Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- Recent remarks from WTOP commentator Cal Thomas have sparked controversy in the Muslim-American community. Now, an Islamic advocacy group is responding to Thomas' commentary. In his weekly commentary on WTOP Radio Monday, Cal Thomas discussed the recent thwarted terror attacks in the United Kingdom. "How much longer should we allow people from certain lands, with certain beliefs to come to Britain and America and build their mosques, teach hate, and plot to kill us?" Thomas asked. "Okay, lets have the required disclaimer: Not all Muslims from the Middle East and southeast Asia want to kill us, but those...

Saudi Arabia has long been known for its discretion and its subtle approach to diplomacy. As the home of Islam and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques a certain amount of detached nobility was expected from Saudi Arabia in its diplomacy. Over recent months we have seen that Saudi Arabia's nonpartisan detachment and its trusted dignity could be put to use also in a more active diplomacy-to great success. It is this development and the failed Middle Eastern policy of the Western world that have persuaded me to try to brush a picture of Saudi Arabia's policy today and over...

Of the thousands of people who gathered in the plaza of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., for Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign announcement last Saturday, only a handful were protesters rather than supporters. But there were 50 or so waving signs and chanting, “No abortion, no Obama.” Their voices might become a consistent presence as the senator makes his way around the country in his bid to win the White House. Abortion foes in Illinois, following the lead of registered nurse Jill Stanek, are targeting Obama (D-Ill.) for a number of “present” and “no” votes he cast on...

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) believes it is his right as a Muslim to be sworn into Congress with the Quran. But apparently, the freshman lawmaker doesn’t believe it’s Rep. Tom Tancredo’s (R-Colo.) right to smoke a cigar in his congressional office. Ellison’s office called the Capitol Hill Police on Tancredo last Wednesday night as Tancredo was in his office smoking a cigar. The lawmakers have neighboring offices on the first floor of the Longworth House Office Building. Tancredo was still stunned a day later. “It’s very bizarre,” said Tancredo, who has never met Ellison. “Seemed to me not a good...

Al-Husainy was a guest. This was the Islamic cleric that gave a prayer invocation at the DNC Winter meeting this last Friday. Sean was at his best attempting to get a yes or no answer out of the cleric. The cleric was at times incomprehensible and even managed a humerous literal "you talkin to me" moment that just cracked me up!

Faith and Politics By Joel Mowbray The Washington Times February 7, 2007 Less than two weeks after Sen. Barbara Boxer very publicly rebuffed the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the high-profile Muslim organization scored a surprising victory courtesy of a different leading California Democrat, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. When Mrs. Boxer rescinded an award that her office had given to a CAIR official, she cited the group's terrorist ties and its inability to condemn Islamic terrorist organizations. Faced with the same public record, Mrs. Pelosi weeks afterward decided to place a freshman congressman who was heavily backed by CAIR on...

In today's Independent, Patrick Cockburn writes: There are growing suspicions in Iraq that the official story of the battle outside Najaf between a messianic Iraqi cult and the Iraqi security forces supported by the US, in which 263 people were killed and 210 wounded, is a fabrication. The heavy casualties may be evidence of an unpremeditated massacre. A picture is beginning to emerge of a clash between an Iraqi Shia tribe on a pilgrimage to Najaf and an Iraqi army checkpoint that led the US to intervene with devastating effect. The involvement of Ahmed al-Hassani (also known as Abu Kamar),...

. . . despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars, the United States has lost the battle for Iraqi public opinion: "Insurgents, sectarian elements, and others are taking control of the message at the public level." Videos of U.S. soldiers being shot and blown up, and of the bloody work of sectarian death squads, are now pervasive. The images inspire new recruits and intimidate those who might stand against them. . . . Most large-scale attacks on U.S. forces are now filmed, often from multiple camera angles, and with high-resolution cameras. The footage is slickly edited into dramatic narratives: quick-cut...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Newsweek magazine on Sunday said it erred in a May 9 report that said U.S. interrogators desecrated the Koran at Guantanamo Bay, and apologized to the victims of deadly Muslim protests sparked by the article. "We regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst," Editor Mark Whitaker wrote in the magazine's latest issue, due to appear on U.S. newsstands on Monday. Whitaker said the magazine inaccurately reported that U.S. military investigators had confirmed that personnel at the...

A group of Afghan Muslim clerics threatened on Sunday to call for a holy war against the United States in three days unless it hands over military interrogators reported to have desecrated the Koran. The warning came after 16 Afghans were killed and more than 100 hurt last week in the worst anti-U.S. protests across the country since U.S. forces invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban for sheltering Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network. The clerics in the northeastern province of Badakhshan said they wanted U.S. President George W. Bush to handle the matter honestly "and hand...

FAIZABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) -- A group of Afghan Muslim clerics have threatened to call for a holy war against the United States in three days unless it hands over military interrogators reported to have desecrated the Quran. The warning on Sunday came after 16 Afghans were killed and more than 100 hurt last week in the worst anti-U.S. protests across the country since U.S. forces invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban for sheltering Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network. The clerics in the northeastern province of Badakhshan said they wanted U.S. President George W. Bush to handle...

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai urged the United States on Saturday to prosecute and punish anyone found guilt of desecrating the Koran as anti-U.S. protests flared for a fifth day. Sixteen Afghans have been killed and more than 100 hurt since Wednesday in the worst anti-U.S. protests across Afghanistan since U.S. forces invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban for harbouring Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network. Newsweek magazine said in its May 9 edition investigators probing abuses at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay found that interrogators "had placed Korans on toilets, and in...

The Pakistani foreign minister has said that if reports that US guards at Guantanamo Bay desecrated the Koran are true, they should be severely punished. Khurshid Kasuri said that the allegations had provoked outrage throughout the Islamic world. At least seven people died and many more were hurt in protests in Afghanistan this week over the issue. The US has described the incident as abhorrent, and pledged prompt action if the allegations prove to be true. A number of protest rallies were held in Pakistan on Friday. 'Outraged Muslims' "Yes, it's abominable the reports that emanated from Guantanamo Bay," Mr...

Sydney, April 9: The West must end "Islamophobia" and Muslim nations must tackle the causes of religious extremism, such as poverty, to win the fight against terrorism, the head of the world's largest body of Islamic nations said on Friday. Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, chairman of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said the war on terrorism could not be won by military might alone. Abdullah said in a speech in Sydney that the West and the Muslim world must unite to tackle the "root causes of terrorism", such as poverty. "The increasing gulf and misunderstanding between...

An Australian cleric in Iraq to negotiate the release of a kidnapped contractor prayed in a Sunni mosque in Baghdad today for the hostage's freedom. "I came here to pray for the release of Douglas Wood," Australian mufti Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali said, calling on the Australian's captors to provide him with medical treatment. Alhilali also told reporters he has urged the kidnappers to allow a delivery of medication for Woods, who has heart and blood pressure problems. "Until now we are still carrying his medicines," Alhilali said. "He is suffering from blood pressure and heart problems. His medicines are...

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What steps should Western border agencies take to defend their homelands from harm by Islamists? In the case of non-citizens, the answer is simple: Don't let Islamists in. Exclude not just potential terrorists but also anyone who supports the totalitarian goals of radical Islam. Just as civilized countries did not welcome fascists in the early 1940s (or communists a decade later), they need not welcome Islamists today. But what about one's own citizens who cross the border? They could be leaving to fight for the Taliban or returning from a course on terrorism techniques. Or perhaps they studied with enemies...

In Islam, lying or omissions for the 'greater good,' according to a strict or radical Islam/Islamist philosophy is not only acceptable, it is holy and blessed work. It is called al-Takeyya (or al-Taqiyya) and is a strategy outlined in the Hadiths and supported by various interpretations of some of the Suras in the Koran. We have just seen it in action and most people never even caught the whiff of mental ether the Islamists were pouring into the airways of the already comatose and choking non-Islamist world. Al-Takeyya is a policy whereby a Muslim may lie, deceive or omit critical...

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Countering a surge in anti-Islamic bigotry requires urgent action by Muslims as well as non-Muslims, governments, the media and educators, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday. Muslims must condemn and isolate extremists who target and kill civilians in the name of their religion and governments must make good on commitments to protect Muslims from discrimination, Annan told a seminar on Islam and intolerance at U.N. headquarters. At the same time, others must recognize that anti-Western feelings of some Muslims have been fed by a history of colonialism and domination by the West and...

Muslim politicians in this country say Islamic sharia law is an inextricable part of their identity - but claim it can be practiced within the parameters of Danish democracy Political parties in Parliament are pressuring Muslim members to publicly disavow portions of Islamic sharia law condoning stoning, whipping and the amputation of hands. Most parties have not urged their Muslim members to condemn portions of the traditional Islamic law pertaining to general lifestyle or religious issues such as prayer and fasting. On Monday, Social Democratic immigration spokeswoman Anne-Marie Meldgaard issued an ultimatum to Muslim party members, demanding that they condemn...