Sunni and Shia Conflict

Sunni and Shia Conflict

In the struggle between the two strands of Islam, the Sunnis are on the rise

 

 

IT SEEMED historic. Muslim scholars, 170 in number and representing nine schools of legal thought (including four main Sunni ones and two Shia), gathered in Amman and declared that, whatever their differences, they accepted the others’ authority over their respective flocks. Implicitly, at least, they were renouncing the idea that their counterparts were heretics. Some called that meeting in Jordan in 2005 the biggest convergence since 969, when a Shia dynasty took over Egypt.

Many of the globe-trotting greybeards who met there, and at a similar gathering in Qatar in 2007, remain actively and optimistically engaged. But seen from the outside, feuds between Sunnis, who make up roughly 80% of the world’s Muslims, and the Shia minority (most of the rest), remain savage and are, in some ways, worsening.

In conservative Sunni monarchies (especially those with restless Shia populations) dislike and suspicion of Iran, the Shia bastion, is running higher than ever. Theology intertwines with geopolitics—and an incipient strategic-arms race. Far beyond the Gulf or Middle East, from western Europe to North America, Sunni agitation (often Saudi-sponsored) is intensifying against the supposed heresies contained in Shia teaching.

Belgian police are investigating the firebombing of Belgium’s biggest Shia mosque in March, which killed the imam. The suspect they arrested claims to be a Salafist (hardline Sunni) protesting against Shia backing for the Syrian regime. Grieving worshippers chanted Shia slogans at the scene, eerily echoing far bloodier incidents in places such as Pakistan (recent examples include a murderous grenade assault on a Sunni demonstration in April and an attack on a bus in February that killed 18 Shia passengers).

European Shia-Sunni acrimony is part of a many-sided contest over the future of the continent’s tens of millions of Muslims, says Jonathan Laurence, a scholar at Boston College. The religious authorities in migrant-sending countries like Turkey and Morocco struggle to keep their people loyal to their own varieties of Sunni practice: they see Shia Islam and hardline Sunni groups like the Salafists as equally dangerous and insidious temptations for their sons and daughters in Europe.

Strife even reaches places like South-East Asia where few Shias live. Malaysia has presented itself to the world as a tolerant Muslim-majority state. But it bans the preaching of Shia Islam, with particular ferocity since December 2010, when dozens of Shias were arrested. They say they were merely practising their faith (which is legally allowed), not preaching it.

Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a Qatar-based preacher often described as the de facto spiritual guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, has recently kept up a barrage of verbal attacks on the Shias. He is president of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, a loose Brotherhood-inspired body designed to pronounce on issues of common concern to Muslims. Founded in the friendlier climate of 2004, its top ranks also include Shia clergy.

One God, many arguments

But Mr Qaradawi now attacks Shias for compromising the oneness of God (about the worst thing a Muslim can do) by ascribing semi-divine status to the people they regard as Muhammad’s legitimate successors. Another accusation is that Shias poach souls in Sunni lands.

Time was when Mr Qaradawi praised the feats of Hizbullah, the Iranian-backed Shia militia in Lebanon, as fighters against Israel. But in recent punditry he has stressed the gap between Sunni and Shia beliefs and passionately called for regime change in Syria, where, among other things, a Sunni majority is rebelling against a ruling elite whose Alawite belief (see table) is a Shia offshoot. Senior Shia clergy have deplored his hardening line. Mr Qaradawi, whose utterances command attention from Marseilles to the north Caucasus, also backs Bahrain’s Sunni rulers in their anti-Shia stance.

Paradoxically enough, one reason for the worsening in intra-Muslim relations is the declining role of the West. At the time of the Amman gathering in 2005, Iraq was in the grip both of horrific Sunni-Shia violence and of American occupation. It was possible to convince ordinary Muslims (however unfairly) that America was to blame for stoking this tension; and that, for dignity’s sake, followers of Islam should stand together against the outsiders’ game of divide-and-rule. Now the American occupation of Iraq is over, and hatred between Sunnis and Shias there has a ghastly momentum of its own: the Shia prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, has accused a Sunni vice-president, Tariq al-Hashemi, of complicity in terrorism and forced him to flee. On April 30th he was charged with multiple murders.

But perhaps the biggest change is that Sunnis think they are now winning the global contest. Seven years ago it seemed that Shia Islam, whether in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon, was on the march. Hot-headed Sunnis who yearned to see a government or movement that would confront Israel in the name of Islam had to find role-models across the sectarian divide, in Iran, or in the mullahs’ Lebanese protégés in Hizbullah.

These days zealous Sunnis need no longer look to swashbuckling Shias for inspiration. The real action is unfolding in their own homelands, at least in north Africa or the Levant. Nor need they look abroad for political ideology: the Arab spring has established the Sunni sort of political Islam as a powerful, domestically based force that has emerged from the underground or from exile. Rachid Ghannouchi, for example, Tunisia’s best-known Islamist, has returned from London to become probably the most powerful figure in the land. Vali Nasr, a professor at the Fletcher School of Tufts University in America and a former adviser to the Obama administration, says that—rightly or wrongly—Sunnis believe that Western sanctions are weakening Iran, and that the combined efforts of Sunnis and the West will also topple Iran’s only Arab ally, Syria. From a Sunni perspective, these impending victories outweigh the travails of their co-religionists in majority-Shia Iraq.

Intra-Muslim relations are not universally bleak. An Iraqi adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet”, featuring star-crossed love across the Muslim sectarian divide (rather than the clan loyalties of Verona), has won acclaim there, and was performed at the World Shakespeare Festival in Stratford-upon-Avon. Egypt’s handful of Shias, a nervous bunch, have declared support for a Muslim Brotherhood (in other words, Sunni) presidential candidate. In campaigns for freedom and justice in the Middle East, Sunni-Shia distinctions can melt away. “We are all part of the same struggle,” says Maryam al-Khawaja, an activist from Bahrain’s aggrieved Shia majority. She co-starred this week with Sunnis like Manal al-Sharif, a Saudi woman detained for defying that country’s ban on women driving, at the Oslo Freedom Forum, a lively get-together for foes of state oppression.

Historic compromises between ancient rivals are most likely either when both sides acknowledge a stalemate, or else when some outsider forces them together. State repression may do that sometimes—but it is a sad and slender hope for those who yearn for intra-Muslim accord.

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• Iran Is a Rogue Nation (paulmarcelrene.wordpress.com)

Iran and Atomic Weapons

Iran must not be allowed to have atomic weapons.

It is a rogue nation.

On the other hand, it was a good society with a normal population until the insanity of the revolution.

Remove the atomic capacity AND the Supreme Leaders and problem is solved.

BUT, it shouldn’t be the USA or Israel. It should be those with the most to gain in restoring sanity to Iran, the Sunni Arab League. That official negotiations are already under way giving unofficial encouragement and permission for Israel or the USA to act as the proxy for the Sunni Arab League to do this, is not common knowledge.

I vote against the US or Israel acting as the proxy in the Sunni-Shia Arab/Persian conflict. The Muslim Brotherhood can do their own dirty work.

The US can be thankful that Obama is such a weak muslim and weak POTUS that he fails to act regarding Iran.

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List of Islamic Terror Attacks For the Past 2 Months

List of Islamic Terror Attacks For the Past 2 Months

Date Country City Killed Injured Description
2011.12.07 Afghanistan Sangin 19 6 Holy Warriors take down nineteen bus passengers, including five children, with a landmine.
2011.12.07 Nigeria Kaduna 10 12 Very young children are among the casualties of a Shahid suicide bombing in a commercial district.
2011.12.07 Thailand Pattani 1 0 A Buddhist cop is murdered by a Muslim drive-by.
2011.12.07 Yemen Dammaj 3 0 Sunni Islamists open fire on a group of Shia, killing three.
2011.12.06 Afghanistan Kabul 58 161 About sixty Shiite pilgrims, including women and children, are torn to shreds outside a shrine by a Sunni wearing an explosives vest packed with ball bearings.
2011.12.06 Afghanistan Mazar-i-Sharif 4 21 Four Shiites leaving a mosque are sent straight to Allah by Sunni bicycle bombers.
2011.12.06 Iraq Kirkuk 1 8 Sunnis fire mortars at a Shia mosque, killing one occupant.
2011.12.06 Somalia Mogadishu 4 10 A Fedayeen suicide bomber scatters the body parts of at least four victims along a city street.
2011.12.05 Pakistan Kohat 2 11 Muslim militants fire a rocket into a market, killing two people.
2011.12.05 Afghanistan Chora 5 6 Four children and a woman are dismantled by a Taliban roadside bomb.
2011.12.05 Iraq Latifiyah 2 3 Sunni bombers take down two Shiite pilgrims on foot.
2011.12.05 Iraq Hillah 22 63 Two dozen pilgrims, mostly women and children, are ripped apart by three Sunni car bombs.
2011.12.04 Iraq Bayaa 1 9 Sunni bombers manage to take down a Shia pilgrim on foot.
2011.12.04 Nigeria Bauchi 6 2 A boy is among six people killed by a Boko Haram bombing and shooting attack..
2011.12.03 Pakistan Jaffarabad 2 0 Two people are shot to death on suspicion of ‘illicit relations’.
2011.12.03 Nigeria Maiduguri 2 3 Boko Haram Islamists fire into a wedding ceremony, killing the groom and a guest.
2011.12.03 Kazakhstan Boraldai 2 0 Two policemen are shot to death by a group of Muslim radicals.
2011.12.03 Iraq Baghdad 2 0 A man and his wife are murdered by Islamist gunmen.
2011.12.03 Iraq Baaj 3 0 Three brothers are shot to death in their home by Sunni militants.
2011.12.03 Iraq Zakho 0 32 Thrity-two people are injured during a rampage by fundamentalists against Christian-owned businesses.
2011.12.02 Pakistan Khyber 5 0 Three women and two children are killed in the crossfire between two Islamist groups.
2011.12.02 Afghanistan Logar 1 84 A suicide truck bomber kills a carpenter and injures about eighty others.
2011.12.02 Yemen Ghayl Ba Wazir 2 3 al-Qaeda gunmen spray the inside of a coffee shop with bullets, leaving at least two dead.
2011.12.02 Iraq Taji 4 7 al-Qaeda bombers take down four Iraqis, including a man and his mother.
2011.12.02 Pakistan Landi Kotal 2 2 Two peace committee members are murdered by armed radicals.
2011.12.02 Iraq al-Sharqat 3 2 Three civilian defense volunteers are machine-gunned at a checkpoint by al-Qaeda.
2011.12.01 Iraq Khalis 10 25 Ten patrons at a vegetable market are ripped apart by a well-placed bomb.
2011.12.01 Iraq Jil al-Said 8 5 al-Qaeda gunmen pull eight people from their homes, line them up against the wall and shoot them.
2011.12.01 Thailand Yala 1 1 A local soldier is killed by a bomb planted by Islamic ‘insurgents’.
2011.11.30 Yemen Aden 2 0 Two guards are shot to death by Islamists.
2011.11.30 Pakistan Hangu 1 2 A member of a peace committee gets a rude awakening from militant car bombers.
2011.11.30 Egypt Ghorayzat 2 3 Two Christian brothers are murdered in cold blood by a Muslim mob rampaging through Christian homes and businesses.
2011.11.30 Somalia Mogadishu 4 12 Four Somalis are sent to Allah by a Fedayeen suicide bomber.
2011.11.30 Turkey Istanbul 0 2 A man fires a shotgun at the guards of a palace complex while shouting ‘Allah Akbar’.
2011.11.29 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 Islamic ‘separatists’ kill a 49-year-old civilian in a drive-by.
2011.11.29 Pakistan South Waziristan 2 3 Two people are killed by a Taliban bomb while attending a funeral.
2011.11.29 Pakistan Quetta 1 0 Wahhabis murder a Shia professor.
2011.11.29 Iraq Samarra 5 0 Sunni extremists murder five family members of a Shia cleric in their home, including two women.
2011.11.28 Iraq Taji 19 24 Suicide bombers destroy a minibus, along with nineteen passengers.
2011.11.28 Iraq Kirkuk 1 13 One family member is killed when ‘insurgents’ throw a bomb into a house.
2011.11.28 Iraq Baghdad 5 6 A Shahid suicide bomber detonates himself outside the parliament building, killing five people.
2011.11.27 Yemen Damaj 30 61 Militant Shiites shell a Sunni town, killing thirty, including several students.
2011.11.27 Pakistan Numaish Chowrangi 2 8 Two people are killed during a sectarian incident between Sunni and Shia.
2011.11.27 Somalia Afmadow 2 0 Two youth are beheaded by al-Shabaab Islamists.
2011.11.27 Pakistan Karachi 2 0 Two Shias are gunned down in separate sectarian attacks.
2011.11.27 Philippines Zamboanga 3 27 Holy Warriors bomb a hotel packed with wedding guests, killing at least three.
2011.11.27 Somalia Mogadishu 1 5 Religion of Peace proponents blow a hole in a hospital, killing a nurse treating famine victims.
2011.11.27 Nigeria Borno 2 0 Boko Haram Islamists shoot two people to death.
2011.11.26 Iraq Abu Ghraib 8 13 Eight construction workers are permanently demolished by a Mujahid bombing attack.
2011.11.26 Iraq Baghdad 7 28 Holy Warriors take down seven Iraqis with well-planted bombs along a commercial district.
2011.11.26 India Kakinara 1 0 A 17-year-old Hindu girl is stabbed to death by a Muslim rapist.
2011.11.26 Nigeria Geidam 4 20 Islamic radicals descend on a small town, burn eight churches and murder four defenders.
2011.11.26 Pakistan Rawalpindi 2 0 Two sisters have their throats slit by conservative in-laws after failing to conceive.
2011.11.25 Kenya Garissa 2 27 Islamists toss grenades into a restaurant, killing two patrons.
2011.11.25 Kenya Garissa 1 0 One person is murdered outside of a church by Muslim radicals.
2011.11.25 Mali Timbuktu 1 0 A German tourist is shot to death at a restaurant by al-Qaeda.
2011.11.25 Pakistan Muzaffargarh 0 2 Two Christian women are beaten on their own land with clubs by a group of Muslim ‘men’.
2011.11.25 Afghanistan Gereshk 2 0 Two police officers are gunned down in cold blood by religious radicals.
2011.11.25 Pakistan Karachi 1 0 A 70-year-old Shia man is shot through the head in his shop by sectarian Jihadis.
2011.11.24 Afghanistan Bakwah 10 7 At least ten security guards are slaughtered by Taliban gunmen.
2011.11.24 Thailand Narathiwat 3 0 Three plantation workers are shot to death by suspected Muslim radicals while riding in a pickup truck.
2011.11.24 Nigeria Kwok 26 0 Twenty-six Christian villagers are shot and hacked to death by Fulani herdsmen screaming ‘Allah Akbar’.
2011.11.24 Thailand Pattani 2 0 Two drug manufacturers are gunned down by suspected Islamists.
2011.11.24 Nigeria Barkin Ladi 18 1 A Christian family of sixteen, including children, is burned alive by Fulanis.
2011.11.24 Iraq Basra 25 71 Two dozen people are sent to Allah by Mujahid bombers at an outdoor market.
2011.11.24 Iraq Baghdad 1 2 A woman is murdered in her home by Islamic terrorists.
2011.11.24 Saudi Arabia Qatif 4 9 Sunni gunmen fire into a Shiite funeral, killing four mourners.
2011.11.24 Pakistan Gujrat 2 0 A young couple is shot to death by the wife’s family for marrying for love.
2011.11.24 Kenya Mandera 1 4 A Kenyan soldier loses his life to a cross-border IED attack by Islamic terrorists.
2011.11.23 Nigeria Sabon Layi 4 0 A Bible teacher is among four worshipers slaughtered at a church by Muslim radicals.
2011.11.23 Iraq Diyala 9 0 Nine torture victims of al-Qaeda are found buried together.
2011.11.23 Nigeria Yobe 2 0 Militants kidnap and kill two children to punish their father for being ‘disloyal to Islam’ by converting to Christianity.
2011.11.23 Pakistan Khurda Renala 1 0 Muslims torture and shoot to death a Catholic father of four.
2011.11.23 Afghanistan Grishk 1 1 A civilian is murdered by armed Sunni fundamentalists.
2011.11.23 Pakistan Darbaan Kalan 2 7 Two local cops are exterminated by a Sunni rocket attack on their station.
2011.11.22 Pakistan Quetta 1 0 A mosque imam is gunned down after prayer by Religion of Peace rivals.
2011.11.22 Somalia Mogadishu 11 4 Three children are among eleven civilians disassembled by an al-Shabaab bomb.
2011.11.22 Pakistan Pasni 2 0 Two members of a peace committee are abducted by Islamic militants, slaughtered and then dumped in a market.
2011.11.22 Pakistan Karachi 1 0 A father of three is shot to death by sectarian rivals.
2011.11.22 Pakistan Mardan 2 7 A guard and passerby are killed when religious radicals bomb a girl’s school.
2011.11.22 Pakistan Dera Bugti 5 11 Islamic militants are thought responsible for an attack on a group of Chinese engineers that leaves five dead.
2011.11.22 Afghanistan Alingar 4 2 A woman and child are among four civilians murdered during a Taliban roadside attack.
2011.11.21 Nigeria Barkin Ladi 1 0 Islamic extremists behead a young Christian.
2011.11.21 Iraq Abbarah 1 3 A civilian is taken out by Jihadi bombers.
2011.11.21 Pakistan Orakzai 2 11 Tehrik-e-Taliban kill two local security personnel in a sustained assault on their post.
2011.11.21 Thailand Pattani 0 9 Three Buddhist monks and three elderly men are among nine injured by a Muslim bomb hidden in a flower pot.
2011.11.21 Thailand Yala 1 0 A 55-year-old businessman is torn to shreds by a Muslim bomb.
2011.11.20 Iraq Hillah 4 0 Three women are among four Iraqis executed at point-blank range by Mujahid gunmen.
2011.11.20 Pakistan Sindh 1 0 Sunnis set up a fake roadblock and kill a Shiite driver.
2011.11.20 Pakistan Karachi 0 5 Fundamentalists bomb a cinema.
2011.11.20 Nigeria Razat 3 1 Muslims hack three young Christians to death at an illegal roadblock.
2011.11.19 Yemen al-Mukalla 1 0 al-Qaeda assassins are suspected in a deadly shooting.
2011.11.19 Iraq Mussayab 2 0 ‘Insurgents’ kidnap and behead two civilians.
2011.11.19 Azerbaijan Baku 0 1 A journalist is beaten and stabbed five times over an article deemed critical of Muhammad.
2011.11.19 Pakistan Shaidu 1 1 A moderate cleric is shot to death in a mosque after telling radicals not to preach there.
2011.11.19 Iraq Ramadi 5 0 Terrorists attack a police checkpoint, shooing five officers to death.
2011.11.18 Thailand Pattani 1 1 A 43-year-old Buddhist is taken down by Muslim bombers.
2011.11.18 Iraq Abu Ghraib 4 13 Four people are killed when Muslim rivals bomb their mosque.
2011.11.18 Iraq Fallujah 5 2 A 55-year-old woman and children are among five members of a family blown apart by a Jihad bomb attack on their home.
2011.11.18 Afghanistan Beaver Ridge Canaan 4 6 Four children are reportedly killed by a Taliban bomb at a playground.
2011.11.18 Nigeria Maiduguri 3 0 A child is among three people killed in a Boko Haram ambush.
2011.11.17 Yemen Aden 1 0 al-Qaeda cadres shoot a Yemeni to death.
2011.11.17 Thailand Narathiwat 0 5 Five Buddhist teachers are shot point-blank by Islamic ‘insurgents’.
2011.11.17 Iraq Mahmoudiya 4 8 Jihadi car bombers take down four Iraqis.
2011.11.17 Nigeria Gargari 4 6 Three young girls are among four Christians murdered by Muslim extremists in their own homes.
2011.11.17 Egypt Cairo 0 32 Islamic radicals violently attack a group of Copts, marching to a memorial for slain victims of another massacre.
2011.11.17 Somalia Mogadishu 4 12 Children are among the casualties when al-Shabaab militants send mortars into a home.
2011.11.16 Pakistan Karachi 1 0 A pastor is shot in the neck and face in a targeted ambush.
2011.11.16 Pakistan Karachi 2 0 Two hero cops die from injuries suffered while stopping four Shahid suicide bombers.
2011.11.16 Russia Moscow 1 0 A poet is shot five times in the head after ‘angering’ Islamic separatists in Chechnya.
2011.11.16 Thailand Pattani 2 0 Two men are machine-gunned by Islamic ‘insurgents’ while in their car.
2011.11.16 Jordan Tafilah 1 0 An 18-year-old woman has her throat slit at a bus station by her brother for being sexually ‘impure’.
2011.11.16 Iraq Baghdad 2 18 Two Shiite pilgrims die following a bomb attack on their bus by militant Sunnis.
2011.11.16 Pakistan Spori 6 2 Six villagers are disassembled by a Taliban landmine.
2011.11.15 Somalia Mogadishu 1 9 A child is dies from splinter injuries after fundamentalists toss a grenade into a house hosting a television soccer match.
2011.11.15 Afghanistan Ghormach 1 15 One Afghan is killed by Taliban bombers.
2011.11.15 India Kishtwar 1 0 Hizb-ul-Mujahideen members open fire on a group of policemen, leaving one dead.
2011.11.15 Pakistan Bahawalpur 1 0 A woman is hacked to death by her three brothers for having a sexual affair.
2011.11.14 Pakistan Landhi 1 0 A father of four is shot to death in a sectarian attack.
2011.11.14 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 Islamic gunmen aerate an innocent plantation worker.
2011.11.14 Pakistan Chowrangi 1 1 A prayer leader is gunned down by Religion of Peace rivals.
2011.11.14 Pakistan Nala 4 5 An Islamic drive-by leaves four local soldiers dead.
2011.11.14 Pakistan Kohat 1 8 Terrorists fire mortar shells into a residential neighborhood, killing a woman.
2011.11.14 Pakistan Gharyal 2 0 Bodies are found of a woman and her husband who were stabbed to death by her family after eloping against their will.
2011.11.14 Iraq Mosul 2 3 Two civilians are murdered by ‘insurgents’.
2011.11.13 India Kerala 1 0 Fundamentalists tie a man to a tree and torture him to death over sexual indiscretion.
2011.11.13 Iraq Kadhimiya 1 4 A Shiite pilgrim bleeds to death following a bomb attack on his bus by Sunni radicals.
2011.11.13 Pakistan Mastak 9 6 Six people are sent to Allah when terrorists detonate a bomb at a marketplace.
2011.11.13 Pakistan Spah Darri 6 0 Four children and two women are crushed to death by a mortar attack on their home by Religion of Peace militants.
2011.11.13 Dagestan Mutsalaul 1 0 An imam’s assistant is shot to death by suspected extremists.
2011.11.13 Iraq Tikrit 3 11 ‘Insurgents’ murder three Iraqis with a roadside bomb.
2011.11.12 Kazakhstan Taraz 7 0 An orthodox Muslim kills seven people before blowing himself up.
2011.11.12 Pakistan Karachi 1 0 A Shiite man is murdered by Sunni gunmen.
2011.11.12 Afghanistan Khash Rod 1 0 Holy Warriors shoot a village elder to death.
2011.11.12 Pakistan Charsadda 1 1 A local cop bleeds to death following a Sunni bomb attack.
2011.11.12 Afghanistan Mitram 9 0 A woman and child are among eight civilians torn to shreds by a Taliban bomb.
2011.11.11 Iraq Hillah 2 6 A 6-year-old boy is among the casualties of a series of Jihad bombings.
2011.11.10 Afghanistan Chamkani 3 3 Fedayeen stage a suicide bombing, with supporting fire from a mosque, which leaves three locals dead.
2011.11.10 Nigeria Kafanchan 2 0 Islamic raiders murder a village chief and his wife.
2011.11.10 Pakistan Akakhel 4 0 Four members of a local peace committee are ambushed and killed by Lashkar-e-Islam (Army of Islam). One is beheaded.
2011.11.10 Kosovo Mitrovica 1 2 Muslim snipers shoot a Serb twice in the back, killing him.
2011.11.10 Afghanistan Ghazni 2 0 A mother and daughter are stoned to death for adultery following a fatwa.
2011.11.10 Iraq Baghdad 2 4 A doctor and his son are dismantled by Mujahid bombers.
2011.11.10 South Sudan Yida 12 20 The Islamic Republic of Sudan bombs a refugee camp from the air, killing about a dozen.
2011.11.10 Afghanistan Lashkar Gah 2 1 Two civilians are incinerated by a suicide bomber. A child is badly burned.
2011.11.09 Pakistan Mardan 2 0 Two girls are ‘honor killed’ and dumped into a field.
2011.11.09 Yemen Zinjibar 2 0 Two local soldiers are killed by an al-Qaeda bomb.
2011.11.09 Indonesia Jakarta 0 1 A deaf and disabled man is brutally attacked with a machete by Sunni fundamentalists for being Ahmadi.
2011.11.08 Somalia Mogadishu 2 5 Two person are killed when al-Shabaab militants throw a grenade at a house.
2011.11.08 Afghanistan Badghis 11 3 Six children are among eleven lives brutally ended by a Taliban bomb on Eid al-Adha.
2011.11.08 Iraq Samarrah 3 7 Three Shiite pilgrims are sent to Allah by Sunni bombers.
2011.11.08 Russia Yaroslavl 1 0 Suspected Islamists shoot a rival imam several times in the head.
2011.11.08 Afghanistan Sar Howza 2 4 Fundamentalist bombers kill a government official and his bodyguard.
2011.11.07 Pakistan Taluka Chak 3 1 A doctor is among three Hindus gunned down by Muslims at a village clinic.
2011.11.07 Pakistan Swabi 3 9 A secular politician and his son are among three dismantled by a Fedayeen suicide bomber.
2011.11.07 Afghanistan Garm Ser 3 0 The Taliban end the lives of three Afghans with a roadside bomb.
2011.11.07 Pakistan Sindh 1 0 A Shiite is shot to death by Sunnis.
2011.11.07 South Sudan Guffa 7 12 Seven die when a refugee camp is bombed by the Islamic Republic of Sudan.
2011.11.06 Pal. Auth. Qalqiliya 1 0 Islamic terrorists gun down a man outside a mosque.
2011.11.06 Yemen Zinjibar 2 0 al-Qaeda snipers take down a local patrol.
2011.11.06 Pakistan Azam Warsak 3 3 Muslim militants open fire in a bazaar, killing three people.
2011.11.06 Pakistan Gilgit City 1 0 Sunni gunmen pick off a Shiite.
2011.11.06 Pakistan Abbottabad 0 1 A pregnant Christian woman is tortured for three hours by police.
2011.11.06 Nigeria Maiduguri 1 0 Islamists shoot a man to death in front of his family.
2011.11.06 Afghanistan Hassin Tal 7 18 A suicide bomber on foot takes out seven people leaving a mosque.
2011.11.06 Iraq Baghdad 10 29 Islamic militants detonate several bombs at a shopping mall, killing ten patrons.
2011.11.06 Pakistan Bara Kaman Gara 1 3 A woman is shot to death by Mujahideen inside her home.
2011.11.05 Pakistan Speen Mella 3 7 Three bomb disposal personnel are ambushed and murdered by Sunni hardliners.
2011.11.05 Pakistan Razmak 5 3 Talibanis massacre five members of a security patrol.
2011.11.05 Kenya Garissa 2 3 A member of the choir is killed along with an 8-year-old girls when al-Shabaab terrorists toss a grenade into a church.
2011.11.05 Iraq Taji 4 11 A woman is among four family members machine-gunned in their home by al-Qaeda.
2011.11.04 Nigeria Maiduguri 4 6 At least four people are killed by coordinated Fedayeen attacks, one at a college.
2011.11.04 Thailand Pattani 2 0 Two men on motorcycles are murdered in separate ‘insurgent’ drive-by shootings.
2011.11.04 Nigeria Potiskum 2 0 At least two villagers are gunned down by Muslim raiders.
2011.11.04 Philippines Malabang 2 0 Suspected Moro Islamists murder two Catholic roadside vendors.
2011.11.04 Nigeria Zonkwa 1 1 Nigerian Islamists shoot another Christian to death in a village raid.
2011.11.04 Nigeria Kaduna 2 14 Mujahideen gunmen attack a church, shooting two female worshippers to death.
2011.11.04 Nigeria Potiskum 150 200 Two-hundred militants shout ‘Allah Akbar’ as they slaughter one-hundred and fifty in a bombing and shooting rampage that targeted six churches and a police station. At least one-hundred and thirty of their victims were Christian.
2011.11.03 Afghanistan Herat 2 4 A Shahid suicide attack on a construction company leaves two guards dead.
2011.11.03 Pakistan Quetta 1 0 A prayer leader is murdered by suspected sectarian rivals.
2011.11.03 Iraq Karradah 4 7 Sunni bombers take out four Shiites in a residential neighborhood.
2011.11.03 Iraq Baqubah 10 40 A double suicide attack leaves ten Iraqis dead. The second blast was intended to kill victims fleeing the first.
2011.11.03 Afghanistan Ghazni 1 0 A child is taken out by a Taliban rocket.
2011.11.02 Pakistan Gilgit City 1 0 A second Shiite dies from a Sunni shooting attack.
2011.11.02 Pakistan Peshawar 1 10 Jihadis detonate a bomb in a packed marketplace.
2011.11.02 Dagestan Babayurt 2 3 Two local cops are shot to death by Islamic extremists.
2011.11.02 Thailand Narathiwat 6 2 Six Buddhist civilians are blown apart and then raked with gunfire by militant Muslims.
2011.11.02 Pakistan Nasirabad 2 6 Sunni terrorists detonate a roadside bomb under a passing vehicle, killing two occupants.
2011.11.02 Iraq Basra 12 62 A dozen Iraqis are torn to shreds by motorcycle bombs placed outside three cafes.
2011.11.02 Iraq Mosul 2 0 Two civilians bleed to death following a Sunni roadside bombing.
2011.11.02 Iraq Kirkuk 1 1 Islamists are suspected of killing a vegetable vendor and injuring his daughter.
2011.11.02 Nigeria Maiduguri 1 0 A robed fundamentalist pulls out an automatic weapon and murders a guard at a market.
2011.11.01 Pakistan Gilgit City 1 0 A Shiite is shot to death by Sunnis.
2011.11.01 Pakistan Sira Karpai 2 2 Religious extremists attack a police checkpoint, killing two officers.
2011.10.31 Pakistan Pakhtunkhwa 3 0 Religious militants abduct and behead three locals.
2011.10.31 Thailand Sri Sakhon 0 2 A child loses a foot and another suffers deep shrapnel injuries following an Islamist bombing.
2011.10.31 Afghanistan Kandahar 6 5 Suicide bombers kill three people outside a humanitarian aid office.
2011.10.30 Thailand Narathiwat 3 0 Three Buddhists are gunned down in brutal fashion by Muslims at a grocery, including a woman and an elderly man.
2011.10.30 Pakistan Malir 1 0 Sectarian gunmen take down a civilian.
2011.10.30 Israel Ashkelon 1 4 A 56-year-old father of four bleeds to death after Palestinians fire a rocket into an apartment building.
2011.10.30 Iraq Mosul 5 0 Five Iraqis are sent to Allah by Mujahideen bombers.
2011.10.30 Iraq Bani Saad 2 1 Terrorists shoot two brothers to death in their home.
2011.10.30 Thailand Songkla 1 0 Muslims gun down a civilian in a drive-by attack.
2011.10.29 Afghanistan Kabul 17 8 Women and children are among the dead as suicide bombers target a NATO bus, killing at least seventeen.
2011.10.29 Iraq Baghdad 1 0 A technology worker is blown up ‘insurgent’ bombers.
2011.10.29 Pakistan Changa Manga 1 0 Religious extremists are suspected of binding a local official and then burning him alive.
2011.10.29 Iraq Khalis 1 2 Jihadis take down a teenage girl riding in a family car.
2011.10.29 Iraq Deli Abbas 1 0 Fundamentalists shoot a liquor store owner to death in his home.
2011.10.29 Pakistan Tank 1 0 Islamic radicals murder a member of a local peace committee.
2011.10.29 Afghanistan Kandahar 4 9 A Taliban in uniform shoots three Australian police trainers and an interpreter to death.
2011.10.29 Somalia Mogadishu 10 0 At least ten people are killed during a Fedayeen assault on an African Union base.
2011.10.29 Nigeria Borno 1 0 Islamists gun down a rival cleric in front of his home.
2011.10.29 Iraq Mosul 1 0 A woman shopping at a market is gunned down by terrorists.
2011.10.28 Yemen Aden 1 3 Children are among the casualties of an al-Qaeda car bombing.
2011.10.28 Pakistan Karachi 1 1 A Shia is shot in the head and neck by sectarian Jihadis in front of his wife.
2011.10.28 Iraq Saadiyah 3 1 Three family members are executed at point-blank range by Muslim terrorists.
2011.10.28 Bosnia Sarajevo 0 1 A radical Islamist fires on the US embassy for 30 minutes with an assault rifle.
2011.10.28 Iraq Baqubah 2 2 Holy Warriors machine-gun a family, killing the two male members and leaving a child and mother with serious injuries.
2011.10.28 Dagestan Bairamaul 1 1 Islamic ‘separatists’ fire on a group of policemen, killing one.
2011.10.28 Pakistan Shindhand 2 0 Two brothers are killed when religious militants fire a rocket into their car.
2011.10.28 Afghanistan Khost 4 0 Four people riding in a car are exterminated by Sunni gunmen.
2011.10.28 Pakistan Nowshera 2 7 Two local cops are murdered by a Fedayeen suicide bomber.
2011.10.27 Kenya Mandera 4 4 A school principal is one of four killed when Islamists rocket a vehicle carrying student exam papers.
2011.10.27 Kenya Nairobi 0 1 A young convert from Islam is left for dead after being severely beaten with iron rods in front of his church.
2011.10.27 Iraq Amiriya 1 2 al-Qaeda bombers take down an opponent.
2011.10.27 Dagestan Tabasaransky 1 0 A moderate cleric is shot to death by extremists.
2011.10.27 Iraq Iskandariya 2 2 A child is among two Iraqis obliterated by ‘insurgent’ bombers.
2011.10.27 Iraq Baghdad 36 78 Fundamentalists target a music store with twin blasts, slaughtering at least thirty innocents.
2011.10.26 Afghanistan Parwan 6 50 Six locals are killed when Sunni fundamentalists detonate a fuel tanker.
2011.10.26 Philippines Sangali 1 8 Muslim terrorists are suspected of planting a bomb outside a lottery office.
2011.10.26 Pakistan Tank 2 0 Two members of a peace committee are machine-gunned in their sleep by Islamists.
2011.10.26 Pakistan Mohmand 3 0 Three local soldiers are kidnapped and executed by Religion of Peace proponents.
2011.10.26 Iraq Mosul 9 16 Two car bombs in the same neighborhood take down nine Iraqis.
2011.10.26 Iraq Iskandiriyah 2 2 Sunnis enter the home of a Shiite cleric and brutally shoot his wife and daughter to death.
2011.10.26 Pakistan Bara 1 0 Lashkar-e-Islam abduct and behead a defense volunteer.
2011.10.26 Iraq Khanaqin 0 7 Seven Shia pilgrims are injured when Sunni radicals bomb their bus.
2011.10.26 Iraq Hilla 2 0 A woman and her daughter are killed when terrorists blow up their home.
2011.10.26 Pakistan Bajaur 1 4 Four children are among the casualties when Muslim radicals shell their home.
2011.10.26 Pakistan Faqir Kalay 0 12 Young children are among the casualties when religious extremists bomb a clothing market.
2011.10.25 Pakistan Lower Dir 4 3 Sunni fundamentalists take down four people with a roadside bomb, including a 12-year-old boy.
2011.10.25 Pakistan Bara 1 0 Tahreek-e-Taliban militants murder a member of a peace committee.
2011.10.25 Thailand Yala 3 34 Muslim ‘rebels’ set off a series of bombs in populated areas, killing at least three civilians.
2011.10.25 Iraq Baghdad 5 13 Three Iraqis are killed in a two-day spree of bombings targeting traffic cops.
2011.10.24 Kenya Nairobi 0 14 Fourteen people suffer horrific burns and shrapnel injuries when Islamists throw a grenade into a nightclub.
2011.10.24 Afghanistan Maymanah 1 6 A suicide bomber successfully takes out a child.
2011.10.24 Yemen Aden 2 0 Two Yemeni soldiers are machine-gunned by suspected Ansar al-Sharia.
2011.10.24 Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 2 2 A cab driver and member of a peace committee are gunned down by terrorists in separate attacks.
2011.10.24 Pakistan Korangi 2 1 Islamic militants are suspected of shooting a 12-year-old and one other person to death.
2011.10.24 Iraq Abu Ghraib 1 3 ‘Insurgents’ murder a woman inside her home.
2011.10.24 Iraq Baghdad 1 7 A civilian is taken out by a Fedayeen suicide bomber.
2011.10.24 Nigeria Damaturu 1 0 Muslim gunmen knock on the door of an off-duty cop, then blow him away when he answers.
2011.10.24 Kenya Nairobi 1 10 Islamists throw a grenade into a bus stop, killing one person.
2011.10.23 Iraq Tikrit 2 0 A teacher and his daughter are brutally murdered by Mujahideen gunmen.
2011.10.23 Philippines Cabengbeng 5 8 Five Catholic plantation workers are massacred by Moro Islamists in a pre-dawn attack on their village.
2011.10.23 Philippines Lanao del Norte 3 3 Three members of a security patrol are killed by a Moro Islamist ambush.
2011.10.23 Afghanistan Shindand 2 0 Two local cops are obliterated by a Taliban roadside bomb.
2011.10.23 Thailand Narathiwat 5 8 A child and his parents are among five people torn to pieces by two Muslim bombs at a grocery.
2011.10.23 Afghanistan Zarghon 4 2 A Taliban bomb takes out four civilians.
2011.10.23 Thailand Narathiwat 2 1 Terrorists dressed as women open fire on a civilian defense patrol, killing two members before fleeing.
2011.10.22 Iraq Ameriyat 1 1 A civilian is cut down by automatic weapons fire from ‘insurgents’ in a passing car.
2011.10.22 Israel Kfar Iksa 0 1 A Jewish teenager is left with serious injuries after a stabbing attack by a Palestinian.
2011.10.22 Nigeria Maiduguri 1 0 A popular TV journalist is murdered in front of his home by Boko Haram assassins.
2011.10.22 Nigeria Saminaka 2 0 Radicals bomb and shoot up a bank, killing two, while yelling ‘Allah Akbar’.
2011.10.22 India Anantapur 0 1 A school headmaster is severely beaten by Muslim activists after asking that women remove veils.
2011.10.21 Pakistan Bazai 3 1 Muslim extremists throw grenades into a home, killing three family members including a woman.
2011.10.21 Iraq Mosul 1 0 ‘Insurgents’ murder a woman inside her home.
2011.10.21 Philippines Kabasalan 3 8 Moro Islamists gun down three local cops.
2011.10.20 Nigeria Bauchi 0 1 A Christian boy is shot at a soccer match by armed Muslims.
2011.10.20 Nigeria Yelwa 1 0 Three Muslim soldiers break into a home and shoot a Christian mother of five to death.
2011.10.20 Pakistan Karachi 1 0 A 22-year-old Shiite is shot to death outside his home by Wahhabis.
2011.10.20 Philippines Alicia 4 6 Four local soldiers are ambushed and murdered by Moro Islamists.
2011.10.20 Somalia Mogadishu 10 2 Ten African peacekeepers are murdered by al-Shabaab terrorists – some by beheading.
2011.10.20 Pakistan Khyber 4 3 A brutal Lashkar-e-Islam attack leaves four dead.
2011.10.19 Afghanistan Zarghun 5 0 Five Afghan troops are blown to bits by Taliban bombers while returning to their base.
2011.10.19 Afghanistan Badghis 3 2 A father and son are among three civilians ripped apart by a suicide bomber.
2011.10.19 Nigeria Maiduguri 2 0 Boko Haram gunmen murder two civilians in separate attacks.
2011.10.19 Iraq Ramadi 2 5 ‘Insurgents’ bomb a health office, killing two innocents.
2011.10.19 Iraq Mosul 2 0 A judge and his driver are assassinated by Mujahideen.
2011.10.19 Pakistan Karachi 1 0 A Sunni activist is gunned down by sectarian Jihadis.
2011.10.19 Yemen Lahj 2 12 An al-Qaeda militant throws a grenade into a packed market, killing two civilians.
2011.10.19 Nigeria Maiduguri 2 0 The owner and a patron are shot to death at a barber shop by Islamic terrorists.
2011.10.18 Iraq Mosul 1 0 A Shiite baker is murdered by Sunni hardliners.
2011.10.18 Thailand Pattani 1 2 Muslim militants open fire on a group of investigators looking into an earlier murder.
2011.10.18 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 Islamic ‘separatists’ put four bullets into the back of a wood trader.
2011.10.18 Pakistan Bara 3 3 Islamic militants are thought responsible for shelling that kills a doctor and two others, including a child.
2011.10.18 Pakistan Marot 2 0 A woman seeking a divorce is butchered along with her daughter by her husband’s family in an honor killing.
2011.10.18 Pakistan Buner 3 2 Fundamentalists open fire on a party hosting transvestites, killing three.
2011.10.18 Afghanistan Gozara 2 0 Two women accused of ‘immoral’ activity are shot to death.
2011.10.18 Pakistan Karachi 3 0 Three seminary students are shot dead in a suspected sectarian attack.
2011.10.18 Somalia Mogadishu 4 6 A Holy Warrior detonates himself along a city street, cutting down four innocents.
2011.10.18 Pakistan Karachi 1 0 A 32-year-old Shiite is murdered by Sipah-e-Sahaba assassins.
2011.10.18 Philippines Basilan 19 14 Nineteen local soldiers are killed during an ambush by Moro Islamists.
2011.10.17 Iraq Baghdad 7 18 Fundamentalists set off a bomb near a liquor store, exterminating seven.
2011.10.17 Pakistan Karachi 1 0 A 45-year-old Shiite man is gunned down by Wahhabi terrorists.
2011.10.17 Pakistan Orakzai 1 0 The chief of a local peace committee is murdered by Islamists while on his way to a funeral.
2011.10.17 Pakistan Bara 9 3 Sunni extremists ambush a group of local soldiers and gun down at least nine.
2011.10.17 Algeria Boumerdes 1 2 A 7-year-old barely survives a fundamentalist bombing that leaves his mother dead.
2011.10.16 Nigeria Jos 1 0 Militant Muslims hack a local soldier to death with machetes.
2011.10.16 Egypt Mallawy 1 0 A Coptic high school student is beaten to death after refusing to take off his cross.
2011.10.16 Nigeria Maiduguri 1 0 A lawmaker is assassinated by Islamic gunmen while standing outside his home.
2011.10.16 Afghanistan Faryab 1 4 A child of about 3 bleeds to death following a suicide blast.
2011.10.16 Nigeria Gombe 4 0 Boko Haram bombers set off a blast that kills three civilians and a cop.
2011.10.16 Afghanistan Gardez 1 0 A city worker is killed by a car bomb.
2011.10.15 Afghanistan Panjshir 2 2 Two civilians are taken out by Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan suicide bombers.
2011.10.15 Nigeria Maiduguri 1 0 A local official is shot to death by Boko Haram.
2011.10.15 Iraq Baghdad 1 0 An interior minister is assassinated by suspected al-Qaeda.
2011.10.15 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 A 48-year-old woman is stalked and murdered by Muslim ‘insurgents’.
2011.10.14 Afghanistan Spin Boldak 3 5 A Fedayeen suicide bomber murders three local police officers.
2011.10.14 Pakistan Islamabad 1 1 Terrorists gun down a neighborhood cop.
2011.10.14 Pakistan Kharkai 2 6 Islamic militants kill two civilians with a mortar attack on their village.
2011.10.14 Iraq Hilla 10 40 Sunni bombers target a Shia funeral procession near a mosque, killing at least ten mourners.
2011.10.13 Iraq Kirkuk 1 42 A Shahid suicide bomber kills one other person near a bank.
2011.10.13 Nigeria Maiduguri 1 0 Boko Haram gunmen assassinate a man in his home.
2011.10.13 Iraq Sadr City 18 43 Eighteen people at a market are torn to shreds by Ansar al-Islam bombers.
2011.10.13 Thailand Pattani 3 0 A married couple and their relative are brutally cut to pieces in their own shop by Islamic gunmen.
2011.10.13 Thailand Pattani 3 0 Two people riding in a pickup truck and a teenager standing nearby are machine-gunned by Muslim militants.
2011.10.12 Thailand Yala 1 0 A civilian is shot to death on his way home by ‘insurgents’.
2011.10.12 Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 1 4 Children are among the casualties of an Islamist drive-by and mortar attack.
2011.10.12 Iraq Baghdad 14 28 A powerful Shahid car bomb blast leaves at least fourteen Iraqis dead.
2011.10.12 Iraq Baghdad 9 27 Nine people are reported dead after a Sunni suicide bombing in a Shia neighborhood.
2011.10.12 Iraq Illam 6 28 Three Jihadi car bomb kill six Iraqis.
2011.10.12 Pakistan Korangi 1 0 A Muslim slashes a Christian mother’s throat after raping her.
2011.10.11 Pakistan Dasht 2 0 The Taliban set fire to an oil tanker, burning the driver and helper to death.
2011.10.11 Iraq Garma 1 0 al-Qaeda gunmen murder a man outside his home.
2011.10.11 Pakistan Kalaya 1 9 A mortar round fired by the Taliban reportedly slams into a home, killing one occupant.
2011.10.11 Somalia Mogadishu 1 0 Islamists send a mortar round into the maternity ward of a hospital, crushing a staff member.
2011.10.11 Dagestan Makhachkala 1 2 Suspected Islamic ‘rebels’ murder one person in a drive-by attack.
2011.10.10 Nigeria Maiduguri 2 2 Two Nigerians are killed by a Boko Haram bomb.
2011.10.10 Iraq Baghdad 13 22 Jihadi bombers murder thirteen Iraqis, including first responders, in a string of bombings.
2011.10.10 Afghanistan Dangam 6 2 A road construction crew is the target of a vicious double bombing that leaves six dead.
2011.10.10 Pakistan Chadrarh 2 0 Two former members of a peace committee are shot to death by militant Muslims.
2011.10.09 Pakistan Maidan 2 0 The Taliban kidnap and murder two young men.
2011.10.09 Egypt Cairo 27 329 Military and Islamist gunmen massacre over two dozen Christians peacefully protesting a church burning.
2011.10.09 Philippines Zamboanga 0 13 Abu Sayyaf bombers injured thirteen people in separate attacks targeting Christians.
2011.10.09 Somalia Mogadishu 12 40 At least a dozen civilians are killed during an al-Shabaab mortar attack on a residential area.
2011.10.08 Iraq Kirkuk 1 1 Muslim gunmen shoot an elderly Christian and a woman.
2011.10.08 Yemen Aden 1 7 A local soldier is killed in a bombing by Islamic extremists.
There is a reason we call it Islamic terrorism, and it isn’t
because we falsely attribute motives to the terrorists, but
because Islam is the stated purpose and aim of the terrorists.
Daniel Greenfield

Why New Iranian Sanctions are a Useless Gesture

Obummer wouldn’t support an Iranian revolt because they are Shia and ALL the others are Sunni. To Sunni muslims, Shia are apostate and not “real” muslims. Once the Sunnis kill off or force convert all Christians and Jews, their next major target is Shias. That is why there remains such issues in Iraq. There is a huge Shia population supported by Iran in a (NOW) Sunni dominated country. (The Kurds are another separate problem in Iraq. As for the sanctions, they are mostly laughing at us as USA sanctions mean nothing to them. And if they want Nike shoes that much, they get them directly from the manufacturing country regardless if Nike is headquartered here. The ONLY thing to be done to be effective is a military strike AND that would be a win-win for the Sunni dominated governments and the Muslim Brotherhood whether we or the Israelis do it because they get a free “strike” as the apostate Shias AND can claim the moral high ground that Israel or the US or the Israelis backed by the US attacked a muslim country. They’d claim the Shias only when it works best for their propoganda and denounce them all other times. One of the big arguments used when ever the very real evils mandated by the quran and islam are discussed is to say that is a “Shia” thing, not real islam. Of course, THAT defense is pure crap, but like someone earlier in this post stated, A lie repeated often enough becomes the (perceived) truth.

Islam’s doctrines of deception

The below article from the The Middle East Forum reveals in vivid details the truth regarding Islam’s official policy of deception and lying to achieve its end of spreading itself and achieving a world wide caliphate in which all non-muslims are forced to convert or killed.

When ever a website or any media exposes any truth that puts Islam in its true light, muslims immediate dismiss it as a “hate” site.  Obviously, they HATE the truth being revealed.  Even this blog has been called a hate site for exposing the truth.  That is really a compliment as it shows that the truth on this blog has touched the accusers in some small way with the truth. (For a further understanding of the Islamic “hate” card being played please see:   https://paulmarcelrene.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/islamophobia-watch-website)

In any case, the The Middle East Forum is a respected and fair website and I recommend it for the article below and every other article I’ve read on it for its accuracy.

The Middle East Forum

by Raymond Ibrahim
Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst
October 2008

To better understand Islam, one must appreciate the thoroughly legalistic nature of the religion. According to sharia (Islamic law) every conceivable human act is categorised as being either forbidden, discouraged, permissible, recommended, or obligatory.

“Common sense” or “universal opinion” has little to do with Islam’s notions of right and wrong. Only what Allah (through the Quran) and his prophet Muhammad (through the Hadith) have to say about any given issue matters; and how Islam’s greatest theologians and jurists – collectively known as the ulema, literally, “they who know” – have articulated it.

According to sharia, in certain situations, deception – also known as ‘taqiyya’, based on Quranic terminology, – is not only permitted but sometimes obligatory. For instance, contrary to early Christian history, Muslims who must choose between either recanting Islam or being put to death are not only permitted to lie by pretending to have apostatised, but many jurists have decreed that, according to Quran 4:29, Muslims are obligated to lie in such instances.

Origins of taqiyya

As a doctrine, taqiyya was first codified by Shia Muslims, primarily as a result of their historical experience. Long insisting that the caliphate rightly belonged to the prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, Ali (and subsequently his descendents), the Shia were a vocal and powerful branch of Islam that emerged following Muhammad’s death. After the internal Islamic Fitna wars from the years 656 AD to 661 AD, however, the Shia became a minority branch, persecuted by mainstream Muslims or Sunnis – so-called because they follow the example or ‘sunna’ of Muhammad and his companions. Taqiyya became pivotal to Shia survival.

Interspersed among the much more numerous Sunnis, who currently make up approximately 90 per cent of the Islamic world, the Shia often performed taqiyya by pretending to be Sunnis externally, while maintaining Shia beliefs internally, as permitted by Quranic verse 16:106. Even today, especially in those Muslim states where there is little religious freedom, the Shia still practice taqiyya. In Saudi Arabia, for instance, Shias are deemed by many of the Sunni majority to be heretics, traitors and infidels and like other non-Sunni Muslims they are often persecuted.

Several of Saudi Arabia’s highest clerics have even issued fatwas sanctioning the killing of Shias. As a result, figures on the Arabian kingdom’s Shia population vary wildly from as low as 1 per cent to nearly 20 per cent. Many Shias living there obviously choose to conceal their religious identity. As a result of some 1,400 years of Shia taqiyya, the Sunnis often accuse the Shias of being habitual liars, insisting that taqiyya is ingrained in Shia culture.

Conversely, the Sunnis have historically had little reason to dissemble or conceal any aspect of their faith, which would have been deemed dishonorable, especially when dealing with their historic competitors and enemies, the Christians. From the start, Islam burst out of Arabia subjugating much of the known world, and, throughout the Middle Ages, threatened to engulf all of Christendom. In a world where might made right, the Sunnis had nothing to apologise for, much less to hide from the ‘infidel’.

Paradoxically, however, today many Sunnis are finding themselves in the Shias’ place: living as minorities in Western countries surrounded and governed by their traditional foes. The primary difference is that, extremist Sunnis and Shia tend to reject each other outright, as evidenced by the ongoing Sunni-Shia struggle in Iraq, whereas, in the West, where freedom of religion is guaranteed, Sunnis need only dissemble over a few aspects of their faith.

Articulation of taqiyya

According to the authoritative Arabic text, Al-Taqiyya Fi Al-Islam: “Taqiyya [deception] is of fundamental importance in Islam. Practically every Islamic sect agrees to it and practices it. We can go so far as to say that the practice of taqiyya is mainstream in Islam, and that those few sects not practicing it diverge from the mainstream…Taqiyya is very prevalent in Islamic politics, especially in the modern era.”

The primary Quranic verse sanctioning deception with respect to non-Muslims states: “Let believers not take for friends and allies infidels instead of believers. Whoever does this shall have no relationship left with Allah – unless you but guard yourselves against them, taking precautions.” (Quran 3:28; see also 2:173; 2:185; 4:29; 22:78; 40:28.)

Al-Tabari’s (838-923 AD) Tafsir, or Quranic exegeses, is essentially a standard reference in the entire Muslim world. Regarding 3:28, he wrote: “If you [Muslims] are under their [infidels’] authority, fearing for yourselves, behave loyally to them, with your tongue, while harbouring inner animosity for them… Allah has forbidden believers from being friendly or on intimate terms with the infidels in place of believers – except when infidels are above them [in authority]. In such a scenario, let them act friendly towards them.”

Regarding 3:28, the Islamic scholar Ibn Kathir (1301-1373) wrote: “Whoever at any time or place fears their [infidels’] evil, may protect himself through outward show.”

As proof of this, he quotes Muhammad’s companions. Abu Darda said: “Let us smile to the face of some people while our hearts curse them.” Al-Hassan said: “Doing taqiyya is acceptable till the day of judgment [in perpetuity].”

Other prominent ulema, such as al- Qurtubi , al-Razi, and al-Arabi have extended taqiyya to cover deeds. Muslims can behave like infidels – from bowing down and worshipping idols and crosses to even exposing fellow Muslims’ “weak spots” to the infidel enemy – anything short of actually killing a fellow Muslim.

War is deceit

None of this should be surprising considering that Muhammad himself, whose example as the “most perfect human” is to be tenaciously followed, took an expedient view on the issue of deception. For instance, Muhammad permitted deceit in three situations: to reconcile two or more quarreling parties; husband to wife and vice-versa; and in war (See Sahih Muslim B32N6303, deemed an “authentic” hadith).

During the Battle of the Trench (627 AD), which pitted Muhammad and his followers against several non-Muslim tribes collectively known as “the Confederates”, a Confederate called Naim bin Masud went to the Muslim camp and converted to Islam. When Muhammad discovered the Confederates were unaware of Masud’s conversion, he counseled him to return and try somehow to get his tribesmen to abandon the siege. “For war is deceit,” Muhammad assured him.

Masud returned to the Confederates without their knowledge that he had switched sides and began giving his former kin and allies bad advice. He also went to great lengths to instigate quarrels between the various tribes until, thoroughly distrusting each other, they disbanded and lifted the siege. According to this account, deceit saved Islam during its embryonic stage (see Al-Taqiyya Fi Al-Islam; also, Ibn Ishaq’s Sira, the earliest biography of Muhammad).

More demonstrative of the legitimacy of deception with respect to non-Muslims is the following account. A poet, Kab bin al-Ashruf, had offended Muhammad by making derogatory verse about Muslim women. Muhammad exclaimed in front of his followers: “Who will kill this man who has hurt Allah and his prophet?”

A young Muslim named Muhammad bin Maslama volunteered, but with the caveat that, in order to get close enough to Kab to assassinate him, he be allowed to lie to the poet. Muhammad agreed.

Maslama traveled to Kab and began denigrating Islam and Muhammad, carrying on this way till his disaffection became convincing enough for Kab to take him into his confidences. Soon thereafter, Maslama appeared with another Muslim and, while Kab’s guard was down, they assaulted and killed him. They ran to Muhammad with Kab’s head, to which the latter cried: “Allahu akbar” or “God is great” (see the hadith accounts of Sahih Bukhari and Ibn Sad).

The entire sequence of Quranic revelations are a testimony to taqiyya and, since Allah is believed to be the revealer of these verses, he ultimately is seen as the perpetrator of deceit. This is not surprising since Allah himself is often described in the Quran as the “best deceiver” or “schemer.” (see 3:54, 8:30, 10:21). This phenomenon revolves around the fact that the Quran contains both peaceful and tolerant verses, as well as violent and intolerant ones.

The ulema were uncertain which verses to codify into sharia’s worldview. For instance, should they use the one that states there is no coercion in religion (2:256), or the ones that command believers to fight all non-Muslims until they either convert or at least submit to Islam (9:5, 9:29)? To solve this quandary, they developed the doctrine of abrogation – naskh, supported by Quran 2:105. This essentially states that verses “revealed” later in Muhammad’s career take precedence over those revealed earlier whenever there is a discrepancy.

Why the contradiction in the first place? The standard answer has been that, because Muhammad and his community were far outnumbered by the infidels in the early years of Islam, a message of peace and co-existence was in order. However, after Muhammad migrated to Medina and grew in military strength and numbers, the militant or intolerant verses were revealed, urging Muslims to go on the offensive.

According to this standard view, circumstance dictates which verses are to be implemented. When Muslims are weak, they should preach and behave according to the Meccan verses; when strong, they should go on the offensive, according to the Medinan verses. Many Islamic books extensively deal with the doctrine of abrogation, or Al-Nasikh Wa Al-Mansukh.

War is eternal

The fact that Islam legitimises deceit during war cannot be all that surprising; strategist Sun Tzu (c. 722-221 BC), Italian political philosopher Machiavelli (1469-1527) and English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) all justified deceit in war.

However, according to all four recognised schools of Sunni jurisprudence, war against the infidel goes on in perpetuity, until “all chaos ceases, and all religion belongs to Allah” (Quran 8:39). According to the definitive Encyclopaedia of Islam (Brill Online edition): “The duty of the jihad exists as long as the universal domination of Islam has not been attained. Peace with non-Muslim nations is, therefore, a provisional state of affairs only; the chance of circumstances alone can justify it temporarily. Furthermore there can be no question of genuine peace treaties with these nations; only truces, whose duration ought not, in principle, to exceed ten years, are authorised. But even such truces are precarious, inasmuch as they can, before they expire, be repudiated unilaterally should it appear more profitable for Islam to resume the conflict.”

The concept of obligatory jihad is best expressed by Islam’s dichotomised worldview that pits Dar al Islam (House of Islam) against Dar al Harb (House of War or non-Muslims) until the former subsumes the latter. Muslim historian and philosopher, Ibn Khaldun (1332- 1406), articulated this division by saying: “In the Muslim community, holy war [jihad] is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and the obligation to convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force. The other religious groups did not have a universal mission, and the holy war was not a religious duty for them, save only for purposes of defence. But Islam is under obligation to gain power over other nations.”

This concept is highlighted by the fact that, based on the ten-year treaty of Hudaibiya , ratified between Muhammad and his Quraish opponents in Mecca (628), ten years is theoretically the maximum amount of time Muslims can be at peace with infidels (as indicated earlier by the Encyclopaedia of Islam). Based on Muhammad’s example of breaking the treaty after two years, by citing a Quraish infraction, the sole function of the “peace-treaty” (hudna) is to buy weakened Muslims time to regroup for a renewed offensive. Muhammad is quoted in the Hadith saying: “If I take an oath and later find something else better, I do what is better and break my oath (see Sahih Bukhari V7B67N427).”

This might be what former PLO leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Yasser Arafat meant when, after negotiating a peace treaty criticised by his opponents as conceding too much to Israel, he said in a mosque: “I see this agreement as being no more than the agreement signed between our Prophet Muhammad and the Quraish in Mecca.”

On several occasions Hamas has made it clear that its ultimate aspiration is to see Israel destroyed. Under what context would it want to initiate a “temporary” peace with the Jewish state? When Osama bin Laden offered the US a truce, stressing that “we [Muslims] are a people that Allah has forbidden from double-crossing and lying,” what was his ultimate intention?

Based on the above, these are instances of Muslim extremists feigning openness to the idea of peace simply in order to bide time.

If Islam must be in a constant state of war with the non-Muslim world – which need not be physical, as radicals among the ulema have classified several non-literal forms of jihad, such as “jihad-of-the-pen” (propaganda), and “money-jihad” (economic) – and if Muslims are permitted to lie and feign loyalty to the infidel to further their war efforts, offers of peace, tolerance or dialogue from extremist Muslim corners are called into question.

Religious obligation?

Following the terrorist attacks on the United States of 11 September 2001, a group of prominent Muslims wrote a letter to Americans saying that Islam is a tolerant religion that seeks to coexist with others.

Bin Laden castigated them, saying: “As to the relationship between Muslims and infidels, this is summarised by the Most High’s Word: ‘We renounce you. Enmity and hate shall forever reign between us – till you believe in Allah alone’ [Quran 60:4]. So there is an enmity, evidenced by fierce hostility from the heart. And this fierce hostility – that is battle – ceases only if the infidel submits to the authority of Islam, or if his blood is forbidden from being shed [a dhimmi – a non-Muslim subject living as a “second-class” citizen in an Islamic state in accordance to Quran 9:29], or if Muslims are at that point in time weak and incapable [a circumstance under which taqiyya applies]. But if the hate at any time extinguishes from the heart, this is great apostasy! Such, then, is the basis and foundation of the relationship between the infidel and the Muslim. Battle, animosity and hatred, directed from the Muslim to the infidel, is the foundation of our religion. And we consider this a justice and kindness to them.”

This hostile world view is traceable to Islam’s schools of jurisprudence. When addressing Western audiences, however, Bin Laden’s tone significantly changes. He lists any number of grievances as reasons for fighting the West – from Israeli policies towards Palestinians to the Western exploitation of women and US failure to sign the Kyoto protocol – never alluding to fighting the US simply because it is an infidel entity that must be subjugated. He often initiates his messages to the West by saying: “Reciprocal treatment is part of justice.”

This is a clear instance of taqiyya, as Bin Laden is not only waging a physical jihad, but one of propaganda. Convincing the West that the current conflict is entirely its fault garners him and his cause more sympathy. Conversely, he also knows that if his Western audiences were to realise that, all real or imagined political grievances aside, according to the Islamic worldview delineated earlier, which bin Laden does accept, nothing short of their submission to Islam can ever bring peace, his propaganda campaign would be compromised. As a result there is constant lying, “for war is deceit”.

If Bin Laden’s words and actions represent an individual case of taqiyya, they raise questions about Saudi Arabia’s recent initiatives for “dialogue”. Saudi Arabia closely follows sharia. For instance, the Saudi government will not allow the construction of churches or synagogues on its land; Bibles are banned and burned. Christians engaged in any kind of missionary activity are arrested, tortured, and sometimes killed. Muslim converts to Christianity can be put to death in the kingdom.

Despite such limitations on religious freedom, the Saudis have been pushing for more dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims. At the most recent inter-faith conference in Madrid in July 2008, King Abdullah asserted: “Islam is a religion of moderation and tolerance, a message that calls for constructive dialogue among followers of all religions.”

Days later, it was revealed that Saudi children’s textbooks still call Christians and Jews “infidels”, “hated enemies” and “pigs and swine”. A multiple-choice test in a book for fourth-graders asks: “Who is a ‘true’ Muslim?” The correct answer is not the man who prays and fasts, but rather: “A man who worships God alone, loves the believers and hates the infidels”. These infidels are the same people the Saudis want dialogue with. This raises the question of whether, when Saudis call for dialogue, they are merely following Muhammad’s companion Abu Darda’s advice: “Let us smile to the face of some people while our hearts curse them”?

There is also a philosophical – more particularly, epistemological – problem with taqiyya. Anyone who truly believes that no less an authority than God justifies and, through his prophet’s example, sometimes even encourages deception, will not experience any ethical qualms or dilemmas about lying. This is especially true if the human mind is indeed a tabula rasa shaped by environment and education. Deception becomes second nature.

Consider the case of former Al-Qaeda operative, Ali Mohammad. Despite being entrenched in the highest echelons of the terrorism network, Mohammed’s confidence at dissembling enabled him to become a CIA agent and FBI informant for years. People who knew him regarded him “with fear and awe for his incredible self-confidence, his inability to be intimidated, absolute ruthless determination to destroy the enemies of Islam, and his zealous belief in the tenets of militant Islamic fundamentalism”, according to Steven Emerson. Indeed, this sentiment sums it all up: for a zealous belief in Islam’s tenets, which, as has been described above, legitimises deception, will certainly go a long way in creating incredible self-confidence when deceiving one’s enemies.

Exposing a doctrine

All of the above is an exposition on doctrine and its various manifestations, not an assertion on the actual practices of the average Muslim. The deciding question is how literally any given Muslim follows sharia and its worldview.

So-called “moderate” Muslims – or, more specifically, secularised Muslims – do not closely adhere to sharia, and therefore have little to dissemble about. On the other hand, “radical” Muslims who closely observe sharia law, which splits the world into two perpetually warring halves, will always have a “divinely sanctioned” right to deceive, until “all chaos ceases, and all religion belongs to Allah” (Quran 8:39).

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• Today’s Quran in the light of its early manuscripts (paulmarcelrene.wordpress.com)
• “All-American Muslim”: A Little Taqiyya on the Prairie (counterjihadreport.com)