Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Criticizing Islam


♦ Under Sharia, those who insult Muhammad or Allah are to be put to death. So are those who desecrate the Qur'an, or commit other acts of blasphemy. This tradition began with Muhammad, as recorded in the Hadith and by his biographers. There is also a Qur'anic basis for it.

The Qur'an:

Qur'an (6:93) - "Who can be more wicked than one who inventeth a lie against Allah?" (Apparently not the adulterer or others for whom death is proscribed).

Qur'an (33:57) - "Lo! those who malign Allah and His messenger, Allah hath cursed them in this world and the Hereafter, and hath prepared for them the doom of the disdained"

Qur'an (33:61) - [continues from above] "Accursed, they will be seized wherever found and slain with a (fierce) slaughter."

From the Hadith:

Bukhari (59:369) - This recounts the murder of Ka'b bin al-Ashraf, a Jewish poet who wrote verses about Muslims that Muhammad found insulting. He asked his followers, 'Who will rid me of this man?' and several volunteered. al-Ashraf was stabbed to death while fighting for his life.

Bukhari (3:106) - "The Prophet said, "Do not tell a lie against me for whoever tells a lie against me (intentionally) then he will surely enter the Hell-fire."

Bukhari (4:241) - Those who mocked Muhammad at Mecca were killed after he had retaken the city and asserted his authority.


♦ Some well reported controversies:

♦ The publication of The Satanic Verses in September 1988 by author Salman Rushdie caused immediate controversy in the Islamic world, as it was perceived as an irreverent depiction of the prophet Muhammad. The title refers to a disputed Muslim tradition that is related in the book. According to this tradition, Muhammad (Mahound in the book) added verses to the Qur’an accepting three goddesses who used to be worshipped in Mecca as divine beings.

According to the legend, Muhammad later revoked the verses, saying the devil tempted him to utter these lines to appease the Meccans (hence the "Satanic" verses).

However, the narrator reveals to the reader that these disputed verses were actually from the mouth of the Archangel Gibreel. The book was banned in many countries with large Muslim communities.

On 14 February 1989, a fatwa requiring Rushdie's execution was proclaimed on Radio Tehran by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of Iran at the time, calling the book "blasphemous against Islam" (chapter IV of the book depicts the character of an Imam in exile who returns to incite revolt from the people of his country with no regard for their safety).

A bounty was offered for Rushdie's death, and he was thus forced to live under police protection for years afterward. On 7 March 1989, the United Kingdom and Iran broke diplomatic relations over the Rushdie controversy.

The publication of the book and the fatwā sparked violence around the world, with bookstores firebombed. Muslim communities in several nations in the West held public rallies in which copies of the book were burned. Several people associated with translating or publishing the book were attacked, seriously injured, and even killed.

Many more people died in riots in Third World countries.
The fatwa issued against Salman Rushdie was reaffirmed by Iran in
2005.

Rushdie has reported that he still receives a "sort of Valentine's card" from Iran each year on 14 February letting him know the country has not forgotten the vow to kill him.


♦ Theodore Van Gogh worked with Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali to produce the film Submission, which was critical of the treatment of women in Islam.

On the morning of the 2nd of November 2004, while cycling to his office, Theo was assassinated by Mohammed Bouyeri, a Dutch-Moroccan Muslim.

He was shot 8 times and almost decapitated, all in broad daylight to horrified onlookers. A manifesto was pinned to his body with a large knife, threatening Ayaan Hirsi Ali.


♦ In December 2005. A Danish newspaper published cartoons of Muhammad by Kurt Westergaard.

This led to protests across the Muslim world, some of which escalated into violence with police firing on the crowds (resulting in a total of more than 100 deaths), including setting fire to the Danish Embassies in Syria, Lebanon and Iran, storming European buildings, and desecrating the Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, French and German flags in Gaza City.

On 12 February 2008, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) announced the arrest of three Muslims, two Tunisians and one Moroccan born Dane, who were charged with planning to murder Westergaard.

After the plot was foiled, the Danish secret service was made responsible for protecting Westergaard. He was placed under police surveillance when traveling to and from work. His house was fitted with steel doors, a panic room, reinforced glass in the windows and surveillance cameras.

On 2 January 2010, a 28-year-old Somali Muslim intruder armed with an axe and knife entered Westergaard's house and was subsequently shot and wounded by police. Westergaard was unharmed due to security precautions in his house. He fled to a panic room when he saw the intruder standing in the hallway wielding an axe.

Westergaard was separated from his five-year-old granddaughter who was left sitting in the living room just meters away from the intruder. The intruder attempted to break down the reinforced door with his axe, shouting phrases like "We will get our revenge!", "Revenge!" and "Blood!

Here is a link to the original 12 cartoons in question:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wu5e50zrPA&feature=player_embedded


♦ Outspoken Dutch MP Geert Wilders is no stranger to death threats. It was reported that during his widely publicized visit to the House of Lords, Geert traveled with 4 Special Forces security guards, armed with machine guns.

Geert Wilders outraged the Islamic world for speaking the truth on the dangers of Islam and producing a short film entitled ‘Fitna’.

285 death threats have directly targeted anti-jihadist Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders since 2004.

Left wing Dutch politicians are constantly complaining in parliament about the rising cost of protecting Wilders from these very real jihadist death threats: the budget for the 2006 protection of Wilders handled 145 protection orders in 2006 - in 2005 there were 110.

The service's entire budget for 2007 - which includes the assignment to protect Wilders 24/7, was 34 million Euros/ 46 million USD.


♦♦Do you feel the love and peace of Islam?♦♦


(sources: bbc.co.uk,wikkipedia.com, trop.com, answering islam.com, digitaljournal.com.)


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