March 28, 2007
German judge allows wife abuse, citing Koran
A German woman judge has refused a Moroccan-born woman permission to file for divorce by interpreting the Koran as allowing husbands to beat their wives.
"Where are we living? Woman judge allows beating in marriage... and invokes the Koran," said a front-page headline in
"When the Koran takes precedence over the German Basic Law, then I can only say: Good night
No commentary necessary.
You can read a similar article about the event at the New York Times. Login may be necessary.
The full article links are:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/germanyjusticeislam&printer=1;_ylt=A0SOwk_pBQxGiRoBvAKROrgF
mms://video.france24.com.edgestreams.net/EN NW PKG JUGE ALLEMAGNE CO_400.wmv
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/23/world/europe/23germany.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=world&pagewanted=print
Link to this Entry: http://www.worldunderfire.com/inthenews.htm#03282007
March 20, 2007
The War at Home
"The decisive battle against Islamic extremists will not be fought in
In his article, Belien, editor of the Brussels Journal, describes how
These kinds of battles, reflecting a dangerous preferential treatment of one group or ideology, or the lack of substantial response to actions by these groups, are not isolated to
Educating children about Islam does not appear to be the problem. Describing a court battle over one
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Law Center said of the Islamic sessions at Excelsior: "No federal court would have permitted a class where public school students were taught to 'become Catholics' for three weeks, selected a saint's name, wore identification tags that displayed their new name and a Crucifix, and engaged in Catholic religious practices. Here, however, students were subjected to Islamic religious indoctrination and propaganda and the courts turned a blind eye.
While few would claim that the Excelsior students were being taught Radical Islamic theology, or that the Antwerp officials are advocating jihad, the results of these policies, and the absence of pro-active response to them, helps empower Salafist groups, and helps them promote their long-term goals of an overall Islamicization of the West.
You can read the full articles here: http://washtimes.com/op-ed/20070313-090315-9588r.htm
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/challenges.php?id=801946
Link to this Entry: http://www.worldunderfire.com/inthenews.htm#03202007
March 13, 2007
"Jihad.com" and Religious Illiteracy
A recent 60 Minutes news segment—"jihad.com"—shows the powerful role the Internet is playing in radicalizing Muslims, and encouraging them to wage jihad.1
"Without a doubt, the Internet is the single most important venue for the radicalization of Islamic youth," says Army Brigadier General John Custer, who is the head of intelligence at central command, responsible for
Films readily available online at various jihadi forums, youtube, and elsewhere online, are one tool used to incite youth to join the war.
"If you want to go wage jihad, you've got to let them know that there's a jihad going on and lead them to believe that this is something they want to be involved in. And so these videos are essentially, you know, all recruitment films, you know, join the army, see wonderful places, kill people," [says Aaron Weisburd, a programmer who has been successfully attacking jihadi websites].2
The forums also play on the ignorance of these youth by convincing them they are not proper Muslims and providing the gateway to a true Islamic lifestyle. According to Stephen Ulph, a consultant to
"They throw a bomb into his mental universe… And, they say, 'And, you're not a proper Muslim, nor are your parents.' Very important implication there. If your parents aren't proper Muslims, if the sheik of a mosque isn't a proper Muslim, what are you doing obeying them?"
Asked what they're told a proper Muslim is, Ulph says, "Well, once they've softened him up and he's now in freefall, they say, 'This is your identity. We're gonna put the "j" back into Islam. It's jihad.'"
Dr. Khaleel Mohammed, an Islamic scholar and cleric, further explains the danger of religious illiteracy in regards to extremism, in a response to reactions to criticisms he has leveled.4
Muslims in
Scholar Scott Appleby of Notre Dame describes "religious illiteracy" as the low-level or virtual absence of moral reflection and basic theological knowledge among faith followers that could lead to violence against perceived threats. In Islam, this is particularly applicable.
This illiteracy is exacerbated by the Arab media, which does little to counter the messages students are seeing online, according to former Dean of Islamic Law at
As you know, the Gulf media refers to what happens in
The community can't always rely on the clerics to ameliorate the problem, as has been seen in the case of Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi6. Regarding claims that the community would fire illiterate imams whose views perpetuate the crisis, Dr. Mohammed asked 7
How is the flock going to know when the imam is wrong? After all, he is the leader, the supposed exegete, the scholar who may have suddenly been imbued with Islamic scholarship by some miracle because he happens to be a medical doctor.
In the face of challenges like these, parents, teachers and those in the media need to engage in a campaign of reeducation, to counter these messages. Perhaps most important to countering the illiteracy that is promoting the crisis, is teaching students how to weigh the issues for themselves. Dr. Hanaa Mutlaq, Professor of Psychology at
They have been brainwashed, it is easy to brainwash them. We made them who they are. We have made our children easy prey for anyone who wants to brainwash them, because we have trained them to obey… When he comes to ask a question, one should not give him the answer. We must say, go and find the answer.
1 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/02/60minutes/main2531546.shtml
2 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/02/60minutes/main2531546.shtml
3 ibid
4 http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=d0a24d52-b2cb-4b23-8c1b-d0218cf76662
5 http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1055
6 http://www.worldunderfire.com/inthenews.htm#03072007
7 http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=d0a24d52-b2cb-4b23-8c1b-d0218cf76662
8 http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=56
Link to this Entry: http://www.worldunderfire.com/inthenews.htm#03132007
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
No comments:
Post a Comment