Winning hearts and minds. The French are hoping, of course, that this kind of treatment will blunt the force of the jihad against France. But this manifests — yet again — ignorance of the jihad doctrine. The Qur’an and Sunnah mandate that Muslims must wage war against unbelievers simply because they are unbelievers. It makes no exception for unbelievers who are kind to Muslims. “France Army Organizes Hajj Trips,” from IslamOnline.net (thanks to Creeping Sharia):
CAIRO — For Mohamed-Ali Bouharb, the soul-searching journey of hajj he plans to embark on this year will be exceptional, since the Muslim soldier will be traveling all the way to the holy sites on a special trip provided by the army of the secular European country.
“The army is always in advance of society,” a jubilant Captain Bouharb told the Globe & Mail on Tuesday, September 15.
For this year’s hajj, Muslims in the French army who will go on the journey to Saudi Arabia will not have to travel on private commercial flights with ordinary civilians.
In a break from tradition, the Defense Ministry will provide its Muslim soldiers a plane to fly them and organize their stay.
The new hajj journey is the first to be sponsored by the army for Muslim personnel.
Longtime before, the army has sponsored annual trips for its soldiers to Catholic shrines in Lourdes with its long history of bonds with the Catholic Church.
Soldiers and officers willing to embark on the hajj journey next November would pay about €3,000, an amount less than most private travel agencies.
On the other hand, accommodation and guide will be provided by the Saudi Defense Ministry….
While arranging a hajj trip would be unusual for any Western government, it is especially extraordinary in France, a Catholic country with a strict secular tradition….