears that Muslim organizations in the West are manipulating the issue to further the Islamization of their host societies.
   The problem of full veiling of the face for security and anti-terrorist measures is obvious. Yet in the US the Council on American-Islamic Relations has managed to persuade the states of Kansas, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Montana, and Washington to allow Muslim women to have their driving licence photo taken with their faces veiled showing their eyes only.
Economics
   In the last two decades there has been a spectacular growth in Islamic finance and banking around the world, especially in Muslim countries but more recently also in the West.
   In the past there was no all-encompassing Islamic body of economic thought, but modern Islamists have transformed the various scattered shari'a rules on trade and financial transactions into a comprehensive economic system. However not all Muslims agree with the Islamists that a separate Islamic economic system is needed.
   The debate amongst Muslims centers on the meaning of the Qur'anic ban on riba. Some Muslims interpret riba as "usury" (extortionate interest); therefore they tend to allow interest at moderate rates. However Islamists, who interpret riba simply as "interest", hold that any kind of interest is un-Islamic; they therefore believe it is wrong to participate in normal economic systems and demand separate Islamic financial products.
   The interpretation that sees all interest as prohibited seems to have won the day. In addition to Western institutions offering shari'a-compliant financial products, the American Dow Jones company has produced a special Islamic Market Index (DJIM). As oil profits and other Muslim wealth sources are recycled into Islamic investment products, the Islamic financial market will claim an ever-increasing share of the global market. This will mean that Western institutions may choose to gradually Islamize their own systems, in an attempt to retain their share in this lucrative market. So non-Muslims will have little choice but to use Islamic financial products and systems.
Halal products
   According to shari'a, certain foods such as pork and alcohol are forbidden to Muslims. The shari'a also says that animals must be slaughtered by Muslims in a religious ritual which includes slitting the animal's throat and draining its blood. Stunning of animals before slaughter is forbidden. Only meat produced by this type of slaughter is halal (permitted) for consumption. Halal food is provided in many public institutions in the UK such as schools, hospitals and prisons. Sometimes it is served to everyone, irrespective of faith. Likewise, most of the lamb exported from New Zealand is halal, whether it is going to a Muslim-majority country or to the West. The Muslim Council of Britain has recommended that the Islamic method of slaughter be adopted universally in Britain for all consumers. This trend can be seen as part of a process of Islamization, whereby non-Muslims end up living by Islamic rules.
   Though the Qur'an specifically prohibits only pork and alcohol, the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America has made a list of 36 different categories of food, drinks, and cosmetic products covering 301 products which meet shari'a requirements. Such products must not contain any prohibited ingredients and must be processed according to Islamic guidelines. To protect the certification process from fraud, Muslims in New Jersey, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Texas, Virginia and California have successfully persuaded their legislators to adopt a halal bill.

Shari'a principles used to allow the existence of Muslim minorities in the West
   Under the traditional division of the world into the House of Islam and the House of War, Muslim scholars recommended that Muslims who found themselves under non-Muslim rule should migrate back to Muslim states so that it would be easier for them to live according to shari'a. Today, most scholars accept the validity of Muslims living in the West under non-Islamic rule, but grapple with the legal justifications and implications of this situation. Some Muslim leaders in the West make obedience to the law of the land conditional on such laws not contradicting shari'a. According to Imam Muhammad Taher of the Leeds Grand Mosque, whenever the law of the land contradicts shari'a, it is invalid for Muslims and must be disobeyed.
   However some modernist scholars have tried to redefine Western states as belonging to the "House of Islam" but this has been strongly opposed by most Muslims. Others have developed concepts such as defining Western states as "House of Security" (Dar al-Amari) or "House of Covenant" (Dar al-'Ahd) to justify Muslims living in Western states and complying with non-shari'a norms.
   The shari'a principle of darura is used by many Muslim scholars to justify Muslim minorities living in the West who adapt to Western norms, including complying with Western legal systems and being loyal to Western states. Darura states that in emergency circumstances that threaten the life and welfare of Muslims, the unlawful may become lawful (necessity lifts prohibition), thus allowing Muslims in a non-Muslim state to disregard shari'a rules that conflict with the law of the land. Sheikh Tantawi of al-Azhar University, Cairo used this argument to justify Muslims in France obeying the new prohibition on wearing of veils in schools and other public institutions.
   Other legal tools employed include the notion of public good (maslaha) and the permission to use suitable rulings from any of the schools of law rather than being limited to one's own school of law.
   While these are all useful tools for moderate Muslims to justify their living in non-Muslim societies, they are generally considered merely temporary, applicable only in times of Muslim weakness. The implication is that all good Muslims ought to struggle to change this not-ideal situation into the ideal of Muslim political domination and shari'a rule.

Further reading
Doi, 'Abdur Rahman, Shari'ah: The Islamic Law (Kuala Lumpur: A.S. Noordeen, 1984).
A Muslim handbook on Islamic law.
Al-Qaradawi, Yusuf, The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam. (Indianapolis, Indiana: American Trust Publications, no date).
This book, by one of the most influential contemporary Muslim scholars, presents a wide selection of shari'a rules on what is lawful or prohibited in Islam as well as explaining some of the principles behind these rulings.
Shari'a and Muslims in the West (Barnabas Fund, 2007)
This booklet expands and develops the information given above on the contemporary practice of shari'a in Western countries. #

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Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity (ISIC)
   ISIC is the education and research arm of Barnabas Fund, an interdenominational charity which provides aid for persecuted Christians in more than 50 countries.
   This series of booklets is intended to provide background information for Christians seeking to understand the nature of Islam and its contemporary expression. One aspect of this relates to understanding the reason for the oppression and persecution of
   Christians in various Islamic parts of the world [will be helped to meet] the growing challenge which Islam poses to Western society, culture and Church.
   Other titles in this series include:
What is Islam?
Islam and Slavery
Shari'a and Muslims in the West
Islam and Truth

   – Barnabas Aid magazine, January-February 2007, as reprinted in a booklet © 2007. http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#what_is_sharia    DETAILS: Barnabas Fund, www.barnabasfund.org , (© 2007). No ISBN visible; 9 pp, soft covered, quality booklet, 15 x 21 cm (approx. 6 x 8¼ in), two illustrations.
   [RECAPITULATION: Muslims who deny the validity of shari'a or criticize it in any way are labelled as non-Muslims (infidels or apostates) by traditionalists and Islamists. As such they face the threat of being prosecuted as apostates, a crime that carries the death penalty in shari'a. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: In other words, violence and killing to prevent people thinking for themselves. ENDS.]
   [2nd RECAPITULATION: Jews and Christians are defined as dhimmis (literally "people of the pact {of protection}" i.e. permitted to live). However this protection is on condition that they do not bear arms, know their lowly place in society, treat Muslims with respect, pay a special poll tax (jizya), and do not behave arrogantly. ENDS.]
   [2nd COMMENT: Westerners and others who bend to Islamist demands have subconsciously accepted the role of dhimmis, that is, second-rate submissive people (all women fill the role, in Muslim minds, of THIRD-RATE people). These idea are similar to the Nazi doctrine of untermenschen, "sub-humans," i.e., non-Germans, which was similar to far more ancient dogmas. This and the anti-Judaist doctrines help to explain why the Grand Mufti of Egypt was feted in Nazi Germany. ENDS.]
   [3rd RECAPITULATION: The Sharia Council of Darul Uloom London gives some rules for divorce on its website, one of which clearly indicates that the council envisages the possibility of divorcing girls below the age of puberty. ENDS.]
   [KORAN (said to be the Angel Gabriel's message from Allah): 65:4:- If you are in doubt concerning those of your wives who have ceased menstruating, know that their waiting period shall be three months. The same shall apply to those who have not yet menstruated. … DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [4th RECAPITULATION: The shari'a also says that animals must be slaughtered by Muslims in a religious ritual which includes slitting the animal's throat and draining its blood. Stunning of animals before slaughter is forbidden. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT on 4th: Cruelty to animals and cruelty to convicted people with whippings and cutting living people up while alive (hanged, drawn and quartered) were features of British and other Western societies until recent centuries, until more enlightened thoughts overcame the Establishment. Primitivism is just that -- primitivism, no matter how it is dressed up.
   Re-read "animals must be slaughtered by Muslims" and go back to re-read that section of the main text. Will non-Muslims submissively lose their jobs in the slaughtering and butchering industries? Well, let us recite. ENDS.]
   [KORAN (said to be the Angel Gabriel's message from Allah): 9:28:- O Believers! only they who join gods with God are unclean! … DOCTRINE ENDS.] [Jan-Feb 2007]
• Regensburg address revisited.

Regensburg address revisited

   The Record (W. Australian Roman Catholic newspaper), ZENIT, p 8, Thursday, February 1, 2007
   Pope Benedict XVI's [Ratzinger] Regensburg address has also had soothing effects, says Father Maurice Borrmans, an authority on Islam. "The address has led Muslim intellectuals to draw lines of renewal in Muslim theology," Father Borrmans said.
   Father Borrmans, of the Missionaries of Africa, is author of the book "Guidelines for Dialogue between Christians and Muslims," and until recently, the editor of the journal "Islamochristiana," of the Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies.
   On Thursday, Father Borrmans attended a meeting at the Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies on reactions to Benedict XVI's lecture in Regensburg. The priest considers as significant four responses to the Regensburg lecture.
   The first is the open letter of the ulemas and muftis of the Al-al-Bayt Foundation of Amman, on October 15. The second is the commentary of Libyan Muslim intellectual Aref Alas Nayed.
   The third is the personal reflection of the director of the Lebanese review Ijtihad.
   The fourth is the open letter of the co-chairman of the Islamic-Christian Research Group, Hmida Ennaifer.
   According to Father Borrmans, these four responses underline the need for a serious and scientific in-depth reflection on some essential aspects for Islamic-Christian dialogue.
   He explained: "The lessons that must be drawn from this misunderstanding are many. One is that the theologian who became Pope saw how his address took on a universal dimension.
   "Not only the Pope, but all religious leaders, today cannot think only of their 'own' faithful but of all sensibilities, also those of nonbelievers."
   With his "successful trip to Turkey" and with the dialogue undertaken with Islam, "the Holy Father has brought the misunderstanding of Regensburg to its correct dimension," Father Borrmans added.
   Father Borrmans explained that the Regensburg address was directed "to colleagues and former students and was not setting out a global plan for all the religions of the world."
   "The quotation about Manuel Paleologo made some think that it was an international address, but the Pope did what we professors do, he mentioned a quotation from one of the latest books he had read on the subject," the priest continued.
   Father Borrmans stated that today "cultural sensibilities are very different" and he mentioned the case of the caricatures of Mohammed. "A Parisian joke is not the same as an Iraqi or Iranian joke."
   "Our task as theologians and philosophers is to form journalists, professors and preachers: Each one has his responsibility," he added.
   Father Borrmans continued: "We see emerging from this address that theological research has the exigencies of reason: Faith is not irrational, and this is what the Pope wished to teach, having as a background the West's positivism.
   "I repeat: the Pope was thinking of Christian Europe which is forgetting its roots; he was not thinking of a worldwide inter-cultural scene."
   According to Father Borrmans, "An urgent need exists to take up dialogue again and address the dignity of man, the meaning of history, and the sacredness of creation."
   The priest, who has also been a professor in North Africa and the Persian Gulf, counselled "prudence, wisdom and patience" in dialogue, and stressed that the discourse on the reasonableness of the faith is crucial.
   He said he also hopes there will be "many studies of comparative mysticism because, when all is said and done, what is important is the experience of God." #

   [RECAPITULATION: "The address has led Muslim intellectuals to draw lines of renewal in Muslim theology," Father Borrmans said. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Islam believes that the Koran is a copy of Allah's exact words, kept on a tablet in Heaven. So Fr Borrmans is just plain wrong. Either his scholarship is faulty, or he is one of those people who will be like the Dutch movie-maker Van Gogh who after a pious man shot him, asked if he could talk it over, before the pious person used two knives to behead him. Starry-eyed multiculturalism has little relationship to the cruelties being practised regularly in large parts of the world.
   The whole article looks as if some RC leaders are trying to crab-walk out of the Pope's clear warning of the difference between "do unto others as you would they do unto you" and "strike off the heads of the disbelievers". The Pope, too, backtracked after the worldwide violence after his speech threatened to escalate. No wonder a footnote in a certain Koran sneers at New Testament texts that seem cowardly. COMMENT ENDS.] [Feb 01, 07]
• Nine held in UK beheading plot.

Nine held in UK beheading plot

   PerthNow powered by The Sunday Times (Perth, W. Australia), www.news.com. au/perthnow/ story/0,21598, 21152229-948, 00.html , by Phil Hazlewood in Birmingham, England, 06:00am, February 01, 2007
   ENGLAND: POLICE have arrested nine British Pakistanis under anti-terror laws to foil an alleged "Iraq-style" plot to kidnap and behead a victim, possibly a Muslim soldier.
   If successful the alleged plotters, most arrested in dawn raids in the central English city of Birmingham, planned to post a video of the execution on the internet, as happened to a number of hostages in Iraq.
   "It was going to be a beheading and this was going to be posted on the internet via a homemade video," a security source said late last night.
   "I think it would be somebody significant inside the Muslim community."
   Sky News said the intended victim was a serving Muslim soldier in his 20s, who was recently given police protection after detectives learned that the attempted kidnap was only days away.
   Eight of the arrests, the result of a six-month investigation, took place in dawn raids in parts of the city with a large Muslim population.
   Yellow-vested police sealed off a number of streets for much of the day.
   In fast-moving events, a ninth suspect was arrested later in the day on a motorway in the Birmingham area.
   Home Secretary John Reid declined to go into detail about the alleged plotters, but underlined the "real and serious nature" of the terrorist threat Britain faces.
   The country remains on a high alert since July 2005 suicide bombings which left 56 people dead on the London transport system.
   But confirmation of plans to bring the kind of video beheadings seen in Iraq onto British soil would trigger a new level of alarm.
   The threat level to Britain from terrorism stands at "severe" - the second highest level - meaning an attack is "highly likely", according to the domestic intelligence service MI5.
   West Midlands Police said those detained were held "on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000", while the Home Office said the arrests were part of a "nationwide operation".
   The police chief leading the probe underlined the seriousness of the threat.
   "We are literally at the foothills of what is a very, very major investigation," said assistant chief constable David Shaw.
   "The threat from terrorism remains very real."
   Local councillor Ansar Ali Kahn said the people arrested, including in the Alum Rock and Sparkhill areas of the city, were British of Pakistani origin. At least one Islamic bookshop was being searched by police.
   "The community doesn't know what's happening. As a local councillor my main priority is keeping peace and calm in the community," he said.
   "There is shock and worry amongst the community because it was very sudden."
   In the heavily Muslim-populated streets of Alum Rock, locals voiced concerns about the impact of the arrests for the community.
   "Even if this guy is not guilty tomorrow, people will not want to visit our shops. They won't come to our area," said Shabir Hussain, vice-chairman of the Alum Rock Islamic Centre.
   "This is damaging for integration and damaging for the community."
   Chief Constable Shaw said he was aware of the Muslim community's concerns.
   "We think it is critical that we involve them in what is going on as much as we can. They understand the reasons for doing what we're doing and similarly they're able to come forward to us and express their concerns," he said.
   The arrests come after police detained a total of five people in raids in Manchester, northwest England, and Halifax, in nearby West Yorkshire, on January 23. #

   [COMMENT:
               This England never did nor never shall,
               Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror,
               But when it first did help to wound itself. BASTARD
   -- William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, King John, 5, 7 112. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE:- KORAN: 8:12:- … I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/008. qmt.html #008.012 .
   48:16:- …Ye shall do battle with them, or they shall profess Islam. …
   109:6:- To you be your religion; to me my religion. DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [GUIDELINE:- HADITH: 2, 19:173 (Bukhari's collection):- Later on, I saw him killed as a non-believer. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ fundamentals/ hadith sunnah/ bukhari/019. sbt.html #002.019.173 . GUIDELINE ENDS.]
   [SIMILAR REPORT: The West Australian, Thursday, February 1, 2007, Page One, "Eight arrested in UK beheading plot." The additional information in this is:

   Officers arrested two 24-year-old men and a 32-year-old in Manchester as part of an inquiry into the disappearance of a man being monitored under a control order, a loose form of house arrest for security suspects.
   On the same day, two men were arrested separately in dawn raids in Halifax by unarmed Metropolitan Police anti-terrorist officers supported by West Yorkshire police.
   Two men from Halifax appeared in court on Tuesday charged with a series of offences under the Terrorism Act 2000. The charges relate to alleged possession of extremist material, said to include an al-Qaida training film and a computer file called "Hamas Bomb".

ENDS.] [Feb 01, 07]
• Police squads storm homes of suspects at 4am

Police squads storm homes of suspects at 4am

   The Telegraph (Britain), www.telegraph. co.uk/news/ main.jhtml; jsessionid= WK3VXGMYSW0 1HQFIQMGCFF WAVCBQUIV0? xml=/news/ 2007/02/01/ nplot101.xml ; By Nick Britten, Last Updated: 2:20am GMT, Feb/01/2007
   BIRMINGHAM: It was 4am when the police smashed down front doors and swarmed all over the homes of eight terrorist suspects in Birmingham.
[Pictures] Police raids.
   With the minimum of fuss, officers moved in swiftly and removed the suspects and, in some cases, members of their families. Roads were cordoned off, four business premises quietly sealed and as dawn broke, the drama was over.
   The generational divide on the issue was starkly illustrated. Gangs of young Muslim men huddled together near the cordons, speaking of conspiracy and the State's persecution of their faith. First generation British Muslims spoke more of their concern at the effect of the latest terrorist raid as pictures were beamed worldwide.
   "We are talking about kidnap and beheading and yet here we are in Britain," said Shabir Hussain, who preaches at the Ludlow Road mosque near to Jackson Road, where one man, named locally as Amjad Mahmood, was arrested. Mahmood runs a grocer's shop, Khan's, which was shut down and searched.
   "This is having a very damaging effect on our society," said Mr Hussain. "We came here to work hard and bring our children up as good British citizens. What has gone wrong?
   "What is happening to our families when you challenge your son: where are you going; what are you looking at on the internet; what are you talking to your friends about? All it does is cause divisions."
   Ziah Khan, Mahmood's brother, said he was a hard-working businessman who worked long hours and lived for his job. He said Mahmood, who has two young boys, aged three and seven, would never be involved in terrorism.
   The raids took place across the city in Washwood Heath, Edgbaston, Kingstanding and Sparkhill. They included eight houses, two bookshops, an internet cafe and the grocer's.
   Throughout the day, locals continued to express bewilderment. No one knew anything about anything. All those arrested were quiet, hard-working and would not be involved in criminal activities. The shock soon receded and by mid-afternoon no one was stopping and staring.
   Some residents seemed genuinely surprised but the often heard "it's the last thing you'd expect around here" had a hollow ring to it - Birmingham and the West Midlands is becoming used to such activity. Last September, officers raided addresses in Washwood Heath allegedly linked to a plot to blow up America-bound airliners as they left British airports.
   In July 2005, 50 counter-terrorism officers raided a house in the Hay Mills area over the failed July 21 London Tube bombings.
   Moazzam Begg, a teacher from Sparkbrook, was held in Guantanamo Bay for three years after being arrested in Islamabad in 2002, and three men from Tipton, West Midlands, were also held at the camp in Cuba before being freed in 2004. Focus yesterday was thrown on potential meeting places such as the Maktabah bookshop in Stratford Road, Sparkhill, known for its sale of Islamic literature, and the nearby internet cafe Blades.
   The area is predominantly Muslim with a plethora of fast-food joints, Halal meat shops, mosques and thousands of terrace houses.
   Maktabah is well-known and well-used but, despite selling anti-Western literature, no one who used the store would admit to knowing anything about any alleged link with extremism. Outside the semi-detached house in Ward End Park Road, Washwood Heath, where one of the suspects was arrested, young Muslims were furious that they were being picked on again. One said the arrest was "nonsense, completely unbelievable".
   Publicly, West Midlands police were keen to play down accusations of heavy-handed behaviour and spent the day on a huge charm offensive, making repeated claims about how the community appreciated what it was doing and how they were working hand-in-hand with Muslims.
   Assistant Chief Constable David Shaw said that yesterday morning an Islamic centre offered police their rest facilities.
   Five thousand leaflets, printed in various languages, would be distributed in "key areas" to explain what they were doing. The softly, softly approach, a marked departure from Tony Blair's call for communities to do more to root out extremists, was not universally appreciated.
   "No one here trusts the police," said Asif Khan, a 20-year-old labourer, voicing the thoughts of his group hanging around Poplar Road, the scene of several arrests.
   "They'll butter us up and talk nice, then come round, kick your door in and arrest innocent people." #

   [RECAPITULATION: "No one here trusts the police," said Asif Khan, a 20-year-old labourer, voicing the thoughts of his group hanging around Poplar Road, the scene of several arrests. RECAP. ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE: KORAN:- 3:73 (or 66):- And believe no one unless he follows your Religion. Say: "True guidance is the Guidance of Allah". www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/003. qmt.html #003.073 .
   3:118 (or 114):- O ye who believe! Take not into your intimacy those outside your ranks: They will not fail to corrupt you. They only desire your ruin: Rank hatred has already appeared from their mouths: What their hearts conceal is far worse. … www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/003. qmt.html #003.118 .
   33:61:- Accursed, they will be seized wherever found and slain with a (fierce) slaughter.
   48:16:- …Ye shall do battle with them, or they shall profess Islam. …
   48:29:- Those who follow Him are tender to one another, but ruthless to unbelievers. DOCTRINE ENDS.] [Feb 01, 07]
• Cruellest cut in the name of Islam.

Cruellest cut in the name of Islam

   The Weekend Australian, pp 26-27, February 3-4, 2007
Genital mutilation and forced marriage occurs even among educated Muslims in some countries, writes Ayaan Hirsi Ali in a shocking account of her early life in Somalia, in her new book
KORAN school was a shed down the road. The other pupils were from the neighbourhood. At first I liked it. I learned to mix ink from charcoal, water, and a little milk, and to write the Arabic alphabet on long wooden boards. I began learning the Koran, line by line, by heart. It was uplifting to be engaged in such an adult task.
   But the kids at madrassah [Islamic religious school] were tough. They fought. One girl, who was about eight years old, they called kintirleey, "she with the clitoris".
   I had no idea what a clitoris was, but the kids didn't even want to be seen with this girl. They spat on her and pinched her; they rubbed sand in her eyes, and once they caught her and tried to bury her in the sand behind the school.
   The madrassah teacher didn't help. Once in a while he called her dammin, dunce, and kintirleey, too. My teenage cousin Sanyar used to pick me up after madrassah. One day she arrived just as a girl hit me in the face. Sanyar took me home and told the story. "Ayaan didn't even defend herself," she said in horror. "Coward!" my family jeered.
   The next day Sanyar waited for me outside the madrassah with another teenager, the older sister of the girl who had hit me the day before. They caught hold of the two of us and tugged us over to an open space, then ordered us to fight. "Scratch her eyes out. Bite her," Sanyar hissed at me. "Come on, coward, think of your honour."
   The other girl got the same encouragement. We flew at each other, fists tight, hitting, wrestling, pulling each other's hair, biting. "Ayaan, never cry!" Sanyar called out. The other children cheered us on. When they let us stop, our dresses were torn and my lip was bleeding, but Sanyar was delighted. "I don't want you to ever let another child hit you or make you cry," she said. "Fight. If you don't fight for your honour, you're a slave."
   Then, as we walked away, the other girl shouted after me, "Kintirleey!" Sanyar winced. I looked at her, horror dawning on me. I was like that other girl? I, too, had that filthy thing, a kintir? In Somalia, like many countries across Africa and the Middle East, little girls are made "pure" by having their genitals cut out. There is no other way to describe this procedure, which typically occurs around the age of five.
   After the child's clitoris and labia are carved out, scraped off, or, in more compassionate areas, merely cut or pricked, the whole area is often sewn up, so that a thick band of tissue forms a chastity belt made of the girl's own scarred flesh. A small hole is situated to permit a thin flow of pee. Only great force can tear the scar tissue wider, for sex.
   Female genital mutilation predates Islam. Not all Muslims do this, and a few of the peoples who do are not Islamic. But in Somalia, where virtually every girl is excised, the practice is always justified in the name of Islam. Uncircumcised girls will be possessed by devils, fall into vice and perdition, and become whores. Imams never discourage the practice: it keeps girls pure.
   Many girls die during or after their excision, from infection. Other complications cause enormous, more or less lifelong pain. My father Abeh was a modern man and considered the practice barbaric. He had always insisted that his daughters be left uncut. In this he was quite extraordinarily forward-thinking. Though I don't think it was for the same reason, Mahad, who was six, had also not yet been circumcised.
   Not long after that first fight of mine at the madrassah, Grandma decided that the time was right for us to undergo the necessary and proper dignity of purification. My father was in jail and my mother was away for long periods, but Grandma would ensure that the old traditions would be respected in the old ways.
   After she made the arrangements, Grandma was cheerful and friendly all week long. A special table was prepared in her bedroom, and various aunts, known and unknown, gathered in the house. When the day itself came I was not frightened, just curious. I had no idea what was going to happen, except that there was a festive atmosphere in the house and we - all three of us - were going to be cleansed. I wouldn't be called kintirleey any more.
   Mahad went first. I was driven out of the room, but after a while I stole back to the door and watched. Mahad was on the floor, with his head and arms on Grandma's lap. Two women were holding down his spread-eagled legs, and a strange man was bending down between them. The room was warm and I could smell a mixture of sweat and frankincense.
   Grandma was whispering in Mahad's ears, "Don't cry, don't stain your mother's honour. These women will talk about what they have seen. Grit your teeth." Mahad wasn't making a sound, but tears rolled down his face as he bit into Grandma's shawl. His face was clenched and twisted in pain. I couldn't see what the stranger was doing, but I could see blood. This frightened me. I was next. Grandma swung her hand from side to side and said, "Once this long kintir is removed you and your sister will be pure."
   From Grandma's words and gestures I gathered that this hideous kintir, my clitoris, would one day grow so long that it would swing sideways between my legs. She caught hold of me and gripped my upper body in the same position as she had put Mahad. Two other women held my legs apart. The man, who was probably an itinerant traditional circumciser from the blacksmith clan, picked up a pair of scissors. With the other hand, he caught hold of the place between my legs and started tweaking it, like Grandma milking a goat. "There it is, there is the kintir," one of the women said.
   Then the scissors went down between my legs and the man cut off my inner labia and clitoris. I heard it, like a butcher snipping the fat off a piece of meat. A piercing pain shot up between my legs, indescribable, and I howled. Then came the sewing: the long, blunt needle clumsily pushed into my bleeding outer labia, my loud and anguished protests, Grandma's words of comfort and encouragement. "It's just this once in your life, Ayaan. Be brave, he's almost finished." When the sewing was finished, the man cut the thread off with his teeth. That is all I can recall of it. But I do remember Haweya's bloodcurdling howls. Though she was the youngest - she was four, I five, Mahad six - Haweya must have struggled much more than Mahad and I did, or perhaps the women were exhausted after fighting us, and slipped, because the man made some bad cuts on Haweya's thighs. She carried the scars of them her whole life.
[Picture] Mutilated: Despite having parents opposed to the practice, Ayaan Hirsi Ali was circumcised at the behest of her grandmother
I will never forget the panic in Haweya's face and voice as she screamed with everything in her and struggled to keep her legs closed
   I must have fallen asleep, for it wasn't until much later that day that I realised that my legs had been tied together, to prevent me from moving to facilitate the formation of a scar. It was dark and my bladder was bursting, but it hurt too much to pee. The sharp pain was still there, and my legs were covered in blood. I was sweating and shivering. It wasn't until the next day that my Grandma could persuade me to pee even a little.
   By then everything hurt. When I just lay still the pain throbbed miserably, but when I urinated the flash of pain was as sharp as when I had been cut.
   It took about two weeks for us to recover. Grandma tended to us constantly, suddenly gentle and affectionate. She responded to each anguished howl or whimper, even in the night. After every tortured urination she washed our wounds carefully with warm water and dabbed them with purple liquid. Then she tied our legs again and reminded us to stay completely still or we would tear, and then the man would have to be called again to sew us back up.
   After a week the man came and inspected us. He thought that Mahad and I were doing well, but said Haweya needed to be resewn. She had torn her wound while urinating and struggling with Grandma. We heard it happening; it was agony for her. The entire procedure was torture for all of us, but undoubtedly the one who suffered the most was Haweya.
   Mahad was already up and about, quite healed, when the man returned to remove the thread he had used to sew me shut. This was again very painful. He used a pair of tweezers to dig out the threads, tugging on them sharply. Again, Grandma and two other women held me down. But after that, even though I had a thick, bumpy scar between my legs that hurt if I moved, at least my legs didn't have to be tied together any more, and I no longer had to lie down without moving all day.
   It took Haweya another week to reach the stage of thread removal, and four women had to hold her down. I was in the room when this happened. I will never forget the panic in her face and voice as she screamed with everything in her and struggled to keep her legs closed. Haweya was never the same afterward. She became ill with a fever for several weeks and lost a lot of weight. She had horrible nightmares, and during the day began stomping off to be alone. My once cheerful, playful little sister changed. Sometimes she just stared vacantly at nothing for hours. We all started wetting our beds after the circumcision. In Mahad's case, it lasted a long time.
   When Ma came back from her trip this time, she was furious. "Who asked you to circumcise them?" she yelled, more angry with her mother than I had ever seen her. "You know their father doesn't want it done! Allah knows, I have never in my life been so betrayed as by you. What possessed you?"
   Grandma turned on my mother in fury. She yelled that she had done Ma a huge favour. Everyone was cut.
   ONE Friday afternoon at the end of January 1992, my father Abeh came straight from the mosque to our flat. He never did that - never paid us a visit these days - and when he arrived he was completely excited. "Ayaan, my daughter, I have good news for you - the best news - my prayers are answered!" he crowed. "Today in the mosque a blessed man came to me with a proposal of marriage, and I offered him your hand!"
   I remember letting him talk while I felt my heels sinking into the ground. I cleared my throat and said no, but he didn't hear me. I said, "I'm not going to marry a stranger!" and my father, bubbling with enthusiasm, answered, "But he's not a stranger! He's not a stranger at all! He's your cousin! He's an Osman Mahamud!" He began chanting back all of this man's names.
   I said, "Not a stranger in that sense, Abeh," and he answered, "In what sense, then?" "But I haven't even met him!" I wailed. My father told me, "That's fine - you will meet him tomorrow."
   My father had given me away to a man called Osman Moussa, a fine young Somali man who had grown up in Canada. He had come to Nairobi to find and rescue family members who had been stranded by the civil war, and also to find a bride. He thought the Somali girls in Canada were too Westernised, by which he meant that they dressed indecently, disobeyed their husbands, and mixed freely with men; they were not baarri, which made them unworthy of marriage. And the civil war meant that daughters of the best families in Somalia were available for practically nothing.
   My father had met this young man in the mosque barely two hours before. He was tall, he told me, with strong bones and white teeth, well fed on milk and meat in North America. Osman Moussa must have approached him. I can imagine the scene, the respectful recitation of lineage, finally the request: "You are the father of daughters, and I seek a bride." My father must have felt so very happy.
   There was no bride price. Because of the civil war, it would have been indecent to ask for one. But this was a strategic marriage; Osman Moussa could boast that he was married to a Magan, and we would now have relatives in Canada. There were all kinds of reasons for my father to be happy about this match.
   I summoned the strength to say to my father "Abeh, what if I am already with some other person?" but he wasn't even listening. He said, "Allah has sent us the answer." He was overcome with his own cleverness. The next day, my father came to the house with Osman Moussa. [… and much more]
   Edited extract from Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, to be published next week by Free Press (an imprint of Simon & Schuster), $34.95.

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#cruellest [Feb 3-4, 2007]
• Dangerous odyssey of Muslim Voltaire.

Dangerous odyssey of Muslim Voltaire

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a rare public example of moral courage for the West, writes Rebecca Weisser
   The Weekend Australian, p 27, by Rebecca Weisser, February 3-4, 2007
THE threat to kill Ayaan Hirsi Ali was staked with a dagger into the chest of Dutch film-maker Theo Van Gogh who had been shot as he rode his bike along an Amsterdam street in broad daylight.
   Van Gogh's last words to his assassin read like an epitaph for the Western enlightenment "Can't we talk about this?" he reasoned. The response was immediate and final. Mohammed Bouyeri slit Van Gogh's throat and silenced him forever.
   That Hirsi Ali has continued to talk in the face of this barbarity is just one measure of the extraordinary physical and moral courage of this delicate, 38-year-old Somali-born woman.
   What is more unexpected is that such a figure - a black, Muslim woman, a refugee from a forced marriage, a survivor of female genital mutilation and of a bloody civil war, a voice for the voiceless and most oppressed of the oppressed - should be viewed with suspicion by some on the progressive Left and with outright condemnation by others.
   Hirsi Ali has been prepared to attack ideas and people that the Left has treated as sacrosanct: Islam as a religion, Muslim men (as the oppressors of Muslim women), and multiculturalism and its postmodern handmaiden, moral equivalence, which postulates that all cultures and all religions are equally deserving of respect, support and government funding.
   For Hirsi Ali, Islam in its current incarnation is not just different from Judeo-Christian culture, it is fundamentally incompatible with the enlightenment values that underpin Western prosperity. Her views about Islam echo those of Argentine scholar Mariano Grondona who identified 25 characteristics that mark a society as progress prone or progress resistant.
Even the scent of soap or the sound of high heels was enough to drive a man into a sexual frenzy
   Islam, with its emphasis, on passive submission to the will of Allah and finding fulfillment in the hereafter rather than on earth, discourages the work ethic that is the motor for economically successful societies.
   Hirsi Ali's views have added weight because they are not those of an outsider or a dilettante. She was born into a devout Muslim family and plunged deeply into her religion as a teenager choosing to veil herself completely in what her more worldly younger sister called "a tent" and joining Muslim Brotherhood groups to discuss Hasan al-Banna and Sayyid Qutb.
   "Everyone was convinced that there was an evil worldwide crusade aimed at eradicating Islam, directed by the Jews and by the whole godless West," she recalls in her autobiography. "Our goal was a global Islamic government, for everyone."
   Even as Hirsi Ali became increasingly devout, she marvelled at "how many esteemed Muslim thinkers had philosophised at such length about precisely how much female skin could be bared without causing chaos to break out across the landscape". Even the scent of soap or the sound of high heels was enough to drive a man into a sexual frenzy which, whether it resulted in rape or adultery, was always the fault of the woman.. "
   Hirsi Ali chafed at the fundamental inequality of men and women under Islam, finally asking her study group, "What about men? Shouldn't they cover? Don't women also have desire for male bodies? Couldn't they be tempted by the sight of men's skin?" Her companions fell about laughing.
   Despite her father's relatively progressive views, he decided to marry her off to a distant cousin living in Canada. While waiting in transit in Germany for her visa, she decided to make a bolt for freedom and took a train to The Netherlands where she sought asylum. This was the real beginning of the education of Hirsi Ali. Already fluent in five languages - Somali, Arabic, Swahili, Amharic and English - she became an interpreter for her community, began to learn Dutch and started studying, eventually gaining a masters in political science from the University of Leiden.
   Day after day, her work as an interpreter took her deep into the heart of the Muslim migrant community where she helped women who had been beaten up by their husbands but could find no protection within the Muslim community where male violence was a God-given right. Others had been gang-raped and were terrified of being beaten or murdered by their relatives because they had shamed their family.
   She heard the anti-Western views of the Muslim migrants who called the Dutch "kufr" (a derogatory Arabic word meaning infidel) and the Somalis who called them "gaalo" (a derogatory Somali word meaning non-Muslims). They manipulated the system to extract as many benefits as they could from the welfare state and accused the Dutch of being racist if they weren't given what they wanted. of Hirsi Ali's autobiography, Infidel, than the hatred she engenders in Islamic fundamentalists. She is an infidel too in the eyes of many first and second-generation immigrants who see her as an uppity newcomer and an Uncle Tom apologist for indigenous Dutch people. The Dutch migrant hip-hop band DHC wrote a song which started, "F- Hirsi Ali Somali; Just two months in Holland, and already so knowing; Cancer whore, sh*t stain, I'll smash your face…"
   Hirsi Ali is also an apostate to the self-proclaimed progressive Left and it's not hard to see why. She is, in politically correct terms, a classic "victim", part of what sociologists these days like to call the "other", yet she calls for integration rather than multiculturalism. She is a member of a racial minority yet she calls for an end to government support for Islamic schools. She is a refugee yet she calls for restrictions on immigration.
   When the ABC's Kerry O'Brien suggested to Hirsi Ali last week that her traumatic background might have turned her into a reactionary, she replied, "I don't see what is reactionary about saying, 'Let's respect life as an end in itself, liberty as an end in itself, and the equality of men and women'."
   Author Ian Buruma writes in his penetrating political critique Murder in Amsterdam that Hirsi Ali's dream of liberation for the Muslims in the West is being sabotaged "by the Western cultural relativists with their anti-racism, who say: 'If you're critical of Islam, you're a racist, or an Islamophobe, or an Enlightenment fundamentalist'."
   Buruma says Hirsi Ali sometimes reminds him of Margaret Thatcher but her real ambition is to be the Voltaire of Islam, to bring the Enlightenment to Allah with a Muslim Life of Brian. It is dangerous work and Hirsi Ali, who was recently awarded the Martin Luther King Jr award for her activism, risks political assassination as did Luther King.
   "Even with bodyguards and death threats I feel privileged to be alive and free," she told O'Brien on The 7.30 Report. "I know the threats are out there and I think that it's clearly worth fighting for the freedoms that I have come to benefit from in just 14 years. I know them only for 14 years. Probably that's why I'm more passionate about them than the people who are born into it." #

   [RECAPITULATION: Mohammed Bouyeri slit Van Gogh's throat … barbarity …
   Hirsi Ali has been prepared to attack ideas and people that the Left has treated as sacrosanct: Islam as a religion, Muslim men (as the oppressors of Muslim women), and multiculturalism and its postmodern handmaiden, moral equivalence, which postulates that all cultures and all religions are equally deserving of respect, support and government funding.
   … Islam in its current incarnation is … fundamentally incompatible with the enlightenment values that underpin Western prosperity.
   Islam, with its emphasis, on passive submission to the will of Allah and finding fulfillment in the hereafter rather than on earth, discourages the work ethic that is the motor for economically successful societies.
   … in her autobiography. "Our goal was a global Islamic government, for everyone." Even as Hirsi Ali became increasingly devout, she marvelled at "how many esteemed Muslim thinkers had philosophised at such length about precisely how much female skin could be bared without causing chaos to break out across the landscape".
   Despite her father's relatively progressive views, he decided to marry her off to a distant cousin… she decided to make a bolt for freedom and took a train to The Netherlands …
   … she helped women who had been beaten up by their husbands but could find no protection within the Muslim community where male violence was a God-given right. Others had been gang-raped and were terrified of being beaten or murdered by their relatives because they had shamed their family.
   The Dutch migrant hip-hop band DHC wrote a song which started, "F- Hirsi Ali Somali; Just two months in Holland, and already so knowing; Cancer whore, sh*t stain, I'll smash your face…"
   She is, in politically correct terms, a classic "victim", part of what sociologists these days like to call the "other", yet she calls for integration rather than multiculturalism. She is a member of a racial minority yet she calls for an end to government support for Islamic schools. She is a refugee yet she calls for restrictions on immigration.
   … Hirsi Ali, who was recently awarded the Martin Luther King Jr award for her activism, risks political assassination … RECAP. ENDS.]
   [LINK/S: For a link to Islamic shariah Law, as a start click: www.masud. co.uk/ISLAM/ misc/alshifa/ pt4ch1sec 1.htm . On MetaCrawler http://www.metacrawler.com, try words like "+shari’a +punish +kill +fatwa ". ENDS.] [Feb 3-4, 2007]
• Islamic theology and Iraqi Christians - Part II.

Islamic theology and Iraqi Christians - Part II

   The Barnabas Fund (Britain), www.barnabas fund.org/news/ archives/ article. php?ID_ news_items= 244 ; February 9, 2007
   IRAQ -- As the rising tide of sectarian violence in Iraq pits Sunni against Shi'a, many in the West struggle to understand why religion plays such a part in the violence. In the fifth of a series of special reports on life within Iraq, Barnabas Fund looks further looks at some aspects of Islam that insurgents are using to place a low value on the lives of Christians.
   Split between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims
   The sectarian divisions in Islam date back initially to the seventh century and arguments over who should succeed Muhammad as leader of the Islamic community. The Sunni and Shi'a branches of Islam now account for the majority of the Muslims in the world, with many further divisions within each sect.
   It is relevant to note that this divide arose out of a dispute over who should wield power over the Muslim world as Muhammad's legitimate successor. History has of course seen the split become more entrenched as theological justifications were later formulated for each position. Violent confrontations over long periods of time added to the bitterness. Divisions today are rooted in theology, history and politics. Islamists in both camps are seeking to dominate the new Iraq and shape it forcibly into their image.
   A key to understanding the enmity of Sunni to Shi'a lies in the fact that some in each side view the other as apostates - i.e. those who have turned their back on the 'true' faith. In classical Islam the penalty for apostasy is death. This fact, combined with factors such as influence from radical global networks such as al-Qaeda, from other Sunni and Shi'a countries in the region - particularly Sunni Wahhabi Saudi Arabia and Shi'a Iran respectively - and ongoing retaliations for offences committed under the brutal reign of Saddam, all add fuel to the fire of warfare between the militia of both sects.
   Importance of power and authority
   It is difficult to overestimate the role of power and authority in classical Islamic thought. Islam itself means 'submission', and the faith requires complete submission to the will of Allah. This covers every aspect of life at every level of society from individuals to states.
   Classical Islam divides the world into two parts - Dar-al-Islam, the 'House of Islam', and Dar-al-Harb, the 'House of war'. According to classical Islam, it is the duty of every Muslim to work towards turning all parts of the world from Dar-al-Harb into Dar-al-Islam - where power is wielded according to Islamic law and everything is in submission to Allah.
   One key aspect of Dar-al-Islam is that it is ruled by Islamic law, known as shari’a. This all-encompassing legalistic structure for Muslims prescribes what is and is not acceptable in all aspects of life. Although based on the Qu'ran and traditions of Islam (known as 'Hadith') there are several different schools of sharia law.
   The position in Iraq is further complicated by the fact that Sunni and Shi'a follow different interpretations of sharia. This has implications when, for example, framing the laws for the new Iraq, since there exist sharp divisions between the two groups.
   Classical Islam views religion and the state as inextricably linked. This concern to extend the reach of faith into all aspects of life, including the political realm, goes some way to explaining why Sunni and Shi'a government ministers in Iraq are now staffing their ministries entirely with members of their own sect. Whereas under the previous secular administration some Christians held high positions, due in part to their predominately middle-class status and good education, they now find it increasingly difficult to find employment within ministries that are now either Sunni or Shi'a fiefdoms. Furthermore, classical Islamic theology holds that non-Muslims should not have positions of authority over Muslims.
   Sacred space
   Another doctrine that impacts upon the intensity of sectarian fighting and the situation of Christians is that of 'sacred space'. Under this idea, any land that is occupied by Muslims becomes Islamic for all time. It is strictly forbidden to give up any claims to such land. This is worth bearing in mind when looking at the scale of fighting between insurgent groups and coalition forces in sectarian areas, with the insurgents determined not to cede ground to the 'occupiers'. It is also relevant with regard to campaigns to drive Christians away from their homes. Once Christians leave and the militia groups move in, there cannot be any return for those Christians to the towns where they were born and grew up.
   Jihad
   The final concept of importance is jihad. Jihad literally means 'struggle' and it applies, in classical Islamic thought, to every aspect of life. It can mean the struggle for piety, or the struggle to look after family and community. However its predominant meaning has been that of war for the sake of God and Islam. There is a duty on Muslims to rise up in defence of their fellow Muslims if they are threatened or attacked. Muslims also have a duty to struggle in the cause of Islam, that is, to work towards converting their non-Muslim neighbours to the Islamic faith and their society to an Islamic state.
   When the insurgent attacks against the coalition forces first began, the war was seen inside Iraq as a form of jihad against the outsiders. For some insurgents jihad included attacks on Iraqi Christians who were assumed to be allies of the invading forces from 'Christian' countries such as the US and UK. Now, many in Iraq will tell you that the struggle is not against Western 'unbelievers', but against Muslim 'heretics' with whom they differ over doctrine and practice. What began as a defensive 'holy war' has become an internal struggle for power and territory.
   Standing up for their faith
   The nuances of the Islamic theology may be hard to discern, but its practical effects are everywhere to see in Iraq. Refugee flows are reaching record levels, with one in eight Iraqis forced out of their homes. For the Christian minorities that remain in Iraq - and there are some, located in the Kurdish North, in Baghdad as well as in specific areas in the south - the pain of seeing the homeland torn apart as their former neighbours seek to destroy each other is further heightened by the knowledge that they might be next on someone's list. When that happens, the real question is where the Christians of Iraq can go to be safe.
   Having survived for almost two thousand years as a distinct community in Mesopotamia (Iraq), Christians now face a threat to their very survival in this Biblical region. However hard they try to please their Muslim compatriots, the radicals always find justifications to attack them. Only conversion or expulsion seem to be the terms on offer from the radical Sunni and Shi'a groups. Committed to remain true to their faith and traditions, the Christians in Iraq are in a terrible quandary from which they can see no escape unless their homeland is to lose its Christian presence altogether.

[COMMENT: Sadly, this article doesn't mention the Judaists/Jews, who have lived in the Mesopotamia / Babylonia area for probably 2600 years or more, and for about 1000 years were a semi-independent community there with their own prince, nor about the other religions of the country. Still, the article will be useful if it awakens some "cuddly" Christians, or some "politically correct" people. A Judaist professor lecturing in Australia in February 2007 has seen the danger, but the Jewish leaders then disowned him! COMMENT ENDS.] [Feb 9, 07]
• Victorian Supreme Court ruling on Scot and Nalliah.

Victorian Supreme Court ruling

on Scot and Nalliah
   Life News, (Life Ministries, 4 / 334 Wanneroo Rd, Nollamara, WA, 6061, Australia), www.life ministries. org.au , by Roslyn Phillips, pp 4-5, February/March 2007
On 14 December 2006 three Victorian Supreme Court judges - Nettle, Ashley and Neave - handed down their decision to uphold the appeal by pastors Daniel Scot and Danny Nalliah against their conviction for religious vilification. We are praising the Lord!
   In my view, Justice Nettle's judgement is a damning indictment of Judge Higgins' original decision to convict the pastors in December 2004. Justice Nettle lists about 20 separate instances where Judge Higgins of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) misrepresented what Daniel Scot had said in his seminar on Islam in March 2002 (eg Higgins wrongly claimed that Scot had said "Muslims are demons").
   Justice Nettle also points out that Judge Higgins in effect failed to recognise the difference between hatred of the sin and hatred of the sinner, and did not acknowledge that it is possible to criticise certain beliefs without inciting hatred against those who hold those beliefs.
   Justice Nettle says Judge Higgins' views on the accuracy or inaccuracy of Pastor Scot's views on Islam and the Quran were not relevant to the case, noting: "In my view it was calculated to lead to error for a secular tribunal [like VCAT] to attempt to assess the theological propriety of what was asserted at the Seminar."
   Justice Nettle also notes that Judge Higgins paid insufficient attention to Daniel Scot's emphasis on the need for his audience to love Muslims, to show sensitivity for Muslim culture and respect for the Quran and Mohammed.
   Justice Nettle says at one point: "I have listened to the tape recording of the Seminar… Unlike [Judge Higgins], however, I was unable to perceive from the tape anything in the manner of Pastor Scot's delivery which rendered his statements more likely to incite the audience to hatred and other relevant emotion of or towards Muslims. To the contrary, as it seemed to me, what one hears is a speaker who, although endowed with an admirable command of the English language, speaks it as a second language with all the difficulties which that sometimes entails. I hear a degree of nervousness in delivery, a pattern of speech which is idiomatically incongruous and consequent double entendre which the speaker sounds not to have intended. Admittedly, his style is given to ridicule in places, and the ridicule results in cynical laughter at places. But on any analysis his plea to love Muslims and to "minister" to them comes across as sincere enough as do the sounds of his audience's reaction to it."
   While Judge Higgins paid great attention to the hurt feelings of the three Muslims who attended the seminar, Justice Nettle says that "the affront to the feelings of the Muslim witnesses was largely if not wholly irrelevant. The concentration needed to be on the members of the audience who were not Muslims. What demanded to be assessed was whether the effect of the injunctions to love and to witness to Muslims was sufficient to prevent hatred and other relevant emotion by the non-Muslims towards Muslims.
   "In fact, the Seminar was replete with statements by Pastor Scot, to which neither Mr Thomas [a Muslim complainant] nor [Judge Higgins] made any reference, favourable to Muslims and ex facie calculated to persuade an audience of non-Muslims to love and 'witness' to Muslims (despite Pastor Scot's perception of the shortcomings of Islam)." Justice Nettle goes on to quote substantial parts of the seminar where Pastor Scot speaks of Muslims and their culture in positive terms.
   Justices Neave and Ashley have written briefer judgements than Justice Nettle, and while supporting his main conclusion, do not agree with him on all points. Judge Ashley was particularly critical of the conduct of the pastors' VCAT defence, which in his view took up too much time in irrelevant theological debate. In my view Judge Higgins was more to blame for allowing such debate and presuming, with no theological training, to decide who was right and wrong.
   The orders (penalties) handed down in 2005 by Judge Higgins have been set aside - and we praise God that the two pastors are once again free to preach and teach about Islam and hold seminars like the one Pastor Scot conducted in a Melbourne church in March 2002.
   Yet the case is far from over. It has been sent back to VCAT - an action which could be perceived as passing the buck on this politically highly sensitive issue. The Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) has been ordered to pay half the costs of the Supreme Court appeal. A VCAT judge (not Higgins) will reconsider the evidence already given and make another decision next year - guided by comments of the three Supreme Court justices.
   The two Daniels have welcomed the Victorian Supreme Court decision and have again called for the repeal of the Victorian Racial and Religious Tolerance Act - which has demonstrably created more, not less, intolerance and disharmony in Victoria's religious community as a result of cases like theirs.
   Other cases such as the complaint of a convicted paedophile witch against a Salvation Army officer conducting a prison Alpha Bible course show that vilification laws like these can be and are used to harass groups with differing beliefs.
   The entire 51 page judgement can be seen at: www.austlii. edu.au/au/ cases/vic/ VSCA/2006/ 284.html
   Roslyn Phillips is the Research Officer for Festival of Light Australia. Website www.fol. org.au

[Feb-Mar 2007, received ~ Feb 11, 07]
• [W.A. future? "Sharia law in its extreme form can also be fairly barbaric."]

Sharia law to solve Muslim disputes

   The West Australian, By KIM MACDONALD, EXCLUSIVE, Page One, Wednesday, February 14, 2007
   PERTH: Local Muslims will be able to resolve some of their marital, divorce, property and commercial disputes using a new mediation process that will hand down decisions based on sharia law.
   Under a controversial plan by the Islamic Council of WA, the State's top imams will oversee the mediation hearings, conducted under the auspices of an incorporated body.
   Abdul Jalil Ahmad, the religious adviser to the council, said the rulings would not override State and Commonwealth laws and could only recommend they be accepted by those involved.
   Mr Ahmad said the imams would not recommend Muslims take actions that breached the law and they could not hand out punishments.
   But the proposal was criticised by the Ethnic Communities Council, which said it could damage the Muslim bid to integrate with the rest of society.
   ECC spokesman Suresh Rajan said it was wrong to mix religion and the law. "I think sharia law is extremely strict and to me, running two systems in that fashion is going to provide conflict, if not necessarily overt, there will be conflict of the mind of the individual," he said. "Sharia law in its extreme form can also be fairly barbaric."
   But Mr Ahmad rejected the accusation, claiming it would help prevent costly court cases. "In that way we help because in your system you cannot always resolve the problem out of court and in a friendly way," he said. |
   He expected more than a dozen imams would sit on the new body, which is yet to be incorporated, and he said there were also talks to set up a national group.
   Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the group was allowed to help people settle differences out of court but would not be allowed to adjudicate disputes. #

   [RELATED NEWSITEMS: Sharia, or Islamic law, is gaining an increasing foothold in parts of Britain, … www.thewest. com.au/default. aspx?MenuID= 29&Content ID=15230 .
   … e-shari’at-e-Mohammedi (Movement for the Implementation of Mohammed's shari’a Law). The group, which backs the Afghan Taliban, was banned by the Government in 2002. … www.thewest.com. au/printfriendly. aspx?Content ID=12533 .
   … and rally support for the introduction of shari’a Islamic law in Indonesia. … shari’a law is an attempt to tap into the political powderkeg of shari’a, which … www.thewest.com. au/printfriendly. aspx?Content ID=245 .
   Almost 20 per cent of Indonesian Muslims support the efforts of … knows and agrees with JI fighting to implement Islamic shari’a law in the country. … www.thewest.com.au/printfriendly.aspx?StoryName=325187 . ENDS.]
   [READING RECOMMENDED: A good summary of shari’a law's cruelty towards women could be found by carefully picking out the strands of shari’a law from among the tribal cruelties and violent illogical behaviour in June 2002 exposed by Mukhtar Mai's book In the Name of Honour, 2006. Brief account at Submit / Reading # Honour. Read about other books on that webpage, including Not Without my Daughter, 1987. The shari’a law states that no rape can be proven unless four male adult Muslims are witnesses, and that any woman who announces she has had sex outside marriage must be stoned to death. A woman who had consensual sex, conceived, and was sentenced to death in Muslim Nigeria in 2001 wrote her account in I, Safiya, 2003. Then search for religious documents ordering wives to obey under threat of a thrashing / scourging / beating, and other women to be used as enforced sex partners if taken by force of arms. ENDS.]
   [LINK/S: Ethnic Communities Council of Western Australia Inc. www.multicult ural.online. wa.gov.au/ cgi-bin/ community.cgi? account= ecc wa&url=http:// www.multicult ural.online. wa.gov.au/ wppuser/eccwa/ eccwa/home page.html .
   Muslims Against Terrorism: http://www.rayhawk.com/classics/matusa/islam.html
   Shared by Yahoos
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• shari’a law objection supported.

shari’a law objection supported

   Letter sent to newspaper by an Unusual Suspect, February 14, 2007
   I congratulate the Ethnic Communities Council of WA spokesman Suresh Rajan for opposing the start-up of shari’a law in W.A., as reported by Kim Macdonald in The West Australian ("Sharia law to solve Muslim disputes," 14/2)
   Muslim law demands that no rape can be proven unless four adult male Muslim witnesses give evidence.
   On the other hand, a rape victim who complains, if the rape is not proven, has by her very action of reporting the rape admitted having sexual connexion outside marriage. The penalty for that is death by stoning. In 2001 a religious court in Nigeria tried to stone to death Safiya Tudu, a seduction victim, who wrote a book about it called I, Safiya in 2003.
   Now other Australians can see why the Sheikh Al-Hilali and the Muslim brothers who we say raped, but they probably think they won a woman in battle, are so angry with our "Anglo" laws, which saw one of the men sentenced originally to 55 years imprisonment. We are defying their idea of males' rights, under Allah.
   With such beliefs, how can the proposed committee of imams solve marital, divorce (man says "I divorce thee" thrice), property (daughters inherit half of the sons' shares), and commercial disputes (Koran 66:2:- Allah hath allowed you release from your oaths.) ?
   Even our under-resourced W.A. courts will give fairer decisions than these!
   The other major problem is that, under sharia law, both male and female non-Muslims are expected to act as second and third-class citizens, under various labels, one of which is dhimmi, and pay additional financial levies. Dhimmitude is defined in standard texts, but I recommend A People Betrayed, 2002 by Patrick Sookhdeo.
   Serious politicians and judges ought to study the sharia law and the Hadith. Good bookshops can obtain them in English, and they are on such websites as the University of Southern California; visit http://www.usc. edu/dept/MSA/ fundamentals/ hadith sunnah/ muslim/019. smt.html .

[Feb 14, 07]
• AIJAC 'dumps' scholar over Muslim remarks.

AIJAC ‘dumps’ scholar over Muslim remarks

   AJN. com.au , www.ajn.com. au/news/news. asp?pgID= 2564 , By Jason Frenkel, with Melissa Singer, February 16, 2007
   AUSTRALIA: THE Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) has withdrawn its support for a visiting Israeli expert on Islam who earlier this week urged Australia to cap its intake of Muslim immigrants.
   AIJAC executive director Dr Colin Rubenstein issued a statement on Friday distancing the organisation, which has partly sponsored Hebrew University Professor Raphael Israeli's six-week Australian visit, from the academic's claims that "life will become untenable" unless the Muslim population is kept in check.
   Professor Israeli said Australia was in danger of being swamped by Muslims – especially from Indonesia – and called for a "preventative policy" to protect national security and ensure Muslims remained a "marginal minority".
   But Dr Rubenstein rejected Professor Israeli's "implication that the Muslim community as a whole is a threat or danger".
   "Islamist extremism is a genuine and serious global problem, but it is completely wrong to single out all Muslims for suspicion or negatively stereotype the Muslim community as a whole in this way."
   Dr Rubenstein said AIJAC had censured Professor Israeli over the "unacceptable and unhelpful" remarks, and "will not be co-hosting any of his further appearances in Australia".
   Professor Israeli had just begun a stint as a scholar-in-residence at the Shalom Institute in Sydney, where he is teaching a course on "Understanding Islam".
   Shalom Institute CEO Hilton Immerman said that while Professor Israeli's views do not necessarily represent those of the Shalom Institute, which "rejects any form of racial stereotyping or ethnic quotas", the course would proceed.
   An author of 20 books on the Muslim, Arab and Chinese worlds, he was also scheduled to give talks in Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and New Zealand. However, Dr Rubenstein told the AJN that he was unsure whether the talks would go ahead given that AIJAC had withdrew its support.
   In an interview with the AJN, Professor Israeli said radical Islam would not be defeated by a war of words.
   "You have to infiltrate all those circles where the Muslim radicals operate, to arrest them, and to limit immigration into western countries where these Muslims, who are bent on destroying western civilisation … to limit immigration, even students who apply to come from Islamic countries to the West," he said.
   "It serves no purpose when you have this home-grown terrorist, who has been preparing for years to blow up undergrounds in London, and all you do is lead a war of words. The war of words doesn't help. There is a whole gamut of actions that are possible in order to check this threat of Islam."
   Citing France, where Muslims comprise about nine per cent of the population, as an example, Professor Israeli warned growing Muslim communities could change the political, economic, and cultural fabric of a country.
   "You have to adopt some kind of preventative policy. In order not to get there, limit the immigration and therefore you keep them a marginal minority, which will be a nuisance, but cannot pose a threat to the demographic and security aspects of a country."
   But Islamic Council of Victoria director Waleed Aly branded the comments "ill-advised and foolish" and said Professor Israeli didn't understand Australia.
   "It is clearly possible in the current environment to say things about Muslims that you simply cannot say about anyone else," Aly said.
   "The fundamental problem at the heart of this is that he seems to be suggesting that increased marginalisation of Muslim populations will somehow produce something other than mutual resentment. It should be obvious to anyone really that it's doomed to failure."
   Officially, there are fewer than 300,000 Muslims in Australia according to the 2001 Census, but Islamic community officials estimate the actual number to be at least 500,000 – about 2.5 per cent of the population.
   "Even though it's so low, they are so vocal, and they make so much noise," Professor Israeli said. "And therefore the situation has to be checked before they increase their numbers, because don't forget in your immediate proximity dwells the largest or most populous Islamic country in the world [Indonesia], and by necessity, there is demographic pressure from there to channel the surplus of populations to wherever it's possible.
   "And one of the big possibilities is Australia, so they will continue to come legally, or illegally, and settle here, and when they get to the rate of the 10 per cent like in France, then you will see life will become untenable."
   He said France might already be at the "point of no return".
   "Then they control whole sections of the economy, there are areas in France where you cannot be elected to Parliament without the support of the Muslims and so on. And therefore, by increasing their numbers they start to have an impact on the social, economic, political and cultural nature of the country."
   He warned that radical Muslims would find it easier to "melt" into the community and plan terrorist acts without scrutiny from authorities if the growth of Australia's Muslim population was allowed to continue.
   "You will have then large concentrations of Muslims, so it's not thousands, it will be millions, and when they become millions it's a big mass where individual Muslims, including terrorists, can melt, and then go look for them.
   "In England they already have that problem, they cannot locate them, they cannot sort them out from the general population, and sometimes you have to impose a curfew on a whole area to catch one or two or three terrorists, and by doing that you do an injustice to an entire population, and then they start complaining that they are discriminated against."
   Immigrant Muslims had a reputation for manipulating the values of their adopted countries to suit their own ends, he said.
   "And that's why Islam has become feared in western countries, which are open, democratic, and tolerant of others. And Muslim populations, which are very often minorities, very often abuse that hospitality and use democracy, openness and tolerance to their benefit, to spread their faith and to intimidate their hosts, and very often, to impose their standards and values upon them." #

   [ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: By courtesy of M.T.]
   [RECAPITULATION: "It serves no purpose when you have this home-grown terrorist, who has been preparing for years to blow up undergrounds in London, and all you do is lead a war of words. The war of words doesn't help. There is a whole gamut of actions that are possible in order to check this threat of Islam." ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: And the "politically-correct" Judaist leaders, instead of carefully considering the evidence of, e.g., Iraq imploding as Muslim kills Muslim over different interpretations of Islam, promptly disown the scholar they helped bring to teach here! COMMENT ENDS.] [Feb 16, 07]
• [Some Muslims push for flags on mosques.]

Muslims push for flags on mosques

   The Weekend Australian, www.the australian. news.com.au/ story/0,208 67,21239882- 601,00.html ; by Richard Kerbaj, Page One, February 17-18, 2007
   AUSTRALIA: SENIOR Muslim leaders have called for the Australian flag to be flown outside the nation's mosques as an expression of the Islamic community's "loyalty" and commitment to this country.
   Muslim clerics yesterday urged Australia's 300,000 Islams to back the idea as a symbol of "integration" and pride.
   The former chairman of the Prime Minister's Muslim reference group, Ameer Ali, pushed the Australian Muslim community yesterday to adopt the flag. "Even in Muslim countries in the mosque they fly the national flag . . . (such as) in Pakistan. If that can be done in a Muslim country why not in Australia?" Dr Ali said.
   He said Muslims opposed to the flag being displayed outside mosques were religiously narrow-minded. "I think they are looking at it from a very narrow, religious angle," he said.
   Dr Ali said he spearheaded the initiative of displaying the flag outside Muslim schools owned by the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils when he ran that organisation in 2002.
   He also ensured that students sang the national anthem during special functions.
   "We are Australian Muslims," he said. "And it (the flag) is a symbol of our national identity."
   One of Australia's most respected female Muslim leaders, Aziza Abdel-Halim, said displaying a national flag outside mosques would not conflict with Islamic teachings.
   "Putting the Australian flag (outside mosques is) a good sign of integration, of being at one with everyone else in this country and our pride in being Australian," said Sister Abdel-Halim, also a former senior member of John Howard's Muslim advisory body.
   "I don't see anything at all that would contradict Islamic teachings in any way. It would be a nice gesture to have it, especially now that Muslims really need to underline the fact that they are loyal to this country."
   Another respected imam, Amin Hady, said it would be especially important for the Australian flag to be flown outside mosques on special national occasions, such as Anzac Day and Australia Day. "That is to me a good idea to reaffirm the commitment of anyone living in this country, including the Muslims who are part of the population," the Indonesian imam said.
   Islamic sources have told The Weekend Australian that the move to fly the flag was discussed by executive members of the Lebanese Muslim Association, one of the Islamic community's most prominent organisations.
   But the move, backed by several LMA board executives, to display the flag outside Lakemba Mosque, in Sydney's southwest, were staunchly opposed by some community members.
   It is understood that the LMA's proposal came after a Muslim man tore down the Australian flag from the Lakemba office of the Mufti of Australia, Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali, last year and stomped on it to express his opposition to it.
   It is believed that Sheik Hilali - who recently labelled Westerners liars and oppressors and said Australia belonged more to Muslim immigrants who "paid for our passports" than Anglo-Saxon convicts - reprimanded the man before ordering him from the office, on the same premises as the mosque.
   But Muslim leader Keysar Trad said last night some community members would consider the idea of displaying the flag as "politicising a place of worship".
   "I have no problem with the flag being at Muslim schools, but a place of worship is for all people to be equal and as such I believe places of worship should maintain the tradition of not raising the national flag," Mr Trad said.
   And prominent Sydney-based Islamic cleric, Khalil Shami, expressed fears yesterday that hoisting the flag outside mosques would lead to potential violence and further division within the community among factions opposed to the idea. " #

   [COMMENT: Ah, if only! If only the staunch opposition to the cross, which usually signifies claims that Jesus was far more than a prophet, could be sponged away so easily! COMMENT ENDS.]
   [RECAPITULATION: … a Muslim man tore down the Australian flag from the Lakemba office of the Mufti of Australia, Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali, last year and stomped on it to express his opposition to it. ENDS.]
   [BACKGROUND: Study: "Flag's Crosses Affront Some Residents; Don't burn Australian flag -- Anderson," By Colin Fortune, Perth, November 5, 2002. ENDS.] [Feb 17-18, 2007]
!!!: [Judaist, Anglican, leaders want shari’a Law.]

Religious leaders are out of step

   The West Australian, Letter to The Editor, p 18, Monday, February 19, 2007
   WA's top rabbi and the Anglican Archbishop have rejected criticism of the Muslim community's bid to set up its own mediation group based on shari’a law (report, 15/2).
   Once again we see church leaders, who pay no tax and have not been elected by the very taxpayers who finance their lifestyles, acting as politicians.
   Like certain sections of the media and those who swan around the halls of academia, they come across as pseudo political forces, and fiercely anti-Western ones at that.
   These groups have reinvented the proletariat. No longer are the working classes the darlings of the Left. They've been replaced by Muslims, homosexuals and refugees, as long as they're not white, like the victims of Robert Mugabe's murderous regime.
   In light of the way Islam has inveigled itself into the political and judicial systems of the UK, Europe and Canada, it beggars belief that Australia's politicians stand idly by and continue to allow those of that faith to continue to flood into the country as immigrants and refugees and proceed to chip away at our way of life. Ernest Della, Westminster.

[Feb 19, 07]
• London bomb suspect wore burka.

London bomb suspect wore burka

   Reuters, via CNN UK, as summarised on ReligionNewsBlog, Item 17527, http://www. religionnews blog.com/ 17527/ london-bomb- suspect- wore-burka , February 20, 2007
   LONDON, England (Reuters) – The jury in the trial of six men accused of plotting suicide bombings in London on July 21, 2005, were shown footage on Tuesday of what prosecutors said was one of the suspects escaping in a burqa after the failed attacks.
   Woolwich Crown Court was shown closed circuit television images of Yassin Hassin Omar, disguised as a woman and dressed in the burka, at Digbeth coach station in Birmingham on July 22 where prosecutors say he fled after the alleged bombings.
   Omar, who is accused of trying to set off a bomb on an underground train near Warren Street station, is seen moving through the station carrying a handbag.
   He was later arrested by armed police at a house in Birmingham on July 27 where officers say they found him standing in a bath with a rucksack on his back.
   Omar, along with Ramzi Mohammed, Muktah Said Ibrahim, Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, Hussein Osman, and Adel Yahya, are all charged with conspiracy to murder over the alleged plot to blow up three underground trains and a bus. They deny the charges. #

[LOOK FORWARD: Australian Muslims, and the kind-hearted, in January 2009, insist that people ought to be allowed to wear face coverings in shops and banks, and accuse a Queensland radio host of racism. (Islam's oppression of women is a RELIGIOUS rule, amplifying the attitudes of Islam's two predecessor religions. Religion is NOT race, so opposition to cultural obsessions is NOT racism. Ignorance is fairly common among the anti-patriotic elements of society.) ENDS.] http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#london_bomb_suspect [Feb 20, 07]
• [Remembering Iraqis: Reverie about Babylon (Iraq), St Peter's (Rome), and Antioch (Syria), while rambling through The Acts.]

Remembering Iraqis: Reverie about Babylon, St Peter’s, and Antioch while rambling through The Acts

   By Quentin C. Fortis, of Perth, Friday, February 23, 2007
   While reading through "Don't let the Church in Iraq die," by John Pontifex, in The Record, of January 25, 2007, I was struck by some happy congruities.
   The aid worker Marie-Ange Siebrecht, who said Iraq was "the cradle of Christianity," spoke more truly than she perhaps knew. One of the disputed Epistles states that Peter sent a greeting from "she who is in Babylon" (whose ruins are a few kilometres from the Muslim-founded city of Baghdad, Iraq).
   Memories of the long-lived oriental Churches were aroused by mention of her lodging with Mgr Louis Sako, the city's Chaldean-rite Catholic archbishop. Chaldea -- what an ancient world that word conjures up! Iraq's Christians call themselves Assyrian Christians -- Assyria was a warlike empire in Old Testament times.
   But it was New Testament times that I wanted to dream about – it was apt that the Iraq seminary was named after St Peter.
   You see, Peter's part in the early Christian congregations has been subject of much preaching. (When studying the gospels, remember that although they report occurrences BEFORE the departure of Jesus, they were written AFTER much of the New Testament. In other words, they were NOT written early as the original primitive stories told by preachers and parents.)
   PETER NOW A MYSTERY
   Peter is a mystery to me now. The Jerusalem apostles had sent Peter with John on a mission to Samaria (The Acts of the Apostles 8:14-25), he taught at Lydda and Jaffa (Acts 9:32 and 43), and Caesarea (Acts 10).
   Preaching to non-Jews at Antioch (Syria) was started by unnamed followers (Acts 11:20), Barnabas and Saul following up and staying a whole year.. Later John Mark was brought from Jerusalem by Barnabas and Saul (Acts 12:25).
   Paul and Barnabas then set off on a mission that included sailing to Cyprus (Acts 13) and a return trip through Lystra, Iconium and Antioch (Acts 14:21), sailing, we are told, at the end to Antioch (Acts 14:26)!!!
   Converting Gentiles led to controversy, so Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem, and after a long discussion Peter spoke, then Barnabas and Paul spoke, then James supported Simeon's (yes, Simeon's) sentiments, and gave his "verdict" or "judgement" to accept Gentiles, and the whole church chose delegates to Antioch and two other cities.
   The further adventures of St Paul continue in The Acts, with him using Antioch as a base for missionary journeys including to Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, etc., and a trip to Jerusalem where he was arrested. We read that as a prisoner he made contact with Judaists in Rome (Acts 28:17) and preached there two years in rented lodgings.
   DISAPPEARED, POSTHUMOUS CHAIRS
   And where was PETER during all this? He wasn't mentioned again in The Acts of the Apostles after 12:18, following his miraculous rescue from prison. So the Roman Church celebration of "St Peter's Chair at Antioch" (formerly celebrated on February 22, while St Peter's Chair at Rome was on January 18) might be a will-o'-the-wisp. February 22 is now "The Chair of St Peter, Apostle." Which chair? Where?
   At some unnamed time Cephas (is that Peter?) is supposed to have gone to Antioch, where Paul opposed him "to his face" for insincerity and not eating with gentiles (Galatians 2:11), though previously he had done so. Hardly the attitude of a "Prince of the Apostles," was it?
   See what I learn from reading in a disputed epistle "She who is in Babylon, a chosen one, sends you her greetings, as does Mark my son." (1st Peter 5:13). Slight support for my Babylonia trip theory though it may be, the seminary name still warmed my heart.
   (You see, Babylonia, besides being a many-gods pagan empire, housed the main academies of Jewish learning until about A.D. 1040, under semi-independent rulers. The trainee rabbis recited the Gemara and the Mishna, which in later centuries we know as the Babylonian Talmud – it includes several anti-Jesus and anti-minim sections, and so [during Christian supremacy years] was persecuted by Churches of both the East and the West).
   Peter was quite likely to have been sent to Babylon, the fount of the Pharisaic teachers who opposed Jesus, just as we read that Paul preached publicly in Athens, a fount of polytheistic paganism (Acts 17:16-31). Peter's personal experiences with Jesus and forthright speechmaking might have been thought to be more soul-taking than Paul's Pharisee training under Gamaliel.
   (Another sidelight: Is Judaism partly Babylonish? A German Lutheran scholar of Jewish descent, Friedrich Delitzsch, wrote Babel und Bibel, 1902-03, claiming that several Old Testament narratives were of Babylonian origin, and that Judaism was essentially dependent on Babylonian culture. Oh dear! That's wasted another lot of sermons about the People of God struggling in His name for centuries and worshipping Him only!) Delitzsch details source: Elizabeth A. Livingstone (ed.), 1977, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church; Oxford, Oxford University Press; p 148.
   Another fact, and a digression. The cathedral church of the diocese of Rome is St John Lateran. St Peter's was one of the ordinary churches of Rome until the mediaeval Pope Leo X decided to tear it down and build a bigger one on the site. The pope raised money by sending out fundraisers who sold indulgences AND pardons. Martin Luther in 1517 and others objected to this, and so another Christian revival movement started, which we call the Reformation.
   "Come, and I will give you letters, all properly sealed, by which even the sins that you intend to commit may be pardoned." -- Tetzel. (MERLE D'AUBIGNÉ, Jean Henri,The Triumph of Truth; A Life of Martin Luther, translated by WHITE, Henry, 1996; Greenville, Bob Jones University Press, p 67)
   Luther, as a Catholic priest, while hearing Confessions was refusing to absolve the people who said they refused to abandon their sins, giving as their reason the pardon documents issued by Tetzel. (Ibid, pp 79-80).
   On October 31, 1517, Luther posted 95 theses (propositions) against the selling of indulgences and pardons. Thesis "36. Every Christian who truly repents of his sins enjoys an entire remission both of the penalty and of the guilt, without any need of indulgences." "79. It is blasphemy to say that the cross adorned with the arms of the pope is as effectual as the cross of Christ."
   But, I started about the persecutions and terror directed against the Christians of Iraq. Evidently the supposed Anglo-Celt Christians who attacked the bloodthirsty dictator Saddam Hussein, saying he was in the terrorist Axis of Evil, have no remedy for the Iraqi Christians. Perhaps those Eastern and Catholic ceremonies with holy oils and incense have repelled Bush, Blair and Howard, who see other sorts of oil and gas they want to keep out of the French and Russian branches of Multinational Corporations. How all this could lead to a discussion of Tetzel's blasphemous pardons and the Reformation landmark of 1517 only Q.C.Fortis can tell! #

[ON THE WEB, ALSO: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6#remembering . ENDS.] [23 Feb 07]
• [US could release raping murderer in ten years – wiped out al-Janabi family.]

US jails soldier for rape, murders

   The Weekend Australian, www.theaust ralian.news. com.au/story/ 0,20867,2127 7941-2703, 00.html , Correspondents in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and Baghdad, AFP, MCT, p 11, February 24-25, 2007
   A US soldier has been sentenced to 100 years in prison for his role in the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the murders of her family.
   But under the terms of his plea agreement, Sergeant Paul E. Cortez, 24, could be eligible for parole in 10 years.
   Cortez, 24, admitted he was among five soldiers who plotted the rape and murders in Mahmu-diyah, south of Baghdad, last March, while they were drinking gin and whisky and playing cards at a traffic checkpoint.
   Cortez was in tears as members of his 101st Airborne unit testified on his behalf ahead of sentencing yesterday. "I'm sorry I let you guys down, you guys treat me better than this," he said. He was the second soldier to plead guilty in the case.
   The military judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole, as well as a dishonourable discharge. But the judge acknowledged that, under a plea bargain overseen by the commanding general of the 101st Airborne, Cortez could only be sentenced to 100 years' imprisonment, which under military law allows the possibility of parole after 10 years.
   The case shocked many by accounts that the soldiers calmly plotted to violate a young girl they had seen walking down the street in the Iraqi village and deliberately tried to cover up their crime by killing her family and setting their house alight.
   They decided Abeer Kassem Hamza al-Janabi would make a good target because her father was the only man in the house, Cortez told a military court.
   In a statement frequently interrupted by tears, Cortez described how a fellow soldier pinned the girl to the ground and held her down while he raped her. Cortez then held al-Janabi down as Specialist James Barker raped her.
   Barker also avoided the death penalty as part of a plea deal last November in which he was sentenced to 90 years in prison and agreed to co-operate with prosecutions of other soldiers.
   Private First Class Jesse Spielman and Private First Class Bryan Howard are awaiting courts-martial while accused ringleader Steve Green, who was discharged from the army before the case came to light, will be tried in a federal court.
   During the trial, Cortez said he heard about four or five gunshots from the bedroom where Green had taken the girl's parents, Kassem Hamza Rachid al-Janabi and Fakhriya Taha Mohsine al-Janabi, and sister, Hadeel Kassem Hamza al-Janabi, 6.
   "After Barker was done, Green came out of the bedroom and said he had killed them all and all of them were dead," Cortez told the court.
   Cortez watched as Green raped the girl and then shot her in the head.
   In Baghdad yesterday, Iraq's Shia-led Government, which has spent most of the week denying a Sunni woman was raped by police, reacted to a second rape allegation yesterday by arresting four soldiers.
   In both cases, the women appeared on TV to describe the alleged assaults, a rare public spectacle in a region where the crime is rarely spoken of and where a woman's admission to being raped might be considered shameful to her family.
   The rape allegations have raised sectarian tensions in the Iraqi security forces as they begin a long-awaited campaign to stabilise Baghdad. AFP, MCT #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#uscould    [RECAPITULATION: Cortez, 24, admitted he was among five soldiers who plotted the rape and murders in Mahmu-diyah, south of Baghdad, last March, while they were drinking gin and whisky and playing cards at a traffic checkpoint. RECAP. ENDS.]
   [1st COMMENT: Drinking liquor and playing cards while on duty! Australians can rest content with the supervision and morale of our senior partners! They have seized Iraq, so why not declare that Wall Street owns Australia, too! ENDS.]
   [2nd COMMENT: Out in ten years, though his group murdered a whole family! Let's show no prejudice against a Latino! Who said multiculturalism isn't wonderful! And the commander, who ought to have been on trial too for bad supervision and training, organised a plea bargain! This is as good as the British, who allowed criminal police to remain receiving their superannuation payments, although they had ruined the lives of the Birmingham Four and the Guildford Six, framed for supposed Irish Republican Army bombings.. ENDS.]
   [3rd COMMENT: The Iraqi government, with its own criminal elements among its police and soldiers, cannot follow the rule of law. Most of the people believe in "eye for eye" (Koran 5:45 or 49), and killing opponents. ENDS.]
   [4th COMMENT: Will such behaviour by the scourings of the U.S.A. help "win hearts and minds" among the 1000 million Muslims in the world? [Feb 24-25, 2007]
• [Kareeem questioned politicians and Islam – gets four years' jail]

Egyptian web dissident gets four years’ jail

   The Weekend Australian, MCT, p 12, February 24-25, 2007
   CAIRO: An anti-government internet blogger has been sentenced to four years in an Egyptian jail, in a landmark case that has sent shockwaves through the country's growing community of online dissidents.
   The case against Abdel Kareem Suleiman, 23, a former student at the Islamic institute of al-Azhar, was Egypt's first prosecution of a blogger specifically for online writings; other bloggers had been detained for their offline political activities.
   Suleiman, who blogs as Kareem Amer, received three years in prison on charges of contempt of religion and an extra year for defaming US-allied President Hosni Mubarak.
   "He's only 23 years old. This verdict will ruin his future," said Mohamed el Sharkawy, another blogger and opposition figure who was arrested and allegedly tortured in a crackdown on dissidents last year.
   "Security officials tailor-made this charge to shove bloggers and activists into jail. This means that the state cannot tolerate anyone voicing his opinion."
   While human rights groups denounced Suleiman's sentence as further evidence of Mr Mubar-ak's authoritarian regime backsliding on promised changes, the blogger's postings about Islam were so inflammatory even some of the most fervent free-speech advocates couldn't bring themselves to support him.
   The case not only set a precedent for prosecuting bloggers, but also forced debate on the limits of religious and political expression in conservative Egypt.
   "The bloggers are having deep disputes over whether to support this guy or not," said Tarek Mounir, of the Cairo office of Reporters Without Borders, a press freedom watchdog group.
[Picture] Inflammatory: Abdel Kareem Suleiman is escorted in court
   "The bloggers here are like the political horizon. Some of them are Islamists."
   To some activists, the young blogger is a powerful symbol of the fight for free speech and a tolerant, moderate Islam.
   To many others, however, he's a limelight-seeker willing to offend the sensibilities of his countrymen for a few minutes of fame.
   Suleiman's family, said to be conservative Muslims, publicly disowned him this week in an interview with the local Masry al-Youm newspaper.
   For two years, Suleiman lashed out at government and religious institutions, taking particular aim at his own school, al-Azhar, one of the bastions of Sunni Muslim thought. He accused al-Azhar clerics of advocating terrorism, stifling progress and spruiking for the Mubarak Government.
   According to a report by Amnesty International, Suleiman was detained briefly in October 2005 for tarnishing Islam in his writings about sectarian clashes between Muslims and Coptic Christians. Shortly after, he was expelled from al-Azhar for blasphemy. He has been in jail on the latest charges since November.
   While Egyptian bloggers debate the merit of his case, foreigners have turned him into a cause celebre. In the past week, demonstrators in New York, Washington, London, Rome and several other European capitals marched in front of Egyptian embassies with "Free Kareem" banners. Newspapers, including The Washington Post and Lebanon's Daily Star, have called for the charges to be dismissed.
   Esra'a al-Shafei, a blogger in Bahrain, even set up a website, www.freekareem.org, to draw attention to the case.
   "I was offended by some of Kareem's blog writings. But I cannot support his imprisonment merely because he said a few things that insult my identity. Freedom of expression and open exchange of ideas must be respected," al-Shafei wrote in a news release posted on her site.
   Cairo bloggers said the sentence left them fearful and angry. #

   [DOCTRINE: 49:1:- O Believers! enter not upon any affair ere Allah and His Apostle permit you …
   49:7:- … Allah hath endeared the faith to you … and hath made unbelief, and wickedness, and disobedience hateful to you. … DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [ON THE WEB, ALSO: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#kareem . ENDS.] [Feb 24-25, 2007]
• Israeli rule 'like apartheid'.

Israeli rule ‘like apartheid’

   The Weekend Australian, AP, p 12, February 24-25, 2007
   GENEVA: Israel's actions in the West Bank and Gaza have been compared in a UN report to apartheid South Africa - charges that drew angry rebukes from Israel and were sure to revive charges that the UN Human Rights Council is biased against the Jewish state.
   The report by John Dugard, independent investigator on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the council, is to be presented next month, but it has been posted on the body's website.
   In it, Mr Dugard, a South African lawyer who campaigned against apartheid in the 1980s, says: "Israel's laws and practices in the (Palestinian territories) certainly resemble aspects of apartheid."
   The 24-page report catalogues a number of accusations against Israel, ranging from restrictions on Palestinian movement and house demolitions to preferential treatment given to Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
   "Can it seriously be denied that the purpose of such action is to establish and maintain domination by one racial group - Jews - over another racial group - Palestinians - and systematically oppress them?" Mr Dugard asks.
   Israel says it aims mainly to prevent Palestinian suicide bombings and other attacks that have killed more than 1000 Israelis in the past six years, and officials note that violence broke out in 2000 after Israel's proposal to pull out of the vast majority of the West Bank and Gaza in exchange for peace was rejected.
   Its ambassador in Geneva criticised Mr Dugard for directing attacks only at the Jewish state. "Any conclusions he may draw are therefore fundamentally flawed and purposely biased," Yitzhak Levanon said.
   The report will be presented next month at the rights council's first session of the year. The new body has been criticised - even by its founder, former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan - for only censuring one government in the world, Israel's, over alleged abuses.
   Mr Dugard's report accuses Israel of "terror" by F16 fighter jets setting off sonic booms above residential areas. In the West Bank, "residents live in fear of settler terror".
   He says it is "grossly inaccurate" to say Israel's 2005 removal of settlers and soldiers from Gaza constituted an end to its occupation of that territory, captured from Egypt in the 1967 war.
   "Israel retained control of Gaza's air space, sea space and external borders, and the border crossings," he writes. "Gaza became a sealed off, imprisoned and occupied territory."
   War crimes have been committed by both sides, he says: "This applies to Palestinians who fire Qassam rockets into Israel; and more so to members of the IDF (Israeli Defence Force) who have committed such crimes on a much greater scale." #

   [DOCTRINE: • "¹² Take care you make no pact with the inhabitants of the country you are about to enter, . . . ¹⁵ Make no pact with the inhabitants of the country …" -- Hebrew Torah, Exodus, 34: 12 and 15 (NJB)
   25 This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven … -- Deuteronomy 2:25 (AV)
   • ⁶ Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. -- Judges 1:6 (New International Version, © 1984.)
   • ¹² So David gave an order to his men, and they killed them. They cut off their hands and feet and hung the bodies by the pool in Hebron. … -- 2 Samuel 4:12. (NIV) [See variant in Muslim scripture, Koran 5:33] DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Savagery remains savagery, even if chanted or sung in decorated buildings by people wearing interesting headdresses and robes. ENDS.]
   [2nd COMMENT: During the South African white regime, in spite of world sanctions, the government obtained its weapons from -- Israel. Can you see WHY? ENDS.]
   [ON THE WEB: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#israeli . ENDS.] [Feb 24-25, 2007]
• [Hawach family: Lebanon imprisons brave Westerners who broke kidnap]

Mother frees her two daughters

   The Sunday Times (Perth, W. Australia), www.news.com. au/perthnow/ story/0,21598, 21281817-9 48,00.html , World Exclusive, by Sandra Lee in Canada, pp 1, 4, 5, 43, 46, 48-49, February 25, 2007
   A CANADIAN woman has spoken for the first time about how she freed her two daughters from their Australian father after he took them to Lebanon.
   [PICTURE] SAFE AT LAST: Canadian mother Melissa Hawach with her daughters Hannah and Cedar, who she freed from Lebanon where they had been taken by their Australian father
   Courgaeous Melissa Hawach has revealed how she executed a daring covert operation to retrieve her two young daughters and spirit them out of Lebanon after their father abducted them from Sydney last July.
   Speaking just hours after she returned to Canada with her daughters Hannah and Cedar, an emotional Melissa Hawach told how she was reunited with her girls on December 21 and spent seven weeks in constant fear of being caught and losing them again as they moved between safe homes in villages across Lebanon.
   The Canadian-born mother, whose daughters have dual Australian-Canadian citizenship, was relieved to be finally safe at home, ending a bitter and agonising seven-month, three-country custody ordeal.
   "I was scared to death over there," Mrs Hawach told The Sunday Times this week in an interview.
   "I was never worried about the courts, I was never worried about being arrested. I could not have cared less if I was thrown in jail.
   "But I knew that if I was caught, my children would get turned back over, I wouldn't know where they would go and I would never see them again.
   "My greatest fear was losing them again." The 32-year-old mother retrieved Hannah and Cedar, then five and three, with the help of four former members of the elite Australian and New Zealand Special Forces who conducted an undercover surveillance operation at a resort 30km out of Beirut where the girls' father, Joseph Hawach, from the Sydney suburb of Rosehill, had been keeping them.
   With the girls safely in her custody, Mrs Hawach cut her blonde hair short and dyed it black to avoid standing out as she moved between four houses that were found by a network of trusted Lebanese friends.
   "My children are half-Lebanese and these people took me into their homes, they treated me like their family," a grateful Mrs Hawach said.
   Her lawyers worked steadily through official and diplomatic channels to secure her children's safe exit from their father's ancestral homeland.
   On February 17, the exhausted mother and her daughters were returned home under a shroud of secrecy after a journey that took them via Syria and Jordan.
   "I knew, even when I was as scared as I was, there was no other option for me," Mrs Hawach said.
   "There is nowhere to rest your head when your children aren't in their beds at night. You can't stop, you just can't. I wouldn't want them to think that I gave up. Ever."
   Mrs Hawach's horrific ordeal began on July 15 last year when her estranged husband Joe, a dual Australian-Lebanese citizen, disappeared with their daughters part-way through an authorised three-week holiday to Sydney to visit his family.
   Two days later, a distraught Mrs Hawach, who had remained in Canada, was told by one of his family that "Joe has gone to the Middle East with the girls and I don't think that he is coming back".
   Canadian authorities confirmed that Mr Hawach had taken his daughters across the border of Syria to bomb-ravaged Lebanon on July 22 – a day after a Canadian court awarded Mrs Hawach sole custody of her children and just 10 days after Lebanon and Israel went to war.
   Mr Hawach was charged with two counts of child abduction and international warrants were issued for his arrest.
   Within weeks, he made a rare phone call to his wife of six years from Lebanon and demanded sole custody of Hannah and Cedar in a "parenting agreement" that would return them to Australia and prohibit them from leaving until they were 16. If she agreed, she would see her children.
   "He was just cold," Mrs Hawach said. "This wasn't typical in parental abductions - you just don't get phone calls back and demands. It became like a kidnapping negotiation rather than an actual parental abduction."
   The anguished mother also spoke to her elder daughter for the first time since she and her young sister disappeared.
   "She was confused. (Joe) told them that I had left them. Hannie seeks the truth. She knows when she is being fed malarky," Mrs Hawach said, her voice choked with a mix of hurt at her husband's lies and pride at her daughter's strength of character.
   "So, it wouldn't have made sense to her that Mummy had left them when she had gotten on two airplanes and gone to a country where she didn't even speak the same language.
   "I just wanted her to know that I loved her and I said, 'Make sure you tell Cedar that I love her and miss her'."
   On December 13, Mrs Hawach and her father, Jim Engdahl, flew to Lebanon to have the local courts recognise her Canadian custody rights and investigate a tip-off from a tourist that her daughters were at the al-Rimal resort in Jounieh.
   When the courts failed her, Mrs Hawach moved to her plan of last resort. She hired a local investigator who found that Mr Hawach's uncle owned a unit at the resort.
   She also had the help of a Canadian private investigator with the Missing Children Society of Canada, a team of local lawyers, as well as Brian Corrigan, a former Australian soldier with the elite 3RAR parachute regiment in Sydney.
   Mr Corrigan teamed with NZ-born former Special Air Service trooper David Bruce Pemberton and put the resort under surveillance. They soon knew that Hannah and Cedar were there with their father.
   On December 20, they smuggled Mrs Hawach into the resort and she watched her daughters playing.
   Her lawyers in Beirut advised her to do nothing for fear of her husband's reaction and a crushed Mrs Hawach left without Hannah and Cedar.
   "I cried all night. I just kept saying … I have made the biggest mistake of my life if I've lost them now for ever," she said.
   After a horror night, a shattered Mrs Hawach was determined to retrieve her girls and returned the following day with Mr Corrigan, Mr Pemberton and two other former NZ Special Forces soldiers.
   Hannah and Cedar returned from school, where their father had enrolled them only three weeks earlier, at 4.30pm.
   "I just walked out, slow as you please, and just stood there watching for a little bit," Mrs Hawach said. The men stayed in the background and were not involved.
   "And then I called to Hannie and I said, 'Hannie, Hannie', and she turned and looked at me.
   "I had Hannie in my arms and was holding Cedar's hand and I said, 'We're gonna go now, we're gonna go visit Bumpy' (their grandfather). And we're going to talk to Dad a little bit later. I'll tell Dad later.
   "And that was it. There was no rush, no grab. It was unbelievable, actually, how smooth it was. We walked out and got in the van and left. And they were as good as gold. They were so happy."
   Before the night was out, Mrs Hawach and her daughters were in hiding and her husband had filed a complaint of "forced kidnapping" against her with local police.
   Mr Pemberton and Mr Corrigan, who had registered at the resort using his own name, were arrested as they waited to fly out of Beirut, but their two colleagues left undetected.
   The men were charged with two counts of child abduction and remain in a Beirut prison. Last week the charge against Mr Corrigan was reduced to a misdemeanour.
   "These men have committed no crime, they have done nothing wrong and they are being held there," Mrs Hawach said.
   "There is still a long way to go and there are two amazing guys who have been apart from their family.
   "They have sacrificed a lot of time with their own family to reunite me with mine, and that needs to be resolved and that's a priority for me."
   Mrs Hawach spent seven weeks "reconnecting" with her children, teaching Cedar how to write her name and Hannah how to read a clock. They slept three-to-a-bed in the homes of "complete strangers" in local villages in Lebanon.
   But her children were desperate to return to Canada. "Hannah could not understand why weren't we just getting on a plane and going home to Canada," Mrs Hawach said.
   "She was worried about being tricked again. She kept saying that her daddy tricked her.
   "And she could see planes taking off from one of the rooms that we were staying in and every time (she'd say), 'There's another plane, Mum, why can't we be on it?' "
   Last Saturday, they were. Their fugitive father remains in Lebanon. #

   [Video: To see brief video of Mrs Hawach speaking, visit Perth Now at www.news.com. au/perthnow and follow the link "Video". ENDS.]
   [RECAPITULATION: Mrs Hawach's horrific ordeal began on July 15 last year when her estranged husband Joe, a dual Australian-Lebanese citizen, disappeared with their daughters part-way through an authorised three-week holiday to Sydney to visit his family. …
   Mr Pemberton and Mr Corrigan, who had registered at the resort using his own name, were arrested as they waited to fly out of Beirut, but their two colleagues left undetected. The men were charged with two counts of child abduction and remain in a Beirut prison. Last week the charge against Mr Corrigan was reduced to a misdemeanour. ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE: 4:34 (or 38):- … Virtuous women are obedient, careful, during the husband's absence, because Allah hath of them been careful. But chide those for whose refractoriness ye have cause to fear; remove them into beds apart, and scourge them; but if they are obedient to you, then seek not occasion against them: verily, Allah is High, Great. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/004. qmt.html #004.034 .
   5:8-9:- O believers! when ye address yourselves to prayer, wash your faces … purify yourselves. But … if ye have touched women, and ye find no water, then take clean sand and rub your faces and your hands with it.
   33:57 (or 59):- Prophet, enjoin your wives, your daughters, and the wives of true believers to draw their veils close round them. …
   64:14:- O ye who believe! Verily, in your wives and your children ye have an enemy: wherefore beware of them. …
   66:2:- Allah hath allowed you release from your oaths. … DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: So, now do you believe television's laughing Australian Muslim girls floating around with brightly coloured cloths, saying that is what they will wear, of their own free will, for their "scarves" or "hijabs"? Or do you see the coalbags in which subdued women walk about in "pious" Muslim lands? ENDS.]
   [STUDY GROUPS POINTS: Would Joe's actions, treating their children as chattels and showing no respect for his wife, be grounded in his "belief system" and "culture"? His actions are not unique in the Muslim community -- their Islamic laws give fathers custody. Is his culture on a collision course with modern Westerners'? Is it sensible to invite more people to be new citizens, if they have no tolerance for the West's tolerant practices?
   Who should have charge of children when a marriage breaks down? Whose law ought to prevail – that of the West, or shari’a? Are men "superior" to women in all matters? Is dual nationality a safe principle for Australia, Canada, etc., etc.? Are Professor Israeli and Dr Fraser right? ENDS.]
   [RECOMMENDED: Books Not without my daughter (Mrs Betty Mahmoodi, 1987), In the Name of Honour (Ms Mukhtar Mai, 2006), I, Safiya (Ms Safiya Tudu, 2003), and Australian Jihad (Mr Martin Chulov, 2006). Or read newsitems about Ms Amina Lawal of Nigeria. ENDS.]
   [ON THE WEB, ALSO: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#hawach . ENDS.] [Feb 25, 07]
• Reid wins battle to deport cleric.

Reid wins battle to deport cleric

   The Telegraph (Britain), www.telegraph. co.uk/news/ main.jhtml? xml=/news/ 2007/02/26/ nqatada126. xml , By Philip Johnston and Joshua Rozenberg, Last Updated 1:19am GMT Feb/27/2007
• Profile: Extremist cleric who came to UK on fake passport
   The Home Office has won a key legal victory in a five-year battle to eject a suspected al-Qa'eda terror leader from Britain.
[Picture] Abu Qatada arrived in Britain illegally in 1993.
   A court ruled that Abu Qatada, a radical Muslim cleric described as Osama bin Laden's spiritual representative in Europe, can be deported to his homeland.
   Qatada, a London-based imam, has been fighting Government efforts to remove him to Jordan since 2002 claiming he faces torture or death. His lawyers argued that under human rights laws, Britain was unable to deport him to a country where he could be ill-treated.
   But the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) said assurances received from Lebanon about his treatment were enough to override human rights obstacles.
   Mr Justice Ouseley, the Siac chairman, said there was "no real risk of persecution" of Qatada on his return.
   Although a trial in Jordan would not be independent enough to satisfy the Human Rights Convention, it would "not involve a complete denial of the right to a fair trial before an independent and impartial body," the court said.
   Siac said Qatada's presence in the UK was "not conducive to the public good" and there was no evidence that his views had moderated since he was first detained in 2002.
   His deportation would make "the lives and well-being of those resident here safer". It was necessary "as a measure of defence for the rights of those who live here".
   The ruling was greeted by ministers as a vindication of their policy of negotiating memoranda of understanding with countries to which they want to deport suspected Islamists.
   Many of them, including Qatada, were kept in jail without charge after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks in America but were subsequently released after the policy was ruled unlawful.
   Since then, most have been subject to control orders restricting their movements and contacts. Qatada has been held in immigration detention pending deportation.
   Agreements have been sought with countries like Morocco and Algeria - but Jordan was seen as a test case because its judicial regime is considered to be among the more benign.
   John Reid, the Home Secretary, said: "It is our firm belief that these agreements strike the right balance between allowing us to deport individuals who threaten the security of this country and safeguarding the rights of these individuals on their return."
   However, the matter is far from over. Qatada's legal team said he would appeal and human rights campaigners denounced the Siac decision.
   Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said "paper promises" that there would be no ill-treatment were insufficient.
   "Dodgy little 'assurances' from regimes that practise torture convince few outside government," she added.
   Qatada, 45, also known as Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman, fled Jordan in the mid-1990s and was later tried and convicted in absentia on terrorist charges.
   Gareth Peirce, representing Qatada, said he would face a retrial by a military court in Jordan. "Because trials of his co-accused have already taken place in Jordan, we know that the evidence was obtained by the use of torture, during 50 days of incommunicado detention. One of the primary defence witnesses has already been executed in Jordan."
   She said Jordan had refused to give an assurance that her client would not face trial on other offences, for which he could be sentenced to death. That amounted to a denial of justice, which was a bar to deportation, she maintained.
   Tim Hancock, of Amnesty International UK, said it was of "profound concern" that Siac had discounted evidence showing the risk of torture if Qatada was returned to Jordan. This included material documenting the "routine infliction of torture on 'security suspects' in Jordan…a practice which continues with impunity".
   Qatada became one of the UK's most wanted men in December 2001 when he went on the run on the eve of moves to introduce new anti-terror laws. He has been described in court as the most significant extremist Islamic preacher in the UK and the Spanish called him bin Laden's "ambassador to Europe."
   However, Qatada, a Palestinian, has always denied links to al-Qa'eda and says he has never met its leader.
   Lord Carlile of Berriew, the independent reviewer of anti-terrorism legislation, said it was in Jordan's interests to honour the assurances it had given.
   "Britain and Jordan have a long history of working together on various international issues. Jordan will not wish to alienate the United Kingdom," he added.
   Shahid Malik, Labour MP for Dewsbury and chairman of the Parliamentary Group on British Victims of Terror, said: "No country takes lightly a memorandum of understanding that it has signed. I am confident that Jordan will respect the memorandum." #

[RECAPITULATION: Qatada, 45, also known as Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman, fled Jordan in the mid-1990s and was later tried and convicted in absentia on terrorist charges. ENDS.] http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#reid [Feb 27, 07]
• Extremist who came to UK on fake passport.

Extremist who came to UK on fake passport

   The Telegraph (Britain), www.telegraph. co.uk/news/ main.jhtml? xml=/news/ 2007/02/26/ nqatada226.xml , By Duncan Gardham, Last Updated 1:19am GMT, Feb/27/2007
• Reid wins battle to deport cleric Qatada
   Almost from the moment he arrived in Britain, Abu Qatada has been providing religious and spiritual advice to extremist groups, according to the Home Office.
   He has offered guidance in response to requests for authority to carry out attacks and inspiration to terrorist cells motivated by his speeches and writings.
   Among those he influenced were Mohammed Atta, one of the ring-leaders of the September 11 hijackers, who had a number of Qatada's videos in his Hamburg flat.
   It is also said that he advised Rachid Ramda who is in jail in France for financing the bombing of the Paris Metro in 1995 and Djamel Beghal an Algerian in jail in France for plotting to blow up the American embassy in Paris.
   Qatada, whose real name is Omar Mohammed Othman, arrived in Britain from his native Jordan in September 1993 using a forged United Arab Emirates passport and claimed asylum for himself and his wife and three children.
   He was recognised as a refugee and granted leave to remain the following June.
   In March 1995, Qatada issued an influential fatwa [religious ruling] which justified the killing of the wives and children of apostates in Algeria.
   In September 1998 he told his followers it was legitimate to break Western laws, steal and cheat "kaffirs" [non-believers] and take their women for sex or sale.
   The following year he used his base at the Four Feathers Social Club in Baker Street, central London to issue a fatwa supporting killing Jews and Americans, whom he said were "no better than Jews."
   In one sermon, apparently delivered in Britain, Qatada said Allah "looked well" on killing a non-believer for the sake if Islam and told a questioner that suicide bombings were acceptable if they were for the benefit of Islam.
   He went into hiding in December 2001, three months after the September 11 attacks, as the Government prepared to introduce a new Anti-terrorism Act which allowed the detention of foreign nationals deemed to be a threat to national security.
   The following October Qatada was arrested and 17 months later his appeal was dismissed by the Special Immigration and Appeals Commission (SIAC) which described him as a "truly dangerous individual" who was "heavily involved, indeed at the centre of terrorist activities associated with al-Qa'eda."
   A year later, in March 2005, Qatada was released from Belmarsh after an appeal to the House of Lords which found the legislation contravened the Human Rights Act and placed under house arrest.
   The groups said to have asked for his guidance are thought to include al-Qa'eda, Islamic Jihad in Egypt, the GIA and GSPC in Algeria and other groups in Iraq, Indonesia, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco.
   Qatada has been convicted twice in Jordan in his absence.
   He was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour for conspiracy to carry out terrorist acts in connection with bomb attacks on two hotels in Amman in 1998, carried out by the Reform and Challenge Group.
   Jordan had asked for his extradition from Britain but it was not granted.
   He was also convicted of providing finance and advice to the Army of Mohammed which planned a series of bomb attacks in Jordan to coincide with the Millennium. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#extremist    [RECAPITULATION: Qatada, whose real name is Omar Mohammed Othman, arrived in Britain from his native Jordan in September 1993 using a forged United Arab Emirates passport …
   In March 1995, Qatada issued an influential fatwa [religious ruling] which justified the killing of the wives and children of apostates in Algeria.
   In September 1998 he told his followers it was legitimate to break Western laws, steal and cheat "kaffirs" [non-believers] and take their women for sex or sale.
   The following year he used his base at the Four Feathers Social Club in Baker Street, central London to issue a fatwa supporting killing Jews and Americans, whom he said were "no better than Jews."
   In one sermon, apparently delivered in Britain, Qatada said Allah "looked well" on killing a non-believer for the sake if Islam and told a questioner that suicide bombings were acceptable if they were for the benefit of Islam. ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE: Regarding forged passport, recite 3:47, 8:30, and 66:2. Killing of families of apostates in Algeria, recite 71:27-28, study 9, 84:57. To break Western laws, recite 33:48. Take non-Muslims' wives for sex or sale, recite 24:33. [More texts to be listed when time permits] [Feb 27, 07]
• Living By Muhammad's Words And Deeds; The facts of Muhammad's life, and Jihadist Terror
   Annals Australasia, annals australasia§ gmail.com , by Bruce Thornton, pp 28-30, January-February 2007

ANNALS AUSTRALASIA 28 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007
ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY
The facts of Muhammad’s life, and Jihadist Terror

LIVING BY MUHAMMAD’S WORDS AND DEEDS

Reviewed by Bruce Thornton A mbrose Bierce once quipped that war was God's way of teaching Americans geography. He could have said "teaching us history," for the enemy is emboldened by our ignorance not just of where he lives but of how he lives, his beliefs and values, and to understand these traditions we must understand their history.
   Unfortunately, in the current war against Islamic jihad we persist in ignoring the documented history of Islam and its beliefs, accepting instead the spin and distortions of various propagandists, apologists, and Western useful idiots.
   This imperative to know the enemy's beliefs is particularly important for understanding the jihadists, for Islam is a fiercely traditional faith, one brooking no deviation from the revelation granted to Muhammad and codified in the Koran, Hadith, and the sira or biography of the Prophet. ___________________________
The Truth about Muhammad
by Robert Spencer.
Regnery Publishing, 2006
___________________________    As Robert Spencer shows in his invaluable resource The Truth about Muhammad, in these sources Muhammad is presented as "an excellent model of conduct," as the Koran puts it, his words and deeds forming the pattern for all pious Muslims to follow.
   "Muslims," according to Muqtedar Khan of the Centre for the Study of Islam and Democracy, "as a part of religious observance, not only obey, but also seek to emulate and imitate their Prophet in every aspect of life." The facts of Muhammad's life, then, are paramount for understanding the beliefs that warrant and validate jihadist terror. Presenting those facts clearly and fairly is precisely what Spencer accomplishes in his new book. Spencer has been for years a bastion of plain-speaking truth.
   Through books like Islam Unveiled, Onward Muslim Soldiers: How Jihad Still Threatens America and the West, and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (And the Crusades), and as director of Jihad Watch, Spencer has courageously presented the simple facts of Islamic history and thought that too many Americans, including some in the current administration, ignore or distort.
   Spencer's new book continues this important service of arming us with the facts we need in order to understand an enemy who wants nothing from us other than our conversion, death, or subjection.
   Basing his description of Muhammad on the same Islamic sources revered by believers themselves, Spencer paints a portrait of the Prophet unrecognizable to any who have been deceived by the idealizations of apologists like Farida Khanam, whom Spencer quotes as claiming that Muhammad's "heart was filled with intense love for all humankind irrespective of caste, creed or color," or the British religious writer Karen Armstrong, who claims that "Muhammad eventually abjured violence and pursued a daring, inspired policy of non-violence that was worthy of Ghandi."
   Such fantastic delusions cannot stand up to the relentless quotations and facts Spencer gathers from Islamic sources, all of which show us a Mohammad justifying and practising violence in the service of the faith he invented.
   As Spencer traces Muhammad's life, we see the behaviors practised by today's jihadists, who continually cite the Prophet as their justifying model. The arrogant intolerance of any other religion finds its source in Muhammad's assertion to Muslims, "Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah." The rationalization of violence by invoking the hostility of unbelievers is also warranted by Muhammad: because of the rejection of him by his tribesmen the Quraysh, Allah "gave permission to His apostle to fight and to protect himself against those who wronged them [Muslims] and treated them badly." Hence the various offences fabricated by today's jihadists to justify their aggression against the West. But Muhammad justifies not just defensive warfare but also violence in the service of the faith: "Fight them [unbelievers] so that there be no more seduction,' i.e., until no believer is seduced from his religion. 'And the religion is God's,' i.e. until God alone is worshipped." We see here the jihadist's hatred of the West and globalization, whose political freedoms and hedonistic prosperity "seduce" believers from the faith.
   As Spencer concludes, "The Qur'an . .. commands much more than defensive warfare: Muslims must fight until 'the religion is God's' - that is, until Allah alone is worshipped. Later Islamic law, based on statements of Muhammad, would offer non-Muslims three options: conversion to Islam, subjugation as inferiors under Islamic law, or warfare." So much for the protestations of tolerance and co-existence constantly peddled by jihad's Western publicists.
   Every aspect of Islamic practice and belief finds its basis in Muhammad's words and deeds. When Muhammad's lieutenant Abdullah attacked a Quraysh caravan during a month when fighting was prohibited, Muhammad's initial displeasure was changed by a "revelation" [i.e. from the angel Gabriel, who dictated the Koran to Mohammad] saying "persecution [i.e. of Muslims] is worse than killing," and Abdullah was forgiven.
   "This was a momentous incident," Spencer concludes, "for it would set a pattern: good became identified with anything that redounded to the benefit of Muslims, and evil with anything that harmed them, without reference to any larger moral standard. Moral absolutes were swept aside in favour of the overarching principle of expediency."
   As Spencer progresses through the Prophet's life, the evidence for Muhammad's model as the source of modern jihadist practice becomes overwhelming. The penchant for beheading enemies displayed by jihadists is validated by Muhammad's decapitation of his enemy Abu Jahl after the batle of Badr against the Quraysh. A "revelation" after the battle codified this practice and linked it to the terrorizing of the enemy that would help Muslims prevail: "I [Allah] will instil terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them." This because they contended against Allah and His Messenger: "If any contend against Allah and His Messenger, Allah is strict in punishment." Given that "contend against" can be defined as any activity that "seduces" believers or stands in the way of Muslim interests, the divine justification for the violence and terror perpetrated by jihadists from Indonesia to Africa, Israel to England is obvious.
   So too with the practice of making tactical treaties and truces only to break them later. "If thou fearest treachery from any group, throw back (their covenant) to them, (so as to be) on equal terms: for Allah lovest not the treacherous," a statement also revealing of the double-standard many Muslims take for granted when dealing with non-believers. Armed with this loophole, Muhammad moved against the Banu Qaynuqa, a Jewish tribe who had resisted Islam but with whom Muhammad had a truce. As Muhammad famously said, "War is deceit." This precedent of deceit is obviously pertinent today, particularly for Palestinian Arab dealings with Israel. We have seen agreement after agreement signed by Arafat and others, only to be violated when circumstances seem to favour force.
   The mistreatment of women, polygamy, child-marriage, stoning of adulterers, cutting off the hands of thieves, mutilation of enemy corpses, the sentence of death for apostasy, the subjection of dhimmi or Christians and Jews, even the killing of writers who displease the faithful - remember the sentence of death against Indian novelist Salman Rushdie, still in force - all have their precedents in the things Muhammad said and did.
   And as Spencer documents in his conclusion, this invocation of Muhammad is continually made by the jihadist terrorists themselves, who accurately link their violence to incidents and sayings from the life of Muhammad. To pretend that these devout Muslims are ignorant of their own religion's traditions or are "hijacking" them is wilful blindness.
   Perhaps the most important precedent established by Muhammad, however, and one at the root of modern jihadist violence, is the demonization of Christians and Jews. Centuries before the existence of Israel, the actions and words of Muhammad legitimized the hatred of Jews. As Spencer shows, this disdain and resentment reflected the powerful barrier the Jews of western Arabia presented to Muhammad's new faith and ambitions, not to mention the extent of Muhammad's borrowings from Jewish scripture and traditions. But the continuing refusal of the Jews to accept that Muhammad was the "seal of the prophets" eventually led to his war against these potent rivals, including the Qurayzah of Medina, 600-700 of whom were beheaded.
   This hatred was justified by calling the Jews along with the Christians "renegades" who had turned against God and the true faith of their ancestors. Thus throughout the Koran one finds codified an intolerance and hatred of Jews still infecting the Islamic world today. The notion of apologists that Islam offers tolerant accommodation to Jews and Christians is belied by verses in the Koran such as, "Oh ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors," and most notoriously of the Jews, "You brothers of monkeys, has God disgraced you and brought His vengeance upon you?"
   Given all this evidence, as Spencer writes, "It is nothing short of staggering that the myth of Islamic tolerance could have gained such currency in the teeth of Muhammad's open contempt and hatred for Jews and Christians, incitements of violence against them, and calls that they be converted or subjugated." And this historical evidence is ratified by contemporary events that show modern Muslims following to the letter the example of Muhammad, from continuing persecution of Jews and Christians in Muslim lands, to the riots and calls for violence that attended (and validated) the Pope's quotation of a Byzantine emperor's observation that violence in the service of religion is Islam's sole innovation.
   Spencer concludes with some common-sense suggestions, most importantly demanding that so-called "moderates" condemn jihad and teach against religious intolerance in their schools and mosques. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen, given the power of Muhammad's example of enmity against unbelievers, and given the arrogant intolerance and unwillingness to compromise that typify too many Muslims.
   The anxiety about appearing "racist" and the sentimental idealization of the "other" dominating American society make it even more unlikely that any politician will challenge Muslims about the facts of Mohammad's words and deeds that jihadists today use to justify their actions. Unless we heed people like Robert Spencer, it seems that only another graphic example of jihadist violence within our borders has a chance of teaching us the history of the enemy. # ANNALS AUSTRALASIA 30 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

   [ON THE WEB: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#living . ENDS.]
   [RECAPITULATION: … apologists like Farida Khanam, … claiming that Muhammad's "heart was filled with intense love for all humankind irrespective of caste, creed or color," or the British religious writer Karen Armstrong, who claims that "Muhammad eventually abjured violence and pursued a daring, inspired policy of non-violence that was worthy of Ghandi." …
   The mistreatment of women, polygamy, child-marriage, stoning of adulterers, cutting off the hands of thieves, mutilation of enemy corpses, the sentence of death for apostasy, the subjection of dhimmi or Christians and Jews, even the killing of writers who displease the faithful - remember the sentence of death against Indian novelist Salman Rushdie, still in force - all have their precedents in the things Muhammad said and did. […] To pretend that these devout Muslims are ignorant of their own religion's traditions or are "hijacking" them is wilful blindness. RECAP. ENDS.] [Jan-Feb 2007]
• Succumbing to PC Propaganda

Succumbing to PC Propaganda

   Annals Australasia, annals australasia §nareg. com.au , p 28, January-February 2007
UNFORTUNATELY, Jihad-supporters are allowed to stifle Western defence capabilities by feeding them Politically Correct propaganda.
   U.K. police officers were given "diversity training" at an Islamic" school southeast of London, the private Jameah Islameah school in East Sussex, that later became the centre of a terrorism investigation.
   The county's police officers visited the school as many as 15 times for training to improve their awareness of Muslim culture and for advanced training so that they could themselves become diversity trainers.
   In August 2006, following the unveiling of a plot to blow up several airliners between Britain and the USA, Muslim leaders summoned to talks with the Government on tackling extremism made a series of demands, which included the introduction of shari’a law for family matters.
   Dr Syed Aziz Pasha, secretary general of the Union of Muslim Organisations of the UK and Ireland, said: 'We told her [the minister] if you give us religious rights, we will be in a better position to convince young people that they are being treated equally along with other citizens.'
   - The Fijordman Report, Friday, September 08, 2006 'Why We Cannot Rely on Moderate Muslims,' by Baron Bodissey

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#succumbing [Jan-Feb 2007]
• [Persistence Pays Off -- Multiculturalism.]

Newsletter, Council for the National Interest, Western Australian Committee, Summer Newsletter, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp 1-2, February 2007
WESTERN AUSTRALIA:

[Persistence Pays Off – Multiculturalism]

Vol. 6 No. 1 February 2007

Telephone: (08) 9321 1925 Fax: (08) 9321 1798
GPO Box K 845, WEST PERTH WA 6870
E-mail: wacni§msn.com Web Site www.cniwa. com.au

CNI
COUNCIL FOR THE NATIONAL INTEREST

Council for the National Interest
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN COMMITTEE
Summer Newsletter Persistence Pays Off Once
Multiculturalism:
   "As we understand our history, all Australians are migrants, long ago the Aborigines, then the Europeans and Asians and we do not condone discrimination against any of them. Indeed without the rich heritage provided by our migrants, Australia as we know it could not have evolved. However if MULTICULTURALISM means many different separate communities each living in their own preferred part of Australia, each speaking their own language and observing their own customs, each manipulating politicians for favours and suffering manipulation for votes - THEN WE ARE TOTALLY OPPOSED TO IT."
   These words are taken from "Immigration Policy -A Recommendation" produced by the CNI Perth/Pearce Group July 1994. The paper after providing examples of failed multiculturalism went on to say: "We do not believe that the racist sentiments and behaviour which provided our examples are supported or condoned by the majority of migrants. Most will abhor such behaviour and would join the wider community in condemning it. What the examples show is that multicultural diversity must be encouraged for the advantages it brings to our society but it must be SUBJECT TO THE OVERWHELMING INFLUENCE OF AUSTRALIAN CITIZENSHIP AND ALL THE VALUES WHICH THIS IMPLIES. The continuing integration of all our citizens as Australians is essential to our well being, to our identification of ourselves and OUR HOME." and to recommend inter alia
   "That immigration policies be developed in the national interest and for all Australians, and that in the philosophy of immigration emphasis is given to Australia, the Australian identity and commitment to Australia." In other words - Citizenship.
   ……..and in relation to qualifying for citizenship "Achieving a defined and demonstrated skill in English language and Australian history."
   Since 1994, CNI WA has, consistently and persistently lobbied federal politicians advocating these and related concepts stressing the importance of citizenship and the qualities needed to be demonstrated by immigrants and refugees to achieve it. It has taken time but results have now come. In May 2006 Federal Parliamentary Secretary Andrew Robb espoused the need for English language skills and knowledge of Australia's institutions and values as a prerequisite for citizenship. He was supported in principle by the Federal Labor spokeswoman, Senator Annette Hurley.
   The final "coup" has come with the Prime Minister's Ministerial reshuffle of January 2007 when the "Immigration and Multicultural Ministerial" portfolio became "Immigration and Citizenship" and the word "Multiculturalism" was dropped. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#persistence [COMMENT: Submission Study Unit would not break out into cheers just yet! Andrew Robb's previous activities, such as breaking workers' resistance to lower pay, while overseas takeovers and Australian mines are being sold off, are not exactly part of a patriotic tapestry!
Since this July 1994 declaration was issued, and in spite of other protests, tens of thousands more people under various guises -- temporary visas, skilled temporaries, skilled permanents, business visas, student visas, refugees, etc. -- have arrived, including people with an indiscriminate mix of cultures, some decidedly anti-Western. This CNI Perth/Pearce group swam against the "politically correct" tide well before the wave of "revisionism" that swept some Australian electors after Pauline Hanson's January 1996 letter to the Queensland Times, so it deserves special respect from Australian Australians. Australian electors in the main have resumed dormancy since those days. COMMENT ENDS.] [February 2007]
• The man who infiltrated al-Qaida's global war.

The man who infiltrated al-Qaida’s
GLOBAL WAR

A Moroccan spy gives a disturbing insight into Islamic radicalism, writes John J. Coe
   The West Australian, by John J. Coe, Books, Weekend Extra page 8, Saturday, February 24, 2007
[Picture of person holding up big placard "JIHAD IS OUR WAY PAK. AFGHAN DEFENCE COUNCIL] The rise of jihad: Pakistani protesters send a clear message to the world just days after the 9.11 attacks in the US.
The controversy surrounding the hanging of Saddam Hussein serves as a macabre metaphor for the Western world's address of Islamic radicalism. In the context of the "war against terror" the invasion of Iraq was justified by the perceived need to destroy Saddam's weapons of mass destruction.
   The consequent hubris was further justified by information provided under duress by captured senior al-Qaida leader, Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi, alleging the existence of those weapons and links between Saddam and the global Islamic terrorist group.
   But recent claims suggest another perspective: "No, Ibn Sheikh did not crack under the pressure of torture. He handled his interrogators with the same skill that he used to handle his gun. He knew what his interrogators wanted, and he was happy to give it to them. He wanted to see Saddam toppled even more than the Americans did. As he had told us at Khaldan, Iraq was the next great jihad." This claim is made by Omar Nasiri, the 'pseudonym' of a …
   … terror cells of London in the 1990s while working for European intelligence services. If his claim is correct, America and its allies have miscalculated badly.
   Nasiri's book, Inside the Global Jihad, provides an immediate perspective on the epochal period during which a loosely connected group of regional Islamist movements coalesced into al-Qaida's global jihad.
   The opening chapters provide a profile of an Arab-European growing up in Belgium and Morocco; his childhood fascination with guns; a troubled and disaffected youth who slipped easily into the underworld of drugs and dirty dealings in Tangiers, and his reconnection with his Muslim faith.
   He recounts in chilling detail life inside the Afghan training camps. His explanation of the reasons why, and the process by which, young Muslims became mujahidin and his record of the ideological and military training provided in the camps, should be of immense concern to all those engaged in the twilight war of counter-terrorism and insurgency. […]
   … service to various French, British and German intelligence services reads like a Ludlum novel.
   Primarily however, Inside the Global Jihad is yet another depressing account of Western ineptitude in addressing the question of Islamic radicalism. Although it can be read on different levels, this is not just a blunt essay about intelligence failure but a critique of political will.
   Nasiri cites, as an example, the story of the radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza. He first heard of Hamza during his explosives training. His group was told about a previous training accident that blew off a "brother's" hands and destroyed one of his eyes. On further inquiry they were told that this "brother" lives in London now and preaches in the mosques. His name is Abu Hamza. That he was allowed to preach hate there for so long without sanction, often with police protection, surely stands as damning testament to the dismal exercise of political will.
   Although this book serves to remind us of the history and the universality of Islam terrorism […]
   … is not just a war between Islam and the West but also a deadly war within Islam of schismatic proportions – the daily carnage in Iraq testifies to this.
   Nasiri's eventual disaffection with the practice of global jihad is understandable: "It is the logic of the supply chain: anyone who supports the enemy is fair game. There are no civilians anymore. Everyone is at war. This is the logic of the global jihad, and I despise it."
   But, as a professing Muslim, he draws the distinction between global and personal jihad: "And that is why I have told my story. I haven't told it because I want to save the West from the terrorists. That was never my goal. What I want more than anything is to save Islam from these terrible excesses and innovations."
   This is a compelling, disquieting book. Whoever Nasiri is or why he wrote it is immaterial. It is an important addition to the corpus of knowledge that helps us understand the canker in the international community that is Islamic terrorism.
   Inside the Global Jhad, by Omar Nasiri #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#theman    [RECAPITULATION: … information provided under duress by captured senior al-Qaida leader, Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi … ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Did anybody ever hear of him before this book was published? COMMENT ENDS.]
   [2nd RECAPITULATION: … save Islam from these terrible excesses and innovations […] … is not just a war between Islam and the West but also a deadly war within Islam of schismatic proportions – the daily carnage in Iraq testifies to this. ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE: "Innovations?" Read the Koran! Read history about killing all the captured male Jews, and enslaving their wives and children. Read about how "infidels" and "hypocrites" are lumped together to be attacked and killed. DOCTRINE ENDS.] [Feb 24, 07]
• shari’a law [risks no separation of religion and state.]

shari’a law

   The West Australian, Letter to The Editor, p 18, Monday, February 26, 2007
   The debate about the adoption of shari’a law in WA would benefit from some clarification. In this country there is a clear distinction between religious and secular life, but according to the World Wide Web, in shari’a law that distinction is not made clear.
   One definition of traditional shari’a law declares that there is no separation of Church and State, and this writer can think of a number of Islamic states where that non-separation is perceived to be practised.
   However, it is also stated that a more modern liberal movement within Islam opposes this traditional view. So in the event that shari’a law is to influence issues within Australian Islamic society, what exactly is being talked about? #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#shari’a_law_risks [Feb 26, 07]
• "I did lie, but I lied for a reason". [Article about exposing a dishonest book Forbidden Love on Jordanian Muslims, and the ensuing film "Forbidden Lie$"]

“I did lie, BUT I LIED FOR A REASON”

The inside story of disgraced author NORMA KHOURI    The Australian Women's Weekly, e-mail < openline§ acpmagazines. com.au > by David Leser, extracts from pp 44-50, March 2007
   Feted then demonised, Norma Khouri, author of the best-selling book, Forbidden Love, was revealed as a fake. On the eve of a new film about her, David Leser asks Norma why she conned him and thousands of others.
   IMAGINE CONCOCTING a story so fantastic - and initially so credible -that you end up with agents, publishers, journalists, booksellers and an adoring public eating out of your hands.
   You've become an international best-selling author, published in 16 countries, translated into a dozen languages. There are television interviews, feature-length articles about you, packed writers' festivals. A fan has penned a love song in your honour. You've been given permanent residence in a new land - in this case, Australia – on the basis that you're a "distinguished talent". … Only trouble is, you're a con artist and a fraud. […]
   Journalists Malcolm Knox [literary editor] and Caroline Overington of The Sydney Morning Herald broke the news that Norma was a fraud.
   Malcolm Knox … was … in his kitchen … phone … February 2003 … a tip-off from a Sydney-based Jordanian … Two prominent Jordanian women .. have begun compiling a dossier on the author. This would result in them asking Norma's publishers, Random House, to reclassify her work as fiction, a request which the publishers rejected.
   "Khouri's real name is Norma Majid Khouri Michael Al-Bagain Toliopoulos and she only lived in Jordan until she was three years old. … She is married with two children, 13 and 11.
   "She has four American siblings and a mother who are desperate to her news from her. But she has managed to conceal this double life from her publishers, her agent, lawyers in several continents, the Australian Department of Immigration and, until now, the public.
   … Anna Broinowksi … says … "I film her for a year-and-a-half and she cons us, too. …"
   Anna Broinowski's documentary, Forbidden Lie$, premieres on February 25 at the Adelaide Film Festival and is due for national release by Palace Films later this year.#

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#i_did [LOOKBACK dates: October 2003, July 24, 2004. ENDS.] [March 2007]
• The Slave Trade [including by Christians and by Muslims]

THE SLAVE TRADE

   The Word, www.the word.ie (RC magazine, Ireland), By PAUL KILDARE, pp 12-13, March, 2007
Europe's empires shipped 15 million African slaves to America in 400 years. Tony Blair recently apologised for Britain's leading role in the trade, which she officially ended 200 years ago this month. PAUL KILDARE recalls "a great international crime"
Men, women and children have been abused as slaves since history began. Ancient Greece depended on slaves for its prosperity. In the Roman Empire at the time of Christ, nearly half of its eight million people were slaves. Even in Medieval Europe slavery was still accepted everywhere.
   Muslim states were also slave societies. The Ottoman Empire's use of galley-slaves in the Mediterranean was one of the most brutal forms of slavery ever. Other Muslim countries imported millions of black slaves from Africa up to 1905. There were serfs in Imperial Russia until 1906 and Soviet Russia used slaves in its Gulag concentration camps up to 1956.
   One little known aspect of the Muslim slave trade is that in the 17th and 18th centuries one million European Christians were brought to Muslim North Africa. Some were captured at sea by Barbary corsair pirates - who seized 466 British trading vessels alone between 1609 and 1616 - while others were taken as prisoners in daring Muslim raids on the coasts of Iceland, Norway, Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy and Greece. Thomas Fellow, a young Cornish sailor, and 51 others

[PICTURE:] African Anti-slavery Congress, an initiative of Cardinal Lavigerie, in Algeria 1885.

were captured from their ship at sea in 1716 and sold as slaves in Morocco. One of the few who survived to tell his tale, he escaped 23 years later, when he was rescued and brought home by a Capt Toolin from Dublin on his small sailing vessel. Fellow's extraordinary story was recently told by Giles Milton in his book, White Gold.
The most dramatic Muslim raid in Ireland was that on Baltimore, West Cork, on 20 June 1631, when 231 Barbary coast pirates and Turkish Ottoman troops kidnapped 107 local people - 23 men, 34 women and 50 children - and brought them as slaves

[PICTURE:] Punishment on the Slave Ship 'Recovery' under Captain John Kimber. Etching, coloured, by Isaac Cruikshank (c.1756 - c.1810), London (S.W.Fores) 10 April 1792.

to Algiers. Father Pierre Dan, a French priest in the city, reported seeing them being sold as slaves there: "It was a pitiful sight to see them exposed naked in the slave market." This dramatic raid was recalled in Thomas Davis' poem, The Sack of Baltimore, and more recently in Des Ekin's book, The Stolen Village.
   But the greatest slave trade, of course, was that which saw an estimated 15 million Africans shipped in 400 years by Europe's empires to North and South America. The British historian Hugh Thomas in The Slave Trade (1997) states that Britain sent 4.5 million, Portugal 4.5m, France 2m, Holland 1.8m, Spain and the US 1m each. During the 18th century British ships carried about 3 million slaves, half of Britain's population then, and brought back sugar, coffee and tobacco.
   Most slave ships were very small, usually 200 tons, 80ft long and lasted only about ten voyages. They took two or three months to reach Africa from England and would remain off the African coast for about three months -collecting an average cargo of 350 slaves. The voyage across the Atlantic took about five weeks. Fear of mutiny by the slaves often led to brutality by the crew. When the slaves were let up on deck to eat, cannon were pointed at them, while at night they were crowded like sardines and chained to one another in the holds below. In 1587 a Spanish priest reported, "The very stench is enough to kill most of them." Many died from dysentery, plague and smallpox; others, especially women, went mad. About 12 percent or 40,000 a year died on the voyages.
   The trade started about 1535, when the Portuguese began carrying African slaves to Brazil. In 1624 the Dutch West India Company, a slave firm, founded New York, first called New Amsterdam. Britain began slave trading in a big way about 1650, but the 18th century, when the trade became respectable, was the great age of British slave merchants.
   In late 18th century England many rich people often had black servants; these numbered 20,000, some of whom were later exported to the West Indies. Countless country mansions and estates were built or bought by slave traders and owners. The slave trade was then closely integrated with Britain's economy, the link between the Bank of England and the South Sea slavery

[PICTURE:] Elmina Castle (Ghana) built in 1471 by the Portuguese as a headquarters for the slave trade.

company being particularly close.
By the end of the 18th century there were nearly 7 million African slaves in the New World. The contribution this huge labour force made to Europe's wealth was enormous, especially in terms of sugar from the West Indies - twice as great as any other British import.
Many popes condemned slavery. As early as 873 Pope John VIII urged that slaves be freed and in 1462 Pius II condemned the slave trade, which Paul II in 1467 called "a great crime". In the 19th century Pius VII, Gregory XVI and Leo XIII all condemned the trade.

[PICTURE of WILLIAM WILBEBFORCE, ESQ.:] William Wilberforce, English politician and philanthropist(1759-1833) in an engraving by Joseph Jenkins dating from 1836. Coll. Archiv. f.Kunst & Geschichte, Berlin.

   In the early 18th century both British and American Quakers condemned the trade; in 1761 they excluded slave merchants from their meeting-houses. In 1787 some Quakers and Anglicans in Britain formed a Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. This was led by Thomas Clarkson and William Wilberforce, who also campaigned, before Daniel O'Connell, for the emancipation of another oppressed group, Catholics in Britain and Ireland. (Three of Wilberforce's sons became Catholics, one having been Anglican Bishop of Oxford.)
   They met with strong opposition from slave trade defenders, like Boswell, who said, "Slavery is a happier state of life for African savages. To abolish it would be the real crime - robbery to an innumerable class of our fellow subjects", meaning slave-owners and traders. But in 1792 William Pitt, the Prime Minister, stated, "No nation in Europe has plunged so deeply into this guilt as Britain."
   In March 1807 the British parliament finally passed the Slave Trade Act, which made it unlawful to capture or transport slaves from 1 May - and paid the slave owners €33 million (a huge sum then) in compensation! - although it was not until 1865 that the trade was totally ended. This was because it took the British navy, with too few ships, another 60 years to end it completely - by trying to intercept slave ships along the African coast. Between 1810 and 1865 the navy captured 1,237 slave ships and freed 150,000 slaves, but many others got through the blockade and brought about 500,000 slaves to the US alone. Slavery was not abolished there until 1863. Between 1790 and 1860 the number of African slaves in the US grew from 657,000 to 3,839,000, one of the fastest population growths ever recorded anywhere.
   "The European slave trade to America," writes Hugh Thomas, "was of a barbarism unparalleled even in old Africa or the ancient Mediterranean. It began when gunpowder enabled a few white men to dominate masses of others without effort. The Atlantic slave trade was a great international crime."
   Last November Prime Minister Tony Blair stated, "It is hard to believe that what would now be a crime against humanity was legal at the time (1807). Britain's rise to global pre-eminence was partially dependent on a system of colonial slave labour. I believe the bicentenary offers us not only a chance to say how profoundly shameful the slave trade was - how we condemn its existence utterly - but also to express our deep sorrow that it could ever have happened." ■

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#the_slave_trade    [RECAPITULATION: The trade started about 1535, when the Portuguese began carrying African slaves to Brazil. In 1624 the Dutch West India Company, a slave firm, founded New York, first called New Amsterdam. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: The article, giving approximately 1535 as the start of the kidnapping of black Africans and abducting them to the Americas, is only part of the story. Slaving had been going on in all the cultures of the Eurasian-African land mass for thousands of years, it seems. It is explicitly approved by the Hebrew and Muslim scriptures, complete with rules of behaviour, and it is condoned in the Christian scriptures, covered up in the older translations by altering the Greek word for "slave" to "servant." ENDS.]
   [ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Len and Marie Eva. ENDS.] [To this website 25 Jul 07 to religchron.htm; Issue of March 2007]
• [Statement to the Deliberative Poll on Muslims in Australia: Pell.]

Statement to the Deliberative Poll on Muslims in Australia

   The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, www.sydney. catholic.org. au/Archbishop/ Addresses/ 200733_673. shtml , By + Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, Old Parliament House, Canberra, March/3/2007
   CANBERRA:
   Mr Chairman, Fellow Australians
   When I met the Sunni Mufti Kabbani in Lebanon in 2003 he asked me to help protect the Muslim minority in Australia, I readily promised to do so. This is one reason why I am here today. Basically, however, I am here because I am a committed Australian.
   It is curious that the word 'religion' is met with twice only, and in the second last paragraph of the Overview of this Deliberative Poll on cultural, political and social divides between Muslims and non-Muslims.

# 'The Deliberative Poll survey asks multiple questions around the issues of refugees, assimilation, religion and cultural differences.'
# ' … a comparison of trends of opinions within Australia on several sub-topics, for example immigration and religion'.

   Yet most of the obstacles in the way of assimilation or integration of the Muslim community into Australian or any non-Muslim society are generally couched by Muslim leaders in religious terms, in the context of the Qur'an and Islamic Religious Law. Religion is not a 'sub-topic,' as the Overview suggests: it is the Topic.
   Muslims should be treated like any other minority in Australia; justly, with respect. They should not suffer discrimination. We don't have to be close friends but we should try to get to know and understand one another and our religions, talk to one another and encourage our young people to know each other. No one is obliged to think like the majority of Australians nor change his religion.
   All those who choose to come to Australia come as immigrants, not as colonists i.e. they should be committed to freedom and democracy, refrain from advocating violence or indulging in hate speech, while their political allegiance must be to Australia, not overseas. All immigrants, Christians, Muslims, non-believers should meet these criteria.
   I have met many wonderful Muslims in dialogue over the years, but there are Islamists who are at war with us in the West. Most of the victims of extremist Muslims are fellow Muslims. So it is important to distinguish accurately your real friends from your enemies and those who only seem to be friends.
   Obviously I speak as a Christian and a Catholic, committed to one version of the principle of reciprocity. Not an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but commitment to the principle that the rights we justly offer to all citizens here, including Muslim minorities, should be rights that are enjoyed by non-Muslim minorities in the Muslim world. This is not the case as I believe this conference could not be held in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia! In fact Christians are being harassed and even persecuted in many countries ranging from Nigeria, through Sudan, where some are being sold as slaves, and the Middle East to Pakistan and Indonesia. I would like to know where our friends stand on these matters.
   In a pluralist and free democracy every group is criticized at some time or other. As Prime Minister Howard remarked last year, if Catholics rioted every time they were criticized there would be regular riots! It is not appropriate that Muslims regularly reply to criticism with insults, denigrations and evasions, while avoiding the point at issue. We have seen too much of this from some Muslim personalities.
   Within a secular democratic society harmonious integration of minorities is achievable because all citizens, belonging to the majority culture, or minorities, are acknowledged to be equal in the eyes of the law. Equal rights, however, carry with them equal responsibilities. Problems arise when minorities demand special consideration that places them outside the law as it applies to all other citizens. Flexibility and adaptability are called for when refugees and immigrants arrive in a host country. But there is a limit [in adapting to minority demands] beyond which a democratic host society cannot go without losing its identity.
   I come in friendship, prepared to help and look forward to the discussion. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#statement    [RECAPITULATION: … I speak … committed to one version of the principle of reciprocity. Not an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but commitment to the principle that the rights we justly offer to all citizens here, including Muslim minorities, should be rights that are enjoyed by non-Muslim minorities in the Muslim world. This is not the case … But there is a limit [in adapting to minority demands] beyond which a democratic host society cannot go without losing its identity. … discussion … ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Let's define what the limit is. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE: 5:45 (or 49):- And we decreed for them in it that: the life for the life, the eye for the eye, the nose for the nose, the ear for the ear, the tooth for the tooth, and an equivalent injury for any injury. … www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/005. qmt.html #005.045 .
   8:12:- … I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/008. qmt.html #008.012 . DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [REPUBLISHED under the heading "Non-Muslims and Muslims living in harmony" in Annals Australasia, page 8, March 2007. ENDS.] [Mar 3, 07]
• Distinguish Muslim friends from enemies, says Pell.

Distinguish Muslim friends from enemies, says Pell

CathNews (from Church Resources, Australia), www.cathnews. com/news/703/ 19.php , March 5, 2007
Distinguishing "Islamists" from the "many wonderful Muslims" he says he has met, Sydney Cardinal George Pell says that most victims of "extreme Muslims" are in fact Muslims.

   Speaking at a "deliberative poll" organised by the Australian newspaper, Cardinal Pell also said that the Muslim community is overly sensitive and is the only migrant group to have plotted violence against Australia.
   "In a democratic society, every group is criticised - Prime Minister (John) Howard said quite rightly last year that if Catholics rioted in Australia every time they were criticised, there would be regular riots," Cardinal Pell said.
   "It's not appropriate that Muslims regularly reply to criticism with insults, denigration and evasions while avoiding the point of issue, and unfortunately we've seen too much of this from some Muslim public personalities."
   "But there are Islamists who are at war with the Western world - most of the victims of these extreme Muslims are fellow Muslims," he said. "So its important to distinguish accurately your real friends from your enemies and from those who only seem to be friends."
   According to Cardinal Pell's comments, integration is a "key tool" for a harmonious and secular democratic society.
   "Equal rights however, carry with them equal responsibilities - problems arise when minorities demand special consideration that places them outside the law as it applies to other citizens," hesaid.
   "Flexibility and adaptability are called for when refugees and immigrants arrive in our country but there is a limit in (adopting) minority demands beyond which a democratic host society cannot go without losing its identity."
   Cardinal Pell also criticised the treatment of Christians in Muslim majority countries.
   "I don't think we could be having a meeting like this in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia," he said.
   "Christians are being harassed, they're being persecuted and even sometimes in the Sudan being sold into slavery. I would like to know where my Muslim friends stand on this issue."
   The Australian reports that before the deliberative poll, 35 per cent told Newspoll that Muslims were a threat to the Australian way of life. However, following a weekend of deliberations, this fell to 21 per cent.
   Those who believed Muslims coming to Australia had a bad impact on national security nearly halved from 44 per cent to 23 per cent. The 49 per cent who said the incompatibility of Muslim and non-Muslim values was a big contributor to terrorism fell to 22 per cent. Just under a third originally thought that Muslims who come to live here made Australia worse but this shrunk to just 7 per cent.
   Organiser Pamela Ryan said last night the results showed how much ideas changed when people had the opportunity to learn about the issues and meet Australian Muslims.
   SOURCE: Muslims are too sensitive, says Pell (The Australian, 5/3/07)
Blueprint for coexistence (The Australian, 5/3/07)
Muslims are too sensitive, says Cardinal Pell (New English Review, 5/3/07)
   LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church Resources): Cardinal George Pell, "Islam and Western Democracies" (Archdiocese of Sydney, 4/2/06)
Cardinal George Pell
   ARCHIVE:Pell to join Muslim poll panel (CathNews, 1/3/07)
Pell affirms commitment to dialogue with Muslims (CathNews 8/5/06)
Pell says Catholics should read the Koran (CathNews 4/5/06)
Pell comments portrayed as anti-Muslim slur (CathNews 15/11/04)
HAVE YOUR SAY   Click here

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#distinguish    [RECAPITULATION: … Cardinal George Pell says that most victims of "extreme Muslims" are in fact Muslims. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Yes, this is true. ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE: Read the Koran texts following the story of children kidnapped by a Muslim father at: Hawach. DOCTRINE ENDS.] [Mar 5, 07]
• [No Golden Rule in Islam.]

I DISAGREE

[No Golden Rule in Islam.]

   The West Australian, Letter to The Editor, p 19, Monday, March 5, 2007
   Mark Hawken writes (Letters, 26/2): "There is so little difference between Christianity and Islam in principle that it's a joke to suggest that we cannot coexist." How wrong he is.
   Muslims themselves foster this erroneous idea in order to gain greater acceptance in the West. If only people would first read the Koran and ahadith before voicing an opinion on Islam.
   There is no commonality whatsoever between Christianity and Islam.
   The Koran actually instructs Muslims to despise Jews and Christians ("Believers do not take Jews or Christians as friends. They are but one another's friends. If any one of you takes them for his friends, then he is surely one of them and God does not guide the evil-doers," 5:51 (or 5:56) [not 5.50].
   The Koran accuses Jews of corrupting scripture, Christians of being polytheists and declares emphatically that "The only true faith in God's sight is Islam" (3:19 or 3:17).
   What is more, if a Muslim were to convert to Christianity he would be put to death.
   So Mr Hawken, please don't lump Christianity, or any other religion for that matter, together with Islam.
   All other religions today contain within their teachings their own version of the golden rule: "Treat others as you would be treated."
   There is no such universal statement of ethics in Islam. Instead Islam divides humanity between "believers" and the rest of mankind and enjoins its followers to treat those others ruthlessly (48:29), attack them (8:39 or 8:40), kill them, (9:5), even behead them (8:12/47:8 or 47:9). Islam stands alone in preaching this hatred. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#nogolden [CORRECTIONS to the aya numbers have been added where necessary. ENDS.]
[COMMENT: The last sentence in the letter is incorrect, more's the pity. And so is the second-last paragraph. ENDS.] [Mar 5, 07]
• Islam not the only hating religion.

Islam not the only hating religion

   The West Australian, Letter e-mailed to The Editor, sent March 5, 2007
   Islam does NOT stand alone in preaching hatred of other faiths, as Glenys Simons wrote (I disagree, 5/3).
   There was much good in her letter, however. As Ms Simons says, Islam has hate texts (dozens, at last count), but no golden rule. On the contrary, "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth" is the revenge mantra that many Moslems follow.
   As that teaching demonstrates, Islam's texts owe a lot to even older religious texts preaching exclusivism, and "divine" orders to drive other religions out by killing and enslaving people, and/or destroying food trees and the land. Passing babies into the flames for Molech is permitted, to this day, by the much-revered traditions of the elders!
   Both in the Old World and in the New World, archaeologists are finding the skeletons of babies and adults who had been put into the walls of cities and buildings as sacrifices to the so-called gods.
   I recommend that journalists do a realistic course in comparative religion (not Karen Armstrong's books, please), and from the ancient Near East to Central America, from ancient Egypt to ancient China, and from African voodoo to Pacific Islander headhunting and devilophobia, she will find violent and bigoted religions.
   Most of them have a women-hating segment. Women are degraded as trophies, sex objects, slaveys, and general victims.
   Christianity misused old texts it inherited to bolster suppression of women, its invasions and slaughters, and slavery, just as Islam used its scripture from the 600s to this day in places like Saudi Arabia and Sudan.
   But we must not demonise Islam -- it is but one of the boils in the human psyche. I fear that even a Martin Luther or a John Huss cannot reform it.
   So, any Muslim reformer is almost forced to break away, and the law of murdering "apostates" then comes into play. But Islam does NOT stand alone in this injustice, either. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#islamnot [Mar 5, 07]
• St Petersburg Declaration [seeking reform of Islam.]

St Petersburg Declaration

   Secular Islam Summit, (report dated July 7, 2007), Actual occurrence Mar 5, 2007
   ST PETERSBURG (Florida), U.S.A.: At the Secular Islam Summit held here, a group released the "St Petersburg Declaration."
   (To read a report about this, go to the newsitem Link as shown below.)

http://www.multiline.com.au/johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#religion_call
http://www.multiline.com.au/johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#st_petersburg_declaration [Occurred Mar 5, 07]
• [Mohammed taught "wish for your brother what you wish for yourself."]

WE DISAGREE

[Mohammed taught “wish for your brother what you wish for yourself.”]

   The West Australian, Letter to The Editor, p 18, Saturday, March 10, 2007
   Glenys Simons clearly (Letters, 5/3) lives in wonderland claiming that "there is no commonality whatsoever between Christianity and Islam".
   She goes on and cites Koranic verses out of context to portray Islam as violent.
   Muslims believe in Jesus Christ. We believe in his miracles and that he cured the blind and healed the leper. We believe in his miraculous birth and we believe that he was the one true Messiah. We further believe in his second coming, where he will establish the Kingdom of Heaven.
   Mohammed, the Prophet of Islam, has reiterated many of Jesus Christ's teachings, including "wish for your brother what you wish for yourself."
   Still, Glenys Simons claims that we have no common ground and can't co-exist. Shaheer Tarin, UWA Muslim Students Association.

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#mohammed [HELP REQUESTED: Firstly, ask yourself who is the "brother" in Islamic practice. Secondly, anyone who can find the teaching "wish for your brother what you wish for yourself" in Islamic texts, please e-mail the Webmaster. It has not come up on Search Engines. (Please note that Jesus did not teach to "wish", but rather "DO unto others as you would they do unto you.") Also, note that if this Islamic text does exist, to wish for your "brother" is not the same as wishing for all other people, and so we see aircraft brought down, mosques misused as bases by extremists, markets and other places blown up, people kidnapped, and welfare workers beheaded or shot, with NO fatwas and punishments ordered by the Islamic imams. ENDS.] [Mar 10, 07]
• [Islam as it is lived.]

[Islam as it is lived.]

The West Australian, Various pages, Saturday, March 10, 2007
Page 23. "Enemies sit down for crucial talks." NEAR EAST:

Talks between bitter enemies in two Middle East conflicts are getting under way … The meeting comes two days after leaders of rival factions in Lebanon's Parliament met for the first time in four months. … Saad Hariri … said … "We should get out of it in a way that there is no victor and no vanquished. Neither the majority nor the opposition can run the country on its own."
Page 28. "Muslims marry at 13 with Malaysia's blessing." MALAYSIA:

Two 13-year-old Malaysians were the youngest among 10 couples who married in a joint ceremony in eastern Terengganu State.
Page 34. "Muslim vice squad strikes." GAZA CITY, Palestine:

A note stuck to the door of his tiny music shop … warned Mohammed al-Shaer that selling tapes or CDs of popular Arabic music was "haram" or forbidden by Islam. … a bomb went off outside his premises this week … In recent months, about three dozen internet cafes, music shops and even chemists have been attacked … In the Gaza Strip … there are no cinemas or theatres … a psychologist … said … "Since Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, hidden problems have come to the surface. Everyone has guns. There's no rule of law."

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#islamas [Mar 10, 07]
• Muslim teachings against multiculturalism.

Muslim teachings against multiculturalism

   Letter sent to The Editor, The West Australian, on Saturday, March 10, 2007
   Loyalty to the Muslim cause is admirable in their young, and it might be true that the Prophet taught to "wish for your brother what you wish for yourself" as the UWA Muslim Students' Association spokesperson wrote (Letters 10/3)
   But I was taught: "Those who follow Him are tender to one another, but ruthless to unbelievers." (Koran 48:29)
   Two verses before that it reads: "Ye shall do battle with them, or they shall profess Islam."
   Read also: "I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them." (8:12)
   Going back to the Association's letter, Muslims are taught about a watered-down Jesus Christ who was a prophet but not God, who did not die on the cross (a look-alike did) so had no resurrection, and was no saviour of the world as most Christians believe.
   They are also told that the Christian Trinity belief is in God, Mary, and Jesus -- a shameful claim, because no sect puts Mary into the godhead.
   The watered-down Jesus is like the watered-down Moses, who in their religion does not give out God's Ten Commandments.
   But the teachings that do govern some of them around the world are to be found in 8:30: "… the unbelievers plotted against thee … but Allah plotted: and of plotters is Allah the best!"
   Also recite: 66:2: "Allah hath allowed you release from your oaths."
   9:29:- "Make war upon such of those to whom the Scriptures have been given … until they pay tribute out of hand, and they be humbled."
   47:4-6 (or 47:4-7): "Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks. … But those who are slain in the way of Allah, He will … admit them to the Garden which He has announced for them." See also 66:9.
   What about female slaves? 24:33 [or 24:34]:- You shall not force your slave-girls into prostitution in order that you may enrich yourselves, if they wish to preserve their chastity. If anyone compels them, Allah will be forgiving and merciful to them. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/024. qmt.html #024.033 .
   The teaching that strikes at the heart of orderly government and multiculturalism, however, is: "And obey not (the behests) of the Unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and heed not their annoyances, but put thy Trust in Allah. For enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs." www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/033. qmt.html #033.048 . (33:48 or 47)
   Your other correspondent Glenys Simons was right saying "there is no commonality whatsoever between Christianity and Islam" (Letters, 5/3) #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#muslim [For Koran references not given above, see -- Mary as a god, 5:116 http://www.submission.org/suras/sura5.html#116 . For others, click and seek: Koran . ENDS] [Mar 10, 07]
• Muslim leaders warn of tax cheats

Muslim leaders warn of tax cheats

   The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), www.news.com. au/daily telegraph/ story/0,220 49,21372106- 5006505, 00.html , March 13, 2007
   SYDNEY: MUSLIM leaders have warned that hardline clerics are encouraging their followers to cheat the tax system because they consider paying income tax contrary to shari’a law.
   Sydney-based Islamic leader Fadi Rahman says extremist Muslim clerics who were preaching messages against paying income taxes were also staunchly opposed to western ideologies, The Australian reports.
   Mr Rahman said he had heard Friday sermons delivered by hardline clerics in Sydney which highlighted the importance of cheating the tax system.
   "I mean, just like how you've got clerics (with) extreme views who are telling the Muslims in the western world to declare war against the very country that they live in and the very country that is paying for their day to day life, you'll find that these are the clerics that are telling them to dodge the tax system," Mr Rahman told News Limited.
   The youth leader and president of the Independent Centre for Research Australia said tax itself was not allowed in Islam.
   "So they (clerics) encourage them that if there's any way that you can dodge paying the tax, then you should do it."
   Clerics pushing for the tax evasion espoused a fundamentalist form of Islam called Wahabbism, News Ltd reported.
   Prominent Islamic cleric Khalil Shami said he had heard of imams encouraging tax evasion.
   The fundamentalist Ahlus Sunnah Wal-Jamaah Association, which is headed by cleric Mohammed Omran, rejected suggestions that his imams were calling on followers to cheat on their taxes.
   "Of course we pay taxes and we go as far as collecting money from our Muslim communities and donating it to organisations (such as the Royal Children's Hospital) to help," the Wahabbi organisation's spokesman Abu Yusuf said. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#muslimleaders By courtesy of SB.
COMMENT received Mar 14: A cynic might say they were expressing Australian values -- the very same values that made the Libs' sponsors rich. But unlike the Great Unwashed the sponsors don't have to cheat the system because they design the system. Even though they don't have to cheat the system that they have designed, many of them will still do so at every opportunity. As for the Moslem clerics who want to throw us back to ecclesiastical "law", surely there are enough aircraft seats to take them back to the countries their cult has turned into hellholes. Hardliners is just a term -- the same Koran and hadiths inform them as inform the rest -- the so-called "hardliners" are merely more open about what is in them. ENDS.] [Mar 13, 07]
• Hilaly accuses Rudd of 'Islamophobia'

Hilaly accuses Rudd of ‘Islamophobia’

   The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), www.news.com. au/daily telegraph/ story/0,220 49,21379143- 5006505, 00.html , for March 14, 2007
   AUSTRALIA: SHEIK Taj al-Din al-Hilali has accused federal Labor leader Kevin Rudd of "Islamophobia".
   Sheik Hilaly said his plans for a new political party would go ahead, despite Mr Rudd's opposition.
   Mr Rudd has said Australians would never vote for a man who defended gang rapists and denigrated Australian women.
   Sheik Hilaly said Mr Rudd's comments revealed the Labor Party was worried.
   "This is the best indication of the importance of this party and Rudd is talking Islamophobia and he is exposing his true position," Sheik Hilaly told News Limited.
   "This party (Australian Peace Party) will give society protection from such views."
   Sheik Hilaly said although the party was his vision, and he would help form a preparation committee, he would only be the figurehead for the party.
   He said he hoped it would target both state and Federal Governments. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#hilaly_accuses_rudd [RECAPITULATION: "This party (Australian Peace Party) will give society protection from such views." ENDS.]
[COMMENT: Through 30 lashes, one presumes? COMMENT ENDS.] [Mar 14, 07]
• Extremist students take over mosque

Extremist students take over mosque

   The Australian, http://theaust ralian.news. com.au/story/ 0,20867,21411 910-2702,00. html?from= public_rss , by Richard Kerbaj, March 20, 2007
   NEWCASTLE [NSW, Australia]: HARDLINE international students have wrested control of a major NSW mosque, ousting the local cleric amid accusations the group is rapidly converting followers to extremist Islam.
   Up to 150 university students from Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Egypt who follow the fundamentalist Wahabbism ideology were central to the overthrow at the weekend of the executive board of the Newcastle Muslim Association.
   Deposed association president Yunus Kara yesterday accused the students of pushing for new leadership of the port city's mosque in order to advance their own extremist agenda and continue "brainwashing" local Muslims.
   "The international students have used their puppets to come forward and dictate," Mr Kara told The Australian.
   "They're driving them to whatever ideology that (suits them). Their ideology is extremism … but they teach under the banner of Islam."
   But the association's newly elected treasurer, Michael Cawley, denied the claims of the ousted leadership, accusing them of labelling opponents Wahabbis.
   Mr Cawley, a convert, said the international students were merely visitors to the mosque and had no control over the new leadership.
   "Basically, what happened is anyone who didn't agree with the (former) president's point of view were labelled Wahabbi," said Mr Cawley. "It's unfair."
   Newcastle Mosque's deposed imam, Bilal Kanj, who was also voted out on the weekend, said while the students openly denied their Wahabbi beliefs and radical Koranic interpretations, they were converting people during prayer group meetings and other religious gatherings.
   "If you were to ask them, they will deny they're Wahabbi," said the Australian-born cleric, who moved to Newcastle three months ago to work as a full-time spiritual leader.
   "They play it very discreetly. We've been studying them all of our life and we know how to spot them very easily."
   Mr Kara said the international students were aged between 20 and 30, and were known to make home visits to members of the port city's 600-strong Muslim population to preach their beliefs.
   This home preaching may suggest that the appointment of a new imam is not an immediate priority of the new leadership.
   Mr Kara said radical students had gathered more support over the past two years after they had begun to flock the mosque in larger numbers.
   He said an absence of proper religious leadership at Newcastle Mosque over the past 30 years - prior to Sheik Bilal's appointment - also meant the students could exploit the void to spread their own ideologies.
   Sheik Bilal said the students were becoming more proficient at spreading their isolationist messages.
   "During my presence here it was very, very quick," he said.
   "Because they went really, really hard with (preaching) their beliefs."
   Sheik Bilal said the students were becoming popular with the locals by adopting name-and-shame tactics, spreading lies about the town's moderate Muslim leadership. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#extremiststudents [Mar 20, 07]
• WA Muslims move closer to shari’a law.

WA Muslims move closer to shari’a law

   The West Australian, by KIM MACDONALD, p 11, Tuesday, March 20, 2007
   PERTH: The State's Islamic community has moved a step closer to establishing a form of shari’a law in WA by appointing nine local leaders to mediate civil disputes among Muslims through decisions based on the religious doctrine.
   Imam Abdul Jalil Ahmad said the local leaders, and a total of 77 nationwide, would preside over marital, divorce, property and commercial disputes under the auspices of an incorporated body.
   The appointments follow heavy criticism from the Ethnic Communities Council after last month's announcement about the mediation group that it would isolate the Muslim community.
   Mr Abdul said the nine imams would advise under shari’a law, provided it did not conflict with Australian law, on culturally sensitive civil issues but would not be able to hand down punishments or legally binding decisions.
   Issues which came within its jurisdiction would include advising women to remain "covered" in public through clothing such as headscarves and long dresses.
   The mediation group would advise that women got custody of children aged seven and under but that children aged at least eight should make their own choice.
[Picture of a row of men bowing foreheads to the floor.] Step closer: WA Muslims may be able to have civil disputes mediated.
   Mr Abdul said the mediation group could grant married couples a spiritual divorce following a move by the husband to tell his wife in writing, "I divorce you", claiming it would be culturally acceptable to do so by text message.
   The group would advise against alcohol consumption and would request Muslims to help poor people. But conflict with the Australian law meant it could not advocate shari’a law which cites that women must be stoned to death for adultery and that men can marry up to four wives.
   Homosexuality and conversion from Islam to another religion are considered sins punishable by death under strict shari’a law.
   Faizel Gaffor, one of the chosen imams, said the process would be particularly helpful to Islamic women who had difficulty getting their husbands to agree to divorce because it would allow the imams to intervene on their behalf.
   University of WA professor Samina Yasmeen, director of the Centre for Muslim State and Societies, had some reservations about whether the body would ensure women's rights.
   "shari’a law definitely provides for equal rights for men and women," she said. "(But) it remains to be seen whether or not women's voices will be heard by this mediation group. I do realise that this group recognises the huge responsibility it has taken on." #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#wamuslims    [RECAPITULATION: Mr Abdul said the mediation group could grant married couples a spiritual divorce following a move by the husband to tell his wife in writing, "I divorce you", claiming it would be culturally acceptable to do so by text message. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: No. The reality is that the husband only has to say the words three times, and the wife is an ex-wife, with very few rights. (A telephone text message for such a divorce might not pass muster in Cairo!) The children when they reach a certain age belong to the man, not the woman. That's one reason why sensible women's groups oppose shari’a law, and people such as Africans on the edge of an Islamic creeping invasion sometimes take up arms against it. Another reason is that Islam permits the taking of sex slaves and labouring slaves. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [2nd RECAP.: University of WA professor Samina Yasmeen … "shari’a law definitely provides for equal rights for men and women," she said. ENDS.]
   [2nd COMMENT: Oo-oo-oops! What about those newsitems about women being sentenced to death for having sex? – even if they are rape victims? Did you notice that the men involved were not in court? Another favourite you'll hear some fetching young female Muslims cheerily telling reporters is that females have equal inheritance rights to males. END.]
   [DOCTRINE, Koran: 4:11 (or 12):- With regard to your children, Allah commandeth you to give the male the portion of two females. … but if she be an only daughter, she shall have the half; …
   4:14:- And your wives shall have a fourth part of what ye leave, if ye have no issue; but if ye have issue, then they shall have an eighth part of what ye leave, after paying the bequests ye shall bequeath, and debts.
   23:1, 5, 6:- Blessed are the believers … who restrain their carnal desires (except with their wives and slave-girls, for these are lawful to them …)
   (To read more, click: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/koranhadith.htm#women . DOCTRINE ENDS.] [Mar 20, 07]
• More warnings on radical group [Hisb ut-Tahrir].

More warnings on radical group

   The West Australian, by KIM MACDONALD, p 11, Tuesday, March 20, 2007
   AUSTRALIA: There are further calls to disband radical Muslim group Hisb ut-Tahrir after it was identified as a potential threat to Australian society because it had the potential to convince its followers to commit a terror attack.
   The Australian Strategic Policy Institute said the group - banned in parts of Europe and the Middle East - was a "warm-up track for violent radicals".
   The institute found that while the group forbids acts of terror until there is a holy war, it promoted a degree of racial hatred that could convince its followers into terror attacks.
   It was also accused of being in the early stages of a program to spread intolerance and racism. Hisb ut-Tahrir came to national attention in January after a leader called for a holy war to create and defend an Islamic superstate that operates under shari’a law.
   It has about 200 members, including about 12 sympathisers living and fundraising in WA, according to the centre for political violence and terrorism research at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.
   The institute said: "Hizb ut-Tahrir advocates a revolutionary change to our social and political system… It uses Australian tolerance to promote radical propaganda even against Australia itself."
   President of the Islamic Council of WA, Ahdielah Edries, urged the Government to ban the group.
   A spokesman for Federal Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock said "relevant agencies" - which he declined to identify - were reviewing the group, which has previously been cleared as a security threat by ASIO. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#morewarnings [RECAPITULATION: … Hisb ut-Tahrir … spread intolerance and racism. … ENDS.]
[COMMENT: Here's a novelty – theoretically they might be caught by the very laws that the "multicultural industry" and the caffe-latte set had hoped to catch the good old True Blue Aussies – like Brian Burke! Don't hold your breath waiting for a prosecution! ENDS.] [Mar 20, 07]
• Beslan – the inside story

Beslan – the inside story

   Australian Reader's Digest, by C.J.Chivers, p 118-135, received Mar 20, '07, issue of April 2007.
   When ruthless Islamic militants captured a school, many of the hostages rose to extraordinary heights of courage and heroism.
   BESLAN, Republic of North Ossetia, Russia: Male and female Chechen terrorists who appeared as if from nowhere in the morning at School No. 1 in Beslan shouted Allahu akhbar!
   They took 1100 hostages. Before they were overcome by the military on September 3, they had killed large numbers of men, women, and children.
   They herded a large number of men into a room and murdered them with gunfire -- one man survived, and they spared him.
   One of their habits during those long hours was to order people to kneel. Some refused and were shot. [*** Long article with pictures]

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#beslan_the_inside    [DOCTRINE, Koran:
   2:193 (or 189):- … Fight the unbelievers until no other religion except Islam is left. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/002. qmt.html# 002.193
   3:83 (or 77):- Are they seeking a religion other than Allah's, when every soul in the heavens and the earth has submitted to Him, willingly or by compulsion? …
   4:91 (or 89):- … Take therefore none of them for friends … If they turn back, then seize them, and slay them wherever ye find them … www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/004. qmt.html #004.089 .
   9:73:- O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/009. qmt.html #009.073 . DOCTRINE ENDS.] [Received Mar 20, '07, issue of April 2007]
• 20 years for beheading three Christian girls; AND, Nigerian Muslim students kill Christian teacher

20 years for beheading three Christian girls

   CathNews (from Church Resources, Australia), www.cathnews. com/news/703/ 124.php , Mar 22, 2007
   INDONESIA: A Muslim militant from Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, was yesterday sentenced to twenty years in prison for masterminding the beheading murder of three Christian girls.
[Picture]
   Hasanuddin, 34, who goes by a single name, along with co-conspirators Lilik Purnomo, 28, and Irwanto Irano, 29, were found guilty on Wednesday of decapitating the three Christian schoolgirls in the town of Poso and dumping their bloodied heads in nearby villages, judges said.
   The three militants had faced a maximum penalty of death by firing squad, but judges ruled that they deserved some leniency for co-operating with authorities, confessing and showing remorse.
   All three confessed to their role in the crime and were forgiven by the victims' relatives.
   AsiaNews noted Indonesian press reports that the sentences corresponded to the demands of the prosecution.
   The alleged members of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network left a handwritten note close to the bodies, vowing more killings to avenge the deaths of Muslims in earlier sectarian violence on Sulawesi island.
   "Wanted - 100 more heads," said Judge Lilik Mulyadi, reciting the letter's text. "Blood must be paid with blood, lives with lives, heads with heads."
   The grisly nature of the beheadings - which occurred as the children were cutting through a cocoa plantation on their way to school - gave fresh impetus to the country's war on terrorism and was followed by scores of arrests.
   Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, has been hit by a string of terrorist attacks in recent years targeting local Christians and nightclubs, restaurants and foreign embassies.
   Judge Udar Siregar told the Central Jakarta District Court that Hasanuddin ordered the slayings and helped dumped their girls' heads in three Christian-dominated villages. Purnomo and Irano were found guilty of "ambushing and beheading" the teens, he said.
   Nigerian Muslim students kill Christian teacher

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#20years    [COMMENT: This is the law, skewed by shari’a law theories. Kill a Muslim, firing squad; kill a Christian, prison sentence. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE: 8:12:- … I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/008. qmt.html #008.012 . DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [GUIDELINE: 9, 84:57:- "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him." GUIDELINE ENDS.] [Mar 22, 07 ]
• shari’a fears. [Back to Dark Ages]

shari’a fears

   The West Australian, Letter to The Editor, p 18, Thursday, March 22, 2007
   Whether it be by stealth or any other way, I'm appalled at the report about WA Muslims moving closer to shari’a law (20/3).
   The Muslim leaders seem hell-bent on usurping the law of Australia and having their own laws in this free and democratic country.
   It has been repeated by our political leaders and been reported over and over in letters to the newspapers that Australia does not and will not tolerate separate laws.
   We are one nation with one set of laws for everybody, no matter what creed or colour. We do not need any form of apartheid.
   To let the Muslim religious leaders get one foot in the door with any form of shari’a law will be just the beginning, because then they will persist in adding more until they get their amputations and stonings in place for various crimes and Australia will begin heading back to the Dark Ages.
   We already have a "hate group" living in our wonderful land, with a branch in WA, the Hisb ut-Tahrir.
   Why we have to tolerate such people in our midst is beyond my comprehension.

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#shari’a [DOCTRINE: Apartheid (separateness): 4:76 (or 78), 4:91 (or 89), 5:51, 5:80, 58:22. Clash of laws/customs: 33:48 (or 47). Amputations: 5:33 (or 37), 5:38 (or 42). DOCTRINE ENDS.]
[GUIDELINES: Stonings: 3, 17:4206 ff; 8, 82:815. END.] [Mar 22, 07]
• [Bombers take child decoys in, and explode them.]

Bombers let child decoys die

   The West Australian, World page, Edited by ALAN KIRK, p 20, Thursday, March 22, 2007
   BAGHDAD: Iraqi insurgents used children to get past a Baghdad checkpoint and then blew up their vehicle with the two youngsters still in the back seat, according to the US military.
   The weekend attack killed the children and three bystanders, Maj-Gen. Michael Barbero said.
   He said the vehicle was initially stopped at the checkpoint.
   "Children in the back seat lower suspicion. We let it move through," Maj-Gen. Barbero said.
   "They parked the vehicle. The adults ran out and detonated it with the children in the back. So the brutality and ruthless nature of this enemy hasn't changed. I mean, they are just interested in slaughtering Iraqi civilians to meet their ends."
   The attack occurred near a market in the Adamiya district.
   Maj-Gen. Barbero called it a new tactic but noted US forces had seen only one such occurrence involving children.
   In recent times the insurgents have tried new and inventive ways to strike at their targets. The use of chemical bombings has increased. The three chlorine bombs detonated this past weekend brought the total to six such bombings since January.
   High-profile suicide and car bomb attacks by Sunnis against Shi'ites also had not abated, Maj-Gen. Barbero said.
   But he said increased military force in Iraq's capital had yielded some success, such as a reduction in murders and executions of civilians.
   He also said hundreds of families had returned to Baghdad and the number of tips from Iraqi civilians about insurgent activity hit its highest mark ever in February.
   Maj-Gen. Barbero's comments come as the US Congress considers measures that attempt to force a timeline on the Bush administration to withdraw US troops.
   Democrat Congressman Ike Skelton, who chairs the House of Representatives armed services committee, said violence between Sunnis and Shi'ites would increase when the US left Iraq, regardless of when that pullout occurred.
   "Should there be a redeployment now, six months from now, two years from now, the sectarian violence will increase," Mr Skelton said. "It's inevitable."
   In Anbar province, US Marines and Iraqi troops backed by artillery and planes battled al-Qaida-linked insurgents for more than five hours on Tuesday.
   The clashes in Amiriyah, 40km west of Baghdad, left eight insurgents dead and five Iraqi policemen wounded, the US military said. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#bombers    [RECAPITULATION: So the brutality and ruthless nature of this enemy hasn't changed. I mean, they are just interested in slaughtering …
   "Should there be a redeployment now, six months from now, two years from now, the sectarian violence will increase," Mr Skelton said. "It's inevitable." ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Well, not inevitable if the Coalition did its duty. For example, the Coalition ought to remove all people that Saddam Hussein's dictatorship moved into Kurdish or other areas, returning them to their home villages, with compensation. The Sunnis and Shi'ites ought to be told that they must agree to population transfers, with compensation, because bad imams keep inciting violence. (Reformers realise, also, that the US and UK secret services have been dressing as Arabs and taking explosives in cars -- possibly to stir up sectarian hate and resultant violence.)
   The Coalition ought to have stopped foreign fanatics coming in across the borders, right from the first week of the liberation/invasion. And ought to have ruthlessly stopped all looting and other crime.
   And be merciless towards Coalition troops committing crimes -- murder ought to merit 30 to 60 years gaol or more, rape 10 to 30, etc., not the tiny sentences handed out by friendly fellow-combatants. A lawless culture will not respect the moral law unless the conquerors do.
   (The newsitem above has to be taken with some caution, because of the dishonesty in the military and other "news-feeds" to journalists, and the fact that President Bush is removing government prosecutors who are trying to find criminal Americans and charge them with offences. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE REQUEST: (If any reader can find texts approving Muslims planning the death by explosion of children, and deceiving non-Muslims, please give details to Submission Study Unit.) ENDS.] [Mar 22, 07]
• Poor old Muslims -- they get insulted -- we get beheaded.

POOR OLD MUSLIMS – THEY GET INSULTED – WE GET BEHEADED

Nick Maine, nmaine§bigpond.net.au , March 22, 2007
The Pope says that jihad violence is against God's nature, and officials fear that in response, Muslims enraged by this insult will commit … jihad violence.
A. Muslims murder 3,000 innocents in New York and….. Expect no criticism.
B. Muslims murder 202 tourists in Bali and……………….. expect no criticism.
C. Muslims murder 333 schoolchildren and their teachers in Beslan and…………… expect no criticism.
D. Muslims murder 292 innocents, mainly Kenyans and Tanzanians at two US Embassies………. and expect no criticism.
E. Muslims murder 241 US and 58 French peacekeepers in Beirut and…………. expect no criticism.
F. Muslims fire 4,000 Katyusha rockets into Northern Israel killing over 50 innocent civilians and……………… expect no criticism.
G. Muslims murder 52 in London and 191 in Madrid and………………… expect no criticism.
H. Muslims murder 200 in Mumbai and……………. expect no criticism.
I. Muslims behead Western hostages in Iraq, Buddhist monks in Thailand and Christian schoolgirls in Indonesia and………….. expect no criticism.
J. Muslims murder 500,000 in Darfur and…………….. Expect no criticism.
K. Muslims regard Jews as 'sons of pigs and monkeys', and vow to nuke Israel and………………. expect no criticism.
L. Muslims force women to wear hideous sacks, stone to death women for getting raped and for leaving the home unescorted, engage in honour killings of sisters and daughters for unapproved dating, and……………… expect no criticism.
M. Muslims danced in the streets and handed out sweets to their kids to celebrate the 9/11 atrocity, and………………. still expected no criticism.
N. Since 9/11 Muslims have killed over 26,000 and wounded over 50,000 in terrorist attacks worldwide and……………. expect no criticism.
Since 9/11 Muslims have committed terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Chad, Chechnya, Dagestan, Denmark, East Timor, Egypt, England, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ingushetia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Jordan-Iraq, Kabardino-Balkans, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Gaza-Palestinian Authority, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan , Syria , Tajikistan, Thailand , Tunisia, Turkey , United Arab Emirates, United Arab Republic, United States , Uzbekistan and Yemen, and……………………. STILL expect no criticism.
Muslims have carried out over 5,800 fatal terrorist atrocities since 9/11 and countless thousands since Islamic conquest began in 623 AD and expect no criticism.
But if a Pope dares to tell the truth about Islam or Danes publish cartoons about Mohammed, then let the outpourings of Islamic hate and outrage begin.
And, by some twisted reach of logic, the arrogant b..s demand the Pope issue an apology.
Keep this one going…

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#poor_old_muslims [March 22, 2007]
• Muslims free to choose badly: PM.

Muslims free to choose badly: PM

   The Record (R.C. newspaper in W. Australia), p 6, Thursday, March 29, 2007
   AUSTRALIA: Prime Minister John Howard says he does not have a view on who should be the Catholic archbishop of Melbourne -- or the Anglican archbishop of Sydney -- and he does not have a view on who should be the mufti of Australia's Muslim community.
   Such things are "a matter for the religious grouping," the PM said on Sky News.
   However, he also said the reappointment as mufti of Sydney's Sheik Hilali has done damage to the Muslim eommunity. "The impact of this decision will be extremely negative," the PM said. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#muslimsfree [COMMENT: The anti-Western Al-Hilali had been ejected from two Muslim countries, and was only allowed to stay in Australia, in spite of breaking the visa laws, by the connivance of Labor power-brokers thinking they would get Muslim votes. It worked!
Muslims see their re-appointment as a victory against the kufar (the non-Muslims). They look forward to winning more battles before the final victory, Allah willing. COMMENT ENDS.] [Mar 29, 07]
• The Cross and the Crescent.

The Cross and
the Crescent

   The Record (R.C. newspaper in W. Australia), Vista page 2, Thursday, March 29, 2007
   LOS ANGELES (at the RCC Religious Education Congress):
John Allen - Rome-based correspondent
   John Allen analysed relationships between Catholicism and Islam, drawing attention to the fact that Pope John Paul II was the first Pope to visit a mosque, the Grand Umayad Mosque in Damascus, reputed to contain the remains of John the Baptist, and itself an early Christian church. From that visit, Pope John Paul was entering into dialogue with Islam, presenting our religions, not in opposition but partnership.
   This outreach was even more crucial in 2001, when within weeks of the devastating attacks on the World Trade Center of New York, Pope John Paul journeyed to Kazakhstan, a country 47 per cent Islamic, but with a sizable Christian population, the descendents of those deported by Stalin to the country to the north of Afghanistan.
   Allen outlined one of the difficulties the dialogue faces is that Islam does not have a clear, central authority like the Vatican, and no hierarchy with which to dialogue. But the papacies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI [Ratzinger] see this inter-religious dialogue as necessary and a most consequential area.
   Allen said that Pope Benedict's Regensberg University address was not about Islam but about the relationship between reason and faith. The Pope certainly had no intention to inflame Islam, but miscalculated the reaction. Pope Benedict's refusal to issue an apology for the content of his talk indicates he does not intend to back down.
   He is making a statement that dialogue means a willingness to talk about real issues. He has issued a challenge to Muslims to reject violence in the name of religion.
   Pope Benedict's prayer in the Blue Mosque of Istanbul was a sign of respect, but he also wants Islam to reciprocate. He wants Islamic countries to afford Christians the religious freedoms their constitutions guarantee or the Universal Declaration on Human Rights calls for.
   In this regard, the Pope reminds Islam that the Rome Mosque, the largest in Europe, built between 1984 and 1993 was the beneficiary of $29,670,000 while the over a million Catholics living in Saudi Arabia, mainly as guest workers, have not one church and no bishops or priests.
   Saudi Arabia has funded the building of mosques throughout the west, but will not allow any churches or Christian places of worship in the kingdom. In fact, its religious police constantly harass priest chaplains and Christians attempting to bring in their bibles or meeting in houses for worship.
   The Pope is concerned for Christians persecuted for their faith in Sudan and parts of Nigeria. He is also concerned for the traditional Christian communities in Egypt and Syria. The Pope is deeply committed to dialogue, but he also wants reciprocation. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#thecross    [RECAPITULATION: Pope John Paul was entering into dialogue with Islam, presenting our religions, not in opposition but partnership. … while the over a million Catholics living in Saudi Arabia, mainly as guest workers, have not one church and no bishops or priests. … The Pope … also wants reciprocation. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Islam in Saudi Arabia, which seems to have destroyed every Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and other religion's worship houses early on, has had since AD 610 to reverse its bad policies and "reciprocate". Because the Koran was translated into Latin in 1143, Popes since then ought to know that Muslims are prevented by their creed from reciprocating. So to gently chide Islam about no churches or clergy in Arabia, or the persecutions in Sudan, Nigeria, Egypt, and Syria, might sound good in the West, but only shows jihadists that all that the infidels can do is talk. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE: 2:212 (or 216):- War is prescribed to you. 2:191:- www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/002. qmt.html #002.191 ; 3:73 (or 66) www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/003. qmt.html #003.073 . ENDS.] [Mar 29, 07]
• What we ignore at our peril.

BOOKS

What we ignore at our peril

News Weekly (Australia), pp 20 and 22, March 31, 2007

BECAUSE THEY HATE:
A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America
by Brigitte Gabriel.
(New York: St Martin's Press)
Hardcover: 272 pages
Rec. price: AUD$49.95

Reviewed by Bill Muehlenberg

   Lebanon used to be a bright spot in a very dark Middle East. It was a rare democracy with a Christian majority. Muslims and non-Muslims could live together in peace and calm, even at the political level.
   It was a beacon of hope and freedom to the surrounding Arab nations. The Lebanese had the highest standard of living in the area. In many ways it seemed more like a Western nation, and Beirut was known as the Paris of the Middle East.
   But all that changed in 1975 when radical Muslims from surrounding nations declared jihad on the Lebanese Christians, and poured into Southern Lebanon to set up a Muslim state. Radical Muslims who hated democracy and wanted to impose shari’a law turned the Lebanese oasis into a hell-hole. Onslaught    Among those who lived through the terror was one young Maronite Christian girl, Brigitte Gabriel. She was 10 years old when the rape of Lebanon began. For the next seven years she and her family would spend most of their time living in an underground bombshelter, enduring the onslaught of Islamist anger and fury.
   She witnessed firsthand the murder, rape, hatred and genocide of a once-great land. She experienced the terror, ethnic-cleansing and dictatorship of Muslim radicals. And she also saw how these Islamists masterfully controlled and manipulated the media, to make it look as if they were the good guys, and the Christians and Jews were the source of evil in the region.
   This book tells her story in chilling and moving detail. But the book is much more than a personal story. It is also a warning. It is a warning to America and the West that the very thing that happened to Lebanon is now happening to all Western democracies.
   Radical Muslims have declared a holy war against the West, and made clear their intention of destroying it.
   Radical Muslims made their intentions known about Lebanon, and they did what they said they would do. They are now telling us their intentions about the West. And they are working to carry out those intentions.

This book is also a warning to America and the West that the very thing that happened to Lebanon is now happening to all Western democracies.

Gabriel asks: will we learn from the experience in Lebanon? Or will the West close its eyes and pretend the threat of radical Islam does not exist?
   The recent incursion of Israel into Lebanon must be seen from the backdrop of the story told in this book. The hatred and venom that Muslims have for Jews is carefully discussed here. The desire of 150 million surrounding Muslims to drive five million Jews into the sea is a daily reality for the Israelis.
   As Gabriel shows, the same media manipulation and deception are taking place now, as they did three decades ago.
   A favourite tactic of the Palestinians then, like Hezbollah now, is to set up rocket attacks from Christian villages. After the rockets are fired, the Islamists quickly pull out, knowing full well Israeli reprisals will then fall on innocent Christian habitations. The media of course will be there to record the Jewish "barbarism," while ignoring the initial terrorists' attacks.
   The horrible tactics and the frightening aims of the Islamists are here carefully laid out. So too are the lies and the deception Islamists are quite happy to resort to. There are even Arabic terms for these: taqiyya (deception) and kitman (secrecy).
   Radical Muslims are willing to present themselves as victims and oppressed peoples. Meanwhile, apologists for the Islamists, and those who loathe their own Western heritage, readily find reasons to blame the West for Islamic terrorism. Somehow the West is supposed to take the blame for acts of Islamist outrage.
   Yet, as Gabriel reminds us, it is foolish to suggest that we must somehow address their grievances. "Their grievance is our freedom of religion," she says. "Their grievance is our democratic process."
   These radicals have repeatedly made their goals known: they seek to destroy Western democracies and set up an Islamic state. Says Gabriel: "Unless we take them at their word, and defend ourselves accordingly, they will succeed."
   She reminds us that Islam claims to have a sacred obligation to impose its rule on the entire world. This is not a distortion of Islam, nor the ideas just of extremists, but the very heart of mainstream Islam. "It is mandated by the holy writings of Islam, as interpreted by a vast majority of the classical authorities," she says.
   In other words, we must reject the myth of moderate Islam. While there are many moderate Muslims, the religion itself is not moderate. Religious and political freedoms are just not hallmarks of Muslim societies. Indeed, the "only social liberal thinkers in the Muslim-Arab Islamo-fascist world are dead ones".
   In this important book, Gabriel documents the many Islamist assaults on the West, and asks why we even permit terrorists to live in our own countries, as they prepare to carry out their acts of carnage and destruction. The parallels between what is now happening in the West and what took place in her homeland are too ominous to be ignored. Yet the West seems intent on doing just that.
   Gabriel says we must wake up to the fact that a war has been declared against the West. Do we have the will and the resolve to defend our way of life, or will we simply give up without a fight?
   She closes her volume with a number of hard-hitting recommendations which the West must heed if it is to prevail in this conflict. For America these include much stricter border controls, development of alternative energy sources, and security profiling of high-risk groups. Hate    These and other stringent steps must be taken if we want to win this battle against the Islamic terrorists. Mere conciliation, arbitration and diplomacy will not reduce the threat. The radical Muslims do what they do because they hate. Until we learn that lesson the casualties will continue to mount, and freedoms will continue to be snatched away.
   To understand the hatred, and why this hatred is such a threat, all concerned citizens must read this book.
   If we do not want to see what happened to Lebanon take place on a far greater scale, then we must wake up to the threat that is staring us in the face, and take appropriate steps in response.
   This book is both a prophetic warning and a much-needed wake-up call to a sleepy and indifferent West. But if we do not heed its warnings, we may well find that the free West will be no more. #
NEWS WEEKLY, MARCH 31, 2007 – PAGES 20 & 22 www.newsweekly.com.au

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#whatwe    [RECAPITULATION: In other words, we must reject the myth of moderate Islam. While there are many moderate Muslims, the religion itself is not moderate. Religious and political freedoms are just not hallmarks of Muslim societies. Indeed, the "only social liberal thinkers in the Muslim-Arab Islamo-fascist world are dead ones". ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: This fortnightly magazine, allied to the National Civic Council (NCC), seems alert to danger. However, at a Perth gathering of the NCC within the past couple of years there were leaflets extolling the idea that Moslems are moderate, if only their neighbours could see it. The leaflets were issued by a Jesuit think tank, so Submission Study Unit wrote to it pointing out opposing arguments. No reply! Recently, it was announced that a Sydney Jesuit think tank was "unsustainable", and would close. Could this be because Sydney Cardinal George Pell has READ some of the Koran, and opposes its violence? In recent weeks the RC Archbishop of Perth said that Muslims ought to be welcomed into Australians' workplaces etc. etc. The supposed barque of Peter has run into the shoals, and goes this way and that! COMMENT ENDS.] [Mar 31, 07]
• In Search of a Merciful God; The Qur'an and Islamic Law and Practice
   Annals Australasia, annalsaustralasia AT nareg POINT com POINT au , Editorial, by Dr Paul Stenhouse, pp 3-4, March 2007

ANNALS AUSTRALASIA 3 MARCH 2007 EDITORIAL
The Qur’an and Islamic Law and Practice

IN SEARCH OF A MERCIFUL GOD

By PAUL STENHOUSE, MSC NON-MUSLIMS are perplexed by many western TV productions and radio interviews that treat of Islam. Such programmes usually include segments of melodious Qur'anic chants, accompanied by images of smiling young people, and references to Islam as a merciful and peaceful religion - despite innumerable world-wide and continuing instances of barbarism, cruelty and mercilessness.
   The Islamist suicide-bombers, kidnappers and murderers carry out their deadly campaigns against non-Muslims and their fellow-Muslims while holding aloft copies of the Qur'an, and shouting verses from it to justify their alleged fidelity to its tenets. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, echoing the constant politically-correct refrain of most Western leaders, recently described such Islamists as following a 'distorted' view of Orthodox Islam.
   How distorted is this view of the Islamists? The concepts of Forgiveness and Mercy are kept to the forefront of Islamic consciousness by the repetition of the familiar mantra Bi-smillahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim 'In the Name of Allah the Merciful and the Compassionate,' at the beginning of all correspondence, all public and private functions and especially all prayer. Known as the Bismala, this formula occurs 114 times in the Qur'an at the beginning of every Sura except the 9th.
   The nature of the invocation and the form it takes is modelled on and reminiscent of the Catholic practice of making the sign of the Cross. Tertullian, ¹ Minucius Felix, ² St Ambrose, ³ St Augustine, ⁴ St John Chrysostom ⁵ et alii hundreds of years before Islam arose, remind Christians that from the moment of rising until they retire at night everything they do should be done 'In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit'.
   To understand what follows - which is mainly concerned with what Islam teaches about mercy and forgiveness -and not just what the spin-doctors would have us believe Islam teaches - one must appreciate the degree of equivocation not to say confusion that exists in the Qur'an and the Islamic Tradition {Sunna}. Ambiguities, anachronisms and contradictions abound.

Global Jihad

This is a hot war, fought on three continents. Its evolution has largely been funded by Saudi Arabia.
   The Saudis have spent $US70 billion ($93 billion) over the past 20 years funding Wahhabism," Yael Shahar told me last week. Shahar is on the faculty at the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Tel Aviv, the world's leading academic institute for counter-terrorism.
   Given that Wahhabism is the most rigid, and most aggressive form of Islam, it means that the West's appetite for oil and motor cars has fuelled not just global warming, but global jihad.
   Jihad and shahada have been the common denominators of the otherwise unrelated bloodshed in Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and the violent arc of a dozen Islamic states from Pakistan to Morocco.
   It is the common denominator of bloodshed in Britain, France, Spain, Holland and the United States, all the scenes of terrorist attacks, and Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Italy, where growing Muslim threats and violence are part of what is now a global confrontation between Western values and medievalism.

- Paul Sheehan, 'An eyewitness view of the new world war,' Sydney Morning Herald, December 30, 2006

   When Islamists say that the Qur'an reveals a merciful God they are telling the truth; one of Allah's names is 'Merciful,' {Sura 17,110}. But Allah can also be merciless {Sura 4,48 [or 4:51]}. They also speak the truth when they say, for example, that Muslims and non-Muslims have equal rights in Islamic countries. But the truth is not what it seems.
   Allah is merciful and compassionate, and Muslims believe that he is 'the most merciful of those who show mercy' {Suras: 7,151 [or 7:150]; 12,64; 21,83 etc}. But, according to the Qur'an, God's mercy is not bestowed upon all his creatures indiscriminately. Not everyone, according to Islamic teaching, is worthy of his mercy. ⁶
   The rub is that, according to the Qur'an, Allah loves only Muslims; he does not love the unbelievers and unrighteous {Suras: 2:276 [or 2:277]; 3:32, 3:57, 3:140; 4:107}. He is the 'enemy' of the unbelievers {Sura 2:98}. He does not extend mercy towards infidels, and even forbids Muslims to pray for them or to ask pardon for them {Sura 9:84, 113-114}.
   Allah's mercy is reserved for Muslims - it doesn't extend to those who refuse to accept the 'da‘wa' or 'invitation to submit to Allah as Muslims'. God will not forgive those who reject faith {Suras 4:168; 9:80; 63:5-6} and who persist in doing evil {Sura 4:18}. He shows no mercy to those who worship any god but himself {Sura 4:48, 4:116}.
   Muslims are to be 'hard of heart' towards unbelievers, but 'merciful' towards one another {Sura 48:29; 16:88}.
   God will not accept death-bed repentance {Suras 4:18; 6:158; 23:63-67, 23:99-101; 38:3 etc etc}. Nor will he accept angelic or human intercession {Suras 2:123; 3:192; 4:109; 10:27; 39:54; etc}.
   All this has to be filtered through the Islamic and Qur'anic doctrine of predestination and fate: {Suras 15:4-5; 16:35; 18:57-58 etc}. And also God's alleged fostering a predisposition to evil among sinners {Sura 2:7, 2:10, 2:15} and the fact that, according to the Qur'an, God is not impartial: he favours {and, implicitly, forgives} whomever he chooses to favour and forgive {Suras: 2:105; 4:48-49; 6:83-88; 10:107; 33:17; etc}.
   Muddying the water for Christians and Jews who may be inclined to think that Islamic Law considers them to be acceptable objects of God's mercy, is the widespread and ineradicable association in Islamic consciousness of the terms 'mushrikun', {polytheists} 'kafirun, kuffar {infidels, unbelievers} with Christians and Jews - despite the Meccan Suras that allegedly bestow privileged status on the 'People of the Book'. This is because the few verses favourable to Christians and Jews in the Qur'an {much quoted by Islamist sympathizers and beguiled western commentators} have been abrogated, annulled, by Sura 9:5, the so-called Verse of the Sword, ⁷ and other Suras like 2:216 and 47:4.
   In fact, the Qur'an says, heaping insult upon insult, 'God will destroy' the Christians who say the Messiah is God's Son, and the Jews who worship Uzair (Ezra?) as God's Son {Sura 9:30}.
   Islamic literature is full of bellicose terms like these, especially when describing Jihads. ⁸ It has persisted down to today – with consequences like September 11, 2001, and continuing radical Islamist terror against the much-mocked 'People of the Book,' on the grounds of their alleged faithlessness and polytheism. There is an all-out war declared on 'unbelievers,' {Suras 2:216; 8:39; 47:4} and this term includes Christians and Jews {Sura 9:29}.
   Of course there are Equal Rights in Islamic countries for all the citizens: Muslims are equal with other Muslims; and Christians are equal with other Christians; but Muslims and Christians are not equal. That is impossible, because God hates infidels, and he is their 'enemy' {Sura 2:98}.
   In practice, however, Qur'anic looseness of phraseology and ambiguity exposes Muslims to inequality even amongst themselves. Such equality as exists depends on the race, colour, sect, tribe, wealth and language of the Muslims in question. Hence the lack of mercy and forgiveness shown to fellow Muslims in the continuing Iraqi so-called insurgency in which Sunni murder Shi'a {and vice-versa} and Arabs murder Persians, apparently without a qualm. In Darfur, Arab Muslims murder their poorer black African co-religionists mercilessly.
   To comprehend this 'anomaly,' non-Muslims must realise that even in the time of the greatest of the Islamic intellectuals, ⁹ Islamic Law {shari’a} whose foundation is the Qur'an, and whose ostensible purpose is to direct the body politic and regulate every aspect of the life of believers, was clearly not doing so.
   This has been noted recently by a commentator on the killing-fields of the Sudan: 'The pure Islamist theory of transcendental struggle and divinely sanctioned violence to achieve the Kingdom of God is theoretically bankrupt, and politically impossible'. ¹⁰ All the more so, because, despite its rhetoric, the Qur'an leaves no room for a God who genuinely has mercy and compassion for his creation.
   Non-Muslims take no satisfaction in pointing out these flaws inherent in the Qur'an, which many good people take to be God's word and use as the touchstone for their conduct and beliefs. But unhappy experience from the time of Muhammad's many bloody raids on his non-Muslim neighbours to the time of writing, has shown that to ignore these flaws, as many westerners prominent in politics and the media seem to ignore them, will inevitably have fatal consequences for those who do so. #
____________________
1. De Cor Mil. c.iii.
2. See Justin Martyr Apol. 2
3. Sermones 43, 56.
4. Serm. 53 'De Verbo Dei'.
5. Contra Judaeos et Gentiles quod Christus sit Deus; Hom. 50 'In S. Matthaeum'; etc
6. For this, and for much of the following comment on the Qur'anic suras, see two articles by Daniel C. Petersen: 'Mercy,' Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an, vol.3, Brill, 2003, pp. 277-280; and 'Forgiveness,' op. cit. vol. 2, pp. 244-245.
7. See also verse 29.
8. See Futuh al-Habasha, The Conquest of Abyssinia {16th Century} by Shihab ad-Din Ahmad bin Abd al-Qader bin Salem bin 'Uthman, translated by Paul Stenhouse, Tsehai Press, California, 2003,. passim. [ www.amazon. com/Futuh- Al-Habasha- Conquest- Abyssinia- Al-Habasa/ dp/09723 17252 ]
9. Muhammad al-Ghazali, {died 1111 AD}.
10. Islamism and its enemies in the Horn of Africa, Alex de Wohl ed., Shama Books, Addis Ababa 2004, p.22. # ANNALS AUSTRALASIA 4 MARCH 2007

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#insearch
AND: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#global    [RECAPITULATION, Paragraph 5: Ambiguities, anachronisms and contradictions abound.
   Para. 8: Allah loves only Muslims; he does not love the unbelievers and unrighteous {Suras: 2:276; 3,32, 57, 140; 4:107}. He is the 'enemy' of the unbelievers {Sura 2:98}. He does not extend mercy towards infidels, and even forbids Muslims to pray for them or to ask pardon for them {Sura 9:84, 113-114}.
   Para 17: Such equality as exists depends on the race, colour, sect, tribe, wealth and language of the Muslims in question. ENDS.]
   [DEFINITION IN Para. 6, Koran Sura 17:110: "… one of Allah's names is 'Merciful'." The word "Merciful" is in Dawood's 2003 Penguin edition p. 205, and "God of Mercy (Arrahman)" in Rodwell's 2001 Phoenix edition p. 118. In Yusafali's it is "Rahman", but in both Pickthall's and Shakir's it is "Beneficent," which is an adjective with the meaning of doing good or being actively kind.]
   [RECAP. Para. 14: "… and the Jews who worship Uzair (Ezra?) as God's Son…"]
   [COMMENT on Para. 14: No Judaist sect known to S.S.U. worships Uzair (Ezra). If any reader has facts to say otherwise, please contact S.S.U. This seems to be one of several complete misunderstandings that are exhibited in the Koran.]
   [KORAN: 2:193 (or 2:189):- … Fight the unbelievers until no other religion except Islam is left. < www.submission. org/suras/ sura2.html #193 >
   8:12:- … I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them. < www.submission. org/suras/ sura8.html #12 >
   48:29:- Those who follow Him are tender to one another, but ruthless to unbelievers. (48:29 is explained in Dr Stenhouse's article.)
   49:9:- If two bodies of the faithful are at war, then make ye peace between them: and if the one of them wrong the other, fight against that party which doth the wrong, until they come back to the precepts of Allah: …
   58:22:- You shall not find a people who believe in Allah and the latter day befriending those who act in opposition to Allah and His Apostle, even though they were their (own) fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their kinsfolk. KORAN ENDS.]
   [SUBSCRIBE: In Australia Aus$33 (pensioner $26), overseas enquire annalsaustralasia§ nareg.com.au ; PO Box 13, Kensington, NSW, 2033, Australia. Tel 02 9662 7894, or 02 9662 7188 ext. 252. Fax 02 9662 1910. ENDS.] [March 2007]
• [Comments on Islam appreciated.]

ANNALS AUSTRALASIA 6 MARCH 2007

Comments on Islam

   Annals Australasia, annals australasia §nareg. com.au , Letter from JOHN FLETCHER, St. Ives, NSW, 2075, p 6, March 2007
   Your content from time to time on aspects of Islam has been of particular interest due in no small measure to my years chairing, with a secretariat based in Manila, an Asia Pacific banking organisation in which only three of the chief executives of the seventy-two members from thirty countries had English as a first language.
   There was a strong Islamic group from Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia with a counter force of Hindus, Buddhists and the various 'ians' of the Pacific Islands.
   That was followed by five years on overlapping consultancies from 1989 to 1994, one for the World Bank based in Jakarta as an adviser and one, based in Manila, for the International Trade Centre, a United Nations organisation, conducting training programs in the Asia Pacific region, often in Islamic Nations.
   Thus I follow developments in that part of the world keenly and appreciate the well-informed nature of your contribution to the growing interest and debate in Australia.
   'Twas a pity there had to be any backing off from the Pope's statement of historical fact at Regensburg which could have been attributed to any number of impeccable sources right back to Muhammad himself as well as the long gone emperor who was quoted. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#comments [March 2007]
• Violence and the Threat of Violence in the UK.

Violence and the Threat of Violence in the UK

   Annals Australasia, annals australasia §nareg. com.au , by Baron Bodissey, p 16, March 2007
AFTER the plot against the airliners was uncovered, a large number of UK Muslim groups sent a letter with veiled threats to PM Tony Blair, stating that "It is our view that current British government policy risks putting civilians at increased risk both in the UK and abroad," and that the British should "change our foreign policy," in addition to allowing Muslims more shari’a. The same thing happened after the bombs in London in 2005.
   If we watch closely, we will notice that Muslims are highly organized and have prepared long lists of demands. Every act of terrorism, or Jihad as it really is, is seen as an opportunity to push even greater demands. Radical Muslims and moderate Muslims are allies, not adversaries. The radicals bomb, and the moderates issue veiled threats that "unless we get our will, more such attacks will ensue." It's a good cop, bad cop game.
   It is true that Jihad is not exclusively about violence, but it is very much about the constant threat of violence. Just like you don't need to beat a donkey all the time to make it go where you want it to, Muslims don't have to hit non-Muslims continuously. They bomb or kill every now and then, to make sure that the infidels are always properly submissive and know who's boss.
   Sadly, they frequently tend to get their will, and the donkey, or as in this case, the British, do what the Muslims want. A hospital in northwest England has introduced a new surgical gown modelled on the burka, allowing female Muslim patients to cover themselves completely. The blue "Inter-Faith Gown" is the first of its type in Britain and has being tried out at the Royal Preston Hospital. - The Fijordman Report, Friday, September 08, 2006 'Why We Cannot Rely on Moderate Muslims,' by Baron Bodissey. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#violenceand [March 2007]
• Saudi Publications Promote Hate.

Saudi Publications Promote Hate

   Annals Australasia, annals australasia §nareg. com.au , by Freedom House Center for Religious Freedom, p 17, March 2007
The various Saudi publications gathered for this study [Report On Saudi Government Publications 2005] state that it is a religious obligation for Muslims to hate Christians and Jews and warn against imitating, befriending, or helping such "infidels" in any way, or taking part in their festivities and celebrations.
   They instill contempt for America because the United States is ruled by legislated civil law rather than by totalitarian Wahhabi-style Islamic law.
   Some of the publications collected for this study direct Muslims not to take American citizenship as long as the country is ruled by infidels and tell them, while abroad, above all, to work for the creation of an Islamic state.
   The Saudi textbooks and documents our researchers collected preach a Nazi-like hatred for Jews, treat the forged Protocols of the Elders of Zion as historical fact, and avow that the Muslim's duty is to eliminate the state of Israel.
   Regarding women, the Saudi state publications in America instruct that they should be veiled, segregated from men and barred from certain employment and roles.
   In these [Saudi Government] documents, other Muslims, especially those who advocate tolerance, are condemned as infidels.
   The opening fatwa in one Saudi embassy-distributed booklet responds to a question about a Muslim preacher in a European mosque who taught that it is not right to condemn Jews and Christians as infidels.
   The Saudi state cleric's reply rebukes the Muslim cleric: "He who casts doubts about their infidelity leaves no doubt about his." – New Report On Saudi Government Publications, January 28, 2005 – Freedom House Center for Religious Freedom.

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#saudipublications [COMMENT: Only by using taqiyya could anyone deny that the Koran plainly condemns Christians and Jews, and forbids befriending them. ENDS.] [March 2007]
• Churches in Indonesia [> 1000 obliterated].

Churches in Indonesia

   Annals Australasia, annals australasia §nareg. com.au , p 18, March 2007
Since 1969 it is estimated that over 1000 churches have been burned down or forced to close due partly to the existence of a special ministerial decree that made it difficult for churches, and sometimes other religious groups' houses of worship, to gain formal approval and registration for their existence.
   Without having their paperwork in order they stood as easy targets for militant groups or bigoted local residents of other faiths, with the police often being stuck in the middle and having to side with the protesters and require congregations to move elsewhere or make do with holding services in homes.
   The attacks on churches have intensified in the last few years and this caused the government in Jakarta to revise the law in question (SKB (Surat Keputusan Bersama) Menag dan Mendagri Nomor 1/1969.), with the process of revision now having been completed and the Religious Affairs department about to begin an education program on the new rules.
   The most important aspects of the new rules for gaining permission to establish a house of worship are:
1. Prospective houses of worship must gather together the names and identity cards of at least 90 people who belong to the proto-congregation.
2. Prospective houses of worship must gather together the names and identity cards of at least 60 people who belong to other faiths, live in the area, and have no objection to the proposed building.
3. Formal approval must be gained from local head of the Religious Affairs Department.
4. Formal approval must be gained from the local inter-faith communication forum (Communication Forum for Religious Harmony (FKUB)).
   If the above requirements are met but the proposed building meets with resistance from some local residents, the local government is required to find an alternative venue for services. This is a new addition to the original 1969 law.
   The decree also says that congregations numbering fewer than 90 people can obtain two-year temporary permits. Administrations are also required to protect and assist existing houses of worship which have yet to obtain permits. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#churchesin [March 2007]
• [Feminists' silence about cruelty blighting Muslims' wives; New twists to PC.]
Annals Australasia, annals australasia §nareg. com.au , Morality and Lobby Groups, by Wanda Skowronska, pp 28-29, March 2007

ANNALS AUSTRALASIA 28 MARCH 2007 MORALITY AND LOBBY GROUPS
Feminism, Paradox and Silence

NEW TWISTS TO POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

By WANDA SKOWRONSKA WHEN the London terrorist bombings occurred in July 2005, Jack Cashill, author of a penetrating analysis into the radical politicisation of western elites entitled Hoodwinked (Nelson 2005) made a public bet.
   He stated that he would personally buy the uncut version of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, a film he intensely detested, if politically correct spin - of blaming the attacks on America - did not start within a few days of the bombings. Cashill did not need to buy the film -sure enough, the reflex blaming started on cue in various sections of the mainstream media.
   Sometimes, however, political correctness takes strange forms. There can be a union of previously opposed causes, inconceivable together, who join in politically correct mantra chanting.
   The media are unsure of what the causes stand for so they just report the unlikely unions without too much commentary. This is especially apparent in the recent link between Muslim activists and supporters of left-of-centre causes - feminism, gay rights, environmentalism and even Marxism.
   How can leftists and particularly feminists, who are supposedly anti-authoritarian support an authoritarian system like Islam? In these unlikely unions of opposed 'causes' there is a turning away from reason so as to aim at even larger PC victimhood territory - a kind of mutual spleen-venting without having to specify the cause - just a red-hot sense of 'us' against 'them'.
   It is perhaps nowhere so visible as in the strange alliance of feminists with radical Islamic groups. When the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict was ensuing recently, British feminist Phyllis Baxter could not believe her eyes when she saw pro nuclear disarmament/feminist colleagues marching side by side with Muslim supporters carrying a placard announcing 'We are all Hezbollah now'. She said in disbelief:

I could never have imagined that many of the same crowd I hung out with… would today be standing shoulder to shoulder with militantly anti-feminist Islamic fundamentalist groups whose views on women make Western patriarchy look like a Greenham peace picnic. ¹

Writing further on this subject, Pamela Bone, a former 1970s feminist, highlighted the feminist-radical Islam nexus and the strange silence of Western feminists for their sisters in Muslim countries. Writing in The Australian, she describes a peaceful demonstration of women in Teheran in June, 2006, where women asked for the right to have their testimony considered equivalent to that of a man in court.
The result was that the demonstrators, most of them women, were attacked with tear gas and beaten with batons by officers from Iran's State Security Forces, according to Amnesty International. What stunned Bone the most, however, was the silence of the western feminists where the peaceful demonstration itself was concerned and their continuing silence in the aftermath of this well publicized event.

Do you think women in Western countries marched in solidarity with the Iranian women demonstrators? Of course not. Do you think there are posters and graffiti at universities condemning the Iranian President? Of course not. You know, without needing to go there, that any graffiti at universities will be condemning George W. Bush, not Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (I concede Bush is easier to spell.) ²

In the same article Bone recounts the almost single-handed fight of a Canadian of Iranian background, Homa Arjomand, to lead the fight to stop shari’a courts being established in Canada. She did so with almost zero support from Anglo-Canadian feminists and academics who did not see merit, apparently, in fighting to stop a system which would dramatically curtail their freedoms if it were introduced.
This same Homa Arjomand is now running a campaign to stop honour killings in Canada - that is, killings of women some Islamic societies (even in certain Islamic communities in Canada) who are perceived to have lowered the family honour in some way (perception is what counts here) - and again she does not appear to have the support of her feminist colleagues. Bone makes the pertinent observation:

The question is why so many Western feminists do not speak out about the cruelty that blights the lives of millions of women in Islamic countries and would do the same to women everywhere else should the Islamists succeed in their stated aim of creating a worldwide caIiphate…The reason, as writer Fay Weldon has said, is that these days racism is a much worse sin than sexism: a consequence, perhaps, of the success of the women's movement in the West. ³

[***]
____________________
WANDA SKOWRONSKA is a registered psychologist who works as a counsellor in inner city schools in Sydney. She has done voluntary work for the Catholic pro life organisation Human Life International.
____________________
1. http://www. theaustralian. news.com.au/ story/0,20867, 20240784- 7583,00.html
2. ibid
3. ibid […] ANNALS AUSTRALASIA 28-29 MARCH 2007

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#feminists [SUBSCRIBE: In Australia Aus$33 (pensioner $26), overseas enquire annalsaustralasia§ nareg.com.au ; PO Box 13, Kensington, NSW, 2033, Australia. Tel 02 9662 7894, or 02 9662 7188 ext. 252. Fax 02 9662 1910. ENDS.] [March 2007]
• The Muslim Brotherhood.

Annals Australasia, annals australasia §nareg. com.au , By RACHEL EHRENFELD AND ALYSSA A. LAPPEN, p 34, March 2007

The Muslim Brotherhood

By RACHEL EHRENFELD AND ALYSSA A. LAPPEN G iven that political subjugation of non-Muslims is built into Islamic law, and that the Muslim Brotherhood [MB] desires to return to "classical Islam," it is not surprising that the organization was the fountainhead from which all Sunni terrorist organizations have flowed. Its offspring include Al-Qaeda, HAMAS, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Gamaat Islamiyyah, the Philippine Abu Sayyaf group, and the Algerian Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) and Armed Islamic Group (GIA).
   Between 1992-1998, the Algerian terrorists murdered an estimated 200,000 people. Today, according to Italian security agencies, and as reported by Kathryn Haahr-Escolano of the Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis, GSPC cells in Italy not only target Italy, but "employ a dual-track approach to planning terrorist attacks and provide support infrastructure-safe houses, communications, weapons procurement and documentation-to GSPC networks in other European countries."
   The ties of all these terrorist groups to the MB are evident from their identical strategies and overall Islamist agenda, and they often carry out joint operations. The MB even influenced Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who developed the Iranian version of their ideology in the 1970s. Indeed, Khomeini adhered to the teaching of Egyptian MB leader Qutb and followed the lead of Muhammad Navab-Safavi, who was a guest of the MB in Egypt in 1953. Navab-Safavi later formed the dreaded Iranian death squad, the Fedaiyon-e-Islam, or the 'Soldiers of Islam.'
   In Egypt, where the group was founded in 1928 and later banned, the Brotherhood worked under the Islamic doctrine of "concealment" (kitman) in order to "Islamize" the country. In the 1930's and 1940's, the MB collaborated with the Nazis. Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the MB chief in British Mandate Palestine, strongly supported Arab links with the Nazis, particularly in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, where he backed the short-lived pro-Nazi regime of Rashid Ali al-Gailani in 1941.
   In Egypt too, the MB orchestrated riots, occupied police stations and attempted coups d'etat. Following their failed 1954 attempt to assassinate Gamal Abdel Nasser, MB loyalists fled Egypt to the universities of Saudi Arabia, where they were granted business monopolies to finance their future reemergence; in 1961 the sympathetic King Sa'ud even funded their establishment of the Islamic University in Medina.
   In October 1981, an MB offshoot group assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. In the last decade alone, MB offspring including Gama'a al-Islamiya and the Abdullah Azzam Brigades repeatedly attacked Western tourists, killing hundreds and wounding many more.
   Since the history of the MB is full of instigating civil wars and committing atrocities in countries such as Egypt, Syria, Sudan and Algeria, their expansion and success elsewhere is destined to wreak more havoc and destabilize every nation in which they are allowed to operate freely. # ANNALS AUSTRALASIA 34 MARCH 2007

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#themuslim [March 2007]
• Islam and Slavery.

Islam and Slavery

   Barnabas Aid magazine, Pull-out Supplement (4pp), March-April 2007
   The enslavement of human beings was practised by all the ancient civilisations of the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Africa. People became slaves - the property of others - through debt, by being sold into slavery by family members, by being captured in war, or through kidnapping by slave raiders and pirates.
   Nowadays, when slavery as such is banned in almost every country, there are still situations where people are effectively trapped in employment under harsh conditions. For example, they may be "bonded labourers" in Pakistan, unable to change jobs because of debts to their employer. Another scenario is that of expatriate domestic workers in Saudi Arabia, whose employers have seized their passports, and who are locked in the house to prevent them escaping. Such individuals are slaves in all but name. There are also still true slaves in some countries.
   The European slave trade is well known, but that of Islam is not. Furthermore, Islam even played a part in the European slave trade, as Arab traders were involved with African chiefs in the business of providing Africans for the Europeans to enslave.
   In the past, religions sought to justify the practice of slavery. Whilst, thankfully, most have rejected this now, Islam stands out as the exception.
Muhammad and slavery
   Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, kept slaves. One of his biographers, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, states that he had four slave girls and adds a list of 27 male slaves (some of whom he freed).
   Many slaves were gained as booty after victorious military campaigns. After defeating a Jewish tribe called the Banu Qurayza in 627, Muhammad executed all the men (numbering 600 to 900), and divided the women and children among his people as slaves. On this occasion, he took Rihana, the wife of the leader of the tribe, as a concubine. This story indicates the close linkage in classical Islam between prisoners of war, slaves and concubines. A prisoner of war was automatically a slave, and if female she was potentially a concubine as well.
   Muhammad not only kept slaves and enslaved captives but also traded in slaves, as did his companions and many other people in the Arabian Peninsula at that time. He also received slaves as gifts. One of his concubines, Mary the Copt (apparently a Christian), was given to him by the ruler of Egypt.
   The example of Muhammad, who is traditionally considered by Muslims the perfect model for their own behaviour, has made any Islamic opposition to slavery difficult. The argument that what he did was normal and acceptable in society of that time but not in the modern world carries little or no weight with conservative Muslims, who are interested only in copying Muhammad's example.
The Qur’an and slavery
   The existence of slavery is accepted uncritically in the Qur'an, and slaves are often mentioned. Captive women could be taken as concubines, special permission being granted to Muhammad to allow him to do this in a Qur'anic verse:

O prophet! We have made lawful to thee thy wives to whom thou hast paid their dowers; and those whom thy right hand possesses out of the prisoners of war whom Allah has assigned to thee; and daughters of thy paternal uncles and aunts and daughters of thy maternal uncles and aunts who migrated (from Mecca) with thee; and any believing woman who dedicates her soul to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to wed her this only for thee and not for the Believers (at large); We know what We have appointed for them as to their wives and the captives whom their right hands possess in order that there should be no difficulty for Thee. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful Q 33:50 [or 33:49] ¹

   This verse clearly shows that, according to the Qur'an, taking slaves in war was a God-given right. These slaves were considered spoils of war, and the women were usually destined to be concubines of the victorious warriors. Muhammad received his share in enslaved women.
   The right of Muslims to have sexual intercourse with female slaves is indicated in Qur'an 23:1-6 which gives Muslims sexual rights over their wives and over those "whom their right hands possess".
   Many texts indicate that slaves can be used as a sort of currency to pay penalties imposed for the misdemeanours of their owners. Qur'an 4:92 [or 4:94], for example, explains that the manslaughter of a Muslim could be paid for by freeing a believing (i.e. Muslim) slave and paying compensation to the relatives. If a slave cannot be afforded then the penalty is a two months' fast.
   While the Qur'an does not condemn slavery, it does encourage kindness to slaves. Qur'an 24:33 instructs Muslims to allow a slave of good character to buy their freedom if they so request, and even tells the slave-owner to contribute towards the sum to be raised. This verse also prohibits compelling unwilling slave girls into prostitution.

… And if any of your slaves ask for a deed in writing (to enable them to earn their freedom for a certain sum), give them such a deed, if you know any good in them; yea, give them something yourselves out of the means which God has given to you. But force not your maids to prostitution when they desire chastity….

The freeing of slaves is included in a list of virtuous acts (Q 90:12-13), and elsewhere the Qur'an commends spending money to ransom slaves (Q 2:177) [or 2:172].
Shari‘a and slavery
The shari‘a (Islamic law) has much to say about slaves, including the acquisition of slaves, slave-trading, freeing slaves, the status of female slaves, and how to deal with runaway slaves and lost slaves. In wars against non-Muslims,
____________________
¹ Quotations in this article are taken from The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary by A. Yusuf Ali (Leicester: The Islamic Foundation, 1975). Please note that the verse numbering varies slightly between different translations of the Qur'an so it may be necessary to look in the verses just before or just after the reference given to find the same text in another translation.

{ii} [Picture, an engraving from an old book showing a "Berber" type man wearing a turban and holding a staff, controlling five black Africans with a long wooden "yoke" joining them all together. The background is of a walking trade caravan.] Slave caravan
prisoners of war were to be killed, exchanged for Muslim prisoners of war, freed for ransom, or enslaved. The women and children were to be similarly exchanged or enslaved. Many rules concerning the practice of owners marrying slaves and taking slaves as concubines were outlined in order to determine paternity and ownership of children born to a female slave. A slave concubine who bore children to her master would be elevated to the status of um walad (mother of his child) and her children would be equal to the legal offspring. She could not be sold and was freed on her master's death. If a concubine was freed she could not have legal status as a wife, but would live with her master as his mistress and her children would be illegitimate. There were also rules about slaves marrying each other.
   The four caliphs who came after Muhammad discouraged the enslavement of Muslims and it was eventually prohibited, but the enslavement of non-Muslims continued apace. If a non-Muslim slave converted to Islam he or she remained a slave. As an act of charity by the owner, however, a slave could be emancipated - but only a believing slave deserved freedom. In Muslim lands, a slave had few civil or legal rights: a slave had no right to be heard in court; no right to property; any goods he did manage to accumulate would be inherited by his master not his children. He could marry only with the permission of the owner; he could not give alms or make a pilgrimage; he was considered a mere piece of property. As in all contexts where slavery was practised, the actual treatment of slaves varied: some masters were kind, and some were cruel.
Islamic expansion and slavery
   As Islam expanded by conquest (jihad), extending within a few centuries from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian subcontinent, and spreading to south-east Asia, central Asia and Africa, large numbers of people were enslaved.
   The supply of slaves had to be constantly replenished because there was a high death rate amongst them. Furthermore, marriage amongst slaves was not encouraged, and in any case many male slaves were castrated (an operation which was often fatal). But Muslims and non-Muslim minorities living under the protection of the Islamic state could not be enslaved. So the need for more slaves became a motive for continuing to expand and conquer non-Muslim territories.
   A vast network of slave trading developed. Within Islamic territories there were slaves from central Asia, from the Byzantine Empire, from sub-Saharan Africa and from Europe. As far afield as Indonesia the business of seizing and selling slaves flourished, with the Muslim Acehnese active in "man-hunting" even in the early 20th century.
   As well as domestic duties, agriculture and concubinage, some were used as soldiers. These slave-soldiers included the Turkic Mamelukes who eventually became a powerful force within Islam and set up their own states.
   High prices were paid for eunuchs, and the practice of castration persisted from the 9th century until the early 20th century. Islam prohibits physical mutilation so many eunuchs were castrated before entering Islamic territory.
   The slave trade became a great source of wealth and power to Muslim states, and remained an important part of the economy of parts of the Muslim world well into the 20th century.
Slavery in Africa
   Black slaves were imported into the Muslim world from Africa by a number of routes northward across the Sahara desert, and by sea into Arabia and the Persian Gulf. Estimates of the number involved vary greatly but it seems that there may easily have been 10 million, perhaps even twice that number.
   Two-thirds of African slaves were female. The males were considered to be troublesome. An uprising of slaves from West Africa, the Zanj, who had been imported into the Tigris-Euphrates delta to reclaim salt marshland through their back-breaking labour, lasted from 869 until 883.
   The mortality rate was very high because of the harsh conditions, but the trade was so lucrative that merchants were not deterred by the numbers who died. Harrowing eye witness accounts tell of the vast scale and miserable conditions of the slave trade in Africa. In the 1570s many thousands of black Africans were seen for sale in Cairo on market days. In 1796 a caravan was seen by a British traveller leaving Darfur with 5,000 slaves. Black eunuchs became favoured for the royal harems. Even after Britain outlawed the slave trade in 1807, a further 2 million Africans were enslaved by Muslim traders.
   The Arabic word abd which means "slave" or "servant" is used as an insult to black people in Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.
Slavery in the Ottoman Empire
   The enslavement of captives taken when the Ottoman armies raided Christian countries was part of the state system of the Ottoman Empire. After he conquered Constantinople in 1453 Sultan Mehmed wrote to various Muslim rulers boasting of the enslavement of its Christian population. The Ottomans engaged in slave trading from Gibraltar to Central Asia.
   The Balkan Christians of the Ottoman Empire suffered cruelly, particularly under the brutal and bitterly resented child-levy, the devshirme. From the 15th century to the early 17th century the Ottomans would seize a certain proportion of Christian boys from their villages every few years, forcibly convert them to Islam and train them for the elite fighting force known as the Janissaries or for the state bureaucracy. The devshirme was sternly enforced. If any Christian parent tried to prevent the taking of his child he was immediately hanged from his own door frame. It is estimated that between 500,000 and one million boys, from the ages of 8 to 20, were taken in this way.
   Occasionally, armed uprisings against the system took place, but they were quickly crushed. Some children ran away, only to return and give themselves up when their parents were tortured. Many resorted to bribery to escape recruitment.
   In the early 17th century the devshirme was abandoned and the Ottomans obtained their slaves from new sources - Georgians and Circassians of the Caucasus and Slav and Central Asian slaves captured and traded by the Crimean Tatars. By the early 19th century this supply was reduced and the Ottomans turned to Africa.

{iii}    Eunuch slaves were in high demand in the Ottoman Empire, principally as guardians of the harems. Prague became an important centre for the castration of European slaves being imported to the Ottoman Empire.
Slavery in India
   The Arabs were the first invaders of India to capture and enslave large numbers of its inhabitants. In the 7th and 8th centuries, and later under the Ghaznavids (962-1187), huge numbers of Hindus became slaves. Many more were enslaved under the Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526), the Timurid jihad (1398), and the Mughals (1526-1857). K.S. Lal claims that the slave-taking added significantly to the growth of the Muslim population in India:"… every slave captured in war or purchased in the market or sent in lieu of revenue or tribute was invariably converted to Islam, so that slave-taking in medieval India was the most flourishing and successful missionary endeavour."
   The nobility owned huge numbers of slaves and maintained large slave armies. For example, a 14th century sultan kept 180,000 slaves of whom 40,000 were palace guards. In this situation of abundance the price of female slaves was very low. The large numbers of slaves captured in campaigns were either sold in local markets or sent to markets in central Asia.
Enslaving western Europeans
   Muslim pirates from the Barbary (North African) coast, authorised by their governments, were active in seizing and enslaving white Christians from western Europe from the 16th to the 18th century.
   They attacked not only ships but also coastal villages. While Spain and Italy bore the brunt of these attacks, the Barbary pirates - often called corsairs - would also go to Portugal, France, England, Ireland and even Iceland. The slaves were kept in wretched conditions and many were worked to death, especially those unfortunate enough to be chosen to row the corsair galleys.
   Between 1530 and 1780 at least a million white Christian Europeans were enslaved on the Barbary coast. Around the year 1600 there were estimated to be some 35,000 in captivity there at any one time. Many records of the letters sent home, telling of the terrible sufferings the slaves were enduring, still exist. Some converted to Islam in order to get easier duties or, in the case of women in the harems, to stay with their children who were being brought up as Muslims.
   The slaves' only hope lay in being redeemed by payment of a ransom. Churches collected offerings for this purpose. Many of those who went to North Africa with funds to negotiate the release of the slaves were church leaders. In Spain and Italy ransoming slaves was considered an act of great merit: "Their [only] fault, their crime, is recognising Jesus Christ as the most divine Saviour … and of professing Him as the True Faith."
   English slaves were largely neglected by their home country, especially in comparison with those from southern European countries. They knew this, and were demoralised. An "Algerian Duty" was set aside from the customs income in England to redeem slaves, but much of it was diverted to other uses. Many English slaves died in captivity.
Slavery in modern times
   Although Tunisia, Egypt, and the Ottoman Empire abolished slavery in the 19th century under pressure from the West, in east Africa and other places it persisted into the 20th century, prompting the League of Nations and later the United Nations to condemn the practice. The nations of the Arabian Peninsula were among the last to outlaw slavery: Qatar in 1952, Saudi Arabia and the Yemen Arab Republic in 1962, the United Arab Emirates in 1963, South Yemen in 1967, and Oman in 1970.
Saudi Arabia
   After abolition in 1962, about 10,000 slaves were freed out of an estimated 15,000 -30,000. In 1965 the Saudi royal family still kept hundreds of slaves. Many in Saudi Arabia advocate slavery even now. Sheik Saleh Al-Fawzen, a leading scholar and author of a religious textbook for schools, has said, "Slavery is a part of Islam", and that those Muslims who oppose slavery "are ignorant, not scholars".
   In Saudi Arabia, the plight of migrant workers often amounts to slavery. Domestic workers are often exploited, forcibly confined, beaten, underfed, and sometimes raped. The lives of these workers are complicated further by deeply-ingrained gender, religious and racial discrimination in Saudi society. Government policies, the practice of private employers, and unfair legal proceedings all combine to oppress large numbers of poor and desperate foreigners trying to earn a living in Saudi Arabia.
Mauritania
   In ancient times slavery was common in Mauritania. In the 8th century Mauritania came under Islamic authority. From this point onward, only black Africans have been enslaved in Mauritania.
   The old practice of forming slave armies was revived after the end of colonialism. Black Mauritanians were forced into military units and sent into African villages to subdue and kill the inhabitants. The soldiers were then settled on the lands of the villagers, and authorised to defend themselves and undertake punitive campaigns against the population.
   There have been several legal/constitutional rulings to outlaw slavery (in 1905, twice in 1961, and in 1981), but they have not been effective. In 1994 there were still an estimated 90,000 black Mauritanians (Harratin) in the possession of their Arab/Berber masters. It was also reported that some 300,000 freed slaves were still serving their former masters because of psychological or economic dependence. The 1981 ordinance abolishing slavery granted compensation to slave holders for the loss of their slaves, but the money was not forthcoming, which may be one of the reasons why most slave owners continued to hold their slaves.
   Although some try to defend the institution by noting that many families of slaves have worked for the same family for generations, and claiming that they are merely servants working for their keep, the testimonies of the small number who have managed to escape tell of brutalities and hardship which seem more like slavery.
   There do not seem to be any firm figures on the number of slaves in Mauritania currently, but it is clear that slavery still continues there.
Sudan
   With the imposition of Islamic law in 1983 by the Northern-based Arab Islamic government, the age-old practice of slavery in the Sudan gathered momentum. During the civil war which raged from 1983 until 2005, captured Southerners were frequently enslaved. The men were often shot, the children were made slaves (herding cattle or performing other unpaid tasks) while the women became the sexual slaves of their owners. Such slavery was abolished in the 2005 peace treaty which ended the civil war.
   Since 1986 more than 200,000 people of the Dinka tribe are estimated to have been enslaved in a complex network of buyers, sellers and middlemen, with many of the slaves brutally treated and some forcibly converted to Islam.

{iv} Pakistan
   In Pakistan, many lives are blighted as enormous numbers of people eke out an existence as "bonded labourers" unable to leave their desperately hard and low-paid jobs. A high proportion of these are Christian workers with Muslim employers.
   Evidence came to light in 2006 of the kidnapping and enslavement of young boys from Christian villages in the Punjab, an operation coordinated by a leading member of a militant Islamic group, the Jamaat-ud Daawa. The children, aged between 6 and 12, were held in unspeakable conditions, beaten, barely fed, and forbidden to talk, play or pray, before being sold for approximately $1,700 each into the sex trade or into domestic servitude.
Conclusion
   Many Muslims agree that there is no place for slavery in the modern world but there has as yet been no sustained critique of the practice. The difficulties and dangers of confronting the example of Muhammad, and the teaching of the Qur'an and shari’a (which most Muslims believe cannot be changed) have dampened any internal debate within Islam. While slavery still exists in many Islamic countries, few Muslim leaders show remorse for the past, discuss reparations, or show that repugnance for the scourge of slavery which eventually led to its abolition in the West. It is time for Muslims to emphatically and publicly condemn the practice of slavery in any form and ensure that their legal codes supporting it are changed.

Christianity and slavery
   The Bible does not treat slavery as divinely ordained but rather as reflecting the condition of man. Paul's words in 1 Timothy 1:9-10 (NIV) specifically condemn slave traders; he tells slaves to gain their freedom if they can (1 Corinthians 7:21); and he encourages Philemon to welcome the runaway Onesimus who had now become a Christian, no longer as a slave, but "as a dear brother" (Philemon 15-16). Paul had exposed himself to punishment by sheltering Onesimus, and he makes it clear that Philemon ought to free Onesimus. There is no endorsement of slavery as an institution; rather the goal of freedom pervades the New Testament.
   In western Europe slavery was virtually extinguished by the 11th century, until 1450 saw the rise of the evil and brutal transatlantic slave trade which lasted for nearly four centuries. It is strange that slavery and the slave trade during this period were approved by some senior church leaders in Europe and North America, some of whom owned slaves. They even sought to justify the practice by theological arguments. However, it was also Christians - a small group of them in 18th century Britain - who took a leading role in the long hard struggle against slavery. The best known name is William Wilberforce who was motivated by the Biblical teaching about humans being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) and by Jesus' command to treat others as we would like them to treat us (Matthew 7:12).
   Their struggle eventually achieved the abolition of the slave trade (1807), and then the abolition of slavery itself throughout the British Empire (1833). Other countries then followed suit.

   © Barnabas Fund, 2007
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Source: Barnabas Aid March/April 2007 #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#islam_and_slavery    [RECAPITULATION: But force not your maids to prostitution when they desire chastity … ENDS.]
   [CONTINUATION of THE KORAN verse: … But if anyone compels them, yet, after such compulsion, is Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful (to them). ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Their "Allah" will "forgive" the women slaves forced into prostitution!!! Their masters do it to "make a gain in the goods of this life." But their male masters are NOT told they are evil to force women into prostitution!!! ENDS.]
   [2nd RECAPITULATION (The CHRISTIANS): It is strange that slavery and the slave trade during this period were approved by some senior church leaders in Europe and North America, some of whom owned slaves. They even sought to justify the practice by theological arguments. ENDS.]
   [A COMMENT about the CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES: It is NOT "strange," because both the Old and New Testaments praise and support slavery. This statement shocks many Westerners, because most bible translations have skilfully changed the Hebrew and Greek words for "slave" into a variety of terms, such as "man-servant," "maid-servant," and such. This website discusses this in more detail in the Religion secion. ENDS.] [March-April 2007]
• Anti-Christian TV in Uzbekistan Prompts Backlash against Rural Christians.

Anti-Christian TV in Uzbekistan Prompts Backlash against Rural Christians

   Barnabas Aid magazine, p 9, March-April 2007
[Picture] Cotton growing in Uzbekistan. Isolated Christians living in rural areas are on the receiving end of a wave of hostile threats after anti-Christian programmes were shown on television. Because they are few in number, rural Christians are very vulnerable.
   In late 2006 Uzbek television broadcast programmes which accused Christians of corrupting people, especially young people, of using drugs, and of gathering to meet in unregistered places. They also said that missionary activity is funded from overseas and carried out by foreigners.
   Christians were accused of breaking the law, distributing religious leaflets and making converts by force. It was even implied that Christians would kill any church member wanting to leave.
   If the programmes were intended to incite hatred against Christians they certainly succeeded. Within a couple of weeks, Barnabas Fund was informed of a surge of hostility against Christians, especially isolated Christians living in rural areas. Some have been told by their Muslim neighbours that they must leave their villages.
   One Christian, who had converted from Islam more than 10 years ago, began receiving threats from local Muslims after the programmes were aired. They told him that he and his family must attend the mosque and renounce Christ. A newspaper reported a mullah as saying that Christians will not be buried when they die. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#anti_christian_tv [March-April 2007]
• AUSTRALIA: Appeal of two pastors against charges of "vilifying Muslims" is upheld.

AUSTRALIA: Appeal of two pastors against charges of "vilifying Muslims" is upheld

   Barnabas Aid magazine, p 9, March-April 2007
   On 14th December 2006 an appeal court in Victoria State upheld the appeal brought by Pastors Daniel Scot and Danny Nalliah against their 2004 conviction for what has often been described as "vilifying Muslims". The two were accused in a case brought against them by the Islamic Council of Victoria who had secretly infiltrated a seminar for Christians on Islam led by the two men in March 2002.
   The appeal court ruled that the case must be reheard with the same evidence as before but with a different judge. It also ruled that the penalties previously imposed on the pastors when they were found guilty should be set aside. These penalties had included publishing large (and therefore expensive) advertisements in several newspapers to acknowledge their guilt and agreeing never to make similar statements about Islam again.
   While rejoicing at the appeal court ruling, the two pastors must now brace themselves for yet more court proceedings. Observers have commented that it is to be hoped that this appeal court ruling will cause the Victoria State government to look at amending its Racial and Religious Tolerance Act (2001) under which the two pastors were convicted. Intended to promote harmony between different groups in the state, it is in practice doing the exact opposite. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#australia_appeal_of [March-April 2007]
• Hope for Christian School-Children in Pakistan.

Hope for Christian School-Children in Pakistan

   Barnabas Aid magazine, p 9, March-April 2007
   Pakistan's Ministry of Education is working to reform the country's school curriculum and text books to remove any bias against non-Muslim minorities. For example, history books will start to include the fact that, when Pakistan was created in 1947, all citizens of the new state were meant to be equal, irrespective of their religion or caste.
   Conservative Muslim parties were quick to condemn the proposed changes, accusing the government of acting on orders from Washington. Education Minister Javed Ashraf Qazi rebutted these charges on television, saying, "We are reforming our text books for the development of our children, and the people who are involved in this process are Pakistanis - we don't have any American expert with us and we have not received any money from the US for reviewing our curriculum."
   Liberal Muslims and Christian leaders welcomed the proposed changes.
   Pakistan is one of many Muslim-majority countries where children are taught at school to despise non-Muslims. This is one of the reasons why Barnabas Fund does so much to help Christian children in such contexts get an education in a Christian environment. (See page 5.)
[Picture] Christian children in Pakistan may find it easier at government schools if proposed new changes to the curriculum and text books mean there is less bias against non-Muslims. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#hope_for_christian [March-April 2007]
• The Islamic Republic of Iran.

Country Profile

The Islamic Republic of Iran

   Barnabas Aid magazine, Country Profile, pp 9-13, March-April 2007
[Picture of what appears to be a wall, with carved figures of archers and spearmen. Over the wall can be seen the upper parts of large buildings. Perhaps at or near the Ishtar Gate?]
Introduction
   Iran is a unique country. It is one of the oldest centres of world civilisation and empires. It has maintained a distinct identity within the Islamic world by retaining its own language - Farsi - and adhering to Shi'a Islam. Iran is the only Muslim state with Twelver Shi'a Islam as the official state religion. Indeed it is the only country where Shi'ism is unchallenged as the dominant form of Islam. Iran is one of the most ethnically diverse states in the world. It holds some 9% of world oil reserves.
   The area to the north of the Persian Gulf, which is currently known as Iran, has had several other names in the past. While Iranians have always called their country Iran (land of the Aryans) others used different names. For many centuries it was called Persia (from the Greek Persis), and under this name (in Hebrew Paras) it appears in Old Testament books such as 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ezekiel and Daniel. Pars (Parsa in Old Persian) is the region that was the ancient core homeland of the Persians from which they expanded to found their empire.
   The word Farsi (or Parsi) is used to denote the Persian language. Elam, the oil-rich coastal region now known as Khuzistan, was the homeland of the ancient Elamites mentioned in the Bible. To the north of Elam were the regions of Pars, Media and Parthia.
History
   In the 6th century BC the Persians under Cyrus the Great conquered a large part of the ancient world, including Media and Babylon, creating the vast Achaemenid Empire stretching from the Indus to the Nile. Its state religion was Zoroastrianism, which taught that a good creator god (Ahura Mazda) and an evil god (Angra Mainyu) were locked in a perpetual cosmic battle. At the end of time the good god will finally prevail.
   After conquering Babylon in 539 BC, Cyrus gave permission for all the foreign captives who had been living there to return to their homelands. Amongst those who benefited were many Jews who returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt it. There is much recorded in the Old Testament about the help, funding and protection given by various Persian emperors to the Jewish people over the next hundred years or so.
   The Achaemenid Empire was followed by the Seleucid (333-223 BC), the Parthian (223 BC-226 AD) and the Sassanid (226-642 AD) Empires.
   Weakened by incessant wars, the Sassanid Empire was quickly overrun by the Arab Muslim armies in 636-642 AD. As the Persians were gradually Islamised they made great contributions to Islamic culture. In the 9th and 1Oth centuries Farsi replaced Arabic as the dominant language of the eastern part of the Islamic Empire.
   From the 10th century onwards there was an infiltration of nomadic Turkic tribes into Iranian territory. The Turks formed a new military class that soon took over real power as the Grand Seljuks nominally under the Abbasid Caliphs in Baghdad.
   The Mongols overran Iran and the Abbasid domains, sacking Baghdad in 1258. Cities and countryside were devastated and their populations massacred. The Mongol rulers were eventually converted to Islam at the end of the 13th century.
   In 1501 Sheikh Isma'il, head of the Turkmen Safavi order (a type of Sufism or mystical Islam), conquered Azerbaijan, establishing the Safavid Empire (1502-1736). He soon gained control of most of Iran and declared Twelver Shi'a Islam the state religion in an effort to unite his empire against the Sunni Ottomans. For two centuries there was warfare between the two Muslim empires until the border between them was stabilised.
[Picture] Ghorban Tori: a convert from Islam who led a small house church of other converts. He was stabbed to death on 22nd November 2005, apparently by the security forces
   In 1781 Agha Muhammad of the Turkic Qajar tribe seized the throne founding the Qajar dynasty (1781-1925). Under the Qajars Iran faced Russian expansion into its Caucasian provinces whilst the British sought commercial domination of Iran's trade and economy. Iran became a pawn between the two empires who divided it into Russian and British spheres of influence. This resulted in an intensification of Muslim distrust of Christians.
The Pahlavi dynasty (1925-1979)
   In 1925 Reza Khan, an officer of the Cossack Regiment, seized power and proclaimed himself shah (king). He imposed central authority on the unruly provinces and tribes and weakened the power of the Shi'a Islamic clerics. He modernised Iran by creating westernised military, educational and judicial systems, promoting anti-clericalism, secularism and a modern Iranian national identity based on the glorification of pre-Islamic Iran. His son Muhammad Reza Shah (1941-1979) continued his father's policies of centralisation, secularisation and modernisation. Growing oil revenues helped the shah push his modernisation drive on at an ever accelerating pace, antagonising the clerics who saw it as anti-Islamic.
Iranian Islamic Revolution and Islamic Republic
   Ayatollah Khomeini (1900-1989) introduced a new interpretation of traditional Shi'ism, the vilayet-i-faqih doctrine, which maintained that political leadership in the Islamic state belonged to the leading cleric as the representative of the Hidden Imam. Following huge demonstrations against the shah, Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran in 1979 to establish the Islamic Republic.
   The Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) served to consolidate the regime, as nationalistic fervour was added to Islamic rhetoric. Most Iranians united under the regime against the foreign enemy.
   With the election of Mohammad Khatami as president (1997-2005) moderate reformist Islamists seemed to gain the ascendancy. The reformists however were kept on the defensive by powerful conservatives in the government and judiciary and failed to make good on their promises. Khatami's liberal ideas put him at odds with the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamene'i, and the Islamic hardliners around him. The hardliners managed to keep the reformists at bay and eventually made a comeback with the election of the hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president in 2005.
President Ahmadinejad and the mahdi
   In Shi'a Islam the supreme leader is called the Imam (equivalent to the caliph in Sunni Islam). Twelver Shi'a Muslims believe that their twelfth Imam, who disappeared in 874, exists today in an invisible spiritual mode as the Hidden Imam and will return as an End-Time deliverer (mahdi) to set up God's Kingdom of peace, justice and harmony. The mahdi will purify Islam and establish it as the global religion, implementing shari’a (Islamic law). Non-Muslims will be killed unless they convert to Islam. (More details in the box below.)

What does Islam say about the End Times?

Islamic eschatology, both Sunni and Shi'a, predicts a period of great cosmic conflict before the final resurrection and judgement. During this period there will be natural catastrophes as well as terrible wars. An Antichrist figure (al-dajjal) appears who causes corruption and oppression all over the world for a limited period of time, deceiving many by his miracles and false teachings.
A heaven-sent saviour, the mahdi, then appears to fight the forces of Satan, restore Islam to its original perfection and glory, and set up God's kingdom on earth. Jesus returns to earth as a Muslim, defeats the Antichrist and helps the mahdi. While Sunni and Shi'a beliefs concerning the End Times have many similarities, they differ from one another on several points. www.multiline. com.au/~ johnm/submit/ subchron6. htm# what_does_islam

   In a speech to senior clerics on November 16th 2005 the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated that his government's main task was to "pave the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam mahdi".
[PICTURE] Issa Motamedi Mojdehi: a convert from Islam who got in trouble with the authorities seven years after his conversion when he gave his baby son a Biblical name. Issa was detained for a month on concocted drugs charges, then released on bail on 24th August 2006    (Photo: Compass)
   He also urged that Iran be turned into a "mighty, advanced and model Islamic society" so as to prepare for the mahdi. Reports allege that after his accession to the presidency in 2005, Ahmadinejad told regime officials that, the Hidden Imam would return in two years' time (i.e. 2007).
   Ahmadinejad seems to consider that creating the perfect powerful Islamic state is part of the necessary preparation for the return of the mahdi. The state can then be handed over to the mahdi for use to fulfil his programme.
   President Ahmadinejad is reported to be linked to the Hojjatieh, a mahdist group that believes in generating chaos in order to hasten the return of the mahdi. It could be that his reckless foreign policies, which seem to envisage nuclear war with Israel and the USA, are all part of a deliberate chaos-creating plan.
Christianity in Iran
   The Christian communities in Iran go back to the Book of Acts where we read of Parthians, Medes and Elamites hearing the apostles speaking in tongues on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:9). Soon churches were established which even to this day use the Syriac (Aramaic) language in their worship: the Ancient Church of the East, the Assyrian Church of the East and the Syrian Orthodox Church.
   These Eastern churches expanded vigorously and by the time of the Muslim conquest in 642 some 25% of the Iranian population were Christians. The Christians were persecuted severely by the Zoroastrian majority before the arrival of Islam. Later, under the Muslim Abbasid Caliphate the Eastern churches were recognised as protected religious communities. Many of the Christians attained high government positions as well as contributing to the new Islamic culture by translating Greek and Syriac texts into Arabic. The Assyrian and Syrian churches were great missionary churches who by the 8th century had spread to Arabia, southern India, Central Asia and China.
   The Muslim conquest of the Christian country Armenia caused the displacement of many Armenians into areas now in Iran. Armenians suffered much persecution by various Muslim states starting with the Seljuk conquest of the Armenian heartland in 1071 and culminating in the Ottoman genocide which peaked in 1915. Shah Abbas moved many Armenians from Eastern Anatolia to Esfahan (in Iran) in the 17th century. The Armenian community gradually became the largest Christian community in Iran.
   Missionary efforts since the 18th century in Iran resulted in the growth of a small Protestant group of churches. Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, many Muslims have become more open to the Gospel, and some have decided to follow Christ. There are no authoritative statistics on the number of Iranian converts from Islam to Christianity, but the number is growing both within the country and amongst Iranians living in other countries.
   Under Islam, the status of the Christian minorities was regulated by the discriminatory dhimmi system laid down in shari’a, in which Christians were second-class subjects who submitted to Muslim rule, and paid a special poll tax (jizya). There were limitations on public expressions of their faith, and sharing Christianity with Muslims was forbidden. Various humiliating rules were enforced to emphasise the superiority of Islam.
   Once large, relatively powerful and missionary-minded, the Iranian Christian communities have gradually dwindled due to devastating wars, massacres, and long-term Muslim pressure. The majority Muslims see . the Christian communities as not truly Iranian, due to their ethnic, linguistic and religious differences.
   In the colonial era Assyrians, Syrians and Armenians were tempted to look for protection and support to the Christian Western powers who manipulated them but could not deliver on their promises. Many Muslims saw this as inappropriate "assertiveness" by the Christian minorities who - according to the teachings of Islam - were supposed to behave in a very submissive way. Therefore the Muslims became more aggressive towards the Christians. This aggression was one of the causes of the terrible genocide inflicted on Armenians (and Assyrians and Syrians) in the Ottoman Empire which spilled over into the Iranian north-west territories.
Christians under the Islamic Republic
   Since the 1979 Iranian Revolution the shari’a forms the basis of the Iranian constitution and legal system. In the Islamic Republic Christians form a separate electorate, not eligible to vote for Muslim representatives, but only for three Christian representatives to the Majlis (parliament). This effectively denies Christians any political power.
   While the constitution theoretically guarantees freedom of belief, various laws place limits on religious freedoms. These restrictive and often contradictory laws are found in the Penal Code, the Theologians' Law (a body of law dealing with offences committed by clerics) and in the Public and Revolutionary Courts' Procedural Law. Under Article 513 of the Penal Code offences classified as "insult to religion" can be punished by death or prison terms of between one and five years.
   Articles 6 and 26 of the Press Code forbid writings containing apostasy or anything against Islamic standards or Islam. In cases where there are no specific codified laws, judges can deliver fatwas based on authoritative Islamic sources, and this has allowed them to give death sentences for apostasy from Islam (see below). In recent years there have been many cases of arbitrary detention, unfair trial and imprisonment under these laws.
   Under the present Islamic regime, Christians and their institutions are intensely regulated, and subjected to intrusive interference by the Ministry of Information and Islamic Guidance, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowments, and the Ministry of the Interior and its notorious State Secret police. Many Christians are emigrating to the West, and the Christian population is now thought to be as low as 0.2% of the total population, although it was 1.5% in 1975.
   Persecution of the churches operates in a variety of ways:
1. Control by secret police.
   The secret police regularly infiltrate church meetings and services, often pretending to be converts from Islam. Church leaders and ministers who refuse to collaborate with the secret police are threatened with arrest, indefinite detention and even death. Church leaders' telephone lines are tapped and their mail frequently intercepted.
[PICTURE] Haik Hovsepian Mehr: a prominent Armenian church leader who mysteriously disappeared on 19th January 1994,and was tortured and killed the following day. He had stood up to the Iranian authorities for the rights of Christians and had played a major role in the campaign for the release of Mehdi Dibaj who had been sentenced to death for apostasy from Islam in December 1993    Photo courtesy of CSI

What is an Ayatollah?

Ayatollah (meaning "sign of God") is a high-ranking title given to the best qualified Shi'a Muslim clerics (jurists) with outstanding scholarship. A few of the most prestigious Ayatollahs are granted the rank of Grand Ayatollah.

2. Restrictions on church worship and membership. The authorities actively restrict church activities and freedoms, demanding churches and leaders get permits for almost any activity such as weddings, preaching and travel. Churches are obliged to sign a document promising not to allow Muslims to attend their services. They also face pressure to proclaim that there is no religious persecution in Iran.
Church services are not permitted to be conducted in Farsi, the language of the Muslim majority. All members must be issued with membership cards and membership lists must be submitted to the relevant authorities.
3. Discrimination. Christians are discriminated against in admittance to universities and in public employment. No Christian religious teaching is allowed in public schools for Christian children. Some Christian public sector employees have been dismissed.
4. Closure of churches and institutions. A number of churches and house groups have been closed down, as have Christian training centres and other institutions.
5. Bureaucratic obstacles. Government authorities refuse to renew registration of some churches or to register new ones. They have also refused various requests to print Bibles, construct Christian places of worship, or engage in registered charitable activities.
6. Suppression of Christian Scriptures and literature. Despite constitutional guarantees of religious freedom, it remains an offence to sell a copy of the Bible in Iran. The offices of the Iranian Bible Society were closed in 1980 and all its stocks confiscated. The Iranian government has refused permission to print or import Farsi-language Christian Scriptures and Christian literature.
7. Attempts to enforce the Islamic apostasy law. Article 167 of the Constitution provides the judge with the discretion to "deliver his judgement on the basis of authoritative Islamic sources and authentic fatwas." This opens the door for implementation of the shari’a apostasy law which specifies the death sentence for adult male converts from Islam. The most recent case of execution for apostasy was Hossein Soodmand in l990.
[PICTURE] Hamid Pourmand: a colonel in the Iranian army who was arrested in 2004, decades after he had left Islam to become a Christian. In the end he was not charged with apostasy but with failing to inform the army of his new faith before he got promoted. Despite evidence that the army had been well aware he was a Christian, he was found guilty in February 2005 and sentenced to three years in jail. He was released early, on 20th July 2006
8. Other ways of persecuting converts from Islam. Since the hanging of Hossein Soodmand, there have been no known executions of apostates. When Mehdi Dibaj was sentenced to death for apostasy in December 1993 there was a great international outcry and he was released the following month. Nowadays it seems that the authorities choose other methods to persecute converts from Islam, for example, concocting drugs charges against them. Last year, for example, Issa Motamedi Mojdehi was charged with drugs offences and held in prison for one month.
He had converted from Islam seven years earlier and seems to have riled the authorities by giving his baby son a Biblical name, thereby identifying him as a Christian from birth. This would ensure that the child could never in later life be accused of apostasy from Islam.
9. Assassination of Christian leaders. A number of prominent Christian leaders have been violently attacked and several have been mysteriously murdered.

Helping Christians in Iran

Barnabas Fund has helped with a variety of needs in Iran. Most are too sensitive to publicise. If you would like to make a gift to help your Iranian brothers and sisters, please mark it for our Iran General Fund (reference 19-940).

   There was a spate of such killings in 1994, one victim being the evangelist Mehdi Dibaj, whose death sentence for apostasy had been set aside a few months earlier, apparently in response to international pressure.
   It is alleged that the assassinations of Christian leaders were carried out by a death-squad operating within the Iranian security structures on orders from the highest political levels.
   The election of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in August 2005 has put Christians in Iran under renewed pressure. In an open meeting with regional governors in November 2005, Ahmadinejad reportedly vowed, "I will stop Christianity in this country." Christians believed this statement would be seen as a green light for security services to clamp down on Christians. Shortly after the meeting a convert to Christianity, Ghorban Tori, was stabbed to death by security forces on 22nd November 2005 and since then there has been a definite increase in anti-Christian harassment and persecution.

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#what_does_islam
http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#the_islamic_republic [March-April 2007]
• Shar'ia Law in Non-Muslim Countries?

Shar’ia Law in Non-Muslim Countries?

   Annals Australasia, annals australasia §nareg. com.au , p 35, March 2007
I n … Western-supported, moderate Afghanistan, the police arrested six people for stoning to death an Afghan woman accused of adultery.
   The arrests were made after the interior ministry sent a delegation to a remote village in north-eastern Badakhshan province following reports that the woman was stoned to death.
   Were they arrested because stoning was barbaric? No. They were arrested because they were carrying out an unauthorized stoning: the mullah who authorized the killing was not a judge.
   Ashra[f] Choudhary, Muslim MP in New Zealand, will not condemn the traditional Koran punishment of stoning to death some homosexuals and people who have extramarital affairs.
   But the Labour MP – who has struggled with his "role" as the sole parliamentary representative of the local Muslim community – assures that he is not advocating the practice in the West.
   The question is not just of academic interest. A 23-year-old Tunisian woman was stoned to death near Marseilles, France, in 2004. – The Fijordman Report, Friday, September 08, 2006 #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#shari’alaw [March 2007]
• Herald of a new Dark Age.

Herald of a new Dark Age

   Life News (Western Australia), by Hal G. P. Colebatch, p 4, April/May 2007
   Book review: Mark Steyn, America Alone; Regnery Publishing, Washington, 2005
   Another book by the wittiest as well as probably the most prolific commentator of quality in the world today is an Event. Mark Steyn's brilliant tour de force, America Alone, deserves its position at the top of the best-seller lists.
   But the book is an edgy combination of witty style and disturbing subject matter. Steyn sets off his pyrotechnics like the literary wizard he is, but the stylistic brilliance and jokes are in the service of a profoundly serious message: European civilization is dying.
   "Whether we like what replaces it." he writes, "depends on whether America can summon the will to change at least part of the emerging world. If not, then it's also the end of the American moment, and the dawn of the new Dark Ages (if darkness can dawn): a planet on which much of the map is re-primitivised."
   Not just "much of the map," perhaps. Steyn has been haunted by demographics since 9/11. "In 1970," he writes, "the developed nations had twice as big a share of the global population as the Muslim world: 30% to 15%. By 2000 they were at parity. Each had about 20%." In terms of world history, that's a mighty quick change.
   The birth rates of all European countries–except for their rapidly-growing immigrant populations–are now well below the minimum replacement level of 2.1 births per couple. Despite the Catholic Church's traditional hostility to birth-control, Catholic countries like Spain and Italy have a fertility rate near the bottom of the list–1.15 and 1.23 respectively. The idea of large jolly Mediterranean families, as shown in the film "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" is an outdated myth. Greece has a fertility rate hovering below 1.3 births per couple.
   "Hollywood should be making 'My Big Fat uptight Protestant Wedding,' in which some sad Greek only child marries into a big heart-warming New Zealand family where the spouse actually has a sibling."
   Once-mighty Russia is withering away with a birth-rate of 1.14. There will shortly be 18 million fewer Russians than there were in 1992.
   Further, of course, the native European populations are rapidly ageing. Spain and Germany have 14% of their population under 18, Saudi Arabia has 39%.
   Japan is also beginning to empty, and its faltering economy shows it. By contrast, the birth-rate in Pakistan in 5.08 per couple and in Saudi Arabia 4.53. In both countries conversion from Islam to Christianity is punishable by death, as is homosexuality and, for females, adultery. This is the culture which Steyn fears is being exported to Europe and which threatens to displace Europe's historic civilization.
   Further, the question obtrudes itself: how can the shrinking workforces of Europe support their ageing pensioner populations? "Across the developed world, we're at the beginning of the end of the social-democratic state." The US is the only major Western nation whose fertility rate is above replacement level.
   "September 11, 2001," Steyn writes, "was not 'the day everything changed,' but the day that revealed how much had already changed." The rapidly-growing Muslim populations in Western Europe are increasingly a voting bloc able to dictate to governments. shari’a Law is beginning to make its appearance in a number of Western countries, including Canada, and demands that it be introduced in Britain are becoming increasingly strident.
   So far, this has not meant the re-introduction of punitive amputation and death by stoning in European jurisdictions, though these have been re-introduced recently either officially or semi-officially in some formerly moderate Muslim countries.
   However, once the fundamentalist Muslim demographic and vote becomes big enough, as Steyn sees it, there is no particular reason why shari’a penal law should not be introduced in Europe along with other Muslim institutions. Already Dutch and English women in parts of Amsterdam and London have begun going about veiled for fear of the consequences if they do not.
   Against this, he sees a feeble and appeasing Western political culture, with the nations of Europe "too mired in cultural relativism to know what's at stake." The words from Tennyson's Morte d'Arthur linger in the mind: "The last dim weird battle of the West."
   Steyn argues that the European welfare cultures cannot match the single-minded passions of the Ayatollahs, and indeed much of what passion many of their influential cultural figures have is directed against America, whose military protection during the Cold War enabled them to create those lavish welfare states. He quotes the hatred of America spewed out by leading literary figures like Margaret Drabble and echoed by the likes of Harold Pinter. "A suicide bomber may be a weak weapon, but not against a suicide culture."
   "The fanatical Muslims despise America because it's all lap-dancing and gay porn; the secular Europeans despise America because it's all born-again Christians hung up on abortion: the anti-Semites despise America because it's controlled by Jews. Too Jewish, too Christian, too godless. America is George Orwell's Room 101: whatever your bugbear you will find it therein: whatever you're against, America's the prime example of it."
   Steyn sees America, with a few allies including Australia, as the only hope for the survival of Western and Christian civilization, and America itself as riddled with faint-heartedness: "We have been shirking too long, and that's unworthy of a great civilization. To see off the New Dark Ages will be tough and demanding. The alternative will be worse."
   Steyn's prescriptions for actual policies can be criticised as vague, but he could reply that this is a wake-up call, and policies will follow a realistic appraisal of the situation.
   Is Steyn too pessimistic? Possibly. A few selectively-targeted tax incentives by governments might turn Europe's population decline around surprisingly quickly, if there is the political will to implement them. Steyn himself points out how wrong prophets of doom like Paul Ehrlich have been. But in the meantime this book is a profoundly important and compelling read.
   Our thanks to Hal G.P. Colebatch for permission to reprint this review. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#herald [April/May 2007]
• Teachers drop the Holocaust to avoid offending Muslims.

Teachers drop the Holocaust to avoid offending Muslims

   The Daily Mail www.dailymail. co.uk/pages/ live/articles/ news/news.html? in_article_ id=445979&in_ page_id=1770 ; By LAURA CLARK - Last updated at 11:58am on April 2nd 2007
   LONDON: Schools are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Government-backed study has revealed.
   It found some teachers are reluctant to cover the atrocity for fear of upsetting students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial.
   More….
   • Teachers fear backlash over crackdown in the classroom
   There is also resistance to tackling the 11th century Crusades - where Christians fought Muslim armies for control of Jerusalem - because lessons often contradict what is taught in local mosques.
   The findings have prompted claims that some schools are using history 'as a vehicle for promoting political correctness'.
   The study, funded by the Department for Education and Skills, looked into 'emotive and controversial' history teaching in primary and secondary schools.
   It found some teachers are dropping courses covering the Holocaust at the earliest opportunity over fears Muslim pupils might express anti-Semitic and anti-Israel reactions in class.
   The researchers gave the example of a secondary school in an unnamed northern city, which dropped the Holocaust as a subject for GCSE coursework.
   The report said teachers feared confronting 'anti-Semitic sentiment and Holocaust denial among some Muslim pupils'.
   It added: "In another department, the Holocaust was taught despite anti-Semitic sentiment among some pupils.
   "But the same department deliberately avoided teaching the Crusades at Key Stage 3 (11- to 14-year-olds) because their balanced treatment of the topic would have challenged what was taught in some local mosques."
   A third school found itself 'strongly challenged by some Christian parents for their treatment of the Arab-Israeli conflict - and the history of the state of Israel that did not accord with the teachings of their denomination'.
   The report concluded: "In particular settings, teachers of history are unwilling to challenge highly contentious or charged versions of history in which pupils are steeped at home, in their community or in a place of worship."
   But Chris McGovern, history education adviser to the former Tory government, said: "History is not a vehicle for promoting political correctness. Children must have access to knowledge of these controversial subjects, whether palatable or unpalatable."
   The researchers also warned that a lack of subject knowledge among teachers - particularly at primary level - was leading to history being taught in a 'shallow way leading to routine and superficial learning'.
   Lessons in difficult topics were too often 'bland, simplistic and unproblematic' and bored pupils. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#teachers_drop [Apr 2, 07]
• Hilali should go, Rudd says.

Hilali should go, Rudd says

   Australian Broadcasting Corporation, www.abc.net. au/news/ newsitems/ 200704/ s1892285.htm , Sunday, April 8, 2007
   Federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd says Muslim cleric Sheikh Taj el-Din Al Hilali cannot continue as the Mufti of Australia.
   The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils says the Sheik has not been paid for about eight months but denies reports he has been sacked.
   Mr Rudd says Sheik Hilali's views are inconsistent with the mainstream views of the Australian community.
   "It's time for Sheik Hilali to go and it's time that that happened as a matter of urgency," he said.
   "Most Muslims in Australia would welcome Sheik Hilali going and the rest of Australia would welcome Sheik Hilali going as well." #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#hilali_should [COMMENT: Most conquerors' views are inconsistent with the views of the proposed prey! ENDS.] [Apr 8, 07]
• Heat mounts on Hilali over comments. [Internet heading]

Hilali’s backing for Iran

[Printed newspaper heading, W.A.]
   The Australian, www.theaustral ian.news.com. au/story/0,208 67,21524867- 601,00.html , by Richard Kerbaj, with AAP, pp 1-2, April 09, 2007
   FEDERAL Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews has called on controversial Muslim cleric Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali to think about leaving Australia.
   But he stressed there was no possibility of stripping the self-styled mufti of Australia of his citizenship.
   Mr Andrews repeated calls for the outspoken sheik to resign amid a growing storm about his increasingly incendiary public statements. [The statements by Mr Andrews presumably were obtained after the W.A. printed copy.]
   In published comments during a visit to Tehran, Iran last weekend Sheik Hilali called on the Muslim world to unite behind the radical Iranian regime and to serve in its "trenches".
   The controversial Australian mufti was quoted as saying that the global Islamic nation would never "kneel" to its enemies.
   Sheik Hilali was also quoted as saying that Muslims needed to overcome their sectarian divisions that have led to much "bloodletting" in Iraq. Leaders in Australia's Muslim community have attacked the Egyptian-born cleric over his reported comments, saying he had no authority to speak on their behalf. The comments will increase the pressure on the sheik, who caused a national furore last year when he compared scantily clad women with uncovered meat. He is also under investigation by police over allegations that he passed money raised by members of the Muslim community in Australia to supporters of al-Qa'ida and Hezbollah's terrorist arm during a visit to Lebanon last year. Mr Andrews today urged the Egyptian-born sheik to quit his post and consider his future in Australia.
   "The cleric should resign immediately," he said. "The Australian community has lost patience with the sheik.
   "The sheik needs to say if he wishes to continue as a citizen of Australia or reside in an alternate country."
   Despite the strong words, Mr Andrews' spokeswoman said there were no grounds for cancelling the Muslim leader's citizenship.
   Foreign Minister Alexander Downer also backed calls for the sacking of Sheik Hilali as leader of Australia's Muslim community, describing him as a massive embarrassment.
   Mr Downer said today Sheik Alhilali had become a completely discredited figure and the sooner the Islamic community in Australia dealt with him the better.
   "Here is a man who travels the world making all sorts of completely absurd and incredible comments," Mr Downer said.
   This reflects on Australian Muslims and it reflects on Australia.
   "This man is a massive embarrassment. My view is that he has just got to be removed as the leader of the Islamic community in Australia and some moderate and reasonable person needs to take his place."
   Sheik Hilali was granted citizenship by the Labor government in 1990 after political intervention by former prime minister Paul Keating to prevent his deportation.
   The sheik had been slated to be refused Australian citizenship, and would have had to leave the country.
   As Tehran was involved in a tense standoff with Western powers over the detention of 15 British naval personnel seized after they were accused of trespassing in its waters last month, the Iranian media were using Sheik Hilali's quotes in a propaganda drive.
   The Australian revealed last week the Sydney-based Lebanese Muslim Association had raised $70,000 in conjunction with other Islamic bodies following the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon. The money was earmarked for war victims.
   The weekend reports of Sheik Hilali praising Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hardline Islamic regime follow his January outburst on Egyptian television when he described Westerners as "the biggest liars".
   "Anglo-Saxons came to Australia in chains, while we (Muslims) paid our way and come in freedom. We are more Australian than them," he told Egyptian television.
   In Tehran, the mufti was billed as a celebrity by the Islamic Republic's newsagency.
   "The mufti of Australia has called on the Islamic world to stand in the trenches with the Islamic Republic of Iran which possesses the might and power," Iran's al-Alam News reported on its website in Arabic on Saturday.
   It reported that Sheik Hilali - who was in Tehran for the three-day International Islamic Unity forum - told Alalam TV on Friday following the conference opening that he was committed to the unity of the Islamic nation.
   "(Islamic unity) is what has brought all participants together at this Islamic unity conference, to show the whole world that they are dedicated to the one God and dedicated to Islamic unity and the Islamic nation will not kneel in front of its enemies, never," Sheik Hilali was reported as saying.
   Attorney-General Philip Ruddock yesterday told The Australian he was concerned about Sheik Hilali's reported comments.
   "I would be concerned if any Australian was offering support and succour to Iran, particularly as it is intent on pursuing the development of the nuclear fuel cycle outside international scrutiny," Mr Ruddock said.
   The Ahmadinejad Government has become a source of growing concern for Western leaders because of its nuclear ambitions and incidents such as the capture of the British sailors.
   The Australian understands that Sheik Hilali remained in Iran yesterday but will soon travel to Turkey to attend another Islamic conference.
   Prominent Sydney-based imam Khalil Shami said Sheik Hilali was further damaging the image of local Muslims by wrongly expressing their commitment to the "radical" Iranian regime.
   "As an Australian Muslim, it's very worrying to me that he's speaking on (our) behalf," he said. "Because really, the Iranian people don't know that we're not behind Hilali. And if you ask Sunni Muslims, you will find that 99 per cent are not with Iran. So this hurts us and worries us."
   Another Islamic leader, Mustapha Kara-Ali, a former member of John Howard's Muslim Community Reference Group, warned that Sheik Hilali's support for Iran would be potentially used by extremists in Sydney to recruit alienated young Muslims.
   "Hilali's new (declaration) will play into the hands of underground extremists in Sydney's southwest who will use this edict as ammunition to further recruit disenfranchised Muslim youth."
   Sheik Hilali's position remains under a cloud, with a significant section of the Australian Muslim community wanting him deposed.
   But the new president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Ikebal Patel, dismissed reports that Sheik Hilali had been sacked as mufti.
   "No, we haven't sacked the mufti … (Sheik Hilali) is still the mufti," he said. "The position of mufti itself is very much there and the … incumbent, while not being paid for the position, is still the holder of the position."
   The federation said it was up to the Australian National Imams Council to decide the fate of the mufti, with a decision expected by the end of June.
   Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said yesterday most Australian Muslims would like to see the controversial cleric sacked: "You cannot have someone who defends gang rapists being the mufti of Australia." #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#hilali    [RECAPITULATION: Sheik Hilali was granted citizenship by the Labor government in 1990 after political intervention by former prime minister Paul Keating to prevent his deportation. This unethical act was to attempt to bolster the Labor vote in the area. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Yet another black mark against the "Undertaker" and his associates, at least one of whom has been imprisoned for unethical behaviour. ENDS.]
   [2nd COMMENT: The headline writer thought that a few words from Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews causes the "heat" to mount on al-Hilali. The reverse is the case -- the words of kufar only give more resolve to the Faithful! ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE, Koran: 33:48 (or 47):- www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/033. qmt.html #033.048 . Also see 47:37, 48:16, 49:9, and 66:9. ENDS.]
   [2nd RECAP.: "Hilali's new (declaration) will play into the hands of underground extremists in Sydney's southwest who will use this edict as ammunition to further recruit disenfranchised Muslim youth." ENDS.]
   [3rd COMMENT: When did Muslim youth become "disenfranchised"? In Australia it is compulsory to be enrolled to vote, and to go to a polling place on election days. Perhaps the speaker ought to turn his gaze onto how little power Muslim WOMEN have in Islamic circles -- they are REALLY disempowered. Muslim youth in Australia are "disenfranchised" only in the minds of people with a persecution complex, who wish to brainwash them into believing they are superior to those around them. ENDS.] [Apr 9, 07]
• 23 Dead in 2 Bombings in Algeria.

23 Dead in 2 Bombings in Algeria

   Huffington Post, www.huffing tonpost.com/ huff-wires/ 20070411/ algeria- explosion? , by AOMAR OUALI | AP | 08:06 PM EST, April 11, 2007
   Associated Press Writer Aidan Lewis in Algiers contributed to this report.
   ALGIERS, Algeria – Bombs heavily damaged the prime minister's office and a police station Wednesday, killing at least 23 people and wounding about 160, the country's official news agency said. Al-Qaida's wing in North Africa claimed responsibility.
[Picture] Police look for evidence in a car which exploded next to a police station in Algiers, Wednesday, April 11, 2007. Bombs ripped through the Algerian prime minister's office and a police station, co-ordinated terror attacks that Algerian authorities said killed at least 23 people and wounded 160 others.    (AP Photo/Ouahab Hebbat)
   Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem, who was unhurt, called the attack a "cowardly, criminal terrorist act" as he spoke to reporters outside his wrecked offices.
   The attacks were a devastating setback for the North African nation's efforts to close the chapter on its Islamic insurgency that has killed 200,000 people. After years of relative calm, the al-Qaida affiliate recently has recently waged several smaller attacks in the oil- and gas-rich nation.
   According to Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera, a spokesman for al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they were carried out by three suicide bombers in trucks packed with explosives. The spokesman said the bombers targeted three sites: the government headquarters in Algiers and the Interpol offices and a special police forces building in the suburb of Bab Ezzouar.
   Belkhadem declined to say how many had been killed or wounded. The official APS agency said at least 23 people were killed and 160 wounded in the two attacks, but gave no breakdown. The other bombing targeted the police station of Bab Ezzouar, east of the capital, Algiers, on the road to its airport.
   Witnesses said at least one of the attacks appeared to have been a car bomb.
   A charred, wrecked car lay on the pavement about 98 feet from the gates of the government building - a modern white, block-like high-rise that also houses the Interior Ministry.
   On Tuesday in neighboring Morocco, police surrounded a building in Casablanca where four terrorism suspects were holed up, causing three to flee and blow themselves up with explosives. The fourth was shot to death by a police sharpshooter as he apparently tried to detonate his bomb. A police officer was killed and 10 people, including a young child and a policeman, suffered injuries.
   Since five suicide bombings that killed 45 people in Morocco in May 2003, police have pursued an unprecedented crackdown on suspected militants, arresting thousands of people, including some accused of working with al-Qaida and its affiliates to plot attacks in Morocco and abroad.
   Algeria's insurgency broke out in 1992, after the army canceled legislative elections that an Islamic party appeared set to win.
   Since then, violence related to the insurgency has left an estimated 200,000 dead - civilians, soldiers and Islamic fighters - according to the government.
   Military crackdowns and amnesty offers had turned them into a ragtag assembly of fighters in rural hideouts, and for several years, the government appeared to have them basically under control.
   Algeria's main militant group recently changed its name to Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa and began targeting foreigners - signs that the country's dwindling ranks of Islamic fighters were regrouping.
   The latest attacks, especially on Belkhadem's office, showed that the militants are far from beaten, even though experts say that they number perhaps no more than several hundred people.
   Belkhadem expressed bitterness at insurgents who refused the amnesty offers.
   "The Algerian people stretched out a hand to them, and they respond with a terrorist act," he said.
   Al-Jazeera said its office in Rabat, Morocco, received a telephone call from a spokesman for al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa, identified as Abu Mohammed Salah, who claimed responsibility for the attacks.
   The caller said that the explosions were carried out by three al-Qaeda members in trucks "filled" with explosives. His claims could not be independently confirmed.
   "We won't rest until every inch of Islamic land is liberated from foreign forces," the spokesman said in a recording of the phone call played on Al-Jazeera.
   On an Islamic militant Web site, the group showed pictures of the three suicide bombers who allegedly carried out the attack, codenamed the "Badr Raid," after a famed 7th century battle by the Prophet Muhammad and the first Muslims against his opponents, according to Al-Jazeera and the SITE Institute, a U.S. group that monitors militants' messages.
   In the photos, provided by the SITE Institute, each bomber – identified as Muadh bin Jabal, al-Zubair Abu Sajda and Abu Dajjana – was shown sitting with automatic rifles propped on the wall on either side of him. Abu Sajda and Abu Dajjana had green scarves covering their faces, showing only their eyes. Abu Sajda and bin Jabal were wearing suicide vests.
   Fayza Kebdi, a lawyer who works in an office opposite the government building, said the blast, about 10:45 a.m. local time, shattered her windows and blew her husband clear across the room.
   "We thought the years of terrorism were over," she said. "We thought that everything was back to normal. But now, the fear is coming back."
   The attacks were the deadliest to hit the Algiers region since 2002, when a bomb in a market in a suburb killed 38 people and injured 80.
   Police cordoned off stairs leading up to the government building with orange police tape, and paramedics raced up the steps with stretchers. Paramedics escorted a man with blood on his head into an ambulance. Another woman, looking dazed and in tears, was checked for head injuries.
   A March 3 bombing of a bus carrying workers for a Russian company killed a Russian engineer and three Algerians. A December attack near Algiers and targeting a bus carrying foreign employees of an affiliate of Halliburton killed an Algerian and a Lebanese citizen.
   Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa – the new name for the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, known by its French abbreviation GSPC – claimed responsibility for both attacks. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#23dead    [COMMENT: Reminder -- the Muslim rebels are rebelling against a Muslim government. The doctrine of jihad is bitter in the mouth of him who hears it! Just calling Allah the Merciful is not the same as being an ordinary civilised human being! COMMENT ENDS.]
   [RECAPITULATION: "We won't rest until every inch of Islamic land is liberated from foreign forces," the spokesman said in a recording of the phone call played on Al-Jazeera. ENDS.]
   [2nd COMMENT: But, wasn't "Islamic land" originally Medina in Arabia? So, why are there Arabs across North Africa and the Middle East, and other places? Is all this now "Islamic land"? ENDS.]
   [KORAN: 49:9:- If two bodies of the faithful are at war, then make ye peace between them: and if the one of them wrong the other, fight against that party which doth the wrong, until they come back to the precepts of Allah: … DOCTRINE ENDS.] [Apr 11, 07]
• Women ensure survival of terror groups.

Women ensure survival of terror groups

   The Australian, http://the australian. news.com.au/ story/0,208 67,2154 8418-2702, 00.html , by Richard Kerbaj, April 13, 2007
   SECURITY agencies are struggling to tackle hardline female Islamists, according to a leading counter-terrorism researcher who warns that security agencies need to recruit more women.
   German researcher Katharina von Knop also warns that the Islamist women are ensuring the survival of Islamic terror organisations such as al-Qa'ida and Jemaah Islamiah by passing on extreme ideologies to their children and relatives.
   She told The Australian that Western intelligence gathering was being undermined by an inability to infiltrate underground Muslim women groups because of the lack of female operatives.
   "There is an intense need to expand the capabilities right now," said Dr von Knop, whose latest research, titled "The multi-faceted role of women inside al-Qa'ida", will be published next month in thejournal Studies in Conflict & Terrorism.
   "I feel we are half blind because there's a tendency to look at the guys, and there's a need to also look at the women," she said.
   Dr von Knop, an adjunct professor at the George C. Marshall European Centre for Security Studies in Germany, said it was extremely difficult for counter-terrorism authorities to infiltrate Muslim women groups because they tended to remain as family units or small networks of trusted female allies.
   She said national security authorities needed to look more closely at recruiting Muslim women to help gain a better understanding into how"sisterhood" groups operated. "In the Muslim culture, the gender separation is very intense, and the woman is highly invisible," she said.
   "(And) … getting into these female societies is very difficult to do, because most of them are relatives. They know each other since childhood.
   "Normally women organise what they call a sisterhood.
   "They are not a … wing of a specific terrorist organisation."
   Dr von Knop said women played a more significant role then men in Islamic terrorist organisations because they were responsible for raising finances and passing hardline ideologies from generation to generation.
   "Women are more important for the survival of a terrorist organisation when they follow the female version of the ideology (by not carrying out attacks)," she says in her paper.
   "Because male terrorists are subject to arrest, could die in an attack or get shot by security forces, the women are in a position to provide continuity, to take care of the financial issues of an organisation, offer moral and ideological support and continue to educate the children in the 'right' belief (system)."
   Dr von Knop cites a fatwa (or religious decree) by al-Qa'ida leader Osama bin Laden in which he praises women for propagating the idea of international jihad.
   "Our women instigate their brothers to fight and in the cause of Allah," she cites bin Laden saying in1998. "Our women encourage jihad saying: prepare yourself like a struggler; the matter is bigger than words." #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#women    [RECAPITULATION: "Women are more important for the survival of a terrorist organisation when they follow the female version of the ideology (by not carrying out attacks)," she says in her paper. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Dr Katharina von Knop ought to read more newspapers! A woman has confessed to trying to blow herself up at a wedding in Jordan, showing there is no depth to which fanatics will not go. Another disgrace was more recent -- children were put in the back of a car to help lull the staff on a checkpoint into relaxing, they let the car pass, the car stopped, the adults ran away, and they detonated the bomb/s in the car, killing the children. END.]
   RECOMMENDATION: Hasn't it occurred to these learned people that a policy of financial incentives to repatriate the "square pegs in the round holes" might lessen the burden on the security forces of the West? After all, shouldn't the West adopt "the pursuit of happiness" as one of its mottoes? ENDS.]
   [LINK: "Iraqi woman confesses to role in Jordan blasts; Suspect, interviewed on Jordan TV, admits trying to blow herself up," MSNBC, www.msnbc. msn.com/id/ 9979747/ , Updated: 5:04 p.m. ET Nov. 13, 2005
   AMMAN, Jordan - The Iraqi wife of a suicide bomber made a chilling confession on Jordanian state TV Sunday, saying she also tried to blow herself up during a hotel wedding reception last week but the explosives concealed under her denim dress failed to detonate.
   Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi, 35, made her statement hours after being arrested by authorities tipped off by an al-Qaida in Iraq claim that a husband-and-wife team participated in Wednesday's bombings at three U.S.-based hotels. The attackers killed 57 other people at the Radisson SAS, Grand Hyatt and Days Inn hotels. […]
   Jordan officials confirmed the three bombers were Iraqis. Al-Rishawi did not name the other two, but Jordanian authorities identified them as Rawad Jassem Mohammed Abed and Safaa Mohammed Ali, both 23. #
   [DOCTRINE - Koran: 2:216 (or 212):- Warfare is ordained for you, though it is hateful unto you; but it may happen that ye hate a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that ye love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knoweth, ye know not. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/ 002.qmt. html #002.216 .
   [2nd COMMENT: Yup, Jordan is run by Koranists, but the Iraqi Koranists went there and murdered 57 people, mainly Koranists, at WEDDINGS. At the head of all but one Sūrah in the Koran are these words: "In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful." Dear reader, "It does not compute," or, to quote an older classic, "When I use a word … it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less." (Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass, Ch. 6). [April 13, 2007]
• Jihadists praised by cleric [Swaiti: Allah grant victory to mujaheddin.]

Jihadists praised by cleric

   The Weekend Australian, by Richard Kerbaj, p 2, April 14-15, 2007
   CANBERRA: THE most senior Muslim cleric in Canberra regularly praises Islamic jihadists in Iraq and Afghanistan in his Friday afternoon sermons.
   Mohammed Swaiti, who is being investigated by the Australian Taxation Office over claims he failed to pay income tax on thousands of dollars he allegedly received from the Saudi embassy, yesterday called on God to grant "victory to mujaheddin (Muslim holy warriors)" worldwide.
   "God grant victory to the mujaheddin in his name in all places," he called out twice in Arabic over a microphone at Abu Bakr mosque in Yarralumla in front of about 500 worshippers.
   "God grant victory to mujaheddin in Palestine, and Chechnya and Kashmir and Afghanistan and Iraq."
   Although Sheik Swaiti translated his sermon into English for non-Arabic-speaking audience members, the imam of Canberra's only mosque omitted the praise for Islamic jihadists in the English version.
   After the 20-minute sermon, the Palestinian-born cleric, who works at the tax office in Canberra, denied he was referring to Muslim holy fighters when he praised mujaheddin. He said Islamic jihad referred not only to fighting but also to self-discipline.
   "Jihad means no alcohol and no gambling," said Sheik Swaiti, who The Australian last month revealed was being labelled "very fanatic and radical by some of Canberra's Muslim community.
   "If we followed the jihad of the self … and followed the Koran, the whole world will be in peace," he said yesterday.
   When asked why he specifically singled out countries in conflict such as Iraq and Afghanistan when he praised jihadists, he played down the comments, saying he only mentioned such names occasionally. But after being pressed, he said: "Palestinian people are dying from hunger. And those who are under occupation suffer more than any other."
[Picture] 'Victory to mujaheddin': Sheik Mohammed Swaiti, imam of Abu Bakr mosque in Canberra, who is also under investigation by the tax office.
   Islamic Society of ACT president Sabrija Poskovic -- a long-time critic of Sheik Swaiti -- rejected the cleric's suggestion he was not referring to fighters in his sermons. He said the cleric was too radical and preached the wrong Islamic messages.
   "We don't like it when he's talking about jihad," said Mr Poskovic, whose organisation runs Abu Bakr mosque. "He asks God to help fighters fighting against non-Muslims."
   Prominent Muslim leader Ameer Ali defined mujaheddin as "people who defend their country against injustices", especilly when praised in the context of places such as Iraq and the Palestinian territories.
   He said that although many people of Islamic backgrounds supported fighting against injustices, terrorism was not a justifiable means to an end.
   The sermon came days after the Howard Government announced a 300-strong task group to be sent to Afghanistan for at least two years as Taliban insurgents (also known as mujaheddin) threatened to regain control of key areas in the south, includingsome parts of Oruzgan. This brings Sheik Swaiti's praise to Afghani jihadists into question as Australian troops prepare to battle with the Taliban.
   The Weekend Australian has also obtained recordings of Sheik Swaiti praising jihadists during a sermon he gave more than a month ago in the same fashion as yesterday.
   Sheik Swaiti, who has been the spiritual leader at Abu Bakr mosque for 13 yers, refused to answer questions relating to the ATO investigation. The tax office, which refused to comment on its inquiry into Sheik Swaiti, is investigating allegations that he failed to declare clerical allowances of up to $US30,000 ($36,000) a year, allegedly paid to him by the Saudi Government's Dawah (donations) Office.
   It was also alleged that Sheik Swaiti had been on the Saudi payroll for the past 12 years and had failed to declare payments he received from officiating at wedding ceremonies. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#jihadists    [RECAPITULATION: "God grant victory to mujaheddin in Palestine, and Chechnya and Kashmir and Afghanistan and Iraq."
   "Palestinian people are dying from hunger. And those who are under occupation suffer more than any other." ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Strangely, this could not be found on the newspaper's website, nor on that of The Canberra Times on April 14, 2007.
   No Palestinians are dying of hunger. The taxpayers of the world have been supporting the United Nations feeding programmes to such good effect that the number of refugee Palestinians today is much larger than after the invasion by the Jews.
   Remember, the injustices in Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir, and Iraq are no excuse for the inhumane campaigns of the Koranists. ENDS.] [Apr 14-15, 2007]
• Exodus under fire [of the ancient Christian communities of the Near East.]

EXODUS UNDER FIRE

   The Word, www.the word.ie (RC magazine, Ireland), By ANTHONY O'MAHONY, pp 4-7, April, 2007
   As conflict increases throughout the Middle East, ancient church communities are fleeing westwards. While this exodus is denuding traditional cradles of Christianity, ANTHONY O'MAHONY explains how it is also helping to heal the wounds of ancient schisms
A profound series of crises has overtaken Middle Eastern Christianity in modern times. Displacement by war, genocide and interreligious conflict, leading to loss, emigration and exile are the main experiences of its followers. Some observers have even suggested that there is a "Christian barometer" that provides the world with an accurate measurement of the political atmosphere in the Middle East, according to how the Christian minorities are treated.
   The theory goes that as the Middle East becomes more free and prosperous, linked to the West and hospitable to minorities and women, the higher the

[PICTURE:] The Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo, Mor Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim. Meeting a delegation of Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican priests, nuns and laity from the USA, Ireland, the UK and Russia (including the Editor of The Word, Sarah Mac Donald) in the Syrian city of Aleppo in Autumn 2005, his Eminence urged Pope Benedict to continue the work done by John Paul II to support and promote the position of Christians in the Middle East. "His voice is very important for Christians here and we need it." Mor Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim stressed that the visit of John Paul II to Syria in May 2001 had had a very positive effect on relations between Christians and Muslims there. "For two months the Syrian media and the people were focused on the history of Christianity and Syria as a centre of Christianity. It was the first time many Muslims heard about our many churches and monasteries." He criticised the war in Iraq, saying it had had a devastating impact on Christians in that country. "We have lost a third of our Christian population there in ten years. This can only impact negatively on the Christian community left behind, its churches, shrines and villages. It is therefore hard to be optimistic about Iraq's future."
Photo: Sarah MacDonald

probability that Christians will continue to live there. The most highly educated and multilingual Christians, who are part of a large diaspora in Europe and North America, may even return. But if Christians sense that things are getting worse, if the Arab countries they live in lose their commitment to political, economic and religious freedom, they tend to emigrate from the Middle East.
   A major testing ground for the future of Christians in the Middle East is Iraq since the fall of the Baathist regime in 2003, and the extent to which they are tolerated today is being watched closely by the Maronites of Lebanon, the Copts of Egypt and other non-Muslim populations of the region. So far the outlook is troubling.
   Church bombings, kidnappings, and assassinations in Iraq have resulted in a large number of Christians leaving. An estimated 250,000 Christians have fled the country since the downfall of Saddam. Christians there are deeply worried by the rise of radical Islamic tendencies in both the majority Shia and the former ruling class, the Sunni minority. Christians have also lost large amounts of property and goods and there have been a number of kidnappings of Christian women (a conservative estimate puts it at 20).
   In some instances, the kidnapped women have been 'gang raped' and on release, this has precipitated them into suicide. This type of sexual assault in a traditional society can be very hard for a woman to bear. It has also heightened the fear amongst Iraq's Christians and pushed families with young girls and young women into leaving.

[PICTURE:] Part of the ruins of the Church of St Simeon, the Qal at Simân (the Mansion of Simeon) complex, northwest of Aleppo, which was built to honour the pillar saint - St Simeon the Elder (386-450) the ascetic who lived for 37 years on top of a pillar. Deir Samaan was founded in the 5th century as a monastery and in 412 St Simeon came to join it. He later left the community to live alone on the hill above it.
Photo: Sarah Mac Donald

Several priests from all denominations have been kidnapped - one Syrian Orthodox priest, Fr Boulos was beheaded in the Mosul area. Church communities are divided over whether they should highlight the treatment which is being meted out to them or whether they should keep their heads down, as drawing attention to these issues might only make matters worse.

[PICTURE:] Pope Benedict XVI and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at St George's church in Istanbul for the Divine Liturgy last November.
Photo: Kai Pfaffenbach/AFP/Cetty Images

Some Iraqi Christians have become refugees elsewhere in the Middle East region, including around 60,000 in Syria and 40,000 in Jordan. Some states have welcomed these newcomers and hope that they will stay and that their presence will add to a diversity in society, which in turn will help support 'moderate' politics. In fact previous generations of displaced Christians, particularly Armenians and other oriental Christians, arrived in Lebanon and made that country (before the civil war of 1975-1990) a leading cultural and economic space for the region. Now there are large numbers of Christians

[PICTURE:] The exterior of the 40 Martyrs' Armenian Cathedral in Aleppo, Syria. The Armenian and Syrian Orthodox communities in Aleppo have been strengthened since the late 19th century by large groups migrating from places such as the city of Urfa or Edessa. In an article in the New York Times (7 June 2003), writer William Dalrymple cited Syria as the only remaining haven for Christians in the Middle East. Dalrymple quoted the Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo, Mor Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim as saying, "If Syria were not here, we would be finished. It is a place of sanctuary, a haven for all the Christians: for the Nestorians driven out of Iraq, the Syrian Orthodox and the Armenians driven out of Turkey, even the Palestinian Christians driven out by the Israelis in 1948."

A water seller on the streets of Aleppo, northern Syria. Christians belonging to a dozen different congregations (with a prevalence of the Armenian and Syriac Orthodox Churches) represent between 15-20 percent of its population, making it the city with the second biggest Christian community in the Middle East after Beirut in Lebanon.

[PICTURE:] A few kms east of the city of Mardin, stands Deyrulzafran, "the Saffron Monastery". One of the most important centres of the Syriac Orthodox Church, its most ancient buildings today date from the early 6th century. Between 1166 and 1932, it was the residence of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchs. In October 2004, Britain's Prince Charles visited the monastery where he was presented with a copy of the Bible in Syriac.

(Orthodox and Catholic) in Galilee and south Lebanon who are caught, like so many others, between Israel and Hezbollah.
   Elsewhere, numbers are falling. In the last days of the Ottoman Empire, Christians made up 20-30 percent of the population. Since then, the Armenian genocide of 1915, the massacre of the Syriac Christians near the end of the First World War, and the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey (there is still a debate about numbers but approximately 1.5 million Orthodox Christians and half a million Muslims) have taken their toll.
   Today there are barely 200,000 Christians in Turkey's population of 70 million, although there might be up to two million people of Armenian descent who issue from the large numbers of Christians taken as slaves or forced into Islam at the fall of the Ottoman Empire. A number of these each year retrace steps to their, more often than not, grandmothers' original Christian faith. Christians in Syria are down from 20 percent before the Second World War to fewer than 10 percent, around 800,000 today.
   During the Lebanese Civil War, some 670,000 Christians were displaced, compared with 160,000 Muslims. Hitherto Lebanon had always had a Christian majority, but not now, which has allowed Shia Muslims to emerge as the majority community, and its political organisations, such as Hezbollah, to try to capture the state and challenge traditional Maronite Christian dominance.
   In Iraq, since the beginning of the

[PICTURE:] The altar of the Virgin Mary Suryani Kadim church in Diyarbakir, Anatolia. In 2001, its priest, Fr Yusuf Akbulut was acquitted by the Diyarbakir State Security Court (DGM) for having told journalists that "Along with the Armenians, the Syriacs too were subjected to genocide", (referring to atrocities committed against the Ottoman Empire's Christian minorities during the First World War). His acquittal saved him from a jail sentence of between 1-3 years.

1960s and the internal war against the Kurds, some one million Christians have emigrated from their northern mountain homelands, with Baghdad gaining large numbers of them and the Chaldean patriarchate relocating there in 1950.
   In Egypt, although several hundred thousand mainly Greek, Armenian and Syriac Christians left in the 1950s, the large Coptic Christian population has traditionally not migrated until very recent times; now one estimate is that maybe 12 percent of Copts live abroad. Meanwhile the Holy Land has seen some 230,000 Christians leaving since 1948, with the Christian population in Jerusalem alone dropping from 30,000 to as few as 5,000 today. In Iran, there may be fewer than 150,000 Christians left after many departed following the 1979 Islamic revolution.
   Christianity in the Middle East is often obscured, especially from the West. Its history has been a contested one, with followers - Assyrians, Chaldeans, Copts, Maronites - caught between an Eastern Christian identity and a rich, diverse, Arab Christian one. It is frequently forgotten that it was initially the Syriac Christians (and not Arab Islam) who handed on the heritage of science from the ancients through their translations into Arabic.
   The Christological controversies of the 5th and 6th centuries produced a three-way split among the Christian Churches that still continues to this day, although it is only among the Churches of Syriac liturgical tradition that all three doctrinal positions are represented.

Who’s who in Middle Eastern Christianity The Churches of the Middle East can be grouped into five families, representing about 25 million Christians of whom about 10 million live in the area
Oriental Orthodox Family Armenian Orthodox Church; Syrian Orthodox Church; Coptic Orthodox Church; Ethiopian Orthodox Church Courtesy: The Tablet	Eastern Orthodox Family Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem; Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch; Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria	Catholic Family Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (restored 1847); Greek Catholic Church; Maronite Church; Syrian Catholic Church; Armenian Catholic Church; Chaldean Church; Coptic Catholic Church; Hebrew Catholic Church	Evangelical & Anglican-Episcopal Family Anglican and Episcopal Church (in Jerusalem and the Middle East); Various Protestant, Presbyterian and Lutheran Churches throughout the Middle East have emerged from Eastern Christian communities or from converts from Islam to Christianity	Assyrian Church of the East One of the oldest and most self-contained of the Middle Eastern Churches. Sometimes identified by its historical tradition as the Church of the 'East Syrians' or the Church of Persia. Its Catholic counterpart is the Chaldean Catholic Church. It is mainly found in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon

[The table above is on page 6, one of the two additional pages of excellent information and colourful photographs.]

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#exodus_under    [RECAPITULATION: … one Syrian Orthodox priest, Fr Boulos was beheaded in the Mosul area. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: This is NOT the only Christian functionary who has been murdered in the past five or so years in the Near East and Middle East. For example, the organised disorders some months after the Danish cartoons led to the deaths of an Orthodox priest and a Roman Catholic nun, as well as threats and burnings in several countries. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE: Recite: 9:31-32, 19:88-92 (or 19:91-93), 5:82 (or 5:85), and 8:12:- … I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them. DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [GUIDELINE: 2, 23:414:- Narrated 'Urwa: ‘Āisha said, "The Prophet in his fatal illness said, 'Allah cursed the Jews and the Christians because they took the graves of their Prophets as places for praying'." … GUIDELINE ENDS.]
   [CONTACT: Subscriptions < wordsubscription§theword.ie >, By post to Donamon, Roscommon, Ireland. Tel. 090 66 62222. Ireland €25, U.K. £24 stg (cheaper from a promoter), Rest of the world €35. ENDS.]
   [ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Len and Marie Eva. ENDS.] [To this Website 25 Jul 07; issue of April 2007]
• New CDP Christian Immigration Policy.

NEW CDP CHRISTIAN IMMIGRATION POLICY

   Christian Democratic Party (Australia) website, www.cdp. org.au/ , (as sighted Nov 19, 2007) April 2007
   AUSTRALIA – The Muslim issue continues to be a very important issue in the minds of many of our CDP supporters, especially ethnic communities including Coptic, Lebanese, Sudanese etc, who had suffered brutal persecution in Muslim countries. These Communities requested we clearly stated our policies on the Muslim issues as we faced an Election on 24th March, 2007.
   As a result, the CDP Campaign Committee produced an Information brochure on Aussie Values versus Radical Islam. It also adopted a Christian Immigration Policy that called for a top priority for persecuted Christians to be accepted as immigrants whilst implementing a Ten Year Moratorium on Muslim immigration, to replace Muslim immigrants with Christian immigrants.
   The Ten Year Moratorium will allow the current Muslim leadership and community, time to re assess their policies and attitudes to assimilation, for them to reject any attempt to establish an “Islamic Nation” within our Australian Nation and for them to accept Australia is a Christian nation with one law for everyone; not Shar’ia law.
   This Muslim Moratorium Policy was also endorsed by the NSW CDP Management Committee and the NSW CDP Council on Sunday 11th March, 2007. In addition, this policy has also been adopted by other CDP State Branches.
   As Immigration is a Federal Government responsibility, the CDP has produced an Internet Petition and a Printed Petition to the Howard Government, calling for the top priority acceptance of persecuted Christians into Australia and a Ten Year Moratorium on Muslim Immigration. It also calls on the Howard Government to announce a review of our Australian Immigration Policy BEFORE the next Federal Election in November, 2007. April 2007 #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#new_cdp_christian [April 2007]
• Geneva mosque redundancies shock Muslim community.

Geneva mosque redundancies shock Muslim community

   GenevaLunch.com , http:// geneva lunchcom. site. securepod. com/node/ 3479 , posted by Ellen Wallace, 07:07, April 11, 2007
   GENEVA, Switzerland – TSR, Fre -- The abrupt, forced departure of the management of the largest mosque in the Lake Geneva region has caused consternation in the Muslim community. The announcement Sunday that those fired include Hafid Ouardiri, the mosque's high-profile spokesperson, and Mahmoud Fadl, the director of the mosque's school, were promptly followed by statements from the two men's lawyers that they will contest the action. According to the lawyers, the men were given no warning and the redundancies were "politically motived." [? motivated]
   The official reason given by the Islamic Cultural Foundation, which oversees the mosque, was "economic" but Fadl's lawyer Razi Abderrahim mentioned to TSR the recent arrival of a Saudi Arabian as the head of the foundation and linked this to the change. Political commentator Hasni Abidi, who notes that the mosque property is owned by Saudi Arabia, argues that "it is not normal" for the majority of the board to be non-Genevans who live elsewhere and who are not in touch with the reality of life in Geneva. #
   GenevaLunch.com . Editor: Ellen Wallace. Publisher: Zidao Communication. Licensed under a Creative Commons License.

[RECAPITULATION: ... the recent arrival of a Saudi Arabian as the head of the foundation ... the mosque property is owned by Saudi Arabia ... ENDS.]
[COMMENT: If a religion can't find its own staff in a country it is in, it ought to be allowed to wither and die, with no visas from the civil powers. No sensible person would expect birds of paradise to thrive in the Antarctic, or polar bears in Papua-New Guinea. COMMENT ENDS.] http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#geneva_mosque_redundancies [Sighted 04 Aug 2008; dated Apr 11, 2007]
• Sheik's hate and death film gets only PG rating. [And deaths climb elsewhere.]

Sheik’s hate and death film gets only PG rating

The West Australian, Monday, April 16, 2007

p. 5: AUSTRALIA:

"Sheik's hate and death film gets only PG rating." Jews were mocked as pigs, and children were urged to become "soldiers defending Islam" and to martyr themselves in a film prepared by Australian-born Sheikh Feiz Mohammed, who is now in exile in Lebanon. The movie, in the DVD package "Death Series," has been given a PG (Parental Guidance) rating by the Office of Film and Literature Classification. Attorney-General Ruddock told the States to change their censorship laws. [Trendies who have invaded public life at all levels are, it seems, akin to lunatics.]
The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies Vic Alhadeff said it was outrageous such material could get into the country.

p 14: Editorial about THAILAND:

"Dual strategy needed to deal with southern Thai violence." Southern provinces, taken off a Muslim sultanate in 1909, have been scenes of terrorism and disorder. Muslim protests have led to 2100 deaths in three years. [It included murders by Thai police who stacked prisoners horizontally in lorries on a very hot day, after they had threatened a police station.] Muslims claim they are discriminated against.

p. 15: AFGHANISTAN:

"Our troops propping up corrupt in Kabul." Taliban reverses ban on opium-poppy growing, rely on it for money.

p 18: IRAQ:

"Iraq's spies have their own shadows." A Shi'ite, Sherwan Waeli, who is Minister for security, has his own unofficial intelligence group of 1200 agents. General Mhd Abd. Shahwani, who commands the official service, receives CIA money. In September 2004 his men arrested at least 50 members of a southern Shi'ite party and detained them for months. Gen. Shahwani says the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq has killed 10 of his agents.

p 20: "Alarm bells sound in Casablanca." MOROCCO:

Two brothers blew themselves up in attacks on United States offices in Casablanca. ALGERIA:

On Wednesday there was an attack on the Prime Minister's office, killing 33 people. TUNISIA:

Police claimed they had a gunfight with members of Al-Qaida in the Maghreb. "The cancer is spreading," said a US counter-terrorism official on Saturday.

p 21: NEW YORK:

"Arabic school draws criticism." An Arabic-themed public school will open in Brooklyn. Because it is a public school, it cannot teach religion, it was stated.

p 23: KABUL, Afghanistan:

"Taliban score millions from poppy crops." In July 2000 the Taliban leader Mullah Omar, saying that Islam banned drugs, banned opium poppies, and fearful farmers complained. Now the elected government's officials state that the Taliban militia nets millions of dollars by forcing farmers to plant poppies, and "taxing" the harvest to raise funds to pay for armaments and wages. In 2006 Afghanistan grew a record 6100 tonnes, enough to make 90 per cent of the world's opium.

p 24: JAKARTA, Indonesia:

"Former Garuda boss charged over poisoning of activist." Indra Setiawan was arrested on a charge of arranging to poison leading human rights activist Munir Saud Thalib in an aeroplane.

p 24: NIGERIA:

"Election day deaths." Preliminary figures are that 21 people were killed duing state elections on Saturday. There were 218 arrests.

pp 26-27: IRAQ:

"Suicide bombers target Shi'ite districts with market, bridge attacks."

pp 26-27: IRAQ: "Sunnis declare war on al-Qaida, adding to the fractures that confuse Iraq's war."

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#sheik    ["PIGS": 5:59-60 (or 64-65):- O people of the Book! … some of them hath he changed into apes and swine … www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/005. qmt.html #005.059 . ENDS.]
   [DYING FOR ALLAH: Contrast Koran 4:33 (or 29) with these:
   3:151:- And if ye shall be slain or die on the path of Allah, then pardon from Allah and mercy is better than all your amassings; For if ye die or be slain, verily unto Allah shall ye be gathered.
   47:4-6 (or 4-7):- Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks. … But those who are slain in the way of Allah, He will … admit them to the Garden which He has announced for them.
   49:15:- The true believers are those only who believe in Allah and His Apostle, and afterwards doubt not: and who contend with their substance and their persons on the path of Allah. …
   For more study, click:www.multiline. com.au/~johnm/ submit/ subtexts.htm ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: The New South Wales censorship people are so "politically correct" that they refused to ban or put severe limitations on a movie recommending that parents teach their children to wear bomb-belts and blow up themselves and non-Muslims. They are, perhaps, going along the PC interpretation of Article 13 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which proclaims that any child is entitled to seek and impart information of all kinds on any subject, irrespective of borders. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights might also be supposed to apply. The Liberal-National Federal Government is talking about banning Muslim hate literature – but this is an election year! If anything happens at all, the likely result would be further restrictions on people exposing and opposing anti-social religions and cultures of various kinds!
   The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies Vic Alhadeff's protest amused the Just World Campaign. About 10 years ago the Jewish leaders in Australia banned a Perth Jewish woman from leading opposition to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. "As ye sow, so shall ye reap." (based on Galatians 6:7) In Victoria, the Judaists ought to have opposed the censorship laws of that State, which ended up a year or so ago in causing great loss of time and money to the two Dannys for exposing villification against most of the world's peoples, and suchlike teachings. ENDS.]
   [2nd COMMENT: Carefully note in the newsitems the number of attacks by Muslims against other Muslims. This is allowed by several verses in the Koran, especially if the leaders label their enemy sect as Hypocrites or Polytheists. The attacks on Jews, named as such or described as "People of the Book", and on Christians, named as such or under the description "Those who add other gods to God," are numerous in the Koran. Other religionists, often labelled as Unbelievers or Infidels, are subject to ferocious threats of violence. In addition, the POST-KORAN classification of Dhimmi must also be added to the labels that impressionable young minds are being taught. ENDS.] [Apr 16, 07]
• Discussion with follower of Submission.

Discussion with follower of Submission

   An Informed Source sent this by e-mail as a discussion-starter with an enthusiast of Islam, for a discussion group due to meet soon, (because of variations in aya or "verse" numbers, some have been adjusted in this internet version; nearly all Muslim writings cited have, on this internet version, been linked to an internet source), e-mailed on April 16, 2007
   Q 1: Women, obey, husbands may beat: In The West Australian, "WA Muslims move closer to shari’a law," p 11, Tuesday, March 20, 2007, the last part about a group of imams going to decide family disputes in WA reads:
   QUOTE: University of WA professor Samina Yasmeen, director of the Centre for Muslim State and Societies, had some reservations about whether the body would ensure women's rights. "shari’a law definitely provides for equal rights for men and women," she said. "(But) it remains to be seen whether or not women's voices will be heard by this mediation group. I do realise that this group recognises the huge responsibility it has taken on." UNQUOTE
   Question: Can you see why I do not believe her, knowing as I do aya 4:34 (or 4:38) "men are superior to women," women must obey, and the order to the husband to chide, separate from, and "scourge" if they even fear the wife is disobedient ?
   Q2: Witness, women: Some societies in the world have evolved to the point that people can walk around the streets without carrying firearms and swords and/or risk being blown to bits. Women in most of such societies are considered equal at law.
   Question: Witnessing a debt document, is a woman's witnessing equal to a man's? Or am I correct in interpreting 2:282 that it takes two women's evidence to equal one man's?
   Q3. Inheritance, women: On television charming Muslim women assure us that under Islamic rule women's rights to inheritance after a family death are equal to men's.
   Question: Can you understand why I do not believe such claims, having read 4:12 continued (or 4:14) that wives only get an eighth if there are children, or a quarter if there are no children. And 4:11 (or 4:12), a daughter gets half what a son gets. Also note that under 4:12 (or 4:13) if a WIFE dies without children, her husband gets HALF. Can you understand why I do not believe the claims that Islam gives equal rights to inherit property?
   Q4. Husband-wife. Did Mohammed say this? "Had I ordered anybody to prostrate before any one, I would have ordered women to prostrate themselves before their husbands on account of men's rights over the women as ordered by Allah." (⁴⁹ Mishkat al-Masabih, English translation, Book 1, Section 'Duties of husband and wife', Hadith No. 70. Reported by Abu Dawood, Ahmad, Tirmizi, Ibn Magah and Ibn Haban.)
   Q5. Jews are pigs, we hear on a Compact Disc or a DVD: Sheik Feiz Mohammed's statements were reported in news media on January 18, 2007, when the Australian Federal Police were said to be looking into this. In that report, NSW wanted the Federal Government to prohibit or ban this because it was vilification, AND because the Sheik was calling on young people to be suicide bombers, so-called martyrs. Now, according to a more recent news report, of Monday, April 16, 2007, the censorship people have given such a DVD movie a PG classification. Once again the NSW and Federal Governments disagreed on what to do.
   Question: In the light of 5:59-60 (or 5:64-65) that some People of the Book have been turned into monkey and pigs, would it be against the laws of Allah for either government to ban such movies?
   Supplementary: Does the lack of action and shuffling of responsibility by the State and national governments lead you to believe that some politicians have been turned into monkeys?
   Q6. Supplementaries to the pig and martyr question: If such a ban on the DVD was imposed, and was judged by the imams to be wicked, would you or your imam issue a fatwa against the Australian leaders who tried to stop people importing or possessing the DVD?
   Would 33:48 (or 33:47), which forbids Muslims to obey unbelievers and hypocrites, be the main religious reason NOT to obey such an Australian law if it were passed?
   Regarding the children to become martyrs, what relevance does 64:14 have, which says your wives and children are an enemy, and to beware of them?
   Q7. Fatwas. Years ago the Iranian leader in a fatwa offered $1 million for the killing of Salman Rushdie. Is murder forbidden? Is killing a person for their beliefs approved by Islam? Did your mosque issue a fatwa against the threat to murder Salman Rushdie? Or the murder in the Netherlands of Van Gogh and the threats against the woman? Or against the suicide bombings of men, women and children in Israel, the United States, London, Madrid, AND in Muslim countries like Morocco and Algeria? If not, why not?
   Q8. How serious is the duty of converting non-believers by violence? The aya 3:83 (or 3:77) says that everybody in the heavens and earth have submitted either willingly or by compulsion. The aya 8:12 orders Muslims to strike off the heads and fingertips of disbelievers. When is this planned for Australia?
   Q9. Rape victims. Why do Muslim states sentence the VICTIMS of rape, which is forcible sex, to be stoned to death? Is it because they quote the aya 4:15 (or 4:14, or 4:19) which demands FOUR witnesses for whoredom to be proved? And do Muslim scholars want to blame even rape victims, because their beauty entraps men, and demand that the woman being forced into sex, if she wishes to prosecute the man, has to produce four witnesses? AND, have you ever wondered why the FOUR WITNESSES did not immediately move to STOP the rape?
   Supplementary question: Why does the next aya, 4:16 (or 4:20), allow two men who commit the same crime to be let be, if they "turn and amend" ? Is this fair and equitable?
   Q 10. Why are slaves and booty mentioned as if they were a part of normal life in the Koran, the Hadith, and shari’a law?
   Q11. The doctrine of taqqiyya, or deceiving, is discussed in some literature.
   Question: Does the Koran 66:2, which says that Allah releases Muslims from their oaths, be the foundation of this doctrine? And would 3:54 (or 3:47) and 8:30, about Allah being the greatest plotter, also give permission to deceive non-Muslim people?
   Q12: Veiling of women: On television I have seen charming young Muslim women flourishing cloths of various bright and cheerful colours, and wearing such for hijabs. But people who visit Arabia, Iran, and other places where the mosque rules, see all the women wearing all-over black unattractive coalbags, the "chador", and sometimes even headgear covering their faces, and religious police beat some women.
   Question: Do you see why I doubt the words of the "moderate" women I see on television?
   Question: On other programmes I have heard schoolgirls and teenagers in Western countries, who never wore the veils until after the murders of September 11, saying they did it voluntarily to show their support for Islam. Some of them say it is not compulsory.
   Question: Please comment on 33:59 (or 33:57), which orders the wives of true believers to draw their veils close around them. Why are young girl children and unmarried women wearing veils or even the "chador"? #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#discussion_with_follower [KORAN: 2:63 and 65:- … We took your Covenant and We raised you above the Mount … those amongst you who transgressed in the Matter of the Sabbath: We said to them: "Be ye apes. Despised and rejected." DOCTRINE ENDS.] [Apr 16, 07]
• Why some Evangelicals can't understand the true nature of Islam.

Why some Evangelicals can’t understand the true nature of Islam

   Barnabas Fund (Britain), www.barnabas fund.org , info§barnabas fund.org , Tuesday, April 17, 2007
   Some Christians seem to be bothered by Barnabas Fund exposing negative facts about Islam. These argue that we should not busy ourselves with trivial matters, but concentrate on the main issues of presenting Christ and loving all people.
   We have received some criticism of our recent communique on Faye Turney, the British servicewoman held captive in Iran and recently released with the other fourteen captured servicemen. As we now know, she was not only forced to wear the oppressive hijab, but underwent intimidation, mental torture and cruel manipulation tactics: she was isolated and blindfolded; stripped down to her underwear and feared rape; was told her colleagues had been released and she was the only one left in captivity; was measured for what she thought was her coffin as she could hear the sound of sawing wood and nails being hammered outside her cell; and was threatened that she would face trial for spying if she did not co-operate with her captors' demands. This treatment was meted out by the Islamic Republic of Iran, that claims to believe in human rights, religious freedom and human dignity. We cannot understand why some Western Christians questioned our highlighting this story or even defended what was done to her. Can they justify inhumanity and injustice to a vulnerable woman?
   Christians in the West face two converging threats: one from an increasingly secularised society, intolerant of public Christian expressions of their Biblical faith, and the other from an increasingly confident Islamic community bent on reshaping the West in its own image. These two naturally hostile forces have found a common agenda in ensuring that Christianity is diminished in its influence on Western society.
   In the name of multiculturalism, tolerance and political correctness, this coalition is intent on eroding freedoms and liberties accepted as basic in Western societies, especially freedom of speech. Islam, as a religion antithetical to Christianity, is culturally accepted, while Christianity, especially evangelical Christianity, is maligned.
   A variety of legislative and other measures, each apparently of small effect, are being introduced that have a progressive cumulative impact on long-cherished liberties and freedoms. This results in efforts to suppress any criticism of Islam, ignore unpleasant facts about it and institute what can only be called a censorship regime.
   Christians must wake up to the fact that there is no such thing as a trivial matter in this process. The whole programme is planned as a piecemeal strategy that will gradually constrict the living space for Christianity while according more space to neo-pagan liberal humanism and Islam. The fact that these two ideologies are incompatible does not bother them at this time - once they have achieved their objectives there might be a fierce conflict between them for ultimate power in the emerging new order.
   Barnabas Fund clearly differentiates between Muslims as individuals, whom we are called to love, serve and evangelise, and Islam as an ideology with negative connotations hostile to our Judeo-Christian heritage that needs to be exposed. Barnabas Fund recognises that there are many individual Muslims in the West who wish to co-exist happily with their neighbours and are not anxious to buy into any situation of conflict. Our concern is with Islam as an ideology and the uncompromising stance it takes toward Christianity and the democratic freedoms we take for granted in the West.
   Barnabas Fund does not only criticise, but takes positive action in advocacy, lobbying and support of specific cases on behalf of the suffering Church and of individual persecuted Christians. This has resulted in real beneficial change to individuals and groups suffering persecution, harassment and limitations on their religious freedoms and human rights.
   Barnabas Fund campaigned on behalf of Nadia Eweida, a British Airways employee who was banned last September from displaying a small silver cross while Muslim workers were allowed to wear the hijab headscarf and Sikh workers turbans and bangles. Miss Eweida, a Christian from an Egyptian background, was not prepared to hide her faith and faced a number of internal disciplinary procedures over the issue. Many Barnabas Fund supporters and others contacted BA to protest about the unfair repercussions of their former uniform policy which was in effect biased against Christians. British Airways finally gave in to public pressure and announced a change in their uniform policy which will allow staff to visibly wear a "symbol of faith".
   We also campaigned on behalf of Pastor Daniel Scot in Australia. Pastor Scot is a Pakistani Christian who was forced to flee Pakistan in 1986 under the threat of the notorious blasphemy law. He, along with Pastor Danny Nalliah and Catch the Fire Ministries, were convicted under Victoria State's Racial and Religious Tolerance Act (2001) by a judge at the Victoria Civil and Administrative Tribunal in December 2004. The complaint concerned comments made by the two pastors at a seminar on Islam for Christians held in March 2002. The judge ruled that they were in breach of the Act which forbids incitement of "hatred against, serious contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule of" another person or class of persons on the ground of religious belief.
   The two pastors were found guilty even though they had quoted from the Islamic source texts of Qur'an and Hadith to back up their statements. In December 2006, the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria finally ruled in their favour and set aside the orders given by the Tribunal judge, ordering that the case be reheard at the original tribunal, with the same evidence as before, but with a different judge. This decision was a victory for free speech. While it is vital to protect people from physical injury or threat, this does not mean that beliefs and ideologies have to be protected from criticism.
   Barnabas Fund also co-ordinated the successful campaign in Britain against the proposed Racial and Religious Hatred Bill which if passed in its originally proposed form would have severely restricted the right of Christians to express biblical views on a variety of relevant topics. The House of Commons in January 2006 voted to accept the amendments proposed by the House of Lords. These amendments make it considerably more difficult than the government had planned to obtain a conviction of inciting religious hatred. This means that it is possible to discuss and critique other religions, to preach the uniqueness of Christ, and to draw attention to the persecution of Christians in Muslim contexts.
   Barnabas Fund believes in manifesting love towards Muslims as individuals - they are not our enemies. However, Christians must learn to understand the true nature of Islam and not naively accept the sanitised form offered by the media, politicians and Islamic apologists. Barnabas Fund believes that it is important to draw the attention of Christians to these issues which are of growing significance for us today. Islam is a totalitarian ideological system that cannot accept opposition and divergent views, and this has been exacerbated by the Islamic resurgence and the growth of Islamic extremism. This is evidenced daily by news of what is happening in most Muslim-majority countries as Christians and other minorities face growing restrictions on their freedom, harassment, persecution, violence and death. We find it strange that Western Christians who enjoy freedom, safety and security in their own countries critique our support for the suffering Church in Muslim countries. They seem to sympathise more with the oppressive persecuting totalitarian Islamic systems rather than with their suffering brothers and sisters who face persecution and death.
   Those who argue that Islam is peaceful and tolerant are either being deliberately obtuse, or have been misled by propaganda and lies. How can they defend a system that is destroying their Christian brothers and sisters?
   Let us remember the tragic history of large segments of the Church in Nazi Germany who long applauded Hitler as the saviour of Christian Germany (against Bolshevik atheism) and firmly shut their eyes to the evil within Nazi ideology. A similar blindness to the negative aspects of Islamic ideology might have similar disastrous results for the church in our times. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#whysome [RECAPITULATION: Faye Turney, the British servicewoman held captive in Iran … underwent intimidation, mental torture and cruel manipulation tactics: she was isolated and blindfolded; stripped down to her underwear and feared rape …This treatment was meted out by the Islamic Republic of Iran, that claims to believe in human rights, religious freedom and human dignity. … Barnabas Fund co-ordinated the successful campaign in Britain against the proposed Racial and Religious Hatred Bill which if passed in its originally proposed form would have severely restricted the right of Christians to express biblical views on a variety of relevant topics. […]
Let us remember the tragic history of large segments of the Church in Nazi Germany who long applauded Hitler as the saviour of Christian Germany (against Bolshevik atheism) and firmly shut their eyes to the evil within Nazi ideology. ENDS.] [Apr 17, 07]
• Four killed in Turkey bible publisher attack.

Four killed in Turkey bible publisher attack

   CathNews (from Church Resources, Australia), Apr 19, 2007
   MALATYA, Turkey: Three people had their throats cut and a fourth person also died after jumping from the third floor office in a bid to escape from an attack on a Christian publishing house in Malatya, Turkey.
[Picture] [Two people tending a prone man.]
   Quoting Turkish paper Hurriyet, AsiaNews reports that assailants killed four people late on Wednesday morning at the offices of Zirve, a Christian publishing house that distributed Bibles in the city of Malatya.
   Three of the four victims had their throats cut, one of them being the owner of the publishing company. The fourth victim died after jumping from the third floor where he was working in order to escape.
   Still under shock, Zirve's general manager Hamza Ozant was on his way to the publishing house's offices but was able to tell a TV network that his company had been receiving threats.
   Founded a year ago, it had already requested police protection for its employees. One reason is that many people in Turkey resent the publication and distribution of Bibles in Turkish.
   Although Mr Ozant said he could not say who made the threats, suspicions fall on Turkish ultra-nationalists, especially since the murder of Turkish Armenian journalist Dink Hrant.
   Coincidentally, both Mr Hrant and Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981, were born in Malatya.
   The victims had their feet and hands tied and had their throats slit, Malatya Governor Halil Ibrahim Dasoz told the NTV news channel, an AFP report added.
   "One of them is highly likely to be a German, the other is believed to be a Turk. The third is also likely to be a Turk, but we still have doubts," Dasoz said.
   An aide to the Malatya governor told Agence France-Presse that the publishing house "was engaged in missionary activities."
   According to AsiaNews, Zirve is probably a Protestant publishing house since Protestants are the only ones who distribute Christian texts in the country. Catholics also rely on them to have their own material printed.
   SOURCEFour killed, three with their throats cut, at Bible publishing house (AsiaNews, 18/4/07)
Execution killings at Christian publishing house in Turkey (Sydney Morning Herald, 19/4/07)
   LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church Resources) Malatya, Turkey
Mehmet Ali Agca
HAVE YOUR SAY   Click here

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#four    [COMMENT: And many Westerners wish to have "discussions" with Muslims, even after the Salman Rushdie $1million death reward and the 9/11 atrocity! ENDS.]
   [KORAN DOCTRINE: 8:12:- … I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/008. qmt.html #008.012 .
   47:4-6 (or 4-7):- Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks. … But those who are slain in the way of Allah, He will … admit them to the Garden which He has announced for them. ENDS.]
   [POPE TRYING STILL: Read: "Faith key to avoiding clash of civilisations: Benedict," CathNews, April 19, 2007, www.cathnews. com/ news/ 704/92.php . ENDS.]
   [HUMANE TURK TRYING: Read "Ertugrul Ozkok: My throat constricts thinking about Malatya", www.hurriyet. com.tr/english/ 6360692.asp? gid=74 . An extract: We have all watched the campaigns carried out against the handful of people selling Bibles, or gathering in makeshift churches. No one has said anything about these campaigns; but people who we least expected became involved as agents of provocation in all this. Open your newspapers. Take a look at the debates broadcast on local TV stations. Is it really just the religious factions who are involved? Or is it the politicians who we have known for years as the "social democrats" and the "democratic left"? What about the accusations made about "misssionary activities," made in front of masses gathered to defend secularity … ENDS.]
   [MORE KORAN: 5:51 or 56:- O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/005. qmt.html #005.051 .
   5:82 (or 85):- Of all men thou wilt certainly find the Jews, and those who join other gods with God, to be the most intense in hatred of those who believe; and thou shalt certainly find those to be nearest in affection to them who say, 'We are Christians.' …
   6:106:- … withdraw from those who join other gods with Him.
   9:28:- O Believers! only they who join gods with God are unclean! …
   9:29:- Make war upon such of those to whom the Scriptures have been given … until they pay tribute out of hand, and they be humbled.
   And recite: 9:30-35 and 48:29 . ENDS.] [Apr 19, 07]
• Al Qaeda-linked militants behead 7.

Al Qaeda-linked militants behead 7

   CNN, http://edition. cnn.com/2007/ WORLD/asiapcf/ 04/19/ philippines. hostages.ap/ index.html , POSTED: 1635 GMT (0035 HKT), April 19, 2007
   MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- The heads of seven men believed to have been kidnapped by the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group on a volatile southern island were delivered to a Philippine army detachment Thursday, the military said.
   The men -- six road project workers and a dried-fish factory worker -- were kidnapped at gunpoint in two separate incidents Monday near the town of Parang on Jolo island, where U.S. troops have been involved in counterterrorism training and campaigns to draw local support away from Muslim rebels.
   Maj. Gen. Ruben Rafael, commander of military forces on Jolo, said a group of civilians was ordered to take the heads to Parang by Abu Sayyaf commander Albader Parad, who operates in Jolo's mountainous forests.
   Jolo Gov. Ben Loong and other officials confirmed the grisly delivery.
   "This is a retaliation for the killing of one of their commanders," Rafael said. "This is a terrorist act that should be condemned by all."
   He said the company which employed the road workers had refused to pay a ransom demanded by the rebel leader.
   The Abu Sayyaf has not issued any statements claiming responsibility for the kidnappings or beheadings. The delivery people were told to tell the military that it was retaliation for the death of the commanders, Rafael said.
   The Abu Sayyaf is on a list of U.S. terrorist groups and has a reputation for bombings, mass abductions and beheadings in the Philippines. It has been the target of a massive U.S.-backed military offensive on Jolo that started in August and has resulted in the deaths of its top two leaders.
   Loong has said the kidnappings show that Abu Sayyaf remains capable of banditry and terrorist acts despite a number of battlefield losses.
   He said it was unclear whether the kidnappings were intended to divert troops who are hunting Muslim rebel commander Habier Malik and his men from the Moro National Liberation Front.
   The MNLF was the largest Muslim separatist group in the southern Philippines until it signed a 1996 peace pact with the government. Many of its commanders, including Malik, refused to disarm and continued to maintain strongholds on Jolo and nearby islands.
   Military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said Malik has provided sanctuary to Abu Sayyaf guerrillas and Indonesian militants who have been targeted by the U.S.-backed offensive. Malik was blamed for deadly mortar attacks in Jolo last week.
   An estimated 300 to 400 Abu Sayyaf gunmen remain at large on Jolo, about 600 miles south of Manila. Washington has offered large rewards for the capture of the Abu Sayyaf's top commanders. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#alquaeda [DOCTRINE, KORAN:- 8:12:- … I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them. ENDS.]
[COMMENT: Let us enter into discussions!!! According to the RC Archbishop of Perth, we ought to welcome them into our workplaces and our homes! In a recent year, his diocesan newspaper had huge frontpage headlines "Open doors", encouraging readers to back an open-door policy on refugees. ENDS.] [April 19, 2007]
• Arrests over Turkey Bible publisher murders.

Arrests over Turkey Bible publisher murders

   CathNews (from Church Resources, Australia), www.cathnews. com/news/ 704/100. php , Apr 20, 2007
   Turkish police have arrested ten young men as suspects in the throat slitting murders of three people at a Protestant Bible publishing house.
[Picture] Man in blue top, held by the arms.
   Agence France-Presse reports that the murders raised fears and concerns over religious freedom among Turkey's tiny Christian community in the mainly Muslim country which is also seeking to join the European Union.
   The victims, one of them a German, were found tied to chairs with their throats slit at the Zirve (Summit) publishing house, which is owned by Turkey's Protestant community.
   Five suspects, including a man who jumped out of a third floor window to escape capture, were detained at the scene of the crime.
   Announcing the arrest of the other five, Malatya Governor Halil Ibrahim Dasoz gave no details, but said they were all of the same age group - young men aged 19 and 20.
   Turkish newspapers said all the suspects apprehended at the scene were carrying copies of a letter that read: "We did it for our country. They are trying to take our country away, take our religion away."
   They lived together at a local dormitory run by a religious foundation, media reports said.
   Police have yet to make a statement on the motives for the murders, but the press agreed today that nationalist and religious zeal were the likely cause.
   "We did not do this for ourselves, but for our religion… Let this be a lesson to the enemies of our religion," one of the suspects allegedly said in his testimony, the mass-circulation daily Hurriyet reported.
   Several newspapers linked the attack to others against Christian minorities in Turkey, including the killings of Catholic priest Andrea Santoro last year and ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in January.
   Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul described the murders as "an attack against Turkey's stability, peace and tradition of tolerance".
   Speaking to reporters in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, European Parliament member Joost Lagendijk said the killings would send Europe a negative message.
   "Europe will perceive the killings to mean that those who attempt to seek converts to other faiths in Turkey will face a similar fate," Mr Lagendijk said.
   The dead were identified named as 46-year-old German Tilman Geske and Turkish nationals Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel.
   SOURCE Police detain 10 over Turkish murders (News.com.au, 19/4/07)
   LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church Resources) Andrea Santoro (Wikipedia)
   ARCHIVE Four killed in Turkey bible publisher attack (CathNews, 19/4/07)
HAVE YOUR SAY   Click here

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#arrests    [KORAN DOCTRINE: 47:4-6 (or 4-7):- Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks. …
   48:29:- Those who follow Him are tender to one another, but ruthless to unbelievers. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/048. qmt.html #048.029 ENDS.]
   [BALANCING FACTS: Remember to read William Blum's Rogue State, 2000, Common Courage Press, Monroe; ISBN 1 84277 221 X pb, or in hardback. More often than not, the USA and other developed nations' armaments industry and political manipulators share the blame for much of the world's disorder, rebellion, murder, and refugee crises. The armaments industries of Britain, France, Italy, Russia, Czech Republic, etc. are among the guilty parties. ENDS] [Apr 20, 07]
• Prosecutor cut because of lecture.

Prosecutor cut because of lecture

   The Weekend Australian, by Brad Norington, p 11, April 21-22, 2007
   AUSTRALIA – ONE of Australia's most high-profile Crown prosecutors was removed from a sexual assault trial after the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal ruled there would be a "perception of unfairness" if she continued to handle the brief.
   Crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen was last month removed from the NSW District Court trial of a man known as MG, because of a lecture she gave to students at Newcastle University two years ago that contained details of the alleged assaults.
   Ms Cunneen also canvassed how defence lawyers used tricks to secure freedom for their obviously guilty clients.
   MG's lawyers argued successfully that because of her public statements, it could be seen by a fair-minded person that Ms Cunneen "may not discharge her obligations with appropriate fairness and detachment".
   Appeals Court judges Anthony McClellan, Virginia Bell and Cliff Hoeben said: "It is not for the Crown prosecutor to take a public role in supporting the complainant as against the accused at a criminal trial.
   "Where this occurs, any reasonable person would seriously doubt whether the process is fair."
   The removal of Ms Cunneen from MG's trial on March 5 was the subject of non-publication orders until yesterday, when MG was acquitted of three counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of detaining for advantage.
   After spending six years as the prosecutor for MG's case and related trials, Ms Cunneen was replaced in MG's trial with fellow Crown prosecutor Lou Lungo, who was given just six days to work on the brief.
   MG was a former associate of Bilal Skaf, the gang rapist successfully prosecuted by Ms Cunneen and sentenced to a maximum 38 years for a series of assaults committed in 2000.
   Ms Cunneen also successfully prosecuted Bilal Skat's brother, Mohammed Skaf, who was sentenced to a maximum 26 years for his role in assaults involving Skaf.
   MG, who was charged in connection with the assault of Ms C, cannot be named because he was a minor aged 14 at the time of the offences.
   He is currently serving lengthy prison terms for other gang rapes.
   Ms Cunneen attracted controversy in October when a committee of senior judges, including NSW Chief Justice Jim Spigel-raan, blocked her from being appointed to senior counsel.
   At the time, Ms Cunneen's blackballing was widely seen as punishment for criticising the abuses of some defence lawyers.
   Ms Cunneen declined to comment on her trial removal yesterday.
   But NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery leapt to her defence, voicing his complete support and confidence in her to continue in her role with "great skill, courage, integrity and commitment".
   Mr Cowdery also expressed complete support for Mr Lungo. He said the court's decision to remove Ms Cunneen was based on what it regarded as unusual circumstances of MG's case.
   Legal sources said the removal of Ms Cunneen could possibly make prosecutors and other barristers reluctant to speak on public matters, and to students, if their public views could later be used against them in court. #

   [COMMENT: No, students must NOT be given examples by a person (from either the Crown Prosecutor's office or from the defence teams) from cases that are currently in and out of the courts! Already these rapes were six years old, and the cases and appeals and comments such as the self-revealing one from Sheikh Al-Hilali go on and on. It is a shame that Ms Cunneen did not really understand that her job makes her a kind of servant of Crown JUSTICE, and although she might have thought she was helping students, she was not teaching them that Justice is above the law. (Many defence lawyers, too, have forgotten that they have responsibilities to Justice.) She really let the People down, by kicking an "own goal."
   The result of her action, and failure by her superiors, immediately after the talk, to appoint a substitute, was that her substitute had hardly any time to read up on the case, and this may have resulted in the acquittal, which was possibly unmerited. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Contrast the above careful attention to Justice inherited from British Justice, with the newsitem below about how an Islamic gathering decided to execute a fellow Mohammedan. No niceties about who might give the appearance of being prejudiced there! And a boy of about 12, whose voice has not broken, is appointed as executioner! Will he grow up to be a gentlemanly hospitable Muslim, like the desert Arabs that Ms Freya Stark wrote about back before World War 2? ENDS. http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#prosecutor_cut_because [To this Website 09 May 08; publishedApril 21-22, 2007]
• Boy executioner reveals ugly face of Taliban justice

Boy executioner reveals ugly face of Taliban justice

   The West Australian, www.thewest. com.au/ default.aspx? MenuID=29& ContentID= 26768 , pp 1 and 13, 6:15 WST, April 23, 2007
   ISLAMABAD -- The boy with the knife looks barely 12. In a high-pitched voice, he denounces the bound, blindfolded man before him as an American spy.
   Then he appears to hack off the captive's head to cries of "God is great!" and hoists it in triumph by the hair.
   The video circulating in Pakistan records the grisly death of Ghulam Nabi, a Pakistani militant accused of betraying a top Taliban official killed in a December air strike in Afghanistan.
   A reporter confirmed Nabi's identity when he visited his family in Kili Faqiran, a remote village in southwestern Pakistan.
   The video, which reporters obtained in the border city of Peshawar, appears authentic and is unprecedented in jihadist propaganda because of the executioner's youth.
[Picture] Grisly end: Pakistani militant Chulam Nabi about to be beheaded after being accused of betraying a Taliban leader killed in a US air raid.    Picture: Associated Press
   Captions mention Mullah Dadullah, the Taliban's commander in southern Afghanistan, although he does not appear, and it features songs praising supreme leader Mullah Omar and "Sheikh Osama" – an apparent reference to al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.
   "He is an American spy. Those who do this kind of thing will get this kind of fate," says his baby-faced executioner, who is not identified.
   A continuous 2 1 /2-minute shot then shows the victim lying on his side on rubble-strewn ground.
   A man holds Nabi by his beard while the boy, wearing a camouflage military jacket and oversized white sneakers, cuts into the throat.
   Other men and boys yell "Allahu akbar!" – "God is great".
   The film, overlaid with jihadi songs, then shows the boy seemingly hacking and slashing at the man's neck until the head is severed.
   A Pashto-language voiceover identifies Nabi and his home village of Kili Faqiran in Baluchistan province, about a two-hour drive from the Afghan border.
   Nabi's distraught and angry father, Ghulam Sakhi, confirmed his son's identity from a still picture.
   He said neighbours told him the video was available at the village bazaar but he had no wish to see it.
   Mr Sakhi, 70, said his son had been a loyal Taliban member who fought in Afghanistan and sheltered the group's leaders in the family's mud-walled compound.
   He blames the Taliban and wants to avenge his son's death.
   "The Taliban are not mujahedeen. They are not fighting for the cause of Islam," he said. "If I got my hands on them, I would kill them and even tear their flesh with my own teeth."
   Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taliban, said he had no information about Nabi or the video and that none of the commanders he contacted could confirm the execution.
   The method of Nabi's death is not unusual for informers in Pakistan's lawless tribal border regions where al-Qaida and Taliban militants find sanctuary. But such killings are rare in the Taliban's increasingly frequent videos. Using a child for a beheading stands out even among films by militants in Iraq.
   "This is outright barbarism," said Iqbal Haider of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. "Whosoever has committed this they are enemy No.1 of Muslims."
   The strike Nabi was accused of killed Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani, one of Omar's top three associates, on December 19. He was the highest-ranking Taliban leader to die since the US-led invasion that ousted the Taliban in late 2001.
   The US said Osmani's death was a serious blow to militant operations.
   Mr Sakhi, a retired preacher with a long gray beard, wept as he spoke unashamedly of his son's deeds with the Taliban. He said Nabi fought the Northern Alliance that helped US forces to victory in Afghanistan.
   In Pakistan, he ran a religious school and regularly sheltered Osmani and others. Nabi also bought weapons for Taliban fighters and organised medical treatment for those injured fighting in Afghanistan.
   After Osmani's death, Nabi went to Peshawar and Wana, a tribal militant stronghold, to collect money from Taliban officials to buy guns and food for militants.
   He said his son told him in January a tribal council sentenced him to death on charges of tipping off the US about Osmani's movements despite his denials.
   Pleas for clemency were rejected despite all his family had done for the Taliban. "They are the enemies of Islam," he said. "They are behaving like savages."
   Sam Zarifi, of Human Rights Watch, said using a child to commit such an act was a war crime and a "new low" in Afghanistan. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#boy    [RECAPITULATION: "They are the enemies of Islam," he said. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Oh, no they're not! They cried out the Islamic warcry! See if Islam's mosque leaders declare a fatwa and offer a reward for the punishment of the boy murderer, and those who brain-washed him and assisted him. ENDS.]
   [2nd RECAP.: "If I got my hands on them, I would kill them and even tear their flesh with my own teeth." ENDS.]
   [2nd COMMENT: These are the reported words of the grieving father. Even having learnt of the savagery masquerading as Islamic zeal, he unveils the real Islam -- eye for eye, tooth for tooth, strike off their heads -- that had caused evil Muslims to incite a Muslim child to kill a Muslim, his own son! ENDS.]
   [3rd COMMENT: The fact that such a video is SELLING in a Muslim-populated area is evidence that such communities do not have a decent humane belief system. COMMENTS END.]
   [DOCTRINE, Koran: 9:73:- O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/009. qmt.html #009.073
   12:106:- The majority of those who believe in Allah do not do so without committing idol worship. www.submission. org/suras/ sura12.html# 106
   66:9:- O Prophet! make war on the infidels and hypocrites, and deal rigorously with them. …
   Also recite: 8:12, and 12:106, and 48:29. ENDS.]
   [QUESTIONS: Who defines which Muslim is a HYPOCRITE? The people with weapons! Who defines the IDOLATORS, or the INFIDELS? Ditto. ENDS.]
   [ANOTHER MURDER: LAHORE, February 21, 2007 -- Statement about a Muslim extremist shooting the young Punjab Social Welfare Minister Zille Huma Usman, a woman, in Gujranwala, at a public meeting, proving that no woman is safe in the country and the government has totally lost its ability to maintain law and order and protect the lives of citizens. Visit: www.hrcp-web. org/P_releases. cfm#Murder%20 of%20minister% 20terrible% 20tragedy . ENDS.] [Apr 23, 07]
• Arc of instability still threatens the West. [Churchill wrote of fanatical frenzy and fatalistic apathy]

Arc of instability still threatens the West

More than 90 years after the Anzacs went to war against the Turkish Empire, Middle Eastern Islamists wage war against Western values, says Paul Sheehan
   The West Australian, by Paul Sheehan, p 16, Tuesday, April 24, 2007
   In less than 48 hours the dawn services will begin, followed by the whole khaki extravaganza: the Anzac Day parades, the drinking, the two-up games and the footy. So it is worth pausing to reflect that Australia is actually engaged in a war, even if it is an unconventional, undeclared war.
   Australians have been killed and wounded in their hundreds as a result of this conflict but the casualties don't happen to be Australian soldiers. Not yet. We've been extremely fortunate. It is only a matter of time, though, because Australia is now embroiled in an arc of increasing anti-Western fundamentalism, stretching unbroken through Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Lebanon – 300 million Muslims, the same population as the US and almost the same as Western Europe's.
   Into the middle of this region of conflict without end, Australia will send 1000 more military personnel, to be deployed in Afghanistan by the middle of next year. The decision to commit these forces was made by Prime Minister John Howard and has been supported by Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd. Both leaders have acknowledged the increased and inevitable risks involved.
   Australian forces will be going back into a country which has endured 20 separate wars, invasions, coups or state crises over the past two centuries, with no end in sight. For the record, this is the potted history of instability since Afghanistan became a nation: Afghan-Persian war (1816), Afghan-Sikh war (1836), second Afghan-Persian war (1836-38), first Anglo-Afghan war (1839-42), first Afghan civil war (1850-55), Persian invasion (1856-57), second Afghan civil war (1863-79), second Anglo-Afghan war {1878-80), Russian-Afghan war (1885), third Anglo-Afghan war (1919), third Afghan civil war (1928-29), first Pashtun crisis (1955-57), second Pashtun crisis (1961-63), Republican coup (1973), Marxist coup 1978, Armin coup 1979, Soviet invasion (1979-1989), fourth Afghan civil war (1989-92), fifth Afghan civil war (1995-96), American-led invasion (2001-present).
   These 20 eruptions represent more than 60 years of turmoil and sucked in the three great imperial powers of the past 200 years: Britain, the Soviet Union and the US. None of them has profited. After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, 14,453 members of its armed forces were killed, 53,753 wounded and more than 400,000 fell ill in the primitive conditions before the troops withdrew 10 years later. What was won? Nothing.
‘Within 10 years this arc of instability, from Pakistan to Iraq, could be controlled by Islamic theocracies. ’
   What was lost? In the 28 years since the Soviet invasion, the once mighty Union of Soviet Socialist Republics has ceased to exist. The Islamic Revolution, which began in Iran in 1979, remains in power 28 years on and has spread its influence into Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. The Muslim population in the region has doubled, while the population of Russia has declined. And Islamic fundamentalism has been globalised.
   In the clash between modernity and medievalism, modernity has been losing.
   Within 10 years this arc of instability, from Pakistan to Iraq, could be controlled by Islamic theocracies, with two of them, Pakistan and Iran, nuclear-armed.
   Iraq is a disaster zone, exactly the opposite of what the Bush Administration intended when it invaded the country in 2003. Iran, emboldened by the American failure, has become a centre of instability.
   Afghanistan, as usual, is a quagmire for the West and Pakistan, with its 170 million people, the biggest Muslim nation in the Middle East, is potentially the most worrisome of all. Pakistan has nuclear arms.
   It also has a burgeoning ultra-orthodox, anti-Western Islamic movement which mimics the insane excesses of the Taliban. Pakistani militants masterminded the mass murder on the London Underground on July 7, 2005, and other bomb plots in Britain. The country's military leader, President Pervez Musharraf, has survived multiple assassination attempts by jihadists. In 2003, he was saved from obliteration by an anti-jamming device in his car when a powerful bomb exploded soon after his convoy passed. Eleven days later, two suicide bombers died while trying to kill him. He has survived three near-death experiences and lives in a state of siege.
   This region has proved a graveyard for Western vanities. The famous Western imperialist Winston Churchill – the political villain of Gallipoli and political hero of World War II – was intimately familiar with the arc of instability which now confronts the West. More than 100 years ago, he saw first-hand, and vividly described, the implacable anti-modernism and anti-Westernism of the Muslim heartland:
   "How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy… there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live …
   "No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytising faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome." (The River War, 1899). Were Churchill alive today, it is unlikely he would be inclined to change his views. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#arc    [RECAPITULATION: The Muslim population in the region has doubled, while the population of Russia has declined. And Islamic fundamentalism has been globalised. In the clash between modernity and medievalism, modernity has been losing. […]
   Winston Churchill – the political villain of Gallipoli and political hero of World War II – was intimately familiar with the arc of instability which now confronts the West. More than 100 years ago, he saw first-hand, and vividly described, the implacable anti-modernism and anti-Westernism of the Muslim heartland […]
   "How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy… there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live … ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: But, wouldn't if have been better if the Great Powers and others had kept out of Afghanistan? Then, maybe, there would be less of their people wanting to threaten the West. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [Churchill's 1899 book comments are listed in date order in this series.] [This article is also displayed on the main directory at "cont9.htm#arc".] [Apr 24, 07]
• [Violence of Islam, Jihad creed, Golden Age myth.]
I DISAGREE

[Violence of Islam, Jihad creed, Golden Age myth]

   The West Australian, Letter to Editor, p 17, Saturday, April 28, 2007
   It was disturbing to read Paul Sheehan's principled and balanced warning about Islam described as a "hateful diatribe" by Shaheer Tarin of the UWA Muslim Students' Association (Letters, 26/4). Shaheer Tarin makes a number of assertions which cannot go unchallenged.
   As Serge Trifkovic has pointed out, Mohammed's unique contribution to human history has been the idea of "jihad", whether imposed physically through terror or more subtly through the tyrannical structure of the shari’a law system. Whether the world's vast majority of non-Muslims see this as a "great blessing" is debatable, to say the least.
   Similarly, while I am sure that there are plenty of very nice Arab people, to describe the centre of world terrorism and tyranny as abounding in gentlemen seems a bit far-fetched.
   The myth of the so-called "Golden Age" is then wheeled out, when in fact the real story is of the Muslim plunder and destruction of the ancient Egyptian, Persian and Byzantine civilisations. If anything, the endless Muslim aggression directed against Christian Europe only slowed down the transmission of ideas from these great civilisations – none of them from Islam.
   Some of the examples used by Shaheer Tarin illustrate the point. Al-Farabi adopted the view that reason is superior to revelation, utterly heretical in Islam, of course influenced by Aristotle. Similarly, Averroes in Spain (invaded by Muslim Arabs for seven centuries) had his writings criticised, leading to his banishment and many works being destroyed.
   A cursory reading of Islamic history shows it's been the same old story for 1300 years, from the burning of the great library of Alexandria to the burning down of schools for women in Pakistan today.
   Pope Benedict [Ratzinger] recently drew attention to the warnings of the ill-fated Byzantine ruler Manuel II regarding the relationship between Islam and violence – which provoked what? Reasoned discussion and debate, careful examination of the evidence?
   Rather, of course, it unleashed a global orgy of violence that only proved the Pope's point.
   What is clear is that the Muslim world and its long-suffering inhabitants badly need the true enlightenment that comes from Western Christian and secular thought.
   Only with the coming of freedom of conscience will the Muslim world ever escape the miserable state that Churchill described so accurately. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#violence    [RECAPITULATION: If anything, the endless Muslim aggression directed against Christian Europe only slowed down the transmission of ideas from these great civilisations – none of them from Islam. […] … the same old story for 1300 years, from the burning of the great library of Alexandria to the burning down of schools for women in Pakistan today. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: For example, the "Arabic numerals" that Europe, grudgingly and with Church resistance at first, adopted from the Muslim civilisation, had been copied from Hindu traders. It seems that enlightened Muslim rulers bent the rules when they set up celestial observatories, and encouraged artistic painting. However, the first invasion forces, impelled by "religious" zeal, destroyed artworks and major public works like irrigation systems. (The Soviet acted in a similar way in Afghanistan, using bunker-buster bombs to destroy the underground food storage systems that Afghans had built over generations to lessen the harm of their harsh climate.) COMMENT ENDS.] [Apr 28, 07]
• Christianity and Islam have absolutely Nothing in common.
   Editor Eddie, Booklet, P.O. Box 9091, Wyee, N.S.W., 2259, Australia, received April-May 2007
   [This quotes peaceloving teachings of the Christian scriptures in contrast to the Muslim Koran (Qur'an, or Qu-ran) Surahs and the Hadith (or Hadeeth). This website has made the Internet links in order to assist readers.]

[Picture] JERUSALEM

Christianity and Islam
have absolutely
Nothing in common

[Picture] MECCA

Introduction
   Islam, in the west, is fighting its battle of acceptance and legitimacy. Muslim activists are working fervently trying to improve Islam's image.
   Their goal is to create an environment in which Islam can be easily propagated. Their tool is as old as Islam itself, but they just rediscovered it
   This tool is telling Christians that Islam and Christianity have a lot in common, and that Islam is the fulfilment of Judaism and Christianity.
   They cite Islam's belief in the Bible, God, Jesus, Mary, the prophets, the Day of Judgment and Paradise.
   This tactic is not new to Islam. Fifteen centuries ago, Mohammed, the prophet of Islam, used it when he started preaching his Arabian religion in Mecca.
   At the beginning when Mohammad was weak, he tried to remain reconciled and appeal to Christians. He told them, "We believe in what has been sent down to us (The Qur'an), and sent down to you (The Bible). "Our God is the same as your God." Surah 29:45 [or 46].
   Later, In Medina, after Mohammad became strong, all this changed. Allah, allegedly, tells him then, "Fight the people of the Book (Christians and Jews) who do not accept the religion of the truth (Islam) until they pay tribute by hand, being inferior". Surah 9:29
   The fact is that the differences between Christianity and Islam are VERY DEEP, and inconsistent.
   Just before our brief study, let me mention a few important facts regarding Christianity and Islam:
   Christianity is not a new religion founded by the Lord Jesus Christ. Christianity is an extension of Jewish religion founded by Abraham, the father of all true believers. Romans 4:11
   The Bible is a Jewish book, the Lord Jesus Christ was a Jew, His mother was a Jew, all the Apostles were Jews. Jesus Himself said in John 4:22 "Salvation is from the Jews". { 1 }

FOR 20-p BOOKLET: Editor Eddie, P.O. Box 9091, Wyee, N.S.W., 2259, Australia

2    According to the New Testament when a person believes and accepts the Lord Jesus Christ "The Jewish Messiah", at that very moment that person becomes a Jew from the heart, spiritually speaking.
   The Apostle Paul says in Romans 2:28-29 & Galatians 3:29 "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men but from God".
   "And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise".
   It is interesting to note that when a non-Jew accepts the Jewish Messiah, he or she does not start to wear Jewish clothes and act like a Jew, not even learn the Jewish language, Hebrew. It has nothing to do with Jewish customs, traditions, language, and most certainly not with Israel's politics. It is to do with Jewish faith.
   So Christianity is an extension of Judaism, not a first century religion. The word "Christian" means follower of the Messiah, the anointed One, "the King of the Jews", The Lord Jesus Christ
   In contrast Islam is an Arabian religion. The prophet Mohammad was an Arab, his father Abd-allah was an Arab, an animist, who died as a pagan before Mohammad was born. His mother, Aminah, was an Arab.
   It is important to know that Arabs are not descendants of Ishmael; the Arabs were in the Middle East long before even Abraham was born. In Pre-lslamic Arabic genealogy Ishmael is never mentioned. Ishmael's mother, Hagar was an Egyptian not an Arab! Gen. 16:1-15.
   Muslims try hard to fit Mohammad into the line of Abraham's descendants but that is a false claim, it is not true, Biblically and historically. He is not like one of the Old or New Testaments prophets, why? Because he did not obey the Word of God, the Bible, for example:
   Mohammad never quoted the Ten Commandments! In fact he broke each and every one of them, let me mention a few of them: He broke the First Commandment that says;
   "You shall have no other gods before me" Exodus 2O:3-6. { 2 }

3 He preached in the name of his ancestors' god, namely Allah not the Triune God of Israel.
   Mohammad never claimed that the God of Israel has sent him. He never preached in the name of the God of Israel "Jehovah", but in the name of his ancestors' god, Allah, one of the 360 gods of Mecca. Hadith Volume 3, Book 43, Number 658, Vol. 5, Bk. 59, no. 583
   He broke the fourth Commandment that says: Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy Exodus 20:8. Mohammad never kept the Sabbath in all his life, he and his followers worshipped their god on Fridays, facing Mecca not Jerusalem.
   Note: He never accepted Moses' laws regarding offerings, sacrifices to God, especially the Day of Atonement "Sin offering". Leviticus 5:11f, 17:11, "And without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" Hebrews 9:22. Instead he invented a new way of so-called salvation.
   He hated the Jews, Called them pigs, he called non-Muslims Kaffir, the worst word ever written, a sign of infidelity, disbelief, filth, a sign of dirt.
   He claimed to have received a revelation from his god (Allah) and that Allah had cursed the Jews and Christians.
   (All quotations of Hadith are from Al-Bukhari)
   "..The prophet in his fatal illness said, Allah cursed the Jews and the Christians because they took the grave of their prophets as place of worship….." Hadith Vol. 2, Book 23, number 414.
   By that statement Mohammad put himself, his god, his religion, and all Muslims under the CURSE of the God of the Old Testament, and the New Testament, according to the Bible.
   "… I (The God of Israel) will bless those who bless you (Jews) and the one who curses you I will curse………" Genesis 12:1-3
   "But even though we (Apostles), or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed……." Galatians 1:8-9 { 3 }

4    So how could Mohammad be a true prophet sent by the God of Israel? No, he was not sent by the God of the Bible. That is a false claim.
   It is interesting to know that when a non Arab becomes a Muslim, in contrast to Christianity, that person, male or female starts to wear Arabic clothes, and act like an Arab, and learn the Arabic language in order to read the Qur'an, because Muslims believe that Arabic is the heavenly language, and men start to grow a beard like Mohammad to show their devotion to him. The classic example is the English singer Cat Stevens. They also take his name on themselves as a blessing!
   So it is clear that Christianity and Islam are not sister religions. They never were, and never will be.
   Keeping in mind the background. Lets look at the reasons why "Christianity and Islam have absolutely nothing in common".
   The topics include:
(1) God vs. Allah
(2) Jesus vs. Isa, Jesus of the Qur'an
(3) The Holy Spirit vs. angel Gabriel
(4) Christian ethics vs. shari’a
(5) Salvation vs. Muslim's straight path
(6) Heaven vs. Paradise { 4 }

5 The God of the Bible is not their Allah    Many people today believe that Christians and Muslims worship the same God just under different names, as there is only one God. But don't let that fool you. Some Pagans also deal with one god, but they are still idolaters.
   And some think that God answers prayer to any name. The assumption is that because Muslims believe in one god, and Christians also believe in one God, they must believe in the same God. But that is a logical error.
   Just because you believe in one God does not mean that it is the same God.
   The God of the Bible is known as "The God of Israel", Deuteronomy 6:4, Mark 12:29. We do not have a new god call Jesus. We worship the God of Israel, Isaiah. 4O:1-3, Matthew 3:1-3, Romans 2:28-29, John 5:39, Luke 24:27, who became a man. Philippians 2-5-11
   The Old Testament prophets predicted that God would send His spiritual Son, namely The Lord Jesus Christ, to be the Savior of the World. Psalms 2 & 22, Isaiah 7:14, 9:6,52&53,. And this God has revealed Himself in the Bible as the Triune God. Genesis 1:1-3, Isaiah 48:16. Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14, l Corinthians 12:4-6
   By Trinity we mean that there are three Eternal distinctions in ONE divine Essence, known respectively as The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit One God in Trinity, Trinity in Unity.
   When the Bible refers to God as ONE, it always refers to the Essence of Uniqueness of God. When the Bible distinguishes between members of the God-Head, it refers to the activity or function of a specific Person. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6.
   But at the same time the Bible teaches that, this Triune God is ONE God. Deuteronomy 6:4. Mark 12:29, 1 Timothy 2:5 which says; "For there is ONE God, and One mediator also between God and man, the man Christ Jesus "
   The God of Israel does not change, lie, or deceive.
      "For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob are not consumed.." Malachi 3:6 { 5 }

6       "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, yes and forever" Hebrews 13:8,
      "God is not a man, that He should lie,…" Numbers 23:19,
      "For God cannot be tempted by evil." James 1:13.
   To Muslims, the concept of a Triune God is a blasphemy.
   Allah in the Qur'an is not Trinity, he is not a spirit, and he is not a father. In Surah 5:76 [or 5:73], it says,
   "They do blaspheme who say Allah is one of three…, for there is no God except one God "
   And those who believe God is Trinity will go to hell fire. "Those who disbelieve, among the people of the Scripture and the idolaters, will abide in fire of hell; they are the worst of created beings". Surah 98:6 [or 98:5]. See also Surahs 4:48 [or 4:46], 116 [or 4:115], 171 [or 4:169], 5:17, 72-73, 19:88 [or 19:91-93]
   Allah of Islam is changeable.
   "Our revelation we abrogate or cause to be forgotten, we substitute (with) something better or similar. Knowest thou not that Allah hath power over all things." Surah 2:106 [or 2:100]
   Allah of Islam is Temperamental.
   "If we had so willed, we could certainly have brought every soul its true guidance, but the word from me will come 'I will fill Hell with jinns (demons) and men all together'," Surah 32:13, 19: 68-72 [or 19:69-73].
   Allah confessed that he is the best deceiver.
   "And they (the disbelievers) deceived, and Allah deceived, and Allah is the best deceiver." Surah 3:54 [or 3:47], and also in Surah 8:30 Jesus of the Bible is not Jesus of the Koran    The Bible teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ is spiritual Son of the Living God.
   David, the king of Israel, an Old Testament prophet said about the Son of the God of Israel:
   "I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, "Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten thee." Psalms 2:7
   Three times God the Father, the God of Israel, in the New Testament testified that, Jesus is His spiritual Son, Matthew 3:17 & 17:5, John 12:28 { 6 }

7 "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased"
   Jesus Himself claimed that He is the Son of God,. "And they all (The Chief priests) said," Are you the Son of God, then ?" And He said to them, "Yes I Am". Luke 22:70. See also John 17,3:16
   All the New Testament writers believed and wrote of Jesus, that He is the Son of the Living God. John 1:14,18,3:16-18, Matthew 16:16, 1 John 3:8, Romans 1:1-4
   In fact Jesus claimed to be God. John 14:9,10:30,8:58,14:6.
   "I and the Father are ONE", " ..he who has seen Me has seen the Father..", "..before Abraham was born, I AM.", "I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father, but [by] Me" [John 14:6].
   The Bible teaches us of Jesus' miracles, ministry/ Substitutionary Atoning Death, Bodily Resurrection, Glorious Ascension, and blessed Second Coming. Luke 24:39, Acts 1: 6-11, 2:22 & 10:38. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 7:25-26 & 9:12-14, 1 Peter 2:22, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
   "Behold, I AM coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done." Revelation 22:12. "Jesus [has] been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead." Acts 10:42

   But the Qur'an says about Jesus (Isa) that he was a created human being like Adam, and that he was created from the dust.
   "The similitude of Isa (Jesus) before God is as that of Adam: He (Allah) created him from the dust, then said to him: 'Be' And he was." Surah 3:59 [or 3:52].
   Jesus of the Qur'an is just a prophet, like any other prophet.
   "0 people of the Book (Christians) commit no excess in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but truth, Christ Isa the son of Mary was (no more than) an apostle of Allah." Surah 4:171 [or 4:169].
   Muhammad did not believe that Jesus Christ is The Son of Allah. "No son did Allah beget, nor is there any god along with him" Surah 23:91 [or 23:93].
   We agree with Muslims that Jesus Christ is not the son of Allah, for a simple reason, Allah is not the God of the Bible. In fact he is not god at all, he is one the falling spirits. Revelation 12:4, I Corinthians. 10:19-20.
   "For all the gods of the people (Nations) are idols (demons), But the LORD made the heavens" 1 Chronicles 16:26 { 7 }

8    The Qur'an says Jesus was not crucified! The crucifixion is not only Biblical, but an historical event and as such it must be decided on historical grounds. Islam MUST offer historical evidence to prove their claim, they have not come up with one yet!
   Mohammad wrote his account of Jesus 600 years after Christ the Lord, from a so-called visionary experience. It is not historically proved. We have only Mohammad's word for it.
   "That they said (in boast) "we killed Christ Isa, the son of Mary"… but they killed him not, nor crucified him. Only a likeness of what was shown to them." Surah 4:157 [or 4:156]
   It is interesting to know Mohammad believed that Jesus is coming back to the earth to be the Judge.
   "Allah's messenger said, 'The hour will not be established until the son of Mary (Isa) descends amongst you as a just ruler (Judge). He will break the cross, kill the pigs and abolish the jizya (tax)…..' " Hadith. Vol. 3, Chapter 43, number 656 [Booklet showed it incorrectly as 32, Internet shows it as Chapter 43]. The Holy Spirit is not their Angel Gabriel    The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Triune God-head, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and is ever present and active in the work of creation, convicting and regenerating the sinner, and sanctifying and guiding the believer into all Truth.
   "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, … and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water, Then God said, (the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, John 1:1,14) "let there be light"; and there was light. Genesis 1:1-3
   This is what the Lord Jesus Christ said concerning the Holy Spirit.
   "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you." John 14:15-17.
   "And He (Holy Spirit), when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment ; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me". John 16:8-9 { 8 }

9    "But when He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth;….. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you." John 16:13,14
   "And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost." Revelation 22:17
   The Holy Spirit in Islam is an angel.
   The Holy Spirit in the Qur'an is given the title of the Angel Gabriel, through whom they believe revelation came down. "Then we (Allah) sent to her (Mary) our Angel, and he (Angel Gabriel) appeared before her as a man in all respects." Surah 19:17.
   "Say, the holy spirit has brought the revelation from thy lord in truth, in order to strengthen those who believe, and as a guide." Surah 16:102 [or 16:104]. It is obvious that the holy spirit in the Qur'an is not the Holy Spirit of the Bible, since it neither acknowledges the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ nor glorifies Him.
   The angel Gabriel in the Qur'an according to the Apostle John is the spirit of antichrist. 1 John 4:1-3
   "Beloved, do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
   By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confesses Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world."
   According to the Bible, the spirit behind the religion of Islam is the spirit of the antichrist. { 9 }

10 Christian Ethics are not Muslim shari’a    Christian ethics are based on holiness, love, justice, forgiveness, equality, tolerance, and free choice.
   Christianity possesses the highest ethics. How? The answer is 'Look at the Founder'! The Lord Jesus Christ lived a perfect, sinless life. No one can deny that, biblically and historically, and even the Qur'an itself teaches that Only Jesus was pure, sinless, and untouched by Satan. Surah 19:19, pure, sinless, and in Hadith Vol. 4, Bk. 54, no. 506 it says:
   "The prophet said, "When any human being is born. Satan touches him at both sides of the body with his two fingers, except Jesus, the son of Mary, whom Satan tried to touch but failed,…"
   (Note: But Mohammad confessed his sins 70 times a day! " ..I heard Allah's messenger saying," By Allah ! I ask for forgiveness from Allah and turn to him in repentance more than seventy times a day". Hadith Vol. 8, Bk. 75, no. 319. See also, Surah. 47:19 [or 47:21], 40:55 [or 40:57], 48:1-2)
   Jesus taught His followers to:
   Love the God of Israel, the Father, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Mark 12:29-30.
   Love your brothers from the heart. John 15:12,17 & 13:34-35
   Love your neighbours as yourself. Mark 12:31
   Love your enemies and do good to them!
   "… Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." Luke. 6:27-28
   Jesus and His Apostles taught that, men and women are equal in essence and value, and therefore, they should love, respect, and be loyal to each other. Matthew 19:5-6, Galatians 3:26-29, Ephesians 5:25,28, 1 Peter 3:7.
   "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35
   "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ, have clothed yourselves with Christ, There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." Galatians 3:26-29. { 10 }

11    Husbands, love your wives, wives love your husbands. Ephesians 5:25, Titus 2:4.
   Nowhere in the Bible does it say to beat your wife.
   Nowhere in the Bible does it say that woman is a sex object on earth or in heaven.
   The Bible makes it clear that monogamy and not polygamy is God's plan for marriage. Genesis 1:27, & 2:18-25.
   "And Jesus answered and said, "Have you not read, that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, for this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh". Matthew 19:4-6
   Divorce is not allowed, except in extreme cases such as adultery. Matthew 19:3, 5, 9. Or if an unbelieving spouse wants to separate. 1 Corinthians 7:10-15.
   The Bible teaches that there would be no sexual intimacy in heaven, but holiness, and spiritual fellowship with God the father.
   "…For when they (men and women) rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven." Mark 12:25. Psalms 23:6, Matthew 8:11.
   "Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven, with the saving strength of his right hand." Psalms 20:6
Ethics in Islam
   Islam teaches revenge. Surah 2:194 [or 2:190].
   "If any one transgress the prohibition against you, transgress likewise against him."
   Islam imposes harsh punishment on wrongdoers.
   A thief is punished by the amputation of hands. "As to the thief, male or female, cut off his or her hands: A retribution for their deed and exemplar punishment from Allah." Surah 5:38 [or 5:42]
   A drunk is punished by 80 lashes. Hadith Vol. 8, Bk. 81, no. 770
   An adulterer is punished by 100 lashes in public! According to the Qur'an. But according to Hadith he/she must be stoned.
   "The woman and the man guilty of fornication, flog each of them with a hundred lashes:…And let a party of the believers witness their punishment" Surah 24:2 and 4:15 [or 4:19]
   Apparently Allah thinks stealing is more serious than adultery! { 11 }

12    And about Muslim women, says Allah.
   "… and if there are not two men, then a man and two woman, such as ye choose, for witnesses."
   "Allah directs you as regards your children's inheritance: to the male, a portion equal to that of two female; if only daughters, two or more, their share is two third of the inheritance…" Surah 2:228, 282, [Hadith Vol. 1, Bk. 6, No. 301], & Surah 4:11 [or 4:12]
   Mohammad taught that:
Women are deficient in mind and religion. Hadith Vol. 3, Bk. 48, no. 826 [and Vol. 1, Bk 6, no. 301]
Women are bad omens. Hadith Vol. 7, Bk. 62, nos. 30 - 33.
Women are inferior to men. Surah 2:228 & 4:34 [or 4:38].
   Allah considers a woman (wife) to be a possession.
   " ..Women and sons, heaped-up hoards of gold or silver, horses branded and cattle, and well tilled land, such are the possessions of this world's life but with Allah is the best of the goods." Surah 3:14
   The husband has full authority over his wife, to beat her and sexually desert her. Surah 4:34 & 2:226
   Allah permits a man to have up to 4 wives. Surah 4:3, 33:37-38, 50-52
   (Muslims have found ways to practice polygamy even in Western countries such as Australia!)
   Allah allows divorce. A man can divorce his wife by oral announcement, (saying 3 times 'I divorce you'). [Surah 2:229-230], Surah 65:1, 66:5, 60:1-2.
   Note: If after such divorce, her husband changes his mind and wants to remarry her, according to the Qur'an it is not allowed, unless she is first (Marry), has sexual relationship with some one else; that person may be, the master's slave, friend, or a stranger, and then he can remarry her!
   "…..Allah's messenger said to her, perhaps you want to return to Rifa'a ? (Your husband) Nay, you can not return to him, until you enjoy the sexual relationship with Abdul-Rahman and he with you." Surah 2:230. Also see Hadith Vol. 7, Bk. 63, no. 186
   Islam must be imposed by force, if necessary.
   "And fight them on, until there is no more tumult (seduction) or oppression, and there prevail justice, and faith in Allah" { 12 }

13    "….then fight and slay the pagans (i.e. Infidels, non-Muslims), wherever you find them and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every strategy of war." Surah 2:193 [or 2:189], Surah 9:5
   Jihad, so called "holy war", is a major teaching of the religion of Islam. It is sometimes called "the sixth pillar of Islam". Its founder, Muhammad, stated that jihad was the second most important command in his religion. Hadith Vol. 1, Bk. 2, no. 25.
   He himself was engaged in more then 66 wars in his life time. He was known as "prince of war".
   Apostasy from Islam is punishable by death. "The prophet also said to Al-Miqdad, "If a faithful believer conceals his faith from the dis-believers, and then when he declares his Islam, you kill him………" Hadith Vol.9, Bk. 83, no.5
   For a Muslim there is no freedom of speech, no freedom of choice, not even permission to question openly his/her religion!
   Allah says don't ask questions about your faith. You were born a Muslim, you must die a Muslim. Because if you ask too many questions you may lose your faith.
   "O ye who believe (Muslims), ask no questions about things which, if made plain to you, Some people before you, did ask such questions, and on that account lost their faith." Surah 5:101-102 "Allah has hated you for asking too many questions." Hadith Vol. 2, Bk. 24, no. 555.
   Islam presents a "straight path" of clear-cut duties and commandments of Allah. Christian Salvation is not the Muslim Straight path    In Christianity, salvation or redemption, means deliverance from sin, its power, and from punishment of sin, which is hell.
   Once again Christianity is unique when it comes to Salvation of the soul. Why? The answer has to be again, "Look at the Founder".
   The Lord Jesus Christ is the only founder, leader, prophet, and Saviour who was killed by the Romans on the request of the Jews, and came back to life after three days. { 13 }

14 He predicted His own death and Resurrection over fifteen times in the Gospels. This is an historical fact.
   "From that time Jesus Christ began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day." Matthew. 16:21
   He was seen by more then 500 people after His Resurrection. "And that He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more then five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep." I Cor. 15:5-6
   And in the front of His followers He Ascended to Heaven. John 3:13, Acts 1:5-6.
   The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is mentioned 104 times in the New Testament alone.
   The records of history give further evidence of Christ's death:
   The pagan Romans historian Tacitus wrote about the crucifixion and suffering of Christ in the year 55 A.D.
   Josephus, a Jew, recorded the event of Christ's crucifixion in the year about 73 A.D. And there are many more historical proofs.
May I ask, where is Buddha, Mohammad, or Baha'u'llah ? They are dead, and turned to dust. But JESUS CHRIST is alive for ever more.
   Because of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Salvation is guaranteed by the redemptive work of Christ on our behalf on the Cross.
   When a person with all his/her heart believes in Jesus as his/her Lord and Saviour, repents from his/her sins, and asks Christ to forgive his/her sin, and invites Him into his/her life, at that very moment he/she becomes a child of God and is saved from punishment of sin and of Hell. John 1:12,1 John 2:1-2.
   The Lord Jesus said;
   "I Am the resurrection, and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies". John 11:25
   "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him Who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." John. 5:24
   "And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life." I John. 5:11-12 { 14 }

15    Muhammad the founder of Islam did not have assurance of salvation himself. If he did not have assurance of his own salvation, what do you expect of his followers?
   When he was asked of his eternity, listen to his answer. "…the prophet said, "By Allah, though I am the messenger of Allah, yet I do not know what Allah will do to me,…" Hadith Vol. 5, Bk. 58, no. 266
   In Islam there is no Original Sin, and no need for the Cross. Allah has the supreme authority to punish or to forgive whomever he pleases, whenever he pleases.
   "He, (Allah) forgiveth whom he pleaseth, and punisheth whom he pleaseth, for Allah has power over all things." Surah 2:284
   In Islam good deeds cancel bad deeds.
   "For those things that are good remove those that are evil" Surah 11:114 [or 11:116]. In Islam salvation is by so called good works.
   The only assurance a Muslim has of going to so called paradise is through fighting for the cause of spreading Islam (jihad), and being martyred in the process.
   "And if you are slain, or die in the way of Allah, forgiveness and mercy from Allah are far better than all they could amass." Surah 3:157 [or 3:151]. In Islam, there is no saviour, and no salvation. Christian Heaven is not Muslim Paradise    In Christianity Heaven's pleasures are spiritual, of living with God and seeing Him face to face, worshiping Him in holiness.
   The Bible says: The only way to God is through Jesus Christ, and a way of complete holiness. Romans 10:9-10, Acts 4:12.
   "Pursue after peace with all men, and after the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." Hebrews. 12:14,1 Peter 1:16
   The God of the Bible is a Holy God. He is the God who's "eyes are too pure to approve evil", and cannot look on sin without punishing it. Habakkuk. 1:13
   The Bible teaches that there would be no sex in heaven, but holiness.
   "Jesus said to them (Jewish Pharisees), "Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures, or the power of God ? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven". Mark. 12:24-25. { 15 }

16    The Apostle Paul says these words in Ephesians 5:5-7
   "For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience, therefore, do not be partakers with them."
   But Muslim heaven (Paradise), in the words of the Qur'an is "A garden of delight". The Qur'an teaches a literal resurrection of the body and also an everlasting life of physical joy in paradise, or physical torture in hell. Surah 2:28 [or 2:26], 3:185 [or 3:182].
   Allah promises a heaven full of wine, and free sex. Surah 56:10-22, 56:35-37; 2:25, 11:23 [or 11:25], 4:57 [or 4:60], and 47:15 [or 47:16].
   "And the foremost in the race: Those are who will be brought nigh, in the gardens of delight (paradise). A multitude of those of old, and a few of those later time; on lined couches, reclining therein face to face. There wait on them immortal youth with bowls and ewers and a cup from a pure spring…and there are fair ones with wide, lovely eyes… and raised couches. Lo! We have created them a new Creation and made them virgins, lovers, friends…."
   According to the Hadith and Islamic teaching, each Muslim, (especially if he had fought very well on the earth for the cause of Allah), would be entitled to 500 houris, 4,000 virgins, and 8,000 non-virgins, making 12,000 women altogether, just for one man!
   No wonder Allah says his followers can have multiple wives here on earth. Perhaps he intends that polygamy here is to serve as a training ground for that great beyond.
   It is interesting to know that the Qur'an is almost silent about the future of Muslim women, what will be their rewards in Paradise?
   Perhaps the most degrading picture of women is that, Paradise will have beautiful women, whose only purpose is to satisfy the sexual urges of men.
   "Allah's Messenger said," in paradise there is a pavilion made of a single hollow pearl sixty miles wide, in each corner there are wives who will not see those in the other corners; and the believers will visit and enjoy them……..". Hadith Vol.6, Bk. 60, no. 402 { 16 }

17    The Qur'an also teaches that there are in paradise handsome young men available to serve. Surah 56:10-22, 24:32 [???]
   The Qur'an forbids wine on earth (Surah 5:1 [?], 2:219 [or 2:216]). Perhaps it is to prepare Muslim throats for the great beyond.
   Why do so many Muslims blow themselves up for their religion? Because that is the so called short cut, the quick way for a Muslim to get to Paradise! Where they can enjoy sex for eternity.
   The fact is that the Qur'anic paradise does not exist at all. It was the dream and imaginations of Mohammad.
Dear Christian brothers/sisters
   There is a new trend these days, among well-meaning Christians, that calls for understanding, making dialogue and building bridges between Christianity and Islam. These words may sound good but unfortunately, in many cases they have been wrongly applied.
   True understanding occurs when we try to know both the attractive side of Islam and the ugly side.
   True dialogue occurs when we listen to them and we insist they listen to us. True bridges we build with them go both ways.
   True love occurs when we tell them they are wrong if we know that they are wrong.
   The Muslim message to Christians in the West, these days is, "We have a lot in common, we are similar, accept us, listen to us…"
   It is a ploy, don't believe it; they use it only to spread their religion. After they gain the upper hand, Muslims' message would be "We have nothing in common with you; you are infidels who worship three gods and follow a corrupt Bible. You must accept Islam or pay the price by losing your life."
   Then, there would be no understanding between Muslims and Christians, no dialogue, and no bridges.
   Don't be deceived into believing that Islam is a legitimate extension of Christianity. The Bible makes it clear that, "last of all" God the Father sent His Son Jesus, Hebrews 1:1-3, John 3:16, and that the Bible is God's last Revelation, 2 Timothy 3:16, Revelation 22:18 { 17 }

- xviii -    The Lord Jesus warns, "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect" Matthew 24:24
   "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves" Matthew 7:15
   The Apostle Paul warns Ephesian Christians saying: "As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming"

A Million dollar question
Are there any similarities, any common things, between Christianity and Islam? Profoundly, NO.
Pastor Eddie
(Psalm 20}

For more information please write to
P.O.Box 9091
Wyee, N.S.W., 2259, Australia

- xix -
   The LORD Jesus Christ said:
   "…The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel (Mark. 1:15)
   I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father (GOD) but through Me. (John 14:6)
   But as many as received Him, to them He gives power to become children of God…. (John 1:12)
   That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as LORD, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9)
   The invitation of Jesus Christ to receive forgiveness of sins, peace with God and eternal salvation is open to people of all nations including Muslims. You can bow your head right now in prayer and humbly ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart, forgive your sins, and be your Saviour and LORD.
   Pray right now while you have the opportunity, Your eternity can start right now.
   This is a suggested prayer:
   "LORD Jesus, thank you for loving me and coming to earth to show me the Truth and the way to the Father. I believe you died on the cross to pay for my sins and you raised from the dead to give me eternal life. I am willing to repent, turn from my sin, and place my faith in You, please come into my heart and be my LORD and Saviour, and control me with your Holy Spirit. Show me how to live and help me to follow you every day. In Jesus' Holy name, Amen."

- xx - OTHER TITLES FROM THE SAME EDITOR

The Reason Why I did not become a Muslim

The Unlimited Honeymoons Promises of Allah

Search for Salvation

The Ultimate Question - Jesus or Mohammed

Jihad and Violence in Islam

The position of Women in Islam

The Holy Trinity

Allah is the spirit of antichrist #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#christianity    [Page 1 RECAPITULATION and COMMENT: "Christianity is an extension of Jewish religion founded by Abraham, the father of all true believers." Well, Jesus reversed the revenge mentality of the early books of Judaism's scriptures, and opposed some leaders' hypocrisy. In some New Testament books the "cleanliness and purity" code banning the eating of many meats and shellfish was overturned by Apostle Peter, and refusing to eat with Gentiles was overturned by Paul. To dispassionate observers, Jesus founded a new almost-unique religion of "doing unto others as you would be done by" on the ashes of an old wargod religion. It is no accident that his followers started to worship Him as a God. ENDS.]
   [Page 6 COMMENT: More research suggested on whether this is correct: "jinns (demons)". ENDS]
   [Page 11 RECAP.: But according to Hadith he/she must be stoned. ENDS.]
   [P. 11 COMMENT: Neither of the booklet's two quotes is of a hadith, BUT it is true: hadiths ordering the stoning of people include: Volume 7, Book 63, Number 236; Volume 8, Book 82, Numbers 803-806; Volume 9, Book 89, Number 280, and 9, 89:293; and Volume 9, Book 89, Number 303.
   The second quote, from the Koran, says to confine an indecent woman ("whoredom" in aya 19 of Rodwell's) to houses, until death or Allah provides otherwise. ENDS.]
   [Page 13 RECAP.: Apostasy from Islam is punishable by death. ENDS.]
   [P. 13 COMMENT: Better quotes are at Hadith 9, 84:57 and 9, 84:58. ENDS.]
   [Page 16 RECAP.: "… making 12,000 women altogether, just for one man !" ENDS.]
   [P. 16 COMMENT: The Submission Study Unit doubts that this is a correct exposition of Islamic paradise theory. ENDS.]
   [S.S.U. NOTE: Some Hebrew and Christian Greek Scriptures above have been given links to Internet translations, and as many as possible of the Islamic texts have. This booklet was displayed on the World Wide Web on May 13, 2007. Helpful corrections/clarifications would be welcomed. ENDS.]
   [TRANSLATION LINKS on this INTERNET VERSION: Most of the Hebrew and Christian Scripture translation links are through BibleGateway.com to the New American Standard Bible (NASB) online, Copyright © 1960-95 by The Lockman Foundation
   All of the Koran/Qur'an translation links are through the University of Southern California's USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts, giving for each aya three translations -- Yusufali's, Pickthall's, and Shakir's. Also, the Koran texts were compared with the printed translations of N.J.Dawood (2003 edition) and J.M.Rodwell (2001 ed.)
   All of the Hadith/Hadeeth translation links are through the same USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts, selecting Sahih Bukhari's translation (because the booklet stated it used Al-Bukhari). END.]
   [DISCLAIMER: The S.S.U. does not endorse all the statements in this booklet, and in fact disagrees with some of them on factual grounds, but re-publishes it for the excellent coverage it gives of many major features of the Koran and the Hadith. ENDS.]
   [ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Thanks. ENDS.] [Rec'd ~ Apr-May 2007]
• Christians In The Crossfire; Pro-war evangelicals have made exiles - and martyrs - of Iraqi believers.

Annals Australasia, annals australasia §nareg. com.au , by Doug Bandow, pp 31-34, April-May 2007

MIDDLE EAST
Pro-war evangelicals have made exiles – and martyrs – of Iraqi believers

CHRISTIANS IN THE CROSSFIRE

By DOUG BANDOW THE killing in Iraq continues, and support for the occupation is waning even among Christian conservatives. It would probably fall further if they were aware of what Fred Markert, director of Terra Nova missions, calls the "horrible, horrible climate for Christians in Iraq." Before the invasion, Christians argued over the criteria of a just war. But Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, asked another question: had war supporters "thought about their obligation to the Christian community in Iraq?"
   Most leading evangelicals seemed to accept blithely the administration's war rationale. For instance, Prison Fellowship founder Charles Colson said President Bush's arguments justified the invasion: "Of course, all of this presupposes solid intelligence." Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, pointed to Saddam's development "at breakneck speed of weapons of mass destruction he plans to use against America and her allies" and the "direct line from those who attacked the U.S. [on 9/11] back to the nation of Iraq." D. James Kennedy, pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, blustered, "Why any churchman would choose to support [Saddam Hussein] rather than to support our own president, I don't know."
   Pat Robertson proclaimed that "carping criticism" of President Bush "amounts to treason." James Dobson of Focus on the Family opined, "Saddam Hussein must be stopped. Appeasement of tyrants is never successful." Gary Bauer, chairman of the Campaign for Working Families, said, "Saddam Hussein's Iraq was a hell hole of torture and mass murder" and "he allowed Iraq to become a safe haven for terrorists." Rev. Jerry Falwell wrote an article entitled simply: "God is Pro-War." In his view, "Christians must live as Galatians 6:2 instructs: 'Bear ye one anothers burdens'."
   About the only Evangelical Christian leader who considered the fate of her Iraqi co-religionists was Roberta Combs of the Christian Coalition, who declared in November 2003: "In the new country, under the new democracy, why should the official religion be Muslim? I think as Iraq becomes a democracy, there are going to be a lot of churches springing up."
   Alas, most of these arguments proved to be illusory. The result is a tragic irony for Christians: while the invasion opened Iraq to evangelism, it also unleashed a violent tsunami that is driving many believers abroad. As Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals, observes, evangelicals strongly supported the war yet "their co-believers are suffering as a result."
   Unsurprisingly, Saddam Hussein did not exactly provide a warm home for Christianity. Nevertheless, Samuel Rizk, a spokesman for the Beirut-based Middle East Council of Churches, noted in July 2003: "There's not much you can say about the old regime. But one thing you could say is that Christians enjoyed freedom to worship." Hussein used Christians to help provide political balance. Still, living under a brutal dictatorship and international sanctions is hard, and the number of Christians fell from 1.4 million to 1.2 million or even fewer during the 1990s.
   Saddam's ouster led to a dramatic increase in indigenous evangelism and an influx of foreign Christians, including American troops. "A lot of Iraqis were seeing Christianity for the first time," observes Jim Jacobson, president of Christian Freedom International. The result was an "explosion of conversions" and "underground, nondenominational churches." However, notes Mindy Belz, international editor of World, that growth "tapered off as things have gotten worse."
   In short, "there is a very important window of opportunity," as Jacobson puts it, which "probably will close soon."
   Many Iraqi Christians fear that this window has already shut. Solaka Enweya, who fled to Syria with his three sons, told the New York Times: "When we heard that the Americans were going to liberate Iraq, we were so happy. Yet our suffering has only increased."
   So far the government does not itself oppress, but Christians live - and die - in fear. They are targeted for robbery, extortion, and kidnapping because of their perceived wealth and the belief that they likely have foreign relatives with money. Christians also suffer from insurgent and sectarian violence. Car bombs don't discriminate; U.S. translators are killed irrespective of their religion. Carl Moeller of Open Doors USA says, "Christians find themselves literally caught in the crossfire."
   Iraq's Christian leaders commonly argue that Christians are targeted no more than Muslims are. But even if that is true, Christians are uniquely vulnerable because their religious communities and geographical enclaves are much smaller. Nor do they possess an armed militia for defence. And most observers believe this claim to be a vain attempt to reduce Muslim attacks and Christian fears. After visiting Iraq, Lawrence F. Kaplan of The New Republic wrote: "However much the clergy may deny it, Iraqi Christians suffer for their faith." Carl Moeller agrees: "Christians are targeted specifically for being Christians." CFI warns of "a silent reign of terror" against Iraqi Christians.
   Most Iraqi Christians feel like human targets. One problem is identification with America, even though Washington has been reluctant to offer any assistance. Notes business analyst Glen Chancy: "Evidencing too much concern for Iraqi Christians, it is feared, would reinforce the idea that the U.S. is fighting a 'war on Islam.'" But the real issue is that they are not Muslims. Younadam Kanna, elected to the Iraqi parliament in 2005, told Kaplan: "The fanatics … blame us for being Christian." Earlier this year Chaldean Catholic Bishop Rabban Al Qas of Amadiyah and Erbil said church bombings were part of "the continuing attempt by Arab fanatics to push the Christians out of Iraq."
   Attacks on Christians started early and have steadily increased. In February 2004 Paul Marshall of Freedom House warned that one sign of increasing |

Islamisation is the Goal

We have to start from the assumption that in the vision of Islam every means is good if it contributes to the final end of the installation of the Islamic state or the protection of Islam. One sees this in the Islamisation of education. Every morning in Egypt they start with the reading of the Koran; the texts of the teaching matter are full of references to Islam, whether in mathematics, in history or in literature; the learning of the Koran is obligatory for all.
- 'Interview with Father Samir Khalil Samir,' by Vittorio Emanuele Vernole, Religious Freedom in the Majority Islamic Countries, 1998 Report, Aid to the Church in Need. http://www. alleanzac attolica. org/acs/acs_ english/ report_ 98/aaa_ appendices. htm

Islamic extremism was the targeting of religious minorities. The co-ordinated bombing of five churches in mid-2004 triggered the first mass exodus of Christians overseas, perhaps 30,000 to 40,000.
   Car bombs were soon used around churches. By Christmas 2004, people feared attending religious services. Violence also escalated against shops that sold alcohol and music, most of which were owned by Christians. Their stores were bombed and robbed; owners were kidnapped and murdered. Christian women were harassed for not wearing hijab. Some had acid thrown on them or were killed.
   George Mushe, a Chaldean Catholic who fled from Baghdad to Istanbul with his family of five, told freelance journalist Yigal Schleifer, "Before the war they looked at us as different, but we could go to church, to work." Afterwards that became impossible, since if you leave your family "you don't know if you will see them again."
   Iraqi Christians tell wrenching stories that are repetitive in their barbarity: fathers murdered, children killed and maimed, relatives kidnapped and tortured, families imprisoned at home, businesses destroyed, jobs lost, churches abandoned. The Christians of Iraq website includes an 18-page list compiled by historian Fred Aprim of violent acts beginning in April 2003 and running through July 2006.
   Although violence is worst in Baghdad, it reaches even into Kurdistan, where the political authorities are hostile. Last year, reported Kaplan, the Kurdish religious affairs minister said, "those who turn to Christianity pose a threat to society."
   Although virtually all Iraqi Christians were pleased to be rid of Saddam, some now say the unthinkable: they were better off under him. Even Richard Land told me that it is "very sad and tragic" that "Christians have had their level of suffering increased by the overthrow of Saddam." Shea and Rayis were more blunt: "The Chaldo-Assyrians have endured much throughout the last century in Iraq, including brutal Arabization and Islamization campaigns. But this current period may see their last stand as a cohesive community" before the Christian minority is "driven out of its ancestral homeland."
   Many Christians have fled, especially to Syria, despite its bad reputation in America. In contrast, the U.S. accepted barely 200 Iraqi Christians last year. The administration simply denies the existence of religious persecution since doing otherwise would suggest that its Iraq policy was failing, explained The Estimates of the number of Iraqi Christian refugees vary widely. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees figured that roughly 36 per cent of the 700,000 Iraqis who had fled to Syria as of March 2005 were Christians. Bishop Andreos Abouna recently estimated that about half of Iraq's pre-war 1.2 million Christians had left the country. However, Mindy Belz says, "I tend to question those numbers, though I don't have any way of refuting them." For instance, these estimates might not reflect the growth of evangelical congregations. Todd Johnson, director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, believes that "some of the slack has been taken up by independent churches." Still no one doubts a substantial Christian exodus that could eventually eliminate the historic Iraqi Christian church. Johnson told me that "emigration is really the biggest thing" in Iraq today. Standard statistical projections are of dubious value in a nation convulsed by conflict: "many have fled in the last three to four months," he notes.
   Will they return? Bishop Abouna retains some hope - "once stability returns." But an authoritarian Shi'ite state would provide the wrong kind of stability.
   The problem is not confined to Iraq. Carl Moeller says that the actions and words of the U.S. government "have caused great harm to Christians on the ground all over the Muslim world." Similarly, Jim Jacobson observes that "everything we do has become much more difficult and dangerous because of Iraq." Radical Islamists "can't strike at us, so they strike at people they think of as surrogates for us," he adds.
   Afghanistan's threat to execute Christian convert Abdul Rahman this spring was "a huge wake-up call for a lot of people in the evangelical Christian population," notes Jacobson. It demonstrated that "democracy isn't the only answer and it does not resolve problems of religious persecution and problems of the heart."
   Oddly, the American evangelical leadership that campaigned for war has paid little attention to the catastrophe enveloping Iraq's Christians. Few notables acknowledge any need to rethink the war. Chuck Colson and Pat Robertson said they were too busy to comment. Roberta Combs and D. James Kennedy failed to respond to my calls. Schedulers for Rev. Falwell and Dr. Dobson at least made an effort to accommodate my request for comment.
   Richard Land acknowledged the problem of increased violence, though he contended that Christians "are not being treated any differently than Muslims in Muslim on Muslim violence." Michael Cromartie, vice-president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, made a similar argument: "the fact of the matter is that a lot of people are being shot and were being shot before" by Saddam. "In Iraq everyone is getting killed," so he doesn't consider Christian persecution to be a "tragic irony," even though it "is a horrible situation."
   Land defends his support for the war, blaming current problems on the inadequate numbers of troops, "one area of Bush policy that I have disagreed with from the beginning." But is there something more? Land acknowledges that building democracy in the Mideast "is going to be difficult." But it "is difficult in large parts of the world," like Yugoslavia. Despite all the problems, Iraq "is a battle that we cannot lose," he believes.
   Cromartie seems a bit more pessimistic. He says he is listening to the continuing conservative debate over whedier "there is a culture that can be democratized" in the Mideast. He acknowledges that "culture and tradition are very important and need to be weighed before trying to reshuffle the decks of a very nasty place." Obviously, we can't "believe that the opening of a society means it will stay open."
   Gary Bauer forthrightly acknowledges that "this has been one of the things that has really troubled me, and I'm a strong supporter of what the president is trying to do." Although Bauer had thought building democracy in the Mideast "would be a positive development," it is evident that we are not "dealing with a people who have a concept of Western values and the value of liberty." In the Middle East, when people make democratic decisions they end up "persecuting those of different religious persuasions." The experience in Iraq has "really pointed out the shortcomings" in the administration's policy, despite "the noble goals."
   Several evangelical leaders with experience in the region point to the administration's failure to recognize the power of culture and religion. The expectation of easily planting liberal democracy abroad was "naive," says Richard Cizik, ignoring "very deep suspicions of American power." Carl Moeller notes that it "is a far more nuanced and complicated situation in the Mideast than many Christians and Americans understand." Fred Markert is even more direct. "The idea of freedom is at the very core of the Gospel message. The opposite philosophy is at the core of the Koran." He doesn't believe that liberal democracy can take root until local people and institutions are transformed through Judeo-Christian ideas, a process that "there is no way to fast track." Military intervention just "can't solve problems of the human heart."
   Given this reality, Cizik told me that "evangelicals need to be really careful not to identify themselves with Caesar." Today, alas, "evangelicals are perceived by Muslims in the Mideast as being in league with the Pentagon. The soldiers come first and then the missionaries," he explains. In the case of Iraq, "Evangelicals trusted the president's perception of the threat. I was wrong. Without casting blame, the threat was misunderstood, and some would say purposefully."
   U.S. policymakers may not give much consideration to the status of foreign Christian communities. But religious activists, especially evangelicals who talk about spreading the Gospel, should make fellow believers a high priority. At the time of the Abdul Rahman controversy, Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, argued, "Religious freedom is not just 'an important element' of democracy; it is its cornerstone." If Islamic states "don't democratize in a way that protects religious freedom, it's almost not worth doing."
   Sadly, that appears to be the case in Iraq. Writes Paul Marshall of Freedom House, the U.S. risks presiding "over the demise of one of Iraq's, and the world's, most ancient religions and peoples." Evangelical leaders might still believe that the Iraq War was worth supporting. But they should reflect seriously on what has happened to their fellow believers. As Catholic Archbishop Louis Salco of Kirkuk said earlier this year, Iraq's Christian community is becoming "once again a church of martyrs."
____________________
DOUG BANDOW is vice-president of policy for Citizen Outreach. A member of the Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy, he is writing a book on international religious persecution. Copyright © 2006 The American Conservative # ANNALS AUSTRALASIA 34 APRIL/MAY 2007

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#christiansin
http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#islamisation_is [SUBSCRIBE: In Australia Aus$33 (pensioner $26), overseas enquire annalsaustralasia§ nareg.com.au ; PO Box 13, Kensington, NSW, 2033, Australia. Tel 02 9662 7894, or 02 9662 7188 ext. 252. Fax 02 9662 1910. ENDS.] [Apr-May 2007]
• White Ants [Islamising knowledge.]

From the director

White Ants

   Barnabas Aid magazine, www.barnabasfund.org (Britain and international) , from the Director, p 2, May-June 2007
   The story is told of an Australian who came home one day to find his house had collapsed and little remained but a pile of dust and rubble. Unknown to him, white ants had been eating away at the foundations and supporting timbers of his house for years. While everything had continued to look normal from the outside, internally the house was being gradually consumed. Then one day it had finally crashed to the ground, destroyed by the tiny insects.
   In many Western countries an insidious and destructive force is eating away at our Judaeo-Christian heritage. There may be little visible change but ideological Islam is eroding the foundations and supports of Western society, its culture and its religion, by a gradual process of Islamisation.
   The pull-out supplement in the centre pages of this issue of Barnabas Aid is on the subject of truth. In 1981 the International Institute of Islamic Thought (HIT) was established and registered in the USA. Working in the worlds of publishing and academia, the HIT has three objectives, which are set out below in the Institute's own words:

1. To provide a comprehensive Islamic outlook through elucidating the principles of Islam and relating them to relevant issues in contemporary thought.
2. To regain the intellectual, cultural and civilizational identity of the Ummah {worldwide Muslim community} through the Islamization of the humanities and social sciences.
3. To rectify the methodology of contemporary Islamic thought in order to enable it to resume its contribution to the progress of human civilisation and give it meaning and direction in line with the values and objectives of Islam.

   To summarise, the HIT aims to transform the world by what they call elsewhere "the Islamisation of knowledge". Every academic subject and every aspect of every culture is to be "Islamised" so that all the civilisations of the world are guided by and imbued with Islamic values and Islamic objectives. This is in effect to re-define truth. Facts are no longer objectively true or false, but their truthfulness depends on whether they fit with Islamic values or not.
   Twenty-six years after the institute was founded, the world is well on its way to being transformed. Islam now tops the public agenda across the globe in a way it did not in 1981. Islam seems to be laying claim to every achievement of the non-Muslim world. Here in the UK we are told that Islam inspired the glorious architecture of our medieval churches and cathedrals. We are told that William Shakespeare may have followed a kind of Islamic mysticism. You will find many more examples of the "Islamisation of knowledge" in the pull-out supplement.
   The message between the lines is repeated: "Islam is the source of all that is good in your civilisation. So why not become a Muslim?" Effectively the Islamisation of knowledge is a form of da'wa (Muslim mission).
   Secular media are beginning to assist the process of disseminating Islamised knowledge. Even the respected National Geographic magazine has published a map of the Middle East on which is marked a journey made by Abraham with Ishmael and Isaac to Mecca, where, said the magazine, he built the kaba and established the haj pilgrimage. There is no hint in the magazine that this is an Islamic version of events, completely at variance with the Biblical story; it is set out as established fact.
   In 1 Corinthians 2:14 Paul tells us that spiritual things must be spiritually discerned. Sadly it is not just the Western secular world that has been taken in by the deception, but increasingly Christians are also being fooled. A prominent British evangelical leader now advocates that local churches should invite an imam to their Sunday morning worship and give him an opportunity to present his beliefs about Islam and let the Christians ask him questions. "I simply cannot think of a more impacting, prophetic and dynamic way of exposing believers to a major faith ideology of which most of us are entirely ignorant," comments the evangelical leader. This could lead to such an erosion of the Christian faith that the house collapses.
   Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director #

   [RECAPITULATION: ENDS.]
   [DEFINITION: "White ants" that eat woodwork is the popular almost universal term in Australia for "termites." ENDS.]
   [KORAN (said to be the Angel Gabriel's message from Allah): 66:2:- Allah hath allowed you release from your oaths. … DOCTRINE ENDS.] http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#white_ants_islamising [May-June 2007]
• [Prison, harassment, for Mid-Asian Christians]

[Prison, harassment, for Mid-Asian Christians]

Barnabas Aid magazine, "Newsroom," p 10, May-June 2007

Church leader in Uzbekistan given four-year sentence

[Picture] David Shestakov.
   DMITRI (DAVID) SHESTAKOV, a Christian pastor in Andijan, Uzbekistan, has been found guilty of "incitement to religious hatred". David is very active in ministry and particularly in sharing the Gospel with non-Christians. As a result he is being persecuted by the state authorities who made three formal charges against him, and also appeared to be conducting a "smear campaign" by posting false information about him in the media in the run-up to his trial.
   During David's trial his defence lawyer was able to demolish many of the arguments of the prosecution and two of the charges were dismissed, including the most serious charge of running an illegal religious organisation. Instead of the 20-year prison sentence which had been suggested earlier, the prosecutor only felt able to ask for a 5-year sentence. On 9th March David was found guilty and sentenced to four years' deportation to a prison colony. Following the written notice of the sentence David had 10 days in which to appeal.
   The outcome of David's trial will probably have serious implications for all involved in this kind of Christian ministry in this country. At the time of writing two Christians in Karakalpakstan are currently facing similar charges. Makset Djabbarbergenov (26) and Salauat Serikbayev (32) each face up to five year's imprisonment if convicted under the Criminal Code of "violating the law on religious organisations". The two men were among 18 Christians detained on 15th January during a raid on a private home.
[Picture] Map of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgystan (Kirghizia) and Tajikistan. (These countries are north of Iran and Afghanistan, and west of the Caspian Sea.)

Central Asia: increased harassment of churches

   CHRISTIANS IN CENTRAL ASIA are seeing a rise in anti-Christian persecution, especially in the area around south-east Uzbekistan.
   At the same time as an apparent crackdown on churches and church leaders, Kazakhstan is also intending to introduce a new Religion Law which proposes even greater restrictions on religious activities than those already in place. If the law is passed in its current draft form it could mean that all unregistered religious activity would be banned, and registered religious communities with fewer than 50 members would be prohibited - from publishing or importing religious literature, maintaining open places of worship or conducting charitable activity.
   A few examples of the persecution seen in recent months are: In Qarshi, Qashqadaryo, Uzbekistan, police raided an unregistered church during the Sunday morning service on 25th February. They began filming the service and those present. Pastor Sergei Shandyvayev calmly continued the service. At the end the police officers sealed the doors and recorded the name and address of all present, then began to interrogate them. The worshippers were asked why they had become Christians and demanded to know from where the church received its funding.
[Picture] Photos of the raid in Qarshi, taken on a mobile phone.
   The officers then searched the individual church rooms and confiscated Christian literature.
   In Kyrgyzstan a church in Osh has been refused registration with the reason given that it had previously been organising religious activities without registration. The church's leader Pastor Nikitin said the decision was absurd. "Nothing in Kyrgyz law says that if a church has been functioning without registration and then wishes to obtain it, the Religious Affairs Committee has the right to refuse."
   On 7th March Pastor Fauzi Gubaidullin in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, was given a three day custody sentence for failing to carry out a court order to close his unregistered church. Under Kazakh law Gubaidullin had ten days in which to appeal his sentence, however the judge set his prison term to begin immediately. Gubaidullin was released on 10th March.

Pakistan: Church given permission to rebuild in university campus

   ON 23RD JANUARY 2007 the Peshawar High Court ruled that the reconstruction of a church building in the campus of the University of Peshawar should not be stopped. Chief Justice Tariq Pervez said that there were no legal obstacles to building places of worship. He also pointed out that Muslims can build mosques and spread their faith without obstruction in non-Muslim countries. "It has been a miracle indeed," commented the Bishop of Peshawar.
   The church had been attacked and ransacked in the mid-1980s, by Islamic extremists. When reconstruction began in December 2006 two Muslim students filed a petition against the church, stating that minority religious groups could not be allowed to build places of worship within institutions which were Muslim majority.
   There are 38 mosques on the University campus; the church, once rebuilt, will be the only church on the campus, serving 1,500 families.

   [RECAPITULATION: There are 38 mosques on the University campus. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: One wonders how much REAL study of the visible world goes on, if there is so much money and space given to planning actions for the invisible. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [KORAN (said to be the Angel Gabriel's message from Allah): 9:31-32:- 31. They take their priests and their anchorites to be their lords beside Allah. And (they take as their Lord) Christ the son of Mary; yet they were commanded to worship but One God: there is no god but He. Praise and glory to Him: (far is He) from having the partners they associate (with Him). 32. Fain would they extinguish Allah's Light with their mouths, but Allah will not allow but that His Light should be perfected, even though the Unbelievers may detest (it).
   9:34-35:- 34. O ye who believe! There are indeed many among the priests and anchorites, who in falsehood devour the wealth of men and hinder (them) from the Way of Allah. And there are those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the Way of Allah: announce unto them a most grievous chastisement- 35. On the Day when it will be heated in the fire of Hell, and with it will be branded their foreheads, their flanks, and their backs, -"This is the (treasure) which ye hoarded for yourselves: taste ye, then, the (treasures) ye hoarded" < www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/009. qmt.html# 009.034 > DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [HADITH: Volume 5, Book 59, Number 641:- Narrated Jarir: In the Pre-lslamic Period of Ignorance there was a house called Dhu-l-Khalasa or Al-Ka'ba Al-Yamaniya or Al-Ka'ba Ash-Shamiya. The Prophet said to me, "Won't you relieve me from Dhu-l-Khalasa?" So I set out with one-hundred-and-fifty riders, and we dismantled it and killed whoever was present there. ... < www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ fundamentals/ hadithsunnah/ bukhari/059. sbt.html#005. 059.641 >. TRADITION ENDS.] http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#church_leader_in_uzbekistan
http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#central_asia_increased
http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#pakistan_church_given [p 10, May-June 2007]
• Islam and Truth.

Islam and Truth

Barnabas Aid magazine, http://www. barnabasfund. org 4-page Pull-out Supplement, May-June 2007

This series of pull-out supplements is intended to provide background information for Christians seeking to understand the nature of Islam and its contemporary expression. One aspect of this relates to understanding the reason for the oppression and persecution of Christians in various Islamic parts of the world, and another to the growing challenge which Islam poses to Western society, culture and Church.

Many people find themselves very confused about the doctrine and practices of Islam. It seems to be a faith so full of contradictions. What one Muslim says may be the complete opposite of what another Muslim says, even if they follow the same version of Islam. More confusing still, what a Muslim says one day to one audience may be the complete opposite of what the same person says another day to another audience. Why is this particular religion so hard to pin down?
The puzzling duplicity of Islam
There are two doctrines within Islam which explain why it seems to non-Muslims that there are so many discrepancies and differences in what Muslims believe, say and do. Understanding these two doctrines solves the conundrum of the apparent self-contradictions within Islam. We shall return later to these two doctrines - taqiyya and abrogation - but first we shall look at what Islam says about truth and lies.
Truth and lying
One of the 99 names of Allah is "al-Haqq" meaning "the reality, the supreme truth". The concept of truth is important within Islam, and the word occurs hundreds of times in the Qur'an and the Hadith (traditions recording what Muhammad said and did). Like Christianity, Islam is a faith which rejects relativism and believes its own teachings to be the absolute truth. The Qur'an in Arabic is considered to be the very word of God, exactly as engraved on a stone tablet in heaven. Muhammad is considered to be the final infallible prophet to whom the Angel Gabriel gradually revealed the Qur'an and whose life is a model for Muslims to imitate in every detail.

That God may reward the men of Truth for their Truth and punish the Hypocrites if that be His Will, or turn to them in Mercy: for God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Q 33:24) ¹

Just as truth is commended, so also lying is condemned.

Truly God guides not one who transgresses and lies! (Q 40:28) [or 40:29]]

   Yet, despite these clear teachings, another doctrine has developed within Islam which permits Muslims to lie in certain specific circumstances.
The doctrine of taqiyya
   The doctrine of taqiyya (dissimulation) was first developed for dealing with situations of religious persecution where Muslims could save their lives by concealing their true beliefs. It was extended to allow such deception in order to save not just their life but also their honour or their property. Eventually what had originally been meant only for emergencies became effectively normal.
   As Hamid Enayat, a Muslim historian who was a Fellow of St. Antony's College, Oxford, states:

[Taqiyya has] "in practice become the norm of public behaviour among all Muslims - both Sunni and Shi'a - whenever there is a conflict between faith and expediency".

Shi'as, a minority amongst Muslims who have faced prolonged persecution by the majority Sunnis for their religious beliefs, were especially involved in the development of the doctrine of taqiyya. In order to protect themselves from harm, Shi'as often passed themselves off as Sunnis, while secretly maintaining their Shi'a beliefs. Taqiyya is therefore particularly strong amongst Shi'a Muslims, but is also practised by Sunnis.
The Qur'anic basis is Q 16:106 [or 16:108], which absolves Muslims from Allah's wrath if they are forced into outward disbelief while in their hearts they remain true Muslims.

Anyone who, after accepting faith in God, utters Unbelief, - except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in Faith - but such as open their breast to Unbelief, - on them is Wrath from God, and theirs will be a dreadful Penalty.

Another Qur'anic text often used to justify taqiyya runs:

And make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction but do good. (Q 2:195) [or 2:192]

It is interpreted as laying a duty on all Muslims to save life, honour and property from danger and unlawful destruction by any means possible.
A Qur'anic warning against friendship with non-Muslims is also seen as lending support to the doctrine of taqiyya because of the phrase "by way of precaution" which can be interpreted as pretended friendship.

Let not the Believers take for friends or helpers Unbelievers rather than Believers; if any do that, in nothing will there be help from God: except by way of precaution, that ye may guard yourselves from them. (Q 3:28) [or 3:27]

Various Hadith provide details of other situations when lying is permissible. For example:

Allah's Messenger said, "Lying is allowed in only three cases: falsehood spoken by a man to his wife to please her, falsehood in war, and falsehood to put things right between people." (Al-Tirmidhi Number 5033: Narrated by Asma, daughter of Yazid.)

____________________
¹ Quotations in this article are taken from The Holy Qur'an: Text Translation and Commentary by A. Yusuf Ali (Leicester: The Islamic Foundation, 1975). Please note that the verse numbering varies slightly between different translations of the Qur'an so it may be necessary to look in the verses just before or just after the reference given to find the same text in another translation.
____________________
Recognising taqiyya
   Once it is realised that even the most senior, the most sincere and the most devout Muslim could be engaging in taqiyya, many apparent contradictions are explained. Taqiyya in the defence of Islam allows Muslims to make contradictory statements depending upon whom they are addressing. Much of what is said by Muslims about Islam to non-Muslims is likely to be untrue. Occasionally they will even admit this.
   What is said in English to Christians one day might be totally contradicted the next day by the same leaders speaking to their own people, perhaps in Urdu or Arabic. For example, Hamid Ali, spiritual leader of Al-Madina mosque in Beeston, West Yorkshire, UK, publicly condemned the London bombings of July 7th 2005. But in a secretly taped conversation with a Bangladeshi-origin undercover reporter from the The Sunday Times he said the 7/7 bombings were a "good" act and praised the bombers.
   There are even special translations of the Qur'an in English which are designed to appeal to Westerners and to dispel all their anxieties about Islam. These translations soften the more aggressive verses by wandering further from the original text and its traditional Islamic interpretation.
The Islamisation of knowledge
   Some Muslims have embarked on a deliberate process they are calling the "Islamisation of knowledge". The plan appears to be to enlarge and elevate the place of Islam within every academic discipline by grounding all arts and sciences in the Islamic doctrine of the unity of God based on Qur'an and Hadith. Their method includes a massive publication programme and the establishment of Islamic universities and research institutions.
   They also engage in revising text books in the West by introducing Islam and the "Islamic legacy", thus disseminating "Islamised knowledge" to students, scholars and intellectuals. But other methods of disseminating information are also used. The purpose is both to revive the faith of Muslims and to be an Islamic witness to non-Muslims.
   However, the changes made are not just to introduce factual information about Islam to the text books. There are also false or exaggerated statements introduced in order to make Islam appear in a better light, while the negative aspects of Islamic teaching or Islamic history are cut out. One of the erroneous take-home messages is that Islam should take the credit for all that is best in European civilisation, having been the original source from which Europeans derived their learning and skills.
   Some of the "Islamised knowledge" is easy to spot as many of the newer assertions still appear ridiculous to most non-Muslims. For example:

Napoleon Bonaparte converted to Islam.

Muslim explorers reached America before Christopher Columbus did.

Islam arrived in Australia in the ninth century.

Offa, the eighth century Anglo-Saxon king of Mercia (in the British midlands) was a Muslim.
But other examples have been around a long time and have become widely believed. Here is a selection.

There was interfaith harmony in Islamic Spain. For some of the time Christians and Jews were tolerated so long as they submitted to various humiliating rules. But in some periods they were severely persecuted, e.g. killing, expulsion and forced conversion of Christians and Jews to Islam.

Muslims led the field in science and medicine during the Middle Ages. While much of the learning of the time was written down in Arabic, many of the scholars were Christians and Jews. This is often not apparent because their names may be Islamised and some became Muslims for various reasons. The first Arabic medical book was written by a Christian priest and translated into Arabic by a Jewish doctor in 683 AD. Furthermore, the scholars' work was basically no more than to translate into Arabic the work of earlier Greek scholars, with very little in the way of new additions. This applied to medicine, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, zoology, chemistry, geography and technology. "The crossing of the language barrier left the contents almost completely unchanged," says Professor Manfred Ullman of Tubingen University. What medieval Islam did in effect was to absorb the learning of other cultures, to re-name everything in Arabic and then to claim it all for Islam.

Muslims founded the first hospital. The first hospital was founded in Baghdad when this city was the capital of the ruling Abbasid caliphate. However it was not started by a Muslim but by an Assyrian Christian called Jabrail ibn Bakhishu.

Muslims invented the Arabic numerals used in the West today as well as the useful mathematical concept of zero. The numerals 1,2,3,4 etc, came to the West via the Arabs but were originally derived from the Syriac alphabet. The Syriacs are a Christian people. The numerals now used in the Arab world (١ , ٢ , ٣ , ٤ , etc.) were introduced from Hindu India in the seventh century by a Syriac mathematician. The idea of using a symbol for the quantity zero also came from India.

Muslims invented a beautiful new kind of architecture. The domes and arches which are typical of mosques were copied from the architecture of Middle Eastern churches of the time. The minarets resemble the stand-alone bell towers which many churches at that time had. The famous Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem was built by Byzantine (Christian) craftsmen.

Islam spread peacefully in the early years. The Muslims conquered non-Muslim countries and imposed Islamic rule by force with non-Muslims in a subjugated position. Some non-Muslims converted to Islam by choice and could have continued in their old faith with the inferior status. Others were offered a choice of death or conversion to Islam.

Women are equal to men in Islam. This is not true according to the normal Western understanding of "equal". According to shari’a (Islamic law) women receive a smaller inheritance and less compensation for injuries compared with men. Also their worth as a witness in a trial is less than that of a male witness, and the rules for divorce are biased against women. In most Muslim countries, women continue to suffer from second rate status, illiteracy, unfair treatment in cases of divorce and maintenance, and other legal handicaps.
[Picture] This gold coin from the reign of Anglo-Saxon King Offa (died 796) is the only piece of evidence to back the claim that he was a Muslim. The argument is based on the fact that it has an Arabic text around the edge, resembling the Islamic creed. But one of the Arabic words has been written incorrectly, indicating that neither Offa nor his officials could read Arabic. Before Offa there had been no gold coins in England. In order to make his new gold coinage acceptable to Arab traders, Offa would have wanted to make his coins resemble theirs, a normal numismatic practice, hence the copying of what would have been to him unintelligible squiggles around the edge. Offa built many churches and was a great benefactor of monasteries. He anointed his son as his heir in a strongly Christian ceremony.

The Crusades were an unprovoked European assault on the peace-loving Muslims of the Holy Land. The Crusades were a delayed Christian reaction to the initial Muslim jihad of the seventh and eighth centuries that had overrun many Christian provinces including Palestine, Syria, Egypt, North Africa and Spain. The loss of the Holy Land to Muslim armies in the initial Islamic jihad of the seventh century was deeply mourned across the Christian world but no action was taken by the Christians at the time. The Crusades were also a response to ongoing Muslim attacks against the Christians of the Byzantine Empire which continued after the first jihad. Two Byzantine emperors appealed to the Pope for help (1074 and 1095) and eventually, more than 300 years after the initial Muslim conquest, the European Christians came to the aid of their beleaguered fellow-Christians in the Middle East.

"Islam" means "peace" and jihad is nothing to do with war. Islam means "submission" and jihad in classical Islam is used mainly of military warfare to defend and extend the Islamic state.

The Qur'an says: "If you kill one soul it is as if you killed all mankind." These or similar words, often cited to prove that Islam is only peaceable, are a misquote. The actual Quranic text runs:

If any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people. (Q 5:35) [or 5:32]

The meaning of the verse depends on what is understood by the part which is usually deliberately omitted - "murder" and "spreading mischief in the land" - i.e. what would then justify killing. Some Muslims interpret "mischief in the land" as meaning secularism, democracy and other non-Islamic values in a land. Some consider that "murder" includes the killing of Muslims in Iraq by coalition forces. This verse would then justify killing them in retaliation for the "murder" they have committed. When the whole verse is read, it is actually a justification for killing certain people.

[Panel showing] The first ten letters of the Syriac alphabet
[and then a transitional form, developing into the current Western figures 1 to 0]
The numerals used today in the West are derived from the Syriac alphabet

Abrogation
   Another important doctrine within Islam which causes it to appear contradictory is known as abrogation.
   We have already seen that the Qur'an is regarded by Muslims as the perfect and unchanged word of Allah. They believe it was revealed piecemeal to Muhammad over a period of some 20 years. But the text of the Qur'an is full of internal contradictions. Muslims deal with that problem by the doctrine of abrogation which, in its commonest form, says that whenever two verses containing rulings contradict each other, the later-revealed verse abrogates (cancels) the earlier one. So long as a Muslim knows the relative dates of the two contradictory verses, he or she will be able to tell which one to ignore (the earlier one) and which one to obey (the later one).
   In fact, dating the verses is no easy matter, because the Qur'an is not arranged in chronological order, and even the scholars disagree about the relative dates of some sections. But there is some agreement on which chapters date from Muhammad's early years in Mecca and which from after his move to Medina.
   One of the sad consequences of the doctrine of abrogation is the violently hostile attitude of Islam to those of other faiths. The reason is that most if not all of the peaceable verses in the Qur'an date from when Muhammad lived in Mecca. At that time he was very friendly towards those of other faiths. Later, when he fled persecution to set up his own Islamic state in Medina, his attitude to other faiths changed completely, and verses dating from his time in Medina are full of aggression and commands to fight against non-Muslims. In accordance with the standard rules of abrogation, the Medinan verses abrogate the Meccan verses i.e. the aggressive verses cancel out the peaceable verses.
   But the peaceable verses are still there in the Qur'anic text. This explains why Muslims can quote peaceful-sounding verses to support the claim that "Islam is peace", while Islamic history shows us a faith which has set out to conquer territory by military might, killing or forcibly converting non-Muslims.
Making and breaking agreements
   We cannot end this brief look at the subject of Islam and truth without considering why Muslims so often break the agreements they make with non-Muslims. Amongst Islam's detailed rules for conducting wars, are rules about making peace treaties. Muslims are allowed to make temporary peace treaties with non-Muslims but only if this is advantageous for the Muslims. Such treaties should preferably not last more than ten years. When circumstances change so that it becomes advantageous to the Muslims to break the treaty, they must do so (having given due notice of their intention).
   There are modern liberal Muslims who would like to see a change to the classical Islamic doctrine in the form of the possibility of making permanent peace treaties with non-Muslims. Some of these however say that permanent peace should be conditional on non-Muslims submitting to the Islamic state, which is really no different from classical Islam. Others hold that the only condition necessary is that Islam may be propagated without hindrance in the other state. As with taqiyya, the doctrine of breaking treaties has developed despite there being verses in the Qur'an to support the keeping of treaties and promises.

(But the treaties are) not dissolved with those pagans with whom ye have entered into alliance and who have not subsequently failed you in aught; nor aided any one against you. So fulfil your engagements with them to the end of their term: for God loveth the righteous. (Q 9:4) [or 9:5]

… break not your oaths after ye have confirmed them; (Q 16:91) [or 16:93]

[Picture] This beautiful mosque in Jerusalem, known as the Dome of the Rock, was built by Christian craftsmen
Prolonging the Middle East conflict
According to Sheikh 'Abdul Rahman 'Abdul Khaliq, a Saudi Salafi scholar, peace treaties with Jews are made to be broken. In response to a question about the duty of a Muslim with regard to peace treaties with Jews he writes:

The first duty is to firmly believe in their invalidity and that because they contain invalid conditions they were born dead the very day they were given birth to … The second duty of the Muslim is to believe that these treaties do not bind him and that it is not lawful for him to give effect to any of their contents except under compulsion and necessity… The third duty is to work towards overthrowing these treaties…

Saudi Arabia's former Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Ibn Baz, also made it clear that any cessation of hostilities with Israel could only ever be a temporary measure, pending the time that Muslims became strong enough to gain possession of the whole land for themselves.

The peace between the leader of the Muslims in Palestine and the Jews does not mean that the Jews will permanently own the lands which they now possess. Rather it only means that they would be in possession of it for a period of time until either the truce comes to an end, or until the Muslims become strong enough to force them out of the Muslim lands - in the case of an unrestricted peace.

   With teaching like this being promoted, it is easy to see why peace in the Middle East is proving so elusive.
Conclusion
   While many Muslims are honest and open in their dealings with non-Muslims, the possibility of taqiyya always exists. This makes it very difficult for non-Muslims to assess the reliability of statements made by Muslims to them. It is easier to be sure of what Muslims think by checking what they say to each other and what they do. # © Barnabas Fund, 2007
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Source: Barnabas Aid May/June 2007

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#islamand [DEFINITION: Qur'an in many books and papers is printed "Koran." ENDS.] [Supplement, May-June 2007]
• [Qur'an exams and violence for Christians]

[Qur’an exams and violence for Christians]

Barnabas Aid magazine, "Newsroom," p 11, May-June 2007

Indonesian students and engaged couples forced to sit exams on the Qur’an

   ALL STUDENTS IN WEST SUMATRA, Indonesia, from elementary school through to secondary education, must now pass a written and oral examination on the Qur'an.
   The West Sumatran authorities adopted an ordinance, which will take effect from 2008, to place the exams as a required element of the curriculum.
   In addition engaged couples who wish to marry must also pass exams on the Qur'an. The exams apply to all students, regardless of their personal faith.
   Local politicians have denied that the ordinance is discriminatory against non-Muslims, claiming that a Qur'anic education was aimed at giving young people "good morals, so they won't be lured by drugs and other negative activities".
   The only provision made for non-Muslims has been the exclusion of the Metawai Islands from the ordinance, as the population there is majority non-Muslim.

Violence and harassment for Indian Christians

   ON THE EVENING OF 25TH FEBRUARY a mob of 70-80 Hindus surrounded the home of Pastor T.N. Jose in Rajnandgaon district, Orissa state. The mob, some of whom are reported to belong to the Hindu militant group Bajrang Dal, accused Pastor Jose of forcefully converting villagers to Christianity, and threatened to cut him to pieces if he did not leave the village before the next morning. They forced Pastor Jose to sign a statement that no-one was forcing him to leave the village.
   Pastor Jose took refuge at another pastor's house close to the village. However the attackers took Pastor Jose's sister, keeping her with them until they could find Pastor Jose. They eventually released her the following evening, after which she ran through the jungle to a designated spot where her brother could collect her. Pastor Jose's sister is a doctor who runs a clinic in the village, which has remained closed since the incident.
   Two days later on 28th February 500 Bajrang Dal members attacked a Bible College in Orissa state. The Hindu mob systematically attacked the staff and students present on the campus. Five students and a director of the women's dormitory were hospitalised from their injuries. The attackers ransacked the campus, destroying roofs, and disconnected the electricity supply.
   Elsewhere in India, in Chhattisgarh state, Christians are protesting about the Government's attempts to confiscate the land on which the village chapel has stood for 30 years. The land is being taken on the pretext of "returning" it to its presumed original tribal owners. Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code states that "If a non-tribal or tribal purchases the tribal land through fraudulent and treacherous means it has to be returned to the original owner of the land." However the land on which the chapel was built was donated to the Christians by the father of a tribal church minister.
   When Chhattisgarh officials arrived to measure the property local Christians surrounded the building. They later sat inside the chapel until late in the night. The chapel is also used as a community hall for the whole village.

“Why can’t you put more good news in Barnabas Aid ?”

   This is a very reasonable question which many Barnabas supporters ask, especially those who use the prayer diary regularly.
   Although the oppression and persecution of Christians is increasing in many situations, there is also much to rejoice about, not least the fact that more Muslims are coming to Christ than at any time in history. There are also encouraging incidents like the story on page 10 of the Pakistani Muslim judge who spoke up so clearly for the rights of Christians to restore the church building at Peshawar University. But why doesn't Barnabas Aid cover more good news? There are two questions we have to consider before publishing any news, whether good or bad:
   1. Is the story true?
   2. Is it safe to publish?
   Sad to say, some of the more exciting good news stories that reach the Barnabas Aid office turn out to be wild exaggerations. God is at work in a wonderful way, but some reports have hugely inflated figures or over- dramatised the circumstances. We do not believe it is glorifying to Him to repeat stories which are not true.
   But even some of the true stories could be dangerous to publish. For example, if we said that there were X number of converts to Christianity in country Y, there could be people in country Y who took that as an insult and a challenge. Those people might take out their feelings on nearby Christians, or even start to search for the new converts in order to punish them. Likewise there are some stories about individuals which could bring risk to those individuals if we published them.
   The Muslim world sees the growth of the Christian Church as an offence and a crime. There are Muslim groups who monitor Christian publications and keep lists of former Muslims who have become Christians. They aim not only to stop all Christian mission in Muslim areas, but also to get rid of all converts from Islam. Because of this we have to be extremely sensitive in what we write.
   So please bear with us and pray for wisdom for us as we decide which events and incidents to share in public. Be assured that whenever we can bring you good news, we do.

   [RECAPITULATION: ... a mob of 70-80 Hindus surrounded the home of Pastor T.N. Jose in Rajnandgaon district, Orissa state [...] The Muslim world sees the growth of the Christian Church as an offence and a crime. ... They aim not only to stop all Christian mission in Muslim areas, but also to get rid of all converts from Islam. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Hindus have incinerated a Christian minister, just as they have resumed incinerating widows. However, in spite of the Mohammedans mixing up Jewish and Christian words in some of their texts, they are like Hindus in treating Christianity as an offence and a crime, following other texts of theirs.
   It is a tribute to humanity that many Hindus and Muslims do not constantly attack their non-Muslim neighbours. COMMENT ENDS.] http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#indonesian_students_and
http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#violence_and_harassment
http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#why_cant_you [p 11, May-June 2007]
• Leaders in "landmark" Aussie interfaith meet.

Leaders in “landmark” Aussie interfaith meet

   CathNews (from Church Resources, Australia), www.cathnews. com/news/ 705/27.php , May 4, 2007
   SYDNEY: Christians, Muslims and Jews have come together for a "landmark" Middle East peace congress organised by Australia's bishops - but controversial Sheik Taj el-Din al Hilaly was not invited.
[Picture] Melkite Catholic Archbishop Chacour of Galilee.
   Key people from the three major Abrahamic traditions attended the conference at NSW's Parliament House on Wednesday at the invitation of the bishops to discuss "The Role of Religion in Achieving Peace in the Middle East."
   According to an Australian bishops' statement, speakers at the event included Archbishop Elias Chacour, Mr Jeremy Jones and Dr Mohommad Sammak.
   Melkite Catholic Archbishop Chacour of Galilee (pictured) told the audience he had come to Australia as a beggar - not for money, but for friendship and for solidarity with the Christian community in the Middle East.
   The archbishop, a noted peace activist and advocate of reconciliation between Arabs and Israelis, told the congress that the conflict in the Middle East has never been a religious conflict or a social or racial conflict.
   "It is about the identical claims of two nations on the same territory," he said.
   He said the majority of Arabs and Israelis want peace and security.
   "But both Jews and Palestinians to my mind have made a major mistake - they wanted their old peace and their old justice. Unless we all learn how to belong to the land, maybe we have only one solution - to be buried together in different ways in the same land."
   Archbishop Chacour said the role of Christianity was to bring forward an alternative to the pervading culture of death in the Middle East.
   "We want to welcome the otherness of the other as a brother, not as an other," he said.
   Archbishop Chacour urged Australians who visit the Holy Land to go beyond the shrines and holy places to spend some time with the local Christian communities.
   Praise for Aussie interfaith relations
   Mr Jones of the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council paid tribute to the extraordinary depth of inter-religious dialogue in Australia and said it was the envy of much of the world.
   "We don't only meet together as Christians, Jews and Muslims, but we discuss things that bother us too," he said.
   Mr Jones said one of the key roles of religious leaders in the political process is to pray, to try to imbue any political debate with a moral dimension and a forward thinking dimension.
   He warned against the tendency for people to cherry pick from religious beliefs.
   "It is easy to cherry pick religion without looking at what is meant and without taking a holistic view," he said.
   As the final speaker, the Secretary General of the Islamic Spiritual Council in Lebanon, Dr Sammak spoke of the role which Australia could have in helping to promote peace in the Middle East.
   "Australia has no history of religious conflict but Australia can make history in a role of promoting peace and reconciliation. I believe that Australia can play this role of bridging not only in the Middle East, but all over international communities."
   The President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Philip Wilson gave the official welcome at the event, which was attended by about 90 key representatives.
   Sheik al Hilaly not invited
   However, Sydney's Daily Telegraph points out that one notable absence from the Muslim delegation was Sheik al Hilaly.
   The paper claims that several key leaders of Australian Muslims insisted the controversial mufti be left off the invitation list.
   The Telegraph quotes one prominent Muslim as saying that Sheik al Hilaly from the Lakemba Mosque in Sydney was not invited because he does not represent Muslim views.
   Conference chairman Bishop Michael Putney, who confirmed Muslim and Jewish leaders decided who their representatives at the forum would be, said religious leaders could promote tolerance between communities.
   He said in response to a question about the controversial Sheik's absence that "it is very easy for one person to become the focus of attention."
   Sheik al Hilaly was recently described in a Sydney Morning Herald profile as "the mufti we love to hate" for his outspokenness on issues such as international relations and women's fashion.
   SOURCE: Australia has important role to play as bridge builder in Middle East – ACBC inter-religious congress hears (ACBC Media Release, 3/5/07)
Hilaly barred from faith forum (Daily Telegraph, 3/5/07)
The mufti we love to hate (Sydney Morning Herald, 2/5/07)
   LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church Resources)
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference
Archbishop Elias Chacour (Catholic-Hierarchy)
Lebanese Moslems Association | Sheikh Services
Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council
   ARCHIVE
Bishops and church groups welcome Middle East ceasefire (CathNews, 15/8/06)
Middle East war crimes trials unlikely, says international law expert (CathNews, 14/8/06)
Neither retaliation or provocation can justify slaughter: Australian Maronite nun (CathNews, 11/8/06)
Canberra Christian leaders slam Govt over "cowardly" silence on Middle East (CathNews, 1/8/06)
Students taking lead for Middle East peace (CathNews, 26/7/06)
Interfaith summit condemns abuse of religion (CathNews, 7/7/06)
Cardinal Kasper joins landmark interfaith summit (CathNews, 4/7/06)
Nun on Downer's interfaith dialogue mission (CathNews, 13/3/06)
Pell to host Muslim cleric at Cathedral Interfaith Prayer (CathNews, 31/3/04)
Pope appoints Palestinian to Christian-Jewish dialogue committee (CathNews, 8/5/03) #
HAVE YOUR SAY   Click here

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#leadersin [COMMENT: Well, if Christians and Judaists can't read what's on these webpages, on newsmedia seven days a week, and in their own magazines, what chance is there for common sense? Contrary to what Archbishop Chacour of Galilee said, IT IS a religious war, and the Muslim scriptures and subsequent writings and actions make that quite clear. One of the best Judaist tricks is to claim they own Palestine because Yahweh told them so. One of the best Islamic tricks is to claim that they own Palestine because of a supposed night flight to Paradise! Isn't it about time that Yahweh and Allah appeared at the United Nations General Assembly and told the world's delegates His/His plans for Palestine? COMMENT ENDS.] [May 4, 07]
• [Bombs found hidden in walls of new girls' school.]

Bombs found hidden in walls of new school

   The Times Online (London), www.times online.co. uk/tol/news/ world/iraq/ article 1750161.ece , From The Times, by James Hider in Baghdad, May 5, 2007
   IRAQ: Insurgents rigged a girls' school under construction near Baghdad with explosives, building artillery shells into the walls and ceilings, in a plan that would have killed scores of children, a US general said yesterday.
   "We found artillery shells that were being literally built into the ceiling," said Major General William Caldwell, the senior US military spokesman in Iraq. "We found artillery shells, again all hooked up with wires, being built into the floors. We found propane tanks – two very large propane tanks – built into the floors under the stairwells."
   The school was identified as the Huda Girls' School in Tarmiya, in a predominantly Shia area north of Baghdad. The plot was discovered only when US soldiers spotted a detonation wire across the street from the building and followed it to the school.
   "It was truly just an incredibly ugly, dirty kind of vicious killing that would have gone on here by al-Qaeda," General Caldwell said. "Somebody had clearly taken and planned to take this school, a place of learning for these young children and turn it into a death trap."
   Al-Qaeda has not balked at wantonly killing children before, even using two small boys as camouflage to smuggle a car bomb past an American checkpoint in a Shia area of Baghdad and then blowing them up with the device.
   Dozens of children have been killed when car bombs targeting US convoys exploded as they gathered around, begging for sweets. Sunni guerrillas also use boys as young as 12 to fire rocket grenades at US troops in Fallujah and to plant roadside bombs.
   As the American surge increases there are fears that al-Qaeda will resort to evermore ruthless or callous attacks as security forces limit their room for manoeuvre. General Caldwell said that the latest plot was "obviously a sophisticated premeditated attempt to inflict just massive casualties on our most innocent victims – young children, girls in this case".
   Militants have long employed the technique of building improvised explosive devices into paving stones to ambush security patrols, but the Tarmiya plan appeared to be one of the most ambitious and ruthless uses of the technique so far. The construction company building the school is under investigation.
   The US military also announced the names of two more al-Qaeda operatives killed this week in operations that also claimed the life of the terror network's "information minister". The two men – reportedly part of a group of five al-Qaeda members killed in Baghdad – were named as Sabah Hilal al-Shihawi, the spiritual guide of the killed propaganda chief Muhared Abdul Latif al-Jebouri, and Abu Ammar al-Masri, whose name suggests that he was of Egyptian origin.
   US troops also detained 16 people in Baghdad's main Shia militia area of Sadr City who were accused of smuggling armour-piercing explosives that had been made in Iran.
   An American soldier was also killed, by a roadside bomb, south of the capital yesterday, and five Iraqi policemen died while on patrol in the violent Sunni area of western Baghdad.
   Shias in Basra and Najaf have staged angry protests against the television channel Al-Jazeera. The demonstrators claimed that one of the station's presenters had insulted the revered Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, by questioning his leadership credentials.

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#bombsfound    [COMMENT: "… armour-piercing explosives that had been made in Iran" might not be a proven detail. Previous claims were thrown into doubt when it was noticed that all the markings were in English, using the Christian calendar. However, in the murky wars between Big Business and the Primitive Thinking, anything is possible! COMMENT ENDS.]
   [2nd COMMENT: If a reporter questioned the leadership credentials of the Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, s/he might also question the credentials of the whole lot -- all are self-appointed, unelected, and subject to no higher earthly authority than the threat of violence. In Britain a "moderate" cleric in the past few years has been chased out of his mosque, and in Australia in 2007 violence is breaking out in a mosque, with a view to replacing its imam. [May 5, 2007]
   [SELECTED METACRAWLER REPORTS: 1., 2., 9., and 13. Military: New Iraqi school had bombs built in - CNN.com . U.S. troopers find girls' school rigged with explosives … There were artillery shells built into the ceiling and floor, and another propane tank was found … www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/03/iraq.school.bom… [Found on Google, Yahoo! Search, Ask.com]
   3. Bombs found hidden in walls of new school-News-World-Iraq-TimesOnline. Insurgents rigged a girls' school under construction near Baghdad with explosives, building artillery shells into the walls and ceilings, in a plan that … www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1… [Found on Google]
   4. New Iraqi School Had Bombs Built in | Drudge Retort. American soldiers discovered a girls school being built north of Baghdad had become an explosives-rigged "death trap," the U.S. military said They found an … www.drudge.com/news/93967/new-iraqi-school-had-bom… [Found on Google, Yahoo! Search, Ask.com]
   6. Cowards Build Bombs Into Girls' School. An Iraqi girls school in Baghdad was being built with explosives already built into it in an attempt to cause mass casualties to innocent victims. … www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=62267 [Found on Google]
   8. Girls' school wired as death trap - World - smh.com.au . WASHINGTON: US soldiers stumbled on a plot to turn an Iraqi girls' school into an 'absolute death trap' by rigging it with explosives while it was under … www.smh.com.au/news/world/girls-school-wired-as-de… [Found on Google, Yahoo! Search]
   [FINAL WARNING: Cynics might need more evidence. The U.S.A. has a huge military propaganda unit, which, for example, actually turned the collection of a woman soldier, by request from brave Iraqi hospital staff, into a "rescue," filmed complete with pictures of hurrying "rescuers" and gunfire sound effects, of a brave heroine who had "fired" her gun until unable to do so. Reality: When recovered enough, she stated the truth. And she has again recently been on television saying she never fired a shot, and was wounded when the vehicle she was in had an accident! Instead of the incident being used to THANK the courageous Iraqi doctors, it was used for vainglory by the Bush "Establishment" and his military propaganda unit. ENDS.]
• [Three children, 10 police killed.]

[Three children, 10 police killed]

   The West Australian, Monday, May 7, 2007
   P. 21: [Bomb kills three children of teacher] IRAQ: […] A wave of attacks across Iraq killed at least 50 people. In Kut, 160km south-east of Baghdad, a roadside bomb outside a teacher's house killed three of his children, all of three under the age of 10. # -- "Al-Qaida claims victory; Bin-Laden's deputy mocks Bush boast of progress and says Congress Bill shows US beaten."
   P. 28: "Police killed." AFGHANISTAN: Eight Afghan police died in a six-hour gunbattle after a Taliban ambsh and two were killed when a suicide bomber rammed a car into their vehicle and blew himself up …

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#three_children_10 [May 7, 07]
• [Gaza: 147 Palestinians killed by Palestinians in three months; school sports day 'un-Islamic'].

Islamists attack Gaza sports day

   The West Australian, p 20, Tuesday, May 8, 2007
   GAZA CITY – Islamic extremists killed one man and injured seven people when they attacked a school sports day in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, saying that the event was "un-Islamic".
   The robe-wearing extremists threw bombs into the school in the Rafah refugee camp after they were prevented from entering by armed Palestinian Authority security officers.
   The dead man was said to be a bodyguard of a senior member of the former ruling party Fatah. He was killed in front of his children.
   John Ging, a senior United Nations official in the Gaza Strip, was visiting the camp but was unharmed.
   Demonstrators at the school accused Mr Ging of "turning schools into nightclubs".
   The Irishman, whose UN refugee relief agency is the biggest source of employment in the Gaza Strip, also was accused of trying to undermine the Islamic faith.
   The extremists involved in the latest incident were believed to be part of the same obscure, new group which in recent weeks had launched a series of bomb and arson attacks on internet cafes, restaurants and pool halls.
   The movement's attempts to impose its own notion of Islamic purity on the 1.3 million people in the strip coincide with factional feuding between supporters of Fatah and the ruling party Hamas, still simmering despite a unity government deal reached two months ago.
   With law enforcement paralysed, security in the fenced-in strip has degenerated into a mosaic of political and clan loyalties.
   A new report by Palestinian human rights group al-Mezan found that 147 Gazans, including 10 children, were killed by their fellow Palestinians in the first three months of this year, compared with 252 for the whole of last year and 101 in 2005.
   Gaza correspondent for the BBC Alan Johnston, 44, is still missing eight weeks after gunmen kidnapped him near his flat in Gaza City.
   While it is widely believed that the motive for his abduction was ransom, a number of claims and demands have reportedly been issued by groups professing political aims, including one from a supposed al-Qaida affiliate claiming to have murdered the Scot.
   Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh met Palestinian Authority President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas at the weekend in the latest attempt to agree on new security measures to end the lawlessness.
   Hamas' nominee for interior minister, Hani Kawasmeh, has threatened to resign over attempts by Fatah to maintain direct control of the security forces – staffed mainly by its loyalists – despite having lost parliamentary elections last year. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#gaza [May 8, 07]
• Second set of questions [for a follower of Submission.]

Second set of questions

   An e-mail giving a follower of Submission more discussion points, sent May 9, 2007
   SECOND SET OF QUESTIONS for [organisation name withheld]
   1. KHAIBAR: In the time of Muhammad, Khaibar was a fertile oasis in the Arabian Desert. It was populated by Jews, who maintained its irrigation systems and lived off its produce. When Muhammad conquered the oasis in 628, the Jews who lived there managed to negotiate a surrender. The conditions of their surrender were that some of them could remain to tend the date palms and gardens but in return they had to pay 50 per cent of their harvest to the Muslims. The land itself would henceforth belong to the Muslim community. The Jews of Khaibar were also granted permission to keep practising their faith.
   (Khaibar also provided Muhammad with one of his wives, Safiya, a leading Jewish woman of Khaibar whom he selected for himself from among the enslaved captives.) Soon after, the Arab Christians of Najran were forced to accept the same conditions.
   The right of the Jews of Khaibar to stay on their former lands was a temporary concession, withdrawn in 640 by Umar, in obedience to Muhammad's dying wish: "Two religions shall not remain together in the peninsula of the Arabs". In this same year the whole of Arabia was cleansed of non-Muslims.
   (Facts from Online Opinion, Australia, "Amrozi's invocation of Khaibar says much about the terrorists' mindset," www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=989 , By Mark Durie, Posted Tuesday, December 09, 2003)
   Will this destruction of Jews be repeated worldwide if Islam were to conquer the world?
   2. MURDER, SLAVERY: After the Battle of the Trench (Armstrong p 18), all the Jewish men of the Qurayzah tribe were murdered, and the Jewish women and children were enslaved. Is this a good example for the world?
   3. FATWAS: When Iran's religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a $1 million reward and fatwa against Salman Rushdie (Armstrong pp 148-149) for writing alleged blasphemy, the fatwah was declared un-Islamic by 48 of the 49 member states of the Islamic conference (Armstrong p 149). Shouldn't the ayatolloh have been removed from office?
   4. BEHEADING: In the Koran, terror and striking off the heads of disbelievers is taught at 8:12. The verses are recited by children. Why did a recent video show a 12-year-old Muslim child cutting off the head of a fellow-Muslim with a knife? Voices were saying Allahu akhbar while the murder took place. Is this any way to bring up children?
   5. KILLING: Killing disbelievers and others is taught in the Koran 2:191 (or 2:187) and the Hadeeth 19:173 (Bukhari's collection), 41:6985 (Sahih Muslim's collection), and 9, 84:57-58. "Slain" is the word used in 33:61. Does the list to be killed include fellow-Muslims if called hypocrites or polytheists, plus former Muslims if called apostates, and various non-Muslims such as Christians, Jews, and pagans?
   6. SUBMISSION is the meaning of Islam, so why do various spokespeople and non-Muslims say Islam means "peace"?
   7. FIGHTING: Muslims are ordered to fight by the following: Koran 2:191 (or 2:187), 2:193 (or 2:189), 2:244 (or 2:245), 4:74 (or 4:76), 4:76 (or 4:78), 9:123 (or 9:124), 47:4-6 (or 47:4-7), 49:9 (if two groups of Muslims); Hadith (Bukhari's collection) Volume 4, Book 53, Number 386. Please explain.
   8. WARFARE: Commanded by 2:216 (or 2:212), 2:278-279, 8:39 (or 8:40) [not 8:38], 9:29, 66:9
   9. UNCLEAN: Various groups of non-Muslims are classified as "unclean."
   10. APES and SWINE, Koran 5:59-60 (or 5:64-65): Do you believe that some of the Jews have been changed into apes and swine?
   11. COMPULSION: Koran 3:83 (or 3:77):- Are they seeking a religion other than Allah's, when every soul in the heavens and the earth has submitted to Him, willingly or by compulsion? … www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/003. qmt.html# 003.083 . But at least seven other verses forbid compulsion. Please explain.
   12. ARABS in PALESTINE: The Palestinians are often called Arabs, and speak Arabic. The original home of Arabs is Arabia -- isn't warfare the way that these people are many kilometres away, in Palestine? And why are their [should be "there"] Arabs in Sudan? Morocco? And they were in Spain -- how?
   13. EARTHQUAKE, STAMPEDES: It was terrible to see the horrors of the huge earthquake in Pakistan, and the stampedes that kill people every few years during the Haj in Mecca, killing Muslims. Please explain.
   14. STONING WOMEN sex victims to death -- but hardly ever the men. Is this really necessary? #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#second_set_of [COMMENT: Answers? Not really. COMMENT ENDS.] [May 9, 07]
• [Lawlessness drives Iraqi doctors out, kills occupiers, 58 Iraqis. Turkey marches against mullah rule.]

[Lawlessness drives Iraqi doctors out, kills occupiers, 58 Iraqis. Turkey marches against mullah rule.]

The West Australian, newsitems, Tuesday, May 8, 2007
P. 26: "Saddam rule to stem doctor shortage."

BAGHDAD: Iraq is haemorrhaging doctors as violence racks the nation. Medical schools are again forbidden to issue diplomas etc. to graduates, to prevent them leaving the country, just as under the Saddam Hussein regime.
P. 26: "US troop deaths will rise: officer." IRAQ: On Sunday Maj-Gen Rick Lynch said U.S. casualties would rise as American troops dug into enemy territory. ; A roadside bomb had killed six US soldiers and a foreign journalist, and five other US troops in other incidents at the weekend. At least 58 Iraqis died in attacks by extremists. Last month, 104 US troops had been killed.
P. 31: "Turkish Islamist quits poll." ANKARA:

Turkish pro-Islamic Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan suffered a setback when a quorum did not attend parliament, so Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul could not be endorsed for president. On Saturday tens of thousands of pro-secular Turks marched through two western cities.

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#lawlessness [May 8, 07]
• [Not by the sword was spread Islam, says missioner.]

[Not by the sword was spread Islam, says missioner]

   A talk, (Partial transcript), May 9, 2007
   […] Islam means surrender, submission, and obedience. A Muslim is someone who surrenders, submits, and obeys Almighty God.
   […] Koran means that which is recited. Nobody came and collaborated with him … Angel Gabriel … preserved for over 1400 years without the changing of a dot. … Enclyclopaedia Brittannica or World Book …
   Dress Code: Islam believes in modesty. The covering for a man is from navel to knee, and for a woman from wrist to ankle.
   The Muslim women are trying to hang onto … value.
   Q: Suppressed? She has the same rights to property. She has the right to seek divorce, and an equal right to receive an education and enter into employment. … The key is to uphold all the … of Islam. To prevent any women from getting an education is contrary to the teaching of Islam.
   Q: Jihad? It is … to fight back against people who oppress you. Fight until there is no more hostility or oppression.
   Jihad literally means struggle and applies to … There is no such thing as a holy war in Islam. Fighting in a war can be jihad; it can only be done if it is done to be obedient to God's law. It is not for race etc. When he began calling the people of Mecca, some were tortured and even killed. The Muslims were forced to flee to Medina. The people of Mecca were intent on stopping Mohammed. … During these patrols he forbade the killing of combatants. He forbade the killing of women and children … He said …
   Spread of Islam? Sword? It was the force of truth, reason and logic. There are many in this world who are in … we need place … Islam promotes people … to fight against opression.
   Historian's book Islam at the Crossroads, page 8: The legend of fanatical Muslims … fantastic myths. … Muslims have been lords of Arabia for hundreds of years … but Christians … India was ruled for a thousand years, yet the majority are non-Muslim. Indonesia and Malaysia, and the east coast of Africa . …
   The Koran says Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from error. The fastest-growing religion in America is Islam … to Europe. […]

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#not_by_the_sword    [COMMENT: Did you pick up the "porky pies"? Even the one about not even "a dot" being changed? They didn't use the "dots and dashes" much in Arabic writing in Mohammed's day! COMMENT ENDS.]
   [KORAN: 66:2 . DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [RECAPITULATION of CORRECT STATEMENTS: Koran means that which is recited. … Islam means surrender, submission, and obedience. ENDS.] [May 9, 07]
• [Convert, or be beheaded; A saint for us all.]

A Saint for us all

   The Record (W. Australian Roman Catholic newspaper), By Father James Gilhooley, p 8, Thursday, May 10, 2007
M ost people are tired of would-be-Christians talking about Christianity. They want to meet people practicing it to a heroic degree. One recent example is Private Yevgeni Rodionov of the Russian Army. The New York Times was so taken by him that it told his story in half a page with pictures and a map in one of its 2003 editions.
   The young man, called Zhenya by family and friends, was murdered at 19 years old in Chechnya.
[Picture] Love: Private Yevgent Rodionov's mother holds a photo of her son and an icon of him.
   He became a prisoner of war in 1996. He was killed not because he was a Russian soldier but because he refused to turn his back on his Christian faith. The young man, although Orthodox, is considered a martyr for Christ by his many Russian admirers, Catholics included. Details concerning his death only became known when Muslim rebel soldiers approached his mother during a pause in the Chechnya uprising against Russia.
   They offered to sell her his body for US$4,000. Eagerly, she accepted their offer.
   They told her he and several other Russian soldiers were taken prisoner at a checkpoint in Chechnya. They remained captive for three months in a basement.
   The Muslims ordered Rodionov to renounce his religion and to take off the small silver cross he was wearing around his neck. He refused both requests. For his refusal, he was beheaded by his captors.
   That was seven years ago. When the mother was led to her son's body, she found among his remains the small silver cross.
   It was covered with several drops of dried blood. She brought her son home to his tiny village of Kuriovo, west of Moscow. There, she buried him, "forever young."
   His plot is in the frozen earth on a hill near an ancient whitewashed Orthodox church. She takes care of his grave faithfully. The gallant story of Rodionov became the stuff of Christian legend in Russia. For those people devoted to him, many of them young, he is a soldier-saint.
[Picture] Pvt. Yevgeni Rodionov
   In a church near St Petersburg, his standing youthful figure in icon form stands next to a figure of Mary holding the Christ Child, and his halo is as large as the Virgin's. Icons of him are found throughout Russia.
   They come in many forms: Some picture him as an armed soldier; others put him in a robe; and some have him holding a cross.
   But the similarity that marks them all is his halo. His admirers say his icon sometimes exudes a fragrant perfume, a quality peculiar to several of the most venerated icons in Russian tradition. The military come to his grave to pray, as pilgrims might come to a sacred shrine. There, they leave notes asking for his intercession with Christ. Veteran soldiers travel there to leave their decorations as tribute to his courage.
   Soldiers on active duty carry with them laminated pictures of Rodionov in uniform. They consider him their own and hope he will send them luck and safety. He is not canonised except by popular acclaim. Long before Pope John Paul II canonised Padre Pio and beatified Mother Teresa, many considered them saints.
   I, who had met them both, was among that number. There are other such examples over the long centuries in the Church, both West and East. The Russian boy Zhenya told his mother that when he grew up, he wanted to become a cook. Instead he has grown up to become a saint to thousands of Russians.
   As I said earlier, The New York Times introduced him to the West. It will be interesting to watch what will happen to him here. His tale is not yet done. - OUR SUNDAY VISITOR #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#convert [CONTACT: Record, PO Box 75, Leederville, WA 6902; Tel: (08) 9227 7080, Fax: (08) 9227 7087; cathrec§iinet.com.au ENDS.] [May 10, 07]
• Mid-East Christians need our help: Melkite Archbishop.

Mid-East Christians need our help: Melkite Archbishop

   The Record (Perth), p 7, Thursday, May 10, 2007
   AUSTRALIA: The Australian bishops brought together prominent speakers from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities to discuss the role religion can play in creating peace in the Middle East.
   Speakers included Mr Jeremy Jones from the Australia Israel Jewish Affairs Council, Dr Mohommad Sammak from the Lebanese Christian-Muslim Committee for Dialogue and Archbishop Elias Chacour of Nazareth, the Melkite Catholic leader for Akka, Haifa, Nazareth and all Galilee.
   Archbishop Chacour urged Christians visiting sites in the Holy Land to also visit local Christians, who need their "solidarity," he said. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#mideast [COMMENT: Talk, talk, talk! The principle of reciprocity is unknown to some religions. Other newsitems explain the method being used, for example, in Britain, to chip away at its non-directional society. ENDS.] [May 10, 07]
• The way forward for Muslims and Catholics.

The way forward for Muslims and Catholics

   The Record (Perth), By Cindy Wooden, CNS, p 9, Thursday, May 10, 2007
   Khatami says religious leaders must heal Catholic-Muslim wounds
[Picture] Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and Pope Benedict XVI [Ratzinger] exchange greetings during a private meeting at the Vatican on May 4.    PHOTO: CNS
Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said religious leaders have an obligation to God to begin healing wounds in Catholic-Muslim relations, including those caused by Pope Benedict XVI's September remarks about Islam.
   "Meeting the Pope cannot heal all these wounds, but at least we are making an effort to begin," said Khatami, speaking May 4 at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University immediately before meeting Pope Benedict at the Vatican.
   Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said the Pope and Khatami spent 30 minutes speaking privately in the papal audience. Khatami also met separately with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state.
   The conversations highlighted "the importance of a serene dialogue between cultures aimed at overcoming the serious tensions that mark our time and at promoting a fruitful collaboration in the service of peace and the development of all peoples," said a Vatican statement.
   The meetings also underlined "the conditions and the problems of the Christian communities in the Middle East and in Iran," the statement said.
   Regarding the Middle East, the statement said, Vatican officials and Khatami reaffirmed "the need for strong initiatives by the international community" to promote "a serious negotiation that takes into account the rights and interests of all with respect for international law and with the awareness of the need to rebuild mutual trust."
   Khatami, a Muslim cleric and Iranian politician, told his audience at the university that Christianity and Islam emphasise "love and justice, compassion and justice."
   In a world where there is "hatred instead of love, discrimination instead of justice," religious leaders "can lay the foundations for healing the wounds" of violence and injustice.
   Interreligious dialogue, he said, should bring Muslims and Christians closer together, allow them to share their sufferings and find ways to increase solidarity with each other.
   In his speech on dialogue for peace, Khatami spoke of "how much blood had been spilled on the earth in the course of history before everyone accepted without difficulty the excellence and superiority of dialogue over war."
   Yet, he said, even if the idea is widely accepted, putting it into practice still seems far off.
   Khatami said that if the point of interreligious dialogue were to reach a negotiated agreement on divine truths obviously no real believer would be willing to engage in dialogue.
   "But the most important issues we must discuss in the dialogue between Islam and Christianity," he said, are the conditions necessary for creating and guaranteeing justice and peace.
   At the top of the list, Khatami said, is "the elimination of terrorism and of large conventional wars, those wars that today seek to minimise and hide terrible cruelty and barbarity with the excuse of having to give permanent attention to another form of cruelty and barbarity, that is, to terrorism."
   "But the most important issues we must discuss in the dialogue between Islam and Christianity," he said, are the conditions necessary for creating and guaranteeing justice and peace.
   "We cannot and should not use God's name, which is the name of perfection, generosity, beauty and truth, to instigate war, hatred and to speak ignorantly of crusades," he said.
   As political tensions grow inside Iran, mainly because of the country's ailing economy but also because of international criticism of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's fiery rhetoric and his nuclear program, Khatami is seen as one of the leading proponents of a new government.
   While not referring explicitly to the Iranian situation, Khatami said good governance must include defending the rights and security of all citizens.
   One can say a nation is at peace when there is social order and stability based on freedom and justice, he said.
   A situation of "relative stability and funereal silence" cannot be described as peace if the dignity of citizens is not respected.
   The same thing can be said of relations between nations, Khatami said.
   "When relations between governments are not the result of the force of weapons, but flow from the force of justice and freedom, then you can speak of peace," he said.
   But, Khatami said, too often a peace imposed by force simply opens a period of time in which "rivals are boosting their forces, catching their breaths" in order to fight again.
   The establishment of true peace "has need of souls that seek peace," he said.
   "The sovereignty of God over human hearts will lead to the total annihilation of war and hatred," he said.
   Only when God rules human hearts can love for God and for others ensure that fear, hatred and aggression give way to altruism, friendship and compassion, he said.
   "The magic potion alchemists have sought is nothing other than God's compassion," Khatami said.
   "It is in his name, filled with goodness, that we will defeat war and our lives will acquire meaning, grace and joy."
   "Convents, synagogues, churches and mosques are the house of peace and the followers of every religion, particularly believers in the Abrahamic religions, thanks to God's name and safe in his house, can overcome the wickedness and cruel darkness of war," he said. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#the_way_forward [COMMENT: But, all those anti-Christian and anti-Jewish tirades in the Koran and the Hadeeth will not disappear just because an ex-leader says so! "Dialogue" with the Bolsheviks, Hitler, Mussolini, the Japanese Imperialists, and the Communists of Moscow and Beijing only gave them more time to improve their weapons. ENDS.] [May 10, 07]
• Iranian revolution [takes people into repression, cruelty, squalor.]

IRANIAN REVOLUTION

   Facts (W. Australia), natcivic§ hotmail. com , pp 1-3, May 2007 issue
Political revolutions that succeed in violently overturning societies are usually fairly promptly assessed by historians and others to determine if they'd achieved what their original promoters set about attaining.
   Thousands of books have been written about the French Revolution, the Bolshevik one that followed more than a century later, the Adolf Hitler-led Nazi one of the 1930s, and other minor ones, such as that in Cuba in the late 1950s.
   Perhaps because of its uniqueness Iran's Islamist Revolution, or what is also be called the Khomeinist Revolution, is only now being weighed up by outsiders.
   Stefania Lapenna, an Italian freelance writer living in Sardinia, Italy, who is regularly published in the Jerusalem Post, l'Opinione, Il Foglio and Ragion Politica (Italy), has not been dissuaded from undertaking such an audit.
   "It was in February 1979 when, on board an Air France flight freighted with some powerful Iranian Bazaaris, Dastmalchi and Barkhordar, with the formal approval of the then French President Giscard Estaing [SIC], a bearded Shia Islamist cleric from an Indian Sikh family landed in Tehran," Lapenna writes.
   "After years spent preaching an ideology of death and violence in the name of "social justice" (populist-style), via clandestine radio broadcasts courtesy of Paris, Ruhollah Khomeini had proclaimed himself as the 'liberator of the people of Iran, slave of the infidel Shah.'
   "When he landed, Khomeini was cheered by hundreds of thousands of followers, among them imported Islamists, communists, fedayeen and the Marxist-Islamist terror group of the People's Mujahideen (now renamed the 'National Council of the Iranian Resistance') - all brainwashed into believing that the Islamic revolution was going to bring heaven on earth by establishing social justice and eradicating poverty.
   "These groups had been fighting the Shah for many years and the terror attack at the Cinema Rex in the south-western Iranian city of Abadan on 19 August, 1978, which killed 300 people, was but a prelude to the Islamic takeover.
   "On the other side, however, tens of thousands of ordinary Iranians had taken to the streets in the first weeks after the triumph of the revolution to reject the new theocracy.
   "The street uprising involved all walks of the modern, liberal Iranian society. Most of it was led by hundreds of unveiled women, who had pledged to never give up their rights granted by the Shah's regime.
   "They were shouting "Na Toosari, Na Roosari!" ("No Veil, No Submission").
   "Nevertheless, the terror of shari’a law was imposed on the nation by force."
   Lapenna says Westerners forget Iranian culture precedes the Ayatollahs' regime by thousands of years.
   She says backward practices such as polygamy, wife-beating and repudiation have always been foreign to Iran.
   "Rather, such practices are a product of the Islamist invasion and nowadays are promoted by the current theocratic regime, but in truth practiced only by a tiny minority of people, mainly the illiterate," she adds.
   Lapenna then presents a list of the human and social cost of 28-years of Islamist power on the Iranian nation and its people.

Public Executions, flogging, stoning, amputation of limbs in public, mutilation of hands and feet and gauging of the eye of the condemned.

Mass killings of political prisoners.

Assassination of dissidents outside of Iran (a sad example is the hunting and killing of Iranian dissidents in Europe in the late 1980s by the Islamic republic's agents, who were later pardoned by complacent European governments).

Construction of more prisons to hold thousands of political prisoners.

Promotion of international and domestic terrorism.

Violation of human, religious and women's rights.

Lack of civil and social liberties.

Killing and imprisonment of dissident journalists.

Censorship and closure of independent news publications.

Stealing of the nation's wealth and transfer of public funds to abroad-based terror groups.

Destruction of the once-flourishing economy through widespread, state-sanctioned corruption and mismanagement, resulting in a very high inflation rate (official sources estimate it to be close to 20 per cent, but real numbers are believed to be much higher) and an unemployment rate of 15 per cent (although the unofficial numbers are more than the triple);

Devaluation of the Tooman, Iran's national currency.

Malnutrition, retarded growth and increased rate of depression among the youth.

The Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, resulting in millions dead, wounded, handicapped and homeless.

Building of nuclear weapons for aggressive aims.

Trade of women as sex slaves in Persian Gulf countries.

Mandatory veiling of all women, regardless of their religion or social status. Failing to wear it is enough to risk jail, flogging or heavy fines.
   "The above gives you just an idea of what life under the Mullahs has meant and still means for millions of Iranians, not just the international community faced by the threat of a nuclear Holocaust," she says.
   "Not that the latter seems not [SIC] to care that much; the Europeans have no intention of abdicating their lucrative and yet amoral economic deals with such a rogue regime.
   "On the other side, however, President Bush has opted to focus on the nuclear issue, omitting even to mention the Iranian people in his State of the Union Address this year." #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#iranianrevolution    [RECAPITULATION: … the terror attack at the Cinema Rex in the south-western Iranian city of Abadan on 19 August, 1978, which killed 300 people, was but a prelude to the Islamic takeover. ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE - Koran: 22:19 (or 20):- … But as for those who disbelieve, garments of fire will be cut out for them; boiling fluid will be poured down on their heads. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/022. qmt.html #022.019 .
   8:12:- … I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them. DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [CONTACT: Box S 1369, West Perth, 6872; Suite 2, 1st Floor, The Regency Centre, 949-951 Wellington St, West Perth, WA, 6005; Tel. 08 9321 2822, Fax 08 9321 1798. ENDS.] [May 2007]
• Torture camp raided; Al-Qaeda victims freed.

Torture camp raided
Al-Qaeda victims freed

   The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), By PAUL SCHEMM, p 15, Tuesday, May 29, 2007
   AMERICAN and Iraqi troops rescued 41 civilians from an al-Qaeda torture facility in a lawless province north-east of Baghdad yesterday.
   All of those held captive in the terror camp were Iraqi civilians, many of them showing signs of mistreatment ranging from broken bones and bruises to dehydration.
   Some had been held for months.
   "[In] a combined operation with the Fifth Iraqi Army south of Baquba we came upon an al-Qaeda prison camp or, if you will, a hideout," Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Donnelly said.
   "The captors fled. We secured the area and got the prisoners to safety."
   Meanwhile 10 US soldiers died in action. Most died in and around Baghdad, the epicentre of Iraq's vicious sectarian conflict and the focus of a controversial 28,000-strong surge in US troop numbers, which is due to peak next month.
   Four soldiers were killed in two attacks in the Sunni province of Sala-heddin, while another four were killed in blasts in the capital.
   A marine and another soldier died in combat north and west of the capital.
   More than 100 US troops have been killed in May so far, while two are still missing two weeks after being snatched by al-Qaeda, putting the month on course to be one of the bloodiest in the four years since the March 2003 invasion.
   The increase in casualties is largely a result of US forces flooding into areas they had previously avoided, such as the restive Diyala province, where the 41 captives were freed.
   Meanwhile, domestic public support for the US mission is falling. President George W. Bush, who last week won his struggle to squeeze another $147 billion in war funding from a Democrat-led Congress, has already warned that he expects more violence ahead.
   "We can expect more American and Iraqi casualties," he said. "This summer is going to be critical."
   Despite approving the new funds, congressional Democrats are predicting further battles over the handling of the conflict and rising casualties could strengthen their position.
   "We will oppose the President's failed war policy at every turn," Senate majority leader Harry Reid said. "This fight will continue every day." #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#torture_camp    [RECAPITULATION: … another $147 billion in war funding …
   "We will oppose the President's failed war policy at every turn," Senate majority leader Harry Reid said. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: The spending goes on, so see why I don't believe the Senator and the other Democrats? If the U.S. electors had stirred themselves so that 100 per cent voted, and they had voted for anti-conquest congressmen and women, perhaps this colossal waste of money, and lives, would be stopped. COMMENT ENDS.] [May 29, 07]
• Fighting an extremism we did not create.

Fighting an extremism we did not create

   The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), p 16, Tuesday, May 29, 2007
AFTER September 11, 2001, in common with many other nations, we passed new anti-terror laws. In the aftermath of such an outrage it was relatively easy to do.
   We gave ourselves the ability, in exceptional circumstances, to detain foreign nationals who we believed were plotting terrorism but against whom there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.
   In December 2004 these laws were struck down by the courts.
   We have tried continually to deport foreign nationals who were either engaged in or inciting extremism.
   We have chosen as a society to put the civil liberties of the suspect first. I happen to believe this is misguided. If a foreign national comes here, and may be at risk in his own country, we should treat him well. But if he then abuses our hospitality and threatens us, I feel he should take his chance back in his own home country.
   As for British nationals who pose a threat to us, we need to be able to monitor them carefully and limit their activities.
   Over the past five or six years, we have decided as a country that except in the most limited of ways, the threat to our safety does not justify changing radically the legal basis on which we confront this extremism.
   Their right to traditional civil liberties comes first. I believe this is a dangerous misjudgment. Extremism needs to be confronted with every means at our disposal.
   I was stopped by someone the other week who said it was not surprising there was so much terrorism in the world when we invaded their countries (meaning Afghanistan and Iraq). No wonder Muslims felt angry.
   I said to him: tell me exactly what they feel angry about. We remove two utterly brutal and dictatorial regimes; we replace them with a UN-supervised democratic process.
   And the only reason it is difficult still is because other Muslims are using terrorism to try to destroy the fledgling democracy and, in doing so, are killing fellow Muslims.
   Why aren't they angry about the people doing the killing? The odd thing about the conversation is I could tell it was the first time he'd heard this argument.
   This extremism can be defeated. But it will be defeated only by recognising that we have not created it; it cannot be negotiated with; pandering to its sense of grievance will only encourage it; and only by confronting it, the methods and the ideas, will we win.
• Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair's column was first printed in Britain's The Sunday Times.

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#fighting_an    [RECAPITULATION: And the only reason it is difficult still is because other Muslims are using terrorism to try to destroy the fledgling democracy and, in doing so, are killing fellow Muslims. Why aren't they angry about the people doing the killing? ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE: 2:191 (or 192), 9:73 ENDS.]
   [GUIDELINE: 41:6985, ENDS.] [May 29, 07]
• Habib lands in a police pickle.

Habib lands in a police pickle

   Herald Sun (Melbourne), p 12, Tuesday, May 29, 2007
   SYDNEY: FORMER Guantanamo Bay Inmate Mamdouh Habib has been charged after he allegedly called a police officer a "piece of s---" while dining in a McDonald's restaurant last week.
   The former terror suspect was charged with offensive behaviour after he allegedly launched a foul-mouthed tirade at police in the Sydney suburb of Bankstown at 5.30pm on Friday.
   The 50-year-old from Guildford is accused of calling police "pigs" before calling one officer a "piece of s–".
   Police sources said that the officers came to the fast-food restaurant to investigate a separate assault matter when Mr Habib allegedly began his verbal barrage.
[Picture] Mamdouh Habib
   A McDonald's spokeswoman said the officers had just ordered coffees at the outlet when the incident occurred.
   "Both the police and Mamdouh Habib and his family are regular McDonald's customers," she said.
   After being spoken to by police, Mr Habib was issued with an on-the-spot court attendance notice and ordered to leave.
   His lawyer did not return calls yesterday. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#habib_lands    [DOCTRINE:
   3:73 (or 66):- And believe no one unless he follows your Religion. …
   33:48 (or 47):- And obey not (the behests) of the Unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and heed not their annoyances …
   33:60:- If the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease and the agitators in the city do not desist, We shall most certainly set you over them, then they shall not be your neighbours in it but for a little while. ENDS.] [May 29, 07]
• BANGLADESH: Photography students receive death threats.

BANGLADESH: Photography students receive death threats

Students and staff of Pathshala, the South Asian Institute of Photography, told to stop violating Islamic law with their work

   AsiaMedia, University of California, Los Angeles, www.asiamedia. ucla.edu/ article. asp?parent id=70969 , By Angilee Shah, AsiaMedia Managing Editor, Tuesday, May 29, 2007
   BANGLADESH: Students and staff at Pathshala, the Dhaka-based South Asian Institute of Photography, received death threats over the weekend from proponents of Islamic law in Bangladesh. The letters, sent to at least three students and 16 staff, faculty and board members, allege that the school's photographers are violating Islamic law in their work.
   The letters were individually addressed and mailed to Pathshala and to students' home addresses. While it is unknown who made the threat, the author claims to be a leader of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), an organization banned by the government and known for its militant activities. The page-long form letter, one of which was seen by AsiaMedia, outlines alleged goals of JMB and warns students and staff to stop "all kinds of photography except natural photography," "all kinds of movie [sic] and movie posters," "cultural program" and "fine arts." The author writes that addressees and their families will be killed if these activities continue.
   In Islam, idolatry is forbidden and in some of the strictest traditions, representing people in a form such as photography is considered a form of idolatry or a practice which can lead to idolatry.
   Pathshala founder and principal Shahidul Alam received initial notice of the threats from staff members. On Monday, several students emailed him to say that they too had been threatened. Alam is visiting the United States this week to give a series of talks at the University of California, Los Angeles.
   Alam said he has instructed the staff of Pathshala to file a complaint, or general diary with Dhaka police, increase school security and maintain good communications. While students and staff are concerned about the threats, Alam says it is important not to panic.
   "I think it is known," Alam told AsiaMedia, "that Pathshala is not an organization that caves in to external pressure."
   The institution, according to Alam, is "a very progressive space" which hosts critical events that Islamists and some political groups might find objectionable. Journalists in Bangladesh are often threatened for investigative reports, particularly those about corruption, but Alam said that this particular threat appears to be "a general attack against culture." #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#bangladesh_photography_students    [COMMENT: Movie-making is against Islam, they seem to say! And in other countries DVD shops are being burnt. And in another country a "scholar" forbade Muslims to watch television. Meanwhile, exhuberant missionary-type Muslims are using movies, DVDs and television to convince people what a wonderful religion they follow! The cause of such brain-scrambling can be deduced from the following:- COMMENT ENDS.]
   [KORAN: 6:32:- Nothing is the life of this world, but play and amusement. But best is the Home in the Hereafter …
   And see 47:36 (or 47:38) at www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/quran/ 047.qmt. html#047.036 .
   93:4:- And verily the Hereafter will be better for thee than the present.
   12:106:- The majority of those who believe in Allah do not do so without committing idol worship.
   33:60:- If the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease and the agitators in the city do not desist, We shall most certainly set you over them, then they shall not be your neighbors in it but for a little while. DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [HADITH: 4, 59:3322:- The Prophet said, 'Angels do not enter a house which has either a dog or a picture in it.' GUIDELINE ENDS.] [May 29, 07]
• Rome and Italy under threat from Muslim Invaders, 876 AD

Rome and Italy under threat from Muslim Invaders, 876 AD

   Annals Australasia, annals australasia §nareg. com.au , by Pope John VIII, p 23, Apr-May 07, received Jun 07, 2007
Were all the leaves of the forest turned "to tongues, they could not tell of all the troubles that we are suffering at the hands of the Saracens. …
   Cities, walled towns and villages, bereft of their inhabitants, have sunk into ruin. Their bishops have been driven hither and thither. The thresholds of the Princes of the Apostles [the twin Basilicas of Sts Peter and Paul, in Rome] are the only places they have to turn to for refuge, as their houses have become the dens of wild beasts. Homeless wanderers, no longer have they to preach but to beg… .
   In distress, rather in ruin, is the Mistress of nations, the Queen of cities, the Mother of Churches. …
   In the year that has passed we sowed the seed, but did not gather in the harvest. This year, as we have not planted we have not even a hope of reaping. …
   You must come and help the Church, which freely chose you as another David for the imperial sceptre. If this Church is brought low, not only will the glory of your empire totter, but the greatest loss will accrue to the Christian faith." Still no help came. - Letter from Pope John VIII to Frankish Emperor Charles the Bald, and to his Empress Richildis, November 876 AD. See Epistles 43-4; and 45 quoted in Horace Mann, History of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, vol. 3, pp 324-325.

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#romeand [Apr-May 07, received Jun 07, 2007]
• The Rich History of Ethiopia: Country Profile.

Country Profile

The Rich History of Ethiopia

   Barnabas Aid magazine (Pewsey in England, Australia, etc.), pp 6-9, May-June 2007
[Picture] Dark-skinned people dressed casual European style, all but one sitting, one with a book, near a tree on which is drawn a cross.
   In the Horn of Africa, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia sits as an island of Christianity in a sea of Islamic countries. The country is home to approximately 75 million, who face huge challenges from widespread HIV/AIDS and recovery from devastating famines. Despite its Christian heritage, Ethiopia became a secular state with its 1995 constitution; it is currently estimated that the population is around 50% Christian, 45% Muslim.
   Unique in its status as the only African country to retain its independence while the rest of Africa was carved up by European colonial powers in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, Ethiopia is currently recovering from the wounds of the past century. After nearly 30 years of war with Eritrea and civil war between rival tribes, coupled with famines which ravaged the country in 1974, 1984 and again in 2002-03, Ethiopians today face huge challenges related to their poverty.

Land of many names The land of Ethiopia has known several names. In the Bible it is referred to as Cush. Until the early 20th century it was known throughout the world as Abyssinia, but Emperor Haile Selassie officially introduced the name Ethiopia around 1930. There is still some political controversy surrounding this renaming; however "Ethiopia" appears to have now been accepted by the majority population.

I t began in Genesis...
   Ethiopians trace their heritage to Noah's son Ham, through his son Cush. Before 1000 BC the eastern parts of Ethiopia, as well as modern-day Eritrea and Yemen, were part of the Sabean Kingdom. However at that time a powerful Kingdom called Aksum (or Axum) was established, eventually encompassing the whole of northern Ethiopia and much of present day central Ethiopia. This was the first known civilisation established in what is now Ethiopia.
[Picture] Relief map of Ethiopia and surrounding areas including Yemen, the Gulf of Aden, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Sudan and Eritrea.
   During the Aksumite reign in Ethiopia the Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon, as recounted in 1 Kings 10:1-13. Sheba is thought to have been on the eastern tip of the Red Sea, in the area of present day Yemen; some historians believe that Ethiopia was also part of Sheba's territory. The Queen travelled to Jerusalem to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and brought with her "a large group of attendants, as well as camels loaded with spices, jewels and a large amount of gold". Ethiopian traditions claim that the first Ethiopian king, Menelek I, was the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
Black Jews: The Ethiopian House of Israel
   Within Ethiopia there is a Jewish tribe known as the "Black Jews" or "Beta Israel", (the House of Israel). They are also sometimes called Falashas, however this is commonly used as a derogatory name. Some of their history claims that they are descended from the entourage of Jews who accompanied Menelek I to Aksum when he returned from a visit to Solomon in Israel, but other traditions trace them to a son of Moses who established the tribe before the time of Solomon. Some historians believe that a likely explanation for their existence is gradual migration of some Jews from southern Arabia and East Africa during the first century AD. A small number of these "Black Jews", about 10,000, remain in the country, However, the majority were resettled to Israel between 1984 and 1992.
   The "Black Jews" had access to the Pentateuch, but as they were isolated from Israel they did not have the message of the Prophets or the rest of the Old Testament. It is likely that the Ethiopian eunuch who met Philip on the road while reading Isaiah (Acts 8:26-40) was either from this tribe or had heard of the Jewish faith through contact with them.

Millennium Hopes and Dreams According to the Ethiopian calendar it is the year 1999, and Ethiopians are currently building momentum to celebrate their entry into the new Millennium later this year. The Ethiopian year has 13 months - 12 of 30 days and a final month of 5 or 6 days, depending on whether it is a leap year. In addition to this they measure the start of each day at dawn rather than at midnight. Therefore they will celebrate the start of the year 2000 of their calendar at dawn on 12th September 2007.
Ethiopia wants to use their Millennium celebrations to shake off the global opinion of an impoverished and conflict-riddled country. Apart from trying to improve their national image, it is also hoped that a global recognition of the cultural diversity within the country will lead to increased tolerance among Ethiopian tribes.

The Bible describes how he had travelled to Jerusalem to worship God - and it was probably his first encounter with the rest of the Jewish Scriptures. After Philip had told him about Jesus and baptised him, he returned to Ethiopia.
Though the Ethiopian eunuch undoubtedly took the Gospel back with him, Christianity was not wide spread in Ethiopia until the 4th century AD.

First or second hijra as model? Many Muslims today use Muhammad's second hijra (migration) to Medina as the model for how Muslims should behave when in a non-Muslim society i.e. to seize power and run it as an Islamic state. However, during the first hijra Muslims lived peaceably amongst the non-Muslims of Ethiopia, without attempting to convert them or claim the country for Islam. The question remains why do so many Muslims choose to copy the second hijra with its aggressive/hostile strategy, rather than the first hijra and its peaceful integration?
[Picture] Dark-skinned man dressed casual European style, reading a bible.

   A Christian boy called Frumentius, from Tyre, Syria, was shipwrecked and washed up on the coast of Ethiopia's capital city, Aksum, where he was taken in by the royal palace as a slave. Frumentius brought many to faith in Christ, and established several churches with the help of Christian merchants throughout Ethiopia. Emperor Ezanus, who came to the throne in 303AD, became the first Christian Ethiopian King through the witness of Frumentius.
The arrival of Islam
   During the 7th century a group of early Muslims fled to the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia to escape persecution in Mecca. Amongst the group of Muslims in this first hijra (migration) was an Ethiopian slave called Bilal ibn Rabah, and it was his influence that led the Islamic prophet Muhammad to send some of his family and followers to Ethiopia for safety. Ethiopia at the time was known to Muslims as a place of freedom from persecution, and the king of Ethiopia was known for being just and for cherishing human rights.
   At first there were harmonious relationships between the Christians and the Muslims. The Muslims were welcomed into Ethiopia and allowed to practise their faith without interference. It is claimed that King Negus Ash’ha’mah converted to Islam, despite objections from his family and the Church. Muhammad later instructed his followers to be kind to Ethiopians, since they had received sanctuary in Ethiopia.
   However in the latter half of the 7th century, as Islam swept across Africa and the Middle East, hostility and violence increased between the newly converted Muslims and the Christians. Ethiopia became isolated as a Christian country, cut off from the Mediterranean, bringing about the disintegration of the Aksumite Kingdom. There followed centuries of disorder, brought to an end in the 12th century when the Zagwe dynasty came to power.

[Picture] Flat-topped rock building built in a cross shape. Lalibela's Rock Churches During the Zagwe dynasty in the 12th century King Lalibela moved the capital city to Roha, which he renamed Lalibela. There he had eleven churches hewn out of the rock. These churches still stand today as one of the world's most incredible man-made creations, showing the great skill and craftsmanship of the Ethiopians, and are a lasting testament to the devotion of this Christian nation.

   Islamic expansion continued apace. Ethiopia continued to fend off frequent Islamic attacks, but finally in 1528 Ahmed "the left-handed", a Somali imam and general, succeeded in conquering a large part of the country. By 1535 Ahmed had gained territory which spread from the Red Sea to central Ethiopia.
   Ethiopian Christians suffered sixteen years of violence from invading Muslims, with their property looted or burned down and their churches destroyed. Taking refuge in the north of the country, the deposed Emperor Dengel requested help from Europe, eventually receiving a reply in 1541 when Portugal came to their aid. With 400 Portuguese musketeers the Ethiopian army fought on for another two years, eventually killing Ahmed in 1543 and regaining control of Ethiopia, restoring it to a Christian country.
Continued Conflict
   During the 18th century the Ethiopian empire broke down into provinces, each led by its own tribal king. To this day there continue to be tribal tensions and civil conflicts.
   In 1930 Haile Selassie, claiming to be descended from King Solomon, was proclaimed emperor after a 14-year struggle with the royal family. When Mussolini overran Ethiopia in 1936, Selassie fled into exile in Britain, remaining there until 1941. After his return and the end of World War 2, Ethiopia was able to regain its briefly interrupted independence; however the province of Eritrea was under British control.
   In 1952 a UN resolution federated Eritrea with Ethiopia, ignoring Eritrea's pleas for independence.
   The federation was dissolved in 1962 and Eritrea was annexed by Ethiopia, which again angered most Eritreans, who regarded the act as colonisation from another African nation. War erupted between Ethiopia and the Eritrean independence movement.
[Picture] Boy standing on flat ground near middling rocks and pens made of poles.
   Another revolution in 1974 brought communist Mengistu Haile Mariam to power. Mengistu imposed a military dictatorship upon the country, jailed his opposition, and controlled in great detail the everyday lives of Ethiopians. Large numbers of people were forcibly moved around the country in an attempt to counter famine.
   During this time the Eritreans increased their guerrilla campaign, and Somalia began an invasion in the southern Ogaden desert. By 1978 the Somalis had gained much ground, and Mengistu's military regime was close to collapse. Temporary aid from Russian and Cuban troops enabled Mengistu to repel the Somalis however the reprieve did not last long. The Ethiopian population rebelled and, with the loss of Russian support in 1991, Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe.
   A new government led by Meles Zenawi was put in place. In 1993 Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia after nearly 30 years of war, and two years later Ethiopia held its first multi-party election, leading to Zenawi's confirmation as Prime Minister. A peace treaty with Eritrea was finally negotiated in 2000.
Ethiopia today
   The war against Islam in the 16th century, the continuing inter-tribal conflicts, and the war with Eritrea, have all left devastating scars on this once rich country. From its powerful status as the Aksum Kingdom 3,000 years ago, Ethiopia is now one of the poorest countries in the world - in the Human Development Index for 2006 it was ranked 173 out of 180.
   In addition to the deep wounds inflicted by centuries of conflict, Ethiopia is a country which struggles with earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and frequent droughts, all disastrous for an agriculturally based economy which has a high dependency on seasonal floods and rains. Aid agencies also detail how poor cultivation practices and the uncertain status of their main export, coffee, have also led to the current endemic poverty. They list some of the main problems facing Ethiopians as impure drinking water, constant risk of famine, deforestation, soil erosion, and AIDS.
   Nearly half the population is estimated to be under 14 years old. But education for children is becoming more available, with many children now having access to half day schooling. However existing schools suffer from over-crowding. Educating this young population is essential if the country is to lift itself out of poverty. It is also vital for the strengthening of the Christian Church, and to enable Christians to stand against the challenge of Islam.
   While it is estimated that 46% of the adult population are illiterate, the situation is made worse because church services in the majority Ethiopian Orthodox Church are conducted in the ancient language of Ge'ez, which is not spoken by the population. Many Christians therefore are not strongly grounded in their faith, being unable to read their Bibles or understand what their church leaders are saying. More evangelical churches are now beginning to lead their services in the national language Amharic; however Christians still need deeper grounding in their faith in order to counter the claims of Muslim missionaries Muslims are very active in missionary work throughout Ethiopia, and are continually changing their tactics, so that Christian leaders must be constantly alert to teach their congregations.
Growing persecution
   By its very existence as a Christian nation in [the] middle of an Islamic region, Ethiopia is a source of irritation to Muslims, resulting in increasing religious tensions. There is a growing number of armed Muslim activists supported by Sudan in the border areas, while Muslim missionaries travel the country intent on claiming the land for Islam. The current civil war within neighbouring Somalia, which began in May 2006, has resulted in an influx of Somali refugees to Ethiopia, increasing the number of Muslims within the country, and northern Ethiopia is now a strongly Islamic area.

The Good News Amongst these troubles Christian evangelists are finding that many hearts are still open to the Gospel of Christ. Barnabas Fund has been involved in supporting 60 evangelists through Ethiopia, who have seen much success over the past six years, including many baptisms. In the past two years they have brought nearly 2,000 people to saving faith in Jesus Christ, planted 65 new churches, and have shared the Gospel with around 20,000 people. They have a strong focus also on discipleship, so that new converts are given a firm foundation in their new faith. Project reference 13-146

   For the Christian Church the situation is increasingly dangerous. In early 2006 large mobs of Muslims attacked Christians in Kemisse (approx 350km north-east of Addis Ababa). Three churches were burned down. In another incident a group of 50 Christians were brutally attacked by Muslim clerics.
   Later in 2006 anti-Christian violence spread across four districts in western Ethiopia leaving 25 Christians dead and approximately 2,800 people homeless, including many children. The Muslim attackers were armed, organised and trained men, who took the opportunity of a small dispute to spread the attack across neighbouring Christian districts. Many Christians were beaten and tortured; women and girls as young as 12 years old were sexually abused. The violence was not just centred on people, but on the whole Christian community - houses and churches were burned to the ground, and some churches were even converted into mosques.
   Most distressing for the Christians is that the authorities did nothing to intervene during the violence. The attack took place in an area where all the political positions are held by Muslims. Worryingly this type of anti-Christian violence appears to be growing.
   Throughout its rich and tumultuous history, Ethiopia has been able to retain its Christian identity, and the Christian Church has remained a strong presence despite the challenges of Islam, communism and tribal conflicts. In these days Ethiopian Christians are facing perhaps their strongest challenge, as Muslims continue with their aim to claim the land for Islam.

Quick Facts

Ethiopia is the only Christian part of the Horn of Africa, surrounded by Islamic areas such as Sudan, Somalia and Northern Kenya.

Its Biblical heritage dates from 1000BC, with the visit of Queen of Sheba to Solomon. According to Ethiopian tradition their son, Menelek I, became the first King of Ethiopia. It became a Christian country in the 4th century AD.

Islam arrived in Ethiopia in 7th century, during the first hijra.The Muslim refugees were welcomed and lived in harmony with the Ethiopian Christians. But the Islamic persecution of Christians began shortly after.

There is a growing Muslim presence, both due to the influx of refugees from neighbouring Somalia, and through active Islamic missionaries.There is a corresponding growth in anti-Christian violence.

Ethiopia is a country afflicted by extreme poverty, stemming from centuries of internal and external warfare, ecological disasters and poor agricultural processes.

Barnabas Fund began working in Ethiopia in 1998, training and supporting evangelists in rural areas. Many Muslims are responding to the Gospel and coming to saving faith in Christ Jesus.

[RECAPITULATION: They list some of the main problems facing Ethiopians as impure drinking water, constant risk of famine, deforestation, soil erosion, and AIDS. Nearly half the population is estimated to be under 14 years old. ENDS.]
[COMMENT: What about "over-copulation" leading to over-population as well as AIDS? COMMENT ENDS.] http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#the_rich_history [To this webpage 16 Aug 08; issue of May-June 2007]
• [Killing the blacks while China gets oil.]

[Killing the blacks while China gets oil.]

New Internationalist, Various items, June 2007

Pp 2-3. Iran: Baha'i religion persecuted.

Pp 4-17. Darfur: Sick of promises. Black farmers killed by armed government-backed militias, while international community dithers. By Jess Worth.

Pp 8-9. Darfur; Facts and timeline, with map. 90% of the blacks' villages have been destroyed.

Pp 10-12. War against women, in Darfur. By Femke van Zeijl.

P. 13. Salaam Darfur. An English translation of an Arabic article by Moataz El Fegiery and Ruidwan Ziyada.

Pp 14-15. An African struggle. By Dismas Nkunda.

Pp 18-19. Over a barrel. Chinese oil extractors busy. By Leben Nelson Moro

P. 20. Don't ignor Darfur; Take action.

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#killingthe [DOCTRINE: 39:61:- And on the resurrection day, thou shalt see those who have lied of God, with their faces black. … DOCTRINE ENDS.] [June 2007]
• Bahai's' plight.

Bahai’s’ plight.

   New Internationalist (UK, N. America and Australia), Letters to the Editor, pp 2-3, June 2007
   Your excellent issue on life inside Iran (Nl 398) cites violations of the rights of women, youth, journalists and homosexuals, but does not mention the persecution of the Baha'is, a community of 350,000 who comprise the country's largest religious minority.
   Baha'is promote gender equality (your reference to Tahereh, the 19th-century Iranian women's rights activist did not identify her also as an early adherent), the truth of all the great world religions, scientific inquiry, non-involvement in partisan politics, and administer themselves through elected institutions.
   These practices have long invoked the ire of the clergy which in 1979 made persecution of the Baha'is official policy of the Islamic Republic, resulting in the execution of 200 believers, the imprisonment of hundreds more and the denial of jobs, property rights, pensions and education to thousands of others, attracting widespread international outrage. Executions and imprisonments subsequently declined during the 1990s, but a recent human rights report cites evidence of violations that may signal yet another cycle of repression and violence against the members of this beleaguered religious community. Anna Vakil Phoenix, Arizona, US
[Treated like worms.]
   The Baha'i of Iran have been denounced as apostate since the 1870s and as a result have been persecuted mercilessly. On numerous occasions it is obvious that this persecution has either been done by official decree or with official approval.
   By classifying them as 'apostate' officialdom have given permission for them to be treated as no better than worms. They may be executed (and have been) without punishment to the perpetrators, or treated as anyone wishes. Recently schoolchildren as young as six have been systematically bullied and refused education.
   The plight of such minorities in all countries is surely one that would be a good basis for a full expose in a future edition. W Moon Australia

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#bahais_plight    [RECAPITULATION: Baha'is promote … the truth of all the great world religions … ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: But surely persecution is not truth! Yet still they believe in that dogma! ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE: 9:73:- O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them …
   33:60
   66:9:- O Prophet! make war on the infidels and hypocrites, and deal rigorously with them. … ENDS.]
   [GUIDELINE: Vol. 2, Bk. 19, No. 173 (Bukhari's collection):- […] Later on, I saw him killed as a non-believer. ENDS.] [June 2007]
• [Darfur: Sick of promises.]

The UN calls it 'the world's worst humanitarian crisis'. But what is causing the violence in Darfur, and why hasn't the world acted to stop it? Jess Worth goes in search of answers.

Sick of promises

   New Internationalist (UK, N. America and Australia), by Jess Worth, pp 4-17, June 2007
'We are innocent, but so many of us have been killed.'
   Marian Hassan Adam seems bewildered. We are sitting in a tiny, bare mud hut in Kakuma, a refugee camp in northern Kenya. I have come to spend time with the thousand-strong Darfurian community, to find out what has happened to them and why. But they themselves are still struggling to make sense of it.
   As I'm served a cup of scalding hot, strong, sweet, deliciously spicy coffee, Marian tells me her harrowing story. 'We knew lots of Arabs, and we thought we were the same: one people. Then suddenly they started killing us. They came into our village and attacked us. I was hit during the Government bombing raid. I still have shrapnel embedded in my head.
   'Then men on horseback came in and stabbed those who were still alive. They took the men and killed them. My husband disappeared - I don't know what happened to him. They took all the boys from their parents and murdered them. My baby boy was thrown on the fire in front of me. My daughter was older. They thought she was a boy so they slaughtered her too - they snapped her neck like a chicken. Some of the children they threw down a well.'
   The other women in the hut nod solemnly, rocking and fanning their babies as clouds of intense spice, burning in my honour, fill the cramped space. 'We have with us some young girls who were raped in front of us,' Marian continues. 'After they raped the women they cut off their breasts to make them suffer. They used those of us who were left as donkeys. They made us carry things - even the men themselves - on our backs. I have so many marks where they beat me.'
   Marian escaped and hid in the bush for three months, surviving on leaves. She couldn't get to any of the camps for displaced people: the militia chased them away so they couldn't report what had happened. 'I saved two orphans. I hid them in my clothes - I still have them with me today.' She gestures at the child wriggling in her lap, a brief smile flickering across her face.
‘My baby boy was thrown on the fire in front of me. My daughter was older. They thought she was a boy so they slaughtered her too ’
   Then she looks at me with deadly seriousness.
   'We want the international community to solve our problems. End the suffering in Darfur.' It is a demand I hear again and again.
State-sponsored ethnic cleansing
   The conflict in this western region of Sudan is explained away by the Sudanese Government as a spot of local bother: ancient rivalries and competition for resources, exacerbated by drought and famine, have led nomadic Arab herders to start driving black African farmers off their land.
   In reality, Darfur is no local ethnic conflagration -- though underlying tensions, historically dealt with at community level and sharpened by climate change, have certainly been inflamed and exaggerated.
   The bloodshed began in 2003 when Darfurian rebel groups took up arms against the Government. They wanted a better deal: genuine political representation, investment in their impoverished region, a share of potential oil revenue. The Government responded with a brutal divide-and-rule strategy, already tried and tested in the South. It trained, armed and unleashed the Janjaweed on Darfur's civilian population. A proxy army on horseback, mainly recruited from local Arab nomadic tribes, they have rampaged through the region - with Government military support - killing, raping, burning villages and displacing people.
   The Government's aim is to ensure regional instability, so marginalized populations can't get organized enough to threaten their authority. Since Sudan gained independence in 1956, war within this racially diverse country has been almost constant, peace fragile at best. The northern Arab elite, in government since 1989, is ruthless, clever and determined to hold on to power, even if it means orchestrating an 'ethnic cleansing' campaign against its own people. There is a debate to be had as to whether the regime's actions in Darfur technically qualify as 'genocide',1 but this seems an unnecessary diversion, given the undeniable carnage.
   An estimated 400,000 Darfurians have been killed. Three million - half the population - have been displaced. Humanitarian agencies have limited access and are barely able to operate, the region is so dangerous. Now the conflict is escalating, spilling over into Chad and Central African Republic, displacing tens of thousands more and threatening to destabilize the entire region. The rest of the world has largely stood aside and watched.
Put on the spot
   So I shouldn't be surprised when, on visiting the Darfurian community in Kakuma, I find myself put on the spot.
   I've been invited by Abdalla Merghani, community chair, to come and see Darfurian dancing and meet some of their newborn babies. We're sitting waiting under a newly constructed wooden frame which, he tells me, they hope to turn into a school. Then I become aware that some 60 Darfurian men have quietly gathered around me, some on the floor, others crowding round the shelter. All are watching me silently. Expectantly. It seems they want to talk.
   Okay, I think. I'd better start by introducing myself and why I'm here, and see what happens. Through an interpreter I tell them that people around the world are horrified, and putting pressure on their governments to act. There have been protests in many countries. Darfur is rising up the political and media agenda. They stare at me for a while. Then they start asking questions.
   'I heard they are finally going to send UN peacekeeping forces in,' begins one young man. I notice that most of them are young - I guess the old didn't make it this far. Is it true?'
   'Well, not really,' I falter. 'They couldn't get the Government to agree to a UN-led force, so they're organizing what they're calling a "hybrid" force. It will still be the African Union (AU) soldiers that are already in Darfur, but with additional UN support.' [***]
   [And obtain the magazine or visit the website to read the rest.]

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#darfursick [CONTACT: Editorial contact, England: ni§newint.org ; Australia and Papua New Guinea: 28 Austin St, Adelaide, SA, 5000, Australia; Tel. 08 8232 1563. Subscriptions -- Australia and PNG: 28 Austin St, Adelaide, SA, 5000, Australia; Tel 08 8232 1563; Fax 08 78232 1887; helenp§newint.com.au. Annual Subscription: Individuals AUD$78 incl. GST; Student/Unwaged AUD$39 incl. GST Institutions AUD$95.40 incl. GST. Overseas subscriptions all AUD$87.60. For details of other addresses, visit the website. ENDS.] [June 2007]
• [Making waves -- All Iranian women are victims.]

Making Waves

   New Internationalist (UK, N. America and Australia), by Mahboubeh Hossein Zadeh, p 29, June 2007
   TEHERAN:
   Mahboubeh Hossein Zadeh writes an open letter from Evin Prison in Tehran. She was arrested on 2 April for organizing a 'One Million Signatures' campaign for women's rights in Iran. Most of the women arrested with her, including NI contributor Noushin Ahmadi Khorasani (NI 398), have since been released but Mahboubeh and Nahid Keshavarz (both pictured) remain inside as we go to press.
   'OUR HUSBANDS ARE LYING in enclosed graves and we are in open graves. We too ceased to live the very day that we killed our husbands.'These are the words of a woman who spends her nights on the three-storey bed across from me who has nightmares about the death of her husband - a husband she stabbed to death.
   This is the women's block of Evin Prison. Of the 16 women with whom Nahid and I share a cell, 10 are here on charges of murdering their husbands. These women have lost faith in a legal system that offers no hope and no protection. If our laws had the capacity to defend women charged with murder, they would not be here now, waiting for 'the day that will swallow them' - which is how female inmates describe execution day.
   These women all seem kind and patient to me. They were forced into marriages they did not choose, married off at the age of 13 or 14 to husbands chosen by their fathers. One of these women was forced into marriage by her father, who slapped her repeatedly until she accepted her fate - agreed to marry a man who was 45 years her senior.
   Another asks: 'Why doesn't anyone listen to our problems or pains? Where was the judge when my husband forced me on to the streets, into prostitution, to earn enough money to support his drug habit? Which laws were intended to save me? I grew weary. The law provided me with no refuge. I defended myself. Yes! I killed him!'
   Another woman explains: 'I cried. I asked my father: "Didn't you marry me off by force at age 13? Now I want a divorce." My father refused. But when I saw my husband that night with another woman, in my own bed, I could no longer take the abuse.'
   The victims are not just the women with whom I share a cell. The victims are all women in this land.
   Today a few judges come for an official tour of the prison. One of them pokes his head into the cell and asks: 'Are there any problems in this room?' It seems that the only problems female inmates can face are nutritional. He finds out that I am a reporter, and asks about our other problems. I explain that I am charged with 'actions against national security through spreading propaganda against the State'. He says that my presence in prison, given that they have processed my capers for release on a third-party bail guarantee, is illegal. Enthused, I ask his name so that I can quote a reliable source at a time when the judge assigned to our case does not respond to our families or our lawyer.
   Immediately he retreats. 'There is no need to know my name. I should explain that the judge in charge of your case has the authority to keep you in prison for as long as he sees fit!' I laugh. He does not even have the courage to speak his name and to defend his opinion.
   Another judge pulls me to a corner to ask how I am being treated by the other inmates. I recall the smoke-filled cells of Block One of Evin Prison (the punishment block, as it is infamously referred to) and the immense insecurity we felt during our time there. I remember standing at the foot of the stairs in Block One, as several female inmates beat a woman to within an inch of her life, while others held her hands so that she could not escape. I want to tell the judge about a girl with scar-filled arms, testimony to repeated attempts at suicide, who shattered the glass of a window with her head. But instead I only tell him that he should visit Block One. To date, no reporter has managed to visit it. The doors to this section remain perpetually closed - and even judges do not bear witness to the atrocities that take place there.
   My dear mother, my sister and her small child come to visit me. My nephew Soheil is a year and a half. He places his small hands on the window of the cabinet that divides us, and laughs out loud. My sister cries. Her tears are warranted. She is spending her last days with her child. After four months of uncertainty, with the unrelenting assistance and support of her lawyer, she has finally managed to get her husband to agree to a divorce - but only on condition that she gives up all her rights to this very small child.
The victims are not just the women with whom I share a cell. The victims are all women in this land
   My sister worries for her child, and I feel more powerless than before when faced with her tears. She is only 23 years old. 'I too am one of the victims of these laws,' explains my sister. 'From today, I will start collecting signatures in support of the Campaign. I will collect so many signatures that these laws finally change.'
   The fellow inmate who has started recording her own experiences in a small diary pulls me aside and asks: 'Can I help you in collecting signatures for the Campaign?' She wants me to use whatever means possible to get her a signature form, so that women who are condemned to spend their days in Evin Prison can also bring hope to other women.
   And this reminds me of the last question asked by my interrogator before I was brought here. 'Your demands in the Campaign are in contradiction to the foundations of Islamic jurisprudence and the Islamic Regime. Given these facts, will you continue to ask for changes in the laws?'
   In response to this question, I wrote: 'Yes! I know that our demands are not in contradiction to Islam.' And today, after this experience, I am more determined than ever and I write: 'I ask for changes to these discriminatory laws. I ask them in an effort to honour the dignity of all the women in my country.'
   The Million Signatures Campaign can be accessed at www.we-change. org/english/ #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#makingwaves    [RECAPITULATION: … married off at the age of 13 or 14 to husbands chosen by their fathers. […] Where was the judge when my husband forced me on to the streets, into prostitution, to earn enough money to support his drug habit? ENDS.]
   [1st DOCTRINE: 4:34 (or 38):- … Virtuous women are obedient …
   24:33 (or 34):- … You shall not force your slave-girls into prostitution in order that you may enrich yourselves, if they wish to preserve their chastity. If anyone compels them, Allah will be forgiving and merciful to them. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/024. qmt.html #024.033 . ENDS.]
   [2nd RECAP.: [Interrogator:] 'Your demands in the Campaign are in contradiction to the foundations of Islamic jurisprudence …' ENDS.]
   [2nd DOCTRINE: 49:1:- O Believers! enter not upon any affair ere Allah and His Apostle permit you … ENDS.]
   [3rd RECAP.: [Author-prisoner:] … I know that our demands are not in contradiction to Islam. … ENDS.]
   3rd DOCTRINE: 4:34 (or 38):- … Virtuous women are obedient, careful, during the husband's absence, because Allah hath of them been careful. But chide those for whose refractoriness ye have cause to fear; remove them into beds apart, and scourge them; but if they are obedient to you, then seek not occasion against them: verily, Allah is High, Great.
   49:7:- … Allah hath … made unbelief, and wickedness, and disobedience hateful to you. … ENDS.] [June 2007]
• Priest's murder highlights choice facing Iraq's Christians: 'Convert or die.'

Priest’s murder highlights choice facing Iraq’s Christians:
‘Convert or die’

   The Record (R.C. Perth W.A. weekly), cathrec§ iinet.com. au , By Sylvia Defendi and ACN, Pages One and Six, June 7, 2007
   PERTH and IRAQ: Archbishop Barry Hickey condemned the recent murder of Catholic priest, Fr Ragheed Ganni and three sub-deacons in Iraq stating that the shocking killings threatened the very existence of the Catholic and Christian people in Iraq.
   "This cowardly assassination should alert the international community to an aspect of the war in Iraq that has hardly gained any attention, the plight of Christians," he said. Muslim militants shot Fr Ganni, 34, on June 3 in Mosul where he had just celebrated Mass with sub-deacons, Basman Yousef Daoud, Ghasan Bidawid and Wadid Hanna.
   One of Fr Ganni's friends and classmate from their Rome seminary days together, Perth Priest Fr Scan Fernandez, wrote in The Record this week of Fr Ganni's commitment to his priesthood and his people in Iraq (see Page 2).
   Fr Ganni had begun serving in Iraq four years ago, where he had been threatened repeatedly.
   The murders come amid signs of increasing persecution against Christians, especially in Al-Dora, the district of southern Baghdad, which until now has had a high number of faithful.
[Picture] Under threat: Parishioners of St George's Assyrian Church, Al Dora, in Baghdad survey the damage following a recent attack.   PHOTO, COURTESY OF AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED
   Archbishop Hickey said that Christianity in Iraq is often identified by Islamic militants as Western, even though it was well established in Iraq centuries before Islam.
   Reports from international aid organisation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), with which Fr Ganni was involved, stated that constant abductions and violent attacks against Christians, especially against members of the clergy, were putting the Church in great jeopardy.
   ACN stipulated that Christians were being forced to convert to Islam and that if they refused, they were being evicted from their homes.
Persecution of Christians in Iraq needs to be addressed
   Other punishments threatened by the Islamist groups controlling vast swathes of Baghdad include fines of up to US$100,000 and the handover of sisters and wives for marriage to Jihadi fighters.
   Now Shia leader, Muqtada al-Sadr has warned that Christian women "face grave consequences" if they fail to wear the veil.
   Up to 1,000 Christians forced from their homes are now taking shelter in St George's Chaldean Church, northeast Baghdad, 25,000 Christians have sought sanctuary in northern Iraq and Church leaders in the region have been told to expect a further 60,000 over the coming months.
   According to latest reports from ACN, only one church is still open in al Dora - with at least six others forcibly closed along with other religious buildings, including a convent.
   Meanwhile, in the Basra region of south-east Iraq, up to 80 percent of Christians have fled since 2003 and barely 400 still occupy the area.
   Despite the constant persecution, Fr Ganni, in a letter written to ACN, merely four days before the murder, considered it a "privilege" that he had always been able to witness to the way in which "Divine providence is revealed through many quite humble people whose only goal is to work for the Kingdom of God by following the example of Jesus".
   Marie-Ange Siebrecht, the head of the projects section of ACN which deals with Iraq and who knew Father Ragheed Ganni personally, said young priests like him were a sign of hope for the Church in Iraq.
   "They are ready to give their all for their country, and now Ragheed Ganni had even given his own blood," she said.
   A telegram of condolences was sent to Iraq in Pope Benedict XVI's [Ratzinger's] name remembering those who were murdered.
   Archbishop Hickey hoped the recent murder would be reported widely, causing outcry from both the West and the East, with demands on the Iraqi government to condemn this outrage and protect the Christians.
   "Because Australia is involved in the Iraq war, our government should also protest strongly and bring pressure to bear internationally," he said.
   To help the suffering Church in Iraq contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929 or email: info§aidtochurch.org. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#convert_or    [RECAPITULATION: Archbishop Hickey said that Christianity in Iraq is often identified by Islamic militants as Western, even though it was well established in Iraq centuries before Islam. […] Other punishments threatened by the Islamist groups controlling vast swathes of Baghdad include fines of up to US$100,000 and the handover of sisters and wives for marriage to Jihadi fighters. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: For "marriage" read "repeated rapes." For supposed justification check 4:25 or 33:50.
   It is obvious from this newsitem and many others that the USA and Britain did not send enough troops to Iraq. US President George W. BLUSH dismissed advisers who told him so before the illegal invasion. COMMENT ENDS.] [Jun 7, 07]
• Fellow seminarian farewells martyr.

Fellow seminarian farewells martyr

   The Record, p 2, June 7, 2007
Perth priest Fr Sean Fernandez mourns the loss of a dear friend, murdered for his Christian faith and love of country.
   PERTH and IRAQ: Father Ragheed Aziz Ganni and three deacons, Basman Yousef Daoud, Ghasan Bidawid and Wadid Hanna, were murdered outside their parish church in Mosul on Sunday.
   I knew Fr Ganni.
   He was only 34 years old. He had been a seminarian (along with Fr Don Kettle) at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome while I was staying there and pursuing my postgraduate studies.
   I remember well attending his ordination to the priesthood at the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli and his first Mass at the College chapel.
   I remember meeting members of his family - full of joy and pride in their son and brother.
   Ragheed was a gentle soul, intelligent, hard-working and pastorally committed; he also had a dreadful sense of humour!
   It is his gentleness which stays foremost in my mind.
   As the prospect of war loomed, his anxiety over his homeland and his church grew.
   The last time I saw Ragheed was in 2005.
   He was travelling through Rome to Bari where he was speaking at a Congress.
   He had aged terribly and was wracked with worry about his struggling community.
   He himself had faced violence and threat, but instead of staying safely in Italy or finding sanctuary in any number of places he was returning to his parish.
   Ragheed could have fled, he was no superman, but a young, recently-ordained priest.
   He remained with his flock - the image of the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep (John 10.11).
   I think of that flock now.
   This blow was struck not just against Ragheed and his companions, but against the parish and the ancient church in Iraq.
[Picture] Gone to God: Recently murdered Fr Ragheed Aziz Ganni.    PHOTO, ACN
   They must feel dreadfully alone and vulnerable. At the Congress in Bari Fr Ragheed spoke of the enduring faith of his people: "We have gone through 2004, our Calvary, with its pain and destruction, but we have not lost our vitality, we have not fled, we are still here, because we are certain of Resurrection."
   And of his own struggle, "There are days when I feel frail and full of fear.
   "But when, holding the Eucharist, I say 'Behold the Lamb of God Behold, who takes away the sin of the world', I feel His strength in me.
   "When I hold the Host in my hands, it is really He who is holding me and all of us, challenging the terrorists and keeping us united in His boundless love."
   Those of us who were privileged to know him mourn his loss and pray that his sacrifice will bear its fruit in God's grace and mercy. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#fellow_seminarian [ALSO READ: "Bishop pleas for help; WA called to rebuild war-torn Sudan", p 5, same issue. ENDS.] [Jun 7, 07]
• New Mufti chosen after Al Hilali declines position.

New Mufti chosen after Al Hilali declines position

   Australian Broadcasting Corporation, www.abc.net. au/news/ newsitems/ 200706/ s1947206.htm , Sunday, June 10, 2007
   MELBOURNE: Controversial muslim cleric, Sheik Taj el-Din Al Hilali has declined the position of Mufti of Australia and a new mufti has been elected.
   Imams from across the country were at Melbourne's Preston Mosque for a meeting of the National Imam's Council.
   The Council has announced Sheik Fehmi Naji El-Imam as the Mufti of Australia for a two-year term.
[Picture] Sheikh Fehmi (middle) has been the imam at Preston Mosque for 30 years.. Picture: (ABC TV)
   The Council said Sheik Al Hilali was appointed first, however he declined the position and proposed Sheikh Fehmi to be appointed Mufti.
   Sheikh Fehmi, originally from Lebanon, has been the imam at Preston Mosque for 30 years.
   He is described as a moderate, but he refused to comment on whether he would be less controversial than his predecessor.
   "And so we want to have a very nice relationship with everybody around us and everyone else have a nice relationship with us," he said.
   "Extend [our] hand to you, you extend [your] hand to us.
   "Give us a fair go, we'll give you a fair go and that's what we want."
   Sheikh Al Hilali refused to comment on why he declined the position as he left the mosque. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#new_mufti_chosen [Jun 10, 07]
• New mufti a strong Al Hilali supporter

New mufti a strong Al Hilali supporter

   Australian Broadcasting Corporation, www.abc.net. au/pm/ content/ 2007/ s1948081.htm , "PM" Programme, Reporter: Jane Cowan, 18:22:00, Monday, 11 June , 2007
   MARK COLVIN: "A Dalai Lama for the Muslims", that was one observer's description in this morning's papers of the new Mufti of Australia, Sheikh Fehmi Naji El-Imam.
   But is the new Mufti as different as all that from the man he replaces - Sheikh Taj El Din Al Hilali, remembered for his comparison between women and "uncovered meat"?
   Hilali's supporters are sorry to see him go, but they say that the new Mufti was one of his strongest supporters, and shares many of his opinions.
   And at his first appearance before the media in Melbourne this afternoon, Sheikh Fehmi declined to distance himself from the views that got his predecessor into so much trouble.
   Jane Cowan reports.
   JANE COWAN: It was a carefully stage-managed affair this afternoon when the new Mufti of Australia fronted the media for his first press conference.
   Sheikh Fehmi Naji El-Imam joked with journalists in what was clearly designed to present a new friendly face after the controversy that his predecessor attracted.
   FEHMI NAJI EL-IMAM: How old are you? REPORTER: I am 31, almost 32, Sheikh.
   FEHMI NAJI EL-IMAM: Thirty-two. I'm more (inaudible) than you are.
   (Sound of laughter)
   JANE COWAN: Sheikh Fehmi was keen to avoid politics, and when he was asked his view on the war in Iraq, his minders were quick to step in.
   MINDER: Please, next question. No more regarding Iraq, please.
   REPORTER: But why not?
   MINDER: Because this is about what happened over the weekend, and we'll leave those questions for another time, please.
   JANE COWAN: But Sheikh Fehmi refused to distance himself from the comments [of] Sheikh Taj Al Din Al Hilali made, comparing scantily clad women to uncovered meat.
   He appeared to echo the defence that Sheikh Taj Al Din Al Hilali himself used, that those remarks were taken out of context.
   And today Sheikh Fehmi suggested that covering up their bodies might be a good way for women to avoid skin cancer.
   FEHMI NAJI EL-IMAM: I don't know if the Mufti Hilali was addressing the Australian girls or women in particular, because when he talked about this he was talking to the Muslim community inside the mosque, in a sermon.
   So maybe he want to advise the Muslim community not to do the same thing, spoil themselves to the sun, maybe because possible skin cancer in the future and things like that, who knows?
   REPORTER: Do you agree with what he said?
   FEHMI NAJI EL-IMAM: Not exactly, but still I don't know, I'm not in his mind, I don't know what he has in mind, but I think he is delivering advice to his females.
   REPORTER: So you're saying he was misunderstood?
   FEHMI NAJI EL-IMAM: He was misunderstood all the time.
   JANE COWAN: Keysar Trad, from the Islamic Friendship Association, was Sheikh Taj Al Din Al Hilali's spokesman and chief supporter. He says the new Mufti and the old share many views, including the opinion that Hezbollah should be taken off the list of prescribed terrorist organisations.
   KEYSAR TRAD: I don't believe that there's any difference in their views or their interpretation on what's going on in life. Sheikh Fehmi has taken a principle stand in relation to Hezbollah and has publicly called for the organisation to be delisted from the list of prescribed organisations, and all credit to him, and this shows that this man had exercised courage in the past, and we would hope that this courage will see him through this position that he will continue to do so.
   Now, what that will mean is that those who targeted the Mufti before will also start targeting him, because of his position.
   JANE COWAN: So you're saying that the new Mufti's leadership mightn't actually be much different from that of Sheikh Taj Al Din Al Hilali?
   KEYSAR TRAD: Well, in my time of being very closely and intimately involved in the community I've only seen him criticise the Mufti once, and during the recent controversy, which has probably brought more pressure on the Mufti than anything previously in his life, he came out and backed the Mufti.
   MARK COLVIN: Keysar Trad from the Islamic Friendship Association ending that Jane Cowan's report. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#new_mufti_a [RECAPITULATION: KEYSAR TRAD: I don't believe that there's any difference in their views or their interpretation on what's going on in life. Sheikh Fehmi has taken a principle stand in relation to Hezbollah and has publicly called for the organisation to be delisted from the list of prescribed organisations, and all credit to him … ENDS.]
[DOCTRINE: 8:12, 33:26-27 ENDS.] [June 11, 07]
• Daughter killed for being 'too Western'; [Police rejected cries for help.]

Police under fire for rejecting cries for help from young woman terrorised by family which ended in ‘honour killing’

Daughter killed for being ‘too Western’

   The West Australian, p 13, Wednesday, June 13, 2007
   LONDON: A father who ordered his daughter's brutal death because she became too Westernised and fell in love with the wrong man was found guilty of murder yesterday.
   Banaz Mahmod, 20, was strangled with a bootlace, stuffed into a suitcase and buried in a back garden. Her death is the latest in an increasing trend of such killings in Britain, home to about 1.8 million Muslims. More than 100 homicides are under investigation for being so-called "honour killings".
   Mahmod Mahmod, 52, and his brother Ari Mahmod, 51, planned the killing during a family meeting, prosecutors told the court. Two others in the case have pleaded guilty. Two more have fled the country. Sentencing is expected later this month.
   The men accused the young woman of shaming her family by ending an abusive arranged marriage, becoming too Westernised and falling in love with a man not from their Iraqi village.
   The Kurdish family came to Britain in 1998 when Miss Mahmod was 11.
   The family, who came from the mountainous and rural Mirawaldy area, close to the Iranian border, were escaping Saddam Hussein's regime and were granted asylum.
   "She was my present, my future, my hope," said Rahmat Suleimani, 29, Miss Mahmod's boyfriend.
[Picture] Bekhal Mahmod: Sister in hiding.
[Picture] Banaz Mahmod: Murdered by her father Mahmod Mahmod.
   More than 25 women in Britain have been killed by their Muslim relatives in the past decade for offences they believe have brought shame on their family. More than 100 other homicides are under investigation as being honour killings.
   During the three-month trial over Miss Mahmod's murder, prosecutors said the girl's father began beating her at an early age for using hairspray and becoming too Westernised.
‘The question for police is whether there were ways we should have stopped what happened.’
   Her uncle once told her that she would already have been "turned to ashes" if she were his daughter and had shamed the family by becoming involved with the Iranian Kurd, her sister 22-year-old Bekhal Mahmod testified.
   Miss Mahmod ran away from home when she was a teenager but was later sent an audio tape in which her father warned he would kill her sisters, her mother and himself if she did not come home.
   She returned home and was later treated in hospital after her brother attacked her. The brother said he had been paid by their father to finish her off but in the end was unable to do it, the sister said, testifying in a full black burqa. She said she now feared for her life and today lives at a secret address.
   She strongly rejected the suggestion that her sister had brought "shame" on her Kurdish family by falling in love with a man they did not approve of, saying her sister simply wanted to live her own life. "There's a lot of evil people out there," she said. "They might be your own blood, they might be a stranger to you, but they are evil.
   "They come over here, thinking they can still carry on the same life and make people carry on how they want them to live life."
   The years of Banaz Mahmod's abuse were compounded by officers who repeatedly dismissed her cries for help.
   She first went to police in December 2005 when she suspected her uncle was trying to kill her and her boyfriend. She sent the police a letter naming the men who she thought would later kill her.
   On New Year's Eve, she was lured by her father to her grandmother's home and believed she would be attacked after he forced her to gulp down brandy and approached her while wearing gloves. She escaped by breaking a window and was treated at a hospital. Police dismissed her claims. One officer, who is under investigation, considered charging her with damages for breaking her grandmother's window.
   Lying in her hospital bed after the escape, Banaz Mahmod recorded a dramatic video message saying she was "really scared". The videotape, taken by her boyfriend at the hospital, was shown to the jury during the trial. The boyfriend believed it might be the only chance she would have to detail her fears.
   After she was released from hospital, she returned home and tried to convince her family she had stopped seeing her boyfriend, according to court documents. But friends told the family they spotted the couple together on January 22, 2006.
   Soon after, a group of men allegedly approached her boyfriend and tried to lure him into a car but he refused. It was that event that prompted Ms Mahmod to go to police again. This time officers tried to persuade her to stay in a safe house. She refused, believing her mother would protect her.
[Picture] Banaz Ari Mahmod: Helped killer brother.
   The next day she vanished. Her decomposed body was discovered in Birmingham on April 27. One of the men who fled the country is allegedly the man who arranged for her burial.
   Scotland Yard is facing severe criticism over its handling of the case. The police officer under investigation, PC Angela Cornes, has come under fire from fellow officers who claim Miss Mahmod would still be alive is she had done her job properly.
   Commander Simon Bray, who led the operation, said: "Following Banaz's murder it is necessary for us to take stock on the progress we have made in tackling honour-based violence and to continue to identify ways in which we can improve our response. The question for the internal review is what was a reasonable response for these officers based on what they knew and she was prepared to tell them."
   Asked whether the Met had blood on its hands, Commander Bray said: "Clearly the police were not responsible for her murder. There were people determined to punish and kill her.
   "The question is whether there were ways we should have stopped what happened." #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#daughter_killed    [RECAPITULATION: … Britain, home to about 1.8 million Muslims. More than 100 homicides are under investigation for being so-called "honour killings". ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: The British Establishment and the electorate allowed the creeping invasion of non-assimilable idea-carriers. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [2nd RECAP.: … the girl's father began beating her at an early age for using hairspray and becoming too Westernised.
   [DOCTRINE: 4:34 (or 38):- … Virtuous women are obedient … ENDS.] [Jun 13, 07]
• Battles tip Gaza into civil war. [Jamal abu Jidian in ambulance shot to death.]

Battles tip Gaza into civil war

   The West Australian, "World" section, Edited by ALAN KIRK p 24, Wednesday, June 13, 2007
[Picture] On guard: Hamas gunmen in front of the office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh which was attacked by rivals on Monday.    Picture: Reuters
   GAZA CITY: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Hamas yesterday of trying to seize control of the Gaza Strip by force as fighting between militants of his Fatah faction and Hamas claimed 17 lives, tilting the crowded territory towards civil war.
   A statement from Mr Abbas' office said: "All information points to a trend in which some of the political and military leaders of Hamas are planning a coup against the legitimate institutions, thinking they will be able to control the Gaza Strip by force."
   He called for an immediate truce.
   The fighting on Monday night and yesterday, during which two of the victims were thrown to their deaths from roofs, shattered a ceasefire called to allow thousands of Gaza Strip students to take final exams.
   Hamas forces captured several positions from Fatah yesterday and threatened to step up the offensive after a rocket-propelled grenade hit the home of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. No one was injured.
   In the northern Gaza Strip, Hamas was trying to seize control of the security headquarters there. About 200 Hamas fighters surrounded the area, while 350-400 Fatah-allied forces were holed up inside.
   A Fatah spokesman said the secular group would decide within hours if it should quit the unity Government.
   The al-Aqsa TV and radio stations, allied with Hamas, came under fire from Fatah security forces. Shortly after the attack, the station started playing pro-Fatah songs.
   The fighting appeared to be spreading to the West Bank with Hamas claiming Fatah gunmen had kidnapped Deputy Transport Minister Faidi Shabaneh.
   Armed men also seized two employees of a Hamas-affiliated television station there.
   Fatah gunmen said they would target Hamas leaders in the West Bank unless Hamas halted attacks on Fatah activists in the strip. Fatah has the upper hand in the West Bank, while Gaza is a Hamas stronghold.
   The violence is a further sign that the power-sharing agreement reached between Hamas and Fatah three months ago means little to the armed men waging a battle to grab power in what has been described as "the empty corpse" of the Gaza Strip.
   Hamas and Fatah have been locked in a violent power struggle since Hamas defeated Fatah in legislative elections in January last year, ending four decades of Fatah rule.
   Hamas brought Fatah into the Government in March in a bid to quell the strife. But the fighting reignited in mid-May over who controlled the powerful security forces.
   Repeated truces have been quickly shattered and more than 80 people have died.
   Among the latest dead was a ranking Fatah member, Jamal abu Jidian, who was shot after Hamas gunmen besieged and stormed his house in Beit Lahiya, in the north of the strip. As Mr Jidian was being taken to a hospital, gunmen stopped the ambulance and shot him 45 times.
   Hamas had accused Mr Jidian, a leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, of orchestrating attacks and seeking to topple the Government.
   Early yesterday, Hamas militants attacked the home of senior Fatah security officer Hassan abu Rabie with mortars and grenades. They grabbed him and killed his 14-year-old son and three women. Fatah gunmen stormed the house of a Hamas MP and burnt it to the ground.
   Fatah spokesman Maher Mikdad said of the fighting: "What is this if not a war?" #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#battles_tip    [RECAPITULATION: As Mr Jidian was being taken to a hospital, gunmen stopped the ambulance and shot him 45 times. … Hamas militants attacked the home of senior Fatah security officer Hassan abu Rabie with mortars and grenades. They grabbed him and killed his 14-year-old son and three women. ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE: 33:1:- O Prophet, fear thou Allah and obey not the unbelievers and the hypocrites; – Truly Allah is Knowing, Wise. www.usc. edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/033. qmt.html #033.001.
   Also recite 33:48.
   33:60:- If the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease and the agitators in the city do not desist, We shall most certainly set you over them, then they shall not be your neighbors in it but for a little while.
   49:9:- If two bodies of the faithful are at war, then make ye peace between them: and if the one of them wrong the other, fight against that party which doth the wrong, until they come back to the precepts of Allah: … DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [QUESTION: Who defines "hypocrite"? The men with the weapons? Who else! And the party that "doth the wrong"? Right! ENDS.] [Jun 13, 07]
• [Christian leaders lording, idolatrous, false, devour wealth, will suffer in Hell -- Koran.]

[Christian leaders lording, idolatrous, false, devour wealth, will suffer in Hell – Koran]

SAUDI ARABIA: The Holy Qur-ān (i.e., Koran), Issued as a gift by King Fahd Ibn Abdul-Aziz (not for sale); Printed by The King Fahd Complex For The Printing of The Holy Qur-ān, P.O. Box 3561, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, Saudi Arabia; Arabic text; With translation into English and commentaries of Abdullah YUSUF ALI, revised and edited by The Presidency of Islamic Researches, Ifta, Call and Guidance (Saudi Arabia); Dated Year 1413 H., i.e., 1992-93 A.D.

Pages 508-09; Sūrat 9, Āyats 31-32
31. They take their priests ¹²⁸⁶
And their anchorites to be
Their lords beside Allah. ¹²⁸⁷
And (they take as their Lord)
Christ the son of Mary;
Yet they were commanded
To worship but One God:
There is no god but He.
Praise and glory to Him: ¹²⁸⁸
(Far is He) from having
The partners they associate
(With Him).

32. Fain would they extinguish
Allah's Light with their mouths,¹²⁸⁹
But Allah will not allow
But that His Light should be
Perfected, even though the
Unbelievers
May detest (it).
< www.submission.org/suras/sura9.html#31 >

Pages 509-10; Sūrat 9, Āyats 34-35
34. O ye who believe! There are
Indeed many among the priests
And anchorites, who in falsehood ¹²⁹¹
Devour the wealth of men
And hinder (them) from the Way
Of Allah. And there are those
Who hoard gold and silver ¹²⁹²
And spend it not in the Way
Of Allah: announce unto them
A most grievous chastisement-

35. On the Day when it
Will be heated ¹²⁹³ in the fire
Of Hell, and with it will be
Branded their foreheads,
Their flanks, and their backs,
-"This is the (treasure) which ye
Hoarded for yourselves: ¹²⁹⁴ taste ye,
Then, the (treasures) ye hoarded"
< www.submission.org/suras/sura9.html#34 >

____________________
   1286. Ahbār: doctors of law; priests; learned men. Cf. v. 44. where they are associated with Rabbis. Ruhbān: monks, ascetics, anchorites, men who have renounced the world; where there is a celibate clergy, the term can be applied to them as well as to members of monastic orders. It is also permissible to apply the term to "saints", where they are deified or credited with divine powers, or where people pray to them as they do in the Roman Catholic Church.
   1287. Priest worship, and the worship of saints and ascetics is a form of superstition to which men have been prone in all ages. The growth of Jewish superstition is shown in the Talmud, and of Christian superstition in the doctrine of papal infallibility and the worship of saints. The mere idea of a separate order of priesthood to stand between Allah and man and be the exclusive repository of Allah's secrets is derogatory to the goodness and all-pervading grace of Allah. The worship of "lords many and gods many" was not confined only to the Pagans. The deification of the son of Mary is put here in a special clause by itself, as it held (and still holds) in its thrall a large portion of civilised humanity.
   1288. Cf. vi. 100.
   1289. With their mouths: there is a twofold meaning: (1) the old-fashioned open oil lamps were extinguished by blowing with the mouth; the Unbelievers would like to blow out Allah's Light as it is a cause of offence to them; (2) false teachers and preachers distort the Message of Allah by the false words of their mouth. Their wish is to put out the light of Truth for they are people of darkness; but Allah will perfect His Light, i.e., make it shine all the brighter in the eyes of men. His Light in itself is ever perfect, but it will penetrate the hearts of men more and more, and so become more and more perfect for them.
   1291. Bil-bātili = in falsehoods. i.e., by false means, pretences, or in false or vain things. This was strikingly exemplified in the history of Mediaeval Europe. Though the disease is apt to attack all people and organisations at all times. Priests got rich by issuing indulgences and dispensations; they made their office a stepping stone to worldly power and possessions. Even the Monastic Orders, which took vows of poverty for individuals grew rich with corporate property, until their wealth became a scandal, even among their own nations.
   1292. […]
   1293. Gold and silver, symbolising wealth which these people cherished even more than the good pleasure of their Lord, will not only be the cause but the instrument whereby they would receive a grievous punishment.
   1294. The voice enforces the moral: "did you expect satisfaction or salvation from the treasures that you misused? Behold! they add to your torment!"

[[ Compare text at: < http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/009.qmt.html#009.031 > and following. ]]
[ < http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#christian_leaders > ]    [KEY: "<" and ">" are used to mark off visible Internet addresses (i.e., URLs) shown above, which are NOT in the book, but have been inserted to assist study, like this: < www.submission.org/suras/sura9.html#31 >.
   "[" and "]" or doubled brackets, also marking some material not in the book, are inserted to show additional references to help study. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: In Footnote 1287, the quoted "lords many and gods many" might be an echo of a Christian Greek Scripture text, 1 Corinthians 8:5-6: "there be gods many and lords many, but to us one God the Father."
   Also in Footnote 1287, the mention of the "the son of Mary" leads to a reminder that the Christian Scripture names four brothers of Jesus – James, Joset, Juda and Simon – and mentions his sisters as if they were other children of Mary (Mark 6:3). ENDS.]
   [DOUBLE-CHECK: Thorough people ought to seek "keys" to the Koran, and check the suras on the Internet, and buy a Koran or check one in a public library (Dewey shelf number 297.1225). ENDS.] [Dated Year 1413 H., i.e., 1992-93 A.D.; Received Jun 13, 07]
• The enemy within. - Book The Islamist

The enemy within

   The Weekend Australian, by Peter Wilson, Books, Review section pp 8-9, June 16-17, 2007
ED Husain is the man we were all looking for after the 7/7 bombings in London two years ago. Not to "help police with their investigations", as they still say during police manhunts, but to help a stunned nation understand what had happened to it. Like dozens of other reporters, I walked the streets of Leeds talking to the friends and families of three of the July 7 bombers in an unsuccessful attempt to understand how three boys born there and a fourth who had emigrated from Jamaica as a baby had turned into homegrown Islamic terrorists, young men capable of playing a friendly game of cricket one summer evening and then blowing up trains and buses jammed with their fellow Britons the next morning.
   Husain knows how that transformation happened because he has been through the same process of alienation, grooming and indoctrination. The East London-born son of Indian and Bangladeshi immigrants spent five years moving deeper and deeper into radical Islamist circles in London and has written a book explaining his time as an active player in the groups that he now believes prepare young Muslims to be potential terrorists.
   That book, The Islamist, is the first such account by a highly articulate young Briton of his journey into and out of that mindset, and it has been eagerly welcomed by British commentators and politicians who are still desperately trying to understand what leads to such extremism, and how to battle it.
Ed Husain was a soldier in the army of Islamist extremism. He explains to Peter Wilson why he walked away
   Husain, a 32-year-old PhD student in political science and part-time language teacher, says his tale is just as relevant in Australia, as hardline Islamic groups here look to England for ideas and inspiration, as well as for translations of radical texts. The suggestion last year by Sydney imam Taj Din al-Hilali that women who did not dress modestly were inciting rape had "given the game away" by showing that hardline Islamists would never happily accommodate Western society.
   "It tells you something about a certain mindset that can't accept difference, and that is what Wahabism [the aggressive brand of Islam born in Saudi Arabia] is all about, not being able to tolerate difference.
   "His comments about women were so stupid and they were an indication to me that extremism isn't only about politics, it is about other issues like the basic social values of Western society.
   "Yes, their demands might be about Iraq today and Palestine tomorrow, but if you appease them on those issues what comes next, and how far are you prepared to go? I have been a part of it, I have shared that mindset and I can tell you its demands just can't be satisfied."
   Husain does not look like a young man who once shared that or any other hardline mindset He spent most of the 1990s wearing the "jeans and a beard" uniform of Muslim activists in university campuses and working-class neighbourhoods, but he arrived for our interview in a neat jacket and business shirt that matched his middle-class, educated accent and supremely calm manner.
   He is now as mainstream as a British practising Muslim can be. A middle-of-the-road member of the Labour Party, he uses Ed instead of his full name Mohamed, and largely relies on his wife's income as a high school teacher to fund his doctoral studies.
   We met in the cafe of a Grower Street bookshop just 200m from Tavistock Square, where the youngest of the 7/7 bombers, 18-year-old Hasib Hussain, set off a backpack bomb on a red double-decker bus, ripping his own body apart and killing 12 other passengers.
   Husain had already abandoned extremism when that bus and three underground trains were blown up, and was working with his wife Faye in Saudi Arabia, teaching English for the British Council.
   In Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf states he found the local brand of Islam harsh and unappealing, but "in India, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt… the form of Islam people manifested was very humble; internal, spiritual, harmonious".
   "I came back to Britain and it was all about identity, confrontation and politics. It just seemed out of sync with the Muslim world.
   "I decided that in view of 7/7 and looking it the dominant form of Islam that was being developed in Britain it was imperative that somebody spoke out from within to challenge that. And the best way to do that was with my own story."
   His story is one of drifting away from the tolerant and prayer-based faith of his parents and becoming "an Islamist", Islam who sees as an aggressive brand of politics rather than a form of spirituality.
   Growing up as the eldest of four children in working-class Mile End, he was sent to the state primary school and taught by his parents that there was no conflict in being "British by birth, Asian by descent and Muslim by conviction". The family shopped at a Jewish baker, were friends with the Catholic nuns who lived opposite their home and helped out each year at the local church's jumble sale.
   Things changed when his father insisted that he should go to an all-boys high school that was dominated by boys from the sub-continent.
   After a primary school where his classmates included "Jane, Lisa, Andrew, … here everyone was Bangladeshi, Muslim and male".
   Unable to relate to the Hindi songs and Bollywood movies that obsessed his new classmates - many of whom were recent immigrants - Husain was bullied and became an unhappy loner.
   Taught at home to study the Koran, he took a special interest in religious studies and bonded with Falik, another misfit with a strong commitment to Islam.
   But the first text they were given to read at school, Islam: Beliefs and Teachings by Gulam Sarwar, declared that "religion and politics are one and the same in Islam", and praised Jamat-e-Islami, a group working in the subcontinent "for the establishment of Allah's law in Allah's land".
   Husain now considers that book a form of propaganda that should never be fed to children, but it was convincing enough at the time.
   His friend Falik later introduced him to the Young Muslim Organisation, a front group for Jamat-e-Islami.
   Hiding this involvement from his parents, who opposed the politicisation of Islam, Husain plunged in deeper, finding a new sense of identity, comradeship and self-esteem in progressively harder-line groups.
   By the time he was 16 he had no white or non-Muslim friends and spent all his free time organising prayer groups and meetings, recruiting other students, and studying Islamist texts.
   When his parents realised what he was doing and demanded that he stop, the teenager ran away from home to live in a mosque, returning after a few days when his worried parents buckled and tacitly agreed to accept his activism.
   The YMO took over its members' lives like a cult, insisting that they fill out daily activity sheets listing how many prayers and recitations they had performed, how many hours they had dedicated to the movement and how many new recruits they had targeted that day.
   "At the end of every week I attended a meeting where we reported our week's achievements," he writes.
   "We wanted to outdo one another and those who underperformed were often subjected to strict questioning."
   Revelling in the regimentation and training, Husain eventually became a leader in Islamic student groups at university and a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, or the "Party of Liberation", which campaigns for the creation of a caliphate or single Muslim government to run all Muslim countries by shari’a law rather than "man-made" law and democracy.
   Banned in Russia, Egypt and several Muslim countries, and operating under legal restrictions in Germany, HuT members generally boycott democratic politics, but try to lay the ground for coups that they hope will one day install a caliph or ruler in one Muslim country after another.
[Picture] Extreme Influences: Clockwise from left, Ed Husain in London; Leeds, an Islamic heartland in Britain; the wreckage of the bus in Tavistock Square
   Husain casts the group's rhetoric as racist and dangerous, presenting all non-Muslims as inferior. The rhetoric was about jihad and martyrdom, but the tactics were straight from the extreme Left of the 1960s, training small and secretive cells of members to infiltrate other organisations, take over or disrupt meetings and generally use their zeal and discipline to have an impact beyond their numbers.
   Taking advantage of British tolerance and political correctness, Husain and his colleagues reviled Jews, homosexuals and all non-believers, spreading a bile that he says cleared the way for young men such as those in Leeds to take things further.
   "Homegrown British suicide bombers are a direct result of Hizb ut-Tahrir disseminating ideas of jihad, martyrdom, confrontation and anti-Americanism, and nurturing a sense of separation among Britain's Muslims," he writes.
   The British Government considered banning HuT after the 7/7 bombings, but accepted MI5 advice that there was no evidence that the group was involved in terrorism, a decision that was repeated in Australia.
   "Hizb ut-Tahrir in Australia take their lead and all their publications from England and if you go to their website, the translations of Arabic literature that they read have been published in London," Husain says.
   "So London is like the headquarters for English-speaking Islamists and also for Arabic-speaking ones to some extent."
   Husain's second thoughts about his comrades began with his observation that many of these fanatical Islamists did not seem to be overly interested in actually reading the Koran or praying. When one of his colleagues stabbed and killed a Christian student during a college confrontation Husain was shocked out of his zealotry, a process that seems to have been reinforced by meeting his future wife.
   Husain now calls for outlawing rhetoric that paves the way for violence, saying that such a ban would empower moderate Muslims to root out radicals, even though it would also restrict civil rights in a way that would worry many Britons and Australians.
   "It can't be acceptable in modern Britain that people go around saying that we are working towards a jihadi [holy war] state in the Middle East that will ultimately turn on the West," he says.
   "It's not even 'ultimately'. It's from day one. If you read the literature they keep for their private meetings, its aim is to attack the West, destroy Israel and to kill non-Muslims and Muslims who oppose us.
   "Homophobia is illegal, anti-Semitism is illegal, racism is illegal, but for Islamists to call for destroying non-Muslims remains legal and I don't understand that.
   "The problem is the agenda for action that they tell people to engage in, and that is what has got to be challenged and changed.
   "The various groups will just change their names and set up new front groups so you have to target the rhetoric and the ideas, not the organisations. You ban the advocating of that sort of rhetoric."
   Bemused by recent government calls for university staff in Britain to monitor extremism on campus, Husain says university authorities and teachers are more concerned about protecting freedom of speech than protecting people's lives.
   "Since coming back to Britain last year I have approached two university authorities, complaining about this violent rhetoric in prayers and meetings, and the response from both those universities has been: 'We are awfully sorry, it is their freedom of speech, we can't do anything'.
   "That is why the debate goes back to whether it is legal or illegal to call for a jihadi state dedicated to overthrowing governments in the Middle East, destroying Israel, killing Muslims and non-Muslims who oppose it and eventually turning their guns on the West. That's their rhetoric, that's their belief.
   "At the moment in Britain it remains legal and acceptable for that sort of rhetoric to be articulated and for as long as it's there, there's no point in ordinary Muslims who can identify it trying to combat it because we can't do anything.
   "Many, many Muslims have complained and have been slapped in the face. I have had that experience.
   "MI5 is just as bad. July 7 was a fundamental failure for them, but even now they are not prepared to accept the true nature of the threat. The security agencies say that Hizb ut-Tahrir isn't linked to violence and terrorism and therefore, it shouldn't be banned. That is absurd. I'm sorry, but we have got a huge problem in that we still just don't understand the way modern terrorism works.
‘It was imperative that somebody spoke out from within…and the best way was with my own story’
   "In 1997, Hizb ut-Tahrir's demonstrations in London attracted about 300 people at a push; now it attracts nearly 1500 people. Let these people continue and their rhetoric gain more and more acceptance, and by 2017, 2027 we have got real problems.
   "Moderate Muslim groups should identify extremists and inform the police, but they don't bother because the police aren't doing anything. The message from government authorities is 'tolerate extremism'.
   "If the Government and the wider country don't want to do anything about it, well don't come running back to the Muslims in three or four years' time when there's a terrorist attack and say: 'Well, why didn't you stop it?'
   "You have to outlaw these groups and empower mosque committees and individual Muslims to report these people in our midst, have them arrested.
   "There are some people who are beyond call, hell-bent on destruction and violence; they are gone and should be locked up. But a lot of others who think it's legal, it's acceptable to go down that road can still be reached and they will be forced to shift their rhetoric if it is made clear to them: 'Look, guys, we no longer play that game.'
   "At the moment these people are free to recruit others and continue with that whole game … the game I used to play."
   While insisting that he has had overwhelming support from ordinary Muslims since the launch of his book, Husain has also been vilified on Islamic websites and he admits that "there have been a couple of threats".
   "I don't travel to certain parts of London and I have been warned by friends of threats from certain quarters. There has been a sustained campaign on the internet, accusations of treachery, slander and character assassination.
   "But I'm not surprised; that's what I expected from Islamists."
   The Islamist by Ed Husain (Penguin, $24.95) will be published on July 2.
   Peter Wilson is The Australian's Europe correspondent. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#the_enemy    [RECAPITULATION: When one of his colleagues stabbed and killed a Christian student during a college confrontation Husain was shocked out of his zealotry, a process that seems to have been reinforced by meeting his future wife. […]
   Taking advantage of British tolerance and political correctness, Husain and his colleagues reviled Jews, homosexuals and all non-believers, spreading a bile that he says cleared the way for young men such as those in Leeds to take things further. […]
   "Homophobia is illegal, anti-Semitism is illegal, racism is illegal, but for Islamists to call for destroying non-Muslims remains legal and I don't understand that. ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE: 2:193 (or 189):- … Fight the unbelievers until no other religion except Islam is left.
   3:83 (or 77):- Are they seeking a religion other than Allah's, when every soul in the heavens and the earth has submitted to Him, willingly or by compulsion? …
   4:89 (or 91):- … Take therefore none of them for friends … If they turn back, then seize them, and slay them wherever ye find them … www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/004. qmt.html #004.089 . DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Britain suffers from a desire for national suicide. ENDS.] [June 16-17, 2007]
• Iran condemns Rushdie knighthood.

Iran condemns Rushdie knighthood

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), http://news. bbc.co.uk/1/ hi/uk/6760927. stm , Sunday, June 17, 2007 Sir Salman Rushdie

CAPTION: Sir Salman went into hiding under threat of death
   Iran has criticised the British government for its decision to give a knighthood to author Salman Rushdie.
   His book The Satanic Verses offended Muslims worldwide and led to Iran issuing a fatwa in 1989, ordering Sir Salman's execution.
   Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said the decision to praise the "apostate" showed Islamophobia among British officials.
   The UK Foreign Office said Sir Salman's honour was "richly deserved".
   'Detested figure'
   Mr Hosseini told a press conference: "Giving a medal to someone who is among the most detested figures in the Islamic community is… a blatant example of the anti-Islamism of senior British officials. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#iran_condemns_rushdie [RECAPITULATION: His book The Satanic Verses offended Muslims worldwide and led to Iran issuing a fatwa in 1989, ordering Sir Salman's execution. … Islamophobia … detested … anti-Islamism … ENDS.]
[COMMENT: Or is it a self-appointed minority pretending it has the ear of Heaven, and so can issue murder orders, and later condemn the free actions of an independent kingdom? Look what happened to the Persian and Eastern Roman empires!] [Jun 17, 07]
• Rushdie's knighthood 'justifies suicide attacks'.

Rushdie’s knighthood ‘justifies suicide attacks’

The Telegraph (Britain), www.telegraph. co.uk/news/ main.jhtml? xml=/news/ 2007/06/18/ wrushdie118. xml , By Peter Foster, South Asia Correspondent, Last Updated: 2:29am BST, June/19/2007
A Pakistani cabinet minister said today that the decision to knight Sir Salman Rushdie was a justification for suicide bombing, after the parliament in Islamabad condemned the honour as "blasphemous and insulting" to the world's Muslims.


	The protests on the streets of Multan echo the angry demonstrations when The Satanic Verses was published in 1989

   As MPs issued a demand for the award to be immediately withdrawn, the religious affairs minister, Mohammad Ejaz-ul-Haq, said: "The West always wonders about the root cause of terrorism. Such actions [giving Rushdie a knighthood] are the root cause of it.
   "If someone commits suicide bombing to protect the honour of the Prophet Mohammed, his act is justified."
   The parliament passed a unanimous resolution deploring the honour as an open insult to the feelings of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims.
   Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, the minister for parliamentary affairs who tabled the motion, said that the knighthood was "a source of hurt for Muslims" and would encourage people to "commit blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammed".
   Mr ul-Haq then called on Pakistan and all other Muslim states to "break off diplomatic relations with Britain" if the knighthood was not withdrawn.
   The minister was later forced to clarify his potentially highly inflammatory statement, saying that he was speaking about the wider causes of terrorism and not of Sir Salman specifically.
   The commotion in Pakistan comes after Iran expressed similar sentiments at the weekend and will again raise concerns for Sir Salman's safety almost 20 years after the publication of The Satanic Verses.
   Pakistan's religious parties ordered supporters onto the streets of two provincial cites today. Effigies of both the Queen and Sir Salman were burned while some protestors chanted "Kill him! Kill him!"
   Sir Salman, 59, who said he was "thrilled" to be knighted, was forced to live in hiding for nine years after Iran's late spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill the British author for allegedly insulting Islam's holy Prophet in The Satanic Verses.
   It was not until 1998, when the Iranian government said that it would not support the outstanding fatwa, that the author took the decision to return to public life.
   Tonight British officials are waiting nervously for further reaction to the award at a time when Pakistani society - already volatile following weeks of political protests against the country's President, Gen Pervez Musharraf - is becoming more increasingly radicalised.
   Robert Brinkley, Britain's High Commissioner to Pakistan, defended the decision to honour Sir Salman for his 13 books which have won numerous awards, including the 1981 Booker Prize for Midnight's Children.
   "It is simply untrue to suggest that this in anyway is an insult to Islam or the Prophet Mohammed, and we have enormous respect for Islam as a religion and for its intellectual and cultural achievements," he said.
   Asked if he was concerned it could provoke unrest in Pakistan, Mr Brinkley said: "We will just have to see where it goes from here. There's certainly no reason for that." #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#rushdies_knighthood_justifies    [RECAPITULATION: "The West always wonders about the root cause of terrorism. Such actions [giving Rushdie a knighthood] are the root cause of it. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Well, anyone who thinks that the West has the right to honour people as it wishes, had better check it out with the self-appointed minority first!]
   [2nd RECAP.: Effigies of both the Queen and Sir Salman were burned while some protestors chanted "Kill him! Kill him!"]
   [2nd COMMENT: Yet the Westerner honours the religion and the "intellectual and cultural achievements."]
   [3rd RECAP.: "If someone commits suicide bombing to protect the honour of the Prophet Mohammed, his act is justified."]
   [DOCTRINE : 3:157-158:- And if ye shall be slain or die on the path of Allah, then pardon from Allah and mercy is better than all your amassings; For if ye die or be slain, verily unto Allah shall ye be gathered. ENDS.]
   [GUIDELINE - Hadith: 2, 19:173 (Bukhari's collection):- […] Later on, I saw him killed as a non-believer.]
   [LAW - shari’a: Part Four: The judgements concerning those who think the Prophet imperfect or curse him
   Section One: The Judgement of the shari’a regarding someone who curses or disparages the Prophet
   Know that all who curse Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or blame him or attribute imperfection to him in his person, his lineage, his deen or any of his qualities, or alludes to that or its like by any means whatsoever, whether in the form of a curse or contempt or belittling him or detracting from him or finding fault with him or maligning him, the judgement regarding such a person is the same as the judgement against anyone who curses him. He is killed as we shall make clear. This judgement extends to anything which amounts to a curse or disparagement. We have no hesitation concerning this matter, be it a clear statement or allusion.
   The same applies to anyone who curses him, invokes against him, desires to harm him, ascribes to him what does not befit his position or jokes about his mighty affair with foolish talk, satire, disliked words or lies, or reviles him because of any affliction or trial which happened to him or disparages him, because of any of the permissible and well-known human events which happened to him. All of this is the consensus of the 'ularna' and the imams of fatwa from the time of the Companions until today. […] www.masud. co.uk/ISLAM/ misc/alshifa/ pt4ch1sec 1.htm .] [Jun 19, 07]
• [Rushdie knighthood 'justifies' suicide murders, and so-called moderates fail to condemn violence and threats.]

[Rushdie knighthood ‘justifies’ suicide murders, and so-called moderates fail to condemn violence and threats.]

The West Australian, www.thewest.com.au , Various pages, Wednesday, June 20, 2007

P. 1: British knighthood for Rushdie is justification for suicide attacks, says Pakistani MP. PAKISTAN:

[Picture of men with headgear burning a United Kingdom flag.] Religious fire: Protests greeted Britain's decision to award a knighthood to author Salman Rushdie. In Pakistan, protesters burnt effigies and an MP said it was blasphemous. Picture: Associated Press.

P. 7: US in major offensive in al-Qaida sanctuary. BAGHDAD, Iraq:

U.S. 10,000 soldiers and attack helicopters attack al-Qaida areas north of Baghdad, around the city of Baquba in Diyal province.
In Baghdad, a car bomb killed at least 61 near the Shi'ite Khilani mosque.

P. 13: Islamic outrage over knighthood for Rushdie. By Katie Hampston. AUSTRALIA:

Anger over controversial author Salman Rushdie's knighthood ignited across Australia yesterday, with local Muslim leaders condemning the British Government for insulting Islam and inflaming anti-Western sentiment.

Pakistan dictatorship's Religious Affairs Minister Ejuz-ul-Haq said that actions such as giving the knighthood were the root cause of terrorism. Another minister called on all Muslim states to break off diplomatic relations with Britain if the knightood was not withdrawn.

Federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd welcomed the recognition.
   Keysar Trad, chairman of the Sydney-based Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, said the award had sparked upset. "… the British Government does not care for the sentiments of a quarter of the world's population," Mr Trad said. "… he uses the F-word 57 times."
   WA Muslim leader Dr Ameer Ali said there was no justification for suicide bombings. "The Muslims have a habit of reacting in a violent way and demonstrating against whatever happens in relation to their religion, the prophet, or any heroes in Islamic history. My position is let us ignore this and not to react the way the people have in Pakistan."
   Abdul Jalil Ahmad, the Islamic Council of WA's religious adviser, said it would be wrong to align the views of Australian Muslims with the views of fanatics in Pakistan who are burning effigies of the Queen and Rushdie while chanting "Kill him! Kill him!" … there are some natural reactions against Rushdie but the vast majority are tired of these things and don't care as much here.

In Britain, Muslim peer Lord Ahmed said he was "appalled" to hear of a knighthood for a man who had not only been abusive to Muslims, but also to Christians.

P. 20: Editorial. "Voices of reason absent in din of Muslim threats." … hardline Muslims … threat of bloodshed and death is not far below the surface. … grievance … 1989 … edict calling for the killing of the author … no more than a work of fiction. … This has echoes of the violent response of Muslim extremists … cartoons … arson attacks on Scandinavian embassies. …
And, once again, in this latest instance, the absence of any authoritative Muslim voice of reason and moderation to condemn unambiguously the talk of violence is as glaring as it is disturbing. If moderate Muslims to not speak out forcefully against the extremists, they cannot validly complain of a perception that their religion endorses violence as a matter of course. #

P. 24: "Israel tightens the noose on Hamas." PALESTINE-ISRAEL:

Israel will deny the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip funds, including Palestinian tax revenues. Hamas seized the Strip by force last week. The 1.5 million Gaza Strip residents are aid-dependant. Fatah leaders said it would cut off all contact with Hamas. The Palestinian Authority released 15 Hamas politicians it had detained in the southern West Bank after the Islamist group's seizure of the Gaza Strip last week. Hundreds of terrified Gazans are trying to flee Hamas rule. Hamas militants opened fire on the Erez Crossing on Monday night. (Picture of wounded people.)

P. 35: "Militant plans to sue cops." JAKARTA:

Abu Dujana, a suspected Islamist activist, plans to sue the Indonesian police force for shooting him as they arrested him.

P. 42:

NATO-Taliban clashes kill at least 100 in three days. AFGHANISTAN: The Taliban are taking over districts, and (NATO) then fights to re-liberate them.

P. 44:

Iran leaders get tough in bid to return to the old days; Hundreds quizzed, detained and harassed amid purges and new censorship rules as Tehran cracks down on dissidents. Groups quashed include civil society groups, women's rights protests, low-pay protests, academics. Even Hossein Mousavian, former nuclear negotiator and ambassador, has been arrested. The dress code and morality has led to 150,000 people receiving police attention. The BLUSH administration has voted US$75m to promote democracy. Arrests that arise, possibly from this, include that of scholar Haleh Esfandiari.

P. 46:

Poison fails to faze Turkish Prime Minister.

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#rushdie_knighthood_justifies_suicide    [DOCTRINE: See 3:157-158
   6:32:- Nothing is the life of this world, but play and amusement. But best is the Home in the Hereafter …
   93:4:- And verily the Hereafter will be better for thee than the present. DOCTRINE ENDS.] [Jun 20, 07]
• Various incidents.

Various incidents

Various newsmedia, up to June 20, 2007
In the past month or so, the following incidents have been reported.

A man targeted by extremists survived the first attack, but attackers then killed him in an ambulance.

A campaigner exposing Islamism was murdered.

Sheik Al-Hilali ("9/11 Allah's work; women like meat") was replaced as Australia's grand mufti.

The two towers of an Islamic mosque were blown up in Iraq (perpetrators unknown).

Christian clergy were murdered outside an Iraq church.

[LINKS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_in_Iraq , and similar for other years. ENDS.] [Jun 20, 07]
• Reports distress Baha'i.

Reports distress Baha’i

   Wanneroo Times (Perth suburb, W. Australia), p 11, June 21, 2007
   PERTH: MEMBERS of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Joondalup say they have been distressed by reports of Baha'i schoolchildren in Iran being harassed, vilified and abused.
   A Joondalup community spokesman said that during a one-month period, about 150 incidents of insults, mistreatment and even physical violence against Baha'i children were reported in 10 Iranian cities.
   In some cases, teachers were responsible.
   He said the Baha'i faith was Iran's biggest non-Muslim religious minority and had been subject to ongoing and systematic persecution since the 1979 revolution. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#reports_distress_bahai [COMMENT: Not just since 1979 -- the persecution of all other religions, and of variant Muslims and women generally, has flared up on and off ever since the Muslim invasion centuries ago. ENDS.]
READ MORE: www.bahai. org.au/ scripts/ WebObjects. exe/BNO. woa/wa/ pages?page= 28/64/ Escalating persecution inIran1 . ENDS.] [Jun 21, 07]
• PoK girl repatriated [after brave escape from rape-marriage plans.]

PoK girl repatriated

   Daily Excelsior (circulating in Jammu and Kashmir), www.daily excelsior. com , Excelsior Correspondent, June 21, 2007
   JAMMU, June 21: An 18 year old girl, Anida Khan from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), who had yesterday infiltrated into Indian territory from Mendhar sector in Poonch district opposing her forced marriage by her family members, was today repatriated to PoK civil authorities by Revenue and police officers from Roshni Post in Poonch.
   Official sources said civil and police officers from Poonch district established a contact with PoK civil authorities this afternoon after questioning of Anida Khan daughter of Mardhik Khan R/o Kather, PoK confirmed that she had left her house in distress and was not involved in any undesirable activities.
   At 5.30 pm, she was handed over to PoK authorities by Tehsildar and police authorities from Roshni Post in Poonch sector, sources said.
   The girl was likely to be restored to her family at Kather.
   As reported today, the girl was taken into custody by Army about 400 meters from LoC where she was sitting all alone. During questioning, she disclosed that she had left her house as her family members wanted to marry her against her wishes.
   Troops of 23 RR and Territorial Army busted a hide-out of the militants at Thanna Nala in Ramsu area of Ramban district and recovered 200 liters of kerosene oil, 200 kg rice, five kg cooking oil, two pressure stoves and three blankets. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#pok_girl [FOOTNOTE: The WA was told of the existence of this newsitem, after the Webmaster had found it by Search Engine AFTER the June 22 publication. One hopes that the girl has not been murdered. [Jun 21, 07]
• Girl braves war zone to flee marriage.

Girl braves war zone to flee marriage

   The West Australian, www.thewest. com.au , p 33, Friday, June 22, 2007
   An 18-year-old Pakistani girl disliked her husband-to-be so much that she fled to India in a high-altitude trek across one of the world's deadliest borders.
   Anida Khan made it safely over the Line of Control dividing Pakistani and Indian Kashmir, where Indian troops are posted to shoot Islamic militant infiltrators, before she was arrested.
   "During questioning she revealed that her parents wanted her to marry against her wishes," the Excelsior newspaper said yesterday.
   Ms Khan is in police custody pending a decision on whether she should be sent back to Pakistan. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#girl_braves    [COMMENT: Don't accept her family's promise that she won't be harmed! "Honour" killings are rife among that culture group. Let's go all multicultural! ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE - Koran: www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/004. qmt.html #004.034 . ENDS.]
   [GUIDELINE - HADITH: 9, 86. 98: Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "A virgin should not be married till she is asked for her consent; and the matron should not be married till she is asked whether she agrees to marry or not." It was asked, "O Allah's Apostle! How will she (the virgin) express her consent?" He said, "By keeping silent." Some people said, "If a virgin is not asked for her consent and she is not married, and then a man, by playing a trick presents two false witnesses that he has married her with her consent and the judge confirms his marriage as a true one, and the husband knows that the witnesses were false ones, then there is no harm for him to consummate his marriage with her and the marriage is regarded as valid." 009.086.098 ENDS.] [Jun 22, 07]
• I support Hezbollah: Aussie cleric.

I support Hezbollah: Aussie cleric

   The Weekend Australian, by Richard Kerbaj, pp 1 and 2, June 23-24, 2008
   AUSTRALIA – THE nation's most senior Shia Muslim cleric has attacked John Howard for backing Israel against Arabs and openly declared his allegiance to the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah.
[Picture] Outspoken: Sheik Mousselmani
   Kamal Mousselmani – head of the Supreme Islamic Shia Council of Australia – said yesterday his entire community considered Hezbollah a "resistance group", not a terrorist network, and lashed the Howard Government over its support for Israel.
   "They (the Australian Government) are encouraging terror- ism," the Lebanese-born cleric told The Weekend Australian in an interview conducted in Arabic. "Australia is encouraging Israel to kill our people daily. Write that down, we are not afraid of anyone."
   Sheik Mousselmani said all of Australia's approximately 30,000 Shi'ites were avid supporters of Hezbollah (Party of God) and haters of Israel.
   "Shia in Australia consider Israel a terrorist organisation and also view those who support Israel in the same light," he said "That's what we believe.
   "If Australia supports Israel, they are defending terrorism. Because we believe terrorists come from Israel – not from our people – I support Hezbollah."
   Hezbollah's military arm, the External Security Organisation, is a proscribed terrorist organisation in Australia, and supporting Hezbollah's political and military wings is illegal under UN counter-terrorist financing declarations.
   Sheik Mousselmani said Hezbollah was responsible for financially assisting and providing food and shelter for victims of the 34-day war in southern Lebanon last year.
   The cleric said neither he nor Hezbollah condoned suicide terrorism missions.
   "We are against the suicide bombings going on around the world," he said.
   "And Hezbollah is against it.
   "Our opinion is that Hezbollah is not a terrorist group. We consider Hezbollah a resistance group. Put those words down, we are not afraid to say that."
   Sheik Mousselmani's comments come as national security agencies step up their investigation into the Shia community in Australia, which until now has – …
   Continued – Page 2 […]

   [RECAPITULATION: Sheik Mousselmani said all of Australia's approximately 30,000 Shi'ites were avid supporters of Hezbollah (Party of God) and haters of Israel. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Well, under the British mandate from after World War I to after World War II, history shows that Jews had three terrorist gangs attacking Arab Palestinians and the British police, etc. But, if there are 30,000 Shi'ites in Australia, I wonder when this number was approved by the former Australians by referendum! You see, the older Aussies supported an immigration policy that meant that overseas quarrels would not be imported into Australia. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [KORAN: {Click:} 5:51 (or 5:56), and 5:82 (or 5:85);
   {Read:} 33:26-27:- And those of the People of the Book who aided them - Allah did take them down from their strongholds and cast terror into their hearts. (So that) some ye slew, and some ye made prisoners. And He gave you their land, and their dwellings, and their wealth, for an heritage – even a land on which ye had never set foot: for the might of Allah is equal to all things.
   {and click:} 59:5. DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [HADITH: Sahih Muslim's collection, 41:6985. TRADITION ENDS.] http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#i_support_hezbollah_aussie [June 23-24, 2008]
• Iranian 'traitor' finds her freedom.

Iranian ‘traitor’ finds her freedom

   The Weekend Australian, by Caroline Overington, p 10, June 23-24, 2007
   ONE of Iran's youngest female political prisoners has been granted permanent residency in Australia, after being imprisoned for 29 days for campaigning for women's rights in Tehran.
   Zarah Ghahramani was just 20 when she was taken off the streets of Tehran and transported to Evin, a prison the size of a small town, on the outskirts of the city. The prison is used by the Iranian regime to hold political prisoners.
   She was beaten, and her head was shaved. On release, she was dumped in a desert and stripped of her right to attend university. She was helped out of Iran by the Australian writer Robert Hillman, who has helped her write a book about the experience: My Life as a Traitor.
   Hillman met Ghahramani in June 2003, when he was standing on a Tehran street corner, notebook in hand. Ghahramani, who had only recently been released, noted his Western looks, walked boldly up to him and asked him if they could talk.
   Out tumbled Ghahramani's story. She had been imprisoned for taking part in peaceful protests, as part of Iran's "change for equality" movement, that promotes women's rights.
   Iranian women are trying to collect a million signatures to force the Iranian regime to make changes that would give them the right to have access to their children after divorce, to give women's evidence the same weight as that of a man in court and the right of women to work in different professions.
[Picture] Beaten: Zarah Ghahramani and Robert Hillman have written a book about her life in Tehran    Picture: Bob Finlayson
   Ghahramani is not Muslim and shyly says she "cannot cook, cannot mend anything". In her book, she says she has "no interest in all that stuff you are supposed to know about keeping your man happy and content".
   She was, she says, too much of a "hothead" to survive a traditional life and marriage in Iran, and the laws that discriminated against women enraged her.
   "I promised myself, once I was released, I would never talk about politics again," she said.
   "But you were!" Hillman said. "You were still doing it when I met you there."
   "I couldn't stop," she concedes.
   Hillman thought Ghahramalni would be returned to prison if she stayed in Iran.
   He urged her to apply for an Australian working visa, which she then outstayed, so she could apply for a temporary protection visa.
   The federal Government has since granted her permanent status.
   When she came to Australia, Hillman took her to the home he shares with his wife, in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Carlton.
   She found it quiet, especially after Tehran, a city of 20 million people.
   Then he took her to his other property at Warburton, in country Victoria, "and it was so boring!" she says, unembarrassed. Hillman says they started to write the book mostly so Ghahramani could "debrief, get it out of her system".
   Before long, they decided the work was publishable.
   Ghahramani says she "had a happy family life" in Iran. "It was not easy for me to go." But her mother was frantic about her safety.
   "If I came home five minutes late, she would be collapsed, thinking I had been arrested again," she said.
   Of life in Australia, she says the most obvious difference is her right "to be free. To not have to live according to my husband's wishes." #

   [RECAPITULATION: She was beaten, and her head was shaved. […] ENDS.]
   [KORAN: 4:34 (or 4:38):- […] But chide those for whose refractoriness ye have cause to fear; remove them into beds apart, and beat them … ENDS.]
   [2nd RECAPITULATION: Iranian women are trying to collect a million signatures to force the Iranian regime to make changes that would give them the right to have access to their children after divorce, to give women's evidence the same weight as that of a man in court and the right of women to work in different professions. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Surely these inalienable rights ought to be enshrined in a country ruled according to the Mohammedan way, if it was following Heaven's laws? So, let us study what the mullahs say are the latest issue of Heaven's laws. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [2nd group, KORAN (610-632 A.D.): 2:282:- … When ye contract a debt …call to witness two witnesses of your people: but if there be not two men, let there be a man, and two women of those whom ye shall judge fit for witnesses.
   4:15 (or 4:14, or 4:19); 4:34 (or 4:38). DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [HADITH: 1, 6:301. TRADITION ENDS.] http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#iranian_traitor_finds [June 23-24, 2007]
• Car bomb defused in London.

New terror attack fears in British capital as abandoned Mercedes found packed with gas canisters and nails

Car bomb defused in London

   The West Australian, p 4, Saturday, June 30, 2007
   LONDON -- British police defused a bomb found in a car packed with a lethal mix of gasoline, propane and nails in the heart of London yesterday in what many fear was a planned terror attack on the capital.
   Police said the car, parked near busy Piccadilly Circus in the early hours of the morning, contained a "potentially viable explosive device" which was powerful enough to have caused significant injury or loss of life.
   It is believed the bomb was to have been triggered remotely by mobile phone. It was disabled manually by police explosives experts.
   Hours later, police closed a major road on the edge of Hyde Park when a suspicious car was reported in Park Lane. Police also sealed roads near Fleet Street following reports of a suspicious package. They would not say whether the three incidents were linked.
   The incident prompted the biggest terrorism alert in London since police foiled an Islamist plot in August 2006 to blow up planes travelling from Heathrow Airport to the US. Terrorists killed 52 people in the city on July 7, 2005, by bombing the subway and a bus.
   The new Government called an emergency meeting and a police spokesman said the Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism command had launched an investigation.
[Picture] Alert: Forensic officers check the suspicious Mercedes before it is taken away for closer examination.    Picture: Associated Press
   Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who took office on Wednesday, said the incident was a reminder Britain faced "a serious and continuous threat" and there was a "need to be alert".
   "I will stress to the Cabinet that the vigilance must be maintained over the next few days," he said.
   Officers were called to Haymarket, in the bustling Piccadilly Circus entertainment district, shortly before 2am yesterday after ambulance officers called to help a sick patron at the Tiger Tiger nightclub noticed smoke coming from an abandoned car.
   Witnesses said doormen from a nearby nightclub had reported that someone had crashed a Mercedes sedan into rubbish bins and run away. The silver saloon was being driven "erratically" before the crash. The car was full of gas canisters and there was a big number of nails on the floor.
   … the vehicle … was parked outside an American Express foreign exchange office. […]

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#car_bomb_defused [Jun 30, 07]
• The Road To Trastevere. Unpalatable Truths; A letter from Rome: Refusing to be cowered [? cowed] by Terror.

UNPALATABLE TRUTHS.
A letter from Rome: Refusing to be cowered by Terror.
THE ROAD TO TRASTEVERE

   Annals Australasia, annals australasia §nareg. com.au , By Paul Stenhouse, PhD, pp 9-12, issue of June 2007
PRESIDENT BUSH is due to visit Rome tomorrow [June 9] and the city is preparing for his visit, locked down, on guard and prepared for the worst, as tens of thousands of demonstrators try to make their way to the US Embassy on the Via Veneto, close to the Muro Torto, one of the ancient walls of the city, to show their disapproval of Bush's policies in the Middle East, and to support President Putin's rebuttal of the US's nuclear shield and veiled threats of a renewed Cold War.
   Police and carabinieri have placed barriers that can be flung up at a moment's notice against buildings and alongside roads; intersections of the city are lined with buses containing state and military police whose role is to protect the President of the United States from possible harm.
   The demonstrators, many of them 'professionisti,' or as we say in Australia, 'Rent-a-crowd,' rant against Western imperialism and US militarism, but conveniently ignore the absence of such demonstrations in countries where Islam rules, and the KGB-by-any-other-name keeps vigilant watch.
   In a bus this morning I got caught up in a conversation between an elderly lady sitting opposite me and a youngish man standing alongside her. They were talking about the anti-American and anti-Bush posters littering the city. The man was explaining that the reason for demonstrations was US policy in the Middle East, and in Eastern Europe, which was destabilising the region. To which the older woman said that Italians too easily forget what the US did for Italy when Hitler was in power in Germany.
[Picture of men in black hoods carrying a multi-shot gun and a rocket-launcher.]
   To which the man replied that the problem was not America as such, or previous American Administrations but the Bush Administration. 'Then why not say that?' she replied.
   Certainly anti-Bush propaganda easily degenerates into anti-American rhetoric. The resilient Left - selectively forgetful of the horrors of left-wingism in action in Mother Russia, Eastern Europe, China, Cuba, North Korea, Cambodia and elsewhere - gleefully jumps on the night-soil wagon which is its hallmark and bangs the anti-American drum for all it is worth.
   Yet it is a matter of public record that the Left, like radical Islam whose cause it so vociferously espouses, has never succeeded in running a country with even the semblance of human dignity and justice. Both Das Kapital and the shari’a have unleashed the dogs of war with disastrous consequences for whatever regions they touched. The people they oppressed, empowered by the adrenalin-rush of Qur'anic-based jihads and denunciation of 'infidels' and 'idolaters,' continue to suffer from massive suppressed-memory syndrome on a national scale. After September 11, 2001 President Bush declared war on 'terrorism'. He was half-right. There is a war going on. But it is not 'terrorism' that is waging it.
   If, as one surmises, he chose to name 'terrorism' as the enemy out of political correctness, borne of fear of the Left's going for his jugular if he told, as he should have, the [politically] unpalatable truth, then like the man mentioned in the Psalms, [1] his Administration has dug a pit and fallen into it itself. But would the Democrats have acted differently if fate had decreed that they, and not the Republicans, had been in office on 9/11?
   There is a war, and it is being waged by Islamist/Salafist/Wahhabist fanatics, aided by suggestible, suicidal and otherwise desperate souls.
   More importantly, however, it is being fanned by radicalized imams/mullahs/ayatollahs who base themselves on certain texts in the Qur'an and traditional Islamic interpretation of the shari’a, and spread by the now-familiar Islamic rallying cry: Allahu Akbar 'God is greater than … [fill in the space provided]'.
   Until this fact is confronted head-on and tackled, by the US and her allies, and by their opponents at home and abroad whose credibility becomes daily more problematic as they procrastinate, the situation will continue to worsen.
   Even more importantly, the West is not the primary target - despite the analyses of media pundits and others.
   If the US and the West were the enemy, then - short of a nuclear war - there would be no US or allied soldiers left on Iraqi soil as I write. Sunni and Shia would have united to blitz them. And they could have - if the atavistic hatreds that divide them were not so profound. Just as they could have removed Saddam Hussein if they really wanted to - which raises serious questions about the advice Bush and his administration received prior to the war.
   Two US soldiers died today [June 8] bringing the total since the war began in March 2003 to 3,501. In the same time 150 British soldiers have died. Figures for the Iraqi citizens who have died vary from 'hundreds of thousands' to '600,000'. [2]
   Relatively speaking, however, almost none of the Iraqi civilians who have died have been killed by allied troops. These died at the hands of their fellow Iraqis, mainly Shia killed by Sunni, or Sunni killed by Shia, or Kurds [to change the category] killed by Arab Sunni or Persian/Arab Shia. The tragic truth is, as Dr. Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari, former dean of the shari’a and law faculty at Qatar University said recently, ' … throughout Muslim history injustice on the part of Muslims against other Muslims is greater than the injustices on the part of the enemies [of the Muslims] against them.' [3]
   The demonstrators, in a letter made public today in anticipation of the arrival of President Bush in Rome, state that they hold him 'responsible for the 600,000 civilians deaths in Iraq'. [4] No mention is made of Islamist tribal-based sectarian and inter-communal and racial hatred, violence and blood-letting that dates back to before the death of Muhammad.

Putting Down Bedouin Resistance to Islam

PRECEDED by the fame of his victories and his cruelties, Khalid marched against Museilima, the [Bedouin] prophet of Yemâma, who had just defeated two Moslem armies in succession. The conflict was terrible. The insurgents … retreated to a spacious orchard, surrounded by a thick wall, and provided with massive gates. A horrible massacre ensued in this arena, whence escape was impossible. Within "The Garden of Death" the rebels, to the number of ten thousand, were slain to the last man.
Whilst the fierce Khalid was thus quenching the insurrection in Central Arabia with rivers of blood, the other generals were doing like deeds in the southern provinces. In Bahrein the camp of the Bakrites was surprised during an orgy, and they were put to the sword. A few, however, who found time for escape, reached the sea-coast and sought safety in the island of Darin. But the Musulmans were soon upon their track, and slew them all.
The like carnage took place in 'Oman, in Mahra, in Yemen, and in Hadramaut. Here, the remnant of the forces of al-Aswad, after having in vain implored the Moslem general for quarter, were exterminated; there, the commander of a fortress could only obtain as the price of surrender the promise of an amnesty for ten persons - all the rest of the garrison being decapitated; in yet another district an entire caravan route was for a long time rendered pestiferous by exhalations from the innumerable decaying bodies of the rebels. – Spanish Islam, Reinhart Dozy, London, Chatto & Windus, 1913, p. 21ff. http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#putting_down

   The ghosts of Muhammad and his successors - Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman and 'Ali - haunt the streets of Baghdad as the witless westerners try their hardest to maintain the peace, and rebuild the state.
   The reality is that terror - the weapon of choice for cowards and bullies - is the principal weapon used by Islamists against one another, and against anyone who gets in their way. The US and her allies fall into this category.
   There is no defence, in a Democratic society, against terror. Billions can be spent on security, but no one is ever secure from someone bent on murder / suicide. This may be unpalatable to post-modernist Westerners, but the French Revolution, Nazism, and Communism must surely have taught us something about the dynamics of fanaticism.
   The only way to stop the plague of terror is to drain the swamp in which it breeds. You cannot do this unless you recognize that there is a plague, and have the will to start looking for the swamp, and to taking appropriate action when you locate it.
   Let's assume that we agree that there is a plague of terror, and then try to identify those propagating it, and their motives. Only then can we seriously turn to draining the swamp. We say 'draining' advisedly, because using military means or otherwise attempting to destroy the environment in which terror breeds only feeds deadlier toxins into the source and worsens the problem.
   We can only suggest, here, a few sine qua non conditions for tackling this problem.
   The first thing to be done is to work out how many 'Islamic experts,' both Muslim and non-Muslim, have a conflict of interest in what they write and say; how many of them are in the pay of Islamist regimes, or organizations or governments of countries with an interest in forwarding the cause of militant Islam.
   This should not be so difficult once the nettle that misinformation on a global scale to subvert democracies and to further the cause of Islamists exists, has been grasped.
   Then, the US and her allies need to turn their back on political correctness. This, like Dean Swift's Lilliputians, has succeeded very well up till now in tying down the Western Gulliver, paralysing its self-esteem and appreciation of its history and Catholic roots, and exposing it defenceless - military might notwithstanding - against the wiles of Islamic and other left-wing propagandists.
   This done, the US and her allies should look candidly at the Islamist reality, especially as it affects millions of their fellow-Muslims upon whom Islamic radicalism has declared war.
   What gives militant Islam its strength and power over the masses of Muslims is not its much vaunted belief in so-called purity of religious belief; it is fear. And this fear which is rooted in certain of the Qur'anic teachings is' heightened by the alleged saying of Muhammad - reported on the authority of hadiths attributed, among others to 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas, Muhammad's cousin - that apostates from Islam must be put to death. [5]
   Recent events in Malaysia's High Court concerning the case of a former Muslim woman Azlina Jailani - she changed her name to Lina Joy when she was baptized -who applied unsuccessfully to have the word 'Muslim' removed from her identity card, have pulled the mask of democracy and tolerance off the face of Muhammad Badawi's Islamic State. They demonstrate unequivocally that the achille's heel of radical Islam is freedom of religious belief; and that Malaysia's claim to being a democracy is suspect.
   However frightened the West may be of Islamic terror, Islamists fear even more the egress from Islam that would follow the abrogation of the hadiths promoting the death penalty for 'apostasy' Decent, hard-working Muslims who migrate to Western countries seeking peace and happiness and intimidated by radicalism in their own ranks cannot comprehend the amazing inertia and ignorance of the West when confronted by the Islamist phenomenon. In a recent interview, a former British Islamist commented:

'If you read the literature they keep for their private meetings, [the Islamists'] aim is to attack the West, destroy Israel and to kill non-Muslims and Muslims who oppose us. Homophobia is illegal, anti-Semitism is illegal, racism is illegal, but for Islamists to call for destroying non-Muslims remains legal and I don't understand that.' [6]

   There is urgent need for politicians and the media in the West to make some hard choices.
   Driven by deadlines and the need for audio-visual sensation to capture the ratings to attract and retain advertisers to make the turnover in profit their shareholders expect, the media have so far proven easy targets. With some notable exceptions, they daily succumb to the blandishments of the da‘awists - the soft-sell jihadists - who man the Islamist PR machine.
   Are they really unaware that free media do not exist in Islamic societies? Compare Malaysia's New Strait's Times with The New York Times and see the difference between a medium running under strict government surveillance on automatic, and one running [more or less] on manual control. The Western media have reached a point, however, where manual control needs some voluntary fine-tuning, else they may find themselves as credible as Pravda in Stalinist days, and the very freedom they exercise so recklessly will yet prove their downfall.
   Today, we have learnt that President Bush will not be going to Rome's Trastevere district to visit the San Egidio Community. He or his minders or the Italian Security forces appear to fear the possible danger posed by Trastevere's narrow cobble-stoned streets, labyrinthine alleys, subterranean galleries and the San Egidio Centre's proximity to the Tiber.
   Have they done the right thing? Only time will tell, but I think not.
   Showing fear, and backing down because of it, only excites the terrorist and empowers those manipulating the terror.
   Benedict XVI [Ratzinger], the Pope, ruler of the Vatican, the tiniest independent nation on earth, went to Turkey despite death threats and intolerable personal abuse.
   George W. Bush, the President of the United States, the most powerful nation on earth should have gone to Trastevere.
   The Office is more important than the man - Le Roi est mort; vive le Roi ! The King is dead; Long Live the King ! - but the incumbent's [or his minders'] showing fear can do untold harm to the Office.
   Terror is cruel, indiscriminate, force exercised by cowards. Images of hooded, anonymous thugs brandishing weapons, targeting public officials, police and military recruits and civilians and screaming out 'Allahu Akbar' as they slit the throats of Muslim and non-Muslim innocents, besmear our TV screens. They are cowardly bullies and should excite sorrow and pity, not fear. They must be faced, and stared down, if the swamp in which terror breeds is to be dried up.
   There is no better time than the present.
____________________
1. Psalm 57,6. [56:7 in Douay-Rheims RC Bible]
2. City, [sic] Numero 44, June 8, 2007: 'Iraq, sono 3501 i morti americani'.
3. http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD162507.
4. La Voce d'Italia, June 8, 2007: 'Noi abbiamo deciso di rientrare per fare lo stesso ['malvenuto'] sabato a Roma, quando il responsabile degli oltre 600 mila morti civili in Iraq e della guerra in Afghanistan sarà in Italia.'
5. 'Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.' Bukhari, narrated by Ikrima on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas: 9:57
6. 'The enemy within': The Australian, June 16, 2007. Ed Husain was a soldier in the army of Islamist extremism. He explains to Peter Wilson, The Australian's Europe correspondent, why he walked away. # http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#the_road [June 2007]

Islam’s Golden Age

IF the Arabs were not altogether convinced by these torrents of blood that the religion preached by Mohammed was true, they at any rate recognised in Islamism an irresistible, and to some extent a supernatural, power. Decimated by the sword, overwhelmed with terror and amazement, they resigned themselves to becoming Moslems - at least ostensibly; and the Khalif, that they might have no time to recover from their dismay, forthwith hurled them against the Roman Empire and Persia - two nations ripe for conquest, because for many years rent by intestine [internecine ?] discord, enervated by slavery, and cankered by all the vices of decadence.
Boundless wealth and vast domains compensated the Arabs for their submission to the Law of the Prophet of Mecca. Apostasy was unknown, it was unthinkable, it meant death - upon this point the law of Mohammed is inexorable - but sincere piety and zeal for the faith were almost equally rare. By the most horrible and atrocious means the outward conversion of the Bedawin had been effected; that was much; it was indeed all that could fairly be looked for on the part of these unfortunate people, who had witnessed the death of their fathers, brothers, and children beneath the sword of Khalid or the other pious executioners who were his rivals. - Spanish Islam, Reinhart Dozy, London, Chatto & Windus, 1913, p. 21ff. http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#islams_golden

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#the_road [June 2007]
• Jihad in small town America; Islamists and their many faces. Promoting Islam.

PROMOTING ISLAM.
Islamists and their many faces.
JIHAD IN SMALL TOWN AMERICA

   Annals Australasia, annals australasia §nareg. com.au , By LAURA MANSFIELD, pp 36-37, issue of June 2007
IT happened again this week. I came out of the office to find a flyer under my windshield wipers inviting me to a special informational presentation on God and family values, and how to bring them back to the forefront in America.
   I'm a parent, so the flyer caught my interest. But as an analyst for the Northeast Intelligence Network, my eyes were riveted to the address on the flyer: the session was being held at a nearby mosque.
   Curiosity got the better of me, and I decided it would be a good time for some on-site investigations of the mosque. In order not to attract undue attention, I dressed conservatively, wearing a navy jumper with a long sleeve white blouse, and low heels. I debated whether or not to put on a hijab (head scarf) then decided not to; after all, I was going to 'learn,' not to pretend I was a Muslim.
   I checked the mosque schedule on the web, and discovered that there was going to be an Arabic language session an hour before. So I showed up an hour early. The imam met me at the door, and told me that the presentation didn't start for an hour, and suggested I come back in an hour. Fortunately I had anticipated this. I explained that since I had quite a bit of reading to do for a class I was taking. 'Can I just sit here and read?'
   He hesitated a moment, then agreed. I sat in the back of the room, with my book open, and made a mental note to remember to turn the pages every so often, as I listened to the speakers in Arabic.
   The first speaker was the head of the Muslim Students' Association at the nearby university. Although I missed the beginning of the discussion, I caught up quickly. He was talking about the problems he had encountered on a recent trip, when the Transportration [? Transportation] Security Administration [TSA] flagged him for extra screening. He joked about the fact that they had stopped him for extensive screening. He had anticipated that he would be screened and he had filled his carryon luggage with printouts of the Qu'ran from the internet, and had 15 or 16 CD's labeled in Arabic, and he had a notebook computer with him.
   As he expected he was delayed; he thought it was very amusing that while several TSA personnel were scrutinizing his personal belongings that his classmate from Jordan was able to walk through security, along with his American girlfriend, without any problems whatsoever.
   One of the men said, in Arabic 'Blonde Americans are good for

Living in Muslim Countries

Even the media play a major role in this [humiliation of the Christians]. Every day in the newspapers they speak of Islam. Sometimes Christianity is violently attacked. On television too the presence of Islam is all-pervasive; the documentary programmes speak of the successes of Islam, the news broadcasts are interrupted by the prayers. In the television debates accusations are often hurled at Christians, but there is no provision for presenting the other side and no right of reply. This happens likewise in the newspapers. In the streets everywhere one hears the radio broadcasts with the five daily prayers, preceded by the call to prayer, which can last up to an hour. In Egypt it is the state radio which broadcasts the Koran 24 hours a day. It happens too that the pious Muslim, without ill intent or hostility, will turn up the volume on his radio to the maximum, so that all his neighbours can hear (this is a common feature of the Arab world). The effect nonetheless is that anyone who is a Christian has to listen the whole day to the Koran… And many Christians say we should just put up with all this…
- 'Interview with Father Samir Khalil Samir,' by Vittorio Emanuele Vernole, Religious Freedom in the Majority Islamic Countries, 1998 Report, Aid to the Church in Need. http://www. alleanza cattolica. org/acs/acs_ english/ report_98/ aaa_ appendices.htm http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#living_in

something!' Another man advised him to be cautious, since there was an American woman in the room. The Imam spoke up and told everyone that I didn't speak Arabic.
   At that point another student took the podium. His name was Khaled, and he began to recount his recent trip to New York City. Khaled and three of his companions had gone to New York for several days in January. He told of how uncomfortable his trip up to NYC had been. He felt like he was being watched, and thought he was the victim of racial profiling.
   Khaled and his friends were pretty unhappy about it, and while in New York, they came up with a plan to 'teach a lesson' to the passengers and crew.
   You can imagine the story Khaled told. He described how he and his friends whispered to each other on the flight, made simultaneous visits to the restroom, and generally tried to 'spook' the other passengers. He laughed when he described how several women were in tears, and one man sitting near him was praying.
   The others in the room thought the story was quite amusing, judging from the laughter. The Imam stood up and told the group that this was a kind of peaceful civil disobedience that should be encouraged, and commended Khaled and his friends for their efforts.
   He pointed out that it was through this kind of civil disobedience that ethnic profiling would fail.
   One of the other men, Ahmed from Kuwait, gave a brief account of his friend Eyad, who had finally gone to Iraq. Ahmed was in email contact with Eyad, and hoped by the following week to be able to bring them more information about the state of the 'mujahideen' in Iraq.
   As the meeting drew to a close, the Imam gave a brief speech calling for the protection of Allah on the mujahideen fighting for Islam throughout the world, and reminded everyone that it was their duty as Muslims to continue in the path of jihad, whether it was simple efforts like those of Khaled and his friends, or the actual physical fighting of men like Eyad.
   As the meeting broke up, several women in hijab came in the room, and two of them sat with me. They were very warm and friendly and welcoming, and appeared to be clearly thrilled that I was there. They asked me questions about who I was, and why I was interested in the session.
   By the time the session began, there were half a dozen American women, four of them African American. Where the previous session had definite anti-American tones, this session was all American and Apple Pie. The earlier session had been in Arabic; this one was in English.
   The woman leading the session, Nafisa, told of the concerns she had regarding her daughters in the public school system. She complained about the influence of the MTV culture, and seemed concerned about the rampant sexuality that pervaded all facets of American life, from TV to movies and on into the school system.
   She explained her personal solution - the local Islamic school, beginning with kindergarten. Instead of worrying about her daughters dressing provocatively and behaving inappropriately with boys, she talked about the modest school uniforms that they wore, and the single-gender classes that her daughters attended.
   She then began to discuss Islam, focusing on the commonalities it has with Christianity. The sales pitch had clearly begun. While in the previous section, then men had quoted over and over again sura from the Qu'ran calling for violent jihad, the women's session focused on the 'gentler' side of Islam.
   The same Imam who demanded that the men continue in the path of jihad did a complete 180 degree turn in this session, stressing instead the suras that promoted the "brotherhood" between Muslims, Christians, and Jews. 'After all, we worship the same God, and follow the teachings in the books he gave each of us. We are all the same, we are all People of the Book,' he stressed.
   The differences between the sessions were striking. Clearly the second session was a recruiting session.
   Were the women aware of what was being taught in the first session?
   Certainly those women who spoke Arabic should have been.
   The reason for concern is obvious: two different doctrines are being promoted. One peaceful, friendly, warm, and fuzzy doctrine is being used to draw people in, with a focus on the wellbeing of their children.
   But the Arabic speaking sessions clearly have an anti-American tone.
   It shows clearly that as much as we'd like to pretend it hasn't, Jihad has reached small-town USA. This mosque isn't in Washington, DC, or New York City. This is a small mosque in a small town in the deep south.
   And if it's in this tiny little quiet southern town, it's probably in your hometown too. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#promoting_islam [SUBSCRIBE: In Australia Aus$33 (pensioner $26), overseas enquire annalsaustralasia§ nareg.com.au ; PO Box 13, Kensington, NSW, 2033, Australia. Tel 02 9662 7894, or 02 9662 7188 ext. 252. Fax 02 9662 1910. ENDS.] [rec'd 17 Jul 07, dated June 2007]
• [It was Muslims' right and duty to make war and take slaves.]

[It was Muslims’ right and duty to make war and take slaves]

GOD is NOT GREAT: How religion poisons everything, By Christopher HITCHENS, p 181, 2007
As far as I am aware, there is no country in the world today where slavery is still practiced where the justification of it is not derived from the Koran. This returns us to the retort delivered, in the very early days of the [U.S.] Republic, to Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. These two slaveholders had called on the ambassador of Tripoli in London to ask him by what right he and his fellow Barbary potentates presumed to capture and sell American crews and passengers from ships using the Strait of Gibraltar. (It is now estimated that between 1530 and 1780 more than one and a quarter million Europeans were carried off in this way.) As Jefferson reported to Congress:

The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the Laws of the Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have answered their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them whenever they could be found and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners.

Ambassador Abdrahaman went on to mention the requisite price of ransom, the price of protection from kidnapping, and last but not least his own personal commission in these proceedings. (Religion once again betrays its man-made conveniences.) As it happens, he was quite right in what he said about the Koran. The eighth sura, revealed in Medina, deals at some lengeth with the justified spils of war and dwells continually on the further postmortem "torments of fire" that await those who are defeated by the believers. It was this very sura that was to be used only two centuries later by Saddam Hussein to justify his mass murders and dispossession of the people of Kurdistan.

[KORAN (said to be Allah's words): 47:4-6 (or 47:4-7):- When ye encounter the infidels, strike off their heads till ye have made a great slaughter among them, and of the rest make fast the fetters. And afterwards let there either be free dismissals or ransomings, till the war hath laid down its burdens. … DOCTRINE ENDS.] http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#it_was_muslims_right [(Display as if June 30) 2007]
• Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism and the spread of Sunni theofascism - Part 1.

Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism and the spread of Sunni theofascism - Part 1

   MideastMonitor, www.mideast monitor.org/ issues/0705/ 0705_2.htm , by ex-Ambassador Curtin Winsor, Jr., June-July 2007
The United States has largely eliminated the infrastructure and operational leadership of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network over the past five years. However, its ideological offspring continue to proliferate across the globe.
   American efforts to combat this contagion are hamstrung by the fact that its ideological and financial epicentre is Saudi Arabia, where an ostensibly pro-Western royal family governs through a centuries-old alliance with the fanatical Wahhabi Islamic sect. In addition to indoctrinating its own citizens with this extremist creed, the Saudi Government has lavishly financed the propagation of Wahhabism throughout the world, sweeping away moderate interpretations of Islam even within the borders of the United States itself.
   The Bush Administration has done little to halt this ideological onslaught beyond quietly (and unsuccessfully) urging the Saudi royal family to desist. This lack of resolve is rooted in American dependence on Saudi oil production, fears of instability in the kingdom, wishful thinking about democracy promotion as an antidote to religious extremism, and preoccupation with confronting Iran.
Background
   Wahhabism is derived from the teachings of Muhammad ibn abd al-Wahhab, an 18th century religious zealot from the Arabian interior. Like most Sunni Islamic fundamentalist movements, the Wahhabis advocated the fusion of state power and religion through the reestablishment of the Caliphate, the form of government adopted by the Prophet Mohammed's successors during the age of Muslim expansion. What sets Wahhabism apart from other Sunni Islamist movements is its historical obsession with purging Sufis, Shiites, and other Muslims who do not conform to its twisted interpretation of Islamic scripture.
   In 1744, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab forged an historic alliance with the Al-Saud clan and sanctified its drive to vanquish its rivals. In return, the Al-Saud supported campaigns by Wahhabi zealots to cleanse the land of "unbelievers". In 1801, Saudi-Wahhabi warriors crossed into present day Iraq and sacked the Shiite holy city of Karbala, killing more than 4,000 people. After the Saudis conquered Mecca and Medina in the 1920s, they destroyed such "idolatrous" shrines as the Jannat al-Baqi cemetery, where four of the 12 Shiite imams were buried (on the grounds that grave markers are bida'a, or objectionable innovations).
   In return for endorsing the royal family's authority in political, security, and economic spheres after the establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, Wahhabi clerics were granted control over state religious and educational institutions and allowed to enforce their rigid interpretation of shari’a (Islamic law).
   Wahhabism was largely confined to the Arabian Peninsula until the 1960s, when the Saudi monarchy gave refuge to radical members of the Muslim Brotherhood fleeing persecution in Nasser's Egypt. A cross-fertilisation of sorts occurred between the atavistic, but isolated, Wahhabi creed of the Saudi religious establishment and the Salafi jihadist teachings of Sayyid Qutb, who denounced secular Arab rulers as unbelievers and legitimate targets of holy war (jihad). "It was the synthesis of the twain - Wahhabi social and cultural conservatism, and Qutbist political radicalism - that produced the militant variety of Wahhabist political Islam that eventually (produced) al-Qaeda." (Mohammed Ayoob, "Political Islam: Image and Reality," World Policy Journal, Vol. 11, No. 3, Fall 2004.)
   The terms Islamofascism and theofascism have been frequently misused by Westerners to refer to virtually all forms of radical Islamism, but they are fitting appellations for Wahhabism today. Fascism is "a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victim-hood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion." (See Robert Paxton, The Anatomy of Fascism New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004.)
   The sect's rejection of individual liberties, disparagement and reduction of women's rights and status, disregard for the intrinsic value of human life, and encouragement of violence against unbelievers, are unparalleled among Islamic fundamentalist movements.
   Former CIA Director R. James Woolsey has used the term "Sunni theocratic totalitarianism", a term that highlights both the movement's "will to power" over the most minute aspects of Muslim daily life and its global ambitions. He also notes that its adherents do not raise the banner of Islam in pursuit of specific national, political, or territorial gains. Al-Qaida's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri has sharply rebuked the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood for participating in national elections.
   During the 1970s, Wahhabi clerics encouraged the spread of this revolutionary and atavistic ideological synthesis into Saudi universities and mosques, because it was seen as a barrier to the threat of cultural Westernisation and spread of corruption that accompanied the 1970s oil boom. Consequently, the royal family and their religious establishment looked for a cause with which to deflect the growing zealotry from Wahhabist theofascism, a danger highlighted by the seizure of the Grand Mosque at Mecca by heavily armed Islamic Studies students in 1979. The diversion that the royal family seized upon was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
   The Saudis financed a large-scale program of assistance to the Afghan mujahideen, in co-ordination with the Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence agency (ISI) and the CIA, while funding radicalised madrassas to disseminate neo-Wahhabi ideology and literature in the sprawling Afghan refugee camps of Pakistan. They also dispatched thousands of volunteer jihadis from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to fight alongside the mujahideen.
   These so-called "Arab Afghans" dispersed to far-flung areas of the world after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1988. They pursued further victories against "unbelievers" in the name of Islam, and they were accompanied by militant Wahhabi preachers. These elements would form the backbone of al-Qaida. Al-Qaida was initially headquartered in Sudan, but returned to Afghanistan in 1996, following the seizure of Kabul by the Taliban. This was a new Afghan force, recruited in Wahhabi madrassas and, trained by the Pakistanis. Its goal was the establishment of a model Wahhabi state in Afghanistan.
   The Saudi royal family revoked bin Laden's Saudi citizenship (in response to heavy American pressure), but did little to interfere with Wahhabi "charities" in the kingdom and abroad. These entities raised money for al-Qaida, while the religious onslaught of Wahhabism continued to receive government sponsorship and funding. Osama bin Laden is widely believed to have reached an agreement with Prince Turki al-Faisal, then-chief of Saudi National Security and Intelligence in the mid 1990s, whereby al-Qaida would not target the kingdom, and the kingdom would not interfere with al-Qaida's fundraising or seek bin Laden's extradition. In fact, al-Qaida abstained completely from attacks on Saudi targets within the kingdom prior to 9-11.
   Terrorist attacks and clashes between Saudi police and Islamist militants have erupted periodically since May 2003, after the Saudi Government began cracking down on underground cells in the kingdom (under pressure from Washington). However, it appears that most al-Qaida-affiliated terrorist groups still respect this quid pro quo: hundreds of members of the Saudi royal family jet around the world without fear of assassination. The country's vulnerable petroleum industry has only once been targeted by terrorists, and then in a less that serious manner.
   In return, and notwithstanding its limited co-operation with Washington in restricting terrorist financing, the Saudi monarchy has maintained its commitment to propagating Wahhabism at home and abroad, providing the terrorist underground with a growing flood of eager recruits.
Wahhabi indoctrination
   Man … requires proper instruction and a fortunate nature, and then of all animals he becomes the most divine and most civilised; but if he be insufficiently or ill educated, he is the most savage of earthly creatures, Plato.
   It is estimated that well over one-third of Saudi Arabia's public school curriculum is devoted to Wahhabi teachings. Passages from Saudi textbooks quoted in the American media after 9-11 generated much controversy. One textbook, for example, informed ninth grade students that Judgment Day will not come "until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them", while another stated that it is "compulsory" for Muslims "to consider the infidels their enemy".
   Embarrassed by the revelations, the Saudi Government purported to launch a comprehensive review of its educational curricula and pledged that all such references would be removed. Last year, however, Freedom House published an exhaustive report on the new curriculum, concluding that it "continues to propagate an ideology of hate toward the 'unbeliever', which includes Christians, Jews, Shiites, Sufis, Sunni Muslims who do not follow Wahhabi doctrine, Hindus, atheists and others".
   Some analysts dismiss the relevance of this indoctrination on the grounds that "conforming to an ultra-conservative, anti-pluralistic faith does not necessarily make you a violent individual", but this reasoning is fallacious. If only 1 per cent of the five million Saudi students exposed to these teachings resort to violence, this would produce 50,000 jihadis. Not surprisingly, bin Laden himself denounced foreign interference in Saudi school curricula in an April 2006 audiotape.
   Moreover, these teachings are reinforced by Wahhabi clerics in Saudi Arabia, who advocate jihad against enemies of " " Islam - "outside the kingdom". Incitement to violence against Shiites is particularly common. In December 2006, a high-ranking cleric close to the Saudi royal family, Abdul Rahman al-Barak, denounced Shiites as an "evil sect … more dangerous than Jews and Christians".
   In November of 2004, 26 clerics, most of whom held positions as lecturers of Islamic studies at various Saudi state-funded universities, issued a call for jihad against American forces in Iraq. Two Saudi officials denounced the fatwa in interviews with the Western media, but no retraction was made in Arabic to local media outlets.
   Months later, a Saudi dissident group released a videotape showing the Chief Justice of Saudi Arabia's Supreme Judicial Council, Saleh bin Muhammad al-Luhaidan, advising young Saudis at a government mosque on how to infiltrate Iraq and fight US troops, as well as assuring them that Saudi security forces would not punish them after their return. While Luhaidan publicly retracted his statements, videotapes of prominent Saudi clerics exhorting the public to wage jihad in Iraq and elsewhere continue to surface.
Exporting hatred
   While Saudi citizens remain the vanguard of Islamic theofascism around the world, the growth potential for this ideology lies outside the kingdom. The Saudis have spent at least US$87 billion propagating Wahhabism abroad during the past two decades, and the scale of financing is believed to have increased in the past two years as oil prices have skyrocketed.
   The bulk of this funding goes to the construction and operating expenses of mosques, madrassas, and other religious institutions that preach Wahhabism. It also supports the training of imams; domination of mass media and publishing outlets; distribution of Wahhabi textbooks and other literature; and endowments to universities (in exchange for influence over the appointment of Islamic scholars). By comparison, the Communist Party of the USSR and its Comintern spent just over US$7 billion propagating its ideology worldwide between 1921 and 1991.
   The lack of a formal ecclesiastical hierarchy within Sunni Islam renders traditional religious institutions weak in the face of well-funded Wahhabi missionary activities. Most Sunni Muslims look to their local imams for religious guidance. In poor countries, these imams and local leaders often find it difficult to resist the siren song of small amounts of Saudi aid that accompany Wahhabist missionaries. Moderate imams do not have a comparable source of financial patronage with which to combat its spread.
   Important fronts in this campaign are in south and South-East Asia, where the majority of the world's Muslims live. In Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and southern Thailand, Wahhabis have co-opted (or replaced) village and neighbourhood imams, and there is a fresh stream of converts returning from stays as guest workers in Saudi Arabia.
   The children of poor converts are often taken to Saudi Arabia for "education" and many are returned as cannon fodder for use by Wahhabi terrorist fronts. In India, efforts are underway to capture a portion that country's huge Muslim minority as well as the Untouchable Caste.
   Wahhabism has made less headway in the former Soviet Republics of Central Asia, despite the fact that decades of Communist rule had weakened their traditional Islamic institutions. Several successor governments, especially the Uzbekis, have cracked down harshly on militant Islamist groups, while encouraging educational systems in the Hanafi tradition that promote tolerant and peaceful Islam.
   Africa is also a critical area of Wahhabi expansion, as it offers a multitude of "failed states" and communal cleavages ripe for exploitation, most notably in the Sudan and Nigeria.
   In all of these areas, the central dynamic is the same - it is the overwhelming wealth of Saudi Arabia that enables the Wahhabi sect to proselytise on a global scale, not the intrinsic appeal of its teachings. Throughout the world, moderates echo the assessment of Somali journalist Bashir Goth, who writes that his country's tolerant Sufi-infused Islamic culture has been: "swept aside by a new brand of Islam that is being pushed down the throat of our people - Wahhabism. Anywhere one looks, one finds that alien, perverted version of Islam."
   [AUTHOR:] Curtin Winsor, Jr. is a former US ambassador to Costa Rica (1983-1985). He was Special Emissary to the Middle East at the outset of the Reagan administration. He is chairman and owner of the American Chemical Services Company of Marmet, WV and serves on the boards of several public policy organizations, including the William H. Donner Foundation, the Atlas Foundation for Economic Research, the Media Research Center and the Hudson Institute.
   This article with extensive references was first published in Mideast Monitor Volume 2 No I, June/July 2007.

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#saudi_arabia    [RECAPITULATION: One textbook, for example, informed ninth grade students that Judgment Day will not come "until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them", while another stated that it is "compulsory" for Muslims "to consider the infidels their enemy". ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: The author ought to look at the standard Islamic texts, which in the Hadith explicitly order the killing of Jews almost in the words used, and which have so many texts ordering attacks on and killing of infidels that it is no wonder Saudi schools teach it. To stop teaching these doctrines would entail dropping Islam religious texts from the school teaching! The author, otherwise so well-informed, writes as if he does not know this. But, give him is due, he knows more than the Coalition of the Killing before they invaded Iraq! ENDS.]
   [GUIDELINE. Hadith: 41:6985 (Sahih Muslim's collection):- … Allah's Messenger … saying The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree … ENDS.]
   [2nd COMMENT: This website does NOT believe the opening sentence of the above article. Al-Qaida and other terrorist groups have about 1000 million people from which to draw more recruits. The rest of the world will have to learn two lessons before the threat lessens: 1. Stop injustices such as in Palestine, Kashmir, and Chechyna; 2. Start to separate from the host culture, by reversing the influx. ENDS.]
   [ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: On Line Opinion (Australia), posted Monday, 16 July 2007. ENDS.] [June-July 2007]
• Punishment For Non-Marital Sex In Islam; Examples of convictions under shari’a law.

PUNISHMENT FOR NON-MARITAL SEX IN ISLAM
Examples of convictions under shari’a law

Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, www.religious tolerance. org/isl_ adul1.htm , 1996 to 2002, noticed June-July 2007
ONTARIO, Canada: Examples of convictions under shari’a law. [Click above link.]

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#punishment_for [LINK/S: Video of stoning to death. "Merciful" or "have mercy"? Warning! Watching this video can make you weak or possibly give you nausea and shock for several days. Please do not watch if you are weak-hearted. www.apostates ofislam. com/media/ stoning.htm . ENDS.]
[GUIDELINE (by courtesy of Apostates of Islam webpage) - Hadith 2, 23:413: www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ fundamentals/ hadithsunnah/ bukhari/023. sbt.html# 002.023.413 . [covering 1996-2002; date as June-July 2007]
• Enemy of Islam.

ENEMY
OF
ISLAM

   The Australian Women's Weekly, www.aww. com.au , by David Leser, p 56-62, issue of July 2007
   Her strident views on Islam have earned the Somali-born author, film-maker, politician and human rights campaigner Ayaan Hirsi Ali fame, a Nobel Peace Prize nomination, controversy - and countless death threats. Here, she talks to David Leser.
   AYAAN HIRSI ALI doesn't look or sound dangerous, but if her enemies had their way, she would be dead. A public stoning, perhaps, or a bomb detonated in the middle of the night, or even an attack in broad daylight, such as the one that ended the life of her friend, Theo van Gogh. That's the degree of hatred she inspires.
   Never was this made more apparent than on that chilling Amsterdam morning two-and-a-half years ago when van Gogh, the maverick Dutch film-maker, was cycling to work during rush hour and a Muslim extremist named Mohammed Bouyeri stepped out from the shadows to shoot him eight times.
   Van Gogh staggered on for a few metres and then, according to witnesses, twice begged his assailant for mercy. "Can't we can talk about this?" he pleaded.
   Bouyeri, a Dutch-born citizen of Moroccan descent, was not interested in talking. He drew two butcher's knives from under his jellaba (a loose-fitting Moroccan robe) and with one of them slit the film-maker's throat. With the other, he impaled a letter on his victim's chest, addressed to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. It read, in part, "You will break yourself to pieces on Islam. You, oh America, will go down. You, oh Netherlands, will go down … You, oh Hirsi Ali, will go down."
   The crime of the two film-makers had been to produce an inflammatory short work called Submission Part One, in which lines from the Muslim holy book, the Koran, were painted onto semi-naked actresses portraying various aspects of Woman's submission to Man. The murder plunged the Netherlands, one of the most progressive societies on earth, into crisis. Here was the dark side of the multicultural experiment laid bare. At least a dozen mosques were attacked and an Islamic primary school twice set alight. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, by then not just a scriptwriter, but a member of the Dutch parliament, was forced into hiding, re-appearing two-and-a-half months later with her security redoubled.
   When she returned to parliament in January 2005, politicians and journalists alike gave the Somali-born granddaughter of a warlord and daughter of a Muslim rebel leader a standing ovation. To many, she had become the symbol of moral courage in a country suddenly confronted with a potential clash of civilisations.
   A year later, Time magazine hailed her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world and, in 2006, she was voted European of the Year by the editors of Reader's Digest magazine, as well as nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
   That was just months before a Dutch court order evicted her from her home and stripped her, briefly, of her citizenship.
   Within days, she had also caused the collapse of the Dutch government.
Ever since the attacks on the US on September 11, 2001, Ayaan Hirsi Ali has been speaking out against the faith she had been raised to believe in and uphold. She has portrayed the hijackers' actions as the logical outcome of Islam's rigid belief system and moral framework. She has described the religion as a totalitarian system and the Koran not as a holy book, but as a historical document responsible for spreading brutality and bigotry. She has condemned loudly the subjugation of women and, perhaps most inflammatory of all, she has even attacked the founder of the Islamic faith, Mohammed himself.
   The 37-year-old writer, who was in Australia for the Sydney Writers' Festival in May and to promote her explosive international best-seller, Infidel, believes Islam is a threat to everything the Western world holds dear. "It is a threat to liberalism," she says. "It is contrary to the Enlightenment. It subjugates women. It limits the imagination. It is bad for all of us, regardless of where you are from."
   And for these strident views, Ayaan has been cast out by her family, subjected to five years of death threats, forced into hiding in both the Netherlands and the US, evicted from her home and placed under a 24-hour security watch.
   In Washington DC, where she now lives, she is driven around in armoured cars and given round-the-clock protection. She is also reported to have bodyguards posted outside her bedroom while she sleeps, a claim she will neither confirm nor deny.
   "I can't tell you that," she says now. "I'm really sorry. Those kinds of details I am not allowed to talk about." What she will confirm is that she has received death threats while in Australia, as well as prior to arriving in the country. "[Certain people] have made it very clear that I am not welcome," she says.
"[ISLAM] SUBJUGATES WOMEN … IT IS BAD FOR ALL OF US, REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU ARE FROM."
   This might explain then why there is no record of her staying at her hotel, why our rendezvous point has been changed at the 11th hour and why her security detail has been suddenly doubled.
   It might also explain why Australian Muslims regard her views as ignorant at best and, outrageously provocative at worst. "I think she is entitled to her views," says Maha Abdo, spokesperson for the Muslim Women's Association, "but I think she is very misinformed about the spiritual aspects of Islam.
   "I have declined to talk about her in the past because I don't want to give her more air time than she deserves. I think she is very oppressed herself and she should seek help. She is putting all Muslim women in the same basket… and blaming Islam for the bad cultural practices she had to live under."
Most of Ayaan Hirsi Ali's life has been a grim study of war, exile, famine, civil unrest, rebellion and institutionalised violence against women. When she was five years old growing up in Somalia, in East Africa, she had her genitals removed on the floor of her family home. (Her older brother, Mahad, six, and younger sister Haweya, four, were also circumcised that day.)
   "The scissors went down between my legs," she recalled in harrowing detail in her book, Infidel, "and the man cut off my inner labia and clitoris. I heard it, like a butcher snipping the fat off a piece of meat. A piercing pain shot up between my legs, indescribable, and I howled. Then came the sewing: the long, blunt needle clumsily pushed into my bleeding outer labia, my loud and anguished protests, my Grandma's words of comfort and encouragement. 'It's just this once in your life, Ayaan. Be brave, he's almost finished'. When the sewing was finished, the man cut the thread off with his teeth."
   Ayaan lost consciousness and then woke to discover her legs tied together. This was to help facilitate the formation of a scar. Her bladder was bursting, but it hurt too much to urinate. Her legs were covered in blood and she was shivering and sweating. It took two weeks for her and her siblings to recover, although Haweya never quite did. "She became ill with a fever for several weeks and lost a lot of weight," Ayaan was to recount. "She had horrible nightmares … My once cheerful, playful little sister changed."
   Today, sitting on a sun-kissed deck above the white sails of Sydney Harbour, Ayaan is quick to point out that this didn't just happen to the women of her family, it happened to 140 million women around the world. And that's not counting the many millions of girls who died from their infections following surgery. "It's not an accident," she tells me. "It's not a disease. It's an activity carried out in the name of love and protection."
   And, yes, while circumcision is more a tribal, pre-Islamic practice than an Islamic practice, Ayaan maintains it has always been justified in Somalia in the name of Islam. As a little girl - before her circumcision - she was teased for having a clitoris. "Kinterleey", they would call her, which meant, literally, "she with clitoris".
Ayaan grew up a good Muslim. She learnt the Koran line by line. She studied in Islamic schools. She prayed five times a day and wore the protective veil.
   Her father, Hirsi Magan Isse, was a devout Muslim, but also a graduate of New York's Columbia University and a famed literacy campaigner throughout Somalia. Son of a famous warlord, he was to spend the early years of Ayaan's life in jail for leading a rebellion against Communist rule.
   Ayaan's mother, Asha, was born under a tree in the Somali desert, and although married off to her first husband - a man she instantly disliked - she did something rare for a woman in those days. She sought - and obtained - a divorce. "She told this man, 'I will remain married to you now and when my father dies I will divorce you'."
   In 1966, Asha married Ayaan's father, but the Somali civil war and Hirsi Magan's long absences from home meant their relationship was often strained.
   When Ayaan was eight, the family moved to Saudi Arabia and it was there she had her first taste of a country under shari’a or Islamic law. On arrival at Jeddah airport, her mother was prevented, she claims, from travelling into the city with her children because she was unaccompanied by a man.
   Ayaan's father had failed to show and no amount of protest or argument would shift the authorities, who forced the family to wait in the arrival lounge until a male could be found to escort them out Only hours later, when a Somali man, a complete stranger, agreed to go with them, could they leave the airport.
   Ayaan hated Saudi Arabia. To her, the country was a giant prison. "People had their heads cut off in public squares," she observed. "Hands were cut off. Men were flogged. Women were stoned." And women were hissed at if they ventured out alone.
   "It's a terrible sound," she says, "and [my mother] couldn't go out of the house without taking my brother with her, or without taking a whole horde of children with her."
   In 1979, the family was deported from Saudi Arabia because of Ayaan's father's rebel activities. They went first to Ethiopia and then onto Kenya, where Ayaan remained for the next 13 years. It was in Kenya that the world of ideas began to open up to her.
   Although attending a Muslim girls' school, Ayaan was lucky enough to have a teacher who encouraged her to read books such as 1984, Huckleberry Finn, The Thirty-Nine Steps and Wuthering Heights. Ayaan learnt through these fictional worlds that men and women could be equal. It was a confounding notion, but one that left a lasting impression.
   By the mid-1980s, a stricter, more radical creed of Islam had also started to find its way into the Islamic schools and mosques of East Africa. The Muslim Brotherhood, a precursor to the Al Qaeda movement, wanted its followers to return to the fundamental teachings of Islam. Much of this revolved around the control of women.
"IT'S NOT ONLY THAT YOU CAN'T PUT ON NAIL POLISH … YOU'LL NEVER BE A MAJOR, YOU'LL ALWAYS BE A MINOR."
   Ayaan says she was taught that a woman could be beaten by her husband if she disobeyed him; that she would be required to be sexually available to him at all times - except when menstruating; and that she was responsible at all times for his sexual arousal. For this reason, she needed to be covered up.
   "I couldn't sit here with you [like this] dressed as I please," she tells me now, a glorious study of beauty and casual elegance in her grey linen top, black pants, pearl earrings and heeled sandals.
   You couldn't be wearing perfume either, I venture. "No. Nor could I have my nails polished or filed. It's not only that you can't put on nail polish and that you can't put on perfume, and that you can't put on high heels because tapping of the high heels is going to seduce men, but also that you'll never be a major, you'll always be a minor."
   While a part of Ayaan accepted these strictures, another part of her began to rebel internally.
   "How could a just God desire that women be treated so unfairly?," she asked herself. "If God was merciful, why did He demand that His creatures be hanged in public? If He was compassionate, why did unbelievers have to go to Hell?" And how was it, she wondered, that men such as her father could simply abandon their wives and children, and go and take a second wife, then a third?
   In 1981, when Ayaan was 11, her father had left the family home and, shortly afterwards, taken up with a second wife. Ayaan's mother refused to show her jealousy publicly, but instead turned all her humiliation and heartbreak onto her daughters at home, inflicting on them many savage beatings.
   This strengthened Ayaan's resolve never to become dependent on anyone. In 1992, when her father announced he had chosen a Somali man based in Canada to be her husband, Ayaan refused. It didn't matter that, according to her father, the prospective husband was tall, had strong bones and white teeth, and came from a suitable clan. Ayaan had met him and thought the man beneath her. She begged her father to allow her to choose her own husband, but her father insisted.
   And so the daughter of this rebel fighter did what was only natural to her - she rebelled. On her way to the wedding in Canada, she stopped over in Germany and then, after two days, fled to the Netherlands, where she had heard they were welcoming towards migrants and refugees.
In the space of 10 years, Ayaan Hirsi AH went from being a refugee to the most famous woman in the Netherlands. She arrived in the country expecting to be confronted by chaos and sin. Instead, she found the blond infidels kind, hospitable and their society well-ordered.
   Already speaking five languages, she set about learning a sixth, Dutch. Within three years, she was an official Somali-Dutch interpreter, visiting police stations, prisons, abortion clinics and women's shelters regularly.
   What she saw in these desperate places was a failure of the multicultural experiment. Many Muslims had never learnt Dutch and had rejected the values of tolerance and liberty of which the Dutch were so proud. Moreover, Dutch efforts to accommodate certain minority cultures, had, in Ayaan's opinion, actually perpetuated cruelty to females.
"WAR HAD BEEN DECLARED IN THE NAME OF ISLAM … NOW I HAD TO MAKE A CHOICE. WHICH SIDE WAS I ON?"
   "Thousands of Muslim women and children in Holland were being systematically abused," Ayaan said. "Little children were excised [circumcised] on kitchen tables - I knew this from Somalis for whom I translated. Girls who chose their own boyfriends and lovers were beaten half to death or even killed. The suffering of all these women was unspeakable.
   "And while the Dutch were generously contributing money to international aid organisations, they were also ignoring the silent suffering of Muslim women and children in their own backyard."
   Ayaan's deep unease was reinforced by her college studies, where she began to absorb the lessons of the American civil rights movement and European history, especially the spread of fascism and communism. She began to acquaint herself with psychology and how this offered another moral framework for humanity besides religion.
   Then, on entering the Netherlands' most prestigious university, the University of Leiden, she began immersing herself in comparative political systems and the history of ideas. Her career trajectory was spectacular. After graduating with a masters degree in political science, she became a junior researcher with the left-of-centre Labour Party. Her brief: to look at immigration. Her starting date: September 3, 2001.
   With the terrorist attacks on America, Ayaan's position towards Islam hardened. "War had been declared in the name of Islam, my religion," she said. "And now I had to make a choice. Which side was I on?"
   She was squarely on the side of individual freedom. By May 2002, she declared herself an atheist and began calling for the kind of self-examination in Islam that Europe had put itself through during the 17th and 18th centuries.
   In a series of articles and television appearances, she branded Islam as backward. The death threats poured in and her critics took aim. They called her a fanatic, a secular fundamentalist, an Islamophobe who had chosen to project her own life's traumas onto the faith of one billion people.
   "Is it because I'm traumatised that the 11th of September happened?" she retorts now with what I see as a quiet, but unnerving, certainty.
   "And is it because I'm traumatised that four London train stations were blown up? No, what I'm saying is that people are being indoctrinated into acting this way and I know exactly the circumstances under which this happens.
   "Through immigration, you expand Islam. As a woman, I have absolutely no advantage whatsoever in having Islam spread. So I object to it - as an individual human being who loves liberty and not only my own, but everybody else's."
   In 2003, Ayaan Hirsi Ali entered the Dutch parliament as a member of the right-of-centre People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. (She believed the Labour Party had become too muddled in its thinking on immigration issues.) She was already in fear of her life and living in a secret location at the time she was sworn in.
   In the middle of last year, she was evicted from her home under court order because her neighbours feared for their safety. A month later, her citizenship was revoked - albeit briefly - because she had given a false name and date of birth when she had applied for her citizenship. (Ayaan had given her grandfather's name because she feared being tracked down by her father and handed over to her husband-to-be.)
   The decision caused an uproar and, in the following month, indirectly caused the collapse of the ruling Dutch coalition. As Ayaan says rather sheepishly now, "I think I'm the first Third Worlder -not only Somali - to bring down a government like that."
   Today, she is no longer a member of the Dutch parliament. She lives in Washington DC, where she works for the conservative think-tank, the American Enterprise Institute. The threats have not gone away.
   Ayaan reveals to The Weekly that she would like someone else to champion the cause instead of her. After six years, she has had enough. She would love nothing more than for her family to embrace her again, to find happiness with a partner of her own choosing and to revel in the freedom that others in the West take for granted.
   "To take advantage of this," she says with a sweep of her arm, taking in the entire shimmering spectacle of Sydney Harbour.
   Yet failing this, she will continue to speak out and to work on her new book, one based on an imaginary conversation in New York between the Prophet Mohammed and the great 18th century liberal thinker, John Stuart Mill.
   Oh, dear. It feels like more trouble ahead. ■
   [With pictures]

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#enemy_of    [RECAPITULATION: Bouyeri, a Dutch-born citizen of Moroccan descent, was not interested in talking. He drew two butcher's knives from under his jellaba (a loose-fitting Moroccan robe) and with one of them slit the film-maker's throat. […] "You will break yourself to pieces on Islam. You, oh America, will go down. You, oh Netherlands, will go down … You, oh Hirsi Ali, will go down." […] She has described the religion as a totalitarian system and the Koran not as a holy book, but as a historical document responsible for spreading brutality and bigotry. […] Many Muslims had never learnt Dutch and had rejected the values of tolerance and liberty of which the Dutch were so proud. […] Through immigration, you expand Islam. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: One wonders whether European rulers of past centuries, who refused to allow Islam to take root in their dominions, were so wrong as the Politically Correct have been telling us. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [2nd RECAP: She is putting all Muslim women in the same basket… and blaming Islam for the bad cultural practices she had to live under. END.]
   [2nd COMMENT: But, there has been no fatwa and sentence of death issued by Islamic leaders, and enforced by them, against the wicked people who cut off parts of little children's bodies on superstitious and false "morality" grounds. Neither have forced marriages been forbidden by the muftis, mullahs, sheiks, and imams. Reason: It's part of the faith. ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE - Koran: 2:193, 4:34 (or 38), 8:39 (or 40), 9:29, and 47:4-6. DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [GUIDELINE - Hadith: 1, 6:301: […] The women asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?" He said, "Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?" They replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Isn't it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?" The women replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her religion." www.usc.edu/dept/ MSA/fundamentals/ hadithsunnah/ bukhari/006.sbt. html#001.006.301 GUIDELINE ENDS.]
   [2nd COMMENT: If Allah is really supreme, why such cruelty and suppression of women? And why do so many of his followers and leaders make, and some carry out, death threats? Why doesn't Allah protect his own honour, without any need for human action? ENDS.]
   [WW PRICE: $6.40 per issue. ENDS.]
   [ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Joan M. Massam ENDS.] [July 2007]
• [Violence by Muslims and Communists against believers.]

[Violence by Muslims and Communists against believers.]

Barnabas Aid magazine, www.barnabasfund.org , Various pages, July-August 2007
Page 2. "Where are The Other Nine?." [List of violence against non-Muslims] VARIOUS:

LONDON: On May 14th I [Dr Patrick Sookhdeo] was at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London to present Barnabas Fund's petition on "The Right to Justice" to Susan Hyland, head of the Human Rights, Democracy and Governance Group. […] On April 13th an Indian Christian from a Muslim background was abducted on his way to a prayer meeting. His severed head was later found in a plastic bag near a mosque. On April 15th a bomb exploded at the Bible Society bookshop in Gaza. On April 18th, three Christian workers had their throats slit at a Christian publishing house in Turkey. On April 23rd a suicide car bomb exploded in a Christian village in northern Iraq. At this time in parts of Baghdad Christians were being given an ultimatum: convert to Islam, pay jizya tax, flee or be killed. On May 7th Christians in two Pakistani towns received letters telling them to s close their churches and convert to Islam within ten days or face violent consequences. On May 11th rioting to protest about a church building project in an Egyptian village resulted in Christians injured and their homes and businesses set on fire.
Pages 6-10 "North Korea – hope behind the veil." NORTH KOREA:

Details of the Communists' persecution of the Christians, and other facts.
Page 11. "Defenceless in Dora – the latest twist in anti-Christian violence in Iraq." IRAQ:

In Dora … I saw the appalling poverty of the Christian communities. Since the war of 2003 the anti-Christian hostility in the country has increased immeasurably, and there is no longer the strong hand of Saddam to prevent the men of violence from doing as they please. … Many Christians in Dora are now facing demands for … jizya … the teaching of sharia … written messages or … militants knocking on the door … sometimes … convert to Islam, flee within 24 hours … or be killed. on 16th May St George's church in Dora was set on fire … previously been bombed in October 2004. … Letter to UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, … 11th May 2007 … to ask the US and Iraqi governments to protect the minorities in Iraq … A minister … visited the local American commander … "We are not here to protect you."
Page 12. "Christian workers brutally murdered in Turkey." MALATYA, Turkey:

Three Christian men … were killed on Wednesday 18th April. Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel worked at Zirve Publishing House, … Christian literature … German Tilman Ekkehart Geske worked for a Christian translation company. …
Page 12. "Christian bookshop is bombed in Holy Land." GAZA, Palestine:

15th April a bomb exploded outside the Bible Society bookshop in Gaza. Most of the … contents … destroyed. … The … guard … was kidnapped and badly beaten. Two Internet cafes were also damaged by bombs in simultaneous attacks.
Page 12. "A Church worker is beheaded in India." PULAWAMAR, Indian-occupied Kashmir:

Manzoor Ahmad Chat, an ex-Muslim, was on his way to lead a Christian prayer meeting. The following day his head was found in a polythene bag near the Pinglena mosque, and his tortured body was found nearby. Leshkar-e-Toyiba group is suspected.
Page 13. "Twelve-year-old Pakistani girl raped." LAHORE, Pakistan:

Cheena Masih (12) was kidnapped on the way to shops near her home on April 8, Easter Day. Four men took her to a warehouse, raped her, then took her to a house. The police refused to file a report that she was missing. After the family discovered her, the police have obstructed the inquiries, but finally said they would carry on the prosecution of the four alleged attackers.
Page 13. "Students in Nigeria forced to wear Islamic dress." NIGERIA:

Ibrahim Shekarau, the governor of Kano state in Nigeria, has ordered that the Islamic dress code, already compulsory in government schools, is to be extended to private schools. Girls must wear a loose tunic over trousers or long skirts, with a headscarf; boys must wear a loose tunic and trousers, with a cap.
Page 13. "Violent clash over church building dispute." EGYPT:

After leaflets were circulated at a mosque condemning a proposal that a church be built, there were clashes between Muslims and Christians in Behma, south of Cairo. On May 11th after Friday prayers, armed Muslims began setting fire to Christian homes and businesses (at least 10 burnt) and attacking Christians.
Page 13. "Pakistani Christians threatened." PAKISTAN:

In May, 10 days of Christian fasting were observed in Pakistan, after Christians in Charsadda and Mardan began receiving threatening letters. They were told to close their churches and convert to Islam. Some letters threatened bombing, and others executions. Later a threatening letter was received in Peshawar.
Page 18. "Understanding the true nature of Islam." GLOBAL:

   A Christian from a Muslim background, who asked to remain anonymous, wrote in response to an article which Barnabas Fund sent out by email. If you are not yet receiving our email news and prayer updates, please visit our website to subscribe or use the form …
   Evangelicals and generally other Christians are mostly ignorant as to the real nature of Islam and its demands. As a convert from Islam, I meet many Christians from many denominations and today I know that almost 100% of all Christians do not understand the nature and the threat of Islam or what Christian minorities face in Muslim lands.
   Many so-called Christians are offended when I speak to them the truth of Islam and how the West should be on their guard against the Islamic agenda which is the Islamization of the West in a few decades.
   Therefore I am not surprised when I read your article on 17 April which was entitled "Why some Evangelicals can't understand the true nature of Islam". Also, it is not only Evangelicals, it is also Roman Catholics and Anglicans who don't have any idea what the agenda of Islam is.
   Like their secular compatriots, Christians of all denominations in the West are extremely naive and ignorant and they don't know how to cope with the Islamic danger in their midst.
   I know Barnabas Fund is maybe the only Western-based Evangelical organization that truly understands the true nature of Islam and the difficulties that Muslim background believers and other Christians face in Muslim lands. Also, I would like to thank you for the way you supported Ms Eweida, the Egyptian-born Christian who was discriminated against by British Airways because of her tiny cross, and the way you supported the Australian pastor who was persecuted for the truth. Anonymous #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#violence_by_muslims [July-August 2007]
• Shari'a and Muslims in the West

Shari‘a and Muslims in the West

Barnabas Aid magazine, www.barnabasfund.org , Lift-out, July-August 2007

   Aspects of shari’a (Islamic law) are increasingly being implemented in Western countries. This is particularly marked in the UK, where the government has yielded to a number of demands from sections of the Muslim community. Why is this happening and what are the implications? Is it really required by Islam?
   Obeying shari’a is seen by Muslims as part of living in accordance to God's will, and in Muslim-majority countries the state is seen as the protector of Islam. The state enforces shari’a (to varying degrees) and is also closely involved in religious affairs, often controlling mosques, clerics and Muslim charities.
   With this worldview, Muslims in the West often face a dilemma about whether to obey shari’a or the law of the land in which they live. This can arise over issues such as food, marriage, divorce, politics and banking. Many Muslims in the West would therefore like to see parts of shari’a incorporated into the civil laws of Western states. Others demand state recognition of separate self-governing Muslim communities in the West.
   A poll of British Muslims in 2004 found that 61% would prefer shari’a courts to the secular court system. A survey in February 2006 showed that 40% of British Muslims would support the introduction of shari’a in predominantly Muslim areas of Britain. Another poll six months later found that 28% hoped that Britain would one day become a fundamentalist Islamic state under shari’a.
Examples
   Canada: In 2003 some Canadian Muslims called for Ontario's secular legal system to enforce shari’a decisions made by Muslim voluntary arbitration councils. While voluntary arbitration in civil disputes is legal in Canada, as in most Western countries, settlements arrived at by these bodies had no legal standing in Canadian law. In 2004 Ontario's attorney general recommended the use of Islamic law to settle issues such as divorce and child custody. Finally, in 2005, following protests by Muslim women and others, Ontario's Premier Dalton McGuinty quashed the move, arguing that there should be only one law for all Ontarians.
   Germany: In March 2007 a judge in Frankfurt's family court ruled against a Muslim woman's petition for a divorce from her Muslim husband on grounds of violence and threats to her life. The judge argued that the woman should have expected her Muslim husband to exercise the Islamic right to use corporal punishment. The judge even quoted from the Qur'an to prove that Islam established the husband's superiority over the wife and his right to use corporal punishment. This judgment caused a storm of protests by those who feared it was opening the way for an Islamic parallel society in Germany.
   Sweden: In April 2006 the Swedish Muslim Association wrote to all of Sweden's political parties suggesting some reforms to the legal system that would have meant making exceptions for Muslims. Among the requested changes was one asking that imams approve all divorces among Muslims. Sweden's Integration and Equality Minister responded that there would not be separate laws for specific groups in Sweden.
   UK: At the 5th Annual Conference of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists held in London in 2004, Ahmad Thompson, an Islamist barrister and author who served as advisor to Prime Minister Tony Blair, argued that the British government must safeguard Muslim human rights by incorporating Islamic personal law into British law. This, he said, should include the legal recognition of Muslim marriages, divorces and inheritance. This would mean setting up shari’a courts whose verdicts would be recognised and enforced by the UK civil courts.
Shari’a options to help Muslims in the West
   Traditional Islam assumes that it is impossible for a Muslim to live in a society governed by non-Islamic law. The world is considered to be divided into two parts: (1) the "House of Islam" (Dar al-Islam) where Muslims have political control and shari’a is enforced, (2) the "House of War" (Dar al-Harb) where Muslims must fight against non-Muslims to establish Islamic political power. Muslim scholars of old often advised that Muslims living in Dar al-Harb should migrate

Our subject in this issue follows on from the pull-out supplement entitled What is Shari’a? which appeared in Barnabas Aid January-February 2007. This included details of five main areas in which shari’a is incompatible with human rights. One example is the discrimination against women in matters of divorce, inheritance, compensation, legal testimony and other areas. This should be borne in mind when reading the article in this issue, and considering issues such as Muslim calls for the implementation of shari’a family law in the West.

{ii} back to Dar al-Islam i.e. to Muslim states. Radical Salafi scholars still recommend this option to Muslim minorities today.
   Other Muslim scholars, such as the influential Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, argue that Western governments must make their laws more in line with shari’a. This pressure is bearing fruit. In Britain, for instance, the government employs shari’a advisors in various departments. It has used fatwas to gain Muslim support for organ donations. Schools have introduced halal food (sometimes for all pupils irrespective of faith), segregated sports and Muslim dress and head covering. Muslim chaplains, Muslim prayer rooms, halal food and Muslim headcovering have also been accepted in a variety of public services such as the police and the prison service. Local councils are now considering shari’a principles in their decisions on housing, education, health and other matters. In June 2006 the Home Office withdrew proposed legislation banning forced marriages, apparently for fear of antagonising the Muslim community.
   However, there are many Muslim leaders who tell Muslims in the West to obey the law of the land so long as it does not contradict shari’a. There are also scholars who argue that Muslims are free to disobey certain parts of shari’a if they are living in a situation in the West where it is not possible for them to comply with all the shari’a rules.
   Some Muslim scholars are now trying to develop a doctrinal shari’a basis for Muslim minorities. These are some of their ideas:

Case study: Vaccination and shari’a
   Some Muslim doctors and scholars oppose the Western practice of mass vaccination of children. In Britain Dr Abdul Majid Katme, head of the Islamic Medical Association, has warned Muslims that most vaccines include materials forbidden (haram) by shari’a for human consumption. These include pig products (pork-origin gelatine) and other materials derived from animal and human tissues as well as alcohol. According to Katme, it is forbidden in shari’a to have any of these substances introduced into the human body. In addition, he says that vaccines are totally unnecessary as God has given humans their immune system to defend them against diseases.
   Other hardline Islamic leaders around the world add further reasons for Muslims to reject Western vaccination programmes. These leaders claim the vaccination programmes are part of a Western Christian conspiracy to harm Muslims by adding infertility agents, AIDS viruses, poisons and other harmful substances to the vaccines.
   However some moderate Muslim leaders have voiced their opposition to these allegations, and state that in the absence of effective alternatives to prevent infection it is permissible by shari’a to accept the vaccines.
   In several Muslim-majority regions such as northern Nigeria and north-west Pakistan there has been a worrying rise in polio cases as many Muslims have refused to let their children be vaccinated. World Health Organisation experts fear this could be the prelude to a new polio epidemic, just when there were hopes of achieving its worldwide eradication.

1. Necessity
   The shari’a principle of necessity (darura) states that when emergency circumstances threaten the life and welfare of Muslims, the unlawful may become lawful ("necessity lifts prohibition").
   This principle allows Muslims in a non-Muslim state to ignore shari’a rules that conflict with the law of the land. Darura is used by many Muslim scholars to justify Muslim minorities adapting to life in Western states, obeying Western legal systems, and being loyal to Western governments. Sheikh al-Tantawi of the prestigious al-Azhar University, Cairo used this argument to justify Muslim women in France obeying the French government's ban on the Islamic headscarf in public institutions.
   However, once a shari’a alternative becomes legally available, it becomes obligatory for Muslims to obey that particular aspect of shari’a.
2. The public good
   The shari’a principle of public good (maslaha) states that certain shari’a rules may be modified, as long as the benefit for Muslims is greater than the harm considered to be incurred by deviating from shari’a norms. On this basis some modern scholars argue that socially beneficial rules appropriate to Western contexts may be adopted even if they are not explicitly authorised by the original sources of shari’a; the Qur'an and Hadith. Such scholars say that they are implementing the spirit rather than the letter of Islamic law. Democracy and human rights - which are contradictory to traditional shari’a -- are often defended in Islamic terms by using maslaha.
3. A new shari’a jurisprudence for Muslim minorities
   The European Council for Fatwa and Research, linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and headed by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, is the most important body dealing with the formal adaptation of shari’a legal theory for Muslim minorities in the West. This organisation has called on all Muslims in the West to abide by the laws of their respective countries. Yet at the same time it recommended that Muslims in the West should form Islamic institutions to enable them to organise their personal and family lives in accordance with shari’a. lt also recommended that they try to get the country they live in to recognise Islam as a religion and Muslims as a community (by implication the first step towards autonomy under shari’a). These contradictory statements reveal the real agenda of the Council, which is to apply pressure on Western governments for ever more shari’a application in their legal systems.
   An extensive alternative system of shari’a courts has developed in the UK, which many Muslims prefer to use rather than the British court system. This means that there is a situation of "legal pluralism" in the UK with unofficial Muslim law operating in the Muslim community, mainly dealing with family matters (divorce, inheritance, etc.). This places huge pressure on vulnerable members of the Muslim community, such as women and children, to abide by the verdicts of such courts even when these are harmful to their

{iii} interests and they would get fairer treatment in the normal British courts. Sometimes the Islamic courts deal with other kinds of issues. For example, a stabbing case was decided by an unofficial Islamic court in Woolwich, London. A group of Somali youths were arrested on suspicion of stabbing another Somali teenager. The victim's family told the police it would be settled out of court and the suspects were released on bail. A council of Muslims was convened and the assailants were ordered to compensate their victim and apologise for their wrongdoing.
   Faizul Aqtab Siddiqi, a barrister and principal of Hijaz College Islamic University near Nuneaton, predicted in November 2006 that there would be a formal network of Muslim courts in Britain within a decade.
4. Redefining the status of the West
   Some Muslim scholars have tried to redefine Western states as part of the "House of Islam" but this has been strongly opposed by most Muslims. Other terms have been created to describe the West and thus justify Muslims living there and complying with non-shari’a a norms. These include the "House of Security" (Dar al-Aman) or the "House of Covenant" (Dar al-'Ahd). The implication of these terms is that, by allowing Muslim migrants in and ensuring their safety, Western states have in effect made a covenant with the Muslim community, a covenant that means Muslims must live peacefully and obey the law of the land. The popular European Islamist scholar Tariq Ramadan has invented another term for the West, Dar al-Shahada (House of Witness), implying it is no longer a House of War, but a space where Muslims can live without guilt as long as they are free to witness to their faith.
Shari’a-compliant economic system
   The European Council for Fatwa and Research has recommended that Muslims in the West should press for financial institutions that conform with shari’a economic rules. Islamic economics is defined by a strict and literal interpretation of the Islamic source texts on matters of trade and financial transactions. Although traditionally there was no all-encompassing Islamic body of economic thought, modern Islamists have transformed the various scattered shari’a commands on the subject into a comprehensive and detailed economic system.
   However, not all Muslims agree on the basic principles. The main point of difference is the interpretation of the Qur'anic ban on riba. The word riba is understood by some Muslims as "interest" and by others as "usury" (excessive interest amounting to extortion and exploitation). Those who interpret riba as "usury" explain that the Qur'an bans pre-Islamic Arabian riba, not modern interest. They say that the ancient riba was so high that people who could not pay ended up as slaves. They therefore tend to allow limited moderate interest. On the other hand those who interpret riba as "interest" prohibit any kind of interest as anti-Islamic and anti-shari’a. The radical interpretation that sees all interest as prohibited seems to have won the day, and is assumed by most of the non-Muslim media in the West to be the only Islamic viewpoint. It is only this radical interpretation which requires the creation of a separate Islamic economic system. Having a separate economic system tends to insulate the Muslim minority from the non-Muslim majority, and could become a model for the Islamising of other Western systems and institutions.
   In the last two decades there has been a spectacular growth in Islamic finance and banking around the world including the West. Western institutions and governments have introduced Islamic finance and banking into the Western system, thus unknowingly encouraging the Islamist upsurge. The American Dow Jones company has produced a special Islamic Market Index (DJIM). As oil profits and other Muslim wealth sources are put into Islamic investment products, the Islamic financial market claims an ever-increasing share of the global market. It is possible that Western institutions may choose to gradually Islamise their own systems, in an attempt to retain their share in this lucrative market. If so, it could eventually mean that non-Muslims have little choice but to use Islamic financial products and systems.
   In Britain the media have accepted claims by Islamists that shari’a absolutely prohibits the taking of any interest. Banks have joined the call for Islamic finance. In 2003 the British Treasury Board argued that having an Islamic financial market in London would give the UK an economic advantage. The Bank of England set up a working group to study the issue and in 2003 changed the rules on stamp duty to make Islamic mortgages more accessible. Treasury officials also indicated that there were no longer any objections in principle to the introduction of shari’a-compliant financial products into the UK market. In April 2007 the Treasury announced the setting up of a feasibility study to look at the costs and potential benefits of the government itself issuing Islamic financial products.
   Following these official changes in government policy, the Islamic Bank of Britain was set up in 2004 and mainstream banks hurried to provide suitable services. These include HSBC, West Bromwich, Barclays and Yorkshire Building Society. All want a share of the huge market offered by Britain's approximately 3 million Muslims (including 5,000 millionaires). Most of these banks have set up internal shari’a supervisory councils to make sure their products comply with a strict interpretation of shari’a and they publish the names of the scholars involved so as to reassure the Muslim community. The efforts of the Treasury and of the Bank of England have succeeded in creating a friendly atmosphere for Islamic finance in the UK, thus attracting much investment. In a 2005 survey, Islamic companies indicated that the UK had the most shari’aa-friendly

{iv} environment of all Western countries. By treating Islamist interpretations of shari’a economic principles as if they were shared by all Muslims, the British authorities have empowered Islamists while weakening Muslim liberals and progressives. These developments have also placed individual Muslims under increasing communal pressure to use so-called shari’a-compliant financial products.
The drive to protect Islam
   According to shari’a, the state should protect Islam and indeed give it privileges above other faiths, because it is God's final and true religion. Blasphemy and insults to Muhammad and the Qur'an are criminal offences punishable by death. In order to translate these concepts into the Western context, efforts are made to get laws passed protecting religions from incitement to hatred and violence. While clothed in general terms as protecting all religions, the real aim of most of these is to give Islam a privileged place in all societies, protecting it from any negative comment. Islam, its source texts, shari’a and Muhammad must all be protected from any kind of criticism, however factual.
   The Australian state of Victoria passed the 2001 Racial and Religious Tolerance Act which outlaws the incitement of hatred, serious contempt, revulsion or ridicule of people on the grounds of their religious beliefs. Using this act, the Islamic Council of Victoria took two Christian pastors to a Civil and Administrative Tribunal in 2002, for making critical statements about the Islamic faith in a Christian seminar, a ministry newsletter and an article on a Christian website. In December 2004 the pastors were convicted, even though they had backed up their statements with quotations from the Qur'an and Hadith. Many Australians feared that the verdict would mean the stifling of all criticism of Islam or Muslims. However in December 2006 the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria ruled in favour of the two pastors and set aside the penalties ordered by the tribunal judge. The appeal court ruled that the case be reheard at the original tribunal, with the same evidence as before, but with a different judge. At the time of writing, the judge's decision is still awaited.
   On March 30th 2007 the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution calling for a global prohibition on public defamation of religion. The resolution had been proposed by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and expressed "deep concern at attempts to identify Islam with terrorism, violence and human rights violation". Apart from Islam, no other religion was mentioned by name.
   The resolution was opposed by 14 countries, mainly because they considered the focus on Islam was excessive and the resolution incompatible with freedom of speech and thought.
Conclusion
   The concepts above help Muslims to justify their living in non-Muslim Western societies. However some of them, like darura, have a temporal nature -- they are only valid for a while, in times of Muslim weakness. The implication is that Muslims ought to struggle to change this not-ideal situation into the ideal of Muslim political domination and shari’a a rule. Others seek to establish Muslim enclaves under shari’a in the West while gradually reshaping Western systems and institutions in line with shari’a. In the process of seeking the right to live under shari’a, Muslims in the West are developing a network of loosely-knit Islamic autonomous regions. This could be considered a de facto non-territorial Islamic state.
   Seemingly harmless concessions to Muslim demands on shari’a a are gradually building up momentum for the Islamisation of Western society. In particular the "one law for all" principle that lies at the root of Western democratic states is being eroded and replaced by legal pluralism, especially for the Muslim communities. To function with two parallel legal systems can create many difficulties, as is apparent from those parts of the world where this occurs. But introducing shari’a in the West brings a further set of problems because of the discriminatory or violent nature of many aspects of Islamic law, which are at odds with human rights norms.
   Many Muslims hope that ultimately Western states will grant Islam a privileged and protected position immune from criticism, a position not granted to other religions. This could lead to a "thought-crime" mentality in Western societies.
   Western societies must be aware of the serious challenge which shari’a poses to their democratic systems and to their territorial integrity. Yielding to Muslim demands to implement various aspects of shari’a would gradually erode the hard-won freedoms and rights which are at present a part of Western society. It would open the door to discriminatory totalitarian systems, denying individual rights and seeking to control both the public and the private spheres, in ways that are typical of Muslim states. In other words, the increasing application of shari’a will profoundly change the character of society in the West, in ways which hitherto would have been considered completely unacceptable. © Barnabas Fund, 2007
   BARNABAS FUND – HOPE AND AID FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#sharia_and_muslims [RECAPITULATION: The [German] judge argued that the woman should have expected her Muslim husband to exercise the Islamic right to use corporal punishment. […] Muslim scholars of old often advised that Muslims living in Dar al-Harb should migrate back to Dar al-Islam … […] In June 2006 the Home Office withdrew proposed legislation banning forced marriages, apparently for fear of antagonising the Muslim community. […] All want a share of the huge market offered by Britain's approximately 3 million Muslims (including 5,000 millionaires). ENDS.]
[SUBSCRIBE: Australia: Postal Suite 107, 236 Hyperdrome, Loganholme, Qld 4129, Australia. Tel. 07 3806 1076 or 1300 365799, Facsimile 07 3806 4076. E-mail bfaustralia§barnabasfund.org . Other countries: Check website www.barnabas fund.org . ENDS.] [July-August 2007]
• British police seal off houses after airport attack.

British police seal off houses after airport attack

   Reuters, www.reuters. com/article/ topNews/id USL2919779 720070701 , By Peter Graff, 8:30AM EDT, Sun July 1, 2007
   GLASGOW (Reuters) - British police searched houses near Glasgow, Scotland's biggest city, on Sunday after what they said was a terrorist attack on its airport linked to two failed car bombings in London.
[Picture] (Six pictures on Reuters webpage.)
   Police in white body suits focused on one house a five-minute drive from Glasgow's airport, where neighbors said two Asian men had moved in about a month ago. Forensic experts sifted for clues in white tents pitched behind the building.
   Britain raised its security level to "critical" -- meaning the risk of another attack was imminent -- following Saturday's incident, in which a fuel-filled, four-wheel-drive slammed into the entrance of the airport terminal and burst into flames.
   "We are dealing with a long-term threat. It is not going to go away in the next few weeks or months," Prime Minister Gordon Brown, himself a Scot who took office only last Wednesday, said in a somber appraisal of the terrorist threat facing Britain.
   Two men, one badly burned and in critical condition, were arrested after the attack, which took place on one of the busiest days for Scotland's main international airport. Witnesses described the men as Asians.
   Three more people were arrested later in northern England, police said, but they provided no further details.
   Police combed several houses in the town of Houston, about six miles west of Glasgow, sealing off an entire street but focusing on the one house where residents said the two Asian men had lived, keeping very much to themselves.
   "I don't remember seeing them at all," said Mae Gordon, 67. "They were the only people around here you would never see."
   Britain has seen an increase in terrorism-related attacks since the Sept 11 strikes on the United States and since it joined U.S. forces in invading Iraq in 2003. Some analysts believe the latest attacks may be designed to exert pressure on Britain to withdraw its troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
   Brown, who took over from Tony Blair on Wednesday, convened a meeting of Britain's top security chiefs to discuss measures to handle the first big test of his leadership. In a short address, he urged the nation to be vigilant.
   Appearing on BBC television on Sunday, Brown warned the fight against terrorism would be drawn out.
   "Irrespective of Iraq, irrespective of Afghanistan, irrespective of what is happening in different parts of the world, we have an international organization trying to inflict the maximum damage on civilian life in pursuit of a terrorist cause that is totally unacceptable to most people," he said.
   JEEP ABLAZE
   In Glasgow, 400 miles (600km) north of London, the green Jeep Cherokee, heavily laden with fuel, was driven at speed into the glass front doors of the airport terminal before being engulfed in flames.
   The attack came barely 36 hours after police thwarted a possible al Qaeda plot in London in which two cars loaded with fuel, gas canisters and nails were left in the centre of the capital ready to detonate.
   "I can confirm that we believe the incident at Glasgow airport is linked to the events in London yesterday," the top police officer in the Glasgow area, Willie Rae, told reporters.
   "There are clearly similarities and we can confirm that this is being treated as a terrorist incident."
   The series of plots come almost two years since the July 7, 2005 attacks on London's transport system, when four British Islamists blew themselves up and killed 52 commuters.
   The London car bombs also appeared to mirror an earlier plan, uncovered in 2004, in which an al Qaeda operative wanted to detonated gas-filled limousines in London, and another plan in which militants intended to attack a major night club.
   In Glasgow, witnesses described those arrested as Asian men.
   In London, police scoured hours of CCTV footage and extra squads were deployed on the streets after the discovery in the early hours of Friday of the vehicle packed with up to 60 liters of fuel, several gas canisters and a large quantity of nails.
   A second Mercedes packed with gas and nails was later found to have been parked just a few hundred yards from the first.
   British Muslim groups condemned the series of incidents and urged Muslims to cooperate with the authorities.
   "We are utterly appalled by this sinister plot and commend the professionalism of the security services in aborting it," the British Muslim Initiative said in a statement.
   (Additional reporting by Luke Baker, Mark Trevelyan and David Clarke)
   © Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#british_police    [DOCTRINE - Koran: 2:193 (or 189):- … Fight the unbelievers until no other religion except Islam is left.
   2:259:- As to those who believe not, … they shall be given over to the fire … for ever.
   22:19 (or 20):- … But as for those who disbelieve, garments of fire will be cut out for them; boiling fluid will be poured down on their heads. www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/022. qmt.html #022.019 .
   98:6 (or 5):- But the unbelievers among the people of the Book, and among the Polytheists, shall go into the fire of Gehenna to abide therein for aye. Of all creatures are they the worst! ENDS.] [Jul 1, 07]
• Islamic Teaching on the Consequences of Apostasy from Islam: Dr Patrick Sookhdeo.

Islamic Teaching on the Consequences of Apostasy from Islam: Dr Patrick Sookhdeo

   Barnabas Fund (Britain), info§ barnabas fund.org , www.barnabas fund.org/ news/archives/ text.php?ID_ news_items= 295 , by Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, Copyright © Barnabas Fund , July 3, 2007
   Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. [1]
Introduction
   The right to religious freedom, including the right of individuals to change their religion, is taken for granted by most people in the West. However, in Islam[2] all schools of law (madhhahib) agree that adult male apostates from Islam should be killed. The majority of Muslim jurists claim that apostasy from Islam is a crime carrying the God-prescribed penalty of death. Therefore, while conversion from other religions to Islam is welcomed and actively encouraged, Muslims who leave Islam for any other religion must be sentenced to death (unless they repent and return to Islam). [3]
   According to criminal law in the Islamic legal system (shari’ah), the state must impose mandatory punishments (hudud, singular hadd) for certain specific crimes which are claimed to be committed against God and his rights, and apostasy (rida, irtidad) is often included in this list. These crimes make up a separate category in shariah criminal law as they are the only ones to have divinely mandated obligatory prescribed punishments which cannot be changed in any way by humans. Apostasy is thus viewed as a very severe crime for which God himself has prescribed the death penalty.
   The death penalty for converts from Islam has nevertheless generated much debate since references to apostasy in the Qur'an, the primary source of Islamic law, are rather ambiguous. The hadith (the authoritative traditions recording the sayings and deeds of Muhammad) are therefore the main source used to justify the Shari'ah punishment of death for apostates.
   Muhammad Iqbal Siddiqi, a popular Pakistani writer on Islam and Islamic law, represents one end of the spectrum in his book The Penal Law of Islam when he claims that:

. . . the sayings and doings of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the decision and practice of the Caliph Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with him), the consensus of the opinion of the Companions of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and all the later Muslim jurists, and even certain verses of the Holy Qur'an all prescribe capital punishment for an apostate. [4]

   In this view he is backed by many well known traditional and contemporary scholars, including the popular 20th century Pakistani Muslim scholar Abul A'la Mawdudi, a founding-figure of Islamism in the Indian sub-continent, whose Quranic commentary is found in millions of Muslim homes. [5]
   The other, liberal end of the spectrum is represented by reformist (modernist) Muslim scholars who claim that an apostate cannot be put to death on the mere grounds of his apostasy, but only if he is also a danger to the Islamic state. Traditionalists however counter that every apostate is a danger to the Islamic social order and has committed high treason. Some reformists also add that the apostate must be given forever to repent, meaning he cannot be executed. [6]
   In order to present an accurate and detailed picture of how apostasy is perceived and dealt with in Islam, it is important to discuss the references to apostasy in its two main sources: Qur'an and hadith. These are the foundational source texts from which Islamic scholars developed the Shari'ah code, which is applied to varying degrees in many Islamic countries. Muslims assert that the Qur'an, as a divine revelation, is applicable for all people at all times. The way of Muhammad (Sunna), his sayings and deeds as recorded in the hadith, is the divinely ordained pattern for applying the Qur'an, and it is the model Muslims must emulate when dealing with issues that arise in new circumstances in a world very different from the one into which Islam first arrived. Analysing the issue of apostasy from Islam in its original sources and its further development in the Islamic schools of law will clarify the consequences faced by apostates.
The Qur'an
   In the Qur'an there is an emphasis on God's punishment of apostates in the next life. Apostasy is mentioned in 13 verses in different chapters (suras), but there is no clear and unambiguous mention of any punishment in this world – what is clear is that the apostate will suffer severe punishment in the next world. Here are some examples:

Sura 16:106-107, 109
106. Anyone who after accepting Faith in Allah utters unbelief except under Compulsion, his heart remaining firm in faith but such as open their Breast to unbelief on them is Wrath from Allah and theirs will be a Dreadful Penalty.
107. This because they love the life of this world better than the Hereafter: and Allah will not guide those who reject faith. […]
109. Without doubt, in the hereafter they will perish.

These verses assume that the cause of apostasy is love of this world, rather than conversion to another religion. The next verse refers simply to a rejection of Allah:

Sura 88:23-4
23. But if any turn away and reject God
24. God will punish him with a mighty Punishment.

Yusuf 'Ali comments on this verse that:

The Prophet of Allah is sent to teach and direct people on the way. He is not sent to force their will, or to punish them, except in so far as he may receive authority to do so. Punishment belongs to Allah alone. And Punishment is certain in the Hereafter, when values will be restored.[7]

Therefore, according to 'Ali's interpretation of this verse, those who reject Islam are only to be punished in the next life.

Sura 3:86-91
86. How shall God guide those who reject faith after they accepted it and bore witness that the Apostle was and that clear signs had come unto them? But God guides not a people unjust.
87. Of such the reward is that on them (rests) the curse of God, of His angels and of all mankind.
88. In that will they dwell; nor will their penalty be lightened nor respite be their (lot).
89. Except for those that repent (even) after that and make amends: for verily God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
90. But those who reject faith after they accepted it and then go on adding to their defiance of faith never will their repentance be accepted; for they are those who have (of set purpose) gone astray.
91. As to those who reject faith and die rejecting never would be accepted from any such as much gold as the earth contains though they should offer it for ransom. For such is (in store) a penalty grievous and they will find no helpers.

According to Mawdudi, this passage refers specifically to the context of Jewish scholars in Arabia who refused to believe the message of Muhammad. The point these verses make is that apostates face a terrible eschatological punishment and there is no clear implication that the fate of apostates is other than eternal damnation.
Despite the aforesaid, a majority of Muslim scholars specifically use the following verses as justification for the belief that apostates from Islam should be killed, asserting that these texts refer to apostates in general. These verses are sura 88:24 "God will punish him with a mighty Punishment," and 16:106:

"Anyone who after accepting faith in Allah utters unbelief except under Compulsion his heart remaining firm in faith but such as open their Breast to unbelief on them is Wrath from Allah and theirs will be a Dreadful Penalty."

A further verse used to justify punishment for apostasy in this life is Sura 2:217:

". . . and if any of you turn back from their faith and die in unbelief, their works will bear no fruit in this life and in the Hereafter; they will be Companions of the Fire and will abide therein."

Al-Khazan's commentary of the Qur'an interprets this verse as meaning: "All the deeds of the apostate become null and void in this world and the next. He must be killed. His wife must be separated from him and he has no claims on any inheritance." This commentary quotes from Malik ibn Anas, Ahmad ibn Hanbal and others and has been used extensively at the influential Al-Azhar University in Cairo. Other commentaries interpreting the verse as demanding the death of the apostate include those of al-Tha'alibi and Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, although Tabari does not favour such an interpretation. [8]
In fact, few mainstream Muslim authorities would agree with Gibb and Kramers' Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam, that the Qur'an mentions nothing about a death penalty for apostasy. [9] A Qur'anic passage, which, according to Muhammad Iqbal Siddiqi, "states clearly how the renegades should be treated" [10] runs as follows (Sura 9:11-12):

11. But (even so), if they repent, establish regular prayers, and practise regular charity, - they are your brethren in Faith: (thus) do We explain the Signs in detail, for those who understand.
12. But if they violate their oaths after their covenant, and taunt you for your Faith, - fight ye the chiefs of Unfaith: for their oaths are nothing to them: that thus they may be restrained.

Mawdudi too regards this passage as meaning that war must be waged against the leaders instigating apostasy, accepting this as definite proof that the Qur'an calls for the death penalty on apostates.
A final key Qur'anic passage in the argument regarding a humanly inflicted death penalty for apostasy is in Sura 4:88-89:

88. Why should ye be divided into two parties about the Hypocrites? God hath upset them for their (evil) deeds. Would ye guide those whom God hath thrown out of the Way? For those whom God hath thrown out of the Way, never shalt thou find the Way.
89. They but wish that ye should reject the Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): but take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of God (from what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks.

   Zwemer states that all standard commentaries interpret this verse as an instruction to kill apostates. For example, Baidhawi's commentary says: "Whosoever turns back from his belief (irtada), openly or secretly, take him and kill him wheresoever ye find him, like any other infidel. Separate yourself from him altogether. Do not accept intercession in his regard." [12]
   It is important here to consider the traditional understanding of the background to this passage (Q 4:88-89). It is thought to refer to a particular group of alleged Arab converts to Islam who later relapsed into paganism. [13]
   These individuals, known as the Hypocrites (munafiqun), nearly caused a disaster for the Muslim cause when they deserted at the Battle of Uhud (625 A.D.).
   The Muslims of Medina were divided as to whether the Hypocrites should be put to the sword or left alone. Eventually a middle course was decided upon as prescribed in these verses. That is, they were treated with caution, but given the opportunity to make good ("flee from what is forbidden") and be re-admitted into the fold of Islam.
   The instruction to "seize them and slay them wherever ye find them" applied to those who subsequently deserted again. They were considered both enemies and deserters and were to be punished with death, "the penalty of desertion which is enforced by all nations actually at war". [14]
   It is, in fact, the commentators who have extended the application of the instruction about seizing and slaying to all apostates. This could be considered as a legitimate part of the processes called ijma', qiyas, and ijtihad, that were used to formulate shariah. Ijma' means consensus, qiyas means analogy, and ijtihad means applying reason and effort in interpretation. These processes enabled Muslims to derive all the various rules for an Islamic way of life from the primary sources of Qur'an and hadith.
Note on "Let there be no compulsion in religion" (Q 2:256)
   The Qur'anic verse "Let there be no compulsion in religion" (Q 2:256) is often quoted by Muslims when describing their faith to non-Muslims. Many important classical jurists and interpreters saw this verse on no compulsion as having been abrogated by later verses such as the sword verse (Q 9:5), [15] or Q 9:73 "O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the Hypocrites and be firm against them." This latter is the first possible interpretation offered by Al-Qurtubi in his tafsir of the Qur'an.
   Abrogation of earlier Qur'anic verses by later ones is an accepted doctrine of Islamic interpretation. Another interpretation offered by Al-Qurtubi is that the verse means that those who submitted through the sword should not be called compelled or forced, even though they were! [16] Other traditional interpreters strictly limit the application of this verse to specific incidents in the life of Muhammad (asbab al-nuzul) for which it was revealed and which have no further implications for Muslims.
   Other interpretations include: 1. That Muslims are free to leave their own religion without expecting any punishment (this is a minority view held by modernists and apologists who claim later verses and hadith cannot be used as a justification for ignoring a fundamental and eternal Qur'anic principle) [17];   2. Non-Muslims are not to be forced to convert to Islam;   3. Muslims are not compelled to perform specific Islamic duties; they are free to neglect, if they so choose, their religious obligations.
The Hadith
   While the Qur'an is ambiguous on the penalty for apostasy, and does not appear to have any universally applicable command to kill apostates, this is not true of the hadith and of Qur'anic commentaries. It is also a fact of history that apostates were killed in the time of Muhammad on his orders, and immediately after his death by the first Caliph, Abu Bakr, in the Ridda (apostasy) Wars.
   The strongest evidence Muslim jurists use to prove that apostasy is a hadd offence punishable by the death penalty is based on a few Hadith, [18] the clearest one narrated by Ikrima, from Ibn Abbas. Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 84, Number 57

Narrated 'Ikrima: Some Zanadiqa: (atheists) were brought to 'Ali and he burnt them. The news of this event reached Ibn 'Abbas who said, "If I had been in his place, I would not have burnt them, as Allah's Apostle forbade it, saying, 'Do not punish anybody with Allah's punishment (fire).' I would have killed them according to the statement of Allah's Apostle, 'Whoever changed his [Islamic] religion, then kill him'. "

   From this hadith (appearing in variants in several collections) it is clear that the penalty for apostasy ordained by Muhammad is death, though it should not be by burning. It is on this hadith that most jurists base their view that the apostate must be sentenced to death. They point out that the words "kill him" appear as a grammatical imperative in Arabic, implying an order, which must be obeyed. [19]
   Although Bukhari's collection of hadith is considered the most authoritative collection, some scholars claim that this specific Hadith is a weak tradition (i.e. not reliable) [20]. While this is the most direct hadith dealing with apostasy, there are a number of other hadith dealing indirectly with the penalty for apostasy from Islam:
   Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 83, Number 17:

Narrated 'Abdullah: Allah's Apostle said: "The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas for murder, a married man who commits illegal sexual intercourse, and the one who reverts (separates himself) from Islam (apostate) and leaves the Muslims.

   (This Hadith also appears with slight variations in Bukhari, 9:17; 12.169; Muslim, 11, 89-90; Abu- Dawud 4; 487; Al-Tirmidhi 993; Mishkat al Masabih, 3466).
   Many jurists rely on this hadith in their claim that Muhammad prescribed the death penalty for apostasy. However some claim that those who separate themselves from the community are those who fight against it, not simply change their religion. [21]
   Another hadith used to justify capital punishment for apostasy deals with some people from the tribe of 'Ukal:

Bukhari, 1.234; Narrated Abu-Qilaba, Anas said, "Some people of 'Ukal or 'Uraina tribe came to Medina and its climate did not suit them. So the Prophet ordered them to go to the herd of (Milch) camels and to drink their milk and urine (as a medicine). So they went as directed and after they became healthy, they killed the shepherd of the Prophet and drove away all the camels. The news reached the Prophet early in the morning and he sent (men) in their pursuit and they were captured and brought at noon. He then ordered to cut their hands and feet (and it was done), and their eyes were branded with heated pieces of iron, they were put in 'Al-Harra' and when they asked for water, no water was given to them." Abu-Qilaba said, "Those people committed theft and murder, became infidels after embracing Islam and fought against Allah and His Apostle." (4.261)

This hadith is repeated several times and implies that while the punishment for theft was the cutting off of their limbs, they were then killed for rejecting Islam and becoming infidels, i.e. apostatising. However not all jurists agree with this, some claiming the death penalty was imposed for armed robbery (hiraba). [22]
Reward in paradise for killer of apostate
An important factor encouraging obedience to the command to kill apostates is the special reward in Paradise earned by the killer according to hadith. Sahih Muslim and Bukhari record this as follows:

Bukhari, 4.808: Ali ibn Abu Talib, I relate the traditions of Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) to you for I would rather fall from the sky than attribute something to him falsely. But when I tell you a thing which is between you and me, then no doubt, war is guile.
I heard Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) saying, "In the last days of this world there will appear some young foolish people who will use (in their claim) the best speech of all people (i.e. the Qur'an) and they will abandon Islam as an arrow going through the game: Their belief will not go beyond their throats (i.e. they will have practically no belief), so wherever you meet them, kill them, for he who kills them shall get a reward on the Day of Resurrection."

A similar hadith is found in Sahih Muslim, 2328.
Muhammad's example
There are reports of Muhammad himself ordering the execution of specific apostates, and not drawing the line at women. For example, one story from the hadith runs:

On the occasion of Battle of Uhud (when Muslims had to retreat) a woman became apostate. On this the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: 'Ask her to repent and if she does not repent, kill her.' (Baihaqi).

Another tradition says:

A woman named Umm Ruman committed apostasy. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) ordered: She may be presented Islam. Then if she repents, it would be better, otherwise she should be put to death. (Daraquini and Baihaqi). [23]

Opportunity to repent?
There are contradictory traditions concerning whether an apostate should be given a chance to repent. The story of Mu'adh who would not dismount until the apostate had been killed suggests that no opportunity to repent need be given. However, in Abu Dawud's version of this tradition, it is added that they had tried in vain to convert the apostate back to Islam.
Bukhari, 5.632:

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, The Prophet (peace be upon him) sent Abu Musa and Mu'adh to Yemen and said to both of them "Facilitate things for the people (be kind and lenient) and do not make things difficult (for them). Give them good tidings, and do not repulse them; and both of you should obey each other."
   Once Mu'adh asked Abu Musa, "How do you recite the Qur'an?" Abu Musa replied, "I recite it while I am standing, sitting or riding my riding animals, at intervals and piecemeal." Mu'adh said, "But I sleep and then get up. I sleep and hope for Allah's reward for my sleep as I seek His reward for my night prayer."
   Then he (i.e. Mu'adh) pitched a tent and they started visiting each other.
   Once Mu'adh paid a visit to Abu Musa and saw a chained man. Mu'adh asked, "What is this?" Abu Musa said, "(He was) a Jew who embraced Islam and has now turned apostate." Mu'adh said, "I will surely chop off his neck." And Mu'adh did it in such a way that maximum pain is caused to the chained man. Indeed he did according to the instruction the messenger of Allah had given him.

Abu Dawud, Book 38, 4341

Abu Musa said: the Prophet (peace be upon him) came to me when I was in the Yemen. A man who was Jew embraced Islam and then retreated from Islam. When the Prophet came (peace be upon him), he said: I will not come down from my mount until he is killed. He was then killed. One of them said: He was asked to repent before that.
One of the narrators said his eyes were taken out before he was killed and the Prophet (peace be upon him) liked the way he was killed.

   This text is not essentially an anti-Jewish tradition. It has less to do with Jews as Jews than with the issue of apostasy - the Islamic attitude is once a Muslim, always a Muslim - or death.
   On the other hand, a tradition recorded by Malik describes the Caliph 'Umar's horror at the idea of executing an apostate without giving him a chance to repent:
   Malik's al-Muwatta, 36:16

Did you then not shut him up for three days and give him a round loaf daily and try to induce him to repent? Perhaps he would have repented and returned to obedience to God. O God! I was not there, I did not order it and I do not approve; see, it was thus reported to me.

The next text is of interest because it implies that an apostate is not entitled to a decent burial, but that in death as in life he must be humiliated:
Bukhari, 4.814:

Anas ibn Malik, There was a Christian who embraced Islam and read surat al-Baqarah and Aal-Imran, and he used to write (the revelations) for the Prophet (peace be upon him).
Later on he returned to Christianity again and he used to say: "Muhammad knows nothing but what I have written for him."
   Then Allah caused him to die, and the people buried him, but in the morning they saw that the earth had thrown his body out. They said, "This is the act of Muhammad and his companions. They dug the grave of our companion and took his body out of it because he had run away from them."
   They again dug the grave deeply for him, but in the morning they again saw that the earth had thrown his body out. They said, "This is an act of Muhammad and his companions. They dug the grave of our companion and threw his body outside it, for he had run away from them."
   They dug the grave for him as deep as they could, but in the morning they again saw that the earth had thrown his body out. So they believed that what had befallen him was not done by human beings and had to leave him thrown till vultures and dogs eat his or her body.

The shariah
   The Islamic legal code, the shariah, was derived from Qur'an and hadith using the methodology of ijma', qiyasand ijtihad. In modern times, under the impact of Western colonial rule, Islamic law was gradually phased out in some Islamic countries, which retained at most only certain aspects of shariah, usually family law, as a part of their more secular legal systems.
   This process began as the Ottoman Empire came into closer contact with Europe in the nineteenth century. Over the past few decades however, this secularisation process has been reversed, and the Islamic penal code has been reintroduced in some Islamic countries including Iran, Sudan, Pakistan and parts of Nigeria, as part of a wider process of Islamisation, (while in Saudi Arabia the shariah is the official Constitution). The official introduction of the Islamic penal code has a deep symbolism for the populace, but implementation varies to a remarkable degree depending on power relations between centre and periphery as well as on varying interpretations of the legal issues.
   There are different schools in Islamic law, but their rulings on apostasy are all very similar. They unanimously prescribe death for adult male apostates, while outlining the legal processes involved.
   Sunni Islam is divided into four schools of law called Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali, named after the four great Imams who founded them. A summary of Sunni laws on apostasy is given in Mohammed Al-Abdari Ibn-Hadj's famous book Al Madkhal: All schools agree that it is permitted to kill apostates from in front or from behind; that their blood if shed brings no vengeance; that their property belongs to believers; and finally that their marriage ties become null and void. [24]
1. The Hanafi School [25]
   The Hanafi school of law is dominant in Turkey, and the Indian sub-continent. The Hedaya, a famous and authoritative textbook of Hanafi law, categorically states that there are only two options for an apostate: Islam or death:
   "There are only two modes of repelling the sin of apostasy, namely, destruction or Islam";. [26]
   The Hedaya lays down the following procedure for dealing with apostasy: The Islamic faith may be explained to the apostate, in the hope that this can persuade and reassure him of the rightness of Islam after all. This step is not obligatory, but is desirable and strongly encouraged since "there are only two modes of repelling the sin of apostasy, namely, destruction or Islam, and Islam is preferable to destruction." [27] The apostate is to be imprisoned for three days, and if he has not returned to the faith by the end of that time, he is then to be killed.
   Various arguments for and against the three day waiting rule are given. [28] The point is also made that no penalty is incurred by anyone who kills an apostate before he has been given an exposition of the faith, even though such a premature killing is "abominable". [29]
   Female apostates are treated differently: they are not to be killed, but to be imprisoned until they recant. [30] A boy who is a minor is also not to be killed but to be imprisoned. [31] The Hanafis regard the Islam of a minor as valid but not his apostasy. This is in contrast to the Shafi'is, who do not pay regard to a minor's Islam or apostasy as the minor is dependent on the parents in Islam and is not "original" in it. In Islamic law a minor is not held to be capable of an act that might injure himself and the Hanafis apply this same rule to disregard the apostasy of a minor. The mentally ill and those intoxicated by alcohol are not held responsible for their act. [32]
   There are also detailed instructions in the Hedaya regarding other penalties for apostasy.

1. An apostate loses his right to his property until he returns to Islam. [33]
2. If a person dies (or is killed) in his apostasy the property that he acquired before his apostasy is given to his Muslim heirs.
3. That which was acquired during his apostasy goes to the public treasury. [34]
4. If an apostate's children become apostates or if he has children during his apostasy, they cannot inherit from him. [35]
5. The Muslim wife of an apostate inherits from him. [36]
6. A female apostate's estate goes in its entirety to her heirs. [37]
7. A Muslim man cannot inherit from his apostate wife unless she apostatises during sickness. [38]
8. The purchase, sale, manumission, mortgage or gift of an apostate's property are suspended. If he returns to Islam they are valid, but if he dies or is killed or flees to another country the acts are null. [39]
9. A man's apostasy results in an immediate separation from his wife, since Muslim women are not permitted to marry non-Muslim men. [40]
10. If an apostate defector returns to Muslim territory and has again become Muslim, he may regain from his heirs any territories which they hold. [41]

   The Hedaya also contains complex rules about the status of children and grandchildren of apostates. In general, the children are also regarded as apostates and may in some circumstances be "compelled" to become a Muslim, whereas an apostate's grandchild is considered "an original infidel and an enemy". [42] The descendents of an apostate who has left to reside in a foreign country are the property of the state.
2. The Maliki School [43]
   The Maliki school of law is predominant in North and West Africa. According to this school, women as well as men should be put to death for apostasy. [44] The apostate is confined for three days and given the chance to repent, however a judgement that the apostate should be killed before the end of three days is valid. If the apostate does not repent then he is killed, his body is not washed or buried.
   A heretic or hypocrite (munafiq) is not given the chance to repent but is killed immediately. Insulting Muhammad or any of the prophets of Islam is punishable by death and repentance is not accepted. If Allah is insulted repentance is accepted. [45] A female apostate is also killed if she does not repent in three days. A woman who is pregnant, nursing a child, divorced and in the waiting period with the option of returning to her husband, will have her death sentence postponed.
   Like the Hanafi School, the Maliki school lays down detailed rules about the treatment of apostates who have avoided being executed. These include the following, which assume that the apostate has embraced Christianity: Muslims are forbidden to give branches to him to carry on Palm Sunday, to sell him wood from which a crucifix might be made or copper from which bells could be cast, and they are forbidden to alienate a house in order that it may be used as a church. In addition, Muslims are forbidden to buy an animal slaughtered by an apostate, and to lend or hire to an apostate either their slave or an animal to ride. [46] When one party in a marriage apostatises, the marriage is dissolved without needing a divorce procedure.
3. The Shafi'i School
   Like the Maliki school, the Shafi'i school (predominant in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines), requires the death of all adult apostates, regardless of sex. [47] The classical Shafi'i Manual of law, 'Umdat al-Salik (The Reliance of the Traveller) by Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri (d. 1368), states the principle that a sane adult Muslim male who apostatises must be killed if he does not repent: [48]

o8.0 APOSTASY FROM ISLAM (RIDDA)
o8.0 Leaving Islam is the ugliest form of unbelief (kufr) and the worst . . .
o8.1 When a person who has reached puberty and is sane voluntarily apostatises from Islam, he deserves to be killed.
o8.2 In such a case, it is obligatory for the caliph to ask him to repent and return to Islam. If he does, it is accepted from him, but if he refuses, he is immediately killed. . . .
o8.4 There is no indemnity for killing an apostate (O: or any expiation, since it is killing someone who deserves to die).

(Note: 'O' denotes an excerpt from the commentary of Sheikh 'Umar Barakat).
Shafi'i teaching is also given by Nawawi in his book Minhaj-at-Talibin which is a standard work in Egypt, South India, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Nawawi defines apostasy as follows: [49]

Apostasy consists in the abjuration of Islam, either mentally, or by words, or by acts incompatible with faith. As to oral abjuration, it matters little whether the words are said in joke, or through a spirit of contradiction, or in good faith. But before such words can be considered as a sign of apostasy they must contain a precise declaration:
1. That one does not believe in the existence of the Creator, or of His apostles; or
2. That Mohammed, or one of the other apostles, is an impostor; or
3. That one considers lawful what is strictly forbidden by the ijma e.g. the crime of fornication; or
4. That one considers to be forbidden what is lawful according to the ijma; or
5. That one is not obliged to follow the precepts of the ijma, as well positive as negative; or
6. That one intends shortly to change one's religion; or that one has doubts upon the subject of the truth of Islam, etc.

As to acts, these are not considered to be incompatible with faith, unless they show a clear indication of a mockery or denial of religion, as e.g. throwing the Koran upon a muck heap or prostrating oneself before an idol, or worshipping the sun.
Like the Hanafi school, Nawawi states that a minor and the mentally ill are not held responsible for their apostasy. Minors are thought to follow their parents in religion. If a minor was forced to embrace Islam then his apostasy is not valid. However, if he accepted Islam in full faith then he is apostate and the death penalty applies to him. Drunkenness is not considered an excuse in the Shafi'i school. Apostasy under violent compulsion is overlooked. On the status of the children of apostates, Nawawi writes:

The child of an apostate remains a Moslem, without regard to the time of its conception, or to one of its parents remaining a Moslem or not.

   One authority, however, considers the child whose father and mother have abjured the faith to be an apostate, while another considers such a child to be by origin an infidel. (The child should be considered as an apostate. This is what the jurists of Iraq have handed down to us as the universally accepted theory.)
   Nawawi continues on the subject of an apostate's property: As to the ownership of the property of an apostate dead in impenitence, it remains in suspense, i.e. the law considers it as lost from the moment of abjuration of the faith; but in case of repentance it is considered never to have been lost. However, there are several other theories upon the subject, though all authorities agree that debts contracted before apostasy, as well as the personal maintenance of the apostate during the period of exhortation, are charges upon the estate. It is the same with any damages due in consequence of pecuniary prejudice caused to other persons, the maintenance of his wives, whose marriage remains in suspense, and the maintenance of his descendant or descendants.
   Where it is admitted that ownership remains in suspense, the same principle must be applied to dispositions subsequent to apostasy, in so far as they are capable of being suspended, such as an enfranchisement by will, and legacies, which all remain intact where the exhortation is successful, though not otherwise. On the other hand, dispositions which, by their very nature, do not admit of such suspension, such as sale, pledging, gift, and enfranchisement by contract, are null and void ab initio, though Shafi'i, in his first period, wished to leave them in suspense.
   All authorities, however, are agreed that an apostate's property may in no case be left at his disposition, but must be deposited in charge of some person of irreproachable character. But a female slave may not be so entrusted to a man; she must be entrusted to some trustworthy woman. An apostate's property must be leased out, and it is to the court that the slave undergoing enfranchisement by contract should make his periodical payments. [50]
   Someone who slanders Muhammad or insults one of the prophets of Islam is killed without being given the chance of repentance.
   Anwar Ahmad Qadri, a Pakistani lawyer, in his book A Sunni Shafi'i Law Code, which is a translation of Mukhtasar fil Risalah of a classical Shafi'i jurist, Abu Shuja' al-Isfahani (d. 1106),states: [51]

Art. 113 Rules for Apostates.It is obligatory to ask the person apostatising from the religion of Islam, or on irtidad, to offer taubah three times; then it is good if he did it, otherwise, he shall be killed 2; then, he will neither be given a bath, nor any funeral prayer, and so also, he will not be buried in the graveyard of Muslims.
1. May be a male or a female, as he or she refuses to accept Allah, or falsifies any of the Prophets or holds as legal the things held haram by consensus or ijma'.
2. If a free man, the imam will kill him but not by burning; if anyone kills him except the imam, he will be punished by ta'zir; if the apostate is a slave, the master will kill him.

4. The Hanbali School
According to the Hanbali School of Law predominant in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, if a boy who became a Muslim with his parents reaches maturity as an apostate, he is not killed since his faith in Islam occurred when he was dependent on others. Rather he is to be forced to return to Islam by being arrested and beaten. However if a boy comes to Islam on his own and then apostatises, reaching maturity as such, he must be killed. Apostasy of a drunkard is not valid. According to both Malik and Hanbal, the repentance of the unbeliever who apostatises is not accepted if repeated, based on Surah 4, verse 137:

Those who believe, and then disbelieve, and then believe, and then disbelieve, and then increase in unbelief - Allah is not likely to forgive them nor to guide them on any way.

   If the apostate is killed prior to his call to repentance, the killer is not punished or required to pay blood money. Hanbalites also permit the descendents and descendents' descendents of apostates to be enslaved. Women are dealt with in the same way as men and heretics are killed without the opportunity to repent.
Shia Law
   Shia Islam remained in close contact with Sunni Islam during the development of the four Sunni schools of law. Consequently, Shia law closely resembles Sunni law, differing no more from it than the four schools differ from each other: [52]
   Every individual of the male sex who, born in the religion of Islam, apostasizes, no longer enjoys the protection of Islam, but is ipso facto condemned to death. His wife should be separated from him; and his property is confiscate . . . The woman guilty of apostasy is not punished with death, even if she was born in the Moslem faith, but she is condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and is to be beaten with rods at the hours of prayer . . . A child born of a heretic after the apostasy of the father, and of a Mohammedan mother, and conceived after the apostasy, is subject to the same conditions as his parents; and if he is assassinated, the murderer cannot be punished by the law of retaliation. [53]
Note: contemporary abuse of the dissolution of the apostate's marriage
   The ruling on the dissolution of the apostate's marriage has recently been employed in countries like Egypt by Islamist groups and lawyers to enforce the divorce of liberal-secularists of Muslim heritage who have made what are considered to be "apostate" statements. It can also be used to split up couples where one member converts from Islam.
   According to Islamic law, to bring a charge a plaintiff must have a direct legal interest manifesting how the plaintiff is being harmed by the accused. The legal tool of hisba is invoked in such cases as it is based on an Islamic doctrine, which states that each Muslim has the responsibility to enforce 'Islamic behaviour' in his society. Where one member of society deviates from this, every Muslim is offended and therefore has direct interest.
Muslim scholars discuss apostasy
   Having examined apostasy in the context of the sources of Islam, it is important to relate it to the Islamic social context. In view of the scarcity and ambiguity of Qur'anic references to any humanly imposed penalty for apostasy, how did such an emphasis on capital punishment for apostasy arise? Muslim apologists often say that it was in large measure due to the activities of some Jewish and Muslim hypocrites in the very early years of Islam [54] who conspired to create confusion in the newly formed Muslim community by professing to convert to Islam and then renouncing it. This alleged conspiracy, whose supposed goals were entirely political, was dealt with ruthlessly by Muhammad who ordered those responsible for the treachery to be killed.
   Therefore, in spite of the Qur'anic statement forbidding "compulsion in religion" (2:256), later Muslim writers seem to have misunderstood the contexts in which the above punishments were implemented. They fastened on apostasy as the action to be punished rather than on the political conspiracy that was the alleged reason for the apostasy. The contemporary Lebanese scholar, Subhi Mahmassani, claims for example that Muhammad never killed anyone merely for apostasy; rather the death penalty was applied when apostasy was linked to an act of political betrayal of the Muslim community. [55]
   Zwemer believes that early Islamic law and practice regarding apostasy were probably less rigid and less severe than those codified after Islam had spread beyond Arabia. He asserts that many of the hadith regarding apostates were created to express later tendencies for which divine authority and Muhammad's example were needed. [56]
   It seems that the basic reason for the application of the death penalty to apostates is that apostasy is seen as treason. The historical origins of the concept can be seen in the actions of the hypocrites and in the Ridda (apostasy) rebellions against the first Caliph Abu-Bakr. Both were attacks upon the political authority of the Muslim ruler, as opposed to simple conversion to another faith.
   Because Islam is seen as a total way of life with no separation of religion from politics and the state, and because Islam is accepted as the basis of the legitimate state and its legal system, desertion from Islam is dealt with as political treason. The result of this merging of political and religious issues is that in Muslim-majority countries conversion from Islam to another religion is viewed as treasonable and shameful defection. During times of war defection in many states is punishable by death, and as Islam traditionally considers itself to be in a perpetual cosmic battle with kufr (infidelity), apostasy can be seen as betrayal and treason.
   Dr Y. Zaki (a leading British convert to Islam), emphasised this viewpoint in a discussion on BBC radio in 1991: "Islam is not just a religion, it's a state, and Islam does not distinguish between sacred and secular authority . . . apostasy and treason are one and the same thing." Since treason is punishable by death, he argued, so too is apostasy. [57]
   Abul A'la Mawdudi represents a similarly severe stand, arguing that Islam is not simply a religion like Christianity, but a complete order of life embracing all spheres and serving as the basis of society, state and civilisation. As such it is cannot allow itself to be made "the toy of individual free wills".
   Fundamental differences cannot be accepted in such a system (minor differences are), and an apostate who has demonstrated that he is not willing to assimilate into his society's order must be cast out of it, for he has rejected its very foundation. Mawdudi states that it is preferable for an apostate to emigrate from a Muslim state, but if he stays he becomes a great danger to society, spreading a malignant plague among the population which must be eliminated by the death penalty. [58]
   Abdurahman Abdulkadir Kurdi, professor of Qur'an and Sunna at Umm al-Qura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, makes the same point, stating that:

"The law of apostasy is equal to the man-made law of treason, with one important distinction; it is not tantamount to denouncing or breaking with one's country. Renouncing Islam is regarded as a betrayal of faith in God Himself and a denunciation of kinship. Capital punishment is the penalty in man-made law for treasonable action and has become recognized internationally as the norm or standard law for such a crime."

Seeking to emphasize the merciful nature of Islam he goes on to say:

"Repentance is required before executing the penalty. Sentence must be delayed for at least three days if there is hope of repentance, even though the penitent is not sincere. Will any sort of man-made law accept such repentance in a case of treason? No such understanding of human weakness has been exhibited among the community of nations yet." [59]

Muhammad Iqbal Siddiqi, seeking to counter the argument that the Islamic punishment for apostasy is too severe, writes:

"If Islam were a mere religion in the sense in which this term is commonly used, a hotchpotch of dogmas and rituals, having no direct relation with the economic, political and social structure of society, then such severe punishment for apostasy would have certainly been the height of high-handedness because the change of religion would not have, in the least, disturbed the social order. But the problem is that in Islam the Kingdom of Heaven whose foundations are firstly laid in the heart of man is to be essentially externalised in every phase of social set up i.e. in politics, in economics, in law, in manners and in international relations. In such circumstances it is quite obvious that when a person rebels against the Kingdom of Heaven within his heart, he commits high treason against the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, the visible and concrete expression of the Kingdom of Heaven within the heart. The persons who commit treason are always dealt with severely in every political order. A stern attitude is always adopted by all sane governments against rebels and disruptionists, and so is the case with Islam. There is nothing unusual in what Islam has done. In Islam religion is not a matter of private relationship between man and Allah, but is intertwined with society. So when he abandons Islam he in fact revolts against the authority of the Islamic State and society." [60]

   On the other hand, El-'Awa, an Egyptian lawyer and Islamic scholar, claims that while in other cases of shariah offences Muslim jurists have tried to moderate the punishments meted out to offenders, in relation to apostasy they have made it more severe, extending the cases in which the punishment is to be carried out by broadening the meaning of words and acts considered as formal apostasy beyond the actual meaning of apostasy which is simply to change one's religion. [61] He thinks this happened historically because of the fear that apostates would serve as examples for others to follow, thus harming the public interest and weakening Islam, and also because of the strength of the Arabic imperative "kill him" in the above mentioned Hadith which led the jurists to place the punishment for apostasy in the hadd category.
   El-'Awa himself disagrees with this traditional consensus, claiming that as the Qur'an itself does not prescribe a punishment for apostasy its punishment should fall under the ta'zir (discretionary) rather than hadd category. This distinction would allow a discrimination between a simple change of religion in which case no punishment needs to be applied, and cases in which harm is caused to society where the punishment must be inflicted. He claims that there have always been a small minority of jurists holding to this position, including the famous medieval scholar Ibn-Taymiyya. [62]
   Al-Azhar University is of the opinion that apostasy is a Hudud crime. In extracts from the proceedings of Al-Azhar's Fourth Conference of the Academy of Islamic Research (1968) the following passage on the death penalty for an apostate (murtadd) appears: [63]

A murtadd is one who turns back from Islam to disbelief and error. Never could a man who has tasted the sweetness of Islam think of relapsing into unbelief.
The punishment for apostasy is instituted in the following traditions:
(a) Whoever changes his religion, put him to death.
(b) It is unlawful to shed a Muslim's blood excepting only for one of three causes, namely, adultery after marriage, life for life and apostasy.
(c) It is related that Muadh Ibn Djabal came to Abu Musa al-Ashari at whom he found tied man (sic). On hearing that this man was a Jew, then became a Muslim, then returned back to his first religion, Muadh refused to sit down until the apostate had been slain, saying three times, Such is the decision of Allah and of his Apostle.
(d) It is related that the Prophet, on hearing that a woman called Umm Marwan had apostatised from Islam, directed that she should be asked to repent, otherwise she would be killed.

Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the popular Qatari cleric often defined as moderate by Western media and politicians, states that the majority view of Muslim jurists supports the death penalty for apostasy:

All Muslim jurists agree that the apostate is to be punished. However, they differ regarding the punishment itself. The majority of them go for killing; meaning that an apostate is to be sentenced to death. [64]

Al-Qaradawi also lists other implications of a Muslim being defined as an apostate:

Accusing a Muslim of kufr is a very serious matter which entails very serious consequences – his killing and the confiscation of his property become lawful. As a kafir, he must be separated from his wife and children; there can be no bond between him and other Muslims; he must be deprived of his inheritance and cannot be inherited from; he must be denied the Islamic burial and the salah for the dead person; and he must not be buried in a Muslim graveyard. [65]

The late Zaki Badawi, doyen of British Muslim scholars, argued that the death penalty for apostasy was formulated under the Umayyads and 'Abbasids and then became normative doctrine of all schools of Islamic law. He states:

As suggested, earlier jurists, with a few exceptions, supported the death penalty for the apostate and this remains the case to the present day. [66]

   Badawi notes that there were a minority of scholars, such as Ibrahim al-Nakhi (d. 713) who opposed the death penalty, arguing that the apostate should be given unlimited time to recant. The reason was that he could find no evidence in the Qur'an for capital punishment and he did not accept the hadith calling for the death sentence as authentic. However, he too accepted the principle of coercion which called for inducing the apostate to recant. However, Al-Nakhi's opinion was ignored by the founders of the law schools. [67]
   Badawi also argues that in the early Islamic state apostasy was manipulated by the rulers and the establishment ulama for political aims. The jurists gave apostasy a very wide definition:
   The renunciation of Islam either through converting to another religion, or becoming an atheist, or rejecting well known parts of the shariah such as the prohibition on the consumption of wine or treating Islamic texts with disrespect, or insulting God or the Prophet or any of the Prophets mentioned in the Qur'an, or holding an unacceptable doctrine. [68] This enabled rulers to suppress opposition by labelling its leaders as apostates.
Conclusion
   The above discussion illustrates the complexities of Muslim political and religious identities and the seriousness attributed by many Muslims to the rejection of Islam by a Muslim. This attitude is a result of the way Islamic sources and history have been interpreted by jurists and scholars and implemented by rulers right from the beginning. Despite differences and minority opinions there is broad agreement in Islamic law, both Sunni and Shi'a, about the basic penalties for apostasy, including the execution of male apostates. [69]
   Muslims are highly sensitive to the issues raised by the Islamic laws on apostasy, sensing themselves to be under attack from the liberal West, accused of negating universally accepted individual human rights. Notwithstanding the defensive efforts of some more liberally minded scholars, apostasy continues to be highly repulsive to most Muslims, who would instinctively justify the strict penalties as commensurate with the perceived severity of the crime against the very basis of the Muslim community (umma), amounting to deliberate treason and betrayal of the cause. -- © Patrick Sookhdeo, February 2007 #

[1] General Assembly of U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18

[2] Unlike Protestant Christianity, Islam is a religion concerned more with orthopraxy (the right thing to do) than with orthodoxy (the right thing to believe). Similar to rabbinic Judaism it is, among other things, a codified system of law (the Shari'ah) claimed to be divinely given, and based on the Qur'an, the hadith (the collected sayings and deeds of Muhammad), as well as on the consensus of Islamic jurists (ijma') and analogical reasoning (qiyas). The Qur'an and Hadith are seen as divinely inspired texts. Religious law encompasses all of life and is still of paramount importance for most Muslims.

[3] Mohamed S. El-Awa, Punishment in Islamic Law: A Contemporary Study, (Plainfield: American Trust Publications, 2000), pp. 49-50, 53.

[4] Muhammad Iqbal Siddiqi, The Penal Law of Islam, (Lahore: Kazi Publications, 1979), p. 97.

[5] Abul A'la Mawdudi, The Punishment of the Apostate According to Islamic Law, Lahore: Islamic Publications, 1963. English translation by Syed Silas Husain & Ernest Hahn, 1994, p. 17.

[6] Rudolph Peters & Gert J.J. De Vries, "Apostasy in Islam", Die Welt des Islams, Vol. XVII, No. 1-4, 1976-7, pp. 14-18.

[7] 'Ali, Y., The Holy Qur'an, The Islamic Foundation, UK, 1975, p. 1729.

[8] Zwemer, S., The Law of Apostasy in Islam, Marshall Brothers Ltd, UK, 1924, p. 34-5.

[9] Gibb, H. and Kramers., Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1974, p. 413.

[10] Siddiqi op. cit. p. 97

[11] Abul A'la Mawdudi, The Punishment of the Apostate According to Islamic Law, Lahore: Islamic Publications, 1963. English translation by Syed Silas Husain & Ernest Hahn, 1994. pp. 18-19.

[12] Zwemer, op. cit. p. 33-4.

[13] Pickthall, op. cit. p. 57, footnote.

[14] 'Ali, Y, op. cit. p. 207, footnote 606.

[15] S.A. Rahman, Punishment of Apostasy in Islam, pp. 15-17, where he claims Ibn al-'Arabi, Zamakhshari and al-Baydawi held this view. See also the discussion in Mohamed S. El-Awa, Punishment in Islamic Law: A Contemporary Study, pp. 50-51.

[16] Tafsir al-Qurtubi: Classical Commentary on the Holy Qur'an, translated by Aisha Bewley, Vol. 1, London: Dar al-Taqwa, 2003, pp. 659-661.

[17] See S.A. Rahman, Punishment of Apostasy in Islam, Lahore: Institute of Islamic culture, 1978, pp.16-25. Rahman on p. 16 declares this verse to be "one of the most important verses of the Qur'an, containing a charter of freedom of conscience unparalleled in the religious annals of mankind . . .". He goes on to criticise the attempts by Muslim scholars over the ages to narrow its broad humanistic meaning and impose limits on its scope in their attempts to reconcile it with their interpretations of Muhammad's Sunna.

[18] Mohamed S. El-Awa, Punishment in Islamic Law: A Contemporary Study, (Plainfield: American Trust Publications, 2000), p. 51.

[19] Mohamed S. El-Awa, Punishment in Islamic Law: A Contemporary Study, (Plainfield: American Trust Publications, 2000), p. 52.

[20] A category of defining hadith according to the reliability of their transmitters. A weak hadith is not to be rejected outright, but one must find whether the transmitter's traditions are supported elsewhere.

[21] Mohamed S. El-Awa, Punishment in Islamic Law: A Contemporary Study, (Plainfield: American Trust Publications, 2000), p. 52.

[22] Mohamed S. El-Awa, Punishment in Islamic Law: A Contemporary Study, (Plainfield: American Trust Publications, 2000), pp. 51-52.

[23] Quoted in Muhammad Iqbal Siddiqi, The Penal Law of Islam, (Lahore: Kazi Publications, 1979) p. 103-4.

[24] Quoted in Zwemer op. cit, p.50

[25] See Appendix A. Al-Hedaya, Vol. II, (Hanafi Manual).

[26] The Hedaya: Commentary on the Islamic Laws, Vol. II, Book IX, Chapter IX, p. 225.

[27] The Hedaya: Commentary on the Islamic Laws, Vol. II, translated by Charles Hamilton (New Delhi: Nusratali Nasri for Kitab Bhavan, reprinted 1985), p. 225

[28] Ibid. pp. 225-6

[29] Ibid. p.227

[30] Ibid. p.227

[31] Ibid. p.245

[32] The Hedaya, op. cit. p. 246, Siddiqi, op. cit, p. 110

[33] The Hedaya, op. cit. p. 228

[34] Ibid. p. 22

[35] Ibid. p. 231

[36] Ibid. p. 232

[37] Ibid. p. 232

[38] Ibid. p. 232

[39] Ibid. pp. 235-6

[40] Ibid. p. 236

[41] Ibid. p. 238

[42] Ibid. pp. 239, 244-5

[43] See Appendix B, Al-Risala (Maliki Manual).

[44] F.H. Ruxton 'Convert's Status in Maliki Law', Moslim World, Vol. iii, p. 38, quoted in Zwemer op. cit. p. 42

[45] [Link] , 21/06/2002

[46] F.H. Ruxton op. cit. quoted in Zwemer p. 43

[47] Nawawi, 'Minhaj-at-Talibin' , quoted in Zwemer op. cit. p. 49

[48] Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, The Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual Of Islamic Sacred Law, translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller, Beltsville, Maryland: Amana Publications, new edition, 1997, pp. 595-596.

[49] Quoted in Zwemer op. cit. pp. 47-50

[50] Quoted in Zwemer op. cit. pp. 47-50

[51] Anwar Ahmad Qadri, A Sunnin Shafi'i Law Code, Lahore: S.H. Muhammad Ashraf, 1984, p. 123.

[52] Joseph Schacht, An introduction to Islamic Law, (London: Oxford University Press, 1964), p. 16

[53] A. Querry, 'Recueil de Lois concernant Les Musulmans Schyites, Vol. ii, quoted in Zwemer op.cit. p.51

[54] Abdul Hameed Abu Sulayman , "Al-dhimmah and Related Concepts in Historical Perspective", Journal Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. 9 No. 1 (January 1988), pp. 18-19

[55] Mahmassani, S., Arkan huquq al-insan, Dar al-'ilm li'l-malayin, Beirut, 1979, pp. 123-124, ref. in Mayer op. cit. p. 170

[56] Zwemer op. cit. p. 35

[57] Sunday Programme, BBC Radio 4, 12 May 1991.

[58] Abul A'la Mawdudi, The Punishment of the Apostate According to Islamic Law, Lahore: Islamic Publications, 1963 English translation by Syed Silas Husain & Ernest Hahn, 1994. pp. 46-49.

[59] Abdurahman Abdulkadir Kurdi, The Islamic State: A Study based on the Islamic Holy Constitution, (London: Mansell Publishing Limited, 1984) pp. 52-53

[60] Siddiqi op. cit. pp. 108-9

[61] Mohamed S. El-Awa, Punishment in Islamic Law: A Contemporary Study, (Plainfield: American Trust Publications, 2000), p. 53.

[62] Mohamed S. El-Awa, Punishment in Islamic Law: A Contemporary Study, (Plainfield: American Trust Publications, 2000), pp. 54-64.

[63] Sheikh Muhammad Abu Zahra, "Punishment in Islam", in D.F. Green, ed., Arab Theologians on Jews and Israel: Extracts from the Proceedings of the Fourth Conference of the Academy of Islamic Research, pp. 71-72

[64] "Source of the Punishment for Apostasy"; [Link] , viewed 10 August 2005.

[65] Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Islamic Awakening Between Rejection and Extremism, p. 45.

[66] Zaki Badawi, "Freedom of Religion in Islam", unpublished paper presented 10 January 2003.

[67] Zaki Badawi, "Freedom of Religion in Islam", 10 January 2003.

[68] Zaki Badawi, "Freedom of Religion in Islam", 10 January 2003.

[69] Gibb, H., and Kramer, J., Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam, (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1974), article on 'Murtadd' by W. Heffening p. 413; but see Siddiqi op. cit. p. 109 where he states: "There is almost complete consensus of opinion among the jurists that apostasy from Islam (Irtidad) must be punished by death." #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#islamic_teaching [COMPULSION in Islam is openly endorsed in 3:83: Are they seeking a religion other than Allah's, when every soul in the heavens and the earth has submitted to Him, willingly or by compulsion? … www. submission. org/suras/ sura3.html# 83 . (This information was e-mailed to the author of the above on September 9, 2007.) ENDS.] [Jul 3, 07]
• RELIGION: Call to reform and modernise Islam. (Internet heading)

RELIGION: Call to reform, modernise Islam

(Printed magazine headline)
   News Weekly (Australia), www.newsweekly. com.au /articles/ 2007jul07_ i.html , by Joseph Poprzeczny, pp 15-16, July 7, 2007
When future historians look back at the first decade following Al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001, strikes on America soil, they're likely to conclude that the most significant counter-measure against the ideology that inspired those murderous attacks was taken early this year and well away from the Islamic world. Joseph Poprzeczny reports.
   On March 5, a group of secular and reformist Muslims held what they called a Secular Islam Summit in the west coast Florida city of St Petersburg, and released what is known as the St Petersburg Declaration.
   All its endorsees, in one way or another, have grappled - and are still grappling - with the many profound questions arising from the fact that so many aspects of the faith of their ancestors and of their own early lives are so markedly at variance, indeed, diametrically opposed, to their humanistic desires.
   Secular Muslims
   The now four-month-old declaration that was formally read out in English by the best-selling Pakistani author, Ibn Warraq, now living in America, stated:
   "We are secular Muslims, and secular persons of Muslim societies. We are believers, doubters and unbelievers, brought together by a great struggle, not between the West and Islam, but between the free and the unfree.
   "We affirm the inviolable freedom of the individual conscience. We believe in the equality of all human persons.
   "We insist upon the separation of religion from state and the observance of universal human rights.
   "We find traditions of liberty, rationality and tolerance in the rich histories of pre-Islamic and Islamic societies. These values do not belong to the West or the East; they are the common moral heritage of humankind.
   "We see no colonialism, racism or so-called 'Islamaphobia' in submitting Islamic practices to criticism or condemnation when they violate human reason or rights.
   "We call on the governments of the world to:
   • reject sharia law, fatwa courts, clerical rule, and state-sanctioned religion in all their forms;
   • oppose all penalties for blasphemy and apostasy, in accordance with Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
   • eliminate practices, such as female circumcision, honour killing, forced veiling and forced marriage, that further the oppression of women;
   • protect sexual and gender minorities from persecution and violence;
   • reform sectarian education that teaches intolerance and bigotry towards non-Muslims; and
   • foster an open public sphere in which all matters may be discussed without coercion or intimidation.
   "We demand the release of Islam from its captivity to the totalitarian ambitions of power-hungry men and the rigid strictures of orthodoxy.
   "We enjoin academics and thinkers everywhere to embark on a fearless examination of the origins and sources of Islam, and to promulgate the ideals of free scientific and spiritual inquiry through cross-cultural translation, publishing and the mass media.
   "We say to Muslim believers: there is a noble future for Islam as a personal faith, not a political doctrine;
   • to Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Baha'is and all members of non-Muslim faith communities: we stand with you as free and equal citizens;
   • and to non-believers: we defend your unqualified liberty to question and dissent.
   "Before any of us is a member of the Umma, the Body of Christ or the Chosen People, we are all members of the community of conscience, the people who must choose for themselves."
   This declaration was endorsed by 14 eminent authors and scholars, most of whom attended the St Petersburg Secular Islam Summit.
   Endorsers
   The endorsers are: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Magdi Allam, Mithal Al-Alusi, Shaker Al-Nabulsi, Nonie Darwish, Afshin Ellian, Tawfik Hamid, Shahriar Kabir, Hasan Mahmud, Wafa Sultan, Amir Taheri, Ibn Warraq, Manda Zand Erwin and Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi.
   Darwish, an Egyptian, read the declaration in Arabic - others presented it in Bengali, Urdu and Farsi.
   She believes the declaration will resonate with untold millions cross the Middle East.
   The summit's chairman and main organiser, Warraq, is a specialist Koranic scholar who in 1996 published the groundbreaking work, Why I am not a Muslim.
   Warraq has edited a series of anthologies: What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, and Commentary; The Quest for the Historical Muhammed; The Origins of the Koran: Classic Essays on Islam's Holy Book; Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out; and Which Koran? Variants, Manuscripts, and the Influence of Pre-Islamic Poetry.
   His latest book is: Defending the West: A Critique of Edward Said's Orientalism.
   Before the summit he said: "What we need now is an Age of Enlightenment in the Islamic world, of the Islamic mind-set or worldview.
   "Without critical examination of Islam, it will remain unassailed in its dogmatic, fanatical, medieval fortress; ossified, totalitarian and intolerant. It will continue to stifle thought, human rights, individuality; originality and truth."
   Somali-born author and a former Dutch member of parliament, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who attended last month's Sydney Writers' Festival, although not present at the St Petersburg, Florida, Summit, endorsed the declaration prior to its release, as did the noted Iranian-born international columnist and author, Amir Tahiri.
   Head-on challenge
   Although future historians may debate aspects of the declaration's impact, none will be able to contend that this boldly-worded manifesto didn't confront head-on the revolutionary Islamic ideology known as Salafi Jihadism, which lies at the heart of the struggle going on wherever Muslims live, especially the Middle East but also across Europe.
   Salafi Jihadism is a worldwide religious revivalist movement that seeks to create a super-Islamic state - the new or resurrected Caliphate - which would embrace all Islamic lands, from Morocco to the Philippines, including southern Spain, south-eastern Europe, central Asia, much of the Indian sub-continent and the South-East Asian archipelago.
   According to Egyptian-born terrorism expert, Dr Mamoun Fandy, Salafism is an orthodox, and fundamentalist, interpretation of Islam that yearns for the days and ways of the Prophet Mohammad.
   "The word Salafi means the past, the previous generations," says Fandy.
   "Salafis are those people who believe in the teachings of Islam, based on the dictates of the previous generation. And by the previous generations, they mean the generations of the followers of the Prophet who came after him, in the eighth century.
   "That's the literal translation - that those who subscribe to the notion of Salafism are those who are unhappy with the interpretation of Islam today, and they want to go to the origins of Islam and what was intended to be in the time of the Prophet and his companions."
   America's leading expert on Salafism, Marc Sageman, in a June 2003 statement to the US National Commission on the September 11 attacks, argued that Salafism's roots can be found in modern-day Egypt.
   "It is the violent culmination of Muslims' attempts to come to terms with their fallen glory," Sageman said.
   "Just a few centuries ago, Islam was the most vital and dominant religious force in the world. Now, the lands of Islam are under Western political and economic dominance. Western cultural, social and technical achievements have eclipsed past Muslim grandeur and now challenge core Islamic beliefs.
   "Over the past three centuries, revivalist Islamic movements have tried to answer this challenge. One of their answers is to return to pure and authentic Islam, as practised by the Prophet and his companions.
   "To them, 'Islam is the answer' and only a re-creation of the practices of their devout ancestors - Salaf in Arabic - will bring glory and prominence back to Muslims.
   "Salafists advocate a strict interpretation of the Koran and they view with scepticism any later innovation, for it might be a heretical corruption of the original message.
   "Their main ideologists include Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, who forged an alliance with Muhammad ibn Saud, a local tribal chief of the Arabian Peninsula two and a half centuries ago; Hasan al-Banna, Mawlana Mawdudi, Sayyid Qutb, Mohammed Abd al-Salam Faraj, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri."
   Nothing could be further from Salafism than the St Petersburg Declaration with its emphasis on tolerance of all beyond the intended Calliphate's boundaries and its rejection of theocratic rule - its opposition to "sharia law, fatwa courts, clerical rule and state-sanctioned religion in all their forms" and its preference for "liberty, rationality, and tolerance".
   Despised
   Salafists not only despise all who endorsed the St Petersburg Declaration, since the 14 signatories seek a tolerant secular order worldwide, but also modern-day Muslim nations that haven't instituted shari’a and the strict Koranic law.
   The summit's Iranian-American organiser Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi declared: "The summit hopes to encourage a new global movement for reason, science, and secular values within Islamic societies."
   - Joseph Poprzeczny. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#religion_call [RECAPITULATION: "Without critical examination of Islam, it will remain unassailed in its dogmatic, fanatical, medieval fortress; ossified, totalitarian and intolerant. It will continue to stifle thought, human rights, individuality; originality and truth." ENDS.] [Declaration of St Petersburg made on Mar 5, 07; Jul 7, 07]
• Reality check -- Books. [about the basic documents of Islam.]

BOOKS: Reality check

   News Weekly (Australia), www.newsweekly. com.au/articles/ 2007jul07_ b1.html , Review by Bill Muehlenberg, p 22-23, July 7, 2007
DEFEATING JIHAD:
How the war on terror may yet be won, in spite of ourselves
by Serge Trifkovic
(USA: Regina Orthodox Press)
Paperback: 335 pages
Rec. price: AUD$45.90
Reviewed by Bill Muehlenberg
   Serge Trifkovic is fast becoming a leading authority on Islamic militancy and how to respond to it. His book The Sword of the Prophet (2002) – reviewed in News Weekly (July 8,2006) – was an important look at militant Islam. In this sequel volume to that incisive work, Trifkovic continues his hard-hitting analysis, coupled with a sober realism, about the struggle we are in.
   This volume is divided into five parts: 1) a brief review of Islam, its founder, its beliefs and practices, with special reference to Jihad; 2) a lengthy examination of the crisis in Europe; 3) an assessment of conditions in America; 4) the global situation; and 5) a series of proposed solutions.
Effective response
   Taken together, these five sections offer a comprehensive and informed overview of the nature of Islamic Jihad and the response of the West. The book offers, in short, a workable understanding of, and plan for an effective response to, Islamist terrorism.
   The author is quite right to begin with an assessment of the threat. A good deal of the problem lies in the fact that many Western "intellectualoids" refuse to even admit there is a problem, and are much more inclined to blame the West for the current crisis.
   For example, the "9-11 Commission", the US Government's report on terrorism, does note that Islamist terrorism is the main worry, but then goes on to argue that the reformist wing within Islam needs to be encouraged while the fundamentalist wing needs to be resisted.
   But Trifkovic argues that this distinction between a supposedly real, peaceful Islam and an aberrant violent Islam is false. Jihad and terrorism, argues the author, are intrinsically embedded in the Koran, Hadith, and shari’a. The jihadists are acting in full accord with their faith.
   Thus the real question is not whether there are moderate Muslims (yes, there are), but whether Islam itself is moderate and peaceful. Trifkovic thinks not. Thus talk of reforming Islam becomes a questionable, if unattainable, goal.
   It is this understanding of the real nature of Islam that explains so much about the current crisis in Europe and the incredibly weak and short-sighted Western response. Europa is quickly becoming Eurabia because most Westerners do not understand the real nature of Islam.
   Peace in Islam can ultimately come only when all of the Dar-al-Harb (world of unbelievers) are converted – one way or another – into the Dar-al-Islam (the world of Islam). Thus Islam is in a permanent state of war with the Western infidels until it finally reigns throughout the globe.
   While the European response has been woefully inadequate, the American response – basically, a policy of appeasement at home and sabre-rattling abroad – has not been much better.
   Fear of offending American Muslims has resulted in a superficial response at home. Foolish notions of tolerance, diversity and multiculturalism have prevented America from dealing with the Islamic threat. Moreover, the West fails to understand that Muslims are unable or unwilling to properly assimilate and integrate into the West. Instead, Muslim conclaves are springing up all over the West, with the inevitable tensions which follow.
   US foreign policy has been confusing at best, as Washington seeks to placate and cozy up to various Muslim states, often with counterproductive outcomes.
   Trifkovic doubts that the democratisation of the Middle East is possible. Just as it was delusional to believe in detente with the former Soviet threat, so the idea of exporting democracy to the Islamic world is fraught with danger.
   Like the Communist bloc before it, the Islamic world is totalistic and implacably hostile to co-existence with the West. And democracy, in order to be exportable, presupposes a framework of ideas that are amenable to it. Islam is fundamentally anti-democratic. The rule of shari’a law alone is the Islamic ideal – democracy is simply heretical.
   Trifkovic offers a number of proposals to at least contain the Islamic threat in the West. He favours racial and ethnic profiling as a sensible and necessary feature of our security. He believes mosques should be monitored, sermons examined, and all preaching be conducted in the host-nation's language. He believes that Islamic activists should be denied citizenship, or that it be rescinded if already granted.
   He urges Western nations to follow the lead of Switzerland which has one of the toughest naturalisation policies in the world. You cannot even apply tor citizenship in Switzerland unless you have first lived there for 12 years, paid your taxes, and have no criminal record.
   Other get-tough measures are proposed. But the author concludes with a more important requirement. The West needs to know itself. What does it believe? What are its values? What does it stand for?
   It needs to realise that the historic, core Western values are ultimately not compatible with the Islamic worldview. Says Trifkovic: "Islamic beliefs, ideas and intentions as such pose a threat to our civilisation and our way of life."
   Thus the author reminds us that the first step in dealing with the war of terrorism is to recognise the fundamental differences between Western ideals and Islamic ideals. Then we need to ask ourselves: which are worth preserving and defending? Which are worth fighting and resisting?
   Unless the West can accurately and carefully answer those questions, it will not be well prepared to cope with the terrorist threat – nor with any other major threat for that matter. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#reality_check [RECAPITULATION: The major sources are all available in English, and are the Koran, the Sira or the Life of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq, and the Hadith, the sayings and deeds of the Prophet and his companions. […] Trifkovic … favours racial and ethnic profiling as a sensible and necessary feature of our security. … mosques should be monitored, sermons examined, and all preaching be conducted in the host-nation's language. … Islamic activists should be denied citizenship, or that it be rescinded if already granted. ENDS.] [Jul 7, 07]
• [Religious freedom at risk -- radical Islam, China, greatest threats.]

Religious freedom at risk – Asia, Africa

   The Record (R.C. Perth W. Australia weekly), By Jacob Buckenmeyer, Catholic News Service, p 5, July 12, 2007
   WASHINGTON (CNS) - The Hudson Institute's Centre for Religious Freedom presented its initial findings regarding world trends in religious freedom on July 9, ranking countries' religious intolerance on a scale of one to seven and naming radical Islam as the greatest threat to religious freedom worldwide.
   The findings are part of the centre's latest book, "Religious Freedom in the World, 2007," which will be released next year and analyses 100 countries, focusing on those countries where religious freedom is least protected.
   Religious freedom rankings were sorted according to geographical regions and also by the prevailing religion present in each country. A score of one was the best, while seven indicated severe religious intolerance.
   Most countries with the poorest rankings were found in Asia, North Africa and Eastern Europe, while the best-ranked included the United States, Canada and countries in Western Europe.
   Countries in which the population is predominantly Catholic or Protestant were found to have a high degree of religious freedom, with the exception of a few, including Cuba, Colombia and Zimbabwe.
   Religious tolerance has been growing in Latin America as a whole during the last 20 years, and it is now one of the most tolerant areas in the world, said Paul Marshall, a senior fellow with the institute, who, as part of a five-person panel, presented the findings.
   Governments and regimes which restrict religious freedom do so for a number of reasons, Marshall said in an interview with Catholic News Service.
   Although the survey showed that decreases in religious freedom were often accompanied by a national decline in economic and political well-being, many regimes have interests - whether religious or political - that are distinct from those of the country's people, he said.
   Several regimes seek to cultivate their own religious motives using the government as their tool. Other regimes, such as China, simply want to control all activity within their borders, religion included, Marshall said.
   In his opening statement on July 9, Marshall cited specific governmental violations of religious freedom, including China where more than 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners and several Catholic bishops are under house arrest, and Eritrea, where unauthorised meetings of more than seven people are illegal and entire wedding parties have been imprisoned.
   The conditions in prisons are harsh, Marshall said. In Eritrea "in 2003, 57 teenagers found with Bibles were jailed in metal shipping containers in the desert; all but six died," he said. "Behind these statistics are very terrible - but also very inspiring - human stories."
   The panel emphasised the importance of religious freedom as the "first freedom." One panellist, the Rev. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, referenced the statement by Pope John Paul II that without freedom of conscience and of religion all other freedoms become meaningless.
   The study found that restrictions on freedom of religion to some degree affected all groups, including agnostics and atheists. Whether a country was predominantly secular or favoured an established religion had little to do with that country's record for religious tolerance.
   The centre found that most countries with high Islamic populations typically offer the least protection of religious freedom, with the exception of Mali and Senegal in East Africa.
   The poorest-scoring countries include Sudan, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan and Iran. The low ranking of Islamic nations means that the greatest struggle for religious freedom is being fought within the Islamic community, Rev. Land said.
[Map of the world, with colours to show categories of freedom of religion.] Religious Freedom Report. [Several countries were not rated.]    Source: Hudson Institute
   "We need to remind ourselves that the people who are suffering the most from this radical Islamic jihadism are followers of Islam who refuse to knuckle under to this particularly virulent brand of ideology that is being propagated in their name," he said.
   Panel moderator Michael Novak, of the American Enterprise Institute, defined radical Islam as groups of Muslims who would use their beliefs to justify violence.
   Brian Grimm, a senior Pew research fellow on religion and world affairs, helped to analyse the data and spoke as a panellist on the forum. A summary of the Hudson Institute's findings and rankings of religious freedom by country is available online at: www.hudson. org/religion . #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#religious_freedom [Jul 12, 07]
• Scripture from childhood gives the attitude, not just extremism.

Scripture from childhood gives the attitude, not just extremism

   "Informed Reader" (Anonymous, not wishing to suffer the evil destination assigned to "unbelievers"), July 12, 2007
   Learning scripture off by heart from childhood upwards can shape our attitudes. Right? So, ask yourself if the civic and religious leaders of the West can explain why they have not told Westerners of this probability, instead of just saying that extremists "distort" their religion, and go about murdering their own people as well as Westerners.
   I've only just become intensely interested in the anti-Christian teachings (greedy, teach falsely, will be branded in Hell) at < http://www.usc. edu/dept/MSA/ quran/009. qmt.html# 009.031 > i.e., 9:31 onwards to 9:35. It starts off: "They take their priests and their anchorites to be their lords beside Allah. And (they take as their Lord) Christ the son of Mary …"
   This is one of several condemnations of Christianity, including the Trinity doctrine, and an allegation that Mary is one of the Trinity!
   Then, for some anti-JEWISH "sprays" about them being "apes" try < http://www.usc. edu/dept/MSA/ quran/002. qmt.html# 002.063 > i.e., 2:63 to 2:64, and for "apes and swine" try < http://www.usc. edu/dept/MSA/ quran/005. qmt.html# 005.059 > 5:59-60 . At < http://www.usc. edu/dept/ MSA/quran/ 005.qmt.html# 005.044 > 5:44, they are accused of selling Allah's revelations for a "paltry sum." (Don't ask me what the basis for that was.) There are other Koran texts attacking them as having falsified scriptures, and leaving out teachings, and living bad lives.
   I am concerned that Australian schools are being financed by taxpayers' dollars, in which the children learn these texts off by heart, in Arabic.
   Such teaching affects adults, and our immigration programme. It is alleged (but not proven) that one of the doctors supposedly linked to the bomb-plotters in the news recently had applied to the Australian Medical Association in WA to come here to work, under various names. If the various names item is true, he might have been following the text in 66:2 < http://www.usc. edu/dept/ MSA/quran/ 066.qmt.html# 066.002 > :- Allah hath allowed you release from your oaths.
   If you don't believe this text, put the word al-taqiyya (i.e., deception) or a variant into your Search Engine, and study what other people say.
   We all know that most people whose ancestors were pushed into this religion might, in their heart of hearts, want to live in peace and co-operation with other people. But if their earliest years have including chanting that non-believers are unclean and Jews are "apes and swine", how can they respect their Western and Jewish neighbours, if they live among Westerners and Jews?
   The constant killing attacks on Westerners such as recently in Turkey, and of course Bali twice, and of Israelis, is one thing, but how to explain the Shi'ites killing Sunnis, and vice-versa, in Iraq, and in other Muslim lands? Here's where the doctrine of opposing "hypocrites" among other Muslims comes in handy!! Read it in an English translation at 9:73 < http://www. usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/009. qmt.html# 009.073 > :- O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#scripture_from [Jul 12, 07]
• Ibn Warraq on How to Debate a Muslim.

ChallengingIslam.org, www.challeng ing-islam. org/articles/ warraq-debate- muslims.htm , Found 12 July, 2007, Dated December 5, 2004

(The article is in date order at: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron2.htm#ibn_warraq )
Ibn Warraq is the pseudonym for a scholar on Islam, and author of Why I Am Not a Muslim. [Dec 05, 04 (discovered July 12, 07)]
• [The apostle said: Kill any Jew … or Marwan's daughter]

[The apostle said: Kill any Jew … or Marwan’s daughter]

   Sudanese Thinker website, http://sudanese thinker.blogspot. com/2006/06/ heading-into- unknown.html , Found Jul 13, 2007
   Page 367: "Then he [Ka'b al-Ashraf] composed amatory verses of an insulting nature about the Muslim women. The apostle [i.e. Muhammad] said … : 'Who will rid me of Ibn al-Ashraf?' Muhammad b. Maslama … said, 'I will deal with him for you, O apostle of God, I will kill him.' He [Muhammad] said: 'Do so if you can.' – On page 368 it is then related how Muhammad b. Maslama and his companions treacherously and cruelly kill the unsuspecting Ka'b.
   P. 369: "The apostle said: 'Kill any Jew that falls into your power.' Thereupon Muhayyisa b. Mas'ud leapt upon Ibn Sunayna, a Jewish merchant with whom they had business relations, and killed him."
   Note: The Prophet of Islam didn't say: Kill any Jew that tries to harm the Islamic community, he said: Kill ANY Jew, just any old Jew you can get hold of. Evidently his words were heeded. And again, as before with Ka'b, the victim in the previous paragraph, Ibn Sunayna, was killed treacherously, without any forewarning. He had no reason at all to believe that he would be targeted. Reminds one of today's attacks on pizza parlors, subway trains and the like, no?
   P.674: A companion of Muhammed relates an exploit of his: "I went into a cave there, taking my bow and arrows, and while I was there in came a one-eyed man of Banu al-Dil driving a sheep of his. When he asked who I was I told him that I was one of Banu Bakr. He said that he was also, adding of the Banu al-Dil clan. Then he lay down beside me and lifting up his voice began to sing:
   I won't be a Muslim as long as I live/
Nor heed to their religion give.
   I said (to myself): 'You will soon know!', and as soon as the Badu [Bedouin] was asleep and snoring I got up and killed him in a more horrible way than any man has been killed. I put the end of my bow in his sound eye, then I bore down on it until I forced it out at the back of his neck." – A little later the killer of the unsuspecting one-eyed Bedouin non-Muslim comes back to Medina, tells what he has done, and Muhammed reacts by condoning his actions: "He [Muhammed] asked my news and when I told him what had happened he blessed me." (p.675)
   Same page, 675: "Abu 'Afak … showed his disaffection when the apostle killed al-Harith b. Suwayed b. Samit and said:
[Here follows a poem that in its gist praises the virtues of the killed man's clan.]
The apostle said, 'Who will deal with this rascal [i.e. Abu 'Afak] for me?', whereupon Salim b. 'Umayr … went forth and killed him."
   Page 675f.: "['Asma' bint Marwan] was of Banu Umayya b. Zayd. When Abu 'Afak had been killed she displayed disaffection. … Blaming Islam and its followers she said:
   I despise Banu Malik and al-Nabit/
And 'Auf and Banu al-Khazraj./
You obey a stranger who is none of yours,/
One not of Murad or Madhij./
Do you expect good from him after the killing of your chiefs/
Like a hungry man waiting for a cook's broth?/
Is there no man of pride who would attack him by surprise/
And cut off the hopes of those who expect aught from him?/
   [Hassan b. Thabit then composes a counter-poem. Thereafter the normal narrative continues as follows:]
   When the apostle heard what she had said he said, 'Who will rid me of Marwan's daughter?' 'Umayr b. 'Adiy al-Khatmi who was with him heard him, and that very night he went to her house and killed her. In the morning he came to the apostle and told him what he had done, and he [i.e. Muhammed] said: 'You have helped God and his apostle, O 'Umayr!' "

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#the_apostle [KORAN:26:221 and 224 and 227:- Shall I inform you (O people), on whom it is that the Satans descend? […] … the Poets, – […] Except those who believe, work righteousness [[etc.]]… DOCTRINE ENDS.]
[COMMENT: Knowledgeable reformers marvel at the main Judaist and Christian leadership supporting indiscriminate immigration, even though they know, or ought to know, the danger of having people, brought up from childhood on stories like the above, coming close to their homes. ENDS.] [Found Jul 13, 07]
• Muslim migrants in the Western world.

Muslim migrants in the Western world

   News Weekly (Australia), Review by Joseph Poprzeczny, p 22-23, July 21, 2007
   – WHEN ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY MEET: Muslims in Europe and in the United States by Jocelyne Cesari (Palgrave Macmillian) Paperback:280 pages Rec. price: AUD$53.90 Reviewed by Joseph Poprzeczny
   A headline in a national newspaper last year proclaimed, "Prophet not perfect, says Islamic scholar" (The Australian, October 4, 2006).
   In the subsequent article, Perth economist and chairman of Prime Minister Howard's Muslim Advisory Board, Dr Ameer Ali, was reported as saying: "The times are changing and with the change of times you also have to reinterpret the Koran. The jihadists are interpreting the Koran literally, and that's the problem…."
   He said Islamists would continue breeding jihadists unless the Koran were "reinterpreted" for contemporary society.
   (Dr Ali later expressed dismay at the wording of The Australian's headline for his reported comments, and said that the paper's wrong attribution to him of the view that the Prophet was "not perfect" was "a deliberate act of mischief by the publishers"). Death threats
   The same article reported that a non-Islamic philosophy teacher Robert Redeker of Toulouse, France, was facing death-threats fromjihadists following his description of Mohammed as a "ruthless warlord and mass murderer".
   Redeker's home address was publicised on a jihadist website with the warning: "You will never feel secure on this earth. One billion 300 million Muslims are ready to kill you."
   Although that's undoubtedly an overestimate, many Muslims certainly wish to see Redeker killed.
   Unfortunately, within the secularising Judeo-Christian world (primarily Europe and the United States) have emerged sizeable Islamic minorities not all of whose members abide by St Ambrose's urging, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
   [Picture] Cover of the book.
   Moreover, the jihadist tradition has understandably alienated non-Muslims worldwide and changed their outlook on neighbourliness, policing, foreign policy, continued immigration and even their choice of tourist destinations.
   The author of When Islam and Democracy Meet: Muslims in Europe and in the United States, Dr Jocelyne Cesari, is a researcher from the University of Aix-en-Provence. In her book, she analyses Islam's two largest communities beyond its traditional lands of North Africa, the Middle East, Central and South-East Asia and the Subcontinent.
   She focuses on a range of themes, including: i) Islam as a stigma, 2) the reformation of Islamic thought, 3) international leaders and charismatic speakers, and 4) the possibility of reconciliation of Islam and the West. Strangely the word "democracy" never appears in her index.
   Though all her themes are important, it must be said many of Cesari's concepts and terminology tend to be aimed at the expert rather than the general reader.
   The specialist terms she uses, such as "reactive identity-formation" or "the absolutised community", require some thought, as do other phrases to which she occasionally resorts, such as "McDonaldisation", "de-territorialised" and "cultural globalisation".
   Cesari is currently compiling The Encyclopedia of Islam in America, under Harvard's Islam in the West program.
   Her historical and demographic overviews are certainly helpful. There are an estimated 15 to 18 million American and European Muslims (i.e., almost equal to the population of Australia).
   According to Cesari, Europe has 12 million while the American figure is in dispute with one estimate three million and another twice that. That disparity extends to other characteristics. "Five countries stand out in particular for the high number of Muslims who call them home: France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Greece," Cesari writes.
   "In each of these countries, anywhere from four to seven per cent of the current population is Muslim. In Sweden, Denmark and Norway, Muslims constitute one per cent of the total population. And Italy and Spain, are quickly becoming the new destination of choice for Muslim immigrants."
   Arabs
   Arabs constitute the biggest group, with some 3.5 million of Moroccan origin now living in Western Europe. Turks form the next biggest group with 2.5 million in Europe, primarily in Germany.
   The third largest are from the Indian subcontinent – India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh – with most of these in Britain, and thus linked to Britain's colonial past.
   Says Cesari: "What is particular to the American situation is that almost half of all Muslims (46 per cent according to a 1994 estimate) are converts. Even more significant is that the majority of these come from within the Afro-American community. Thirty per cent of these African-American Muslims adopted Islam while serving prison terms.
   "Unlike in Europe, however, Arabs are not at all the dominant minority (12.5 percent of all US Muslims) and are far outnumbered by ethnic groups from the Asian subcontinent (24.4 percent)."
   Cesari offers an overview on "the three phases of Muslim minority presence in Europe.
   The first phase, according to Cesari, was in the 1970s when Europe's Muslims first became visible with the emergence of prayer rooms that "began to pop up like mushrooms in Paris, Marseille, London, Bradford and Berlin".
   "By the end of the 1990s there were more than 6,000 mosques in Western Europe," she says. "The 1980s were thus a crucial decade for the advent of Islam as a new religion in the heart of European cities."
   The second phase was in the 1990s This saw "a new phase in immigrant society begin with the increased visibility of mosques and their demand to be recognised as public buildings, equal in status to temples, churches and synagogues".
   This was followed by the growth of numerous coalitions, federations and committees, established to communicate with the non-Islamic, or established, authorities.
   Islamic organisations
   Both trans-Atlantic communities now have nationwide Islamic organisations with administering bureaucracies, organisers, youth involvement, aims and goals, leadership training, mission statements and web-sites. Cesari lists their names in two appendices, with web addresses.
   Attire, the facial veil, head scarf, attitude towards women and public life – all of these and more have created mounting and ongoing tensions across Europe, with each country seeking accommodation via either multi-culturalism or assimilation of newcomers and long-time residents.
   The third phase came with bids to restrict immigration into Western Europe and the contradictory outcomes that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet bloc.
   Germany was particularly affected in this third phase. Between 1980 and 1990, some 60,000 Afghanis, 110,000 Iranians and 55,000 Lebanese entered Germany as refugees.
   After the Turks, some 340,000 Bosnians made up the next largest group, with a further 70,000 settled in Austria, and Italy and Spain also affected. Of the more than 1.6 million foreigners in Italy after 2001, 600,000 hail from Islamic states.
   "This dawning of European Islam has occurred just as it has emerged as a social movement and a political force both in the Muslim world and on the international stage," Cesari says.
   "Europe became a target of missionary and proselytising efforts, as the massive increase in the distribution of petrodollars to Europe for the creation of mosques, Islamic schools and university chairs attests to.
   "While the influence of Saudi doctrine [dogmatic Wahhabism] is an established fact, it is nonetheless just one of the many options offered to European and American Muslims, and is very far from holding uncontested sway."
   Cesari offers a second overview on the "deferred visibility" of Islam in North America.
   America's first Muslim migration wave arrived between 1875 and 1912, with families and individuals coming from the Levant – Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine.
   This was followed by second and third migrations between 1918 and 1922 and the 19305 respectively. These migrants were primarily from Middle Eastern countries following the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire.
   The fourth came after World War II and involved not only those from the Middle East but also from Turkey, India, Pakistan and the Balkans. These tended to be better-educated and materially better-off, so were more easily assimilated.
   Relaxed quotas
   The next came during the Lyndon Johnson Great Society era with the relaxed quota policy, and attracted Muslims from Africa and Asia with one estimate putting this intake at some 35,000 annually.
   "Each major crisis in the Muslim world has translated into a relocation of population to the US," Cesari says. "This rise in Islam after 1965 encountered neither hostility nor real surprise on the part of American society."
   Then came a series of climacteric events – especially the 19805 Tehran Embassy hostage crisis and the September 11, 2001, suicide attacks that killed 3,000 Americans – that changed perceptions and cast greater suspicion on Muslims.
   "The real challenge for the coming decades lies in the ongoing development of the tension between the two poles of Western Muslim communities: the one, reformist and open to influence; the other, radical and closed in on itself," concludes Cesari. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#muslim_migrants_in    [1st RECAPITULATION: Cesari is currently compiling The Encyclopedia of Islam in America, under Harvard's Islam in the West program. ENDS.]
   [1st COMMENT: Didn't Rudyard Kipling write "East is east, and west is west, and never the twain shall meet"? Why didn't people who learnt that literature heed its message? ENDS.]
   [2nd RECAPITULATION: … closed in on itself … ENDS.]
   [2nd COMMENT: Oh, no, it isn't. It is outward-looking, readying itself for taking over the decadent West! The fact that the Muslims look to their war-god scriptures, retaining the religion's warrior culture, shows they are far less like a weather-vane than the West, whose peoples have been betrayed by its hypocritical lascivious religious and other leaders. ENDS.]
   [3rd COMMENT: Has anyone ever thought that a repatriation policy might be better than the failed policies of the past? Allowing Muslims in as students for pilot-training, as the USA did, ended in attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, with the other attack probably heading for the White House. Can't the U.S. Establishment stop smoking whatever it is smoking, and wrap their heads around "invasion by stealth". ENDS.] [Jul 21, 07]
• Mother of militant Islam's dark past.

Mother of militant Islam’s dark past

   The Weekend Australian, www.theaustralian. news.com.au/ story/0,25197, 22108418- 601,00.html , by Natalie O'Brien, pp 1-2, July 21-22, 2007
   AUSTRALIA: RABIYAH Hutchinson, known as the mother of militant Islam in Australia, was involved in a drug scandal and investigated by child welfare authorities before becoming a Muslim.
   An investigation by The Weekend Australian can reveal that Hutchinson was born into a Sydney Presbyterian family before becoming a Baptist and then converting to Catholicism during her search for religious truth.
   The 53-year-old's journey to conservative Islam took her to the mujaheddin camps of Afghanistan and into Osama bin Laden's inner circle, prompting intelligence sources to claim she was more highly connected to al-Qa'ida central than anyone else in Australia.
   Her links to extremists, terrorists and terror suspects, as well as her string of marriages, including to highly ranked al-Qa'ida figure Mustafa Hamid, have made her the target of 24-hour surveillance by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. She has moved at least five times in the past few years.
   In Sydney's southwestern Muslim heartland of Lakemba, she is believed to mentor a group of women following Wahabism, the sect behind extremist Islam.
   Until now, much of her life before she married Indonesian Abdul Rahim Ayub, once the leader of Jemaah Islamiah in Australia, has remained a mystery and no known pictures of her have been published.
   But The Weekend Australian can for the first time show pictures of Hutchinson before she began covering her face with the black veil known as the niqab. Pictures taken of her as a young married 22-year-old mother show a pretty woman proudly holding her first child, daughter Devi Suni, then 17 months old. The photograph was taken in Sydney in July 1976, after her first husband, Raden Bambang Wisudo Andjilin, was convicted of drug offences and child welfare authorities had been called in to investigate the care of their daughter.
   Known at the time as Robyn Mary Wisudo, Hutchinson said that the courts had thought because they had put drugs in the baby's cot that they couldn't care less about her. But she said nothing was further from the truth. Terrified the authorities were going to take her baby away, Hutchinson said she was the one who put the drugs in baby Suni's cot.
   "The reason that the drugs were in the cot was because I had them in my hand when the police arrived and I panicked and threw them there," she told The Daily Mirror. Hutchinson had gone overseas when she was 19 and met Wisudo, an Indonesian born in Borneo.
   They came back to Australia in 1974, were married and set up home together on Sydney's northern beaches in a flat in Ashburner Street, Manly. Wisudo was working as a process worker at a Brookvale factory when he was busted for smoking and possessing marijuana. Narcotics agents raided their home on July 23, 1976, and found six one-ounce bags of dope hidden in the baby's cot. They also found a home-made pipe.
   Wisudo was arrested but Hutchinson later bailed him out with a $200 bond. In court, he pleaded guilty, saying that he had bought the marijuana from a man named "Trevor" with the aim of onselling it. But instead used it himself.
   He told the court that his wife had not used the drugs. He was fined $900 and put on a two-year good behaviour bond. But his conviction triggered a review of his immigration status and led to his deportation. Magistrate LJ Nash ordered welfare authorities in to investigate the family situation and whether Suni was being properly cared for.
   It was after this incident that friends say Hutchinson turned to an increasingly conservative interpretation of Islam. By 1980 she was divorced and living in the inner-western suburb of Dulwich Hill with Rahma McCormack and her family. She was on a deserted wife's pension supporting Suni and second daughter Rahma.
   Hutchinson and McCormack were interviewed in November 1980 about Australian converts to Islam. She and McCormack told The Sydney Morning Herald that practices such as female circumcision and or wearing veils were customs and done in "ignorance of Islam".
   Commenting on Iran and Iraq (now an al-Qa'ida battleground), they said "we were forewarned that people would come into the world and perform atrocities in the name of Islam for the exact purpose of making people hate Islam".
   In those early days Hutchinson wore a long, brightly coloured abaya and a hijab over her hair but she left her face uncovered. But friends say she became more hardline in her views and soon took off for Indonesia, where it is understood she married second husband Mohammed Pujo, a leader of the Solo Brun Islamic Defenders Front.
   That marriage was short-lived and produced no children. In 1984 she married third husband Abdul Rahim Ayub, who was later sent to Australia to set up the JI terror cell known as Mantiqi 4.
   They had three children together: Mohammed, Abdullah and a daughter, Aminah. They came back to Australia in 1985 and lived in Darwin, Sydney and Melbourne, becoming close to hardline clerics Feiz Mohamed and Mohammed Omran.
   During their time living in Sydney's northern beaches they also got to know Jack Roche, who was released from jail this year after serving 4 1/2 years' jail for plotting with al-Qa'ida to blow up the Israeli embassy in Canberra.
   After Hutchinson broke up with Ayub in 1996 he moved to Perth where he continued his clandestine activities before fleeing Australia for Indonesia, a few days after the 2002 Bali bombing.
   She went to Afghanistan and remarried a couple of times, including in 2000 when she married the Egyptian-born Hamid, a confidant of bin Laden also known was Abu al Walid al-Masri.
   She worked as a midwife and a teacher and with her top-level al-Qa'ida connections, Hutchinson became a key connection for Australians travelling to Afghanistan for military training.
   Details of Hutchinson's activities in Kabul were revealed by Melbourne man Jack Thomas, during his interrogation by Australian and Pakistani police following his arrest in Pakistan in January 2003. Thomas told the AFP that when he arrived in Kabul, he made contact with Hutchinson, to whom he referred as "Umm Mohammed" meaning "mother of Mohammed".
   Thomas knew Hutchinson from Sydney, where he had attended the wedding of her daughter Rahma to a man arrested in Sydney last year on terrorism-related charges. After his arrest Rahma went to Yemen to live with her brothers. She returned to Sydney earlier this year and was seen in court supporting her husband.
   Rahma is dressed more conservatively than even her mother, covering every part of her body, including gloves for her hands and a veil over the niqab which obscures all of her face. Her driver's licence photo is covered by a yellow post-it note which she will only remove for identification to women. She spends a lot of time with her mother and has few very close associates.
   Hutchinson's sons Mohammed and Mustapha were arrested in Yemen last year but released after being cleared of suspicion of terrorism offences. It is believed that when ASIO wanted to meet her in Bankstown hotel after their arrests she refused. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#mother_of    [RECAPITULATION: Hutchinson and McCormack were interviewed in November 1980 about Australian converts to Islam. She and McCormack told The Sydney Morning Herald that practices such as female circumcision and or wearing veils were customs and done in "ignorance of Islam". ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Perhaps she has since learnt of the founder's liberty with changes of doctrine, or perhaps she then knew of the freedom to practice taquiyya when conversing with non-Muslims. Or had she, too, been deceived in the initial stages of her conversion? Wearing veils or "outer garments" in public is an integral part of the Koran/Qur'an, and is an invariable and enforced practice wherever the mosque holds sway. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE -- Koran/Qur'an: 33:59 (or 33:57):- Prophet, enjoin your wives, your daughters, and the wives of true believers to draw their veils close round them. … < www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/033. qmt.html #033.059 >
   64:14:- O ye who believe! Verily, in your wives and your children ye have an enemy: wherefore beware of them. … DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [2nd RECAP.: Commenting on Iran and Iraq (now an al-Qa'ida battleground), they said "we were forewarned that people would come into the world and perform atrocities in the name of Islam for the exact purpose of making people hate Islam". ENDS.]
   [2nd COMMENT: Pull the other leg! Westerners are decadent -- but they haven't all lost all their marbles yet, Robyn! Drugs and multiple marriages, plus changing over to extremely pious externals, aren't going to attract too many holy Westerners -- or are they?! ENDS.]
   [2nd DOCTRINE: 8:12:- … I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them. ENDS.] [Jul 21-22, 2007]
• Searching for the soul of Afghanistan. [Book review]

Searching for the soul of Afghanistan

   The West Australian, Weekend Extra liftout, www.thewest. com.au , by Anne Partion, Weekend Extra liftout page 7, Saturday, July 21, 2007
   Look at a map of Afghanistan and, some say, you'll see the outline of a clenched fist. It's an image which expresses the history and spirit of this Central Asian nation, for so long beset by foreign powers.
   Alexander the Great slept here. So did Genghis Khan, although sleep was probably the last thing on his mind. His Mongol hordes laid the countryside waste in 1219. In the 19th century, the expanding British and Russian empires almost came to blows in the land of the Pashtuns, and time has not lessened the country's travails.
   Since the 1979 Soviet invasion, it has been in a state of almost continuous warfare as, first the Russians, then the Pakistani-backed Taliban and, latterly, the United States and its allies battled for dominance. Hamida Ghafour was two years old when she and her family fled Kabul after the Soviet invasion.
   They settled in Canada and lost contact with their homeland. But in 2003, Ghafour, now a journalist with the Daily Telegraph, was sent to Afghanistan to report on its reconstruction.
   At first, she could see few signs of recovery. The most ambitious project was the new American Embassy, which local humorists called "the Bush House". Elsewhere, the landscape was littered with the detritus of war; broken buildings, roads and lives confronted her at every turn.
   Nearly two years after the American intervention, the influence of the Taliban could still be felt, particularly in the capital, Kabul. Women were harassed and threatened by radicals if they appeared without their burqas. The city was awash with "unchecked male aggression".
   Gradually, however, she found cause for optimism in an unlikely set of nation builders. They included Debbie, a "beautician without borders" who left an abusive husband in Michigan to open a non-sectarian hairdressing school in Kabul.
[Picture] One of the Buddhas of Bamiyan.
   Ironically, given their lowered status under the fundamentalists, women are among the country's newest entrepreneurs. One has reinvented the burqa as a hippy shirt. Another makes wrap skirts from the Taliban's trademark black turbans.
   Then there's Dr Tarzi, an archaeologist, who is busy preserving his country's cultural heritage. He is searching for the fabled Sleeping Buddha, a 300m monument which, if found, would dwarf the lost Buddhas of Bamiyan, the giant 1700-year-old statues blown up by-Islamic extremists.
   Ghafour's narrative charts an emotional journey of self-discovery as she explores her family's connection to the land. But like that of many exiles, her vision is coloured by a nostalgic longing for the past
   Her inspiration is drawn from her late grandmother, a poet who has been compared to Virginia Woolf. Born into a more liberal age, she extolled female emancipation and the need for Muslims to embrace modernity.
   Today, her granddaughter fears that the greatest challenge facing the Muslim world is not so much the East-West divide but an internal struggle between extremists and moderates for the soul of Islam.
The Sleeping Buddha, by Hamida Ghafour (Random House, $32.95) #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#searching_for [RECAPITULATION: … the influence of the Taliban could still be felt, particularly in the capital, Kabul. Women were harassed and threatened by radicals if they appeared without their burqas. The city was awash with "unchecked male aggression".
(And read the last two paragraphs.) ENDS.] [Jul 21, 07]
• Outrageous; Look how these Muslims repay our hospitality.

OUTRAGEOUS
Look how these Muslims repay our hospitality

   The International Express (Britain), West Australian edition, by John Twomey, pp 1 and 5, July 24-30, 2007
   THIS was the extraordinary scene on the streets of Britain as burka-clad protesters demanded the release of four extremists.
   Swarming outside the Old Bailey, the Muslim hate mob poured scorn on the nation that guarantees their freedoms.
   The women - mostly young and dressed from head to toe in black - held placards accusing the British Government of terrorism and telling our police to "go to hell".
   In their midst, a WPC ignored their insults while standing ready to protect them from any counter-demonstration.
   The scenes came as four men were jailed for offences including soliciting murder and stirring up racial hatred at a demo against a cartoon of Mohammed.
[Picture of black-masked and clad people holding placard "British police go to hell", with woman police constable standing in front of them.]

The Muslim cheerleaders of hate jailed for six years

By John Twomey
FOUR Muslim extremists were jailed on Wednesday for leading a demo in which a hate-filled mob called for more terrorist attacks against Britain and the West.
   Three of the men were accused of soliciting murder during the protest against an anti-Islamic cartoon.
   Mizanur Rahman, 24, Umran Javed, 27, and Abdul Muhid, 25, were convicted during separate Old Bailey trials.
   The court was told their words had been designed to encourage murder and terrorism.
   The three men were each jailed for six years for soliciting murder and three years concurrently for stirring up race hate.
   A fourth man, Abdul Saleem, 32, was cleared of soliciting murder but convicted of inciting race hate. He was jailed for four years.
   As they were jailed, a group of burka-clad demonstrators chanted outside the court. The 40-strong mob held placards with slogans like "British Police Go To Hell" and "British Government Terrorist Government".
   The four men were arrested after 300 protesters marched to the Danish embassy in central London in February last year.
‘Your words intended to foment hatred and encourage killing’
   The illegal demo was organised against a cartoon - first published in Denmark - which depicted the Prophet Mohammed as a terrorist, prompting outrage across the Islamic world. Muhid had led the crowd during the demo, chanting: "Bomb, Bomb the UK." He also had placards calling for the annihilation of the enemies of Islam.
   Javed was filmed by police officers as he yelled: "Bomb, bomb Denmark. Bomb, bomb the UK."
   He had extremist pamphlets at his home, one of which was entitled Kill Them By The Sword.
   It read: "My name is terrorist, my aim is terrorism."
   Rahman had stood among the crowd calling for soldiers to be brought back from Iraq in body bags. He said: "We want to see their blood running in the streets of Baghdad."
   Saleem was heard to call for a repeat of the July 7 bombings in London by chanting, "7/7 on its way" and "Europe you will pay with your blood".
   During the cartoon demo, the July 7 suicide bombers were described as the "Fantastic Four".
[Pictures] FILM: Umran Javed shouted 'Bomb the UK'; CHANT: Abdul Saleem stirred up race hate; PLACARDS: Abdul Muhid led the crowd; BODY BAG: Miza Rahman wanted 'blood'.
   [Placards read: BRITISH GOVERNMENT TERRORIST GOVERNMENT; BRITISH POLICE GO TO HELL; and another largely obscured] DEMOCRACY SCORNED: A WPC stands guard as women in burkas protest outside the Old Bailey]
   Muhid, of Whitechapel, east London, Javed, of Birmingham, Rahjman, of Palmers Green, north London, and Saleeem, of Poplar, east London, had insisted that they were not prime movers in the demo.
   The men, who are all British, even denied having extremist views, despite their chanting.
   But Adina Ezetoel, prosecuting, said they all had links to the banned Al Mujaharoun and Al Ghurabaa organisations. Sentencing the four men, Common Serjeant of London, Brian Barker, said they intended their words to encourage murder and terrorism.
   He said: "Freedoms of speech and assembly have long been jealously guarded by our laws.
   "With freedom comes respect and responsibility - none of which was demonstrated by you. What you were part of was the complete opposite of peaceful protest."
   He said the four men had subjected London's multi-national citizens to a "barrage of hatred and intolerance", only a few months after the July 7 outrage.
   The judge added: "Your words were meant to foment hatred and encourage killing.
   His comments were echoed by Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Ken Macdonald. He said: "Freedom of speech is the right of any individuals in our democracy.
   "The law says you can express your opinions robustly without being brought before a criminal court.
   "But if you march down the streets of London calling for people to be beheaded and for European cities to be bombed, you have crossed a line."
   After the case, the judge defended Scotland Yard's decision to film the cartoon protest and only to make arrests afterwards.
   He said it was "sensible" and avoided violence.
   The demonstrations had been staged without permission and organiser Anjem Choudary was later fined for staging it. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#outrageous_look [KORAN: 2:191 (or 2:192) kill them. 8:12 behead disbelievers. 9:29 make war. 22:19 (or 22:20) garments of fire. 33:48 disobey unbelievers. DOCTRINE ENDS.]
[HADITH: 2, 23:414 Allah cursed the Jews and the Christians. 4, 53:386 Fighters who die will go to Paradise, those who live will be your master. GUIDELINE ENDS.] [July 24, 07]
• The Controversy Over Terrorism Terminology.

THE CONTROVERSY OVER TERRORISM TERMINOLOGY

   Barnabas Fund (Britain), info§barnabas fund.org , July 27, 2007
   BRITAIN: A shift has been taking place in government ministries as to the terminology used to describe the terrorist threat faced by Britain. The Foreign Office has advised ministers to abandon the use of terms such as "War against terror", "Islamic terrorism" and "Islamist terrorism". The idea is that these terms antagonise the British Muslim community and increase tensions with the wider Muslim world. Using military terminology is seen as counter productive, contributing to the isolating of communities from each other. According to proponents of this shift, such terms imply a conflict of religions and link Islam, the religion of peace, with terrorism and radicalism. The widespread use of such terms serves only to alienate and radicalise more Muslims who would otherwise be happy to integrate into a cohesive British society. Terrorists use the sense of crisis engendered by the discourse on a clash of civilisation and a war against Islamic terrorism to recruit supporters who feel that Islam is being attacked and that Muslims must defend themselves. Abandoning such terms, according to the Foreign Office, will avoid empowering the terrorist's narrative and weaken the trend to radicalisation. [1]
   Another strand of thinking expressed by Sir Ken Macdonald, Director of Public Prosecutions, is that it is better to see acts of terrorism as being carried out by individual criminals. These can be efficiently dealt with by the police and courts and need no special terminology or methodology to deal with them. Macdonald sees a danger that contemporary terrorism might tempt Britain to abandon its values in a "fear-driven and inappropriate" response, leading to the abandonment of respect for fair trials and due process of law. According to Macdonald,
   London is not a battlefield. Those innocents who were murdered on July 7, 2005 were not victims of war. And the men who killed them were not, as in their vanity they claimed on their ludicrous videos, 'soldiers'. They were deluded, narcissistic inadequates. They were criminals. They were fantasists. We need to be very clear about this. On the streets of London, there is no such thing as a 'war on terror', just as there can be no such thing as a 'war on drugs' . . . The fight against terrorism on the streets of Britain is not a war. It is the prevention of crime, the enforcement of our laws and the winning of justice for those damaged by their infringement. [2]
   In a Radio 4 "Start the Week" programme on 2 July 2007, the philosopher John Gray and the historian Eric Hobsbawm agreed that it was wrong, dangerous and unfair to use the term "Islamist" because it implied a strong link to Islam. [3]
   Evidence of this new approach was present in the first Commons statement of the new Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith on 2 July 2007. While stating that Britain would not be intimidated by acts of terror she rarely mentioned Muslims, preferring to say 'community leaders' for leaders of the Muslim community and 'communities' for the Muslim community. This was interpreted as part of the deliberate change of language by ministers. [4]
   The new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, in an interview following the end of June attacks also avoided mentioning British Muslims, preferring to talk about al-Qaeda. His spokesman said the Prime Minister would avoid using the phrase "war on terror". [5] A European Commission guide for government spokesmen to avoid words such as "jihad", "Islamic" or "fundamentalists" in statements about terrorist attacks has recently been published. It is thought that as a result, Brown asked Cabinet members not to mention the words "Muslim" and "terrorism" in the same context. [6]
Ex-Islamist radicals call for the reformation of Islam
   Several Muslims who were involved in radical Islamist groups have recently rejected the radical ideologies. Ed Husain [7] came out of Hizb ut-Tahrir and Hassan Butt left al-Muhajiroun determined to warn the public of the dangers of Islamist groups and their ideology. Both see Islamism as an outgrowth of classical Islamic theology. They attack the position that Islam has nothing to do with terrorism, arguing that denial blocks the possibility of reform. Muslims must acknowledge that there is a violent streak in Islam and that classical Islamic theology is a main engine of violence.
   The unwillingness of mainstream Islam in Britain to discuss the issue of violence within Islam allowed radical preachers to seize the high ground and recruit many young Muslims to their cause. Mainstream Muslims repeated the mantra that Islam is peace, denied the violent aspects of Islamic theology, and hoped the problems would disappear, thus leaving the field open for radicals a nd their ideologies. [8] Muslims must cease ignoring the passages in Qur'an and HADITH which speak of killing unbelievers and challenge the centuries-old theology of Jihad. Muslim scholars must refashion Islamic theology creating a reformed Islam for Muslims living in what he calls the land of co-existence. They must fashion a new set of rules of rights and responsibilities which will enable Muslims to liberate themselves from ancient theological models that legitimised killing in the name of Islam. [9]
Muslim journalist links Islamism with terror
   The well known Muslim journalist Adel Darwish, editor of The Middle East magazine, has come out strongly against Muslims who object to the use of the term 'Islamists' to refer to terrorists and their atrocities. Darwish claims that it is right to call them Islamists because they justify their atrocities by referring to Islam and the Qur'an. There is no term more appropriate for referring to them. [10]
Analysis
   While it makes sense to be sensitive to the Muslim community and its worries, the new terminology will not achieve its aim of reducing radicalisation. The reason is that it fails to see the connection between aspects of classical and traditional Islamic theology, Islamist ideology and the radicalisation that leads to terrorism. Of course it is possible that the government is practicing its own version of dissimulation (taqiyya), recognising the reality of violence in Islam but suppressing its public discussion in order to assuage the Muslim public in its efforts to win hearts and minds.
   This new strategy could prove counter-productive. Whilst it may carry the support of the wider community of Muslims who don't want to see their religion demonized, or of the wider British community which is sick of apocalyptic terrorism, it may end up empowering the Islamists and conservatives because it allows them to continue unchallenged and furthermore to have their position strengthened by the rejection of the link between violence and their religion.
   The new policy will also further marginalize the growing numbers of Muslim reformers and liberals who are just beginning to articulate their critique of the links between classical Islamic theology and violence. It could end up by alienating this important group who are rejecting the conservative and Islamist position and are calling for a reformation of Islam. Increasingly they are going to be distrustful of a government that now plays to the Islamists and Conservatives and does not support them in their endeavour.
   The likely consequence of this policy will be an entrenched conservative Islamist position issuing in much greater violence. The government's strategy is a high risk one. Only time will tell whether it succeeds or whether it fails dramatically. The real test of its success will be if THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY AND ITS LEADERSHIP the vast majority of Muslims in Britain will publicly reject all forms of violence attached to their religion and embrace modernity, Western values and a loyalty to Britain and her values and way of life.
   Finally, Muslims in Britain must face up to the strands of violence and intolerance in Islam if they are to isolate and suppress the continual emergence of radicals in their midst. While a number of Muslims have recently acknowledged these roots, government politically correct talk and spin will only encourage the Muslim community to ignore and deny the problem and continue to marginalise those within who can most help to find a solution. The real solution to the problem of radicalisation and violence among Muslims is a reformation of Islam that embraces the separation of religion from state and politics and that accepts a core of basic Islamic values, distilled from the Islamic source texts, as spiritual and moral norms that override coercive political and social interpretations. Such a reformation must reject traditional Islamic concepts on non-Muslims, violence and jihad.
[1] Jason Burke, "Britain stops talk of 'war on terror', The Observer, 10 December 2006.
[2] Clare Dyer, "There is no war on terror", The Guardian, 24 January 2007.
[3] Andrew Marr, "If 'Islamist' Is Out, What Do We Call Them?", The Daily Telegraph, 4 July 2007; STW. Art, Politics And Terror. 2 Jul 07, accessed 6 July 2007.
[4] Patrick Wintour, "Ministers step up Muslim hearts and mind campaign", The Guardian, 3 July 2007.
[5] Patrick Wintour, "Ministers step up Muslim hearts and mind campaign", The Guardian, 3 July 2007.
[6] "Terror-spooked EU: 'Don't say Muslims' ", Daily Mail, 4 July 2007.
[7] Ed Husain, The Islamist, London: Penguin Books, 2007.
[8] Hassan Butt, "My plea to fellow Muslims: you must renounce terror", The Observer, 1 July 2007.
[9] Hassan Butt, "My plea to fellow Muslims: you must renounce terror", The Observer, 1 July 2007.
[10] Adel Darwish, "Where is the Muslim March against Terrorism?", Asaharq Alawsat, 11 July 2007. #
   Barnabas Fund works to support Christian communities around the world where they are facing poverty and persecution. Visit website to donate or receive more newsitems.

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#the_controversy [KORAN: 3:83 (or 77) Accept Allah willingly or by compulsion. 8:12 Terror, strike off heads, fingertips. 48:16 Battle, or profess Islam. DOCTRINE ENDS.]
[HADITH: 2, 23:414 The Prophet cursed the Jews and the Christians. Vol. 9, Bk. 84, No. 58 Not sit down until he has been killed. GUIDELINE ENDS.] [Jul 27, 07]
• Giving Arabs nuclear power 'reckless'.

Giving Arabs nuclear power ‘reckless’

   The West Australian, www.thewest. com.au , p 27, Saturday, July 28, 2007
   TRIPOLI -- The West had to learn to trust Arab nations with nuclear technology if it wanted to eliminate the threat of terrorism, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said as he signed a deal that could lead to France supplying Libya with a new reactor.
   But the German Greens party immediately accused him of behaving recklessly.
   Mr Sarkozy's deal with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi came in response to Libya's release of six Bulgarian medics it had jailed for life for allegedly infecting children with HIV. It would give Libya a nuclear power plant to desalinate seawater even though Libya, with some of the world's biggest reserves of oil, would appear to have no shortage of energy.
   Col Gaddafi was running a covert nuclear weapons program until he was persuaded to give it up and invite international inspectors to Libya in 2003.
   Mr Sarkozy denied that the deal was risky.
   "Nuclear power is the energy of the future," he said. "If we don't give the energy of the future to the countries of the southern Mediterranean, how will they develop themselves? And if they don't develop, how will we fight terrorism and fanaticism?"
[Picture] Unrepentant: Mr Sarkozy
   He said there was a risk of "a war of civilisations" if the West considered Arab countries were not sensible enough to use civilian nuclear power.
   France has Europe's biggest civil nuclear power industry and a vital commercial interest in exporting reactors and technology, and might wish also to benefit from any oil deal Libya might be persuaded to sign.
   For decades, Libya was a pariah nation until it accepted responsibility in 2003 for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people, and agreed to pay restitution to the victims.
   Col Gaddafi's announcement that he was dismantling his nuclear weapons program brought a lifting of US and European sanctions on Libya.
   Since then, international investment has increased in Libya's oil sector, its only big industry, which provides most of its gross domestic product of nearly $US75 billion ($87 billion).
   The French anti-nuclear group Sortir du Nucleaire, said yesterday that civilian and military uses of nuclear technology were "indistinguishable" and added: "Delivering civilian nuclear energy to Libya would amount to helping the country, sooner or later, to acquire nuclear weapons".
   German Greens party co-president Richard Buetikofer said France was making it easier for Libya to "reach for nuclear arms".
   "This is reckless nationalistic activism on the part of President Sarkozy," he said.
   "Gaddafi may have vowed to give up the quest for nuclear firepower but can one really believe a dictator?"
   Similar criticism was widespread in Germany which has a strong anti-nuclear lobby and official plans to phase out nuclear power by around 2020.
   German Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Gernot Erler said: "Politically, this is a problematic affair. Above all the risk of proliferation increases with every country using nuclear energy."
   Gert Weisskirchen, a spokesman for Germany's Social Democrats, who are part of the ruling coalition, said it was wise to treat Libya with pragmatism, but asked: "Does one have to start with a nuclear plant?"
   Social Democrat MP Ulrich Kelber accused Mr Sarkozy of a cynical deal in freeing the Bulgarian medics.
   "It is all about show and the primitive pursuit of his own interests," he said. "This is something one sees with despots--it makes even US President George Bush look like an altar boy."

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#giving_arabs    [RECAPITULATION: Mr Sarkozy's deal with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi came in response to Libya's release of six Bulgarian medics it had jailed for life for allegedly infecting children with HIV. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Wouldn't it be better to have left Libya's HIV (theoretically impossible if they obeyed Allah's laws about sex relations) to be solved by Libya? Didn't the Bulgarians and other such health workers have Bulgarians at home to treat? Unfortunately,the French elites have often played a troublesome part in world politics. ENDS.]
   [ATOM BOMB SECRET: Extract from Pears Cyclopaedia, 61st edition (? 1950s), p 26, regarding the year 1945: October 9 U.S.A. to keep secret of manufacture of atomic bomb.
  In 1949: September … 23 Evidence announced of atomic explosion in U.S.S.R. ENDS.]
   [HOW DID SECRET GET OUT? Books like Major Jordan's Diaries, and one about how huge global corporations sold the secrets bit by bit, would enlighten truth-seekers. Did you note that the USA has recently signed agreements with India, which has defied the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Pact ever since it was formed, to help them with nuclear energy? So now Pakistan, an unstable Muslim-threatened dictatorship, which tricked the world while making a nuclear bomb, wants the USA to give them the same privileges as India! ENDS.]
   [ALSO displayed at http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/cont19.htm#giving_arabs ] [Jul 28, 07]
• The Crusades in Context: Editorial.
   Annals Australasia, annals australasia §nareg. com.au , by Paul Stenhouse, MSC, pp 3-8, July 2007

ANNALS AUSTRALASIA PO Box 13, Kensington, NSW, 2033, Australia. Tel 02 9662 7894
EDITORIAL

THE CRUSADES IN CONTEXT

Annals Australasia, annalsaustralasia§nareg.com.au , by Paul Stenhouse, MSC, pp 3-8, July 2007
CURRENT wisdom would have it that 'five centuries of peaceful co-existence' between Muslims and Christians were brought to an end by 'political events and an imperial-papal power play,' that was to lead to a 'centuries-long series of so-called "holy-wars" that pitted Christendom against Islam, and left an enduring legacy of misunderstanding and mistrust'. [1]
A school textbook, Humanities Alive 2, for Year 8 students in the Australian State of Victoria, carries the anti-Christian/anti Western argument further:

'Those who destroyed the World Trade Centre are regarded as terrorists. … Might it be fair to say that the Crusaders who attacked the Muslim inhabitants of Jerusalem were also terrorists?' [2]

   Muhammad died in Medina on June 8, 632 AD.
   The first of the eight Crusades to free the Holy Places in Palestine from Muslim control, and offer safe passage to the Holy Land for Christian pilgrims, was called only in 1095. At the risk of sounding pedantic, the period in question is not 'five centuries,' but four-hundred and sixty-three years; and those years, we contend, were not characterized by 'peaceful co-existence'. [3] Islam's attack on Christianity    For the Christian states bordering the Mediterranean, it was a four-hundred and sixty-three year period of regular, disorganized {and occasionally organized} bloody incursions by Muslim - mainly Arab and Berber -land and sea forces. These came intent on booty - gold, silver, precious stones and slaves - on destroying churches, convents and shrines of the 'infidels,' and on the spread of politico-religious Islam throughout Europe from their bases in the Mediterranean and the Adriatic.
   At the time of Muhammad's death there were flourishing Christian and Jewish communities in Arabia, and throughout the major centres of the Persian Empire. The whole of the Mediterranean world on its European, Asian and African sides, was predominantly Christian.
   It had taken only a few years for Muslim tribesmen from Arabia, inspired by Muhammad's revelations and example, to invade the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire whose emperors devoted more time to religious disputation than to defending their empire. In 633 Mesopotamia fell. After a few years the entire Persian Empire fell to the marauding Arab tribesmen who drove the young Persian emperor Yazdagird into the farthest reaches of his empire, to Sogdiana {Uzbekistan}, where he was eventually murdered by his Tartar bodyguard in a miller's hut.
   Damascus fell in 635, and Jerusalem capitulated five years after Muhammad died, in February 638.
   The fall of Alexandria in 643 sounded the death knell of more than thousand years of Hellenic civilization that once enriched the whole of the Near East with its scholarship and culture. Henri Daniel-Rops claims that from the point of view of the history of civilization, Alexandria's fall was as significant as the fall of Constantinople to the Turks eight-hundred years later. [4] Cyprus fell in 648-9 and Rhodes in 653. By 698 the whole of North Africa was lost. Spain invaded    Less than eighty years after Muhammad's death, in 711, Muslims from Tangiers poured across the 13 km-wide strait of Gibraltar into Spain. By 721 this Arab-Berber horde had overthrown the ruling Catholic Visigoths and, with the fall of Saragossa, set their sights on southern France.
   By 720 Narbonne had fallen. Bordeaux was stormed and its churches burnt down by 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Abdullah al-Ghafiqi in early spring 732. A basilica outside the walls of Poitiers was razed, and 'Abd al-Rahman headed for Tours which held the body of St Martin {who died in 397} apostle and patron saint of the Franks.
   He was to be defeated and killed by Charles Martel and his Frankish army on a Saturday in October, 732, one hundred years after Muhammad's death, on the road from Poitiers to Tours - a defeat that was hailed by Gibbon and others as decisive in turning back the Muslim tide from Europe.
   Attacks on France, however, continued, and in 734 Avignon was captured by an Arab force. Lyons was sacked in 743. It wasn't until 759 that the Arabs were driven out of Narbonne. Marseilles was plundered by them in 838.
   Muslim incursions into Italy had been a feature of life from the early 800s. The islands of Ponza {off Gaeta} and Ischia {off Naples} had been plundered, and then, in 813 Civitavecchia, the port of Rome, whose harbour had been constructed by Trajan, was sacked by the Arabs.
   In 826 the island of Crete fell to Muslim forces which retained it as their base until 961. From around 827 they then began nibbling at Sicily. They captured Messina and controlled the Strait of Messina by 842, and finally took the whole island in 859, after Enna fell to them.
   In 836 the Neapolitans self-interestedly invited the Muslim forces to help them against the Lombards and set the stage for more than a century of Muslims raids along the Adriatic, involving the destruction of Ancona, and Muslim progress as far as the mouth of the Po. 'Saracen Towers' [5] south of Naples, built in the ninth century to warn locals of the approach of Arab fleets from Sicily and Africa still charm visitors to the Neapolitan coast.
   Bari, now home to the relics of St Nicholas of Myra, the original 'Father Christmas,' fell to Khalfun, a Berber chieftan, by another act of treachery in 840. From 853-871 the notorious Muslim brigand al-Mufarraj bin Sallam, and his successor, another Berber named Sawdan, controlled all the coast from Bari down to Reggio Calabria, and terrorized Southern Italy. They even plundered the Abbey of St Michael on Mt Gargano. They claimed the title of Emir, and independence of the Emir in Palermo. Sacking of St Peter's    Naples herself had to beat off a Muslim attack in 837. But in 846 Rome was not to be so fortunate. On August 23rd 846, Arab squadrons from Africa arrived at Ostia, at the Tiber's mouth. There were 73 ships. The Saracen force numbered 11,000 warriors, with 500 horses. [6]
   The most revered Christian shrines outside the Holy Land, the tombs of Sts Peter and Paul, were desecrated and their respective Basilicas were sacked, as was the Lateran Basilica along with numerous other churches and public buildings.
   The very altar over the body of St Peter was smashed to pieces, and the great door of St Peter's Basilica was stripped of its silver plates. Romans were desolated and Christendom was shocked at the barbarism of the Muslim forces.
   Three years later Pope Leo IV {847-855} formed an alliance with Naples, Amalfi and Gaeta, and when a Saracen fleet again appeared at the mouth of the Tiber in 849, the Papal fleet joined forces with its allies and they repelled the Muslim fleet which turned, and ran into a violent wind-storm that destroyed it, like Pharaoh's army long before.
   Survivors were brought to Rome and put to work helping to build the Leonine Wall around the Vatican. Twelve feet thick, nearly forty feet in height and defended by forty-four towers, most of this wall, and two of the round towers, can be seen still by visitors to the Vatican. These defensive walls were finished and blessed by Pope Leo IV in 852.
   Taranto in Apulia was conquered by Arab forces in 846. They held it until 880.
   In 870 Malta was captured by the Muslims. In 871 Bari, the Saracens' capital on mainland Italy, was recaptured from the Muslims by Emperor Louis II, who in 872 was to defeat a Saracen fleet off Capua. 223 years from the First Crusade    At this point in our examination of the 'peaceful coexistence,' which is made much of by Muslim apologists, we are still two-hundred and twenty-three years away from the calling of the first Crusade. Perhaps readers may better understand, now, why Emperor Louis II, grandson of Charlemagne was absolutely convinced, in the ninth century, of the need for a Crusade. 'He was quite sure that Islam must be driven right out of Europe.' [7] But still there was no call for a Crusade.
   I haven't spoken of Muslim attacks against the Byzantine Empire even though these, too, played a part in setting the stage for the Crusades. The much vaunted military might and political power of the Eastern Roman Empire carried with it responsibility for protecting the West from Muslim invaders. This it generally failed to do.
   Constantinople had been attacked in 673, and then for the next five years Arab armies and fleets attempted unsuccessfully to break through the Byzantine defences. 'Greek Fire,' that mysterious substance that burned on water, destroyed the Muslim fleets and won the day for the defenders.
   Then, in 717, the Muslims returned to the attack, emboldened by their successes in Spain.
   Fate intervened, and like Charles Martel and his Franks at Poitiers in 732, emperor Leo the Isaurian {717-740} turned back the Muslim tide. Constantinople was saved - for a time. Leo, for all his military skills, was a usurper, and an iconoclast. Despite defeating the Muslims, his policies ultimately further weakened both the Western and Eastern Roman Empires.
   In 870, when Bernard the Wise from Brittany wanted to visit Palestine he had to obtain a laissez-passer from Muslim authorities in Bari, on the Adriatic Coast. [8]
   In 873 the Muslim forces devastated Calabria in southern Italy to the point that it was reduced to the state 'in which it had been left by the Great Flood' and the Saracens expressed their intention of destroying Rome, the city of the 'Petrulus senex,' 'the ineffective old man, Peter'. [9]
   In 874 Pope John VIII did all he could to dissuade Amalfi, Naples, Benevento, Capua, Salerno, and Spoleto from forming a pragmatic alliance with the Saracens. Amalfi, Capua and Salerno alone heeded his pleas for Christian solidarity.
   From the close of 876 Pope John VIII had been sending letters in all directions to obtain help against the Arab forces which were devastating southern Italy and even threatening Rome itself. He sought the aid of Duke Bosone of Milan whom Emperor Charles the Bald had appointed his legate in Northern Italy - to no avail. He wrote for cavalry horses to Alfonso III, king of Galicia in Spain; and for warships to the Byzantines, and from 876 until May 877 he sent numerous letters to the Prankish Emperor begging him to aid the Catholics in Italy.

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   The Emperor proved to be a frail reed, and in 879, upon his death, the Duke of Spoleto turned on the Pope. John VIII, unable to cope with both Saracens and Spoleto, at once, had to pay tribute of 25,000 mancuses annually to the Arabs. A silver mancus was worth roughly AUD$25. This situation lasted for two years.
   In 881 the Muslim allies of the Neapolitans captured the fortress on the Garigliano {the ancient Liris} 14 km east of Gaeta close to Anzio, just north of Naples, and plundered the surrounding countryside with impunity for forty years.
   Returning from a synod at Ravenna {February 882} Pope John VIII found, as he put it, that 'the Saracens are as much at home in Fundi {close to Rome, in Latium} and Terracina' {80 km SE of Rome} as in Africa. 'Though we were seriously unwell,' wrote the Pope, 'we went forth to battle with our forces, captured eighteen of the enemy's ships, and slew a great many of their men'. [10] Six hundred captives of the Saracens were liberated.
   Syracuse fell to the Muslims in 878 after a nine-month siege from which few escaped alive. The Byzantine city was pillaged and destroyed. Its collapse freed-up more numerous bands of marauding Muslims to harry the Italian towns and cities.
   880 saw victory over Saracen forces at Naples by Byzantine Commanders and also the arrival in waters off Rome of warships sent by the emperor Basil to give the Pope the means of defending 'the territory of St Peter'. [11]
   Meanwhile, the Saracens had turned their attention again to southern France and northern Italy. They had taken Avignon in 734 and Marseilles in 838 and they were ravaging Provence and North Italy from their bases in the Alps. The most important of these bases was Fraxineto or Fréjus, not far from Toulon, which they captured in 889.
   They were displaced temporarily from their base in 942 by Hugh of Aries who had a Byzantine fleet harry them from the sea, while he attacked from land. Horace Mann comments [12] that it is symptomatic of the kind of pragmatic leaders who controlled the destiny of Europe at that time, that instead of wiping out this bloodthirsty band of Muslim invaders, Hugh allowed them to stay where they were on condition that they did all they could to prevent his rival as 'king of Italy,' Berengerius Marquis of Ivrea, from returning to Italy.
   The latter managed to return from Germany to Italy in 945, and the Muslims were not to be expelled completely from their lair until 972 - almost one-hundred years after capturing Fraxineto - by a league of Italian and Provencal princes.
   In the meantime they infested the passes of the Alps, robbing and murdering pilgrims on their way to Rome. In 921 a large band of Englishmen, on pilgrimage to the tombs of the Apostles in Rome, were crushed to death under rocks rolled down on them by Saracens in the passes of the Alps. [13] 174 years from the First Crusade    At this point in the alleged peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians, we are still one-hundred and seventy-four years away from the calling of the first Crusade to free the Holy Places.
   Meanwhile, Muslim fleets sacked and destroyed Demetrias in Thessaly, Central Greece, in 902, and Thessalonica the second city of the Byzantine Empire fell to them in 904. Muslim armies took Hysela in Carsiana in 887, and Amasia, the metropolitan city of Pontus in Asia Minor.
   The bishop of Amasia named Malecenus wanted to ransom those of his people who had been captured but knew that the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI would not help; so he appealed to Pope Benedict IV in Rome.
   The Pope received him kindly, and gave him an encyclical letter addressed to all bishops, abbots, counts and judges and to all orthodox professors of the Christian faith asking them to show Malacenus every consideration, and to see him safely from one city to the next.
   In 905 Pope Sergius III helped Bishop Hildebrand of Silva Candida restore some of the damage done to his See by the ravaging Saracens who had devastated the Church of Silva Candida in the neighbourhood of Rome.
   In 915 Pope John X successfully created a Christian League with the help of Byzantine Admiral Picingli and his fleet. Even the bickering princes of southern Italy joined forces against the Saracens, along with King Berengarius and his armies from North Italy. The enemy were holed-up in their fortresses on the Garigliano near Gaeta, north of Naples. After three months of blockade, they tried to fight their way out only to be repelled by a victorious Christian force.
   In 934 the Fatimid imam al-Ka'im planned an audacious invasion of Liguria led by Ya‘kub bin Ishaq. The latter attacked Genoa that year, and took it in 935.
   It wasn't until 972 that Duke William of Provence succeeded in driving the Saracens finally from the fastnesses of Faxineto. In 976 the Fatimid Caliphs of Egypt had sent fresh Muslim expeditions into southern Italy. Initially the German emperor Otho II, who had set up his headquarters in Rome, successfully defeated these Saracen forces, but in July 982 he was ambushed and his army was almost cut to pieces.
   In 977 Sergius, Archbishop of Damascus, was expelled from his See by the Muslims. Pope Benedict VII gave him the ancient church of St Alexius on Rome's Aventine hill, and he founded a monastery there and placed it under Benedictine rule, with himself its first abbot.
   The pontificate of Pope John XVIII {1003-1009} was marred by famine and plague and by marauding bands of Saracens who plundered the Italian coast from Pisa to Rome from bases on Sardinia.
   By 1010 they had seized Cosenza in southern Italy. Then Sardinia fell to the Arabs in 1015, led by a certain Abu Hosein Mogehid {thus the Latin Chronicles}. I take this person to be Mujahid bin ‘Abd Allah whom Arab sources credit with the invasion. The Saracen force based on Sardinia, over the next few years, torched Pisa, seized Luna in northern Tuscany, and ravaged the land. Pope Benedict VIII managed to assemble a fleet and challenged the Saracen chief who turned tail and fled to Sardinia, leaving his fleet at the mercy of the papal force which was victorious.
   Mujahid bin ‘Abd Allah then sent the Pope a bag of chestnuts and a message that he would arrive in the following summer with as many soldiers as there were nuts in the bag. Benedict accepted the chestnuts and sent back a bag of rice: 'If your master,' he said to the astonished messenger, 'isn't satisfied with the damage he has done to the dowry of the Apostle, let him come again and he will find an armed warrior for every grain of rice'.
   The Pope did not wait for an answer but carried the war into the enemy's territory. He co-opted the combined fleets of Pisa and Genoa and they sailed for Sardinia in 1017 only to find Mujahid in the act of crucifying Christians on Sardinia. The Muslim leader fled to Africa, and Sardinia was occupied by the Pisans. Mujahid kept trying to re-take Sardinia until 1050 when he was captured by the Pisans and the island was made over to them by the Pope.
   Muslims from Spain sacked Antibes in 1003. They sacked Pisa in 1005 and 1016, and Narbonne in 1020.
   Sometime around 1025 Pope John XIX granted the pallium {sign of Ecclesiastical jurisdiction} to Archbishop Peter of Gerona in northeast Spain, on condition that he redeemed Christian captives of the Saracens as he had promised the Pope when he had come on his 'ad limina' visit. The First Crusade: what made it a reality    The four-hundred and sixty-three years that elapsed between Muhammad's death in 632 and the calling of a Crusade to free the Holy Places in 1095 was not a time of 'peaceful co-existence' between Muslims and European or Byzantine Christians. Nor was it, for Christians living in Muslim-occupied territories. They enjoyed 'peace' only by keeping the lowest possible profile, paying the jizya, or head-tax, and accepting non-person status in lands that had been Christian before the Muslim invaders arrived.
   The new millennium saw the situation go from bad to worse. In 1009 the Fatimid Caliph of Egypt, abu-‘Ali Mansur al-Hakim, ordered the destruction of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The edict of destruction was signed by his Christian secretary ibn-‘Abdun. The Muslims destroyed the Tomb of Jesus, the Dome and the upper parts of the Church until their demolition was halted by the great mound of debris at their feet. For eleven years Christians were forbidden even to visit the rubble or to pray in the ruins.
   Shocked by the destruction of Christendom's holiest Shrine, Pope Sergius IV appealed for help to go to Palestine to rebuild it. His appeal fell on deaf ears.
   At the beginning of the fifth century, two hundred years before Muhammad appeared, there were seven-hundred Catholic bishops in Africa. [14] Two-hundred of them attended the Council of Carthage in 535 AD. By the middle of the 900s there were forty left. By 1050, as a result of 'peaceful coexistence,' there were only five left.
   In 1076 there were two. We learn this from a letter that Pope Gregory VII, 'Hildebrand,' wrote to Cyriacus, Archbishop of Carthage in June 1076. As three bishops are needed for the valid consecration of another bishop, Pope Gregory asked him to send a suitable priest to Rome who could be consecrated assistant bishop, so that he {Cyriacus} and Servandus, bishop of Buzea in Mauritania, and the new bishop could consecrate other bishops for the African Catholics. [15]

Italy and Muslim Invaders

WE NEED not… suspect Gregory of Catino (who towards the close of the eleventh century drew up the Chronicle of his monastery of Farfa in Sabina, not far from Rome) of much exaggeration when he says of this period :

'When at length, in punishment of the sins of Christians, the power of that dynasty (the Carolingian) began to decline, and became altogether impotent, a multitude of pagans of that wicked race called Agareni, or Saracens, invaded Italy, and few were the cities from Trasbido to the Po, with the exception of Rome and Ravenna, which escaped destruction at their hands, or which were not at least brought under the scourge of their tyranny. As for the cities and provinces which they conquered, it was their practice to plunder them of everything, and either to drive away the inhabitants into captivity, or to slay them with the edge of the sword.'

   The ports of south Italy were crowded with Christian captives waiting to be shipped as slaves to Africa. Saracen buildings all along the coast about Amalfi, Naples, and Vietri attest to this day the baleful presence of the Moors in those districts' place-names, and Moorish towers on the ruins of Roman amphitheatres, enable their hold on the Rhone valley to be traced with ease.
   But of all the parts of Italy, it was particularly the Duchy of Rome which experienced the greatest hardships at the hands of the Saracens. They began to threaten it about 725. Rome itself was partially sacked by them in 846, and {Giovanni} Liverani points out that their actual ravages in the Roman Duchy lasted for a hundred years; that the whole of it was ravaged at one time or another ; and that not far short of four hundred towns were destroyed by them.
   They burnt such famous monasteries as Monte Cassino, St. Elia at Nepi, Farfa, St. Sylvester on Monte Soracte, and Subiaco; and established centres of aggression at suitable places both in and near the Duchy. But for such Popes as John VIII, John X, and Benedict VIII, they would have become masters of Italy.'
   - See Horace Mann, The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, vol iv, 891-999 AD, Introduction pp. 10, 11.

   Gregory VII, on his deathbed in 1085, dreamt of forming a Christian League against Islam and said, 'I would rather risk my life to deliver the Holy Places, than govern the Universe'. [16]
   It seems to have been the Seljuk Turkish capture of Jerusalem in 1076 that finally swung the balance, exhausted the patience of the European Christians, and fulfilled Gregory's wish. Pilgrimage to the Holy Places had become more difficult; a poll-tax was imposed on visitors. Those who dared journey there were harassed, robbed and some even enslaved.
   At the Council of Piacenza summoned by Pope Urban II and held in March 1095, Byzantine delegates emphasized the danger facing Christendom from Muslim expansion, and the hardship facing Eastern Christians until the infidel be driven back. [17] They repeated an appeal made by Emperor Alexius to Robert of Flanders asking him to return to the East with some knights to assist the Byzantines in their struggle with the Muslims.
   Towards the end of that same year, Urban II, at another Council held at Claremont in France, took up the suggestion, and urged Europe's Christians to 'Take the road to the Holy Sepulchre … let each one deny himself and take up the Cross'. The Assembly rose to its feet and shouted 'God wills it'.
   Muhammad died on June 8, 632 AD. It had taken four hundred and sixty-three years for Europe's Christians to combine their forces and rise up in defence of themselves and of their Faith.
___________________
   1. John Esposito, Islam: the Straight Path, 3rd ed. OUP, 1998, p.58.
   2. See 'Civilizing influence of previous wars fought between East and West,' The Weekend Australian, March 18-19, 2006.
   3. This article restricts itself to a brief discussion of these claims and counter claims. We plan future articles that will discuss other controverted issues like the collaboration, in the initial phase of Islamic expansionism after the death of Muhammad, with Muslim military forces, by Christians and others, for political and sometimes religious reasons. We will also look at the claim that the Crusades were anti-Islamic, put relations between the Crusaders and the Byzantines, and the sacking of Jerusalem and Constantinople in context. We will consider the degree to which ongoing anti-Catholic polemic since the 16th century has now become a weapon in the hands of radical Islamists.
   4. The Church in the Dark Ages, J.M.Dent and Sons, London, 1959, p.336.
   5. The term 'Saracen' is sometimes mistakenly derived from the Arabic Sharqi or 'Easterner'. St Jerome considered it to be the name the Arabs gave themselves, deriving their origins from Sarah, Abraham's free wife, rather than from Hagar, his slave. In many of the sources we have used, the term 'Agareni', or 'Hagarines,' is found.
   6. Letter from Adelbert, Marquis of Tuscany and protector of the Papal territory of Corsica, to Pope Sergius II in Liber Pontificalis, n.xliv, ed. Farnesiana.
   7. Henri Daniel-Rops, The Church in the Dark Ages, ed. cit, p.472.
   8. Quoted Runciman, A History of the Crusades, Cambridge University Press, 1951, vol. i, p.43.
   9. See Horace Mann, The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, 12 vols Kegan Paul, London, 1906, vol. iii, p 321.
   10. Epistle 334 - fragment of a letter to the Emperor.
   11. Epistle 296 to the Byzantine Emperor Basil, August 12, 880 AD.
   12. Op. cit. vol. 4, p. 10
   13. Flodoard {894-966} Chronique de France 919-966, entry for 921.
   14. H. Daniel-Rops, The Church in the Dark Ages, ed. cit, pp. 340, 344.
   15. Register of Gregory VII, III, 19.
   16. H. Daniel-Rops, Cathedral and Crusade, J.M-Bent and Sons, London, 1957, p.434.
   17. Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, ed. cit, vol. i, p. 105.
____________________
   PAUL STENHOUSE, MSC, PhD, has recently completed, for the first time, a translation from Arabic into English of the 16th century Futuh al-Habasha, 'The Conquest of Abyssinia,' by Shihab al-Din Ahmad bin 'Abdu 'l Qader bin Salem bin 'Uthman. Notes to the translation have been provided by Professor Richard Pankhurst in Addis Ababa. This text is a key to understanding current events in the Horn of Africa. It gives an eye-witness account of jihads waged by Muslims against Ethiopian Christians in the early part of the sixteenth century. It is available through Amazon.
____________________
   Illustrations from Ancient Spanish Ballads, by J. G. Lockhart, London, 1859. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#the_crusades_in
http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#jewess_mary
http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#italy_and [July 2007]
• [Be More Positive; but which is the true Islam?]

[Be More Positive; but which is the true Islam?]

   Annals Australasia, annals australasia §nareg. com.au , Various Letters to the Editor, p 11, July 2007 Be More Positive about Islam    I … was flipping through the June edition of Annals. I used to subscribe to your magazine but ceased quite some time ago due to the negatively polemic nature of so much of the content. What particularly caught my eye was the article 'Jihad in small town America'. I suppose one has to take this at face value.
   I have just spent 2 weeks … in Indonesia, where I have good friends … in Jogjakarta and Bandung. I have been privileged to be part of their family life on several occasions, to be present at Friday prayers where nobody batted an eyelid at my presence, and at the the faithfully observed 5-times a day prayers, in homes, quietly said in public transport and wherever…
   I have experienced nothing but friendship and respect for myself as a practising Catholic from these Muslims. Clearly as educated people they are a cut above those more easily influenced by radical theology.
   Nevertheless, I challenge Annals to publish something more positive about Islam, after all, are we not, with the Jews … all 'people of the Book'? NAME SUPPLIED
   {As the issues raised are topical, a brief response may be helpful to Annals readers. Our correspondent, who no longer subscribes to Annals because of the alleged 'negatively polemical nature of so much of the content' mentions an article which prompted his letter - Jihad in small-town America [Annals June/2007].
   This article is neither negative nor polemical - simply a cautionary tale written by a person who was disappointed by the anti-American attitude demonstrated by those organizing the meetings she attended, who assumed wrongly that she didn't understand what they were saying amongst themselves in Arabic.
   The friendship and respect our correspondent says he met with from the educated Muslim friends he spent time with in Indonesia, is admirable. On the strength of it he challenges us to publish 'something more positive about Islam'. It is a pity that he no longer subscribes.
   It is, however, fallacious to argue from the existence of tolerant Muslims, to the fact that Islam is tolerant As it is fallacious to argue from the existence of good Communists, Catholics or Atheists to the truth or 'goodness' of Communism, Catholicism or Atheism. Islam - like Christianity, Communism or any other system of thought or belief [or disbelief] must be viewed in itself, and stand or fall on its teachings, not on some public - especially TV - image which may or may not be real.
   Islam, however, refuses to be judged in itself. Its protagonists wants us to judge it according to a merciful and peace-loving image [much promoted in the Western media] and not according to the fanatical, intolerant murderous and cruel image that haunts the worlds media.
   This begs the question: 'which is the true Islam1? The answer to that question can be arrived at only by examining Islam in its teachings and practice; and in its history, to see how these teaching and practices have been interpreted. The author of Jihad in small-town America wanted to find some answer by attending the lectures to which she refers. Unfortunately she found that what one heard depended on whether one were Muslim, and understood Arabic [or Turkish, Urdu, Persian or … ] or non-Muslim and didn't.
   Our correspondent refers to Christians and Jews having special rights as 'People of the Book'. These suras from the early Meccan period that refer to 'the people of the book,' have regrettably and demonstrably been abrogated by the later Medinan suras. They feature regularly in uncritical pro-Islamic propaganda strictly for "Western consumption.
   Annals is interested only in the truth of the matter. We are searching for the positive in Islam. When we have something positive to say, we say it. Ed. Annals}

Not to be Missed Not a journal that I would want to miss out on. Ballarat Vic 3350 [Dr] PETER DENTON

Doctors who kill Following the arrest of a number of doctors, charged with allegations of terrorism, there has been surprise expressed that those who have signed the Hippocratic oath, would be prepared to kill. Why the surprise? For years, doctors have been killing on a daily basis in abortion clinics, throughout the world, even with babies up to 9 months gestation. For this, they are paid handsomely. To add insult to injury, politicians who support their work are called (of all things) moderates. Petrie Q 4502 FRANK BELLET

What's happened to the Letters Page? Could you explain, please, what has happened to your Letters section? Surely the advent of email has not completely silenced the wonder letter-writers who were such a feature of Annals over the years.
I am not a Letters-to-the-Editor writer, but I do miss reading them. They were always a special part of Annals and gave a wide range of opinions. Castlemaine Vic 3450 MARGARET MAUNSELL
[Margaret, thank you for your comment. Despite my best efforts to encourage letters, too few that are intended for publication reach my desk. However, I have made a fresh start in 2007. Perhaps the letters will roll in. Incidentally, you're not the only one to have expressed appreciation of our letters page. I recall being told by Maisie Ward in the 60s how much she enjoyed reading them - and reading the Annals. Ed. Annals]

(Readers' comments are welcomed, not just on material that appears in Annals, but on issues that concern the Catholic and the wider community. Please keep your letters short. They may be edited if too long. Always print your full name and address, and include a day-time phone or fax number or e-mail address at which you can be reached. Editor, Annals).

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#be_more [July 2007]
• Christians Defenceless in Baghdad; For the record.

FOR THE RECORD

Christians Defenceless in Baghdad

   Annals Australasia, annals australasia §nareg. com.au , By Patrick Sookhdeo, p 26, July 2007
IT WAS in 1999 that I first went to Dora, which for many centuries has been a strongly Christian area of Baghdad. Visiting a block of flats, I saw the appalling poverty of the Christian community. Like most of the Iraqi population they were suffering the effects of the UN sanctions, but in addition Christians had to cope with the hostility of Muslims who blamed the Christians for what were seen as "Western" sanctions and the intolerable deprivations which they created. The hostility was at this time kept in reasonable check by the tight security of Saddam's regime.
   In the company of a government interpreter I called on a Christian woman and her teenage son. Her living room had only a table and a few chairs - everything else had been sold to try to survive. When we entered she spoke to the interpreter and then started to cry. I learned that she was pleading for me to take her son back to Britain with me. "I had six sons," she explained. "The five eldest have all died fighting in Saddam's wars [the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s and the Gulf War of 1990-1]. My husband also died in the military. Next year my youngest son will be old enough to be called up, and most likely he too will be killed."
   Since the war of 2003 the anti-Christian hostility in the country has increased immeasurably, and there is no longer the strong hand of Saddam to prevent the men of violence from doing as they please. In response to raging anti-Christian violence, huge numbers of Iraqi Christians have fled their homes. A few have chosen another option and converted to Islam. It is next to impossible to continue to live in Baghdad as a Christian.
   Many Christians in Dora are now facing demands for the traditional Islamic tax on non-Muslim minorities, the jizya. This is not being imposed by the government, but by Islamist insurgents who are operating freely in Dora without any intervention by either Iraqi or American forces. In keeping with the teaching of shari’a (Islamic law), Christians are offered the choice of paying money (which will be used to fund the insurgent violence), converting to Islam, leaving the area, or being killed.
   The Christian community in Iraq has been left unprotected and vulnerable. Last year I visited the American Congress and spoke with senior officials and also spoke with US military leaders in Iraq. I discussed the future of the Christian community in Iraq, a community which is facing genocide at the hands of Islamic militants determined to eliminate the Christian presence in Iraq. The same answer was given to me in each case: "We cannot protect the Christians."
   If the coalition forces refuse to protect Christian communities, if they overthrow a dictator in order to bring democracy, if this democracy leads to the imposition of shari’a, to ethnic cleansing, to dispossession of property, and ultimately to genocide of a section of the community, then the coalition governments must bear the moral responsibility for a tragedy which they have allowed to happen.
   Dr Sookhdeo is International Director of the Barnabas Fund

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#christians_defenceless    [RECAPITULATION: Many Christians in Dora are now facing demands for the traditional Islamic tax on non-Muslim minorities, the jizya. This is not being imposed by the government, but by Islamist insurgents who are operating freely in Dora without any intervention by either Iraqi or American forces. In keeping with the teaching of shari’a (Islamic law), Christians are offered the choice of paying money (which will be used to fund the insurgent violence), converting to Islam, leaving the area, or being killed. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: In early September on the news it was announced that the British army had suddenly left its headquarters in a Basra palace, and handed over to the Iraqi government troops. No announcement about the protection of minorities is known to Submission Study Unit. - 03 Sep, 07 COMMENT ENDS.]
   [KORAN: 9:5:- So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captive and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [HADITH: 4, 53:386:- Narrated Jubair bin Haiya: […] Our Prophet, the Messenger of our Lord, has ordered us to fight you till you worship Allah Alone or give jizya (i.e. tribute) […]
   Also see Vol. 3, Bk. 32, No. 656. GUIDELINE ENDS.] [July 2007]
• An Unacknowledged Debt to the Ages of Faith.

An Unacknowledged Debt to the Ages of Faith

   Annals Australasia, annals australasia §nareg. com.au , p 33, July 2007
THE CRUSADERS were proved wrong, and they were right. They were judged finally and forgotten, and they were right.
   Centuries after their fall, the full experience and development of political discovery has shown beyond question that they were right.
   For there is a very simple test of the truth; that the very thing which was dismissed as a dream of the ages of faith, we have been forced to turn into a fact in the ages of fact.
   It is now more certain than it ever was before, that Europe must rescue some lordship or overlordship of these old Roman provinces …
   If ever a human being had a run for his money it was the Sultan of the Moslems riding on his Arab steed …
   he fell because barbarism could not stand; because even when it succeeds it rather falls on its foes and crushes them … with a wearier philosophy, with a heavier heart, we have been forced to do again the very thing that the Crusaders were derided for doing.
   What Western men failed to do for the faith, other Western men have been forced to do even without the faith. - G.K.Chesterton, The New Jerusalem, Thomas Nelson & Son, [undated] p. 219

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#an_unacknowledged [BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Gilbert Keith Chesterton, 1874-1936, an active RC author and controversialist. ENDS.] [July 2007]
• Amazing Grace.

MOVIES

Amazing Grace

   Annals Australasia, annals australasia §nareg. com.au , p 41, July 2007
   The life of William Wilberforce, who led the 18th century campaign to end slavery in regions controlled by Britain, epitomised moral courage inspired by his Christian faith.
   Ioan Gruffudd makes a brave fist of portraying that courage, aided by Romola Garai as his wife Barbara, and abetted by Benedict Cumberbatch as his friend, Prime Minister William Pitt.
   These leads, and characters actors including Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, Ciaran Hinds and Toby Jones, maintain a driving narrative force to an appropriate requiem for Wilberforce: the playing of the title music by the pipes and drums of the Scots Guards.
   Director Michael Apted and writer Steven Knight do tend, however, to over-simplify. They make the slave trade the business of Europeans in general and the British in particular. No mention of the African chiefs involved in trading their own people nor of Muslim Arab traders.
   The work is, of course, a costume drama, inspiring the impulse to spot buttons and bows from all recent Jane Austen productions. With the impulse comes the thought that the movie looks as if it fell off the back of a BBC container bound for the ABC.
   PG***SFFV #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#amazing_grace [RECAPITULATION: No mention of the African chiefs involved in trading their own people nor of Muslim Arab traders. ENDS.]
[BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: William Wilberforce 1759-1833. William Pitt 1750-1806. ENDS.] [July 2007]
• Halal, kosher slaughter to face Commonwealth review. [Wrongly permitted to kill without stunning.]

Halal, kosher slaughter to face Commonwealth review

   Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), www.abc.net. au/news/ stories/ 2007/08/03/ 1995804.htm? section=australia , 11:04am AEST, Fri Aug 3, 2007
   AUSTRALIA: The Federal Government says it will review slaughter practices at abattoirs across Australia.
   The move came after the RSPCA and Animals Australia raised concerns about the legality of halal and kosher slaughters at the Midfields Meats abattoir in Warrnambool in western Victoria.
   The slaughter, which is conducted according to Islamic and Jewish religious teachings, allows the animals to bleed to death.
   The RSPCA says the animals are having their throats cut while still conscious instead of being stunned before slaughter.
   But Federal Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran believes Midfield's practices are lawful.
   "I will initiate a review into the science as well as the standard under which abattoirs operate for halal killing, or ritual slaughter," he said.
   "We'll look at whether or not the science proves or establishes that it's a cruel and inhumane practice, and whether or not the standard overseeing abattoirs should be changed."
   Mr McGauran says he does not have the power to stop the practice while the review is being done.
   But Glenys Oogjes from Animals Australia says he does.
   "I don't believe that at all. I think that AQIS (Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service) [has jurisdiction] in regard to this particular place, Midfields," she said.
   "They are operating under an export licence. That is, they are killing animals, sheep, each week for an export order.
   "Therefore they're under the AQIS standards and I believe that they are wrongly being permitted to kill without stunning."
   Tags: religion-and-beliefs, Islam, Judaism, animal-welfare, livestock, Australia, Ballarat-3350, Warrnambool-3280 #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#halal_kosher [COMMENT: The bleeding to death while alive is these two faiths' "dirty little secret" akin to the clergy child sex abuse of various religions. It's all so sad. ENDS.] [Aug 03, 07]
• Healing divisions by capturing milestone moments.

Healing divisions by capturing milestone moments

The West Australian, by Keith McDonald, keith.mcdonald§wanews.com.au, WeekendExtra page 6, Saturday, August 4, 2007

THE HUMAN SPIRIT
KEITH
McDONALD

   At 64, Richard and Michele Steckel should be winding down for retirement. Instead, the two educators from Littleton, Colorado, are doing more than ever, making plans that include trips all over the world and building an extended "family" that already numbers 35,000. It's all part of their plan to make the world a better place.
   "We really are as energised and as energetic as we were in our 20s," said Richard Steckel, who has a PhD in education. "Our kids complain that we have too much energy. We wear them out but our seven grandchildren think we are cool."
   Dr Steckel used to be executive director of the Denver Children's Museum. "It earned essentially 100 per cent of its operating budget and practised social enterprise before it even had a name," he said. His wife transformed the museum bookshop by replacing its "trinkets" with educational products.
‘We believe in creating a culture of peace which means an absence of conflict or reduction of conflict, stress and tension.’
   Then for 22 years, Dr Steckel used his experiences at the museum to consult, teach and write books on how non-profit organisations can be successful.
   Nine years ago, the American couple got so fired up about conflicts in the world that they conceived an idea which evolved into the Milestones Project.
   At the heart of it is a collection of 35,000 photographs the Steckels have taken of children in 24 countries since 2000. They feature on the project's website, in exhibitions and in books.
   They claim it is the only project of its kind determined to heal the world's divisions by sharing "the undeniable pictures of our common humanity".
   Their immediate goal is to reduce prejudice, intolerance and hatred and, long term, they aim to safeguard the planet from hatred and war and create a culture of peace.
[Picture] Happy faces: The Milestones Project.
   "The Milestones Project grew out of being basically cheesed off at the way people made judgments about superficial characteristics of others," Dr Steckel said. "Skin colour, eye shape and belief. It just sickened us.
   "You can always choose to say that's somebody else's problem, you're in the twilight of your years, so just stand back, you've done your bit. Well, we can't. We just absolutely have a profound sense of fairness and social justice."
   So they hit on the idea of taking photographs of the world's children, aged 0-18, at milestone moments in their formative years like their first tooth, first step, first school, first best friend and first pet. The hope was this would inspire change by breaking down the fears of difference. "We believe kids have that great power to influence big people," Dr Steckel explained.
   They took a crash course in photography. "I am convinced that from what children and older people do with their hands and how their faces look, you pretty much can tell so much about that individual without going any deeper," he said.
   A United Nations peace and tolerance award in 2003 led the following year to the formal creation of the Milestones Project. Since then, they have staged 11 exhibitions of their photographs at airports around the world and published 12 books for different-aged children.
   Last month, saw the publication of Faith: Many Beliefs, So Much in Common and the opening of a photographic exhibition in London on the same theme. Both focus on the common attributes of the five major religions, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism, plus traditional Maori belief. Again, the Steckels, who don't follow any one particular religion, were inspired to choose faith as a subject because of the terrible things they saw religious people doing.
   "We identify ourselves with the fundamental beliefs of every faith that we have been around," Dr Steckel said. "We say in the book that the Golden Rule is found in every religion and that is probably our belief. We believe in creating a culture of peace which means an absence of conflict or reduction of conflict, stress and tension because people thrive in those environments that don't have those characteristics."
   They reject religious exclusivity. "We believe all religions are important," Dr Steckel said. "We don't know how anyone can say my God's better than your God. We say almost all religions share certain attributes in common."
   They have been told they are spiritual, but Dr Steckel is a little puzzled by that. "Life's too short to be negative and harmful to somebody else who's not doing anything in life except looking and being a little different than you are, and it's only at a superficial level," he said.
   "It's so silly. So we just said we'll do something about that. Does that make us spiritual?"
   To find out more about the project, visit www.milestones project.com . Books are available there.
   . . . And on that positive note, I end. Not just for this week but for a while. The Human Spirit hopes to find a new niche later in the year. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/submit/subchron6.htm#healing_divisions    [RECAPITULATION: We say in the book that the Golden Rule is found in every religion and that is probably our belief. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: If only that were true! Their worthy acion is similar to the U.S. businessman who spend hundreds of dollars before World War II telephoning the leaders of Nazi Germany and other nations, trying to stop the war. He ought to have read Adolf Hitler's book, and this couple ought to study the Koran / Qur'an and the Hadith / Hadeeth. ENDS.]
   [KORAN: 2:193 (or 2:189) DOCTRINE ENDS.]
   [HADITH: 2, 23:414 GUIDELINE ENDS.] [Aug 04, 07]
• Chilling heart of darkness. [FICTION, based on alleged refugee from Omar al-Bashir's dictatorship]

Chilling heart of darkness

The West Australian, by Jonathan Bate (The Sunday Telegraph), WeekendExtra page 7, Saturday, August 4, 2007
Acclaimed novelist Dave Eggers has turned a genocide survivor's memories into a powerful novel, writes Jonathan Bate
The American magazine Parade publishes an annual list of The World's 10 Worst Dictators and in each of the past three years the winner has been Sudan's Omar al-Bashir, courtesy of the genocide in Darfur.
His 20-year reign in Khartoum has seen the banning of political parties, absolute control of the press, the imposition of shari’a law, harbouring of Osama bin Laden and sponsorship of the Islamist militias who slaughtered, mutilated, displaced, raped and enslaved the Africans of southern Sudan in the long civi