C L O S E R

Some Muslims and the Pope

Posted on April 3rd, 2005 by .
Categories: Misc. News, Religion Other.

Muslims around the world on Sunday praised the late Pope John Paul’s drive to build bridges with Islam and said his death had cost both faiths a campaigner for peace and justice, according to Reuters.

Muslims said the Pope’s support for the Palestinians and opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 increased their respect for him and helped contain the idea of a “clash of civilisations” after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the Pope “a great religious figure who devoted his life to defending the values of peace, freedom, justice and equality for all races and religions, as well as our people’s right to independence”.

The grand sheikh of Egypt’s al-Azhar mosque, which the Pope visited in 2001, said his death was “a big loss for the Catholic Church and the Islamic world.” Grand Sheikh Mohamed Sayed al-Tantawi said he valued the Pope’s “moderate position supporting Arab issues in each of Palestine and Iraq.”

In Pakistan, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed of the Islamist Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal alliance said the world had lost a man of peace.

“(U.S. President) George Bush’s talk of a Crusader war was a clear negation of Pope John Paul’s efforts to promote interfaith dialogue and harmony,” he said.

The Arab League lowered the flag over its Cairo headquarters to half-mast. League spokesman Hossam Zaki said the Pope had helped avoid “unnecessary misunderstandings” between Christians and Muslims over Western government policies in the region.

“BRIDGE OF UNDERSTANDING”

Afghanistan’s president commended the Pope’s support of his people’s desire for freedom, and clerics in Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh hoped his successor would build on the Pope’s efforts to strengthen ties of understanding with Islam.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said: “We remember that during the years of Afghanistan’s occupation by the Soviet Union, the Pope raised his voice of support to the Afghan people.”

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said the Pope had commanded the three paths of religious learning, philosophical thought and poetic and artistic creativity.

“This was a good man, a man of peace,” said Theirno Habibou Tall, a Muslim leader who met the Pope during his visit to predominantly Muslim Senegal in 1992.

Many Muslims hope the Pope’s successor will continue to work for understanding between the two religions. In 1986 the Pope invited Muslims and adherents of other faiths to pray together at Assisi for world peace.

In Kuala Lumpur, Azizan Razak, a cleric and senior leader of the opposition Parti Islam-se Malaysia, said: “We hope his successor will follow his footsteps to increase understanding between Muslims and Christians.”

In Bangladesh, home to nearly 140 million Muslims, Moulana Obaidul Haque of the Baitul Mokarram national mosque, said the world had lost a great religious leader. “We hope his successor will also work for world peace,” the cleric said.

In the largely Catholic Philippines, one leader of an influential group of Islamic clerics said John Paul served as a “bridge of understanding” between Christians and Muslims.

“I was touched by his gesture to pardon a Muslim who tried to assassinate him,” said Sharif Julabbi of the Ulama League.

The Pope survived the attempt on his life by a Turkish gunman in May 1981.

“We see the Pope’s death as a loss in the name of tolerance and peace,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

But not everyone of course feels the same:

But some in the Arab world had only disdain for the Pope.

“He meant nothing to me,” said Abdul Rahman al-Mashari, an engineer in Riyadh. “He was not even as important as a hair on my head.”

Also Islamonline has several stories on the pope.

Muslim scholars and leaders from the four corners of the world where united Sunday, April 3, in praising late Pope John Paul II’s tireless efforts to build bridges of confidence between the Catholic Church and Islam.

Prominent Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi hailed the deceased pontiff as a man who served his faith with utmost sincerity.

The Dublin-based International Association of Muslim Scholars (IAMS), of which Qaradawi is chairman, sent a cable of condolences to Vatican Foreign Minister Angelo Sodanoand.

“He (the pontiff) was a man of peace who stood firmly against the (US-led) Iraq war and the Israeli separation wall,” read the cable, a copy of which was sent to IslamOnline.net.

The IAMS, which groups 200 Muslim scholars from around the world, prayed to God to show mercy on the pope and “reward him for the services he done to his religion and humanity.”

The pontiff, who died Saturday, April 2, in his bed surrounded by his closest Polish aides, had warned the US that its forces in Iraq were damaging efforts to bring religions together and its Mideast policies were not helping the cause of peace.

On the US war on terror, he said: “The fight against terrorism must not be purely repressive and punitive” but “must also proceed from the elimination of its causes, which are rooted in injustice.”

Inter-Faith Advocate

“The death of the pope is a great loss for the Catholic Church and the Muslim world,” said Sheikh Tantawi.

Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi hailed the late pope as a partner in promoting inter-faith dialogue.

“The death of the pope is a great loss for the Catholic Church and the Muslim world,” said Tantawi, who heads the highest seat of learning in the Sunni world.

“He was a man who defended the values of justice and peace and worked for the victory of relations between the Muslim and Christian peoples based on friendship and love,” he added in a statement.

“We supported the pontiff’s in many of his wise stances, especially his firm opposition to the war on Iraq,” said Tantawi.

“The pope stressed during a visit to Al-Azhar that all divine faiths advocate peace work for the security and welfare for all people.”

Sheikh Tantawi hoped Pope John Paul’s successor would pursue the same path of peace and justice.

Grieving the loss of the pope, Al-Azhar reaffirmed commitment to dialogue with Vatican on promoting understanding between Islam and Christianity.

“Pope John Paul II was a unique example in spreading peace and tolerance among all peoples. He was also a staunch supporter of justice and peace,” Sheikh Fawzi El-Zefzaf, the chair of Al-Azhar Inter-Faith Permanent Committee, told IOL.

He said the pontiff’s death “should not influence dialogue between Al-Azhar and the Vatican as the two sides are still committed by their 1998 agreement”.

He also visited Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Syria and Egypt during his 26-year-tenure.

Bridges of Trust

In May 2001 Pope John Paul II became the first pontiff to make an official visit to a mosque.

Hasyim Muzadi, leader of the Indonesian Nahdlatul Ulama, the biggest Muslim group in the world with 40 million members, praised the pontiff’s role in building bridges of trust with Islam reported Reuters.

“We…certainly feel sorrow for the passing away of the Pope because he has dedicated himself all his life to humanitarian and peace efforts,” he added.

The late pope spearheaded a campaign over the past two decades to promote cooperation between the world Muslims and the Catholics.

“He was also right at the forefront of the protest against the war on Iraq,” said Malaysian political analyst Chandra Muzaffar. “That showed he was committed to global justice and peace.”

Hafiz Hussain Ahmed of Pakistan’s Islamist Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal alliance echoed similar assessments.

“Bush’s talk of a Crusader war was a clear negation of Pope John Paul’s efforts to promote interfaith dialogue and harmony”.

Palestinian President Mamoud Abbas called the pope “a great religious figure who devoted his life to defending the values of peace, freedom, justice and equality for all races and religions, as well as our people’s right to independence”.

The late pontiff was also known for his vigorous opposition to the construction of Israel’s separation wall in the West Bank, saying the Middle East “does not need walls but bridges.”

Path of Understanding

Many Muslims hope that the pope’s successor will follow the path chalked out by the late pontiff to enhance the understanding between Islam and Christianity.

“The pope’s successor must continue what this pope has begun,” Egyptian Minister of Awkaf (religious endowments) Mahmoud Hamdi Zakzouk told Reuters.

“This would contribute to peace.”

Zaki Badawi, principal of London’s Muslim College, echoed similar hopes.

“Hopefully his successors will continue his policy of creating an understanding and furthering cooperation with Muslims”.

French Cardinal Paul Poupard, who heads the Vatican’s Council for Culture, said enhancing the Muslim-Catholic relations would be a major issue for the next pontiff.

“You saw the pope’s position during the war in Iraq. He wanted to avoid at all costs having this be seen as a war of religions, which it wasn’t, and he made desperate efforts to do that. This is crucial for the future.”

In 1986, the late pope invited Muslims and followers of other faiths to Assisi to pray together for world peace.

In May 2001 he became the first pontiff to make an official visit to a mosque in the Syrian capital Damascus.

“It is my ardent hope that Muslim and Christian religious leaders and teachers will present our two great religious communities as communities in respectful dialogue, never more as communities in conflict,” the pope said at the Umayyad Mosque.

“For all the times that Muslims and Christians have offended one another, we need to seek forgiveness from the Almighty and to offer each other forgiveness,” he said.

2 comments.

Protected: Als de tsunami geen onderscheid maakt, waarom wij dan wel?

Posted on March 31st, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Religion Other.

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The Hunt for Zarqawi’s Webmasters

Posted on March 30th, 2005 by .
Categories: Misc. News, Religious and Political Radicalization.

MSNBC has an item taken from Newsweek on tracking down the operators of Islamic terrorist Web sites. This is like trying to locate a floating craps game: here today, gone tomorrow. During the past year, investigators in America and Europe watched as a business called 357Hosting, based near Utrecht, the Netherlands, became the officially registered Internet host for several notorious militant Islamic Web pages and bulletin boards, including sites that disseminated videos of beheadings of foreign hostages in Iraq and messages from Qaeda leader Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi. The public prosecutor’s office in Utrecht tells NEWSWEEK that it has opened a criminal investigation into possible Internet hate crimes.

he says 357 would continue to host radical Web sites to promote “free speech” and to counter what the spokesman claims is excessive Jewish influence in the media.

(more…)

0 comments.

The Hunt for Zarqawi's Webmasters

Posted on March 30th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Religious and Political Radicalization.

MSNBC has an item taken from Newsweek on tracking down the operators of Islamic terrorist Web sites. This is like trying to locate a floating craps game: here today, gone tomorrow. During the past year, investigators in America and Europe watched as a business called 357Hosting, based near Utrecht, the Netherlands, became the officially registered Internet host for several notorious militant Islamic Web pages and bulletin boards, including sites that disseminated videos of beheadings of foreign hostages in Iraq and messages from Qaeda leader Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi. The public prosecutor’s office in Utrecht tells NEWSWEEK that it has opened a criminal investigation into possible Internet hate crimes.

he says 357 would continue to host radical Web sites to promote “free speech” and to counter what the spokesman claims is excessive Jewish influence in the media.

(more…)

0 comments.

Brand in de Bedirschool Uden

Posted on March 28th, 2005 by .
Categories: Misc. News, Murder on theo Van Gogh and related issues.

De brand in de Bedirschool in Uden was ��n van de ernstigste incidenten in de nasleep van de moord op Van Gogh. Gisteren is er in het nieuwe gebouw opnieuw brand geweest en er lijkt weer sprake van brandstichting:
Politie vindt fles in islamitische school Uden
Weer brandstichting Bedirschool Uden

2 comments.

Informed Comment: “The Schiavo Case and the Islamization of the Republican Party”

Posted on March 26th, 2005 by .
Categories: Misc. News, Some personal considerations.

I did not expect to write about the Schiavo Case but I came across an interesting entry on Informed Comment: The Schiavo Case and the Islamization of the Republican Party

On his blog Juan Cole states:

The cynical use by the US Republican Party of the Terri Schiavo case repeats, whether deliberately or accidentally, the tactics of Muslim fundamentalists and theocrats in places like Egypt and Pakistan. These tactics involve a disturbing tendency to make private, intimate decisions matters of public interest and then to bring the courts and the legislature to bear on them. President George W. Bush and Republican congressional leaders like Tom Delay have taken us one step closer to theocracy on the Muslim Brotherhood model.

What does he mean by that? Well the following:

The Muslim fundamentalists use a provision of Islamic law called “bringing to account” (hisba). As Al-Ahram weekly notes, “Hisba signifies a case filed by an individual on behalf of society when the plaintiff feels that great harm has been done to religion.” Hisba is a medieval idea that had all but lapsed when the fundamentalists brought it back in the 1970s and 1980s.

He is using the case of Abu Zaid (who is now living with his wife in Leiden, The Netherlands, and teaching there at Leiden University.

In this practice, any individual can use the courts to intervene in the private lives of others. Among the more famous cases of such interference is that of Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid in Egypt. A respected modern scholar of Koranic studies, Abu Zaid argued that, contrary to medieval interpretations of Islamic law, women and men should receive equal inheritance shares. (Medieval Islamic law granted women only half the inheritance shares of their brothers). Abu Zaid was accused of sacrilege. Then the allegation of sacrilege was used as a basis on which the fundamentalists sought to have the courts forcibly divorce him from his wife.

Abu Zaid’s wife loved her husband. She did not want to be divorced. But the fundamentalists went before the court and said, she is a Muslim, and he is an infidel, and no Muslim woman may be married to an infidel. They represented their efforts as being on behalf of the Islamic religion, which had an interest in seeing to it that heretics like Abu Zaid could not remain married to a Muslim woman. In 1995 the hisba court actually found against them. They fled to Europe, and ultimately settled in Holland.

What does this have to do with the Schiavo Case? Cole continues:

One of the most objectionable features of this fundamentalist tactic is that persons without standing can interfere in private affairs. Perfect strangers can file a case about your marriage, because they represent themselves as defending a public interest (the upholding of religion and morality).

And:

But the most frightening thing about the entire affair is that public figures like congressmen inserted themselves into the case in order to uphold religious strictures. The lawyer arguing against the husband let the cat out of the bag, as reported by the NYT: ‘ The lawyer, David Gibbs, also said Ms. Schiavo’s religious beliefs as a Roman Catholic were being infringed because Pope John Paul II has deemed it unacceptable for Catholics to refuse food and water. “We are now in a position where a court has ordered her to disobey her church and even jeopardize her eternal soul,” Mr. Gibbs said. ‘

In other words, the United States Congress acted in part on behalf of the Roman Catholic church. Both of these public bodies interfered in the private affairs of the Schiavos, just as the fundamentalist Egyptian, Nabih El-Wahsh, tried to interfere in the marriage of Nawal El Saadawi.

Like many of his fundamentalist counterparts in the Middle East, Tom Delay [Republican congressional leader, MdK] is rather cynically using this issue to divert attention from his own corruption. Like the Muslim fundamentalist manipulators of Hisba, Delay represents himself as acting on behalf of a higher cause. He said of the case over the weekend, ‘ “This is not a political issue. This is life and death,” ‘

Needless to say that Cole is not happy about this development:

Republican Hisba will have the same effect in the United States that it does in the Middle East. It will reduce the rights of the individual in favor of the rights of religious and political elites to control individuals. Ayatollah Delay isn’t different from his counterparts in Iran.

I’m not sure wether this comparison between islamic fundamentalists and the republicans isn’t a little bit over the top. For example Cole refers to the Catholic Church and states that Congress is acting on behalf of that church. This seems a little bit strange to me because what does this actually mean? That the lawyer of Terry’s parents is appointed by the Catholic Church or that the Catholic Church has ‘hired’ Congress. Perhaps the lawyer, the church and Congress have the same opinions on this case but this does not necessarily mean that they act on behalf of eachother. And is it a problem if they have the same opinions? See also the criticism of Ex Post on this point. Another issue of course is that we have to distinguish between the courts interference and the interference of the Congress. Cole says that the Republicans have embraced the Muslim fundamentalist practice of “using the courts to intervene in the private lives of others.” The courts interference seems to be necessary in this story just like in the Netherlands there has to be some kind of control by the public prosecutor in cases of euthanasia. I don’t think the practice in the US is that much different (or is it?). What Congress has done is expanding the possibilities for the courts to intervene, not deciding what the court has to rule. This is truly different compared to the fundamentalist case in Egypt. See more on this point at PowerLine.

But then again it is remarkable how policitians intervene in this single case. It seems to me that it is remarkable how politicians can intervene in a persons private life. Unless of course, and it is more or less framed like this, the question of life and death isn’t a private issue but a public issue. Like for example among some Muslim groups the reputation of a woman is not a private matter, but a cause for concern for the whole group. The whole group, or American nation, is at stake here. But what is striking then, that these politicians have made a law based on a single case and that they intervene directly in this case. While, i could be wrong, I thought that you made laws about a general development after several cases appeared. This law cannot be attributed to those cases anymore but it can for future cases. This of course, again I could be wrong, has to do with the trias politica: Separation of powers. The idea that the powers of a sovereign government should be split between two or more strongly independent entities, preventing any one person or group from gaining too much power. This adds even more to my confusion because I was taught at school (yes a while ago) that the US was probably the strongest example of this separation of powers. So a possible weakening of the trias politica, an increasing influence of religion on politics (weakening the separation of church and state) and a private issue that is politicized and becoming a group-issue, that indeed sounds a little bit what the fundamentalists among the Muslims want. Maybe the comparison is not that bad at all.

At the same time of course there is a problem because Terry Schiavo hasn’t got anything on writing that states she refuses to live like this. Euthanasia has to be with explicit consent of the person in question and that is not the case here. So what to do?

1 comment.

Informed Comment: "The Schiavo Case and the Islamization of the Republican Party"

Posted on March 26th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Some personal considerations.

I did not expect to write about the Schiavo Case but I came across an interesting entry on Informed Comment: The Schiavo Case and the Islamization of the Republican Party

On his blog Juan Cole states:

The cynical use by the US Republican Party of the Terri Schiavo case repeats, whether deliberately or accidentally, the tactics of Muslim fundamentalists and theocrats in places like Egypt and Pakistan. These tactics involve a disturbing tendency to make private, intimate decisions matters of public interest and then to bring the courts and the legislature to bear on them. President George W. Bush and Republican congressional leaders like Tom Delay have taken us one step closer to theocracy on the Muslim Brotherhood model.

What does he mean by that? Well the following:

The Muslim fundamentalists use a provision of Islamic law called “bringing to account” (hisba). As Al-Ahram weekly notes, “Hisba signifies a case filed by an individual on behalf of society when the plaintiff feels that great harm has been done to religion.” Hisba is a medieval idea that had all but lapsed when the fundamentalists brought it back in the 1970s and 1980s.

He is using the case of Abu Zaid (who is now living with his wife in Leiden, The Netherlands, and teaching there at Leiden University.

In this practice, any individual can use the courts to intervene in the private lives of others. Among the more famous cases of such interference is that of Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid in Egypt. A respected modern scholar of Koranic studies, Abu Zaid argued that, contrary to medieval interpretations of Islamic law, women and men should receive equal inheritance shares. (Medieval Islamic law granted women only half the inheritance shares of their brothers). Abu Zaid was accused of sacrilege. Then the allegation of sacrilege was used as a basis on which the fundamentalists sought to have the courts forcibly divorce him from his wife.

Abu Zaid’s wife loved her husband. She did not want to be divorced. But the fundamentalists went before the court and said, she is a Muslim, and he is an infidel, and no Muslim woman may be married to an infidel. They represented their efforts as being on behalf of the Islamic religion, which had an interest in seeing to it that heretics like Abu Zaid could not remain married to a Muslim woman. In 1995 the hisba court actually found against them. They fled to Europe, and ultimately settled in Holland.

What does this have to do with the Schiavo Case? Cole continues:

One of the most objectionable features of this fundamentalist tactic is that persons without standing can interfere in private affairs. Perfect strangers can file a case about your marriage, because they represent themselves as defending a public interest (the upholding of religion and morality).

And:

But the most frightening thing about the entire affair is that public figures like congressmen inserted themselves into the case in order to uphold religious strictures. The lawyer arguing against the husband let the cat out of the bag, as reported by the NYT: ‘ The lawyer, David Gibbs, also said Ms. Schiavo’s religious beliefs as a Roman Catholic were being infringed because Pope John Paul II has deemed it unacceptable for Catholics to refuse food and water. “We are now in a position where a court has ordered her to disobey her church and even jeopardize her eternal soul,” Mr. Gibbs said. ‘

In other words, the United States Congress acted in part on behalf of the Roman Catholic church. Both of these public bodies interfered in the private affairs of the Schiavos, just as the fundamentalist Egyptian, Nabih El-Wahsh, tried to interfere in the marriage of Nawal El Saadawi.

Like many of his fundamentalist counterparts in the Middle East, Tom Delay [Republican congressional leader, MdK] is rather cynically using this issue to divert attention from his own corruption. Like the Muslim fundamentalist manipulators of Hisba, Delay represents himself as acting on behalf of a higher cause. He said of the case over the weekend, ‘ “This is not a political issue. This is life and death,” ‘

Needless to say that Cole is not happy about this development:

Republican Hisba will have the same effect in the United States that it does in the Middle East. It will reduce the rights of the individual in favor of the rights of religious and political elites to control individuals. Ayatollah Delay isn’t different from his counterparts in Iran.

I’m not sure wether this comparison between islamic fundamentalists and the republicans isn’t a little bit over the top. For example Cole refers to the Catholic Church and states that Congress is acting on behalf of that church. This seems a little bit strange to me because what does this actually mean? That the lawyer of Terry’s parents is appointed by the Catholic Church or that the Catholic Church has ‘hired’ Congress. Perhaps the lawyer, the church and Congress have the same opinions on this case but this does not necessarily mean that they act on behalf of eachother. And is it a problem if they have the same opinions? See also the criticism of Ex Post on this point. Another issue of course is that we have to distinguish between the courts interference and the interference of the Congress. Cole says that the Republicans have embraced the Muslim fundamentalist practice of “using the courts to intervene in the private lives of others.” The courts interference seems to be necessary in this story just like in the Netherlands there has to be some kind of control by the public prosecutor in cases of euthanasia. I don’t think the practice in the US is that much different (or is it?). What Congress has done is expanding the possibilities for the courts to intervene, not deciding what the court has to rule. This is truly different compared to the fundamentalist case in Egypt. See more on this point at PowerLine.

But then again it is remarkable how policitians intervene in this single case. It seems to me that it is remarkable how politicians can intervene in a persons private life. Unless of course, and it is more or less framed like this, the question of life and death isn’t a private issue but a public issue. Like for example among some Muslim groups the reputation of a woman is not a private matter, but a cause for concern for the whole group. The whole group, or American nation, is at stake here. But what is striking then, that these politicians have made a law based on a single case and that they intervene directly in this case. While, i could be wrong, I thought that you made laws about a general development after several cases appeared. This law cannot be attributed to those cases anymore but it can for future cases. This of course, again I could be wrong, has to do with the trias politica: Separation of powers. The idea that the powers of a sovereign government should be split between two or more strongly independent entities, preventing any one person or group from gaining too much power. This adds even more to my confusion because I was taught at school (yes a while ago) that the US was probably the strongest example of this separation of powers. So a possible weakening of the trias politica, an increasing influence of religion on politics (weakening the separation of church and state) and a private issue that is politicized and becoming a group-issue, that indeed sounds a little bit what the fundamentalists among the Muslims want. Maybe the comparison is not that bad at all.

At the same time of course there is a problem because Terry Schiavo hasn’t got anything on writing that states she refuses to live like this. Euthanasia has to be with explicit consent of the person in question and that is not the case here. So what to do?

1 comment.

DHC-Records.tk

Posted on March 25th, 2005 by .
Categories: Misc. News, Youth culture (as a practice).

Soms is het maar goed dat je een kleine slag om de arm houd zoals hieronder met de entry over Den Haag Connections. Ik geef toe het is een kleine slag om de arm en ik heb geen check en doublecheck toegepast.

De heren van DHC ontkennen nu dat de website DHC-Records.tk van hen is. Volkomenkut.com vertrouwd het nog niet helemaal:

Wel heel vreemd dat de nieuwste DHC raps op die site stonden. Hoe zouden ze daar aan gekomen zijn?

NOu ja dat is niet zo moeilijk denk ik. Op straatrap.tk staan ze ook immers. Of was dat later dan?

6 comments.

Hirsi Ali wins fight over Islam criticism

Posted on March 15th, 2005 by .
Categories: Islam in the Netherlands, Misc. News, Murder on theo Van Gogh and related issues.

Today a day in court: some Muslims wanted Hirsi Ali to be forbidden in making Submission II. They lost:
Hirsi Ali wins fight over Islam criticism

0 comments.

Fatwa against Bin Laden

Posted on March 11th, 2005 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, Misc. News.

One year ago Spain was shocked by the attacks on trains in which many innocent people were killed. Today is an official day of mourning and Spanish Muslim leaders have announced they would issue a fatwa against al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. I haven’t seen it myself but some excerpts from the message can be found here:

The fatwa said that, according to the Koran, “the terrorist acts of Osama bin Laden and his organisation al-Qaeda… are totally banned and must be roundly condemned as part of Islam�.

And indeed, a fatwa is not a death sentence or a call to kill some one. It is a religious advice and not all of them have the same status.

0 comments.

'Islamitische Madonna' / 'Aziatische J-Lo' wordt door jonge moslims bedreigd

Posted on March 10th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News.

.:Mocros.nl – Een stukje Marokko In Nederland & Belgie – ‘Islamitische Madonna’ wordt door jonge moslims bedreigd

De populaire moslimzangeres Deeyah (27) dreigt na geboorteland Noorwegen nu ook Engeland te moeten ontvluchten. Aziatische moslimjongens maken de ,islamitische Madonna‘ het leven al weken zodanig zuur dat ze niet langer zonder haar potige bodyguards de deur uit durft. ,,Gelukkig zijn er ook nog de moslimmeisjes die me bezweren niet aan deze terreur toe te geven”, aldus Deeyah.

Over Deejah, de ‘Islamitische Madonna’ of ‘Aziatische J-Lo’. Of ‘Noors-Britse Anouk’…

0 comments.

‘Islamitische Madonna’ / ‘Aziatische J-Lo’ wordt door jonge moslims bedreigd

Posted on March 10th, 2005 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

.:Mocros.nl – Een stukje Marokko In Nederland & Belgie – ‘Islamitische Madonna’ wordt door jonge moslims bedreigd

De populaire moslimzangeres Deeyah (27) dreigt na geboorteland Noorwegen nu ook Engeland te moeten ontvluchten. Aziatische moslimjongens maken de ,islamitische Madonna‘ het leven al weken zodanig zuur dat ze niet langer zonder haar potige bodyguards de deur uit durft. ,,Gelukkig zijn er ook nog de moslimmeisjes die me bezweren niet aan deze terreur toe te geven”, aldus Deeyah.

Over Deejah, de ‘Islamitische Madonna’ of ‘Aziatische J-Lo’. Of ‘Noors-Britse Anouk’…

0 comments.

“Islamitische mobieltjes”

Posted on March 10th, 2005 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

Zonder nou direct reclame te gaan maken, maar Masira
wil het ‘islamitische mobieltje’ in Nederland gaan introduceren met daarop o.a. gebedstijden, de gebedsrichting, ramadan-alarm enzovoorts.

En zowaar…je kunt er ook nog mee bellen!

0 comments.

"Islamitische mobieltjes"

Posted on March 10th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News.

Zonder nou direct reclame te gaan maken, maar Masira
wil het ‘islamitische mobieltje’ in Nederland gaan introduceren met daarop o.a. gebedstijden, de gebedsrichting, ramadan-alarm enzovoorts.

En zowaar…je kunt er ook nog mee bellen!

0 comments.

Wie leidt de dans…

Posted on March 9th, 2005 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

Interessant commentaar in Trouw over dr. Kaou thar Darmoni, een Tunesische deskundige in de orientaalse dans. Zij stelt dat in de emancipatie van vrouwen, de man de norm is geweest.

Op de Internationale vrouwendag poneerde zij de stelling dat de vrouwen hier het contact met hun vrouwelijke kracht hebben verloren. Daaraan schrijft zij toe dat zo weinig van haar seksegenoten door het ‘glazen plafond’ zijn gebroken en de weinige vrouwen die wel tot de top doordrongen zo vaak op ‘half-mannen’ lijken.

En misschien nog wel provocerender:

Volgens Darmoni kunnen de vrouwen in Nederland nog het nodige van de Arabische cultuur leren, hoe vrouwonvriendelijk die ook is. Daarmee gaf ze tevens aan dat onze dominante cultuur wel degelijk iets van immigranten kan opsteken.

Nou niet gelijk in voorspelbare reflexen schieten, laat het eerst even rustig op je in werken (dan tot 10 tellen) en geef dan je reactie.

0 comments.

Hoodlums

Posted on March 8th, 2005 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

I call this entry hoodlums, because I find it a beautiful word, although reality is less beautiful. It was mentioned before in this blog: in the UK Criminal gangs use Islam to intimidate victims

Teenage criminal gangs in south London are calling themselves the Muslim Boys and claiming to espouse Islam in an attempt to gain street credibility and trade on false perceptions about links to terrorists.

Islam is used here as a symbol of a counter-identity.

But Metropolitan police chiefs and Muslim leaders say the youths have no genuine Islamic affiliations, nor any associations with al-Qaida linked groups.

This counteridentity seems to be inspired more by American youthgang cultures than by Islam

They talk in slang, much of it derived from black American rap music, place great store on having guns, and live by a code, where showing disrespect to a fellow gang member could be enough to get your head blown off.

“They began using the name Muslim Boys as a macho thing,” said Mr Coles. “One or two might have converted to Islam. But it’s nothing to do with religion, or terrorism. As far as I’m concerned they’re the same thugs, engaged in the same crimes, whatever they can do to make money.

It is used to create a strong streetwise identity with a mixture of popular ‘islamic’ images and gangculture. The word Hoodlum is also perfectly suited for this; so lets call them hoodlums.

0 comments.

Doneer of Sterf

Posted on March 5th, 2005 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, Misc. News.

Hoogervorst heeft een nieuw plan zo konden we gister lezen in de Volkskrant – Hoogervorst wil voorrang voor orgaandonoren

Beetje vreemde uitspraken van Hoogervorst:

Minister Hoogervorst van Volksgezondheid wil burgers die als orgaandonor geregistreerd staan voorrang geven op de wachtlijst voor transplantaties. Een belangrijke reden voor de VVD-bewindsman is dat ‘met name moslims op religieuze gronden hun organen weigeren af te staan, maar die wel willen ontvangen als ze ziek zijn. Dat wringt.’

Het CMO is dan ook begrijpelijk ‘not amused’:

Joemman benadrukte dat onder moslims de meningen over orgaandonatie verdeeld zijn. Orthodoxe gelovigen zijn volgens hem in het algemeen tegen zowel het doneren als het ontvangen van organen.

De uitspraak van Hoogervorst ‘riekt naar discriminatie’ en geeft moslims ten onrechte ‘het etiket van profiteurs’, vindt bestuurslid A. Marcouch van de Unie van Marokkaanse Moskee�n Amsterdam en Omstreken. Het is volgens hem een algemeen probleem en niet alleen een van moslims dat mensen geen donor willen zijn, maar wel organen willen ontvangen.

Marcouch wees erop dat de Europese Raad voor Fatwa al enkele jaren heeft geoordeeld dat orgaandonatie niet in strijd is met de islam. Hij riep Hoogervorst op om samen met moslimorganisaties een voorlichtingscampagne te beginnen. ‘De islamitische gemeenschap heeft in deze ook verantwoordelijkheid te nemen en het donorschap uit de taboesfeer te halen en bespreekbaar te maken.’

De meningen zijn dus verdeeld zoals we ook al hadden kunnen lezen in de column van Hasna el Maroudi in Spunk en op het forum van Marokko.nl Mag je als moslim orgaan donor worden? en Lokum.nl: Donor bloed?

Nog even los van dat: Ik ben nog niet dood dus ik weet niet precies hoe dat gaat, maar als ik mijn codicil erop na kijk zie ik nergens mijn religie staan. Als je je orgaan echt afstaat, wordt dan je religie genoteerd? Of als je bloed geeft? Volgens mij niet toch? Staat nergens in het formulier en je ook nergens aangeven dat je weigert om religieuze redenen (welke dan ook). Dus hoe komt iemand dan aan zo’n opvatting?

0 comments.

Eindhovens Dagblad – Moslima’s krijgen stem in Helmondse moskee

Posted on March 5th, 2005 by .
Categories: Islam in the Netherlands, Misc. News.

In Geleen is Leyla Cakir de voorzitster van een moskee Ihlas. In Helmond komen mannen en vrouwen nu samen in ��n bestuur. Niet nieuw dus, wel interessant.
Eindhovens Dagblad – nieuws, auto’s, banen, kleintjes en regiolinks in eindhoven en omgeving – Moslima’s krijgen stem in Helmondse moskee
Mannen en vrouwen samen in ��n bestuur
Moslima’s krijgen stem in Helmondse moskee

0 comments.

Eindhovens Dagblad – Moslima's krijgen stem in Helmondse moskee

Posted on March 5th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Islam in the Netherlands, Misc. News.

In Geleen is Leyla Cakir de voorzitster van een moskee Ihlas. In Helmond komen mannen en vrouwen nu samen in ��n bestuur. Niet nieuw dus, wel interessant.
Eindhovens Dagblad – nieuws, auto’s, banen, kleintjes en regiolinks in eindhoven en omgeving – Moslima’s krijgen stem in Helmondse moskee
Mannen en vrouwen samen in ��n bestuur
Moslima’s krijgen stem in Helmondse moskee

0 comments.

The New York Times > More Dutch Plan to Emigrate as Muslim Influx Tips Scales

Posted on March 4th, 2005 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

An article in The New York Times > International > Europe > More Dutch Plan to Emigrate as Muslim Influx Tips Scales

Someone did send this to me on behalf of someone else, I don’t know why. The email stated that the article was clear enough. But is it?

statistics suggest there is a quickening flight of the white middle class. Dutch people pulling up roots said they felt a general pessimism about their small and crowded country and about the social tensions that had grown along with the waves of newcomers, most of them Muslims

Well, in 2003 there were for the first time since 1984 more people leaving the country then entering. 23.000 people came and 24.000 people left. Of these 24.000 people, 11.000 were people that were born here. Other groups are Angolean, iranian, Antillian and especially Somalian people. In 2004 for the first time there were more people leaving the country than entering (looked at the whole year, the former is only three months in 2003). In total 112.000 left (7% more than in 2003), together with the sharp decrease in immigration this makes up for the result.

In a recent opinion poll, 35 percent of the native Dutch questioned had negative views about Islam.

We don’t know however what the question was. And the growing number of people who flock to warmer places in the winter has of course also to do with better economical circumstances; they can afford it (some of them).

Ruud Konings, an accountant, has just sold his comfortable home in the small town of Hilvarenbeek. In March, after a year’s worth of paperwork, the family will leave for Australia. The couple said the main reason was their fear for the welfare and security of their two teenage children.

“When I grew up, this place was spontaneous and free, but my kids cannot safely cycle home at night,” said Mr. Konings, 49. “My son just had his fifth bicycle stolen.” At school, his children and their friends feel uneasy, he added. “They’re afraid of being roughed up by the gangs of foreign kids.”

Well don’t think Hilvarenbeek is run over by migrants/Muslims. It is just a small village near The Efteling and Tilburg a city where a lot of Antilleans live (and Turkish and Moroccan youth).

Like the Sangens and Koningses, others who are moving speak of their yearning for the open spaces, the clean air, the easygoing civility they feel they have lost. Complaints include overcrowding, endless traffic jams, overregulation. Some cite a rise in antisocial behavior and a worrying new toughness and aggression both in political debates and on the streets.

Well that is difficult to blame on Muslims isn’t it?

To Mr. Hiltemann, the emigration consultant, what is remarkable is not only the surge of interest among the Dutch in leaving, but also the type of people involved. “They are successful people, I mean, urban professionals, managers, physiotherapists, computer specialists,” he said. Five years ago, he said, most of his clients were farmers looking for more land.

Mr. Buysse, who employs a staff of eight to process visas, concurred. He said farmers were still emigrating as Europe cut agricultural subsidies. ‘”What is new,” he said, “is that Dutch people who are rich or at least very comfortable are now wanting to leave the country.”

Well The Netherlands is a county of (not perse rich but very comfortable) managers, computerspecialist and so on because most people work in that kind of sectors.

What is also important to bear in mind that migration is never only a matter of push-factors as of the kind that are displayed here, but also of pull-factors of the receiving country such as more space, more and easier economical opportunities so on and so forth.
(more…)

0 comments.

The New York Times > More Dutch Plan to Emigrate as Muslim Influx Tips Scales

Posted on March 4th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News.

An article in The New York Times > International > Europe > More Dutch Plan to Emigrate as Muslim Influx Tips Scales

Someone did send this to me on behalf of someone else, I don’t know why. The email stated that the article was clear enough. But is it?

statistics suggest there is a quickening flight of the white middle class. Dutch people pulling up roots said they felt a general pessimism about their small and crowded country and about the social tensions that had grown along with the waves of newcomers, most of them Muslims

Well, in 2003 there were for the first time since 1984 more people leaving the country then entering. 23.000 people came and 24.000 people left. Of these 24.000 people, 11.000 were people that were born here. Other groups are Angolean, iranian, Antillian and especially Somalian people. In 2004 for the first time there were more people leaving the country than entering (looked at the whole year, the former is only three months in 2003). In total 112.000 left (7% more than in 2003), together with the sharp decrease in immigration this makes up for the result.

In a recent opinion poll, 35 percent of the native Dutch questioned had negative views about Islam.

We don’t know however what the question was. And the growing number of people who flock to warmer places in the winter has of course also to do with better economical circumstances; they can afford it (some of them).

Ruud Konings, an accountant, has just sold his comfortable home in the small town of Hilvarenbeek. In March, after a year’s worth of paperwork, the family will leave for Australia. The couple said the main reason was their fear for the welfare and security of their two teenage children.

“When I grew up, this place was spontaneous and free, but my kids cannot safely cycle home at night,” said Mr. Konings, 49. “My son just had his fifth bicycle stolen.” At school, his children and their friends feel uneasy, he added. “They’re afraid of being roughed up by the gangs of foreign kids.”

Well don’t think Hilvarenbeek is run over by migrants/Muslims. It is just a small village near The Efteling and Tilburg a city where a lot of Antilleans live (and Turkish and Moroccan youth).

Like the Sangens and Koningses, others who are moving speak of their yearning for the open spaces, the clean air, the easygoing civility they feel they have lost. Complaints include overcrowding, endless traffic jams, overregulation. Some cite a rise in antisocial behavior and a worrying new toughness and aggression both in political debates and on the streets.

Well that is difficult to blame on Muslims isn’t it?

To Mr. Hiltemann, the emigration consultant, what is remarkable is not only the surge of interest among the Dutch in leaving, but also the type of people involved. “They are successful people, I mean, urban professionals, managers, physiotherapists, computer specialists,” he said. Five years ago, he said, most of his clients were farmers looking for more land.

Mr. Buysse, who employs a staff of eight to process visas, concurred. He said farmers were still emigrating as Europe cut agricultural subsidies. ‘”What is new,” he said, “is that Dutch people who are rich or at least very comfortable are now wanting to leave the country.”

Well The Netherlands is a county of (not perse rich but very comfortable) managers, computerspecialist and so on because most people work in that kind of sectors.

What is also important to bear in mind that migration is never only a matter of push-factors as of the kind that are displayed here, but also of pull-factors of the receiving country such as more space, more and easier economical opportunities so on and so forth.
(more…)

0 comments.

Iranian Weblogs

Posted on February 21st, 2005 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

Articles on Iranian webloggers.

In a country where free speech has price, Iranian bloggers are having a bonanza – and the hardliners have begun to take notice.

Words are weapons for Iranian bloggers – (United Press International)

But not only the critics are using internet:

Blogging might not sound an appropriate hobby for a senior Iranian government official, particularly one who is a Muslim cleric.
[…]
Mohammad Ali Abthai has turned the practice of writing Internet journals, or (we) blogging, into a powerful tool against the reformist government�s hardline foes and a means to reach out to the country�s disenchanted youth.

Khaleej Times Online: Iranian clerics blogs for free expression.

0 comments.

Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 15th, 2005 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

Below you will find an entry on Valentine among the Saudi’s. In this entry two stories, both reject Valentine’s Day but from an entirely different perspective:
FrontPage magazine.com :: Valentine’s Day Enrages Jihadists by Dr. Walid Phares

A weekend before Valentine’s Day, jihadist souls were not questioning the �commercialization� of romance, but inquiring about the ban on �being in love.� The �scholars� said human love is evil. The simple feeling of being attracted to or in love with someone is a terrifying sin if it is committed outside of their religious dogma — and it warrants serious punishment.

and: Valentine’s Day from The New Nation’s Opinion article Islamic perspective

Hence, commemorating that special day known as the Valentine�s Day is an innovation or bid`ah that has no religious backing. Every innovation of that kind is rejected, as far as Islam is concerned. Islam requires all Muslims to love one another all over the whole year, and reducing the whole year to a single day is totally rejected. Hence, we Muslims ought not to follow in the footsteps of such innovations and superstitions that are common in what is known as the Valentine�s Day. No doubt that there are many irreligious practices that occur on that day, and those practices are capable of dissuading people from the true meanings of love and altruism to the extent that the celebration is reduced to a moral decline.

0 comments.

Valentine's Day

Posted on February 15th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News.

Below you will find an entry on Valentine among the Saudi’s. In this entry two stories, both reject Valentine’s Day but from an entirely different perspective:
FrontPage magazine.com :: Valentine’s Day Enrages Jihadists by Dr. Walid Phares

A weekend before Valentine’s Day, jihadist souls were not questioning the �commercialization� of romance, but inquiring about the ban on �being in love.� The �scholars� said human love is evil. The simple feeling of being attracted to or in love with someone is a terrifying sin if it is committed outside of their religious dogma — and it warrants serious punishment.

and: Valentine’s Day from The New Nation’s Opinion article Islamic perspective

Hence, commemorating that special day known as the Valentine�s Day is an innovation or bid`ah that has no religious backing. Every innovation of that kind is rejected, as far as Islam is concerned. Islam requires all Muslims to love one another all over the whole year, and reducing the whole year to a single day is totally rejected. Hence, we Muslims ought not to follow in the footsteps of such innovations and superstitions that are common in what is known as the Valentine�s Day. No doubt that there are many irreligious practices that occur on that day, and those practices are capable of dissuading people from the true meanings of love and altruism to the extent that the celebration is reduced to a moral decline.

0 comments.

Valentine in Saoedi Arabia: Despite religious restrictions, Saudis mark lovers’ day

Posted on February 15th, 2005 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

Islam :: Despite religious restrictions, Saudis mark lovers’ day

Beyond the ban, it’s a challenge for couples to be together on Valentine’s or any other day because of strict segregation of the sexes. Dating consists of long phone conversations and the rare tryst. Men and women cannot go for a drive together, have a meal or talk on the street unless they are close relatives. Infractions are punished by detentions.

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