Sharia alert. From "Integration Tops European Fatwa Council Meeting" in Islam Online, with thanks to Nicolei:
DUBLIN, February 24, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Eminent scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi has inaugurated the 14th session of the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) with a call for the sizable Muslim minority in Europe to integrate into and contribute to the advancement of society.“A Muslim should stick to the balanced and moderate Islam. He should be integrated into the society where he lives without violating the rules of Shari`ah,” Sheikh Qaradawi, the head of ECFR, told the opening session on Wednesday, February 23.
Of course, Qaradawi is the famous moderate who recently declared his hope that he would die in jihad warfare.
Hmm. Now - as a Greek student would ask his teacher - enlighten my ignorance, best of men. What exactly is there in the common norms, laws, rules and regulations, written or unwritten, of Western society, that would NOT violate Sharia every minute of the day? Personally, I can only think of one - the theoretically admirable precept of giving a portion of one's income to charity regularly - and even that is so routinely, structurally abused that it is, in effect, as noxious to the West as the rules on wife-beating, polygamy or penal mutilation. The truth is that Al Qaradawi cannot bring himself to say that the simple need for quiet living may demand the relaxation of sharia rules in countries where they are not accepted. Such is his moderation. But then, as long as he is anti-Zionist, he can be sure of the love of Ken Livingstone and the other left-wing anti-semites.
Nice piece on Livingstone and al-Qaradawi here:
Nick Cohen, "Ken has a lot to be sorry for," The Observer. Feb. 20, 2005. Quoted from:
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/colmnist/story
On Livingstone sucking up to Qaradawi Cohen writes: "As inevitable as betrayal is award-winning hypcrisy. In the name of anti-racism, Livingstone perpetuates the stereotype of the Moslem as a death-worshipping, woman-hating, queer-bashing cheerleader for suicide bombers."
More on (what seems to infuriate some readers here,) what I term Red fascism: Qaradawi and Livingstone on "Apostacy, FMG, And Gays." Lots of fun.
The link doesn't work. Try a google search. Worth the trouble, I think.
"He should be integrated into the society where he lives without violating the rules of Shari`ah"
Completely contradictory statement, of course. But maybe it's one of those typical vague public statements many Muslim spokespeople make, to sooth and fool the infidel. What is Sharia? Most people wouldn't know, and wouldn't bother to dig into and understand. They're probably thinking it's just some exotic but harmless little customs of theirs, customs that wouldn't clash with the customs of the country they live in, no big deal.
I can never underline enough that Livingstone's promotion of Al-Qaradawi is a by-product of his classical left-wing anti-Semitism. Nick Cohen did not go nearly far enough in his argument about Livingstone: the man really does hate "Zionists", and their enemies are his friends. It's as simple as that.
Loads of contact details here for the Nazi GLA and Ken Livingstone's office including "Red" Ken himself.
http://www.london.gov.uk/gla/contact.jsp