Terror ‘R’ Us?
Written by Haitham Sabbah on 28. February 2006, 0001hrs // Part of Haitham Sabbah's adventure in Bleeding Edge, Failures, Islam, Media, Terrorism // Other posts by Haitham Sabbah
Sunday Telegraph article calls for Qur’an Ban, and a Danish organization wants Islam outlawed!
Let’s start with the Danish:
A new and even more radical organization has stepped up to demand that Islam is made illegal in Denmark.
Stop Islamiseringen Af Danmarks (Stop the Islamization of Denmark - siad.dk) organization says, “Muslims make out only 3 percent of the Danish population, but still they are a threat to the national security.”
The extreme nationalist party in Denmark, the Danish People’s Party, has gained eight mandates during the Mohamed crisis and is likely to become the second largest party in Denmark at the next election.
Almost half of the Danes believe that the leader of the Danish People’s Party, Pia Kærsgaard, displays good leadership abilities.
Cool. So, soon we might see Islam outlawed in Denmark. Unless the 3 percent overtake Denmark and change the brand from Lurpak to Swordpak (find out what is lurs) on a green background.
Well, this was the light part of the post. The heavy one comes from the Sunday Telegraph.
An article by Alasdair Palmer, which interview Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo, in last week’s Sunday Telegraph (19 Feb 2006) entitled “The day is coming when British Muslims form a state within a state” contains the following paragraph:
“… For example, there is a book, The Noble Koran: a New Rendering of its Meaning in English, which is openly available in Muslim bookshops. It calls for the killing of Jews and Christians, and it sets out a strategy for killing the infidels and for warfare against them. The Government has done nothing whatever to interfere with the sale of that book. Why not? Government ministers have promised to punish religious hatred, to criminalise the glorification of terrorism, yet they do nothing about this book, which blatantly does both.”
Sunday Telegraph, 19 February 2006
Not only does this interviewee advocate banning the sale of the Qur’an but describes its contents in such a way as to suggest it is nothing more than a handbook on terrorism. He claims that it “calls for the killing of Jews and Christians”.
But hold on a second. The reference is evidently to a translation of the Qur’an by two Sufi scholars, Abdalhaqq and Aisha Bewley, which has been praised in the Middle East Quarterly for its “excellent, readable English”. (The MEQ, if you didn’t know, is published by the Middle East Forum, whose director is Daniel Pipes.) And Dr. Sookhdeo proposes, in all seriousness, that the government should ban it!
So, what is Middle East Forum mission:
The Middle East Forum, a think tank, works to define and promote American interests in the Middle East through research, publications, and educational outreach. The Forum’s policy recommendations include fighting radical Islam (rather than terrorism), convincing the Palestinians that Israel is permanent, reducing funds going to the Middle East for energy purchases, slowing down the democratization process, and more robustly asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia. Blah blah blah…
Hmm… interesting!
Dr. Sookhdeo adds that he believes that “in a decade, you will see parts of English cities which are controlled by Muslim clerics and which follow, not the common law, but aspects of Muslim sharia law. Seems to me that Sookhedo and SIAD are reading from the same book.
And who is Dr. Sookhdeo?
The newspaper says that he speaks with authority on Islam, as it was his first faith: he was brought up as a Muslim in Guyana. Sookhdeo’s family immigrated to England when he was 10. In his early twenties, when he was at university, he converted to Christianity. “I had simply seen it as the white man’s religion, the religion of the colonialists and the oppressors - in a very similar way, in fact, to the way that many Muslims see Christianity today. He is currently director of the Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity. He also advises the Army on security issues related to Islam!!! Hmmm… Of course, he was Muslim until 20’s, then studied Islam when he converted to Christianity. Well, what do you know? Best expertise in Islam that any army would be looking for. Duh!
Anyway, this proposal, predictably, is enthusiastically endorsed by the Nazi BNP (bnp.org.uk/columnists/chairman2.php?ngId=27), who is great admirers of Sookhdeo. As usual, though, the fascists feel that he fails to draw the necessary conclusions: “we believe that nothing but total separation of the majority of Muslims from the secular and Christian West will ensure the latter’s survival…. The pattern of very recent mass migration from the Islamic world into the west must be at first halted and then reversed.”
It is outrageous that the Sunday Telegraph should promote such a viewpoint and urges that the Qur’an itself be made illegal, particularly in the context of recent events anywhere, anytime.
It is important to note that this article represents a new and more sinister development. Previously it was on Prophet Mohamed, this attack is on the revelation itself, and thus indicates a new and more dangerous front opened in the war on Islam and Muslims.
On the other hand, looking deeply into this proposal, it is a clear ignorant assumption based on a book by Sufism. Does the West know what Sufism is? How big or small it is, and what it’s relation to Islam, its history and present and how they are perceived in Islam (the normal Muslims)? Does the West know how many follower Sufism has, how they live and where? I doubt; this is not the best place to explain it (unless some reader voluntary does). But that’s not an excuse for someone like Sookhdeo who is supposed to be the expert in Islam.
I’m not defending Islam or Muslims here, but this propaganda is not better than what they are advocating against. It’s nothing but spread of hate and fear among masses by generalization.
Muslims also are not spreading less fear. How can you blame Brits when they hear that four out of 10 British Muslims want sharia law introduced into parts of the country? Can we blame the chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality who suggested yesterday that Muslims who wish to live under a system of sharia law should leave Britain?
Just one last note: How about outlaw the Islamic terrorists and Warmongers, not Islam?
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March 2nd, 2006 at 5:53 pm
Kimmy,
Sometimes Kimmy, we are powerless. Sometimes we don’t know what to do. We listen, we talk, we cry, we yearn, we end up lost. But just when you think you’re lost, you find you have yourself. That is what we all have everyday at the end of the day, even with the snoring next to you as you listen. When we realize that (which I absolutely know you know), that is when we need in a different manner. Quiet, quiet, but she is still there where you DO believe. My prayers to all of you and I too hope all comes out well. Masalama (Arabic for Go with God)
March 4th, 2006 at 5:05 pm
[...] hat it is only Islam a religion of violence… Earlier, Sabbah says an article in the Sunday Telegraph calls for Qur’an ban, and a Danish organization wants Islam outlawed. Co [...]
March 7th, 2006 at 5:33 am
This Friday morn. my Mother-in-law died. This weekend was a wreck. Thank you for caring. My Muslim friends were upset of my loss. They were more upset than I was. I love them for that. Leboneese people are more feeling than my in-laws. I love them for their feelings.
They cried more than my mother-in-laws family did. I now cry because they didn’t know my mother-in-law but they cry for her. I feel humbled by their concern. Islam has more feelings about my feelings.
The rituals of her internment spent more than 45 minutes praising God and Jesus and their importance over the deceased.
I thought that the deceased was important. I guess she wasn’t until I talked to my Muslim friends. I am very touched.
Thank you Islam! Thank you friends.
March 7th, 2006 at 9:21 am
kimmy,
I’m sorry for your loss. God bless her.
I said this somewhere in one of my posts. Middle Eastern in general (of all religions) are more passionate and emotional than any other part of the world that I visited or know of. So, I’m not surprised to hear that your Lebanese friends were so touched by your loss and sharing sympathy with you.
It is inherited in our blood and culture. Maybe it is not always good, but it is one of the main reasons that are keeping our ‘family ties’ hold still until now with all the changes that is going around us in this world.
March 7th, 2006 at 5:16 pm
Kimmy,
I am so very sorry for your loss. When you weren’t posting, I knew where you were and I kept you in my thoughts, you, your wife and your children if you have any. I too have been to that type of funeral, also wedding, where the emphasis is not on the deceased or the couple. I can relate. Your posts have given me an insight into your heart which I have found so kind. Yes indeed Moslems are some of the kindest people I know. My ex is purchasing a home here close to me in LA for my father and mother to move so I can take care of them. I mourn your loss Kimmy and pray that you can rest at night next to your wife snoring. Again, go to where you DO believe, but I don’t need to even tell you, you are always there. Blessings to you
March 8th, 2006 at 8:08 am
Thank you Haitham and Robin for your kind thoughts.
On my way to the funeral (a two hour+ drive) with my youngest daughter we stopped for gas at a station that is owned by one of my Lebaneese friends. I informed the owners sister as to where we were going and crossed the street to get coffee for the trip. When I got back she and my daughter were hugging and crying in the fillup area and ignoring other customers. Customers were told to serve themselves as our problems were more important. Noone complained. I went to pay for the gas the sister said to pay after we got back incase we needed the money for other things at our destination.
After we left my daughter couldn’t believe the outpouring of emotions she had received. I told her that that was their way and that is why I buy all the gas I need from them whenever I can. Now my daughter will drive the 20+ km to them for gas.
We stopped on our way back from the funeral the next day to pay for our gas and the owner said not to worry that it was a gift of sympathy. I can see a small but friendly conflict here. He will get his money somehow whether he wants it or not.
My wife came home the next day and stopped to fill up there. He filled up her tank and told her “to go with God”. She refused, but he sent her on her way.
Typing this out is bringing tears to my eyes because if we had no money and were desperate for gas I know of few places that would fill up our tanks without collateral or sympathy.
I should say that my youngest daughter is almost thirty, not a little kid.
Robin, about the snorring. I snore, my wife moans and groans. Between the two of us, we make quite the symphony. But we will never know because we are both sleeping during the concert.
March 8th, 2006 at 7:30 pm
Kimmy,
This is what my oldest daughter would call Karma. Yes, we should all learn from and help each other, how utterly true. The universal good. Another beautiful symphony you have shared, this one a beautiful example of your meeting Islam and the Arab culture. Thank you so much for the music. Blessings.
March 15th, 2006 at 9:42 pm
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