Idiot’s Guide to Islam

DMARTYR (H/T) has alerted me to this site (apparently it’s both MuhammadsQuran and the Idiot’s Guide to Islam, and there’s some relationship to the site In The Name of Allah too).  I don’t know who runs it, but it contains much audio commentary on Islam and the Qur’an.  None of it complimentary (so far, at least).  All of by someone who has obviously studied the subject matter extensively, and is (of course) a native speaker of Arabic.

MuhammadsQuran

Click the image to go to the referenced page at the blog site…I don’t know how to get the code for the control to work here, which is probably just as well.

MUCH, MUCH food for thought.

Say Goodbye to England

From The Brussels Journal

A quote from the editorial of The Church of England Newspaper, 28 May 2008

If recent reports of trends in religious observance prove to be correct, then in some 30 years the mosque will be able to claim that, religiously speaking, the UK is an Islamic nation, and therefore needs a share in any religious establishment to reflect this….]

[...]

Charles Taylor’s new and classic work on the Secular Age charts the rise of the secular mindset and what he calls the ‘excarnation’ of Christianity as it is levered out of state policy and structures. Christianity is now regarded as bad news, the liberal elite’s attack developed in the 1960s took root in the educationalist empire, and to some extent even in areas of the church.

Today the Christian story is fading from public imagination, while Islam grows apace.

Somewhere, St. George is weeping.

But there’s hope elsewhere in Europe (though small hope) also from Brussels Journal.

A quote from Der Spiegel, 28 May 2008

On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party said it would like to see Germany do its part to help out. At a press conference in Berlin, parliamentarian Erika Steinbach, the CDU’s human rights spokeswoman, said her party wanted to see Germany accept thousands of Iraqi refugees. In particular, she said, the CDU wants to extend its welcoming hand to Iraqis who have suffered religious persecution in Iraq. In particular, that means the Christians. […]

I’m not holding my breath on the success of this one, however.

Yom HaShoah

by Rabbi Yehudah Prero [excerpted from here]

Shoah is the Hebrew word for “whirlwind.” It is the term used to described the conflagration that swept up six million Jewish souls between 1938 and 1945. A war was waged against the Jews in which unspeakable atrocities were perpetrated against a defenseless people. Men and women, young and old alike, were butchered at the hands of the accursed Nazis, may their name be eradicated for all time. Every year, on Yom HaShoah, we remember the martyrs who sanctified the name of G-d in the camps, the ghettos, and in the gas chambers.

However, we find that many Rabbis, survivers [sic] of the Holocaust, do not refer to it as the “Shoah”. Rather, they use the term “Churban Europa.” In fact, they commemorate the destruction not on Yom HaShoah, but rather on Tisha B’Av, the Ninth of Av. Why do they do this?

While Hitler may have been the last great anti-Semite to plot to destroy us, he was hardly the first. As we read each Purim, Haman actually came just as close to genocide, but through a series of miracles no mass murder took place. Over the intervening millenia, thousands and millions have perished during two conquests of Israel and the destruction of two Holy Temples, the Inquisition, the Crusades, the Chmielnicki Cossack Pogroms - a series of one destruction (Churban) after another that have befallen the Jewish people.

Therefore it is important that we recognize that events over the last 2000 years, though much further from our recollection, are just as much a part of the tragic element of Jewish history. When the Second Temple was destroyed, only swords were available - those who wished to murder us did not have modern tools of mass destruction at their disposal - and yet they still killed hundreds of thousands. In addition, that destruction reduced us from a sovereign nation to a scattered and lonely people, setting the stage for the other tragedies that followed. We still await restoration of a rebuilt Jerusalem, the City of Peace, may it come speedily in our days. None of this reduces the mind-bending tragedy of 50 years ago - but nor should we be guilty of forgetting those other tragedies that came before.

May the merits of six million martyrs rise before G-d, and may their merits - and those of the survivors - succeed in bringing an end to our long dispersion. May we see the building of the Third Temple, speedily in our days, Amen.

Scary Thoughts

As much as I hate fear to admit this, I think Obama is going to win it all.

He has only two competitors now, both of whom are more or less reviled by either the general public or their party compatriots, or both. 

What does he have going for him?  Is it his venerable experience in leading a large and complex organization? [None]  Is it his intricate knowledge of the inner workings of the U.S. Government? [3 years as a Senator? He's only slightly more qualified than I am!] Or is it his awe-inspiring voting record? [either didn't vote or voted "present" approximately 1 out of 6 times - hardly exemplary].

It’s none of those things.  The secret of his success is (will be?) charisma.  That’s it.

An eloquent (even “electrifying”) and inspirational speaker.  Photo- and telegenic.  Likeable.  In short, charismatic.

Time Magazine mentioned:

Waiting to hear what Obama has to say - win, lose or tie - has become the most anticipated event of any given primary night. The man’s use of pronouns (never I), of inspirational language and of poetic meter - “WE are the CHANGE that we SEEK” - is unprecedented in recent memory. Yes, Ronald Reagan could give great set-piece speeches on grand occasions, and so could John F. Kennedy, but Obama’s ability to toss one off, different each week, is simply breathtaking.

But there’s a follow-up paragraph that I agree with.

…there was something just a wee bit creepy about the mass messianism - “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for” - of the Super Tuesday speech and the recent turn of the Obama campaign. “This time can be different because this campaign for the presidency of the United States of America is different. It’s different not because of me. It’s different because of you.” That is not just maddeningly vague but also disingenuous: the campaign is entirely about Obama and his ability to inspire. Rather than focusing on any specific issue or cause - other than an amorphous desire for change … [t]he Obama campaign all too often is about how wonderful the Obama campaign is.

As Ian Rock noted:

Now, let me share something that scares me about you [Obama supporters]. I have been listening to many of your reasons for supporting Obama. I have watched a good number of interviews on CNN, MSNBC and YouTube to better understand why you think Obama will be great president in 2008, and I keep hearing things like:

“It’s just the way he lights up a room”

“We haven’t seen a candidate this charismatic since JFK.”

“It’s just hard to be objective with this guy”

Let me add here the other main reason I’ve heard for people supporting Obama - “I just don’t want another Clinton in the White House”, or in the same vein “Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton just looks bad”.

This is a quote from the same article, which is almost exactly what I said to my family a few weeks ago.

History shows that it was exactly this kind of thinking which allowed charismatic leaders like Adolf Hitler to take power. Extreme? For sure. But, it is a relevant comparison when looking at large groups of people being swayed to act for all the wrong reasons.

And another, which echoes a point I raised over beer with a few friends.

Pretend that Barack Obama is white. Imagine a white, mostly inexperienced junior senator from Illinois with the exact same ideas and speeches.

Does it have the same effect? Imagine a lanky white candidate with the exact same rhetoric and the exact same calls for “change.” Is the image as powerful? Does he seem as attractive to you? Are you even listening?

These issues are pointedly missing (overlooked, or just missed) by all of the Obama supporters I’ve dealt with.

 So, let me try for a moment to think like a politician, though I will allow that given the inherent contradiction, this may be an exercise in futility.

Let’s say I’m a Republican Conservative (a stretch) who doesn’t want McCain for whatever reason - for example, the most recent reason I heard was that he isn’t conservative enough…so we can suffer through 4-8 years of Obama to get the White House back later.  What a juvenile attitude - punish Senator McCain because he sullies the moniker “Conservative”, and thereby brings disrepute to the title of Republican.  Well, given the growing penchant among Americans to support a “Nanny State”, isn’t it quite possible that after 8 years of a a populist Democrat in office that the populace will be even more enamored with a Democratic regime?  The Devil you know is better than the one you don’t right?  Plus, let’s say that McCain does take office, and his rather liberal Democrat-leaning tendencies backfire - would that not help propel a true conservative to office next time? 

In short, a McCain loss is a greater risk to the Republican Party (and, in my opinion, to the U.S.) than a McCain win.

Now, what if Obama wins?  As America’s first non-white President, there would be a honeymoon period for him that is unprecedented.  Anything he promotes will get passed.  I can imagine a resulting big government that would astonish Orwell.  His Charisma will carry proposals into law that the rest of us will have to bear the burden of for generations - because once an entitlement program is instituted, it’s exceedingly difficult even to reform, let alone repeal.

But, as I said when I started this post, I’m afraid that experience, ability, and logic will have little to do with the results of this election year.  Unless Obama manages somehow to lose his charismatic appeal, his followers worshipers are going to get him into the White House.

Kyle Ann-Shiver writes:

Whenever I watch Barack Obama, listen to his eloquent but nonspecific oratory, and see the near-swooning young people who invariably follow him wherever he goes, I cannot help but think of the pied piper and wonder toward what destination he is marching our youth.  Obama is having this pied-piper effect not only on kids, but also on a large swath of Democrat and not a few independents and Republican voters, too.

…consider these numbers on  recent Google searches using only Obama’s name plus one other word:

• Obama + messianic  75,200
• Obama + savior  226,000
• Obama + prophet  312,000
• Obama + Christ 504,000
• Obama + change 4,540,000

A number of internet postings indicate that a great many see Obama in not only political terms, but also wrapped in the untarnished cloak of some vague spiritual-awakening.

As the Opium-for-the-Masses candidate for the all-too-willing-to-be-sedated public, Obama appears to be unbeatable.  I can only hope that people will start to engage their intellects over their emotions and listen to what Obama is NOT saying.  One must remember:

A lust for transformation [CHANGE] is a common feature of revolutionaries, and when they succeed in grabbing power, the results usually are brutal.

Truth from Gaza

As reported in Haaretz (not typically an Israel-friendly publication) 

“Gaza is not occupied, so why should Israel have any role [at the Gaza-Egypt border crossing] when it has no presence on the border between Egypt and Gaza?” argued Mohammed Nuseir, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, on Saturday.

Which I’ve been saying for years, though most likely from a different basis.

Let’s see if anyone notices, and if someone does, what happens next.

What’s important?

For anyone who cares, this post does not constitute and endorsement.  It’s merely food for thought.

 Nod:  Ace of Spades HQ

An admission from a “Palestinian”

Nod:  IsraPundit

“Islam is intolerant to everything non-Muslim”

By Ayman Hassan (who just joined the Walid Shoebat Foundation in support of Israel)

Shalom. As an Arab Muslim I once asked myself: Why do I hate Israel? I really thought about this question. After little deliberation the answer was clear, because I am a Muslim and Islam is extremely intolerant. It’s the intolerance to everything non Muslim, that is the problem and I say this as a Muslim, but today I have rejected the teachings of Islam for this very reason. I have left Islam. As an Arab “Palestinian”, living in Lebanon, coming from a Muslim family, I was brought up with the hatred of Jews, Christians, and all non Muslims. Now I’m 24, I have matured enough to view the world through a different perspective; I reviewed real history and studied the sequence of events before and after the restoration of the State of Israel. I decided to step outside the mindset of a typical Muslim. It didn’t take long to realize that I was on the wrong track and I moved quickly to the other side. In order to be at peace with myself I have come to reject the hatred of Israel and now love my former enemy. I have not embraced another religion but I am pursuing a new spiritual path.

It’s not a struggle of so called “Palestinians” to establish a country and retain some land, which was never theirs, I know because I studied the real history. The real problem is racism and the intolerance of Muslims, the blind hatred and jealousy to see a flourishing, strong and modern country where people from other faiths can live peacefully. Why are the Jews forbidden to have a country? These people have contributed much to the world’s culture and offered the best scientists, artists, doctors and have been victims of intolerance throughout history? Why are they forbidden to live in their national Zionist dream and return to their homeland, which was some desert which they cultivated and transformed in to one of the most beautiful landscapes on earth? Why do the Arabs and the Muslim world have to take everything, and claim every land they step on to be theirs. “Palestine” never existed [as a nation or state - GdB], and should never, and that is coming from me an Arab who is classified as a “Palestinian.” The creation of a Palestinian state would be the biggest threat to the existence of Israel and would not bring one day of peace to Israel; I know how my people think! It should never be allowed. In fact supporting a Palestinian State is the equivalent of supporting Nazi Germany and the persecution of Jews.

Read the rest at IsraPundit.

More “No-bama” Reasons

From American Thinker. 

The ascent of Barack Obama from state senator in Illinois to a leading contender for the Presidential nomination in the span of just a few years is remarkable. Especially in light of a noticeably unremarkable record — a near-blank slate of few accomplishments and numerous missed votes.

However, in one area of foreign policy that concerns millions of Americans, he does have a record and it is a particularly troubling one…

One seemingly consistent them running throughout Barack Obama’s career is his comfort with aligning himself with people who are anti-Israel advocates. This ease around Israel animus has taken various forms…

Early on in his career he chose a church headed by a former Black Muslim who is a harsh anti-Israel advocate and who may be seen as tinged with anti-Semitism. This church is a member of a denomination whose governing body has taken a series of anti-Israel actions…

As his political fortunes and ambition climbed, he found support from George Soros, multibillionaire promoter of groups that have been consistently harsh and biased critics of the American-Israel relationship…

Now that Obama has become a leading Presidential candidate, he has assembled a body of foreign policy advisers who signal that a President Obama would likely have an approach towards Israel radically at odds with those of previous Presidents (both Republican and Democrat). A group of experts collected by the Israeli liberal newspaper Haaretz deemed him to be the candidate likely to be least supportive of Israel. He is the candidate most favored by the Arab-American community.

The anti-Israel rants of this minister [of Trinity United Community Church which Obama has attended for 20 years - GdB] have been well chronicled. Among the gems: 

The Israelis have illegally occupied Palestinian territories for almost 40 years now. [This is an outright lie - GdB] It took a divestment campaign to wake the business community up concerning the South Africa issue. Divestment has now hit the table again as a strategy to wake the business community up and to wake Americans up concerning the injustice and the racism under which the Palestinians have lived because of Zionism. [of course no mention here of the injustice and racism suffered by dhimmi Jews at the hands of the Arab Muslims for a millenium and a half- GdB]

Nevertheless, an Obama spokesman told the New York Times he is proud of his pastor and his church…

As I’ve mentioned before, what is the likelihood that he would attend a church for 20 years yet not agree with it’s outlook?

Obama has shown continued allegiance to a man who preaches racial exclusiveness, the superiority of black values over white middle-class values, and whose teaching contains anti-Israel diatribes. All these are sharply at variance with what Obama himself preaches on the campaign trail.

Read…It…All.
 

Quote of the Day

“If we don’t get over being politically correct, we won’t be here as a country.”

Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.), co-chair of the bi-partisan House Anti-Terrorism Caucus, after the release from service at the Pentagon of Stephen Coughlin, a specialist on Islamic law.

Nod: Jihad Watch.

What are they afraid of?

An editorial (Indiana Jones meets the Da Vinci Code) in today’s online edition of Asia Times takes a look at the recent unveiling of an archive of photos of the Qur’an that may be the oldest known. I say unveiling, but that’s a mischaracterization. The archive was supposedly lost in a bombing event during WWII, but a German scholar disclosed that she had knowingly hidden it for nearly two decades.Many others have written about this in the last few days. It’s not my intention to rehash the story. I find a couple of comments in the editorial noteworthy, however.

It has long been known that variant copies of the Koran exist, including some found in 1972 in a paper grave at Sa’na in Yemen, the subject of a cover story in the January 1999 Atlantic Monthly. Before the Yemeni authorities shut the door to Western scholars, two German academics, Gerhard R Puin and H C Graf von Bothmer, made 35,000 microfilm copies, which remain at the University of the Saarland. Many scholars believe that the German archive, which includes photocopies of manuscripts as old as 700 AD, will provide more evidence of variation in the Koran.

This new story is very reminiscent of the Yemenite fragments unearthed way back in 1972 (the existence of which was widely publicized in the Atlantic Monthly ["What is the Koran", find it here - GdB] in 1999. Again, there was an archive of photographs that at first the Yemeni government tried to confiscate (WHY?). These are also locked up in Germany with limited access (WHY?). Eight years later (35 actually) the world is still waiting for the results of study. (WHY?) The photos either confirm the Islamic ideology that the Qur’an exists “unchanged for over 1300 years” or they don’t. If they do, Islamic leaders should be shouting for the results to be published. If they don’t….

The history of the archive reads like an Islamic version of the Da Vinci Code. It is not clear why its existence was occulted for sixty years, or why it has come to light now, or when scholars will have free access to it.

This is very troubling to me. The archive is an historical treasure. It should be disseminated to scholars far and wide. The only reason I can see to keep this trove hidden, especially now that it’s existence has been verified, is to bury it. Why bury it? Fear. Fear that it’s contents would be too explosive, and the risk to either the health of the researcher or Islam would be too great…that is, Islamic sympathy, if not actual preference.

It may be a very long time before the contents of the Bavarian archive are known. Some Koranic critics, notably the pseudonymous scholar “Ibn Warraq”, claim that Professor Angelika Neuwirth, the archive’s custodian, has denied access to scholars who stray from the traditional interpretation. Neuwirth admits that she has had the archive since 1990. She has 18 years of funding to study the Bavarian archive, and it is not clear who will have access to it.

Again, what’s the holdup? Why the secrecy? It stinks of favoritism.

Apart from the little group at the University of the Saarland and a handful of others, though, the Western Academy is loathe to go near the issue.  In the United States, where Arab and Islamic Studies rely on funding from the Gulf States, an interest in Koranic criticism is a failsafe way to commit career suicide.

Note to academia: Your job is to teach, not indoctrinate. You do not have the right to avoid or hide facts that disagree with your points of view, or those of your funders. STOP TAKING MONEY FROM THE SAUDIS!

Neuwirth has led the attack on “Christoph Luxenburg” and other Koranic critics who dispute the traditional Muslim account. According to Higgins, “Ms Neuwirth, the Berlin Koran expert, and Mr Marx, her research director, have tried to explain the project to the Muslim world in trips to Iran, Turkey, Syria and Morocco. When a German newspaper trumpeted their work last fall on its front page and predicted that it would ‘overthrow rulers and topple kingdoms’, Mr Marx called Arab television network al-Jazeera and other media to deny any assault on the tenets of Islam.”

True colors always show. The custodian of the archive is not interested in any criticism of the Qur’an that deviates from Muslim theological doctrine. Pathetic.

The story thus far recalls the ending of another Indiana Jones film (Raiders of the Lost Ark), in which the Ark of the Covenant is filed away in an enormous warehouse, presumably never to be touched again. The Muslim world will continue to treat Koranic criticism as an existential risk, and apply whatever pressure is required to discourage it - albino monks presumably included.

If that happens, it will be a travesty of historical proportions. Non-muslims have the right to know if the Qur’an can support it’s claim to be the eternal unchangeable word of God. More importantly, MUSLIMS have the right to know. Prolonging Promoting a delusion is simply unconscionable.

But that is not the end of the matter. The Islamic world is forced to adopt an openly irrational stance, employing its power to intimidate scholars and frustrate the search for truth. It is impossible for Muslims to propose a dialogue with Western religions, as 38 Islamic scholars did in an October 13 letter to Pope Benedict XVI and other Christian leaders, and rule the subject of text criticism out of the discussion.

Precisely for this reason, Church leaders see little basis for a dialogue with Islam. Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran, who directs the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, told the French daily La Croix, “Muslims do not accept discussion about the Koran, because they say it was written under the dictates of God. With such an absolutist interpretation, it’s difficult to discuss the contents of the faith.”

Throughout the Internet, Islamist sites denounce the work of a handful of marginalized scholars as evidence of a plot by Christian missionaries to sabotage Islam. What the Muslim world cannot conceal is its vulnerability and fear in the face of Koranic criticism. In the great battle for converts through the Global South [anyone know what this means? - GdB], this may turn out to be a paralyzing disadvantage.

The Bible has been subjected to textual and historical criticism for centuries, and Christianity (and, of course, Judaism) has survived. What is Islam afraid of?

Words of Wisdom

“There are those in America today who have come to depend absolutely on government for their security. And when government fails they seek to rectify that failure in the form of granting government more power. So, as government has failed to control crime and violence with the means given it by the Constitution, they seek to give it more power at the expense of the Constitution. But in doing so, in their willingness to give up their arms in the name of safety, they are really giving up their protection from what has always been the chief source of despotism—government. Lord Acton said power corrupts. Surely then, if this is true, the more power we give the government the more corrupt it will become. And if we give it the power to confiscate our arms we also give up the ultimate means to combat that corrupt power. In doing so we can only assure that we will eventually be totally subject to it.” —Ronald Reagan

From a comment at Hot Air.  Read more about how the government is trying to tie up YOUR rights here.

Advice from a Muslim

Thank you, Amil Imani. [excerpted - go to his site to get it all]

* Fight to end the deadly practice of political correctness. Truth, only naked truth, can set us free…

* Demand that politicians, Islamic apologists, and paid-for media do not abuse freedom by lying about Islam. When these people portray Islam as a religion of peace, they are lying through their teeth…

* Challenge your leftist professors who may be retained by Islamic front organizations to trumpet Islam’s virtues. Demand transparency from hired lobbyists and the liberal mainstream media…

* Demand that Islamic literature, including the hate and violence manual called the Qur’an, be purged of all violent and hate spewed toward non-Muslims. Is it too much to ask that non-Muslims not be targeted for hate by the so-called sacred religious text? What kind of religion is this? [...]

* Do not allow any special privileges whatsoever granted to Muslims. Demand that all Muslims have their first and foremost loyalty to the United States and its Constitution and not to the Islamic Ummeh, the Qur’an, and the shariah law…

* Demand that none of the barbaric provisions of Islamic sharia be practiced…

* Require that the large number of recent arrival Muslims be carefully vetted for their terrorism and Jihadists backgrounds and beliefs…

* Demand that Muslims, without the least reservation, adhere to the provisions of the human rights. Muslims, by belief and practice, are the most blatant violators of human rights…

* Support financially and in every other legal way those individuals and organizations that are fighting the Jihadists’ relentless encroachment.