http://www.danielpipes.org
Mecca's Imam Visits Londonistan
The London Muslim Centre in Whitechapel, reports the BBC, has just opened. One of the largest Muslim community centers in Western Europe, the six-storey building can hold 10,000 worshippers and includes a gym, a library, crèche and classrooms. In its totally upbeat coverage of the opening, the Beeb informs readers that the center intends to "teach women and young people job skills and how to balance work with their role at home" and "improve dialogue between Islam and other faiths." We learn that center members raised about £4 million (of the total £10 million), with the bulk of funding coming from taxpayers via such public agencies as the European Development Fund, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and the London Development Agency. The grand rabbi of Great Britain and a cabinet minister attended the opening. Prince Charles, away in the United States for the Reagan funeral, delivered a taped message.
So relentlessly upbeat is the BBC coverage that it reports without further comment that inaugural prayers were led by someone it calls "one of Islam's most renowned Imams." That would be Sheikh Abdur-Rahman al-Sudais (also spelled Sudayyis), a Saudi government-appointed imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The news item quotes some anodyne statements by Sudais congratulating British Muslims for taking "great steps towards achieving community cohesion" and calling on them to "exemplify the true image of Islam in their interaction with other communities."
Unspoken here is the identity of Abdur-Rahman al-Sudais, a notorious Islamist, antisemite, and jihadist. Steven Stalinsky of MEMRI prepared a fine report on him that gives a sense of who he is. Two extracts follow:
The themes of his sermons are characterized by confrontation toward non-Muslims. Al-Sudayyis calls Jews "scum of the earth" and "monkeys and pigs" who should be "annihilated." Other enemies of Islam, he says, are "worshippers of the cross" and "idol-worshipping Hindus" who should be fought. Al-Sudayyis has been consistent in calling for jihad in Kashmir and Chechnya, for Jerusalem to be liberated, and for the "occupiers in Iraq" to also be fought. He often claims that Islam is superior to Western culture. …
The concluding supplications of Al-Sudayyis sermons are often filled with statements concerning current affairs. He consistently calls for "Muslims to humiliate the infidels (non-Muslims)," as well as for their destruction. For example, on November 1, 2002, he stated "O Allah, support our mujahedeen bothers in Palestine, Kashmir, and Chechnya."
So there you have it: the Saudi government pays his salary and the British taxpayer subsidizes the mosque where he speaks. Such official patronage for jihad makes one wonder how many more will have to die as victims of jihad before people really wake up to the threat of militant Islam. (June 11, 2004)
Mecca's Imam Visits Londonistan
The London Muslim Centre in Whitechapel, reports the BBC, has just opened. One of the largest Muslim community centers in Western Europe, the six-storey building can hold 10,000 worshippers and includes a gym, a library, crèche and classrooms. In its totally upbeat coverage of the opening, the Beeb informs readers that the center intends to "teach women and young people job skills and how to balance work with their role at home" and "improve dialogue between Islam and other faiths." We learn that center members raised about £4 million (of the total £10 million), with the bulk of funding coming from taxpayers via such public agencies as the European Development Fund, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and the London Development Agency. The grand rabbi of Great Britain and a cabinet minister attended the opening. Prince Charles, away in the United States for the Reagan funeral, delivered a taped message.
So relentlessly upbeat is the BBC coverage that it reports without further comment that inaugural prayers were led by someone it calls "one of Islam's most renowned Imams." That would be Sheikh Abdur-Rahman al-Sudais (also spelled Sudayyis), a Saudi government-appointed imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The news item quotes some anodyne statements by Sudais congratulating British Muslims for taking "great steps towards achieving community cohesion" and calling on them to "exemplify the true image of Islam in their interaction with other communities."
Unspoken here is the identity of Abdur-Rahman al-Sudais, a notorious Islamist, antisemite, and jihadist. Steven Stalinsky of MEMRI prepared a fine report on him that gives a sense of who he is. Two extracts follow:
The themes of his sermons are characterized by confrontation toward non-Muslims. Al-Sudayyis calls Jews "scum of the earth" and "monkeys and pigs" who should be "annihilated." Other enemies of Islam, he says, are "worshippers of the cross" and "idol-worshipping Hindus" who should be fought. Al-Sudayyis has been consistent in calling for jihad in Kashmir and Chechnya, for Jerusalem to be liberated, and for the "occupiers in Iraq" to also be fought. He often claims that Islam is superior to Western culture. …
The concluding supplications of Al-Sudayyis sermons are often filled with statements concerning current affairs. He consistently calls for "Muslims to humiliate the infidels (non-Muslims)," as well as for their destruction. For example, on November 1, 2002, he stated "O Allah, support our mujahedeen bothers in Palestine, Kashmir, and Chechnya."
So there you have it: the Saudi government pays his salary and the British taxpayer subsidizes the mosque where he speaks. Such official patronage for jihad makes one wonder how many more will have to die as victims of jihad before people really wake up to the threat of militant Islam. (June 11, 2004)
Vastaukset 3
Vanhimmat
Voisi pohtia myös, miten sotaisana uskontona muslimit näkevät Kristinuskon Afganistanin, Irakin ja Tsetsenian sotien perusteella.
Bush on käyttänyt samanlaista uskonnon sävyttämää paatoksellista retoriikkaa sodasta puhuessaan, kuin Paavit 900 vuotta sitten ristiretkien aikaan. Silloinkin vaikuttimet olivat taloudelliset. Eurooppalaiset kruunupäät ja jalosukuiset halusivat päästä osalliseksi silkkitein kaupasta. Nykyaikana taas halutaan turvata edullisen öljynsaanti.
Yhdysvallat menisi nurin jos arabimaat ryhtyisivät hinnoittelemaan öljynsä euroissa. Yhdysvalloilla ja arabimailla on mielenkiintoinen liittosuhde. Yhdysvallat haluaa säilyttää autoritääriset kuningashuoneet vallassa islamilaisen vallankumouksen pelossa. Kuningashuoneet taas kauppaavat öljyään pysyäkseen rahan turvin vallassa. Jollakin tavoin on turvallisuusjoukkojen palkat maksettava.
Toisaalta nyt Yhdysvalloissakin on alettu ymmärtää mistä ääri-islamilaisuus saa kannatuksensa. Arabihallitsijoita on vaadittu ryhtymään yhteiskunnalisiin uudistuksiin ääri-islamin kannatuksen vahvistumisen pelossa. Sisällissotakaan maallisen ja hengellisen vallan välillä öljyntuottajamaissa ei ole hyvästä. Tai no onhan Venäjältäkin öljyä saatavilla, mutta senkin ölljy kallistuisi. No saa nähdä pystyvätkö hallitsijat nekemään muunkin, kuin oman kukkaronsa.
* Afghanistanin sota oli oikeutettu, koska he kouluttivat terroristeja, jotka tappoivat tuhansia amerikkalaisia siviilejä.
* Irakin sota on amerikkalaisten ja brittien retki
* Euroopalla ei ole mitään tekemistä Tsetsenian sodan kanssa. Korkeintaan eurooppalaiset ovat vastustaneet Venäjän toimia siellä.
Huomauttaisin myös, että ensimmäinen ristiretki oli yritys valloittaa Jerusalem takaisin kristityille. Jotta jotain voidaan valloittaa takaisin, se täytyy ensin menettää. Jerusalem menetettiin sotaisille muslimeille. Suuri osa islamin nykyisistä alueista on kristityiltä sodalla vietyjä. Muslimien pyhä al-aqsan moskeija on niinikään alunperin kristityiltä väkivalloin viety kirkko.
Oma kirjoituksen viittasi siihen, että Eurooppa elättää kyytä polvillaan salliessaan pyhää sotaa huutavien imaamien asua maissaan. Suurimmassa osassa tapauksissa nuo terrorismia lietsovat hullut elävät sosiaalituella - näin myös tuo Lontoon 'kapteeni koukku'.
Tein liian pitkälle menevän johtopäätöksen otsikostasi.
Islam on uskonto siinö missä kristinuskokin. Molempia voidaan käyttää vääriin tarkoituksiin. Oikein olisi ollut otsikoida Eurooppa tukee sotaisia imaameja.
Mielestäni nuo kansankiihottajat voisi aivan hyvin karkottaa takaisin kotimaahansa tai antaa vankila tuomio. Tai ei sittenkään, kun ajattelee minkälaisia vankeja voisi vapautua niiden jäljiltä. Parempi karkottaa kiihkoilijat Iraniin kaltaistensa seuraan.