Cahaya’s Rants

Hundreds of protesters chanting “Kill, kill” set fire Monday to an Indonesian mosque belonging to a Muslim sect they claim is heretical, police said.

A policeman was wounded in the head when the crowd stoned the mosque in West Java province before setting it ablaze, said police spokesman Col. Dade Ahmad. Several suspects were taken in for questioning.

The attack was the latest targeting the Ahmadiyah sect in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

Most mainstream Muslims consider Ahmadiyah heretical because it does not consider Muhammad to be the final prophet. The sect was founded at the end of the 19th century in Pakistan.

Last week, a team of prosecutors, religious scholars and government officials said the sect “had deviated from Islamic principles” and recommended it be outlawed. There have been several acts of vandalism targeting Ahmadiyah since then.

About 300 people torched the mosque and destroyed an Islamic school building inside the Ahmadiyah compound in Sukabumi town just after midnight. Many sect members have since fled the area, seeking refuge with friends and relatives.

“We heard the attackers chanting ‘Burn, burn’ and ‘Kill, kill,’” said Zaki Firdaus, one of the sect’s members. “It was horrifying.”

Around 200 people living on the mosque’s compound got away before the crowd arrived. The police were called, “but the attackers came faster,” Firdaus said.

Read the rest of the story here.

“Mainstream Muslims” do not consider the Ahmadiyah sect Muslim. Shias do not consider Sunnis Muslims and vice versa. So who is the real Muslim?

Muslims have been fighting each other since Muhammad’s death, and they will continue to do so long into the future.

So much for Islam being a monolithic religion! So much for Islam being the religion of peace!

KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 (Bernama) — The Islamic Missionary Foundation (Yadim) has called on the media to be more active in correcting the perception of Islam among non-Muslims.

Its head Datuk Mohd Nakhaie Ahmad said the lack of articles on Islam in most newspapers had resulted in the manipulation of information on Islam and Muslims by certain quarters.

“When the reports are not clear or inaccurate, various issues would emerge such as Muslims being labelled as terrorists, giving the feeling that the negative image created by these irresponsible quarters was to cover up their own injustice or cruelty,” he told reporters in conjunction with the pre-launching of a tabloid, “The Criteria”, which is in English, here today.

It is jointly published by Yadim and Saba Islamic Media Sdn Bhd.

The tabloid aims to educate Muslims and non-Muslims on Islam, to help preserve understanding and harmony among the people

Source: Bernama

Datuk Mohd Nakhaie is most certainly right. And wrong. Right about the negative image non-Muslims have of Islam. And wrong that the negative image is created by “irresponsible quarters was to cover up their own injustice or cruelty”.

Who would not have a negative image of Islam when you hear reports such as the following?

BAGHDAD (AP) - An Assyrian Orthodox priest was killed in a drive-by shooting Saturday in Baghdad, police and an assistant said, the latest attack against Iraq’s Christian minority.

The priest, Youssef Adel, was shot by gunmen who drove up in a car and opened fire as he was opening the gate of his house near the St. Peter and Paul church where he presided, an assistant said.

Christians have frequently been caught up in the violence or been targeted in this predominantly Muslim country.

The body of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, one of Iraq’s most senior Chaldean Catholic clerics, was found on March 13, about two weeks after he was seized by gunmen in the volatile northwestern city of Mosul. (re AP news)

When even Islamic clerics indulge in paranoia and racism?

TEHRAN (AFP) — Israel and unidentified “oppressive powers” are behind the production of an anti-Islamic film by right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders, a prominent conservative Iranian cleric claimed on Friday.

“Behind these satanic acts can be found the oppressive powers and the Zionist regime,” Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said during a Friday prayer sermon in the capital broadcast by state radio.

“This poor Dutch deputy has made 40 trips to Israel over the past 25 years,” Khatami said. “He has himself said he is close to (Israeli President) Shimon Peres and (Prime Minister) Ehud Olmert.

“We see the hand of the Zionist regime behind these satanic acts and we cry ‘death to Israel,’” he added. (re AFP)

Are the discrimination and violence against churches by Muslims in Indonesia also caused by “irresponsible quarters”?

JAKARTA, April 2 (Compass Direct News) – Islamic extremist groups and local governments in Indonesia closed 110 churches from 2004 to 2007, according to religious and human rights organizations.

The Wahid Institute, a moderate Muslim non-governmental organization, along with the Communion of Churches of Indonesia (Persekutuan Gereja-Gereja di Indonesia), the Bishops’ Conference of Indonesia (Konferensi Waligereja Indonesia) and the Indonesian Human Rights Commission reported that discrimination and violence against churches was most common in the provinces of West Java, Banten, Central Java, South Sulawesi and Bengkulu.

Radical Muslim groups attacking churches included the Islamic Defender Front (Front Pembela Islam, or FPI), the Indonesian Mujahidin Council, Hizbullah Front, Muslim Clergy Members Forum (Forum Ulama Umat Islam) and the Muslim Safety Forum (Dewan Keamanan Masjid). (re Compass Direct)

How can non-Muslims not have a negative image on Islam when there is, among other things, visceral hatred for the Jews?

SANAA, April 6 (Reuters) - Yemen’s Shi’ite rebels destroyed the vacant house of the mainly Muslim Arab state’s top rabbi, a security official said on Sunday.

Residents said the assailants from a group opposed to the U.S.-allied government destroyed the house of Yehia Youssuf in Saada, a northern province. The security official said it was not immediately known what weapons were used in the attack.

“They turned to the houses of other Jews after,” one resident said.

About 200 Yemeni Jews who lived in Saada, including Youssef, have been living in the capital Sanaa due to sporadic fighting between government forces and the rebel group, known as the Houthis. (re Reuters)

When non-Muslims are daily faced with these kinds of news and images of paranoia, discrimination and violence perpetrated by Muslims in the name of their religion, is it any wonder that the non-Muslims associate terrorism and violence with Islam?

Good luck trying to rehabilitate the image of Islam as a religion of peace.

In a Malaysiakini report entitled Religious scholar dismisses khalwat proposal for non-Muslims, Syed Ali Tawfik Al-Attas, the head of the Malaysian Institute of Islamic Understanding, is quoted as saying “In Islam it says to you yours to us ours in terms of religion.” On the face of it, Syed Ali Tawfik Al-Attas, sounds like a very progressive and tolerant Muslim, but the reality of the matter is that in Malaysia there is no such freedom for the Muslim who has chosen to live Islam.

No person who was born into a Muslim family has the legal right to leave Islam. The case of Lina Joy, Kamariah Ali, and most recently that of Revathi Masoosai are just a few examples where there is no freedom of conscience and the right to practise one’s religion of choice for the Malays.

In Revathi Masoosai’s case her marriage to a Hindu man is not recognized because she was born a Muslim and her husband never converted to Islam. The law in Malaysia does not recognize the marriage between a Muslim and a non-Muslim.

Apostasy is viewed as a serious matter in Malaysia because racial identity and religion for the Malays are one and the same. To be a Malay means to be a Muslim. Hence, the fear among the Malays is that if apostasy is allowed, that means eventually there will no longer be Malays.
Malays who have left Islam and converted to Christianity for example, have to live a double life, and their new found religion kept a secret. If they are found to have left Islam they would be sent to a rehabilitation center like what happened to Kamariah Ali and Revathi Massoosai.

In Malaysia the Sharia law is meant to be applied to Muslims, but where does that leave the non-Muslim who has left Islam? Lina Joy insisted that the Sharia law was not applicable to her because she had left Islam, but that did not help her case at all. The Sharia Court is still the one to determine whether or not people like Lina Joy and Revathi Masoosai are Muslims or not.

As a Malaysian who values freedom of religion, I feel that the Constitution of Malaysia needs to be amended so that people can have the right, a real right, to practise the religion of their choice without fearing threats of detention, rehabilitation and threats of death hanging over their heads. And words like “You can’t at whim and fancy convert from one religion to another,” from a Federal Court Judge, a thing of the past.

Religion should be a personal matter between an individual and his/her God.  And as such no apostasy law is ever going to stop a person from exercising his or her right to freedom of conscience.

In an article called Fire on the roof of the World published on Malaysiakini, Sim Kwang Yang said that despite “fast emerging as the third largest economy of the world, with military strength to match its economic prowess, and with obvious aspiration to become a top-notch superpower of the world”, China “has not yet stepped over the threshold of a Third World nation” judging by its handling of the crisis in Tibet.

I totally agree with Sim Kwang Yang’s analysis of the situation in Tibet and China’s handling of the situation. The Chinese is one country that I do not put a lot of trust in. How can I, when basic human rights are constantly trampled on in that country?

Not too long ago at a coffeeshop in my hometown in Malaysia, I had a discussion with a friend about the economic growth in China. He was working in China and was very impressed by the development taking place there. He was adamant about the fact that China was going to overtake the United States as the biggest economic power in the world. I was, however, very skeptical of that notion. Nobody knows how much longer The People’s Republic of China is going to remain a whole entity. If that falls apart, that would be the end of China’s ambition as the next great economic power.

News coming out of Tibet and the harsh treatment of the Chinese government on the anti-China demonstrations are scant and what little does come out, looks very bleak indeed for the Tibetans. News videos on the anti-China demonstrations uploaded on YouTube are countered by pro-China videos calling events and news reporting on Tibet as lies and propaganda of the Western media against the Chinese.

You have to wonder how much the Chinese government is willing to go through to protect its image in the eyes of the world, especially now with the Summer Olympics in Beijing just around the corner. I was among the people who objected to rewarding China by awarding it the right to host the Summer Olympics for 2008. I do not believe in depriving athletes of their chance to participate in the Olympics by boycotting the games but there has to be greater pressure put on China by the world’s community over its treatment of the Tibetans.

Here’s a March 18 video clip of the demonstrations in Tibet.

TEHRAN (FNA)- A Non-Governmental Organization in Iran has started production of a documentary called ‘Beyond Fitna’ to respond to far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders’ provocative dissertation ‘Fitna’.

The Iranian organization called ‘NGO Islam and Christianity’ started production of the documentary after the Dutch lawmaker displayed his movie which urges Muslims to tear out “hate-filled” verses from the Qoran and starts and finishes with an insulting cartoon of Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him).

The NGO’s documentary called ‘Beyond Fitna’ deals with incitement of violence in the Bible. Muslims believe that the book deemed holy by Christians today is a distorted version of the original Bible.

‘Beyond Fitna’ focuses on the orders given to worldwide Christians in the (distorted version of) Bible for stoking violence, committing genocide, attacking others, beheading and burning women and children who have been taken into captivity.

The documentary recycles film clips from crimes committed by extremist Christians under the inspirations of the said Bible teachings, and aims to provide a response to the allegations made by Pope Benedict XVI, who called Islam a religion of violence after misunderstanding certain Organic verses.

‘Beyond Fitna’ is produced while an overwhelming wave of protest is shown by worldwide Muslim and Christian communities against Wilder’s movie.

Wilders’ provocative dissertation Fitna hit the Internet March 27. Even before the seventeen minute film’s release, protests erupted.

More here.

Responding to the release of Fitna, Mahaguru58, a frequent contributor to Malaysiakini, an online news portal, said he too “can do a tit for tat movie clip showing you all the murders, violence, hate crimes against Muslims of the world and jack up the animosity of my fellow Muslims against the ones irresponsibly trying to stir trouble amongst us the people of the world”.

Mahaguru58, I am still waiting for your video clip. Never mind. The Iranians are doing it. I am waiting for the release of Beyond Fitna, not because I am waiting to see whether I will be offended or not because I know I won’t, but to see if it will be anything like Fitna.

I am waiting to see what verses from the distorted bible they will be quoting and how they are going to relate these verses to the violence committed by Christians in the name of their religion.

You can bet though, that there won’t be any protest in the streets, nor will there be calls for the deaths of the producers of Beyond Fitna for daring to insult the Bible and Christianity. You can also bet that nobody will call for LiveLeak or YouTube or Google to pull the film of their sites and neither will there be anyone threatening the lives of those people who work for these video sharing companies for daring to host the film.

And one other thing, nobody will be calling for the boycott of Iranian goods just because some group in Iran is producing a film called Beyond Fitna.

I am encouraging the Iranian NGO to produce that film quickly before the furore among the Muslims caused by Fitna becomes a dim memory.

VATICAN CITY - Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism as the world’s largest religion, the Vatican newspaper said Sunday.”

For the first time in history, we are no longer at the top: Muslims have overtaken us,” Monsignor Vittorio Formenti said in an interview with the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano. Formenti compiles the Vatican’s yearbook.

He said that Catholics accounted for 17.4 percent of the world population — a stable percentage — while Muslims were at 19.2 percent.

“It is true that while Muslim families, as is well known, continue to make a lot of children, Christian ones on the contrary tend to have fewer and fewer,” the monsignor said.

Formenti said that the data refer to 2006. The figures on Muslims were put together by Muslim countries and then provided to the United Nations, he said, adding that the Vatican could only vouch for its own data.

When considering all Christians and not just Catholics, Christians make up 33 percent of the world population, Formenti said.

Source: MSNBC

That bit of news made a big splash around the world when it came out on March 30. I am pretty sure that bit of news was a big boost to the morale of Muslims the world over. It confirms their belief that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world.

But the fact is there are still more Christians in the world - 33 percent Christians compared to 19.2 percent Muslims.

And the other fact not mentioned in the belief that Islam is the fastest growing religion is the number of people leaving Islam. In Iran it has been reported that in the last five years about 1 million Iranians have left Islam for evangelical churches. This has alarmed the Iranian Parliament so much that a death penalty has been proposed to punish those who leave Islam.

In November 2005, Interfax news agency reported that in Russia, 2 million ethnic Muslims left Islam and were baptised.

In June 2004, International Antioch Ministries reported that 50,000 Iraqi Muslims embraced Christianity as a result of their satellite TV broadcast.

The London Times estimates that about 200,000 Muslims living in the UK have left Islam. In Malaysia, the Mufti of Perak estimates that about 250,000 Muslims have abandoned Islam.

These are just a small sample of Muslims leaving the fastest growing religion in the world. On leaving Islam Magdi Allam, the most recent apostate of Islam, writes that he “has been freed from the obscurantism of an ideology that legitimizes lies and deception, violent death that leads to homicide and suicide, blind submission to tyranny, permitting me to join the authentic religion of Truth, Life, and Liberty”.