Free Republic

In the Friday, February 5 Cincinnati Enquirer, Momitul Talukdar, a Walnut Hills High School student, wrote “Muslim-Americans suffering in silence,” which was published along with a large photo of her on the editorial page. There’s silence and then there’s silence. What is she silently suffering about in 27 column inches, including her smiling photo? An American citizen born in Bangladesh, she is upset about troops being sent to Afghanistan. Instead, “America should offer assistance.” All those fundamentalists holding up the Koran on TV do not represent Islam, no matter what they do and no matter what all their imams say....

Brother Tariq: The Doublespeak of Tariq Ramadan, by Caroline Fourest; foreword by Denis MacShane (Encounter Books, 262 pp., $23.95) In the 1990s, Western liberals, alarmed at the presence of Islamic fundamentalists in their midst, turned in desperation to Muslims whom they dubbed “reformers” or “modernizers.” They hoped that these figures would have a moderating influence on disaffected Muslim youths who refused to integrate into Western society. One such “reformer” is Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss-born academic. Ramadan has won the confidence of many in the West, including the British government, which asked him to serve on its task force for...

Date: January 8, 2010 ISCC affiliated Imams Issue Important Fatwa Attack on Canada and the United States is Attack on Muslims Over 10 million Muslims Live in North America Calgary) Twenty Imams affiliated with the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada have issued a Fatwa today declaring the attacks on Canada and the United States by any extremist will be the attack on 10 million Muslims living in North America. This is the first Fatwa by the Muslim clergy declaring attacks on Canada and the United States as attack on Muslims. Following is the text of the Fatwa. FATWA (religious edict)...

I just came across this article written by the Cancer on American Islamic Relations’ spokesman, Ibrahim Hooper. It was originally published on Christmas Day and even on that day, Hooper tries to deceive Christians that Islam is Christianity friendly. He just has no respect for Christians and that is exactly what he deserves back. Love for Jesus unites Muslims, Christians By Ibrahim Hooper Friday, 12.25.2009 “‘Behold!’ The angels said: ‘O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him. His name will be Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and the Hereafter...

Islam must seem a paradoxical religion to non-Muslims. On the one hand, it is constantly being portrayed as the religion of peace; on the other, its adherents are responsible for the majority of terror attacks around the world. Apologists for Islam emphasize that it is a faith built upon high ethical standards; others stress that it is a religion of the law. Islam's dual notions of truth and falsehood further reveal its paradoxical nature: While the Qur'an is against believers deceiving other believers—for "surely God guides not him who is prodigal and a liar"[1]—deception directed at non-Muslims, generally known in...

Lying and cheating in the Arab world is not really a moral matter but a method of safeguarding honor and status, avoiding shame, and at all times exploiting possibilities, for those with the wits for it, deftly and expeditiously to convert shame into honor on their own account and vice versa for their opponents. If honor so demands, lies and cheating may become absolute imperatives.” [David Pryce-Jones, “The Closed Circle” An interpretation of the Arabs, p4] “No dishonor attaches to such primary transactions as selling short weight, deceiving anyone about quality, quantity or kind of goods, cheating at gambling, and...

In yesterday’s New York Times, there was an article about White House social secretary Desirée Rogers. In it, reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg wrote: “When former social secretaries gave a luncheon to welcome Ms. Rogers earlier this year, one participant said, she surprised them by suggesting the Obamas were planning a ‘non-religious Christmas….’” This same participant said that “the Obamas did not intend to put the manger scene on display” (this was confirmed by the White House). Indeed, as Stolberg wrote, “there had been internal discussions about making Christmas more inclusive and whether to display the crèche.”Catholic League president Bill Donohue...

President Obama continued his outreach to the world's Muslims today, sending greetings to pilgrims to Mecca. .... "Michelle and I would like to send our best wishes to all those performing Hajj this year, and to Muslims in America and around the world who are celebrating Eid-ul-Adha. The rituals of Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha both serve as reminders of the shared Abrahamic roots of three of the world’s major religions," Obama said in a statement. "During Hajj, the world’s largest and most diverse gathering, three million Muslims from all walks of life – including thousands of American Muslims – will stand...

A legal team is going to New York to prevent the use of evidence provided by Germany in seeking a death penalty. Berlin wants to ensure that promises made by the US are kept if the suspects are found guilty. Germany, which does not have a death penalty, provided evidence for the trial on the condition that it could not be used to support a death sentence. Several members of the al Qaeda cell that planned and executed the attacks of September 11 were previously based in the northern German city of Hamburg.

Family members of a man recently arrested for an alleged robbery and anti-Christian disturbance at Stoneridge Shopping Center say the incident was all a misunderstanding. Abdul Walid Hamid of Hayward appeared before Judge Christine Moruza yesterday for an arraignment on charges of battery, grand theft, terrorist threats and exhibition of a deadly weapon. The arraignment was postponed until 9 a.m. today, however, as he required a translator. Hamid, 22, who works at a kiosk in the mall, was arrested by Pleasanton police Nov. 4 after he reportedly yelled "Allah is power" and "Islam is great," while holding a pen in...

The feeling in Washington is that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been trying to maneuver the US administration over the past few weeks, and we cannot accept that, an unnamed US diplomat told Army Radio on Wednesday morning, in what may have constituted an explanation to the blackout imposed on the details of the Monday night 100-minute meeting between Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama. The official went on to cite Netanyahu's conduct in press briefings, presumably those following meetings with Obama and other high ranking White House officials in the past, as evidence of the prime minister's attempt to...

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today repudiated online remarks by a former Virginia imam praising Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who allegedly killed 13 people and wounded 29 others in a shooting spree last week at Fort Hood in Texas. The posting on the web site of Anwar al-Awlaki called Hasan a "hero" and said American Muslim groups, like CAIR, that condemned the Fort Hood attack are "hypocrites" and traitors to Islam. In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said: "As American Muslims said with one voice when this cowardly attack first occurred, no ideology could ever justify...

I AM AN AMERICAN. That is the beginning and the end of it. Not a hyphenated American. Born here. Reared here. And I do love my country so very much that nothing, and I MEAN NOTHING, rises above it except for GOD Almighty, and an unwavering belief that this same GOD has given us all the weapons we need to stop this abomination. We have the brains. What has happened to our guts? This isn't about some damn government. Government, by its very nature, exists for its own perpetuity and becomes, to a man and woman, mad. One need only...

KILLEEN — Sgt. Fahad Kamal attended prayer services at the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen on Friday just as he has frequently since arriving at Fort Hood seven months ago. This day, though, the 26-year-old medic, who served in Afghanistan from January 2007 to April 2008, wore his uniform. This day, the devout Muslim from Houston was seeking to strike a far different image than that of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who is accused of shooting 43 people at Fort Hood on Thursday. Kamal said he had come to the mosque from a gloomy base, where "soldiers aren't really talking...

SILVER SPRING, Maryland (AFP) – Islam is "not responsible" for the bloodbath at an army base in Texas where Muslim-American army Major Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly gunned down 13 people, the prayer leader at the mosque where the officer regularly worshipped said Friday. "We offer our condolences and prayers to the families that have a person who died," said Imam Mohammed Abdullahi over loud-speakers that carried the weekly Muslim prayer to several hundred worshippers gathered at the mosque. "Islam is not responsible," he stressed. Many of the worshippers who had come to the mosque in this suburb of Washington knew...

NAIROBI, Oct 12 (Reuters) - An American man has been arrested in northern Kenya while trying to enter an area of Somalia controlled by Islamist insurgents, police and residents said on Monday. Lawless Somalia is viewed by the international community as a breeding ground for al Qaeda-linked groups which have been carrying out an insurgency against the U.N.-backed administration of President Sheikh Shariff Ahmed. A witness told Reuters that the man was arrested on Sunday by police manning the immigration office at the border town of Liboi in Kenya's North Eastern province. He was on his way to Qoqani in...

A Florida judge declined today to decide whether a 17-year-old girl should be sent home to her Muslim parents in Ohio or allowed to stay in Florida with a couple of Christian pastors. Circuit Judge Daniel Dawson instead urged the lawyers, the girl, her parents and the pastors to settle the custody issue in mediation. In the meantime, Fathima Rifqa Bary was ordered to remain under the jurisdiction of Florida's Department of Children and Families. The teenager, who goes by the name of Rifqa, has told Florida authorities that she fled her home in July because she had secretly converted...

A Muslim community leader who claimed he had been kidnapped at knifepoint after a BNP hate campaign has been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. Noor Ramjanally, 36, of Valley Hill, alleged in August that he was abducted by two men, bundled into a car boot, driven to Epping Forest in Essex and told to stop his religious work. The BNP had been accused of whipping up racial tensions in the area after it issued an inflammatory leaflet about Mr Ramjanally's Islamic community group, the first in Loughton. His alleged ordeal became a cause célèbre among the...

July 30, 2009, 0:00 a.m. Suborned in the U.S.A.The birth-certificate controversy is about Obama’s honesty, not where he was born. By Andrew C. McCarthy Throughout the 2008 campaign, Barack Hussein Obama claimed it was a “smear� to refer to him as “Barack Hussein Obama.� The candidate had initially rhapsodized over how his middle name, the name of the prophet Mohammed’s grandson, would signal a new beginning in American relations with the Muslim world. But when the nomination fight intensified, Obama decided that Islamic heritage was a net negative. So, with a media reliably uncurious about political biographies outside metropolitan Wasilla,...

This article was written from a Hindu viewpoint, long before the Attack on the US. I thought a third person perspective would be a good help.This article by Dr. Walid, a top scholar at the Islamic University, exposes our so-called secular Indian Muslims. By the doctrine of Al-Taqiyah, Muslims dominate crime syndicates, increase population by massive Bangladeshi infiltration and make temporary alliances with Dalits, Christians, etc. In the early years of the Islamic conquest of the Arabian peninsula and in the Fatah (Arab-Islamic invasion and conquest of the upper Middle East and the outside world), a Muslim concept was devised ...

Editor’s note: President Obama’s speech at the Cairo University was part of his five-day trip, which kicked off with a meeting with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. The trip was made in part to improve the relationship between the United States and the Muslim world. A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group called President Obama’s historic address to the Muslim world on June 4th in Cairo “comprehensive, balanced and forthright” and said it may help reverse the deterioration in relations between the United States and Muslim-majority nations. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) hosted a live viewing that...

[angkor comments: Jihad conference in Nashville this weekend; Geert Wilders scheduled to speak; event cancelled by Loews Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel, had to be rescheduled elsewhere] When the invitation from the New English Review arrived earlier this year, I was delighted. A counter-jihad conference in Tennessee! Geert Wilders would be appearing via teleconference, and the other speakers, including Nidra Poller (who had been at the Brussels Conference in 2007) would make for an excellent (if intensive) weekend. I talked to the Baron about his possible attendance,even though it might be a bit much coming so soon after the conference in Denmark....

story in dcmilitary.com: Thursday, May 7, 2009 ‘‘Tolerance in Islam” Chaplain’s Corner E-Mail This Article | Print This Story Chaplain (Lt. Cmdr.) Abuhena Saifulislam Naval District Washington The Quran is full of instruction and advice of how to be tolerant of others. Tolerance is one of the basic principles of Islam and a religious moral duty for Muslims. Tolerance in Islam does not mean “concession, compromise or indulgence.“ It also does not mean lack of principles, or lack of seriousness about one's principles. Tolerance according to Islam does not mean that we believe that all religions are the same. The...

I know President Obama is not Muslim, but I am tempted nevertheless to think that he is, as are most Muslims I know. In a very unscientific oral poll, ranging from family members to Muslim acquaintances, many of us feel, just as African-Americans did for the non-black but culturally leaning African-American President Bill Clinton, that we have our first American Muslim president in Barack Hussein Obama.

Editor's note: Substantial portions of the following essay made up part of Mr. Ibrahim's written testimony that was presented to Congress on February 12, 2009 Today, in a time of wars and rumors of wars emanating from the Islamic world — from the current conflict in Gaza, to the saber-rattling of nuclear-armed Pakistan and soon-to-be Iran — the need for non-Muslims to better understand Islam's doctrines and objectives concerning war and peace, and everything in between (treaties, diplomacy), has become pressing. For instance, what does one make of the fact that, after openly and vociferously making it clear time...

BBC has got a Muslim trying to rewrite historic Jewish Jesus from Judea (attempting -- to no avail -- to "Arabize"& confuse JUDEA with Arabia...). Accompanied with a typical Islamic-bigotry's bombarding propaganda of the "bad" Israelis that dare to try fight the Arab Muslim (invaders) that terrorize the Jews (with security checkpoints). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7784227.stm BBC's Aleem Maqbool: The road to Bethlehem

A Muslim think tank has found some UK Imams discriminate against women when enforcing Islamic Sharia law. Scholars at the Centre for Islamic Pluralism interviewed 90 Muslims in London, the West Midlands, Lancashire and West Yorkshire. They found some women did not get fair hearings in forced marriage, arranged marriage and domestic violence matters. It comes after an NHS doctor was freed in Bangladesh following claims she was being held there for a forced marriage. Sharia law governs every aspect of a Muslim's life, and Imams or scholars give out rulings on how to live by God's wishes. Some mosques...

Syria -- Former President Jimmy Carter met with the exiled leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas for the second time this year . . . Carter first met with the head of Hamas' policy-making body, Khaled Mashaal, in April. That meeting drew sharp criticism from the Bush administration, which labels Hamas a terrorist group and contends such meetings give credibility to hard-line militants. Carter said on Saturday, however, that he intends to continue meeting with Hamas leaders because peace requires dialogue with all sides.

Two weeks after his selection as President-elect Barack Obama's White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel met with Senate Republican leaders, gave out his cellphone number and personal email address -- and promised to return any communication within 24 hours. Testing the pledge, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl called him within days to talk about a few potential Cabinet nominees. Within 10 minutes, the two were talking. "They are getting off to a good start in terms of reaching out," said Sen. Kyl, an Arizona Republican. That conversation -- and dozens more since Mr. Obama's election -- are part of...

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran's conservative parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani on Thursday branded US president-elect Barack Obama's comments on Tehran's nuclear activities as "cowboy" talk, the ISNA news agency reported. "These comments resemble those of old American cowboys. If you have something to say about (Iran's) nuclear issue, just say so. Why wave a stick," asked Larijani, in a speech in Qazvin province. "The new US president has said he wants to pressure Iran since it seeks to produce atomic weapons and because it supports the terrorists like Hamas and Hezbollah," Larijani said. "We are proud of supporting Hezbollah since they...

ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: President-elect Obama made it very clear in one of his debates that he would meet without preconditions with leaders of rogue countries, like Iran and Syria, and while many blasted him for this comment, our next guest probably welcomed this diplomatic approach. Now liberal antiwar group Code Pink is concerned the soon-to-be president is shifting too much to the center and even points to some of his cabinet picks as being too hawkish. Joining us now from Code Pink is Medea Benjamin. Is that an accurate summation, Medea, of your position? MEDEA BENJAMIN, CODE PINK: Yes. Yes,...

Dear Supporter: CallingIslam is launching this Bus Ad Campaign on behalf of the American Muslim community of South Florida. Many dedicated individuals, Mosques and Institutions have endorsed and supported this project. Starting November 25, 2008, this Bus Ad Campaign will cover both Dade and Broward Counties for duration of eight (8) weeks. The counties' transit system buses will display large, beautiful and colorful banners about Islam on the side of 120 buses, inviting fellow Americans to call 1-888-ISLAM-55 and to log on to www.CallingIslam.com website to find the real truth about Islam and Muslims.

The pilgrimage that brings more than 2 million Muslims to Mecca every year tends to make them more religiously observant and also more tolerant, a huge study of Pakistani pilgrims suggests. Hamoud al-Massri, of Egypt, says that after this year's hajj, he will read more about people of different cultures. Muslims who undertake the hajj "return with more positive views towards people from other countries," are more likely to say "that people of different religions are equal," and are twice as likely as other religious Muslims to condemn Osama bin Laden, the study found. "People become more orthodox yet more...

Several criminal lawyers in Mumbai have refused to take up the case of Mohammad Ajmal Amin Iman alias Kasab, the sole man arrested in connection with last week's terrorist carnage here, citing ethical constraints. A resolution was passed unanimously by the Bombay Metropolitan Magistrate Court's Bar Association, which has more than 1,000 members, saying that none of its members will defend any of the accused of the terror attacks. Kasab was arrested on November 26, the day the terrorists struck at different locations in Mumbai. Senior criminal lawyer Majeed Memon said, "There are certain ethical restrains which may stop a...

Another good sign. When the people who want to kill you think that the chief American diplomat will be too tough on them, you know you are doing something right. More . . .

SOME Muslim imams condone rape and domestic violence within marriage, exploitation of women, welfare fraud and polygamy, a report has found. The report was based on a study commissioned and funded by the former coalition government and produced by the Islamic Welfare Council of Victoria, Fairfax newspapers report. The report, presented on yesterday at a National Centre for Excellence in Islamic Studies conference at the University of Melbourne, alleged that some Victorian imams: * Apply Sharia law only where it benefits men; * Hinder police investigations of domestic violence claims; and * Knowingly perform polygamous marriages, which allow a second...

US President-elect Barack Obama is planning to base his peacemaking efforts in the Middle East on the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, The Sunday Times reported on Sunday, quoting sources close to Obama. The Arab Peace Initiative, based on the Saudi peace plan of February 2002, calls for a full Israeli withdrawal from all territories taken in the Six Day War, including east Jerusalem, in exchange for normalizing ties with the Arab world. Quoting an adviser to Obama, the report states that during his visit to the Middle East in July, the President-elect said Israel would be "crazy" to refuse a...

The sunset prayer had just ended, and Sheik Ahmad al-Jilani was already calling his class to order. When the latecomers slipped into the front row, Jilani nodded at them briskly. “Young men,” he began, “who can tell me why we do jihad?” The members of the class were still new and a bit shy. Jilani clasped his hands and smiled encouragingly. Before him, sitting in school desks, were a dozen young Saudi men who had served time in prison for belonging to militant Islamic groups. Now they were inmates in a new rehabilitation center, part of a Saudi government initiative...

(IsraelNN.com) The King of Bahrain has called for expatriate Jews to return to the small Islamic island nation. King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa expanded the invitation to all expatriate Bahrainis, announcing during a recent visit to the United States that regardless of religious affiliation, any former citizen could return whenever they want. “It’s open, it’s your country,” declared the king, who also extended a personal invitation to Washington D.C.-based Chabad-Lubavitch emissary Rabbi Levi Shemtov to meet with him in New York during his visit. The king had been in New York to attend last week’s Interfaith Conference, organized at the...

Good enough for me. He can be Commander in Chief. From CNN. Sen. Barack Obama — locked in a tight presidential race against Sen. John McCain, widely considered a war hero — said in an interview broadcast Sunday that he once considered joining the military himself. Speaking to ABC's "This Week," Obama said, "You know, I had to sign up for Selective Service when I graduated from high school. And I was growing up in Hawaii, and I have friends whose parents were in the military. There are a lot of Army, military bases there. And I actually always thought...

First Vice President Parviz Davoudi and Pakistani Premier Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday called for adoption of a defined strategy to fight terrorist groups and terrorism. The two sides discussed the issue over phone on Thursday. There are ample untapped potentials for expansion of mutual, regional and international cooperation between the two countries, Davoudi said and called for promotion of such cooperation. Wishing for success and prosperity of the Pakistani government and its nation, he underlined that Iran regards Pakistan's security as its own and to this end it will spare no efforts. The Pakistani premier, for his part, thanked...

Barack Hussein Obama finally consented to appear on Bill O'Reilly's, "The No Spin Zone," the most popular talk show on Fox News. Bill O'Reilly has mellowed quite a bit from his early days of confrontational and controversial banter with his guests. Such was the case with his interview with Obama. As questions about his Muslim roots still linger, Obama made something very clear about his take on the threat of Islamic terrorists Obama said, "Al Qaeda, the Taliban, a whole host of networks that are bent on attacking America who have a distorted ideology, who have perverted the faith of...

Pope Benedict told Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday that minority Christians in Iraq needed more protection but the Iraqi leader assured him that Christians were not being persecuted. Maliki, who met the pope for 20 minutes at the pontiff's summer residence south of Rome, invited the pontiff to visit Iraq, saying a trip there would help the process of peace and reconciliation. "We renewed our invitation for His Holiness to visit Iraq. He welcomed the invitation. And we hope that he will be making the visit as soon as he can," he told reporters in the palace after...

Here is Barack Obama's reaction today to the Supreme Court decision which struck down the D.C. Gun Ban and upheld 2nd Amendment Rights. Obama's statement is clearly politically calculated to minimize his being on the wrong side of this issue. Obama claims to have "consistently" supported the 2nd Amendment as an individual right . . . (see video) But listen to what Obama was saying just this past February about the D.C. Gun Ban . . . (see video)

Understanding Taqiyya - the Islamic Principle of Lying for the Sake of Allah by Warner MacKenzie 30 April, 2007 Lying and cheating in the Arab world is not really a moral matter but a method of safeguarding honor and status, avoiding shame, and at all times exploiting possibilities, for those with the wits for it, deftly and expeditiously to convert shame into honor on their own account and vice versa for their opponents. If honor so demands, lies and cheating may become absolute imperatives.” [David Pryce-Jones, “The Closed Circle” An interpretation of the Arabs, p4] “No dishonor attaches to such...

-- snip --As the son of the Muslim father, Senator Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as it is universally understood. It makes no difference that, as Senator Obama has written, his father said he renounced his religion. Likewise, under Muslim law based on the Koran his mother’s Christian background is irrelevant. Of course, as most Americans understand it, Senator Obama is not a Muslim. He chose to become a Christian, and indeed has written convincingly to explain how he arrived at his choice and how important his Christian faith is to him. His conversion, however, was a...

For over a year, we have been waging a relentless, nearly solitary battle in apprising the Congress and the American public about a billion dollar boondoggle and scandal: the lack of credible Arabic translators for our national security and intelligence agencies. As a result hundreds have been killed in Iraq from infiltration of our military and civilian intelligence agencies by agents of Islamist terrorists. Our FBI and CIA have been infiltrated by Muslim linguists who have successfully evaded polygraph tests and been able to pass on vital information to terror groups in the Middle East such as Hezbollah. Tens of...

WASHINGTON — Some Illinois gun control advocates recall Senator Obama as a "friend" who represented a "solid vote" in favor of increased restrictions on firearm sales, but they said he was never forced to vote on an all-out ban on handguns as a member of the state Senate. Mr. Obama's position on guns is drawing renewed scrutiny following Wednesday night's Democratic debate, when the Illinois senator said he never favored a handgun ban, even though a 1996 questionnaire in his name indicated he did. The candidate questionnaire was filed with a nonprofit group, Independent Voters of Illinois–Independent Precinct Organization, during...

The Issue: Years of mishandling the gun issue have cost progressives the support of many Americans who would otherwise be on their side. The Message: I take a back seat to no one in support of Second Amendment rights, but those rights do not extend to terrorists and criminals. The Policy: Supporting Second Amendment rights, closing gun law loopholes that terrorists and criminals can exploit, fixing the broken background check system, and reversing the Bush gun crime policy by vigorously enforcing the major federal gun laws on the books. Overview: The Gun Gap Gun owners believe that progressives are anti-gun,...

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama said yesterday that he "mangled" his words when he described small town Americans as "bitter" at a private San Francisco fundraiser. Obama spoke to the Philadelphia Daily News editorial board last night, after a long weekend spent clarifying his statement that many small town voters had grown "bitter" over their economic status and "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them." U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, has hammered Obama for days over the remarks, saying that he is out of touch with voters. She began...