Cahaya’s Rants

War On Terror: In the wake of the cartoon jihad and mosque-on-mosque violence in Iraq, most Americans now think Islam has more violent believers than any other faith. Yet many still view it as a “peaceful religion.”

Psychologists might call this cognitive dissonance — a state of mind where rational people essentially lie to themselves. But in this case, it’s understandable. In our politically correct culture, criticizing any religion, even one that plots our destruction, is still taboo. And no one wants to suggest the terrorists are driven by their holy text.

Which explains a Washington Post-ABC News poll showing that Americans are becoming more aware of the broader threat (58% associate terrorists with Islam), but are still convinced terrorists are radicalizing Islam and not the other way around (54% don’t think Islam itself encourages violence).

The new poll, however, still doesn’t sit well with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a group dedicated to improving public perceptions of Islam. It has denounced increasingly negative views as “Islamophobic” and vowed to redouble its “education” efforts.

Good. What better time for CAIR and other Muslim leaders to step up, cut through the politically correct fog and provide factual answers to the questions that give so many non-Muslims pause?

Generally speaking, those questions focus on whether the Quran does indeed promote violence against non-Muslims, and how many of the terrorists’ ideas — about the violent jihad, the self-immolation, the kidnappings, even the beheadings — come right out of the text? But even more specifically:

Is Islam the only religion with a doctrine, theology and legal system that mandates warfare against unbelievers?

Is it true that 26 chapters of the Quran deal with jihad, a fight able-bodied believers are obligated to join (Surah 2:216), and that the text orders Muslims to “instill terror into the hearts of the unbeliever” and to “smite above their necks” (8:12)?

Is the “test” of loyalty to Allah not good acts or faith in general, but martyrdom that results from fighting unbelievers (47:4) — the only assurance of salvation in Islam (4:74; 9:111)?

Are the sins of any Muslim who becomes a martyr forgiven by the very act of being slain while slaying the unbelievers (4:96)?

And is it really true that martyrs are rewarded with virgins, among other carnal delights, in Paradise (38:51, 55:56; 55:76; 56:22)?

Are those unable to do jihad — such as women or the elderly — required to give “asylum and aid” to those who do fight unbelievers in the cause of Allah (8:74)?

Does Islam advocate expansion by force? And is the final command of jihad, as revealed to Muhammad in the Quran, to conquer the world in the name of Islam (9:29)?

Is Islam the only religion that does not teach the Golden Rule (48:29)? Does the Quran instead teach violence and hatred against non-Muslims, specifically Jews and Christians (5:50)?

There are other questions, but these should do for a start. If the answers are “yes,” then at least Americans will know there’s no such thing as moderate Islam, even as they trust that there are moderate Muslims who do not act out on its violent commands.

(Investor’s Business Daily)

It is about time newspapers and magazines bring up pertinent questions regarding Islam. There is so much talk about Islam as being a religion of peace, and about how the majority of Muslims are not radicals, but the question remains: Is Islam a Religion of Peace?

Tolerance is a basic principle of Islam. Yeah, right.

KUALA LUMPUR: Non-Muslims should not interfere in the religious affairs of Muslims, as this will make the Muslims uneasy.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz warned that the Government would not hesitate to use the Sedition Act against those who insulted Islam.

“We will not think twice about using this law against anybody who incites,” he said, adding this was the reason the Act and the Internal Security Act was needed.

Expressing his concern about some recent articles written by non-Muslims, he said the tolerance level among Muslims was high.

“But you must remember the word amok comes from this country and there is a limit to everything,” he said, telling non-Muslims not to make comments or write articles on Islam that could be construed as belittling the religion.

“I want to remind non-Muslims to refrain from making statements on something they do not understand,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby after receiving a joint memorandum by a coalition of 43 Muslim non-governmental organisations yesterday.

“We do not want to take away your rights but religion is an important matter, especially to the Muslims,” he said.

The memorandum declares the group’s support for the Government’s stand that the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) (Amendment) 2005 does not contradict the Syariah Law and does not discriminate against women.

Nazri said present laws were sufficient to punish those who insulted Islam.

He said there was also no need to have a law to curb open discussions as the people could practise mutual respect, tolerance and understanding while taking into consideration religious sensitivities.

On whether non-Muslim journalists should not write about issues concerning Islam, Nazri said they should know what they could or could not write.

“However, there are some things which should not be touched on,” he said.

(The Star Online)

There is no compulsion in religion. (Al-Baqarah 2:256)  Yeah, right.

KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan man who allegedly converted from Islam to Christianity is being prosecuted in a Kabulcourt and could be sentenced to death, a judge said Sunday.

The defendant, Abdul Rahman, was arrested last month after his family went to the police and accused him of becoming a Christian, Judge Ansarullah Mawlavezada told the Associated Press in an interview. Such a conversion would violate the country’s Islamic laws.

Rahman, who is believed to be 41, was charged with rejecting Islam when his trial started last week, the judge said.

During the hearing, the defendant allegedly confessed that he converted from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago when he was 25 and working as a medical aid worker for Afghan refugees in neighboring Pakistan, Mawlavezada said.

Afghanistan’s constitution is based on Shariah law, which states that any Muslim who rejects their religion should be sentenced to death.

“We are not against any particular religion in the world. But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law,” the judge said. “It is an attack on Islam. … The prosecutor is asking for the death penalty.”

The prosecutor, Abdul Wasi, said the case was the first of its kind in Afghanistan.

He said that he had offered to drop the charges if Rahman changed his religion back to Islam, but the defendant refused.

Mawlavezada said he would rule on the case within two months.

Afghanistan is a deeply conservative society and 99 percent of its 28 million people are Muslim. The rest are mainly Hindus. (Associated Press)

A University of North Carolina graduate from Iran, accused of running down nine people on campus to avenge the treatment of Muslims, said at a hearing Monday that he was “thankful for the opportunity to spread the will of Allah.”

Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar was accused of driving a sport utility vehicle through The Pit, a popular campus gathering spot, injuring nine people Friday. None of the victims was seriously hurt.

Police Chief Derek Poarch said Taheri-azar told investigators he intentionally hit people to “avenge the deaths of Muslims around the world.”

(Read the rest of the story at Yahoo News)

How does driving your car into a group of students avenge the deaths of Muslims around the world? Does this not typify the jihadist mentality? Kill all infidels .. they are the cause of Muslim deaths around the world! Yeah right.

More Muslims die at the hands of other Muslims than from all other groups combined. Four hundred people were killed in the February 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samara and more have been killed in sectarian fighting since that bombing.

What would Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar do with this knowledge? Kill more infidels for they are the ones causing Muslims to kill other Muslims? I would not be surprised if such warped thinking existed in the minds of the likes of Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar. It is always easier to blame others to justify their own blood thirsty religion.

Which one is correct?

• Quran-2:256: There is no Compulsion in religion….

OR

• Quran-9:29: Fight those who do not profess the true faith (Islam) till they pay the polltax (jiziya) with the hand of humility.

• Quran-9:5: Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them and take them captive, and besiege them and prepare for them each ambush….

• Quran-47:4: When you meet the unbelievers in the Jihad strike off their heads….

• Quran-2:191: And slay (kill) them wherever ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out such is the reward of those who suppress faith.

• Quran-8: 65: O Apostle! Rouse the believers to the fight…(against) unbelievers.

Very often apologetics claim that, Islam is a religion of peace and there is no compulsion. Yet, punishment of an apostate in Islam is, of course, death penalty.

(Source:Institute For the Secularisation of Islamic Society)