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2024-03-29T08:23:50Z
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Mexico
tag:4freedoms.com,2022-04-08:3766518:Topic:275276
2022-04-08T23:08:14.307Z
Netcon
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>See the Small Mexican Town Embracing Islam</strong></span></p>
<div class="CopyrightImage"><div class="Image__Wrapper Image__Wrapper--relative"><img alt="a Muslim woman in Mexico" class="" src="https://i.natgeofe.com/n/6d2986c4-fc97-482e-a4ad-c4de78f517a7/01-muslims-mexico.jpg?w=1272&h=1272"></img></div>
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<div class="Caption__Wrapper"><div class="Caption Caption--hideEndBug"><div class="Caption__TextWrapper"><div class="Caption__Text"><span class="Truncate Truncate--collapsed"><span><span class="RichText">In a corn field in the Mexican state of Chiapas, Salma Palamo Diaz wears a traditional…</span></span></span></div>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>See the Small Mexican Town Embracing Islam</strong></span></p>
<div class="CopyrightImage"><div class="Image__Wrapper Image__Wrapper--relative"><img alt="a Muslim woman in Mexico" class="" src="https://i.natgeofe.com/n/6d2986c4-fc97-482e-a4ad-c4de78f517a7/01-muslims-mexico.jpg?w=1272&h=1272"/></div>
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<div class="Caption__Wrapper"><div class="Caption Caption--hideEndBug"><div class="Caption__TextWrapper"><div class="Caption__Text"><span class="Truncate Truncate--collapsed"><span><span class="RichText">In a corn field in the Mexican state of Chiapas, Salma Palamo Diaz wears a traditional tzotzil skirt. Muslims in Mexico blend their indigenous ways of life with the customs required by Islam.</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="RichText Caption__Credit">PHOTOGRAPH BY GIULIA IACOLUTTI</span></div>
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<div class="ResponsiveWrapper"><div class="Article__Headline"><p class="Article__Headline__Desc">In Chiapas, 400 Mexicans are building a new identity by merging their indigenous practices with Islam.</p>
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<div class="Article__Headeer__Interactives"><span class="Byline__ByCopy">BY</span><span class="Byline__AuthorRow"><span class="Byline__AuthorContainer"><span class="Byline__Author">NINA STROCHLIC</span></span></span></div>
<div class="Article__Header__Meta"><div class="Byline__Content"><div class="Byline__Group"><span class="Byline__ByCopy">PHOTOGRAPHS BY</span><span class="Byline__AuthorRow"><span class="Byline__AuthorContainer"><span class="Byline__Author">GIULIA IACOLUTTI</span></span></span></div>
<div class="Byline__TimestampWrapper"><div class="Byline__Meta Byline__Meta--publishDate">PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 7, 2017</div>
<div class="Byline__ReadTime Byline__Meta"><span class="Byline__Bullet">•<span> </span></span>5 MIN READ</div>
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<div><p>In photographer<span> </span><a href="http://www.giuliaiacolutti.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Giulia Iacolutti’</a>s native Italy, the conversation about Islam revolved around fear and terrorism, but when she arrived in Mexico, she found none of that.</p>
<p>In 2014, a professor introduced Iacolutti to the imam of one of the mosques popping up around<span> </span><a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destination/mexico-city" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mexico City</a><span> </span>to host a growing Muslim community. For a year, she embedded herself in their homes, rituals and feasts for a project called<span> </span><i>Jannah</i>, an Arabic word that represents paradise in Islam.</p>
<div class="InlineGallery InlineGallery--noHeader"><div class="ResponsiveWrapper"><div class="Gallery"><div class="Gallery__Container relative"><div><div class="Gallery__Swipeable"><div class="fitt-swipeable-container" id="inline-1"><div><div class="Gallery__Ratio aspect-ratio--parent aspect-ratio--1x1"><div class="Gallery__ImageWrapper absolute-fill flex items-center justify-center aspect-ratio--child"><div class="fitt-tracker"><div class="absolute-fill flex items-center justify-center CopyrightImage"><img alt="<p>A group of Sufi Muslims from Spain began building this mosque in the city of San Cristobal de las Casas to house the growing community in Chiapas.</p> " class="Image Gallery__Image Gallery__Image--auto" src="https://i.natgeofe.com/n/ca9a7cd4-9a6f-4824-bfa2-d859466d4629/02-muslims-mexico.jpg?w=1272&h=1272" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: inherit; border-style: none; xg-p: relative; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%;"/><div class="Image__Copyright"></div>
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<div><div class="Gallery__Ratio aspect-ratio--parent aspect-ratio--1x1"><div class="Gallery__ImageWrapper absolute-fill flex items-center justify-center aspect-ratio--child"><div class="fitt-tracker"><div class="absolute-fill flex items-center justify-center CopyrightImage"><img alt="<p>A child prays in a mosque in the town of Las Nuevas Esperanzas.</p> " class="Image Gallery__Image Gallery__Image--auto" src="https://i.natgeofe.com/n/fc657a0c-5a26-4a51-8073-b3f0619efa17/04-muslims-mexico.jpg?w=1272&h=1272" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: inherit; border-style: none; xg-p: relative; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%;"/><div class="Image__Copyright"></div>
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<div><div class="Gallery__Ratio aspect-ratio--parent aspect-ratio--1x1"><div class="Gallery__ImageWrapper absolute-fill flex items-center justify-center aspect-ratio--child"><div class="fitt-tracker"><div class="absolute-fill flex items-center justify-center CopyrightImage"><img alt="<p>Adherents of Ahmadiyya, an Islamic movement born in India, pray in Mexico. The denomination doesn't consider Mohammad the final prophet, and so are considered heretics by conservative Muslims.</p> " class="Image Gallery__Image Gallery__Image--auto" src="https://i.natgeofe.com/n/cb50f892-4fd2-490b-9e45-ab6fc20ab18a/15-muslims-mexico.jpg?w=1272&h=1272" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: inherit; border-style: none; xg-p: relative; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%;"/><div class="Image__Copyright"></div>
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<div><div class="Gallery__Ratio aspect-ratio--parent aspect-ratio--1x1"><div class="Gallery__ImageWrapper absolute-fill flex items-center justify-center aspect-ratio--child"><div class="fitt-tracker"><div class="absolute-fill flex items-center justify-center CopyrightImage"><img alt="<p>Anastasio Gomez changed his name to Ibrahim Chechev when he first converted to Islam. Now, he's the imam of the Ahmadi Community in San Cristobal de las Casas.</p> " class="Image Gallery__Image Gallery__Image--auto" src="https://i.natgeofe.com/n/bc4f6027-83ba-41e6-a79d-54049a82a4eb/16-muslims-mexico.jpg?w=1272&h=1272" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: inherit; border-style: none; xg-p: relative; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%;"/><div class="Image__Copyright"></div>
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<div><div class="Gallery__Ratio aspect-ratio--parent aspect-ratio--1x1"><div class="Gallery__ImageWrapper absolute-fill flex items-center justify-center aspect-ratio--child"><div class="fitt-tracker"><div class="absolute-fill flex items-center justify-center CopyrightImage"><img alt="<p>Baraka (second from left) is the mother of three daughters and the imam of the Al-Kausar Mosque in Chiapas. After converting to Islam she changed her name from Dominga.</p> " class="Image Gallery__Image Gallery__Image--auto" src="https://i.natgeofe.com/n/26f9360c-0f8a-4af5-811a-a3667eb53c29/06-muslims-mexico.jpg?w=1272&h=1272" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: inherit; border-style: none; xg-p: relative; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%;"/><div class="Image__Copyright"></div>
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<div><div class="Gallery__Ratio aspect-ratio--parent aspect-ratio--1x1"><div class="Gallery__ImageWrapper absolute-fill flex items-center justify-center aspect-ratio--child"><div class="fitt-tracker"><div class="absolute-fill flex items-center justify-center CopyrightImage"><img alt="<p>This bright hijab—a gift from one of the foreign Muslims who've come to know the community—is Salama Palamo Diaz's favorite.</p> " class="Image Gallery__Image Gallery__Image--auto" src="https://i.natgeofe.com/n/13f077a8-af36-47af-9d33-f104ecf2fece/10-muslims-mexico.jpg?w=1272&h=1272" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: inherit; border-style: none; xg-p: relative; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%;"/><div class="Image__Copyright"></div>
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<div><div class="sr-only"><p>A group of Sufi Muslims from Spain began building this mosque in the city of San Cristobal de las Casas to house the growing community in Chiapas.</p></div>
<div class="Caption__Wrapper"><div class="Caption Caption Caption--light"><div class="Caption__TextWrapper"><div class="Caption__Text"><p>A group of Sufi Muslims from Spain began building this mosque in the city of San Cristobal de las Casas to house the growing community in Chiapas.</p>
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<span class="RichText Caption__Credit">PHOTOGRAPH BY GIULIA IACOLUTTI</span></div>
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<p>Islam came to Mexico in spurts over the past decades, with immigrants from Lebanan and Syria, and even a group of Spanish Sufi Muslims who came to convert members of the Zapatista revolutionaries in the ‘90s. It caught on quickly. The country now has around 5,270 Muslims—triple what it had 15 years ago, Iacolutti says. An Arabic teacher helps them read the Quran and a scholarship offers a chance to study at a medina in Yemen.</p>
<p>In Mexico, which is largely Catholic, Iacolutti found that having a belief system is more important than following a particular religion. She spoke to Catholic mothers who didn’t want their daughters to convert to Islam, but were pleased when the change inspired a more pious way of life. “In Mexico it’s better to convert to Islam than in Europe,” she says. “They don't think of terrorists.”</p>
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<div class="Caption__Wrapper"><div class="Caption Caption--hideEndBug"><div class="Caption__TextWrapper"><div class="Caption__Text"><span class="Truncate Truncate--collapsed"><span><span class="RichText"><strong>Left</strong>: Amina stands outside of her house in Molinos de Arcos.</span></span></span></div>
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<div class="Caption__Wrapper"><div class="Caption Caption--hideEndBug"><div class="Caption__TextWrapper"><div class="Caption__Text"><span class="Truncate Truncate--collapsed"><span><span class="RichText"><strong>Right</strong>: Thirteen-year-old Yalal has a brother who is studying in Yemen on a scholarship offered to the Muslim communities in Mexico.</span></span></span></div>
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<div class="Caption__Wrapper"><div class="Caption"><span class="RichText Caption__Credit">PHOTOGRAPHS BY GIULIA IACOLUTTI</span></div>
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<p>“They want to build identity,” Iacolutti says of the new Mexican Muslims. “What is pleasing about Islam is that it brings practical actions in daily life: You have to pray five times each day. You can’t eat pork and you can't drink alcohol.” (Read more about<span> </span><a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/160131-islam-muslim-arab-women-ngbooktalk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">progressive Muslim women</a>)</p>
<p>Converts are fueling the growth in Mexico City, while high birthrates and large families spur it on in rural regions.</p>
<p>After a year of living with the community, Iacolutti asked for an introduction to the imams who tended to a rural community of Muslims in the southern state of Chiapas. By merging their indigenous practices with Islam, these 400 converts lived much differently than their Mexico City counterparts.</p>
<p>For one, they tend to blend in easily, since many indigenous women wrap their heads in scarves. “I want to speak my language, I want to put on the indigenous dress, but I also want to believe in<span> </span><i>allah</i>,” they told Iacolutti.</p>
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<div class="Caption__Wrapper"><div class="Caption Caption--hideEndBug"><div class="Caption__TextWrapper"><div class="Caption__Text"><span class="Truncate Truncate--collapsed"><span><span class="RichText"><strong>Left</strong>: Eid al-Adha, the "Sacrifice Feast," is the second of the two Muslim holidays celebrated worldwide every year. Tradition dictates they must sacrifice an animal, usually a goat or a cow, in the direction of Mecca.</span></span></span></div>
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<div class="Caption__Wrapper"><div class="Caption Caption--hideEndBug"><div class="Caption__TextWrapper"><div class="Caption__Text"><span class="Truncate Truncate--collapsed"><span><span class="RichText"><strong>Right</strong>: Long ago, ancient Mayans sacrified humans and extracted their hearts as an offering to the gods.</span></span></span></div>
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<div class="Caption__Wrapper"><div class="Caption"><span class="RichText Caption__Credit">PHOTOGRAPHS BY GIULIA IACOLUTTI</span></div>
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<p>But the remoteness makes it difficult to maintain important tenets of their religion. Chiapas is a poor state, and meat that has been butchered in accordance to Islam, called<span> </span><i>halal</i>, is rare. During one holiday feast, Iacolutti watched as the community sacrificed two cows and immediately brought meat to their Christian neighbors. “One ideal of Islam is you have to help a person that is poorer than you,” she says. “It’s not important if you believe in another god—you are my neighbor and you can eat the same food.”</p>
<p>Iacolutti is an atheist, but she was never once asked to convert. In such a devout country, her subjects seemed unbothered by a nonbeliever in their midst. Once, in a conversation with a Muslim woman in Mexico City she felt a longing for the other’s faith. “I think you have a very rich life because you believe,” Iacolutti told her. “I don't believe. I see you and think you have a better life.”</p>
<p>The woman scolded her. “You take pictures,” she replied. “Your god is photography and beauty and information. You believe in this. I believe in allah.”</p>
<div class="ResponsiveWrapper"><div class="CopyrightImage"><div class="Caption__Wrapper"><div class="Caption"><div class="Caption__TextWrapper"><div class="Caption__Text"><span class="Truncate Truncate--collapsed"><span><span class="RichText">The name of Iacolutti's project, Jannah, symbolizes paradise in Arabic. Paradise in the Quran is described as filled with food, water, beautiful women, and riches.</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="RichText Caption__Credit">PHOTOGRAPH BY GIULIA IACOLUTTI</span></div>
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Sri Lanka - collected articles
tag:4freedoms.com,2018-03-08:3766518:Topic:194634
2018-03-08T09:55:15.368Z
Netcon
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<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Facebook & Whatsapp blocked as Buddhists attack mosques in Sri Lanka</strong></span></p>
<div class="app-mobile__text" id="content"><p>Sri Lanka has blocked access to social media networks including Facebook and Whatsapp as religious violence continues despite a state of emergency. The ban is set to last three days.</p>
<p>The state of emergency was imposed after Buddhists attacked mosques and Muslim-owned businesses in the central highlands…</p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Facebook & Whatsapp blocked as Buddhists attack mosques in Sri Lanka</strong></span></p>
<div class="app-mobile__text" id="content"><p>Sri Lanka has blocked access to social media networks including Facebook and Whatsapp as religious violence continues despite a state of emergency. The ban is set to last three days.</p>
<p>The state of emergency was imposed after Buddhists attacked mosques and Muslim-owned businesses in the central highlands district of Kandy. On Wednesday the government asked internet service providers to shut down access to social media sites following reports of Facebook posts calling for attacks on Muslims.</p>
<div class="article__cover"><div class="media"><img class="media__item" src="https://cdni.rt.com/files/2018.03/original/5a9fd158fc7e93db708b4596.jpg"/><div class="media__footer media__footer_bottom"><div class="media__title media__title_footer">Sri Lankan soldiers stand guard a road after a clash between two communities in Kandy. © Stringer / Reuters</div>
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<p>Telecommunications companies have also restricted general internet access in Kandy following instructions from the TRC, Lanka business daily <a href="http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/sri-lanka-blocks-facebook-instagram-to-prevent-spread-of-hate-speech/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">report</a>.</p>
<p><em>“The director general (of TRC) will inform all the subscribers about blocking Facebook, Viber, and Whatsapp for 72 hours,”</em> a TRC official told Reuters. <a href="https://outage.report/facebook" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Outage Report</a>’s live map shows numerous complaints highlighting a lack of access to Facebook.</p>
<div class="article__cover"><div class="media"><img class="media__item" src="https://cdni.rt.com/files/2018.03/original/5a9fd18bfc7e93d7708b459e.PNG"/><div class="media__footer media__footer_bottom"><div class="media__title media__title_footer">© Outage Report.</div>
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<p>Approximately 70 percent of people in Sri Lanka are Buddhist while about 10 percent are Muslim. Tension between the two communities have escalated over the past year, with some accusing Muslims of forcing people to convert to Islam and vandalising important Buddhist sites.</p>
<p>Police imposed the indefinite curfew for 10 days on Tuesday but disturbances have continued. Seven people were arrested on Tuesday night following attacks on mosques and businesses. Information on civilian injuries has yet to be released.</p>
<p>A senior government minister said the violence in Kandy is being stirred up by people from outside the area. <em>"There is an organised conspiracy behind these incidents,”</em> Sarath Amunugama told reporters.</p>
<p>The blocking of social media was the <em>“right decision”</em> considering the situation in Kandy, Aleksey Kuprianov, senior research fellow at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, told RT. <em>“It allowed to minimize the damage because the coordination [of the riots] was carried mainly through the internet,”</em> he said. However, he added that it was still <em>“a belated move, which won’t make the government more popular.”</em></p>
<p>According to the expert, the Sri Lankan authorities are unlikely to allow the riots to escalate and spread to other parts of the country. <em>“It looks like a regular outbreak of communalist violence. I don’t think that this situation will drift out of control. The government would most likely deploy additional forces to the area and this whole thing will be quashed,”</em> Kuprianov said.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/420701-sri-lanka-blocks-facebook-religious-violence/">https://www.rt.com/news/420701-sri-lanka-blocks-facebook-religious-violence/</a></p>
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Venezuela
tag:4freedoms.com,2017-07-09:3766518:Topic:188410
2017-07-09T07:13:16.525Z
Netcon
http://4freedoms.com/profile/Netcon
<p><b><a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuelas-maduro-orders-state-workers-vote-controversial-assembly-140842534--finance.html">https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuelas-maduro-orders-state-workers-vote-controversial-assembly-140842534--finance.html</a></b></p>
<p><b>Venezuela's Maduro orders state workers to vote for assembly</b></p>
<p>This is what Socialism is all about, forcing its values on people. Just like Islam does.</p>
<p><b><a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuelas-maduro-orders-state-workers-vote-controversial-assembly-140842534--finance.html">https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuelas-maduro-orders-state-workers-vote-controversial-assembly-140842534--finance.html</a></b></p>
<p><b>Venezuela's Maduro orders state workers to vote for assembly</b></p>
<p>This is what Socialism is all about, forcing its values on people. Just like Islam does.</p>
Japan: The Land without Muslims
tag:4freedoms.com,2013-05-31:3766518:Topic:126214
2013-05-31T12:18:19.359Z
Netcon
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<div><div id="article_left"><h2><span class="font-size-2">nb.: </span><span style="font-size: 13px;">'Japan forbids exhorting people to adopt the religion of Islam (Dawah), and any Muslim who actively encourages conversion to Islam is seen as proselytizing to a foreign and undesirable culture.'</span></h2>
<h2>The Land without Muslims</h2>
<div><strong>By: <a href="http://www.jewishpress.com/author/drmordechaikedar/">Dr. Mordechai Kedar…</a></strong></div>
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<div><div id="article_left"><h2><span class="font-size-2">nb.: </span><span style="font-size: 13px;">'Japan forbids exhorting people to adopt the religion of Islam (Dawah), and any Muslim who actively encourages conversion to Islam is seen as proselytizing to a foreign and undesirable culture.'</span></h2>
<h2>The Land without Muslims</h2>
<div><strong>By: <a href="http://www.jewishpress.com/author/drmordechaikedar/">Dr. Mordechai Kedar</a></strong></div>
<div><small class="articledate"><strong>Published:</strong> May 19th, 2013</small> <br/> <small class="articledate"><strong>Latest update:</strong> May 20th, 2013</small></div>
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There are countries in the world, mainly in Europe, that are presently undergoing significant cultural transformations as a result of Muslim immigration. France, Germany, Belgium and Holland are interesting examples of cases where immigration from Muslim countries, together with the Muslims' high fertility rate, effects every area of life.<br/> <br/> It is interesting to know that there is a country in the world whose official and public approach to the Muslim matter is totally different. This country is Japan. This country keeps a very low profile on all levels regarding the Muslim matter: On the diplomatic level, senior political figures from Islamic countries almost never visit Japan, and Japanese leaders rarely visit Muslim countries. The relations with Muslim countries are based on concerns such as oil and gas, which Japan imports from some Muslim countries. The official policy of Japan is not to give citizenship to Muslims who come to Japan, and even permits for permanent residency are given sparingly to Muslims.<br/> <br/> Japan forbids exhorting people to adopt the religion of Islam (<i>Dawah</i>), and any Muslim who actively encourages conversion to Islam is seen as proselytizing to a foreign and undesirable culture. Few academic institutions teach the Arabic language. It is very difficult to import books of the Qur'an to Japan, and Muslims who come to Japan, are usually employees of foreign companies. In Japan there are very few mosques. The official policy of the Japanese authorities is to make every effort not to allow entry to Muslims, even if they are physicians, engineers and managers sent by foreign companies that are active in the region. Japanese society expects Muslim men to pray at home.<br/> <br/> Japanese companies seeking foreign workers specifically note that they are not interested in Muslim workers. And any Muslim who does manage to enter Japan will find it very difficult to rent an apartment. Anywhere a Muslim lives, the neighbors become uneasy. Japan forbids the establishment of Islamic organizations, so setting up Islamic institutions such as mosques and schools is almost impossible. In Tokyo there is only one <i>imam</i>.<br/> <br/> In contrast with what is happening in Europe, very few Japanese are drawn to Islam. If a Japanese woman marries a Muslim, she will be considered an outcast by her social and familial environment. There is no application of Shari'a law in Japan. There is some food in Japan that is <i>halal</i>, kosher according to Islamic law, but it is not easy to find it in the supermarket.<br/> <br/> The Japanese approach to Muslims is also evidenced by the numbers: in Japan there are 127 million residents, but only ten thousand Muslims, less than one hundredth of a percent. The number of Japanese who have converted is thought to be few. In Japan there are a few tens of thousands of foreign workers who are Muslim, mainly from Pakistan, who have managed to enter Japan as workers with construction companies. However, because of the negative attitude towards Islam they keep a low profile.<br/> <br/> There are several reasons for this situation:<br/> <br/> First, the Japanese tend to lump all Muslims together as fundamentalists who are unwilling to give up their traditional point of view and adopt modern ways of thinking and behavior. In Japan, Islam is perceived as a strange religion, that any intelligent person should avoid.<br/> <br/> Second, most Japanese have no religion, but behaviors connected with the Shinto religion along with elements of Buddhism are integrated into national customs . In Japan, religion is connected to the nationalist concept, and prejudices exist towards foreigners whether they are Chinese, Korean, Malaysian or Indonesian, and Westerners don't escape this phenomenon either. There are those who call this a "developed sense of nationalism" and there are those who call this "racism". It seems that neither of these is wrong.<br/> <br/> And Third, the Japanese dismiss the concept of monotheism and faith in an abstract god, because their world concept is apparently connected to the material, not to faith and emotions. It seems that they group Judaism together with Islam. Christianity exists in Japan and is not regarded negatively, apparently because the image of Jesus perceived in Japan is like the images of Buddha and Shinto.<br/> <br/> The most interesting thing in Japan's approach to Islam is the fact that the Japanese do not feel the need to apologize to Muslims for the negative way in which they relate to Islam. They make a clear distinction between their economic interest in resources of oil and gas from Muslim countries, which behooves Japan to maintain good relations with these countries on the one hand, and on the other hand, the Japanese nationalist viewpoints, which see Islam as something that is suitable for others, not for Japan, and therefore the Muslims must remain outside.<br/> <br/> Because the Japanese have a gentle temperament, and project serenity and tranquility toward foreigners, foreigners tend to relate to the Japanese with politeness and respect. A Japanese diplomat would never raise his voice or speak rudely in the presence of foreigners, therefore foreigners relate to the Japanese with respect, despite their racism and discrimination against Muslims in the matter of immigration. A Japanese official who is presented with an embarrassing question regarding the way the Japanese relate to Muslims, will usually refrain from answering, because he knows that a truthful answer would arouse anger, and he is both unable and unwilling to give an answer that is not true. He will smile but not answer, and if pressed, he will ask for time so that his superiors can answer, while he knows that this answer will never come.<br/> <br/> Japan manages to remain a country almost without a Muslim presence because Japan's negative attitude toward Islam and Muslims pervades every level of the population, from the man in the street to organizations and companies to senior officialdom. In Japan, contrary to the situation in other countries, there are no "human rights" organizations to offer support to Muslims' claims against the government's position. In Japan no one illegally smuggles Muslims into the country to earn a few yen, and almost no one gives them the legal support they would need in order to get permits for temporary or permanent residency or citizenship.<br/> <br/> Another thing that helps the Japanese keep Muslim immigration to their shores to a minimum is the Japanese attitude toward the employee and employment. Migrant workers are perceived negatively in Japan, because they take the place of Japanese workers. A Japanese employer feels obligated to employ Japanese workers even if it costs much more than it would to employ foreign workers. The traditional connection between an employee and employer in Japan is much stronger than in the West, and the employer and employee feel a mutual commitment to each other: an employer feels obligated to give his employee a livelihood, and the employee feels obligated to give the employer the fruit of his labor. This situation does not encourage the acceptance of foreign workers, whose commitment to the employers is low.<br/> <br/> The fact that the public and the officials are united in their attitude against Muslim immigration has created a sort of iron wall around Japan that Muslims lack both the permission and the capability to overcome. This iron wall silences the world's criticism of Japan in this matter, because the world understands that there is no point in criticizing the Japanese, since criticism will not convince them to open the gates of Japan to Muslim immigration.<br/> <br/> Japan is teaching the whole world an interesting lesson: there is a direct correlation between national heritage and permission to immigrate: a people that has a solid and clear national heritage and identity will not allow the unemployed of the world to enter its country; and a people whose cultural heritage and national identity is weak and fragile, has no defense mechanisms to prevent a foreign culture from penetrating into its country and its land.<br/> <br/> <em>Originally published at <a href="http://israelagainstterror.blogspot.co.il/2013/05/mordechai-kedar-country-without-muslims.html" target="_blank">Middle East and Terrorism</a> under the title, A Country without Muslims. Translated into English by Sally Zahav.</em> <br/> <br/>
<p><strong>About the Author:</strong> <em>Dr. Mordechai Kedar (Ph.D. Bar-Ilan U.) Served for 25 years in IDF Military Intelligence specializing in Arab political discourse, Arab mass media, Islamic groups and the Syrian domestic arena. A lecturer in Arabic at Bar-Ilan U., he is also an expert on Israeli Arabs.</em></p>
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<p><span>© 2013 The Jewish Press. All rights reserved.</span></p>
<div class="QRprintonly"><p>Printed from: <a href="http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/the-land-without-muslims/2013/05/19/">http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/the-land-without-muslims/2013/05/19/</a></p>
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Sudan
tag:4freedoms.com,2011-03-20:3766518:Topic:43892
2011-03-20T09:43:30.240Z
Netcon
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<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1WtDXIM69g&feature=fvsr" target="_blank">Documentary</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p id="eow-description"><em>See full film here: <a class="yt" dir="ltr" href="http://vod.journeyman.tv/s/The+Harsher+Face+of+Islam" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://vod.journeyman.tv/s/The+Harsher+Face+of+Islam</a></em><br></br><br></br><em>June 1994</em><br></br><em>Sudan's leadership discusses the West's fears about the rise of militant Islamic fundamentalism.…</em></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1WtDXIM69g&feature=fvsr">Documentary</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p id="eow-description"><em>See full film here: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://vod.journeyman.tv/s/The+Harsher+Face+of+Islam" class="yt" dir="ltr">http://vod.journeyman.tv/s/The+Harsher+Face+of+Islam</a></em><br/><br/><em>June 1994</em><br/><em>Sudan's leadership discusses the West's fears about the rise of militant Islamic fundamentalism.</em> <br/><br/><em>Includes the famous 'boy in chains' sequence at a Koranic school. Hundreds of armed women fighters illustrate the fundamentalist theme. Inside the notorious Kober Prison guards show where prisoners are routinely hanged. For lesser crimes Islamic Shariah Courts may impose flogging or amputation. Survivors of secret torture prisons ('Ghost Houses') tell their story. The government is accused of using unethical means to induce Southerners to convert to Islam. Near Khartoum 1.8 million war-displaced Southerners live disadvantaged lives. For three years the authorities have bulldozed homes and forced these disPlaced out into the desert. We speak to Sudan's Minister of Housing - more appropriately 'the Minister of Demolition'. We profile harsh conditions in a Koranic school where children are forced to memorise the Koran or spend years chained up. The reality of Sudan's worst face of Islam is revealed in this comprehensive documentary. Nominated for Amnesty International Press Awards.</em></p>
Africans with Albinism hunted in Tanzania
tag:4freedoms.com,2010-11-26:3766518:Topic:31018
2010-11-26T10:24:21.000Z
Netcon
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<div class="headline"><h1>Africans With Albinism Hunted: Limbs Sold on Tanzania's Black Market</h1>
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<div class="dek"><h2>Witch Doctors Claim Potions Made of Blood, Skin or Bones of People With Albinism Bring Wealth and Luck</h2>
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<div class="storyTextMd" id="storyText"><div class="story_bylinecredit"> <a href="comments?type=story&id=11446434" name="lpos=widget[Story_Comment_Top]&lid=view[Link]">9 comments</a></div>
<div class="story_byline"><strong>By JUJU CHANG and JOSEPH…</strong></div>
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<div class="headline"><h1>Africans With Albinism Hunted: Limbs Sold on Tanzania's Black Market</h1>
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<div class="dek"><h2>Witch Doctors Claim Potions Made of Blood, Skin or Bones of People With Albinism Bring Wealth and Luck</h2>
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<div id="storyText" class="storyTextMd"><div class="story_bylinecredit"> <a href="comments?type=story&id=11446434" name="lpos=widget[Story_Comment_Top]&lid=view[Link]">9 comments</a></div>
<div class="story_byline"><strong>By JUJU CHANG and JOSEPH DIAZ</strong><br/></div>
<div class="story_date"><span>Mwanza, Tanzania<br/>Aug. 26, 2010</span></div>
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<div class="wrapper misc">[ <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/2020/africans-albinism-hunted-tanzania/story?id=11446434&page=1">http://abcnews.go.com/2020/africans-albinism-hunted-tanzania/story?id=11446434&page=1</a> ]</div>
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<p>Mariamu Staford, a soft-spoken, 28-year-old single mother from rural Tanzania, has earned a grim distinction: She is one of only a half-dozen people with <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/2020/overcoming-social-stigma-albinism/story?id=8551660" target="external"><font color="#336699">albinism</font></a> -- a group that has faced discrimination in East Africa -- to survive a brutal attack by criminals wanting to sell the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=8574920" target="external"><font color="#336699">limbs of albinos on the black market</font></a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In her first interview with American journalists, Staford greeted ABC News with a shy smile, wearing a short-sleeve blouse that revealed the scars of her ordeal.</p>
<p>In the fall of 2008, men armed with machetes entered her hut while she was sleeping and began cutting at her arms in a gruesome attempt to amputate them, Staford told ABC News.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/2020/tanzanians-albinism/story?id=11463812" target="external"><font color="#336699">Click here to find out how to help Tanzanians with albinism</font></a></strong></p>
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<p>"In the middle of the night, a group of men stormed in and said, 'We are going to cut your arm off, and if you scream we'll cut the other arm off,'" she said. "And then they started to chop my right arm off. And because I was screaming, they also started to do the same with the other."</p>
<p>After her attackers fled, it took six full hours for Staford to get medical treatment. Five months pregnant at the time, she lost both arms and her unborn child.</p>
<p>A devout Christian and member of her church choir, Staford was caught up in a grisly trade inspired by a renegade set of witch doctors; they claim potions made of the blood, skin or bones of an albino can make people wealthy and bring good luck.</p>
<p>We spoke just outside the two-room mud-floor building, where she lives with her parents, four young siblings and her son, a toddler. Her artificial limbs, donated by a well-wisher, lay discarded because they were painful and cumbersome.</p>
<p>Despite Tanzania's reputation as a tourist mecca known for <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/popup?id=5055436" target="external"><font color="#336699">safaris and visits to Mount Kilimanjaro</font></a>, people with albinism are being hunted down like animals. Since 2007, 57 Tanzanian albinos, including children, have been murdered by gangs of men who hack off arms, legs or genitals. To date there have been 66 confirmed attacks, but many more cases are believed to have gone unreported. The country has one of the largest populations of albinos in the world – as many as 150,000 according to some estimates -- and they are being targeted for their white skin.</p>
<p> </p>
<h3>Poverty, Prejudice, Superstition Spur Murders</h3>
<p>Officials say ignorance, prejudice, traditional beliefs and poverty are behind the epidemic of albino killings. In a country where per capita income is $442 a year, the limb of a person with albinism can fetch almost anywhere from $500 to $2,000.</p>
<p>It doesn't help matters that many in Tanzania still live according to superstition. For decades, people with albinism have been thought of as ghosts and bad omens. It is also believed that albinos don't die; they just disappear.</p>
<p>"I was always hearing these tales, people here believe that albinos do not die, they disappear so I was always wondering how I am going to disappear," Staford said.</p>
<p>The idea that the body parts of albinos can bring wealth is a recent phenomenon. Some have been known to use human hair from albinos woven into fishing nets for good luck.</p>
<p>At the Mwanza homestead of witch doctor Jackson Kanyerere, who offers his patients medical and spiritual care, he told ABC News that the person who started this superstition wasn't even a witch doctor.</p>
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<p><strong><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/2020/journey-tanzania-reporter-exposes-albino-killings/story?id=8712754" target="external"><font color="#336699">Click here to read one repoter's journey to investigate albino killings</font></a></strong></p>
<p>"There was a man who was not a witch doctor himself, but he came up with the idea that an albino potion can make a person rich, so they started stealing body parts from the graves," said Kanyerere. "When they ran out of graves, they decided that now were going to hunt down live human beings."</p>
<p>The murders of albinos have shocked the international community and embarrassed the Tanzanian government.</p>
<p>"Can you imagine somebody chops off my hands, he just leaves me bleeding there, and he just runs away with the two arms, and damn the consequences?" Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda said in an interview with "20/20," his first with American journalists.</p>
<p>Pinda put out a plea and assured anonymity to anyone who could come forward with information about the killings of albinos.</p>
<p>"We simply cannot sit like this," said Pinda. "And we called upon the masses to come out. 'Please let us get an idea as to whom you think in your village is a possible suspect.' Now, you'd be surprised, people came out in hundreds."</p>
<p> </p>
<h3>Killings Spur International Outcry</h3>
<p>Tanzania has taken other steps to address the killings, banning witch doctors' licenses and appointing a government representative with albinism, but the killings continue. More than 200 people have been arrested in connection with the murders. Last September, three men were sentenced to death by hanging for killing a teenage boy with albinism. This was the first prosecution since the murders began two years ago. Since then, six other individuals have been convicted in three different cases.</p>
<p>Pinda cites a lack of resources as a major obstacle -- 70 percent of the police officers in rural areas don't have access to vehicles -- and judges have to travel from village to village to try cases.</p>
<p>Staford says her attackers were caught the same day as the attack and arrested. Their blood-stained clothing gave them away. And though she knew and identified one of her attackers as a neighbor, none have been brought to trial. Recently, Staford was ordered to vacate her home, a temporary safe house provided by the government. She thinks she will have to return to the village where she was attacked.</p>
<p>To protect children with albinism in and around Mwanza, the government has started sending them to the Mitindo Primary School. In the last year, more than 100 children have joined the already overflowing classroom and dorms of the school, which has become a safe haven for children with albinism.</p>
<p>Under the Same Sun, a nongovernmental agency based in Canada, has traveled to the school to distribute supplies, but more help is needed.</p>
<p>"If you have albinism in Tanzania, you live in a constant state of fear," said founder Peter Ash, a former Baptist minister turned businessmen and philanthropist, who has albinism.</p>
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<p>UNICEF has condemned the murders as a heinous and systematic violation of human rights.</p>
<p>"UNICEF, together with the entire U.N. system in Tanzania, will continue to urge and work with the government and other stakeholders to galvanize action to ensure that such barbaric and inhumane practices are stopped, perpetrators brought to justice, and ensure albinos like other citizens enjoy their fundamental rights to life, freedom and protection," UNICEF said in a statement.</p>
<p>Since ABC News' interview with Prime Minister Pinda last year, seven more people with albinism have been killed, including a 7-year-old girl who was kidnapped from her grandmother at gunpoint. Her headless body was found the next day, also missing a hand -- a hallmark of an occult murder. Earlier this year, five albinos were attacked within just a two-month period.</p>
<p>The threat to albinos is spreading throughout the continent. In neighboring Burundi, at least 14 persons with albinism have been killed since last year, and a 2-year-old boy, in Ghana, was terrorized in a botched kidnapping plot. Just last week, a Kenyan man was caught by police in an undercover sting trying to sell an albino man for the equivalent of $260,000. He pleaded guilty to human trafficking. Also last week in Swaziland, an 11-year-old girl with albinism in was found beheaded and missing one of her arms. A similar attack took place only months earlier in the tiny country.</p>
<p>While the government and international community work to bring the murders to justice, Staford lives with daily reminders of the pain of her attack. Even the simplest tasks are now impossible for Staford, and she can no longer take care of her son.</p>
<p>"Sometimes I cry, because it's the same thing over and over again. ...Waking up, sitting on the bench and when I'm tired of sitting, I go and sleep," Staford said. "I miss feeling the love of my child, because I can't even carry or hug him anymore."</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/2020/tanzanians-albinism/story?id=8725048" target="external"><font color="#336699">Click here to find out how to help Tanzanians with albinism</font></a></strong></p>
<p><em>ABC News' Traci Hunte contributed to this report.</em></p>
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Muslim discrimination in Malaysia
tag:4freedoms.com,2010-08-29:3766518:Topic:27729
2010-08-29T23:11:24.000Z
Netcon
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Does anyone remember that time a few years ago when the Malaysian PM lectured the Western world on our 'islamophobia' and racism? Well, talk about "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" - what a slimy hypocrite. <br />
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<div>Here's a few quick facts a Malaysian Chinese friend told me.<div><ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; FONT-FAMILY: arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">Housing: Malays get 10% discount on new housing regardless of…</span></li>
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Does anyone remember that time a few years ago when the Malaysian PM lectured the Western world on our 'islamophobia' and racism? Well, talk about "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" - what a slimy hypocrite. <br />
<div><br/></div>
<div>Here's a few quick facts a Malaysian Chinese friend told me.<div><ul>
<li><span style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; FONT-FAMILY: arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)" class="Apple-style-span">Housing: Malays get 10% discount on new housing regardless of income. Infidels pay full price.</span></li>
<li><span style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; FONT-FAMILY: arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)" class="Apple-style-span">Taxation: Malays pay much lower taxes than infidels</span></li>
<li><span style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; FONT-FAMILY: arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)" class="Apple-style-span">Investments: Malays have access to various Muslim-only government-backed investment schemes, with a yield of 8-12% per year (tax free)</span></li>
<li><span style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; FONT-FAMILY: arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)" class="Apple-style-span">Education: Muslims get free scholarships for overseas</span></li>
<li><span style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; FONT-FAMILY: arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)" class="Apple-style-span">Car Loan: Muslims get interest free / low interest loans</span></li>
<li><span style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; FONT-FAMILY: arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)" class="Apple-style-span">Business: any non-Muslim person with a business has to have a Muslim partner (but not the other way round). The Muslim partner is generally dormant and just creaming off a free share of the profits.</span></li>
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<div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" class="Apple-style-span">And there's more examples here:<br/><a style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,204)" id="aeaoofnhgocdbnbeljkmbjdmhbcokfdb-mousedown" href="http://india_resource.tripod.com/malaysia.html" target="_blank" name="aeaoofnhgocdbnbeljkmbjdmhbcokfdb-mousedown">http://india_resource.tripod.com/malaysia.html</a><br/><br/><a style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,204)" href="http://dayakbaru.com/weblog08/2009/11/03/racial-discrimination-in-malaysia-what-1-malaysia/" target="_blank">http://dayakbaru.com/weblog08/2009/11/03/racial-discrimination-in-malaysia-what-1-malaysia/</a></span></font></div>
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Islamic world - Limitation, Oppression, Persecution of Christians
tag:4freedoms.com,2009-12-10:3766518:Topic:11209
2009-12-10T18:09:45.000Z
Netcon
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<a href="http://www.opendoorsusa.org/content/view/962/">http://www.opendoorsusa.org/content/view/962/</a>
<a href="http://www.opendoorsusa.org/content/view/962/">http://www.opendoorsusa.org/content/view/962/</a>
Malaysia confiscates more than 20,000 Bibles over use of the word "Allah"
tag:4freedoms.com,2009-11-02:3766518:Topic:8069
2009-11-02T03:03:55.000Z
Netcon
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<a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/11/malaysia-confiscates-more-than-20000-bibles-over-their-use-of-the-word-allah.html" target="_blank">http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/11/malaysia-confiscates-more-than-20000-bibles-over-their-use-of-the-word-allah.html</a><br />
<br />
But, didn't the smiling apologist quote Qur'an 29:46? That's the verse that says: "And argue not with the People of the Scripture unless it be in (a way) that is better, save with such of them as do wrong; and say: We believe in that…
<a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/11/malaysia-confiscates-more-than-20000-bibles-over-their-use-of-the-word-allah.html" target="_blank">http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/11/malaysia-confiscates-more-than-20000-bibles-over-their-use-of-the-word-allah.html</a><br />
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But, didn't the smiling apologist quote Qur'an 29:46? That's the verse that says: "And argue not with the People of the Scripture unless it be in (a way) that is better, save with such of them as do wrong; and say: We believe in that which hath been revealed unto us and revealed unto you; our Allah and your Allah is One, and unto Him we surrender."<br />
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However, that line of discourse is intended for use in Islamic proselytizing, or dawah. Just as seeking new believers is a one-way street under Islamic law, it would be forbidden for a non-Muslim to employ this argument under Sharia, since the underlying message of the verse is: "We worship your deity, too, but you're doing it wrong."<br />
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An update on CNN, October 29 (thanks to all who sent this in):<br />
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(CNN) -- Authorities in Malaysia have seized more than 20,000 Bibles in recent months because they refer to God as "Allah," Christian leaders said Thursday.<br />
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The seizures have fed fears among minority groups, which see signs of encroaching Islamic fundamentalism in the predominantly Muslim but multi-racial country.<br />
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"There is a growing sense of Islamic assertion, yes," said the Rev. Hermen Shastri, general-secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia. "There is some concern."<br />
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The Bibles were written in the country's official language, Malay -- in which the word for God is "Allah," as it is in Arabic.<br />
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However, Malaysia's government says the word is exclusive to Islam.<br />
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Its use in Christian publications is likely to confuse Muslims and draw them to Christianity, the government says. So it has banned use of the word in Christian literature.<br />
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"Malay has borrowed from Arabic, just as it has from Sanskrit and Portuguese," Shastri said. "We have maintained the community has the right to use the word.<br />
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"But I think this has ignited a cause in the Muslim communities, who are interpreting it as a siege on Islamic beliefs."<br />
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A Home Ministry official directed requests for comment to the ministry's Publications and Quran Text Control Department, which enforces the ban. An employee there redirected calls to a spokeswoman, who in turn asked CNN to call the Home Ministry back. Calls to other departments were similarly redirected.<br />
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A Roman Catholic weekly newspaper, The Herald, is challenging the ban in court after the government threatened to revoke its license for using the word in its Malay edition. Hearings on the case have gone on for two years.<br />
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"We quote it as it is. We cannot change the text of the Scripture," Herald editor Father Lawrence Andrew told CNN last year. "I cannot be the editor of the Bible."...<br />
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Posted by Marisol on November 1, 2009
A Murtad's Tale, in Bahasa Melayu
tag:4freedoms.com,2009-10-11:3766518:Topic:2517
2009-10-11T22:02:07.000Z
Netcon
http://4freedoms.com/profile/Netcon
<a href="http://pedestrianinfidel.blogspot.com/2009/10/murtads-tale-in-bahasa-melayu.html" target="_blank">http://pedestrianinfidel.blogspot.com/2009/10/murtads-tale-in-bahasa-melayu.html</a><br />
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A 'murtad' is a person who has left and/or rejected Islam. The penalty for such a crime, under the barbarity that passes as Islamic law is, of course, death. Our own 'Avenging Apostate' is one such person.<br />
<br />
Here is another story of an apostate's journey out of Islam. This one is different because it has…
<a href="http://pedestrianinfidel.blogspot.com/2009/10/murtads-tale-in-bahasa-melayu.html" target="_blank">http://pedestrianinfidel.blogspot.com/2009/10/murtads-tale-in-bahasa-melayu.html</a><br />
<br />
A 'murtad' is a person who has left and/or rejected Islam. The penalty for such a crime, under the barbarity that passes as Islamic law is, of course, death. Our own 'Avenging Apostate' is one such person.<br />
<br />
Here is another story of an apostate's journey out of Islam. This one is different because it has been translated into the Malay language. Also, it had been posted on on a website that the Malaysian government does not want Malaysians to read. Why is the Malaysian government so afraid as to block this site, after making strenuous promises to the contrary, that no sites would ever be blocked in Malaysia?<br />
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I invite our Malay readers to read the following and see what their own government forbids them to see (the English translation of this tale is here).<br />
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<b>MURTAD DI SAUDI</b><br />
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Ini adalah kisahku sebagai murtadin dari Saudi. Kuharap kisahku dapat memberi bimbingan kepada Muslim lain yang sedang berpikir untuk meninggalkan Islam. Sebelum kumulai, aku ingin menyatakan bahwa di hari aku meninggalkan Islam aku merasa lahir kembali. Aku merasa bagaikan orang yang baru, yang lebih baik, lebih cerdas, lebih berakal sehat dibandingkan aku yang dulu. Dulu aku bagaikan seekor domba yang membuta saja mengikuti ajaran2 yang sadistik, kejam, semburit dan tidak masuk akal. Aku dulu bahkan percaya ajaran2 itu baik dan penuh damai. Tapi sekarang mataku telah terbuka dan bisa melihat bagaimana ajaran2 ini sebenarnya. Aku berharap hal yang sama juga terjadi bagi semua saudara2 laki dan perempuan yang masih terjebak dalam kungkungan Islam.<br />
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Aku beruntung karena aku lahir dari orangtua Saudi yang berpengaruh dan dapat dibilang liberal meskipun mereka Muslim, tapi bukan Muslim yang fanatik. Aku berpendidikan di Amerika Serikat dan disinilah pertama kali aku mengenal agama2 lain dan untuk pertama kalinya mulai meragukan agama Islam. Keraguanku dikarenakan aku membandingkan kehidupan Muhammad yang penuh kekerasan, peperangan, nafsu seksual dengan kehidupan Yesus Kristus yang suci dan saleh (aku tidak tahu apakah kisah ini benar atau tidak, tapi setidaknya begitulah yang kubaca tentang Yesus). Aku banyak bertanya kepada imamku di Boston yang mencelaku karena berani mempertanyakan ajaran2 dalam Qur’an. Muhammad boleh berhubungan seksual dengan siapapun yang dikehendakinya karena dia adalah Muhammad. Pembunuhan atas para Yahudi di Arabia adalah benar karena Muhammad mengatakannya begitu. Muhammad menyelematkan kita dari penyembahan berhala, tapi lalu mengapa kita harus jalan berputar-putar mengelilingi sebuah batu hitam yang dikerudungi handuk renang? Tiada satupun pertanyaanku yang dapat dijawab baik oleh imam itu ataupun siapa saja.<br />
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Aku cenderung meninggalkan kepercayaanku tapi saat yang paling menentukan terjadi setelah peristiwa 9/11. Sebagai warga Saudi di AS, aku ketakutan setengah mati. Aku menunggu massa mengamuk mendobrak pintuku dan mencabik-cabikku. Ketakutanku wajar dilihat sebagai seorang Muslim. Jika Mekah atau Medinah diserang oleh seorang Amerika, maka kuyakin nasib seperti itulah yang akan dialami orang2 Barat yang tinggal di Saudi Arabia. Sikap menjaga diri, sensitif terhadap perasaan orang lain, kesalehan ‘kristiani’ (meskipun aku lebih memilih menyebutnya sebagai sikap manusiawi) yang ditunjukkan masyarakat Amerika sungguh menyentuh hatiku. Aku tidak pernah diperlakukan dengan buruk atau disakiti. Kawan2 Amerikaku tidak pernah mencurigai sikapku yang terang2an menunjukkan rasa muak terhadap apa yang dilakukan warga negaraku. (Adadeh: teroris 9/11 semuanya berasal dari Saudi Arabia). Kusadari bahwa sikap sayang dan belas kasihan terhadap sesama ini jelas tidak mungkin terjadi dalam Islam dan karenanya aku tidak mau jadi Muslim lagi. Kehidupanku setelah itu menjadi indah. Kubuka wawasanku terhadap begitu banyak ideologi dan filosofi, dan bisa kukatakan bahwa hampir semuanya jauh lebih manusiawi dan masuk akal dibandingkan Islam.<br />
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Apakah aku merasa bodoh karena telah memuja pedofil haus kekerasan ini begitu lama?<br />
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Ya, aku merasa bodoh, tapi kuhibur diriku dengan kenyataan bahwa hal itu bukanlah salahku dan aku punya kekuatan dalam diriku untuk melepaskan diri dari cengkeramannya. Tak lama kemudian aku kembali ke Saudi Arabia dan ayahku heran mengapa aku tidak lagi sembahyang dan menemaninya pergi ke mesjid. Apakah Amerika telah membuatku jadi orang tak bertuhan? Tidak, kukatakan padanya. Amerika telah membuatku sadar dan sekarang terdapat tuhan dan spiritualitas dan kebaikan dalam hatiku yang dulu tidak ada. Ayah sedih dengan penolakanku dan dia menangis (harus kutekankan di sini bahwa ayahku adalah orang yang baik, karena kebanyakan para ayah Saudi akan mengusir anak2 mereka dan bahkan memenjarakan dan menyiksa anak2 mereka jika berani meninggalkan Islam) tapi dia pikir aku nantinya akan kembali memeluk Islam. Aku tidak pernah menjadi Muslim lagi dan tiga tahun telah berlalu sejak pertama kali aku menyatakan kemurtadanku padanya. Aku telah pindah ke Dubai di mana aku bisa hidup bebas dan jauh dari cengkraman Islam Wahhabi (meskipun Dubai masih tetap di bawah pengaruh kuat Islam) dan ayahku. Aku tidak pernah lagi membicarakan kemurtadanku.<br />
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Dua minggu yang lalu aku kembali ke Saudi Arabia untuk menengok keluargaku. Ayahku memanggilku masuk ke kamarnya dan dengan muka sedih dia meminta maaf padaku. “Karena apa?” tanyaku. “Karena mempertanyakan dirimu dan berdoa agar kau kembali memeluk Islam,“ katanya. Dia menerangkan bahwa sejak dia pensiun, dia mulai membaca Qur’an setiap hari dan buku2 agama Islam lainnya. Apa yang tercantum membuatnya ngeri dan akhirnya dia meninggalkan Islam. Dia mendapatkan ketenangan dari ajaran2 Yesus yang dia percayai sebagai nabi sejati, tidak seperti Muhammad. Dia memintaku untuk menerima Yesus sebagai Juru Selamatku tapi kukatakan padanya bahwa saat ini aku baik2 saja tanpa diriNya. Kami punya banyak kesamaan dalam alasan2 murtad dan dapat kukatakan bahwa sejak itu kehidupan kami berubah jadi lebih baik.<br />
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Bagi para Muslim yang masih terjebak, aku tahu bahwa menghina Islam hanyalah membuat kalian malah memeluk Islam lebih erat lagi, jadi aku hanya ingin kalian melakukan satu hal saja. Baca! Bacalah Qur’an, bacalah ajarannya, bacalah tentang nafsu seksualnya dan kisah2 perangnya. Lalu ambilah keputusan sendiri, sebagai manusia berakal sehat yang hidup di abad 21, setelah tahu semua hal tentang Muhammad, apakah kalian yakin orang ini benar2 seorang nabi yang menunjukkan jalan ke surga? Kupikir kalian nantinya akan mengambil kesimpulan yang sama seperti diriku.<br />
Posted by The Anti-Jihadist at 10/04/2009 10:19:00 AM