Islam Under Scrutiny by Ex-Muslims

Islam: No Compulsion In Religion?, Part 1

 

Perhaps the most quoted verse of the Koran is from Sura Al-Baqarah (The Cow). This verse - Sura 2: 256 begins with the words: "Let there be no compulsion in religion." This statement has been quoted by Muslim scholars and their apologists perhaps more than any other. As Pope Benedict XVI noted, it is an early Sura, from the time when Mohammed was still trying to gain acceptance from his peers. Unfortunately for some Muslims such a notion of religious freedom means nothing.

 

 Daniel Pipes has discussed the meaning of this verse, and states that for some, Sura 2: 256 has been "abrogated" or replaced by the historically later verse, Sura 9:73: "O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites! Be harsh with them." There are certainly Hadiths, which document oral testimonies of Mohammed's life and deeds, which clearly state that the founder of Islam believed that those who left Islam (apostates) should be killed.

 

 Forced conversions still happen in parts of the Islamic world, made worse by the fact that in cultures where this happens, those who become converts are forbidden from leaving Islam. In the West, Muslims freely carry out "dawah" or missionary activities, yet few Muslim spokespeople publicly condemn those who react violently to attempts at conversion of Muslims to another faith.

 

 At the weekend, 19 South Korean Christians returned home. Reunions with their families were tearful. They had been among a group of 23 people who were kidnapped by the Taliban, south of Khandahar in Afghanistan, on July 19. Two women had been freed in August when negotiations began. The kidnappers claimed that the Christians, most of whom were women, had been conducting missionary activities. For this "crime", the Taliban had slaughtered Bae Hyung-kyu, the group's 49-year old pastor, on Wednesday, July 25. In addition to riddling the pastor with bullets the Taliban also shot dead Shim Seong-min, a 29-year old man with the group.

 

 The hostages returning to South Korea were unaware of the killings until they arrived at Seoul airport from Dubai. Upon their return they were publicly condemned for putting themselves "at risk" by traveling to a region where Christian missionary work is regarded as a heinous crime. They were forced to make public apologies. The Saemmul Church, the Seoul-based Protestant community which had sent the missionaries to Afghanistan, agreed not to send more Christians to the region, and the government agreed to troop withdrawals.

 

 Last August, aid workers from South Korea who were working in Afghanistan were threatened with violent reprisals by fanatical Muslims. These fanatics were not the Taliban, but 500 Afghan imams who had convened at Mazar-i-Sharif in the north of the country. Workers from the Institute of Asian Culture and Development who had planned to stage a Peace Festival on August 5, 2006 were accused of trying to spread "Christianity" as part of their aid work, though there was no evidence to support this.

 

In March 2006, the Western world was shocked by the case of Abdul Rahman. Even the Washington Post voiced concerns. 41-year old Mr Rahman had left Islam 16 years previously, and had spent most of his time away from his home country of Afghanistan. He had returned in 2002, hoping to gain custody of his two children. He was found to be a Christian, and for this he was put on trial.

 

 Abdul Rahman's trial began on Thursday March 16, 2006. He was officially charged with "rejecting Islam". Initially the prosecutor, Abdul Wasi, offered Mr Rahman the chance to convert back into Islam, in exchange for having charges dropped. When this offer was rejected, Wasi insisted on demanding the death penalty. The judge in the case, Ansarullah Mawlavezada, announced: "We are not against any particular religion in the world. But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law. It is an attack on Islam."

 

 As Mark Steyn caustically observed: "We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die," says Abdul Raoulf of the nation's principal Muslim body, the Afghan Ulama Council. "Cut off his head! We will call on the people to pull him into pieces so there's nothing left." Needless to say, Imam Raoulf is one of Afghanistan's leading "moderate" clerics. Even Rahman's own father added his voice to those calling for his death, and a leading Shia cleric in Kabul agreed that Rahman "must be hanged".

 

 The judge in his case stated that Rahman appeared to be mentally disturbed and his family, who had originally reported that he was a Christian, agreed that he should be spared because of his "insanity". The case was dropped due to "gaps in evidence". On March 25, 2006, Rahman was moved to maximum security Policharki prison, after receiving death threats from other prisoners. In Mazar-i-Sharif, a protest was held to voice anger at Judge Ansarullah Mawlavezada's decision to drop the case. Mr Rahman was smuggled out of Afghanistan on March 29, and was given asylum in Italy, where he adopted the name "Joel".

 

 It later transpired that Rahman did have a history of mental problems, but this does not alter the fact that even today, after hundreds of Western soldiers have died to support Afghanistan's fragile government, apostasy from Islam can still invoke the death penalty. Afghanistan is one of many Muslim countries that in 1948 signed the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 18 of this declaration states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

 

 In April, 2006, the US Congressional Human Rights Caucus held a Congressional forum in Washington DC. This heard that 14 Islamic countries have laws outlawing apostasy.  Nina Shea of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom said that in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen, Mauritania and Comoros, apostasy can be punished by death. In Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Maldives, Oman and Qatar, apostasy is a crime.

 

 There are thirteen verses in the Koran that refer to apostasy, but in these the punishments for apostates are those of hellfire, meted out in the afterlife. However, in the Hadiths, which document the deeds and sayings of Mohammed, passed on by chains of oral transmission from the time of his life, there is mention that the founder of Islam had claimed that anyone who left Islam should be killed. The most authentic (Sahih) collection of Hadiths is by al-Bukhari, who lived from 810 - 870 AD. His collection is revered by Sunni Muslims, and forms one of the sources of Islamic jurisprudence (sharia law).

 

 In Volume Four, Book 52 (Jihaad or Fighting for the cause of Allah), no. 260, Bukhari stated: "Narrated Ikrima: Ali burnt some people and this news reached Ibn 'Abbas, who said, "Had I been in his place I would not have burnt them, as the Prophet said, 'Don't punish (anybody) with Allah's Punishment (fire).' No doubt, I would have killed them, for the Prophet said, 'If somebody (a Muslim) discards his religion, kill him.' "

 

 Virtually the same statement appears in Volume Four, Book 84 (Dealing with Apostates), number 57: Narrated 'Ikrima: Some Zanadiqa (atheists) were brought to 'Ali and he burnt them. The news of this event, reached Ibn 'Abbas who said, "If I had been in his place, I would not have burnt them, as Allah's Apostle forbade it, saying, 'Do not punish anybody with Allah's punishment (fire).' I would have killed them according to the statement of Allah's Apostle, 'Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.'"

 

 In Volume Nine, Book 83 (Ad-Diyat or Blood Money), number 17, Bukhari wrote: "Narrated 'Abdullah: Allah's Apostle said, "The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His Apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas for murder, a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse and the one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves the Muslims."

 

 Ibn Warraq, famous apostate and author of Leaving Islam, has  discussed other Hadiths that support Bukhari's statement. Warraq also mentions Islamic scholars who have taken the Koranic verses describing punishments to apostates as an injunction to kill apostates in this life. One of the founders of modern Islamism, Syed Ala Maududi (1903-1979), also claimed that the Koran (Sura 10: 11-12) advocates the killing of apostates.

 

 NYPD chief Raymond Kelly last month described the internet as the "new Afghanistan", a tool by which vulnerable people could become radicalized to the point of committing atrocities. The internet is certainly a vehicle by which Islamic preachers state plainly that apostates should be killed. One website, run by Shahid Bin Waheed explains that apostates from Islam deserve to die, citing Hadiths, and even the Old Testament as justifications. This man apparently is based in Pasadena, Texas.

 

 Another internet advocate of the killing of apostates is Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid, who uses Bukhari to claim: "The one who has known the religion which Allaah revealed, entered it and practised it, then rejected it, despised it and left it, is a person who does not deserve to live on the earth of Allaah and eat from the provision." As Joe Kauffman has pointed out, though Munajjid lives in Saudi Arabia, he appears to have close contacts with Islamic groups in Florida. By means of "justification" for killing apostates, Munajjid states: "Is espionage or shedding blood worse than leaving the religion of the Lord?"

 

 Since the beginnings of Islam, apostates have been killed and attacked. An interesting historical account from 1924 (pdf document) by Samuel M Zwemer describes how apostates have been killed and persecuted by upholders of Sharia law. More - on the way apostasy is dealt with under Islamic jurisprudence - can be found here.

 

 Judaism and Christianity may have abandoned their previous persecutions of apostates, but in the Islamic world, this tradition shows no sign of disappearing. In April 2007, Pope Benedict XVI visited the city of Vigenavo in the north of Italy. Shortly before his arrival at this center of the shoe-manufacturing industry, local papers were carrying the story of a Moroccan man who had beaten up by Muslims in Vigenavo. He needed hospital attention. This man's "crime" had been to convert to Christianity.

 

 Last month, on August 6, a young politician was physically attacked by Muslims in the Netherlands. It was the third time that he had been subjected to beatings. 22-year old Ehsan Jami is a member of the Leidschendam-Voorburg city council, representing the Labour PvdA party. He is also an apostate, chairman of the Committee for Ex-Muslims which began in May 2007. This group will be officially inaugurated this month. Ehsan Jami had said in interview that Mohammed was a "horrible man". Fortunately for Mr Jami, the Dutch government is now offering him protection.

 

The Dutch council for former Muslims began life after a 50-year old woman apostate in Germany, Mina Ahadi, founded the "Central Council of Ex-Muslims in Germany" in February this year. Iranian-born Ms Ahadi received death threats for forming this organization. She said: "We have received more than 100 membership applications in recent days. We want to create a new movement, in other European countries too. We hope that soon there will be 10,000 of us representing many more people.... I don't think it's possible to modernize Islam. We want to form a counterweight to the Muslim organizations. The fact that we're doing this under police protection shows how necessary our initiative is."

 

 Similar groups were subsequently formed in Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden with the same aim - to challenge the influence that Islamist groups exert upon governments and the media. In the United Kingdom, a Council of ex-Muslims of Britain was formed on June 21, 2007, inspired by the German group. The founder of the British group is Maryam Namazie, who was born in Iran. She has received death threats for taking this stand. She claims that her group exists to counter the Islamist dogma peddled by groups such as the Muslim Council of Britain. This extremist organization has had the support of the Labour government, and has influenced their policy decisions.

 

 Ms Namazie said: "Those of us who have come forward with our names and photographs represent countless others who are unable or unwilling to do so because of the threats faced by those considered 'apostates', which is punishable by death in countries under Islamic law. By doing so, we are breaking the taboo that comes with renouncing Islam but also taking a stand for reason, universal rights and values, and secularism. We are quite certain we represent a majority in Europe and a vast secular and humanist protest movement in countries like Iran."

 

Maryam Namazie is a "secular humanist", being awarded the National Secular Society's "secularist of the year" award in 2005. She now frequently appears on UK television condemning the intolerance of Islamism. She has said that she has a "duty" to criticize Islam, and such forthrightness has led to her receiving death threats. The emergence of these councils of ex-Muslims in Europe are a reaction to the pandering to Islamism practiced by many European governments.

 

 In the Netherlands, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a famous and beautiful Somali-born apostate who also served as a member of parliament. On November 2, 2004, her friend Theo van Gogh was assassinated on an Amsterdam street by a Moroccan Islamist, Mohamed Bouyeri. Van Gogh had collaborated with Hirsi Ali on a TV documentary about Islam's repression of women, entitled "Submission". Pinned to Mr van Gogh's chest was a "hit list" of those who were to be killed. Ayaan Hirsi Ali's name was on the list. She was forced to live in seclusion, accompanied outside by armed bodyguards.  By March 2006, Hirsi Ali and another politician who criticized Islam - Geert Wilders - had notched up the receipt of more than 100 death threats in 12 months. Ms Ali left the Netherlands in 2006 to work in the United States at the American Enterprise Institute.

 

In February 2007 Abu Izzadeen, one of Omar Bakri Mohammed's followers, was revealed in a video calling for the death of Muslim soldiers who served in the army. The video was made in the Saudi-funded Regents Park Mosque in 2004. Izzadeen said: "Whoever allies himself with the Kaffirs (non-believers) against the believers - he is one of them. So those so-called enemies to Allah who join the British Government ??? ???cause remember the British Government, my dear Muslim brothers, are crusaders... crusaders come to kill and rape Muslims. Whoever joins them - he who joins the British Army, the American Army, he is a mortal kaffir and his only hukum (punishment) is for his head to be removed. Indeed, whoever changes his deen (Muslim code of life); kill him."

 

 The issue of punishing apostasy in Islam is rarely discussed by Muslim "spokespeople" such as the members of CAIR and MCB. These seek to change Western societies to accommodate Islam without questioning its pre-medieval aspects, which are incompatible with modern democracy. Such spokespeople attack critics of their ideology as "Islamophobes", comparing freedom of expression to racism. Despite its whinings about the victimization of Muslims, CAIR itself has been accused of responsibility for death threats which were made against Moroccan/German (and Muslim) academic Khalid Duran in 2001. This man had been publicly vilified by CAIR. In a Jordanian publication, a radical Sheikh consequently declared him to be a "murtad" - an apostate.

 

 In the West, Muslim fanatics have been free to call for the death of apostates. In Britain, when Salman Rushdie was labeled as an "apostate" and given a death fatwa by Ayatollah Khomeini on February 14, 1989, numerous British Muslims called for his death, holding public demonstrations to this end. No one was prosecuted. In summer 2006, Omar Bakri Mohammed, spiritual leader of several British Islamist groups, announced from his base in Lebanon that Muslims should kidnap a British soldier in Afghanistan or Iraq, denouncing Muslims who serve in coalition forces as "non-believers" (apostates).

 

  Such extremist views are not the exclusive preserve of media-hungry fanatics. A poll, commissioned by Britain's Policy Exchange think-tank, was published in February 2007. This found that among young Muslims, 36% thought that those who left Islam should be "punished by death". The author of the poll blamed Britain's government policies of imposing multiculturalism, rather than fostering an inclusive concept of "being British", for encouraging such radical views among Britain's young Muslims.

 

 In British prisons, there are reports of forced conversions. Belmarsh prison is notorious for holding some of the country's worst Muslim extremists. In April 2006 it was reported that in this prison, a young black Muslim was severely beaten by an Islamic gang calling itself "The Muslim Boys". On the streets of south London these individuals have used violence to forcibly convert recruits. On Good Friday (April 14), eight members of the gang pounced on a man in the toilets and beaten him severely. The man had expressed a desire to become an apostate from their brand of Islam.

 

 I have written on Muslim honor killings - in many of these cases, the victim has been classed as an "apostate" from Islam by their family members. In the way that Salman Rushdie was labeled as an apostate, recent history is full of cases of Muslims who criticize aspects of Islam, or Muslims who follow certain brands of Islam, becoming denounced as "apostates". Some of these individuals have been subsequently killed.

 

One such critic of Islamic oppression is the feminist Taslima Nasreen, whose writings have found her labeled as an apostate and subjected to death threats both in her native Bangladesh and now in India, her adoptive country. An Indian-born Muslim who chose to leave Islam was Anwar Shaikh, who died in Wales on November 25, 2006. For the last decade of his life, he lived under constant fear of attack, after he received death fatwas from Pakistani clerics, for his written criticisms of Islam.

 

 In Iran, film maker Tahmineh Milani was arrested from her home on August 27, 2001. Her sixth movie, entitled "The hidden half" was about women's position in Iranian society at the time of the 1979 revolution. For this, she was accused of "supporting those waging war against God." She was thrown in prison, but international support saw her released a fortnight later. Ali Dashti (1894-1982), a former Iranian foreign minister, was not so fortunate. When his book 23 years was published in the 1970s, he incurred the wrath of Khomeini's revolutionaries. The book had questioned so-called miracles ascribed to Mohammed (such as splitting the moon in two). He was charged with apostasy, imprisoned and subjected to torture, even though he was in his eighties. After three years of such treatment, he died in his jail cell on January 16, 1982.

 

 In June 1992 in Egypt, a liberal secularist called Farag Foda - a critic of Islamist fundamentalists - was murdered. At the trial of his attackers, the defense was led by Sheikh Ahmad Ghazali, who was a theologian at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. This institution is the largest Sunni center of learning in the world. Ghazali argued that Farag Foda "and secularists like him are apostates who should be put to death. He added that if the government failed to carry out that 'duty', individuals were free to do so."

 

 Mahmoud Muhammad Taha was an Islamic scholar from Sudan, born in 1909. He advocated reform of Islam including rights for women, and for this, he was sentenced to death by the Numeiri government. He was hanged as an apostate at Kober prison in Khartoum on January 1985, two years after Sharia law was officially ratified in the country. In June 1998 a Sudanese primary school teacher and convert to Christianity, Mekki Kuku, was arrested for "apostasy". He was subjected to torture in prison, and offered financial rewards if he should return to Christianity. He eventually suffered a stroke, and was freed from prison. He fled the country. His case and several others are described in a report by the Barnabas Fund.

 

 The Barnabas Fund is a group that highlights the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities within Muslim nations. It is managed by British-based Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo, who is an apostate from Islam. He was born in Guyana to a Muslim family. He became a convert to Christianity in 1969, and eventually became an Anglican priest. Dr. Sookhdeo is an outspoken critic of Islamism, and though he has a PhD in Islamic Studies, he is accused by Muslim critics of "cherry-picking" from Islamic texts. On February 19, 2006 the Telegraph newspaper published an article in which Dr. Sookhdeo was interviewed. Fiercely critical of government policy of appeasing Islamists, he said: "But in Islam, choice is not allowable: there cannot be free choice about whether to choose or reject any of the fundamental aspects of the religion, because they are all divinely ordained. God has laid down the law, and man must obey. Islamic clerics do not believe in a society in which Islam is one religion among others in a society ruled by basically non-religious laws. They believe it must be the dominant religion - and it is their aim to achieve this."

 

 The article was withdrawn from the newspaper's website, and Sarah Sands, the editor who approved the article for publication, was fired. In Britain, the government's Foreign and Commonwealth Office supports a policy of "engagement" with the Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood. The spiritual leader of this group is Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi. In July 2006, the UK government sponsored this individual's participation at an Islamic conference in Turkey. A spokesman from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said "It is our view that you have got to engage in discussion with individuals with whom you don't necessarily agree." In 2004, London's leftist mayor Ken Livingstone welcomed Qaradawi to Britain's capital city.

 

In 2005, Qaradawi argued that apostates should be killed.

 

 

In Parts Two and Three, I will continue to discuss the issue of "compulsion in religion" by examining Islamic attitudes to blasphemy, and recent cases of forcible conversions to Islam.
 

>>> Part 2: Heresy and Blasphemy

 

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Adrian Morgan, aka Giraldus Cambrensis, of Western Resistance, is UK-based writer and artist. He is regular contributor to Family Security Matters and essays also appear in Spero News and Faithfreedom.org. He has previously contributed to various publications, including the Guardian and New Scientist and is a former Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Society.


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Comment:

Comments Notes: Make comments preferably in "single" paragraph, since it cannot separate paragraphs.


Name: vbv
Date: Wednesday September 05, 2007
Time: 04:48:40 -0700

Comment

"No compulsion in religion"? It is a joke.It means no compulsion in other religions ,but when it comes to islam you are stuck with it ,there is no way out. It is like HIV that there is no cure,no redemption.. It is deception to sweet talk someone into embracing islam and there hold in vice-like grip that the only way out is "death".It is worse than any mafia manual!


Name: vbv
Date: Wednesday September 05, 2007
Time: 04:55:08 -0700

Comment

It is slavery to the Arabs.Mo has devised a very effective idealogy ensuring Arabian Hegemoney.What wiil happen if alarge meteor crashes on Arabian peninsula sinking it entirely into the depths of the seas? It will be a big reief to the entire world!


Name: Bobby
Date: Wednesday September 05, 2007
Time: 10:39:28 -0700

Comment

Only a lie needs so much protection. Truth can stand any judgement and still stand. Muslims are so afraid their lie of Islam will be found out that they kill people who question it or abandon it.


Name: Bobby
Date: Wednesday September 05, 2007
Time: 10:42:24 -0700

Comment

The evil of Islam has infested the world so deeply that I guess there is probably no other way for it to get eradicated other than what vbv suggests.


Name: Godot
Date: Wednesday September 05, 2007
Time: 13:37:38 -0700

Comment

to vbv: Your analogy of Islam and HIV is disturbing. Especially when you wrote: (the only way out is "death"). What is your stance? pro-HIV or pro-patient? By the way, even though there is no cure for HIV yet but there are multiple efficient treatments and hopefully emerging vaccine(s). Well, the analogy was not a sensible one. I still like your comments and agree with most of them.


Name: goodnewsforislam
Date: Wednesday September 05, 2007
Time: 21:02:48 -0700

Comment

I never thought of this great idea of creating "COUNCIL OF EX-MUSLIMS in every country" yes, this may make difference in fastest growing religion Islam. If, people those who are weak in knowledge of religion are converting to Islam, and in other end people those who are mature and having highly understanding of religion are reverting to other religion, definately THIS WILL MAKE DIFFERENCE. so, Let us create such body, COUNCIL OF EX-MUSLIMS in every country and water them that they may grow faster than Islam.


Name: Larry Houle
Date: Friday September 07, 2007
Time: 09:31:10 -0700

Comment

CONVERT OR LOSE YOUR HEAD Muhammad started his bloody rise by offering people around him to follow him or death! Of course, most chose the former! As his strength grew in numbers, he eventually simply had to show up at a village with 10K murdering thugs, and make the same offer to the towns people! Those who refused, were frequently murdered through processes of raping the wife and any daughters, while the husband was forced to watch, THEN--they murdered the husband, AND the family! It goes without saying, that it wasn't hard for Muhammad to get followers! Also, one of his favorite types of murders, was throat slitting and beheadings with a HAND-KNIFE! He also rewarded his thugs who did the same type of murders, with extra booty and sex. HENCE--why you STILL see it on Al-Jazerra and other Muslim networks! ANYONE--who gets joy out of slitting throats and beheadings with a HAND-KNIFE IS SIMPLY DEMON POSSESSED! martyrs!??!? Martyrs to ignorance and stupidity! SO--here the world is--facing the most dangerous cancer the Earth has seen in its history...AND little or nothing is being done about it By Larry Houle www.godofreason.com intermedusa@yahoo.com


Name: super
Date: Friday September 07, 2007
Time: 10:04:38 -0700

Comment

why everyone feared about this religion, while there are so many religion at world, almost a billion, thousand, etc. this was just make someone crazy, paranoid, etc. ???????????????????????????


Name: tooba (AHMADI)
Date: Friday September 07, 2007
Time: 12:30:20 -0700

Comment

I am an Ahmadi girl and i am sorry to read this bitter truth of today's Islam. Islam means Peace and prophet Mohammad s.a.w taught us to live in peace and harmony. please read Hadith and Quran i request all to find truth about Islam. the extremist today are spoiling the image of islam. Ahmadis are muslim and Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani is the Promissed Messiah and Imam Mahdi of which Prophet Mohammad s.a.w had fortold in his revelations that after 14 hundred years, when Islam will be spoiled by extremist who will have no knowledge of islam but will keep on preeching and then the Messiah will come to recover the pearl of true Islam again and teach them all again the words of Holy Quran and Hadith. In 1882 H.M.Ghulam Ahmad received the revelation which made manifest God's design that he, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), was to be the appointed one, the one commissioned by God to serve His cause. Part of the revelation received in 1882 was as follows: O Ahmad, God has blessed thee...... Say, I am commanded to guide the world to the path of righteousness and I am the first to believe...... Help shall come to thee from men whose hearts Allah has himself prepared through revelation.2 The Holy Qur'an gives an example. If a town is being attacked, and the places of worship are being destroyed, i.e. Churches, synagogues, temples, mosques. Then the duty of the Muslim is to first protect what building? The Mosque? Wrong. The duty of a Muslim is to first protect the Churches and Synagogues and Temples, and finally, if there is time left, the Mosque. The same concept is applied in a burning building. The Mosque is to be addressed last, after the Church is safe. If Islam truly taught violence and hatred for Christians and Jews, why would Muslims be taught to protect the property of other religions first, and then their own? This is a small example but it should suffice to show that Ahmadi Muslims celebrate and honor their neighbors no matter what religion they come from. GodBless you all and Guide you all to the best path ameen


Name: To Tooba
Date: Friday September 07, 2007
Time: 20:07:40 -0700

Comment

Please go read www.persecution.org or www.thereligionofpeace.com.


Name: vbv
Date: Friday September 07, 2007
Time: 21:25:38 -0700

Comment

To Ms.Tooba -- I wish that everyone had the goodness that you are exuding. It is a nice thing to say that all places of worship should be protected against vandalism of the disoriented and misled individuals. But it rarely happens. I think you must be from India .You wouldn't find this tolerance anywhere else , especially not in Pakistan or Bangladesh.


Name: tooba
Date: Saturday September 08, 2007
Time: 04:49:40 -0700

Comment

i am from Pakistan and i just told u that whatever is happening is a bitter truth for all of us muslims all over the world. Come to Pakistan and u will see extremist and those who are moderate in practicing the peaceful religion Islam. This can be a reaction to US attack on Iraq and other muslim countries which is also unfair attitude of Christians and Jews. and Hindus treating muslims in Kashmir. All religions teach peace but humankind..... u should study the true Islam which teach us tolerance and peace. Please stop disgracing Islam. Was Nepolean a christian?? how about Hitler ???? will we blame christianity???? History recovers all bitter truth!!! All religions and Prophets are respected in Islam and this is a truth. what i am saying is that these extremist who have little knowledge of Islam are simply spoiling its image. u should not disgrace Islam or Muslims. We as muslim ahmadis are here to recover the beauty of Islam. visit site www.alislam.com


Name: Marie
Date: Saturday September 08, 2007
Time: 10:11:09 -0700

Comment

To Tooba, go and visit Bibi, a Pakistani Christian, who mother was butchered and afterwords her mother's killer raped her and tried to force her to convert to Islam and marry him. The man who did this was a peaceful Muslim. Yes I have read your Quran and the Hadith.


Name: Marie
Date: Saturday September 08, 2007
Time: 10:18:13 -0700

Comment

Adrian Morgan, your article did not mention that the Taliban fighters killed the two Korean Pastor's were murdered because they refused the Taliban's offer to convert to Islam. In Islam the offer to convert is an offer nobody can refuse, because this is a death threat. Islam is sick, sick, sick!


Name:
Date: Saturday September 08, 2007
Time: 11:52:15 -0700

Comment

"I think you must be from India .You wouldn't find this tolerance anywhere else." Then you must not be Indian.


Name: "love for all hatred for none"
Date: Saturday September 08, 2007
Time: 12:51:04 -0700

Comment

i am very sorry to say that u better watch ur religion first!!! i will not comeback to this site again but shall pray for all. i have lot many worst examples of christian treatment with muslims and jews with christian and hindus all togather but i will never ever blame their religion because all religions teach tolerance. all speak of one divine God. ur herts are filled with hatred how shall u find the truth? please remember this moto Love For All and Hatred For None. Allah love those who are true to themselves and watch their souls. Allahhafiz


Name: tooba
Date: Saturday September 08, 2007
Time: 12:52:48 -0700

Comment

and yes i am Pakistani and proud to be a Pakistani muslim. i have no ties with India.


Name:
Date: Saturday September 08, 2007
Time: 12:56:26 -0700

Comment

if their had been tolerence in India then their was no use of creating Pakistan. please go through history .


Name: ask islam
Date: Saturday September 08, 2007
Time: 13:40:21 -0700

Comment

please visit site www.askislam.com u will find solution to ur confusion.


Name: MA Khan
Date: Saturday September 08, 2007
Time: 17:17:57 -0700

Comment

Tooba wrote:"Muslim is to first protect what building? The Mosque? Wrong. The duty of a Muslim is to first protect the Churches and Synagogues and Temples, and finally, if there is time left, the Mosque. The same concept is applied in a burning building. The Mosque is to be addressed last, after the Church is safe. If Islam truly taught violence and hatred for Christians and Jews, why would Muslims be taught to protect the property of other religions first, and then their own?"

Miss Tooba's assertions (evident lies) do not come with any evidence. History instead tell us the opposite. Muhammad exterminated the Jews from Medina. Where are the "Synagogues" of Medina Jews? Muhammad destroyed the most sacred 'house of God' of idolaters of the Arabia, which is the Ka'ba, smashed all the 360 idol-gods therein and made it Muslims' own 'property and house of Allah'. On the day, Muhammad violently captured and destroyed the Ka'ba, he sent Ali for destroyig the temple of al-Uzza located in Nakhla, two days journey from Mecca. When Taif's was forced to submit to Islam, Muhammad ordered the destruction of their sacred temples of al-Lat defying desperate pleas from the Taif citizens & it was brought down in the midst of wailing and cries of the people. When a Christian delegation from Nejran came to Muhammad in 628 CE for a treaty against attacking them, Muhammad gave them a pot of water for spraying upon place their churches have been pulled down. These are all we get from historical works of Ibn Ishaq, At-Tabari, Ibn Sa'd et al. So much for saving the places of worships of the non-Muslims first. Aurangzeb, so much revered by Muslims in India, destroyed thousands of temples; about 200 in 1679 alone.


Name: vbv
Date: Saturday September 08, 2007
Time: 21:17:43 -0700

Comment

To Ms. Tooba-- I am surprised that you are from Pakistan.I think you are misinformed about hindus treating muslims in Kashmir badly. Actually it is the other way round. Kashmir is a muslim majority province of India and it is the muslims who are wielding guns and bombs killing innocent people. Do you know that thousands of hindus Kashmiri pandits have been killed mercilessly and over 200,000 have been rendered homeless by the fundamentalists from your country. These dislodged Kashmiri pandits have been living in camps in Jammu for over Two decades. They are a refugge in their own land because of terrorism foisted from Pakistan through Lashkar e Toiba, Jaish e Mohamed, and such other terrorist organisation getting all the support from Pakistani Army and ISI. The Pakistani Army tried to occupy Kargil in 1999 ,but was rebuffed by the Indian Army. They know they cannot defeat India by proper war,which they failed trying thrice in the past,so they are using islamic terrorism by fighting a covert and cowardly war.They have not succeeded there also ,and I am sure they will never do. With being the 8th largest economy in the world and still growing ,even if Pakistan wastes all its resources on fighting covert war they will not get very far, for the Indian economy is resilient enough to withstand all that. However I wish you well for your nice attitude towards all faiths.


Name: vbv
Date: Saturday September 08, 2007
Time: 21:33:11 -0700

Comment

To Ms Tooba-- You say that you are a 'Ahmedi'. But I have read in several places that the 'Ahmedis' are not considered muslims in Pakistan and they are subjected to the 'Blaspheme Laws' in Pakistan. They are a persecuted lot in Pakistan as they are also known as 'Quadianis' there. In India there are no Blaspheme laws , but certainly there are a few intolerant political parties like the Shivsenas ,Bajrang Dal or the BJP.But most people don't take them seriously. Their political clout is restricted to a few places,which is also gradually diminishing.But there are no Blaspheme Laws that one can give a death sentence or life imprisonment in India.


Name: vbv
Date: Saturday September 08, 2007
Time: 21:44:14 -0700

Comment

Pakistan was created by fanatic Indian muslims and hindus had no part in that. It was the British who saw an opportunity to divide again and stoke the fire of hatred foever. The 1857 war ( the first war of Independence/ or as the British would call it the sepoys' mutinee) was fought with the last moghul king Bahadur Shah Zafar as the defacto/dejure king of India. No hindu king objected to that,despite the fact that his grandfather?or great grandfather? was an intolerant muslim ruler. If that is not tolerance,I don't know what is? Get your muddled history right first!


Name: vbv
Date: Sunday September 09, 2007
Time: 01:08:30 -0700

Comment

The great grandfather /great grand uncle of Bahdur Shah Zafar,the last moghul king, was , as you know , the intolerant ,barbaric and bigoted 'Aurangzeb',who was the worst moghul king that ruled this country,worse than even Babar. He re-introduced the 'jizya' tax on Hindus and was responsible for destruction of thousands of Hindu Temples. However , he is considered a great hero in Pakistan.The legacy of islam is not peace ,tolerance and understanding,but hatred towards all non-islamic faiths,including "heretics"/atheists, and its ultimate aim is to bring the whole world under its banner,destroying everything else,all other culture.History is witness to this.


Name: vbv
Date: Sunday September 09, 2007
Time: 01:38:03 -0700

Comment

It is a well researched essay.The muslims are exposed of their duplicity and hypocrisy , on the one hand claiming islam is a peaceful religion and there is no compulsion in religion , whle actually doing the exact opposite in practice,leading to untold misery to the poor victims who are converted to islam much against their will. Pakistan and Bangladesh had 16% and 30% hindus in 1947,which is now standing at less than 1% for Pakistan and Less than 6% for Bangladesh.This was the result of forceful conversionto islam by coercion,rape and threat to life,ofcourse with the convenient tool of the Blaspheme Laws. You can't civilze deceiving and rabid animals . Even Sigmond Frued cannot cure these ghastly beasts. Only containment may work. For this all the civilized non-islamic population should co-operate and devise methods to contain this disease , lest it should bring destruction to humanity. No islamic country is having a peaceful existence,there always a lot of internal strifes and violence,ruled by dictators ,sham democracies and sham monarchies,and causing endless problems to peaceful neighbours. That is the nature of their creed, utterly intolerant and bigoted.


Name: Muhamed
Date: Sunday September 09, 2007
Time: 06:15:55 -0700

Comment

Islam is a wonderful religion. Even the extremist Taliban could have easily killed those Koreans but instead they let them go. The two they killed were the leaders of this sick group trying to convert poor Afghanis to Christianity through bribe and other means of lye and manipulations. Go Islam


Name:
Date: Sunday September 09, 2007
Time: 07:00:23 -0700

Comment

"Islam is a wonderful religion. Even the extremist Taliban could have easily killed those Koreans but instead they let them go. " They took millions of dollars in ransom. That's what kidnappers do.


Name: bobby
Date: Sunday September 09, 2007
Time: 12:35:42 -0700

Comment

Islam is the ugliest most evil cult ever to exist. Talk about taking things out of context - letting the koreans go is compassion and kindness - ha ha. why did they kidnap them in the first place? All non-muslim countries allow islamists to freely to preach whatever ugliness they want. why shouldn't non-muslims be allowed to preach in muslim lands? what are the islamists afraid of? people will find out the truth and convert en masse?


Name: Anti-Jihad
Date: Monday September 10, 2007
Time: 16:05:02 -0700

Comment

"Allah did not create man so that he could have fun. The aim of creation was for mankind to be put to the test through hardship and prayer. An Islamic regime must be serious in every field. There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious." -- Ayatollah Khomeini


Name: Marie
Date: Wednesday September 12, 2007
Time: 12:28:40 -0700

Comment

Hey Muhamed what about the two pastor's that the Taliban did kill. You seemed to have forgot about that. Could you tell me where you got your information about the Korean Christians trying to convert the Afghanis with bribery and other means. Non of my alternatvie news resources have mentioned this.


 
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