From The Guardian, with thanks to all those who sent this in:
Muslims in Britain want greater recognition of their faith with the introduction of Islamic law for civil cases and time off for prayers during the working day, but are equally committed to greater participation in British life.A special Guardian/ICM poll based on a survey of 500 British Muslims found that a clear majority want Islamic law introduced into this country in civil cases relating to their own community. Some 61% wanted Islamic courts - operating on sharia principles - "so long as the penalties did not contravene British law".
That will be a tough line to draw. If the penalties don't contravene British law, it won't be Sharia. But if it's Sharia, they will.
Many civil cases in this country deal with family disputes such as divorce, custody and inheritance.The poll also found a high level of religious observance with just over half saying they pray five times a day, every day - although women are shown to be more devout than men. The poll reveals that 88% want to see schools and workplaces in Britain accommodating Muslim prayer times as part of their normal working day.
Alongside these signs of a desire for more recognition of their religion, however, the poll suggests that the Muslim community is perhaps more integrated than many might imagine, with 62% saying they number "a lot or quite a few" non-Muslim people among their closest friends and 35% saying they would consider marrying someone who was not a Muslim.
There is also a strong appetite within the Muslim community to become a closer part of British life, with 40% saying they need to do more to integrate into mainstream British culture.
I don't want them intergrating. I want them gone, and for Islam to be banned.
"....35% saying they would consider marrying someone who was not a Muslim".
Which 35% would that be then? Do we believe that one in three muslim women are seriously contemplating suicide? Not really.
So we're talking about men. What might they want? Converts maybe. But more likely, they are offering the standard muslim male declaration of love for a native: "Darling, you have a lovely passport.."
Another example of what could happen under a philosophy of multiculteralism in a country.
Trying to bend over and satisfy this totalitarian movement is NUTS! Countries who are crazy enough to allow this to happen will soon lose their identity,their sovereignty, and their foundations established in law and will run into conflicts not yet addressed, and not forseen. Hopefully you British folks are keen to realize that and will not make the same serious mistakes that The Canadians are making.
Here's a related link to one of Britain's main Muslim 'thinkers' JALALUDIN PATEL- -on the site for "MuslimAccess"-
and exactly that their 'law' means, behind the veil of 'integration'/'multicultural' cohabition/'respect for one another's customs and beliefs' (READ: their beliefs, not yours) and fairness for the Prophet's (swt) followers.
http://www.muslimaccess.com/discussions/forum/display_topic._threads.asp?ForumID=19&Topic=1042&PagePosition=1
- & click on the topic "Subverting Islam" is the link doesn't take you there immediately.
The guy is honest, at least.
And what IS "subverting Islam"?
What JW/DW is doing, of course.
And all who ask it to moderate it murderous strictures.
May they return to worshipping a meteorite, peacefully, with a pre-Muslim lunar female deity as their guide, sweetly softening their patriarchal rigidity...
Inshallah?
P.S.
---on the "Muslim Access" site, noted in previous COMMENT-
- click sidebar link: "Discussions", scroll to the bottom of the page, and there youwill find the link to click entitled "SUBVERTING ISLAM"
From The Times of London
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1381303_1,00.html
A snapshot of Muslim Britain
By Ruth Gledhill
A new guide aims to dispel damaging myths
BRITAIN’S 1.6 million Muslims are forging a new identity by blending the colourful traditions of their parents with the majority culture, according to a new guide.
Muslims are raising the profile of their religion in the performing arts as singers, actors and comedians and they are also reaching the top in sport, politics and in all the leading professions, the guide shows.
In fashion, traditional loose-fitting and modest designs are being fused with Western styles, especially for women.
Muslims in Britain, published by the Muslim Council of Britain and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, was launched last night at a reception at the Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre in West London to mark the fast-breaking festival of Eid-al Fitr.
The guide celebrates the achievements of British Muslims at a time when the community faces regular incidents of hostility and discrimination and is struggling to dissociate itself from extreme Islamists who have embraced terrorism in the name of their religion.
Faced with unprecedented levels of interest in Islam, the Muslim Council of Britain has launched a new information service, MCBDirect, in an attempt to dispel some of the more damaging myths and provide accurate details about the growing community.
The guide cites possible evidence that Muslims have been in Britain in some form since at least the 8th century, based on the discovery of coins of King Offa stamped with the Shahada, or Muslim declaration of faith.
In Ballycottin on the southeast coast of Ireland, a 9thcentury brooch was also found, stamped with the Islamic inscription of the Basmala, the words “In the name of God the most merciful, the most beneficent”.
But it was after the international routes of trade and commerce opened up in the 19th century that the community became properly established.
By 1842, about 3,000 Muslim seamen, known as lascars, were visiting Britain regularly and many married and settled here. The largest period of migration was in the 1950s, when Muslims came to Britain from rural areas of South Asia, mainly to ease Britain’s labour shortfall.
Although most of Britain’s Muslims, one million, live in London, there are large communities also in Birmingham, Bradford, Leicester, Scotland, and Wales. Nearly half of Britain’s Muslims are now British-born, with most of the remainder coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Middle East.
The community has growing political muscle, with 13 marginal parliamentary seats, including Rochdale and Brent North, containing large numbers of Muslim voters.
In the past few years the community has also become highly organised, with its own newspaper, The Muslim News, and with 400 Muslim and related organisations affiliated to the Muslim Council of Britain and 1,200 mosques throughout the country.
Young musicians such as the composer Sami Yusuf, 24, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and sportsmen such as the Sheffield boxer Prince Naseem Hamed and the badminton champion Aamir Ghaffer have gained international recognition.
Besides Mohammed Sarwar, who swore allegiance to the Queen on the Koran on being elected to Parliament, Muslims in politics include Khalid Mahmood, MP for Perry Barr and Lord Bhatia, a former trustee of Oxfam.
Iqbal Sacranie, secretary- general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “The guide is to do with a vision of engaging and working alongside others to achieve the goals that we all share.” He added: “Through showcasing such positive contributions we aim to inspire confidence and promote creativity throughout the British Muslim community.”
He said that the Government’s undertaking, outlined in the Queen’s Speech last week, to outlaw religious discrimination “will go a long way towards addressing the serious and damaging effects of Islamophobia”.
Mr Sacranie said that the guide was not intended to be a political or campaigning document. It was simply a portrait of the strengths of the community, its increasing success in integrating into British society, and its history.
He said that, far from turning a blind eye to the problems in the community, the new guide would show the way ahead for disadvantaged Muslims.
“When we look at the issues of under-achievement in education, in health in terms of heart and smoking relating problems and other illnesses and the large number of Muslim prisoners, it is clear that there are still areas of major concern,” he said.
“These bring out serious problems on the ground. Muslims suffer from restricted opportunities, and there is religious discrimination too. These issues have to be tackled, there is no question about it, but they can be tackled in terms of the great strides made in other areas. ”
IS IT NOT STRANGE HOW THEY CAN PROSPER IN EVERY COUNTRY WHERE THEY ARE A MINORITY, HAVE NO POWER, AND ARE NOT SUBJECT IN REALITY RO SHARIA ??
ALSO FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES:
The Sunday Times had an story with Ayman Hirsi in magazine on the 21st November.
I have been unable to locate it again but did e mail the link and story to JW.
Will JW post the story ?
THE LAW IS THE LAW - a different law for pedophiles? Another one for Women? Another one for Animal rights activists ...
But then again... How 'bout using the Sharia selectively? Sharia law for the fanatic assassin of Theo van Gogh? A public beheading in Amsterdam, for all the world to see, Islamic law applies... A special case?
It might just do the trick and prevent similar attacks...
As usual, with articles of this nature from the Guardian(a Newspaper which makes no attempt to hide it's anti-semitism and anti-americanism), what appears on casual reading to be in part optimistic is in fact highly misleading and extremely innacurate.
British Muslims say that they want Sharia Courts "as long as the punishments do not contravene British Law". Clearly this statement is highly contradictory, as Sharia law cannot be implemented for the greater part under British Law unless current British Law changes. And that is undoubtedly what the 61% of those interviewed want.
Expressing an interest in Sharia law is in fact far more radical than what our fellows at the Guardian are aware. Firstly, in a Sharia court, the evidence of non muslims need not be considered, and in any event non muslims may not testify against muslims. Women's testimony will count as only half of that of a man. Homosexuality will be punishable by death, as will apostacy from Islam and adultery. Polygamy would be legal, and non muslims cannot be in any position of authority over muslims, either in the Government or in any business environment. Clearly 61% of Muslims interviewed agree either in whole or in part to the above, otherwise why would they have expressed an interest in enforcing Sharia Law in the first place?
Secondly, as any statitician would be able to tell you, your sampling of the population is very important in relation to the results that you will obtain. Of the 500 muslims that were interviewed, how many do not speak English, live in Muslim communities, and have no contact with any other cultures? You will find many such people living in most large cities in Great Britain today. More likely, such surveys would have been conducted in far more cosmopolitan areas, and in those areas, 61% still favour Sharia law over current British Law. The true percentage is likely to be be much higher with regards to how many want Islamic law in not only Great Britain, but in the rest of Europe as well.
The article then moves on to friendships and marriage in which the Guardian is clearly keen to keep the flag flying for multiculturalism by proudly stating that 62% of muslims have numerous western friends, and 35% would consider marriage to a non muslim. Well the second figure is hardly surprising, since under Islamic law male muslims may marry female non muslims (though not the other way round). I wonder what the chances are that the majority of those who said "yes" to this question were males? And as for those who claim to have non muslim friends, how do they then interpret sura 5:51 and sura 3:118 from the Qur'an? Don't these verses expressly forbid it? Are they then prepared to renounce these verses from the Qur'an as having no place in the lives of Muslims living in the west today? Hardly likely, considering that 61% want Sharia law enforced in Great Britain over current British laws. Also, how many muslims would in all earnest, acknowledge that they have no friends outside of their community when being interviewed by a non muslim? And again, how many of those interviewed were those that live the majority of their lives in a Muslim community, with the possibility of not even speaking English?
My advice then with regards to the above, is to take note that almost two out of three muslims interviewed want to see Sharia law opposed on Europe, and link that with the death of Theo Van Gogh, the threats to Geert Wilders and Ayan Hirsi Ali, the growing unrest in Bradford, Malmo, Rotterdam and numerous French cities, the Madrid train bombing and many other incidents that I am sure you could mention, and then comment of intergration in either Britain or Europe regarding Muslims today.
The Guardian has informed us of an important message, but it was not the message that they wished to give. Europe, take heed.
I am in favour of Sharia law applied to all Islamic crime! Public floggings, beheadings, cutting off limbs:
Give it to them, not how THEY want it, but the other way around: Islamic crime must be punished the Islamic way! Anyone who kills an infidel over "blasphemy" cops it! Any muslim steals from an infidel cops it. Any muslim rapes an infidel get's 300 lashes!
Try it, it might work!
About that muslim musician. I thought that music was haram in Islam.
I read about a convert to Islam, who gave up music on becoming a muslim.