Free Republic

Six translations of Qur'an 4:34: "Men are superior to women on account of the qualities with which God has gifted the one above the other, and on account of the outlay they make from their substance for them. Virtuous women are obedient, careful, during the husband's absence, because God has of them been careful. But chide those for whose refractoriness you have cause to fear; remove them into beds apart, and scourge them: but if they are obedient to you, then seek not occasion against them: verily, God is High, Great!" (Rodwell's version of the Koran, Quran, 4:34) "Men have...

Gallup says only 7 percent of the world's Muslims are political radicals. Yet 36 percent think the 9/11 attacks were in some way justified.On the inside back cover of books published by Gallup Press there is the following breathtaking statement: Gallup Press exists to educate and inform the people who govern, manage, teach and lead the world's six billion citizens. Each book meets Gallup's requirements of integrity, trust and independence and is based on a Gallup-approved science and research. Don't be distracted by the bad grammar. Focus instead on Gallup's "requirements of integrity, trust and independence." Thanks to a remarkable...

I stumbled onto this (don't ask) and found it quite interesting. Discuss! The Koran Chapter: "The Rock" In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. [15.1] Alif Lam Ra. These are the verses of the Book and (of) a Quran that makes (things) clear. [15.2] Often will those who disbelieve wish that they had been Muslims. [15.3] Leave them that they may eat and enjoy themselves and (that) hope may beguile them, for they will soon know.

The crooning voice is soft. “Maryam, my little sweetheart, I love you lots and lots. You are my little baby with big fat little feet.” The father of the little girl, cradled in the crook of his right arm, caresses her pudgy limbs as she squirms and babbles in his lap. “Remember me in your dua [prayers]. I will certainly remember you, and, inshallah, things will work out for the best,” he says, voice muffled as he buries his face in her downy hair. “Maryam, be strong, learn to fight – fighting is good. Be Mummy’s best friend. Take care...

Fearing the radicalization of U.S. soldiers, the leader of the Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus has called for a government investigation of all Muslim chaplains serving in the U.S. military to determine whether they have ties to radical Islamic groups. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., says the Pentagon has failed to properly vet the Muslim chaplains ministering to U.S forces since it first set up its Muslim chaplain corps 15 years ago. The military chaplains were approved by a convicted terrorism supporter who at the time headed the American Muslim Council. Abdurahman Alamoudi is now serving a 23-year prison sentence on federal terrorism...

If we talk about the subjects Quran narrated the most, certainly sex is one of them. I would like to explain my point of view and of course would appreciate comments from people all around. In this exercise, may be I am able to get answers or explanation of my point of view. I shall be grateful if somebody (Muslim) proves me wrong and makes me understand the true message/lesson of the following teachings/principles relating to sex. But if the Muslims don't answer me, it's my request to them to ponder with a neutral and logical sense. Four Wives At...

Minnesota taxpayers are footing the bill for a charter school that reportedly violates the law by promoting religion — Islam. Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA) in Inver Grove Heights regularly holds prayer sessions and includes study of the Koran in its curriculum, even though charter schools are public schools and must not endorse or promote religion, according to columnist Katherine Kersten of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune. She writes: “TIZA has many characteristics that suggest a religious school. It shares the headquarters building of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, whose mission is ‘establishing Islam in Minnesota.’ The building also...

Americans wonder why moderate Muslims don't publicly condemn Islamofascism, terrorism, and the hijacking of their religion by fanatics who use women as suicide bombers and babies as human shields. A question seldom asked is why Americans aren't publicly condemning these atrocities. The barbarism exhibited by the fanatical faction of Islam is beyond the pale, by any civilized standards. And while America waits for Muslims to step up and condemn these barbarians, we go about our business as usual, condemning instead the unthinkable practice of putting panties on terrorists' heads, and the cruel and unusual punishment of including pork on the...

'Extremism' fear over Islam studies donations By Ben Leach Last Updated: 1:00am BST 13/04/2008 Extremist ideas are being spread by Islamic study centres linked to British universities and backed by multi-million-pound donations from Saudi Arabia and Muslim organisations, a new report claims. Eight universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, have accepted more than £233.5 million from Saudi and Muslim sources since 1995, with much of the money going to Islamic study centres, according to the report. The total sum, revealed by Anthony Glees, the director of Brunel University's Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies, amounts to the largest source of external...

"It is necessary for us to participate in political life, in the life of political parties. The political forces, on their part, must then give ample space to issues such as immigration and integration." Among those running for the elections this weekend to choose representatives for Rome's city council is Khalid Chaouki, the founder of a group known as the Young Muslims... He could not hide his envy for the situation of second generation immigrants in neighbouring countries such as France where they have managed to occupy important positions in various departments such as the department of Justice. "I want...

It's important for Muslims to keep reminding us that there is absolutely, positively no relationship between Islam and violence. Otherwise it's easy to forget. The latest excuse for Islamic bonhomie is the documentary "Fitna" by Geert Wilders. In the 15-minute film, showing on YouTube and other Internet sites, the Dutch MP says that far from getting Islam wrong, terrorists understand their religion only too well. "Fitna" (Arabic for "upheaval" or "ordeal") has verses from the Koran -- which Wilders calls a "fascist book" -- artfully interspersed with scenes of carnage from 9/11 and the March, 2004 Madrid train bombing, as...

A court has refused to ban an internet-based film criticising the Koran. A group representing Dutch Muslims had sought an injunction banning right-wing politician Geert Wilders' film "Fitna," which links terror attacks by Muslim extremists with texts from the Koran. In a written judgment a civil judge at The Hague District Court said Mr Wilders' right to free speech allows him to criticise radical Islam and passages from the Muslim holy book. Mr Wilders put the film on the internet the day before lawyers representing the Netherlands Islamic Federation argued it should be outlawed because it was insulting to Muslims.

Cambridge University has been given £8 million by a Saudi Arabian prince to establish an Islamic studies centre. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, ranked in the top 20 richest men in the world, with a fortune of about £10 billion, has donated the cash to the university to fund a centre in his name for the study of the role of Islam in the Middle East and globally. The gift has been recommended by the university's general board and is expected to be announced in June. advertisement The grandson of King Ibn Saud and nephew of King Abudllah, the prince counts...

Robert Spencer is used to being called an Islamophobe. And when the noted director of Jihad Watch travels to a speaking engagement, he has the bodyguards to prove that he takes his critics seriously. In 2006 lieutenants of Osama bin Laden named him in what amounted to a fatwa, calling on him, President Bush, and others to join Islam or die. Other death threats arrive by email, he told WORLD recently, and matter-of-factly. But his most noted attacker of late is the now-dead former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. In her posthumous book Reconciliation, released last month, she spent a...

Here is open bloodlust and Islamic supremacism, in a film produced by Muslims for Muslims -- indeed, for Muslim children. Will the OIC denounce this film? Will Ban Ki-Moon and Louise Arbour? If not, why not? Why exactly is Fitna worse than this?

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday condemned as "offensively anti-Islamic" a Dutch lawmaker's film that accuses the Koran of inciting violence. Ban acknowledged efforts by the government of the Netherlands to stop the broadcast of the film, which was launched by Islam critic Geert Wilders over the Internet, and appealed for calm to those "understandably offended by it."

After the attacks of 9/11, many people in the West, including Christians, were asking, “Where are the moderate Muslims?” They may have showed up last fall. A group of what appeared to be moderate Muslim leaders sent a conciliatory message to representatives of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant faiths, offering to work toward a more peaceful coexistence between the world’s two largest religions. How should Christians in the West respond to this offer? A basis for peace? Issued October 13, 2007, and titled A Common Word Between Us and You, the Muslim document stressed the need for peace between...

Welcome to the world we must share with radical Muslims. Screw freedom of speech, screw freedom of expression, and all you who preach multi-culturalism and tolerance and inclusion can watch it all go straight down your toilet. LiveLink.com has removed the anti-terror short film "Fitna" from it's site due to (what must obviously be death) threats they claim to have received. Remember, it's okay for al Jazeera to post videos of men and women having their heads sliced off with a kitchen knife, but say anything bad about some Muslims or verses of "tolerance" in the Koran, and we may...

A 17-minute documentary on the Quran, juxtaposing images of Islam's holy book with terror attacks and bombings by Muslim extremists, was taken down from a British video-sharing website, LiveLeak,com, after the organization reported "serious" threats to its staff members. The documentary had been posted against the wishes of the government of the Netherlands by Geert Wilders, a Dutch MP and leader of the Freedom Party. His video is called "Fitna," an Arabic word meaning strife. It appeared on the political party's website first, but soon disappeared because of "technical difficulties," reported the London Times. Then it appeared on LiveLeak.com, only...

Dubai, 28 March (AKI) - A photo of Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders has been posted on several Islamist websites linked to al-Qaeda, after his anti-Koran film was released on a video-sharing website on Thursday. Wilders' 17-minute film entitled Fitna, criticised Islam's holy book, the Koran. The film sets verses of the Koran against a background of images from terrorist attacks. "The Dutch, enemy of Allah, has done what he threatened to do and distributed his film," said a banner in an Islamist website. The message is followed by dozens of posts by visitors of the site asking for Muslims...

GENEVA - The top U.N. rights body on Thursday passed a resolution proposed by Islamic countries saying it is deeply concerned about the defamation of religions and urging governments to prohibit it. The European Union said the text was one-sided because it primarily focused on Islam. The U.N. Human Rights Council, which is dominated by Arab and other Muslim countries, adopted the resolution on a 21-10 vote over the opposition of Europe and Canada. EU countries, including France, Germany and Britain, voted against. Previously EU diplomats had said they wanted to stop the growing worldwide trend of using religious anti-defamation...

The Netherlands is bracing for a new round of violence at home and against its embassies in the Middle East. The storm would be caused by "Fitna," a short film that is scheduled to be released this week. The film, which reportedly includes images of a Quran being burned, was produced by Geert Wilders, a member of the Dutch parliament and leader of the Freedom Party. Mr. Wilders has called for banning the Quran -- which he has compared to Hitler's "Mein Kampf" -- from the Netherlands. After concern about the film led Mr. Wilders's Internet service provider to take...

The Netherlands is bracing itself for an international backlash as Geert Wilders, a maverick right-wing MP, prepares to release an anti-Islamic film that is already causing anger. Critics fear the much-hyped film Fitna, which criticises the Koran, could lead to bloodshed in Muslim countries, damage Dutch business interests and endanger the lives of Dutch troops in Afghanistan. Wilders – who has received death threats from Islamic extremists – has promised to release the film before the end of March despite pleas from the Dutch government and mounting unrest in the Muslim world. The actual content of the 15-minute film has...

Libyan leader says the Bible is counterfeit Thursday, 20th March 2008. 11:42am By: Manasseh Zindo. LIBYAN leader Col Muammar Gadaffi, who is in Uganda, on Wednesday March 19 celebrated the anniversary of the birth of Prophet Mohammed with a series of attacks on European countries and the Bible for besmirching the Prophet Gadaffi was speaking to a large crowd at Nakivubo War Memorial Stadium in Kampala after leading the Thuhur (afternoon) prayer, where he said any Bible and Torah (Old Testament) that does not mention the Prophet Mohammed was written by mankind and therefore a fraud. Full article posted here

A prayer leader in Tehran last week urged all Islamic countries to sever their ties with Denmark and with all “those who desecrate Prophet Muhammad.” According to a report in the Tehran Times, Ayatollah Khatami of the Assembly of Experts believes that the Danish cartoons depicting the religious figure are insulting and part of a plot to stop the spread of Islam in the world. “In Denmark, where the cartoons were published, the Quran became the best seller book, therefore they should know such actions will not serve their purpose,” Ayatollah Khatami told worshippers. Last month, newspapers in Denmark reprinted...

OXFORD, England (AFP) - Famous for its university and quintessentially English "dreaming spires," the city of Oxford has been plunged into controversy over the sound of Muslim call to prayer from a local mosque. Those church spires have been joined by a minaret, with a loudspeaker on top which has triggered protests from locals concerned about the influx of a foreign culture. "I don't have any problem with Islam but don't force it on people," said Oxford University historian Allan Chapman, whose typically English house has a view of both the minaret and the nearby Church of Saint Mary and...

A few weeks ago, I was on Radio Times, the mid-morning talk show on Philadelphia Public Radio. My colleague at work, Stephanie, used to live in Philadelphia and raved about the high level of conversation on the show. Marty Moss-Coane was a fantastic interviewer – informed, funny, and genuinely curious. I enjoyed our conversation immensely. I spoke about how Muslim history and theology support religious pluralism. I talked about many of my Muslim heroes, scholars and activists like Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and Imam Zaid Shakir who have articulated visions of a world where people from different backgrounds come together in...

NEW YORK -- When Beatriz Kehdy was growing up in Sao Paulo, Brazil, she felt uncomfortable with the standards of beauty that she says were a part of the culture in which she was raised. An emphasis on external beauty and the body, she says, became increasingly foreign to her own personal values. Kehdy moved to New York City almost 10 years ago and eventually discovered a sense of place in Islam and in the hijab, or headscarf worn by women in the faith. "When I wear the hijab, I feel more respected, people talk to me with respect," she...

The world's Muslim countries warned Wednesday that an "alarming" rise in anti-Islamic insults and attacks in the West has become a threat to international security. The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) called on Europe and America to take stronger measures against 'Islamophobia' in a report prepared for a summit of the group's 57 members in Dakar on Thursday and Friday. The report by a special OIC monitoring group said the organisation was struggling to get the West to understand that Islamophobia "has dangerous implications on global peace and security" and to convince western powers to do more. Islamic leaders...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A Muslim civil rights group's bid for dismissal of a lawsuit filed by conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage is due to go before a federal judge in San Francisco on Friday. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, based in Washington D.C., contends the copyright and racketeering lawsuit filed by Savage in December is "nothing more than a transparent attempt to unlawfully silence an effective critic." The group has asked U.S. District Judge Susan Illston to dismiss the lawsuit on the ground that there is no legal basis for its claims. Illston will hear arguments on the...

A leading U.S.-based Internet company says it's ready for any electronic attacks that may come its way for hosting a Web site featuring a provocative short film that is critical of the Koran. The movie, made by a controversial Dutch politician and due for release any time now, has sparked protests in the Islamic world and concerns in Europe. In recent days, the Dutch prime minister has reiterated warnings that his country's citizens and businesses could be attacked because of the film; the European Union's executive commission has confirmed it sent talking points on the film to E.U. missions abroad;...

The Koran and Mein Kampf: From Winston Churchill, to Geert Wilders March 4th, 2008 (5 hours ago) by Andrew Bostom  Their Agreement on the Koranic KampfUpdate (hat tip Jihad Watch): Wilders Steadfast Wilders said Monday (yesterday) he has begun negotiations with Dutch broadcasters about airing the 15-minute film, “Fitna” He said he will only allow them to show it in its entirety, and if they refuse, he plans to show it to the media and post it on the Internet.#####While we await the release of Dutch MP Geert Wilders 15 minute documentary on the Koran and Violence, it is worth...

New York (AP) -- A man who threw copies of the Quran into a toilet after disputes with Muslims at the college he once attended pleaded guilty Monday to disorderly conduct. A Quran recovered at Pace University in 2006 "was covered in feces," according to a criminal complaint. Muslims view desecration of their holy book as an offense against God. Stanislav Shmulevich, 24, pleaded guilty as part of a deal in which he must complete 300 hours of community service. The business student was initially charged with two counts of criminal mischief as a hate crime, a felony punishable by...

Muhammad was especially proud of sura 17, which goes by the titles “The Night Journey” and “The Tribe of Israel.” Of suras 17, 18, and 19 he said: “They are among the earliest and most beautiful Surahs and they are my treasure.” And according to his favorite wife, Aisha, he “used to recite Bani Isra’il [sura 17] and Az-Zumar [sura 39] every night.” After the cryptic allusion to the Night Journey in verse 1, it continues (verses 2-8) with a warning to the Jews. Allah previously warned them that twice they “would they do mischief on the earth and be...

Dutch Islam film 'nearly ready' Far-right Dutch MP Geert Wilders has said that this week he will finish a film about Islam which has already triggered Muslim outrage. Mr Wilders said he was determined to release the film despite government warnings that this would damage Dutch political and economic interests. Mr Wilders says the film is about the Koran, without giving details. In the past, he has called for the Koran to be banned and likened it to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.

Islam's Universal Blasphemy Fatwa By Andrew G. Bostom FrontPageMagazine.com | 2/25/2008 Early Tuesday morning (2/12/08) “three men with a Muslim background” were arrested by Danish police on anti-terrorism charges, suspected of having plotted to murder Kurt Westergaard, a cartoonist for Jyllands-Posten. Westergaard is one of the 12 cartoonists who on September 30, 2005 published cartoons of the Muslim prophet Muhammad to protest the tacit enforcement in Danish society of Islam’s taboo on depictions of Muhammad, no matter how banal, or inoffensive, through intimidation—a clear violation of Western freedom of expression. Upon learning of the arrests, Westergaard (noted for this cartoon)...

MUSLIM university students want lectures to be rescheduled to fit in with prayer timetables and separate male and female eating and recreational areas established on Australian campuses. International Muslim students, predominantly from Saudi Arabia, have asked universities in Melbourne to change class times so they can attend congregational prayers. They also want a female-only area for Muslim students to eat and relax. But at least one institution has rejected their demands, arguing that the university is secular and it does not want to set a precedent for requests granted in the name of religious beliefs. La Trobe University International chief...

Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan) Infiltration and Influence in America  "Allah is our goal; the Messenger is our model; the Koran is our constitution; jihad is our means; and martyrdom in the way of Allah is our aspiration."  "It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet." --Hasan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood What the Muslim Brotherhood means for the US: Memo lays bare group's plans to destroy U.S. from within By Ron Dreher, Dallas Morning News   "Our strategy...

He forgot it was there: TIA Passenger Had Box Cutter In Hollowed-Out Book. TAMPA — A 21-year-old Clearwater man was arrested at Tampa International Airport this weekend after security personnel found a box cutter in a hollowed-out book, authorities said. About 7:30 a.m. Sunday, airport security ran Benjamin Baines Jr.’s backpack through an X-ray machine and saw the image of a box cutter, according to a report from the Transportation Security Administration. When searching the backpack, a security officer found a book titled “Fear Itself.” The book was hollowed out, and the box cutter was inside. After Baines was read...

Published: February 19, 2008 What Every American Needs to Know About the Qur’anA History of Islam and the United States – Excerpt OneWilliam J. Federer PREFACE Thousands of books, documents and articles have been researched over the past several years in preparation for this book. You will be fascinated by this fast-paced history of the world from a perspective you have never imagined. Current events will come into focus in the backdrop of 1,400 years of inconceivable yet true events and conflicts. Every effort has been made to present this information objectively. It is hoped this work is received that way. You will...

Geert Wilders, popular MP whose film on Islam fuelled debate on race in Holland, wants an end to mosque building & Muslim immigration. .. adores Thatcher... 'Islam is not a religion, it's an ideology,' - Wilders, a lanky Roman Catholic, 'the ideology of a retarded culture.' ..a crash course in Koranic study. Likening the Islamic text to Hitler's Mein Kampf, wants 'fascist Koran' outlawed.. all immigration from Muslim countries halted, Muslim immigrants paid to leave & all Muslim 'criminals' stripped of Dutch citizenship and deported 'back where they came from'.. 'I have a problem with Islamic tradition, culture, ideology. ...Swiss...

Disclaimer: This page is provided to inform visitors about candidates for public office who identify themselves as Muslim. It is in no way an endorsement of any candidate. AL - Yusuf Salaam - State Rep (Incumbent) CA - Bill Dalati - Anaheim City Council (Challenger) CA - Ferial Masry - State Rep (Incumbent) IL - Rifat ‘James’ Sivisoglu- DuPage County Board, District 1 (Challenger) IN - Andre Carson - US Representative (Challenger) IA - Ako Abdul-Samad - State Rep (Incumbent) MD - Saqib Ali - House of Delegates (Incumbent) MN - Keith Ellison - US Representative (Incumbent) MO - Talibdin...

A convert to Islam stands an election victory away from becoming the second Muslim elected to Congress and a role model for a faith community seeking to make its mark in national politics. Political newcomer Andre Carson is the Democratic nominee in a March 11 special election to succeed his late grandmother, Julia Carson, representing Indiana's 7th District. She died in December of lung cancer, and her grandson is seeking to fill out the rest of her sixth term, which expires at year's end. If Andre Carson wins the Democratic-leaning Indianapolis district over a freshman Republican legislator and a long...

Dr. Tawfik Hamid, 47, was born in Egypt into a secular Muslim family. As a student at Cairo University medical school in the late 1970's, Hamid joined the Jihadist-Muslim group-Jamaat Islamiyah. He was deeply influenced by an older fellow student named Ayman al-Zawahiri, destined to become al-Qaida's No.2 and Osama Bin Laden's lieutenant. Hamid described al-Zawahiri as "One of the fiercest speakers I had ever heard...His rhetoric inspired us to want to engage in a war against the infidels, Allah's enemies." Through the influence of his atheist father who had honed his son's critical thinking, Hamid eventually rejected his Jihadi...

The weight of our Muslim Ummah rested on my shoulders as I warmly greeted Rabbi Mark Diamond, the Executive Vice President of Southern California Board of Rabbis who organized our religious and interfaith mission trip to Rome, the Vatican and Jerusalem. Towering and formidable, Roman Catholic Archdiocese's Bishop Edward Clark who was the co-leader of our mission, smiled at me reassuringly as if he understood my predicament as I glanced around at the 27 faces in our group. I am not a religious cleric but did have 12 years of Religious Institutional and Foundational experience to draw upon. Religion had...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The images in the Basra police file are nauseating: Page after page of women killed in brutal fashion -- some strangled to death, their faces disfigured; others beheaded. All bear signs of torture. The women are killed, police say, because they failed to wear a headscarf or because they ignored other "rules" that secretive fundamentalist groups want to enforce. "Fear, fear is always there," says 30-year-old Safana, an artist and university professor. "We don't know who to be afraid of. Maybe it's a friend or a student you teach. There is no break, no security. I...

November 10, 2007 Muslim Issues AMERICAN ISLAMIC FELLOWSHIP By Melissa Robinson ATLANTA -- Four years ago, while studying French, Italian and women’s studies as an undergraduate at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, I accepted Islam by taking “shahada,” or the declaration of faith, during Ramadan, proclaiming that there is one God and Mohammad was a prophet of God. I had spent three years studying various religions and belief systems before taking this important step in my spiritual journey. I was moved by Sufi poets and the beauty of a faith that allowed for pluralism. I enjoyed the sense of...

When Muslims are told about scores of horrendous facts contained in the Quran, Sunnah and the Sharia, they will typically respond as follows: 1. Accuse the person of lying and ignorance. Tell him/her to read "authentic" Muslim websites and texts. Say that critics of Islam are "so-called" experts. Say that once a person "learns" about the "real" Islam, he/she will understand how beautiful and peaceful it is...

23-year old has been sentenced to death for downloading information about women's rights in Afghanistan. Journalist Pervez Kambaksh was reading about the role of women in Islamic socieites. But he was accused of blasphemy after he downloaded a report from a Farsi website which stated that Muslim fundamentalists who claimed the Koran justified the oppression of women had misrepresented the views of the prophet Mohamed. Yesterday the upper house of the Afghan parliament supported the sentence against the journalist, despite an international outcry over the harsh punishment for blasphemy. The UN has criticised the sentence and said the journalist did...

Sex with daughters-in-law is a very pious and sacred relationship which is promoted by Quran and was practiced by our prophet, the perfect man. Our prophet had a beautiful daughter in law Zainab, wife of his adopted son known as Zaid Bin Mohammed. One morning he walked into her room looking for his son and ran into her while she was just waking up and was still in her birthday suit. He liked what he saw. To make a long story short, she was in his bed within a few days.