Jihad, Go To Hell [Video]

Warning Videos Contain Radical Opinions ~ But we have heard enough for radical Islam ~ here are some that are against it. The last video is a Christian guy who makes some good points - on political correctness.


Jihad In Fort Hood


Jihad, GO TO HELL

There actually was at least one other attack by a Muslim solider on fellow American soldiers on George Bushes watch.


Allahu Akbar: Muslim Doctor Kills 13 American Soldiers in Texas

NYC AMERICAN Muslims JUSTIFY Fort Hood Shooting [Video]

Hirsi Ali: Risking Her Life to Expose Islam's Oppression of Women [Video]

Protecting Islam: UN Resolution to tell 'Freedom go to Hell' [Video]

US military base shooting suspect gave away Koran and furniture, said goodbyes, before bloody rampage

This photograph taken on Friday, Nov. 6, 2009 in Killeen, Texas, shows a copy of the Quran and a briefcase holding this business card that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan gave to his neighbor a day before going on a shooting spree at the Fort Hood Army Base

It seems Hasan's behavior was strange for some time - in a health class where the topic was dry cleaning chemicals and household mould, Maj. Hasan goes off on a tirade about the US being at war with Islam. Though - the thought doesn't escape me - that this seemingly innocuous topic - could have for him triggered ulterior motive thoughts - perhaps on chemical weapons, possibly a chemical attack. Why would a mundane subject cause him to show such emotion?


FORT HOOD, Texas - As if going off to war, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan cleaned out his apartment, gave leftover broccoli to one neighbour and called another to thank him for his friendship - common courtesies and routines of the departing soldier. Instead, authorities say, he went on the killing spree that left 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, dead.

A Federal agent stands in the door of the the apartment of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan in Killeen, Texas, early Friday, Nov. 6, 2009

Investigators examined Hasan's computer, his home and his garbage Friday to learn what motivated the suspect, who lay in a coma, shot four times in the frantic bloodletting. Hospital officials said some of the wounded had extremely serious injuries and might not survive.

The 39-year-old Army psychiatrist emerged as a study in contradictions: a polite man who stewed with discontent, a counsellor who needed to be counselled himself, a professional healer now suspected of cutting down the fellow soldiers he was sworn to help.

Relatives said he felt harassed because of his Muslim faith but did not embrace extremism. Others were not so sure. A recent classmate said Hasan once gave a jarring presentation to students in which he argued the war on terrorism was a war against Islam, and "made himself a lightning rod for things" when he felt his religious beliefs were challenged.

Investigators were trying to piece together how and why Hasan allegedly gunned down his comrades in the worst case of violence on a military base in the U.S. The rampage unfolded at a centre where some 300 unarmed soldiers were lined up for vaccines and eye tests.

Soldiers reported that the gunman shouted "Allahu Akbar!" - an Arabic phrase for "God is great!" - before opening fire Thursday, said Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the post commander. He said officials had not confirmed Hasan made the comment.

Palestinian cousin watching footage on TV

Hasan's family said in a statement Friday that his alleged actions were deplorable and don't reflect how the family was reared.

"Our family is filled with grief for the victims and their families involved in yesterday's tragedy," said Nader Hasan, a cousin who lives in northern Virginia. "We are mortified with what has unfolded and there is no justification, whatsoever, for what happened. We are all asking why this happened, and the answer is that we simply do not know."

The 30 wounded were dispersed among hospitals in central Texas. W. Roy Smythe, chairman of surgery at Scott and White Memorial Hospital, said several patients were still at "significant risk" of losing their lives. Army briefers told lawmakers in Washington eight other people were treated at a hospital for stress and trauma.

At a news conference late Friday, Army Col. John Rossi, deputy commander at Fort Hood, said 23 people remained hospitalized, about half still in intensive care. He praised the soldiers' quick actions during and after the shooting barrage, which he said saved lives.

Rossi said that the assailant fired more than 100 rounds and that his weapons were not military arms, but "privately owned weapons ... purchased locally." Law enforcement sources in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said records indicate Hasan in recent months bought the FN 5.7 pistol at a store called "Guns Galore" in Killeen, Texas.

The dead included a pregnant woman who was preparing to return home, a man who quit a furniture company job to join the military about a year ago, a newlywed who had served in Iraq and a woman who had vowed to take on Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

In a vigil Friday night, several hundred people gathered at a stadium on the sprawling Army post, the country's largest. It was the first gathering of the community since the killings.

Patricia Villa, next-door neighbor to Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, goes through a bin full of bags he gave to her a day before going on a shooting spree at the Fort Hood Army Base In her Killeen, Texas apartment Friday, Nov. 6, 2009. Hasan also gave Villa the pictured clothing, along with furniture and a copy of the Quran

Earlier, 13 flag-draped coffins departed for Dover Air Force Base and the military's mortuary based in Delaware, Rossi said. Officials said the result of autopsies on the victims will be made available to the appropriate federal and military agencies that are probing Thursday's shooting. They will determine if any of the victims might have been hit by friendly fire, something Rossi all but dismissed.

Hasan, meanwhile, was transferred Friday to the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. Rossi gave no update about his condition except to say he was "not able to converse."

Army Chief of Staff George Casey said he asked bases around the country to assess their security. He also said he was worried about a backlash against the thousands of Muslim soldiers serving dutifully in uniform.

Hasan was due to be deployed to Afghanistan to help soldiers with combat stress, a task he'd done stateside with returning soldiers, the Army said. Army spokeswoman Col. Cathy Abbott was uncertain when Hasan was to leave but he was in the preparation stage of deployment, which can take months.

In any event, the major was saying goodbyes and dispensing belongings to neighbours.

Jose Padilla, the owner of Hasan's apartment complex, said Hasan gave him notice two weeks ago that he was moving out this week.

Earlier this week, Hasan asked Padilla his native language. When Padilla said it was Spanish, Hasan immediately went up to his apartment to get him a Spanish-language Qur'an. Padilla said Hasan also refused to reclaim his deposit and last month's rent, surrendering $400 that the major said should go to someone who needed it.

"I cannot comprehend that the enemy was among us," Padilla said, as he teared up. "I feel a little guilt that I was basically giving housing to someone who is going to do so much destruction."

Neighbour Patricia Villa

Neighbour Patricia Villa said Hasan came to her apartment the day of the shooting, and before, to give her vegetables, an air mattress, T-shirts, a Qur'an and offer her $60 to clean his Killeen, Texas, apartment after he left.

Jacqueline Harris, 44, who lives with her boyfriend, Willie Bell, in the apartment next door to Hasan, said he called Thursday at 5 a.m. and left a message.

"He just wanted to thank Willie for being a good friend and thank him for being there for him," Harris said. "That was it. We thought it was just a nice message to leave."

Bell said Hasan offered a farewell, saying, "Nice knowing you, old friend. I'm going to miss you."

According to a Killeen police report in August, an Army employee was charged with scratching Hasan's car, causing $1,000 in damage. Apartment manager John Thompson said the man charged was a soldier back from Iraq, who objected to Hasan's faith and ripped a bumper sticker off the major's car that said: "Allah is Love."

Kim Rosenthal, another neighbour, said Hasan didn't seem too upset by his scratched vehicle, even though it was damaged so badly that he got a new one. "He said it was Ramadan and that he had to forgive people," Rosenthal said. "He forgave him and moved on."

Hasan appeared less forgiving to Dr. Val Finnell when they were classmates in a 2007-08 master's public health program at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.

He said that at a class presentation by public health students, at which topics like dry cleaning chemicals and house mould were discussed, Hasan talked about U.S. military actions as a war on Islam. Hasan made clear he was a "vociferous opponent" of U.S. wars in Muslim countries, Finnell said.

"He made himself a lightning rod for things," Finnell said. "No one picked on him because he was a Muslim."

Law enforcement officials said they are trying to confirm if Hasan wrote Internet postings that include his name about suicide bombings and other threats, equating suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the life of fellow soldiers.

Hasan is the Arlington, Virginia-born son of Palestinian parents who ran a restaurant and bar in Roanoke, Virginia, from 1987 to 1995 and owned a small grocery store in that city.

His relatives in the West Bank said they had heard from family members that Hasan felt mistreated in the Army as a Muslim.

"He told (them) that as a Muslim committed to his prayers he was discriminated against and not treated as is fitting for an officer and American," said Mohammed Malik Hasan, 24, a cousin. "He hired a lawyer to get him a discharge."

Mohammed Hasan said outside his home in Ramallah that he heard about the shooting from a relative. "I was surprised, honestly, because the guy and his brothers are so calm, and he, as I know, loves his work."

Nidal Hasan is the eldest of three brothers. One brother, Annas, lives in Ramallah with a wife and daughter, and practices law. The youngest brother, Eyad, lives in Virginia.

"We don't mix with them a lot," Mohammed said. "Nidal liked to stay alone, he was very calm. He minded his own business."

Hasan graduated from medical school at the Uniformed Services University in 2003, said Sharon K. Willis, speaking for the school.

He then entered a psychiatry residency program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which he completed in 2007. He returned to the university for the disaster and military psychiatry fellowship in 2007.

The first phase of that fellowship is earning a master of public health degree, which he completed in 2008. He completed the fellowship program in June.

A month later, Hasan reported for duty at Fort Hood.

Mac Clean's

Robert Spencer discusses the Fort Hood Jihadist on the Savage Nation [Video]

HBO takes on 'Ayatollah':TV network tackles 1979 Iranian crisis

Exactly 30 years after militant students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and began a 444-day hostage crisis that affected U.S. and global politics, HBO Films made a deal to turn the incident into a film.

On Wednesday, HBO acquired "Guests of the Ayatollah: The Iran Hostage Crisis, The First Battle in America's War With Militant Islam," by "Black Hawk Down" author Mark Bowden.

Andrea Berloff, who scripted the Oliver Stone-directed "World Trade Center," will adapt. William Horberg, a producer of "The Kite Runner," will be exec producer.

Some 66 Americans were taken hostage on Nov. 4, 1979, and most weren't freed until January 1981. The event began as an expression of student outrage over the U.S. decision to admit the ousted shah of Iran for medical treatment; it ended up fueling the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini and his hardline Islamic supporters.

A rescue attempt ended disastrously, and the crisis haunted the Carter administration. As much as the crisis fueled a rise in fundamental Islam in Iran, it boosted the rise of the conservative Republican Ronald Reagan, who defeated Carter in the election, promptly unfroze $8 billion in Iranian assets and took the bows when the hostages were freed.

The Bowden book was first optioned in 2003 by Paramount for producer Scott Rudin, with the studio making a seven-figure commitment when Bowden had written only a two-page proposal.

Variety

Non-Muslims, like menstruating women cannot enter mosques: Malaysia

Malaysia Truly Asia .. ah .. Arabia!

PETALING JAYA: The view that non-Muslims cannot enter mosques is a narrow-minded one and gives the wrong impression of Islam, said former Perlis mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin.

“If we have this kind of view, it shows that Islam is creating hostility towards non-Muslims.

“This view can even prevent non-Muslims from getting to know Islam better,” he added.

Dr Mohd Asri was responding to a statement by Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (JAIS) director Datuk Mohamed Khusrin Munawi that non-Muslims cannot enter mosques because “they were in the same category as menstruating women.”

The statement was in reference to an alleged ceramah (public talk) by Selangor executive councillor Dr Xavier Jeyakumar at a Klang mosque in August.

Asri and Jais have been engaging each other in an ongoing war of words. The progressive views of the former Perlis mufti do not gel with the views of the conservatives which make up the majority of the country's religious elite.

He claimed his views and his rise to prominence have been viewed as a threat to their authority, saying the “war” between them culminated in his arrest last Sunday while he was giving a private talk in Ampang. He was freed on bail and is awaiting charges for lecturing without a “tauliah” or permit.

Jais denied that Asri's arrest was politically motivated.

Malaysia Insider

Embattled Dr Asri to fight back after being arrested [without charge]

Mohamed Khusrin was also reported as saying that the mosque committee would be charged for letting Dr Xavier talk there.

“I would like to advise JAIS and its members to not give narrow-minded opinions that can lead to a wrong and false impression of the religion,” Dr Mohd Asri told mStar Online on Friday.

He added that he did not want to focus on Xavier’s speech so long as the mosque was not used as a tool against Islam.

“This is about seeing things with an open mind, where if they (non-Muslims) enter a mosque, they benefit from it,” said Dr Mohd Asri, who is also a lecturer in University Sains Malaysia.

He said JAIS needed to be reformed overall to reflect the maturity of Islam.

“They must show an open mind, they need to practise a matured approach to Islam in this country,” he added.

Malaysia Star

Egypt: Women to appear on state TV without Muslim veil

Locked out ~ girls in veils were prevented from attending famous Al-Azhar school in Cairo. A part of the sweeping changes of reverse Arabization shrouding the country. Female staff are no longer allowed to wear the burqa in hospitals - schools were next and now obviously headscarves will not be allowed on state TV. On the streets of Cairo Muslim women not wearing a headscarf often face abuse. But if you see Egyptian women from the 70's there is hardly a headscarf in sight.

Undoubtedly this will be welcomed support for EU governments dealing with the challenge of Islamic radicalization.


Cairo, 6 Nov. (AKI) - Female presenters will no longer appear on Egypt's state television channel wearing the Muslim veil, according to the head of the public station, al-Masriya. Osama al-Sheikh said: "You will not see any veiled female TV presenters on air on the screens of Egypt's state TV any more."

The channel's director made the remarks during a seminar at the faculty of science and communications at Cairo University, according to a report in Egyptian magazine al-Youm al-Saba.

"It is part of our society's culture to show hair. Now I am not saying it is a bad thing to wear the veil, but because this is state TV, everything that is seen must be official," he said.

"The TV presenters who are veiled will be able to continue to work in private satellite TV stations," he said.

His remarks provoked uproar in the Egyptian parliament by members who are close to the banned Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement.

"The director of the TV station should be bound by the laws of the state when he makes decisions, however his words seem to be based on customary practices. The courts have already reaffirmed the legitimacy of veiled presenters to appear on TV," said Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood MP Muhsin Radi.

The Muslim Brotherhood organisation, founded in 1928, was officially banned in 1954.

Using sympathisers running as independents, the group won one-fifth of seats in Egypt's 2005 parliamentary elections.

Bangladesh arrest three in madrassa for US attack plot: police

DHAKA (AFP)— Bangladeshi police said Friday they had arrested three suspected militants in the southeastern city of Chittagong who were planning to attack US targets in the country's capital.

Deputy Police Commissioner Monirul Islam said Bangladeshi authorities were given intelligence reports concerning the men's whereabouts following the arrest of two other suspected militants in the United States last month.

"We raided a madrassa in Chittagong and arrested three Bangladeshi men late Thursday evening," he told AFP.

"We believe they have links to the banned (Islamist) group Harkat-ul Jihad al Islami (HuJI) and were planning to attack American interests in Dhaka."

A spokesman for the US Embassy in Dhaka said he could not comment on security matters.

Islam said information about the Bangladeshi suspects had come from the United States following the arrests last month in Chicago of David Coleman Headley, 49, a US citizen, and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 48, a Canadian citizen born in Pakistan.

US authorities have charged the men with plotting terror attacks abroad, including on the Danish newspaper which published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2005.

Headley, 49, a US citizen who changed his name from Daood Gilani in 2006, was arrested by the FBI on October 3 at Chicago's O'Hare airport before boarding a flight to Philadelphia en route to Pakistan.

Danish student 'arrested in Iran'

A Danish journalism student has been arrested in Iran after covering anti-government protests, unions say.

The Danish Union of Journalists named the student as Niels Krogsgaard, 31.

Wednesday's Tehran protests coincided with an official rally to mark 30 years since the storming of the US embassy during the 1979 Islamic revolution.

A Canadian, a Japanese and an Iranian journalist are also being held for covering the protests without permits, the semi-official Fars agency reports.



Iran has tightened reporting rules since protests flared in the days following a disputed presidential election in June.

Opposition supporters say the elections were rigged to ensure the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

At least 30 protesters have been killed in clashes since the elections. Thousands have been arrested, and some 200 opposition activists remain behind bars. Three have been sentenced to death.

Batons and tear gas
Mr Krogsgaard was in Tehran working on an academic paper about Iranian politics, said the Danish Union of Journalists.

He was "apparently arrested in connection with a demonstration on Wednesday", the union was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

Security forces had used batons and tear gas to disperse protesters and there were unconfirmed reports the authorities had also opened fire.

Video footage and photos showed what appeared to be large crowds of opposition supporters being chased by security forces in riot gear.

Many of the opposition demonstrators wore green scarves or bands, which have been used in repeated protests since Iran's disputed presidential elections in June.



Thousands were present at the anti-American rally, about 1.5km (1 mile) from where opposition supporters gathered in Haft-e Tir square.

In November 1979, 52 US diplomats were taken hostage at the embassy and held for 444 days by Islamist students in support of the Iranian revolution.

BBC

Somali adulterer stoned to death

Islamic perfection ~ what a cut-throat business!

Islamists in southern Somalia have stoned a man to death for adultery but spared his pregnant girlfriend until she gives birth.

Abas Hussein Abdirahman, 33, was killed in front of a crowd of some 300 people in the port town of Merka.

An official from the al-Shabab group said the woman would be killed after she has had her baby.

Islamist groups run much of southern Somalia, while the UN-backed government only control parts of the capital.

This is the third time Islamists have stoned a person to death for adultery in the past year.

l-Shabab official Sheik Suldan Aala Mohamed said Mr Abdirahman had confessed to adultery before an Islamic court.

"He was screaming and blood was pouring from his head during the stoning. After seven minutes he stopped moving," an eyewitness told the BBC.

The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says that if the woman is also killed, her baby would be given to relatives to look after.

Meanwhile, President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has accused al-Shabab of spoiling the image of Islam by killing people and harassing women.

"Their actions have nothing to do with Islam," said the moderate Islamist during a ceremony at which he nominated a new administration for the capital, Mogadishu.

"They are forcing women to wear very heavy clothes, saying they want them to properly cover their bodies but we know they have economic interests behind - they sell these kinds of clothes and want to force people to buy them."

Last month, two men were stoned to death in the same town after being accused of spying.

A 13-year-old girl was stoned to death for adultery in the southern town of Kismayo last year.

Human rights groups said she had been raped.

Another man has also been punished in this way in the Lower Shabelle region.

Mr Sharif, a former rebel leader, was sworn in as president after UN-brokered peace talks.

Although he says he also wants to implement Sharia, al-Shabab says his version of Islamic law would be too lenient.

The country has not had a functioning national government for 18 years.

BBC

Fort Hood shooting: gunman shouted 'Allahu Akbar' before opening fire

Soldiers who witnessed the shooting rampage that killed 13 people at Fort Hood military base in Texas have reported that gunman Major Nidal Malik Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar" - God is great - before opening fire.

General Robert Cone, the base commander, said officials had not yet confirmed that the suspected gunman made the comment before the rampage which left 30 people wounded, including Hasan.

A woman police officer shot Hasan four times but was herself wounded in the gun battle. Her condition is now stable, according to military officials.

Gen Cone said Hasan was not known to be a threat or risk. He acknowledged that it was "counterintuitive" that a single gunman could kill and injure so many people. But he said the massacre occurred in "close quarters."

Gen Cone said Hasan was in hospital in a stable condition and that investigators hope to interrogate him as soon as possible. In the early chaos after the shootings, authorities believed they had killed him, only to discover later that he had survived.

Authorities are investigating whether Hasan's weapons were properly registered with the military.

The motive for the shooting wasn't clear, but Hasan was apparently set to deploy soon and had expressed some anger about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hasan attended prayers regularly when he lived outside Washington, often in his Army uniform, according to said Faizul Khan, a former imam at a mosque Hasan attended in Silver Spring, Maryland. He said Hasan was a lifelong Muslim.

"I got the impression that he was a committed soldier," Mr Khan said. He spoke often with Hasan about Hasan's desire for a wife.

On a form filled out by those seeking spouses through a program at the mosque, Hasan listed his birthplace as Arlington, Virginia, but his nationality as Palestinian, Khan said.

"I don't know why he listed Palestinian," Khan said, "He was not born in Palestine."

Hasan's aunt Noel Hasan of Falls Church, Virginia, told the The Washington Post that her nephew had been harassed about being a Muslim in the years after the September 11 attacks and he wanted to leave the Army.

"Some people can take it and some people cannot," she said. "He had listened to all of that and he wanted out of the military."

At least six months ago, Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement officials because of Internet postings about suicide bombings and other threats, including posts that equated suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades.

Investigators had not determined for certain whether Hasan was the author of the posting, and a formal investigation had not been opened before the shooting, law enforcement officials told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The FBI, local police and other agencies searched Hasan's apartment in the hours after the shooting.

Telegraph

What Nidal Hasan said about suicide bombers

Following is the full text on the 'social publishing' site Scribd.com:

"There was a grenade thrown amongs a group of American soldiers. One of the soldiers, feeling that it was to late for everyone to flee jumped on the grave with the intention of saving his comrades. Indeed he saved them. He inentionally took his life (suicide) for a noble cause i.e. saving the lives of his soldier. To say that this soldier committed suicide is inappropriate. Its more appropriate to say he is a brave hero that sacrificed his life for a more noble cause. Scholars have paralled this to suicide bombers whose intention, by sacrificing their lives, is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers. If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory. Their intention is not to die because of some despair. The same can be said for the Kamikazees in Japan. They died (via crashing their planes into ships) to kill the enemies for the homeland. You can call them crazy if you want but their act was not one of suicide that is despised by Islam. So the scholars main point is that "IT SEEMS AS THOUGH YOUR INTENTION IS THE MAIN ISSUE" and Allah (SWT) knows best."

The person [Nidal Hasan]who posted this comment was actually responding to an article 'Martyrdom vs Suicide Bombing' which was rallying against suicide bombings - in a sense the Major uses the argument's loopholes to justify his actions [if it is indeed the Maj.] of the attack against soldiers at the base:

In any case, none of the scholars permit any act of suicide against non-military targets. This is in sharp contrast to the most vociferous proponents of suicide bombings, such as al-Qaeda and other takfeeri-jihadists, who almost exclusively encourage and justify the murder of non-combatants, regardless of the religion, age or gender. [..]

Major Hasan got around this by making his targets military ones. He worked on a base as a psychiatrist.

The person arguing against suicide actions in the name of Islam - further points out that al-Qaeda goes after non-combatants of any religion. Suggesting again that the targets are more acceptable if the are military - as well as non-Muslim. Which the gunner likely concluded as well.

Firstly, there is not a single narration the essay cites relating to battlefield jihad - whether the ghazawat (the military campaigns of the Prophet) or otherwise - except that it clearly extols the virtue of the mujahid fighting the enemy until he is killed by them. Pay attention here: the narrations are praising the one who fights until he is killed by his enemy = not the one who kills himself in order to fight the enemy. Hence, Allah's saying: [...]

Again - the argument against such actions were overcome - 'one who fights until he is killed by his enemy' - the Maj. simply goes out with a gun - fighting - the enemy - until his is shot but not killed - and hospitalized.

There is no valid restriction within these arguments - that bars him from his actions.



The internet post seems to be a response to an article which has an Arabic link to the following online book[.pdf]

Al Alwaan = Sheik Nasir Al Alwaan
Eeman >> "Eeman is to believe in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day and to believe in the Predestination; the good and the bad."

Eeman is a combination of Belief and Actions. AHYA.org

Fort Hood shooting: imam says Nalid Malik Husan 'didn't seem like an extremist'

At the mosque Maj. Nidal Hasan listed himself as Palestinian - not American - the place of his birth.

Imam Faizul Khan said he knew Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan for more than 10 years. They met at the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring.

Mr Khan said he was shocked and dismayed to find the person suspected in the incident was his old friend.

"I keep asking what could have made him do something like that? I was stunned and very surprised," he said.

"These are not the actions of a good Muslim at all."

Mr Kahn said Maj Hasan was quiet and reserved. The pair mostly discussed religious matters and rarely talked about politics, but Hasan never seemed controversial, he said.

He said Maj Hasan often talked about wanting a wife.

On a form filled out by those seeking spouses through a program at the mosque, Mr Kahn said Maj Hasan listed his birthplace as Arlington, Va., but his nationality as Palestinian.

Mr Khan also said the psychiatrist applied to an annual matrimonial seminar that matches Muslims looking for spouses. "I don't think he ever had a match, because he had too many conditions," Mr Khan said.

Maj Hasan was a lifelong Muslim and attended prayers regularly, often in his Army uniform, he said.

On its website, the Muslim Community Center advertises Hajj workshops, Arabic language classes and lectures.

Telegraph

Officers raid Texas home of suspect in Fort Hood shootings [Video]

Fort Hood, Texas (CNN) -- Officers raided the apartment of the soldier suspected in the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, early Friday, searching for clues as to what caused the military psychiatrist to allegedly gun down soldiers he had taken an oath to help, a police spokeswoman said.

The alleged gunman, identified as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, opened fire at a military processing center at Fort Hood, killing 12 and wounding 31 others, Lt. Gen. Robert Cone said.

** Update 13 dead.

Hasan, a psychiatrist practicing at Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, was shot multiple times and was taken into custody, ending the shooting rampage Thursday afternoon, Cone said.

In the nearby town of Killeen, a SWAT team and FBI agents were searching Hasan's apartment to help determine what caused the shooting, which military experts called the worst mass shooting at an American military base, Carol Smith, a Killeen police spokeswoman, said early Friday.





See pictures, map from Fort Hood

As investigators gathered evidence, details began to emerge about the alleged shooter.

Hasan, 39, is a graduate of Virginia Tech and a psychiatrist licensed in Virginia. He previously worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

A federal official said Hasan is a U.S. citizen of Jordanian descent. Military documents show Hasan was born in Virginia and has never deployed outside the United States.

An owner of a 7-Eleven convenience store in Fort Hood said Hasan, whom he knows as "Major Nidal," came in for coffee and hash browns most mornings, including the morning of the shootings.

Surveillance video from the store obtained by CNN shows a man, who according to the store owner is Hasan, at the cashier's counter at about 6:20 a.m. Thursday carrying a beverage and dressed in traditional Arab garb. That was about seven hours before the mass shooting.

"He looked normal, came in, had his hash browns and coffee as you see in the surveillance video," the owner told CNN.

Other surveillance footage from Tuesday showed him wearing hospital scrubs.
Hasan's first cousin, Nader Hasan, issued a statement late Thursday on behalf of their family, saying they are "shocked and saddened" by the shootings.

"We are filled with grief for the families of today's victims," the statement says. "Our family loves America. We are proud of our country and saddened by today's tragedy. Because this situation is still unfolding, we have nothing else that we are able to share with you at this time."

The shooting occurred in a building called the readiness center, one of the last stops before soldiers deploy and one of the first places soldiers go upon returning to the United States.

Some of the victims were headed to Iraq or Afghanistan, said Col. Benton Danner.
At a news conference earlier in the day, Cone said the shooter had two handguns, one of them a semi-automatic.






"All the casualties took place at the initial incident, that took place at 13:30, at the soldier readiness facility," Cone said, referring in military time to 1:30 p.m.
A witness in a building adjacent to where the shooting happened said soldiers were cutting up their uniforms into homemade bandages as the wounded were brought into the building.

"It was total chaos," the witness said.

Cone noted that a graduation ceremony was being held in an auditorium about 50 yards away from where the shooting took place.

"Thanks to the quick reaction of several soldiers, they were able to close off the doors to that auditorium where there were some 600 people inside," he said.

President Obama called the shootings "tragic" and "a horrific outburst of violence."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said earlier that officials were monitoring the incident in the Situation Room. The Department of Homeland Security said it was in the process of obtaining information.

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been informed as well, and is "greatly disturbed" about the incident, his spokesman told CNN.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry ordered that all flags in the state be lowered to half-staff until Sunday as a tribute to the victims.

"We are deeply saddened by today's events but resolve to continue supporting our troops and protecting our citizens," he said.

In the aftermath of the incident, Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple, Texas, posted an online appeal for blood as it began receiving victims.

"Due to the recent events on Fort Hood, we are in URGENT need of ALL blood types," it said.

Fort Hood is the Army's largest U.S. post, with about 40,000 troops stationed there. It is home to the Army's 1st Cavalry Division and elements of the 4th Infantry Division, as well as the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 13th Corps Support Command. It is near Killeen, Texas. The Headquarters Unit and three brigades of the 1st Cavalry are deployed in Iraq.

The fort is home to the Warrior Combat Stress Reset Program, which helps soldiers returning from war with combat stress and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

In June, Fort Hood's commander, Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch, told CNN that he was trying to ease the kind of stresses soldiers face.

He has pushed for soldiers working a day schedule to return home for dinner by 6 p.m. and required his personal authorization for anyone working weekends. At the time, two soldiers stationed there had committed suicide in 2009 -- a rate well below those of other posts.

Nearby Killeen was the scene of one of the most deadly shootings in American history 18 years ago when George Hennard crashed his truck into a Luby's cafeteria and then began shooting, killing 23 people and wounding 20.

Hennard's spree lasted 14 minutes. He eventually took his own life.

Muslim doctor - NOT DEAD! in custody stable condition, guns down 12 in US military base Fort Hood

**Update: The number of dead keeps rising 11 servicemen and one policemen.

**Update: SHOOTER NOT DEAD !!

(CNN) -- Eleven people plus a gunman were dead and 31 wounded after the gunman opened fire Thursday on a soldier-processing center at Fort Hood, Texas, officials said.

The gunman was a soldier, and two other soldiers have been detained as suspects, Army Lt. Gen. Bob Cone said.

The slain gunman was identified as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, a law enforcement source told CNN. Licensed in Virginia, Hasan was a psychiatrist who previously worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center but more recently was practicing at Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, according to professional records.

Ten of the other dead also were soldiers, while the remaining one was a civilian police officer who was working as a contractor on the base, Cone said.

Two of the injured were in "very serious" condition, Fort Hood spokesman Christopher Hogue said.

More than one shooter may have been involved, Cone said.

"All the casualties took place at the initial incident, that took place at 13:30 [1:30 p.m. CT], at the soldier readiness facility," Cone said.

he primary shooter had two weapons, both handguns, he said.
"The local police response forces were there relatively quickly and killed the confirmed shooter," Cone said.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said she was told that the soldiers at the readiness facility "were filling out paper processing to go to Iraq or Afghanistan," according to CNN affiliate KXAN in Austin, Texas.

A senior officer who was playing golf Thursday about 2.5 miles from the attack said he witnessed the arrest of one of the two surviving suspects.

Shortly after the shooting, military police told him to clear the course, and he saw other MPs surround the building that held the golf carts, he said. He ducked into a nearby house for cover as 30 to 40 cars carrying MPs approached, he said.

A congressional aide said he was on the post to attend a graduation service when he saw a soldier with blood on his uniform near the building where the service was being held, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Greg Schannep, an aide to U.S. Rep. John Carter, said the soldier ran past him and said a man was shooting. He said the soldier appeared to be injured in a shoulder, the American-Statesman reported.

President Obama called the shootings "tragic" and "a horrific outburst of violence." He expressed his condolences for the shooting victims.

"These are men and women who have made the selfless and courageous decision to risk, and at times give, their lives to protect the rest of us on a daily basis," Obama said. "It's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil."

Officials at Fort Hood, which is the Army's largest U.S. post, were asking people there to stay away from windows, CNN affiliate KXXV said. The incident took place at the sports dome, now known as the soldier readiness area, the station reported.

The Army has asked the FBI to look into the background of the suspects, Cone said.
On the Fort Hood Web site, the word "closed" is posted with the statement, "Effective immediately, Fort Hood is closed. Organizations/units are instructed to execute a 100 percent accountability of all personnel."

Fort Hood, with about 40,000 troops, is home to the Army's 1st Cavalry Division and elements of the 4th Infantry Division, as well as the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 13th Corps Support Command. It is located near Killeen, Texas.

At least 25,000 people are at Fort Hood on any given day, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon said.

Fort Hood is home to the Warrior Combat Stress Reset Program, which is designed to help soldiers overcome combat stress issues.

In June, Fort Hood's commander, Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch, told CNN that he was trying to ease the kind of stresses soldiers face. He has pushed for soldiers working a day schedule to return home for dinner by 6 p.m., and required his personal authorization for anyone working weekends. At the time, two soldiers stationed there had committed suicide in 2009 -- a rate well below those of other posts.

Islamists impose sharia by stealth

Though to add... One of the things Islamists violence does achieve is a kind of capitulation which lends itself to Islamization. After an attack - on the surface perhaps society may not appear to be changed radically - but there are often shifts towards further [undue] respect for Islam. There is good evidence for this - for ex. in the Maldives - after their little bomb [small improvised explosive] placed in tourist area - they moved towards Islamizing the whole country - their reasoning is likely that they don't want to give the terrorist a reason to attack - being more Islamic - acts as a guard - why would a 'true' Muslim attack a country which has only Muslim citizens [non-Muslims are barred from holding citizenship]. The reason differs for the Islamization in western society - mainly Europe - after attacks on Madrid and London and the numerous thwarted attacks - that hardly make the news - was at first down to the fear of more attacks - before it turns into some sort of strange policy that like Islam can't be questioned. This is still being exploited by moderate Muslim leaders - in a signed letter to Gordon Brown - over British gov. support for Israel during the Gaza assault - they threw in 'we can't guarantee what the young Muslims might do' - doubtful they weren't talking about peaceful protest. The logic has been 'If you offend Islamic sensibilities - then you risk attack' so lets call off that play, let's arrest that artist, let's not say this or that. Before the bombings - no one listened to what 'offended' Muslims - but since the bombings and stabbing of Van Gogh - a new group of moderate Islamists have been empowered - to advise governments. Obama's adviser for example misses no opportunity to promote Sharia law, 'its simply misunderstood' she says. Tariq Ramadan another adviser who believes in the supremacy of Sharia law - brought in to help with Muslim integration in Holland - had envisioned instead how to best augment the whole of Dutch society, teachers, journalist, lawmakers around Islam. And not the other way around - which is what the Dutch government asked him to do. In the UK an Islamic think tank offered its pearls of wisdom on how best to Islamize the entire school system - when only 3% of British people are Islamic. My addition... is that terrorism can become the impetus for Islamization - by empowering 'Islamists who seek to impose Sharia by stealth' after the event.




Daniel Pipes

TO borrow a computer term, if Ayatollah Khomeini and Osama bin Laden represent Islamism 1.0, the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the French intellectual, Tariq Ramadan, represent Islamism 2.0. The former are more deadly but the latter will likely do greater long-term damage.

The 1.0 version presents a potentially mortal danger to those unfortunate enough to get in its way. From totalitarian rule to mega-terrorism, Islamism's original tactics present a potential for unlimited brutality. Three thousand dead in one attack? Bin Laden's search for atomic weaponry suggests the murderous toll could be a hundred or even a thousand times larger.

But Islamist violence, a review of the past six decades suggests, proves generally unsuccessful in attaining the goal of a society fully regulated by the sharia (Islamic law), much less does it help establish a global caliphate.

Survivors of mass murder tend not to capitulate to radical Islam. Victims did not raise the white flag after the assassination of Anwar Sadat in Egypt in 1981, the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Bali bombings of 2002, the Madrid bombings of 2004, the Amman bombing of 2005, or the latest bombings in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Extrapolating from these and other failures suggests terrorism does damage and causes human suffering but rarely changes the existing order. Imagine the devastation done by Hurricane Katrina or the tsunami of 2004 had been caused by Islamists: what could they have lastingly achieved?

Non-terrorist attempts from the outside to apply the sharia are hardly easier to accomplish. Revolution (meaning, a wide-scale social revolt) took Islamists to power in just one place at one time: Iran in 1978-79. Coup d'etat (a military overthrow) also carried them to power in just one place at one time: Sudan in 1989. Same for civil war: Afghanistan in 1996.

If Islamism 1.0's violence rarely overthrows governments, Islamism 2.0's working through the system serves significantly better. Islamists, adept at winning public opinion, have enjoyed electoral success in various Muslim-majority countries, including Algeria in 1992, Bangladesh in 2001, Turkey in 2002 and Iraq in 2005. In many other countries, such as Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon and Kuwait, Islamist political parties represent the main opposition force.

(What one might call Islamism 1.5 also works, that being a combination of hard and soft means, of the external and internal approaches. In it, Islamists soften up the enemy with lawful means and then use violence to seize power. The Hamas takeover of Gaza offers one case of such a combination, first winning the elections in 2006, then staging a violent insurrection against Fatah in 2007, and similar processes may be under way in Pakistan.)

At least one leading Islamist thinker with close ties to al-Qa'ida has publicly repudiated terrorism and adopted political means. Sayyid Imam al-Sharif (also known by the nom de guerre Dr Fadl) was born in Egypt in 1950 and trained as a medical doctor. He emerged as a leader of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad group in the 1980s and came to public attention with the 1988 publication of his book, Al-'Umda fi I'dad al-'Udda (The Essentials of Preparation), in which he argued for perpetual violent jihad against the West.

With time, however, Sharif shifted gears: observing that violent attacks are counterproductive he instead advocated a strategy of infiltrating the state and influencing society.

In a recent book, At-Ta'riya li-Kitab at-Tabri'a (Exposing the Exoneration), he condemned the use of force against Muslims ("Every drop of blood that was shed or is being shed in Afghanistan and Iraq is the responsibility of bin Laden and Zawahiri and their followers") and against non-Muslims (9/11 was immoral and counterproductive, for "what good is it if you destroy one of your enemy's buildings, and he destroys one of your countries? What good is it if you kill one of his people, and he kills a thousand of yours?").

Sharif's evolution from al-Qa'ida theorist to advocate of lawful transformation echoes a broader shift as Islamists notice that while bin Laden, for all his notoriety, cowers in a cave, Erdogan remakes the Republic of Turkey.

In conclusion, fascists never developed a 2.0 version, nor did communists; only Islamists have done so. Because it threatens our values and our civilisation, this evolution represents perhaps an aspect of their movement no less frightening than their brutality.

Daniel Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum and Taube distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.

The Australian

Are There Muslim Reformers?

Ibn Warraq

MUSLIM REFORMERS
I. AHMAD AL-BAGHDADI

During the question and answer sessions at my talks to various Humanist groups ( most recently CFI Indianapolis, CFI Arizona, and CFI Los Angeles), I am often asked about the possibility of reform within Islam, and of the existence of moderate Muslims. These are not easy questions to answer. There are said to be 57 Islamic countries, and the situation obviously varies from country to country, from year to year. Even countries trumpeted as "moderate", "liberal" or "tolerant" have, in reality, a mixed record as far as Human Rights are concerned. Criticism of Islam is well-nigh impossible in all fifty-seven countries. Nonetheless, some courageous individuals living in the latter have found a way of indirectly casting doubt on Islam as the solution to every problem in the modern world, namely, by advocating Secularism. In the next four of five blogs, I intend to look at some brave, intrepid, articulate champions of Human Rights in the Islamic World- often putting their lives in danger for that most noble of causes, Freedom.

Kuwait is an Arab Emirate just north of Saudi Arabia and south of Iraq, with a population of just under three million. With its large oil reserves it is the considered the eleventh richest country in the world. Though Kuwait is a constitutional monarchy, with a parliamentary system of government, its Human Rights record is decidedly mixed, and this was made plain when in October 1999, Professor Dr. Ahmad al-Baghdadi-first of our three Kuwaiti secularists whom I shall be discussing here- was sentenced to one month in prison for allegedly defaming Islam and the prophet Muhammad in a 1996 article that he wrote for the Kuwait University student magazine Al-Shoula. However, the emir of Kuwait pardoned him a few weeks later, and he was released.

Ahmad Al-Baghdadi [not to be confused with Ayatollah Ahmad Al-Baghdadi], a political science lecturer at Kuwait University, was in trouble once again when he published several articles in November 2004 in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa, dismissing religious thought as no longer relevant or adequate, and extolling the virtues of secularism. A few excerpts from his articles- superbly translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute [MEMRI, Special Dispatch 823]- will suffice to show the courage of al Baghdadi's thorough critique of religion, and the need for a separation of state and mosque:

"Muslims Have no Future as Long as They are Subjected to Religious Thought."

In his article, ‘Secularism and Life,' Al-Baghdadi argued that only a society free of religion could make progress and develop; Islamic religious thought merely prevents progress and development:
"... Secularism as a [world] view and as a way of life was not formed in a vacuum, but is the outcome of the painful life experience of human beings which has continued for close to a millennium and in the course of which the religious thought of the Church, devised by the religious clergy, was abolished... During this experience, Western man lived in intellectual darkness and [endured] devastating wars in a period called ‘the Dark Middle Ages.'

"For the person educated in sciences, industry, finances, politics, and culture there was only one solution, which constitutes a refuge for the poor societies. That [solution] is: distancing the man of the cloth from life...From that moment on, the Western world became the only world to develop, progress, and flourish in all spheres of life.

"In order [to avoid] being accused of subjectivity against the religious way of thought, let us present examples from the reality of life in the Muslim and Arab countries:

"1. Religious thought is the only way of thought nowadays that refuses to accept the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights' on religious grounds, and this constitutes an obstacle to [the realization of] these rights in the Islamic countries, not only in the matter of inheritance, but also in matters such as equality, freedom of thought, and freedom of speech.

"2. Islamic religious thought is the only way of thought nowadays to persist in [accusations] of ridda [apostasy]... Unfortunately, this persistence [leads to] the killing of human beings, even without trial.

"3. Religious thought objects to freedom of thought and freedom of speech when religion is criticized. Moreover, religious thought reveres things that religion itself does not instruct [us] to revere. Thus, for example,regarding [the immunity from criticism of] the Prophet's companions, who are not considered part of the principles of religion or of the roots of belief. Religious thought does not distinguish between religion and its believers.

"4. Religious thought is still anti-woman even if the religious clerics claim otherwise.

"5. Religious thought is opposed to human health in matters of treatment and medicine. The prohibition of including alcohol in most medicines leads to their reduced effectiveness... [Moreover,] the Muslim doctor nowadays does not dare to instruct a patient not to fast [during the month of Ramadhan],and the hospitals therefore become full of patients who fasted.

"6. Religious thought supports political tyranny, because it opposes democracy and the constitution. [For example,] in Kuwait [some] strive to destroy the constitution and the constitutional state, and in Saudi Arabia there is complete opposition to democracy.

"7. If we were to imagine that an [Arab] regime adopted a certain religious school of thought, what could happen to the other schools of thought?

"8. Religious thought opposes the Other, accuses him of heresy, and objects to living by his side. Proof of this are the supplications and appeals [to Allah] that we hear in the mosques to destroy all non-Muslims and harm them,rather than requesting guidance for them on the straight path, [as would have occurred] had there been an ounce of human tolerance.

"9. Religious thought is the main reason for the production of terror,because of the negative interpretations of the [Quranic] verses regarding Jihad.

"10. Religious thought opposes any kind of creativity and art...

"The West did not make progress until it became free of this way of thinking. This is the only solution facing the Muslims. They have no future as long as they are subjected to religious thought."

TO BE CONTINUED.

Ibn Warraq is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Inquiry, and the author of What the Koran Really Says, and more recently, Defending the West.

Center for Inquiry

Egypt: Terror suspects arrested by police had arsenal of arms and explosives

Cairo, 5 Nov. (AKI) - Egyptian authorities have arrested 17 suspected Islamist militants accused of being part of an illegal Jihadi organisation. According to the Arab TV network, al-Arabiya, the suspects were arrested with arms and explosives that were to be used in a series of planned terror attacks.

The alleged militants were arrested in the area of Dakhiliya, in the Nile delta.

Police found an arms cache at the home of one member of the group in the village of Mait Ghamar, while other items were found in a house of another suspect in the city of Mansoura.

The house was believed to have been used as a location for meetings of the same illegal group allegedly responsible for the assassination of the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat during a military parade in 1981.

Police claimed to have found flyers supporting Islamic jihad in three areas in the Nile delta.

Mauritania: Foreign tourists and local women arrested over 'sex' video

Get back in your burqa girl!!

Nouakchott, 5 Nov. (AKI) - Five foreign tourists and four Mauritanian women were arrested after being caught allegedly filming a pornographic video in a tent on the outskirts of Akjtout, located in western Mauritania.

Mauritanian police arrested the foreigners and the local women during a night patrol in the area and after seeing electricity generators and a videocamera, said news agency Al-Akhbar on Thursday.

The five tourists, who have not been identified, were described as "western tourists" and were reportedly arrested "in flagrancy of the crime".

All the material at the tent - located two kilometres off a main road - was confiscated by police and all those arrested were interrogated by police.

They are reported to have confessed that they were filming a pornographic video with Mauritanian women.

Diplomats: Saudi forces attack rebels in Yemen

SAN'A, Yemen (AP)— Arab diplomats say Saudi Arabia has launched a large military incursion across the border into northern Yemen, aimed at ending a Shiite rebellion inside its troubled southern neighbor.

Two diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity Thursday, say Saudi Tornado and F-15 warplanes have bombarded targets inside Yemen since Wednesday afternoon, inflicting significant casualties on the Yemeni rebels. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the media.

A clash between Saudi forces and Yemeni rebels left one Saudi and one rebel dead, the two sides said on Wednesday, as Yemen's five-year-old insurgency spilled over the frontier for the first time.AFP

The Arab diplomats say army units and special forces have been sent to northern Yemen, and that several Saudi towns on the border have been evacuated.

Neither Saudi Arabia nor Yemen have confirmed the offensive. But a rebel spokesman told The Associated Press that Saudi warplanes and artillery hit several areas Thursday.

The Zaidis form the majority community in the far north but are a minority in mainly Sunni Yemen.

The Yemeni authorities accuse the rebels of seeking to restore the Zaidi imamate that ruled in Sanaa until its overthow in a republican coup in 1962 that sparked eight years of civil war. The rebels deny the charge.AFP

SAN'A, Yemen (AP) — The spokesman for Yemen's Shiite rebels says Saudi fighter jets have bombed the group's northern stronghold a day after Saudi Arabia accused the fighters of killing a soldier in a border skirmish.

The northern rebels, known as Hawthis, have been battling Yemeni government forces intensively over the past few months in the latest flare-up of a sporadic conflict over the last five years. The Hawthis are based in a northern province that borders Saudi Arabia.

Hawthi spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Salam told The Associated Press the Saudi offensive early Thursday hit at least four areas inside Yemeni territory. There was no immediate word on casualties.

Saudi and Yemeni government officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Allah versus God in Malaysia [Video]

Taking the Christians' bibles away I think is wrong. But as for Allah ~ the Muslims can have it. This Allah was The God of the Kaaba both before and after Islam. This Allah of the Arabian Kaaba had Three Daughters, known as the Trinity or Desert Goddesses - whom Muhammad's own father would have worshiped. Indeed in Sura 53:19 Muhammad is shown to have called out to the Goddesses [now called the Satanic Verse, because in it he was seen to have been deceived and quickly changed his mind back... soon after], but according to the Hadiths and other Islamic historical writings Muhammad was committed to the idea for an extended period - so long they rejoiced about the restoration of their beloved Goddesses as far away as Ethiopia. There is a great set of youtube videos where some Christian scholars really looked into this - but the following video is also informative - it helps to demonstrate that Islam is a Meccan Kaaba based religion.



In today’s culture, the name Allah is used in reference to God by many Christians, Jews and Muslims across the world, however, recent reports are stating that Malaysian Christians are banned from using the name Allah for their God. Over the past few years the ban was extended from verbal use to written use of the word by Christians and especially for use in the Bible.

The word Allah is the standard Arabic word for God. It is actually a pre-Islamic name referring to The God and its use dates back before the time of Mohammad. Allah was a common name for many male idols or god-like figures and Allat was a common female name used similarly. Today, Allah is used by Muslims in reference to whom they believe is The God of Islam and is also used by Jews and Christians in the same manner. With the name Allah dating back to pre-Islamic centuries, the name holds significance for many religions.

CBN News and other News sources are reporting that over 15,000 Bibles that use the name Allah in them have been confiscated by Malaysian authorities so far this year. Malaysian authorities forbid the use of the name Allah by Christians because they fear it will upset or even confuse the Muslim population there.

Some Christian sources within the territory have speculated that Muslims might think the Malaysian government is suggesting that their Christian God is on the same level as their Muslim God if they allow Christians to use the term Allah. Malaysia, previously celebrated for its’ multi-ethnic and open Muslim culture is currently made up of approximately 60 percent Muslim with over 30 percent of the country practicing Christianity, Buddhism and other faiths.

The Roman Catholic Church has decided to take the issue up via legal measures, pressing the Malaysian government to change its’ policy. Recent shipments from Indonesia, containing thousands of Bibles, have been blocked and confiscated by Malaysian authorities, who are standing on their decision to block entry of all Bibles using the word Allah in them.

For Christians everywhere, there are many names we can call The Father besides God or Allah:

Father, our heavenly Father
Emmanuel, God with us
Elohim, or Mighty
El-Shaddi, meaning God Almighty
El-Elyon, meaning God most high
M’Kaddish, the Lord who sanctifies
Shammah, the Lord is present
Jehovah, the Lord or The One Who Is
Jehovah-Raphe, the God who heals

As Christians we are blessed to communicate with God via prayer and meditation so please be in prayer for those who are being denied the ability to read God’s Word in their own language…and be thankful that, at least as of the writing of this article, those who live in the United States are free to read their Bibles, call God by any name they wish and worship freely.

Examiner

SAS hunt for Taliban assassin who shot dead five British soldiers after infiltrating Afghan police force

'It is absolutely right to say that the Afghan police are infiltrated by the Taliban at every level, from the very lowest to the very highest,' he said.

Five British soldiers have been killed by a "rogue" policeman in Afghanistan. The officer turned on them and started firing inside a military compound.

The soldiers, three from the Grenadier Guards and two from the Royal Military Police, died in the Nad-e'Ali district of Helmand Province on Tuesday afternoon. Their families have been informed.

Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield said: "The soldiers concerned were mentoring Afghan police. They were working inside and living inside an Afghan national police checkpoint."

He said: "It would appear, and it is our initial understanding, that an individual Afghan policeman possibly acting with another started firing within the checkpoint before fleeing the scene."

He stressed that the attack did not come as a result of any breakdown or fight between British and Afghan forces. The gunman's whereabouts are unknown but British forces are hunting him.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid tribute to the soldiers describing their deaths as a "terrible loss". Britain's Armed Forces have suffered the bloodiest year of action since the Falklands War. The death toll for this year in Afghanistan now stands at 92. ITN

INFILTRATED AT EVERY LEVEL

Afghanistan's police are poorly trained, plagued by drug addiction and infiltrated by the Taliban 'at every level', a former British soldier said today.
The Afghan National Police (ANP) is actually a militia made up of local men whose allegiances are to their tribes rather than the national or local governments, according to Captain Doug Beattie.

Mr Beattie, who worked with the ANP during tours of Afghanistan in 2006-07 and 2008, said Afghan police officers were often paid off by insurgents.
But he suggested that the horrific shooting, in which five British soldiers were killed by a rogue Afghan policeman, could have been sparked by a cultural misunderstanding.

'The Grenadier Guards have only just arrived there. They are getting to know the Afghan police,' he said.

'It could be somebody has said or done something and there's a general grievance.
'It could be that they have offended him without realising it, with them being new in country.'

Mr Beattie has had his own run-ins with the Afghan police - he believes an ambush of his unit in Garmsir in Helmand Province in 2006 was set up between the Taliban and the ANP.

He also alleged that a former chief of police in Helmand was caught talking directly to the Taliban on his personal phone on several occasions.

'It is absolutely right to say that the Afghan police are infiltrated by the Taliban at every level, from the very lowest to the very highest,' he said.

Mr Beattie added: 'Fears about the police are really well founded and they have been known about since 2006.

'They're really a militia, a tribal police whose allegiances are not necessarily to the government or even to the provincial governor. It is normally to their village or tribe or the area they come from.

'Because they're militia they can be bought and paid off at will. If the government's paying them they're reasonably happy. But if they don't get enough money they're quite happy to be paid by the insurgency."

He also raised concerns about drug abuse among Afghan police officers, large numbers of whom are said to be habitual users of heroin or cannabis.

Mr Beattie, from Portadown in Northern Ireland, retired this year after 27 years in the Army.

Daily Mail

Rebels ban musical ringtones on phones, only tones of clerics singing Koranic or Hadiths allowed

Sacdiyo Sheeq used to love listening to Bollywood movie songs on her mobile telephone.

But since hardline al Shabaab insurgents seized the southern Somali port of Kismayu, the 25-year-old's life has changed.

"Al Shabaab wants our ringtones to be only a Muslim cleric reading the Hadith or Koranic verse," she told Reuters.

"I used to listen to my favorite Indian songs on my cell phone, but now I have just thrown that memory away."

Al Shabaab, which Washington says is al Qaeda's proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state, wants to topple the U.N.-backed government and impose its own strict version of Sharia law.

The heavily armed group controls much of the south and parts of the capital Mogadishu, and courts run by its clerics have ordered executions, floggings and amputations in recent months.

It has also banned movies, dancing at wedding ceremonies and playing or watching soccer in the areas under it control.

"We do not tolerate anything that may corrupt the people," al Shabaab's spokesman in Kismayu, Sheikh Hassan Yaqub, told Reuters by telephone. "We don't allow anything that goes against our religion, especially music and sexy videos."

Ali Mahamud Yusuf, 19, fled his home in Kismayu after he was whipped in public last week by al Shabaab gunmen who had caught him listening to music and watching videos on his phone.

"I am still suffering from the 25 lashes," Yusuf said. "They accused me of rejecting religion. I don't want to tell you where I am now for security reasons. I am scared."

Fighting has killed 19,000 Somalis since the start of 2007, and while some residents credit the insurgents with restoring a semblance of order in some areas, al Shabaab's strict rules have alienated many Somalis who are traditionally moderate Muslims.

But Kismayu residents said the rebel group's latest rules on mobile phone ringtones posed yet another dilemma -- since the faithful are not supposed to interrupt the Hadith (the word of the Prophet Mohammed), how are they supposed to answer calls?

NY Daily