Ramanisblog

Category: Islam

  • My compatriots’ vote to ban minarets is fuelled by fear

    Fact is Muslims never integrate into the society in which they live, excepting in Muslim countries.It is too much of a simplification of the issue that Europe has been waiting for an issue.No.It is due to terrorism unleashed in the Name of Islam and also the transnational loyalty of Muslims..People who follow Islam,,can stop both acts if they take concrete steps by openly ostracizing terror groups,instead of being ambivalent.
    Remember, as you sow, so you reap.
    Story:

    The Swiss have voted not against towers, but Muslims. Across Europe, we must stand up to the flame-fanning populists

    By Tariq Ramadan guardian.co.uk, Sunday 29 November 2009

    It wasn’t meant to go this way. For months we had been told that the efforts to ban the construction of minarets in Switzerland were doomed. The last surveys suggested around 34% of the Swiss population would vote for this shocking initiative. Last Friday, in a meeting organised in Lausanne, more than 800 students, professors and citizens were in no doubt that the referendum would see the motion rejected, and instead were focused on how to turn this silly initiative into a more positive future.

    Today that confidence was shattered, as 57% of the Swiss population did as the Union Démocratique du Centre (UDC) had urged them to – a worrying sign that this populist party may be closest to the people’s fears and expectations. For the first time since 1893 an initiative that singles out one community, with a clear discriminatory essence, has been approved in Switzerland. One can hope that the ban will be rejected at the European level, but that makes the result no less alarming. What is happening in Switzerland, the land of my birth?

    There are only four minarets in Switzerland, so why is it that it is there that this initiative has been launched? My country, like many in Europe, is facing a national reaction to the new visibility of European Muslims. The minarets are but a pretext – the UDC wanted first to launch a campaign against the traditional Islamic methods of slaughtering animals but were afraid of testing the sensitivity of Swiss Jews, and instead turned their sights on the minaret as a suitable symbol.

    Every European country has its specific symbols or topics through which European Muslims are targeted. In France it is the headscarf or burka; in Germany, mosques; in Britain, violence; cartoons in Denmark; homosexuality in the Netherlands – and so on. It is important to look beyond these symbols and understand what is really happening in Europe in general and in Switzerland in particular: while European countries and citizens are going through a real and deep identity crisis, the new visibility of Muslims is problematic – and it is scary.

    At the very moment Europeans find themselves asking, in a globalising, migratory world, “What are our roots?”, “Who are we?”, “What will our future look like?”, they see around them new citizens, new skin colours, new symbols to which they are unaccustomed.

    Over the last two decades Islam has become connected to so many controversial debates – violence, extremism, freedom of speech, gender discrimination, forced marriage, to name a few – it is difficult for ordinary citizens to embrace this new Muslim presence as a positive factor. There is a great deal of fear and a palpable mistrust. Who are they? What do they want? And the questions are charged with further suspicion as the idea of Islam being an expansionist religion is intoned. Do these people want to Islamise our country?

    The campaign against the minarets was fuelled by just these anxieties and allegations. Voters were drawn to the cause by a manipulative appeal to popular fears and emotions. Posters featured a woman wearing a burka with the minarets drawn as weapons on a colonised Swiss flag. The claim was made that Islam is fundamentally incompatible with Swiss values. (The UDC has in the past demanded my citizenship be revoked because I was defending Islamic values too openly.) Its media strategy was simple but effective. Provoke controversy wherever it can be inflamed. Spread a sense of victimhood among the Swiss people: we are under siege, the Muslims are silently colonising us and we are losing our very roots and culture. This strategy worked. The Swiss majority are sending a clear message to their Muslim fellow citizens: we do not trust you and the best Muslim for us is the Muslim we cannot see.

    Who is to be blamed? I have been repeating for years to Muslim people that they have to be positively visible, active and proactive within their respective western societies. In Switzerland, over the past few months, Muslims have striven to remain hidden in order to avoid a clash. It would have been more useful to create new alliances with all these Swiss organisations and political parties that were clearly against the initiative. Swiss Muslims have their share of responsibility but one must add that the political parties, in Europe as in Switzerland have become cowed, and shy from any courageous policies towards religious and cultural pluralism. It is as if the populists set the tone and the rest follow. They fail to assert that Islam is by now a Swiss and a European religion and that Muslim citizens are largely “integrated”. That we face common challenges, such as unemployment, poverty and violence – challenges we must face together. We cannot blame the populists alone – it is a wider failure, a lack of courage, a terrible and narrow-minded lack of trust in their new Muslim citizens.

    Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss citizen, is professor of contemporary Islamic studies at Oxford University. His most recent book is What I Believe.
    http://pakteahouse.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/my-compatriots-vote-to-ban-minarets-is-fuelled-by-fear/#comment-22282

  • Islamic extremists pelt eggs at Muslim Baroness Warsi during Luton protest.-Telegraph.

    Co religionists of these people call for understanding and tolerance from Europe and rest of the world!?
    Story.
    Conservative Muslim Peer Baroness Warsi of Dewsbury has criticised a group of Islamic extremists who pelted her with eggs and shouted abuse at her during a visit in Luton.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6696424/Islamic-extremists-pelt-eggs-at-Muslim-Baroness-Warsi-during-Luton-protest.html

  • Questions on banning of Minarets by Swiss and Answers.

    Questions by BBC on air(30/11/09)
    ON AIR: SWITZERLAND AND MINARETS
    There are too many issues being discussed here for us to only focus on one. We’ll hear your reaction to the story whatever it may be, but looking online these are areas that are getting particular attention:

    – Have the Swiss done what the rest of Europe would do if there was a referendum?

    – Does Europe have a problem with Islamophobia?

    – Is ‘defending’ one’s culture necessarily discriminatory?

    – Is referencing national pride a way of disguising prejudice and intolerance?

    – Can such decisions be attributed to a post 9-11 fear of Islam?

    – Is this a justified reaction to Muslims’ perceived unwillingness to integrate in Western societies?

    1.Rest of Europe,even rest of the world,excluding Muslim countries, would have done what Swiss have done, though it might look wrong.There is a limit to tolerance and feigned ignorance of the Muslim community of the atrocious acts of brethern.If they really feel strongly about the terrorists, let them issue a fatwa excommunicating terrorists.

    2..Europe does not suffer from any phobia.When people are killed, you react.No fancy terms please.
    3.Defending one’s culture is discriminatory if killing with religious sanction is Holy.
    4.It is not a question of national pride, but an act of defense for survival.
    5.Yes, the reaction is delayed reaction ,nothing more.
    6.It is not perceived unwillingness but a willful act of transnational loyalty.
    No group of people have transnational loyalty, perhaps with the exception of Communists.
    In short the Swiss have done what others should have done long back,come what may.
    You may expect screams documenting Muslims’ loyalty to the Nation and how their Religion does not support Jihad of terrorists and that it is a very tolerant religion.
    So called secularists also subscribe to this view.

  • Swiss voters back ban on minarets

    The stead fast blinkers on attitude of so called moderate and secular Muslims should own up responsibility for having allowed things to come to such a pass because of their refusal to rein in their terrorist brethren.One shudders to think of the clash of Christian world and the Muslim world, which unfortunately the current situation is heading for.
    Story:
    Swiss voters have supported a referendum proposal to ban the building of minarets, official results show.
    More than 57% of voters from 26 cantons – or provinces – voted in favour of the ban, Swiss news agency ATS reported.
    The proposal had been put forward by the Swiss People’s Party, (SVP), the largest party in parliament, which says minarets are a sign of Islamisation.
    Opponents say a ban would amount to discrimination and that the ballot has stirred hatred.
    The BBC’s Imogen Foulkes, in Bern, says the surprise result is very bad news for the Swiss government which had urged voters to reject a ban on minarets, fearing unrest among the Muslim community and damage to Switzerland’s relations with Islamic countries.
    Switzerland is home to some 400,000 Muslims and has just four minarets.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8385069.stm

  • Blaming Muslims For the Fort Hood Massacre Will Only Create More Victims

    So..? We shall forget 26.11;forget suicide bombings;Taliban;AlQeda et al.
    They are innocents.Muslims shall point finger at every body other than themselves;they will not take ostracise these radical elements;they can if they want.They will not because they do not want to.
    Black mail such as ‘pointing fingers at Muslims shall make Muslim terrorists more virulent’ -what sort of perverted logic is this?
    Fact is Terrorists are muslims.Why should the community be upset if the fact is stated?
    Taking umbrage under the pretext that all terrorists are not muslims makes one wonder whether they want all terrorists to be muslims!
    If a terrorist is Hindu, he is a terrorist and the community should correct this tendency or disown him publicly.Same applies to Christians or whatever be the Faith.
    Guys who issue Fatwas-why have you not issued one against Osama,Taliban?
    If a faith breeds violence it has to be met with force and no kid glove treatment.
    Niceties are not for killers and abettors.
    Story:
    Whatever was in the mind of alleged shooter Major Nidal Malik Hasan is no reason to question the loyalty of Muslim Americans.

    After an American soldier’s tragic outburst of violence at Fort Hood, Texas — the army’s largest U.S. post, with some 40,000 troops — dominates the headlines, a fear-mongering hysteria concerning his supposed religious motivations is taking priority over questions regarding his mental health.

    Although the facts, and clues about motive, are still being uncovered, we know that the alleged shooter, 39-year-old Major Nidal Malik Hasan, is an American-born medical doctor and licensed psychiatrist, who also happens to be a Muslim born to Palestinian immigrant parents.

    When Hasan’s Arabic name was revealed as the alleged shooter, the blogosphere and message boards lit up with the predictable assortment of anonymous bigoted bile vilifying Islam and questioning the loyalty of American Muslims.

    Thankfully, most mainstream voices, such as Republican senator John Cornyn of Texas, urged caution and moderation, stating: “It is imperative that we take the time to gather all the facts, as it would be irresponsible to be the source of rumours or inaccurate information regarding such a horrific event.”

    But some, such as Republican U.S. representative Michael McCaul of Austin, Texas, alarmingly responded with inflammatory histrionics: “Whether it was domestic or foreign, clearly when a U.S. military base is attacked in this fashion, that is an act of terror in my book.”

    If it is discovered that this lethal rampage was motivated by an inexcusable and misplaced sense of religiosity, it would provide ammunition to those extreme rightwing, minority voices in America who are convinced their Muslim neighbours are stealth jihadists ready to commit suicide bombings at a moment’s notice. These proponents of modern day McCarthyism find their allies in members of the “Birther movement,” who remain convinced President Obama is not an American citizen. Their esteemed colleagues include those who pontificate about Obama being a closet Muslim and an agent of socialism.

    Reports of an image taken hours before the killings showing Hasan in a prayer cap seem to insinuate that a common article of clothing worn by many Muslims before they are about to pray somehow conclusively proves an religious intent behind the violence. A blog note attributed (though this is unconfirmed) to Hasan — comparing terrorist suicide bombings to suicidal acts during war to protect fellow soldiers and inflict damage upon the enemy, such as Japanese kamikaze missions — is being pointed to on the net as his potential justification for the alleged shootings.

    It should comfort most Americans that mainstream Muslim American organizations, which often espouse a sense of victimhood and unnecessary rationalisations, unequivocally denounced Hasan’s alleged actions as “heinous” and incompatible with Islam. The Council of American Islamic Relations issued a statement saying: “No political or religious ideology could ever justify or excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence.”

    Ultimately, this use — or misuse — of fear and rumor over Hasan’s Islamic faith should be moot in light of the record of the thousands of Muslim American soldiers who have served and made sacrifice – such as Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, awarded the prestigious Purple Heart and Bronze Star and praised by Colin Powell, who now rests in Arlington cemetery after giving his life to protect and serve his country in Iraq. There are currently 20,000 Muslims serving with honor in the U.S. military, according to the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council. If Hasan’s faith is ultimately proven to be the misguided inspiration for his violence, then the brave and patriotic service of thousands of Muslim American soldiers renders him an isolated and aberrant exception.

    Sadly, although the violent outburst against fellow soldiers was the most deadly in U.S. history, it was not the first of its kind. In May this year, five soldiers were shot dead at Camp Liberty in Baghdad by Sergeant John Russell. In February 2008, an Air Force sergeant diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) upon returning from Iraq fatally shot his son and daughter after a domestic argument with his ex-wife. Religion was not the common link between these soldiers; it was mental instability. Even if such individuals purported to be religious, their wanton acts of barbarism reflect rather their tenuous grasp on sanity.

    A cousin of Hasan, interviewed by reporters, has suggested an alternative motivation, not necessarily influenced by religious conviction. “He was mortified by the idea of having to deploy,” said Nader Hasan. “He had people telling him on a daily basis the horrors they saw over there [in Iraq and Afghanistan].”

    From the evidence thus far, it seems tragic and ironic that Hasan, a psychiatrist who helped heal soldiers suffering from PTSD, would allegedly turn against them upon learning of his deployment to Iraq. In the interview with Fox News, his cousin described going to Iraq as Hasan’s “worst nightmare.” He went on: “[Hasan] was doing everything he could to avoid that … He wanted to do whatever he could within the rules to make sure he wouldn’t go over.” Hasan’s aunt told the Washington Post that her nephew had consulted an attorney to see if he could leave the army before his contract expired due to harassment he had received from colleagues because he was Muslim.

    Whatever the FBI investigation and any subsequent prosecution following the terrible shootings at Fort Hood may finally reveal, incidents such as these warrant a re-examination of how to treat and discharge or excuse those soldiers who are troubled or conflicted psychologically, politically or religiously over our foreign policy and, in particular, the current war in Afghanistan and occupation of Iraq.

    No mere factual, evidential explanation could ever justify or excuse in any way Hasan’s alleged actions. But it ought to broaden the horizon of those in the media who seem infatuated with the need to pin the blame for this perverse tragedy solely on a man’s religious faith and Arabic last name, rather than exploring the possibility of a more complicated truth involving some combination of mental state, divided loyalty or conscientious objection.
    http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/143823/blaming_muslims_for_the_fort_hood_massacre_will_only_create_more_victims