TORONTO SUN: The swirling controversy over the Ground Zero mosque obscures what should be obvious, at least since 9/11, about the behavioural pattern of radical Islamists engaged in stealth jihad, or “lawfare,” to advance their strategic interest of securing concessions by Western governments for Sharia.
In generating this controversy, and then pushing hard on it by insisting on the constitutionally protected right of freedom of religion to build this mosque in the vicinity of Ground Zero in New York City, Islamists behind the project have masterfully succeeded in greatly dividing Americans as the ninth anniversary of 9/11 approaches.
What we are witnessing here is radical Islamists once again, as in the Danish cartoon controversy — or the controversy surrounding the wearing by some Muslim women of niqabs or full-face coverings, or the push for censorship on grounds of hate speech — taking hold of the legal-political framework of liberal democracy to secure grounds for their anti-liberal agenda of advancing acceptance of Sharia in the West.
Through indiscriminate violence, radical Islamists have succeeded to define Islam in terms of Sharia — Islamic law constructed more than a millennium ago by legal scholars that is, putting it mildly, entirely obsolete in the context of modern philosophy, science, democracy, gender equity and individual rights and freedom — and jihad, or sanctioning of violence, in the name of religion.
Mosques for radical Islamists are centres for preaching, recruiting, fundraising, networking and engaging in the political work of advancing their strategic interests.
Once it becomes clear who the people are behind the Ground Zero mosque — variously known as the Cordoba House or Park51, which Stephen Schwartz of the Center for Islamic Pluralism in Washington, D.C., among others, has been painstakingly assembling for Americans to judge for themselves — then there should be no mistaking about its political nature disguised as religion.
Feisal Rauf, wearing the title of Imam or a Muslim religious leader, is deeply embedded in the global Islamist network of activists and organizations. >>> Salim Mansur, Agence QMI | Saturday, August 28, 2010
