 Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'imReviewed by Geneive Abdo THE FALL AND RISE OF THE ISLAMIC STATE By Noah Feldman | Princeton Univ. 189 pp. $22.95 ISLAM AND THE SECULAR STATE Negotiating the Future of Shari'a By Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im | Harvard Univ. 324 pp. $35 For more than 20 years, Islamists in Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt and other Muslim countries have campaigned for popular support by presenting sharia, or Islamic law, as the antidote to authoritarian rule, injustice and repression. Westerners often wonder how Muslims possibly can believe such claims. We recall the Taliban blowing up ancient statues and preventing girls from going to school in Afghanistan. We think of authorities in Saudi Arabia and Iran cutting off hands for theft and stoning women to death for adultery. Read more ...Source: Washington PostNoah Feldman
Latest recipient of The Dhimmi Award
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im
Latest recipient of The MASH Award
[Article by Saudi academic and writer Hamzah Qablan al-Muzayni: "Back to Square-One"] Al-Hayat newspaper published on 15 July 2008 a report about a plan drawn up by the Islamic Call and Guidance Council of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, which includes in its membership several government authorities. The newspaper said that the council presented this plan as: “A preemptive step to limit the dangers of the phenomenon of terrorism against the Saudi society… Its aim is to fortify the youths against falling victims to the schemes of the ‘misguided group,’ and represents a precautionary step aimed at enlightening the members of the society about the corruption of the course of the ‘misguided group,’ and the deviation of their behaviour. This is because of the need of the society for skilful plans to limit this phenomenon, especially as the members of the misguided group are carrying out operations that lead to killing and destruction.” Read more ...Source: BBC / al Watan H/T: Shariah Finance Watch
 A bomb squad officer defuses a live device in Ahmedabad, India.
At least 45 people were killed in a series of up to 16 explosions across the city.Denis Campbell, Haroon Siddique and agencies Sunday July 27 2008 The death toll from yesterday's wave of bombings in the Indian city of Ahmedabad has risen to 45, a government official said today. Jaynarayan Vyas said 161 people were injured when 16 separate small bombs went off in several parts of the city, which has a history of violent clashes between the Hindu majority and Muslim minority. He also said that 30 people had been arrested in connection with the explosions, which came a day after seven synchronised explosions rocked the southern city of Bangalore, the hub of India's burgeoning information technology industry, killing two and wounding five others. Yesterday's attacks in Ahmedabad happened in two waves early in the evening local time. Some of the devices were hidden in lunchboxes or bicycles. The first series exploded near busy market places. The second, about 20 minutes later, went off in and around a hospital where casualties were being taken. At least six people died there. 'We saw a blue bag near the trauma centre, and before we could react we saw it explode in a shine of blinding light, and some 40 people were hit by flying shrapnel,' said Vipul Patil, a doctor at the Dhanwantari hospital. The side of a bus was blown off and its windows shattered while another vehicle was engulfed in flames. Prithviraj Chavan, a junior in the prime minister's office, called yesterday's bombings "deplorable" and said they were set off by people "bent upon creating a communal divide in the country". That is the sort of language officials tend to use when blaming Islamic militants suspected of being behind a series of coordinated bomb attacks across the country in recent years. Targets have included mosques, Hindu temples and trains. 'Anti-national elements have been trying to create panic among the people of our country. [The] blasts in Ahmadebad seem to be part of the same strategy,' the federal home minister, Shivraj Patil, said. Several television stations said they had received an email claiming responsibility from a group called the Indian Mujahideen at the time of yesterday's blasts. The same group said it was behind bombs in Jaipur, western India, in May that killed more than 60 people. The email made no mention of Friday's bombings in Bangalore, according to reports. Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat state, which includes Ahmedabad, condemned the blasts as "a crime against humanity" and said the group or groups behind them were "using a similar modus operandi all over the country". The state government home Minister Amit Shah said: "The government had received a threat email, and we are probing it." Tension between Hindus and Muslims is acute in Gujarat, a relatively wealthy state. It was the scene of riots in 2002 that left about 2,500 people dead. They were triggered by a fire on a train packed with Hindu pilgrims that killed 60 passengers. The cause was never proven, but Hindu extremists blamed the deaths on Muslims and reacted by rampaging through Muslim areas. Source: The Guardian
QUESTION: What are issues and recommendations for solutions that are unique to Muslim Americans?
1. A Law against harrassment of a Muslim women wearing Hijab at the Airport, DMV and other public arenas.
2. Institute a Law to allow Muslim Employees to take a hours off from work for Friday Jummah Prayer.
3. Make the 2 Eid's, recognized National Holidays on Calendars with days off from work.
4. Optional Halal meals in federal buildiings, public schools and colleges.
5. Provide prayer areas suitable for Salah and Jummah, in public and private facilities. (i.e. Malls, Airports, Universities and government buildings.)
6. Organize a Muslim American group to assist in recommendations for US foreign policy affecting majority Muslim countries. Source: Shariah Finance WatchMuslims Against Sharia denounce efforts of "Muslims for Obama" to impose Sharia-style rules on Americans. We recommend that "Muslims for Obama" immediately change their name to "Muslim fundamentalists for Obama." If "Muslims for Obama" wish to leave in a country that enforces these rules, they can be easily accommodated in several places outside the United States.
 If you don't understand any of these, I invite you to a meaningful, enlightening dialogue to dispel any doubts. Please do e-mail me. Please do not carry around with you wrong impressions. Wrong impressions can be and have been fatal. 1. Use your 'Fitnah' (beauty and overtures of allurement) to win the heart of your husband.
All women have the ornaments that Allah blessed them with. Use the beauty Allah - Azza wa Jal - has bestowed you with to win the heart of your husband. 2. When your husband comes home, greet him with a wonderful greeting.Imagine your husband coming home to a clean house, an exquisitely dressed wife, a dinner prepared with care, children clean and sweet smelling, a clean bedroom - what would this do to his love for you? Now imagine what the opposite does to him. 3. Review the characteristics of the Hoor Al-Ayn and try to imitate them The Qur'an and Sunnah describe the women in Jannah with certain characteristics. Such as the silk they wear, their large dark eyes, their singing to their husband, etc. Try it, wear silk for your husband, put Kohl in your eyes to 'enlarge' them, and sing to your husband. 4. Always wear jewellery and dress up in the house. From the early years, little girls have adorned themselves with earrings and bracelets and worn pretty dresses - as described in the Qur'an. As a wife, continue to use the jewellery that you have and the pretty dresses for your husband. Read more ...Source: AllaahuAkbar.netH/T: Shariah Finance Watch
 By Zahid Hussain A newspaper editor has received death threats from militant groups for publishing a cartoon of a radical woman Islamic leader encouraging her pupils to wage holy war. Najam Sethi, chief editor of the Daily Times, one of Pakistan’s most respected English language newspapers and its sister paper Daily Aaj Kal, now moves under heavy security after ultra-conservative Islamic elements warned him of serious consequences if he did not repent. His house in Lahore is now guarded by six army commandos. The threats were provoked by the publication of a cartoon in Aaj Kal depicting Umme Hassan, principal of a radical women’s madrassa, in a veil “educating” female students to wage jihad and embrace martyrdom. Ms Hassan is the wife of Abdul Aziz, the prayer leader of the Red Mosque in Islamabad, who was jailed after the mosque was stormed by Pakistani troops last year. The madrassa she headed was demolished in the operation in which more than 100 people, including 11 soldiers, were killed. Addressing a rally on the anniversary of the Red Mosque raid in Islamabad last week, Ms Hassan declared that the cartoon was blasphemous, equating it with Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Read more ...Source: The TimesNajam Sethi
Latest recipient of The MASH Award
 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage against an Islamic civil rights group over its use of a portion of his show in which he called the Quran a "book of hate."
Savage sued the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, for copyright infringement and racketeering lawsuit late last year, claiming the group violated his rights by using a segment of his "Savage Nation" show in a letter-writing campaign to get advertisers to boycott the program. In the broadcast used by CAIR, Savage also called the Muslim holy book "a throwback document."
In her ruling Friday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said people who listen to a public broadcast are entitled to use excerpts for purposes of comment and criticism. She also said no evidence was presented to show that advertising on the show's broadcast was affected by CAIR's actions.
The racketeering element of the lawsuit alleged that CAIR was not a civil rights group, but a political organization with ties to terrorist groups. CAIR denies those claims, saying it opposes terrorism and religious extremism.
In an interview with The Associated Press after he filed the lawsuit in December, Savage said he was referring to Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his violent brand of Islamic extremism in the broadcast, not about the religion in general.
Savage's attorney, Daniel Horowitz, told the San Francisco Chronicle he plans to file a new racketeering suit. Source: AP
 Now why would a Muslim say such a thing? It's all about Israel, right? Wrong. Note, for example, this exposition of Qur'anic antisemitism from IslamOnline. In it, Sheikh 'Atiyyah Saqr, the former Head of the Fatwa Committee at Cairo's Al-Azhar (which the New York Times praised after 9/11 as a beacon of moderation), invokes Qur'an verses to claim that the Jews "used to fabricate things and falsely ascribe them to Allah" and "love to listen to lies." He accuses Jews of "disobeying Almighty Allah and never observing His commands (invoking Qur'an 5:13 to show that Allah has cursed them); "hiding the truth"; "giving preference to their own interests over the rulings of religion and the dictates of truth"; "wishing evil for people and trying to mislead them"; and more. He says that Jews "feel pain to see others in happiness and are gleeful when others are afflicted with a calamity," and that "their impoliteness and indecent way of speech is beyond description." He says that "it is easy for them to slay people and kill innocents. Nothing in the world is dear to their hearts than shedding blood and murdering human beings." For "they are merciless and heartless"; "they never keep their promises or fulfill their words"; "they rush hurriedly to sins and compete in transgression." And much more. Read more ...Source: Jihad Watch
Cairo, 25 July (AKI) - The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has launched a discussion forum on Facebook, the popular social networking website. A group of young Muslims decided to put the Muslim Brotherhood on Facebook after they received the go-ahead to do so from the Brotherhood's second-in-command, Muhammad Habib. The creators of the project decided to call themselves an "electronic student cell of the Muslim Brotherhood" and their aim to to push for the return of an Islamic Caliphate [a Muslim state]." The Muslim Brotherhood has been outlawed by the Egyptian government, which accuses the group of encouraging violence in order to establish an Islamic state. This new youth wing decided to choose the Internet as a way to spread their message. Read more ...Source: AKI
 In his letter regarding the controversy over cartoons offensive to Muslims ("Why We Don't See Islamic Cartoons," July 18) reader Shahid Kinnare asks each offending cartoonist to consider if "he could survive" if the subject of his work were changed to the Holocaust. The answer is yes. Although a cartoonist who produces a cartoon that uses the Holocaust in an offensive way would no doubt be harshly criticized, the cartoonist wouldn't be murdered and there wouldn't be riots by enraged Jews outside embassies. In fact, a number of newspapers recently reproduced, without incident, some despicable cartoons published in Iran concerning the Holocaust.
Alan S. Ritterband
Philadelphia
We do enjoy humor based upon religious figures, i.e., how many jokes begin "There was a rabbi, a priest and a minister"? And we see no harm in humorous criticism of the disconnect between Muhammad -- Islam's founder and prophet of peace -- and the terrorists who kill and maim in Muhammad's name. Is it the cartoonists or the terrorists who are committing the blasphemy?
Jonathan Kahnoski
Sunriver, Ore.
Letter writer Tom Lawrence's theory -- that the decision of Muslims to live in a Western society is theirs and, as a result, they need to accept the societal traditions of those countries needs close scrutiny in the context of the constitution of a democratic country. At stake isn't whether the decision of Muslims to live in a Western society is theirs but whether a Western society, such as the U.S., protects the religious rights of any group so that the citizens of that group have a right not to be offended by other groups.
B.K. Shah
Pearl River, N.Y.
In America, I am allowed to insult whomever and whatever I like. Islam is no more immune from criticism or mockery than Christianity, Judaism or Scientology. In 1987, an "artist" (a term I use loosely) displayed a photograph "Piss Christ," depicting a crucifix in a glass of urine. There were many complaints and much negative press, but at no point did the artist need to fear for his life. Jews and Christians might not be happy to see their religious figures mocked, but they understand that in a free society such actions must be permitted.
If Theo van Gogh had produced an anti-Christian or anti-Jewish movie, he would be alive today. If "Satanic Verses" had been about Judaism, Salman Rushdie wouldn't have spent years in hiding under a threat of death. So do not lecture me about "sensitivity" toward Islam until its followers are willing to demonstrate tolerance toward dissent.
Daniel Palmer
Evanston, Ill. Source: WSJ H/T: Jihad Watch
Islamofascism: A new study confirms our "ally" Saudi Arabia is still poisoning young Muslim minds with anti-Western textbooks. So? Its hate-filled graduates are enrolling at our colleges.The Hudson Institute reviewed the 2007-08 textbooks distributed by the Saudi Ministry of Education and found that, despite promised reforms, the kingdom still teaches students to "hate the infidels." The texts assert that it's "permissible" for a Muslim to kill an "apostate," an "adulterer," a "homosexual," as well as non-Muslims practicing "polytheism," or Christianity. The violent ideology is introduced in a religion textbook in the first grade and reinforced and developed in following years of the public education system, culminating in the 12th grade where a text instructs students that it's their religious duty to do battle against infidels in order to spread Islam. Read more ...Source: IBD
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