Film made to 'reform fundamentalists', says Muslim filmmaker
The writer and director of a controversial Pakistani film, currently screening at the Venice Film Festival, said he hopes his film will "reform the fundamentalists in Pakistan in particular, and the Muslim world in general."
Shoaib Mansoor’s film, In the Name of God, is a box office hit in Pakistan despite fatwas [scholarly edicts based on Islamic law] and legal threats from Muslim leaders, such as the radical cleric of Islamabad's Red Mosque, Abdul Rashid Ghazi. Ghazi was one of more than 50 people killed in the assault on the mosque in early July.
In another attempt to block the film, a petition was filed at the Lahore High Court in August, but the court eventually ruled against it.
The film is currently playing on 11 screens in 10 cities in Pakistan. It reportedly took $180,000 in its opening weekend last month and grossed $500,000 in its first three weeks.
In an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI), Mansoor said he was thrilled by the response his three-hour film has received in his home country.
The movie tells the story of two brothers, who are musicians. One of them gives up music and becomes radicalized, grows a beard and tries to get his mother to wear a hijab [headscarf]. The other brother moves to Chicago to study music but ends up getting arrested after 9/11 and is tortured by US interrogators until he is paralyzed. It also addresses other hot topics in Pakistan, such as marital rape, forced marriage and jihad. It includes anti-American sentiments.
The film has caused debate in Pakistan about Islam between the modernized elites, who carry the banner of moderation, and the radical segments of society.
Mansoor said that he believes Pakistan “is heading towards a win of the moderate majority. Up until now, this section was totally docile and quiet. I have tried to be a representative voice.” He said he hopes the film will generate discussion and debate.
The vice president of Italian Muslim group Coreis, Yahya Pallavicini told AKI that attempts by Islamic clerics to use fatwas against films only bolster claims that Islam is incompatible with Western values.
Pallavicini was commenting on the film’s participation in the Venice film festival.
"While maintaining their religious identity, clerics need to integrate in a post-modern, secular society," he was quoted as saying. "While a sense of modesty is legitimate, such disproportionate reactions militate against the possibility of true understanding between peoples and religions.”
Source: CNA
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Shoaib Mansoor’s film, In the Name of God, is a box office hit in Pakistan despite fatwas [scholarly edicts based on Islamic law] and legal threats from Muslim leaders, such as the radical cleric of Islamabad's Red Mosque, Abdul Rashid Ghazi. Ghazi was one of more than 50 people killed in the assault on the mosque in early July.
In another attempt to block the film, a petition was filed at the Lahore High Court in August, but the court eventually ruled against it.
The film is currently playing on 11 screens in 10 cities in Pakistan. It reportedly took $180,000 in its opening weekend last month and grossed $500,000 in its first three weeks.
In an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI), Mansoor said he was thrilled by the response his three-hour film has received in his home country.
The movie tells the story of two brothers, who are musicians. One of them gives up music and becomes radicalized, grows a beard and tries to get his mother to wear a hijab [headscarf]. The other brother moves to Chicago to study music but ends up getting arrested after 9/11 and is tortured by US interrogators until he is paralyzed. It also addresses other hot topics in Pakistan, such as marital rape, forced marriage and jihad. It includes anti-American sentiments.
The film has caused debate in Pakistan about Islam between the modernized elites, who carry the banner of moderation, and the radical segments of society.
Mansoor said that he believes Pakistan “is heading towards a win of the moderate majority. Up until now, this section was totally docile and quiet. I have tried to be a representative voice.” He said he hopes the film will generate discussion and debate.
The vice president of Italian Muslim group Coreis, Yahya Pallavicini told AKI that attempts by Islamic clerics to use fatwas against films only bolster claims that Islam is incompatible with Western values.
Pallavicini was commenting on the film’s participation in the Venice film festival.
"While maintaining their religious identity, clerics need to integrate in a post-modern, secular society," he was quoted as saying. "While a sense of modesty is legitimate, such disproportionate reactions militate against the possibility of true understanding between peoples and religions.”
Source: CNA
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'Working With Nuns Implements Islamic Teaching'
Supporting and cooperating with Catholic nuns to serve poor and needy people is consistent with Islamic teaching, says an Islamic leader in East Java.
For Abu Muslich, a well-known Muslim figure in Kediri, 600 kilometers southeast of Jakarta, the work of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul nuns in his area is in line with what is taught the Qur'an and Hadith (collected sayings and deeds attributed to Prophet Muhammad), so Muslims who support and cooperate with the nuns are implementing Islamic teaching.
Muslich shared this view in a commentary he wrote for UCA News as Daughters of Charity (DC) nuns from eight Asian countries held their Fifth Asian Superiors Meeting here. During their July 10-21 meeting, Muslich helped them arrange a visit to Tebuireng Pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Jombang, about 40 kilometers northeast of Kediri.
Sister Anna Soepraptiwi, the Indonesian provincial of the DC nuns, asked for his help to contact Kiai Hajj Salahuddin Wahid, head of that Pesantren.
Muslich, who was born in Kediri in 1959, is vice-chairperson of Gerakan Pemuda Ansor (GP Ansor, Ansor youth movement) in East Java province. GP Ansor is the youth arm of Nahdlatul Ulama, the Muslim scholars' organization, Indonesia's largest and most influential Muslim organization.
He is also East Java vice chairperson of the Democratic Party, and executive editor of Radar Kediri, a supplement of Surabaya-based daily Jawa Pos.
In his commentary, Muslich speaks of how he met Sister Soepraptiwi, and how the nuns and GP Ansor together promote interreligious understand and harmony, and serve a society that has seen religious intolerance and violence. He also describes how he has helped develop the sisters' friendship with other local Muslim leaders and institutions.
His commentary follows:
***
At the end of the 1990s, a group of unknown people destroyed a church in a village in Mojo, a sub-district of Kediri in East Java. Such an anarchic event really disturbed our efforts to create interreligious harmony in Indonesia, especially here in Kediri district.
I found through an investigation that residents near the church did not know the perpetrators. The unidentified people came at midnight and systematically disconnected the power lines, destroyed the church and left within 60 minutes.
As head of GP Ansor of Kediri district at the time, I had to respond strongly to show that Muslims live in harmony and peace with other religious believers.
Thanks to God, Munasir Huda, an activist, visited my office while going to the DC provincial house on the same street where Radar Kediri daily is located and I work. I followed him to meet the nuns.
Alhamdulillah (praise God), I was lucky to meet and become acquainted with Sister Soepraptiwi. She welcomed us into her clean, simple, cool and charming guest room with old shiny floor tiles.
Sister Soepraptiwi, a kind, middle-aged woman, always smiles. When she asked what I wish to drink, I answered just plain water. "What a pasone gede (great fast) you are observing, Mr. Abu!" the nun replied. That made me proud.
During our dialogue, I learned that the headquarters of Indonesia's DC nuns are in Kediri and they offer free medical treatment to poor people in the villages of Kediri district every Sunday. I also noted that GP Ansor members are spread through all villages of Kediri district, so the DC nuns and GP Ansor agreed to collaborate to provide free medical treatment to the poor.
We have performed such service more than 10 times in various villages, including for santri (Muslim students) of the pesantren in Kandangan village, who suffered from skin diseases due to poor sanitation.
Another village was Kalipang in Grogol sub-district, where a group of outsiders came to destroy a church Catholics were building in that village.
When I immediately asked the head of GP Ansor Grogol for complete information, I was really surprised to learn that Kalipang villagers said they live in harmony, and help and love each other. When Muslims built mosques, Catholics came to help, and Muslims helped them when Catholics built a church.
I shared this with the DC nuns and we agreed together to provide free medical treatment for the village poor, to show that Kalipang Muslims do not object to the church building.
Then Sister Soepraptiwi expressed the DC nuns' wish to visit a pesantren in Kediri. As head of GP Ansor and alumnus of various pesantren in East Java, I know many Islamic educational institutions. I contacted Kiai Hajj Imam Yahya Mahrus, head of Lirboyo Pesantren in Kediri, one of Indonesia's biggest.
Sister Soepraptiwi and 25 other DC nuns visited the girls' unit of Lirboyo pesantren and they were warmly welcomed. In that dialogue, women santri asked many questions about the DC nuns. The nuns then visited the girls' hostels, study rooms and library. At the end of the visit, Sister Soepraptiwi planted a tree in the pesantren compound as a symbol of everlasting fellowship between the congregation and the pesantren.
The Bali bombing on Oct. 12, 2002, that killed 202 people and injured another 209 was traumatic. It worried many people, including the DC nuns. That is why Sister Soepraptiwi gathered all DC nuns in Indonesia -- 92 nuns in all, if I am not mistaken -- and asked me to help arrange a meeting with an Islamic ulama (scholar) with deep knowledge about Islam.
I recommended Kiai Hajj Mustain Syafii, caregiver of Tebuireng Pesantren in Jombang. I remember him saying in one lecture attended by DC nuns during Ramadan (the Islamic fasting month) that Islam is a religion that brings peace. He explained that Prophet Muhammad was sent out as God's mercy to the whole world (Surah Al-Anbiya, verse 107 of the Qur'an).
After the lecture, Kiai Syafii broke his fast together with the nuns. Later, he and his friends said maghrib (evening) prayers in a room with sajadah (prayer mats) prepared by the nuns. It was really an extraordinary and beautiful event, genuine fellowship not blocked by religious differences. People can establish genuine friendship by respecting each other's religion.
At the same time, the nuns also asked about my activities, and one asked what Ansor stands for. I told her Ansor is not an acronym but an Arabic word meaning "helper." Some stories in the Qur'an say people who identify themselves as Ansor, helpers of God, are the people of khawariyyin, disciples of Prophet Isa, whom Christians call "Jesus."
What impresses me much about the DC nuns is their belief of "leaving God for God," which stresses the importance of service to those in need. I also find such a noble teaching in Islam. A Hadith says:
"On the Day of Judgement, when God judges His servant, He will say: 'O son of Adam, why did you not give Me food when I was hungry?' The servant replies, 'How could I give You food, while You are Rabb (the Almighty God)?' God says: 'Did you not know that my servant Fulan ibn Fulan was hungry, but you did not give him food? Behold, had you given him food, you would have found all of that with Me.'
"'O son of Adam, why did you not give Me to drink when I was thirsty?' The servant replies, 'How should I give You to drink when You are Rabb (the Almighty God)?' God says: 'Did not you know that My servant Fulan ibn Fulan was thirsty, but you did not give him to drink? Behold, had you given him to drink you would have surely found all of that with Me.'
"'O son of Adam, why did not you visit Me when I was sick?' The servant replies, 'How could I visit You, when You are Rabb (the Almighty God)?' God says: 'Did you not know that My servant, Fulan ibn Fulan was sick, but you did not visit him. Behold, if you had visited him, you would have found Me with him.'"
[Note: Fulan ibn Fulan, literally "Fulan, son of Fulan," is a fictitious name in Arabic used to refer to an unspecified person.]
How could I not respect and support the DC nuns when they do humanitarian work and dedicate their lives to serve God in the persons of the poor, the disaster victims, the sick and those suffering misfortune.
When I interact with the DC nuns, I am never concerned they will hurt my belief. On the contrary, supporting the DC nuns' work is implementing Islamic teaching. Surah Al-Maidah, verse 2 of the Qur'an says: "Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and rancor."
Wallahu a'lam bi shawab (God knows the truth).
Source: UCAN
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For Abu Muslich, a well-known Muslim figure in Kediri, 600 kilometers southeast of Jakarta, the work of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul nuns in his area is in line with what is taught the Qur'an and Hadith (collected sayings and deeds attributed to Prophet Muhammad), so Muslims who support and cooperate with the nuns are implementing Islamic teaching.
Muslich shared this view in a commentary he wrote for UCA News as Daughters of Charity (DC) nuns from eight Asian countries held their Fifth Asian Superiors Meeting here. During their July 10-21 meeting, Muslich helped them arrange a visit to Tebuireng Pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Jombang, about 40 kilometers northeast of Kediri.
Sister Anna Soepraptiwi, the Indonesian provincial of the DC nuns, asked for his help to contact Kiai Hajj Salahuddin Wahid, head of that Pesantren.
Muslich, who was born in Kediri in 1959, is vice-chairperson of Gerakan Pemuda Ansor (GP Ansor, Ansor youth movement) in East Java province. GP Ansor is the youth arm of Nahdlatul Ulama, the Muslim scholars' organization, Indonesia's largest and most influential Muslim organization.
He is also East Java vice chairperson of the Democratic Party, and executive editor of Radar Kediri, a supplement of Surabaya-based daily Jawa Pos.
In his commentary, Muslich speaks of how he met Sister Soepraptiwi, and how the nuns and GP Ansor together promote interreligious understand and harmony, and serve a society that has seen religious intolerance and violence. He also describes how he has helped develop the sisters' friendship with other local Muslim leaders and institutions.
His commentary follows:
***
At the end of the 1990s, a group of unknown people destroyed a church in a village in Mojo, a sub-district of Kediri in East Java. Such an anarchic event really disturbed our efforts to create interreligious harmony in Indonesia, especially here in Kediri district.
I found through an investigation that residents near the church did not know the perpetrators. The unidentified people came at midnight and systematically disconnected the power lines, destroyed the church and left within 60 minutes.
As head of GP Ansor of Kediri district at the time, I had to respond strongly to show that Muslims live in harmony and peace with other religious believers.
Thanks to God, Munasir Huda, an activist, visited my office while going to the DC provincial house on the same street where Radar Kediri daily is located and I work. I followed him to meet the nuns.
Alhamdulillah (praise God), I was lucky to meet and become acquainted with Sister Soepraptiwi. She welcomed us into her clean, simple, cool and charming guest room with old shiny floor tiles.
Sister Soepraptiwi, a kind, middle-aged woman, always smiles. When she asked what I wish to drink, I answered just plain water. "What a pasone gede (great fast) you are observing, Mr. Abu!" the nun replied. That made me proud.
During our dialogue, I learned that the headquarters of Indonesia's DC nuns are in Kediri and they offer free medical treatment to poor people in the villages of Kediri district every Sunday. I also noted that GP Ansor members are spread through all villages of Kediri district, so the DC nuns and GP Ansor agreed to collaborate to provide free medical treatment to the poor.
We have performed such service more than 10 times in various villages, including for santri (Muslim students) of the pesantren in Kandangan village, who suffered from skin diseases due to poor sanitation.
Another village was Kalipang in Grogol sub-district, where a group of outsiders came to destroy a church Catholics were building in that village.
When I immediately asked the head of GP Ansor Grogol for complete information, I was really surprised to learn that Kalipang villagers said they live in harmony, and help and love each other. When Muslims built mosques, Catholics came to help, and Muslims helped them when Catholics built a church.
I shared this with the DC nuns and we agreed together to provide free medical treatment for the village poor, to show that Kalipang Muslims do not object to the church building.
Then Sister Soepraptiwi expressed the DC nuns' wish to visit a pesantren in Kediri. As head of GP Ansor and alumnus of various pesantren in East Java, I know many Islamic educational institutions. I contacted Kiai Hajj Imam Yahya Mahrus, head of Lirboyo Pesantren in Kediri, one of Indonesia's biggest.
Sister Soepraptiwi and 25 other DC nuns visited the girls' unit of Lirboyo pesantren and they were warmly welcomed. In that dialogue, women santri asked many questions about the DC nuns. The nuns then visited the girls' hostels, study rooms and library. At the end of the visit, Sister Soepraptiwi planted a tree in the pesantren compound as a symbol of everlasting fellowship between the congregation and the pesantren.
The Bali bombing on Oct. 12, 2002, that killed 202 people and injured another 209 was traumatic. It worried many people, including the DC nuns. That is why Sister Soepraptiwi gathered all DC nuns in Indonesia -- 92 nuns in all, if I am not mistaken -- and asked me to help arrange a meeting with an Islamic ulama (scholar) with deep knowledge about Islam.
I recommended Kiai Hajj Mustain Syafii, caregiver of Tebuireng Pesantren in Jombang. I remember him saying in one lecture attended by DC nuns during Ramadan (the Islamic fasting month) that Islam is a religion that brings peace. He explained that Prophet Muhammad was sent out as God's mercy to the whole world (Surah Al-Anbiya, verse 107 of the Qur'an).
After the lecture, Kiai Syafii broke his fast together with the nuns. Later, he and his friends said maghrib (evening) prayers in a room with sajadah (prayer mats) prepared by the nuns. It was really an extraordinary and beautiful event, genuine fellowship not blocked by religious differences. People can establish genuine friendship by respecting each other's religion.
At the same time, the nuns also asked about my activities, and one asked what Ansor stands for. I told her Ansor is not an acronym but an Arabic word meaning "helper." Some stories in the Qur'an say people who identify themselves as Ansor, helpers of God, are the people of khawariyyin, disciples of Prophet Isa, whom Christians call "Jesus."
What impresses me much about the DC nuns is their belief of "leaving God for God," which stresses the importance of service to those in need. I also find such a noble teaching in Islam. A Hadith says:
"On the Day of Judgement, when God judges His servant, He will say: 'O son of Adam, why did you not give Me food when I was hungry?' The servant replies, 'How could I give You food, while You are Rabb (the Almighty God)?' God says: 'Did you not know that my servant Fulan ibn Fulan was hungry, but you did not give him food? Behold, had you given him food, you would have found all of that with Me.'
"'O son of Adam, why did you not give Me to drink when I was thirsty?' The servant replies, 'How should I give You to drink when You are Rabb (the Almighty God)?' God says: 'Did not you know that My servant Fulan ibn Fulan was thirsty, but you did not give him to drink? Behold, had you given him to drink you would have surely found all of that with Me.'
"'O son of Adam, why did not you visit Me when I was sick?' The servant replies, 'How could I visit You, when You are Rabb (the Almighty God)?' God says: 'Did you not know that My servant, Fulan ibn Fulan was sick, but you did not visit him. Behold, if you had visited him, you would have found Me with him.'"
[Note: Fulan ibn Fulan, literally "Fulan, son of Fulan," is a fictitious name in Arabic used to refer to an unspecified person.]
How could I not respect and support the DC nuns when they do humanitarian work and dedicate their lives to serve God in the persons of the poor, the disaster victims, the sick and those suffering misfortune.
When I interact with the DC nuns, I am never concerned they will hurt my belief. On the contrary, supporting the DC nuns' work is implementing Islamic teaching. Surah Al-Maidah, verse 2 of the Qur'an says: "Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and rancor."
Wallahu a'lam bi shawab (God knows the truth).
Source: UCAN
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Christmas Message From Iran's President
I know that today is not Christmas, but I thought this for message from Iran's controversial president is especially enlightening, as well as the comments regarding the role of the Virgin Mary.
President’s Message on the occasion of Jesus Christ’s birthday
In the Name of Almighty God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate
My sincere congratulations to everyone for the Glorious and Auspicious Birthday of Divine Prophet - confirmed and authenticated by Gabriel, the angel of Divine revelation - the Obedient of Almighty God,
Jesus Christ, the Messiah (peace be upon Him)
He was a messenger of peace, devotion and love based upon monotheism and justice. He was raised in His Mother’s hand – Virgin Mary (peace be upon her) – that Almighty God stood her as impeccable and exalted her above the women of the world. The Mother and the Son that in the Divine Sight are reputable and prestigious. And they are positioned by God – The All Wise- at a sublime level.
There’s no doubt, after God – the Peerless Creator, the Beneficent, the Merciful – created the human beings, did not forsake them on their own. By sending and assigning the emissaries – prophets and messengers - along with the righteous individuals, and on top of that, by providing and utilizing the mankind with the gifts of intellect and human nature, they are guided in the right path – in order to achieve the complete perfection. The human generations – one after another – were not created to live in anguish, intimidation, skirmish, aggression, oppression, and misery. And without enjoying an amity and fraternity atmosphere - replete of love and justice – depart this life and leave it for the next generations.
The philosophy of human creation is: reaching the pinnacle of bliss, construction of immaculate life, efflorescence of all potentialities and talents, implementation of justice and devotion across the world amongst all human beings. This is one of the definite Divine promises that when the world is filled with oppression and enmity by the tyrants and oppressors, it will become full of justice by the reappearance of the promised Savior. All the Divine Prophets have clearly anounced this fact.
Unfortunately during the history, some egoistic and tyrant individuals have existed that stood against the convocations and the sermons of the Divine Prophets. And these tyrants and oppressors were the causation of all the adversities and the originator of all wars and animosities.
Today’s status quo of the world is obvious of everyone. In occupied Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, and South America and even in Europe and North America, due to the interests of despotic dominant rulers’ parties and clans and also for filling up their pockets, the dignity, benevolence, peace and tranquility of the human beings have been taken to abattoir and slaughtered. And then, lie and deception are positioned for honesty and truth.
Many peoples are exasperated from the present situation of the world. And they have come to the conclusion that the existed procedure, method and technique can not provide tranquilly and peace to the mankind.
Frankly, if Jesus Christ – the Messiah (peace be upon Him) was present today, how would He react? And whom would He stand with and against?
If Jesus Christ (peace be upon Him) was present today, he would order an encounter against those who would propagate corruption, obscenity and perversion, and try to nullify and exterminate the merits and the rights of women and diminish their position – a position that virgin Mary (peace be upon Her) – is their role model and sample.
If Jesus Christ (peace be upon Him) was present today, He would order a contention against those who try to discharge the world from morality, spirituality, intellectuality, justice, and peace. And accordingly, the true followers of the Divine Prophets would follow their steps in regard to strengthening the morality, intellectuality, spirituality, peace and justice in the world.
Although last year was accompanied with many injustices, aggressions, and many violation of rights, but the calls and outcries of begging and imploring from God and demanding justice were louder. Day by day, nations would realize the power of faith and godliness. They would go for peace and justice more than before and give a positive answer to the Divine prophets’ sermons and would tell to their Creator – Almighty God “Here am I!” Praise the Lord!
The same way that Jesus Christ (peace be upon Him) invited the people to goodness and perfection, and also avoid them from evil, atrocity and aggression, His true followers do the same. With the belief in God and the Hereafter, they are frontiers in righteousness.
Certainly, the implementation of the Divine Prophets’ commands and directions would reform and improve our lives in this world and would safeguard a satisfying afterlife conjunctionally.
We believe that the beloved Jesus Christ – the Messiah (peace be upon Him and His Mother) would also reappear for the fulfillment of the promises of all the Divine prophets. And together – accompanying the invited of the nations – would bring all the beauties and goodness for humanity of the world. And we are getting close to that date.
While commemorating the birthday of the Prophet of amity, love and devotion – Jesus Christ, the Messiah (peace be upon Him and His beloved Mother) and congratulating the new year, I beg God – the Merciful, the All-Wise – a year of bliss, and health and a year replete of blessing, abundance, success, and affection for everyone, specially the Christian of Iran and the world.
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Libya: Tippling, Tires, Tripoli, Tyrants And A Tree (Part One)
By Robert Duncan
The KLM flight out of Amsterdam had all the trappings of a B-Budget film.
Besides being crowded, the flight had a bedraggled appearance that was heightened by the worn glean of the tapestry and the decidedly 70s cut-and-color of the stewardesses uniforms. Passengers looking a mini-United Nations, chatted in stunted English. And then there were the aloof well-dressed Middle Eastern gentlemen, together with a stunning mid-aged American blonde. The destination: Tripoli.
The majority of the flight’s occupants were workers headed for Libya’s rich oil fields, minus a couple of women with children in tow. "We are going to see the grandparents," said the six-year old daughter of a fashionable American-Libyan mom. At least that’s what it sounded like she said given her strong Bronx accent.
For their part, the well-dressed Middle Eastern men appeared to be businessmen and government workers. The Blonde never did say what her job was, although she appeared to know quite a few of the businessmen. Perhaps she was a U.S. Civil Servant.
Off the coast of Tunisia an intercom voice announced that alcohol would no longer be served, nor was it permitted to bring alcohol into Libya. The voice added that it was also prohibited to take pictures inside the Tripoli airport. Just prior to the plane landing the stewardess handed to all passengers miniature, modeled ceramic buildings. She said they were collectibles.
I noted that the knick-knacks normally housed something stronger than water.
"Yes," admitted the stewardess, "these are usually full of alcohol. But we cannot give them as such to passengers on this flight." As if an afterthought she added, "But people do like them as presents."
I gave my miniature three-storied model of classic 19th-Century Dutch architecture to the well-dressed Libyan gentleman beside me - who seemed to believe that his ticket also purchased the right to half of my seat - who promptly presented it to the American Blonde as a gift. Who says chivalry is dead?
Ironically, this would not be the last time that the subject of alcohol would be broached while I was in Libya. "I have never drank so much in any country as I have in Libya," said a foreign businessman. (For obvious reasons I will leave him un-named).
"At holiday time, or on weekends there is always a party in the neighborhood," he explained, "and everybody shows up with a bottle or two. The only problem is if you are out in the street and being very vocal about it. But if you are just among friends or drinking at home, there is no problem."
This businessman also claimed that he and a few European ex-patriot buddies had a going wine concern. "We buy the grapes here (in Libya). Last year we bought a machine and (imported) the cork to stop up the bottles." In case you did not catch that, this businessman claimed to be manufacturing and bottling wine in Muslim Libya.
"There are a bunch of us in on this. We made over 400 bottles of wine last year. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad," he said, and added the wine was for personal consumption or to be given as a gift. "Who knows, this year, maybe more!"
I was doubtful of this story at first. And doubtful of others I'd heard. So as any good journalist would, I double-checked my facts and had two other people verify the basics. One of those fact-checkers happened to be a European ambassador, who not only repeated key ingredients to the above conversation, but also added a few colorful details.
"The problem with your religion," the ambassador scolded a waitress at an up-scale hotel in my presence, "isn’t that it’s against alcohol because it’s (alcohol) bad, but because it doesn’t want people drunk when they pray."
If that’s the argument against alcohol, then I’m with the Muslims. That said, I also found it interesting that both the ambassador and the ex-pat businessman claimed that the Sub-Saharan ambassadors were picking up funds on the sly by smuggling alcohol into Libya.
"A bottle of Johnny Walker Red Label (whiskey) goes for $200," they both said.
But I digress. Back to the airport.
I am at a loss to explain why no photos are allowed of the airport. What touristic value there would be in such pictures - other than perhaps of a documentary nature noting the peeling paint that appeared to have once been a 1960s green-blue, undoubtedly unloaded by some unscrupulous Frenchman during the years of American embargo in the desire to rid himself of outdated paint stock. One got the feeling that they are waiting for a second embargo to repaint.
In fairness there may have been some photojournalistic value in the brand-spanking new LG air-conditioners that lined the airport’s passageways, or the men lounging around the lobbies, or the endless lines to pass through security controls and scanners or the various stalls selling tea and bitter yoghurt drinks.
That said, resisting an urge to hum "from the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli," I passed through the controls and was ushered out of the airport to the waiting hotel mini-van.
As one might expect the landscape of Tripoli is dotted with minarets, from which there are periodic calls to prayer. Not being one to believe in statistical absolutes, and at the same time knowing that around 97% of the Libyan population is Sunni Muslim, I thought to ask my driver who the remaining 3% were. “We are all Islam,” he said.
Apparently the above-mentioned ambassador also believed in statistical absolutes: “There are no other practicing religions here in Libya.”
I got a slightly different picture from a Berber who was my guide for a couple days. “People practice (other religions) discreetly.” He added his aside as if this was a novel thing, “and the government allows it.”
My guide volunteered to prove his point by taking me to a Catholic church. “There are two Catholic churches in Tripoli,” he announced. Unfortunately, by the time I was able to drag him away from all the souvenir shops that he kept taking me to it was dark when we passed by a boarded up building that seemed to suggest basic Christian architecture.
“It is really well attended,” he assured me.
According to The CIA World Factbook, "From the earliest days of his rule following his 1969 military coup, Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi has espoused his own political system, the Third Universal Theory. The system is a combination of socialism and Islam derived in part from tribal practices and is supposed to be implemented by the Libyan people themselves in a unique form of 'direct democracy.' Qadhafi has always seen himself as a revolutionary and visionary leader. "
A lot of people probably do not realize that Qadhafi is also a prolific writer, including in his portfolio that smash best seller, "The Village, The Village, The Earth, the Earth and the Suicide of the Astronaut."
According to the publishers; "Muammar Qadhafi first gained international recognition as the author of the famous Green Book, a slim text in which he outlined solutions to the political, economic and social problems besetting the modern world. First published in the late 1970s, the Green Book was widely seen by political activists worldwide as an alternative to both capitalist exploitation and bureaucratic Marxism."
"By the early 1990s Muammar Al Qadhafi had turned his attention to writing short stories with the same penetrating analysis and insights that made him a controversial revolutionary thinker."
"When Muammar Qadhafi’s collection of twelve short stories first went on sale in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, the literary centre of the Arab world, nearly 100,000 copies sold within two weeks 'The Village, The Village, The Earth, the Earth and the Suicide of the Astronaut', became an overnight sensation and has gone through a number of reprints to meet the demand of Arab readers."
Here’s a paragraph in a chapter titled, "The City."
"The city was long ago, let alone nowadays, life’s nightmare and not its pleasure as is thought. If it had been a pleasure, it would have been so planned. But the city has never been established for luxury, pleasure, or joy. Rather, the city is a scavenging multitude in which people find themselves by necessity, as no one ever comes to live in the city for pleasure, so much as for a living, greed, toil, want... and employment, which forces him to live in the city."
Eighty-six words that could have been edited down to five: "Go back to the farm."
The problem with that in Libya is that if you don’t live in the city, you probably live in the desert. Over 90 percent of the country is sand and more sand. In fact, there’s so much sand that Libya is currently working on the world’s largest water development scheme - the Great Manmade River Project - that aims to pipe water from aquifers under the Sahara desert into the coastal cities.
No word if the poet leader is working on a new name to replace the project’s current utilitarian title.
No trip to Libya would be complete without a visit to the desert. But if you are planning on going into the desert you will first need to get a “desert visa,” which is not to be mistaken for a normal visa to get you through the country’s front door, nor the worthless, plastic VISA, and American Express – which you might as well leave both at home.
Once you have a “desert visa”, the next goal is to find a guide whose rigs have rollbars and seatbelts. And above all believe the guides when they claim their drivers can drive at midnight across the desert dunes with their eyes closed. I know, because one of ours did just that.
Coming out of the desert one evening the tail-lights from one of the beat-up four-wheelers in front of us disappeared. When we got closer we discovered that the driver had driven over the top of a dune to discover the other side had shifted, creating a sharp drop. The four-wheel jeep did a somersault. The driver broke his ribs on the steering wheel. I noticed he didn’t join us on our other desert excursions.
I was able to travel four hours across the desert to the middle of nowhere to look at prehistoric rock carvings of giraffes, cows, rhinoceroses, elephants and camels. Our guides showed us some ancient graves marked by stacks of rocks. Most of the graves appeared to have been picked over by two-legged scavengers. In nearby slate infested areas, stone cutlery could be found lying in abundance. So much so, that it would suggest this is one reason why today we don’t see many elephants roaming the Libyan sands.
But my favorite memory of Libya’s desert was our group complaining because the local tour guide hadn’t met us with food at the prearranged spot. Telephone calls were made, and GSM locations exchanged. After a couple of hours, hope that the food would arrive had long since vanished. About 10 kilometers on the way back, in a large stretch of sand, there was one lone tree. In the tree’s shade were the local guide and his team. They knew the terrain better than the GSM.
I gather that part of Qadhafi´s Third Universal Theory is based on heavily investing in the Arts, or at least in the poster-board economy. Arriving in Libya I was struck by the ingenuity of these artists working with such limited material, as witnessed by the myriad headshots - many of which include portions of sayings attributed to the nation’s leading poet - and which plaster building facades. No office or hotel is complete without a dozen examples of the nation’s leader. Something tells me they aren’t all painted by his painter son, and likely successor, Saif al Islam Qadhafi, who is president of the Qadhafi International Foundation.
Actually though, if I were to choose a national icon it would be a toss-up between the countless poster portraits of Qadhafi, or that other national symbol: the "burnt-out tire resting along the roadside." In an informal survey administered on a desert highway connecting to Algeria I counted an average of 16 burnt-out tires per kilometer.
I first noticed those tires on the highway leading into Tripoli, a city that reminds me of Lima, Peru. They both share dusty coasts with fairly well paved freeways with cars stopping in the middle of traffic, or driving the wrong way.
At least I’m pretty sure they were driving the wrong way, but maybe that is they way they drive in Tripoli. Who knows, maybe we were driving the wrong way. Or maybe my vision was hazy as I blinked through the sweat pouring into my eyes because our driver noticed we were warm.
Guided by the philosophy that any breeze even if it’s from the pits of Hell was better than no breeze, he promptly closed all the van’s windows and blasted us with hot air from the vehicle’s malfunctioning air-conditioner.
The longer I stayed in Tripoli my impressions strengthened with respect to the physical twinning to that of Lima. Both cities lack grass, but have plenty of litter. They also have similar block style homes that never quite seem to be finished being built.
There is one area though where Libya has Peru beaten hands down. While both cities have teams of unemployed men standing on the street corners, in Libya this has been raised to a fine art. Clusters of men use mattresses, boxes, and dilapidated chairs to form ad hoc committees. The only thing missing is a cappala singing.
There were signs of new money flowing into Libya, judging by some of the construction projects and the spiffy new hotels going up. When I asked Libyans about these new projects, the general answer undoubtedly can be summed up by one optimistic chap’s response.
"There’s lots of work now that the Americans are coming back," in reference to improved relations with the United States and the hopes that big American oil companies will return.
When I mentioned that somebody forgot to tell that to the teams of future recording stars I saw lounging around on the street corners, my guide responded. "They are sub-Saharans."
While I did not want to disagree, I countered that not all of these men appeared to be immigrants.
"Now that there is lots of work, we have lots of "black" immigrants. This is a real problem," he replied.
If that’s true, then somebody needs to update the government’s official immigration records. As of July 2004, Libya only had around 150,000 registered non-aliens - most of who now appeared to warming corners in Tripoli.
"We are trying to control the borders, but once these people arrive here they bring crime and drugs. The blacks come here and they don’t work, they bring drugs," said my guide to end the conversation.
Racist comment aside, I was struck by the thought of how poor some of these African countries must be if Libya is now an immigrant’s paradise. In fairness though, there is a word of truth in those statements. A quick glance at the countries that border Libya - Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Niger, Sudan, and Tunisia - shows none are economic beacons. And with oil revenues pouring in, and a relatively small population of around 5.6 million spread over an area the roughly the size of Alaska, this has converted Libya into having one of the highest per capita Gross Domestic Products in Africa.
There is a sense that things could be improving and businesses are seeking to be ready when the hoped for planeloads of Americans start rolling in.
The newly opened Corintios Hotel where I stayed was elegant, spotless, and had an extremely professional staff. My Texas-sized suite also had a bathroom bigger than my children’s bedrooms back in Madrid. There was a spa, a giant swimming pool, and even loads of non-alcoholic green-bottled Beck’s beer.
I’m sure there is a story there too, but I was never able to find out more. Still, I´d like to find out who was the Beck's marketing genius behind that smooth - yet cruel - deal. A tingent taste of beer, withholding the thrill of the alcoholic buzz.
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Courting Sharia In Indonesia
An extremist figure whose role in terrorist activities is questioned comes to the forefront ahead of Indonesian presidential polls, and corruption, economic woes and disillusionment could pave his way.
By John CK Daly
Reports say that Abu Bakar Ba'asyir - the reputed spiritual leader of the militant Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and head of the Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia party (MMI) - is considering running for president of Indonesia in elections scheduled for 2009.
While an estimated 86.4 percent of Indonesia's 234 million citizens are Muslims, most are moderates, and some of Ba'asyir's policies, especially his call for the implementation of Sharia law, could well strike resonant chords among many.
Ba'asyir's MMI is an umbrella organization for groups fighting for Sharia law in Indonesia.
While Ba'asyir denies involvement with the militant JI, he has stood trial and been convicted of involvement in terrorism and the recent arrests of top JI commanders have implicated him in direct involvement in the group's leadership.
During a recent interview in Jakarta, MMI spokesman Fauzan al-Anshori said that Ba'asyir first had the idea of running in the 2009 presidential election after a scandal involving illegal funds in the 2004 electoral campaign emerged in June. The scandal appears to involve all the candidates, including Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
"Ba'asyir is considering the possibility" but "he said that he wants to see what the people say first," Al Anshori told reporters.
On 9 June, Ba'asyir's involvement in JI again came to the forefront when Indonesia special police arrested the reputed head of JI, Zarkasih (also known as Mbah, or Grandfather), and the group's alleged military commander, Abu Dujana (whose aliases include Yusron Mahmudi, Pak Guru, Mahfud, Ainul Bahri, Sobirin and Dedi) in Banyumas, Central Java.
Both Dujana and Zarkasih trained in Afghanistan.
Between 9-11 June, special police also arrested seven other JI suspects: Arif Syaifudin, who was caught in Surabaya; Aris Widodo, caught in Karanganyar, Central Java; and Aziz Mustofa and Nur Afifudin, both of whom were arrested in Ngaglik, Sleman, Yogyakarta. All the suspects are believed to be aides of Dujana.
Taking no chances about mistaken identity, National Police spokesman Inspector-General Sisno Adiwinoto said fingerprint and DNA analysis had helped police identify Dujana.
Dujana, who speaks fluent Arabic, and Zarkasih were wanted for a spate of terrorist attacks, including the bombings of two nightclubs on Bali on 12 October 2002, in which more than 200 people were killed, along with a bombing at the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta on 5 August 2003, a suicide bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta on 9 September 2004 and 2 October 2005 suicide bombings on Bali, which killed 23 people.
During a press conference with the Indonesian national police, Dujana said: "From 1993 to 2000, Jamaah was led by ustadz [teacher] Abdullah Sungkar, then he was replaced by Abu Bakar Ba'asyir from 2000 to 2002. Then from 2002 to 2003, [JI] was led by ustadz Abu Risyan. From 2003 to 2005, it was led by ustadz Adung, and from 2005 until now [it has been led] by Zarkasih."
More damning evidence followed, with police telling reporters after the raids that they had seized video footage showing another top JI operative saying that Ba'asyir had once led JI.
Al-Anshori was quick to denounce the allegations. "It's a lie. Ustadz Ba'asyir was never appointed as JI's leader. He was only a friend of Abdullah Sungkar," he said. According to Al-Anshori, a Supreme Court ruling had vindicated Ba'asyir, "We defer to the Indonesian Supreme Court's decision proving that Abu Bakar Ba'asyir had nothing to do with Jemaah Islamiyah […] or with terror attacks in Indonesia."
While Zarkasih and Dujana were arrested on 9 June, their capture was only announced on 15 June. That morning, before the arrests were announced, according to a report on the Indonesian Internet site Jakarta detikcom, Ba'asyir, speaking from his residence at the Al-Mukmin Islamic School in Sukoharjo, called on Zarkasih to continue fighting for his principles.
"Keep your belief. If [Zarkasih] is confident that the way that he has chosen is in line with Islamic Sharia, he must not turn from this position, even though he has to face security problems. If he admits to having chosen the wrong path, he must repent of his sins immediately. Then he must tell the government if he actually did do the things that the government has accused him of or not."
Ba'asyir said that he first met Zarkasih when he was a student at Al-Mukmin, when he was known as Arif Sunarso. "I met him several times at some Koran recitation forum in Malaysia. I do not know about his current activities," Ba'asyir was quoted as saying. "I stress that they [who commit violence] do not commit any terror. Actually they are counter-terrorists. Their objective is good, but they have chosen the wrong way. They aim to fight against the real terrorist, the United States and its ally. So they are only ordinary criminals."
The trial trail
Ba'asyir was arrested a week after the October 2002 Bali bombings. He was put on trial in 2003, but because the prosecution failed to prove that he was a JI leader, he was sentenced instead to 18 months in prison for immigration offences. Police then rearrested him in April 2004 immediately after his release from prison and charged him under Indonesia's new anti-terrorism law.
During his trial, Malaysians Syamsul Bahri and Amran bin Mansur testified that Ba'asyir did in fact head JI. Bahri said he was told by Mukhlas, who was sentenced to death for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings, that Ba'asyir assumed the JI leadership after founder Abdullah Sungkar died in 1999. Amran - also known by his Indonesian name Andi Saputro - gave a less damning testimony, saying "I did hear people saying that Ba'aysir was selected to replace Abdullah Sungkar as JI leader but some people also said that it was Abu Rusdan, not Abu Bakar Ba'asyir."
Ba'asyir was sentenced to 30 months in prison after being convicted of having a role in planning the Bali bombings. He was freed in June 2006 after serving 26 months of his sentence. On the day of his release, he told reporters: "I thank Allah that I am free today. I call on all Muslims to unite behind one goal, which is the implementation of Sharia law."
On 21 December 2006, the Indonesian Supreme Court overturned Ba'asyir's conviction for involvement in the Marriott hotel bombing, greatly angering the Australian government.
Ba'asyir has made a number of provocative statements on terrorism. In October 2002, in the wake of the Bali bombings, he said: "I support Osama Bin Laden's struggle because his is the true struggle to uphold Islam, not terror - the terrorists are America and Israel."
Indonesia treads gingerly
In Indonesia, officials are treading gingerly, and there is considerable debate among Indonesian intelligence specialists as to how much the recent arrests have actually weakened JI. Police say the JI structure has been simplified and centralized, and has four wings: proselytism, education, logistics and the armed wing, which was allegedly led by Dujana. More than 400 alleged JI members have been arrested since the 2002 Bali bombing, and Jakarta has prosecuted almost 200 people for terrorist offenses since then, sentencing five to death.
Ba'asyir certainly views himself as having a political role, if only as an adviser. On 19 February, he and a dozen followers went to the presidential palace to urge President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to implement Sharia law, saying: "We are here simply to advise the president that the country would be devastated if Islamic Sharia law is not implemented."
President Yudhoyono declined to meet with him.
In 2004, Washington requested Ba'asyir's extradition, but Jakarta refused, citing the fact that Indonesia had no extradition treaty with the US.
Washington strongly believes that Ba'asyir is connected to JI. On 13 April 2006, the US Treasury froze the assets of four JI leaders.
"As JI's top leader, Ba'asyir has authorized terrorist operations and the use of JI operatives and resources for multiple terrorist attacks in Southeast Asia. According to JI members, Ba'asyir needed to approve significant JI operations, either personally or through his leadership council. Ba'asyir authorized the Bali bombings of October 12, 2002, that killed 202 people. He authorized the use of JI operatives and resources for a plan to conduct simultaneous bomb attacks against US embassies in Southeast Asia on or near the first anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Ba'asyir also ordered a series of bomb attacks on Indonesian churches on December 24, 2000. The Christmas Eve bombings, carried out in 38 locations in 11 cities, killed 19 people and wounded approximately 120," the Treasury Department said in a statement.
In the meantime, advocates of Sharia law see their time as coming. And Jakarta has already made concessions. In December 2000, the government agreed to Aceh province to implement Sharia law as a compromise to pacify demands for the province's independence.
Another plank in JI's philosophy is the re-establishment of the Caliphate, a 1,600-year-old Muslim religious office ended by Ottoman Turkish leader Kemal Ataturk in 1924, which dated back to the time of the death of the Prophet Muhammad. The idea has steadily gained ground in recent years, and a Ba'asyir victory could energize militants worldwide pressing for the institution's restoration.
Altering the political landscape
If Ba'asyir does decide to run for election, he will face the choice of either establishing or affiliating with one of the country's marginal conservative Islamic parties, as Indonesian electoral law currently prohibits independent presidential contestants.
Particularly galling to Ba'asyir is Article 29 of the Indonesian Constitution that guarantees freedom of religion to Muslims as well as the country's Christian and Hindu minorities, estimated in the 2000 census at 8.7 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. Other religious minorities, including Buddhists, are numbered at 3.4 percent.
A number of factors could alter Indonesia's political landscape before the 2009 elections. Indonesia's fragile economy, which, while largely recovered from the 1997 Southeast Asian economic crisis, could still experience a downturn. Furthermore, Muslim groups' influence has benefited from increased poverty. When Yudhoyono took office in 2004 he promised new policies to stimulate foreign investment, alleviate poverty and provide millions of jobs - vows that remain largely unfulfilled.
Corruption is also a major concern. Transparency International's 2007 survey places Indonesia among the most corrupt countries in the world, with a lax attitude towards prosecuting offenders, including former president Suharto, accused of embezzling an estimated US$15 billion-US$30 billion during his 32 years in power.
Indonesia placed 55th on Foreign Policy's 2007 Index of Failed States, which nevertheless said the situation had improved from the previous year. "The first direct elections were held in December in Indonesia's Aceh Province, host to a three-decade-long separatist war that ended in a truce in 2005. Former rebel leader Irwandi Yusuf, who escaped from jail after his prison was destroyed by the December 2004 tsunami, was elected governor, sidelining former elites who had long monopolized power."
Further besmirching Yudhoyono's reputation is a burgeoning scandal involving former fisheries minister Rokhmin Dahuri, who admitted in court that he distributed US$1.8 million in government money to candidates in the 2004 elections. Yudhoyono is also accused of having received some of that money - a charge he denies.
Another possible factor aiding a possible Ba'asyir candidacy is the country's fragmented political landscape, with more than 20 political parties. While radical Islamic parties received few votes during 2004 legislative elections, an anti-corruption platform combined with a moderate Islamic platform could well receive in an increased hearing in 2009, especially if Indonesia's major parties trot out tired candidates with dubious track records.
Ba'asyir has proven to be a master at advocating Islamic values while downplaying his reported terrorist connections. A major economic downturn, combined with yet more damaging corruption charges against the country's political elite could well boost his visibility at the polls - a situation that could provide Western democracies with a most unpalatable electoral choice in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
Dr John C K Daly is a Washington DC-based consultant and an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute. Article originally published at ISN
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Lessons From The UK Plot
The foiled plot in London and the attack on Glasgow Airport on the 29-30 June weekend offer several lessons and a warning for security services and terrorism analysis. Both incidents challenge some current assumptions, illustrate the difficulty of conducting terrorist operations, and may have opened a new form of aviation attack.
By John Harrison
The attacks in the United Kingdom have forced us to reexamine two assumptions and perhaps confirm an existing theory. First, it appears that all of the identified suspects were foreign nationals who had only recently arrived in the UK. This information will cause a re-examination of the idea that the threat is primarily from the host community Muslims. This assumption still has validity, but as was seen with the recent plot against the JFK airport, we have to recognize that the imported terrorist poses a major threat. And unlike the earlier trends, this group appeared to want to establish a longer operational life cycle. The fact that the attack in London was not a suicide operation may have been to allow for the attack in Glasgow.
Emerging profile
The emerging profile of the attackers is that of well-educated medical doctors. This should finally bury the notion that poverty causes terrorism. International terrorist organizations cannot conduct global operations with poor uneducated members. Insurgent groups, such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) or the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) require large numbers, and as they draw on a large rural population, they will have a high proportion of members in poverty. The profile of the latest UK attackers does support the theory that jihadi linked groups tend to draw heavily from the hard sciences. It appears that individuals who work in areas that have a binary world view - it is either right or wrong - are more susceptible to an ideology that shares this outlook. The two attackers who have been identified are both medical doctors working in UK hospitals.
Operationally, there is much public commentary on the direct tactical links to Iraq. Sir John Stevens, former head of the Metropolitan Police and advisor on terrorism to Prime Minister Brown, has even drawn a link from Bali to Baghdad to Glasgow. One must be careful in making this leap. It is clear that the tactics of using gas as a critical component in car bombs has been seen in Iraq. As a tactic it has a rather mixed record, one that was illustrated in the plots in the UK. It is clear that the use of incendiary devices is being advanced in Iraq, but incendiaries have been widely discussed in a range of jihadi publications for years. The knowledge is widespread given that groups across the ideological spectrum have used these types of bombs.
Message for Blair or Brown?
The timing of the attack has however created much discussion, with most commentators indicating it is either a farewell statement to Blair or a welcome reception for Gordon Brown. This of course may be the case, but it is not standard practice for the jihadi community to conduct operations based on western political cycles. The two occasions that this has happened - the attack on the USS Cole and certainly Madrid - have met with mixed results. So any linkage to the change in leadership in the UK is more likely to be coincidental.
The attack in the UK does illustrate how difficult conducting a terrorist operation actually can be. The cell does appear to have been well-funded; a Mercedes is an atypical choice for a car bomb and the cell had access to middle class housing. As none of the attackers conform to existing profiles, and did not have local support, they do not appear to have attracted the attention of the security services as likely terrorist suspects. Some had been involved in activities which had drawn the attention of the security services such as protests over the Danish caricatures of the Prophet. Even with these critical advantages, the plots were not successful. The bombs appear to have been put together in a rapid fashion, with little understanding of the impact of gas fumes on the driver. The cell made no effort to conceal their members’ identities, mask their communications, or appear to have understood the security and surveillance situations in their area of operation. This is particularly odd give the fact that the cell was intending to conduct two attacks with the same members. None of this would matter of course if the cell had succeeded in the attack on Glasgow. The fact that they failed to successfully execute any of the attacks illustrates a poorly understood aspect of terrorism: they are human and are prone to all the same fallibilities facing the rest of humanity.
Far too often we are led to believe that terrorists are smarter and better skilled than the average person. They are exposed to a different skill set, and they are perhaps demonstrating a higher commitment to a cause than the average person, but they are still human. In this case they were operating in a hostile environment with no apparent local support for the cell and thus had to conceive of the plan, conduct surveillance, acquire materials, rehearse and then conduct the attack on targets more than 500 kilometers apart, relying on there own materials and knowledge. None of this is easy with local knowledge.
New tactic
There is, however, one worrying new tactic. The attack on Glasgow Airport was a new methodology. To date we have not seen many attacks on airport terminals outside of war zones, and none in the western world using a car bomb. If the plot had unfolded in the way the attackers intended, and there is some debate as to the actually possibility, the causalities could have been devastating. Imagine the impact on the industry if hundreds of passengers were killed on the ground waiting to check in. The aviation security system is designed to protect passengers while in the air. If the focus has shifted, we must face the reality that there is little that can be done to protect queuing passengers at the ticket counters or security screening points. The aviation industry may be in for some even more difficult times in the months ahead.
We need to remember that our society remains under threat. But we cannot respond to that threat if we are to remain free and open. We need to evaluate the risks and take necessary and appropriate precautions based on that assessment.
John Harrison is Manager of Terrorism Research at ICPVTR and an Assistant Professor at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU
Reprinted with permission from RSIS. Copyright (c) 2007 S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Blk S4, Level B4, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798.
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Overview Of Decision To Not Allow Lina Joy’s Conversion To Christianity
The Malaysian Federal Court has referred the case of Lina Joy, a woman seeking legal recognition of her conversion to Christianity from Islam, to the Islamic Court. The decision increases fear already present among many non-Muslims that religious freedom guaranteed by the Malaysian Constitution cannot co-exist with Islamic law.
By Singapore Catholic News
Lina Joy, the Malay lady who converted from Islam to Christianity, has lost her long battle to have her new religion legally recognized. On May 30 the Federal Court, which is the highest civil court in Malaysia, decided that only the Islamic Court may remove the word “Islam” from her identity card.
Without this change, Ms Joy cannot marry the man she loves, an Indian Christian. Of the three judges called to hear her appeal, one (Richard Malanjum) was in favour, two (Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim and Federal Judge Alauddin Mohd Sheriff) against.
The verdict came after a long wait and much heated public debate, pressure from Islamic fundamentalists and death threats against the woman and her lawyers.
Azlina Jailani, 42, born Malay and therefore regarded as Muslim, began attending church in 1990. In 1998 she was baptized and took on the name Lina Joy. In 2000 she applied first to the National Registration Department (NRD) and then the Court of Appeal to remove the designation “Islam” (as her religion) from her identity papers.
It is only by having this change made that she be would be able to marry her Christian boyfriend of Indian origin because a Muslim woman cannot marry a non-Muslim man. Both the requests to the National Registration Department and to the Court of Appeal were refused. This led Ms Joy to appeal to the Federal Court.
She was refused in both earlier requests on the grounds that she was ethnic Malay. In Malaysia that made her legally a Muslim and being a Muslim she “could not change religion” and therefore the identification “Islam” could not be removed by the civil authorities. Religious issues involving Muslims fall under the jurisdiction of Islamic courts. Thus, two legal systems in the country: one based on Sharia (Islamic law); the other on the Constitution.
The two appear to be in conflict, as shown in Lina Joy’s case. The constitution guarantees freedom of religion; Islamic law prohibits conversion to any other religion. The Federal Court’s decision practically forces Lina Joy to marry a Muslim man in a Muslim ceremony and makes her subject to Muslim laws. Leaving Islam is called apostasy, which may be punished by forced rehabilitation, imprisonment or fines.
But referring Lina Joy to an Islamic Court for the purpose of getting a declaration that she is an apostate (one who has left Islam) so that the term “Islam” can be struck off from her identity paper, might cause her to suffer the penalties imposed for apostasy. It appears that the only choice left for her to lead a normal life and marry the man she loves is to leave her country.
But her problem is not just legal or religious. Since last year Ms Joy and the man she wants to marry have been in hiding after receiving death threats. They continue to receive such threats. Even her lawyer, a Muslim, and observers from the Malaysian Bar Council have been subjected to serious intimidation.
“A Muslim can renounce his faith but the way one leaves a religion is set by the religion itself, in this case Sharia law,” said Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim to explain the decision of the court to refer Ms Joy to the Islamic Court to declare the woman an apostate in order that the National Registration Department can modify her documents.
The report in the The Star newspaper added that the Chief Justice said: “To say that she is not under the jurisdiction of the Sharia Court – because she no longer professes Islam – is not appropriate, (in so far as) the way one leaves a religion is set by the religion itself.” He said a mere statutory declaration that one has renounced Islam is not sufficient to remove the word “Islam” from a Muslim person’s identity card. “This is because apostasy is an issue dealing with Islamic laws.”
Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has stated that no political pressure (was used) to influence the Federal Court decision but admitted that the issue of non-Muslims and Islamic Courts needed to be dealt with by the government.
The Christian community has long appealed to the authorities to reaffirm the supremacy of the Constitution over Islamic laws. Jesuit Msgr Paul Tan Chee Ing, who is Chairman of the Christian Federation of Malaysia, said after the verdict: “To deny this basic human right of a person is to choose his/her religion is to usurp the power of God and the right of the person concerned. It is, therefore, inhuman and uncivilized.”
Teresa Kok Suh Sim, Catholic parliamentary of Chinese origins and member of the Democratic Action Party, has asked the government to “take immediate measures to amend the Federal Constitution” so that there is no doubt that the civil court is superior to the Islamic Court in all matters.
Similar statements were made by the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism, and Council of Churches in Malaysia.
Muslims constitute 47.7 percent of the total population of just over 24 million in Malaysia. The remainder is divided between Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and others. The minorities have often voiced concern about the spread of Sharia law from personal and family issues applicable to Muslims into the wider social context and even to non-Muslims.
In April 2006, worried over the situation, the Malaysian Bishops’ Conference together with other non-Muslim communities took part in a national prayer campaign for “a return to religious freedom” in the country. Earlier this year, in an appeal made via AsiaNews to Malaysia’s lawmakers, Msgr Paul Tan Chee Ing, who is Chairman of the Christian Federation of Malaysia, said that every means should be used to uphold “the constitution and the rights of non-Muslims”.
“Matters involving civil liberties and the family should come under the jurisdiction of civil courts rather than Islamic tribunals,” he insisted. Bishop Tan made the appeal at a time when Malaysia’s dual legal system was being tested by several cases involving religion in burial rights and the custody of children.
“Non-Muslim communities are not prepared to accept the ‘cajoling’ of the civil courts, forcing people to go before Sharia Courts,” the prelate said then. The Christian Federation of Malaysia had also organized a national prayer campaign in favour of minority rights. Other minority groups had also taken action in support.
The problem does not look like it will dissipate soon. A solution requires a change in the country’s Constitution and, perhaps, even harder, a change in the beliefs of many.
Meanwhile, Ms Joy is in a bind. “I am devastated by the fact that the country’s highest court is not able to guarantee a simple fundamental human right to its citizens: that of the freedom to choose their own faith and the person they want to marry,” she confessed to The Star newspaper after the verdict. (Written with
information from AsiaNews)
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By Singapore Catholic News
Lina Joy, the Malay lady who converted from Islam to Christianity, has lost her long battle to have her new religion legally recognized. On May 30 the Federal Court, which is the highest civil court in Malaysia, decided that only the Islamic Court may remove the word “Islam” from her identity card.
Without this change, Ms Joy cannot marry the man she loves, an Indian Christian. Of the three judges called to hear her appeal, one (Richard Malanjum) was in favour, two (Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim and Federal Judge Alauddin Mohd Sheriff) against.
The verdict came after a long wait and much heated public debate, pressure from Islamic fundamentalists and death threats against the woman and her lawyers.
Azlina Jailani, 42, born Malay and therefore regarded as Muslim, began attending church in 1990. In 1998 she was baptized and took on the name Lina Joy. In 2000 she applied first to the National Registration Department (NRD) and then the Court of Appeal to remove the designation “Islam” (as her religion) from her identity papers.
It is only by having this change made that she be would be able to marry her Christian boyfriend of Indian origin because a Muslim woman cannot marry a non-Muslim man. Both the requests to the National Registration Department and to the Court of Appeal were refused. This led Ms Joy to appeal to the Federal Court.
She was refused in both earlier requests on the grounds that she was ethnic Malay. In Malaysia that made her legally a Muslim and being a Muslim she “could not change religion” and therefore the identification “Islam” could not be removed by the civil authorities. Religious issues involving Muslims fall under the jurisdiction of Islamic courts. Thus, two legal systems in the country: one based on Sharia (Islamic law); the other on the Constitution.
The two appear to be in conflict, as shown in Lina Joy’s case. The constitution guarantees freedom of religion; Islamic law prohibits conversion to any other religion. The Federal Court’s decision practically forces Lina Joy to marry a Muslim man in a Muslim ceremony and makes her subject to Muslim laws. Leaving Islam is called apostasy, which may be punished by forced rehabilitation, imprisonment or fines.
But referring Lina Joy to an Islamic Court for the purpose of getting a declaration that she is an apostate (one who has left Islam) so that the term “Islam” can be struck off from her identity paper, might cause her to suffer the penalties imposed for apostasy. It appears that the only choice left for her to lead a normal life and marry the man she loves is to leave her country.
But her problem is not just legal or religious. Since last year Ms Joy and the man she wants to marry have been in hiding after receiving death threats. They continue to receive such threats. Even her lawyer, a Muslim, and observers from the Malaysian Bar Council have been subjected to serious intimidation.
“A Muslim can renounce his faith but the way one leaves a religion is set by the religion itself, in this case Sharia law,” said Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim to explain the decision of the court to refer Ms Joy to the Islamic Court to declare the woman an apostate in order that the National Registration Department can modify her documents.
The report in the The Star newspaper added that the Chief Justice said: “To say that she is not under the jurisdiction of the Sharia Court – because she no longer professes Islam – is not appropriate, (in so far as) the way one leaves a religion is set by the religion itself.” He said a mere statutory declaration that one has renounced Islam is not sufficient to remove the word “Islam” from a Muslim person’s identity card. “This is because apostasy is an issue dealing with Islamic laws.”
Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has stated that no political pressure (was used) to influence the Federal Court decision but admitted that the issue of non-Muslims and Islamic Courts needed to be dealt with by the government.
The Christian community has long appealed to the authorities to reaffirm the supremacy of the Constitution over Islamic laws. Jesuit Msgr Paul Tan Chee Ing, who is Chairman of the Christian Federation of Malaysia, said after the verdict: “To deny this basic human right of a person is to choose his/her religion is to usurp the power of God and the right of the person concerned. It is, therefore, inhuman and uncivilized.”
Teresa Kok Suh Sim, Catholic parliamentary of Chinese origins and member of the Democratic Action Party, has asked the government to “take immediate measures to amend the Federal Constitution” so that there is no doubt that the civil court is superior to the Islamic Court in all matters.
Similar statements were made by the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism, and Council of Churches in Malaysia.
Muslims constitute 47.7 percent of the total population of just over 24 million in Malaysia. The remainder is divided between Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and others. The minorities have often voiced concern about the spread of Sharia law from personal and family issues applicable to Muslims into the wider social context and even to non-Muslims.
In April 2006, worried over the situation, the Malaysian Bishops’ Conference together with other non-Muslim communities took part in a national prayer campaign for “a return to religious freedom” in the country. Earlier this year, in an appeal made via AsiaNews to Malaysia’s lawmakers, Msgr Paul Tan Chee Ing, who is Chairman of the Christian Federation of Malaysia, said that every means should be used to uphold “the constitution and the rights of non-Muslims”.
“Matters involving civil liberties and the family should come under the jurisdiction of civil courts rather than Islamic tribunals,” he insisted. Bishop Tan made the appeal at a time when Malaysia’s dual legal system was being tested by several cases involving religion in burial rights and the custody of children.
“Non-Muslim communities are not prepared to accept the ‘cajoling’ of the civil courts, forcing people to go before Sharia Courts,” the prelate said then. The Christian Federation of Malaysia had also organized a national prayer campaign in favour of minority rights. Other minority groups had also taken action in support.
The problem does not look like it will dissipate soon. A solution requires a change in the country’s Constitution and, perhaps, even harder, a change in the beliefs of many.
Meanwhile, Ms Joy is in a bind. “I am devastated by the fact that the country’s highest court is not able to guarantee a simple fundamental human right to its citizens: that of the freedom to choose their own faith and the person they want to marry,” she confessed to The Star newspaper after the verdict. (Written with
information from AsiaNews)
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British Arabs Condemn Glasgow Attack And London Bombs
By Ekklesia
The National Association of British Arabs (NABA) has strongly condemned the attack on Glasgow Airport and the car bombs found in London at the weekend - stressing that secular opinion as well as that of Muslims, Christians and others must be taken into account in seeking to move beyond war and terror.
Dr Ismail Jalili, who is chair of the National Association of British Arabs and past president of the British Arab Medical Association and the Iraqi Medical Association - UK, declared: "Such attacks do not serve any process for peace. Neither do they reflect the wishes of Arabs who, the world over, seek only to live in peace and who, perhaps more than most, know the despair of losing innocent family and friends as victims to such vicious attacks."
He continued: "The youth and professional status of those arrested today should demonstrate that we are now dealing with a generation that has grown up in a world dominated by injustice and a ongoing state of conflict and all that entails. This should give us cause for grave concern for those who have lost hope and the ability to ration and think clearly; who go beyond reasoning to kill themselves and other innocents as tit-for-tat measures. Revenge by killing innocent civilians is not a solution; it serves only to escalate conflict on all sides."
Dr Jalili said: "We welcome Gordon Brown’s acceptance that there must be an approach to ‘hearts and minds’ but this can only be achieved by Britain resuming its important role on the world stage as a mediator for good. We urge him to address the international issues behind terrorism."
He went on: "We also urge [the Prime Minister] and the media to review the wisdom of previous government policy which has focused on faith to the determent of secular organisations. This focus has detracted and diverted potential gains that could have been made into persuading and empowering disillusioned youth to participate via the British democratic framework."
With thanks to Helen Glibert
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The National Association of British Arabs (NABA) has strongly condemned the attack on Glasgow Airport and the car bombs found in London at the weekend - stressing that secular opinion as well as that of Muslims, Christians and others must be taken into account in seeking to move beyond war and terror.
Dr Ismail Jalili, who is chair of the National Association of British Arabs and past president of the British Arab Medical Association and the Iraqi Medical Association - UK, declared: "Such attacks do not serve any process for peace. Neither do they reflect the wishes of Arabs who, the world over, seek only to live in peace and who, perhaps more than most, know the despair of losing innocent family and friends as victims to such vicious attacks."
He continued: "The youth and professional status of those arrested today should demonstrate that we are now dealing with a generation that has grown up in a world dominated by injustice and a ongoing state of conflict and all that entails. This should give us cause for grave concern for those who have lost hope and the ability to ration and think clearly; who go beyond reasoning to kill themselves and other innocents as tit-for-tat measures. Revenge by killing innocent civilians is not a solution; it serves only to escalate conflict on all sides."
Dr Jalili said: "We welcome Gordon Brown’s acceptance that there must be an approach to ‘hearts and minds’ but this can only be achieved by Britain resuming its important role on the world stage as a mediator for good. We urge him to address the international issues behind terrorism."
He went on: "We also urge [the Prime Minister] and the media to review the wisdom of previous government policy which has focused on faith to the determent of secular organisations. This focus has detracted and diverted potential gains that could have been made into persuading and empowering disillusioned youth to participate via the British democratic framework."
With thanks to Helen Glibert
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IRAN: Reports Of Death Sentence Spark Concern Over Ayatollah's Fate
By Golnaz Esfandiari
Iranian and international rights groups have expressed concern over reports suggesting that a possible death sentence was handed down against a controversial Iranian cleric and some of his followers despite subsequent denials among semiofficial media.
Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Kazemeyni Borujerdi has been a vocal advocate of the separation of religion from politics. However, he's known only to a limited number of followers and people who follow developments in Iran and is not considered to be an influential ayatollah.
Unconfirmed reports on Iranian websites suggested that Iran's Special Court for the Clergy (SCC) in mid-June ordered the executions.
Borujerdi has been in jail for the past nine months, but his strident argument to secularize political leadership in Iran has long upset the country's ruling clerics.
Iranian and international concerns grew after the reports hinted that Borujerdi and sympathizers had been found guilty of serious charges -- including "waging war against God" -- and sentenced to die.
Semiofficial news agencies soon ran stories quoting at least one unnamed official from the special clerics' court rejecting the reports, saying no sentence has been issued and officials are still reviewing the case.
Borujerdi was arrested at his Tehran home on October 8 along with more than 100 of his sympathizers after violent clashes with police forces. Most of his followers were later released, many on bail.
But Borujerdi remains in jail, with little information available about his condition.
'Very Worrying'
Borujerdi, like many other political and prisoners of conscience detained at Tehran's Evin prison, has reportedly been denied contact with his family and prevented access to legal counsel. Reports say the ayatollah was not allowed to see his mother, who fell ill and died during his detention.
Abdolkarim Lahidji is vice president of the Paris-based International Federation of Human Rights, which allies more than 100 groups in scores of countries. He says he heard reports that Borujerdi -- who appeared before the clerical court in June -- appeared frail, and could neither speak clearly nor stand upright.
"We have been informed by his family that the health condition of Kazemeyni Borujerdi is very worrying," Lahidji says. "He suffers from Parkinson's disease, what has added to his family's concerns that he's been denied treatment -- meaning that they take him to court in this situation, they treat him badly, they take him to court with handcuffs and shackles."
Amnesty International said on June 15 that there are increasing concerns that Borujerdi's treatment in custody is endangering his life. The group added that there are allegations that the ayatollah -- who is also said to suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart problems -- was tortured during interrogations.
Thorn In Officials' Sides
Several days before his arrest, Borujerdi told RFE/RL that he had been under increased government pressure. He also said that authorities had threatened him with execution.
In October, Borujerdi said that authorities had targeted him for what he regards as his traditional interpretation of Islam.
"I demonstrate that real Islam is free of political ornaments," Borujerdi said. "It is included in verses whose interpretation is different from that provided by [the authorities]. Its interpretation is from 1,428 years ago. It is about the rule of the Prophet (Muhammad) and how he lived; he was against repression and opposed discrimination. Our divine leaders took food from their mouths and the mouths of their children to give it to the poor. Today, unfortunately, despite the immense wealth of this country, people live in poverty."
Borujerdi's view on the secularization -- transferring power from clerical to civil control -- could be interpreted as challenging the foundations of the Islamic republic established after Iran's 1979 revolution.
Iranian authorities have accused Borujerdi of misinterpreting Islam. Some have also accused him of claiming to be a representative of the Twelfth Imam -- know as "the Hidden Imam" -- who Shi'a believe disappeared in the 10th century. Borujerdi has rejected such accusations and claimed he follows "the true Islam."
Difficult To Know
Some reports by Iranian news sources suggest the ayatollah and some 20 of his followers were charged with "acting against national security," "waging war against God," and publicly calling Iran's form of "absolute rule of supreme jurisprudence" ("velayate vagih") unlawful.
The International Federation of Human Rights' Lahidji says a lack of transparency by Iran's judiciary and the clerics' court makes it impossible to confirm reports of the charges or possible sentencing.
He thinks Borujerdi and his followers are being tried and persecuted for their convictions.
"Kazemeyni Borujerdi is in favor of non-political Islam, and he's been in prison for more than nine months," Lahidji says. "He and his followers were arrested only because of their ideas -- they're in prison under very difficult conditions, [and] their families are worried and say they have been mistreated to force them to make televised confessions."
Lahidji urged authorities immediately to reverse any sentences against Borujerdi or his followers, whom he describes as "prisoners of conscience."
Copyright (c) 2007. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Islamic Terrorism's Links To Nazi Fascism
By Robert Duncan
Folks seem to be in a quandary when asked if the terms “Islam” and “Fascists” can be used in the same sentence. Those who line-up on the naysayers' side claim any such linkage demonstrates a lack of sensitivity toward the vast majority of followers of Islam.
But despite some weak politically correct attempts, the fact is that the press for the most part is guilty of whitewashing one simple fact: There is a radical, heretical brand of Islam fostering terrorism that is indeed a by-product of Fascism and a hatred of Jews.
Shahid Nickels, a member between 1998 and 2000 of the group headed by Mohammed Atta who led the 9-11 attacks, said that "Atta's weltanschauung was based on a National Socialist way of thinking. He was convinced that 'the Jews' are determined to achieve world domination. He considered New York City to be the center of world Jewry which was, in his opinion, Enemy Number One," according to an article written by Dr. Matthias Küntzel. (1)
Atta’s peculiar “Nationalist Socialist way of thinking,” however, was far from unique. In fact, it was a seed germinating for 80 years among radical Islamists that can be traced to Hassan al-Banna, a 22-year-old school teacher who gathered discontent Muslims to found the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928/1929.
While initial growth of the Muslim Brotherhood was moderate, the organization's membership rolls - coinciding with rising anti-Semitism in Europe – by August 1938 had swelled to more than two hundred thousand members. By the end of World War II the Muslim Brotherhood had around half a million members.
"Islamism, or fascism with an Islamic face, was born with and of the Muslim Brotherhood. It proved (and improved) its fascist core convictions and practices through collaboration with the Nazis in the run-up to and during World War II. It proved it during the same period through its collaboration with the overtly fascist "Young Egypt" (Misr al-Fatah) movement, founded in October 1933 by lawyer Ahmed Hussein and modeled directly on the Hitler party, complete with paramilitary Green Shirts aping the Nazi Brown Shirts, Nazi salute and literal translations of Nazi slogans. Among its members, Young Egypt counted two promising youngsters and later presidents, Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar El-Sadat," so begins an Asia Times article by Marc Erikson. (2)
"The "Supreme Guide" of the brethren knew that faith, good works and numbers alone do not a political victory make. Thus, modeled on Mussolini's blackshirts (al-Banna much admired "Il Duce" and soul brother "Fuehrer" Adolf Hitler), he set up a paramilitary wing (slogan: "action, obedience, silence", quite superior to the blackshirts' "believe, obey, fight") and a "secret apparatus" (al-jihaz al-sirri) and intelligence arm of al-Ikhwan to handle the dirtier side - terrorist attacks, assassinations, and so on - of the struggle for power," writes Erikson elsewhere. (3)
According to John Loftus, a former prosecutor with the US Justice Department, "Al-Banna formed this nationalist group called the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Banna was a devout admirer of Adolf Hitler and wrote to him frequently."
Loftus adds that Al-Banna was so persistent in his "admiration of the new Nazi Party that in the 1930s Al-Banna and the Muslim Brotherhood became a secret arm of Nazi Intelligence. With the goal of the Third Reich to develop the Muslim Brotherhood as an army inside Egypt.” (4)
So what was Al-Banna teaching?
Well, for one thing Al-Banna idealized death.
"To a nation that perfects the industry of death and which knows how to die nobly, God gives proud life in this world and eternal grace in the life to come" and "We are not afraid of death, we desire it... Let us die in redemption for Muslims," Al-Banna once wrote.
The Muslim Brotherhood also "used and disseminated a quotation from the Koran that Jews are to be considered 'the worst enemy of the believers.' In addition, they evoked old stories of the early history of Islam by pointing to the example set by Mohammed who, as legend has it, succeeded not only in expelling two Jewish tribes from Medina during the 7th century, but killed the entire male population of the third tribe and sold all the women and children into slavery." (5)
Spreading their hate-filled message toward Jews, the Muslim Brotherhood found a soul-mate in Amin el-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem who held the highest political and religious posts in Palestine from 1921 until after World War II.
Loftus and other authors note that the Muslim Brotherhood and Mufti had common goals with the new Nazi doctrines: a hatred for Western culture, democracy and Jews.
The Mufti with the Muslim Brotherhood and Nazi ideology was a dangerous cocktail.
"As early as 1929, a Mufti-led pogrom killed 133 autochthonous Jews in Jerusalem and Hebron. Shortly thereafter, the Mufti declared the relentless fight against the Jews as the most important responsibility of all believers. Those who dared to resist his anti-Jewish orders were publicly denounced and publicly threatened in the mosques during Friday prayers." (6)
"In a letter to Adolf Hitler, the Mufti emphasized his unflagging and successful efforts to use the "the Palestine question'' in order 'to coalesce all Arab countries in a common hatred against the British and the Jews.'" (7)
Starting in 1933, the Mufti repeatedly offered to serve the German Nazi government. In the beginning, however, the Mufti's fight against Jews was only supported in terms of ideology. That soon, however, changed.
The Palestine’s 1936 "Arab Revolt" was in a large part incited by the Mufti, with cries of "Down with the Jews!" and "Jews get out of Egypt and Palestine!"
It was not until 1937 that the Mufti's "Holy War" began to receive substantial financial support and weapons from Nazi Germany, which allowed Hitler's Islamist agents both in Palestine and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to spread their anti-Jewish hatred.
Klaus Gensicke writes in his dissertation on the Mufti's collaboration with the Nazis: "The Mufti himself admitted that it was entirely due to the money contributed by the Germans that allowed him at that time to carry out the uprising in Palestine."
“The Mufti's so-called "Arab Revolt" took place against the background of the swastika: Arab leaflets and signs on walls were prominently marked with this Nazi symbol; the youth organization of the Mufti´s political party paraded as "Nazi-scouts", and Arab children greeted each other with the Nazi salute. Those who had to pass through the rebellious quarters of Palestine attached a flag bearing the swastika to their vehicles so as to insure protection against assaults by the Mufti's volunteers.” (8)
By 1945 the Nazi Islamist agents were openly spreading terror. “The core of anti-Semitism had thus begun to shift from Germany to the Arab world. On the anniversary of the Balfour-declaration, demonstrators rampaged the Jewish quarters of Cairo. They plundered houses and shops, attacked non-Muslims, devastated the synagogues and then set them on fire. Six people were killed, several hundred more were injured.” (9)
Al-Husseini, wrote in his post-WWII memoirs, "Our fundamental condition for cooperating with Germany was a free hand to eradicate every last Jew from Palestine and the Arab world. I asked Hitler for an explicit undertaking to allow us to solve the Jewish problem in a manner befitting our national and racial aspirations and according to the scientific methods innovated by Germany in the handling of its Jews. The answer I got was: 'The Jews are yours.'" (10)
According to an article by David Storobin in Front Page magazine, "Controlling a spectacular sum of money and the right to appoint Palestinian Islamic preachers, al-Husseini built a ‘political machine’ that brought the religious and political establishment under his domination. Through them, he was able to arouse religious fanaticism against Jews and the West. His preachers urged their flock to ‘go out and murder the Jewish infidel in the name of the holy Koran,’ constantly declaring that ‘he who kills a Jew is assured of a place in the next world.’” (11)
Dr. Matthias Küntzel quotes Klaus Gensicke who claims that "The Mufti himself admitted that it was entirely due to the money contributed by the Germans that allowed him at that time to carry out the uprising in Palestine." (12)
Storobin notes that al-Husseini was, “officially received by Adolf Hitler on November 28, 1941, who agreed to establish a bureau for al-Husseini which was used to spread propaganda on behalf of Nazi Germany, organize spy rings in Europe and the Middle East, and most importantly, establish Muslim Nazi SS divisions and Wehrmacht units in Bosnia, the Balkans, North Africa and Nazi-occupied parts of the Soviet Union. After the meeting, the Mufti was also named SS Gruppenfuehrer by Heinrich Himmler and referred to as the “Fuhrer of the Arab World” by Adolf Hitler himself.”
”The largest Muslim Nazi SS unit was the 13th division known as “Hanjar.” Husseini also organized smaller, less efficient units, including the 21st Waffen SS division known Skanderbeg (made up predominantly of Croatians) and the 23rd Waffen SS division known as Kama and made up mostly of Albanian Muslims. Thus, the Hitler’s Mufti organized or helped to organize three out of 27 Waffen SS divisions formed before 1945.” (13)
Loftus too claims that the Mufti “went to Germany during the war and helped recruit an international SS division of Arab Nazis. They based it in Croatia and called it the Handzar Muslim Division, but it was to become the core of Hitler's new army of Arab fascists that would conquer the Arabian Peninsula and, from there, on to Africa—grand dreams." (14)
According to Küntzel, "The powerful collaboration of the Muslim Brothers with the Mufti and the pogroms against Jews a few months after the world learned about Auschwitz clearly showed that the Brotherhood either ignored or even justified Hitler´s extermination of European Jews."
Küntzel telling writes that "The consequences of this attitude, however, continue to be far-reaching and characterize the Arabic-Jewish conflict to this day." (15) Küntzel notes that this group of Islamists in 1947 explained away the international support of the creation of Israel and the murder of six million European Jews by Nazi Germany, by reverting to anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
In this vein, the Muslim Brotherhood considered the UN-decision of 1947 to partition Palestine to be an "international plot carried out by the Americans, the Russians and the British, under the influence of Zionism," (16) Küntzel noted. (17)
Not surprisingly, given their role in WWII, the Muslim Brotherhood was wanted for War Crimes. However, instead of being brought to justice the Arab Nazis were snapped up by foreign spy agencies.
Specifically, John Loftus claims that, almost the entire network was taken in by the British Secret Service. “Then a horrible thing happened. Instead of prosecuting the Nazis—the Muslim Brotherhood—the British Government hired them. They brought all the fugitive Nazi war criminals of Arab and Muslim descent into Egypt, and for three years trained them on a special mission. The British Secret Service wanted to use the fascists of the Muslim Brotherhood to strike down the infant state of Israel in 1948. Only a few people in the Mossad know this, but many of the members of the Arab armies and terrorist groups that tried to strangle the infant State of Israel were the Arab Nazis of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
”Britain was not alone. The French Intelligence Service cooperated by releasing the Grand Mufti and smuggling him to Egypt, so all of the Arab Nazis came together. So, from 1945 to 1948, the British Secret Service protected every Arab Nazi it could, but failed to quash the State of Israel”, according to Loftus. (18)
Despite being now on side of the Allies, the Brotherhood didn’t sit still – nor did their ideology get any tamer.
One of the main voices behind the Muslim Brotherhood was Sayed Qutb. With time, Qutb would eventually become the organization’s ambassador in the 1950s in Syria and Jordon, as well as being the editor of the Brotherhood’s official publication. While in prison following an assassination attempt on Egypt’s Nasser, Qutb wrote his treatise, Milestones, that advocated overthrowing Arab governments that refused to be run by anything other than the law of Islamic Shariah.
According to a BBC article, “For Qutb, all non-Muslims were infidels - even the so-called ‘people of the book’, the Christians and Jews - and he predicted an eventual clash of civilisations between Islam and the west.” (19)
"Having played a large role in Nasser's power grab, the Muslim Brotherhood, after the 1949 assassination of Hassan al-Banna by government agents under new leadership and (since 1951) under the radical ideological guidance of Sayyid Qutb, demanded its due - imposition of Sharia (Islamic religious) law. When Nasser demurred, he became a Brotherhood assassination target, but with CIA and the German mercenaries' help he prevailed. In February 1954, the Brotherhood was banned. An October 1954 assassination attempt failed. Four thousand brothers were arrested, six were executed, and thousands fled to Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Lebanon," notes Erikson. (20)
When Nasser cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood in 1955 they initially moved headquarters to London and Geneva. Incidentally, the head of the Geneva offices was Said Ramadan, the son-in-law of al-Banna. In Geneva, Ramadan launched the Institute for Islamic Studies – to become the civilized face of the Muslim Brotherhood, even having the distinction of dining with US President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953 at the White House. (21)
That fleeing of Muslim Brotherhood members – people who had been radicalized by Qutb, the Mufti and Nazi ideology – and the consequent spreading of their message, is something that the world is still living with.
According to that same BBC article, “Qutb and (Pakistan’s Syed Abul Ala Maududi) inspired a whole generation of Islamists, including Ayatollah Khomeini, who developed a Persian version of their works in the 1970s.
Author and journalist Robert Dreyfuss also claims that the groundwork for the Ayatollah Khomeini was done by an Iranian by the name of Ali Shariat who was influenced by the Brotherhood.
As a sidenote, with respect to Hezbollah, it is widely reported that the organization got its beginnings in Iran. That is an oversimplification.
“The origins of Shi'i Islamism in Lebanon go back not to Iran, as is commonly thought, but to Iraq in the 1960s where a Shi'i religio-political revival took place in the "circles of learning" (hawzat al-'ilmiya) in Najaf, led by the charismatic Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir as-Sadr,” according to an article in the Middle East Review of International Affairs - Sept. 1997.
“Hezbollah represented a militant, nonsecular alternative to the Nasserite Fatah, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other groups that took their bearing from Pan-Arabism rather than Islam. Hezbollah split the Shiite community in Lebanon -- which was against Sunnis and Christians -- but most of all, engaged the Israelis. It made a powerful claim that the Palestinian movement had no future while it remained fundamentally secular and while its religious alternatives derived from the conservative Arab monarchies.” (22)
Iran’s importance only became more noted upon the death of Sadr, and the success of the Iranian Revolution led by Khomeini. By 1984, Iran was financing around 90 percent of Hezbollah’s social works in Lebanon.
As it stands now, Hezbollah “subscribes to Khomeini's theory that a religious jurist (wilayat al-faqih) should hold ultimate political power. The authority of this jurist, both spiritual and political, may not be challenged; he must be obeyed. Hezbullah sees itself fulfilling the messianic role of turning Lebanon into a province of Islam. In its "open letter" of February 1985, Hizbullah declared that Muslims must "abide by the orders of the sole wise and just command represented by the supreme jurisconsult, who is presently incarnate in the imam_Ayatollah Khomeini. It also called for a battle with vice, meaning foremost the United States, and for the destruction of Israel to make way for Palestine,” according to that same Middle East Review of International Affairs article.
Eventually, says Loftus the control of the Muslim Brotherhood passed to the United States and the CIA - or its earlier form – as a counterweight for Arab Communists.
But this still doesn't explain how we get the current form of Islam Fascists. For that one needs to remember that after Nasser expelled the Muslim Brotherhood from Egypt many of them went to Saudi Arabia.
According to Loftus, "during the 1950s, the CIA evacuated the Nazis of the Muslim Brotherhood to Saudi Arabia. Now, when they arrived in Saudi Arabia, some of the leading lights of the Muslim Brotherhood, like (Dr Abdullah) Azzam, became the teachers in the madrassas, the religious schools. And there they combined the doctrines of Nazism with this weird Islamic cult, Wahhabism.”
“Everyone thinks that Islam is this fanatical religion, but it is not. They think that Islam—the Saudi version of Islam—is typical, but it's not. The Wahhabi cult has been condemned as a heresy more than 60 times by the Muslim nations. But when the Saudis got wealthy, they bought a lot of silence. This is a very harsh cult. Wahhabism was only practised by the Taliban and in Saudi Arabia—that's how extreme it is. It really has nothing to do with Islam. Islam is a very peaceful and tolerant religion. It always had good relationships with the Jews for the first thousand years of its existence.” (23)
Interestingly, according to a Wikipedia entry on Wahhabism, Al-Banna, is said to have been influenced by the Wahhabis. “The Muslim Brotherhood also claimed to be purifying and restoring original Islam. When the Muslim Brotherhood was banned in various Middle Eastern countries, Saudi Arabia gave refuge to Brotherhood exiles. This seems to have set the stage for a mingling of Brotherhood and Wahhabi thought under the aegis of the term Salafism. Rebels against the Saudi state found justification in the thought of Sayyed Qutb, a member of the Brotherhood who spent years in Egyptian jails. Some Wahhabis, or Salafis, rejected what they call Qutbism, as a deviation from true Salafism. Thus there is now a considerable spectrum of religious opinion within Saudi Wahhabism/Salafism, to a great extent divided on the question of whether the Saudi state is to be supported, endured patiently, or violently opposed. The modern day Salafis, deny that Hassan al-Banna or Sayid Qutb were followers of the Salaf, since they upheld the view that it is allowed to overthrow the Muslim leader, and to make "Takfeer" (the act of placing a Muslim out of the fold of Islam, making him a disbeliever) on him based on Major Sins. (24)
To this last point, Trevor Stanley also writes that today there are "a profusion of self-proclaimed Salafi groups," where each accuses "the others of deviating from 'true' Salafism."
Stanley notes that "Since the 1970s, the Saudis have wisely stopped funding those Salafis that excommunicate nominally Muslim governments (or at least the Saudi government), condemning al-Qaeda as ‘the deviant sect’. The pro-Saudis correctly trace al-Qaeda’s ideological roots to Qutb and al-Banna. Less accurately, they accuse these groups of insidiously 'entering' Salafism. In fact, Salafism was imported into Saudi Arabia in its Ikhwani and Qutbist forms. This does not mean that the pro-Saudi Salafis are necessarily benign - for example, Abu Mu'aadh as-Salafee’s main criticism of Qutb and Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna is that they claim Islam teaches tolerance of Jews." (25)
Meanwhile, non-Muslims and mainstream Muslims alike use the ‘Wahhabi-Salafi’ label to denigrate Salafis and even completely unrelated groups such as the Taliban, adds Stanley.
It was in the Saudi Arabian madrassas, or schools, of Abdullah Azzam that Nazi Fascism with religious extremism were married.
And in one of those madrassas, the student Osama bin Laden studied.
"Should it further surprise us that Osama bin Laden accuses 'the Jews" of "holding America and the West hostage' given the fact, that the founder of Hamas, the Palestinian Abdullah Azzam, was at the same time the most important teacher and patron of al Qaida's leader?" asks Dr. Matthias Küntzel (26)
"The origins of Bin Laden's concept of jihad can be traced back to two early 20th century figures, who started powerful Islamic revivalist movements in response to colonialism and its aftermath," writes Fiona Symon, a Middle East analyst. "Pakistan and Egypt - both Muslim countries with a strong intellectual tradition - produced the movements and ideology that would transform the concept of jihad in the modern world."
"They blamed the western idea of the separation of religion and politics for the decline of Muslim societies ... This, they believed, could only be corrected through a return to Islam in its traditional form, in which society was governed by a strict code of Islamic law," Symon writes, adding: "Al-Banna and Maudoudi breathed new life into the concept of jihad as a holy war to end the foreign occupation of Muslim lands." (27)
Loftus – and many other authors - says that with the Russian invastion of Afghanistan in 1979, "the CIA decided to take the Arab Nazis out of cold storage."
"So we told the Saudis that we would fund them if they would bring all of the Arab Nazis together and ship them off to Afghanistan to fight the Russians," according to Loftus. "We had to rename them. We couldn't call them the Muslim Brotherhood because that was too sensitive a name. Its Nazi past was too known. So we called them Maktab al-Khadamat al-Mujahidin, the MAK." (28)
One of those people shipped off to Afghanistan, after being indoctrinated in Azzam's madrassas, was Osama bin Laden - and who in turn melded the ideas of Hassan al-Al-Banna's Muslim Brotherhood with those of Pakistan's Syed Abul Ala Maududi's Jamaat Islami after being exposed to it while fighting in Afghanistan.
Their terror has now extended to the entire world.
While the vast majority of believers in Islam certainly cannot be labeled as Islam Fascists, it remains that there is a group within the Muslim ranks that does have its roots based in National Socialism and Fascist ideologies. In an effort to brand Bush as politically incorrect, anti-Bush politicians and bloggers who are ignorant of history have become unwitting apologists for Islamo-Fascism, a movement within Islam that many Muslims claim is heretical.
Bibliography
1) Islamic Antisemitism And Its Nazi Roots
2) Islamism, fascism and terrorism (Part 3)
3) Islamism, fascism and terrorism (Part 1)
4) The Muslim Brotherhood, The Nazis and Al-Qa'ida
5) Islamic Antisemitism And Its Nazi Roots
6) Ibid.
7) Ibid.
8) Der Mufti von Jerusalem Amin el-Husseini, und die Nationalsozialisten, Frankfurt/M. 1988, S. 234
9) Islamic Antisemitism And Its Nazi Roots
10) Mohammad Amin al-Husayni Wikipedia
11) Nazi Influence on the Middle East During WWII
12) Islamic Antisemitism And Its Nazi Roots
13) Nazi Influence on the Middle East During WWII
14) The Muslim Brotherhood, The Nazis and Al-Qa'ida
15) Islamic Antisemitism And Its Nazi Roots
16) Quoted from: Abd Al-Fattah Muhammad El-Awaisi, "The Muslim Brothers and the Palestine Question 1928-1947", London 1998, p. 195.
17) Islamic Antisemitism And Its Nazi Roots
18) The Muslim Brotherhood, The Nazis and Al-Qa'ida
19) Analysis: The roots of jihad
21) America's Devil's Game with Extremist Islam
22) A closer look at Hezbollah's motives
23) The Muslim Brotherhood, The Nazis and Al-Qa'ida
24) Wahhabism
25) Understanding the Origins of Wahhabism and Salafism
26) Islamic Antisemitism And Its Nazi Roots
27) Analysis: The roots of jihad
28) The Muslim Brotherhood, The Nazis and Al-Qa'ida
Robert Duncan is a journalist and ombudsman for foreign press in Spain. He is an Executive Board Member and Vice-President for the Organización de Periodismo y Comunicación Ibero-Americana, and Vice-President of the energy and telecommunications association, APSCE. He is News Editor for Spero News, and Editor-In-Chief of EnerPub. More of his writings can be found here, as well as at the Santificarnos website.
He has also been published in World Catholic News, National Catholic Register, Renew America, Lifesite.net, as well as Capital Hill Coffee House, Common Conservative, The Conservative Voice, Enter Stage Right, News By Us, Conservative Crusader, World Net Daily, Mens News Daily and others. Robert was the bureau chief for an international news agency in Madrid for many years, and was published regularly in Dow Jones Newswires, with articles appearing in The Wall Street Journal.
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