Where we are.
Jackson Heights Queens NY
Where we are heading.
The UK
Please continue to speak up.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Muslims Look to Impose Ramadan in Denmark Schools
Ramadan the month of sacrifice and fasting for Muslims is once again being imposed on non-Muslims. The only difference is that this time the imposing is being done by Muslim children. Ramadan is also supposed to teach Muslims humility, but I guess they missed that lesson.
Hat tip to Islam in Europe.
Denmark: Religious pressure in schools
Children in Danish schools undergo religious harassment. This happens during the currently ongoing Muslim festival of Ramadan, when a group of Muslim students criticize their schoolmates for violating the fasting rules of Ramadan by easting and drinking during daylight hours, report several Danish schools with a high proportion of Muslim students. At Hillerødgade's Skole in Copenhagen the problem has consequences.
"Some of the children who fast criticize the children who don't fast. Therefore we have decided that children who fast should be excluded from the cafeteria area. So there will be a place to eat in the cafeteria without people having an attitude imposed on them, says health project leader Marika Jensen who has also seen some schoolchildren who are so afraid of being seen eating that they sneak into the cafeteria area not during the lunch break in order to get a bite to eat.
She explains that it's typical for Muslim children whose parents want them to eat but who simply find it hard to explain to their Muslim friends that they eat and drink.
At Klostevænget's Heldagsskole in Copenhagen the school inspector was surprised when she asked in an 8th grade class with a large Muslim population about fasting.
"Everybody said that they fasted. Even a boy of Danish background said that he did it, but I truly didn't believe it. It was just to hard for him to sit with his bread with chopped liver among schoolmates who all fasted. I think that he goes home and eats his food later, and it was done out of tactical prudence by him," says school inspector Karen-Margrethe Grønlund.
In Aarhus the Ramadan has also caused conflict.
"Some girls in the lower classes had gotten from their parents clear views on what they should avoid during Ramadan, and they wanted to share this with some friends. They explained what good Muslims did and what bad Muslims did. As a school we needed to deal with it and get involved, even if it was a sensitive topic, says school head Torben Haugård of Ellekærskolen.
Also in Tovshøjskolen in Århus teachers had to intervene with Muslim students who interfered with their classmates religion and eating habits.
Religious conflicts had previously been described as a problem among Muslim students at Syddansk University.
Lene Kühle, lecturer and PHD in religion sociology at Aarhus University, points out that there have also been conflicts among Muslim cashiers on whether to wear the headscarf during work or not. She thinks that Ramadan often increases the conflicts when the increased attention to being religious also increases attention to lapses.
The religion sociologist who had researched the Muslim communities in Denmark, has two reasons why religious conflicts arise among Danish Muslims.
"Islam becomes a weapon to bully others. People use a completely banal religious to assert themselves," says Lene Kühle.
Another reason is that Islam's status as a minority religion in the West leads to self-appointed religious policemen. They are found in many places in society, among others in prisons, says Lene Kühle:
"Regular Muslims go around and impose on people a certain form of Islam. It goes together with that there aren't others to do this in Denmark. If one could imagine that we had a mufti in the country, that said how people should act during Ramadan, then Muslims would have some basis - but now it's up to the individual and it causes many interpretations and clashes.
Link to Article
Hat tip to Islam in Europe.
Denmark: Religious pressure in schools
Children in Danish schools undergo religious harassment. This happens during the currently ongoing Muslim festival of Ramadan, when a group of Muslim students criticize their schoolmates for violating the fasting rules of Ramadan by easting and drinking during daylight hours, report several Danish schools with a high proportion of Muslim students. At Hillerødgade's Skole in Copenhagen the problem has consequences.
"Some of the children who fast criticize the children who don't fast. Therefore we have decided that children who fast should be excluded from the cafeteria area. So there will be a place to eat in the cafeteria without people having an attitude imposed on them, says health project leader Marika Jensen who has also seen some schoolchildren who are so afraid of being seen eating that they sneak into the cafeteria area not during the lunch break in order to get a bite to eat.
She explains that it's typical for Muslim children whose parents want them to eat but who simply find it hard to explain to their Muslim friends that they eat and drink.
At Klostevænget's Heldagsskole in Copenhagen the school inspector was surprised when she asked in an 8th grade class with a large Muslim population about fasting.
"Everybody said that they fasted. Even a boy of Danish background said that he did it, but I truly didn't believe it. It was just to hard for him to sit with his bread with chopped liver among schoolmates who all fasted. I think that he goes home and eats his food later, and it was done out of tactical prudence by him," says school inspector Karen-Margrethe Grønlund.
In Aarhus the Ramadan has also caused conflict.
"Some girls in the lower classes had gotten from their parents clear views on what they should avoid during Ramadan, and they wanted to share this with some friends. They explained what good Muslims did and what bad Muslims did. As a school we needed to deal with it and get involved, even if it was a sensitive topic, says school head Torben Haugård of Ellekærskolen.
Also in Tovshøjskolen in Århus teachers had to intervene with Muslim students who interfered with their classmates religion and eating habits.
Religious conflicts had previously been described as a problem among Muslim students at Syddansk University.
Lene Kühle, lecturer and PHD in religion sociology at Aarhus University, points out that there have also been conflicts among Muslim cashiers on whether to wear the headscarf during work or not. She thinks that Ramadan often increases the conflicts when the increased attention to being religious also increases attention to lapses.
The religion sociologist who had researched the Muslim communities in Denmark, has two reasons why religious conflicts arise among Danish Muslims.
"Islam becomes a weapon to bully others. People use a completely banal religious to assert themselves," says Lene Kühle.
Another reason is that Islam's status as a minority religion in the West leads to self-appointed religious policemen. They are found in many places in society, among others in prisons, says Lene Kühle:
"Regular Muslims go around and impose on people a certain form of Islam. It goes together with that there aren't others to do this in Denmark. If one could imagine that we had a mufti in the country, that said how people should act during Ramadan, then Muslims would have some basis - but now it's up to the individual and it causes many interpretations and clashes.
Link to Article
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Sharia Courts Quickly Spread Throughout the UK
Just four days ago I reported that the UK had opened its first official Sharia Court . Now it has come out that there are already five of these courts with at least two more to come. These courts have been sanctioned by the government, with the UK police actually working with the Sharia courts on cases of domestic violence. I have plenty of friends from the UK, but I have to be honest. The UK govt is absolutely clueless as to what they are doing (to be fair I do not care for my govt either) and this will now encourage more Muslims to push for Sharia across the world. Thanks for handing a victory to the enemy, maybe one day the UK government will actually research Sharia and see that Sharia is for all. Please do the world a favor and bring back the "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher , she would have none of this.
Revealed: UK’s first official sharia courts
Abul Taher
ISLAMIC law has been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases.
The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence.
Rulings issued by a network of five sharia courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system, through the county courts or High Court.
Previously, the rulings of sharia courts in Britain could not be enforced, and depended on voluntary compliance among Muslims.
It has now emerged that sharia courts with these powers have been set up in London, Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester with the network’s headquarters in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Two more courts are being planned for Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Sheikh Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siddiqi, whose Muslim Arbitration Tribunal runs the courts, said he had taken advantage of a clause in the Arbitration Act 1996.
Under the act, the sharia courts are classified as arbitration tribunals. The rulings of arbitration tribunals are binding in law, provided that both parties in the dispute agree to give it the power to rule on their case.
Siddiqi said: “We realised that under the Arbitration Act we can make rulings which can be enforced by county and high courts. The act allows disputes to be resolved using alternatives like tribunals. This method is called alternative dispute resolution, which for Muslims is what the sharia courts are.”
The disclosure that Muslim courts have legal powers in Britain comes seven months after Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was pilloried for suggesting that the establishment of sharia in the future “seems unavoidable” in Britain.
In July, the head of the judiciary, the lord chief justice, Lord Phillips, further stoked controversy when he said that sharia could be used to settle marital and financial disputes.
In fact, Muslim tribunal courts started passing sharia judgments in August 2007. They have dealt with more than 100 cases that range from Muslim divorce and inheritance to nuisance neighbours.
It has also emerged that tribunal courts have settled six cases of domestic violence between married couples, working in tandem with the police investigations.
Siddiqi said he expected the courts to handle a greater number of “smaller” criminal cases in coming years as more Muslim clients approach them. “All we are doing is regulating community affairs in these cases,” said Siddiqi, chairman of the governing council of the tribunal.
Jewish Beth Din courts operate under the same provision in the Arbitration Act and resolve civil cases, ranging from divorce to business disputes. They have existed in Britain for more than 100 years, and previously operated under a precursor to the act.
Politicians and church leaders expressed concerns that this could mark the beginnings of a “parallel legal system” based on sharia for some British Muslims.
Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, said: “If it is true that these tribunals are passing binding decisions in the areas of family and criminal law, I would like to know which courts are enforcing them because I would consider such action unlawful. British law is absolute and must remain so.”
Douglas Murray, the director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, said: “I think it’s appalling. I don’t think arbitration that is done by sharia should ever be endorsed or enforced by the British state.”
There are concerns that women who agree to go to tribunal courts are getting worse deals because Islamic law favours men.
Siddiqi said that in a recent inheritance dispute handled by the court in Nuneaton, the estate of a Midlands man was divided between three daughters and two sons.
The judges on the panel gave the sons twice as much as the daughters, in accordance with sharia. Had the family gone to a normal British court, the daughters would have got equal amounts.
In the six cases of domestic violence, Siddiqi said the judges ordered the husbands to take anger management classes and mentoring from community elders. There was no further punishment.
In each case, the women subsequently withdrew the complaints they had lodged with the police and the police stopped their investigations.
Siddiqi said that in the domestic violence cases, the advantage was that marriages were saved and couples given a second chance.
Inayat Bunglawala, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “The MCB supports these tribunals. If the Jewish courts are allowed to flourish, so must the sharia ones.”
Additional reporting: Helen Brooks
Link to Article
Revealed: UK’s first official sharia courts
Abul Taher
ISLAMIC law has been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases.
The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence.
Rulings issued by a network of five sharia courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system, through the county courts or High Court.
Previously, the rulings of sharia courts in Britain could not be enforced, and depended on voluntary compliance among Muslims.
It has now emerged that sharia courts with these powers have been set up in London, Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester with the network’s headquarters in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Two more courts are being planned for Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Sheikh Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siddiqi, whose Muslim Arbitration Tribunal runs the courts, said he had taken advantage of a clause in the Arbitration Act 1996.
Under the act, the sharia courts are classified as arbitration tribunals. The rulings of arbitration tribunals are binding in law, provided that both parties in the dispute agree to give it the power to rule on their case.
Siddiqi said: “We realised that under the Arbitration Act we can make rulings which can be enforced by county and high courts. The act allows disputes to be resolved using alternatives like tribunals. This method is called alternative dispute resolution, which for Muslims is what the sharia courts are.”
The disclosure that Muslim courts have legal powers in Britain comes seven months after Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was pilloried for suggesting that the establishment of sharia in the future “seems unavoidable” in Britain.
In July, the head of the judiciary, the lord chief justice, Lord Phillips, further stoked controversy when he said that sharia could be used to settle marital and financial disputes.
In fact, Muslim tribunal courts started passing sharia judgments in August 2007. They have dealt with more than 100 cases that range from Muslim divorce and inheritance to nuisance neighbours.
It has also emerged that tribunal courts have settled six cases of domestic violence between married couples, working in tandem with the police investigations.
Siddiqi said he expected the courts to handle a greater number of “smaller” criminal cases in coming years as more Muslim clients approach them. “All we are doing is regulating community affairs in these cases,” said Siddiqi, chairman of the governing council of the tribunal.
Jewish Beth Din courts operate under the same provision in the Arbitration Act and resolve civil cases, ranging from divorce to business disputes. They have existed in Britain for more than 100 years, and previously operated under a precursor to the act.
Politicians and church leaders expressed concerns that this could mark the beginnings of a “parallel legal system” based on sharia for some British Muslims.
Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, said: “If it is true that these tribunals are passing binding decisions in the areas of family and criminal law, I would like to know which courts are enforcing them because I would consider such action unlawful. British law is absolute and must remain so.”
Douglas Murray, the director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, said: “I think it’s appalling. I don’t think arbitration that is done by sharia should ever be endorsed or enforced by the British state.”
There are concerns that women who agree to go to tribunal courts are getting worse deals because Islamic law favours men.
Siddiqi said that in a recent inheritance dispute handled by the court in Nuneaton, the estate of a Midlands man was divided between three daughters and two sons.
The judges on the panel gave the sons twice as much as the daughters, in accordance with sharia. Had the family gone to a normal British court, the daughters would have got equal amounts.
In the six cases of domestic violence, Siddiqi said the judges ordered the husbands to take anger management classes and mentoring from community elders. There was no further punishment.
In each case, the women subsequently withdrew the complaints they had lodged with the police and the police stopped their investigations.
Siddiqi said that in the domestic violence cases, the advantage was that marriages were saved and couples given a second chance.
Inayat Bunglawala, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “The MCB supports these tribunals. If the Jewish courts are allowed to flourish, so must the sharia ones.”
Additional reporting: Helen Brooks
Link to Article
Islam, the big Misunderstanding
We constantly hear from Muslims that the Koran is being misinterpreted, when asked why so many Muslims are using the Koran to justify their actions. Well for arguments sake lets just look at modern history, the Barbary Coast Wars.
During the year 1786 Thomas Jefferson and John Adams went to London to speak with Tripoli's Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdrahaman. Jefferson and Adams asked the Ambassador
how can they make war on nations that have done nothing to them? The Ambassador replied that "It was written in their Koran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every Muslim who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise. He said, also, that the man who was the first to board a vessel had one slave over and above his share, and that when they sprang to the deck of an enemy's ship, every sailor held a dagger in each hand and a third in his mouth; which usually struck such terror into the foe that they cried out for quarter at once".
So even back then Muslims were using the Koran to justify their violent actions. My question is this, if Muslims that are saying the Koran is being misinterpreted are correct, then how come in over 200 years they have not been able to clear up this misunderstanding with in the Islamic world? Or is it just that they know that the Koran is not being misinterpreted and that they are just being dishonest with us?
Source
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Ungrateful Muslims bomb India~Again.
Just coming off of back to back bombing days in July, India gets hit again. This time the body count is up to 20 dead and almost 100 injured. These bombings show a perfect example of why Muslims should not be catered to at all. They were given their own country in Pakistan, but that is obviously not enough. They want all of India. Please ask yourselves, how long until we have to live under these same circumstances?
BOMB ATTACKS IN INDIA IN 2008
13 September: Five bomb blasts kill 18 in Delhi
26 July: At least 22 small bombs kill 49 in Ahmedabad
25 July: Seven bombs go off in Bangalore killing two people
13 May: Seven bomb hit markets and crowded streets in Jaipur killing 63
Five bombs have ripped through busy shopping areas of India's capital, Delhi, within minutes of each other, killing at least 20 people, police say.
The explosions, which also injured about 90 people, are not thought to have been very powerful but happened in crowded areas.
Four unexploded bombs were also found and defused, police said.
More than 400 people have died since October 2005 in bomb attacks on Indian cities such as Ahmedabad and Bangalore.
India has blamed Islamist militant groups for these previous bombings.
CNN-IBN, a local TV news channel, said it had received an e-mail before the blasts from a group calling itself the "Indian Mujahideen".
"Do whatever you can. Stop us if you can," the e-mail reportedly said.
The same group has claimed responsibility for two other recent bombing attacks.
The Indian government has put the security agencies on high alert.
Pakistan has joined in official Indian condemnation of the attacks.
Chaotic scenes
Two bombs are believed to have been planted in dustbins metres away from each other in the central shopping district of Connaught Place.
Police believe that at least three other devices were planted at busy markets in the Karol Bagh area, on the Barakhamba Road and in the Greater Kailash area.
Chanchal Kumar helped carry several casualties to ambulances after witnessing one of the explosions, outside a metro station.
"Around 1830 we heard a very loud noise, then we saw people running all over the place," Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.
"There were about 100-200 people around this place."
Gulab Singh, an underground train guard, saw an explosion in Greater Kailash.
"I was stepping out for a cup of tea when everything turned black in front of me," he was quoted as saying by AFP news agency. "Then everyone started running."
Television pictures show scenes of chaos at the blast scenes. Crowds milled around mangled vehicles, with debris and blood scattered across the streets.
'Enemies of humanity'
The Mayor of Delhi, Arti Mehra, said the city would not be intimidated by the "cowardly" attacks.
"They want to break the spirit of Delhi," he told reporters.
"They have tried this in other places before and they have not succeeded and they will not succeed here. They will not scare us."
Pakistan's new President, Asif Ali Zardari, "strongly condemned" the bomb attacks, expressing "shock and grief over the loss of precious human lives".
After bombings in Jaipur and Bangalore, a group calling itself the Indian Mujahideen also claimed responsibility.
While it is too early to say exactly what caused Saturday's blasts in Delhi, they appear similar to the earlier attacks.
The earlier attacks involved multiple small devices hidden in small boxes or bags and aimed at soft targets such as crowded markets, analysts say.
The devices contained shrapnel such as nuts, bolt and ball bearings while the explosives used were improvised. Islamic militants in Kashmir have tended to use military-grade explosives.
Link to Article
BOMB ATTACKS IN INDIA IN 2008
13 September: Five bomb blasts kill 18 in Delhi
26 July: At least 22 small bombs kill 49 in Ahmedabad
25 July: Seven bombs go off in Bangalore killing two people
13 May: Seven bomb hit markets and crowded streets in Jaipur killing 63
Five bombs have ripped through busy shopping areas of India's capital, Delhi, within minutes of each other, killing at least 20 people, police say.
The explosions, which also injured about 90 people, are not thought to have been very powerful but happened in crowded areas.
Four unexploded bombs were also found and defused, police said.
More than 400 people have died since October 2005 in bomb attacks on Indian cities such as Ahmedabad and Bangalore.
India has blamed Islamist militant groups for these previous bombings.
CNN-IBN, a local TV news channel, said it had received an e-mail before the blasts from a group calling itself the "Indian Mujahideen".
"Do whatever you can. Stop us if you can," the e-mail reportedly said.
The same group has claimed responsibility for two other recent bombing attacks.
The Indian government has put the security agencies on high alert.
Pakistan has joined in official Indian condemnation of the attacks.
Chaotic scenes
Two bombs are believed to have been planted in dustbins metres away from each other in the central shopping district of Connaught Place.
Police believe that at least three other devices were planted at busy markets in the Karol Bagh area, on the Barakhamba Road and in the Greater Kailash area.
Chanchal Kumar helped carry several casualties to ambulances after witnessing one of the explosions, outside a metro station.
"Around 1830 we heard a very loud noise, then we saw people running all over the place," Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.
"There were about 100-200 people around this place."
Gulab Singh, an underground train guard, saw an explosion in Greater Kailash.
"I was stepping out for a cup of tea when everything turned black in front of me," he was quoted as saying by AFP news agency. "Then everyone started running."
Television pictures show scenes of chaos at the blast scenes. Crowds milled around mangled vehicles, with debris and blood scattered across the streets.
'Enemies of humanity'
The Mayor of Delhi, Arti Mehra, said the city would not be intimidated by the "cowardly" attacks.
"They want to break the spirit of Delhi," he told reporters.
"They have tried this in other places before and they have not succeeded and they will not succeed here. They will not scare us."
Pakistan's new President, Asif Ali Zardari, "strongly condemned" the bomb attacks, expressing "shock and grief over the loss of precious human lives".
After bombings in Jaipur and Bangalore, a group calling itself the Indian Mujahideen also claimed responsibility.
While it is too early to say exactly what caused Saturday's blasts in Delhi, they appear similar to the earlier attacks.
The earlier attacks involved multiple small devices hidden in small boxes or bags and aimed at soft targets such as crowded markets, analysts say.
The devices contained shrapnel such as nuts, bolt and ball bearings while the explosives used were improvised. Islamic militants in Kashmir have tended to use military-grade explosives.
Link to Article
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Attention NYers!! Counter Islamic Subway ads Available
During late July the Islamic Circle of North America announced that they would be blitzing 1000 NYC subway cars with ads promoting the religion of Islam starting on September 15Th during the month of Ramadan. The ads of course will try to put a peaceful spin on Islam with an obvious goal of trying to downplay all the problems that many Muslims are causing across the world. The group's leader Siraj Wahhaj, has defended convicted bomb-plotters and called the FBI and CIA the "real terrorists." Since freedom of speech is still allowed in this country, here is our chance to counter their month long ad blitz. I have made up four fliers which can be handed out where deemed appropriate, all with in the law of course. The fliers were made with the help of OldGuy a friend who runs the message forum OutCast Conservatives. It is an adult based conservative forum with out all the childish insults. All people are welcome, and I encourage people to sign up here.
To print up the fliers please click on the following links.
Islam the Ugly Truth
Ramadan the Month of Imposition
About the Islamic Circle of North America
Thanks for keeping up the fight.
To print up the fliers please click on the following links.
Islam the Ugly Truth
Ramadan the Month of Imposition
About the Islamic Circle of North America
Thanks for keeping up the fight.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
First Offical Sharia Court Opens in the UK
The U.K. has allowed its first official Sharia Court to open, paving the way for Sharia to take hold and eventually dominate the U.K. The opening of this court will only encourage the 40% of the Muslims there who admit that they want Sharia law to press harder. The U.K. also has at least ten other Sharia courts, but they are not consider "official". What the U.K. politicians fail to realize is that a country cannot operate with two different, basically opposite sets of laws. Sooner or later there is going to be a conflict between a Muslim and a non-Muslim. Which law will be used then? Muslims will say that Sharia (Gods law according to them) has to be used. Those that want Sharia that can be deported, should be deported. This situation is just a disaster waiting to happen.
Hat tip to Cowboy on this one.
Home News North Warwickshire News
Sharia law at Muslim college in Nuneaton
Sep 8 2008
The head of a Muslim college in Warwickshire which houses the UK's first official sharia law court has spoke of the advantages of using the ancient system.
Faisal Aqtab Siddiqi said despite misconceptions, the system would work with British law to solve disputes and could "enrich" the current legal system. Mr Siddiqi is head of the Hijaz College Islamic University in Nuneaton- home of the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT).
The tribunal, formed last year, offers ways for the Muslim community to resolve disputes in accordance with the sacred laws.
Mr Siddiqi said it was not the same as unofficial sharia courts reported to be operation across the country.
He said the system, part of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) introduced in reforms of the civil justice system, dealt with commercial, civil, and matrimonial matters and some instances of domestic violence and neighbourly disputes.
He said common misconceptions of brutal punishments were not used and they also helped victims of forced marriages.
He said: "It's exactly this kind of input from sharia law that we can expect to enrich our society through the Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism.
"We are trying to supplement English law by helping the British citizen not to be forced into or coerced into marriage."
Mr Siddiqi, himself a commercial law barrister, said the tribunal is the only ADR in existence at the moment, but others could easily form to resolve disputes in certain areas of the community.
He said: "Even the Hell's Angels could set up an ADR forum in which two can submit to the tribunal for resolution to their dispute based on the Yamaha manual.
Link to Article
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