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The nuances of the above statement might be lost on those who don't know Islam particularly well. What we read there is a call to Islam. What many might not know is that we have just read a formal declaration of war against us. Many of us know the following fairly well:
Some ... say that whoever does not enter Islam, that is his choice and he should not be forced to become Muslim, quoting as evidence the verses in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed, all of them together. So, will you (O Muhammad) then compel mankind, until they become believers" [Yoonus 10:99]
"There is no compulsion in religion"
[al-Baqarah 2:256]
If that were the end of it we wouldn't be having this discussion. It doesn't end here, and we must have this conversation. Our Iranian buffoon above has just demanded that the world either convert to Islam or accept dhimmitude, a permanent state of slavery to Muslims. That is the nuanced part. It's there that the love-beads and peace-sign kiddies tune out and wander off to smoke pot and paint anti-American slogans on Bristol boards. For the rest of us, we have just received a declaration of intent to commit armed warfare against us.
Bin Laden recited the same command before he and his lot attacked us on 9-11. We, non-Muslims, have a choice: we can convert to Islam or pay the price of attack from them till ewe are either converted or killed or until we pay the jizyah, the war booty Muslims claim from the dead. Look at jizyah this way: If you are dead, Muslims have a right to 80 per cent of what they can take from what's left of your possessions. the remaining 20 per cent goes to Mohammed or his successor. If you live, then you owe what would have been taken. Always. You will never get away from paying the war tax, the protection money. And you will forever be a slave of the slaves of Allah.
Full text: bin Laden's 'letter to America'
November 24, 2002
If the Americans refuse to listen to our advice and the goodness, guidance and righteousness that we call them to, then be aware that you will lose this Crusade Bush began, just like the other previous Crusades in which you were humiliated by the hands of the Mujahideen, fleeing to your home in great silence and disgrace. If the Americans do not respond, then their fate will be that of the Soviets who fled from Afghanistan to deal with their military defeat, political breakup, ideological downfall, and economic bankruptcy.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk
We see in the above statement Islamic ritual prior to attack. We see it again in bin Laden's associate:
Call to convert
Elsewhere in the tape - reported but not aired by Aljazeera - al-Zawahiri called on Bush to convert to Islam, telling him that if he did so he would "become a brother in the faith and God will forgive you your sins"
.http://english.aljazeera.net
Returning to "There is no compulsion in Islam." There is. From the experts of Islam, and not from the BBC or CNN or the New York Times we get real Islam:
The scholars explained that these two verses, and other similar verses, have to do with those from whom the jizyah may be taken, such as Jews, Christians and Magians (Zoroastrians). They are not to be forced, rather they are to be given the choice between becoming Muslim or paying the jizyah.
Other scholars said that this applied in the beginning, but was subsequently abrogated by Allaah's command to fight and wage jihad. So whoever refuses to enter Islam should be fought when the Muslims are able to fight, until they either enter Islam or pay the jizyah if they are among the people who may pay jizyah. The kuffaar should be compelled to enter Islam if they are not people from whom the jizyah may be taken, because that will lead to their happiness and salvation in this world and in the Hereafter. Obliging a person to adhere to the truth in which is guidance and happiness is better for him than falsehood. Just as a person may be forced to do the duty that he owes to other people even if that is by means of imprisonment or beating, so forcing the kaafirs to believe in Allaah alone and enter into the religion of Islam is more important and more essential, because this will lead to their happiness in this world and in the Hereafter. This applies unless they are People of the Book, i.e., Jews and Christians, or Magians, because Islam says that these three groups may be given the choice: they may enter Islam or they may pay the jizyah and feel themselves subdued.
Some of the scholars are of the view that others may also be given the choice between Islam and jizyah, but the most correct view is that no others should be given this choice, rather these three groups are the only ones who may be given the choice, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) fought the kuffaar in the Arabian Peninsula and he only accepted their becoming Muslim. And Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"But if they repent [by rejecting Shirk (polytheism) and accept Islamic Monotheism] and perform As-Salaah (Iqaamat-as-Salaah), and give Zakaah, then leave their way free. Verily, Allaah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful"
[al-Tawbah 9:5]
He did not say, "if they pay the jizyah". The Jews, Christians and Magians are to be asked to enter Islam; if they refuse then they should be asked to pay the jizyah. If they refuse to pay the jizyah then the Muslims must fight them if they are able to do so. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Fight against those who (1) believe not in Allaah, (2) nor in the Last Day, (3) nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allaah and His Messenger (Muhammad), (4) and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (i.e. Islam) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued"
[al-Tawbah 9:29]
"And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and polytheism, i.e. worshipping others besides Allaah), and the religion (worship) will all be for Allaah Alone [in the whole of the world]"
[al-Anfaal 8:39]
"Then when the Sacred Months (the 1st, 7th, 11th, and 12th months of the Islamic calendar) have passed, then kill the Mushrikoon (see V.2:105) wherever you find them, and capture them and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in each and every ambush. But if they repent [by rejecting Shirk (polytheism) and accept Islamic Monotheism] and perform As-Salaah (Iqaamat-as-Salaah), and give Zakaah, then leave their way free. Verily, Allaah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful"
[al-Tawbah 9:5]
This verse is known as Ayat al-Sayf (the verse of the sword).
These and similar verses abrogate the verses which say that there is no compulsion to become Muslim.
And Allaah is the Source of strength.
Majmoo' Fataawa wa Maqaalaat li'l-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 6/219 (www.islam-qa.com)
http://63.175.194.25/index.php
****
Here, from Iran, we read the story that the media won't explain to us. Iran has just declared war on the West. Whether they attack today or tomorrow or next year, the point is they made a formal declaration of war, as we see in the story below.
Iran Focus
Tehran, Iran, Apr. 12 – Iran's radical President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a fiery sermon demanded that "Iran's enemies", or the West, bow down before Iran and apologize for having held back Tehran's nuclear program for three years. He also warned the West that it would "burn" in the "fire of the nations' fury".
"Those who insulted the Iranian nation and set back Iran's movement for progress for several years must apologise", Ahmadinejad said at a rally in the eastern town of Rashtkhar. His comments were aired on state television and carried by the official news agency.
"You must bow down to the greatness of the Iranian nation", he said, addressing the West.
He added that if the United States continued to seek to use "bullying" tactics then "every nation of the world" would chant "Death to America" and "Death to Israel".
"If you do not return to monotheism and worshipping god and refuse to accept justice then you will burn in the fire of the nations' fury", Ahmadinejad said.
He once again accused the West of launching a "psychological war" against Iran.
On Tuesday, Ahmadinejad declared that Iran had joined the Nuclear Club.
http://www.iranfocus.com
****
This is a long piece, and it concerns an event I can do nothing about. I do have much to comment on regarding what we can do in light of this declaration. That must wait till the next post.
1 comment:
Good work, Dag. Meanwhile at the EU:
BERLIN - The European Union, tiptoeing through a minefield of religious and cultural sensitivities, is discreetly reviewing the language it uses to describe terrorists who claim to act in the name of Islam.
EU officials are working on what they call a “lexicon” for public communication on terrorism and Islam, designed to make clear that there is nothing in the religion to justify outrages like the Sept. 11 attacks or the bombings of Madrid and London.
The lexicon would set down guidelines for EU officials and politicians.
[...]
“Certainly ‘Islamic terrorism’ is something we will not use ... we talk about ‘terrorists who abusively invoke Islam’,” an EU official told Reuters.
Other terms being considered by the review include “Islamist”, “fundamentalist” and “jihad.” The latter, for example, is often used by al-Qaida and some other groups to mean warfare against infidels, but for most Muslims indicates a spiritual struggle.
[...]
Omar Faruk, a Muslim British barrister who has advised the government on community issues, said there was a strong need for a “new sort of political dialogue and terminology.”
Asked about the phrase “Islamic terrorism”, he said: “Those words cannot sit side by side. Islam is actually very much against any form of terrorism. ... Islam in itself means peace.”
Those of us writing here have been countering such wishful thinking among our political elites elsewhere. Is this new blog a place to continue that work in full force, or rather is it now our goal to give more energy to defining a positive alternative to the current political paradigm. Of the latter, we can only ask, in our darker moments, will the EU or Europe die first? And if Europe dies as a home of western civilization, can the death of western values - like thinking for oneself, free speech, that sort of thing (which is kind of nice to see in a politician) - in Canada be far behind? Note how the EU presumes to regulate not just the language of its officials but also of its politicians. It is an admission that there is no democratic politics, no self-ruling nations, left in the EU, that all "politicians" are in fact officials in the big bureaucracy. Chaps like the Italian minister who lost his job for wearing a t-shirt with one of those Mohammed cartoons are dinosaurs of a lost age.
This article is yet another sign that politics no longer belongs to the political parties, but must be commandeered by the people.
Tonight, Vancouver Public Library atrium, 7 pm: we're the guys in the blue scarves.
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