Title Image: The Investigative Project
Much has been made of the threats of extreme/radical Muslims and what they stand for.
The recent atrocities go back for nigh on 20 years and are strong in our memories. There is a sense of violation which has been brought upon the west from these people dressed in black who speak in gruff, guttural tones and seem to want to destroy our society and way of life. We are infidels! They often appear fearless and death is but a transition into the promises of Allah.
Image: rarehistoricalphotos.com.
I was in my teens during the late 70s/early 80s. I remember well the ghastly spectre of bits of men and horses strewn across Hyde Park when the IRA bombed the Queen’s Household Cavalry, killing 11 soldiers and 7 horses. That was July 1982.
When the twin towers were struck that dreadful day, 9/11, I can see myself watching the TV in my London office. My business partner and I sat there, agape, horrified as bodies rained onto the pavements, firemen rushed up stair wells to certain death; then in horrific fashion each tower succumbed and fell.
There was one aspect of 9/11 which was a blessing for all in Britain. Funding for IRA terror stopped dead in its tracks. Once the people of New York, Boston and Chicago witnessed first hand what terrorism was all about, they had a re-think. The IRA, as a combat force, was deprived of funds and the talks began.
Earlier in this piece I said we have had nigh on 20 years of terrorism meted out since 9/11. With all due respect, the Middle East has suffered from such acts of barbaric depravity for centuries. Yes, much of this is self-inflicted. However, what right has any nation or coalition to carry out the actions such as the west has inflicted upon all these nations over many decades and many different periods of time?
Presidents and Prime Ministers have sent thousands and thousands of soldiers into various parts of the Middle East to inflict a damned ‘good hiding’ upon millions of people. The justification ranges from Human Rights abuses to the use of illegal weapons.
Image: Like Success
Recent History.
Irrespective of any conspiracy theories, having finished his reading to class on 9/11, GWB made it clear that the war was on and the Middle East was going to get a slap. Osama Bin Laden in particular was at the centre of the ‘axis of evil’. The Gulf Wars, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda and The Taliban; these were every day conversations and the vitriol was tangible.
The Coalition of the Willing did not target any particular cause. It was a war against Islam and the perceived impending threat. The approach was designed to bring Islam to its knees.
Two Gulf Wars, on-going Afghanistan military operations, funding and arming of terrorists in Syria and countless covert operations across the region have not brought Islam to its knees. They have understandably built hatred to the extent that Donald Trump described Iraq as the Harvard of Terrorism. The modern radicalised Muslim phenomenon stems from their homes being indiscriminately invaded and their families murdered. How would you feel, were the shoe on the other foot?
Present Day.
Radicalised Muslims have set up in many countries and have decided not just to get their own back but to have an agenda of defeating the “infidel”. We should not be surprised. They would view their presence as valid as The Resistance in France under German occupation in WW2.
We may not agree with beheadings or such but we have NO right to tell other nations and cultures to change their laws and cultural traditions because we do not like them. I am continually outraged by the mass murders in the US and I am fully entitled to my opinion about gun laws but I am not entitled to assert that the law and culture of the USA will change because I determine it so. This would be abject hypocrisy.
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc
What is the “caliphate”?
The Prophet Mohammad had his ‘religious experience’ in 610 AD and pronounced Islam as the final and only true creed which should be adopted by all people in all nations. When Mohammad died his father in law took up the mantle as head of Islam and was given the title ‘Caliph’ which means successor. The title is no longer used, though some have tried. The Caliphate is the territories which fall under Islamic Rule. The Caliphate was at its peak in 1285.
In the 20th century the re-establishment of the caliphate, although occasionally invoked by Islamists as a symbol of global Islamic unity, was of no practical interest for mainstream Islamist groups. It did, however, figure prominently in the rhetoric of violent extremist groups such as al-Qaeda. In June 2014 an insurgent group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL; also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria [ISIS] and the Islamic State [IS]), which had taken control of areas of eastern Syria and western Iraq, declared the establishment of a caliphate with the group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as ‘caliph’. Outside extremist circles, the group’s claim is widely rejected.
Intransigence of Islam
Paris was at the centre of the Radical Muslim scene recently. Two Mosques were involved at the core and when these were searched, 2,000 weapons were found along with ammunition. This is a serious operation!
When I discussed this with a Muslim, I suggested that it was clearly not a Mosque of Allah and it should be destroyed as an Islamic gesture to the world against those who use the name of Allah to perpetrate terrorist acts.
I was stunned at the violent reaction I received. I am not allowed to suggest such a blasphemous concept. I had crossed a line. In some respects, I agree with his reaction in that Islam’s failings should be rectified by the people of Islam.
Image: The D.C. Clothesline
Shariah Law
A term which one hears in relation to Islamic authority is ‘Grand Mufti’, which is the title given to the highest authority on Islamic Law in a country.
To many Muslims, Islam is not a religion but a way of living. Many countries are governed under Islamic Law, rather than secular constructs. Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Mauritiana are all Islamic States.
Shariah Law is a tautology as is Sahara Desert, Sahara meaning ‘desert’ and Sharia meaning ‘law’. Sharia is the Islamic legal system as interpreted by a ‘Mufti’. The concept that Islamic Law be imposed upon a country such as the UK is a scare tactic which should not be entertained.
Islam is a very disciplined religion which seems to have very harsh penalties, for example the death penalty is the punishment for apostasy (when one leaves the faith and turns against it) terrorism, piracy, rape, adultery, homosexual activity.
It is worthwhile recognising that out of the 195 member states of the UN, 53 still have an enforceable death penalty.
Religious Constructs
If Christianity is the Religion of Love, then Islam is the Religion of Peace. It is of interest that both religions are viewed as the opposite of their respective tags.
The Christian Faith here, for ease of purpose, includes all versions, Catholics, Protestants, Lutherans, Baptists and so forth. Islam, equally, includes all their variations, Sunnis, Shi’ites, Sufis, Baha’is and so forth.
The distinction between the two is in structure. There is no Papacy in Islam; there is no Archbishop. The leaders, or Imams are local and have free rein of interpretation of the Qur’an, the Holy Book. They are, to any practical measure, indisputable and are seen as unquestionable.
Albert Llop—Getty Images
Authority of Islam
When dreadful things happen like 9/11 or Paris attacks or London bombings or Nice attacks or Tunisian attacks or Boston attacks … what is the Muslim response?
To many of us, the response is deafening in its silence. Muslims, under social constructs, cannot be critical of Muslims, especially when they are in the name of Allah.
To put this into technical language, this is bollocks! There are a myriad of voices out there which do speak up and do state that such actions are nothing to do with Islam. The problem is that, within the hierarchy of Islam, where are they? They carry no authority. The corporatised press ignores them and so we are left to assume that Islam does not condemn.
Western leaders are fully aware of this and so, given the frail voices of condemnation, can and do load an immense amount of blame at the feet of Islam.
I hope that it dawns upon western leaders that it is they who have brought about this situation. Hiding behind the veil of Christianity is no adult way to deal with Financially driven Agendas. Funding and arming terrorists whilst publicly vilifying the very same people is hypocrisy on a grand scale.
Images: The Telegraph, The Daily Beast, Global Research, Zimbio
Edward Bryans 