Bishop warns that Muslims who convert risk being killed

Posted on by Bob Pitt

One of the Church of England’s most senior bishops is warning that people will die unless Muslim leaders in Britain speak out in defence of the right to change faith.

Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, whose father converted from Islam to Christianity in Pakistan, says he is looking to Muslim leaders in Britain to “uphold basic civil liberties, including the right for people to believe what they wish to believe and to even change their beliefs if they wish to do so”.

Ali, who some see as a potential Archbishop of Canterbury, has told Channel 4’s Dispatches programme of his fears about the safety of the estimated 3,000 Muslims who have converted to other faiths in Britain. The bishop warns that Muslims who switch faiths in Britain could be killed if the current climate continues. “We have seen honour killings have happened, and there is no reason why this kind of thing cannot happen.”

Observer, 16 September 2007

Bishop warns that Muslims who convert risk being killed

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Nazir Ali 2One of the Church of England’s most senior bishops is warning that people will die unless Muslim leaders in Britain speak out in defence of the right to change faith.

Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, whose father converted from Islam to Christianity in Pakistan, says he is looking to Muslim leaders in Britain to “uphold basic civil liberties, including the right for people to believe what they wish to believe and to even change their beliefs if they wish to do so”.

Ali, who some see as a potential Archbishop of Canterbury, has told Channel 4’s Dispatches programme of his fears about the safety of the estimated 3,000 Muslims who have converted to other faiths in Britain. The bishop warns that Muslims who switch faiths in Britain could be killed if the current climate continues. “We have seen honour killings have happened, and there is no reason why this kind of thing cannot happen.”

Observer, 16 September 2007

‘Followers of Islam cannot be trusted by Americans’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Someone in high authority and great influence needs to sound a wake-up alarm for America. There are too many of us who do not recognize or do not accept the fact that we are in a war for our lives. America is teetering on the edge of a bottomless abyss, and the Islamic jihadists are systematically and successfully gathering the necessary strength to push us over the edge. Our complacency in recognizing this threat could be our downfall….

“We surely have learned our lesson by now about Islamic loyalty. They actually have no country to die for. Even if they did, they would quickly die for Mohammed and Islam long before they would die for the nation in which they live. In that regard, such terms as German-Islamists, British-Islamists, French-Islamists, American Islamists, etc., etc., are useful only to identify the country in which they reside.

“Also, it is extremely dangerous to try to differentiate Islamic adherents anywhere in the world by such terms as ‘radical’ or ‘peaceful’ or ‘nonviolent’ or ‘innocent’. An Islamist by any other name is still an Islamist. We are making a grave mistake to believe in a peaceful, nonviolent, innocent follower of Islam.”

News-Leader.com, 15 September 2007

Corpus Christi police and the FBI on Friday investigated shots fired at a local mosque, an incident that occurred during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Investigators consider the incident a hate crime. Imam Osama Bahloul said he was shocked and saddened to make the discovery. This is the first such incident in the estimated 10-year history of the mosque, which has about 600 members.

Bahloul said the shooting may have been spurred by any number of things, including the start of Ramadan, the recent anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks or the portrayal of Islam in the media. “We will do anything we can to find out who did this,” Bahloul said. “We want people to understand each other and be familiar with each other. We have to stop stereotypes, stop hate crimes and live peacefully.”

Corpus Christi Caller Times, 15 September 2007

The pathologisation of Muslims in Europe

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Farish Noor“‘No we are not racist. It is just that we need to preserve and protect our German identity and culture, and our Judeo-Christian heritage. The more Turkish Muslims come here, the less we know who and what we are. We cannot allow our identity and culture to be confused like that…’

“The gem quoted above was the comment made by a rather ordinary German at a public debate on Islam and the Rule of Law in Berlin; and just one week after an equally gruelling series of public talks in Amsterdam I could not help but feel as if Europe’s slide to the right is accelerating faster than ever.

“That a public forum on Islam and the rule of law could degenerate into a senseless round of Turk-bashing speaks volumes about the shallowness of public debate in some parts of Europe these days…. What was most alarming, however, was the manner in which a host of complex issues and dilemmas were reduced and pathologised to a single problem: The Muslims and their non-Western culture and belief system.”

Farish A. Noor in the Daily Times, 14 September 2007

Stop defaming Islam, says Doudou Diene

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The warning by a United Nations expert that world peace is under threat because of defamation of religions – particularly criticism of Islam in the West – is by no means an exaggeration. It is problematic how Islam today is being perceived and treated. If this continues, the repercussions would undoubtedly be grave.

In his statement to the UN Human Rights Council, Doudou Diene said: “Islamophobia today is the most serious form of religious defamation. We see the initiatives and activities of many groups and organisations which are working hard to bring about a war of civilisations.” Protests of far-right groups and campaigns against the construction of mosques in a number of European countries are examples. Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of all is the attempts being made to equate Islam to violence and terrorism.

Undoubtedly, not stopping such attacks would lead to an extremely unhealthy atmosphere where extremism would breed in all directions. Not only would it encourage more anti-Islam extremist groups to organise and thrive, but would also encourage some Muslims to resort to extreme measures to make their voice heard. Today’s world is way too fragile to tolerate any insensitivity towards any and all religions.

Gulf News, 15 September 2007

See also Reuters, 14 September 2007

Colson discovers book revealing Muslim plot to take over the West

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Richard Bartholomew takes apart Patrick Sookhdeo’s claim (which formed the basis of Chuck Colson’s recent Islamophobic diatribe) that that a book “published in 1980 by the Islamic Council of Europe gives instructions for how Muslim minorities are to work towards achieving domination of European countries through a policy of concentration in geographical areas”.

Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion, 14 September 2007

Calderoli outrages Italy’s Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Roberto CalderoliA far-right Italian senator outraged Muslims on Thursday by calling for a “Pig Day” protest against the planned construction of a mosque in northern Italy.

Roberto Calderoli of the anti-immigrant Northern League party said he was ready to bring his own pig to “defile” the site where the mosque is due to be built in the northern city of Bologna.

“I am making myself and my pig available for a walk at the site where they want to build the mosque,” Calderoli, who is a deputy speaker of Italy’s Senate, said in a statement. Calderoli also said he would eat “a nice plateful of pork chops to show my lack of sympathy for those who consider pork forbidden meat.”

Reuters, 13 September 2007

See also Catholic World News, which quotes condemnation of Calderoli’s comments by Italy’s welfare minister, Paolo Ferrero of the Communist Refoundation Party. “I apologize to Muslims living in Italy on behalf of all civilized Italians,” Ferrero said.

The Islamophobe who cried Islamist

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Pipes is quick to parrot that radical Islam is the problem and moderate Islam is the solution. That is all very well – until you realize that his raison d’etre is to claim that every Muslim individual or group of mentionable influence is a conveyer of radical Islam – particularly if they are outspoken against the illegal Israeli occupation. On the other hand, everyone upon whom he bestows the ‘moderate’ badge is either a lone wolf with no credibility in the Muslim mainstream, an apologist for Pipes’ own radical views on the Middle East, or both.”

Ahmed Rehab takes on Daniel Pipes at Media Monitors Network, 10 September 2007

Economist misreports ‘mega-mosque’ controversy

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The current issue of the Economist carries a report on the controversy over the proposed Islamic Centre at Abbey Mills in East London. It would be difficult to fit more inaccuracies and distortions into a single article.

The estimate of the size of the proposed development is evidently based on the old design by Mangera Yvars, which has of course been scrapped. The new architects have yet to produce their replacement design, so the claim that the mosque will be “Britain’s largest religious building and almost five times the size of St Paul’s” lacks any basis in fact.

The article doesn’t mention that the 10 Downing Street e-petition against the Abbey Mills development was posted by a BNP supporter. It refers to the earlier Sunni Friends of Newham/Minhaj-ul-Quran petition against the mosque but omits to mention that they have since suspended their campaign.

It says that Christian Peoples Alliance councillor Alan Craig, who has headed the local agitation against the mosque, “plays down fears of terrorism” – whereas in reality this has been a central plank in his scaremongering campaign.

It concedes that Tablighi Jamaat is not a political movement but concludes: “There is endless panic about political Islam. Is apolitical Islam much better?”