Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Depressing! The Number of Britons Choosing Islam Doubled in the Past Decade
The number of Britons choosing to become Muslims has nearly doubled in the past decade, with one of the most comprehensive attempts to estimate how many people have embraced Islam, according to news source the Independent.
While previous estimates placed the number of Muslim converts between 14,000 and 25,000 an inter-faith think tank estimates the real figures could be as high as 100,000 with nearly 5,000 converts each year nationally. » | World Bulletin | News Desk | Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Dumb Is as Dumb Does! Converts to Islam Increase after French Attack
According to a news article in 5pillarsuk.com, the number of people accepting Islam in France has increased significantly after the Charlie Hebdo attacks, with imams reporting a growing number of people coming to take the Shahada at mosques.
“It makes me want to go to Islam and to show everyone that this is not what Islam is about,” a young Muslim convert to Islam was quoted by RTL Radio a week ago.
According to the radio station, the Great Mosque of Paris issued 40 reversion certificates to Islam.
At the same period last year, the mosque gave certificates to 22 only, almost 50 percent of this year’s conversion rate.
Percentage of converts to Islam in Strasbourg and Aubervilliers was also high, scoring around 30% increase.
Lyon also followed the same trend with an increase of 20%. » | World Bulletin | News Desk | Tuesday, February 24, 2015
A Threat to Europe: The Islamic State's Dangerous Gains in Libya
The men sitting in Café L'Aurora in Tripoli stare silently into the smartphone Najib Ali is holding in his hand. They're watching a horrific video depicting the decapitation of 21 Egyptian Christians, probably on the beach at Sirte. The victims are wearing orange overalls while their Islamic State (IS) killers are clad in black. The men in the café have already seen the video numerous times and yet they continue to watch it, looking for any details that might indicate the horrific acts didn't really happen.
"Have you ever seen a Libyan that tall?" one asks. And what about the professional camera work? "A major power has to be behind it." And how could Sirte, the hometown of former dictator Moammar Gadhafi, suddenly come under Islamic State rule? The release of the video on Sunday, Feb. 15, shortly before the fourth anniversary of the insurgency against Gadhafi, has led many Libyans to react reflexively with desperate denials of reality.
The truth is that Libya is well on its way to becoming a failed state -- making it the perfect prey for IS. Furthermore, Libya is close to Italy, has plenty of oil and offers a possible corridor to Boko Haram in Nigeria as well as to Islamists in Mali and in the Sahara. Indeed, if IS succeeds in solidifying its presence here, the terrorists could pose a threat to Southern Europe in addition to destabilizing all of North Africa. » | Mirco Keilberth and Christoph Reuter | Monday, February 23, 2015
Oertel: Warum ich mich von Pegida distanzierte
Ausschreitungen bei Pegida-Marsch
In mehreren deutschen Städten sind am Montagabend erneut Anhänger islamkritischer Bündnisse und ihre Gegner auf die Strasse gegangen. Zu Ausschreitungen kam es dabei in Frankfurt am Main, wo rund 1000 Gegendemonstranten etwa 60 Pegida-Anhängern gegenüberstanden.
In aufgeheizter Atmosphäre seien die Beamten mit Flaschen, Eiern und Farbbeuteln beworfen worden, berichtete die Polizei. Sechs Gegendemonstranten seien vorläufig festgenommen, zwei Polizisten durch Gegenstände und Faustschläge leicht verletzt worden. » | chk/sda | Dienstag, 24. Februar 2015
Opinion: Manifesto for a Modern Islam
In a clearly formulated manifesto last week, four well-known Muslim intellectuals appealed to all Muslim political and religious leaders to stand up and support a democratic Islam. In their letter, they also laid out some concrete steps, among them a conference in France early next year that would "define the contours of a progressive interpretation of Islam firmly grounded in the 21st century."
The four men behind this letter are Tariq Ramadan, professor of contemporary Islamic studies at the University of Oxford; Anwar Ibrahim, the head of Malaysia's national opposition and chairman of the World Forum for Muslim Democrats; Ghaleb Bencheikh, the president of the World Conference for Religions for Peace; and Felix Marquardt, founder of the Abd al-Raḥman al-Kawakibi Foundation. They're hard on their fellow Muslims and ask tough questions. In their letter, they call for a clear-eyed diagnosis of Islam's current plight and want to develop a fundamental critique of Islamic culture and religion. » | Loay Mudhoon / cmk | Tuesday, February 22, 2015
My comment:
Muslims consider the words in the Koran to be Allah’s actual words. So anyone who tries to change any of them would be considered a heretic. (How can a mortal being know better than Allah what is meant by Allah’s words?) Further, Islam is totally and utterly immiscible with democracy for many reasons, chief among them being that Islam understands no separation of mosque and state. In Islam politics and religion are considered to be one integrated whole. Democracy requires a separation. Without this separation, there can be no democracy. So how exactly can Islam change to fit the modern world? How can Islam become democratic? It seems to me that this is an exercise in futility. Aren’t these people who are trying to bring this change about doing so in bad faith, to detract from the central issues? They must surely know that this reformation/modernization is simply not possible. Pie in the sky! - © Mark
Saudi Court Gives Death Penalty to Man Who Renounced His Muslim Faith
The man, in his 20s, posted an online video ripping up a copy of Islam's holy book, the Koran, and hitting it with a shoe, the newspaper reported.
Saudi Arabia, the United States' top Arab ally and birthplace of Islam, follows the strict Wahhabi Sunni Muslim school and gives the clergy control over its justice system.
Under the Wahhabi interpretation of Sharia Islamic law, apostasy demands the death penalty, as do some other religious offences like sorcery, while blasphemy and criticism of senior Muslim clerics have incurred jail terms and corporal punishment.
Executions in Saudi Arabia are usually carried out by public beheading. » | Reuters | Riyadh | Tuesday, February 24, 2015
French Muslim Leaders Boycott Jewish Dinner Over 'Violence' Remark
A row erupted on Monday between French Jewish and Muslim community leaders after the head of France’s Jewish community blamed young Muslims for “all violence today” in a radio interview.
The comment drew an angry response from Muslim leaders, who boycotted the annual dinner of the main French Jewish organisation on Monday night.
They normally attend the event along with representatives of other religions.
The dispute reflects heightened tension and sensitivities in France, which is home to Europe’s largest Jewish and Muslim minorities, following the series of attacks by Islamist extremists in Paris that left 17 dead last month. » | David Chazan, Paris | Tuesday, February 23, 2015
Monday, February 23, 2015
France Seizes Passports of Six 'Syria-bound' Citizens
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the intelligence services believed the men wanted to join the Islamic State (IS) militant group.
The measure is part of new counter-terrorism laws adopted last November.
Meanwhile, France has deployed an aircraft carrier off Bahrain to be used against Islamic State (IS) militants. » | Monday, February 23, 2015
Jetzt fordert der Großimam die Modernisierung des Islam
Der Vorsteher der anerkannten ägyptischen Azhar-Universität hat sich auf einer Anti-Terrorismus-Konferenz in Saudi-Arabien für eine Modernisierung des Islam ausgesprochen. Es habe eine "historische Ansammlung" falscher Interpretation islamischer Quellen gegeben, die zu Extremismus und Gewalt unter Muslimen geführt hätten, sagte Großimam Scheich Ahmed al-Tajib in seiner Rede zur Eröffnung der Konferenz. Es sei notwendig, dieses "Chaos" unter "Kontrolle zu bringen". Geschehe dies nicht, gebe es "keine Hoffnung" für die islamische Gemeinschaft, ihre Einheit zurückzuerlangen. » | dpa/KNA/rct | Montag, 23. Februar 2015
My Friend the Suicide Bomber: Meet the Men Recruited to Kill
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