Saturday, March 31, 2007

Woman fails in bid to renounce Islam

New Straits Times reported <>A 24-year-old Muslim woman yesterday failed in her application to renounce Islam on the grounds that she did not practise the religion and was never given religious education. Syariah High Court judge Jasri @ Nasip Matjakir said the applicant did not submit any concrete evidence that she was no longer a Muslim in action, behaviour or deed that could expel her from Islam.

She said that she did not "practise" the religion. Is the lack of that action insufficient? Are other Muslims that do not practice the religion still forced to remain muslims?
... Jasri, in his judgment, said although the Federal Constitution did state that every individual deserved to choose his or her religion, it did not give authority to the syariah court to allow Muslims to renounce their religion. "The court can only decide whether one’s action is permissible according to Muslim laws.
So the Federal Constitution is not the highest law in the country?
"The reasons given by the applicant are based on fear of punishment which is against the teachings of Islam. Is fear a good enough reason? "The court finds the reasons given are weak and not one that can be used as permissible to murtad (leave Islam)."
Fear is weak? What about the fact that Surah 2:256 says “There is no compulsion in religion”, Surah 16:82 says “Then, if they turn away, your duty (O Muhammad) is only to convey (the Message) in a clear way.”, Surah 42:48 says “But if they turn away (from Islam). We have not sent you as a Hafiz (watcher, protector) over them (to take care of their deeds and to recompense them). Your duty is to convey (the Message)…”, and Surah 88:21-22 says “And so, (O Prophet!) exhort them, your task is only to exhort; you cannot compel them to believe.”

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Hope you can swim


I saw this on another blog and thought I would check and see if it is true for every start and stop place. It apparently is. Someone at Google Maps has a sense of humor. Here I asked for the route from London, England to my house, and in step 37 they have "Swim across the Atlantic Ocean 3,462 mi". I hope you are a good swimmer if you decide to do this.

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Gaddafi says only Islam a universal religion

Yahoo! News reported Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Friday that it was a mistake to believe that Christianity was a universal faith alongside Islam.

Christianity is a universal faith OVER Islam. Christianity is based on the Son of God, not just an Arab "Prophet" that tried to hijack the Jewish and Christian faiths, and then turned against them and urged Arabs to kill Jews and Christians, and anyone else, to take over other countries by force.
"There are serious mistakes -- among them the one saying that Jesus came as a messenger for other people other than the sons of Israel," he told a mass prayer meeting in Niger. "Christianity is not a faith for people in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Other people who are not sons of Israel have nothing to do with that religion," he said at the prayer meeting, held to mark the birth of the prophet Mohammed.
This just shows how ignorant Gaddafi is of Christianity. According to Mark 16:15 Jesus said to "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."
Gaddafi, who is seeking to expand his influence in Africa, said his arguments came from the Koran.
He should not rely on the lies in the Koran; he should read the Bible
He led similar prayers last year in Mali. "It is a mistake that another religion exists alongside Islam. There is only one religion which is Islam after Mohammed," he said in the sermon, which was broadcast live on Libyan state television. "All those believers who do not follow Islam are losers," he added. "We are here to correct the mistakes in the light of the teachings of the Koran."
You should not trust the holy book of one faith to properly describe another faith.
Gaddafi also said it was a mistake to believe that Jesus had been crucified and killed. "It is not correct to say that. Another man resembling Jesus was crucified in his place."
And how did Muhammad come to that conclusion, living over 700 years after Christ was crucified?
Libya grants financial aid to Islamic communities in Africa and elsewhere to build mosques, Islamic schools and facilities. Libyan state television often shows Gaddafi meeting groups of African men or women telling him they converted to Islam. The mass prayers, chaired by Gaddafi, came a day after Arab leaders wrapped up a summit in Saudi Arabia. Libya was the only Arab state to shun the gathering. "Libya has turned its back on the Arabs ... Libya is an African nation.
If Gaddafi had read the Koran like he claims to he would realize that it seeks to expand the power of the Arabs he rejects. Muslims even claim you are not really reading the Koran unless you read it in Arabic. He should try reading the Bible. Here he can read it in over 50 versions and 35 languages, including Arabic.
As for Arabs, may God keep them happy and far away," Gaddafi has said to explain his boycott of the summit.

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Friday, March 30, 2007

Don't confuse terrorism with Islam, says EU

Telegraph reported The European Union has drawn up guidelines advising government spokesmen to refrain from linking Islam and terrorism in their statements. Brussels officials have confirmed the existence of a classified handbook which offers "non-offensive" phrases to use when announcing anti-terrorist operations or dealing with terrorist attacks.

We certainly would not want to offend people that blow people up just to show they disapprove of something.
Banned terms are said to include "jihad", "Islamic" or "fundamentalist".
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, and a fundamentalist Islamic jihadist by any other name would still kill indescriminately.
The word "jihad" is to be avoided altogether, according to some sources, because for Muslims the word can mean a personal struggle to live a moral life.
Tell that to the jihadists that are killing people. And tell the Muslims faced with an internal struggle to lead a moral life to criticize terrorist acts when the people that commit them say they are doing it because the Qur'an tells them to do so.
One alternative, suggested publicly last year, is for the term "Islamic terrorism" to be replaced by "terrorists who abusively invoke Islam".
Why use five words when two says it all.
An EU official said that the secret guidebook, or, "common lexicon", is aimed at preventing the distortion of the Muslim faith and the alienation of Muslims in Europe. "The common lexicon includes guidance on a number of frequently used terms where lack of care by EU and member states' spokespeople may give rise to misunderstandings," he said. "Careful usage of certain terms is not about empty political correctness
We hope that they will kill us last if we are nice to them.
but stems from astute awareness of the EU's interests in the fight against terrorism.

Jawa Report blogged Since we cannot use the terms "Islamic fundamentalists", or "jihadis", what exactly are we going to call the Islamic fundametalist jihadis? Oh, yeah: "French youth".

Hot Air blogged In the name of human rights, we’re getting a sharia-based speech code rammed down our throats on a global scale. Is it just me, or the 21st Century shaping up to suck mightily?

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Wednesday, March 28, 2007

"Youth" riot

Yahoo! News Riot police firing tear gas and brandishing batons clashed Tuesday with bands of youths who shattered windows and looted shops at a major Paris train station, and officials said seven people were arrested.

Nowhere in the article do they identify the religion of the "youths". Wanta guess?
Officers and police dogs charged at groups of marauding youths, some of them wearing hoods, who mingled with commuters and travelers at the Gare du Nord — one of Paris' most important transport hubs.

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Accept peace plan or face war

Telegraph reported The "lords of war" will decide Israel's future if it rejects a blueprint for peace crafted by the entire Arab world, Saudi Arabia's veteran foreign minister warned yesterday. As leaders began gathering in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, for today's summit of the Arab League, Prince Saud al-Faisal told The Daily Telegraph that the Middle East risks perpetual conflict if the peace plan fails.

Perpetual conflict is what they have right now. They even pulled all of the Israeli settlers out of Gaza and turned over greenhouses that employed many Arabs, to see if the Palestinians would set up a peaceful state, and found the greenhouses used as terror bases with which to attack Israel.
Under this Saudi-drafted proposal, every Arab country would formally recognise Israel in return for a withdrawal from all the land captured in the war of 1967.
Whoopee. If Israel goes back to borders that are harder to defend against, they will be recognized by every Arab Country. Will those Arab countries all live in peace with Israel, or just recognize where they are, and attack like in 1967?

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Why did they do it

This is a humorous clip from the 1/2 Hour News Hour but reminds me of many news reports in which we are just told that "youths" did something, or a crazy individual did something, and leaving out the important piece of information that he was a Muslim. This certainly does not mean that all Muslims do these things, but when one does do them we deserve to know who they were. For example this report of "youths of Arab and African origin". Were they Arab and African Methodists, or Arab and African Secular Humanists?

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Monday, March 26, 2007

This is baaaaaad

the Mail reported Scientists have created the world's first human-sheep chimera - which has the body of a sheep and half-human organs. The sheep have 15 per cent human cells and 85 per cent animal cells - and their evolution brings the prospect of animal organs being transplanted into humans one step closer.

This is baaaaaad

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