Amsterdam: Muslims to clean the streets on New Year's

While many other Dutch will be sleeping it off, a group of Muslim will be up at the crack of dawn on New Year's Day cleaning the streets. These will be members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Amsterdam, according to spokesperson Fahim Dieffenthaler Wednesday.

The faithful will be out at a 6:15 for the first prayer of the New Year. At 8am they will collect litter on the Papaverweg in Amsterdam-Noord. According to Dieffenthaler other branches of the Muslim community will probably go out later in January to clean up streets in other parts of the country.

The Ahmadiyya Muslims had held similar operations in the past. They do this since they think their task is to contribute to society. The Ahmadiyya community is a separate movement within Islam, aside from the Sunnis and Shiites. Many members in the Netherlands are of Pakistani origin.

Source: Telegraaf (Dutch)
H/T: Islam in Europe

Ahmadis inaugurate their first French mosque

The Ahmadis, a pacifist community that considers itself Muslim, though rejected by mainstream Islam, have inaugurated their first mosque to be built in France in the town of Saint-Prix.

A sign that reads "behind these walls is the Moubarak Mosque" is the only clue on a street in the French town of Saint-Prix to the presence of the first mosque to be built in in the country for the Ahmadiyya movement. The modern building blends in with the others in this residential neighbourhood.

Thierry Kponou, a member of the community, said: "The word Moubarak means 'benediction' and 'thank you'. This is really an appropriate name for a mosque built with the help of so many people!"

These people are the Ahmadis, a community that considers itself Muslim, though rejected by mainstream Islam. 1,000 Ahmadis live in France. Most settled here 26 years ago in the town of Saint-Prix. They reject the idea of Holy War and advocate peace. More ...

Source: France 24

Radicals Continue Pressure on Ahmadiyah in Indonesia

By Kenneth Conboy

Due to pressure from radical Islamic groups, the South Sumatra provincial government officially banned the Ahmadiyah sect on 1 September. They are the second province after West Sumatra to impose such a ban.

Earlier, several hard-line Muslim organizations under the Islamic People's Forum, such as Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, the Islamic Defender's Front, and the Indonesian Mujahidin Council, demanded the dissolution of Ahmadiyah due to its heretical teachings that its founder, Ghulam Ahmad, was a prophet after Mohammad.

The South Sumatra ban is set to affect an estimated 600 Ahmadiyah followers. There are nine Ahmadiyah mosques in the province.

Monday's ban is yet the latest in a series of government decisions seen as appeasing Muslim radicals ahead of next year's national elections. One of the most glaring waffles has been the continued delays in carrying out the death sentence against three of the masterminds behind the 2002 Bali bombings. The bombers have lost all of their legal appeals, and the government had earlier stated that the three would face a firing squad before the onset of this year's Ramadhan. But as the fasting month started yesterday, this window has obviously been missed, leaving many to wonder whether the current Indonesian administration does not want to risk being perceived as bowing to Western pressure ahead of their 2009 polls.

Source: Counterterrorism Blog

Expect more Islamist terror in Indonesia

By Bramantyo Prijosusilo

Indonesia is not only failing to protect minorities from the violence of militant Islamism, its government is actively supporting intimidation against the tiny Ahmadiyah sect.

Early this month the government bowed to demands from hardliner Islamist groups like the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), who urge their followers to kill Ahmadiyah believers, and issued a joint ministerial decree, warning the Ahmadiyah faithful to stop activities or face prosecution. The Ahmadiyah has been systematically demonized since 1980, when the Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI) declared them heretical and deviant.

The politics of demonizing is part of the movement for the establishment of Sharia Law. For some organizations like the trans-national Hizbut Tahrir (HT), Sharia Law in Indonesia is a stepping-stone towards the establishment of a global Caliphate.

Sharia Law propagandists believe that the Islamist parties will set the stage for Sharia Law by playing the democracy game, “To later let the HT take over, like marines take a beach for the infantry”, writes Didi Turmudzi, a lecturer of philosophy and HT sympathizer in Bandung. Read more ...

Source: New America Media

Indonesia - A Civil War Between Islamists and Moderates?: Part Two of Two

By Adrian Morgan

In Part One I described how the Front Pembela Islam (Islamic Defenders' Front or FPI) had threatened to make war on the minority Islamic sect called the Ahmadiyah.

On June 1st, FPI members violently attacked a procession of the National Alliance for Freedom of Religion and Faith (AKKBB), who support the rights of the Ahmadiyah. Several FPI members, including leader Habib Rizieq Shahib were arrested on Wednesday June 3rd in a police operation that involved 1,500 officers. Most FPI members were released shortly afterwards but Habib Rizieq Shahib and seven others remain in police custody.

The Ahmadiyah (also called Ahmadi or Ahmadiyya) revere their founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad - with many regarding him as a prophet. This places them into the category of Muslim "heretics," as traditionally Mohammed is the last prophet of Islam. The Indonesian Ahmadiyah have recently officially claimed that they regard their founder not as a prophet but as a pious Muslim. Their protestations have been ignored by the Indonesian government. Read more ...

Source: Family Security MattersHabib Rizieq Shahib
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award

Indonesian officials warn sect members to return to mainstream Islam

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Members of a Muslim sect have been ordered by the government to return to mainstream Islam or face possible imprisonment for insulting the country's predominant religion.

A document signed Monday by two Cabinet ministers and the attorney general "warns and orders all Ahmadiyah followers to stop their activities" or face up to five years in prison.

Indonesia's constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but many in the nation of 235 million consider it offensive that the sect does not recognize Muhammad as the only prophet. Read more ...

Source: AP

Islamic hard-liners in Jakarta break up tolerance rally

JAKARTA, Indonesia: Islamic hard-liners broke up a religious tolerance rally Sunday, beating demonstrators with bamboo sticks and calling for the deaths of members of a Muslim sect they consider heretical, witnesses said.

About 200 Christians, moderate Muslims and members of Ahmadiyah — an Islamic group the government is considering banning — gathered at the National Monument in the nation's capital of Jakarta to celebrate the country's tradition of pluralism, said Gunawan Mohamad, a prominent magazine publisher who took part in the rally.

At least 12 people were injured and four of them were taken to hospitals after members of the Islamic Defenders Front rushed the square waving flags and swinging sticks, organizer Anick Tohari said.

"Repent or die," shouted men dressed in green and white Islamic outfits as they punched and kicked bleeding protesters, video footage showed. Read more ...

Source: AP

Cleric calls for ban of infidel sect

Radical Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has called for the ban of an "infidel" Islamic sect as debate raged in the world's most populous Muslim country over religious freedom and tolerance. Read more ...

Source: Herald Sun
H/T: Gramfan

Indonesians torch Muslim sect's mosque

By Nineiek Karmini

Hundreds of protesters chanting "Kill, kill" set fire Monday to an Indonesian mosque belonging to a Muslim sect they claim is heretical, police said.

A policeman was wounded in the head when the crowd stoned the mosque in West Java province before setting it ablaze, said police spokesman Col. Dade Ahmad. Several suspects were taken in for questioning.

The attack was the latest targeting the Ahmadiyah sect in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Most mainstream Muslims consider Ahmadiyah heretical because it does not consider Muhammad to be the final prophet. The sect was founded at the end of the 19th century in Pakistan.

Last week, a team of prosecutors, religious scholars and government officials said the sect "had deviated from Islamic principles" and recommended it be outlawed. There have been several acts of vandalism targeting Ahmadiyah since then.

About 300 people torched the mosque and destroyed an Islamic school building inside the Ahmadiyah compound in Sukabumi town just after midnight. Many sect members have since fled the area, seeking refuge with friends and relatives. Read more ...

Source: AP