Domestic violence
Main article:
Islam and domestic violence
The relationship between Islam and domestic violence is disputed. These ideas are somewhat justified with reference to the
Qur'an, in one Surah,
An-Nisa, 34, which discusses forms of beating in certain circumstances. The passage reads, "Husbands should take full care of their wives, with [the bounties] God has given to some more than others and with what they spend out of their own money. Righteous wives are devout and guard what God would have them guard in the husbands absence. If you fear high-handedness from your wives, remind them [of the teaching of God], then ignore them when you go to bed, then hit them. If they obey you, you have no right to act against them. God is most high and great." Some of the scholars allowing "beating" stress that it is a last resort, discountenanced, and must be done lightly so much so not to cause pain or injury.
[29] Whether this fully justifies striking women remains controversial.
Modern violence
According to Islamic scholar
Khaleel Mohammed, throughout the world, Muslim intellectuals are punished for criticizing various aspects of traditional and contemporary Islam, citing the case of
Muhammad Sa'id al-'Ashmawi, who is being held in Egypt under house arrest for his own protection;
Abdel Karim Soroush who was beaten in Iran for raising the voice of inquiry, and
Mahmoud Tahawho was killed in Sudan.
Rifat Hassan,
Fatima Mernissi,
Abdallah an-Na'im,
Mohammed Arkoun, and
Amina Wadud were all vilified by the imams for asking Muslims to use their intellect.
[30]
Other examples:
- Hashem Aghajari, an Iranian university professor, was initially sentenced to death because of a speech that criticized some of the present Islamic practices in Iran being in contradiction with the original practices and ideology of Islam, and particularly for stating that Muslims were not "monkeys" and "should not blindly follow" the clerics. The sentence was later commuted to three years in jail, and he was released in 2004 after serving two years of that sentence.[31][32][33]
- Christoph Luxenberg feels compelled to work under a pseudonym to protect himself because of fears that a new book on the origins of the Qur'an,[34][35] may make him a target for violence.[36][37] he goes/went by this assumed name in order to protect himself.[38]
- In recent times fatwas calling for execution have been issued against novelist Salman Rushdie and activist Taslima Nasreen for pejorative comments on Islam.[39]
- On 2 November 2004, Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was assassinated by Dutch-born Mohammed Bouyeri for producing the 10-minute film Submission critical of the abusive treatment of women by Muslims. A letter threatening the author of the screenplay, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, was pinned to his body by a knife. Hirsi Ali entered into hiding immediately following the assassination, and now is protected by bodyguards.[40]
- On 30 September 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published editorial cartoons, many of which caricatured the Islamic prophet Mohammed. The publication was intended to contribute to the debate regarding criticism of Islam and self-censorship;[41] objectives which manifested themselves in the public outcry from Muslim communities within Denmark and the subsequent apology by the paper. However, the controversy deepened when further examples of the cartoons were reprinted in newspapers in more than fifty other countries. This led to protests across the Muslim world, some of which escalated into violence, including setting fire to the Norwegian and Danish Embassies in Syria, and the storming of European buildings and desecration of the Danish and German flags in Gaza City.[42] Globally, at least 139 people were killed and 823 injured.[43]
- On 19 September 2006 French writer and philosophy teacher Robert Redeker wrote an editorial for Le Figaro, a French conservative newspaper, in which he attacked Islam and Muhammad, writing: "Pitiless war leader, pillager, butcher of Jews and polygamous, this is how Mohammed is revealed by the Qur'an." He received death threats and went into hiding.[44] The teacher was forced into hiding after describing the Qu'ran as a "book of extraordinary violence" and Islam as "a religion which ... exalts violence and hate."[45]
- On 4 August 2007, Ehsan Jami was attacked in his hometown of Voorburg, Netherlands by three men. The attack is widely believed to be linked to his activities for the Central Committee for Ex-Muslims. The national anti-terrorism coordinator's office, the public prosecution department and the police decided during a meeting on 6 August that "additional measures" were necessary for the protection of Jami, who subsequently received extra security.[46]
"Hatred towards people who follow other religions such as Jews and Christians, as well as Hindus and other polytheists, are a part of the teachings of the Islamic holy book, the Qur'an."
[47]
Ayatollah
"Perhaps the most resounding call to jihad in modern times occurred on 21 January 1979," suggest authors, as the
Ayatollah Khomeini announced a Jihad against the
US. "The people have absolute confidence in their victory in this holy war (jihad-e moqaddas)," said the Islamic icon.
[48]
Ayatollah Khomeini's "Radical Islamic Revolution executed and killed hundreds of thousands of people in the name of Radical Islam."
[49]
Iran, under the
Ayatollah Khomeini, categorized the 1980-1988
Iran-Iraq war as a 'Holy war'.
[50] "Khomeini's call to jihad incited thousands of Iranian teenagers to volunteer for martyrdom missions."
[48] The
Basiji movement 'created' child and adult sacrifice as "holy soldiers,"
[51] Blessed by Iranian mullahs' regime.
[52]
The Basiji ideology enjoys a revival under Iran's president
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
[51] who is a member.
[53] The movement has a nominal strength of 12.6 million, and has been present in schools since it was first created in 1979 by the Ayatollah.
[54] Basijis were used in crackdowns in 1999, in 2003
[55] and in the brutality of
2009 on protesters in Iran.
[56]
The group demands in training intense
Quran studies, it calls for "Basij Ethics and Etiquette" and "Major Islamic Commandments." The Basijis have been known to act in defending a strict Islamic conduct.
[57] and enforcing Sharia law.
[58] often "merging" with Ansar-e Hezbollah men in enforcing Sharia law.
[55] In one example,
Human rights activists charged that Basiji Islamic militiamen have raped and murdered 26 year old Elnaz Babazadeh for wearing an improper dress.
[59]
On 19 August 1979 the Ayatollah declared a jihad against the
Kurds in Iran. "Once jihad is declared, all males over 15 must join the fight, the enemy's property is open to confiscation."
[60]
"Ayatollah Khomeini played on the messianic overtones of this belief during the Iranian revolution." The ideology of "Twelver" in Shiite Islam (return of the 12th Imam belief) was invoked by many who believed that the Ayatollah will "return" as their
Mahdi (Islamic Messiah). Iranian president
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad refocuses this belief of the Mahdi's return by public statements and various symbolic actions, Iraq's Shiite al-Sadr's army is called the
Mahdi army.
[61]
Mujahedin
In 1979
Afghanistan, local Muslim rebels began
fighting the
Soviets army, calling themselves
Mujahideen, they used guerrilla war.
[62]
Author of the book
Holy war Wilhelm Dietl accounted how one
Mujahed fighter told him en route to an armed attack in Herat: "We love to kill Russians and to be killed."
[63]
Taliban
Some of the
Taliban have fought against the
Soviets in the 1980s. They battle to conquer the country.
[64] Many
Madrassas endorse Jihad in Pakistan and in Afghanistan.
[65]
In the 1980s, the
Afghan jihad had been financed by
Saudi Arabia[66] as well as other countries including the
United States of America.[
citation needed]
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein warned of a jihad against the
United States in 1991.
[67] In 2003, after the March 20 US, British led invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein called for a holy war against "an aggression on the land of Islam." (invoking the
Quranic theme: "Fight them everywhere...")
[68] The statement accused the coalition forces of waging a war against Islam. His information Minister conlcuding: "Therefore, jihad is a duty in confronting them... Those who are martyred will be rewarded in heaven. Seize the opportunity, my brothers."
[69]
Laskar Jihad
The paramilitary organisation
Laskar Jihad called "to wage a jihad or holy war" into
Indonesia's
Moluccan islands, and carried out anti-Christian attacks in
Sulawesi,
[70] the same group was involved in the 1999 violence against
Christians and
Chinese[71] in East Timor.
[72] It has been categorized as "Indonesia's Dirty Little Holy War Holy Terror."
[70]
Hezbollah
Hezbollah's spiritual guidance, Sheik
Muhammed Hussein Fadlallah, who witnessing journalist says was behind the hostage crisis in
Lebanon in the 1980s,
[73] said: "We see ourselves as
mujihadeen who fight a Holy War." Justifying bombings, kidnapping, murder.
[74]
However
British journalist
Robert Fisk disputes these claims about Fadlallh:
The Americans put it about that he had blessed the suicide bomber who struck the US marine base in Beirut in 1983, killing 241 service personnel. Fadlallah always denied this to me and I believe him. Suicide bombers, however insane we regard them, don't need to be blessed; they think they are doing God's duty without any help from a marja like Fadlallah.
[75]
Omar al-Bashir
"In the present conflict in
Darfur, jihad is usually interpreted as holy war by the government in Khartoum."
[76] The Sudanese National Islamic Front declared in 1992 a
jihad, or holy war, against all in the Nuba Mountains who supported the
SPLA.
[77][78]
Sudan's leader
Omar Al-Bashir, in 1997 "declared a jihad (holy war) against"
Ethiopia.
[79] Accused of
genocide he threatened in 2007 "to mount a jihad against
United Nations peacekeepers."
[80]
Wahabbists
The Whabbists have a long history of fundamentalism and jihad, declaring holy wars on others, to force them into accepting their purified version of Islam
[81]
In 2010, a 'Glut of fatwas spurred Saudi king to impose curbs,' Saudi political analyst explaining: "If you endorse jihad, it means you are searching for a war with the rest of the world."
[82]
Some militant Islamic movements cite Saudi Wahhabi clerics to justify violence.
[83]
Saudi
Grand Mufti Ibn Baz repudiated violence. He stated:
From that which is known to everyone who has the slightest bit of common sense is that hijacking airplanes and kidnapping children and the like are extremely great crimes, the world over. Their evil effects are far and wide, as is the great harm and inconvenience caused to the innocent; the total effect of which none can comprehend except Allaah.
[84]
Terrorism
Main article:
Islam and terrorism
Islamic terrorism is
terrorism[85] committed by
Islamists, and aimed at achieving varying political ends
[86] and the advancement of
Islamist goals; for example,
Osama bin Laden's stated goal of ending
American military presence in the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula,
[87][87] overthrowing Arab regimes he considers corrupt and insufficiently religious,
[87] and stopping
American support for
Israel.
[88] Bombing in London
7/7 are said to be in retaliation for
UK's support in the war in
Iraq that began in 2003, though it can't be linked as a motive for Islamic terror plots on
London, December, 2001.
[89][90] The
Islamic terrorism attack in Madrid were "explained" as "inspired by al-Qaeda's call to punish Spain's government for supporting the Iraq war," another motive was given that Spain holds a strong appeal to Islamic militants because the southern region of Andalucia was under Muslim control for almost 800 years, and "Al-Qaeda has called on jihadists to reconquer Spain as part of a broader Muslim
caliphate, or kingdom under Islamic rule."
[91][92]
At the
2008 Mumbai attacks, the Islamic terrorists were told by their handlers in
Pakistan "that the lives of Jews were worth 50 times those of non-Jews."
[93]
The Qur'an: (8:12): "...cast terror in their hearts and strike upon their necks."
[94] The
commanded to terrorize the disbelievers have been cited in motivation of Jihadi terror.
[95][96][97][98]
A Jihadi cleric:
"Another aim and objective of jihad is to drive terror in the hearts of the [infidels]. To terrorize them. Did you know that we were commanded in the Qur'an with terrorism? ...Allah said, and prepare for them to the best of your ability with power, and with horses of war. To drive terror in the hearts of my enemies, Allah's enemies, and your enemies. And other enemies which you don't know, only Allah knows them... So we were commanded to drive terror into the hearts of the [infidels], to prepare for them with the best of our abilities with power. Then the Prophet said, nay, the power is your ability to shoot. The power which you are commanded with here, is your ability to shoot. Another aim and objective of jihad is to kill the [infidels], to lessen the population of the [infidels]... it is not right for a Prophet to have captives until he makes the Earth warm with blood... so, you should always seek to lessen the population of the [infidels]."
[99]
Observers have also argued that the attacks are aimed at propagating
Islamic culture, society and values in opposition to perceived political,
imperialistic, and/or cultural influences of
non-Muslims, and the
Western world in particular.
[100][101]
There are also historical dimensions to the phenomenon, and the history of Western influence and control
after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, is a common stated reason used within some terrorist groups to justify and explain its use of violence as resistive and retributive against western influences.
World domination
The strive to an 'Islamic
Caliphate.' Caliph is translated from the
Arabic Khalifa (خليفة ẖalīfä) meaning "
successor", "
substitute", or "
lieutenant". It is used in the
Qur'an to establish
Adam's role as representative of
Allah on earth. Kalifa is also used to describe the belief that man's role, in his real nature, is as khalifa or viceroy to Allah.
[102] The word is also most commonly used for the Islamic leader of the
Ummah; starting with
Muhammad and his line of successors.
Indeed, domination is the ultimate goal of jihadists.
[103][104] Al-Qaeda revealed its grand plan towards an Islamic caliphate,
[105] - global domination.
[106] Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's
Al-Qaeda in Iraq, has released a statement in which it explains the reasons for its terror campaign:
"We are not fighting to chase out the occupier or to save national unity and keep the borders outlined by the infidels intact," [...] "We are fighting because it is a religious duty to do it, just as it is a duty to take the Sharia [Islamic law] to the government and create an Islamic state."
[107]
"
Al-Qaeda has called on jihadists to reconquer
Spain as part of a broader Muslim
caliphate, or kingdom under Islamic rule."
[91] Explaining why even
Hamas has an eye on Spain.
[92] In the early 1990s, the
GIA Algerian Armed Islamist Group, which is "well known for its radical positions and the barbaric violence of its operations, announced the restoration of the caliphate and the appointment of a caliph."
[108] With
Palestinian Islamic party
Hamas victory in the 2007 election, a mass gathering followed with
Hamas' spokesman calling for a
Caliphate.
[109] The official said Hamas seeks to create an "Islamic caliphate" in the land.
[110][111]
How stupid does the Muslim Herd think we are?
We can read an encyclopedia.
The conclusions are obvious.