A man stands accused of murdering a pregnant Egyptian mother in Germany.  The crime is hideous.  A man has lost his wife; a small child has lost its mother.   The response from one Muslim cleric has been to call on German Muslims to carry out vigilante justice.  This is also hideous.  According to The Times

A fatwa [religious edict] has been issued against him [the suspected murderer] and authorities fear that he is the target of revenge for the Islamic world… The fatwa has been issued by a Sheikh Ihab Adly Abu al-Madjd in a video clip on the internet. He calls on all Muslims in Germany to take vengeance and “receive the award of Allah.”

Extraordinary measures have been taken at the courthouse where he will be appearing, including the stationing of several hundred police officers and the installation of a wall of bulletproof glass. 

The authorities fear a repetition of the riots against Danish and Scandinavian institutions after the publication of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Muhammad in September 2005.  

Effectively, Sheikh Madjd and extremists like him are saying that due process in the courts and parliaments is irrelevant; their version of Islamic law should supersede European law.  This is not the first time we’ve seen this kind of behavior.   Read more…

Recently I have felt that perhaps there is a shift in the country and the media is in fact shedding more light on the threats of Radical Islam.

Today I realized I was wrong, that no such shift has occurred. Today I tried to find out what happened to that poor girl in Arizona, Noor Faleh Almaleki who was run over by her father for becoming “too westernized”. Her father is still at large and this story has not been touched since the day it happened.

Media – we want to hear from you. Why don’t you understand that we care about this girl? We want to hear updates on her status and we want to know that the police are doing everything they can to put her father behind bars.

We must demand that media cover these stories, write to your local papers and media outlets and tell them how important hearing the truth is to you and your community.

Yesterday it was announced that Rifqa Bary is to be sent back to Ohio. But not so fast. There will be another hearing when/if her immigration documents are found. This story of a girl who at the age of 17 ran away from home for fear of an honor killing because she converted to Christianity is getting more and more complicated.

No doubt, Rifqa has become a poster child. Rifqa represents freedom of religion- the right to choose your faith. She also represents a clash of cultures within the immigrant population.

It is a very touchy case. On one hand in general we should be able to put our trust in parents and assume they are not out to hurt their daughter. It could be that Rifqa is an anguished teen, perhaps on the dramatic end of the scale. On the other hand, Rifqa is living in the United States and feels that she will be under direct threat if returned home to her parents. Plus she is almost 18. There is a general consensus amongst those who feel she should be kept in Florida as her parents would ship her off to Sri Lanka at the first available opportunity, which would very likely result in her death.

If you were the judge what would you do? Do her parents have the right to at least prove themselves to be good parents or does her fear of being killed trump all else? Let’s exercise our free speech and get the conversation going.

New head covering development unveiled in Cairo. The nation’s top Islamic cleric recently stated students and teachers would not be permitted to wear face veils (niqabs) in classrooms and dorms.

AP reported that this was a part of a government effort to curb radical practices. “The decision by the Sheikh of al-Azhar, Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, came days after he said the niqab, or face veil, “has nothing to do with Islam.” … While most Egyptian women wear headscarves, few wear the niqab, which is common in Saudi Arabia, where the conservative form of Wahhabi Islam is practiced.”

BBC reported the complexity of the situation questioning whether the niqab is required by the Koran or is it “the dangerous manifestation of extremist Islam that so concerns the Egyptian government? Well, the verse in question translates along these lines: “O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks all over their bodies.” You see, it is rather vague and open to interpretation.”

Tantawi has since been threatened along with the entire Egyptian government. The controversy continues to unravel bringing into question - how when religion expands as Islam currently is the boundaries between custom and tradition morph.

It is clear that lines need to be drawn, but whose place or responsibility is it to say what is a true interpretation or what is just a tool of persecution?

Elections in Afghanistan are coming up, this Thursday and to say the least, political tensions are rising. A new law has emerged that states that a wife must have sex with her husband at least every four days. This means that she does not have to agree to it, as it is law. If she refuses, he simply starves her.

This is such a fundamental right that even when writing this blog, I am appalled beyond words. If a woman does not have the option to say no, this is basically saying that rape is completely acceptable.

And what is the point to the passing of this law? It is so that Afghan President Hamid Karzi can win the conservative Shia vote in this upcoming election. BBC reports, “What matters more to Karzai is the support of fundamentalists and hardliners here in Afghanistan whose support he thinks he needs in the elections.”

What does it cost to win an election? Is it the freedom of every woman in Afghanistan, including your wives, mothers and daughters? Let’s spread the word and make sure that every woman is aware of how even though in the West, women’s rights have come very far, there are still many countries that oppress women institutionally. This is not acceptable and we must take action.

Frank Gaffney Jr. in an important piece, writes how vital it is to understand Islam’s threat to the U.S.

“John Brennan, the assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, last week approvingly recalled a key point in the speech Barack Obama delivered in Cairo in June: “America is not and never will be at war with Islam.” Unfortunately, that statement ignores the fact that the decision as to whether the United States is at war with anybody is not entirely up to our leadership or people. The real question is: Is Islam’ at war with us?”

The nature of Sharia law is that eventually everyone must follow it.  If a person says that they follow Sharia law they are in some ways supporting this idea.  This is the danger that we as Americans face and this is the war we are fighting.

Officials are beginning to see the danger in this because of a law suit against the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve by Kevin Murray, a Michigan Iraq war veteran.

“Murray is challenging on constitutional separation of church-and-state grounds the practice of a U.S. government-owned company, the insurance conglomerate AIG, promoting Sharia-compliant products.”

One of the dangers of Sharia Law is that those who claim they are moderate are in reality trying to promote Sharia Law in the west.  For example the organization CAIR which says they are moderate has actually been associated with people who have been involved with terrorist organizations.  To learn more about this watch “The Third Jihad.”

It is crucial to understand that Sharia Law poses a threat to our western freedoms and it is critical that we prevent this.

Click here to read the entire article.

Is the war really over?

Today The Detroit News reported that the rise of Radical Islam is declining and there is less support for Radical Islam in many of the Muslim and Arab countries.

“In April, Indonesian Islamist parties that had emerged four years earlier to capture 39 percent of the vote lost ground in parliamentary elections this time around, falling to below 30 percent. “You can’t pray away a bad economy, unemployment, poverty and crime,” one voter, a 45-year old shop assistant, told Agence France Press.”

“Then in May came parliamentary elections in Kuwait, where women had won the right to vote and hold office in 2005 but had never yet won office. Even though the Islamic Salafi Alliance issued a fatwa against voting for female candidates, four captured seats in parliament. Adding insult to injury for the Islamists, their representation fell from 21 seats to 11. “There is a new mindset here in Kuwait,” the al-Jazeera network reported, “and it’s definitely going to reverberate across the Gulf region.”

There is a similar decline in support from voters in other countries as well, such as Jordan, Pakistan, and Lebanon.  The riots in Iran from the outcome of the presidential election also show the increase in the voters’ awareness of their own rights and their desires for their freedoms. There has also been a change in the Muslim world regarding who supports and justifies terrorist suicide bombings.

The decrease in support is definitely a positive development in the fight against Radical Islam; however we must remember that Radical groups are not disappearing.  It is crucial to continue educating people about the dangers of these Radical Islam groups and put a stop to their growth.

The Burka vs. the Hijab

This week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy stated that the burka is not welcome in France. Home to one of Europe’s largest Muslim communities, France is taking a stand against an extremist form of Islam.

“Condemning the head-to-toe cover for women as a symbol of subjugation rather than faith, Sarkozy was emphasizing his divergent views from US President Barack Obama. […] On a visit to Paris earlier this month, Obama urged Western countries to avoid “dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear.”

Sarkozy continued to describe how inside a burka, women are cut off from social life and are deprived an identity, as prisoners. He explains that the burka is not a sign of religion and that it is not welcome in France.

For a leader to stand up to this extreme form of Radical Islam is inspirational. We need to support these leaders and commend them. Religious clothing is one thing, as you can see above in the different pictures of a hijab or a burka. Being stripped of an identity by being covered head to toe in the burka can only be categorized as Islamic fundamentalism.

Taha Abdul-Basser, an Islamic Harvard chaplain and a Harvard grad (’96), just made a big stir on the blogosphere with comments about capital punishment for Islamic apostates.

Taha Abdul-Basser

Reading some of the press, you might be left with the impression that Mr. Abdul-Basser was espousing vigilante justice and random killings.

It’s not true.  If you read his full statement, he was discussing capital punishment only in the context of state authority.  His words were:

“This [capital punishment] can only occur in the domain and under supervision of Muslim governmental authority and can not be performed by non-state, private actors.”

Listen, Texas and Louisiana are governmental authorities, and they impose capital punishment.  There isn’t a Muslim government at Harvard, for the time being.

The problem, however, is two-fold.

First, these states mete out this punishment for murdering people, not for free thinking.

Second is that a popular belief in the Muslim world today is that a worldwide Caliphate should be established.  That translates as a Muslim governmental authority throughout the world – including the United States.  Popular US Islamic personalities such as Abdul Alim Musa and Imam Johari Abdul Malik – the first Islamic chaplain at Howard University, espouse this belief loudly and clearly.

That makes Mr. Abdul-Basser’s comments much more relevant.

So, does Mr. Abdul-Basser pray for a worldwide Caliphate - the rule of Islamic law over the United States?

If so, that is tantamount to advocating the execution of thousands of US Muslims for the heinous crime of free thinking!

If so, the Harvard chaplain would be advocating the state-sponsored, Sharia-justified slaughter of thousands of Americans for exercising a right and privilege that we now take for granted in the US - freedom of religion.

This clip is an example of women speaking out. Although the designer accepts rules relating to modest dress, she has found a unique way to take fashion into her own hands.