Closing the week 53 – Featuring the Detroit terror
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The Detroit terror
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab: Why are we surprised? – NigeriansTalk
It is itself a surprise to me that we are responding to the issue of the alleged Nigerian suicide bomber/terrorist if it was totally unpredictable. We want to condemn it, we are disappointed by what Umar is alleged to have done and the added shame and disrepute that has brought upon Nigeria, but it would be wrong to suggest that there are no fundamentalist strains in Nigeria. They abound.
Jasper Schuringa subdued alleged terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Northwest Airlines 253
The passenger who tackled a suspected terrorist on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 said Saturday that he’s “happy” to be alive.
Jasper Schuringa, a video director and producer from Amsterdam, told CNN how he helped the cabin crew to subdue Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old who reportedly ignited a small explosive device on board the plane Friday as it prepared to land in Detroit.
I’m the first of many, warns airline ‘bomber’ Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab – Times Online
A global search for accomplices in the Detroit airliner plot was under way yesterday after an al-Qaeda group based in Yemen claimed responsibility for the operation and the would-be bomber was reported to have said that more attacks were being planned.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a terrorist cell led by a former personal secretary to Osama bin Laden, issued a statement saying that the failed attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a response to American-backed airstrikes on the group in Yemen this month.
MELANIE PHILLIPS: To our eternal shame, Britain is STILL a hub for Islamic terror | Mail Online
So here we go again. Another international Islamic terrorist plot – and yet another British connection.
The attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up an American plane was averted only by luck and courage.
The incident obviously raises alarming questions about gross lapses in security. In particular, how did Abdulmutallab obtain a U.S. visa when he had been on an American watch-list of people with known terrorist connections?
Mel P regurgitates her ‘Londonistan’ theory
It is characteristic of Phillips’ style and motives to favour a pseudo-intellectual analysis and proffer crude solutions over and above a rational, objective critique advancing focused and nuanced recommendations. Were she rather more sensible and sensitive she would see that Muslims do seek to live in Britain on ‘exactly the same basis as all other religious minorities’.
Detroit terror attack: British university ‘complicit’ in radicalisation – Telegraph
University College London, where Abdulmutallab was recently president of the Islamic Society, has been criticised for “failing grotesquely” to prevent extremists from giving lectures on campus.
UCL has been heavily criticised in the past for its relaxed attitude to radical preachers, and security agencies are investigating whether it was there that Detroit bomber Abdulmutallab was recruited by al-Qaeda sympathisers.
UPDATE: According to this article Anwar al-Awlaki is alive and well.
On Anwar Al-Awlaki « Ginny’s Thoughts & Things
But regarding the reports of the death of Anwar Al-Awlaki, just wanted to say that despite the fact that I don’t know much about him, can’t say I’ve ever listened to any of his lectures, and that some of his recent blog posts/statements that I’ve read/heard about I have found to be shocking to say the least… I also would not wish for his death or rejoice at his death. One rule that I always try to live by is “do unto others as you’d have them do unto you”. Which means pretty much that no matter how much he may have advocated for the deaths of innocent civilians, or called Nidal Hasan a hero or may or may not advocate for the death and murder of Muslims who don’t follow his line of thinking or whatever, I’m still not going to rejoice upon his death. Why? Because quite simply, I’d not want him or anyone else to rejoice upon my death. I would want people to make dua for me, to pray for me, that Allah forgives me of my sins, makes my grave spacious for me, makes the questioning easy for me, and admits me, Inshallah, to the highest place in Jannah. And this is even assuming he was killed, which we don’t know for sure. And he may actually still be alive according to some reports.
The thing is, though, I also don’t think I’d go so far as to put him on a pedestal either, being that he’s supposedly said (if his blog posts are/were to be believed) some pretty shocking things an advocated positions that don’t seem Islamic to me. Because advocating for the deaths of innocent people, who’ve not as yet committed a crime, calling people heroes who’ve killed as yet innocent people, are just not positions that I feel that I can follow or even take seriously for that matter, and this is by no means “diminishing the position of jihad inIslam”, because quite simply, this is not jihad.
Political Correctness Gone Mad — Crooked Timber
A strong country has a strong culture that it is willing to defend against the enemy – and a willingness to ignore the natterers of multiculturalism when its citizens’ lives are in danger. We were lucky this time. We may not be so lucky the next.
Discussion » Body scans or body searches on airports?
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s attempt to blow up Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit on Friday failed, but he did succeed in taking 80 grammes of explosive PETN powder on board. The question being raised in the Netherlands is whether he should have been subjected to a so-called millimetre wave scan before boarding at Schiphol airport. The Amsterdam airport bought equipment that uses waves to scan the outlines of passengers’ bodies in 2007.
Gender & relations
Polygamy for Chicks: Saving Spinster Men Everywhere – elan: The Guide to Global Muslim Culture
I’m no religious scholar, but I basically do not understand the rationale for contemporary polygamy. I really don’t think single women need to be rescued anymore. If a woman remains unmarried at 30, I think she’ll survive. And if a man is so bored by one woman, then maybe he shouldn’t have gotten married in the first place.
Saudi television journalist Nadine al-Bedair feels the ridiculousness of modern-day polygamy just as acutely. She even wrote an article in the independent Egyptian newspaper, Al-Masry Al-Youm, entitled “My Four Husbands and I.” In it, she argues that if men have the right to marry up to four women, then women should have the right to marry up to four men. It’s a little something called gender equality, she says.
“A man would say, ‘I am bored. She has become like a sister to me. I am no longer sexually attracted to her.’…” al-Bedair writes (as translated in an Al Arabiya article). Then she asks what happens when a woman gets bored of her husband or if she has never enjoyed her married life. Men are allowed to escape from unfulfilling marriages while women remain trapped in them. Al-Bedair proposes that either polygamy be allowed for both men and women or “a new map for marriage be drawn to defeat men’s ‘lame’ excuses,” says the Al Arabiya article”>Al Arabiya article.
Of course, clerics across Egypt have not taken kindly to al-Bedair’s article, calling it blasphemous and filing complaints against the newspaper.
altmuslimah.com – Relationships: There are just no good Muslim women out there
I shouldn’t take this any further. Apart from not being true, it’s a diatribe that obfuscates something deeper (just as the parallel, but unnervingly more standard retreat, “Where are all the good Muslim men?” does). The degree of intelligent, sincere, socially conscious, and admirable Muslim women I meet is staggering, many of whom in a previous life I wouldn’t have hesitated asking out to dinner to get to know better. Yet, I find myself simply put off by Muslim women.
Organica: Muslim Dating: The Reality of Our Ummah
When people ask “do Muslims date?” A big chunk of Muslims will quickly respond with a “Hell No!” Because remember that Hadeeth about Shaytaan being the third? Ya, so of course Muslims don’t date, commit adultery or drink alcohol or have gay sex or break any other Quranic tenet. Muslims are perfect angels with no faults.
But if you’ve lived among a large Muslim population, befriended Muslims or visited a Muslim majority country, you will learn that things are not very different than what we see here (in America) among the mainstream culture. Muslims indulge in all of these acts, but the only difference is all is done in secrecy, in a hush-hush secret alternative reality where it’s better to sweep your shame under the carpet than dreadfully advertise your sins.
One doesn’t need to travel to the Middle East to witness the phenomenon. Take a short trip to the beautiful city of Toronto and its neighboring suburbs where a Muslim majority is present in the high school scene. You will find the percentages of Muslim individuals involved in dating, sex, drinking, drugs, etc is high, which is no different than a school with a Judeo-Christian majority.
If you’ve ever visited fatwa sites like Islam QA or Islamonline cyber counseling/fatwa section you will learn that our Muslim youth aren’t living a sin-free life. I remember a young man once wrote the site asking for advice about his ‘problem.’ You see this young man, an aspiring Sheikh, was attracted to men and he didn’t know how to keep his faith and battle his desires. Another girl wrote asking what to do with a man she loves and is on the verge of committing adultery with because her practicing beautiful Muslim family won’t allow her to marry him.
Organica: Part 2: Muslim Dating
When parents eventually learn about their child’s alternate reality their reaction is of one of two: 1) Overreact the situation, curse and damn child to hell, take away worldly possessions such as a phone while spitting out every Quranic verse to guilt the child to stop; 2) Deny the situation entirely and never address it. Astonishingly, the latter occurs at a much higher frequency.
Doctor turns away woman wearing veil | Radio Netherlands Worldwide
On Christmas day, a family doctor in Utrecht refused to allow a woman into his surgery because she was wearing a niqab, or burqa.
The 23-year-old woman had brought her baby to see the doctor. The three-month-old child had diarrhoea and had not drunk for several hours, a situation which is potentially dangerous in young baby. However, the doctor refused to see the woman because she was wearing Islamic dress, with her face covered.
Sveriges Radio International – English — Engelska
The introduction of a dress code for students at the University of Gothenburg has raised suspicion that the new policy might be aimed at Muslims. Swedish Radio news reports that lecturers now have the right to demand their students be dressed in a certain way during certain activities.
Hanan Turk is a famous Egyptian actress who started off her entertainment career as a professional ballerina. In 2006 she decided to wear hijab and shocked her fans by taking a break from the spotlight for a few years. She’s been back recently in the Arab cinema and television scene and has surprised naysayers with her success as a serious actress who just happens to don a headscarf.
Hijabtrendz recently interviewed Turk to learn more about what it’s like to be a Hijabi in a field that traditionally doesn’t support women who wear hijab.
Man jailed for life for ‘honour killing’
A 50-year-old Turkish man was jailed for life in Germany on Tuesday over the brutal “honour killing” of his 20-year-old daughter, a murder carried out together with the victim’s twin brother.
The National – People of the Decade: Sheikha Mozah of Qatar
Arab women who fight to end the practice of child marriages, or encourage the education of girls, or for women’s right to vote are often accused of importing a western feminism that is at odds with the values of conservative Muslim societies.
Over the years, particularly in the past decade, the Arab world has become increasingly religious. Partially as a result, there are fewer women in public life. If prominent Arab women are rare, then prominent Gulf Arab women are rarer still.
Which is why, when Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned arrived in Paris with her husband, the Emir of Qatar, for a state dinner at the Elysée Palace last June, traditionalists gasped. She also upstaged her hostess, that scary glamazon Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. In a floor-length, long-sleeved fuchsia gown cinched at the waist with a diamond and pearl belt, her hair wrapped in an elegant matching turban, the sheikha projected a retro glamour. Bruni-Sarkozy almost looked mousy by comparison.
Misc.
The End – Mujahideen Ryder’s Blog (2000 to 2009) | MR’s Blog
It’s been a long time with lots of fun, educational, spiritual, controversial and outrageous posts over an entire decade. The blog was bound to come to an end as do everything.
Cameron and the Muslim Vote (Part IV)
In addition to the choreography augmenting Muslim stigma, Michael Gove’s uneducated declarations, Douglas Murray’s fabrications and Paul Goodman’s bluster, there was another group of individuals lending support to the edifice of this intrigue. Although these individuals were not mentioned by name, there is strong evidence to suggest that they are the usual suspects whose latest incarnation as “Christmas tree activists” is consistent with their history as opportunists who will turn their heads in whichever direction the wind happens to be blowing. They are of course Ed and Co at the government-funded Quilliam Foundation.
As 2009 draws to a close and the Islamic year begins, let’s ponder on the happenings of the past year and reflect who have been our heroes and villains of 2009.
Mosque in Germany to Honor Marwa El Sherbini | Bikya Masr
A group of Islamic and Arab leaders, as well as a group from the Egyptian community in Germany, have asked the German government to grant them a license to build a mosque in Dresden in honor of the Egyptian woman killed in a courtroom in the same city. The original incident raised wide feelings of anger among Muslims,many of whom described the crime as a “hate crime” and have called Marwa El Sherbini, the victim, a “Martyr of veil”.
We’re currently at various forms of war in five different Muslim countries, so it’s not surprising that some of the violence directed at us is from Muslims. But to claim that “100 percent of attempted terrorist attacks on the U.S. (and [other than Spain], terrorists attacks on all Western nations)” since 1995 are by “people claiming to act in the name of Islam” is so blatantly, demonstrably, obviously false that you really have to wonder about a person who would utter such a thing. And while most don’t veer quite as deep into the falsehood department as Weiss did, one would get the sense from listening to our standard political discourse that “Terrorism” and “Islamic-inspired Terrorism” are synonymous. It’s the kind of myth-based demonization that is as familiar as it is false, dangerous and repugnant.
Informed Comment: Top Ten Good News Stories from the Muslim World in 2009 that You Never Heard About
Top Ten Good News Stories from the Muslim World in 2009 that You Never Heard About
Swiss ban on minarets was a vote for tolerance and inclusion
The Swiss vote highlights the debate on Islam as a set of political and collectivist ideas, not a rejection of Muslims.
By Ayaan Hirsi Ali / December 5, 2009
WashingtonThe recent Swiss referendum that bans construction of minarets has caused controversy across the world. There are two ways to interpret the vote. First, as a rejection of political Islam, not a rejection of Muslims. In this sense it was a vote for tolerance and inclusion, which political Islam rejects. Second, the vote was a revelation of the big gap between how the Swiss people and the Swiss elite judge political Islam.
Al Jazeera English – Europe – Danish cartoonist attacker charged
A Danish court has charged a Somali man with the attempted murder of a cartoonist whose 2005 drawings of Prophet Muhammad outraged Muslims around the world.
Dutch
Maghreb Magazine » Moslimomroep krijgt zendmachtiging
Stichting Moslim Omroep Nederland (SMON) heeft van het Commissariaat voor de Media (CvdM) de nieuwe zendmachtiging gekregen voor de hoofdstroom islam. De vergunning gaat in september 2010 in en geldt voor vijf jaar. Dit heeft het CvdM donderdag bekend gemaakt.
Het is opvallend hoe vaak we de laatste jaren geconfronteerd worden met het vermelden van onze veronderstelde ‘christelijke wortels’ als het gaat om een beschouwing van onze ‘Westerse cultuur’. In menig politiek debat wordt erover gesproken alsof het een onbetwistbaar feit is en ook in het debat rondom religie is het een faux pas om kanttekeningen te plaatsen.
CAPRICIO ITALIANO: PETITIE VOOR GEERT WILDERS
Onlangs stond in “bij de buren” een link naar een petitie tegen de vervolging van Geert Wilders. Dit zorgde voor een aanzienlijke toename van het aantal ondertekenaars. Daarom wijden we er nu een artikel aan.
Nederlandse tolerantie | Justice
Er wordt vaak gesproken over moslims die zeer gevaarlijk zijn, ze zouden radicale gedachtes en idealen hebben. Ondertussen heb je ook nog een Wilders, die de Islam de grond in boort, de moslims zouden volgens totaal niet in de maatschappij passen, rellen om cartoons die hun profeet keihard beledigen, en niet te vergeten Theo van Gogh, de Islam zou de oorzaak hiervan zijn, dit terwijl het in werkelijkheid maar een persoon was met psychische problemen.
Dat laatste heeft ons laten zien hoe tolerant de Nederlanders zijn, hoe zij zich gedragen als er iets gebeurd.
Christendom tolerant? Integendeel – Opinie – de Volkskrant
De Europese beschaving zou nu ver voorliggen op de islam. Maar die demarrage is nog maar net ingezet
Met zijn stuk ‘Hoe Europa zijn zelfvertrouwen verloor’ heeft Frits Bolkestein zich opnieuw geschaard onder wat de filosoof Daniel Dennett heeft omschreven als de believers in belief. Dat zijn mensen die zelf niet geloven, die de inhoud van het geloof vaak als onhoudbaar of zelfs als onzinnig afwijzen, maar die het toch heilzaam vinden dat anderen wel geloven.
Bidruimte moslims in Edam – Waterland – Noordhollands Dagblad
Bidruimte moslims in Edam
Marokkaanse moslims in Edam bouwen volgend jaar hun eigen gebedsruimte. Het gebouw, zonder minaretten, komt achter het sociaalcultureel centrum De Singel. Begin januari wordt de eerste paal geslagen.
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