Fatwa Bans Priests From Public Transportation
by Raymond Ibrahim
Dr. Yassir al-Burhami, a prominent figure in Egypt's Salafi movement and vice president of the Salafi Call—the same sheikh who seeks to punish Muslim apostates, condemns Mother's Day, and advocates deceiving Israel—has just issued a fatwa, published in the "Voice of the Righteous Salaf," forbidding Muslim taxi-drivers and bus-drivers from transporting Coptic Christian priests to their churches, which he depicted as "more forbidden than taking someone to a liquor bar."
This analogy, of course, does not begin with Sheikh Burhami, but traces back to some of Islam's early giants, including Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim, who agreed that "building churches is worse than building bars and brothels, for those [churches] symbolize infidelity, whereas these [bars and brothels] represent immorality.
The logic is simple: It is better to profess Islam and be immoral, than to profess Christianity—for the latter denies the veracity of Islam, and hence is much more abominable. In this context, the Muslim who transports a priest to his church where he will preach Christianity—a message that contradicts Islam—is a terrible crime.
Raymond Ibrahim, a Middle East and Islam specialist, is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum. A widely published author, he is best known for his book, The Al Qaeda Reader . Mr. Ibrahim's dual-background—born and raised in the U.S. by Egyptian parents —has provided him with unique advantages to understanding of the Western and Middle Eastern mindsets.
'Is This Islam?'
by Raymond Ibrahim
Liberal talk show host Tawfiq Okasha recently appeared on "Egypt Today," airing a video of Muslims slicing off a young man's head off for the crime of apostasy -- in this instance, the crime of converting to Christianity and refusing to renounce it. The video—be warned, it is immensely graphic—can be seen here (the actual execution appears from minute 1:13-4:00). For those who prefer not to view it, a summary follows:
A young man appears held down by masked men. His head is pulled back, with a knife to his throat. He does not struggle and appears resigned to his fate. Speaking in Arabic, the background speaker, or "narrator," chants a number of Muslim prayers and supplications, mostly condemning Christianity, which, because of the Trinity, is referred to as a polytheistic faith: "Let Allah be avenged on the polytheist apostate"; "Allah empower your religion, make it victorious against the polytheists"; "Allah, defeat the infidels at the hands of the Muslims," and "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger."
Then, to cries of "Allahu Akbar!"— Allah is greater!"—the masked man holding the knife to the apostate's throat begins to slice away, severing the head completely after approximately one minute of graphic knife-carving, as the victim drowns in blood. Finally, the severed head is held aloft to more Islamic slogans of victory.
Visibly distraught, Tawfiq Okasha, the host, asks: "Is this Islam? Does Islam call for this? How is Islam related to this matter?...These are the images that are disseminated throughout the electronic media in Europe and America…. Can you imagine?" Then, in reference to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis, whose political influence has grown tremendously, he asks, "How are such people supposed to govern?"
Only the other day, a prominent Egyptian Salafi leader -- referring to the canonical hadiths, including Muhammad's command, "Whoever leaves his religion, kill him" -- openly stated that no Muslim has the right to apostatize, or leave Islam.
Any number of Islamic legal manuals make explicitly clear that apostasy is a capital crime, punishable by death. The first "righteous caliph," a model of Muslim piety, had tens of thousands of former Muslims slaughtered—including by burning, beheading, and crucifixion—simply because they tried to break away from Islam. According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the most authoritative reference work on Islam in the English language, "there is unanimity that the male apostate must be put to death."
Finally, a word on the "prayers" or supplications to Allah made by the Muslim executioners in the video: these are standard and formulaic. In other words, these are not just masked, anonymous butchers who pray to Allah as they engage in acts of cutting throats and holding up heads, these are top-ranking Muslim leaders, who appear regularly on TV, who invoke such hate-filled prayers. See here for examples of Muslims supplicating Allah to strike infidels with cancer and disease "till they pray for death and do not receive it;" there are even formalized prayers in Mecca, blasted on megaphones as Muslims honor their obligation to go on a pilgrimage at least once in their lives, supplicating Allah to make the lives of Christians and Jews "hostage to misery; drape them with endless despair, unrelenting pain and unremitting ailment; fill their lives with sorrow and pain and end their lives in humiliation and oppression."
"Is this Islam?" You decide.
Raymond Ibrahim, a Middle East and Islam specialist, is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum. A widely published author, he is best known for his book, The Al Qaeda Reader . Mr. Ibrahim's dual-background—born and raised in the U.S. by Egyptian parents —has provided him with unique advantages to understanding of the Western and Middle Eastern mindsets.
This article appeared originally on StonegateInstitute.org
Peace and Love in Egypt : The Presidential Race is On
by Gadi Adelman
The three top Egyptian Presidential candidates exude the peace the Arab Spring has brought us.
Fotouh: “Israel is an enemy.”
Morsi: “Jihad is our path and death in the name of Allah is our goal”.
Moussa: “Most of our people consider it [Israel] an enemy”.
When Egypt's election commission published the final list of those who will be allowed to run in the first presidential election since the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak last year, the list ended up with 13 names out of 23 that had initially applied.Two high-profile candidates have been barred, Omar Suleiman, the former vice president and spy chief under Hosni Mubarak and Khairat al-Shater, the main nominee of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Suleiman was deemed ineligible because he had not submitted enough endorsing signatures to qualify. Shater was disqualified because he had been imprisoned and Egyptian law bans criminal convicts from running for president. After Shater was disqualified the Muslim Brotherhood nominated their backup, Mohamed Morsi, the Chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party and former member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Guidance Bureau.
Two others of the Egyptian presidential front-runners faced off during the country's first televised presidential debate on Thursday. The hot topics were religion, Islamic law and Israel.
Amr Moussa, shown left, faced off against Abdel Fotouh and the statements these two made and the points they agreed on give us a view to Egypt’s as well as the Middle East’s future. Moussa is the one-time Arab League chief and former foreign minister under Hosni Mubarak. Moussa is considered to be a moderate, and many experts see him as the favorite for Egyptians. If this guy is the “moderate” we need not look for a radical.
The Islamist candidate, Abdul Moneim Aboul Fotouh is a former leading figure in the Muslim Brotherhood who many fear will impose an Islamic state should he be elected. Fotouh was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's Guidance Bureau from 1987 - 2009. In 2011 he formally quit all political work with the Muslim Brotherhood and resigned from its membership, when he decided to run for president.
Do I really need to explain what will come of Egypt after these elections? I have been writing and speaking out on this since before the previous President, Hosni Mubarak was ousted.
During the debate, both candidates agreed that the constitution should be guided by Sharia, or Islamic law. That, in and of itself, should be enough to make any one shudder who understands Sharia.
At one point Moussa asked Fotouh about religious freedom and Christianity, as reported by Egypt’s Ahram online,
“You once said in a televised interview that Muslims can convert to Christianity and vice versa... is this still your position?”
Abul-Fotouh, taken aback, waffled at first and then stressed the importance of freedom of belief and of a moderate understanding of Islam. He, however, fought back and attempted to corner Moussa and paint him as too secular.
Moussa was twice asked: “What do you mean by the general principles of Sharia?” After equivocating, the one-time Arab League chief insisted that the general principles of Islamic Sharia law, as they existed in the 1971 constitution, should be applied.
“We want to know your vision about applying Sharia law, especially as you are now backed by radical Islamist groups; and in politics nothing is for free, there must be a deal and we need to know,” Moussa shot back.
It seems like a comedy and if it weren’t true it might actually be laughable. One radical candidate accusing the other of being “now backed by radical Islamist groups”.
When it comes to Israel and the peace treaty that has been in place with Egypt since 1979 they agree wholeheartedly,
Abul-Fotouh, shown right, stated, “Israel is an enemy which is built on occupation, owns 200 nuclear warheads, doesn't respect international decisions and attacks religious symbols. The majority of Egyptians are enemies of Israel. The agreement with Israel should be revised and the sections which are against our interests should be removed immediately and only what's in our interests should stay.”
He also called Israel a “racist state” during an interview Saturday with the private Egyptian CBC satellite station; he said he had opposed the treaty since its implementation.
“I still view the peace treaty as a national security threat to Egypt, and it must be revised.”
What’s more, he said that al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's assassination by US Special Forces was an act of “state terrorism”. Yeah, I can already see the love this guy has for the U.S.
Moussa has also been a critic of Israel both as foreign minister and Arab League chief and agreed that most Egyptians view the Jewish state as an enemy,
“We have lots of disagreements. Most of our people consider it an enemy, but the responsibility of the president is to deal with such things responsibly and not run after hot-headed slogans.”
According to Ahram online the highlight of the show was when Moussa described Iran as an Arab country, Fotouh stated,
“Our relationship with Iran is based on our own independence. I am not against a relationship with Iran provided it doesn’t proselytize the Shia faith in Egypt and likewise we shouldn’t try to spread the Sunni faith there.”
Moussa had a short answer, wrong, but short,
“I am against a war with Iran. Iran is an Arab country! And we have to listen and talk.”
Mr. Moussa, far be it for me to correct you, a former foreign minister of Egypt and Secretary General of the League of Arab States, but… Iran is not an Arab country and if you really want to tick off an Iranian, tell him he is.
The third front runner for the President of Egypt is no different from the other two when it comes to Sharia and Israel. Mohamed Morsi, left, as I mentioned earlier, was the Chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party and former member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Guidance Bureau.
The NY Times wrote of him back in April,
Mr. Morsi has campaigned explicitly both as a more conservative Islamist and as a loyal executor of Mr. Shater’s plans.
In a speech before Cairo University students just this past Saturday night, Morsi stated such loving lines; I have to admit that I myself cannot choose between these three gems. He stated,
“The Koran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader, jihad is our path and death in the name of Allah is our goal.”
“Today Egypt is close as never before to the triumph of Islam at all the state levels.”
“Today we can establish Sharia law because our nation will acquire well-being only with Islam and Sharia. The Muslim Brothers and the Freedom and Justice Party will be the conductors of these goals.”
The first round of Egypt’s presidential election is scheduled for May 23 and 24. The president will be elected to a four-year term.
There are a total of 13 candidates for the President of Egypt and we all know how lucky 13 is, but the 3 above are the frontrunners and more than likely one of them will emerge the victor.
But I guess we really have nothing to worry about, our administration knows what they are doing when it comes to Egypt. Let’s not forget that Obama bypassed Congress and gave them over $1.5 billion in aid of your tax dollars just this past March.
As was reported by the Washington Post on March 22,
The Obama administration has decided to resume funding for Egypt’s military and will bypass congressional requirements that U.S. officials certify the country’s progress toward democracy, according to Capitol Hill aides.
This year’s allocation of aid — more than $1.5 billion, with the bulk earmarked for the military — was withheld amid the country’s crackdown on pro-democracy groups, including several U.S.-based organizations with close ties to political parties in Washington.
Yes, we’re in good hands. What could possibly go wrong? After all, 13 is such a lucky number.
Gadi Adelman is a speaker on terrorism, jihad, sharia and Islam. He is a contributing editor for the Family Security Matters website as well as writing for Conservative Camp, Faith for Freedom, Gold Coast Chronicle and Pronline news. He has his own weekly radio show "America Akbar" that can be heard on the Radio Jihad network.
Senators Fall for Muslim Brotherhood
The workers were charged with operating without a license and using illegal foreign funds to foment unrest. However, Prosecutor Khaled Suleiman told Reuters news service that the individuals and their organizations are accused of espionage and being in contact with the CIA as well as providing reports on Egypt to the U.S. State Department.
Fearing arrest, the workers sought refuge in the U.S. Embassy. The travel ban had created an acute crisis in U.S.-Egyptian relations and had put in jeopary the $1.3 billion annual aid the U.S. provides to Egypt.
by Ryan Mauro
Senator John McCain (R-A.Z.) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) don’t get it.
The two traveled to Egypt recently to discuss the prosecution of American NGO workers. And they left thanking and complimenting the Muslim Brotherhood for (supposedly) helping secure their release and opposing the law used to prosecute them.
Graham used to be a critic of the Brotherhood, as the Wall Street Journal report on their remarks points out. Now, after meeting with the Brotherhood, he says:
“After talking with the Muslim Brotherhood, I was struck by their commitment to change the law because they believe it’s unfair.”
“I was very apprehensive when I heard the [Egyptian] election results. But after visiting and talking with the Muslim Brotherhood I am hopeful that…we can have a relationship with Egypt where the Muslim Brotherhood is a strong political voice.”
McCain likewise said, "We are encouraged by the constructive role played over the past week by the Muslim Brotherhood and its political party, the Freedom and Justice Party. Their statement of February 20 was important in helping to resolve the recent crisis."
At this point, you’re probably expecting me to list reasons why the Brotherhood is an extremist, terrorism-supporting group. But, there’s a whole other reason to ridicule the opinions of Graham and McCain.
The Muslim Brotherhood supported the prosecution of the American NGOs!
The Brotherhood accuses them of plotting to “destroy Egypt and ruin its society.” The Brotherhood even encouraged the Egyptian government to stand up to U.S. pressure over the matter. The Islamist group is furious at McCain for thanking them.
Ignorance about Islamism is a bi-partisan problem.
Is Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Trying to Provoke the U.S.?
by "AllahPundit"
Obama’s catastrophic new budget calls for maintaining the full $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt next year along with $800 million in bribes — er, I mean, aid — for the rest of the Arab Spring. I’m curious what the Brotherhood’s game is here considering that poll from last week showing 71 percent of Egyptians oppose further U.S. foreign aid to the country. With numbers like that, you would think they’d call for rejecting the money outright, especially when they have the newly ascendant Salafists looking for a parliamentary majority and ready to demagogue them if they accept it. Is it simply a case of the MB signaling to the State Department that it’s willing to be bought off from war with Israel if the price is right? Or is it a subtler move in which the MB expects Congress to cut the aid and wants to use that as a pretext for canceling the Camp David accords? An expert on Egypt at the Naval Postgraduate School told the Christian Science Monitor a few days ago that the Egyptian military junta is now so fantastically unpopular inside the country that they might try to get the aid canceled in hopes of endearing themselves to the America-hating public.
This article originally appeared in Hot Air.
