RUTHFULLY YOURS

A little backbone on the part of educators might go a long way toward promoting Islamic integration. Of course, before they do that, the initial step would be to recognise that gender equality is a rather more valuable concept than the fashionable exaltation of identity politics.
A few thoughts on the controversy surrounding the issue of Muslim schoolboys’ refusal to shake hands with women being endorsed by those responsible for supervising their educations.

Firstly, it is not clear that this is, per se, an expression of misogyny, as many are claiming. The specific hadith supposedly says:

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘If one of you were to be struck in the head with an iron needle, it would be better for him than if he were to touch a woman he is not allowed to’.

That reference goes on to say:

There is no doubt that for a man to touch a non-mahram woman is one of the causes of fitnah (turmoil, temptation), provocation of desire and committing haraam deeds.

So it is clear this is not about women being unclean but, rather, about the inability of Muslim men to control their baser urges. Surely, Muslim men (sensible ones, at any rate) should feel outraged at this slight. Sadly, this brings to mind the remarks of Sheik Hilaly, then Australia’s most senior Muslim cleric, who in 2006 infamously likened uncovered women to cat meat. “If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it … whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat?” he asked his lakemba congregation.

“If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab,” he continued, “no problem would have occurred.”

Secondly, if we look at the strict wording of the relevant hadith, might it not be argued that ‘touch’ in this context means rather more than a casual physical contact, such as shaking hands, but ‘touching’ in a sexual context?

My point is that this is just one more example of Islam’s inability to adapt to changing times and the mores of societies other than those of the Arabian Peninsula in seventh century. I wonder how vigorously this particular hadith is observed in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia? How does it work in the case of paramedics, nurses, doctors, firemen? Are exceptions made in such cases and, if so, why not in this country to accommodate the host society’s cultural practices?

My curious tickled, I came across this advice detailing Islamic doctrine in regard to the medical treatment of Muslim women, who must first seek medical counsel and treatment from a female Muslim doctor. Should such not be available, a non-Muslim female medico is the second preference, followed by a Muslim male and, last of all, a non-Muslim man.

As to shaking hands with women, this source of Islamic guidance explains that Allah is against it

Some Muslims feel too embarrassed to refuse when a woman offers her hand to them. In addition to mixing with women, some of them claim that they are forced to shake hands with fellow-students and teachers in schools and universities, or with colleagues in the workplace, or in business meetings and so on, but this is not an acceptable excuse.

The Muslim should overcome his own feelings and the promptings of the Shaytaan, and be strong in his faith, because Allah is not ashamed of the truth. The Muslim could apologize politely and explain that the reason he does not want to shake hands is not to offend or hurt anybody’s feelings, but it is because he is following the teachings of his religion. In most cases this will earn him respect from others. There is no harm done if they find it strange at first, and it may even be a practical opportunity for da’wah. And Allaah knows best.

A small number of Canadians took signs and banners to a mosque in downtown Toronto to protest what was being said inside — namely, the imam’s desire that Jews be killed one by one. When police received complaints, however, they acted swiftly and purposefully… announcing they were investigating the protestors. Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook explained to CBC Toronto that they wondered if the protestors had perpetrated a hate crime:

There’s a “fine line,” Douglas-Cook said, between the free expression of thoughts and views, and breaching the law or violating a particular group.

Asked what that line is, Douglas-Cook responded: “That’s a conversation we’ve been having all day.”

Here’s an idea that doesn’t even come close to a “fine line,” and it doesn’t even require one of those long, irritating conversations: if people are advocating for the mass genocide of Jews, maybe the police should pay attention to those guys. (Pssst: advocating for genocide is a criminal code offense in Canada.) But is that what is really happening inside the mosque? Surely they’re not so bold as to actually advocate for the slaughtering of people who oppose them, right?

Thankfully, someone filmed inside the mosque and discovered that’s exactly what’s happening:

Note that the man praying asks Allah to count the number of people who oppose Islam, and kill them one by one. “Spare not one of them,” he says.

Well, that seems pretty clear to me, but apparently it took a little time for the Canadian police to get clued in. Finally, they decided not to investigate the people at the rally. No word if they’re investigating the people inside the mosque.

France’s Muslim population could quickly grow to close to 15-17 million, but no one can know precisely unless the law prohibiting the official collection of ethnic data is changed.

These figures do not take into consideration the Muslim population that immigrated to France from North Africa in the 1960s and early 1970s. There are a few million of them — nobody knows how many exactly. For demographers, their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are not regarded as immigrants anymore. These Muslims are, rather, integrated into statistics as French citizens born of French parents. They are Muslim, but under the statistics radar.

From time to time, France’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee) offers a glimpse of the ethnic composition of French society. The study, “Being born in France to an immigrant parent” (Être né en France d’un parent immigré), published in February 2017, is one of them.

Like few other glimpses, the Insee study offers a partial view of the ethnic composition of the French population. A statistical breakdown — with the answer to the perennial question: how many Muslims in France? — would be perceived as discriminatory and outrageous. Given France’s “integration model,” nobody should dare identify people by their origins, religion, color of skin and so on. A Frenchman is a Frenchman, whatever the color of his skin or his religion, and any measurement of the sub-Saharan population — for example, their level of education, that of their children, the type of jobs their parents are doing, how many times they go to mosque or if they have spent time in prison — is illegal, discriminatory and racist. Sub-Saharan populations must disappear in aggregate data about French people.

The study, however, provides some telling information. In 2015, 7.3 million people born in France had at least one immigrant parent (11% of the population). Of these 7.3 million people, 45% are of European origin, most of whom are children of immigrants who arrived in France from Spain (8%) or Italy (12%) as early as the 1930s, or from Portugal in the 1970s onwards. One can assume, although it is not written in the study, that these people are of Christian origin.

Another group is composed of Africans. 42% of the 7.3 million children born in France to an immigrant parent are of African background, mainly North Africa. They came from Algeria (15%), Morocco (11%), Tunisia (5%) and sub-Saharan Africa (11%). Although it is also not specified in the study, it would seem that the great majority are Muslim.

Another group, children from Turkish migrant families, represent 4% of the 7.3 million. These people are classified as Asian; they are not included in the African and Muslim group. Most of these Turks are also presumably Muslim.

A conclusion therefore would assume that 46% of the descendants of immigrants are Muslim and 45% are Christian. The remaining 9% are from East Asia or the Americas.

The Islamic State is using kidnapped Yazidi children to carry out suicide missions as the U.S.-led coalition forces continue their assault on the terror group’s remaining strongholds in Syria and Iraq.

In a video posted Tuesday, two young Yazidi boys seemingly brainwashed by the Islamic terror group talk about their departure from their Yazidi identity and their desire to carry out a suicide attack for the Islamic State.

The boys’ families, who confirmed their identities to The Foreign Desk, said they have had no information regarding their whereabouts, and this video is the first they have seen or heard from the boys since their abduction in 2014.

One of the boys, identifying himself in the video as Amjad, as-well-as by his Kunya, the noms de guerres frequently used by ISIS, “Abu Yusuf Sinjari,” describes how he left the ‘ignorance’ of his primitive Yazidi faith behind to join ISIS. He talks about studying sacred Islamic texts in the ‘sham’ (a historical name for Greater Syria) and choosing to carry out a suicide mission for the terror group.

“When we were in Sinjar, we worshipped the devil and we were without God… We were ignorant and not aware of concepts such as Halal and Haram,” he says looking into the camera.

A family source told The Foreign Desk the two brothers are Amjad and Asaad-Alyas Mahjo ages 11 and 12.

They were kidnapped when the Islamic State stormed the predominantly Yazidi town of Sinjar in August 2014, killing as many as 5000 Yazidi men in what has since become known as the Sinjar Massacre.

The father of the boys, along with four additional siblings, were also killed during the vicious massacre.

Following taped speeches showing the brothers brandishing their weapons and sporting shy smiles, the pair enter separate explosive-laden vehicles.

One of the boys sheepishly looks round to the camera filming from behind, peeking around as the camera captures a truck filled with explosives.

Islamic State video drones then capture the vehicle maneuvers and final moments of the kidnapped boys’ lives as they both carry out separate VBIED attacks.

Following the Sinjar Massacre, ISIS also rounded up thousands of Yazidi women and children, with many of the women being sold as sex slaves or given as concubines to Jihadis in exchange for battle victories.

A report last year claimed ISIS had created jihadi training camps for captured Yazidi children with estimates that up to 1,500 children, some as young as 6 were being forcibly converted to Islam for eventual use as child soldiers or to carry out suicide missions.

“If we are serious about the fight against Islamism and terrorism, then it must also be a cultural struggle.” — German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel.

German authorities issued 105,000 visas for so-called family reunifications in 2016, a 50% increase over the 70,000 visas issued in 2015, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The 105,000 visas for family members were in addition to the 280,000 new asylum seekers who arrived in Germany in 2016.

Police say Sudanese migrants, many of whom were allowed to enter Germany without having their fingerprints taken, have “created a business model” out of social security fraud. Local officials have been accused of covering up the fraud.

An employee at a social security office handed her boss a file with 30 cases of suspected fraud. After he refused to act, she contacted the police. She was fired for “overstepping her authority.”

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble revealed that the migrant crisis would cost German taxpayers €43 billion ($46 billion) during 2016 (€21.7 billion) and 2017 (€21.3 billion).

The Bishop of Regensburg, Rudolf Voderholzer, said there could be no reconciliation between Christians and Muslims. Islam is a “post-Christian phenomenon, with the claim to negate the core content of Christianity,” he said.

January 1. Some 2,000 “highly aggressive” migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East gathered at the central train station in Cologne and the square in front of the iconic Cologne Cathedral, where mass sexual assaults occurred on New Year’s Eve 2015. A massive police presence consisting of 1,700 officers deterred mayhem. Police reported three sexual assaults on New Year’s Eve 2016, compared to more than a thousand on the same day in 2015.

January 1. In Berlin, at least 22 women were sexually assaulted during New Year’s Eve celebrations at the Brandenburg Gate, despite the presence of 1,700 police officers. Police initially reported six assaults, but after inquiries from local media raised that number. In Hamburg, at least 14 women were sexually assaulted. Police arrested three Iraqis, three Syrians, two Afghans, one Eritrean and one German-Russian.

January 2. Greens Party Leader Simone Peter accused the Cologne Police Department of racial profiling after a tweet referred to North African migrants as “Nafris.” The head of the DPolG, Ernst Walter, explained that “Nafri” is not derogatory but rather a technical acronym used by the police to refer to “North African intensive offender” (nordafrikanische Intensivtäter). “If a North African person is suspected of committing a crime, he is a ‘Nafri,'” Walter said. Cologne Police Chief Jürgen Mathies added: “From the experiences of the past New Year’s Eve, from experience gained by police raids as a whole, a clear impression has emerged here about which persons are to be checked. They are not gray-haired older men or blond-haired young women.”

January 2. Police in Saarland arrested Hasan A., a 38-year-old asylum seeker from Syria who solicited €180,000 ($192,000) in funds from the Islamic State in order to carry out a high-casualty terrorist attack in Germany. The prosecutor’s office in Saarbrücken said the man asked the Islamic State for the money to purchase eight vehicles (€22,500 each) which would be camouflaged as police cars, loaded with 400-500 kilos of explosives, and exploded into a large crowd. Hasan said he wanted the money to support his family in Syria, not to carry out attacks in Germany.

January 3. Amnesty International called for an investigation of the police in Cologne for the alleged “racial profiling” of North African migrants who were suspected of promoting violence on New Year’s Eve.

“They are driving us out of the Middle East,” declared Pope Francis on returning from Turkey.

“[I]t would be beautiful if all Islamic leaders, whether they are political, religious or academic leaders, would speak out clearly and condemn this because this would help the majority of Muslim people.” — Pope Francis, counseling Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

While this welcoming stance is in keeping with the fundamental beliefs of the Catholic faith, the Pope as the “Good Shepherd” has an obligation to protect his flock from the militants among the refugees.

Within the Catholic Church, there also exists a sub-dominant counter-melody that warns about Islamic hostility to the values of Judeo-Christian civilization.

Cardinal Sarah targets what he refers to as “Islam’s pseudo-family values which legitimize polygamy, female subservience, sexual slavery, and child marriage.”

At some point, the Catholic Church might raise the issue of persecution of Christian minorities in Muslim-majority countries at international fora such as the United Nations. The Church also could publicly ask Muslims of good will to express their solidarity with the persecuted and request international organizations to intervene to protect Christians.

Given the centuries of hostility between Christendom and dar-al-Islam (the World of Islam), the Vatican’s caution may be understandable, but is ill-advised and no longer tenable.

Perhaps, in the light of the harm dhimmitude can do to both civic life and faith, the Catholic Church might re-assess its stance toward Islam from one of friendly engagement to cautionary disengagement. As radical jihadists continue to martyr Christians throughout the world, such a re-evaluation of Islam by the Vatican seems appropriate.

These hate crimes against Christians are occurring against a backdrop of fifteen centuries of hostile, relations between Christianity and Islam — from the Islamic takeover of Persia, the great Christian Byzantine Empire in Turkey, North Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Greece and Southern Spain.

As Catholics comprise more than half of the globe’s two billion Christians, a sober reassessment of Islam by Rome could be of great import and attract more people to Christianity when, as with Brexit, they see that the Church is aligned with a reality they see every day with their eyes.

A decision by the Vatican to distance itself from trying to please Muslims, many of whom would presumably only be pleased by converting Christians to Islam, might even evolve into a more realistic understanding of the Islamic faith by the Catholic hierarchy. If the Church, on the other hand, is hoping to convert Muslims to Christianity, then we have two proselytizing religions, each trying to convert the other, but by different means.