C L O S E R

Middle East Times – Muslims must bear the grunt of their failure

Posted on July 20th, 2006 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Middle East Times – Muslims must bear the grunt of their failure
Commentary by Salim Mansur

July 19, 2006

TORONTO — Muslim Canadians, as Muslims elsewhere in Western societies, have felt increasingly besieged for some time now, both from outside their community and from within.

This sense of isolation, of being misrepresented and misunderstood, will inevitably deepen as the full story of the arrests of 17 Toronto-area Muslims on terrorism charges unfolds.

But whose fault is this? Let us, Muslims, be brutally honest.

We have inherited a culture of denial, of too often refusing to acknowledge our own responsibility for the widespread malaise that has left most of the Arab-Muslim countries in economic, political, and social despair.

Statistics and intergovernmental reports over the past several decades have documented a gap, perhaps now unbridgeable, between Muslim countries and the advanced industrial democracies in the West.

In a recent “failed states index” published in the May/June issue of Foreign Policy magazine, Pakistan, for instance, is ranked among the top 10 failed states in the world – ahead of Afghanistan.

Pakistan is a Muslim country, a nuclear military power, but it can barely feed, clothe, educate, and shelter its population.

The reports on the Arab countries are a dismal catalogue of entrenched tyrannies, failing economies, squandered wealth, gender oppression, persecution of minorities, and endemic violence.

The cleric-led regime in Iran seeks nuclear weapons and threatens to obliterate Israel, repress domestic opposition, and seek confrontation with the West.

Instead of acknowledging the reality of the Arab-Muslim world as a broken civilization, we Muslims tend to indulge instead in blaming others for our ills; deflecting our responsibilities for failures that have become breeding grounds of violence and terrorism.

Many of our intellectuals in public life and our religious leaders in mosques remain adept in double-speak, saying contrary things in English or French and then in Arabic or Farsi or Urdu.

We have made hypocrisy an art, and have spun for ourselves a web of lies that blinds us to the real world around us. We seethe with grievances and resentment against the West, even as we have prospered in the freedom and security of Western democracies.

We have inculcated into our children false pride, and given them a sense of history that crumbles under critical scrutiny. We have burdened them with conflicting loyalties – and now some of them have become our nightmare.

We preach tolerance yet we are intolerant. We demand inclusion, yet we practice exclusion of gender, of minorities, of those with whom we disagree.

We repeat endlessly that Islam is a religion of peace, yet too many of us display conduct contrary to what we profess. We keep assuring ourselves and others that Muslims who violate Islam are a minuscule minority, yet we fail to hold this minority accountable in public.

A bowl of milk turns into curd with a single drop of lemon. The minuscule minority we blame is this drop of lemon that has curdled and made a shambles of our Islam, yet too many of us insist against all evidence that our belief somehow sets us apart as better than others.

In Islam, we insist, religion and politics are inseparable. As a result, politics dominates our religion – and our religion has become a cover for tribalism and nationalism.

We regularly quote from the Koran, but do not make repentance for our failings as the Koran instructs, by seeking forgiveness from those we have harmed.

We Muslims are the source of our own misery, and we are not misunderstood
by others who see in our conduct a threat to their peace.

Salim Mansur is an associate professor of political science at the University of Western Ontario. He is also a columnist at Canada’s Sun Media

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BBC NEWS | UK | England | West Midlands | Muslim leaders condemn terrorism

Posted on June 28th, 2006 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization.

BBC NEWS | UK | England | West Midlands | Muslim leaders condemn terrorism
Muslim leaders condemn terrorism
Birmingham Central Mosque
The edict was agreed in a meeting at Birmingham Central Mosque
Islamic leaders across Birmingham have issued a joint message against terrorism in a bid to tackle mistrust of Muslims in the UK.

Leaders of the 150 mosques in the city have backed the statement, which comes in response to the police raid in London’s Forest Gate this month.

The religious edict makes clear the killing of innocent victims is against the principles of Islam.

It has been welcomed by the chief constable of the West Midlands.

The message is thought to be the first joint statement made by Muslim scholars in the UK against terrorism.

Activities regulated

It states: “That killing of innocent civilians is absolutely forbidden in Islam and anyone who contemplates or commits any such act, does so against the teachings of Islam.”

The statement adds action has been taken to regulate the activities of every mosque to ensure worshippers are given a message of “calmness and civic responsibility”.

It said the action of the UK Government in Iraq had caused anger in the Muslim community but there is a “resolve to guide the Muslim response in accordance with good citizenship”.

Dr Muhammad Naseem, chairman of the Birmingham Central Mosque, said: “There is a perception that Muslims are a source of terrorism.

“Although individuals have made statements against terrorism people still say Muslims aren’t denouncing terrorism.”

‘Positive announcement’

Terrorism is against the teachings of Islam, Dr Naseem explained, saying he was making the leaders’ position clear.

“We hope this will improve the understanding between religious communities in the city,” he added.

West Midlands chief constable Paul Scott-Lee said: “I am delighted by this positive announcement from our local mosques and fully support what is an important statement for all our communities.”

It is planned that similar anti-violence messages from Muslim leaders across other UK cities will be issued as part of the initiative.

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BBC NEWS | UK | England | West Midlands | Muslim leaders condemn terrorism

Posted on June 28th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization.

BBC NEWS | UK | England | West Midlands | Muslim leaders condemn terrorism
Muslim leaders condemn terrorism
Birmingham Central Mosque
The edict was agreed in a meeting at Birmingham Central Mosque
Islamic leaders across Birmingham have issued a joint message against terrorism in a bid to tackle mistrust of Muslims in the UK.

Leaders of the 150 mosques in the city have backed the statement, which comes in response to the police raid in London’s Forest Gate this month.

The religious edict makes clear the killing of innocent victims is against the principles of Islam.

It has been welcomed by the chief constable of the West Midlands.

The message is thought to be the first joint statement made by Muslim scholars in the UK against terrorism.

Activities regulated

It states: “That killing of innocent civilians is absolutely forbidden in Islam and anyone who contemplates or commits any such act, does so against the teachings of Islam.”

The statement adds action has been taken to regulate the activities of every mosque to ensure worshippers are given a message of “calmness and civic responsibility”.

It said the action of the UK Government in Iraq had caused anger in the Muslim community but there is a “resolve to guide the Muslim response in accordance with good citizenship”.

Dr Muhammad Naseem, chairman of the Birmingham Central Mosque, said: “There is a perception that Muslims are a source of terrorism.

“Although individuals have made statements against terrorism people still say Muslims aren’t denouncing terrorism.”

‘Positive announcement’

Terrorism is against the teachings of Islam, Dr Naseem explained, saying he was making the leaders’ position clear.

“We hope this will improve the understanding between religious communities in the city,” he added.

West Midlands chief constable Paul Scott-Lee said: “I am delighted by this positive announcement from our local mosques and fully support what is an important statement for all our communities.”

It is planned that similar anti-violence messages from Muslim leaders across other UK cities will be issued as part of the initiative.

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Are We Really Supposed To “Kill All The Infidels”?

Posted on May 29th, 2006 by .
Categories: Internal Debates.

Are We Really Supposed To “Kill All The Infidels”? – altmuslim.com
Thanks to Jamal from Opinionated Voice: I came across this article on AltMuslim.com:

The framework underlying fighting in Islam is self-defense, and all verses which call on the believers to “fight the unbelievers” must be understood in this framework.
By Hesham Hassaballa, May 19, 2005
I’m not what I seem
Time and again, over and over and over again, I either read or hear from people that Islam calls for the murder of “infidels,” or all those who are not Muslim. This perception is so pervasive, so entrenched, and I really do not know from where it comes. Yes, there are Muslims who do believe this: 19 of them crashed three planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, killing nearly 3,000 of my innocent American brothers and sisters. But, I don’t know from where they got this idea.

“It is the Qur’an, you idiot!!!” I am quite sure some of you just screamed that to your computer screen.

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Are We Really Supposed To "Kill All The Infidels"?

Posted on May 29th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates.

Are We Really Supposed To “Kill All The Infidels”? – altmuslim.com
Thanks to Jamal from Opinionated Voice: I came across this article on AltMuslim.com:

The framework underlying fighting in Islam is self-defense, and all verses which call on the believers to “fight the unbelievers” must be understood in this framework.
By Hesham Hassaballa, May 19, 2005
I’m not what I seem
Time and again, over and over and over again, I either read or hear from people that Islam calls for the murder of “infidels,” or all those who are not Muslim. This perception is so pervasive, so entrenched, and I really do not know from where it comes. Yes, there are Muslims who do believe this: 19 of them crashed three planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, killing nearly 3,000 of my innocent American brothers and sisters. But, I don’t know from where they got this idea.

“It is the Qur’an, you idiot!!!” I am quite sure some of you just screamed that to your computer screen.

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Protected: de Volkskrant – ‘Radicaal, ik? Kennissen zouden zich rot lachen’

Posted on May 19th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Religious and Political Radicalization, Uncategorized.

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NIO – Actueel : Interview Tourabi

Posted on May 19th, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Internal Debates.

NIO – Actueel : Interview Tourabi
De NIO had een interview met Hassan Tourabi: eindelijk zou ik zeggen, maar daarmee zijn ze wel de eerste. De vraag is natuurlijk hoe oprecht hij is. Toen hij aan de macht was, was hij duidelijk minder rekkelijk. Niettemin, zijn zijn uitspraken toch op z’n zachtst gezegd werkelijk opmerkelijk.

Naar aanleiding van de opvallende opvattingen van de Soedanees Hassan Tourabi met betrekking tot de hoofddoek, de sluier, het huwelijk met een niet moslim en andere zaken, is er een heftig debat uitgebroken in de islamitische wereld. Sommige geleerden beschuldigen Tourabi van afvalligheid en anderen verwachten van hem de terugtrekking van zijn uitspraken. Nioscoop sprak met Tourabi over al deze zaken. Het in het Arabisch opgenomen interview is zo secuur mogelijk vertaald.

Interview Tourabi

Hassan TourabiNaar aanleiding van de opvallende opvattingen van de Soedanees Hassan Tourabi met betrekking tot de hoofddoek, de sluier, het huwelijk met een niet moslim en andere zaken, is er een heftig debat uitgebroken in de islamitische wereld. Sommige geleerden beschuldigen Tourabi van afvalligheid en anderen verwachten van hem de terugtrekking van zijn uitspraken. Nioscoop sprak met Tourabi over al deze zaken. Het in het Arabisch opgenomen interview is zo secuur mogelijk vertaald.

• Er wordt de laatste tijd vaak gediscussieerd in de media over uw uitspraken met betrekking tot de Hijab (Hoofddoek). Kunt u meer in detail op dit vraagstuk ingaan en hoe kijkt u naar het kledingsgedrag van de moslima?
• U maakt dus onderscheid tussen het gordijn [Hijab in de Koran] en de sluier?
• Hoe kijkt u naar de sluier van de moslima?
• U zegt dat het huwelijk tussen een moslima en een niet moslim toegestaan is, maar andere geleerden zijn daartegen. Als bewijs leunt men op het vers “En huwt geen afgodendienaressen voordat zij geloven”.
• U zegt dat het huwelijk tussen een moslima en een niet moslim toegestaan is maar andere geleerden zijn daartegen. Als bewijs leunt men op het vers “En huwt geen afgodendienaressen voordat zij geloven”.
• ‘De getuigenis van twee vrouwen is gelijk aan die van één man’, is dat niet tegenstrijdig met het islamitische principe met betrekking tot de gelijkheid tussen mannen en vrouwen?
• Denkt Hassan Tourabi dat een vrouw in het gebed mag voorgaan terwijl dit door de geschiedenis heen verboden was?

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MEMRI – Al-Tajdeed Versus Al-Hesbah: Islamist Websites & the Conflict Between Rival Arab & Muslim Political Forces

Posted on May 18th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Inquiry and Analysis Series – No. 275
Al-Tajdeed Versus Al-Hesbah: Islamist Websites & the Conflict Between Rival Arab & Muslim Political Forces

Introduction

Most of the media in the Arab world – newspapers, television, and radio – are affiliated with various political forces, whether governmental or opposition, operating from within the country or outside it. These media are an important tool in the power struggles among the rival political forces behind them.

With the development of the Internet in the Middle East, websites have become yet another tool in the struggle between rival Arab forces. One prominent example of Internet use as part of this struggle is the campaign by www.tajdeed.org.uk – which belongs to the Saudi Islamist opposition operating in London and is directed by Dr. Sheikh Muhammad Al-Mas’ari, who also heads the Al-Tajdeed Al-Islami organization – against www.alhesbah.org, a leading Islamist site that is a conduit for messages from Al-Qaeda and other jihad organizations. [1]

Al-Tajdeed accused Al-Hesbah of working for Arab and Western intelligence apparatuses to expose and arrest contributors to the jihad web forums. According to Al-Tajdeed, Al-Hesbah had brought about the arrest of all the founders of another Islamist website, www.al-ansar.org, including “bin Roma” and “Irhabi 007.” Al-Tajdeed also asserted that Al-Hesbah had brought about the arrest of all the members of the Global Information Media Front (GIMF) [2] directly after they posted an announcement, on behalf of Al-Qaeda, taking responsibility for the February 25, 2006 Abqiq operation (an attempt to strike at the Saudi oil fields), and that Al-Hesbah had brought about the killing of the perpetrators of the operation by Saudi security forces.

Al-Hesbah stopped operating on March 17, 2006, and restarted on April 13, 2006. It is common for Islamist websites to disappear from and return to the web, and this is part of the dynamic of Islamist Internet activity. However, Al-Tajdeed took advantage of Al-Hesbah’s temporary disappearance to step up its attacks on it. Al-Tajdeed recommended that jihad supporters visit alternative websites that, it claimed, were more reliable and on which there was no hostile intelligence activity. When Al-Hesbah returned, Al-Tajdeed warned visitors to the site to take precautions lest their identities be discovered, and gave detailed instructions for doing so.

Another jihad website, www.alburak.net, came to the aid of Al-Hesbah, posting an article accusing Arab opposition elements, including Al-Mas’ari as well as Dr. Hani Al-Siba’i and Dr. Sa’d Al-Faqih, also London residents, of attempting to destroy the jihad websites and to smear those active on them. (Two weeks previously, Al-Tajdeed had accused Al-Burak of “becoming a copy of Al-Hesbah.” [3] )

The sharp rivalry between Al-Tajdeed and Al-Hesbah reflects the struggle between the two rival political forces behind them. In the case of Al-Tajdeed, this force is Saudi Islamist opposition activists. Al-Hesbah claims to be an independent religious site, but in light of the platform it gives to slanderous postings about Saudi opposition activists such as Al-Mas’ari and Al-Faqih – even going so far as to accuse them of heresy and treason – it can be identified as a site affiliated with a religious or political rival of the Saudi opposition, such as the Saudi regime itself. (According to its own report, the Saudi regime is active on the Internet. One example of this activity is the Saudi Ministry of Religious Endowment’s Al-Sakinah campaign for on-line dialogue with extremists [4] ).

Al-Tajdeed, which as mentioned belongs to Saudi opposition elements, also features postings by oppositionists from other Arab countries. According to the Al-Burak website, “Omar bin Hanif,” a contributor to Al-Tajdeed (see below), is Egyptian Islamist opposition member Dr. Hani Al-Sib’ai, head of the Al-Maqrizi Institute in London. If Al-Sib’ai is indeed “Omar bin Hanif,” he joined Al-Tajdeed’s struggle against Al-Hesbah with a posting titled “A Series of Exposures of Spies,” which lay the groundwork for the accusations against Al-Hesbah.

In addition, Al-Burak identified several other Al-Tajdeed contributors, also posting under pseudonyms, as oppositionists from various Arab countries. For example, according to Al-Burak, “Al-Fikr Al-Rashid” is in fact Egyptian Islamist Yasser Al-Sirri, who heads the Al-Marsad Institute in London; Al-Ansar contributor “bin Roma” is Algerian sheikh Abdallah Al-Ghamdi; and “Sami 9000” is Mansour Al-Halabi, a Syrian residing in Libya.

The following report, from MEMRI’s Jihad & Terrorism Studies Project’s initiative on Monitoring Islamist and Jihad Websites, analyzes the conflicts between the Islamist and Jihad websites. These multi-faceted conflicts, which involve an array of individual postings, should not be looked at as a phenomenon of individual Islamist participants battling on the Internet (as has been done thus far by various media and research outlets). Rather they should be seen in a larger context, as a phenomenon reflecting the conflicts between rival Arab and Muslim political forces in whose service these websites operate.

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MEMRI – Al-Tajdeed Versus Al-Hesbah: Islamist Websites & the Conflict Between Rival Arab & Muslim Political Forces

Posted on May 18th, 2006 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Inquiry and Analysis Series – No. 275
Al-Tajdeed Versus Al-Hesbah: Islamist Websites & the Conflict Between Rival Arab & Muslim Political Forces

Introduction

Most of the media in the Arab world – newspapers, television, and radio – are affiliated with various political forces, whether governmental or opposition, operating from within the country or outside it. These media are an important tool in the power struggles among the rival political forces behind them.

With the development of the Internet in the Middle East, websites have become yet another tool in the struggle between rival Arab forces. One prominent example of Internet use as part of this struggle is the campaign by www.tajdeed.org.uk – which belongs to the Saudi Islamist opposition operating in London and is directed by Dr. Sheikh Muhammad Al-Mas’ari, who also heads the Al-Tajdeed Al-Islami organization – against www.alhesbah.org, a leading Islamist site that is a conduit for messages from Al-Qaeda and other jihad organizations. [1]

Al-Tajdeed accused Al-Hesbah of working for Arab and Western intelligence apparatuses to expose and arrest contributors to the jihad web forums. According to Al-Tajdeed, Al-Hesbah had brought about the arrest of all the founders of another Islamist website, www.al-ansar.org, including “bin Roma” and “Irhabi 007.” Al-Tajdeed also asserted that Al-Hesbah had brought about the arrest of all the members of the Global Information Media Front (GIMF) [2] directly after they posted an announcement, on behalf of Al-Qaeda, taking responsibility for the February 25, 2006 Abqiq operation (an attempt to strike at the Saudi oil fields), and that Al-Hesbah had brought about the killing of the perpetrators of the operation by Saudi security forces.

Al-Hesbah stopped operating on March 17, 2006, and restarted on April 13, 2006. It is common for Islamist websites to disappear from and return to the web, and this is part of the dynamic of Islamist Internet activity. However, Al-Tajdeed took advantage of Al-Hesbah’s temporary disappearance to step up its attacks on it. Al-Tajdeed recommended that jihad supporters visit alternative websites that, it claimed, were more reliable and on which there was no hostile intelligence activity. When Al-Hesbah returned, Al-Tajdeed warned visitors to the site to take precautions lest their identities be discovered, and gave detailed instructions for doing so.

Another jihad website, www.alburak.net, came to the aid of Al-Hesbah, posting an article accusing Arab opposition elements, including Al-Mas’ari as well as Dr. Hani Al-Siba’i and Dr. Sa’d Al-Faqih, also London residents, of attempting to destroy the jihad websites and to smear those active on them. (Two weeks previously, Al-Tajdeed had accused Al-Burak of “becoming a copy of Al-Hesbah.” [3] )

The sharp rivalry between Al-Tajdeed and Al-Hesbah reflects the struggle between the two rival political forces behind them. In the case of Al-Tajdeed, this force is Saudi Islamist opposition activists. Al-Hesbah claims to be an independent religious site, but in light of the platform it gives to slanderous postings about Saudi opposition activists such as Al-Mas’ari and Al-Faqih – even going so far as to accuse them of heresy and treason – it can be identified as a site affiliated with a religious or political rival of the Saudi opposition, such as the Saudi regime itself. (According to its own report, the Saudi regime is active on the Internet. One example of this activity is the Saudi Ministry of Religious Endowment’s Al-Sakinah campaign for on-line dialogue with extremists [4] ).

Al-Tajdeed, which as mentioned belongs to Saudi opposition elements, also features postings by oppositionists from other Arab countries. According to the Al-Burak website, “Omar bin Hanif,” a contributor to Al-Tajdeed (see below), is Egyptian Islamist opposition member Dr. Hani Al-Sib’ai, head of the Al-Maqrizi Institute in London. If Al-Sib’ai is indeed “Omar bin Hanif,” he joined Al-Tajdeed’s struggle against Al-Hesbah with a posting titled “A Series of Exposures of Spies,” which lay the groundwork for the accusations against Al-Hesbah.

In addition, Al-Burak identified several other Al-Tajdeed contributors, also posting under pseudonyms, as oppositionists from various Arab countries. For example, according to Al-Burak, “Al-Fikr Al-Rashid” is in fact Egyptian Islamist Yasser Al-Sirri, who heads the Al-Marsad Institute in London; Al-Ansar contributor “bin Roma” is Algerian sheikh Abdallah Al-Ghamdi; and “Sami 9000” is Mansour Al-Halabi, a Syrian residing in Libya.

The following report, from MEMRI’s Jihad & Terrorism Studies Project’s initiative on Monitoring Islamist and Jihad Websites, analyzes the conflicts between the Islamist and Jihad websites. These multi-faceted conflicts, which involve an array of individual postings, should not be looked at as a phenomenon of individual Islamist participants battling on the Internet (as has been done thus far by various media and research outlets). Rather they should be seen in a larger context, as a phenomenon reflecting the conflicts between rival Arab and Muslim political forces in whose service these websites operate.

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Saudi Arabia using clerics, Internet to fight al-Qaida | IndyStar.com

Posted on May 9th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Saudi Arabia using clerics, Internet to fight al-Qaida | IndyStar.com
Saudi Arabia using clerics, Internet to fight al-Qaida
Religious re-education program targets youths viewed as potential recruits for terror group

By David B. Ottaway
The Washington Post
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia has mobilized some of its most militant clerics, including one Osama bin Laden sought to recruit as his spiritual guide, in a campaign to combat the appeal of al-Qaida.

The effort has targeted hundreds of young Saudis whom security forces here have arrested as sympathizers or potential recruits. They are then subjected to an intense program of religious re-education by clerics that sometimes lasts for months.
Saudi authorities say that about 500 youths have completed the program and been freed since it began in 2004. They remain under close surveillance.
“None has been found to get reinvolved in terrorism so far,” said Lt. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry. “Their ideology has changed, and they are convinced they were wrong.”
Mohsen al-Awajy, an Islamic lawyer who is known here as a former radical, was skeptical of the effect. “I’m afraid about 85 to 90 percent of those who claim they are changing their minds as a result of this dialogue might not be truthful,” he said.
Al-Turki conceded that Saudi authorities were having great difficulty curbing the appeal of al-Qaida’s ideology among young people, who he said are incited by “the daily killings in Iraq” and a constant barrage of appeals to holy war on Internet sites run by Islamic extremists. Hundreds have crossed into Iraq to join the insurgency there.
Abdel Mohsen al-Obeikan, a former militant cleric now playing a prominent part in the reeducation program, compared the challenge to the war on drugs in the United States. “You cannot stop drugs, either,” he said.
As soon as one terrorist group is eliminated, he said, another pops up that is even more dangerous. “We need a long time. We should be patient.”
Still, Saudi authorities argue they have made real progress in uprooting al-Qaida inside the kingdom, and part of the reason is their efforts with the young people.
But a foiled attack on Feb. 24 against the world’s largest oil terminal at Abqaiq sobered U.S. and Saudi officials.
“Abqaiq shows the problem is not over,” U.S. Ambassador James Oberwetter said in an interview here.
The Internet has become the main battleground against al-Qaida ideology, according to three members of the counseling committee that the Interior Ministry set up to run the re-education program. The body has 22 full-time members, who get help from 100 Islamic clerics and 30 psychiatrists.
Islamic counselors selected by the committee have succeeded in infiltrating a number of extremist Web sites and chat rooms.
Islamic Affairs Minister Saleh al-Asheikh told reporters in February that the government had established dialogue with 800 al-Qaida sympathizers this way and succeeded in changing the thinking of 250.

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Saudi Arabia using clerics, Internet to fight al-Qaida | IndyStar.com

Posted on May 9th, 2006 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Saudi Arabia using clerics, Internet to fight al-Qaida | IndyStar.com
Saudi Arabia using clerics, Internet to fight al-Qaida
Religious re-education program targets youths viewed as potential recruits for terror group

By David B. Ottaway
The Washington Post
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia has mobilized some of its most militant clerics, including one Osama bin Laden sought to recruit as his spiritual guide, in a campaign to combat the appeal of al-Qaida.

The effort has targeted hundreds of young Saudis whom security forces here have arrested as sympathizers or potential recruits. They are then subjected to an intense program of religious re-education by clerics that sometimes lasts for months.
Saudi authorities say that about 500 youths have completed the program and been freed since it began in 2004. They remain under close surveillance.
“None has been found to get reinvolved in terrorism so far,” said Lt. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry. “Their ideology has changed, and they are convinced they were wrong.”
Mohsen al-Awajy, an Islamic lawyer who is known here as a former radical, was skeptical of the effect. “I’m afraid about 85 to 90 percent of those who claim they are changing their minds as a result of this dialogue might not be truthful,” he said.
Al-Turki conceded that Saudi authorities were having great difficulty curbing the appeal of al-Qaida’s ideology among young people, who he said are incited by “the daily killings in Iraq” and a constant barrage of appeals to holy war on Internet sites run by Islamic extremists. Hundreds have crossed into Iraq to join the insurgency there.
Abdel Mohsen al-Obeikan, a former militant cleric now playing a prominent part in the reeducation program, compared the challenge to the war on drugs in the United States. “You cannot stop drugs, either,” he said.
As soon as one terrorist group is eliminated, he said, another pops up that is even more dangerous. “We need a long time. We should be patient.”
Still, Saudi authorities argue they have made real progress in uprooting al-Qaida inside the kingdom, and part of the reason is their efforts with the young people.
But a foiled attack on Feb. 24 against the world’s largest oil terminal at Abqaiq sobered U.S. and Saudi officials.
“Abqaiq shows the problem is not over,” U.S. Ambassador James Oberwetter said in an interview here.
The Internet has become the main battleground against al-Qaida ideology, according to three members of the counseling committee that the Interior Ministry set up to run the re-education program. The body has 22 full-time members, who get help from 100 Islamic clerics and 30 psychiatrists.
Islamic counselors selected by the committee have succeeded in infiltrating a number of extremist Web sites and chat rooms.
Islamic Affairs Minister Saleh al-Asheikh told reporters in February that the government had established dialogue with 800 al-Qaida sympathizers this way and succeeded in changing the thinking of 250.

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St. Paul Pioneer Press | 05/07/2006 | Muslim extremists target moderates

Posted on May 8th, 2006 by .
Categories: Internal Debates.

St. Paul Pioneer Press | 05/07/2006 | Muslim extremists target moderates
Muslim extremists target moderates
Threats and violence spark debate over who can call whom ‘apostate’
BY OMAR SACIRBEY
Religion News Service

Khaled Abou El Fadl had argued that nothing in democracy violates Shariah or Islamic law, but the conservative commentator whom he was debating on an Egyptian talk show in March equated that view with support for America’s invasion of Iraq.

To some Muslims, that position is a betrayal of faith and punishable by death. And sure enough, the phone at El Fadl’s father’s home in Cairo, where the Islamic law scholar from UCLA was staying, started ringing with death threats.

“In the ’60s, an accusation like that could be made on TV, but you wouldn’t get death threats,” El Fadl said. But following the invasion of Iraq, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and other events deemed crimes against Muslims, “we’ve reached a point where emotions are so charged and things are so volatile that people hear these accusations, and they immediately start making threats.”

Muslim-on-Muslim violence has existed since Islam’s Prophet Muhammad died in 632. Violence in modern times has involved national clashes like those between Pakistan and Bangladesh or Iraq and Iran, as well as religious attacks, such as those against Shiite and Sufi Muslims or other groups viewed by extremists as heretical sects.

Now, some observers say, Islamic extremists are expanding their campaign of violence to include moderate Muslims whom they view as obstacles to the establishment of Islamic rule. At the same time, extremists are also expanding the criteria by which one can be considered an apostate, blasphemer or heretic, and thus fair game for punishment or death. The violence has sparked debate across the Muslim world over who has the authority to judge someone an apostate, and pushed extremist groups to come up with new justifications to spill the blood of fellow Muslims.

In early April, for example, a group calling itself Supporters of God’s Messenger issued a hit list of 32 Muslim academics, writers and other figures, including eight from the United States and Canada. The group accused those on the list of denying “prophetic tradition,” supporting Israel against the Palestinians, working with Christians “and demanding for them the right of ruling over our Muslim lands.”

The letter sparked long debates on Arabic news Web sites.

“These illiterate fanatics take Quranic verses out of context. The way to combat these noisy few is by allowing freedom of expression, and political parties,” wrote one reader at Alarabiya.net, site of the Arabic satellite news network. A second reader wrote that the letter-writers should be in prison, while another said those named on the list all belong in hell.

Many observers suspect extremist Muslims were responsible for an April 11 suicide attack in Pakistan that killed 57 people at a prayer festival celebrating the birthday of Prophet Muhammad. The festival was organized by moderate Sunni Muslim groups, and influential leaders were among the dead.

Motives for the attack, observers said, included a simple desire to cause terror among moderate Muslims, but also to protest the celebration of the prophet’s birthday, something extremists would consider tantamount to idol worship.

Threats have also been leveled against moderate Muslims in the United States. Last year, for example, the organizers of a woman-led prayer had to change its location when the original host, a New York art gallery, balked after receiving bomb threats.

Islamic clerics cite Quranic verses and other teachings they say prohibit Muslims from taking other Muslim lives, but extremists have just as easily reasoned that the importance of their mission overrides the imperative of not harming fellow Muslims. Indeed, some extremists drawing from the puritanical Wahhabi school of thought in Saudi Arabia argue killing moderate Muslims is called for.

“Extremists feel the moderates are the problem,” said Qamar-ul Huda, who works on religion and peacemaking issues at the United States Institute for Peace in Washington. “The moderates get in the way of creating a pure Islamic society. So they become not just moderate Muslims, but the infidel. They are the ones who are seen as corrupt, as cooperating with the West, as instigating the decay in society.”

0 comments.

St. Paul Pioneer Press | 05/07/2006 | Muslim extremists target moderates

Posted on May 8th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates.

St. Paul Pioneer Press | 05/07/2006 | Muslim extremists target moderates
Muslim extremists target moderates
Threats and violence spark debate over who can call whom ‘apostate’
BY OMAR SACIRBEY
Religion News Service

Khaled Abou El Fadl had argued that nothing in democracy violates Shariah or Islamic law, but the conservative commentator whom he was debating on an Egyptian talk show in March equated that view with support for America’s invasion of Iraq.

To some Muslims, that position is a betrayal of faith and punishable by death. And sure enough, the phone at El Fadl’s father’s home in Cairo, where the Islamic law scholar from UCLA was staying, started ringing with death threats.

“In the ’60s, an accusation like that could be made on TV, but you wouldn’t get death threats,” El Fadl said. But following the invasion of Iraq, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and other events deemed crimes against Muslims, “we’ve reached a point where emotions are so charged and things are so volatile that people hear these accusations, and they immediately start making threats.”

Muslim-on-Muslim violence has existed since Islam’s Prophet Muhammad died in 632. Violence in modern times has involved national clashes like those between Pakistan and Bangladesh or Iraq and Iran, as well as religious attacks, such as those against Shiite and Sufi Muslims or other groups viewed by extremists as heretical sects.

Now, some observers say, Islamic extremists are expanding their campaign of violence to include moderate Muslims whom they view as obstacles to the establishment of Islamic rule. At the same time, extremists are also expanding the criteria by which one can be considered an apostate, blasphemer or heretic, and thus fair game for punishment or death. The violence has sparked debate across the Muslim world over who has the authority to judge someone an apostate, and pushed extremist groups to come up with new justifications to spill the blood of fellow Muslims.

In early April, for example, a group calling itself Supporters of God’s Messenger issued a hit list of 32 Muslim academics, writers and other figures, including eight from the United States and Canada. The group accused those on the list of denying “prophetic tradition,” supporting Israel against the Palestinians, working with Christians “and demanding for them the right of ruling over our Muslim lands.”

The letter sparked long debates on Arabic news Web sites.

“These illiterate fanatics take Quranic verses out of context. The way to combat these noisy few is by allowing freedom of expression, and political parties,” wrote one reader at Alarabiya.net, site of the Arabic satellite news network. A second reader wrote that the letter-writers should be in prison, while another said those named on the list all belong in hell.

Many observers suspect extremist Muslims were responsible for an April 11 suicide attack in Pakistan that killed 57 people at a prayer festival celebrating the birthday of Prophet Muhammad. The festival was organized by moderate Sunni Muslim groups, and influential leaders were among the dead.

Motives for the attack, observers said, included a simple desire to cause terror among moderate Muslims, but also to protest the celebration of the prophet’s birthday, something extremists would consider tantamount to idol worship.

Threats have also been leveled against moderate Muslims in the United States. Last year, for example, the organizers of a woman-led prayer had to change its location when the original host, a New York art gallery, balked after receiving bomb threats.

Islamic clerics cite Quranic verses and other teachings they say prohibit Muslims from taking other Muslim lives, but extremists have just as easily reasoned that the importance of their mission overrides the imperative of not harming fellow Muslims. Indeed, some extremists drawing from the puritanical Wahhabi school of thought in Saudi Arabia argue killing moderate Muslims is called for.

“Extremists feel the moderates are the problem,” said Qamar-ul Huda, who works on religion and peacemaking issues at the United States Institute for Peace in Washington. “The moderates get in the way of creating a pure Islamic society. So they become not just moderate Muslims, but the infidel. They are the ones who are seen as corrupt, as cooperating with the West, as instigating the decay in society.”

0 comments.

C L O S E R – Annual Meeting of Muslims in France

Posted on May 6th, 2006 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, Young Muslims.

This weekend the annual meeting of Muslims in France, takes place in Bourges. See the program (*.pdf) or watch LIVE.

0 comments.

RNW: Is the current criticism of Islam comparable to anti-Semitism in the 1930s?

Posted on May 6th, 2006 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, Multiculti Issues.

RNW: Is the current criticism of Islam comparable to anti-Semitism in the 1930s?
Is the current criticism of Islam comparable to anti-Semitism in the 1930s?
Transmission date: Sunday 14 May 2006

Andy Clark

05-05-2006

Can the present anti-Islam rhetoric really be compared to European and especially German anti-Semitism in the 1930s?Muslim human rights activist Abdullahi An-Na’im thinks the current anti-Islam rhetoric in the Netherlands – repeated worldwide by its leading proponents – is indeed similar to the anti-Jewish rhetoric of the 1930s.

Professor an-Na’im made his comments in a speech at Utrecht University during a commemoration day ceremony for the Second World War.

He says anti-Semitism in those days had its unique characteristics, which can never be repeated.

But, he argues, that does not deny the existence of a basic similarity, the similarity being the definition of the one community as essentially different from – and superior to – others.

“The principle is to first reduce a people to a stereotype and then say that therefore they are bad people. In that way, defining superior Dutchness as opposed to Islam is in fact comparable to anti-Semitism,” he said.

Professor an-Na’im says he fled the tyranny of Sudanese Islamists, but now he sees the same type of thinking in the anti-immigration and anti-Islam rhetoric in Europe. Ironically, he says, the critics in Europe of Islam and the fundamentalists themselves both advocate the same claim – that human rights are incompatible with Islam.

What do you think? Is there a witch-hunt against Islam comparable to 1930s anti-Semitism?

The panellists:

Professor Abdullahi an-Na’im is an internationally known Muslim reformer and human rights activist. Originally a law professor at Khartoum University, he fled Sudan after his mentor and friend, the Sudanese Muslim reformer Mahmoud Taha, was executed as a heretic in 1985. At present, professor an-Na’im is a guest lecturer at Utrecht University.

“The Dutch people have to be on their guard not to turn the Netherlands into a Dutch fortress,” he said.

0 comments.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Saudi novel breaks sex taboos

Posted on May 1st, 2006 by .
Categories: Internal Debates.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Saudi novel breaks sex taboos
Saudi novel breaks sex taboos

By Heba Saleh
BBC News, Riyadh

A controversial novel written by a young Saudi woman is breaking taboos in the Kingdom’s conservative society.

Banat al-Riyadh, or The Girls of Riyadh, speaks openly of sex, lesbianism and young women’s desire to lead freer lives.

The author, Rajaa al-Sanei, is a 24-year old dentist from a conservative Saudi family.

Her book has angered some people in Saudi Arabia, but it has also attracted praise for its honesty.

Rajaa al-Sanei
Author Rajaa al-Sanei writes openly about life in Saudi Arabia

The four young women at the centre of the novel challenge Saudi Arabia’s strict social and sexual conventions.

Under the country’s Islamic law, women are meant to be covered and accompanied by a male relative in public. In this extract two of the heroines are shown dressing up as men.

“Mashael put on a pair of baggy trousers with many pockets and a large jacket which covered her body, concealing every sign of femininity.

“As for Lamees, she donned the white robe of a man, complete with full headgear. Her tall, athletic body gave her the appearance of a handsome young man”

The novel is full of popular references and shows the modern side of Saudi Arabia.

“The girls’ first stop was the famous coffee shop on Thaliya Street,” al-Sanei writes in one passage.

“The young men realised the shaded windows of the X5 car concealed a valuable catch. They surrounded the car from every direction.

“They either shouted out their numbers or held them up written on big signs that had been prepared in advance so that they could be seen clearly by girls in passing cars.”

Conservatives say the novel smears Saudi society. But the Minister of Culture, Iyad Madani, says it reflects the way many young people in the Kingdom actually live.

“It connected with the new generation because it was based on how our young people use their mobile phones to create relationships.”

The internet and satellite TV channels mean Saudis are no longer sheltered from outside influences.

It is not just conservative hardliners who are critical of the book. Hani Khoja produces a youth television programme, he has many reservations about it.

“The lesbian aspect of it, the gay son – that’s not been talked about before. Obviously it happens… but to say it in public doesn’t show the other rich elements of Saudi.

“I don’t think it’s a very balanced portrayal of Riyadh”.

The authorities only allowed the book to go on sale in the last few weeks, but it shows the government is willing to confront the country’s hardliners in order to liberalise a few more aspects of life in Saudi Arabia.

1 comment.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Saudi novel breaks sex taboos

Posted on May 1st, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Saudi novel breaks sex taboos
Saudi novel breaks sex taboos

By Heba Saleh
BBC News, Riyadh

A controversial novel written by a young Saudi woman is breaking taboos in the Kingdom’s conservative society.

Banat al-Riyadh, or The Girls of Riyadh, speaks openly of sex, lesbianism and young women’s desire to lead freer lives.

The author, Rajaa al-Sanei, is a 24-year old dentist from a conservative Saudi family.

Her book has angered some people in Saudi Arabia, but it has also attracted praise for its honesty.

Rajaa al-Sanei
Author Rajaa al-Sanei writes openly about life in Saudi Arabia

The four young women at the centre of the novel challenge Saudi Arabia’s strict social and sexual conventions.

Under the country’s Islamic law, women are meant to be covered and accompanied by a male relative in public. In this extract two of the heroines are shown dressing up as men.

“Mashael put on a pair of baggy trousers with many pockets and a large jacket which covered her body, concealing every sign of femininity.

“As for Lamees, she donned the white robe of a man, complete with full headgear. Her tall, athletic body gave her the appearance of a handsome young man”

The novel is full of popular references and shows the modern side of Saudi Arabia.

“The girls’ first stop was the famous coffee shop on Thaliya Street,” al-Sanei writes in one passage.

“The young men realised the shaded windows of the X5 car concealed a valuable catch. They surrounded the car from every direction.

“They either shouted out their numbers or held them up written on big signs that had been prepared in advance so that they could be seen clearly by girls in passing cars.”

Conservatives say the novel smears Saudi society. But the Minister of Culture, Iyad Madani, says it reflects the way many young people in the Kingdom actually live.

“It connected with the new generation because it was based on how our young people use their mobile phones to create relationships.”

The internet and satellite TV channels mean Saudis are no longer sheltered from outside influences.

It is not just conservative hardliners who are critical of the book. Hani Khoja produces a youth television programme, he has many reservations about it.

“The lesbian aspect of it, the gay son – that’s not been talked about before. Obviously it happens… but to say it in public doesn’t show the other rich elements of Saudi.

“I don’t think it’s a very balanced portrayal of Riyadh”.

The authorities only allowed the book to go on sale in the last few weeks, but it shows the government is willing to confront the country’s hardliners in order to liberalise a few more aspects of life in Saudi Arabia.

1 comment.

Aljazeera.Net – Morocco introduces women preachers

Posted on April 28th, 2006 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, Islamnews.

Aljazeera.Net – Morocco introduces women preachers
Morocco introduces women preachers

Friday 28 April 2006, 11:50 Makka Time, 8:50 GMT

The idea took off after the May, 2003 attacks in Casablanca

Morocco has just graduated its first team of women preachers to be deployed as a vanguard in its fight against any slide towards Islamic extremism.

“This is a rare experiment in the Muslim world,” proudly stated Muhammad Mahfudh, director of the centre attached to the Islamic affairs ministry that trained this first class of 50 women.

Ministry spokesman Hamid Rono said it was the “first (of its kind) in the Islamic world”.

This pioneer group of Murshidat, or guides, who finished a 12-month course in early April, were trained to “accompany and orient” Muslim faithful, notably in prisons, hospitals and schools, said Mahfudh.

They will earn a salary of 5,000 dirhams ($560) a month.

Samira Marzouk, in her 30s like most of the others, exclaims how “proud” she is to be part of this first group.

She sees their mission as one to “fill in the gaps that prevent a solid framework for religion”. (more…)

0 comments.

Amsterdam.nl – Amsterdamlezing door Ahmed Aboutaleb

Posted on April 27th, 2006 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, Islam in the Netherlands.

Amsterdam.nl – Amsterdamlezing, 25 april 2006
Amsterdamlezing, 25 april 2006
26 april 2006
–
Herbert Raat

Lezing uitgesproken door Ahmed Aboutaleb op 25 april 2006 in het kader van de reeks Amsterdamlezingen 2005-2006: de seculiere stad.

Is er een plek voor de islam in Amsterdam?

0 comments.

Asharq Al-Awsat Interviews Sudanese Islamist leader Dr. Hassan Turabi

Posted on April 27th, 2006 by .
Categories: Internal Debates.

Asharq Alawsat Newspaper (English)
Still not very much attention is being paid to Turabi’s recent fatwa’s. So therefore, here the whole Asharq Al-Awsat Interview with Sudanese Islamist leader Dr. Hassan Turabi.

24/04/2006

By Imam Mohamed Imam
London, Asharq Al-Awsat- The following is the full text of the controversial interview that Asharq al-Awsat conducted with Sudanese Islamist leader Dr. Hassan Turabi, which resulted in him being branded an apostate by Sudan’s Muslim scholars:

Q) Fatwas that you have issued, regarding the permissibility of marriage between a Muslim woman and a man of the Christian or Jewish persuasion, have been the subject of much controversy. Do you mean that married women who converted to Islam can remain married to a non-Muslim husband, or that a Muslim woman can marry a non-Muslim man?

A) First, we have to look at the context of this matter particularly from the framework of Ijtihad when it comes to the general issues of women in Islam. The modern and contemporary Islamic discourse on women lags far behind the authentic Islamic rules and principles as contemporary Muslims do not think deeply about these principles when it comes to the marriage of their daughters.

The fatwa was a response to issues in the Muslim community in the United States. There was an incident in which an American woman went to one of the Islamic centers to convert; however, she wanted to remain married to her non-Muslim husband after she converted. The center’s officials told her that if she was sincere in her desire to become a Muslim that she would begin divorce procedures, despite the huge costs and even if this meant that she would lose custody of her children. They did not consider that this was too much to ask from someone who was still taking their first steps towards Islam. Such an attitude in fact causes many women to be reluctant to convert.

Of course, before issuing the edict, I had to undertake a lot of research concerning Islamic law, particularly by reading books on Islamic jurisprudence that were written at certain historical intervals. All the past fatwas that prohibited the marriage of Muslim women to non-Muslim men were issued during periods in which political disputes between Muslims and non-Muslims were taking place. On the other hand, I could not find a single word that prohibited such marriage in either the Quran or the Sunnah.

In the particular case of the woman who wanted to convert in the United States, my opinion was that she should have remained married to the non-Muslim man. She may have been the reason that her non-Muslim husband converted. Perhaps even other families of female American converts would have followed the same path. Many people were perplexed by what I said and attacked me for it. Some even decided that I was now an infidel! They depicted the whole issue as if it was a matter of honor. However, if you look at it objectively, the conversion and Islamic conduct of the wife may have positively influenced the husband, an influence that the Muslims of the West need.

We should let the Muslim minorities, who live amongst the ‘People of the Book’ in the west, evaluate this issue and decide what is appropriate for them, as they are the first group affected. They would conclude that they should allow their daughters to marry Jews and Christians because perhaps these marriages will bring the husbands to Islam or else the women may remain a Muslim. In the West, the individual freedoms are generally wider and the Western Muslims to decide when it comes to this issue especially.

Q) So are you saying that women who converted to Islam can remain married to their non-Muslim husbands, but that a Muslim woman marrying a non-Muslim man is forbidden?

A) No, I had spoken previously about this type of marriage and I believe that marriage between a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim man is valid since nothing in the Quran or Sunnah dictates otherwise. The decision should also be based on the individuality of each case therefore; I cannot say this type of marriage is prohibited based on the accumulated teachings of past scholars.

These teachings for example tell us that Ijmaa (consensus) is the consensus of jurists at any given age but the Quran says is different. The same accumulated sayings of scholars also recommended that we should obey the ruler even if he seized power by force. The Quran does not approve of this. We should always refer to the origins that are Quran and Sunnah.

Q) You once stated that the Hijab did not specify a woman covering her head, which was also considered controversial?

A) These are lies spread by some journalists who never attended the lecture in which I spoke about issues relating to the Muslim woman. Some journalists find attributing false statements to me entertaining. In that particular lecture, I did not discuss a particular dogma or edict, but I did discuss Quranic philology and the fact that many are unclear about it.

When the Quran addressed the issue of Hijab, it was within the context of addressing the room in which the Prophet (PBUH) used to meet his guests. It meant that the Prophets wives could not be in the same room when many people, for many different reasons, visited the Prophet.

Therefore, it stated that wives of the Prophet should be behind a curtain and that if people wanted to ask them anything, they should reply from behind that curtain. Therefore, Hijab here meant a curtain or divider and not a dress code. The use of the word Hijab could be employed in many ways, for example, the Quran was described as a Hijab between its reader and the wrong path.

At that particular lecture, I told the audience to use the word Khimar when referring to the dress code. I was speaking from a philological perspective. I told them that alcoholic beverages were called Khamr because they obscured the brain and engulfed it. Similarly, Khimar (as headscarf) covers the head and body of women. Those who stated that Al Turabi denies the wearing of the Islamic veil by woman either did not understand what I said or were not present at the lecture.

Q) So you do not object to Muslim women covering their hair as part of Hijab?

A) Firstly, I do not call it Hijab but rather Khimar because the latter is a Quranic word. Hijab means curtain like the one you may have at home, so what we have here is a linguistic dispute.

When I spoke about certain Islamic laws in the past, I managed to irritate many men, for example, when I addressed the subject of punishing ones wife, the Quran does not say a husband can beat his wife, it is the judge that passes judgment, not the husband.

Q) The cause of more controversy has been your declaration that the testimony of a man is equal to that of a woman, which defies the Quran, which says “a man or two women from whom you accept as witnesses, lest that one forgets, so she could be reminded by the other.”

A) My dear brother, do not judge me before I clarify my position. The verse to which you referred guides us in the issue of writing debts. It ordered that there should be a writer and that there should be witnesses to testify the debt contract. Allah (SWT) said “lest one of the women forgets.” He did not say that she would surely forget. In another verse of the Quran, Allah asked for two “just” witnesses to attest the death of someone who was on the verge of passing away. Here he did not specify gender. In fact, female members of the family are more likely to be present at somebody’s death. In this case, the same rules of testimony apply to both sexes.

Many people are ignorant of Islamic judicial procedures. There are several ways of testimony, like the authentication of contracts or testifying in front of a judge or an attorney. Nowadays we have women who are professional lawyers and businesswoman, and many men are not able to compete with them.

Q) Can we incorporate the Islamic dogma of one man’s testimony equaling that of two women to business and debt related matters?

A) The Quran did not say that the woman would surely forget, but that she may forget. Back then, women were largely inexperienced in business and trade and Allah had ordered men to be the provider. Now it is up to the judge to decide who is more qualified to testify.

Q) Did you issue a fatwa that permits woman to lead men in communal prayers?

A) Who prohibited that in the first place? It was your customs and traditions and not Quran or Sunnah and your customs that preferred her prayers at home and not in the mosque. There was a female companion of the Prophet who led men in prayer. When there is a pious woman, she should lead the prayers and whoever is distracted by her beauty should be deemed sick. We do not look at an Imam’s white beard or ugly face but we listen to the content of what he says. The case should be same with scholarly pious women.

Q) Sayings of the Prophet (Hadith) refer to the return of Jesus, something that you dispute, on what is your belief based?

A) Hadith does not abrogate the Quran. The Quran clearly speaks of Jesus when it referred to him addressing the coming of another prophet after him named Ahmad. He did not say while I was alive, but said “after me.” Furthermore, the Quran told us that the Prophet was the last of the Prophets. This idea came into Islam because of desperate Muslims looking for a savior, as well as due to Christian influences.

Q) You also dispute Hadith about the awaited arrival of the Mahdi.

A) There are a number of Hadith about that, however, I urge Muslims not to idly await his arrival, which promises to bring justice to the world. Muslims do not galvanize themselves to achieve this justice. They are like the followers of the Prophet Moses when they told him go and fight with your God, but we will stay here. I say to Muslims, you are all Mahdis, God willing.

Q) Let us move on with a question concerning the deadlock between the Sudanese government and the Sudanese Liberation Movement regarding whether Khartoum should be subjected to Islamic law?

A) This is an example of scholars issuing an appropriate albeit illegal fatwa to please their rulers. When Allah says in the Quran, that whoever rules with a law other than what Allah revealed are infidels, he did not only mean the rulers but also the scholars that validate such behavior for them through false religious reasoning. The Nifasha agreement eliminated Shariaa from the federal system but the anger of those who previously called for Shariaa was never expressed. The constitution we have now has no place for Shariaa even in the other northern regions, so how can we find room for Shariaa in Khartoum?

Q) You believe that apostasy should not be punishable by death. There has been a recent case of an Afghan who was about to be killed for apostasy but was saved under the pretense of mental illness. The case was recognized internationally as Italy wants to grant him asylum.

A) There are too many Quranic verses to recite (regarding this). We are ordered to debate with Christians and Jews except those who are unjust. We believe in their prophets who are our prophets too. We believe in their books even if some distortion took place. We are ordered to treat them cordially.

Q) You have mentioned more than once that the problem of Darfur could be resolved in one session.

A) I do not have weapons with which to attack the Darfur rebels and I do not have the financial resources of the government but I can speak about the issues. As a political party, we have papers in Arabic and English on all the thorny issues of Darfur that I can sum up for you.

-They are Arabs and Muslims so despite the similarity of their case with the south, they would not have the same demands.

-There should be better coordination between the states so that central government cannot divide them nor surpass them.

-The old roads used for camel trade with Egypt should be restored.

-Their elected local councils should be restored. Right now, they are appointed and not elected.

– They should also be given slightly more than their usual share of public finance because historically, they have been subjected to more losses from the British, as they fought against them and for the Ottoman side. As a punishment, the British deprived them from education and paved roads. The same treatment ironically, continued at the hands of their compatriots after independence.

Give them all of the above and for an interim period allow them to rule themselves through freely elected councils and through their own political parties. This is all that it takes and this is not difficult.

Today there are two million Sudanese refugees. The whole of Sudan, government and people, do not pay give them any money. The western organizations and the United Nations play the role that the state should play. The African peacekeeping forces only stay in cities and they do not intervene in the atrocities that take place in the countryside. Armed robbery has not become the practice of the Janjaweed and the Sudanese official armed forces only, but also amongst the people of Darfur themselves. Armed robbery has become a way of life for many. Everyday, people are dying as we consider whether the local councils of Darfur represent the people or not. The government states it is against foreign intervention, but are the African forces not foreign too?

Q) What do you think about most recent events in Chad?

A) Chad was invaded by armies. Did they fall out of the sky or were they sent? What is the country East of Chad? How did Idriss Deby re-enter Chad? Who was behind him pushing and supporting him? The answers to all these questions are obvious and cannot be denied. The documents are available. The issue of Darfur has surpassed Sudan and even Africa and we must resolve it as quickly as possible.

0 comments.

Reuters AlertNet – Bin Laden words raise Saudi reform debate tensions

Posted on April 25th, 2006 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Reuters AlertNet – Bin Laden words raise Saudi reform debate tensions
Bin Laden words raise Saudi reform debate tensions
24 Apr 2006 16:47:42 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Andrew Hammond

RIYADH, April 24 (Reuters) – An unprecedented verbal attack by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on Saudi liberals will raise the temperature in a tense debate over reforms in his native Saudi Arabia, analysts and activists said on Monday.

Bin Laden said some Arab intellectuals were “scorning religion” and singled out Saudi Labour Minister Ghazi Algosaibi by name, according to the Web site of Al Jazeera television.

The attack is seen as a new tactic for the militant whose followers have waged a violent campaign against the Saudi government since 2003.

Al Qaeda analyst Faris bin Houzam said the comments by bin Laden, who has been in hiding since the September 11 attacks on U.S. cities in 2001, could lead to attacks on liberal writers.

“This is a sign to his supporters to target these people, and thus we could enter a new wave for al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

Al Jazeera television, which aired parts of an audio tape by the Saudi-born militant on Sunday, published more of his remarks on its Web site www.AlJazeera.net.

“Bin Laden attacked ministers including Saudi Labour Minister Ghazi Algosaibi, writers and journalists in Saudi Arabia and some (other) Gulf countries, accusing some of them of being unbelievers and apostates…,” the site said.

It quoted the al Qaeda leader as saying: “The heretics among us are mocking our religion and our Prophet, therefore be fearful of God, satisfy Him and do not seek opinions about killing these heretics.”

TAPPING ANTI-WEST SENTIMENT

The reference to Algosaibi echoed an Internet article by a Saudi Islamist activist — Mohsen al-Awajy — in March, which accused a clique of liberal advisers, including the minister, of influencing King Abdullah.

Awajy, who was detained by police for more than a week over the article, said bin Laden wanted to tap into widespread anger at secular reformers who are seen as pro-Western at a time when anti-West sentiment is strong over the U.S. invasion of Iraq and support for Israel.

“It is a fertile period for anyone to talk about this agenda. Anyone who attacks liberals and secularists is a hero. I think bin Laden picked up on this and waved his wand to mobilise more sympathisers,” he told Reuters.

Turki al-Hamad, a liberal writer attacked on one Internet forum on Monday as a “heretic”, said bin Laden was worried about the advance of reforms since the king came to power last year.

Women are an increasing presence in public life, senior officials have expressed hope women may be allowed to drive cars, and the authorities are trying to soften Saudi’s hardline version of Islam in education, media and mosques.

“For bin Laden to throw himself into the current struggle in Saudi Arabia is serious. But it is a recognition that they (liberals) are having an influence and that there are changes in Saudi Arabia,” al-Hamad said.

He said it was too early to say whether the diatribe against reformers would put their lives in danger. “We need time to absorb what he said.”

0 comments.

C L O S E R – Al Turabi on ‘unquestionable issues in Islam’

Posted on April 24th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Internal Debates, Public Islam, Religious and Political Radicalization.

On Freedom for Egyptians an interesting article about the quite spectacular statements of the Sudanese Muslim Leader Dr. Hassan Al Turabi, still ignored by mainstream press. Thanks to my ISIM colleague Robbert for alerting me already two weeks ago:

Freedom for Egyptians الحرية للمصريين
Sudanese Islamic Leader Dr. Hassan Al Turabi gave new statements and released some new fatwas (religious opinions/edicts) that blew up many of what is believed to be basics or unquestionable issues in Islam, many related to the usurped righted of women.

In Islam, Muslim women are not allowed but to marry a Muslim man or a man who has converted to Islam. On the other hand, Muslim men are allowed to marry any woman from any faith with no restrictions.

Dr. Al Turabi, a party leader, said that a Muslim woman is allowed to marry a Christian or a Jew and not necessarily a Muslim. He asserted that forbidding her from marrying a man from another faith is aimed at dragging women backward. He added that Islamic Shariaa (Islamic jurisdiction) does not provide any restrictions for women to marry any man from another faith. He said that it was forbidden during war when Muslims were fighting with other armies. He said that when the reason is gone, the restriction is lifted.

Dr. Al Turabi, 74, in a seminar at the headquarters of the opposition Al Umma party said that women have the right to lead prayers. Current Muslim clerics forbid women from leading the prayers. Al Turabi said, if she has more knowledge, she has the right to lead the prayers. The criterion is the knowledge and not the gender.

He said that Prophet Muhammed permitted one of his followers who was a knowledgeable Muslim woman to lead the prayers at her home that included all men. He also cited the wife of the prophet, Aisha, as a model.

Al Turabi, PhD, said in this seminar entitled “The Role of Women in Establishing Good Governance” that women’s testimony at courts is equal to men. In Islam, one man’s testimony is equal to two women. Al Turabi denied this and said this is meant to go back to the dark ages and has nothing to do with Islam. He challenged anyone who could bring evidence that this is true.

He also refuted the idea of the Hijab, headscarves. He said that the Hijab is applied against the misinterpretation of some Quran verses and cannot be generalized on all the generations. He said that headscarves were made for the wives of prophet Muhammed not for all women.

Al Turabi called upon all women to invade politics, innovative, intellectual and sports domains and get all her rights and be an active participant in drawing strategies and stipulating legislations. He also attacked the Sudanese government and said the current regime does not enjoy any governance that is based on freedom, transparency and accountability and democratic participation.

Al Turabi said we living in Sudan in an age of corruption and there is a need for family and society reform and women’s inclusion. He emphasized the need for an election law that provides the participation of women so that they can play a role in political parties, elections and leadership positions.

Al Turabi also said that alcohol is not forbidden by Islam as agreed by most of Islamic clerics. He said that alcohol is only forbidden when drinking becomes an aggression. Practicing Muslims do not drink alchohol. Al Turabi’s article in Arabic.

On Memritv.org you can read the transcript and view the interview on Al-Arabiya TV: (more…)

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C L O S E R – Al Turabi on 'unquestionable issues in Islam'

Posted on April 24th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Internal Debates, Public Islam, Religious and Political Radicalization.

On Freedom for Egyptians an interesting article about the quite spectacular statements of the Sudanese Muslim Leader Dr. Hassan Al Turabi, still ignored by mainstream press. Thanks to my ISIM colleague Robbert for alerting me already two weeks ago:

Freedom for Egyptians الحرية للمصريين
Sudanese Islamic Leader Dr. Hassan Al Turabi gave new statements and released some new fatwas (religious opinions/edicts) that blew up many of what is believed to be basics or unquestionable issues in Islam, many related to the usurped righted of women.

In Islam, Muslim women are not allowed but to marry a Muslim man or a man who has converted to Islam. On the other hand, Muslim men are allowed to marry any woman from any faith with no restrictions.

Dr. Al Turabi, a party leader, said that a Muslim woman is allowed to marry a Christian or a Jew and not necessarily a Muslim. He asserted that forbidding her from marrying a man from another faith is aimed at dragging women backward. He added that Islamic Shariaa (Islamic jurisdiction) does not provide any restrictions for women to marry any man from another faith. He said that it was forbidden during war when Muslims were fighting with other armies. He said that when the reason is gone, the restriction is lifted.

Dr. Al Turabi, 74, in a seminar at the headquarters of the opposition Al Umma party said that women have the right to lead prayers. Current Muslim clerics forbid women from leading the prayers. Al Turabi said, if she has more knowledge, she has the right to lead the prayers. The criterion is the knowledge and not the gender.

He said that Prophet Muhammed permitted one of his followers who was a knowledgeable Muslim woman to lead the prayers at her home that included all men. He also cited the wife of the prophet, Aisha, as a model.

Al Turabi, PhD, said in this seminar entitled “The Role of Women in Establishing Good Governance” that women’s testimony at courts is equal to men. In Islam, one man’s testimony is equal to two women. Al Turabi denied this and said this is meant to go back to the dark ages and has nothing to do with Islam. He challenged anyone who could bring evidence that this is true.

He also refuted the idea of the Hijab, headscarves. He said that the Hijab is applied against the misinterpretation of some Quran verses and cannot be generalized on all the generations. He said that headscarves were made for the wives of prophet Muhammed not for all women.

Al Turabi called upon all women to invade politics, innovative, intellectual and sports domains and get all her rights and be an active participant in drawing strategies and stipulating legislations. He also attacked the Sudanese government and said the current regime does not enjoy any governance that is based on freedom, transparency and accountability and democratic participation.

Al Turabi said we living in Sudan in an age of corruption and there is a need for family and society reform and women’s inclusion. He emphasized the need for an election law that provides the participation of women so that they can play a role in political parties, elections and leadership positions.

Al Turabi also said that alcohol is not forbidden by Islam as agreed by most of Islamic clerics. He said that alcohol is only forbidden when drinking becomes an aggression. Practicing Muslims do not drink alchohol. Al Turabi’s article in Arabic.

On Memritv.org you can read the transcript and view the interview on Al-Arabiya TV: (more…)

0 comments.

Protected: NRC Handelsblad – Oostenrijk pronkt met ‘consistente islam-politiek’

Posted on April 10th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Multiculti Issues.

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Protected: nu.nl/algemeen | Europese imams voor democratie en vrijheden

Posted on April 9th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Multiculti Issues.

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