Jihad! List of Islamic-inspired terrorist attacks or plots in the US, Canada (and a few around the world)

At the end of his life, Mohammed set the “key to success” to the next generations of Muslims: I have been made victorious with terror [Bukhari, Vol. 4, Book 52, Number 220]. And as Mohammed is considered the role model every Muslim must follow [Koran 33:21] many Muslims do whatever they can to emulate him.  

 

Some of the jihadis act alone: individual Muslims who become more "religious", suddenly turning violent and, in the name of Islam, going on a killing spree. This is what Daniel Pipes calls the "Sudden Jihad Syndrome".

 

There is Jihad in several parts of the world. I am not going to list what happens everywhere since the list grows continuously. Besides, my focus is with Canada and the US. For a comprehensive list please visit http://thereligionofpeace.com/. It is interesting though to list the name of Jihadist groups. This list will be posted here.

• May 2013 - London. Two brave jihadists trample, kill with a knife and try to cut off the head of a British soldier in broad daylight. One of the brave jihadi says: We swear by Allah almighty we will not stop fighting you. This is consistent with the Quran 9, 112: "The believers fight in the cause of Allah, they slay and are slain, they kill and are killed."

The brave jihadi shows the fruit of his work

• US May 2011: A 26-year-old Massachusetts man, Rezwan Ferdaus, was arrested “with step-by-step instructions as to how he planned to attack the Pentagon and Capitol.” According to the DOJ, a focal point of Ferdaus’s plots revolved around “jihad” and his desire to carry out the will of Allah (The Hill).
• US May 2011: In what could have been a Mother’s day muslim terror attack, Rageit Almurisi, shouting "Allahu Akbar", tried to break into the cockpit of American Airlines Flight 1561 with 162 passengers. He was subdued by the crew with the help of a few passengers. The terrorist is citizen of Yemen with an American Green card (RealClearPolitic).
• US Mar 2011: US DOJ: Muslims 1% of America - 80% of Terror Convictions (FSM).
• US Feb 2011: Man gets 25 years in jail for "South Park" threats (Yahoo).
• USA, Feb 2011: Khalid Aldawsari, a College student from Saudi Arabia, was arrested late Tuesday on a federal charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. He came to the US to carry our Jihad. "After mastering the English language, learning how to build explosives and continuous planning to target the infidel Americans, it is time for jihad," Aldawsari wrote in online postings. (FoxNews; Mail)
• Sweeden, Dec 2010: A suicide bomber targeted Christmas shoppers in a busy shopping street in Stockholm in December, killing himself and injuring two passersby (Globe&Mail).  An accomplice was arrested in Feb 2011 in Scotland (FoxNews)
• USA, Internet Jihadist Penn State student Emerson Begolly was arrested was arrested by the FBI after a confrontation in a restaurant parking lot near his home where he bit the two FBI agents and attempted to pull a gun on them (AP). Five robbed firearms were found in his house (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). 
• USA, Dec 2010: Robert Grenier, the former head of the US Central Intelligence Agency's counterterrorism center, says that the US is concerned that Hamas and Hizbullah agents may penetrate the porous US-Mexican border in order to carry out terrorist attacks (Ynetnews).
• USA, Oct 2010: Self-proclaimed 'Muslim soldier' Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani immigrant who plotted to kill Americans by driving a homemade car bomb into Times Square and leaving it to explode, is slapped with life sentence. He admitted that the Pakistan Taliban provided him with more than $15,000 and five days of explosives training late last year and early this year, months after he became a U.S. citizen. During the sentence he told the judge he lied while swearing allegiance to the US when he became a citizen last year. He said he is a Muslim (FOX). 
• Canada, Oct/2009: A Quebec man was convicted of 4 terrorism-related charges related to the plotting of attacks in Germany and Austria. Said Namouh was found guilty of conspiracy to detonate an explosive device, participating in a terrorist act, facilitating an act and committing extortion for a terrorist group (CTV News).
• USA Dec 2009 - Abdul Mudallad, a 23-year-old Nigerian national and on of a wealthy Nigerian banker, decided that Allah wanted him to slaughter Christians on their most joyous holiday. He tried to ignited a powdery substance on a Northwest Airlines flight between Amsterdam and Detroit, as it was landing. If sucessfull, the plane would have exploded over a heavily populated area of Detroit on Christmas Day (WSJ).
• USA Oct 2009 - Tarek Mehanna, 27, a pharmacist, was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. The authorities said he had conspired to attack civilians at a shopping mall, American soldiers abroad and two members of the executive branch of the federal government (NYTimes).
• USA Sep/2009 - A Westchester County businessman pleaded guilty Tuesday to funneling money to a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan. Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari admitted in Manhattan Federal Court that he wired the $152,000 overseas, believing the money would buy night vision goggles for killers in a terror boot camp (NYDailyNews).
• USA Sep/2009 - Najibullah Zazi, An Afghan native facing terrorism charges planned to bomb a target in New York on the anniversary of the terrorists attacks of September 11, 2001. Zazi's father, 53-year-old Mohammed Wali Zazi, also from suburban Denver, and Ahmad Wais Afzali, a 37-year-old Muslim cleric and funeral director from the New York borough of Queens, also have been charged with lying to federal agents in the case. Zazi was trained by Al Qaeda in Pakistan (CNN).
• USA Sep/2009 - Betim Kaziu, 21, a Brooklyn resident was indicted on conspiracy charges for trying to join a terrorist group overseas and kill U.S. troops. The U.S. Attorney's Office said hewas indicted for conspiracy to commit murder abroad and support foreign terrorists, making plans to join a foreign fighter group overseas and to "take up arms against perceived enemies of Islam." (CNN) Since Kaziu is a U.S. citizen, how this isn’t treason is any one’s guess.
• USA Sep/2009 - Islamic convert Michael Finton (aka “Talib Islam”) was arrested for plotting to blow up a federal building in downtown Springfield, Illinois. Finton drove a van containing what he thought was explosive material and parked it directly in front of the federal offices in the Illinois capital on Wednesday. He then tried to detonate the bomb remotely with his cell phone. Unbeknown to Finton, his accomplice was an FBI agent and the bomb a fake (Reuters; DailyMail). 
• USA Sep/2009 - An illegal immigrant from Jordan, Mosam Maher Husein Smadi, was arrested for attempting to bomb a downtown Dallas skyscraper. Smadi’s accomplice in the plot was an FBI agent who also provided him with a fake bomb. Smadi’s brother was also arrested in California, although it is not clear how involved he was in the plot (Herald Sun).
• USA Sep/2009 - The indictments against North Carolinians Daniel Patrick Boyd, Hysen Sherifi, and Zakariya Boyd were amended this week to include charges that they were plotting to attack the U.S. Marine base in Quantico, Virginia. Prior to the superseding indictments, the three had only been charged with plotting to aid jihadists abroad (NYDailyNews).
• USA June/2009 -  Muslim convert Abdulhakim Muhammad shot two soldiers standing outside a Little Rock Army recruiting center, killing Pvt. William Andrew Long, who had just graduated from basic training. Muhammad later defending the attack in an interview with the Associated Press, saying that it was “an act, for the sake of God, for the sake of Allah, the Lord of all the world, and also a retaliation on U.S. military.” (FoxNews)
• USA Feb/2007 - A Nashville cab driver tried to run over two customers after a fight over religion became heated.  Ibrihim Ahmned, of United Cab, was arrested and charged with assault, attempted homicide and theft (NN).
• USA Dec/2001 - Richard Reid (a.k.a. Abdul Raheem, Tariq Raja or the shoe bomber) tried to blow a Boeing 767 on American Airlines Flight 63 (Paris to Miami) by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes. Convicted on charges of terrorism he is currently serving a life sentence without parole in the United States (Wikipedia).

Other ones ...

• Attack on the Munich Airport, February 10, 1970: Three terrorists attacked El Al passengers in a bus at the Munich Airport with guns and grenades. One passenger was killed and 11 were injured. All three terrorists were captured by airport police. The Action Organization for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the attack.
•  Munich Olympic Massacre, September 5, 1972: Eight Palestinian "Black September" terrorists seized eleven  Israeli athletes in the Olympic Village in Munich, West Germany. In a bungled rescue attempt by West German authorities, nine of the hostages and five terrorists were killed.
•  Iran Hostage Crisis, November 4, 1979: After President Carter agreed to admit the Shah of Iran into the US, Iranian radicals seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took 66 American diplomats hostage. Thirteen hostages were soon released, but the remaining 53 were held until their release on January 20, 1981.
•  Bombing of U.S. Embassy in Beirut, April 18, 1983: Sixty-three people, including the CIA's Middle East director, were killed and 120 were injured in a 400-pound suicide truck-bomb attack on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
•  Bombing of Marine Barracks, Beirut, October 23, 1983: Simultaneous suicide truck-bomb attacks were made on American and French compounds in Beirut, Lebanon. A 12,000-pound bomb destroyed the U.S. compound, killing 242 Americans, while 58 French troops were killed when a 400-pound device destroyed a French base. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
•  Kidnapping of Embassy Official, March 16, 1984: The Islamic Jihad kidnapped and later murdered Political Officer William Buckley in Beirut, Lebanon. Other U.S. citizens not connected to the U.S. government were seized over a succeeding two-year period.
•  TWA Hijacking, June 14, 1985: A Trans-World Airlines flight was hijacked en route to Rome from Athens by two Lebanese Hizballah terrorists and forced to fly to Beirut. The eight crew members and 145 passengers were held for seventeen days, during which one American hostage, a U.S. Navy sailor, was murdered.
•  Achille Lauro Hijacking, October 7, 1985: Four Palestinian Liberation Front terrorists seized the Italian cruise liner in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, taking more than 700 hostages. One U.S. passenger was murdered before the Egyptian government offered the terrorists safe haven in return for the hostages' freedom.
•  Egyptian Airliner Hijacking, November 23, 1985: An EgyptAir airplane bound from Athens to Malta and carrying several U.S. citizens was hijacked by the Abu Nidal Group.
•  Airport Attacks in Rome and Vienna, December 27, 1985: Four gunmen belonging to the Abu Nidal Organization attacked the El Al and Trans World Airlines ticket counters at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport with grenades and automatic rifles. Thirteen persons were killed and 75 were wounded before Italian police and Israeli security guards killed three of the gunmen and captured the fourth. Three more Abu Nidal gunmen attacked the El Al ticket counter at Vienna's Schwechat Airport, killing three persons and wounding 30. Austrian police killed one of the gunmen and captured the others.
•  Aircraft Bombing in Greece, March 30, 1986: A Palestinian splinter group detonated a bomb as TWA Flight 840 approached Athens airport, killing four U.S. citizens.
•  Kidnapping of William Higgins, February 17, 1988: U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel W. Higgins was kidnapped and murdered by the Iranian-backed Hizballah group while serving with the United Nations Truce Supervisory Organization (UNTSO) in southern Lebanon.
•  Pan Am 103 Bombing, December 21, 1988: Pan American Airlines Flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, by a bomb believed to have been placed on the aircraft by Libyan terrorists in Frankfurt, West Germany. All 259 people on board were killed.
•  World Trade Center Bombing, February 26, 1993: The World Trade Center in New York City was badly damaged when a car bomb planted by Islamic terrorists exploded in an underground garage. The bomb left 6 people dead and 1,000 injured. The men carrying out the attack were followers of Umar Abd al-Rahman, an Egyptian cleric who preached in the New York City area.
•  Air France Hijacking, December 24, 1994: Members of the Armed Islamic Group seized an Air France Flight to Algeria. The four terrorists were killed during a rescue effort.
•  Saudi Military Installation Attack, November 13, 1995: The Islamic Movement of Change planted a bomb in a Riyadh military compound that killed one U.S. citizen, several foreign national employees of the U.S. government, and over 40 others.
•  Egyptian Embassy Attack, November 19, 1995: A suicide bomber drove a vehicle into the Egyptian Embassy compound in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing at least 16 and injuring 60 persons. Three militant Islamic groups claimed responsibility.
•  HAMAS Bus Attack, February 26, 1996: In Jerusalem, a suicide bomber blew up a bus, killing 26 persons, including three U.S. citizens, and injuring some 80 persons, including three other US citizens.
•  Khobar Towers Bombing, June 25, 1996: A fuel truck carrying a bomb exploded outside the US military's Khobar Towers housing facility in Dhahran, killing 19 U.S. military personnel and wounding 515 persons, including 240 U.S. personnel. Several groups claimed responsibility for the attack.
•  Empire State Building Sniper Attack, February 23, 1997: A Palestinian gunman opened fire on tourists at an observation deck atop the Empire State Building in New York City, killing a Danish national and wounding visitors from the United States, Argentina, Switzerland, and France before turning the gun on himself. A handwritten note carried by the gunman claimed this was a punishment attack against the "enemies of Palestine."
•  Israeli Shopping Mall Bombing, September 4, 1997: Three suicide bombers of HAMAS detonated bombs in the Ben Yehuda shopping mall in Jerusalem, killing eight persons, including the bombers, and wounding nearly 200 others. A dual U.S./Israeli citizen was among the dead, and 7 U.S. citizens were wounded.
•  Murder of U.S. Businessmen in Pakistan, November 12, 1997: Two unidentified gunmen shot to death four U.S. auditors from Union Texas Petroleum Corporation and their Pakistani driver after they drove away from the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi. The Islami Inqilabi Council, or Islamic Revolutionary Council, claimed responsibility in a call to the U.S. Consulate in Karachi. In a letter to Pakistani newspapers, the Aimal Khufia Action Committee also claimed responsibility.
•  Tourist Killings in Egypt, November 17, 1997: Al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya (IG) gunmen shot and killed 58 tourists and four Egyptians and wounded 26 others at the Hatshepsut Temple in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor. Thirty-four Swiss, eight Japanese, five Germans, four Britons, one French, one Colombian, a dual Bulgarian/British citizen, and four unidentified persons were among the dead. Twelve Swiss, two Japanese, two Germans, one French, and nine Egyptians were among the wounded.
•  U.S. Embassy Bombings in East Africa, August 7, 1998: A bomb exploded at the rear entrance of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, killing 12 U.S. citizens, 32 Foreign Service Nationals (FSNs), and 247 Kenyan citizens. Approximately 5,000 Kenyans, 6 U.S. citizens, and 13 FSNs were injured. The U.S. Embassy building sustained extensive structural damage. Almost simultaneously, a bomb detonated outside the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 7 FSNs and 3 Tanzanian citizens, and injuring 1 U.S. citizen and 76 Tanzanians. The explosion caused major structural damage to the U.S. Embassy facility. The U.S. Government held Usama Bin Laden responsible.
•  Kidnappings in Kyrgyzstan, August 12, 2000: In the Kara-Su Valley, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan took four U.S. citizens hostage. The Americans escaped on August 12.
•  Attack on U.S.S. Cole, October 12, 2000: In Aden, Yemen, a small dingy carrying explosives rammed the destroyer U.S.S. Cole, killing 17 sailors and injuring 39 others. Supporters of Usama Bin Laden were suspected.
•  Airliner Hijacking in Istanbul, March 15, 2001: Three Chechens hijacked a Russian airliner during a flight from Istanbul to Moscow and forced it to fly to Medina, Saudi Arabia. The plane carried 162 passengers and a crew of 12. After a 22-hour siege during which more than 40 passengers were released, Saudi security forces stormed the plane, killing a hijacker, a passenger, and a flight attendant.
•  Death of "the Lion of the Panjshir", September 9, 2001: Two suicide bombers fatally wounded Ahmed Shah Massoud, a leader of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, which had opposed both the Soviet occupation and the post-Soviet Taliban government. The bombers posed as journalists and were apparently linked to al-Qaida. The Northern Alliance did not confirm Massoud's death until September 15.
•  Terrorist Attacks on U.S. Homeland, September 11, 2001: Two hijacked airliners crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Soon thereafter, the Pentagon was struck by a third hijacked plane. A fourth hijacked plane, suspected to be bound for a high-profile target in Washington, crashed into a field in southern Pennsylvania. The attacks killed 3,025 U.S. citizens and other nationals. President Bush and Cabinet officials indicated that Usama Bin Laden was the prime suspect and that they considered the United States in a state of war with international terrorism. In the aftermath of the attacks, the United States formed the Global Coalition Against Terrorism.
•  Kidnapping of Daniel Pearl, January 23, 2002: Armed militants kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistani authorities received a videotape on February 20 depicting Pearl's murder. His grave was found near Karachi on May 16. Pakistani authorities arrested four suspects. Ringleader Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh claimed to have organized Pearl's kidnapping to protest Pakistan's subservience to the United States, and had belonged to Jaish-e-Muhammad, an Islamic separatist group in Kashmir. All four suspects were convicted on July 15. Saeed Sheikh was sentenced to death, the others to life imprisonment.
•  Grenade Attack on a Church in Pakistan, March 17, 2002: Militants threw grenades into the Protestant International Church in Islamabad, Pakistan, during a service attended by diplomatic and local personnel. Five persons, two of them U.S. citizens, were killed and 46 were wounded. The dead Americans were State Department employee Barbara Green and her daughter Kristen Wormsley. Thirteen U.S. citizens were among the wounded. The Lashkar-e-Tayyiba group was suspected.

 

Even though my focus is in Canada and the USA, I have listed below, a few Islamic terrorist actions around the world:

• Indonesia Feb 2011: cleric: weapons training an 'act of worship' for Muslims (AUNews).
• Germany, Feb 2011: a Muslim man (with family in Kosovo) killed to U.S. airmen at Frankfurt airport. He shouted "Allah Akbar" before opening fire on a bus outside the airport (FoxNews).
• UK, Feb 2011: Rajib Karim, a 31-year-old Bangladeshi man and former British Airways computer specialist, was convicted of four counts of engaging in preparation for terrorist attacks. He was plotting with U.S.-born extremist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki to blow up an airplane (FoxNews).
• UK Dec/2010 - Terror suspects in custody over 'pre-Christmas plot' (BBC)
• The Netherlands Dec/2010 - Dutch police arrested 12 Somalis on Christmas Eve on suspicion of plotting an imminent terrorist attack in the Netherlands (National Post)
• The Phillipines Nov/2009 - Philippine Muslim Clan Tied to "gruesome massacre of civilians unequalled in recent history", in which 21 Phillipinos are killed on the way to vote. Women are raped, and then shot in gentitals (YahooNews;  Singapore Straigh Times)

The Religion of Eternal Outrage

Anything works as pretext for Muslims to show how lovely Islam is.

• Cairo, May 2011: An answer to the burial of Osama Bin Laden in the sea following "Islamic rituals" in a clear attempt to appease Islam (Sun-Times):

Muslim clerics said Monday that Osama bin Laden’s burial at sea was a violation of Islamic tradition that may further provoke militant calls for revenge attacks against American targets. …“The Americans want to humiliate Muslims through this burial, and I don’t think this is in the interest of the U.S. administration,” said Omar Bakri Mohammed, a radical cleric in Lebanon.

• Afghanistan, April 2011: An obscure Pastor in rural USA burned one copy of the Koran. Nearly two weeks later, Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the "desecration" e Imams called upon the faithful to protest (HotAir; UN Dispatch) . Thousands stormed UN compounds in Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif killing seven foreign UN employees who had nothing to do with the Koran burning (FOX). The irony is that the fire that followed the attack ended burning Korans.  

Videos on Islam and Sharia

Update: The Third Jihad - Radical Islam's Vision for America

 

Freedom, equality and THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD - Norwegian documentary broadcast in Nov, 2010 (English subtitles).

Andrew Klavan: How to Behave During an Islamic Massacre.

Lifting the Veil, by I.Q. al Rasooli: over 200 videos that helps to shed a light on Islam, Mohammed and Sharia. 

Stakelbeck on Terror - The Muslim Brotherhood in America. 

Video on Islam in France, in Sweden, in Minnesota, in New York City. 
European 'No-go-zones' for natives.
The Last Days of Europe.

Why stoning is ok in Islam.

Learn a bit of Islamic imperialism, Islamic colonialism, Islamic genocide and Islamic crusades in these excellent videos by Occidental Soapbox: 

Introduction, 

The occupation of Constantinople, 

Egypt, Iran and Iraq before conquered by Islam, 

Jerusalem, (current) Jihad in Thailand and what it means to us, 

Why did they hate us in 1783?, 

What is in a letter?

A video on the Islamic claim that there was nothing before Islam

Byzantine 2006, putting Pope Benedict's quotes back in context (or on the lack of reason on Islam)

A video on Islamic Slavery: Islam and Slavery.

Videos on today’s religious persecution here and here. Just follow the links to learn more.

Free, on-line books on Islam

I am listing here freely available, on-line, books on Islam. My intention is to compile a reference list.


1. Books by Mohammad Anwar Shaikh
a) ISLAM: The Arab Imperialism
b) Islam: Sex and Violence

c) ISLAM AND THE PEOPLE OF THE BOOK


About Mr. Shaikh: born into an Islamic Sunni family of Kashmiri ancestry in the Punjab. His mother could recite a large part of the Qur'an from memory. During the violent days of the Partition of India in 1947 he, then filled with Islamic fervor, killed on one day two Sikhs, a father and his son. In his youth, Shaikh was a young ardent believer. He later killed another Sikh. But when he reached the age of 25, he began doubting Islam and later became its ardent critic, and memories of his crime have haunted him ever since. Thereafter he immigrated into U.K., married a Welsh woman, and became a successful businessman. Shaikh was living in Cardiff when a fatwa was issued against him from his homeland Pakistan in 1995, where at least fourteen clerics issued death sentences against him for renouncing and criticizing Islam.

From his books we learn that Islam in reality is not a religion as it is portrayed along other major religions of the world; but when the thin veil covering it is unmasked it appears in its true colors to be Arab Imperialism. From Arab point of view the Prophet could be considered to be a great patriot forming wonderful strategies for dominance of Arab Imperialism under the garb of Islam.The most tempting tenets offered to its followers to propagate this Imperialism are knocked into their heads as religious virtues. They lie, kill, loot, plunder, rape, make slaves of enemy women and children with the sanction of religion.These again leads them to paradise of beautiful women,young beautiful boys, and enhances sexual prowess as rewards.

2.  Women in Islam, by M. Rafiqul-Haqq and P. Newton. This book is available on Answering Islam.

3. This is not an on-line book but its review is: Islamic Jihad: A Legacy of Forced Conversion, Imperialism and Slavery, by M. A. Khan.

Islam and Democracy: contrary values

A few comments and articles on Islam and Democracy


1. Is Islam compatible with democracy? by Fjordman.


2. Professor Bernard Lewis is the distinguished scholar widely and aptly admired as the West’s preeminent authority on Islam. In a 1954 essay called “Communism and Islam” (published at International Affairs apud A. C. McCarthy), Professor Lewis considered “the very nature of Islamic society, tradition, and thought,” and concluded that its principal defining characteristic is the “authoritarianism, perhaps we may even say the totalitarianism, of the Islamic political tradition.” Expanding on this, he wrote :

There are no parliaments or representative assemblies of any kind, no councils or communes, no chambers of nobility or estates, no municipalities in the history of Islam; nothing but the sovereign power, to which the subject owed complete and unwavering obedience as a religious duty imposed by the Holy Law. . . . For the last thousand years, the political thinking of Islam has been dominated by such maxims as “tyranny is better than anarchy,” and “whose power is established, obedience to him is incumbent.”

Many attempts have been made to show that Islam and democracy are identical — attempts usually based on a misunderstanding of Islam or democracy or both. This sort of argument expresses a need of the uprooted Muslim intellectual who is no longer satisfied with or capable of understanding traditional Islamic values, and who tries to justify, or rather, restate, his inherited faith in terms of the fashionable ideology of the day. It is an example of the romantic and apologetic presentation of Islam that is a recognized phase in the reaction of Muslim thought to the impact of the West.

3. Translated from the website of Dr. Salah al-Sawy, the secretary-general of the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America (AMJA), 28 March 2011:

Between the Shura and Democracy

Q: What is the difference between the Shura and democracy, and which is preferred? Are there any books which could benefit me on this topic? May Allah reward you well.

A: In the name of Allah, the most merciful and gracious.

Praise be to Allah, and peace be upon him the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family, companions, and those that follow him. The Shura comes from the rulings of the shari'a, and an entire surah of the Qur'an was sent down with this name. The difference between it and democracy is that the Shura does not exist (under Islam) except in the areas of permissible actions or legislative amnesty. For things which have been stipulated in the texts of Islam, the Ummah possesses no power except to acknowledge and obey, following the saying of the Most High: "It is not fitting for a Believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger to have any option about their decision: if any one disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he is indeed on a clearly wrong Path"
[Qur'an 33:36]. For example, it is not for the Shura to consider, "Should the noon prayer contain four or five bows?" Or, "Should we fast during the month of Ramadan, or should we replace it with the month of Shawwal?" Or, "Should we forbid wine or allow it?" Or, "Should we forbid adultery, or permit it if it's done by consensual agreement of those who have reached the legal age, and it's not done on the married couple's bed?"

Al-Bukhari said in his Sahih: "The Imams after the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) would consult the trustworthy scholars in things which were permissible, to take the best option. But if the Qur'an or the Sunnah was clear on the matter, they wouldn't transgress against it, following the example of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The reciters of the Qur'an would consult, whether old or young, and they were careful to adhere to the book of Almighty Allah."

But democracy gives free reign to the authority of the Ummah, and puts no ceiling on it. The law is the expression of its will, and if the law says it, the conscience must be silent! A constitutionalist even said: "We have departed from the divine right to rule for kings, and replaced it with the divine right to rule for parliaments!" The shari'a, on the other hand, differentiates between the source of the legal system and the source of the political authority. The source of the legal system is the shari'a, while the source of the political authority is the Ummah. Meanwhile democracy makes the Ummah the source of both. On my website there is a book named "Political Pluralism." If you review it, it will you benefit you in regards to this topic, Allah-willing. Allah Almighty is all-powerful, all-knowing.

4. Excert of interview given by Islamic Scholar Abd Al-Karim Bakkar to Al-Arabiya TV on March 6, 2009. From MEMRI TV. Clip at http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2071.htm.

Interviewer: "What is your position, as an Islamic scholar, on democracy?"

Abd Al-Karim Bakkar: "Democracy runs counter to Islam on several issues."

Interviewer: "You mean it contradicts Islam on these issues?"

Abd Al-Karim Bakkar: "Yes. But democracy is compatible with Islam on other issues. In democracy, legislation is the prerogative of the people. It is the people who draw up the constitution, and they have the authority to amend it as well. On this issue we differ.

5. Five best arguments against Sharia in the US (the same for Canada)

1. U.S. law is the “supreme law of the land,” no exceptions.
2. Sharia, as “divine revelation,” is inherently undemocratic.
3. Many aspects of Sharia are flagrantly unconstitutional.
4. Sharia is fundamentally religious law, and should be inapplicable to U.S. criminal or civil law.
5. Subjectively, Sharia is a discriminatory and cruel legal system.

6. Cleric: Arab revolution declared inconsistent with Islamic laws; rallies contradict the laws of Islam (ABC).

7. Saadi Gadhafi, son of the outed dictator of Lybia, made the following statement in relation to the incoming elections in Lybia: "We have to exert pressure to change this situation and to remove this evil doing that exists in Libya. We do not know any such thing as elections. We are a Muslim nation," he said (10/Feb/2021, Reuters).

Apostasy (i.e., a Muslim who leaves Islam) is a crime punishable by death

Under Islam, Muslims belong to the Ummah, the nation of Islam. Islamic nationality is religious, not political, not to a country. That is why Muslims have no loyalty to the country where they live if that country is not Islamic. Therefore, when a Muslim leaves the Islamic faith, he/she is perceived by the other Muslims as betraying the whole nation of Islam. Islam is indeed submission!

(see examples of apostasy as a crime here)

Muslims who leave Islam (by losing faith or converting to other religion) commit the crime of apostasy, punishable by death.

According to the statement of Allah's Apostle, 'Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.'" (Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 84, Number 57)

Muhammad again:

It was narrated from Ubadah bin Samit that the Messenger of Allah said: “Carry out the legal punishments on relatives and strangers, and do not let the fear of blame stop you from carrying out the command of Allah.” So we know (1) that the penalty for apostasy is death, and (2) that Muslims are supposed to carry out the penalty on relatives. (Sunan Ibn Majah 2540)

Muhammad once more:

"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."Sahih al-Bukhari, 9:83:17 

Bukhari (Volume 9, Book 84, Number 58) describes the relaxed attitude of Mohammed and his followers after killing an apostate (they kept on their "religious duty" as if nothing had happened):

Narrated Abu Burda: ... There was a fettered man beside Abu Muisa. Mu'adh asked, "Who is this (man)?" Abu Muisa said, "He was a Jew and became a Muslim and then reverted back to Judaism." Then Abu Muisa requested Mu'adh to sit down but Mu'adh said, "I will not sit down till he has been killed. This is the judgment of Allah and His Apostle (for such cases) and repeated it thrice. Then Abu Musa ordered that the man be killed, and he was killed. Abu Musa added, "Then we discussed the night prayers and one of us said, 'I pray and sleep, and I hope that Allah will reward me for my sleep as well as for my prayers.'"

The Manual of Islamic Law Umdat al-Salik from the "moderate" Egyptian Al-Azhar University (the same where US President Obama spoke in April 2009 in an attempt to reach out to the Muslim world) says that:

08.1 When a person who has reached puberty and is sane voluntarily apostatizes (changes religion) from Islam, he deserves to be killed.

08.4 There is no indemnity for killing an apostate (O. or any expiation, since it is killing someone who deserves to die).

Now, compare this to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

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.

Apostasy is excellent for tyrants: whoever opposes them politically, are accused to be apostates and then incarcerated or killed – that is why apostasy is a crime in all 57 Islamic countries.

"The four main schools of jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi`i, and Hanbali) as well as the other four schools of jurisprudence (the four Shiite schools of Az-Zaidiyyah, Al-Ithna-`ashriyyah, Al-Ja`fariyyah, and Az-Zaheriyyah) agree that apostates must be executed" -- Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, head of the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) and president of the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS).

In Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sudan, Afghanistan, parts of Pakistan … penalty for apostasy is death.

In “moderate” Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, if one wants to change the religion (in his ID) to Islam it is allowed; to change away from Islam he/she is taken to court.

If an ex-Muslim lives in a Non-Islamic country, he may be away from an Islamic government, but he is fair game for other Muslims, sometimes even persecuted by his own family.

The Baha’i (in Iran) and the Ahmadiyya (in Indonesia) have been persecuted because they are considered apostates. The former believes Mohammed is not the last prophet; the latter rejects violence.

See examples of former Muslims being punished by this crime in another post Kill any Muslim who leaves Islam.

There are two types of apostasy (murtad)

Murtad fitri (natural apostate) - Anyone who is born to Muslim parents and leaves Islam is stigmatized as in the sense that he was born genetically Muslim and has rejected his gift of birth.

Murtad milli - anyone who converts to Islam and later leaves it (a person who has turned his back to the Ummah).

Update on Mar 2011 - I found in Islam Online the answer to the following question: Why is the apostate to be executed in Islam? The answer, based on the same Koran and Hadith verses mentioned abova, includes explanations such as (emphasis mine):

If a Muslim apostatizes and meets the conditions of apostasy, i.e., he is of sound mind, an adult and does that of his own free will then his blood may be shed with impunity. He is to be executed by the Muslim ruler or by his deputy, such as the qaadi or judge, and he is not to be washed (after death, in preparation for burial), the funeral prayer is not to be offered for him and he is not to be buried with the Muslims.

Perhaps you think that if a person follows the truth and enters into it and embraces the one true religion which Allaah has enjoined, then we allow him to leave it quite easily whenever he wants and to utter the words of kufr (disbelief) that put him outside of Islam, so he can reject Allaah, His Messenger, His Books and His religion, and there is no punishment as deterrent, how will that affect him and others who enter the religion?

Do you not see that this would make the one true religion, that everyone should follow, like a shop or store which a person can enter when he wants and leave when he wants, and it may encourage others to forsake the truth.

Moreover, this is not someone who has never known the truth and practiced it and worshipped in accordance with it; rather this is a person who has known the truth, and practiced the religion and done the rituals of worship, so the punishment is no greater than he deserves. Moreover, such strong rulings as this are only applied to such a person whose life is no longer considered to be useful, because he knew the truth and followed the religion, then he left it and forsook it. What soul can be more evil than the soul of such a person?

In conclusion, the answer is that Allaah is the One Who revealed this religion and enjoined it. He [Allaah] is the One Who ruled that the one who enters it and then leaves it is to be executed. This ruling does not come from the Muslim' s ideas or suggestions. As this is the case, then we must follow the ruling of Allaah so long as we are content to accept Him as our Lord and God.

Where is that Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? Well, it has never had any legal value according to the "true religion" and its Sharia.

Jews as Depicted in the Qur'an

Islam is anti-Semite top the core! See what Islam Online says (print screen of the page is at the end of this post in case the link is broken. You can find it also here and here):

Dear Sheikh! As-Salam `Alaykum. What, according to the Qur'an, are the main characteristics and qualities of Jews?

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All thanks and praise are due to Allah and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear questioner, we are really pleased to have your question and we pray to Allah to make our humble efforts, exerted solely for His Sake, come up to your expectation.

As regards the question you posed, the following is the fatwa issued by Sheikh `Atiyyah Saqr, former Head of Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee, in which he states the following:

"The Qur'an has specified a considerable deal of its verses to talking about Jews, their personal qualities and characteristics. The Qur'anic description of Jews is quite impartial; praising them in some occasions where they deserve praise and condemning them in other occasions where they practice blameworthy acts. Yet, the latter occasions outnumbered the former, due to their bad qualities and the heinous acts they used to commit.

The Qur'an praises them on the verse that reads: " And verily We gave the Children of Israel the Scripture and the Command and the Prophethood, and provided them with good things and favored them above (all) peoples." (Al-Jathiyah:16) i.e. the peoples of their time.

Among the bad qualities they were characterized with are the following:

1. They used to fabricate things and falsely ascribe them to Allah. Allah Almighty says: " That is because they say: We have no duty to the Gentiles. They speak a lie concerning Allah knowingly." (Al-`Imran 3:75) Also: "The Jews say: Allah's hand is fettered. Their hands are fettered and they are accursed for saying so. Nay, but both His hands are spread out wide in bounty. He bestoweth as He will." (Al-Ma`idah 5:64)

In another verse Almighty Allah says: "Verily Allah heard the saying of those who said, (when asked for contributions to the war): "Allah, forsooth, is poor, and we are rich! We shall record their saying with their slaying of the Prophets wrongfully and We shall say: Taste ye the punishment of burning!" (Al-`Imran 3:181)

2. They love to listen to lies. Concerning this Allah says: "and of the Jews: listeners for the sake of falsehood, listeners on behalf of other folk" (Al-Ma'idah: 5:41) 

3. Disobeying Almighty Allah and never observing His commands. Allah says: "And because of their breaking their covenant, We have cursed them and made hard their hearts." (Al-Ma'idah: 5:13) 

4. Disputing and quarreling. This is clear in the verse that reads: "Their Prophet said unto them: Lo! Allah hath raised up Saul to be a king for you. They said: How can he have kingdom over us when we are more deserving of the kingdom than he is, since he hath not been given wealth enough?" (Al-Baqarah 2:247)

5. Hiding the truth and standing for misleading. This can be understood from the verse that reads: “…distort the Scripture with their tongues, that ye may think that what they say is from the Scripture, when it is not from the Scripture.” (Al-`Imran 3:78)

6. Staging rebellion against the Prophets and rejecting their guidance. This is clear in the verse: “And when ye said: O Moses! We will not believe in thee till we see Allah plainly.” (Al-Baqarah 2:55)

7. Hypocrisy. In a verse, we read: “And when they fall in with those who believe, they say:fs We believe; but when they go apart to their devils they declare: Lo! we are with you; verily we did but mock.” (Al-Baqarah: 14) In another verse, we read: “Enjoin ye righteousness upon mankind while ye yourselves forget (to practice it)? And ye are readers of the Scripture! Have ye then no sense?” (Al-Baqarah 2:44)

8. Giving preference to their own interests over the rulings of religion and the dictates of truth. Allah says: “…when there cometh unto you a messenger (from Allah) with that which ye yourselves desire not, ye grow arrogant, and some ye disbelieve and some ye slay?” (Al-Baqarah 2:87)

9. Wishing evil for people and trying to mislead them. This is clear in the verse that reads: “Many of the People of the Scripture long to make you disbelievers after your belief, through envy on their own account, after the truth hath become manifest unto them.” (Al-Baqarah 2:109)

10. They feel pain to see others in happiness and are gleeful when others are afflicted with a calamity. This is clear in the verse that reads: “If a lucky chance befall you, it is evil unto them, and if disaster strike you they rejoice thereat.” (Al-`Imran 3:120)

11. They are known of their arrogance and haughtiness. They claimed to be the sons and of Allah and His beloved ones. Allah tells us about this in the verse that reads: “The Jews and Christians say: We are sons of Allah and His loved ones.” (Al-Ma’idah 5:18)

12. Utilitarianism and opportunism are among their innate traits. This is clear in the verse that reads: “And of their taking usury when they were forbidden it, and of their devouring people's wealth by false pretences.” (An-Nisa’ 4:161)

13. Their impoliteness and indecent way of speech is beyond description. Referring to this, the Qur’anic verse reads: “Some of those who are Jews change words from their context and say: "We hear and disobey; hear thou as one who heareth not" and "Listen to us!" distorting with their tongues and slandering religion. If they had said: "We hear and we obey; hear thou, and look at us" it had been better for them, and more upright. But Allah hath cursed them for their disbelief, so they believe not, save a few.” (An-Nisa’ 4:46)

14. It is easy for them to slay people and kill innocents. Nothing in the world is dear to their hearts than shedding blood and murdering human beings. They never give up this trait even with the Messengers and the Prophets. Allah says: “…and slew the prophets wrongfully.” (Al-Baqarah 2:61)

15. They are merciless and heartless. In this meaning, the Qur’anic verse explains: “Then, even after that, your hearts were hardened and became as rocks, or worse than rocks, for hardness.” (Al-Baqarah 2:74)

16. They never keep their promises or fulfill their words. Almighty Allah says: “Is it ever so that when ye make a covenant a party of you set it aside? The truth is, most of them believe not.” (Al-Baqarah 2:100)

17. They rush hurriedly to sins and compete in transgression. Allah says: “They restrained not one another from the wickedness they did. Verily evil was that they used to do!” (Al-Ma’idah 5:79)

18. Cowardice and their love for this worldly life are their undisputable traits. To this, the Qur’an refers when saying: “Ye are more awful as a fear in their bosoms than Allah. That is because they are a folk who understand not. They will not fight against you in a body save in fortified villages or from behind walls. Their adversity among themselves is very great. Ye think of them as a whole whereas their hearts are divers.” (Al-Hashr:13-14) Allah Almighty also says: “And thou wilt find them greediest of mankind for life and (greedier) than the idolaters.” (Al-Baqarah 2:96)

19. Miserliness runs deep in their hearts. Describing this, the Qur’an states: “Or have they even a share in the Sovereignty? Then in that case, they would not give mankind even the speck on a date stone.” (An-Nisa’ 4:53)

20. Distorting Divine Revelation and Allah’s Sacred Books. Allah says in this regard: “Therefore woe be unto those who write the Scripture with their hands anthem say, "This is from Allah," that they may purchase a small gain therewith. Woe unto them for that their hands have written, and woe unto them for that they earn thereby.” (Al-Baqara 2:79)

After this clear explanation, we would like to note that these are but some of the most famous traits of the Jews as described in the Qur’an. They have revolted against the Divine ordinances, distorted what has been revealed to them and invented new teachings which, they claimed, were much more better than what has been recorded in the Torah. It was for these traits that they found no warm reception in all countries where they tried to reside. Rather, they would either be driven out or live in isolation. It was Almighty Allah who placed on them His Wrath and made them den of humiliation due to their transgression. Almighty Allah told us that He’d send to them people who’d pour on them rain of severe punishment that would last till the Day of Resurrection. All this gives us glad tidings of the coming victory of Muslims over them once Muslims stick to strong faith and belief in Allah and adopt the modern means of technology.

http://www.islamonline.com/cgi-bin/news_service/fatwah_story.asp?service_id-449

Persecution of Jews

Islam is anti-Semite to the core. During his life, Mohammed had several altercations with the Jewish tribes around him (which ended up being vanished form the map) as well as with a few Jewish individuals (who ended up assassinated). Since the justification for his harsh actions ended up part of the Koran, they have been written in stone and are part of Islam.

(See examples of anti-Semitism here)

There is a Fatwa that summarizes quite nicely the main characteristics and qualities of Jews as depicted in the Koran. Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI emphasises that the Jews have no collective guilt for the death of Jesus (who was Jew by the way), silly excuse used for persecutions in the past.

Currently, Western anti-Semitism is aligning with Islamic anti-Semitis. As Roger Simon posted recently, "the cause of the need to hold Israel to a higher standard than any other nation, could also not be more obvious. It is titanic (and justifiable) guilt over the Holocaust. What Europe did to the Jews, marching innocent human beings into gas chambers, is arguably the most monstrous crime in recorded history. Europeans desperately want something to be wrong with the Jews to exonerate themselves, to some degree anyway, for that unconscionably reprehensible act."

Gays rights under Islam

Even though not explicitly stated, gays and lesbians have their rights guarantee by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 6 (Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law) and Article 7 (All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law) are sufficiently clear.


But under Islam Gays and lesbians have no rights (except the right to be killed). See for yourself:

• Holland: Gay Iman is a threat to Islam. He must die (RNW).
• France: French charity helps Muslim gays rejected by families (Spiegel).
• Holland Mar 2011: Gay flights attendants at Dutch airline KLM want to be excused from flying to Iran (Advocate).
• USA Sept/2009: A Muslim explains how homosexuals must be treated under Islamic Law (YouTube). 
• Iran Oct/2009: On October 6, 2009, Rahim Mohammadi was executed in Tabriz, a city in northwest Iran, after being convicted of sexual abuse and rape during sexual relations between males (a homosexual act called Lavat). (IRQR)
• Iran: Hanging of homosexuals by moderate Muslims: In their final moments, gay Iranians Ayaz Marhoni and Mahmous Asgari are fitted with nooses at a death penalty spectacle (see figure).

• Pakistan: homosexuality has been a crime under Shariah Law in his native Pakistan since 1860. According to that country's penal code, enforced by Judge Usmani, Article 377 states: Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than two years nor more than ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offence described in this section. 

International Women’s Day celebration, Islamic style

2011
In Egypt, Cairo's central Tahrir Square (famous for the rallies against Mubarak) was occupied by women — some in headscarves and flowing robes, others in jeans — marching to celebrate International Women's Day, demanding equal rights and an end to sexual harassment. But crowds of men soon outnumbered the women and chased them out. Some men said women’s role was to stay home and raise presidents, not to run for president. Others accused the women of being “foreigners”, and had their flyers and posters torn up. Many of the protesters’ male critics invoked religion saying Islam itself decrees that men and women are different, and that men should be responsible for, and rule over, women. At one point, a crowd of male counter-protesters circled a women in a niqab (the full, black veil that covers everything but a woman’s eyes and is worn by Islamic fundamentalists in Egypt) chanting, “This is an Egyptian woman!”… (AP; The Daily Beast)

Iran has just become member of the UN's Commission on the Status of Women, an organization whose mission "is dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women." In the very first demonstration for International Women's Day, protesters were beaten by security forces. Women's rights activists have called for demonstrations to advocate and defend the rights of both men and women in Iran, as well as more general democratic principles. (Amnesty International) 

In the Sudan, riot police in Khartoum arrested more than 40 women minutes after they started a protest against rape and rights abuses. Sudanese women's groups organized the protest against discriminatory laws on Tuesday -- marked as International Women's Day across the world. Before the rally, organizers said they were enraged by reports of the arrest and rape of Safiya Eshaq, a supporter of anti-government activist group Girifna, in Khartoum last month. (Sudan Tribune)

It is wrong to compare Islamic and Jewish religious courts: they are very different

No Comparison: Shariah and Jewish Religious Courts. An excellent article by Rabbi Aryeh Spero explaining how different Islamic and Jewish laws are, published in The American Thinker:

Many stealth jihadists pushing to have Shariah law instead of American civil law govern American Islamic communities are making the preposterous claim that Shariah Courts are similar to Jewish religious courts that observant Jews often use to adjudicate intra-community disputes. This is entirely inaccurate given that Shariah has as its goal the replacement of American law with Shariah, whereas Beit Din, Jewish religious court, limits its purview and has no intent or desire to flout American law.

Over 1800 years ago, the Talmudic Rabbi Samuel set the tone of how Jews were to interact with the laws of Babylonia, which had become the primary residence of the Jewish People after its exile from Israel.  His statement and decision has guided the Jewish community throughout their dwellings in new lands: "The law of the land is the law." Rabbi Samuel understood, as did all subsequent rabbinic figures, that dwelling in a land and being a good citizen meant living by its laws and standards.

Naturally, many aspects of Jewish religious life differed from that of the host culture, such as the requirement to eat kosher food, observe the Sabbath and abstain from bread on Passover, and Rabbi Samuel would have been the first to reject any attempt by the State to prohibit our core religious observances. In the spirit of Render unto Caesar that which is his and unto God that which is His, Rabbi Samuel demarcated between religious law and civil law. His intellectual honesty lay in not allowing the subterfuge of categorizing civil law as "religious" law, which would have effectively nullified the whole concept of "The law of the land is the law".

Rabbi Samuel certainly wished to preserve Jewish culture and ethnicity. Nonetheless, the Head of Babylon's Jewish community imbibed a deep respect and loyalty to his new country and would not allow zealots and separatists to lurch into a mode of cultural supremacy by erecting autonomous communities within the nation, which is accomplished when the purview of religious law is inflated to include that which is essentially civil and criminal law, something to be decided by the general public.

Eight hundred years later, as the center of Jewish life shifted westward to Europe, Rabbi Gershom of Germany expanded on the theme of "The Law of the land is the law." He declared that because something is permitted in religious law does not mean a Jew should exercise that religious right if it is contrary to a fundamental standard and custom of the country where he now resides. So that even though the ancient Bible did not limit a man to one wife, henceforth Jewish men living in Europe could not marry as was done in biblical days, since European/Christian mores had rejected the simultaneous taking of multiple wives. Though polygamy was already centuries earlier culturally taboo among western Jews, Rabbi Gershom took the opportunity to prohibit it officially and legally to underscore the point that no particular ethnic community stands above and beyond deep-rooted national moral and ethical mores and standards.  

Contrast this philosophy with that of shariah compliance where, for example, in certain European countries Islamic clerics are asking that the State welfare system subsidize the multiple wives of a Pakistani-born Muslim, or that of New Jersey where a lower court judge agreed not to hold a man liable for raping his wife, "reasoning" that his culture permits a man to force himself on his wife even though she vehemently protests her subjugation. Or the case of an 18 year old Columbus, Ohio girl whose wish to convert to Christianity is causing a risk to her life from her parents who claim that shariah does not allow her to become Christian. Jewish law intrinsically deplores what shariah here espouses, and no Beit Din would kow-tow to such rejection of civilized American societal norms.

The three cases mentioned above, some even criminal, stand foursquare against our American principle that women and children are not simply a man's property. This isn't simply a legalism but fundamental to our identity and to who we are as a people and nation. Having two sets of laws, one of which extends to Muslims the right to do that which is forbidden to all other Americans is a breach of the bedrock principle of Due Process, wherein our laws are applied equally to all, be it our rights or our prohibitions. Should we suddenly make one group of citizens more privileged than all others? That is not American, nor western. Equality under the law must transcend fashionable and often silly notions of multi-culturalism. Too much multi-culturalism leads to no culture at all, a society denuded of standards.

It has always been understood here that no one can claim a religious exception to civil and criminal rules that govern all. Religious freedom does not mean freedom from living by the civilized laws that constitute us as a people. That is exactly what Rabbi Samuel had in mind 1800 years ago when warning against those who would abrogate their fealty to civil and criminal law by claiming a special dispensation under religious law.

There are two areas where from time-to-time a Jew invites a Beit Din into his life. One is marriage and divorce. But here the Beit Din does not supersede routine civil law, rather it embellishes these events with certain required rituals, none of which offend deep-rooted social morality nor contradict existing civil law. After the divorced couple arranges their divorce settlement -- finances, child custody questions etc. -- the Beit Din's scribe quilts on parchment a divorce document according to an ancient Hebrew text. Marriage is similarly preceded by written documents and blessings. These additions do not abrogate any civil laws, rather fall under the rubric of rituals that adorn and enrich each particular group within humanity.

The second is the arbitration process where two Jewish litigants decide to forgo the expenses of lawyers and protracted civil court proceedings and opt to have the Beit Din arbitrate and decide their business or monetary conflict. Courts are often pleased by this choice since it relieves them of yet another case on their heavy dockets. But even here, the Beit Din cannot pull out of left field some wild form of insular reasoning whose logic could not stand up in secular court. Nor would it ever arbitrate on criminal matters.

And herein lays an essential difference between those advocating shariah for Islamic communities as opposed to Beit Din in highly observant Jewish communities. Whereas, a Jew finds himself at a Beit Din once or twice in life, and for many never at all, shariah will dominate the individual within the community. He will live under shariah. Shariah is comprehensive, and coercive. It is the ultimate balkanization, wherein a mini nation lives within a broader nation. It is a seceding from the Union - yet with all the privileges of being in that union.

For stealth jihadists, shariah is the most effective way to Islamize a country. Through its imposition, it telegraphs that a nation has no unique and binding set of laws, mores and standards. That's why radical multiculturalists love it. It helps brings down America.

Islamic shariah has a completely different aspiration than Jewish law. Jewish law has no world-wide ambitions. We don't even seek converts. There's one Jewish state, and a small one at that. Islam's stated goal is to have the world live under shariah. It yearns for a world-wide caliphate, bringing all under Islam, individuals and nations.

Shariah announces that Islam is above and beyond the law. It is above country. Once allowed and implemented in Islamic neighborhoods, it reaches beyond and extends to ever growing areas where its adherents migrate, so that neighborhoods once under American law now must forfeit their American way of life if they wish to do business or be shielded from harassment. Shariah does not believe in Live and let Live, which has been the sweet anthem that has guided America. It demands changes in our schools, work places, swimming pools, and every facet of public and commercial life.

In England , for example, whole school districts now forbid pork in school cafeterias where Christian children still constitute the majority, and some districts won't even teach the Holocaust because it "offends" anti-Semitic Muslims. Liberals call this sensitivity and accommodation. But it is capitulation; capitulation by emasculated multi-culturalists who feel that the only way to validate our western culture is by forfeiting it and submitting to those who wish to destroy it. Any ideology whose demands and stranglehold on civic and public life are so extensive and unyielding is theocratic in nature and thus incompatible with and dangerous to western life.

At one time, North Africa was not Islamic. Neither was Turkey, southern Asia, Indonesia, Central Africa, Persia, nor most of Iraq and Lebanon; nor were vast lands west, east and north of India. Nor were the Balkans. They are now mostly Islamic. Some fell to the sword of Islam. Others decided to be "nice guys" and allow shariah law in their countries for those few who demanded it. Now, tens of millions of them and their children must live under shariah law. Their heritage is gone.

Intolerance towards other religions

Under Islamic law, non-Muslims are not allowed to propagate their faith, as established in the Pact of Umar. Examples (for the situation of the Copts in Egypt see here; Christians in general here):

• Indonesia Mar 2011: Indonesia, war on the Ahmadi considered blasphemous by government and Islamic leaders (AsiaNews).
• Indonesia Mar 2011: New ban imposed on Ahmadiyah Islamic sect (adnkronos).
• Pakistan Feb 2011: Pak's Hindu temples turned into picnic spots, hotels (rediff).
• Malaysia Sep2009: a group of more than 50 Muslim men gathered outside a state mosque and marched to a government office proudly carrying a cow's head as a symbol of protest while chanting the world-famous praise "Allahu akbar." The Muslim group was against the construction of a Hindu temple in their district. "I challenge the state to go on with the temple construction. I guarantee bloodshed and the state will be held responsible. Allahu akbar!" said the group's spokesman (JPost).
  
  
  
  
  
  In November 2007, some 30,000 Hindus marched the streets of Kuala Lumpur to protest against discrimination and alleged systematic demolition of Hindu temples by the state. The protesters met the full force of the state's chemical-laced water cannons and tear gas canisters.  In stark contrast, the cow-head protest went ahead without any police intervention.

In Malaysia, religious rows dominate national media: Students arrested for handing Christian pamphlets to Muslims; protests outside churches suspected of facilitating Muslim apostasy; a ban prohibiting non-Muslims from using the word "Allah"; Islamic rehabilitation centers "persuading" Muslims against conversion; a Muslim mother sentenced to be caned for consuming beer, with the woman's father urging the authorities to cane his daughter in public to make her an example. What might be deemed lunacy in the modern world pervades life in Malaysia, troubling its non-Muslim minorities as well as its liberal Muslims.

Is the Islamic concept of Temporary Marriage (Mutah) akin to prostitution?

Well, read and draw your own conclusion. The following is a direct translation of the Persian document as shown on Planet Iran. It is an advertisement from the Iman Reza's Shrine in Mash'had, in Iran:

July 18, 2010

Bismellah al rahman a rahim

Temporary Marriage (Marriage is among the traditions of the Prophet Mohammad)

In order to elevate the spiritual atmosphere, create proper psychological conditions and tranquility of mind, the Province of the Quds’eh-Razavi of Khorassan has created centers for temporary marriage (just next door to the shrine) for those brothers who are on pilgrimage to the shrine of  our eighth Imam, Imam Reza, and who are far away from their spouses.

To that end, we call on all our sisters who are virgins, who are between the ages of 12 and 35 to cooperate with us. Each of our sisters who signs up will be bound by a two year contract with the province of the Quds’eh-Razavi of Khorassan and will be required to spend at least 25 days of each month temporarily married to those brothers who are on pilgrimage. The period of the contract will be considered as a part of the employment experience of the applicant. The period of each temporary marriage can be anywhere between 5 hours to 10 days. The prices are as follows:

• 5 hour temporary marriage – 50,000 Tomans ($50 US)
• One day temporary marriage – 75,000 Tomans ($75 US)
• Two day temporary marriage – 100,000 Tomans ($100 US)
• Three day temporary marriage – 150,000 Tomans ($150 US)
• Between 4 and 10 day temporary marriage – 300,000 Tomans ($300 US)
• Our sisters who are virgins will receive a bonus of 100,000 Tomans ($100 US) for the removal of their hymen .

After the expiration of the two year contract, should our sisters still be under 35 years of age and should they be so inclined, they can be added to the waiting list of those who are seeking long-term temporary marriage. The employed sisters are obligated to donate 5% of their earnings to the Shrine of Imam Reza. We ask that all the sisters who are interested in applying, to furnish two full-length photographs (fully hijabed and properly veiled), their academic diplomas, proof of their virginity and a certificate of good physical and psychological health which they can obtain through the health and human services of the township of their residence. Please forward all compiled material and send to the below address by the 31st of the month of Ordibehesht, 1389 (May 21st, 2010).

Attention: For sisters who are below 14 years of age, a written consent from their fathers or male guardian is required.

Address: Mash’had, Shrine of Imam Reza, Shaheed Navab-Safavi, Kossar passage, Bureau of Temporary Marriages or call Haji Mahmood Momtaz : 98/511/222-5790

For further information, please refer to the Quds’eh Razavi website.

Punishments under Islamic Law: flogging, beheading, hanging, crucification ...

The post Sharia- Crime and Punishment under Islam provides an excellent discussion on the types of crime and related punishments prescribed under Sharia Law. Here, there are a few actual examples:

Flogging
Sudan (Dec 2010): video shows a women receiving lashes at the Khartoum Police Station and part of an interview with the Governor of Khartoum, Dr. Abd Al-Rahman Al-Khadr. He stated that "what was aired was the implementation of an Islamic punishment..."  In fact, he went on to say that "[w]e should consider the more important issue in this case ~ our penal code is in keeping with Islam and the sharia is the main source of our legislation.  Islamic punishments are carried out to purge the perpetrator." (MEMRI TV Video #2772 and transcript).

Islam is above criticism: kill or harass those who "slender" Islam

Under Sharia Law, it is a crime punishable by death to criticize Islam, his prophet or Sharia Law.

The Islamic world, which feels free to disparage other religions, and whose holist book denigrates Jews as apes, demands no criticism of its prophet by nonbelievers. This profoundly selfish and unfair standard should not be tolerated by the rest of the world. Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and all the other major faiths survive criticism from nonbelievers. It is now time for Islam to mature, and for Muslims worldwide to announce that their faith is strong enough to withstand criticism. It is a sign of weak faith to attack critics.

Death threats are commonplace. But a recent phenomenon has emerged: Western institutions (government, judiciary, publishers, universities) just seem to accept and impose Sharia-like norms to silence those who criticize Islam. It is like saying: "don't kill us; we will shut them up for you." It is like a civilizational self-censorship.

Who does not remember the Danish Cartoons? Muslims want to kill the cartonist Kurt Westergaard. The latest happened Police in Denmark shot a Somali man attempting to assassinate Danish cartoonist , the man whose 12 cartoons in Jyllands-Posten set off worldwide unrest, including fatal riots in 2005. The 27 year old Somalian, armed with an axe, broke through a window, and was was shot in the leg, after police answered an alarm call from Westergaard's home in Aarhus, Denmark's second largest city. The cartoonist's grand daughter was present in the house, in a "safe room" that had been constructed because of the vicious attacks threatened against the brave cartoonist.

Another point related to "silencing those who criticize Islam, Mohammed or Sharia" is that blasphemy laws are sometimes used in order to settle grudges, persecute minorities and fan religious extremism (e.g., in Pakistan).

• From BBC: Muslim row cartoon timeline.
• France. Nov/2-11: The offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris have been destroyed in a petrol bomb attack. The attack followed after the magazine announced an issue in which the "guest editor" was the prophet Mohammed (BBC).

• West Bank, Dec/2010: 26-year-old blogger, Walid Husayin — who had called the Muslim God a “primitive Bedouin” and Islam a religion of “irrationality and ignorance” — was forced to apologize in a letter to his family and to all Palestinians after being arrested by Palestinian military police on Oct. 31. His comments were deemed offensive to Islam. Defaming Islam is a crime in the West Bank (YahooNews).
• Pakistan, Dec/2010: Pakistani authorities have arrested a doctor on suspicion of violating the country’s contentious blasphemy law by throwing away a business card of a man who shared the name of Islam’s prophet, Muhammad, police said Sunday (SFC). (Pakistani Blasphemy Law) 
• Pakistan, Nov/2010: Bibi — a Christian mother of five —was sentenced to death by a municipal court for blasphemy against Islam. She insists she was falsely accused over a personal dispute. Ms. Bibi has been in jail for more than a year (Telegraph). (Pakistani Blasphemy Law)
• Sweden Dec 2010: Two explosions rocked the downtown shopping district in Stockholm this evening as holiday shoppers crowded the chainstore-clogged area around Drottninggatan. In a letter and audiotape, the bomber wrote that: "Our actions speak for themselves. As long as you don't stop your war against Islam, and you degrade the Prophet, and your support for that stupid pig [cartoonist Lars] Vilks." (Reason)
• Sweden Oct 2010: The Norwegian historian and journalist Halvor Tjønn has written a biography of the founder of Islam, Muhammed. The book was announced by the Oslo publisher Kagge in last year’s fall catalog. But now the publisher has suddenly pulled out — and refuses to provide any explanation of why it no longer wishes to publish the book (PJM, Aftenposten).
• US Sep/2010: Molly Norris goes hiding. She was a staff cartoonist for the Seattle Weekly. Last spring, in response to Islamist threats against Trey Parker and Matt Stone's lampooning the prohibition against portraying Mohammed on "South Park," Molly Norris published a cartoon proposing an "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day." The cartoon didn't actually portrayed Mohammed. American-Jihadi cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, the same who triggered both the attempted Detroit airliner attack and the Fort Hood massacre, issued a fatwa calling for her assassination. Norris consulted with the FBI, who recommended that she go underground and change her name. Apparently the Feds failed to make any serious offer of protection (WSJ, Global Jihad). 
• USA Sep/2009: Professor Jytte Klausen wrote a book called "The cartoons that shook the world" to be published by Yale University Press (YUP). In an act of self-censorship YUP removed the cartoons and any other portrait of Mohammed fearing the images would cause another outbreak of violence. The book was eventually published and can be found on Amazon with customer tags "cowardly", "censored" and "Yale Shame" (FOX, IH)
• Australia Sep/2010: An Australian Iman, Feiz Muhammad, has issued a fatwa (an Islamic religious decree) calling for the beheading of Geert Wilders, a Dutch politician. Mr Wilders is an outspoken critic of Islam and leader of the Dutch PVV Party. Imam Feiz Muhammad is an Australian Muslim preacher, head of the Global Islamic Youth Centre in Liverpool, a suburb of Sydney (BIG PEACE). 
• Russia Nov/2009: A militant Islamist group based in Russia has admitted that they are responsible for the killing of 35 years old Orthodox priest Daniil Sysoyev. He was killed in his own church in Moscow by masked gunmen. The website warned that “those in the future who defame Islam and insult the religion of Allah will suffer the fate as Sysoyev.” Father Sysoyev contacted Russian security services several times over the threats, but in vain (AFP).