Mr. Matthew Farley cites the alienation of youth (February 22 Sunday Sun) as the major factor in the decision of so many to flock to the ranks of ISIS, and I am sure such feelings of alienation play a part. But alienation in itself does not explain the well documented phenomenon of the rise in recruitment following the posting on social media of every act of barbarity committed by ISIS.
ISIS jihadis boast online of enslaving Christian and Yazidi women. Others decapitate “infidels” and celebrate with tweets of themselves holding up severed heads. Such gleeful savagery is not purely the product of alienation or religious fanaticism.
Western intelligence experts say ISIS appears to be attracting mentally ill young men who thrill at the idea of rampaging across Middle Eastern lands like a vast gang of psychopaths, raping women and killing people for pleasure. ISIS’s Western recruits are mostly men in their late teens and early 20s—the age group of most mass murderers and gang members, and the years in which mental illness is often first observed in males.
For young men who have failed to fit into society in Great Britain, the U.S. or other Western countries, Islam may be just a vehicle for nihilistic rage. Joining the “brothers” on the front lines of jihad provides exactly what they’ve been missing most: revenge on the world that rejected them, along with a sense of greater purpose and meaning. ISIS is so deranged, in fact, that its taste for blood even alarms other Islamic terrorists.
Alfred Nobel would be proud. At least for this year the Norwegian Nobel Committee, by awarding the Prize for Peace to Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi, has eschewed its recent proclivity for awards based on politics and/or ideology rather than for actual deeds and works. While not familiar with Mr. Satyarthi’s “Save the Childhood Movement”, I have been intrigued by Malala’s life since she was attacked in 2012, as well as by how easily we in the West tend to take for granted our own hard-won freedoms.
Our daughters are free to go to school, to think for themselves, to decide how they will spend their lives. Had they been born in rural Pakistan, in Saudi Arabia, or in large swaths of the world, they would have no such choices. Culture and religion would assign them “traditional” roles—that is, subservience to men. In Pakistan, then 15-year-old Malala dared to demand more. “I have the right to speak up,” she said. “I have the right of education. I have the right to sing.” For this crime, the Pakistani Taliban shot her twice in the head. But as she struggled for life in a hospital, she became an international hero—a change agent. Like Mandela, King and Gandhi, she exposed the ugliness of the thugs who wished to silence her.
Submitted by Robert D. Lucas, Ph.D.& CFS, Biotechnologist & Certified Food Scientist
In which country does a minority race rule the majority?
At present, there is a discourse on Muslims in Barbados. The following article is submitted in the hope that Barbadians would analyze things for themselves and do some reading and research.
Eighty percent of the population of the Central African Republic is Christian. The other twenty percent is ostensibly Muslim. Ostensibly because part of the Muslim population is non-native (illegal from Chad and so on). In the past both Christians and Muslims lived in harmony. The Muslim rebel commander, Mr.Djotodia in the past sought funding from the “Organization of the Islamic Conference”(OIC) in Saudi Arabia in 2012 to establish a separate country.
At this time of the Muharram Mourning Ceremonies, especially for the Shia Muslims of the world, we are reminded that we can never be guided by reductionist tendencies alone. On the 10th day of Muharram of 680 AD or 61 AH in the Islamic calendar, Prophet Mohammed’s grandson, Imam Hussein Ibn Ali (PBUT), was martyred at the epic Battle of Karbala, in modern day Iraq.
These highly significant events continue to influence the affairs of all of mankind to this very day. Imam Hussein’s example of self-sacrifice and resistance against injustice is indeed instructive to all justice seeking peoples everywhere. It serves as a powerful connection to the beautiful and the sublime.
Of course, any goodness in this world has to be properly located within an ocean of evil. Within Islam itself, some Sunnis, tend to want to dampen the recognition of these events as sacred. A quarrel which has its genesis in a 1433 year old argument as to whom The Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) left in charge. This argument is the basis of a divide between the two dominate currents of Islam.
Activists of Hifazat-e Islam protesting against Bangladeshi bloggers. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)
Many Barbadians make light of the concern which BU has when we share about fissures in our democracy. For many Barbadians democracy is defined by marking and X on a ballot paper every five years as the Constitution requires. And for others it is about aligning with a political party of choice and defending any and all policies even if there is no sensible reason. Bottomline however, Barbadians continue to feel a degree of comfort to exercise our right to make decisions and be tolerant while doing so.
In stark contrast hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi citizens have brought that country to a halt in the last 24 hours demanding that atheist bloggers be executed for defaming Islam. Tension between Secularist and Islamists is nothing new in the ME. Many of the countries in the ME form governments which maybe described as theocratic. Any attempt to compromise Islamic teachings is usually met with violent reactions by so-called fundamentalists.
Are we witnessing the result of a clash of civilizations? Credit: Opinion Maker
We would have preferred that our esteemed colleagues, who are experts in the rich and diverse Islamic traditions and its last Prophet (PBUH), be the ones most capable of defending a dynamic set of cultures as followed by two billion people throughout the world. The recent publication of a poorly produced promode of a non-existing ‘movie’ was constructed for the precise purpose of insulting the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and his followers and is properly located within a larger struggle which comes at a time when Western capitalist traditions have long passed their apogee. The artificial construction of the so-called clash of civilizations by some in the academic community was merely to serve Western domination of the Muslim world, more precisely – what they now call the Middle East and those Muslims living there. We will argue that since the collapse of the USSR, Western countries have sought to surreptitiously set up the world of Islam as the global boogeyman, a counterpoint – for capitalism can only exist when it has an enemy. This scenario was to provide a contrast, while at the same time demonize Islam and Muslims while presenting a dying Western liberal capitalism as the ONLY choice for the peoples of the world. The leaders in the West are well aware that Islam has the potential for presenting the nearest and possibly the most viable alternative, in all the cultural spheres, and this is unhelpful to them at a time when the fear of losing global hegemony constantly dominates their geo-political or geo-strategic calculations.
On the one hand, we have had Western military adventures into the Islamic Ummah for more than a century in the modern epoch. Of course, readers of this subject will readily recall the unholy Christian crusades of earlier centuries into the Islamic world. Western countries, especially the British, the French and the Americans had established compliant oil monarchies and the usurper regime in most of Palestine by 1948. The Zionists still occupied an island previously owned by the Saudis. How can the custodian of Islam’s most sacred places effectively defend Muslims when it has surrendered part of its territory to the ‘infidels’? How can Beitol-Moghaddas ever be recovered with traitors to the Prophet of Islam in power in Arabia? There has not been a word from one single Arab leader. That is way we, the non-believers, must defend the Prophet (PBUH). However, the nation of Islam is awaking and the world is unlikely to be the same. The enemies of the Prophet have done all this, in search of ‘profit’ while containing the universality of the teachings of the Holy Prophet of Islam (PBUH). These teachings are largely antithetical to capitalism. The peoples of Muslim majority countries yet hold onto their core beliefs. These beliefs are largely ‘unfamiliar’ to most in the West, especially those calling themselves Christians. This ignorance suborns the desired responses from too many of us. The ignorant hurl comments about ‘terrorism’ and ‘wife beatings’ when, in fact, the real moral corruption of the world comes from the Western countries. In the final analysis what we are witnessing are the limitations of military might and an inability of the custodians of Islam’s Holiest places to further deceive the masses of the people in their support for global hegemony as the price for maintaining their corrupt regimes at home.
“Brigitte Gabriel focuses on Islamic infiltration into the American education system. This intuitive and highly intelligent lady knows exactly what’s going on in our nation today and boldly explains in detail without regard to any ridiculous political correctness whatsoever. You may be shocked to learn what is going on in our public schools today. This subject could not have been explained any better.”
In the late 1990’s, Saddam Hussein sat for [24] tortuous months while almost [6] gallons of his blood was drained from his body as an Islamic calligrapher transcribed and etched [114] chapters of the Qu’ran in his blood. Twenty years on, this blood manuscript continues to cause political and religious polarization between the Shia led government and for some Sunnis though accepting that what Saddam did was haraam (forbidden), others realise the cultural, aesthetic and financial value of such a document. The document which has been locked away for years since the fall of Iraq in the Umm al-Ma’arik mosque is now a sore thumb for the Iraqi government because years of denial and a cloak of secrecy has turned into a spectre of damage limitation. This new Shia government realises that they cannot destroy this sacred text because of the anarchy that would take place across the Muslim world – neither can they ill-afford to open the doors to those Sunnis who will treat Saddam’s sacred blood legacy as divine approval and reverence for a holy text written in the blood of someone who is still viewed as a martyr.
Most Western political scholars as well as Judeo-Christian commentators tend to stay away from serious narratives on the internal religious rumblings within the volatile religion of Islam, fearing that discharacterization and ideological disinformation could result in “Fatwas” and the polarizing incendiary media protest we have all witnessed when the prophet Muhammad or Islam was brought into the spotlight with any negative connotations attached to them.
This modern pretext was already etched in blood by Salman Rushdie in doing the unthinkable by publishing the Satanic Verses in 1988 and the backlash which that revelation created and how it lasted for a decade or more. Since then, it has been one thing after another. Most notably has been recent revelations by Wikileaks which showed unequivocally the dissimilitude which exist within modern Arab tribal and religious politics and the complex nature of how war, infighting and civil instability between Muslims since the 600’s have shaped the current state of modern Muslim relations in the Middle East and around the world – where different strands of Islam are practiced and the increasing tensions which still exist between the [2] major groups, Shia and Sunni.
Emerging alignments as predicted by Huntington in 1996. Thicker lines represent more conflictual relationships - Wikipedia
During the middle ages, the Arabs alone were the standard-bearers of a civilisation
Moorish Islamic Quotes
If history has taught us anything – is mankind cannot live together in any real harmonious union for any prolonged period of time. This was all too evident during the days of Muhammad after the revelations of the Qur’an came to him. He encountered bitter opposition and rejection from his kinsfolk and after the death of Prophet Muhammad in June 632AD, the emerging Rashidun Caliphs worked at the unification of the peoples of Arabia who in turn sparked insurgent military operations against the Byzantine Roman Empire and the Basined Persian Empire as these were crucial to Islamic conquest and further unification.
In the exodus, the Christian Abyssinian (Ethiopian) king called Aṣḥama ibn Abjar absorbed many refuge Muslims providing them protection during the persecution era where Mecca was a hotbed of murder and mayhem.
As the march of conquest continued – between 1095 and 1291, the Crusades and the Reconquesta was a period of centuries of capture, recapture, militarization and on-going war between two polarized civilizations.
In 1187, Saladin liberated Jerusalem with a classic historically epic battle – while fighting with Richard the Lionheart, the Saracens fought relentlessly as was proved by historical sources. What followed was the establishment of the Ottoman Caliphate; the “Conquest of Constantinople” by “Muhammad the Conqueror”.
The clash of civilizations continued apace with further conquest of Eastern Europe and the fall of Greece to the Ottomans. Vienna then fell to “Suleiman the Magnificent” or as for Muslims “Suleiman the Lawmaker”.
The planet earth is under siege. The ravages of war and conflict precipitate. The colossus of negative political and religious spin ferments as the hearts and minds of men suffers from information fallout fatigue. The time honoured traditions of decadent, myopic socio-religious politics continues to meander through a maze of fractiousness, intolerance, instability and controversy.
Today, Tony Blair’s autobiography hits the book shelves describing his justification for starting the modern-day “CRUSADE” between what he and George Bush* calls radical Islam and Zionist Christianity. Jewry, Islam and Christianity continue to merge and feud at historical crossroads in an apocalyptic battle for supremacy. The sinister forces which have brewed this religious and political alchemy seek to exacerbate a clash of civilizations which will result in a doomsday nuclear holocaust where the embers will burn across the Middle East consuming everything in its path.
But is this blind arrogance on man’s part – or the manipulation of invisible forces outside the reach of cognitive human understanding?
Whatever the reason, moves are afoot to add fuel to that emerging fire, where a few weeks ago, (in the form of a resolution by Republicans in the USA House of Representatives) resolution, H.Res.1553 was tabled which provides unequivocal support for a surgical military strike against Iran according to the Huffington Post.
A recent poll in the US reported that 43% of Americans when asked “What is Obama’s religion?” still are unsure, with many still thinking he is a Muslim. Let me keep it real for a moment, I’m not a betting man but it would not surprised me if we discovered that many of the unsure and still confused about Obama’s religion are those who have not gotten over the nation electing the first African-American President.
Many of these same folks who believe this nonsense of Obama being a Muslim which he has said repeatedly he is not, interestingly enough also blast him for being associated with the controversial Christian Reverend Wright as one of his followers. OK confused people which one is it?
Racism and religious bigotry in the US in recent years has had to find new ways to spew its venom, and from time to time raises it’s ugly head in very creative ways. What is also puzzling to me is that despite religious freedom being a founding principle in the US constitution, somehow its core meaning often gets marginalized.
The Crucifix, a cross with the corpus (Body of Christ), is an ancient symbol used within the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican churches, in contrast with some Protestant sects, which use only a simple cross-Wikipedia
World citizens, especially Christians following the case of a British Airways check-in assistant Nadia Eweida versus British Airways (BA) would have been extremely disappointed she lost her appeal.
Eweida, a part-time check-in assistant since 1999, complained about anti-Christian bias after BA introduced a new uniform in 2004 and prohibited the wearing of any adornment around the neck. When she refused to cover up her crucifix, she was sent home and remained unpaid from September 2006 until February 2007.
The positive coming out of the affair is that BA was forced to change its uniform policy and to allow staff to display a faith or charity symbol with the uniform. Unfortunately for Eweida the lost of her appeal on Friday means her claim for lost of earnings of £120,000 has become a pipe dream. The challenge in law affecting this matter as reported is problems which can arise when an individual asserts that a…practice adopted by an employer conflicts with beliefs which they hold, but which may not only not be shared but may be opposed by others in the workforce.
BU for sometime has featured many blogs on the obvious tension which continues to grip the world caused perhaps by the clash of the two dominant religions – Islam and Christianity. Our concern as a small island which is significantly dependant on tourism is the looming impact current tensions may have on our tourist industry.
On Christmas day we had the attempt by a Nigerian who attempted to explode a North Western flight as it was about to land in Detroit, USA. Today (27 December 2009) the world again tensed-up when a North Western flight from Amsterdam to Detroit alerted the authorities of a possible danger and emergency action was triggered as a result.
Our regional leaders need to anticipate that in a post-911 era the world will have to live in Code Orange mode edging to Red and global travel will become increasingly challenging. How will the security weary tourist react to security measures which are becoming more and more cumbersome? The video above exposes the challenge Western governments now face in battling a growing threat by people who are sympathetic to the Islamic view. While the focus of past terrorists incidents have been located in the USA and parts of Europe, the footprint of the threat is expanding. It is not BU’s intention to stereotype one group of people but the obvious reality cannot be ignored in the aftermath of recent events.
Unfortunately this part of the world our media is reluctant to tackle issues which touches race and religion because of the sensitive nature of it all. At some point our leaders in this region, media et al will have to assess the impact of the unravelling issue of growing tensions between Islam and the rest of the world.
Of interest to the BU family is the following comment posted to an earlier blog which was posted to represent the Islam religion in a non-stereotypical view.
The remembrance of the 911 tragedy in September and the shooting by Army Doctor Nidal Malik Hasan has brought the suspicion of the Islam religion back on the front burner. As a people BU subscribes to the view that civilized human beings must be tolerant of others despite differences. Christianity is the dominant religion in Barbados and has obviously influenced our values and laws through the years. More and more as globalization takes root it is in our interest to understand the doctrines of other religions tossed out by the diversity of our world. We are cognizant of the rights given to ALL to freely practice their religions under our constitution.
