#me when i see a muslim existing: LIFE JIHAD?

[timetravellingkitty]

hindutvawadis love talking about jihad more than muslims do

[springcrafter]

I cannot believe I have to ask this of people (nobody here that I know of, otherwise you'd be contacted personally, but I've seen enough). Please don't trivialize this war by bringing fandom attitudes into them.

This is serious. I can speak for the Jewish Israeli side of things, that the foundations of everything everyone here ever believed are being tested in a degree unseen in our country's entire existence. I cannot tell you what I believe and what I don't anymore - this is existential to degrees I cannot compare to any event other than 9/11 and many of you are too young to remember that. Life as we knew it doesn't exist anymore. I will not pretend to speak for the Palestinian people because I'm not Palestinian, but I know them to be facing horrors beyond most people's understanding, particularly in Gaza.

This is no joke, and no talking point. This is an ongoing conflict that radically challenges the status quo for every involved side; too many of the chips have yet to fall, and personally I don't believe anything I'm told beyond the barest irrefutable facts. Misinformation and propaganda are rampant on both sides, and that's an insult to the truth and each and every victim. It gets worse when people with zero stakes in the matter get involved and turn our suffering into yet another point of debate to virtue-signal and boost their ego and pretend they're better than the person they're talking to.

I've had to see people with my own two eyes treat this as a shipping war or as another partisan issue to fight with your uncle over on Christmas dinner. Attempts to "pick" aside or to "help me convince [relative]" or "how can I rebuke [point]?", basically twisting reality into knots to make it fit your Western little heads.

Major yikes. It's bizarre and invasive and borderline appropriative, to think of our issues on your terms, and try to shape cherry-pick these narratives to suit your set of morals. These are Middle Eastern peoples (check Israeli demographics and my Ashkie DNA if you think I'm pulling that out of my ass) with our own cultures and sets of beliefs, and a conflict with an incredibly unique history and reason to be.

(For example, something I wish people understood is how diametrically opposed the notions of pikuach nefesh and jihad are. Pikuach Nefesh is Judaism's most important tenet - human life comes before everything and anything and it is our duty to do whatever it takes to save a life. Jihad is, as explained to me by several Muslim people, is a pillar of Islam and encompasses the idea of martyrdom, or basically that there are things worth dying for, and things one must die for. These principles factor on how both sides deal with warfare and it's a fascinating thing to talk about - but you'd never know if you only care about this war to boost your ego).

So what I'm about to say below goes tenfold if you're from the wealthy Anglosphere or the seat of a former European empire, because the state of the Middle East is your leadership's fault and you, yes you, have been doing absolutely nothing to hold your elected officials accountable. You also benefit directly from the instability in the region your countries caused (by keeping us powerless, yours are more powerful) and you have the privilege to sleep safe and sound and know war never will come to you. So here it goes:

Bringing selfish and trivial attitudes into a very real issue that affects real people that isn't you is a complete moral wrong. If you don't have a direct stake in the issue (ie. Israeli, Palestinian, or descendent of either) and have the absolute privilege of not having experienced war yourself (ie. lived in an active war zone for real personally in unequivocal terms) please take several steps back and a goddamn seat. This is not about you, your need to virtue-signal, and your feelings.

[lifeofresulullah]

The Life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH):     The Battle of Badr and Afterwards  

The Battle of Badr: Part 6

Harith b. Suraka is Martyred

Harith b. Suraka, a young man from the tribe of Khazraj, was at the back of the army, standing near the water pool and watching the fight. An arrow shot by the enemy passed through the mujahids in the front ranks and hit him at the back; he was martyred. He was the first Muslim martyred among Ansar.

It was a lesson to drawn for everybody that the arrow passed through the mujahids in the front ranks and hit Harith, who was at the back, martyring him.

The Prophet Encourages the Mujahids to Fight

The battle was going on intensely. The Messenger of Allah constantly called the mujahids to be steadfast: “I swear by Allah, in whose hand of power is Muhammad’s existence, that Allah will definitely put those who fight by expecting the consent of Allah and by showing patience and steadfastness and who are killed while proceeding without turning back into Paradise!”

Umayr is Martyred

Umayr b. Humam from Ansar heard this glad tiding of the Messenger of Allah while eating dates and said, “It is very nice! In order to go to Paradise, it is necessary to be killed by those people”. He threw the dates away and drew his sword; he uttered some effective couplets regarding the virtue of martyrdom and the importance of the hereafter; then, he attacked the enemy. That was all. Umayr did not return. He killed many polytheists and then he was martyred.

A Miracle

While the battle was going on, the Messenger of Allah picked a handful of fine sand from the ground, threw it toward the army of the polytheists and prayed as follows: “Let their faces be black! O Allah! Put fear in their hearts; make their feet tremble!”

Each one of them heard the sentence, “Let their faces be black!” and the sand he threw went to the eyes of each polytheist. They stopped attacking and started to be busy with their eyes.

The Quran declares that miracle as follows:

“It is not ye who slew them; it was Allah: when thou threwest (a handful of dust) it was not thy act, but Allah’s!”

Yes, the small stones that Messenger of Allah had in his hands mentioned the names of Allah and glorified Allah; similarly, the fine sand and small grits that he threw at the enemy were like hand grenades and terrified the enemy!

The Supplication of the Prophet and the Help of Angels

On the one hand, the Prophet was walking among mujahids, making speeches to increase their love and enthusiasm of jihad; on the other hand, he was turning toward the qiblah and praying his Lord: “O Allah! Send me the help You have promised me!”

During his supplication, he was so concentrated that he did not notice when his garment on his shoulder fell down. Hazrat Abu Bakr, who never left him alone, picked the garment and put it back on his shoulder saying, “O Messenger of Allah! That supplication is enough. Doubtlessly, He will keep His promise He has made you.”

After a while the Messenger of Allah said, “Glad tidings, O Abu Bakr! Allah’s help has arrived. That is Jibril. He is equipped with weapons on his horse, holding the reigns of his horse on the sand hills, waiting for orders!”

The Quran narrates the incident as follows:

“Allah had helped you at Badr, when ye were a contemptible little force; then fear Allah; thus may ye show your gratitude.

Remember thou saidst to the Faithful: Is it not enough for you that Allah should help you with three thousand angels (specially) sent down?.”

It is narrated that a very strong wind that had never seen before occurred. It was impossible to see. Then, the wind died away. Then, another wind occurred; and it died away, too.

It was the manifestation of Jibril coming with three thousand angels under his command and standing near the Prophet, on his right and left.

The angels had white turbans around their heads and the tips of the turbans were hanging down at the back. Only the turban of Jibril (pbuh) was yellow. All of the angels were riding multicolored horses.

Mujahids Fight Heroically

The watchword of the mujahids was, “Ya Mansur! Amit”; they fought against the enemy heroically and split the ranks of the enemy with their attacks and blows.

Especially Hazrat Hamza and Hz. Ali (may Allah be pleased with them) attacked the polytheists heroically and bravely; they always got through the any enemy rank they attacked. Hazrat Hamza knocked down anyone in front of him with a sword in both of his hands. Those two heroic Companions killed many notables of the polytheists with their swords.

Abu Jahl is Killed

It would be a source of pride to kill Abu Jahl, the greatest enemy of the Muslims; therefore, every mujahid wanted to find and kill him. Hazrat Hamza killed Abu Qays Ibn Walid, who was the bother-in-law of Khalid b. Walid from Banu Mahzum and who was one of the leaders of the polytheists, thinking that he was Abu Jahl; similarly, Hazrat Ali killed Abdullah Ibn Mundhir from Banu Mahzum, thinking that he was Abu Jahl.

Abu Jahl, who was seventy years old, was a ferocious and steadfast enemy of Islam; he had a terrible face. He said, “My mother bore me for today!” showing his courage and leading his soldiers to the fight.

When Banu Mahzum saw that many polytheists had been killed, they surrounded Abu Jahl like a herd of camels. They were going to protect him at any cost.

The battle was going on intensely.

When Hazrat Abdurrahman b. Awf looked around in his rank, he saw two Ansar youths.

One of them approached him and asked, “Do you know Abu Jahl?”

Abdurrahman b. Awf said, “Yes, I know him. What are you going to do to him?” The young man answered,

“I promised Allah. When I see Abu Jahl, I am going to walk toward him; I am going to kill him or I am going to be a martyr!”

Abdurrahman b. Awf admired this young man and appreciated his determination and courage. Meanwhile, the other youth approached and said the same things.

Abdurrahman b. Awf first had said to himself, “I ended up between two children in the rank!” Then, he was amazed by their brave talks.

Those two young men were Muadh and Muawwidh, two of the seven children of Afra that took part in the battle.

Meanwhile, Abdurrahman b. Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) saw Abu Jahl, who was wandering among the polytheists and who was guarded by the members of Banu Mahzum. He showed him to the two young men, saying, “There he is! Abu Jahl!”

The two brave young men drew their swords and walked toward that direction.

Many mujahids were looking for Abu Jahl to kill him just like those two young men. Before the two young men reached Abu Jahl, Muadh b. Amr b. Jamuh from Ansar, who was following Abu Jahl, hit Abu Jahl on the leg with his sword. Ikrima, the son of Abu Jahl wounded his hand and arm with his sword in return. This heroic Companion said,

“My hand was hanging down with its skin. I forgot abut my hand due to the severity of the battle. I held my wounded hand at the back and continued fighting. When my hand started to give me a lot of trouble, I stepped on it with my foot and cut off my hanging hand!”

After Muadh b. Amr b. Jamuh was wounded, the two young brothers approached Abu Jahl. They hit him with their swords and knocked him down. They thought he was dead and left him.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene made transphobic remarks against Illinois’ Democratic Rep. Marie Newman’s transgender daughter Thursday — and it's not the first time she's made Newman's child a target.

“(Newman’s) so-called daughter is a trans, biological adult son, approximately close to the same age as my two, very much biological real girls – daughters,” Greene, R-Ga., said Thursday at a fundraiser for another GOP congresswoman, according to WBEZ Chicago.

Greene's controversial rhetoric and behavior have landed her in hot water before. In February, she was stripped of all her House committee assignments due to incendiary posts on social media. Republicans called the move a result of "cancel culture." Greene added Thursday that she’s taken to calling Newman “Newperson,” “‘cause she doesn’t believe in gender.”

“I don’t want to offend her, so I changed her name from Newman to Newperson…She is very confused,” Greene said. “As a matter of fact, so is her son.” Pat Mullane, a spokesperson for Newman, declined to comment on Greene's remarks and said the office is "basically trying to ignore her."

In response to USA TODAY's request for comment, Greene said that Newman "attacked her first" and reiterated her assertion that Newman's transgender daughter should not be allowed to share restroom facilities with cisgender girls because of her sex assigned at birth. "As a woman, we don’t want men in our bathrooms or in our sports. Period," Greene said through a spokesperson. "I will keep telling the story of Marie Newperson’s (sic) attack on me and no, I won’t back down when the media attempts to smear me for it."

Greene’s remarks are a continuation of a feud between herself and Newman that started in February. In a February House floor speech regarding the Equality Act, legislation protecting the civil rights of LGBTQ Americans, Newman said the act was important for transgender people like her daughter. 

Newman then placed a transgender pride flag outside her office and shared a video of her putting it up, saying she wanted Greene to see it. Newman and Greene’s congressional offices are across the hall from each other. Shortly after, Greene tweeted a video of Newman’s speech, denying Newman’s daughter’s gender identity. “Your biological son does NOT belong in my daughters’ bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams,” Greene said. Greene responded to Newman’s video later that evening by creating a similar video of herself posting a sign, which reads: "There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE. Trust The Science!"

The clash between the two congresswomen drew ire on social media, and members of Congress from both parties stood up for Newman and her daughter. “This is sad and I’m sorry this happened. Rep. Newmans daughter is transgender, and this video and tweet represents the hate and fame driven politics of self-promotion at all evil costs,” Illinois Republican Rep. Kinzinger tweeted in response to Greene’s video.

“Protections & rights for transgender folks is literally a life or death issue,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., also tweeted. “To have a congressperson deny their existence & deny their need for rights is cruel and should not be what government is about.”

The Thursday fundraiser in downstate Illinois was held for freshman Republican Rep. Mary Miller. “(Miller) needs your help,” Greene said Thursday. “We aren’t the popular girls in Washington.” Like Greene, Miller has been criticized for inflammatory language. The Illinois Republican cited Adolf Hitler in a Washington speech in January. After criticism from her Republican colleagues, she apologized for the remarks. 

Greene did not hold back Thursday on using the kind of language that has raised her profile nationally. In her speech, she called the COVID-19 pandemic “the great Chinese pandemic” and Muslim members of Congress and their allies “the jihad squad,”.

While running for office, videos of Greene surfaced in which she expressed racist and Islamophobic views, suggesting that Muslims should not hold office and that Black people are "slaves to the Democratic Party." The Georgia representative has also compared mask mandates to the Holocaust and the Democratic Party to Nazis. 

[alexanderpusheen]

what frustrates me the most abt this china narrative is that the US created al qaeda and ISIS, those groups are recruiting and causing terrorism in xinjiang, china has been trying to handle the situation with re-education programs often suggested by westerners, and its still being treated as this major human rights violation. there are actually dozens of countries with several robust anti radicalization programs that are just as strict, like singapore, colombia, yemen, bangladesh, saudi arabia, and indonesia. this paper ive linked to was even funded by the DHS so like...why has detaining someone and basically reverse brainwashing them out of being a terrorist been so acceptable for so long but now its an issue? 

if you take issue with chinas program, you have to prove its somehow exceptional to these other programs. since we really dont have any way of knowing what is truth or reality thanks to the enormous disinformation campaign going on, you fucking cant. we dont even know what the programs entail because even googling it gets you exclusively hyperbolic concentration camp accusations. 

what i will say is that relations between the han majority and the uyghur minority have been strained since at least the 80s. link is the notoriously conservative and pro US intervention human rights watch, so dont say im using pro commie sources or anything. every time i do any bit of research on this i seem to find an attempt from major news outlets in the early to mid 2000s or late 20-teens to prove this all started or became dramatically worse now, but things have always been tense. and its not really a surprise that things really got bad after the collapse of the soviet union, an event that was geographically close to china and the xinjiang region and also just like, a fucking major global event in general.

what i find to be very odd is just how dramatically the narrative has changed. the diplomat, one of my favorite periodicals, went from taking very nuanced and balanced positions on xinjiang that i almost completely agreed with to being just as aggressive as outlets like the BBC and CNN in the span of five years. they have eleven pages worth of articles on xinjiang, mostly covering the terrorism and beijings response (which i agree is too harsh) and xinjiang muslims’ relationships to the greater muslim world. 

an example is how this article talks about the conflict at the time which warns of escalating violence as a result of han chauvinism and beijing being unable to deal with the extremism holistically. it points out how there were uyghurs captured among taliban ranks in afghanistan and how many might have even been working with ISIL.

The threat will not be an existential one to the Chinese state, as most Uighurs would prefer a peaceful accommodation. But even if only 1 percent of Uighurs hold extreme views, there are 10 million in Xinjiang and even for a state security apparatus as formidable as China’s, 100,000 or more angry people present a tough challenge.

i think its totally right that china does not allow people in that area to have cars, woodcutting tools, and amonium nitrate (which is used in bombs) is very strictly regulated. i completely agree that this is not how you combat terrorism. most people do not want war and broadly punishing these people is itself a human rights violation that went unnoticed until now.

however, in that same year, the diplomat also published this article about the infamous turkestan islamic party. members of TIP are like, literal jihadists lmfao.

TIP fighters call on the world’s Muslims to join the jihad against Western countries in internet videos. Perhaps most worringly for China, the TIP believes that Muslims may fight locally using various means instead of coming to Syria and Iraq to conduct a “holy war” against the “infidel” Western regimes.  

yeah i definitely want to hear more about what these guys have to say. the article is really good because i think it highly illustrates just how dangerous these people are. theyve killed hundreds of people across china and want to establish a fascist religious state in xinjiang. while the article speaks for itself, i believe the last paragraph really highlights why china is being singled out whereas countries like france and canada are considered allies to muslims for whatever reason:

However, as experience has shown, China takes a passive position in the struggle against global Islamic jihad in Syria and Iraq. Beijing has not sent its troops to the Middle East to fight ISIS and has instead confined itself to diplomatic support for Russia and the United States. The Chinese government uses the attacks of Islamic jihadists to persuade Western countries to support Beijing’s position on Xinjiang and turn a blind eye when the freedom and rights of Uyghurs are harshly suppressed by Chinese security forces. Therefore, China is not perceived by the West as a reliable partner in the fight against terrorism. [emphasis mine]

im just a little surprised to see that a lot of these violent attacks from extremists throughout the years have targeted not just han chinese but also other uyghurs. in the west people do not typically sympathize with terrorists as freedom fighters, even on the left, because we know that no matter how angry or how seemingly justified the violence might seem, terrorism is unacceptable and it grossly misrepresents islam. it is a fascist act because those terrorists often follow an extremely right wing version of islam. also, we know that those who carry out terrorist attacks even outside of the west are middle class and professionals in some way, not poor and marginalized people. the level of nuance afforded to terrorists outside of xinjiang is pretty staggering. 

yet in china, there seems to be this excitement than they are killing chinese people, even if some of those chinese are other uyghers or otherwise muslims. those who carry out attacks in xinjiang dont get any nuance or analysis because theyre justified.

ive referenced the diplomat earlier but this article from 2013 says it perfectly: Call Tiananmen Attack What It Was: Terrorism. except terrorism is bad. and the west wants you to support the uyghurs. and make no mistake, they do not want you to support the millions of uyghurs who want to live peacefully, free of any repression, american or chinese. they want you to support the jihadists randomly blowing up chinese and tourists alike because you are meant to sympathize with their plight.

terrorism isnt something to be romantacized or cheered on. it is something someone or someones do when they feel they have no other option. people do not want to kill even those they feel they have every right to because thats a line you cant uncross. murder changes you, justified or not. see the last chapter of wretched of the earth for this.

terrorism is great, however, for destabilizing a region or a country, and xinjiang is resource-rich. establishing a US-friendly regime, no matter how good they are on human rights, is the goal. the US does not care about muslims. they do not care about human rights. china, also, does not really seem to care about muslims or human rights either. but we’ve seen this since vietnam, and the US has learned since vietnam. the vietnamese were sympathetic. they were minding their business. 

after vietnam, merely being communist isnt enough to warrant invasion. theyre killing their own people. nevermind that bolsonaro kills his own people and no one wants to invade (yet--biden has mention sanctions wrt us which is scary but again, thats got everything to do with making sure latin america is loyal to the west, not HR offenses). korea, although it was before vietnam, was less publicized and learning from vietnam gave the US a valuable lesson: always blame the victim. and thus, the US blames the victims of its violence. even if its ‘justified’, even if its ‘true,’ as was the case with saddam hussein, invading and occupying was the nightmare no one but the imperialists anticipated. because they dont broadcast what occupying forces do to the occupied. i am old enough to remember abu ghraib. have it seared in my memory forever. you perhaps are also old enough to remember, but also think millions of abu ghraibs and guantanamo bays are always worth it, always justified. 

i know people arent going to read this and remind me really rudely that they didnt read it but i want to really emphasize how one of imperialism and colonialisms features is ethnic and racial separatism. how the rwandan genocide couldnt have happened without previous belgian and french rule. how yugoslavia wouldve remained a single country had it not been for NATO. i think its easy to diminish the role of the colonizer in all of this, but it is actually one of its goals: divide and conquer. exacerbate the existing conflicts to the point of genocide. 

and if the west succeeds in balkanizing china, you will get more racism rather than less. you will see more violence against muslim minorities rather than less. they will feel less empowered rather than more. china has to learn that they are also to blame in a way that will be catastrophic for over a billion people. han chauvinism and outright racism must be addressed beyond window dressing.

wrapping up, china is in the wrong here. what theyre doing is racist and humiliating a population that has to be empowered. and the one child rule, even for the han majority, is imo fucking evil lol like sorry tankie tumblr im tankie too but i cannot for the life of me accept that as a good thing.... but i also dont buy the accusations of genocide, because even tho a lot of these articles are kind of glossing over it, china is trying to handle the terrorism in the region. imo theyre feeding into it by getting more han in the area, but also having more han but forcing them to take worse jobs would be a show of good will. idk, this situation is extremely complex and frankly, most uyghers do not want secession. 

i also take extreme issue with people saying that adrian zenz is somehow reliable. not only is he a nazi crackpot, hes also literally the only source for almost all of what we know about this in the west. that is not how you do journalism. i dont understand how people are saying ‘yeah hes an extremely fascist grifter but also i believe him because hes anti communist and also anti china’. thats also not really the point? the point is that hes also the ONLY SOURCE on almost all of this, which is alarming. 

i also find it very startling that in order to keep interest in the story, every few weeks the US has to remind people that the chinese are also doing what the US is doing to women in its own camps. forget that the US is separating minors from parents (since 2008). forget that the US is sterilizing women en masse (since 2017). forget that the US is raping women at the border (since there was a border). forget the US even has camps because now they arent even called that anymore. this is not that ‘you can be angry at two things at once’ but a clearly cynical attempt to get its citizens to forget that the US is detaining, deporting, sterilizing, and raping, and gassing non US nationals. 

they are not ‘your own people.’ they are me. the other. i am an immigrant to the US, currently in my country of birth, so i am the other to you, the american. the chinese are doing the evil crime of killing their own. but the americans could never kill their own because they dont consider black americans to be their own. latin american nationals are not their own. bombing millions globally is not their own. thats always justifiable. there is clearly an element of racism in how these crimes are perceived as more or less evil.

the way immigrants and black americans are brutalized in the US is almost naturalized. like its the way things are supposed to be. you can live with that. its upsetting that you have to hear about antiblackness and the like but you know thats just how life is. you dont necessarily call for the US to be sanctioned or bombed by other countries because you believe in the inherent goodness of white america. but countries like china and iran and north korea deserve to be starved and killed for their crimes. and you can never say ‘maybe bombing and starving a country isnt the answer’ because it means you agree with it. you can never say ‘this is clearly propaganda to make me hate another race so much’ because it means youre a genocide denier. im sorry, but again, i remember iraq in 2003, i remember libya in 2011. i dont buy it.

finally, theres been a lot of attacks on asian people in the US lately and if you cannot see the violent way the US talks about china the country and how that influences people to harm asians within the US then idk what else to tell you. people will really believe this shit and say the chinese are all blood thirsty islamaphobes and thus need to be harmed. ‘im not like that! i defend my asian friends from racism!’ thats nice and all but idk how spreading some sinophobic propaganda designed by the US to make you support some kind of violence against one billion chinese people isnt inherently racist. also its unhelpful because sanctions dont really solve problems. but ive spoken too much.

[creepingsharia]

“Clean Our Toilets and Take Our Germs to Your Church!” Muslim Persecution of Christians, March 2020

by Raymond Ibrahim

The following are some of the abuses Muslims inflicted on Christians throughout the month of March, 2020, thematically arranged:

The Kidnap, Rape, and Forced Conversion of Christians

Pakistan: A group of motorcycle-riding Muslim men kidnapped and gang raped two 12-year-old Christian boys.  The children were playing video games at a local arcade when a gang of Muslims approached and lured them to check out and eventually sit on their motorcycles.  Once the boys were atop the vehicles, the men rode off to a remote field where “the young boys were beaten till they submitted to the demands of the Muslim men, at which point the 12 year olds were raped,” notes the March 23 report:

After the ordeal Suneel and Harry [the two boys] were threatened not to say anything by the gang as they rode off … leaving the boys behind naked.  Suneel and Harry then tearfully and in pain got dressed and walked for 3 hours till home.  Suneel managed to stagger home at 3:30 am early the following morning and was received by his father Naeem (40 yrs) who had not slept all night. Naeem and other family members were praying for Suneel and were shocked when they found him crying and trembling with fear.

Last reported and according to his mother:

Suneel is not eating properly.  He cries all the time and has said he does not want to go to a local school.  Other boys have been teasing him and it has created a dark sorrow within him.  We cannot take him to church as they are all closed [due to COVID-19] and he is slowly entering a deep depression.

Separately, on March 1, two Muslim men abducted a 13-year-old Christian girl, forcibly converted her to embrace Islam, and married her off to a Muslim.  Saima Javid was kidnapped while fetching water from a pump near her home.  “I was deeply depressed and thought of committing suicide when I lost my daughter,” her mother said while discussing this incident.  “Young Christian girls are not safe in this country. Muslims consider them as their property or slaves and therefore humiliate them as they wish.”  After confirming that “our daughters are often sexually harassed by influential Muslims,” the girl’s father added that “The police did not listen to us for five days.  However, when news of the abduction went viral on social media, the police registered a First Information Report (FIR # 137/20) against the abductors on March 5.”  As a result, on March 26, the 13-year-old Christian girl appeared in court where she “testified that she had been abducted and was forced to convert to Islam and forced to marry [a Muslim man].” The judge ordered her returned to her family.  “This order marks a rare victory for Pakistani Christians affected by the issue of abduction, forced conversion, and forced marriage,” the report correctly observes.

Nigeria: On March 12, the Hausa Christian Foundation of Nigeria announced that a young girl named Sadiya Amos had managed to escape from her Muslim kidnappers.  The girl was originally abducted in early January; she was subsequently forcibly converted to Islam and married off to one of her kidnappers.  Sadiya was thereafter kept in a small room under guard.   One day, the guards fell asleep without locking her room.  She managed to sneak out and flee back to her family’s home—only to find her father experiencing his own problems for trying to rescue her: a Sharia court was accusing him of trying to prevent his daughter from embracing Islam—and had even produced a forged certificate to that effect—in an effort to assist her abductors.  The statement adds that,

The case of abducting Christian Girls and their forceful conversion to Islam as well as forcing them into marriage has become a water shed issue in Northern Nigeria….  The moment these girls are abducted, they are subjected to all manners of evil just to take control of their minds. Once they took hold of their minds, these girls will only do everything they are asked to do. While the parents fight for the release of their daughters, these abductors continue to sexually abuse these girls, hypnotized [subliminally influencing?] their food, drinks, clothes, where they sleep, perpetually evoke evil spirit upon them to the point that these girls completely lost their minds and never think of going back to their home. Usually, the moment a Christian girl is abducted they ensure that they get married to her within one or two weeks. She will be sexually abused even before the marriage to make the parents give up on her when she becomes pregnant.

Egypt:  An unknown woman posing as a Coptic nun, along with an unknown man posing as her monk assistant, were exposed as frauds who were using their religious garb to target and lure young and trusting Christian girls.  The issue was apparently serious enough for the Coptic pope himself to make a statement disavowing the two charlatans.  On social media, the “nun,” known only as Theodora, had a photo shopped picture of herself with the pope.  It is unclear what the exact scam was—whether it was for later extortion or identifying potential kidnapping victims.  Elaborate schemes to target Christian girls in Egypt are not uncommon.

The Slaughter of Christians

Nigeria: According to a March 8 report titled, “Nigeria: A Killing Field of Defenseless Christians,”

Available statistics have shown that between 11,500 and 12,000 Christian deaths were recorded in the past 57 months or since June 2015 when the present central [Muhammadu Buhari-led] government of Nigeria came on board. Out of this figure, Jihadist Fulani herdsmen accounted for 7,400 Christian deaths, Boko Haram 4,000 and the “Highway Bandits” 150-200.

According to numerous Christian leaders in Nigeria, the reason formerly simple Fulani herdsmen have managed to kill nearly twice as many Christians as the “professional” terrorists of Boku Haram is because one of their fellow tribesmen, the president of the nation, Muhammadu Buhari, is enabling their jihad.

Kenya:  On March 11, Muslims connected with the Islamic terror group, Al Shabaab (“the Youth”) killed two more Christians and abducted a third in yet another roadside ambush.  In the first instance, a passenger bus was stopped and stormed by the terrorists, who proceeded to order all the passengers out. “They abducted the only Christian on the bus, the mechanic, and allowed the others to continue with their journey,” a police officer reported. The second attack occurred an hour later in the same region.  Two medical transporters—both Christians—delivering much needed medicine to Mandera, which has suffered much from ongoing Al Shabaab violence, were stopped in their truck; they were “killed by shooting and their bodies dumped on the roadside,” an official confirmed.  In the previous three months, at least 13 other Christians were killed under nearly identical circumstances in Kenya—yanked out of ambushed vehicles and slaughtered on being identified as Christian.

Pakistan: More details concerning the February 28 torture and murder of Saleem Masih, a Christian farm laborer who dared use water from the same well used by Muslims emerged in a March 3 report: When his tormentors first gathered around and starting beating and kicking him, “they called him chura (filthy Christian cleaner), while making him lick their boots telling him kaffir (non-Muslim) dogs deserve such treatment.”  They then dragged him by the hair and chained him in a barn where the torture began in earnest: they “rolled a thick iron rod across the whole of Saleem’s body which by now had many fractures and internal injuries.  Saleem was tortured and spat at for at least 4 hours until he went unconscious.” The report concludes by quoting Juliet Chowdhry, a Pakistani human rights activist in the UK:

A senseless violent attack has ended the life of a young Christian man, left a mother and father heart-broken and community beleaguered. The men who undertook the attack are so blinded by hate they are showing no evidence of remorse. Overcoming such hate will take a miracle as it is ingrained into every aspect of culture and society in Pakistan and is reinforced via a biased national curriculum.  It will take decades to remove such entrenched intolerance and I fear I will not see it in my lifetime…. Nations such as the UK naively continue to send foreign aid to Pakistan despite the existing social malaise – this naive attitude contributes to Pak-Government apathy and perpetuates the status quo.

The Jihad on Churches

Norway: A Muslim migrant set fire to two churches.  According to the March 21 report, the man, aged 28, from a Middle Eastern or African nation, torched the churches in “revenge” for some unclear but supposedly “blasphemous” treatment of the Koran at the hands of a Norwegian.  He was imprisoned for four weeks, which the court said was “not disproportionate,” as “it is a serious crime.”

United Kingdom: A 23-year-old man who was initially only described as a “Norwegian”—but who was later revealed as a Muslim born to Somali refugees—was arrested for plotting to bomb St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. “Based on the material we seized and reviewed, we believe that he may be suspected of having participated in the terror organization Islamic State,” police added. He is also accused of managing to destroy evidence in a still-in-progress terrorism case in Denmark.  According to the March 23 report, his co-conspirator and fellow arrestee, Safiyya Amira Shaikh, a British woman born as Michelle Ramsden who converted to Islam in 2007, admitted to the planned terror attack: “the goal was to kill as many people as possible in a suicide bomb attack on St. Paul.” Earlier, in an encrypted chat with an undercover police officer, Safiyya had said that she would “rather die young and get to Jannah (paradise) the quickest way possible…  I always know I wanted to do something big… killing one kafir (infidel) is not enough for me.”  She had further expressed a desire to target a church on a Christmas or Easter day, when they would be packed, to kill more people.

Sudan: Unknown militants burned down two churches in the Muslim majority nation.  According to a March 18 report from Dabanga, an independent Sudanese news outlet,

[V]iolence against Christian communities has continued, despite the changes that have occurred in Sudan over the last year…  [T]he first attack took place … in Omdurman on Saturday February 29. A church building of the Sudanese Church of Christ was torched. It is not known who the perpetrators are.  The second incident occurred on March 9, when militants set fire to the Presbyterian Evangelical Church in Bout, El Tadamon local in Blue Nile state. The church was destroyed completely, including the furniture and books within it.

Counting these latest, five churches have been torched in Sudan since the start of 2020.

Indonesia: Around mid-March, authorities closed down another church in response to ongoing protests by the Islamic Defenders Alliance, a Muslim advocacy group—even though the building had been used as a church between 2017 and 2020.  Initially, local Muslims had complained that it had a visible cross, which the congregation quickly removed.  However, that was not enough, and the Islamic Defenders Alliance issued a statement saying, “We, from the alliance, demand that the church be demolished as soon as possible.”  Since Muslims first began protesting the existence of the church, its pastor has tried to find a new place to build a new church, but has been unsuccessful, as local residents reject having a church near them.  “Many Christians across Indonesia face religious persecution that is embedded in the culture and legal system,” said another March report:  “Christianity, both Protestants and Catholics, make up 10% of the population. That’s close to 26 million people that are being affected by this discrimination.”

Pakistan:  A Muslim man beat “to near death” his Christian servant for threatening to quit unless permitted to attend church. Shaan Masih, 21, had never wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and be a household servant to the wealthy and influential Muslim but was pressured into it after his father died.  Shaan “was working from 7am to 7pm every day and suffered a lot of bullying at work, was pushed and beaten,” the report explains.  “He was constantly called a Chura (dirty Christian cleaner) and soon cleaning toilets became a regular part of his work despite his protestations” that his original contract stipulated that he would not clean toilets. Only he, the report adds, “was required to clean the toilets and none of the Muslim servants,” who “were also treated with more respect.”  On March 13, after Shaan asked his employer’s wife if he could leave a little early so he could attend evening mass at church, she exclaimed, “You Chura are always going to those dirty churches and bringing your germs into our home! Before you go, clean our toilets and take our germs to your church so that they can suffer instead.”  Shaan refused: “Being before God is a sacred thing and I want to be comfortable with God and would not feel good, if I clean your toilets before I go.”  When she threatened to fire him, he said he quit and went straight to church; when he returned home, his Muslim boss called and asked him to come and collect his things and get paid.   Shaan “was really pleased about this as he had waited so long for the payment and was beginning to feel pressure from a large number of growing debts.”  According to the report, when he arrived,

Kashif [the boss] and other servants were waiting for Shaan with a hot iron rod and leather belt.  Shaan was resoundly [sic] beaten, spat at and tortured for at least 20 minutes by the family members of Kashif and his servants…  While he was beaten Kashif berated Shaan for leaving his place of work without express permission from him: ‘You are a Chura and should not leave a Muslim masters premises until told to. Your nerve to stand up to Muslims is a blasphemy and I will kill you for this!’ Kashif ran inside his home to grab a gun and shoot Shaan who was by now terrified and in fear for his life.

A servant helped Shaan to escape during the commotion; he “sped towards his home bleeding along the route.”  When a relative opened the door, “he collapsed on the floor” and his mother “began screaming in a panic….  Shaan fell unconscious for several hours from the pain of his injuries.” “The attitude of both the police and medical staff was really disappointing,” Shaan later said in an interview, regarding how both had ignored his pleas for justice and help.  “Despite severe burns on my body and immense pain, they treated me like an animal.”  According to his mother, “He used my son like a donkey, never paid him and then enacted such violence for no reason. I fear he can kill my son anytime he wants because of his influence and power.”

Turkey: The desecration of Christian cemeteries, many of which are attached to churches, is on the rise.  According to a March 14 report, 20 of 72 gravestones in the Ortaköy Christian Cemetery in Ankara were found destroyed.  “These attacks against cemeteries are making the Christian community across Turkey feel incredibly sad and desperate,” an Ankara-based pastor observed:  “Nobody can watch over the graves of their loved ones like a guard.”  In one instance, the desecraters broke a cross off a recently deceased women’s grave in a church cemetery; days earlier, her burial service was interrupted by cries of “Allahu Akbar!”  “My son lies here,” another Christian woman explained: “He died last year. He was 17-years-old. Children his age came here and destroyed his grave. What type of conscience can accept this?…  If my son were alive, he would not do such a thing. They have carried out similar attacks before, and no one was caught.”  An “environment of hate” for Christians is behind this upsurge, said one local journalist:

But this hateful environment did not emerge out of nowhere. The seeds of this hatred are spread, beginning at primary schools, through books printed by the Ministry of National Education portraying Christians as enemies and traitors. The indoctrination continues through newspapers and television channels in line with state policies. And of course, the sermons at mosques and talk at coffee houses further stir up this hatred.

Pakistan: A March 1 report offered more details on the February 2 shooting and axe attack on Christians for daring to build a church on their land.  According to the wife of Azeem Masih (32), who was shot in the head and has lost the ability to speak and other functions:

We were all asleep at 11 pm, as Azeem is a tailor and had to work from early in the morning.   Suddenly we heard an evil-sounding cacophony of shouts.   Some of the local community including Azeem went out of the house to see what was happening – other[s] were dragged out by a local Muslim gang that had gathered around the Christian properties.  The men seemed intent to harm all the Christians; they were threatening to rape all the Christian women and beat and kill all other Christians.   I was shuddering with fear. I got on my knees and prayed and then heard gunshots. After this people could be heard running and screaming.   Someone told me Azeem had been shot, I ran to him and at first I thought he was dead.   I sat their weeping until the police arrived and took us to hospital.  I am heartbroken.   Azeem and I have only recently had a child and he has hardly got to know Tabeel.  Now I do not know if he will ever be able to speak to Tabeel again.  I am not used to seeing Azeem like this; he has become so dependent on others, whereas he was always the first to help them.  Azeem was a healthy and committed husband and father—a man of God who wanted to strengthen the church with a new building.   I cannot understand why these men have acted so violently, as they were not provoked by us—we have tried to live peaceful lives.

COVID-19 Discrimination in Pakistan

Christians and other “infidels” were discriminated against and denied the same aid given to Muslims in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a March 30 report:

A Karachi NGO has denied food aid to poor Hindus and Christians, who like Muslims are suffering from coronavirus….  The Saylani Welfare International Trust has been operating in the Korangi area since 1999, handing out aid and meals to homeless people and seasonal workers.  Two days ago, the welfare organisation refused to give ration cards to non-Muslims, saying that only Muslims are entitled to them.  The reason for this is that Zakat, Islamic alms giving (one of Islam’s five pillars), is reserved for Muslims. The Christian man said he begged for food to no avail.  Farooq Masih, a 54-year-old Christian in Korangi, said that last Saturday, Abid Qadri, a member of Saylani Welfare, with other NGO members, handed out food cards in his area. But, when they got to Christian homes, they just moved on.

“A few days back there was an announcement made through a mosque’s loud speaker in the Sher-Shah neighborhood of Lahore inviting citizens to collect the government’s announced foodstuffs,” a pastor explained concerning another similar incident. “When Christians reached the distribution point and presented their national identity cards, they were asked by staffers to get out of the line claiming the foodstuff was only for Muslim citizens.”   This same pastor received numerous phone calls from his flock, all of whom experienced the same denial. “Christians often face religious hatred and discrimination,” a Christian woman, aged 50, said of her experience. “However, we never thought of this biased behavior by the majority people at this critical time of COVID-19.”

Raymond Ibrahim, author of the recent book, Sword and Scimitar, Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

About this Series

The persecution of Christians in the Islamic world has become endemic.  Accordingly, “Muslim Persecution of Christians” was developed in 2011 to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that occur or are reported each month. It serves two purposes:

1)          To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, persecution of Christians.

2)          To show that such persecution is not “random,” but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Islamic Sharia.

Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; apostasy, blasphemy, and proselytism laws that criminalize and sometimes punish with death those who “offend” Islam; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam;  theft and plunder in lieu of jizya (financial tribute expected from non-Muslims); overall expectations for Christians to behave like cowed dhimmis, or second-class, “tolerated” citizens; and simple violence and murder. Sometimes it is a combination thereof.

Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the West, to Indonesia in the East—it should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Islamic Sharia law, or the supremacist culture born of it.

Previous Reports at link below.

[dentedreusablestraw]

Hey so I came across your blog and I’ve been really struggling with this and from what I’ve seen you seem to have come to terms with this already? I wanted to ask you, as a bisexual Muslim myself, how you came to accept and allow your sexuality and religion to co exist? I’ve been dealing with a lot of internalised homophobia because of my inner conflict with my beliefs and I’m having a hard time believing I could ever truly be happy the way I am. If you have any advice that would be great? (1/2)

Assalaam alaykum wa rahmatullah!!

I know exactly how you feel, trust me. I have struggled with being nonbinary and queer as a muslim. I would constantly get hateful anons and messages about being proud and out in regards to my gender and sexuality, which greatly took a toll on my mental health and my relationship with my religion.

I have known I was queer since I was about 13, and 6 years later, the only thing that has changed are the words I use to identify myself. Growing up Christian, and in a firmly Republican family, I was partially exposed to the idea that being queer was a sin, or disgusting, or a disease. I remember being terrified when I first started questioning, and praying that I wouldn't be the way I am. But, I was born this way, Allah swt made me this way, and it was only my job to embrace it. My family has known almost as long as I have (alhamdulillah they've become very accepting), a majority of my friends that have come and gone over the years have also been queer, I've been to pride parades and festivals. I was thoroughly embedded in the LGBT+ community before I even considered taking my shahada.

I will be honest, not all of the sisters at the masjid know. But the ones who do, have shown me love and compassion, and worked to understand me, may Allah reward them. From older Pakistani and Ethiopian aunties, to young American reverts like myself, they all see me as a Muslim, although a bit different from them.

But, as I said, I still received hate on tumblr specifically. I genuinely struggled with keeping positive, and for a while I thought I was doing everything wrong when it came to ibaada. I prayed to Allah for forgiveness of a thing I had no control over, that Allah gifted me with.

This last Eid-ul-Fitr, I went to a sister's house (who was raised Muslim) with a few other reverts. We discussed many topics over lunch and dinner, everything from our lives as reverts and born-Muslims, to the life of the Prophet pbuh, to marriage. Upon the topic of marriage, I expressed that it was a difficult topic for me, as a queer person, who has very rarely felt attraction to any men I've met. I expressed how I felt disconnected from the LGBT+ community and the Muslim community, purely because there are many people who believe I don't belong to either group. The sister I told this to didn't even blink. She immediately began telling me about the Prophet pbuh and how he strived to welcome and provide safe spaces for queer Muslims and eunuchs. This came as a genuine shock to me; I've seen so many memes and listened to khutbahs and lectures bashing queers for being queer, claiming we made the choice to be this way.

Its difficult to educate others on things they refuse to believe, may Allah soften and guide their hearts, but it is important to know that you have a place as a queer person in the Muslim community, and Islam has a place in the LGBT+ community. Allah swt made you you for a reason. This struggle you've gone through is jihad, and may Allah reward you greatly for it.

If you ever need to talk, please PM me, I'll listen 💕

[questionsonislam]

Is it true that a person who commits the sin of associating partners with Allah will not be forgiven?

It is stated in the Quran that a person who lives as a polytheist and dies as a polytheist will remain in Hell forever. However, it is also stated in the Quran that if a polytheist repents before he dies and believes in Allah, he will be forgiven.

When we study the Quran, we see that those who associate partners with Allah do so by opposing oneness as a result of obeying their souls. In all polytheistic communities, immorality, the feelings of the soul, oppression, ambition, naughtiness, rampage and utilitarianism are dominant. The basis of polytheism is people not believing in Allah fully, not obeying His orders and prohibitions properly; then, they fall into debauchery as described above. This issue is mentioned in many verses: (al-A'raf, 7/80, 81, 85, 86; Yusuf, 12/23, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 35; al-Hijr, 15/3 etc)

Along with the verses of the Quran, the issue of polytheism is mentioned in detail in hadiths and academic books. Associating partners with Allah in terms of His oneness is polytheism; associating partners with Him in terms of His power and administration is also polytheism. Another form of polytheism is to expect the results that need to be expected from Allah only from others.

The opposite of polytheism is oneness. Oneness means to accept the existence and oneness of Allah, that only He has power in His administration, and that His domination and will are superior to everything. Oneness is essential in the religion of Islam. The main purpose of almost all kinds of worship is to establish unity among Muslims. All of the Muslims around world reciting the same adhan, turning toward the same qiblah are an indication of oneness. Polytheism is the opposite of it. To harm the belief about the oneness of Allah, which is the main purpose and essential aim of oneness, and to associate partners with Allah are regarded as the biggest polytheism.

Allah states the following in the Quran, describing polytheism as wrong-doing: "False worship is indeed the highest wrong-doing." (Luqman, 31/13) As a matter of fact, a person who falls into polytheism wrongs his own soul by doing so. (al-Mawardi, an-Nukatu wa'l-Uyun, Beirut, 1992, IV, 333). Polytheism is also regarded as wrong-doing because when a person opposes the universal law to which the skies, the earth and the beings in them, matter and life surrender, that is, the fact that Allah is the unique deity and Lord, he does not give Allah His due. Another verse supporting the fact that a person who falls into polytheism wrongs his own soul is as follows:

"Being true in faith to Allah and never assigning partners to Him: if anyone assigns partners to Allah he is as if he had fallen from heaven and been snatched up by birds or the wind had swooped (like a bird on its prey) and thrown him into a far-distant place." (al-Hajj, 22/31 )

A person who falls into polytheism becomes so terrible that his ties with Allah break off, he loses his sense of direction, he cannot distinguish the bad from the good and he becomes so confused as to kill his own child. Their terrible situation is described as follows in the Quran:

"Even so, in the eyes of most of the Pagans, their `partners' made alluring the slaughter of their children in order to lead them to their own destruction, and cause confusion in their religion. If Allah had willed, they would not have done so: but leave alone them and their inventions!" (al-An'am, 6/137)

Some other verses showing how Allah sees polytheism and the definition of polytheism in the Quran are as follows:

"Allah forgiveth not (the sin of) joining other gods with Him: but He forgiveth whom He pleaseth other sins than this: one who joins other gods with Allah, hath strayed far, far away (from the Right)." (an-Nisa, 4/116)

"Unbelievers do (but) beckon you to the fire. But Allah beckons by His Grace to the Garden (of Bliss) and forgiveness." (al-Baqara, 2/221)

"Those who reject (Truth), among the People of the Book and among the Polytheists, will be in Hell-fire, to dwell therein (for aye). They are the worst of creatures." (al-Bayyina, 98/6)

It is necessary not to obey polytheism, which is contrary to oneness, and the orders of Allah and the Prophet, no matter from whom it comes. Islam orders people to obey their parents and to show respect to them but polytheism asks people not to obey them and not to be subject to them. One of the verses regarding the issue is as follows:

"We have enjoined on man kindness to parents: but if they (either of them) strive (to force) thee to join with Me (in worship) anything of which thou hast no knowledge, obey them not. Ye have (all) to return to Me, and I will tell you (the truth) of all that ye did." (al-Ankabut, 29/8).

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) lists polytheism as the first one among the destructive sins. The following is stated in a hadith regarding the issue:

"Avoid seven destructive deeds:

1- To associate partners with Allah;

2- To deal with magic (and sorcery, witchcraft, etc);

3- To kill a person unjustly, which is rendered haram by Allah;

4- To eat (spend) the property of orphans;

5- To run away from battlefield;

6- To eat usury (interest);

7- To slander chaste, honorable and innocent women stating that they have committed fornication." (Bukhari, Wasaya, 23, Tibb, 48, Hudud, 44; Muslim, Iman, 144; Abu Dawud, Wasaya, 10; Nasai, Wasaya, 12).

It was stated by the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) that the sins except polytheism could be forgiven, that if a believer committed sins, he would definitely go to Paradise after he was punished for his sins and that if those who committed polytheism died before they repented, they would not be forgiven as follows:

"Gabriel (Jibril) came to me and gave the following glad tidings: 'Whoever from your ummah dies without having associated partners with Allah enters Paradise.' Thereupon, I asked him, 'Even if he has committed fornication and theft?' He answered, 'Yes, even if he has committed fornication and theft.'" According to what the Prophet (pbuh) said, he asked Jibril the same question three times and Jibril gave the same answer. (Bukhari, Janaiz, 1, Libas, 24, Isti'dhan, 30, Riqaq, 13,14, Tawhid, 33; Muslim, Iman, 153, 154, Zakah, 32,33; Tirmidhi, Iman, 18; Ahmad b. Hanbal, V, 152, 159, 161, VI, 166)

There is another kind of polytheism called small polytheism. It means to perform worshipping by showing off and deviating from the consent of Allah. The following is stated in the Quran regarding the issue:

"Whoever expects to meet his Lord, let him work righteousness, and in the worship of his Lord, admit no one as partner." (al-Kahf, 18/110).

What is meant by admitting no one as partners of Allah is not to be sincere in worshipping and to have feelings of hypocrisy, show off, interest and similar ones. (al-Baydawi, Anvaru't-Tanzil wa Asraru't-Ta'wil, Egypt 1955, II, 14)

Some of the hadiths of Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) regarding the issue are as follows:

What I fear the most about you is small polytheism. Those who were there asked, "O Messenger of Allah! What is small polytheism?" The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) answered, "Small polytheism is hypocrisy, that is, show off. When people are given their rewards for their deeds on the Day of Judgment, Allah will say to them, "Go to the people to whom you showed your worshipping through hypocrisy and show off and see whether you will find any rewards for you from them." (Ahmad b. Hanbal, V, 428, 429)

"What I fear the most about my ummah is associating partners with Allah. Pay attention. I do not say they will worship the moon, sun or idols. They will do deeds for things outside the consent of Allah; they will show off." (Ibn Majah, Zuhd, 21)

Abu Hurayra narrates:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) say: The first of men whose case will be decided on the Day of Judgment will be a man who died as a martyr. He shall be brought before the Judgment Seat. Allah will make him recount His blessings (i. e. the blessings which He had bestowed upon him) and he will recount them and admit having enjoyed them in his life.

Allah will say: What did you do to requite these blessings? He will say:

I fought for Thee until I died as a martyr. Allah will say:

You have told a lie. You fought that you might be called a" brave warrior". And you were called so. Then, orders will be passed against him and he will be dragged with his face downward and cast into Hell.

Then will be brought forward a man who acquired knowledge and imparted it to others and recited the Qur'an. He will be brought and Allah will make him recount His blessings and he will recount them and admit having enjoyed them in his lifetime. Then will Allah ask:

What did you do to requite these blessings? He will say:

I acquired knowledge and disseminated it and recited the Qur'an seeking Thy pleasure.

Allah will say: You have told a lie. You acquired knowledge so that you might be called "a scholar"; and you recited the Quran so that it might be said:" He is a Qari" and such has been said. Then, orders will be passed against him and he shall be dragged with his face downward and cast into the Fire.

Then will be brought a man whom Allah had made abundantly rich and had granted every kind of wealth. He will be brought and Allah will make him recount His blessings and he will recount them and admit having enjoyed them in his lifetime. Allah will (then) ask:

What have you done to requite these blessings?

He will say: I spent money in every cause in which You wished that it should be spent.

Allah will say: You are lying. You did it so that it might be said about you:" He is a generous fellow" and so it was said. Then will Allah pass orders and he will be dragged with his face downward and thrown into Hell." (Muslim, Imara, 152; Nasai, Jihad, 22; Ahmad b. Hanbal, II, 322)

As it is stated in the hadith, to become a martyr, to become a scholar, to do charity are very good deeds. However, if they are not done for the sake and consent of Allah but for hypocrisy, show off or any other feeling of interest, they have no value.

[loverandservantoftheahlulbayt]

🕌🕋🕌 The Fourth Imam, Ali Ibn Al Hussain, Zaynal al-Aberdeen (as) 🕌

When the young ‘Ali took the mantle of Imamate, times were hard on the Ahlul Bayt of the Prophet. His is the saddest story of all time. On the 10th of Muharram at the time of Asr Prayers, when his father Hussain (as) was alone in the battlefield ready to do battle, he withdrew to the camp of his ailing son, came beside his bed, woke him and told him that the story of Karbala’ was over, that he was about to go to sacrifice his own life for the cause of Islam.

It was at that time that the father transferred the mantle of Imamate, the spiritual guidance, to his son to lead the Muslim Ummah towards the Right Path.

He was born in Madina some 22 years ago, on 5th Shabaan 38 year of Hijra. In some history books his date of birth is shown as 15th Jamadiul Awwal 38 AH. His mother was Shahr Bano the daughter of Yazdjurd II, the last of the Persian Kings before Islam.

She was taken prisoner when Muslim armies conquered Persia. When she was brought in Madina Imam ‘Ali (as) spoke to her and she embraced Islam and was married to his 2nd son Imam Husayn. (as) She had died after giving birth to her only son. He was only two years old when his grandfather ‘Ali (as) was martyred in the Mosque at Kufa. After that the whole family of the Prophet returned to live in Madina.

For the next 10 years under Imam Hasan (as) as Imam and after his martyrdom, his father Imam Hussain (as) as the Imam, the young ‘Ali was growing in their shadow and watching the workings of the Imamate without the worldly authority. People knew they were the grand sons of the Holy Prophet and followed them by their hearts but outwardly because of the fear of the Ummayad ruler in Damascus, there was very little following of the Ahlul Bayt of the Prophet.

In 60 Hijri when his father Imam Husayn (as) had to leave Madina for Makka and then for Karbala’, he was with him all the time. In Karbala’ all male children of ‘Ali (as) and Hussain (as) were killed except Imam Hussain who with providence became so ill that he was unable to participate in the Jihad with his father and survived the massacre.

His life and with that the line of descendants of Hussain (as) survived because the Imamate had to go on. He became the 4th Imam on the 10th of Muharram 61 Hijri. He was taken captive and was brought to Kufa and then to Damascus in chains.

In spite of his illness and humiliating position in front of Yazid the Ummayad ruler, when Yazid addressed him in an insulting manner saying that his father wasted his life by refusing to give the oath of allegiance to Yazid, Imam replied, it was to save Islam. They were wondering how Islam was saved. When time for Azan came and the Moazzin screamed from the minaret” I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, Imam shouted to Yazid, this is the way Islam was saved.

People would have forgotten the name of Muhammad as the Messenger of Allah if his grandson would not have shown the world that you were a ruler by default. Yazid ordered his swordsman to kill this young man, but by the intervention of his aunt Zainab his life was spared. He remained in prison for one year with the whole family.

There was turmoil in all parts of the Islamic empire on this brutal killing. In the end Yazid was afraid that if he kept the family of the Prophet in prison any longer, he will lose his kingdom. So he sent orders to bring the family before him and told him that he was releasing them. He also asked what they wish to do now.

In reply to this His aunt Zainab (sa) said; “that they would wish to hold a gathering in Damascus so that she can tell the people what happened in Karbala.” Yazid agreed and the first Majlis was held in Damascus. In this Majlis most of the women of Damascus took part who were secretly following the path of Ahlul Bayt which included Yazid’s wife Hind.

Then they all returned to Karbala’ to pay homage over the graves of their beloved father, uncles and brothers. It was on the 20th of the month of Safar 62 Hijri that they arrived back in Karbala’. The first Majlis of Arbaeen was held in Karbala’ in which his aunt Zainab (sa) and all the surviving family attended.

It was at that time that one of the companions of the Prophet Jabir Ibn Abullah Ansari visited the grave of Hussain (as) who later narrated the whole story of Karbala’ to many of his listeners in Madina and many other towns he visited. The message of Husayn (as) was spreading from town to town and from country to country.

The whole family then returned to Madina except the wife of Imam Hussain (as) . Her name was Umme Rabab. She said that she would not return back home, for her home was here where her husband lay buried. She stayed in Karbala’ until she died a few years later. A small town flourished for the up keep of pilgrims who began to visit the grave of Hussain (as) and all the martyrs of Karbala’.

Having being released from confinement in Damascus, Imam came to live in Madina with his family and to lead a quiet life. But the city was in revolt against the cruel regime of Yazid. Many tried to persuade the Imam to join them, but Imam knew their unreliability and he declined. So when Yazid’s army invaded Madina, they left the Imam’s family alone.

Yet he was greatly shocked to see how for three days the invading army led by Muslim Ibn Aqaba who was charged with invading Madina, tied their horses in the Prophet’s mosque, turning the sacred place into a filthy stable, killing hundreds of innocent people and playing havoc with chaste women.

For three continuous days these beasts from Damascus ravaged the city and destroyed it. Imam had so much control over his emotions that he kept quiet. When different revolutionary parties rose to avenge the blood of Imam Hussain (as), he wisely kept aloof from them whose uprisings he deemed untimely.

No doubt Sulaiman Ibn Surad al-Khuzai and Mukhtar ibn Obaidah ath-Thaqafi avenged Imam’s precious blood. Imam Zaynal Abedeen (as) had compassion for them; he prayed for them and for their success and often enquired about those who were captured and executed by Yazid’s cruel regime. Certainly Mukhtar relieved the Imam’s wounded heart by punishing the culprits.

But the Imam was so cautious that his outward appearance gave the impression that he was indifferent, so much so that the cruel Government could not implicate him of any subversion.

Times were hard in Madina for the family of the Prophet. Imam Hussain (as) (Sajjad became his title because of his intense prostrations in prayers) lived for another 35 years after the event of Karbala’.

He was the Imam of the time and it was his duty to spread guidance to the people. But how he would do that when a single word in favor of the Ahlul Bayt would have meant certain death. No one dared to say that he followed the family of the Prophet.

The Imam survived with the sheer will power and providence. He used to go to the mosque of the Prophet and sometimes prayed there all night. These were special prayers in the shape of supplications with great significance than mere ritual. These prayers were memorized by his companions, written down by his two sons, Mohammad and Zaid.

Mohammad became the 5th Imam after the death of his father while Zaid rose against the rulers of his time and was martyred in Kufa. All these supplications were later collected by his companions in the shape of a book which was named “Al Saheefa el Sajjadiya”. Several copies of the book were made and distributed among the followers.

Normal teachings of the Quran by the family of the Prophet were not allowed. With these supplications Imam taught his followers the relationship between God and the people. In ordinary language it is not possible to enhance the knowledge of God.

But in the language of prayer, when one bows down before the creator, one realizes one’s own meager self, in comparison with the immensity of the universe. All vanity or ego disappears. All thoughts of self indulgence vanish. He relates himself with his creator in all humility and sublime self.

His true self awakens which only exists to help others for they are all creatures of God. Emotions that were attached to his own Self disappear. He feels alone in the wide world. His only hope rests with his creator.

God alone gives him hope and meaning of existence on earth. Side by side these supplications also gave the human race their Rights and duties with each other. In the name of “Risalat- el- Huqooq” which was an addition to Saheefa, completed the meaning of Islam as a Deen of deeper spiritual understanding as well as the ways and means of lion this planet earth with other people.

Imam’s whole life was spent in helping all the people in the city of Madina. He was seen going during the darkness of the night with a sack full of bread for the hungry people of the city.

They never knew the identity of the person who gave them food night after night, but Imam’s own companions knew the fact and they passed it on to the later generation to know and to learn. It was after his death that those hungry souls came to know the identity of their benefactor.

Imam performed thirty pilgrimages in all after the event of Karbala’. Sometimes he would go for Hajj on the back of a camel, but sometimes on foot for 250 miles to Makka. Once he was travelling with a companion. When they reached the outskirts of Makka, the crowd of pilgrims going towards Makka was enormous.

His companions shouted, "There is a lot of crowd for Hajj this year." Imam replied, "There is only you and me and this camel, the rest are animals. " He was again teaching the meaning of Hajj which was to reach out for God with all your heart and do not just regard it as another ritual.

An incident occurred that is said to have provoked the jealousy of Hisham Ibn Abdul Malik who was heir apparent to his father and arrived in Makka with great pomp and a retinue of servants. But in spite of this, he was not able to reach for the Black Stone in the Ka’aba. In pilgrims garb Hisham was unrecognizable.

He sat down on a high place waiting for the crowd to move so that he could also kiss the black stone. While he was waiting he saw an old man arrive and watched the crowd give way for him. He reached the Black stone , kissed it and returned back to his place. Hisham, being the son of the caliph was astonished and enquired about the identity of the person.

Farazdaq the famous poet was standing right there. He composed a Qaseeda in praise of the Imam to introduce him to the Heir apparent of the throne. He said, “ He is who that the whole Makka knows him, Every stone in the Ka’aba knows him. He is the son of the grandson of Fatima and Ali and of the Holy Prophet. Hisham, in his arrogance of power, imprisoned the poet who died in prison some years later.

In another incident while the Imam was about to begin his prayers a man came round and began to use abusive language against him. Imam ignored the man first. But when he repeated the abusive language pointing to him directly, Imam said to him, "what you are saying about me, if it is true then I ask God’s forgiveness, but if it is not true, then only God can forgive you.”

The man was thoroughly ashamed of his behavior and apologized. Later on he became a great devotee of the Imam.

Some people say that the Imam spent his life after Karbala’ in weeping and crying for the atrocities committed to his family. Indeed it was true that he wept profusely and that sometimes the glass of water he drank would soil with tears so that he would not be able to drink that water. And when people said why you weep so much, for martyrdom is the inheritance of the Ahlul Bayt.

He would say, "Yes indeed, I do not weep for the killing of my family, but for the humiliation we the whole family faced on the way to Damascus which was beyond description. I weep for that disgrace of women and children." He would then call the people around and tell them the story of Karbala’ and the plight of the captives after Karbala’.

People would also weep and cry loudly. The message spread. This was the means to tell the people otherwise people would not want to know. Through tragedy the message reached the hearts of the people and that message is still alive after 1400 years. And with this the line of demarcation drawn in Karbala’ between truth and falsehood is still visible.

Imam’s aunt Lady Zainab (sa) was organizing gatherings in the city of Madina to tell the assembled ladies in the majlis the events of Karbala’ and these participants spread the message to all corners of the town and in Makka and other cities of the province of Hejaz.

This method was so successful that the Governor of Madina wrote to Yazid about it and on the orders from Yazid, Lady Zainab (sa) was escorted back to Damascus. She lived there for a while then she was moved to Egypt on the orders of the monarch because even in Damascus her speeches in private gatherings were successful in spreading the story of Karbala’.

Lady Zainab (sa) stayed in Egypt for few years but then she was brought back to Damascus where she was martyred. Her mausoleum is in Damascus, just outside the City and pilgrims visit the place all the time. Many many miracles have appeared at this place and people suffering from incurable diseases have come to pray on her grave and have found good health.

Imam (as) in Madina through his silent teachings left many pupils, the most prominent of them was Abu Hamza-e-Thumali, who remained to spread the teachings of Ahlul Bayt in the Islamic world. Abu Mikhnuf was also one famous pupil of the Imam who later on the instructions of the fifth Imam wrote the story of Karbala’ in the narrative form which became the part of the Majlis all over the world.

The calm and peaceful life of the Imam was not to be tolerated by the Ummayad’s cruel regime. They realized that the Imam was succeeding in his mission of spreading the message of his father Hussain (as) The Syrian monarch Walid Ibn Abdul Malik had him poisoned. He died in Madina on the 25th of Muharram 95 Hijri. His eldest son Imam Ali al Baqir (as) arranged the burial and laid him to rest in the grave yard of Jannatul Baqii beside his uncle Imam Hasan (as).

🕌🕌🕌🕌🕌🕌🕌🕌🕌🕌🕌🕌🕌

[basicsofislam]

ISLAM 101: Basic Islamic Phrases: Part 4

Islamic Terms

Hijra: To migrate. This term refers firstly to the great migration of the Muslims in the year 622 from the hostile city of Mecca, which was controlled by idol-worshippers, to the safer city of Madinah (then called Yathrib) where Islam could exist freely. The Islamic calendar begins with the Hijra as the first year.

'Ibadah: This term is often translated as “worship” but it is not a correct translation. The word worship in English just means praying and bowing, like worshipping in a church. But the term 'Ibadah literally means “service” and it comes from the root word, “to serve.” When we say that Islam considers all life to be 'Ibadah, we mean that our whole life should be lived in the service of Allah. We are here to serve Allah. In Islam, any good deed, action or thought, even just holding a steady job or smiling at someone is considered doing 'Ibadah for Allah.


Iblees: Satan

Iftar: The meal you eat after sunset in Ramadan. Suhoor is the light breakfast before first light in the morning during Ramadan.


Ilm: Knowledge

Imam: Literally: leader. Although most Muslims take this term in the sense of a leader of the prayers, it does apply to the group leader outside of prayer as well. An Imam must be elected by the Muslims or at least accepted by them if he is appointed from outside. If the community rejects him, then he cannot be the Imam.

Eman: (Eemaan) Belief or faith. The root word of Eman is Amuna. It implies three meanings: 1) to believe, 2) to confirm that belief in your heart, and 3) to feel safe. Eman is what makes a person a Muslim. Often spelled “Iman”.

Ihsaan: Usually translated as “goodness”. The Prophet (p) defined it as knowing that Allah is watching you even though you don’t see Him.

Injeel: The Gospel of Prophet 'Esa (Jesus). The New Testament of the Bible is not the Gospel of Jesus. The New Testament was written by a lot of different authors well after Jesus went up to the heavens, and it contains stories about Prophet 'Esa, but it is not 'Esa’s message. The present New Testament was assembled three hundred years after the time of Prophet 'Esa by a group of white men on a Greek Island who voted on what their “holy” book should contain. Most of the votes were hotly debated! The Roman emperor who ordered them to do it then told all Christians to accept this new compilation of writings. All other Christian writings were ordered to be destroyed. The New Testament contains four books called Gospels: (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Hundreds more “Gospels” from other authors were burned. A few such as the Gospel of Barnabas and Thomas have survived. The Gospel of Jesus was never written down and is lost.

Insha'llah: If Allah wills something to happen only then will it happen.

Iqamah: The second call to prayer just before the actual prayer begins.

Islam: A submission to God. To surrender to Allah and find peace. To submit oneself TOTALLY to the lord.

Jahannam: Hell.

Jam'a: Together, in a group.

Jannah: Paradise, Heaven. It literally means “the Garden.”

Jibra'il: The angel that brought Allah’s revelation to the Prophet. Allah is so powerful and majestic that it is beneath him to reveal Himself to humans. We are like an ant next to a star in comparison to Allah. He sends the angels to do these small jobs, though He doesn’t need them. In English his name is Gabriel.


Jihad: A struggle

Jinn: These are another type of creature Allah created. They are invisible to us but they can see us. They were made from fire elements and thus are pure energy. They are not like ghosts or weird monsters. They can influence your thoughts, encourage you to do wrong, and whisper fears into your mind. They can be good or bad. The good jinn leave us alone. The bad ones, who are also called Shayateen, or Devils, want to destroy you. Astrologers and fortune tellers get their “predictions” and “readings"from them. Jinn spy on the Angels and learn secrets about the future, then they whisper it into the minds of the fortune tellers. Jinn live, die and have families like us but they exist on another plane altogether. The Prophets could control the Jinn but none of us ordinary people can. Although we believe Jinn can possess a human body, Islam teaches that it’s not very common. Don’t believe every “Jinn story” Muslim immigrants will tell you about their aunt or second cousin’s brother. Most of it will be superstitious stories that are culturally based.

Jumu'ah: The Friday Prayer in which all Muslims gather to hear a sermon called a Khutba. It’s time is in place of the Zuhr Salah, usually somewhere between 12 pm and 2 pm. It is mandatory on all men to attend. It is optional for women. The Prophet said if you miss three Jumu'ahs in a row then hypocrisy will start to enter your heart.


Kafir: People who conceal the Truth and actively plot against Islam. Usually we say the easier English word “unbeliever.” The plural is Kuffar. (Unbelievers.) The noun (unbelief) is Kufr.

Khalifah: This word means Steward, Manager or Care-taker. Allah made humans to be the Khalifah of the earth. In other words, we were given the earth as a trust to take care of. We shouldn’t ruin it or pollute it. The head of the Muslim Ummah is also called a Khalifah because he is to take care of the Muslim community. Muslims are supposed to elect a Khalifah, but there hasn’t been a world-wide Khalifah for a long time.

Khatib: The person who gives the Khutbah, or Friday sermon. The preacher during Friday services.

Kitabullah: The Book of Allah. (The Qur'an.) The word Kitab means book.

Mahr: The money (or whatever else) that the man has to give to a woman in order to marry her. It is called the marriage-gift and a woman can ask for whatever she wants. If it is money, it can be deferred and paid gradually over time. The husband can never take it away for any reason.

Malik ul Mawt: The Angel of Death.

Masjid: Literally means, “the place of bowing.” This is the name for a Muslim prayer hall or commonly known as Mosque.

Madhhab: This means, “School of Thought.” In Islam we have the Qur'an, the example of the Prophet and the sayings and guidance of the Prophet’s companions. Through the centuries, various Muslim scholars have tried to make those teachings easier for Muslims to live by through organizing them, talking about them and trying to use those tools to find answers to questions where those first three sources are quiet.

Of course different opinions developed between different scholars and some people chose to follow one scholar or the other. Those differences in ideas about how to follow Islamic rules are called “Schools of Thought.” There are 4 main schools today. Some people say you have to “follow” one of those schools to be a Muslim, but this is not true. You have to follow Islamic teachings but you don’t have to put some label on yourself. Each of the four schools is named after the scholar who founded or inspired it. The four are: Maliki, Hanafi, Hanbali, Shaf'i. The books and writings of the schools are a good source of information about the particulars of Islam, but our real label is, “I am a Muslim, and only a Muslim.” The Hanafi and Shaf'i schools are considered the easiest school and the Hanbali is considered the hardest in terms of social and personal rules.But they are all right in their own way and it is recommended to follow one in order to safe guard ones self from following ones own desires although it is not obligatory it is recommended.

Mecca: (Also spelled Makkah). A city in Arabia founded thousands of years ago by Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham). At that time it was called “Becca.” Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was born there in the year 570.

Medina: (Also spelled Madinah). A city about 200 miles north of Mecca. The Prophet established the Islamic community there. He passed away there and is buried there.

Mu'adhan: The person who does the call for prayer.

Mujahid: A person who does Jihad or holy war.

Mu'min: A person with Iman(faith). A true believer.

Mus-haf: The Arabic text of the Qur'an. “Brother, hand me a Mus-haf.” (Qur'an with the Arabic in it).

Mushrik: A person who commits Shirk (making partners with Allah). Usually an idol-worshipper. A Hindu would be considered a Mushrik because they bow down to many idols and statues.

Muslim: A person who surrendered to Allah and is working at finding peace.

Nabi: This term means Prophet.

Nafs: This is often translated as “soul” but it really means “the self,” i.e. “You and only you.”

Naar: The fire (of Hell).

Nikkah: The Islamic wedding ceremony.


Niyyah: Intention

[militant-holy-knight]

The Perverse Habits of Mehmed the Conqueror

What they don’t want you to know about Mehmed the Conqueror

Even if you know nothing about Turkish history, there is a good chance you at least heard about Mehmed II as he was the Sultan who conquered the city of Constantinople, ended the Medieval Era and was the arch-enemy of Vlad the Impaler (the real-life inspiration for Count Dracula). Unsurprisingly, he is a national hero in Turkey and revered in some parts of the Muslim world (not to the same level as Muhammad’s companions or Imam Hussein) primarily for fulfilling a Islamic prophecy that Constantinople would be conquered. He happens to be also hailed by some (incidentally left-leaning) Westerners as one of the greatest Islamic rulers in history for his tolerance, genius and yadayadayada... But as always some things get omitted and probably for good reason so that people wouldn’t know...

The Ottomans differed from European monarchies in terms of succession and marriage. Traditionally, kings were expected to marry among the nobility and the throne would be passed down from father to eldest son, while the Ottoman sultans per their heirs were chosen as the most capable to rule. Mehmed’s grandfather and namesake had fought a civil war with his brothers after their own father Bayezid I was captured in battle by the Mongol warlord Timur the Lame and dying in captivity. This period is known as the Ottoman Interregnum.

As such, he implemented a policy of judicial royal fratricide which commanded that everytime a Sultan emerged to the throne, his brothers would be executed by strangulation. While one can argue that infighting didn’t necessarily began with Mehmed II himself, he made part of it’s system. Even though the ruling sultan could give some advantage to his favored heir over the others to claim the throne, literally every single one of his children (including those born of slave concubines) could possibly claim the throne for themselves. Such was the case of Mehmed’s own apparent heir Cem who was outwitted and ended up exiled by his brother Bayezid who became sultan instead and killed all their other brothers. Cem tried to gain support from Europeans even promising perpetual peace between Christendom and the Ottoman Empire if they helped regain his throne, but he ultimately died of pneumonia. His surviving family stayed in Europe and converted to Christianity, being forever barred from the line of succession.

This is the reasons why the Ottoman dynasty (known as House of Osmanoğlu) is relatively small today despite being one of the longest ones in existence, even compared to relatively younger House of Braganza which governed Brazil and Portugal, with the Brazilian branch having cadet lines of Vassouras and Petrópolis. Ultimately, this practice became so barbaric and threatened the integrity of the Ottoman dynasty that after the largest fratricide massacre perpetrated by Mehmed III for having killed 19 of his siblings that his successor Ahmed I done away with the killing part and simply imprisoned his brothers for live in nice, gilded prisons.

Speaking of prisons, the Ottoman Empire had one of the largest harems in history where several women from Europe were taken and kept as concubines. Per Islamic tradition, the sultan could own at least 4 official wives alongside “those which your right hand possess” or man malakat aymanukum, an euphemism for sex slave, which one can own in unlimited number and aren’t even considered people. To Mehmed’s credit, it’s said his harem officially only had 9 consorts which was relatively tame compared to Morocco’s Moulay Ismail who had a number of concubines on four digits, or Mehmed’s later successor Suleyman I that had preference for European concubines as consorts while Mehmed and his predecessors were expected to still marry Turkish women or European noblewomen given as part of arranged marriages. But one thing in particular about Mehmed: he had a taste for boys too.

Vlad III had a younger brother called Radu who was sent alongside him as a hostage to the Ottomans to ensure their father’s cooperation. While Vlad loathed his captors, it’s said that Radu became an favorite of the Sultan and stayed with him even after his older brother was released. According to some records, he might have converted to Islam, joined Mehmed’s harem as his catamite and is believed by some to have taken part of the Siege of Constantinople in 1453.

Some historians question the validity of these tales, since many Western scholars might have been biased and wanted to write Mehmed in the most negative light imaginable portraying him as the Anti-Christ, a tyrant and sodomite. This is plausible too, considering that Radu was also married with an Albanian/Serbian princess and he referred to himself as “Christ-loving” in some letters which puts his conversion to Islam questionable. On the other hand, the claim that Radu did indeed participate as a commander in the fall of Constantinople is credible due to the account of Konstantin Mihailović, a former Janissary of Serbian origin who was taken into Ottoman slavery when the Sultan captured his village, separated the men and women, decapitated the men, gave all 700 young women and girls to the Turks while the boys were taken as child soldiers. You know... Kind like what ISIS was doing.

But back to the topic: While Radu’s own homosexuality is questionable, he was certainly not Mehmed’s only lover: Jacob Notaras was the son of a Byzantine nobleman and considered a very beautiful 21 year-old young man that caught the attention of Mehmed. He was sent to his seraglio to serve the Sultan’s pleasure as his catamite as well for seven years until his escape and being reunited with his sisters. This tale is very popular on Tumblr, you can search it if you want to (I’d rather not get into trouble linking the specific blogs or using their art for this blogpost).

Naturally, nationalistic Turks, Islamists in general and Neo-Ottomans in particular don’t like hearing that one of their greatest heroes who provided a great triumph of Islam over Christianity was a “sausage jokey” given the hostile attitude Islamic societies towards homosexuality - even though Turkey is one of the relatively more friendlier countries towards LGBT, it’s still is a taboo subject particularly today. However, some Western liberals when hearing about this, become ecstatic over “gay Muslim great ruler” and happily hoist this as evidence that “Islam is really gay friendly” and to me this is an far more dangerous attitude.

I won’t even tackle the topic of Islam and homosexuality just to not go on off tangent, but let’s focus solely on Mehmed himself: he was a warlord that forced both women and young boys into sexual slavery for his own pleasure, began the centuries long jihad to conquer Europe, declared "At last Europe and Asia are mine! Woe to Christendom! It has lost its sword and its shield!" when his final enemy Skanderbeg perished, implemented a law that authorized fratricide in his family to ensure that only the strong and ruthless would succeed him...  But we are supposed to give a pass to all of that because he was gay? Actual argument I heard: while he was a product of his time and environment, but since he was gay, that alone makes him more “progressive” and “forward-thinking” than the Christian rulers at the time.

This exposes some messed up priorities and hypocrisy from moral relativists to praise a historical figure for having an uncommon trait (i.e. being gay) of his time period from a purely Western perspective and yet accuse those who criticize this same figure for his more controversial aspects (harem-owning, war-mongering fratricidal despot) from also an Western perspective of being “Orientalists”, a meaningless buzzword meant to shut critics up.

But hey, lets see how funny it gets when this biased liberal viewpoint clashes with their more conservative-oriented allies and see what happens.

[wisdomrays]

PROPHET MUHAMMAD (pbuh) AS  COMMANDER : The Prophet of Universal Mercy.Part2

He lowered unto believers his wing of tenderness through mercy (al-Hijr, 15.88), 

and was the 'guardian' of believers and nearer to them than their selves (al-Ahzab, 33.6). 

When one of his Companions died, he asked those present at the funeral whether that Companion had left any unpaid debt. On learning that he had left a debt, he mentioned the above quoted verse and announced:

I am his guardian. Let the creditors appeal to me to collect their debt. ( Muslim, Fara'iz, 14; Bukhari, Istiqraz, 11. )

The compassion of God's Messenger even encompassed hypocrites and unbelievers. 

Although he recognized the hypocrites of his time, he never disclosed them so that they could enjoy the rights of full citizenship to which their outward confession of faith and practice entitled them. Since they lived among Muslims, their unbelief in eternal life after death may have been reduced or changed to doubt, and therefore their fear of death and the pain caused by the assertion of eternal non-existence after death might have been diminished. As for unbelievers, God removed the collective destruction from them. He had eradicated many peoples before. God says:

But God would never chastise them while you were among them; God would never chastise them as they begged forgiveness. (al-Anfal, 8.33)

This verse refers not only to the unbelievers in the time of God's Messenger, but also to all those coming later. 

God will not destroy peoples altogether so long as people who follow the Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, continue to live in the world. Besides, He has left 'the door of repentance' open until the Last Day. Anyone can accept Islam or beg God's forgiveness, however sinful he is. For this reason, a Muslim's enmity towards unbelievers is, in fact, in the form of pitying them. When 'Umar, the second Caliph, saw a priest of eighty years, he sat down and sobbed. When asked why he was sobbing, he replied: 'God assigned him so long a life span, but he has not been able to find the true path.'

'Umar was the disciple of God's Messenger, who said:

I was not sent as one to call down curses on people, but I was sent as a mercy. ( Muslim, Birr, 87. )

He also said:

I am Muhammad, and Ahmad (praised one), and Muqaffi (the Last Prophet); and I am also Hashir (the final Prophet in the presence of whom the dead will be resurrected); and the Prophet of repentance (the Prophet for the cause of whom 'the door' of repentance will always remain open), and the Prophet of mercy. ( I. Hanbal, 4.395; Muslim, Fada'il, 126. )

The archangel Gabriel also benefited from the mercy of the Qur'an, which was revealed to God's Messenger. Once he asked Gabriel whether he had any share in the mercy contained in the Qur'an. Gabriel answered, 'Yes, o God's Messenger,' and explained,

I had not been certain about my end. However, when the verse (One) obeyed, and moreover, trustworthy and secured (al-Takwir, 81.21) was revealed, I felt secure about my end. ( Qadi 'Iyad, al-Shifa', 1.17. )

When Ma'iz was punished for a serious crime, one of the Companions reproached him saying: 'He disclosed the sin he had committed secretly and died like a dog.' God's Messenger frowned at him and said:

You have backbitten your friend. His repentance and asking God's pardon for his sin would be enough for the forgiveness for all the sinners in the world. ( Muslim, Hudud, 17-23; Bukhari, Hudud, 28. )

A member of the clan of Banu Muqarrin beat his maidservant. The poor woman referred the matter to God's Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, who sent for the master and said to him: You have beaten her without any justifiable right. So, set her free. ( Muslim, Ayman, 31, 33; I. Hanbal, 3.447. ) Setting a slave free was far better for his or her master than being punished in the Hereafter because of the slave.

God's Messenger was particularly compassionate towards children. When he saw a child crying, he sat beside him or her and shared his or her feelings. He felt the pain of a mother for her child more than the mother herself. Once he said:

I stand in prayer and wish to prolong it. However, I hear the cry of a child and cut the prayer short for the anxiety which the mother is feeling. ( Bukhari, Adhan, 65; Muslim, Salat, 192. )

He took children in his arms and hugged them. He was once hugging his beloved grandsons, Hasan and Hussayn, when Aqra ibn Habis told him: 'I have got ten children. So far, I haven't kissed any of them.'

God's Messenger responded:

The one with no pity for others is not pitied. ( Bukhari, Adab, 18. )

According to another version, he said:

What can I do for you if God has removed from you the feeling of compassion? ( Bukhari, Adab, 18; Muslim, Fada'il, 64; I. Maja, Adab, 3. )

Once, he said:

Take pity on those on earth so that those in the heavens should have pity on you. ( Tirmidhi, Birr, 16. )

Sa'd ibn 'Ubada once became ill. God's Messenger visited him in his house and, on seeing his faithful Companion in a pitiful state, he was moved to tears. Then, he said:

God does not punish because of tears, nor because of grief, but he punishes because of this, and he pointed to his tongue. ( Bukhari, Jana'iz, 45; Muslim, Jana'iz, 12. )

When 'Uthman ibn Mad'un died, he wept profusely. During the funeral, a woman remarked: ' 'Uthman flew, like a bird, to Paradise.' Even in that mournful state, the Prophet did not lose his balance and corrected the woman:

How do you know that he went to Paradise while even I do not know, and I am a Prophet? ( Bukhari, Jana'iz, 3. )

God's Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, always protected and supported, both prior to and during his Prophethood, widows, orphans, the poor and disabled. When he returned home in excitement from Mount Hira after the first revelation, his wife, Khadija, told him:

I hope you will be the Prophet of this community, you always tell the truth, fulfil the trust, support your relatives, help the poor and weak, and feed guests. ( I. Sa'd, Tabaqat, 1.195; )

His compassion encompassed not only human beings, but also animals. 

We hear from him that a prostitute was guided to truth by God and ultimately went to Paradise because she gave water to a poor dog dying of thirst, whilst another woman was condemned to the torments of Hell because she left a cat to die of hunger. ( Bukhari, Anbiya', 54, Musaqat, 9; Muslim, Salam, 153; I. Hanbal, 2.507. )

Once on return from a military campaign, a few Companions took away the chicks of a bird from their nest to stroke them. The mother bird came back and, when it could not find its chicks in the nest, it began to fly around screeching. When informed of the matter, God's Messenger became angry and ordered the chicks to be put back in the nest. ( Abu Dawud, Adab, 164, Jihad, 112; I. Hanbal, 1.404. )

Once he told his Companions that one of the previous Prophets was reproached by God because he set on fire a nest of ants. ( Bukhari, Jihad, 153; Muslim, Salam, 147. )

He was in Mina when some of his Companions once attacked a snake to kill it. However, the snake managed to escape. Watching this from afar, God's Messenger remarked: It was saved from your evil, as you were from its. ( Nasa'i, Hajj, 114; I, Hanbal, 1.385. )

As reported by Ibn 'Abbas, when God's Messenger once saw a man sharpening his knife directly before the sheep he would slaughter, he said to him: Do you desire to kill it many times? ( Hakim, Mustadrak, 4.231, 233. ) 'Abdullah ibn Ja'far narrates:

God's Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, once went to a garden in Madina with a few of his Companions. There was a very scrawny camel in a corner. On seeing God's Messenger, it began to shed tears. The Messenger went to the camel and, after staying beside it for some time, severely warned the owner to feed the camel properly. ( Suyuti, al-Khasa'is al-Kubra', 2.95; Haythami, Majma', 9.9. )

The love and compassion of God's Messenger for all kinds of creatures was not of the kind claimed by today's 'humanists'. 

He was sincere and balanced in his love and compassion. 

He was more compassionate than any other person. He was a Prophet raised by God, the Creator and Sustainer of all beings, for the guidance and happiness of conscious beings - mankind and jinn - and the harmony of existence. So, he lived not for himself but for others; he is a mercy for all the worlds.

As a reflection of his mercy and compassion, God's Messenger was extremely mild and gentle, he was not harsh and stern. 

Due to his mildness, God's Messenger gained many converts to Islam and surpassed numerous obstacles on his way to ultimate victory.

[xtruss]

ARGUMENT

‘In-Sha-Allah’ in the Age of Trump

Can the hipster invocation of God’s will survive the coming wave of American Islamophobia?

— By Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian | December 1, 2016 | Foreign Policy

SIOUX CITY, IA - NOVEMBER 06: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump holds a campaign rally at the Sioux City Convention Center November 6, 2016 in Sioux City, Iowa. With less than 48 hours until Election Day in the United States, Trump and his opponent, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, are campaigning in key battleground states that each must win to take the White House. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

We English speakers all know: To sound smart (or insufferable), use French. That movie has a certain je ne sais quoi; my grandmother exhibited a true joie de vivre. French has been fancy since 1066 when the conquering Normans ate boef while the lowly English peasants cared for the cū.

Or to sound open-minded (or stoned), use Sanskrit. No one will be surprised to learn that the first recorded use of the word “karma” in a popular U.S. publication was in 1969 — in the California-based Surfer magazine.

These days, another word is making inroads into the American English lexicon. It’s “inshallah” — an Arabic Islamic expression that means “God willing.” Inshallah first made its English debut in the 19th century, but it’s only since 9/11 that the word has become fashionable among non-Muslim, non-Arabic-speaking Americans. You’ve probably heard it already in passing, which is my point. The Atlantic’s James Fallows has tweeted it. Even actor Lindsay Lohan has made a faltering attempt. I’ve heard it in meetings, on the metro, and at a casual Sunday brunch in Brooklyn.

For all these inshallah-invokers, the phrase seems to combine the prestige of French and the multiculturalism of Sanskrit — with an added thrill of risk.

President-elect Donald Trump is stacking his administration with supporters who believe that Islam is inherently violent, dangerous, and threatening. Some who evince this view believe that anything associated with Islam has a diabolical power, an insidious evil that has to be guarded against at every turn as the Puritans guarded against witchcraft.

Michael Flynn, a retired intelligence officer whom President-elect Donald Trump has tapped for national security advisor, has called Islam a “malignant cancer” and believes that sharia, or Islamic law, is creeping into U.S. laws and institutions. Conspiracy theorist Frank Gaffney, who advised Trump during the campaign and is “good friends” with Steve Bannon, the president-elect’s senior strategist, has previously written that the U.S. Missile Defense Agency logo contains a hidden star and crescent, the symbol of Islam, and that it thus suggests “official U.S. submission to Islam.” It’s an argument that comes out of the world of Christian fundamentalism, which has long sought out occult symbols in the most innocuous of sources.

This fear extends to the Arabic language. In 2013, Gaffney criticized John Brennan as President Barack Obama’s pick to head the CIA, deeming him the “single most important enabler of the Islamic supremacists’ agenda in government today.” One piece of evidence Gaffney gave for this assertion? Brennan speaks fluent Arabic. After listing the names of several terrorist organizations at a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in May 2015, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham reportedly quipped that “everything that starts with ‘al’ in the Middle East is bad news.” Al, of course, is simply Arabic’s definite article, equivalent to “the” in English.

It should come as no surprise, then, that inshallah has found itself in the crosshairs of these rising Islamophobes. In June, when BBC presenter Nicky Campbell ended his usual segment with crossed fingers and a poorly inflected “inshallah” — “We’re in Uxbridge next Sunday for a special, asking, ‘Are we facing the end of the world?’ So we’ll see you then, inshallah” — it set off a right-wing media firestorm.

Breitbart wrote that the “incident comes just days after the BBC’s Head of Religion admitted that Islamic State is rooted in Islam.” Jihad Watch, a popular anti-Islam website, commented: “A conquered, colonized people adopts the language and practices of its conquerors.” In April, a University of California, Berkeley, student of Iraqi origin was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight after another passenger heard him speaking Arabic on his cell phone; he had ended his conversation with “inshallah.”

The latent Islamophobia the word can conjure seems to be part of the its growing appeal among progressive urbanites in the United States. As the Islamophobia industrial complex has expanded, so has a cultural push against it. Garnishing your conversation with an inshallah or two is a small act of resistance, a direct jab at the belief that Islam — and by association, Arabic — is sinister.Garnishing your conversation with an inshallah or two is a small act of resistance, a direct jab at the belief that Islam — and by association, Arabic — is sinister. It’s the linguistic equivalent of donning a headscarf in solidarity for World Hijab Day. Or the spoken version of the anti-Trump ad near Dearborn, Michigan, a city with a large population of Arab-Americans, which was written in Arabic and read: “Donald Trump can’t read this, but he is scared of it.” It’s a subtle political statement, a critique of Republicans who believe certain sounds, like incantations, must cross the lips in order to defeat evil (“radical Islamic terrorism”) whereas other sounds (“in-sha-Allah,” “Allahu Akbar”) must remain taboo.

“Garnishing your conversation with an inshallah or two is a small act of resistance, a direct jab at the belief that Islam — and by association, Arabic — is sinister.”

But why inshallah and not some other Arabic word? There are dozens of other common Islamic expressions, including bismillah (in the name of God), barakallah (blessings of God), and alhamdulillah (praise be to God), that haven’t crossed into English (though bismillah makes a cameo in Queen’s 1975 classic “Bohemian Rhapsody”).

The reason is that inshallah is a charming, maddening, and undeniably useful expression. On paper, the word is very similar to “God willing,” its Christian, English equivalent. It’s an acknowledgment of the human inability to foresee or control the future while harking to the belief that a Greater Being holds humanity’s fragile plans in its omnipotent hands.

But unlike the English “God willing,” inshallah also serves as a convenient preordained excuse for what may go wrong. If your toilet is broken and your plumber says he’ll come “tomorrow, inshallah,” you may be in for quite a wait. In countries such as Egypt, inshallah has expanded into a society-wide verbal tic invoked by Muslims, Christians, and even the nonreligious for occasions as mundane as ordering a hamburger or riding an elevator — a phenomenon that a 2008 article in the New York Times dubbed “inshallah creep.”

That’s what has made it so easy for visitors to pick up. Inshallah conveys an uncertainty that “hopefully” lacks. “The project will be done by 9 p.m., hopefully” implies that a sense of control still resides in your hands and thus a lingering amount of responsibility if the deadline isn’t met. “The project will be done by 9 p.m., inshallah,” by contrast, indicates that some outside force — an indolent contract worker, slow trains, spotty internet, even fate itself — is now in the driver’s seat and that if things go wrong, it’s not your fault.

It’s also exotic in a way that the down home “God willing” can never be. That phrase conjures images of church pews and pro-life protests outside Planned Parenthood — nothing that progressive Americans typically want to associate with. Throwing inshallah into a sentence here or there — “Tom will be filing that report tonight, inshallah!” — signals membership in a well-educated, well-traveled, and tolerant urban elite.

Arabic-speaking Americans don’t seem to mind this bit of friendly borrowing. Marya Hannun, a Palestinian-American doctoral student based in Washington, D.C., called the trend “charming,” explaining that when speaking Arabic, non-Muslims as well as Muslims use inshallah. She described its use among Americans as “solidarity and finding meaning in a language other than your own.”

“I say it every now and then,” said Thorstan Fries, a New York-based consultant who told me that he picked it up from a college friend studying Arabic. “I started saying it much more frequently after a trip to Morocco a couple years ago. They say it all the time, and I think it’s cool.”

Of course, to view a Middle Eastern import as exotic is also to risk condescension. The very first recorded use of inshallah in the English language was not just atrociously Orientalist — it was also incorrect. In his 1857 work The Kingdom and People of Siam, John Bowring, a British politician and the fourth governor of Hong Kong, wrote, “Inshallah! Such promptitude was, I believe, never before exhibited in an Asiatic Court.” But inshallah is used exclusively for events that have not yet occurred. What Bowring likely meant was mashallah, an Islamic phrase expressing amazement at an existing set of circumstances.

The first to use it in natural speech, not in a grandiose reference to foreign peoples, was T. E. Lawrence, otherwise known as Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence viewed Arabs with respect, lived among them, and adopted some of their customs — including, apparently, the habit of checking plans against the divine’s schedule. “I have been photographing this last week—and will more next. Developing too inshallah,” he wrote in a letter dated 1911.

Britain’s entanglements in the Middle East, North Africa, and India put it in intimate contact with Muslim peoples decades before the United States became similarly involved. Inshallah followed on the heels of colonialism. For the British upper classes, Arabic was a sign of distinction; the Arabists dominated Britain’s Foreign Office for decades, and Prime Minister Anthony Eden — who sent Britain’s reputation in the Middle East plummeting with the Suez crisis — prided himself on his fluency.

At the time, American English was far more preoccupied with the apparatchiks and cosmonauts of the Cold War. It wasn’t until the expansion of U.S. military involvement in the Middle East, particularly after 9/11, that the region became a national preoccupation. (Though the growing number of Muslim and Middle Eastern immigrants in the United States has also helped popularize the word. One person I spoke to learned it from Arabic-speaking students she encountered at her university; another googled it after he saw Muslim friends posting the word on Facebook.) The study of Arabic has blossomed across the United States, and a legion of American military officials, diplomats, journalists, government contractors, NGO workers, academics, and students flowed in. Upon their return home, many brought with them the ubiquitous, malleable, and easily pronounceable inshallah.

It’s now common currency among the younger generations at the State Department, journalists who’ve spent time in the region, and soldiers who deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan — and, increasingly, among the people who travel in the same elite circles as these folk. As one colleague, who uses the word but has no background in the Middle East, told me, “I learned it because everyone at every damn development NGO uses it.” Others I know say they picked it up from artifacts of contemporary popular culture, like Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, which was adapted into a movie in 2007, and Rabia Chaudry’s book, Adnan’s Story, published this year.

There’s now a good chance inshallah may find a permanent home in English. But those afraid of creeping inshallah should take heart. This wouldn’t be the first time that the word has imbedded itself in a Western language. Ojalá is a common Spanish word often translated as “hopefully.” In fact, ojalá is merely the Hispanicized pronunciation of inshallah, which made its way into the language during the centuries of Muslim rule in Spain that ended in 1492. Yet as far as I can tell, despite this obvious case of linguistic jihad, neither Spain nor the 20 other countries where Spanish is the official national language has yet fallen to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Nor has asking a waitress for more pancake syrup — from the Arabic sharab, a versatile word that the West acquired during a previous episode of war-induced cultural cross-pollination, the Crusades — ever proved to spontaneously convert anyone to Islam. Nor has spending hours studying algebra — another one of those menacing “al” words — ever made anyone more inclined to funnel one’s life savings to al Qaeda.

It turns out short vowels, sibilants, and fricatives might not be as magical as some have been urging us to believe. Donald Trump and his national security team would be wise to take note. God willing.

— Photo credit: CHIP SOMODEVILLA/Getty Images/Foreign Policy illustration

— Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian is a journalist covering China from Washington. She was previously an assistant editor and contributing reporter at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @BethanyAllenEbr

[purpleheartpoetry-blog]

“Killed In (re)Action” (TERMINOLOGY KEY BELOW) ••••••••••••••••••••••••• We egressed from Fallujah, assessing Arab threats. •••• Scan into each spider hole, for sniper silhouettes. •••• If there was a shooter, cross-hairs would be on me. •••• Machine-gun, plus combatant, equals target; you’re deceased. •••• Time to go to sleep, turn life’s switch off; rest in peace. •••• No, I wasn’t scared, but of course I did have fear. •••• I thought about my mom, thought last days spent, could be here. •••• No more I do remember. No more I see or hear. •••• Entry wound into my chest, exit wound out rear. •••• Seven-six-two-caliber, gunshot wound, severe. •••• To Dover Air-Force Base, destination, K-I-A. •••• By commercial jet we’ll fly, Semper Fi, flight just one way. •••• Back onto my planet, my city, yes my home. •••• So close, but oh so far; at attention, you now lay. •••• Bugle horn, it’s brass, like the 5-5-6 of past. •••• Taps, it soon plays last, prayers to all those who have passed. •••• Patience is a virtue, now hurry up and wait. •••• Soon you’ll go to hell-regroup, then go guard Heaven’s Gate. •••• Twenty-One. Seven-Guns. Devil Dog Salute. •••• Jarheads duty detail. Flag draped coffin. My Dress Blues. •••• The folded-stars and stripes, symbolic triangle, that’s left. •••• Placed into my wives’ warm hands, my “Triangle of Death.” •••• I’m sorry to my loved ones, I wish my eyes did see •••• Location of the Muslim sniper, martyr-Jihadi. •••• One shot and one kill, the round rippled with effect. •••• I knew I could be killed, job performance; life or death. •••• The latter’s not a raise, six-feet lower; paid respect. •••• The prior means I killed, either way my life is wrecked. •••• Tear your souls apart, bash each beating, breaking heart. •••• Your family shall die too, combat killed all just like you. •••• You’re a noose around their necks, synching slowly, since war’s start. •••• Each day you steal their breaths, like a thief commits a theft. •••• Marine, killed in action. Re-action, family killed. •••• You died for your country. They died for your death. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• © Copyright-Gregory J. Fino-May 17, 2017 •US Marine Corps (0311) •PurpleHeartPoetry (Iraq 2005) •3rd Battalion 25th Marines, Kilo Company •finogj0311@gmail.com ————————————————————————— ▪Spider Hole: Saddam Hussein was found in a small oxygenated, underground bunker known as a “spider hole,” in Tikrit, Iraq; December 13, 2003. He was armed, but immediately surrendered to U.S. Special Forces. ▪Seven Six Two: 7.62×39 is the caliber of the round used in many Iraqi weapon platforms, most notably; the AK-47 Assault Rifle. ▪Dover Air Force Base: Located in Delaware, all troops killed overseas are flown stateside, and their initial destination is Dover, where specific procedures, such as uniform decoration and tailoring, etc occur. ▪Twenty One, Seven Guns, Devil Dog Salute: 21 Gun Salute. When buried with military honors, it is customary that 7 members, all in the same branch, fire a volley of 3 rounds from a rifle, in honor of the deceased Veteran. (7x3=21) ▪Folded Stars and Stripes: The US Flag, that is in it’s ceremonious triangular shape, after being folded from both outside edges, inward by two Servicemen. ▪Triangle Of Death: The “Triangle of Death” (not to be confused with the much larger Sunni Triangle further north) lies between Baghdad and Al Hillah, is inhabited by one million mostly Sunni civilians, and contains several large towns. ▪Taps: The traditional, song which is played on a Bugle, after the 21-Gun Salute, at the burial of a deceased Veteran. ▪Guarding Heaven’s Gate: United States Marines are suposedly responsible for “guarding Heaven’s gate.” Contradictory to this theory, US Marines who are Killed in Action in a combat zone, “go to Hell, to regroup.” ▪Jihadi: Jihad generally refers to combat in the name of Islam. Muslims wage Jihad (Religious War) against Christians and Jews. Jihadi is a bit of a spin off, used as slang to refer to an enemy fighter, of either sex; Jihadi-Joe/Jihadi-Jane. ▪One Shot One Kill: Quote used by U.S. Marine Scout Snipers. Reducing the amount of shots fired, reduces the possibility that the enemy locate and/or engage the sniper. ▪The Round Rippled In Effect: Ripple Effect generally refers to how one event causes a reaction in another. When a Service Member, or in any case usually, the death of one family member can obviously have an effect on another member, whose reaction then has an effect on another… etc. ▪556: 5.56 is the caliber of the ammunition used in most American military rifle platforms; such as the M-16, M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, and M-4 Carbine. ▪Brass: the cartridge that holds the gunpowder in a bullet is made of brass, and after firing a round, we refer to the shell casings as “spent brass.” ▪Jar Head: A nickname given to Marines because of the way in which the head of a Marine appears to be screwed into the 360 degree neck portion of the formal Dress Blues uniform, like a jar being screwed into it’s lid. ▪Dress Blues: The formal uniform worn by Marines, which is universally the most recognizable uniform in existence. It is also the uniform Marines are often buried in following death. ▪Devil Dog: A motivational nickname referring to Marines, which was coined by the Germans during WW1 following the Battle of Belleau Woods, because of the Marines ferocity displayed in combat. ▪Semper Fi: Semper Fidelis is the Latin symbolic quote used by Marines, meaning “always faithful.” ▪At Attention: Standing at attention is the stationary position service members stand at when told, or in the presence of officers or in formation. Heels are together with feet pointing at a 45 degree angle, back straight, head and eyes forward, hands in a fist, arms straight and down, with thumbs against the pant seams.

[creepingsharia]

Kansas: Muslim sorority arrives at Wichita State University; first mission is dawah on non-Muslim community

Ahmed said @mudeltaalpha’s current mission is to focus on educating the community. [about Islam and sharia]

Greek sororities don’t abide by the sharia, so assimilating and joining a kufr sorority is not an option for devout Muslims.

Lindsay Smith, Reporter

Five years after Mu Delta Alpha was first introduced at the University of Texas at Dallas, the Muslim-based sorority has arrived at Wichita State.

Saniya Ahmed, a junior studying health science at WSU, started the endeavor to bring Mu Delta Alpha to Wichita.

Ahmed grew up in Wichita. As an young student who went to all of the university’s elementary events, she said she saw WSU as her second home. But when she began college, she had trouble reestablishing that second home feeling.

So, Ahmed did what many college students do. She looked into joining Greek life. But as she went to the informationals and did her research, she said she couldn’t find one that called to her personally.

“I really wanted it, but I just felt like I would have to compromise a part of myself to fit in,” Ahmed said. “A part of Greek life is about finding your home, and you can’t really be at home if you feel like you have to compromise a part of yourself.”

Instead of giving up, she took matters into her own hands.

After doing her own research, Ahmed discovered Mu Delta Alpha. It was exactly what she was looking for.

“I said, ‘I have this idea. I’ve been researching, I found that this organization exists. How do I bring it to campus?’” Ahmed said. “In fall 2017, I kind of started this endeavor knowing that I wanted to create a space for Muslim women to benefit from a lot of the things that Greek life emblemizes, like sisterhood [and] service.

“It was just creating that space and creating that avenue for us to gather strength in ourselves and having our faith as our foundation.”

Ahmed said that foundation of faith is the most important aspect of her day-to-day life.

“That’s what I was really missing with all of these organizations,” Ahmed said. “I felt like at the end of the day, if you ask me who I am, with all my hyphenations of what I identify as, my first identification will always be a Muslim before anything else. For me, that was kind of [what] gave birth to this idea that I could do this.”

The Student Government Association recognized Mu Delta Alpha as a registered student organization in February of 2018. It gained its official chapter status in October of this year.

Mu Delta Alpha is not only the first Muslim sorority at WSU but also the first non-Texas Muslim sorority in the nation.

“We’re a lot of different firsts. It’s super exciting, but it’s also really daunting,” Ahmed said. “Because we know we have eyes on us. We know that people are watching.”

The WSU Muslim Student Association is currently inactive, which makes Mu Delta Alpha the only active Muslim-identifying organization on campus.

Ahmed said that distinction comes with a fair amount of pressure.

“It’s hard sometimes to distinguish, you know, is this what the campus needs or is this what we need?” Ahmed said.

“Mostly right now, it’s figuring out what our responsibility is. We know that people are watching and we know that important conversations need to happen.”

Ahmed said Mu Delta Alpha’s current mission is to focus on educating the community.

“We took that upon ourselves to make sure that we have an educational piece at every event that we host,” Ahmed said. “We are providing that opportunity for other students who might not know a lot about Islam, or might not have ever engaged before with the Muslim — to be able to utilize the resources we offer, but also ask us questions to clarify what they’ve understood.”

[CS: In Islam this is known as dawah and is used to recruit converts to Islam. As for clarifying what someone else has understood, that is called taqiyyah in Islam. Or lying. And will typically center around the meaning of jihad, the second class status of women in Islam, and the brutalities of sharia. All to be whitewashed as “misunderstandings”.]

Ahmed said that while Mu Delta Alpha is a Muslim-based organization, students do not have to be Muslim to join. The organization is open to members of all different faiths.

Currently, Mu Delta Alpha has seven members. Ahmed said she hopes to see that number grow in the future.

She also wants future Mu Delta Alpha alumni to be able to serve as mentors for younger generations, she said.

“A lot of us right now don’t have the mentors. We don’t have the people that we can look up to that are Muslim women in the fields that we have chosen,” Ahmed said. “One of the questions we always start out with each semester is, ‘Who is the Muslim woman that you look up to in your field right now?’ And usually the answer is ‘I don’t know.’

“It’s time we change that.”

That’s where Mu Delta Alpha alumni could factor in, she said.

“We’re incredibly powerful [and] strong women, so it’s about time we begin that visibility,” Ahmed said. “Because a lot of that, for mentorship in particular, is until you see it, you don’t really believe that you can do it. I hope we, as women right now, 10 years down the line, become the women that then current members say, ‘They did it. They’re there. They’re successful.’”

Ahmed said she hopes to see Muslim women unapologetically reaching for their goals and living out their faith.

“We know that discrimination does exist,” Ahmed said. “But 10 years down the line . . . I hope to see women who are so unapologetic in their faith, in their beliefs, [and] in their ambition. Never should they feel like, ‘Can I make it?’ It should be, ‘Okay, this is what I want, I’m going to get it.’ Period. No questions, no doubts, no fears.”

---------------------------------------------------

So unapologetic? Like Ilhan Omar?

How long before Wichita State’s Mu Delta Alpha supports a BDS movement on campus? Or protests the killing of Iranian terrorists.

Related:

Texas: First Muslim (only) sorority opens at UT-Austin

The growing list of Muslim Student Association (MSA) terrorists

[jjkfire]

Idk if you’ve seen the ask on gukvory about Muslims but I want to know how you feel about them. I am an American and I feel the same as that anon whenever I see someone with a hijab. It really bothers me to see them wearing it and it’s like they are trying to show us that they are better and that they want to force us to be muslim. I read gukvory’s reply but that doesn’t make much sense to me. I don’t think it’s discrimination. If they come to our country then they should try to fit in not

bring these things to our country. I think we are nice enough to let them in even with all that terrorist shit that they do so they should at least keep their culture to themselves.

I am very confused as to why you came to me with this question and I’m actually really not sure if you are a troll orsomething because this is nuts. To answer your question, yes, I did read Ivory’s reply to the ask and I think she did a great job telling off that anon. Going through your ask, I feel as though you didn’t really read gukvory’s replythen because like she said, what you and that other anon are saying isreligious discrimination. My eyes bled when I read your ask and my blood isliterally boiling as I type this. I cannot believe that someone as hateful as you exists in this world. I deliberated between writing an answer tothis question or simply deleting your ask but I cannot simply stand by and letpeople like you talk like this. So okay anon, let’s do this. Let’s talk.

How do I feel about Muslims you ask? Well I’m very glad youasked.

I am a non-muslim and I grew up in Malaysia which is a Muslimcountry. I hear their call to prayer 5 times a day and I had to sit and listento them pray during morning assemblies in school. >50% of our population areMuslim and seeing a woman in a hijab is the norm. I literally am surrounded byall things Islam and out of all of them I have never felt ‘bothered’ or feellike ‘they want me to become Muslim’ just because I saw someone wearing a hijabwalk down the street. I am truly baffled by how you feel threatened by aheadscarf. They should ‘keep their culture to themselves’ you say but I mean theyare! They're the ones wearing the headscarf. I am 110% sure they did not go upto you and say excuse me please wear a hijab or else. I really do not see whyyou have a problem with the hijab in the first place. Do you get this hot andbothered when you see a nun wearing a bonnet? What someone wears on their headis their business not yours. Do you tell someone who wears a hoodie all daythat they should not be wearing it? Look, maybe when you see a woman wearing ahijab, you think oh a Muslim person and when you think about a Muslim person,you think of all the keywords that news agencies associate with them fromthings like isis to jihad to terrorism to which I say is a damn shame. I don’t know how many times people gotta say it but not all Muslims are terrorists.

From the way you worded your sentence, it seems like you'venever talked to a Muslim person before and maybe that's because you're afraid ofthem, of what you've seen on the news, afraid that they're all out to get you.I know making them out to be bad guys makes it easier to justify the hate butreally Muslims are just people who believe in a different God.

Perhaps you'venever really heard good things about Muslims and that's why you want nothing todo with them. Well buddy, worry not. I am here to tell you about the Muslims inmy life.

Let me tell you about my neighbours who are Muslim. They'rethe nicest family you'll ever meet. The grandma of the family is such a sweetlady with a great sense of humour and she always brightens my day. She wouldoften bake these delicious cookies for my family and I. Whenever I take out thetrash and she happens to see me pass by, she makes me go home to call my motherover and we would all sit down and have some tea and chat... all while she'swearing that ever culture imposing hijab.

Let me tell you about the one time I was at sports practicewith my friend. It was 30 degrees celsius out and we've been sprinting and doing othervarious athletic exercises under the hot sun. I was parched, tired and on the vergeof fainting. The venue our practice was held at had run out of food and water.You see it was the month of Ramadan, meaning my Muslim friend had been fastingsince 5 am that morning. Despite that, she walked for 20 minutes in thesweltering heat to the nearest convenience store to get me bread and some water.

Let me tell you about this security guard at my school whois a Muslim man. My mother was often late to pick me up from school due to workand he would stay with me, even when it was way past his shift. One time duringthe month of Ramadan, my mother was so late that the sun had set and this meantthat it was time for the Muslims to break fast but the man refused to leave meby myself. I told him to go, to break his fast as I can't even imagine how hungryand thirsty he must've been but he simply stayed by my side, only taking sipsof water from a bottle he had brought with him. He said he could not bear toleave, that he would never be able to forgive himself if something happened tome just because he did not stay.

Let me tell you about my nanny who is Muslim, whoreinforced values such as kindness, love and patience. These were values shesaid that the Quran, Islam's Holy Book, had taught her. Never once had sheforced Islam on me, she only chose to share the values with me. If ever I wascurious about the religion, she had no qualms telling me about it but I hadnever felt like she was forcing me to become a Muslim.

Let me tell you about my Muslim friends whom i went toschool with. Every Eid (a celebration marking the end of the month of Ramadan), they would invite me to their houses to join in on thecelebration and their family and guests would welcome me with open arms. Theywould feed me until my stomach was filled to it’s maximum capacity and let meplay with the sparklers and mini fireworks. Before I leave, their mother wouldstop me, handing me large amounts of takeaway boxes to make sure my familywould get their share of the amazing food too.

These are the Muslim people in my life, ones who show melove & compassion. You and the news view them as if they are outsiders butthey are simply people who just live their lives like you & me. All they dodifferently is that they worship a different God. Is that such a crime? Maybe you feel my stories are normal, that they’re just stories about people doing normal things but you see that’s my point! They are just good, normal people.

In conclusion, I feel sorry for you. Sorry thatyou will never be able to meet such amazing people because you are afraid of areligion that is foreign to you. Sorry that you will never be able to join in on their celebrations because you are so afraid of their culture. Sorry that a headscarf makes you quake infear. Sorry that you are so close-minded. I know that you are entitled to yourown opinion but really, after all I've said, I hope you take the time to thinkit over. I hope one day that your opinion will differ and that you will see Muslimsin the same light as I do. That they are no different than you and me.