Islamic War Against the West

By IRSHAD MANJI

“… Prof. Bilgrami chalks up the defensiveness of moderate Muslims to their fear that openly criticizing other Muslims “would amount to a surrender,” the ultimate abdication of group honor—and thus identity—to a contemptuous West.

But, as Prof. Bilgrami astutely points out, the reverse holds true: The final triumph for colonizers is the Muslim habit of denying and deflecting our internal dysfunction. Avoidance strips Muslims of the ability to be introspective and, therefore, free. Moderate Muslims throttle the very moderation to which they claim to be devoted.

It is time for those who love liberal democracy to join hands with Islam’s reformists. Here is a clue to who’s who: Moderate Muslims denounce violence committed in the name of Islam but insist that religion has nothing to do with it; reformist Muslims, by contrast, not only deplore Islamist violence but admit that our religion is used to incite it.

Notice that I say “used.” Islam is being manipulated. That is why Muslims should acknowledge the awkward passages of our own holy book and reinterpret them—publicly. The Quran, I believe, encourages this: It contains three times as many verses promoting critical thought as opposed to blind submission.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703992704576305412360432744.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_lifeStyle

By IRSHAD MANJI

“Bin Laden’s followers represent a real interpretation of Islam. Why don’t more Muslims challenge it?

“Moderate” Muslims are part of the problem. As Martin Luther King Jr. taught many white Americans, in times of moral crisis, moderation cements the status quo. Today, what Islam needs is not more “moderates” but more self-conscious “reformists.” It is reformists who will bring to my faith the debate, dissent and reinterpretation that have carried Judaism and Christianity into the modern world.

Sounding the call for reform is no way to win a popularity contest in the Muslim community.

After the 2005 London transit bombings, I delivered a radio commentary disagreeing with Feisal Abdul Rauf, the moderate American imam who later fronted the campaign for an Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero. He had issued a statement about the London terror strikes, assuring journalists that according to the Quran, “Whoever kills a human being…it is as if he has killed all humankind.”

“Not quite,” I explained with regret. “The full verse reads, ‘Whoever kills a human being, except as punishment for murder or other villainy in the land, shall be regarded as having killed all humankind” (my emphasis). For the British jihadis, I went on, “villainy in the land” describes the boot prints of U.S. soldiers in Iraqi soil. This otherwise humane Quranic passage gives aspiring holy warriors a loophole to exploit.

I closed by suggesting that moderate Muslims join moderate Jews and Christians in admitting to the nasty side of all our scriptures.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703992704576305412360432744.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_lifeStyle

“It is certainly true that hundreds of millions of Muslims the world over are not seeking to wage war against the United States, or other non-Muslim states…

Unfortunately, that is the stated goal of all those who adhere to what authoritative Islam calls Shariah – a number that includes many millions of people the world over.”

“Terrorism is a crutch” The threat of Islamists using “Lawfare” strategies is more subtle – and more dangerous – to our nation.
Their goal is to destroy the US from within.

“Islam is a religion that has always been revitalized by its migration,
America is a nation that has been constantly rejuvenated by immigrants.
There is now a critical mass of Muslims in America.”

– Eboo Patel, President Obama’s faith adviser. Patel is part of the official speaker’s bureau of the Islamic Society of North America, an unindicted co-conspirator in a scheme to raise money for Hamas.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=294821

“The world is a bit safer now that Osama bin Laden has been killed by U.S. special forces.

But now that the man who inspired thousands of Muslims to commit acts of murder has been taken out, it’s time to ask: what inspired him?

If bin Laden himself could talk, he wouldn’t hesitate to answer: the Koran, which he repeatedly pointed to as his inspiration and authority.

Yet Barack Obama and other Western leaders have praised the Koran as a “book of peace” — without providing any evidence of actually having read it.

It’s time they did — and it’s time that all Westerners got to know the book that inspires our enemies to commit their hideous acts of hate and terrorism.

The trouble is, the Koran is not an easy read. Some have found it to be very boring, as well as confusing, contradictory, and muddled.

If you are interested in learning more about the Koran and would appreciate some help understanding it, we suggest you look into “The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran”, by Robert Spencer — bestselling author and Islam expert.

The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran reveals:

* Infidels: why Allah hates them, and what he has in store for them — straight from the Koran.

* The passages of the Koran that mandate warfare against unbelievers: Why in traditional Islam these words take precedence over more peaceful passages.

* Koranic Jew-hatred: proof that Islamic anti-Semitism is not an import from Christianity, as many have claimed.

* The disquieting truth behind Islam’s professed respect for other religions and their central figures.

* The alarming teachings of the Koran on women: how it reduces women to the status of commodities.

* The worst sin of all for Muslims: It’s worse than murder, worse than rape, worse than genocide — and guess what? You’re probably committing it.

* The Muslim claim that the Koranic text was never altered — is false, and why this matters.

Spencer shows exactly what’s in the Koran, and why every American should be concerned about Islam’s holy book. There are a couple ways to get it: it’s being offered as a free gift for subscribing to the Human Events newsletter, or you can order it from Amazon.

Human Events newsletter:
http://content.eaglepub.com/?JaPgZA52P53Tlu1uYCjyuCgRiHWqhSMRJ&https://members.humaneventsonline.com/order.php?offer=2351

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Infidels-Guide-Koran/dp/1596981040/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1304545588&sr=8-1

“Arab reaction to the killing of Osama bin Laden is only in its infancy less than 48 hours after President Obama announced the event itself to the world. To draw conclusions about how the strike will impact US-Arab relations or the future of Islamist terrorist groups would be premature. However three major Arab media reactions have appeared thus far in response to the strike on Osama bin Laden.

1) Reaction is not monolithic. “The Arabs” have a diverse range of opinions on the strike, as do their editorialists.

2) Osama Bin Laden is widely seen as a symbol rather than a threat. Editorials across the political spectrum discuss Osama Bin Laden’s role as a symbol which the US used to prosecute the War on Terror. This is a critical difference from the Western media, who portray Bin Laden as a “terrorist mastermind.”

3) The strike evokes a fear of American power. Many editorials are cynical about the way in which the US used Osama Bin Laden as an excuse to prosecute the War on Terror. At the heart of this cynicism is a fear of the ease and impunity with which the US executed the strike.

The Arab media largely does not support Bin Laden, but they hesitate to commend the use of American power which was required to kill him. While necessary, the force used in the strike was something out of an action movie. For some Arabs, this hearkens back to the cowboy-ish rhetoric and policies of the Bush administration, evoking fear and a mistrust of the West.”

http://thecamelsnose.blogspot.com/2011/05/bin-laden-arabic-editorials-post-2-of-2.html

Below is a taste of the reactions from members of some of the major pro-jihadi forums:

“Although bin Laden’s death is a large symbolic victory for the United States, one cannot forget that this fight is against an ideology – jihadism – that is bigger than one individual or an organization, which an online activist picked up on.

“Mashallah the whole nation is celebrating the death of one man. Shaykh Osama was a true lion.”

The celebrations in American cities of the news also drew jihadi scorn. “Just look at those beer-drinking, hog-eating, incestuous, red-necks, uncle sams, house negros…all celebrating outside the White House,” one commenter wrote. “It’s like a holiday for them. Really a sad bunch of people. I’m just waiting for the Chocolaty Muslims, Talafies [fake Salafi Muslims], and those borderline murtad[apostates]/moderates to join the ugly bandwagon of cheering this so-called victory.”

Another opined, looking down on Americans: “The celebrations are amusing. Cheer all you want kuffar, you only have a limited amount of time in this dunya [present world] in which to do it. And then you will see the reality of this life.”

Forum participants also warned Americans that they should be careful what they wish for: “please let them celebrate, they are celebrating their own end. Osama is in the heart of every Muslim, even those who don’t admit publicly … Oh Allah send them endless tornados to destroy their homes and earthquakes to crash them.”

Ultimately, though, some jihadis tried to bring sobriety to the jubilant conversations in the forum threads that Bin Laden was a true shahid (martyr). One stated: “Why can’t people admit [bin Laden] was killed? He is a human being, not a prophet. Another man will replace his shoes, it’s easy.” And it is apparent that for some, the fight is far from over. “We renew our pledge of allegiance with the Covenant and the first with the Lord to continue our path until the end,” he declared. “We will continue .. We will continue .. We will continue ..”

http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/05/02/the_bin_laden_aftermath_the_internet_jihadis_react

WASHINGTON–Osama bin Laden has been killed, President Barack Obama announced Sunday night.

CNN and other news agencies reported that the US is in possession of the body and that identification has been absolutely confirmed. No details of bin Laden’s death have been yet released.

The operation that killed the al-Qaida leader in a mansion outside of Islamabad was apparently the culmination of weeks of intelligence gathering and no less that five top secret national security meetings between Obama and his war cabinet.

Bin Laden was apparently killed in a “human operation” that was based on actionable intelligence in a mansion outside of Islamabad, Pakistan, according to CNN. He was killed in a highly secure compound, built in 2005, that was a virtual fortress of 15-foot-high walls and barbed wire.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/bin-laden-dead-pakistan/2011/05/02/id/394741