From the He Said It Department: "'World must convert to Islam,'" from MWEB, with thanks to VBT:
Cairo - Osama Shaltut claims to descend from the Prophet Mohammed and the centrepiece of his campaign for the Egyptian presidency is a promise to convert the entire world to Islam.The 66-year-old leader of the Solidarity Party, who wears a broad smile and a neatly-trimmed beard, does not like wasting time.
"Why wait?" he asks. "The whole world should convert to Islam. Now."
Shaltut, the only Islamist candidate in Egypt's September 7 presidential election, nevertheless knows he will have to wait before he can unseat President Hosni Mubarak, who is widely expected to be re-elected....
His programme, he says, is threefold.
"First, let's gather the leaders of all religions. Then, let's apply their principles and assess the results... Finally, let's proclaim the victory of Islam."
But Shaltut admits such a process "would take around 10 years", so he advocates a universal conversion to Islam to speed things up and "for the good of humanity".
Tiny minority of extremists update:
Egypt is a 90% Muslim country where radical views are widespread and, to convince recalcitrant voters, Shaltut has also launched a mass SMS campaign, using mobile phone text messaging to spread his views....
Note also his disdain for Egypt's pre-Islamic past -- the period of jahiliyya, or un-Islamic ignorance:
The politician concedes that the Egyptian population is very attached to its pre-Islamic past and explains that led him to chose the pyramid as his campaign logo."There are lots of very modest people, many of them illiterate and I needed an easily recognisable symbol."
He had initially set his sights on the moon crescent, an Islamic symbol, "but Mubarak took it."
He comforts himself by pointing out that the symbol might not necessarily bring Mubarak luck because his uncle, Mahmud Shaltut, issued a 1959 fatwa banning trips to the moon when he was the sheikh of Al-Azhar, the highest authority in Sunni Islam.
When asked about his relations with the banned but tolerated Muslim Brotherhood, Shaltut smiles and says: "I am the brothers' brother."
The Muslim Brotherhood is the largest opposition group in Egypt and since it was not allowed to field a candidate in the election it was courted by most parties running in the September poll....
Shaltut points out that sharia, or Islamic law, requires a woman to wear the veil but he stresses that he is against imposing it, adding that Islam opposes the niqab, the full head-to-toe veil.
In his campaign headquarters, some women are veiled, others are not....
Sounds like a typical politician. So does this:
When asked about events such as the September 11 attacks or the US invasion of Iraq, he brands Osama bin Laden a "stinking dog" and a "bastard" and Saddam Hussein a "psychopath".His newspaper carried a vitriolic article on alleged sexual harassment by Israeli soldiers against young Palestinian women, but his views on the Jewish state nevertheless appear less radical than those of other candidates or the leftist opposition.
"When we were young, we wanted to drive the Israelis into the sea, now all this is over," he says.
Shaltut, a former officer during the 1973 Yom Kippur war between Israel and Egypt, even advises Palestinian refugees to waive their right of return.
"They have a better life in the countries where they are now, such as Lebanon or Egypt."
A splendid idea.
Let`s start with all those clowns at the UN - Kofi to lead the way. Then all those lovely liberals and media chiefs.
What Shaltut means about not going to war with Israel is that he has been impressed with Israel's strength, and that the doctrine of "Darura" or necessity requires that Egyptians -- many of whom are keenly aware that they have borne the brunt of the Jihad against Israel, and have suffered as a result -- stay out. This does not imply an acceptance of Israel, any more than Abbas accepts Israel as a permanent Infidel nation-state. No, it merely indicates that for now, keeping in mind the state of the Egyptian masses (to whom the Muslim Brotherhood make their appeal), he wishes to focus attention on matters at home. Besides, demographic conquest is working well, thank you, to undermine the state of Israel, and the Israelis seem helpless to think of any way to deal with the situation other than to keep shrinking the country, in the hope that at this point -- no, at this point -- no, at this point, they will have a country that is "both Jewish and democratic." But they won't. They can't. They will have to choose, or figure out other political structures, or look at the Benes Decree. It will come to that. Whatever the foolish and ever-compliant Israeli majority, brainwashed by the pensee unique of Haaretz and Israeli radio and television does, in Western Europe, it will come to that -- the Benes Decree, I mean. But only after more pain, more anguish, more colossally misplaced attempts at "integration" of an essentially immiscible, and hostile, population that does not, and never can, accept permanently the idea of pluralism, nor change the immutable texts of Qur'an, Hadith, and Sira, which are the source of the European problem with its Muslim population. And there is nothing that Infidels can do about Qur'an, Hadith, and Sira.
"his uncle, Mahmud Shaltut, issued a 1959 fatwa banning trips to the moon when he was the sheikh of Al-Azhar, the highest authority in Sunni Islam."
-- from the article above
1959 fatwa, huh? A little too late, I'm afraid, to be of any assistance to long-suffering Alice Kramden in The Honeymoooners. And a little too absurd, I'm afraid, to keep Neil Armstrong and other Infidels from tripping the moondust fantastic near the Sea of Tranquillity.
Let us not forget that the Muslim Brotherhood are well tolerated by the Mubarak's regime.
And don't forget that the arab dictators find excuses to continue ruling despotically.
There exist secularists like Ayman Nour and Saad din Ibrahim.
Nour and his Ghad Party are gaining more support.
More commentary from the Muslim peanut gallery. This has got to be the heftiest collection of fiends on the planet.
I hope people understand when they convert to islam they are actually converting to arabs as all of islam is culturally arab.
Ah, Hugh, but don't you know that the moon landing of 1969 was just another Western hoax? This must be true because the story is circulated widely in the Middle East.
Those weren't moonscapes we saw on television, just film studio sets (albeit, very well done).
So Mahmud Shaltut's 1959 fatwa had the desired effect - no humans on the moon!
The reach of Islam extends even beyond Earth, it seems.
think Shaltut's strategy is to as the phrase goes "let sleeping dogs lie."
His view is that what has worked for the Muslims is to infiltrate the West, reproduce in great numbers and not integrate. As long as the West (the dogs in his view)remain asleep, the Muslims will simply conquer the world through their women's wombs. At 6 babies per Muslim woman and 1.2 babies per Western woman, Shaltut's view is that the world will soon enough become Islam.
Thus, in Shaltut's mind (as I see it), the best strategy is not to bomb the West and thus wake up the sleeping dogs, the best strategy is for Muslims to go about their business, not make special efforts to make Muslims angry about so-called Palestinians, and simply take over the West through the West's apathy and inaction. The Eurabia strategy. His view is that each of the bombings is an idiotic act that is ruining a successful Muslim plan for world conquest. If a 1.2 birth rate per woman is cultural suicide, then Shaltut thinks that the best thing to do is "let the West commit suicide."
Basically his views of: (a) opposition to launching a Jihad against Israel and the West and (b)wanting to see Islamic domination of the world, are not contradictory. If the Muslims have a chance to conquer France, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and other parts of Europe just by their population growth and the Europeans lack of such growth, why risk blowing all of this with a Jihad aimed against Israel or with bombings in Europe.
The Islamic John Qerry.
Something tells me the World will answer the call quite readily, epsecially if the terrorist attacks continue to spark countless apologist theories, all serving to whitewash Islam and promulgate the mendacious religion-of-peace mantra even further.
-----------------------------
dolphin, CAGE co-founder.
http://www.acage.org
Hugh,
Exactly when do you propose a Sudeten / East Prussian type solution to the growing ummah within Israel? Do you envisage this in five years, ten, or twenty?
At this particular point in time, with the West still hoping on 'integration' or some kind of cultural meeting in the middle or whatever, I don't think that Israel will feel that she can 'get away with it'.
Of course you are entirely correct and it cannot be any other way, but consider the parallels to Kosovo the left will make (most people in UK certainly haven't seen the commons select committee on the real death toll, also see S. Trifkovic on the inflation on the Bosnia numbers).
Also it's worth remembering that Bosnia and Kosovo were enacted in order to give intergration/accommodation a chance in order(read vain hope) so Europe doesn't herself desend into a, well - Palestine.
JV
"There exist [in Egyptian politics] secularists like Ayman Nour and Saad din Ibrahim."
There is no real secularism in politics in the Muslim world. See the article "The Myth of Arab Nationalism" at the ecce libano blog,
http://eccelibano.blogspot.com/2005/05/myth-of-arab-nationalism.html
and if one wants to expend more effort, just do a search for "secularism" on the ecce libano blog site and read some of the articles that come up.
Re: that strange animal, "Arab secularism", and what it means for what Hugh calls the "Lesser Jihad" (against Israel) which is intimiately tied to the "Greater Jihad" against the entire non-Muslim world, consider that the most famous Egyptian leader, Nasser, often touted as a "secularist" (I've had frequent arguments with Western contributors to a philosophy forum called "Examined Life" who like to point to Nasser's "secularism" in order to show how "diversified" Islam really is), warmly welcomed (after he fled Nazi Germany) Johann Von Leers, assistant to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, responsible for anti-Semitic propaganda under Hitler's Third Reich.
Von Leers became "Omar Amin" after having been recruited in Egypt by Nasser, who nominated him responsible for anti-Jewish propaganda in Cairo. Von Leers converted to Islam after his contact with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Another misunderstanding about Islamic politics in general: Nasser repressed the Muslim Brotherhood even as he courted it; just like the Saudi Royalty (and every other Muslim leader, including Musharraf in Pakistan), he courted and nourished the very monsters that wanted to kill him, and who succeeded in killing his successor, Sadat.
As Alexandre Del Valle tells us, the example of the paleo-Nazi Muslim convert Von Leers "continues to inspire an Islamophile and pro-Arab current of the extreme right. It is in his memory that one of the actual ringleaders of the new pro-Islamist European right, the Italian Claudio Mutti, has chosen for his name of conversion to Islam that of Omar Amin."
Hugh says:
"and the Israelis seem helpless to think of any way to deal with the situation other than to keep shrinking the country, in the hope that at this point -- no, at this point -- no, at this point, they will have a country that is "both Jewish and democratic."
And their best friends in the world, the Americans, so the story goes, take the noble PC paint brush, never mind that it is drenched with the blood of their children, victims of peace - and proceed to paint the Israelis into the corner marked "Historic measures: Land for peace" Part 5 .. no is it Part 6 ... er 7?
Hugh says:
"and the Israelis seem helpless to think of any way to deal with the situation other than to keep shrinking the country, in the hope that at this point -- no, at this point -- no, at this point, they will have a country that is "both Jewish and democratic."
And their best friends in the world, the Americans, so the story goes, take the noble PC paint brush, never mind that it is drenched with the blood of their children, victims of peace - and proceed to paint the Israelis into the corner marked "Historic measures: Land for peace" Part 5 .. no is it Part 6 ... er 7?
Hugh says:
"and the Israelis seem helpless to think of any way to deal with the situation other than to keep shrinking the country, in the hope that at this point -- no, at this point -- no, at this point, they will have a country that is "both Jewish and democratic."
And their best friends in the world, the Americans, so the story goes, take the noble PC paint brush, never mind that it is drenched with the blood of their children, victims of peace - and proceed to paint the Israelis into the corner marked "Historic measures: Land for peace" Part 5 .. no is it Part 6 ... er 7?
Nothing happened and then the doctor said congratulations you're have twins, er triplets!
Re: Osama Shaltut's statement - "First, let's gather the leaders of all religions. Then, let's apply their principles and assess the results... "
Sounds good to me. Oh wait - he finished by adding: "Finally, let's proclaim the victory of Islam"
Huh? By what measure? (sorry - rhetorical question). It appears more than mad dogs and Englishmen have been outside in the noonday sun.
Re: Osama Shaltut's statement - "First, let's gather the leaders of all religions. Then, let's apply their principles and assess the results... "
Sounds good to me. Oh wait - he finished by adding: "Finally, let's proclaim the victory of Islam"
Huh? By what measure? (sorry - rhetorical question). It appears more than mad dogs and Englishmen have been outside in the noonday sun.
Just what makes that Shaltut guy think that the whole world should want to convert to Islam, convert to a 'religion' based on a web of fabrications and a compilation of fairy stories put out there more than 1400 moon years ago by a megalomaniac posing as a prophet?
I know there are some pretty stupid people in the world; indeed, the number of them is staggering to all sane people. But he is - pray - exaggerating their numbers.
Even in today's crazy, mixed-up world, I believe we can still count on the vast majority of people having at least a modicum of common sense!
Long live common sense! Long live the power and reign of the infidel! Long live freedom! Long live democracy!