Pious allusions applied to the jihad. "Somalia: We Are Not Fighting With Sufis, Says Abu Mansur," by Ahmednor Mohamed for All-Africa, December 2008:
Mogadishu — The Spokesman of Al-shebab [the "youth"] Islamic movement Sheik Muqtar Robow Ali (Abu Mansur) told Shabelle on Monday that his group is not fighting against Sufi organizations.Slick way of putting it. Munsar does not point out, however, that many if not most of their enemies are fellow Muslims. So, the standard practice is to declare such Muslims, apostates (munafiqin); as such, they naturally become great "enemies of Allah.""We are not firing our bullets to the Muslims but we are firing to the enemies of Allah and those who are working for them" said Abu Mansur.
Abu Mansur led the prayers of Iidul Adha attended by 600 people in the Livestock Market area north of Mogadishu.[...]Masked Al-shebab fighters armed with machine guns and rocked propelled grenades who were shouting Allah Akbar (God is great) distributed biscuits to the poor people after the prayers.
"Muslims slaughter animals in this holiday but I call for the Mujahidin (Islamic fighters) to slaughter the Amharas (the Ethiopian soldiers) who invaded our beloved country," Shebab spokesman, Muqtar Robow said. the enemy will be defeated as our Allah promised. He added...
"Masked Al-shebab fighters armed with machine guns and rocked propelled grenades who were shouting Allah Akbar (God is great) distributed biscuits to the poor people after the prayers."
-And Al Capone set up soup kitchens.
I hate the way Muslims slaughter creatures to celebrate holidays.
An Islamic paradise right here on planet Earth.
Sigh....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081208/od_nm/us_eid
Well, skevin, the bull got a few good licks in anyway - no bull.
Funny--most of the Holidays I celebrate don't remind me of "slaughtering my enemies".
As a lawyer trained to argue whatever the cause is but also trained to argue in the alternative, may I suggest that a key (N.B., not "the" key but "a" key) to defeating Islamic supremacist designs, whether in Ethiopia, the Middle East, Western Europe or wherever, is not only to dispute the truth of Islam (which so many here at JW and throughout the world do, yours truly included) but to argue in the alternative that, even assuming Islam is the way of things, it's revelatory of the existence of a nefarious, control-freak deity that should be opposed utterly, just as Prometheus opposed the Greek gods and gave man fire (no great disrespect here meant to the ancient Greek pantheon, mercurial and rascal-like as it was, but still far superior, nonetheless, as a choice to run the universe than is "Allah").
No quarter should be extended to Islam, even if what it avers is accurate (of course it isn't, but that's not my point here). "Merely" arguing that Islam is not the true religion is not enough (though it goes most of the way). Islam must be opposed in its entirety EVEN IF it is true. This way the opposition is complete and the deity, not only his pathetic cult followers, is put on notice that it too is a monstrosity.
Live free or die. The Islamic god, regardless of its existence or non-existence, does not permit that. That's why such a deity is execrable, whether fiction or fact. My larger point here is to cover all bases. And for Islam, I say this: no quarter asked for, no quarter given.
Muslim children get to see life taken by a blade in hand. They see the process of death. It will help to inure them to spilling the blood of enemies when they get a chance.
Get out. Stay away. No Western aid, no Western intervention. Bottle them up.
Millions of Cats. The millions-of-cats strategy. Let not Machiavelli or Mackinder or Mahan be your guide, but Wanda Ga'g.
Raymond wrote "...many if not most of their enemies are fellow Muslims. So, the standard practice is to declare such Muslims, apostates (munafiqin)"
Just to clarify something that I'm sure Raymond already knows...The Arabic word for apostate is murtad. Munafiq is the word for hypocrite. Apostates, of course, can be hypocrites.
Takfir is always bloody fun!
Hugh,
Millions of Cats! My favorite book as a child. What a concept. It might happen that way. Another thought from children's lit: The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat.
Joydesigns
Excellent post, Wellington, and I fully agree with everything you say. In addition, maybe we should also indicate that an appropriate translation of "Allah" into English is not merely "God", but something along the lines of: "God-monster", "the anti-God", "the postulated Islamic omnipotent cosmic psychopath", or more simply "the one who must be resisted".
Northumbrian
you would know that Wafa Sultan, Syrian Arab apostate from Islam, and practising psychiatrist, has actually written, or is still writing, a book called 'The Escaped Prisoner: When God is a Monster'?
Hugh - Millions of Cats is in my library and has been read to my children on numerous occasions.
And yes: anyone who has read that book understands your meaning precisely.
tester
Bang-on Wellington , if I was convinced that Allah existed ; then I 'd write him off as the devil under another name .
I've got to say: it annoys the crap out of me that jihadists spewing propaganda in those fatwa-videos always use the deaths of their "muslim-brothers" as the secondary motivation (second only to the islamic doctrine) for waging jihad against "infidels/kaffir" ; yrt always neglect to mention the vast majority of their "brothers" were killed by their other "brothers" . Despite this however I'm encouraged by this factor because it shows a fatal flaw in islams almost flawless design ; as a self-perpetuating ideology , which could spell it's ultimate downfall , along with the sunni/shi'ite rivalry .
Wellington wrote:
Islam must be opposed in its entirety EVEN IF it is true. This way the opposition is complete and the deity, not only his pathetic cult followers, is put on notice that it too is a monstrosity.
Live free or die. The Islamic god, regardless of its existence or non-existence, does not permit that. That's why such a deity is execrable, whether fiction or fact.
.........................
Wellington, truly excellent post. I have thought about this, especially after seeing footage of a pro-Jihad rally in London following the terrorist attacks of 7/7, where one out-of-control supporter was yelling that we'd find out who was right, when we were all burning in Hell (or some such).
Well--what if the Islamist's view of reality *was* correct? Would I be willing to convert to Islam, and countenance--or actively participate in--the murder of innocent civilians, the blowing up of children's schools, the stoning of rape victims, the beheading of journalists, and luring my little female relatives into "honor killings"?
No, I could not. *If* this view of reality were correct, it would be like being enslaved, not just to a bad master, but to one who is sadistically psychotic.
I would still act as I do, trying to live as a decent a life as possible. If I had to perpetrate the horrors of Jihad to be "saved", then it isn't a "salvation" I could live with.
I don't believe in a "mad God"--what a horror this would be--but it would still make no difference in my actions.