Showing posts with label fitna. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fitna. Show all posts
Monday, September 10, 2012
Apostasy, Fitna and abuse of Interpol
by Elizabeth Kendal
If a 2 September report in the Saudi Gazette is true, then it may well be the first time Interpol as been abused by an Islamic State for the purpose of retrieving an apostate.
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APOSTASY
On 28 July 2012, the Saudi Gazette reported: "A Saudi girl who recently embraced Christianity and fled the country for refuge in Lebanon told the host of a religious program on an Arabic TV channel that she was tired of performing prayers and fasting during Ramadan.
"The girl, who said her name was Maryam, said praying and fasting did not bring her any benefits. She also criticized the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Hai'a) and claimed that she was raised to hate Judaism and Christianity but fell in love with the religions after she found peace in Christianity.
"She said she became a Christian after she had a dream one night. In it, she climbed to the skies and heard God telling her that Jesus is His son."
According to reports, Maryam (28) was working in an insurance firm in Al-Khobar when she became interested in Christianity through the influence of her Christian boss, Lebanese expatriate, Mr Henna Sarkees (50). An unnamed male Saudi national with links to the firm then secured false travel documents that allowed her to leave the country for Lebanon, then for Sweden.
Henna Sarkees and the unnamed Saudi national will stand trial in Al-Khobar, in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, on Saturday 15 September. Maryam's parents have charged the two men with coercing Maryam into converting to Christianity and then convincing her to leave the country without the consent of her male guardian. They have even suggested it may all be part of a conspiracy to get their daughter into the hands of international people-traffickers.
Saudi media asserts that Maryam regrets her conversion, maintains she is still Muslim, denies ever talking to Arabic TV, desires to return home and is accusing Christians of taking her to Sweden against her will.
For more background, details and links see:
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 175 | Wed 05 Sep 2012
SAUDI ARABIA: convert flees; helpers to face court
-- Interpol and Swedish authorities aid Saudi Embassy to hunt convert.
By Elizabeth Kendal
On 2 September, the following news report appeared in the Saudi Gazette:
(copied in full; emphasis mine)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Efforts on to bring back ‘Al-Khobar girl’ from Sweden
Sunday, September 02, 2012
AL-KHOBAR —The Al-Khobar girl who fled the Kingdom after allegedly converting to Christianity will be brought home from Sweden in a matter of few days, Al-Yaum newspaper reported Saturday quoting informed sources.
The Interpol is coordinating with the Saudi Embassy in Stockholm and Swedish authorities to return the girl to her homeland before her 'kidnappers' move her to another country, the sources said.
The girl's father received phone calls from unknown people who threatened to kill his daughter or move her to another European country if the main suspect in her case, a Lebanese man named Henna Sarkess, was not released from jail in the Kingdom.
Sources said it is highly likely that a global human trafficking network was involved in the kidnapping of the girl, who was persuaded by her Lebanese manager to embrace Christianity and leave the country without the knowledge of her family.
A Saudi was arrested for faking a travel permit, which the girl used to leave the Kingdom and go to Lebanon. There, she stayed with a Christian group inside a church for a while. When she told the group that she wanted to return to the Kingdom and that she regretted what she had done, the group decided to take her to Sweden because it did not want her to return to the Kingdom.
The girl’s father has called upon the authorities to help him bring back his daughter. He said his daughter still talks to them over the phone and she is currently in Sweden. The father is worried that his daughter might get brainwashed.
The Saudi Embassy in Stockholm said it received a letter from the girl’s father requesting it to help her return to the Kingdom. The [Saudi] embassy has started a search with the Swedish authorities.
--------------------------------------------
INTERPOL
The information in this section of the posting has mostly been gleaned from the following sources:
Interpol's Red Notices Used by Some to Pursue Political Dissenters, Opponents.
Investigative report by Libby Lewis, for The Cutting Edge, 25 July 2011
GLOBAL ADMINISTRATIVE LAW MEETS “SOFT” POWERS:THE UNCOMFORTABLE CASE OF INTERPOL RED NOTICES
Journal article (91 pages) by Mario Savino, March 2010
Journal of International Law and Politics, New York University
The website of Fair Trials International / Interpol
Interpol's official website
INTERPOL: WHAT IS IT?
With 190 member countries, Interpol is the world's second largest international entity after the United Nations. As in the United Nations, Interpol's member countries span from totalitarian dictatorship to liberal democracies. While Interpol possesses many attributes of an international organisation, many would say it is really more of an international network, linking police globally for the purpose of facilitating police cooperation and law enforcement across the globe.
INTERPOL: HOW IT WORKS
Interpol operates "a closed communications system linking police via vast international databases". (Lewis) Normally, police in member countries send Interpol a domestic arrest notice, which Interpol then sends out as a global Red Notice. On the basis of a Red Notice, police in other member countries may arrest suspects for extradition.
While Interpol's Constitution mandates neutrality and prohibits "any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character," cooperation is based on trust -- i.e. Interpol trusts member countries not to abuse the system.
WHERE IS THE PROBLEM?
While Interpol has doubtless made the world a safer place by facilitating the arrest of numerous transnational terrorists, traffickers and other criminals, there is nothing to prevent human rights-abusing, non-free, totalitarian states from abusing the system and using Interpol to extend their own repressive arms internationally. Indeed, dictatorial regimes have been known to abuse the system and use it to track down and capture, or even just drive underground, their most troublesome dissidents.
And because Interpol is neither transparent nor accountable, it is extremely easy to abuse.
"Interpol is not entrusted with any significant investigative or operational powers. Those powers are still located at national level. . . Interpol's core business is the administration of information." (Savino, p26)
Fair Trials International reports: "Even though some of Interpol's member countries are known human rights abusers and notoriously corrupt, Interpol has no effective mechanisms to prevent countries, or even individual prosecutors, abusing the red notice system. As a result, even though most red notices may be perfectly valid, abuses of Interpol are also affecting human rights campaigners, journalists and businessmen, in countries all over the world.
"People in this situation have no independent court they can turn to for redress. Your only option is to request a review by a Commission, funded by Interpol and serviced by Interpol staff. You have no right to a hearing, no opportunity to respond to allegations against you and will be given no reasons for the decision reached. Even if the Commission concludes that a red notice is inaccurate or abusive, it cannot require its removal or amendment. It can only make non-binding recommendations."
According to Interpol's Chief Lawyer, Joël Sollier, the agency does try to ferret out dubious requests. His instruction to Interpol is that a Red Notice should be cancelled if there is any doubt. (Lewis)
According to Lewis, Interpol's issuance of Red Notices has increased markedly in recent years, from 2,343 Red Notices in 2005, to 6,344 in 2010. "Partly to deal with that increased workload, Interpol is putting more power into the hands of its police members.
"Two years ago," writes Lewis, "police had to apply directly to Interpol for a Red Notice. Today, every Red Notice request is entered into the system directly by the police themselves—not by Interpol. Police around the world instantly see those notices—before Interpol even reviews them.
"Police can also bypass the formal Red Notice system altogether—and just type an informal notice of arrest in an email—and post it on Interpol’s communications system. Those email notices—Interpol calls them 'diffusions'—go out instantly, with no automatic Interpol review."
And as Lewis notes, "these informal email notices are linked to far more arrests than arrests linked to the Red Notices Interpol vets for political concerns". In fact, according to Lewis, in 2010, at least 1,858 arrests were made of people named in email notices while only 663 arrests were made of people named in Red Notices.
This might explain why in February of this year, while Malaysian police were claiming that they had arrested the Saudi tweeter Hamza Kashgari (23) "following a request made to us by Interpol" on behalf of the Saudi authorities, Interpol was strongly denying that it had anything to do with it.
See: Interpol accused after Malaysia arrests journalist over Muhammad tweet
Police agency strongly denies its system used by Saudi Arabia to get journalist detained for insulting the Prophet Muhammad on Twitter
By Own Bowcott, The Guardian, 10 February 2012
Kashgari had fled Saudi Arabia after his tweeted imaginary conversation with the prophet Mohammad was deemed blasphemous. After being arrested in Malaysia and extradited, he was imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. He remains in prison to this day, still offering up apologies, but to no avail. Voices are still calling for him to be executed.
There have also been some really obvious and undeniable abuses of Interpol.
One such case involves Indonesia's call for a Red Notice to be issued against Papuan independence advocate Benny Wenda (36). The Red Notice was issued despite the fact that the persecuted, tortured, now Oxford-based Wenda had been granted asylum in the UK. Only in August of this year was the Red Notice against Wenda dropped.
See: Benny Wenda's plight has highlighted the misuse of Interpol
Interpol must act to stop its red notice system being abused by countries to persecute refugees and exiled political activists
By Alex Tinsley, The Guardian, 6 Aug 2012.
In an article published by CNN, Libby Lewis raises the case of Iranian dissident Shahram Homayoun (57). "After fleeing Iran in 1992 and moving to Los Angeles, Homayoun started a satellite television station, Channel One, to beam a message of civil resistance into the homes of Iranians.
"Over the years, his audience has scribbled his slogan, Ma Hastim ("We exist" in Farsi) on Iranian walls and bridges to promote democracy in the country. He has also called on his listeners to show their solidarity in creative ways, such as gathering at the tomb of Cyrus the Great or showing up at their local bakery on the same day -- every Thursday -- and asking for bread.
"At the request of Iran, which charged Homayoun with inciting terrorism, Interpol issued a Red Notice in December 2009 requesting Homayoun's arrest."
Regarding Maryam, all the Saudi authorities would have had to do was to report through Interpol channels that a Saudi Arabian girl was being held in Sweden against her will, possibly by international traffickers, and request help to retrieve her and return her to her family. And with that, Maryam's hopes of liberty are dashed.
FITNA
As I said in my opening remarks, if the 2 Sept 2012 report in the Saudi Gazette is true, then it may well be the first time Interpol has been abused by an Islamic State for the purpose of retrieving an apostate.
In the past, Islamic states have generally been content to let apostates flee, for at least then they are not be around to spread fitna (temptation / doubt) amongst the locals. However, in these days of global communications -- satellite TV, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter etc -- the apostate can generate far more fitna from a safe-haven in the West than they ever could at home. And "fitna is worse than killing". (Qur'an Sura 2:191).
Christian advocacy groups that have excelled at speaking into political power must quickly learn how to speak into international law enforcement so that Interpol and national police forces do not become unwitting extensions of Islamic religious police.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Nigeria: the Boko Haram threat
By Elizabeth Kendal
Religious Liberty Monitoring
-- Al-Qaeda supports Boko Haram expansion
-- The Abuja bombing
-- The threat to the Church
-- Terror campaign slated for end-of-July anniversary
[For an UPDATE to this post see Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin 116. Nigeria: Boko Haram Strikes.]
Boko Haram, also known as Jamaatul Alissunna lid da a wa wal jihad and the "Nigerian Taliban", was founded in Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria's most north-eastern state of Borno, in 2002 by a religious teacher named Mohammed Yusuf.
The name Boko Haram comes from the Hausa word boko, which means animist, Western or simply un-Islamic education and culture, and the Arabic word haram, which means forbidden.
For Boko Haram, boko is fitna: i.e. something that can shake the faith of Muslims and lead to apostasy. For this reason, boko must be haram.
----------------------
On Sunday 26 July 2009, around 150 armed Boko Haram militants attacked a police station in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, in retaliation for the arrest of one of its leaders. After slitting the throat of a policeman on guard, they went on a rampage, torching homes and vehicles owned by police to cries of "Allahu Akbar". They also attacked Maiduguri New Prisons where they killed the two gate wardens before breaking open the gates and liberating the prisoners. As Nigerian security forces counter-attacked, the conflict escalated and spread.
On Tuesday 28 July 2009, Nigerian security forces besieged and shelled the home of Boko Haram leader, Sheikh Mohammed Yusuf, where dozens of militants had congregated. They also stormed a local mosque known as a Boko Haram stronghold, spraying it with gunfire. According to the Red Cross, when the fighting was over, some 780 bodies were gathered up off the streets of Maiduguri for burial in mass graves.
By Thursday 30 July 09, Sheikh Mohammed Yusuf was in custody after being arrested at his in-law's house. By Friday 31 July 09, Sheikh Mohammed Yusuf was dead.
On 9 August 2009, Boko Haram issued a statement in which they pronounced "Mallam Yusuf" a martyr, along with "over 1000 of our [martyred] members killed by the wicked Nigerian army and police mostly of Southern Nigeria extraction". Furthermore, they declared that they had "started a Jihad in Nigeria". Declaring their intention to render the country ungovernable, they warned that Nigeria would be Islamised by force.
AL-QAEDA SUPPORTS BOKO HARAM EXPANSION
In mid June 2010, Boko Haram formalised its links with al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Furthermore, adds terrorism analyst Yossef Bodansky, AQIM is receiving aid and intelligence from Sudan and Iran "who are operating jointly in the Sahel" (Strategic Policy 8, 2010).
According to Bodansky, AQIM leader Abu Mousab Abdel Wadoud has pledged that the international jihadist movement will assist Boko Haram with weapons and training to enable al-Qaeda to gain "strategic depth" in sub-Saharan Africa and the solid foothold in Nigeria required for operations in West Africa. Bodansky warned (Aug 2010) that the AQIM link could lead to the emergence of "spectacular terrorism" al-Qaeda-style -- such as suicide-bombings -- hitherto unknown in Nigeria.
THE ABUJA BOMBING
On Monday 13 June 2011, in response to overtures from the government of President Goodluck Jonathan, Boko Haram laid down its preconditions for dialogue. In a letter made available to newsmen in Maiduguri, Boko Haram unapologetically demanded that before any dialogue with the government could take place, Sharia Law must be implemented across Northern Nigeria where Muslims form a majority, and the security officials implicated in the 31 July 2009 death in custody of Boko Haram leader, Sheikh Mohammed Yusuf, must be prosecuted.
On Tuesday 14 June, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Hafiz Ringim -- who was in Maiduguri to officially receive the donation of 10 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) and 10 Toyota Hilux vehicles donated to the police by the state government -- warned Boko Haram members that their days were numbered. He boasted that the police were now poised to wipe them out, adding, "No stone will be left unturned, until the menace of Boko Haram is unravelled."
Boko Haram responded with defiance: "Very soon, we would wage Jihad on the enemies of God and his messenger," they threatened. "We want to make it known that our Jihadists (warriors) have arrived [in] Nigeria from Somalia where they got serious training on warfare from our brethren who made the country ungovernable and forced the interim government to relocate to Kenya.
"We want to assure all security agencies that we would frustrate their efforts. By the grace of God, despite the armoured carriers that they are boasting of, they are no match with the training we acquired in Somalia".
While in Maiduguri, the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Abubakar Ringim, met with a man -- possibly someone offering himself as an informant. That man then joined the motor convoy that travelled back to Police Headquarters in Abuja on Thursday 16 July. Fortunately, as he tried to follow Ringim's car in through the main security perimeter, he was stopped by attendants who directed him to an adjacent car park. It was there that he detonated his explosives killing eight, wounding dozens and destroying 77 vehicles. Had he been permitted to follow the Inspector General's car into the central parking bay, many more people would have been killed.
Boko Harman wasted no time in claiming responsibility: "We are responsible for the bomb attack on the police headquarters in Abuja which was to prove a point to all who doubt our capability."
By attacking Louis Edet House, headquarters of the Nigerian Police, Boko Haram has indeed declared war on the government of Nigeria.
THREAT TO THE CHURCH
While Boko Haram has been busy assassinating police, MPs and traditional leaders; and bombing beer gardens, markets and police stations; it has also been busy terrorising Christians, killing pastors and bombing churches.
As reported in Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 088 (29 Dec 2010), on Christmas Eve 2010, Boko Haram militants perpetrated almost simultaneous attacks on two churches in Maiduguri. Three militants armed with guns and petrol bombs attacked the Sinimari Church of Christ in Nigeria, riddling the walls with bullet holes and killing the security guard, while some 30 jihadists descended on Victory Baptist Church on the other side of the city. Shouting "Allahu Akbar", they dragged out and executed Rev. Bulus Marwa (37) and shot dead Christopher Balami (50), Philip Luka (22), Paul Mathew (21) and Yohanna Adamu (26). Twenty-five other worshippers were wounded as the jihadists razed the church to the ground.
On the night of Saturday 1 January 2011, about 10 jihadists stormed the Victory Christ Church at Gawo Mai Lamba in London Cinki area of Maiduguri and set the church on fire, destroying part of the building. Fortunately no-one was killed.
On Tuesday 7 June, Rev. David Usman and the assistant secretary of his church were shot dead in their church -- Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) in Maiduguri -- by gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram. The gunmen reportedly arrived on motorcycles as the church was concluding a meeting. They shot the assistant secretary and ordered that someone phone and inform the pastor. Rev. David Usman ran to the church unaware that he was running into a trap. As he arrived, the pastor was gunned down by the waiting gunmen.
A Bomb-scare at a Maiduguri church on Sunday 26 June reveals the level of danger Christians face, confirming that security cannot be relaxed, not for a moment. The plot only failed because police, already on high alert, are maintaining rigorous security protocols.
A security officer at Maiduguri's already twice bombed Saint Patrick Catholic Church told James Bwala (reporting from Maiduguri for the Nigerian Tribune): "The stop and search became necessary following the recovery of some explosives in the bag of a female worshiper in one of the churches in town. The lady had on the fateful day asked her mother and siblings not to go to church for no convincing reason, but luck ran out on her when the curious mother called the attention of some church officials alongside security operatives, who quickly intercepted the lady and her co-evil plotters at the car park of the church."
Major General Jack Nwaogbo, the Commander of the Joint Task Force, confirmed that on Sunday 26 June, security operatives picked up two people "who pretended to be going to church to be converted but were discovered to have a different motive". Both remain under arrest.
BOKO HARAM THREATENS END-OF-JULY ANNIVERSARY TERROR
The Abuja suicide bombing and the bomb plots targetting the Church come in the context of Boko Haram's threat to mark the 31 July anniversary of Mohammed Yusuf's death in a "big way".
On Saturday 9 July 2011, the Saturday Tribune reported that sources close to the administration have confirmed to them that more than 100 trainee-jihadists have returned from Sudan and Somalia ready to be deployed in a massive terror campaign timed to commemorate the 26-31 July 2009 crisis, in particular the 31 July 09 death in custody of Sheikh Mohammed Yusuf. The trainee-jihadists have reportedly each received three-months training under the supervision of al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
Government sources confirmed to the Saturday Tribune that the attacks are being planned for a number of states including Borno, Katsina, Kaduna and Yobe.
Sources told the Tribune, "The operations of this sect [are] getting deeper than many people know. The international dimensions are overwhelming."
According to the Tribune, there is an exodus underway out of Maiduguri, with many people selling their homes and farms for a pittance.
On Wednesday 6 July 2011, Borno Governor Ali Modu Sheriff took steps towards appeasement and issued an apology to Boko Haram over his role in the brutal military crackdown on the radical Islamist sect.
In an advertorial published in local newspapers, Ali Modu Sheriff grovelled: "I wish to publicly tender my apology to the Jama’atul Ahliss-Sunnah Ladda’awaiti Wal Jihad and any other group I might have offended in the course of discharging my duties as the Executive Governor of Borno State. It is human to err and divine to forgive."
But in a subsequent statement issued by Boko Haram spokesman Abu Zaid, the group said would only accept Governor Ali Modu Sheriff's apology if he was to dissociate himself from "anti-Islamic activities".
With that, Ali Modu Sheriff resigned from office and fled the city.
Sheriff was not the only governor to be "grovelling" to Boko Haram. Gombe State Governor, Danjuma Goje, also apologised, as did Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda. The central government has done its share of grovelling too, for in line with one of Boko Haram's preconditions for dialogue, the police implicated in the 31 July 09 death in custody of Mohammed Yusuf have been indicted to face "terrorism" charges.
Concerning Boko Haram's threat for an end-of-July anniversary terror campaign, the Saturday Tribune reports: "The sect members warned all Muslims to stay away from Christians, security agents, government institutions and functions or face death, maintaining that, 'since the present Federal Government is not Islamic, every [one] of its employees is considered an infidel marked for elimination'." (emphasis mine)
The group concluded their lengthy statement on a confident note: "We are not in doubt that we are going to win this war. So far, we have an upper hand. Even if it means bringing external forces, we will fight to win. History has shown that when you are fighting in the cause of Allah, there will be a divine intervention . . ."
After asserting that their cause is "purely religious", Boko Haram warns Muslims not to hinder or undermine their activities lest the jihadists find it necessary to turn on them also.
It is ironic that after declaring that all infidels are marked for elimination; and after warning Muslims that the consequence of dissent will be death, Boko Haram sect leader, Muhammadu Abubakar Shekau, posted a statement to the internet in which he claimed that Boko Haram was fighting for "freedom of worship and assembly".
Unsurprisingly that freedom was immediately qualified and defined as freedom "for everybody to believe in Allah . . . jettison modern democracy and embrace Islam as their religion".
Essentially Boko Haram is pursuing an Islamic freedom -- i.e. freedom from fitna (anything that could shake the faith of a Muslim) -- a freedom that is essentially no freedom at all.
Religious Liberty Monitoring
-- Al-Qaeda supports Boko Haram expansion
-- The Abuja bombing
-- The threat to the Church
-- Terror campaign slated for end-of-July anniversary
[For an UPDATE to this post see Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin 116. Nigeria: Boko Haram Strikes.]
Boko Haram, also known as Jamaatul Alissunna lid da a wa wal jihad and the "Nigerian Taliban", was founded in Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria's most north-eastern state of Borno, in 2002 by a religious teacher named Mohammed Yusuf.
The name Boko Haram comes from the Hausa word boko, which means animist, Western or simply un-Islamic education and culture, and the Arabic word haram, which means forbidden.
For Boko Haram, boko is fitna: i.e. something that can shake the faith of Muslims and lead to apostasy. For this reason, boko must be haram.
----------------------
On Sunday 26 July 2009, around 150 armed Boko Haram militants attacked a police station in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, in retaliation for the arrest of one of its leaders. After slitting the throat of a policeman on guard, they went on a rampage, torching homes and vehicles owned by police to cries of "Allahu Akbar". They also attacked Maiduguri New Prisons where they killed the two gate wardens before breaking open the gates and liberating the prisoners. As Nigerian security forces counter-attacked, the conflict escalated and spread.
On Tuesday 28 July 2009, Nigerian security forces besieged and shelled the home of Boko Haram leader, Sheikh Mohammed Yusuf, where dozens of militants had congregated. They also stormed a local mosque known as a Boko Haram stronghold, spraying it with gunfire. According to the Red Cross, when the fighting was over, some 780 bodies were gathered up off the streets of Maiduguri for burial in mass graves.
By Thursday 30 July 09, Sheikh Mohammed Yusuf was in custody after being arrested at his in-law's house. By Friday 31 July 09, Sheikh Mohammed Yusuf was dead.
On 9 August 2009, Boko Haram issued a statement in which they pronounced "Mallam Yusuf" a martyr, along with "over 1000 of our [martyred] members killed by the wicked Nigerian army and police mostly of Southern Nigeria extraction". Furthermore, they declared that they had "started a Jihad in Nigeria". Declaring their intention to render the country ungovernable, they warned that Nigeria would be Islamised by force.
AL-QAEDA SUPPORTS BOKO HARAM EXPANSION
In mid June 2010, Boko Haram formalised its links with al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Furthermore, adds terrorism analyst Yossef Bodansky, AQIM is receiving aid and intelligence from Sudan and Iran "who are operating jointly in the Sahel" (Strategic Policy 8, 2010).
According to Bodansky, AQIM leader Abu Mousab Abdel Wadoud has pledged that the international jihadist movement will assist Boko Haram with weapons and training to enable al-Qaeda to gain "strategic depth" in sub-Saharan Africa and the solid foothold in Nigeria required for operations in West Africa. Bodansky warned (Aug 2010) that the AQIM link could lead to the emergence of "spectacular terrorism" al-Qaeda-style -- such as suicide-bombings -- hitherto unknown in Nigeria.
THE ABUJA BOMBING
On Monday 13 June 2011, in response to overtures from the government of President Goodluck Jonathan, Boko Haram laid down its preconditions for dialogue. In a letter made available to newsmen in Maiduguri, Boko Haram unapologetically demanded that before any dialogue with the government could take place, Sharia Law must be implemented across Northern Nigeria where Muslims form a majority, and the security officials implicated in the 31 July 2009 death in custody of Boko Haram leader, Sheikh Mohammed Yusuf, must be prosecuted.
On Tuesday 14 June, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Hafiz Ringim -- who was in Maiduguri to officially receive the donation of 10 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) and 10 Toyota Hilux vehicles donated to the police by the state government -- warned Boko Haram members that their days were numbered. He boasted that the police were now poised to wipe them out, adding, "No stone will be left unturned, until the menace of Boko Haram is unravelled."
Boko Haram responded with defiance: "Very soon, we would wage Jihad on the enemies of God and his messenger," they threatened. "We want to make it known that our Jihadists (warriors) have arrived [in] Nigeria from Somalia where they got serious training on warfare from our brethren who made the country ungovernable and forced the interim government to relocate to Kenya.
"We want to assure all security agencies that we would frustrate their efforts. By the grace of God, despite the armoured carriers that they are boasting of, they are no match with the training we acquired in Somalia".
While in Maiduguri, the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Abubakar Ringim, met with a man -- possibly someone offering himself as an informant. That man then joined the motor convoy that travelled back to Police Headquarters in Abuja on Thursday 16 July. Fortunately, as he tried to follow Ringim's car in through the main security perimeter, he was stopped by attendants who directed him to an adjacent car park. It was there that he detonated his explosives killing eight, wounding dozens and destroying 77 vehicles. Had he been permitted to follow the Inspector General's car into the central parking bay, many more people would have been killed.
Boko Harman wasted no time in claiming responsibility: "We are responsible for the bomb attack on the police headquarters in Abuja which was to prove a point to all who doubt our capability."
By attacking Louis Edet House, headquarters of the Nigerian Police, Boko Haram has indeed declared war on the government of Nigeria.
THREAT TO THE CHURCH
While Boko Haram has been busy assassinating police, MPs and traditional leaders; and bombing beer gardens, markets and police stations; it has also been busy terrorising Christians, killing pastors and bombing churches.
As reported in Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 088 (29 Dec 2010), on Christmas Eve 2010, Boko Haram militants perpetrated almost simultaneous attacks on two churches in Maiduguri. Three militants armed with guns and petrol bombs attacked the Sinimari Church of Christ in Nigeria, riddling the walls with bullet holes and killing the security guard, while some 30 jihadists descended on Victory Baptist Church on the other side of the city. Shouting "Allahu Akbar", they dragged out and executed Rev. Bulus Marwa (37) and shot dead Christopher Balami (50), Philip Luka (22), Paul Mathew (21) and Yohanna Adamu (26). Twenty-five other worshippers were wounded as the jihadists razed the church to the ground.
On the night of Saturday 1 January 2011, about 10 jihadists stormed the Victory Christ Church at Gawo Mai Lamba in London Cinki area of Maiduguri and set the church on fire, destroying part of the building. Fortunately no-one was killed.
On Tuesday 7 June, Rev. David Usman and the assistant secretary of his church were shot dead in their church -- Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) in Maiduguri -- by gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram. The gunmen reportedly arrived on motorcycles as the church was concluding a meeting. They shot the assistant secretary and ordered that someone phone and inform the pastor. Rev. David Usman ran to the church unaware that he was running into a trap. As he arrived, the pastor was gunned down by the waiting gunmen.
A Bomb-scare at a Maiduguri church on Sunday 26 June reveals the level of danger Christians face, confirming that security cannot be relaxed, not for a moment. The plot only failed because police, already on high alert, are maintaining rigorous security protocols.
A security officer at Maiduguri's already twice bombed Saint Patrick Catholic Church told James Bwala (reporting from Maiduguri for the Nigerian Tribune): "The stop and search became necessary following the recovery of some explosives in the bag of a female worshiper in one of the churches in town. The lady had on the fateful day asked her mother and siblings not to go to church for no convincing reason, but luck ran out on her when the curious mother called the attention of some church officials alongside security operatives, who quickly intercepted the lady and her co-evil plotters at the car park of the church."
Major General Jack Nwaogbo, the Commander of the Joint Task Force, confirmed that on Sunday 26 June, security operatives picked up two people "who pretended to be going to church to be converted but were discovered to have a different motive". Both remain under arrest.
BOKO HARAM THREATENS END-OF-JULY ANNIVERSARY TERROR
The Abuja suicide bombing and the bomb plots targetting the Church come in the context of Boko Haram's threat to mark the 31 July anniversary of Mohammed Yusuf's death in a "big way".
On Saturday 9 July 2011, the Saturday Tribune reported that sources close to the administration have confirmed to them that more than 100 trainee-jihadists have returned from Sudan and Somalia ready to be deployed in a massive terror campaign timed to commemorate the 26-31 July 2009 crisis, in particular the 31 July 09 death in custody of Sheikh Mohammed Yusuf. The trainee-jihadists have reportedly each received three-months training under the supervision of al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
Government sources confirmed to the Saturday Tribune that the attacks are being planned for a number of states including Borno, Katsina, Kaduna and Yobe.
Sources told the Tribune, "The operations of this sect [are] getting deeper than many people know. The international dimensions are overwhelming."
According to the Tribune, there is an exodus underway out of Maiduguri, with many people selling their homes and farms for a pittance.
On Wednesday 6 July 2011, Borno Governor Ali Modu Sheriff took steps towards appeasement and issued an apology to Boko Haram over his role in the brutal military crackdown on the radical Islamist sect.
In an advertorial published in local newspapers, Ali Modu Sheriff grovelled: "I wish to publicly tender my apology to the Jama’atul Ahliss-Sunnah Ladda’awaiti Wal Jihad and any other group I might have offended in the course of discharging my duties as the Executive Governor of Borno State. It is human to err and divine to forgive."
But in a subsequent statement issued by Boko Haram spokesman Abu Zaid, the group said would only accept Governor Ali Modu Sheriff's apology if he was to dissociate himself from "anti-Islamic activities".
With that, Ali Modu Sheriff resigned from office and fled the city.
Sheriff was not the only governor to be "grovelling" to Boko Haram. Gombe State Governor, Danjuma Goje, also apologised, as did Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda. The central government has done its share of grovelling too, for in line with one of Boko Haram's preconditions for dialogue, the police implicated in the 31 July 09 death in custody of Mohammed Yusuf have been indicted to face "terrorism" charges.
Concerning Boko Haram's threat for an end-of-July anniversary terror campaign, the Saturday Tribune reports: "The sect members warned all Muslims to stay away from Christians, security agents, government institutions and functions or face death, maintaining that, 'since the present Federal Government is not Islamic, every [one] of its employees is considered an infidel marked for elimination'." (emphasis mine)
The group concluded their lengthy statement on a confident note: "We are not in doubt that we are going to win this war. So far, we have an upper hand. Even if it means bringing external forces, we will fight to win. History has shown that when you are fighting in the cause of Allah, there will be a divine intervention . . ."
After asserting that their cause is "purely religious", Boko Haram warns Muslims not to hinder or undermine their activities lest the jihadists find it necessary to turn on them also.
It is ironic that after declaring that all infidels are marked for elimination; and after warning Muslims that the consequence of dissent will be death, Boko Haram sect leader, Muhammadu Abubakar Shekau, posted a statement to the internet in which he claimed that Boko Haram was fighting for "freedom of worship and assembly".
Unsurprisingly that freedom was immediately qualified and defined as freedom "for everybody to believe in Allah . . . jettison modern democracy and embrace Islam as their religion".
Essentially Boko Haram is pursuing an Islamic freedom -- i.e. freedom from fitna (anything that could shake the faith of a Muslim) -- a freedom that is essentially no freedom at all.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
IRAN: Islamic police state escalates repression and persecution
Biblical revelation preaches freedom in love. Islam (like all man-made religions) demands submission to law. While the God of the Bible demands perfection in love he freely provides a remedy for sin -- Jesus Christ -- and the Holy Spirit as helper. This is indeed Good News! On the other hand, while Islam demands submission to law it provides no remedy for sin, and so can only culminate in failure.
Meanwhile, the dictators of Islam employ religious forces -- Revolutionary Guards, Basij, muttawa, hisba, taliban etc -- to police 'vice and virtue'. To protect their own privilege and hegemony they deny Islam's failure and deflect scrutiny from Islam by blaming the victims. Driven by apostaphobia, they wage war against fitna (anything that could tempt a Muslim to doubt Islam).
Sunni reformation (as in Saudi Arabia) and Shi'ite revolution (as in Iran) have only produced repressive, totalitarian police states wracked with poverty, cruelty, despair and disillusionment.
In Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) was established for the defence of Islam, while the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) was established to eliminate all opposition and dissent -- which they virtually did, through purges, terrors and serial killings.
When President Khatami (1997-2004) pressed for reforms after the manner of 'glasnost' (openness) and 'perestroika' (restructuring), Ayatollah Khamenei engineered his removal. Through the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005 - ), the hegemony of the blood-stained IRGC and MOIS hardliners of the 1980s-90s has been restored.
See:
Iran: The Islamic Revolution is complete.
WEA RL News & Analysis by Elizabeth Kendal 29 Aug 2005
Iran: Old Guards Return.
WEA RL News & Analysis by Elizabeth Kendal 14 Dec 2005
The regime has just announced a massive boost in funding for the Basij (state sponsored Islamic vigilantes) to enable more recruitment and to establish 7000 new Resistance Bases across the state.
See:
Exclusive: Millions allocated to recruiting Bassij militia
Iran Focus, Tehran, 29 may 2010
Commander: IRGC, Basij Forces Ready to Defend Islamic Revolution
Fars News Agency, Tehran, 22 July 2010
Basij Forces Plan 7,000 New Bases
By Arash Aramesh, for InsideIran.org, 29 July 2010
Iran militia murder baker for calling Supreme Leader a dog
Iran Focus, Isfahan, Monday 2 Aug 2010
PERSECUTION
Persecution of the church escalated through 2009, aided by the fact that on account of Iraq, the US now needs Iran more than Iran needs the US -- leaving the US without leverage.
As noted in RLPB 041 (3 Feb 2010), the regime is escalating repression in order to curtail unrest emanating from widespread social dissatisfaction and economic distress. A wave of persecution hit the church in late Dec 2009 and early Jan 2010, during which time numerous Christians were harassed, interrogated, threatened and arrested. While most have been released on bond, some remain incarcerated and others have been added to their number.
Pastor Behrouz (Marco) Khanjani, who was arrested in Chiraz on 11 January after responding to a request from the authorities that he present himself for questioning, was bailed on 17 March only to be rearrested on 16 June. His wife, Fatemeh (Marie) Torkkajouri, was arrested the following day and placed in solitary confinement in Evin Prison. After informing Pastor Behrouz of his wife's fate, the authorities reportedly incarcerated him in 'Plate 100', a dungeon of the intelligent services in Chiraz. Their daughter Esperance is in the care of Muslim family members. Fatemeh was released on bail of $20,000 on 22 July.
See:
Behrouz Sadegh-Khanjani and His Wife Held Incommunicado.
Human Rights House of Iran (RAHANA) 13 July 2010
Christian Citizen Fatemeh Tork-kajouir released on bail
RAHANA 23 July 2010
Meanwhile, Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, who was arrested in Rasht on 13 October 2009 for protesting the regime's plans to force Islamic education on all children in violation of the constitution, has reportedly been sentenced to death. Furthermore, on 8 June 2010, Pastor Yousef's wife, Fatemeh (Tina) Passandideh, was arrested and placed in solitary confinement in Evin Prison. The authorities have threatened to remove the couple's two children, Yoel and Daniel, to an Islamic institution.
On 18 July 2010, a group of 15 new believers travelling together by bus to the provincial town of Bojnoord were ambushed by informed security forces and arrested in the city of Mashhad. After one week of harsh interrogations, believers who signed 'confessions' were freed on conditions including that bail payment would be forthcoming. Mr Reza (48, also known as Stephen) and Mr Ehsan Behrooz (23) refused to cooperate. They have been incarcerated in the 901st branch of the Revolutionary court in Mashhad.
See:
IRAN- The Mass Arrest of New Christian Converts in Mashhad
Farsi Christian News Network, 2 Aug 2010
For prayer bulletin and preayer suggestion see:
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin 067 (5 Aug 2010).
Meanwhile, the dictators of Islam employ religious forces -- Revolutionary Guards, Basij, muttawa, hisba, taliban etc -- to police 'vice and virtue'. To protect their own privilege and hegemony they deny Islam's failure and deflect scrutiny from Islam by blaming the victims. Driven by apostaphobia, they wage war against fitna (anything that could tempt a Muslim to doubt Islam).
Sunni reformation (as in Saudi Arabia) and Shi'ite revolution (as in Iran) have only produced repressive, totalitarian police states wracked with poverty, cruelty, despair and disillusionment.
In Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) was established for the defence of Islam, while the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) was established to eliminate all opposition and dissent -- which they virtually did, through purges, terrors and serial killings.
When President Khatami (1997-2004) pressed for reforms after the manner of 'glasnost' (openness) and 'perestroika' (restructuring), Ayatollah Khamenei engineered his removal. Through the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005 - ), the hegemony of the blood-stained IRGC and MOIS hardliners of the 1980s-90s has been restored.
See:
Iran: The Islamic Revolution is complete.
WEA RL News & Analysis by Elizabeth Kendal 29 Aug 2005
Iran: Old Guards Return.
WEA RL News & Analysis by Elizabeth Kendal 14 Dec 2005
The regime has just announced a massive boost in funding for the Basij (state sponsored Islamic vigilantes) to enable more recruitment and to establish 7000 new Resistance Bases across the state.
See:
Exclusive: Millions allocated to recruiting Bassij militia
Iran Focus, Tehran, 29 may 2010
Commander: IRGC, Basij Forces Ready to Defend Islamic Revolution
Fars News Agency, Tehran, 22 July 2010
Basij Forces Plan 7,000 New Bases
By Arash Aramesh, for InsideIran.org, 29 July 2010
Iran militia murder baker for calling Supreme Leader a dog
Iran Focus, Isfahan, Monday 2 Aug 2010
PERSECUTION
Persecution of the church escalated through 2009, aided by the fact that on account of Iraq, the US now needs Iran more than Iran needs the US -- leaving the US without leverage.
As noted in RLPB 041 (3 Feb 2010), the regime is escalating repression in order to curtail unrest emanating from widespread social dissatisfaction and economic distress. A wave of persecution hit the church in late Dec 2009 and early Jan 2010, during which time numerous Christians were harassed, interrogated, threatened and arrested. While most have been released on bond, some remain incarcerated and others have been added to their number.
Pastor Behrouz (Marco) Khanjani, who was arrested in Chiraz on 11 January after responding to a request from the authorities that he present himself for questioning, was bailed on 17 March only to be rearrested on 16 June. His wife, Fatemeh (Marie) Torkkajouri, was arrested the following day and placed in solitary confinement in Evin Prison. After informing Pastor Behrouz of his wife's fate, the authorities reportedly incarcerated him in 'Plate 100', a dungeon of the intelligent services in Chiraz. Their daughter Esperance is in the care of Muslim family members. Fatemeh was released on bail of $20,000 on 22 July.
See:
Behrouz Sadegh-Khanjani and His Wife Held Incommunicado.
Human Rights House of Iran (RAHANA) 13 July 2010
Christian Citizen Fatemeh Tork-kajouir released on bail
RAHANA 23 July 2010
Meanwhile, Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, who was arrested in Rasht on 13 October 2009 for protesting the regime's plans to force Islamic education on all children in violation of the constitution, has reportedly been sentenced to death. Furthermore, on 8 June 2010, Pastor Yousef's wife, Fatemeh (Tina) Passandideh, was arrested and placed in solitary confinement in Evin Prison. The authorities have threatened to remove the couple's two children, Yoel and Daniel, to an Islamic institution.
On 18 July 2010, a group of 15 new believers travelling together by bus to the provincial town of Bojnoord were ambushed by informed security forces and arrested in the city of Mashhad. After one week of harsh interrogations, believers who signed 'confessions' were freed on conditions including that bail payment would be forthcoming. Mr Reza (48, also known as Stephen) and Mr Ehsan Behrooz (23) refused to cooperate. They have been incarcerated in the 901st branch of the Revolutionary court in Mashhad.
See:
IRAN- The Mass Arrest of New Christian Converts in Mashhad
Farsi Christian News Network, 2 Aug 2010
For prayer bulletin and preayer suggestion see:
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin 067 (5 Aug 2010).
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
INDONESIA: Fitna and apostaphobia in Bekasi.
NOTE: According to the Jakarta Post (2 July 2010) a leading British academic has called for greater assimilation between the EU and Islam, citing Indonesia as a key example of a peaceful coexistence between Muslims and a democratic government.
EU should embrace Islam: Expert
FITNA and APOSTAPHOBIA in Bekasi
Bekasi, located in the outskirts of Jakarta, West Java, is a culturally and religiously diverse city. However, converging trends of migration, urbanisation, Islamic radicalisation, and rapid development in residential and industrial zones has turned Bekasi into a hot-spot for religious tension rooted in Islamic apostaphobia (fear of converts and conversions).
On Sunday 27 June, at the second Bekasi Islamic Congress held in Bekasi's Al-Azhar Mosque, the call was made for all Bekasi Muslims to prepare for a fight. "[Christians] have gone too far," said Abdul Rouf, the head of the Bekasi branch of Muhammadiyah.
According to the Jakarta Post, on the last day of the Congress (Sunday 27 June), a new group to be known as the Bekasi Islamic Presidium was formed and tasked specifically with addressing the "Christianisation problem". Consisting of nine members representing different Islamic organisations in the city, the Bekasi Islamic Presidium's recommendations include the formation of Islamic militant groups (laskar) within each mosque and the drafting of Shariah-based policies by the Bekasi administration.
Sulaiman Zachawerus, the chairman of the Bekasi branch of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), told the 500-strong Congress, "We will urge the [Bekasi] regency and municipal administrations to pass more sharia-based bylaws and regulations to limit apostasy and squeeze out attempts to weaken Muslim unity in the city." (NOTE: Sharia limits apostasy by making it a capital offense.)
Bekasi administration spokesman Endang Suharyandi consented, saying, "As long as it does not violate any regulations," the municipality will support the implementation of the Sharia-based policies and carry out the Congress' recommendations.
Murhali Barda, head of the Bekasi chapter of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday: "All Muslims should unite and standby because . . . the Christians are on to something. Apparently they want to test our patience. We are planning to invite them for a dialogue to determine what they really want. If talks fail, this might mean war."
Speaking on behalf of the Wahid Institute, Yenny Wahid told the Jakarta Globe that she wanted to see the government being more assertive toward hard-line religious groups. "Anarchism on behalf of religion is increasing, and the government seems to fear any group that uses Islam," she said.
Rev. Palti Panjaitan of the HKBP Filadelfia congregation in Bekasi, which has been refused a permit to build a church, agreed, noting that several Islamic radical groups operated as if they were guaranteed impunity.
Yunahar Ilyas, a chairman of Muhammadiyah, told the Jakarta Post that there were innate "ethical" problems with religious missionaries in the country.
The "unwritten" rules among missionaries, he said, stipulated that one should not attempt to convert those who had already embraced a religion.
"Once the rule is broken," said Ilyas, "it becomes a sensitive matter and the local administration must play an active intermediary role in preventing the conflict from escalating."
The Bekasi Islamic Presidium is planning a roadshow aimed at persuading every mosque in Bekasi to form its own paramilitary unit (laskar) that can be quickly mobilised if the decision is made for "war".
"We are planning to station members in every mosque in the city," said Tunggal Sawabi, an official with the Bekasi branch of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) who was appointed as one of the field commanders.
Abdul Qadir Aka, secretary general of the proselytisation board at FPI Bekasi, believes the militant groups are of strategic importance. "When the need arrives we will have units that can be mobilized," he said. "We cannot just depend on the FPI. We have hundreds and even thousands of mosques in Bekasi. Imagine what we can do together."
See:
Bekasi Muslim Groups Call for Formation of Militia Units, Warn of Potential 'War'
By Ulma Haryanto, Jakarta Globe, Sunday 27 June 2010
'Call to Arms' the Latest Chapter in City's Simmering Religious Tensions
By Ulma Haryanto, Jakarta Globe, Monday 28 June 2010
Muslim Groups Talk War Over ‘Christianization’
By Ulma Haryanto, Jakarta Globe, 28 June 2010
Radical groups urge Bekasi administration to implement Sharia law
Hasyim Widhiarto, The Jakarta Post, Bekasi, West Java, Sunday 27 June 2010
Hard-line groups target Christianity with sharia law
By Hasyim Widhiarto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Monday 28 June 2010
According to Indonesia's 2000 census, 10 percent of Indonesians are Christian. Indonesian Christian leaders however, say that figure is too small. Operation World (2000) puts the figure at 16 percent. According to a recent TIME magazine article entitled: 'Christianity's Surge in Indonesia' (26 April 2010), Indonesia is experiencing a "religious revolution". There are more Islamic headscarves (signifying growth in fundamentalist political Islam) and there are more churches (signifying growth in the Christianity).
Furthermore, as TIME notes, the growth in Christianity is coming from conversions as opposed to births. According to TIME, nominal Muslims, disillusioned by violent terrorism and the spread of repressive Sharia Law, are questioning and rejecting Islam.
The "unwritten" rules of missionary activity that Yunahar Ilyas spoke of are Islamic rules: i.e. everyone is free to convert to Islam, while no-one is free to leave; and no-one may tempt a Muslim to leave Islam. As Islam deems every child born to a Muslim father to be Muslim, what choice does any Muslim have in the matter of personal faith? None! Christianity on the other hand advocates religious freedom.
But even if Christians submit to Islamic proscriptions in order to prevent tensions and avoid troubles, the issue of fitna still arises. For even without speech, even without intention, Christians can still lead Muslims to the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course Islam itself fuels the process (as TIME noted) by disillusioning and repulsing its more nominal and "secular" adherents, many of whom hold a worldview more compatable with Christianity than with Islam to start with.
For fitna is anything at all, from vile torture to magnetic grace, that could tempt a Muslim to leave Islam. Fitna is the presence of a church (which explains why churches in West Java are being forced closed and denied permits). Fitna is Christian benevolence and humanitarianism (which is why Christian aid groups are increasingly under fire). Fitna is the very existence of thriving, joyous Christians when Islam mandates that Christians be subjugated, vulnerable, miserable dhimmis. In Islam, fitna is equated with persecution, which must be eliminated.
Fitna is fast overtaking proselytism as the primary and pivotal issue in Muslim-Christian relations. This increases the jihad threat-level considerably.
The issue at the root of it all, however, is the ageless problem of Islamic apostaphobia.
EU should embrace Islam: Expert
FITNA and APOSTAPHOBIA in Bekasi
Bekasi, located in the outskirts of Jakarta, West Java, is a culturally and religiously diverse city. However, converging trends of migration, urbanisation, Islamic radicalisation, and rapid development in residential and industrial zones has turned Bekasi into a hot-spot for religious tension rooted in Islamic apostaphobia (fear of converts and conversions).
On Sunday 27 June, at the second Bekasi Islamic Congress held in Bekasi's Al-Azhar Mosque, the call was made for all Bekasi Muslims to prepare for a fight. "[Christians] have gone too far," said Abdul Rouf, the head of the Bekasi branch of Muhammadiyah.
According to the Jakarta Post, on the last day of the Congress (Sunday 27 June), a new group to be known as the Bekasi Islamic Presidium was formed and tasked specifically with addressing the "Christianisation problem". Consisting of nine members representing different Islamic organisations in the city, the Bekasi Islamic Presidium's recommendations include the formation of Islamic militant groups (laskar) within each mosque and the drafting of Shariah-based policies by the Bekasi administration.
Sulaiman Zachawerus, the chairman of the Bekasi branch of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), told the 500-strong Congress, "We will urge the [Bekasi] regency and municipal administrations to pass more sharia-based bylaws and regulations to limit apostasy and squeeze out attempts to weaken Muslim unity in the city." (NOTE: Sharia limits apostasy by making it a capital offense.)
Bekasi administration spokesman Endang Suharyandi consented, saying, "As long as it does not violate any regulations," the municipality will support the implementation of the Sharia-based policies and carry out the Congress' recommendations.
Murhali Barda, head of the Bekasi chapter of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday: "All Muslims should unite and standby because . . . the Christians are on to something. Apparently they want to test our patience. We are planning to invite them for a dialogue to determine what they really want. If talks fail, this might mean war."
Speaking on behalf of the Wahid Institute, Yenny Wahid told the Jakarta Globe that she wanted to see the government being more assertive toward hard-line religious groups. "Anarchism on behalf of religion is increasing, and the government seems to fear any group that uses Islam," she said.
Rev. Palti Panjaitan of the HKBP Filadelfia congregation in Bekasi, which has been refused a permit to build a church, agreed, noting that several Islamic radical groups operated as if they were guaranteed impunity.
Yunahar Ilyas, a chairman of Muhammadiyah, told the Jakarta Post that there were innate "ethical" problems with religious missionaries in the country.
The "unwritten" rules among missionaries, he said, stipulated that one should not attempt to convert those who had already embraced a religion.
"Once the rule is broken," said Ilyas, "it becomes a sensitive matter and the local administration must play an active intermediary role in preventing the conflict from escalating."
The Bekasi Islamic Presidium is planning a roadshow aimed at persuading every mosque in Bekasi to form its own paramilitary unit (laskar) that can be quickly mobilised if the decision is made for "war".
"We are planning to station members in every mosque in the city," said Tunggal Sawabi, an official with the Bekasi branch of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) who was appointed as one of the field commanders.
Abdul Qadir Aka, secretary general of the proselytisation board at FPI Bekasi, believes the militant groups are of strategic importance. "When the need arrives we will have units that can be mobilized," he said. "We cannot just depend on the FPI. We have hundreds and even thousands of mosques in Bekasi. Imagine what we can do together."
See:
Bekasi Muslim Groups Call for Formation of Militia Units, Warn of Potential 'War'
By Ulma Haryanto, Jakarta Globe, Sunday 27 June 2010
'Call to Arms' the Latest Chapter in City's Simmering Religious Tensions
By Ulma Haryanto, Jakarta Globe, Monday 28 June 2010
Muslim Groups Talk War Over ‘Christianization’
By Ulma Haryanto, Jakarta Globe, 28 June 2010
Radical groups urge Bekasi administration to implement Sharia law
Hasyim Widhiarto, The Jakarta Post, Bekasi, West Java, Sunday 27 June 2010
Hard-line groups target Christianity with sharia law
By Hasyim Widhiarto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Monday 28 June 2010
According to Indonesia's 2000 census, 10 percent of Indonesians are Christian. Indonesian Christian leaders however, say that figure is too small. Operation World (2000) puts the figure at 16 percent. According to a recent TIME magazine article entitled: 'Christianity's Surge in Indonesia' (26 April 2010), Indonesia is experiencing a "religious revolution". There are more Islamic headscarves (signifying growth in fundamentalist political Islam) and there are more churches (signifying growth in the Christianity).
Furthermore, as TIME notes, the growth in Christianity is coming from conversions as opposed to births. According to TIME, nominal Muslims, disillusioned by violent terrorism and the spread of repressive Sharia Law, are questioning and rejecting Islam.
The "unwritten" rules of missionary activity that Yunahar Ilyas spoke of are Islamic rules: i.e. everyone is free to convert to Islam, while no-one is free to leave; and no-one may tempt a Muslim to leave Islam. As Islam deems every child born to a Muslim father to be Muslim, what choice does any Muslim have in the matter of personal faith? None! Christianity on the other hand advocates religious freedom.
But even if Christians submit to Islamic proscriptions in order to prevent tensions and avoid troubles, the issue of fitna still arises. For even without speech, even without intention, Christians can still lead Muslims to the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course Islam itself fuels the process (as TIME noted) by disillusioning and repulsing its more nominal and "secular" adherents, many of whom hold a worldview more compatable with Christianity than with Islam to start with.
For fitna is anything at all, from vile torture to magnetic grace, that could tempt a Muslim to leave Islam. Fitna is the presence of a church (which explains why churches in West Java are being forced closed and denied permits). Fitna is Christian benevolence and humanitarianism (which is why Christian aid groups are increasingly under fire). Fitna is the very existence of thriving, joyous Christians when Islam mandates that Christians be subjugated, vulnerable, miserable dhimmis. In Islam, fitna is equated with persecution, which must be eliminated.
Fitna is fast overtaking proselytism as the primary and pivotal issue in Muslim-Christian relations. This increases the jihad threat-level considerably.
The issue at the root of it all, however, is the ageless problem of Islamic apostaphobia.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Afghanistan: what chance do 'apostates' have when their government is pursuing peace and reconciliation with an ascendant Taliban?
updated 1 July 2010
On Monday 31 May, the government of Afghanistan suspended two church-based aid organisations -- US-based Church World Service (CWS) and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) -- over allegations of proselytisation.
According to the New York Times, "Both groups have major operations in Afghanistan, disbursing millions of dollars in aid. Church World Service employs 190 people, and Norwegian Church Aid 50 people in a variety of development programs here, the government said."
Christian Post reports that the "U.S.-based CWS is a cooperative ministry of 36 Christian denominations and communions. It operates relief and development programs in more than 80 countries. Norwegian Church Aid [which has worked in Afghanistan since 1979] operates in some 125 countries and provides emergency relief and development aid to poor communities and people in need."
Both groups are vociferously denying the charge, insisting they do not evangelise and have adhered to the Islamic State's strict protocols. Of course one does not need to preach/evangelise to be guilty of fitna. Fitna is anything at all that could have the effect of tempting or seducing a Muslim to turn away from Islam -- anything from vile torture to magnetic grace. In Islam, fitna is equated with persecution and must be eliminated. (For a fuller examination of fitna, see my earlier posting: "Fitna in Morocco".)
Islam is inherently apostaphobic, and leaving Islam (apostasy) is a capital offense under Afghan law and it is illegal to proselytise. The allegations emerged on 27 and 28 May, via a privately-run Afghan television station, Noorin TV, which broadcast video footage reportedly showing Afghans being baptised and participating with Westerners in Christian prayer meetings being held in alleged "missionary safe houses" in western Kabul. While CWS and NCA were specifically named, Noorin TV unashamedly confesses it has NO evidence they were involved. According to the producer, the report merely raised "suspicions" about the two groups whose names had simply been selected out of the telephone directory on account of the fact that they contained the word "church".
See: Afghanistan Suspends Two Aid Groups
By Rod Nordland and Abdul Waheed Wafa
New York Times, 31 May 2010
According to Reuters (31 May), Sediq Amarkhil, a spokesman for the economy ministry said on Sunday 30 May, it had formed a commission to investigate all NGOs after a local TV report accusing aid groups of promoting Christianity. "We are very, very serious about this matter," said Amarkhil. "If proven that any NGO is operating against the norms and laws of Afghanistan and Islam and is inviting people to Christianity . . . we will not only close it down, but will hand it over to the judicial and legal organs of the government."
In Kabul, angry protesters have demanded the expulsion of foreigners who try to convert Muslims. In parliament, Abdul Sattar Khawasi, a deputy of the lower house, called for Muslim converts to Christianity to be executed, saying: "Those Afghans that appeared in this video film should be executed in public, the house should order the attorney general and the NDS (intelligence agency) to arrest these Afghans and execute them." Qazi Nazir Ahmad, a lawmaker from the western province of Herat, affirmed that killing an apostate is "not a crime".
Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai is reportedly taking a personal interest in the case and has ordered an investigation, but not because he is keen to defend religious liberty. According to Waheed Omar, the President's spokesman, Karzai has instructed his interior minister and the head of country's spy agency "to take immediate and serious action to prevent this phenomenon".
A European diplomat told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that he suspected there might be a "hidden political agenda", behind the Noorin TV broadcast, "at a time when stirring up anti-foreign sentiment is quite fashionable in Kabul".
See: Afghan president takes 'personal interest' in suspended NGOs
(AFP) 1 June 2010
Pursuing peace and reconciliation with the Taliban
This drama is unfolding parallel to President Hamid Karzai's desperate efforts to entice the Taliban into a peace agreement. A government-run three-day Consultative Peace Jirga commenced in Kabul on 2 June, just days after the proselytising accusations were broadcast and the government's and Karzai's indignation had been loudly publicised. Karzai no longer needs to defend religious liberty to maintain Western favour -- unlike in March 2006 when he facilitated the escape of convert Abdul Rahman so as to avoid risking Western aid. It is the Taliban that needs to be seduced now, not Western governments. Western governments want whatever leads to "peace".
The main purpose of the Jirga -- to which some 1,600 Afghans were invited -- was to discuss plans for reconciling with the Taliban and other insurgent groups.
See: Afghan jirga's resolutions 'nice on paper'
By Waheedullah Massoud (AFP) 6 June 2010
As part of the British-authored, US-approved Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program, Taliban insurgents who denounce violence and lay down their weapons will receive material support including cash, and amnesty. Billions of dollars will thus be channelled to alleged 'de-radicalised' Taliban. Western Nations desperate for "peace" are lining up to contribute to the Peace and Reintegration Trust Fund (RTF). Australia, for instance, has pledged $25 million. Officials estimate the RTF will disburse more than $1.5 billion in the next few years.
See: $25m promised to woo Taliban insurgents
By Dan Oaks, Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), 30 January 2010
(According to this article, "Australia will contribute $100 million more in aid to Afghanistan, including $25 million to a fund to lure insurgents to the Afghan Government's side" . . . $20 million for mine clearance and $55 million for reconstruction, agricultural reform and promotion of [Islamic?] human rights.)
Ministerial statement on Afghanistan, 2 February 2010
By the Hon Stephen Smith, Australian Minister for Foreign Affaris
Ministerial Statement on Afghanistan, 18 March 2010
By Senator the Hon John Faulkner, Minister for Defence
Of course you really don't need too many brain cells to imagine how this scheme could be massively rorted to produce the exact opposite of what was intended.
Broken promises send Taliban back into battle
By Tom Hyland, The AGE (Melbourne, Australia), 16 May 2010
ANALYSIS: "Flawed" peace strategy in Afghanistan
By IRIN (a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs)
KABUL, 31 May 2010
REPORT: "Golden Surrender? The risks, challenges, and implications of reintegration in Afghanistan" (March 2010).
By Matt Waldman, a fellow at the Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy, Harvard University.
The foundational premise underlying the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program is the belief that "most of the rank-and-file insurgents are fighting primarily for economic reasons and an attractive reintegration package will wean them off the conflict" (IRIN).
Yet as Waldman notes: "Golden surrender' [the US military's term] holds little appeal for those who are not fighting for gold."
However, in his ONLY mention of Islam in his entire 11 report, Waldman lists "tribal, community, and group exclusion or disempowerment; leverage in local rivalries, feuds, and conflicts; government predation, impunity, or corruption; criminality, disorder, and the perversion of justice; civilian casualties and abusive raids or detentions; resistance to perceived western occupation or suppression of Islam; the hedging of bets; and as a reaction to threats, intimidation, or coercion" as reasons driving people to join the insurgency. (p 4) (emphasis mine)
Nowhere in Waldman's report (which is excellent on so many other levels) or in the IRIN analysis, is the issue of Islam as a motivating factor even raised.
Waldman does however raise the issue of honour and status (p 6). Yet even here he only considers honour and status as they may be acquired through money and power. Yet the fact remains, that many Taliban are Taliban because in such an orthodox Islamic fundamentalist society, honour and status are not derived from wealth or from being a gainfully employed husband and father, as much as from being a jihadist, suffering deprivation and risking life and limb to fighting in the cause of Allah. Like most Western analysts, Waldman insists on viewing the insurgency as a "social and cultural phenomenon" that can be addressed without reference to Islam. Thus the issue of orthodox Islamic fundamentalism as a "root cause" of the insurgency is never even raised.
Waldman concludes: "Perhaps the greatest risk is that the [reintegration] programme distracts policy‐makers from addressing the root causes of the conflict, especially predatory, exclusionary politics, and the abuse of power. This would be treating the symptoms while ignoring the cancer.
"Into what kind of society are we asking insurgents to integrate? 'Golden surrender' holds little appeal for those who are not fighting for gold. Indeed, there would seem to be as much need for the social and political reintegration of government officials and other power‐holders into society, as there is for insurgents. If this happens – through fairer politics, better government, and stronger development – it may well be that reintegration starts to happen quietly of its own accord." (p 11)
And this is exactly the point -- except Waldman is not seeing what Karzai sees. Karzai is desperately busy making Afghanistan into the kind of society that the Taliban might wish to integrate. This is why he has been on the path of Islamisation and Talibanisation since 2006.
The Taliban are not interested in peace because they are ascendant. Even now, they can terrorise Kabul at will. They can smell victory and are just biding their time until the US and allied forces depart, then, whether they decide to take over Kabul or not, they will certainly dictate their terms.
And so Karzai is offering appeasements and inducements in the hope that the ascendant Taliban will ensure his government's survival, albeit as a puppet or facade.
In such an environment of political and existential desperation, the lives of the Afghan believers who have been filmed being baptised or praying to the Lord, are imminently imperilled.
The Islamic masses are against them. The Islamic State's constitution is against them. Their own government -- including their West-backed president -- is against them. Thankfully the God of their salvation, the Almighty eternal God Yehovah, is with them and for them.
(this post is an expanded version of Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin 059, released 9 June 2010)
UPDATE:
Sources have told Christian Solidarity Worldwide that more than 20 Afghan Christians have been detained in Afghanistan since early June. Reportedly non-Christians with ties to Westerners have also been targeted for interrogation.
Afghan Christian refugees arriving in India on 8 June reported there had already been many arrests and searches as well as claiming that arrested Christians were being tortured for information on the 'underground church'.
Afghan Christian refugees have also been targeted for persecution in Delhi, India. On 14 June a group of Afghan Muslim refugees deliberately rammed their car into a disabled Afghan Christian refugee named Hamidullah. Earlier in the month a young Afghan Christian refugee named Mirdad Al was attacked by a group of Indian and Afghan Muslims who abused him as a pagan and infidel. Indian police reportedly refuse to extend protection to 'illegal immigrants'.
On Monday 31 May, the government of Afghanistan suspended two church-based aid organisations -- US-based Church World Service (CWS) and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) -- over allegations of proselytisation.
According to the New York Times, "Both groups have major operations in Afghanistan, disbursing millions of dollars in aid. Church World Service employs 190 people, and Norwegian Church Aid 50 people in a variety of development programs here, the government said."
Christian Post reports that the "U.S.-based CWS is a cooperative ministry of 36 Christian denominations and communions. It operates relief and development programs in more than 80 countries. Norwegian Church Aid [which has worked in Afghanistan since 1979] operates in some 125 countries and provides emergency relief and development aid to poor communities and people in need."
Both groups are vociferously denying the charge, insisting they do not evangelise and have adhered to the Islamic State's strict protocols. Of course one does not need to preach/evangelise to be guilty of fitna. Fitna is anything at all that could have the effect of tempting or seducing a Muslim to turn away from Islam -- anything from vile torture to magnetic grace. In Islam, fitna is equated with persecution and must be eliminated. (For a fuller examination of fitna, see my earlier posting: "Fitna in Morocco".)
Islam is inherently apostaphobic, and leaving Islam (apostasy) is a capital offense under Afghan law and it is illegal to proselytise. The allegations emerged on 27 and 28 May, via a privately-run Afghan television station, Noorin TV, which broadcast video footage reportedly showing Afghans being baptised and participating with Westerners in Christian prayer meetings being held in alleged "missionary safe houses" in western Kabul. While CWS and NCA were specifically named, Noorin TV unashamedly confesses it has NO evidence they were involved. According to the producer, the report merely raised "suspicions" about the two groups whose names had simply been selected out of the telephone directory on account of the fact that they contained the word "church".
See: Afghanistan Suspends Two Aid Groups
By Rod Nordland and Abdul Waheed Wafa
New York Times, 31 May 2010
According to Reuters (31 May), Sediq Amarkhil, a spokesman for the economy ministry said on Sunday 30 May, it had formed a commission to investigate all NGOs after a local TV report accusing aid groups of promoting Christianity. "We are very, very serious about this matter," said Amarkhil. "If proven that any NGO is operating against the norms and laws of Afghanistan and Islam and is inviting people to Christianity . . . we will not only close it down, but will hand it over to the judicial and legal organs of the government."
In Kabul, angry protesters have demanded the expulsion of foreigners who try to convert Muslims. In parliament, Abdul Sattar Khawasi, a deputy of the lower house, called for Muslim converts to Christianity to be executed, saying: "Those Afghans that appeared in this video film should be executed in public, the house should order the attorney general and the NDS (intelligence agency) to arrest these Afghans and execute them." Qazi Nazir Ahmad, a lawmaker from the western province of Herat, affirmed that killing an apostate is "not a crime".
Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai is reportedly taking a personal interest in the case and has ordered an investigation, but not because he is keen to defend religious liberty. According to Waheed Omar, the President's spokesman, Karzai has instructed his interior minister and the head of country's spy agency "to take immediate and serious action to prevent this phenomenon".
A European diplomat told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that he suspected there might be a "hidden political agenda", behind the Noorin TV broadcast, "at a time when stirring up anti-foreign sentiment is quite fashionable in Kabul".
See: Afghan president takes 'personal interest' in suspended NGOs
(AFP) 1 June 2010
Pursuing peace and reconciliation with the Taliban
This drama is unfolding parallel to President Hamid Karzai's desperate efforts to entice the Taliban into a peace agreement. A government-run three-day Consultative Peace Jirga commenced in Kabul on 2 June, just days after the proselytising accusations were broadcast and the government's and Karzai's indignation had been loudly publicised. Karzai no longer needs to defend religious liberty to maintain Western favour -- unlike in March 2006 when he facilitated the escape of convert Abdul Rahman so as to avoid risking Western aid. It is the Taliban that needs to be seduced now, not Western governments. Western governments want whatever leads to "peace".
The main purpose of the Jirga -- to which some 1,600 Afghans were invited -- was to discuss plans for reconciling with the Taliban and other insurgent groups.
See: Afghan jirga's resolutions 'nice on paper'
By Waheedullah Massoud (AFP) 6 June 2010
As part of the British-authored, US-approved Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program, Taliban insurgents who denounce violence and lay down their weapons will receive material support including cash, and amnesty. Billions of dollars will thus be channelled to alleged 'de-radicalised' Taliban. Western Nations desperate for "peace" are lining up to contribute to the Peace and Reintegration Trust Fund (RTF). Australia, for instance, has pledged $25 million. Officials estimate the RTF will disburse more than $1.5 billion in the next few years.
See: $25m promised to woo Taliban insurgents
By Dan Oaks, Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), 30 January 2010
(According to this article, "Australia will contribute $100 million more in aid to Afghanistan, including $25 million to a fund to lure insurgents to the Afghan Government's side" . . . $20 million for mine clearance and $55 million for reconstruction, agricultural reform and promotion of [Islamic?] human rights.)
Ministerial statement on Afghanistan, 2 February 2010
By the Hon Stephen Smith, Australian Minister for Foreign Affaris
Ministerial Statement on Afghanistan, 18 March 2010
By Senator the Hon John Faulkner, Minister for Defence
Of course you really don't need too many brain cells to imagine how this scheme could be massively rorted to produce the exact opposite of what was intended.
Broken promises send Taliban back into battle
By Tom Hyland, The AGE (Melbourne, Australia), 16 May 2010
ANALYSIS: "Flawed" peace strategy in Afghanistan
By IRIN (a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs)
KABUL, 31 May 2010
REPORT: "Golden Surrender? The risks, challenges, and implications of reintegration in Afghanistan" (March 2010).
By Matt Waldman, a fellow at the Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy, Harvard University.
The foundational premise underlying the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program is the belief that "most of the rank-and-file insurgents are fighting primarily for economic reasons and an attractive reintegration package will wean them off the conflict" (IRIN).
Yet as Waldman notes: "Golden surrender' [the US military's term] holds little appeal for those who are not fighting for gold."
However, in his ONLY mention of Islam in his entire 11 report, Waldman lists "tribal, community, and group exclusion or disempowerment; leverage in local rivalries, feuds, and conflicts; government predation, impunity, or corruption; criminality, disorder, and the perversion of justice; civilian casualties and abusive raids or detentions; resistance to perceived western occupation or suppression of Islam; the hedging of bets; and as a reaction to threats, intimidation, or coercion" as reasons driving people to join the insurgency. (p 4) (emphasis mine)
Nowhere in Waldman's report (which is excellent on so many other levels) or in the IRIN analysis, is the issue of Islam as a motivating factor even raised.
Waldman does however raise the issue of honour and status (p 6). Yet even here he only considers honour and status as they may be acquired through money and power. Yet the fact remains, that many Taliban are Taliban because in such an orthodox Islamic fundamentalist society, honour and status are not derived from wealth or from being a gainfully employed husband and father, as much as from being a jihadist, suffering deprivation and risking life and limb to fighting in the cause of Allah. Like most Western analysts, Waldman insists on viewing the insurgency as a "social and cultural phenomenon" that can be addressed without reference to Islam. Thus the issue of orthodox Islamic fundamentalism as a "root cause" of the insurgency is never even raised.
Waldman concludes: "Perhaps the greatest risk is that the [reintegration] programme distracts policy‐makers from addressing the root causes of the conflict, especially predatory, exclusionary politics, and the abuse of power. This would be treating the symptoms while ignoring the cancer.
"Into what kind of society are we asking insurgents to integrate? 'Golden surrender' holds little appeal for those who are not fighting for gold. Indeed, there would seem to be as much need for the social and political reintegration of government officials and other power‐holders into society, as there is for insurgents. If this happens – through fairer politics, better government, and stronger development – it may well be that reintegration starts to happen quietly of its own accord." (p 11)
And this is exactly the point -- except Waldman is not seeing what Karzai sees. Karzai is desperately busy making Afghanistan into the kind of society that the Taliban might wish to integrate. This is why he has been on the path of Islamisation and Talibanisation since 2006.
The Taliban are not interested in peace because they are ascendant. Even now, they can terrorise Kabul at will. They can smell victory and are just biding their time until the US and allied forces depart, then, whether they decide to take over Kabul or not, they will certainly dictate their terms.
And so Karzai is offering appeasements and inducements in the hope that the ascendant Taliban will ensure his government's survival, albeit as a puppet or facade.
In such an environment of political and existential desperation, the lives of the Afghan believers who have been filmed being baptised or praying to the Lord, are imminently imperilled.
The Islamic masses are against them. The Islamic State's constitution is against them. Their own government -- including their West-backed president -- is against them. Thankfully the God of their salvation, the Almighty eternal God Yehovah, is with them and for them.
(this post is an expanded version of Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin 059, released 9 June 2010)
UPDATE:
Sources have told Christian Solidarity Worldwide that more than 20 Afghan Christians have been detained in Afghanistan since early June. Reportedly non-Christians with ties to Westerners have also been targeted for interrogation.
Afghan Christian refugees arriving in India on 8 June reported there had already been many arrests and searches as well as claiming that arrested Christians were being tortured for information on the 'underground church'.
Afghan Christian refugees have also been targeted for persecution in Delhi, India. On 14 June a group of Afghan Muslim refugees deliberately rammed their car into a disabled Afghan Christian refugee named Hamidullah. Earlier in the month a young Afghan Christian refugee named Mirdad Al was attacked by a group of Indian and Afghan Muslims who abused him as a pagan and infidel. Indian police reportedly refuse to extend protection to 'illegal immigrants'.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Fitna in Morocco
TIME magazine has published an article by Lisa Abend entitled: In Morocco, a Crackdown on Christian Aid Workers. 21 March 2010
(For background and analysis see my earlier post of 14 March 2010 entitled, Morocco: up to 70 foreign Christians expelled.)
Abend's article mentions a number of cases not previously mentioned in other reports; such as that of a Korean-born Protestant pastor in Marrakesh who was arrested as he led a worship service in his church. It also includes a moving 55 second film clip which shows the distress suffered by the orphans at the Village of Hope orphanage on 8 March, after they learned that their foster parents were going to be taken from them and deported. Furthermore, it also gives us another hint as to what might be simmering beneath the surface.
Quoting from Abend's TIME magazine article: "According to the Moroccan government, the deportees all broke the law, using their status as aid workers to cover their proselytizing. 'They are guilty of trying to undermine the faith of Muslims,' Interior Minister Tayeb Cherkaoui said in a press release.
"But were they? Broadbent denies the charges. Part of his job at the Village of Hope was to ensure that staff members understood the rules prohibiting proselytizing, and he notes that all the orphanage's children received instruction in Islam. 'We weren't teaching Christianity in any formal way,' he says. But asked if reading the Bible to Muslim children constitutes proselytizing, he said, 'We understood that it wasn't. And in any case, the authorities have always known that these children were being raised in Christian families.' "
Herein lies the problem -- it is a matter of perspective. The foreign Christians and the fundamentalist Muslims are viewing the issue of Christian aid work through completely different lenses. The Christian aid workers believe that as long as they are not pressuring Muslims to convert to Christianity then they are not guilty of proselytising. They believe that for a conversion to be genuine it must be of the heart and absolutely free, so they have no interest in "proselytising". They simply believe in liberty, and that it is an idea's ability to stand on its own two feet in the open market place of ideas that gives it worth. But for the Muslim fundamentalists who are doubtless behind this move and possibly pressuring the reformist government for concessions, the issue is fitna.
Fitna
In his book The Third Choice, Islam, Dhimmitude and Freedom (Feb 2010, Deror Books), pastor, linguist and Islam-scholar Rev Dr Mark Durie notes (page 96): "The Arabic word fitna 'trial, persecution, temptation' is of crucial importance in understanding Muhammad's metamorphosis" [from rejected "loser" in Mecca, to victorious "winner" in Medina]. "The word," explains Durie, "is derived from fatana 'to turn away from, to tempt, to seduce or subject to trials'." (Quote taken from E.W. Lane, An Arabic-English Lexicon. Book 6, p.2334ff.)
Thus fitna, which is equated with persecution, involves anything that could cause a Muslim to leave Islam -- anything from vile torture to magnetic grace. The whole purpose of jihad was to eliminate fitna. For some, this simply meant that infidels had to be so totally subjugated and humiliated, to the point of wretchedness and paralysis, that the alternative to Islam was abhorrent and repulsive. For others, the elimination of fitna required the elimination of infidels in order to ensure that there was no alternative that could threaten Islam in any way.
For according to the Islamic order, Muslims are superior -- the most noble/best community ever raised up for mankind (Q3:110) -- and therefore must dominate. It is the Muslims who are called to success. Thus a thriving dhimmi would be a source of fitna for the Muslim community. Of course a thriving apostate is the most threatening embodiment of fitna imaginable. This is why the dictators of Islam are so desperately apostaphobic.
Durie writes (p.97) concerning the fitna phrases in the Quran (Q2:190-193 and 217, and 8:39): "These fitna phrases, each revealed twice in the Quran, establish the principle that jihad was justified by the existence of an obstacle to people entering Islam, or of inducements to Muslims to abandon their faith. However grievous it might be to fight others and shed their blood, undermining or obstructing Islam was worse."
For, as the Quran states: ". . . to turn men from the way of Allah, and to disbelieve in him . . . is a greater transgression with Allah [than fighting in the sacred month], for persecution (fitna) is worse than killing. . ." (Q2:217)
Fitna in Morocco
Consider again the words of Tayeb Cherkaoui, Morocco's Interior Minister who has accused the Christian aid workers of being "guilty of trying to undermine the faith of Muslims", and the words of Christian aid worker Chris Broadbent, who flatly denied that any "proselytisation" had taken place.
Obviously MP Cherkaoui has determined that nothing shakes the faith of a Muslim, tempting him/her to leave Islam, as much as the sacrificial gracious love of a Christian. As far as he is concerned, every one of the deported Christian aid workers was guilty of fitna (persecuting Islam, attacking Islam, seducing Muslims away from Islam) whether they were aware of it or not.
For active evangelisation is not the only form of fitna presenting a challenge to Islam. The fundamentalists know that in order to really eliminate fitna, they must eliminate every demonstration of Christian sacrificial love, Christian mercy, Christian grace, Christian joy and Christian assurance/peace -- for these amount to the most devastating fitna of all!
The expulsion of foreign Christian aid workers from Morocco may well set a precedent. All does not bode well for Christian aid work in the Muslim world.
(For background and analysis see my earlier post of 14 March 2010 entitled, Morocco: up to 70 foreign Christians expelled.)
Abend's article mentions a number of cases not previously mentioned in other reports; such as that of a Korean-born Protestant pastor in Marrakesh who was arrested as he led a worship service in his church. It also includes a moving 55 second film clip which shows the distress suffered by the orphans at the Village of Hope orphanage on 8 March, after they learned that their foster parents were going to be taken from them and deported. Furthermore, it also gives us another hint as to what might be simmering beneath the surface.
Quoting from Abend's TIME magazine article: "According to the Moroccan government, the deportees all broke the law, using their status as aid workers to cover their proselytizing. 'They are guilty of trying to undermine the faith of Muslims,' Interior Minister Tayeb Cherkaoui said in a press release.
"But were they? Broadbent denies the charges. Part of his job at the Village of Hope was to ensure that staff members understood the rules prohibiting proselytizing, and he notes that all the orphanage's children received instruction in Islam. 'We weren't teaching Christianity in any formal way,' he says. But asked if reading the Bible to Muslim children constitutes proselytizing, he said, 'We understood that it wasn't. And in any case, the authorities have always known that these children were being raised in Christian families.' "
Herein lies the problem -- it is a matter of perspective. The foreign Christians and the fundamentalist Muslims are viewing the issue of Christian aid work through completely different lenses. The Christian aid workers believe that as long as they are not pressuring Muslims to convert to Christianity then they are not guilty of proselytising. They believe that for a conversion to be genuine it must be of the heart and absolutely free, so they have no interest in "proselytising". They simply believe in liberty, and that it is an idea's ability to stand on its own two feet in the open market place of ideas that gives it worth. But for the Muslim fundamentalists who are doubtless behind this move and possibly pressuring the reformist government for concessions, the issue is fitna.
Fitna
In his book The Third Choice, Islam, Dhimmitude and Freedom (Feb 2010, Deror Books), pastor, linguist and Islam-scholar Rev Dr Mark Durie notes (page 96): "The Arabic word fitna 'trial, persecution, temptation' is of crucial importance in understanding Muhammad's metamorphosis" [from rejected "loser" in Mecca, to victorious "winner" in Medina]. "The word," explains Durie, "is derived from fatana 'to turn away from, to tempt, to seduce or subject to trials'." (Quote taken from E.W. Lane, An Arabic-English Lexicon. Book 6, p.2334ff.)
Thus fitna, which is equated with persecution, involves anything that could cause a Muslim to leave Islam -- anything from vile torture to magnetic grace. The whole purpose of jihad was to eliminate fitna. For some, this simply meant that infidels had to be so totally subjugated and humiliated, to the point of wretchedness and paralysis, that the alternative to Islam was abhorrent and repulsive. For others, the elimination of fitna required the elimination of infidels in order to ensure that there was no alternative that could threaten Islam in any way.
For according to the Islamic order, Muslims are superior -- the most noble/best community ever raised up for mankind (Q3:110) -- and therefore must dominate. It is the Muslims who are called to success. Thus a thriving dhimmi would be a source of fitna for the Muslim community. Of course a thriving apostate is the most threatening embodiment of fitna imaginable. This is why the dictators of Islam are so desperately apostaphobic.
Durie writes (p.97) concerning the fitna phrases in the Quran (Q2:190-193 and 217, and 8:39): "These fitna phrases, each revealed twice in the Quran, establish the principle that jihad was justified by the existence of an obstacle to people entering Islam, or of inducements to Muslims to abandon their faith. However grievous it might be to fight others and shed their blood, undermining or obstructing Islam was worse."
For, as the Quran states: ". . . to turn men from the way of Allah, and to disbelieve in him . . . is a greater transgression with Allah [than fighting in the sacred month], for persecution (fitna) is worse than killing. . ." (Q2:217)
Fitna in Morocco
Consider again the words of Tayeb Cherkaoui, Morocco's Interior Minister who has accused the Christian aid workers of being "guilty of trying to undermine the faith of Muslims", and the words of Christian aid worker Chris Broadbent, who flatly denied that any "proselytisation" had taken place.
Obviously MP Cherkaoui has determined that nothing shakes the faith of a Muslim, tempting him/her to leave Islam, as much as the sacrificial gracious love of a Christian. As far as he is concerned, every one of the deported Christian aid workers was guilty of fitna (persecuting Islam, attacking Islam, seducing Muslims away from Islam) whether they were aware of it or not.
For active evangelisation is not the only form of fitna presenting a challenge to Islam. The fundamentalists know that in order to really eliminate fitna, they must eliminate every demonstration of Christian sacrificial love, Christian mercy, Christian grace, Christian joy and Christian assurance/peace -- for these amount to the most devastating fitna of all!
The expulsion of foreign Christian aid workers from Morocco may well set a precedent. All does not bode well for Christian aid work in the Muslim world.