Muhammad, Madness and Mayhem

Alert Focus: The Fruit of Islam / A Horde of Judgment / Deception / Antichrist This is that.... Habakkuk 1:2-3 How long, O LORD, will I call for help,And You will not hear?I cry out to You, "Violence!"Yet You do not save.Why do You make me see iniquity,And cause me to look on wickedness?Yes, destruction and violence are before me;Strife exists and contention arises. Joel 2:3 A fire consumes before them and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them but a desolate wilderness behind them, and nothing at all escapes them. 1 John 2:22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Airport Screeners Get Lessons On Islam As Pilgrims Return From The Hajj, TSA Teaches Workers How To Treat Muslims CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR - by Alexandra Marks - January 11, 2007 -- Say you're a security screener at the airport. You notice a large group of people wearing white robes, speaking a strange language. The women have head scarves and the men long beards. They look nervous. One of them is holding a Koran. Another appears to be praying. What do you do? According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), simply assume they're devout Muslims returning from the annual hajj in Mecca. During the next few weeks, as many as 20,000 American Muslims will be returning to the United States from their pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. The TSA has ramped up cultural-awareness training for all 43,000 of its screeners. The goal: to remind screeners what to expect from devout Muslims and how to go about screening them so it's in concert with their religious beliefs. Arab-American and Muslim-American leaders are applauding the effort. But they say it's part of a much-needed larger cultural and political conversation about Islam and Arab culture that can help the nation as it heals from the aftereffects of 9/11. ... [More] http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/09/national/main2340632.shtml Muslim sensitivity training for 45,000 airport workers Security officials told 'to be aware that they may also be praying' WORLDNETDAILY - December 28, 2006 -- The Transportation Security Administration – created after 9/11 to safeguard America's airports – is providing Islamic sensitivity training to 45,000 airport security officers so they'll know what to expect when Muslims fly from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia to participate in the annual "hajj," or pilgrimage to Mecca. "We put out information telling everyone that hajj is coming; this is the time frame; individuals are going to be traveling with these types of items," TSA spokesman Darrin Kayser told the State Department's USINFO Web site Tuesday. Calling it "cultural sensitivity training," Kayser added that airport security officials need "just to be aware that they may also be praying." Ironically, just last month six Muslim imams were ejected by federal authorities from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis because they were deemed a potential security threat. Among the various behaviors that unnerved fellow passengers was the group's prayers in the airport prior to their flight. Welcoming TSA's Islamic sensitivity training is the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, which describes itself as "America's largest Islamic civil liberties group." In a press release praising the program yesterday, CAIR noted that it distributes a pocket guide titled "Your Rights and Responsibilities as an American Muslim." "As an airline passenger," the CAIR guide states, "you are entitled to courteous, respectful and non-stigmatizing treatment by airline and security personnel. You have the right to complain about treatment that you believe is discriminatory." The press release also quoted the group's communications director, Ibrahim Hooper, as saying CAIR representatives nationwide have met with not only the TSA, but also from Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection officials on "issues related to cultural sensitivity and national security." Indeed, CAIR has developed a wide-ranging advisory and teaching relationship with government on the subject of protecting Muslim interests. As WND reported previously, last June a senior Department of Homeland Security official from Washington personally guided CAIR officials on a behind-the-scenes tour of Customs screening operations at O'Hare International Airport in response to CAIR complaints that Muslim travelers were being unfairly delayed as they entered the U.S. from abroad. However, CAIR itself is a controversial organization. It is a spin-off of the Islamic Association for Palestine, identified by two former FBI counterterrorism chiefs as a "front group" for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Moreover, several CAIR leaders have been convicted on terror-related charges. During the June airport tour, CAIR was taken on a walk through the point-of-entry, Customs stations, secondary screening and interview rooms. In addition, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents were asked to describe for CAIR representatives various features of the high-risk passenger lookout system. Brian Humphrey, Customs and Border Patrol's executive director of field operations, assured CAIR officials that agents do not single out Muslim passengers for special screening and that they must undergo a mandatory course in Muslim sensitivity training. The course teaches agents that Muslims believe jihad is an "internal struggle against sin" and not holy warfare. Customs agents involved in the CAIR tour at O'Hare told WorldNetDaily they were outraged that headquarters would reveal sensitive counterterrorism procedures to an organization that has seen several of its own officials convicted of terror-related charges since 9-11. CAIR says the June tour allayed its concerns about profiling and that it "looks forward to continuing the relationship with U.S. Customs and Border Protection offices in the region, and to furthering understanding between the organizations as well as facilitating future communication in order to eliminate problems for Muslim travelers before they even arise." As WND reported, the Department of Homeland Security invites CAIR itself to conduct sensitivity training for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and supervisors (CBP's counterparts) in Chicago. The course is taught by local CAIR officials Christina Abraham and Mariyam Hussain. More than 30 ICE staffers have gone through the CAIR awareness program so far. CAIR – which is bankrolled by the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates, two countries that formally recognized the Taliban – also offers religious and cultural sensitivity training about Islam and Muslims to the military. In June, for example, CAIR trained more than 300 military personnel at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz. Also in June, CAIR was invited by the Pentagon to a ceremony dedicating the first Islamic center in Marine Corps history at Quantico headquarters outside of Washington. Washington-based CAIR also has regular meetings with the FBI and Justice Department. In fact, FBI case agents complain the bureau rarely can make a move in the Muslim community without first consulting with CAIR, which sits on its advisory board. CAIR in the past has cried racism and bigotry when the bureau has moved unilaterally with investigations and raids in the community. CAIR has also been dogged by the statements of Omar Ahmad, as reported by a California newspaper, that "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant," and, "The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth." Although the newspaper's publisher and the reporter stand by the quotes, Ahmad and CAIR dispute their accuracy. The pilgrimage to Mecca is a religious duty for Muslims, which attracts about 2.5 million Muslim pilgrims very year, according to Saudi officials. The Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., reports that about 15,000 American Muslims made the pilgrimage in 2005. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53543 Muslims shout at Jesus' home: 'Islam will dominate the world' March through town of Nazareth 'meant to intimidate Christians' WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - January 1, 2007 -- NAZARETH – Islamic groups held a large militant march down the main streets of Nazareth this weekend, highlighting for some here the plight of Christians in this ancient city where Muslims have become a majority and members of the dwindling Christian population say they suffer regular intimidation. Nazareth, considered one of the holiest cities for Christians, is described in the New Testament as the childhood home of Jesus. It contains multiple important shrines and churches, including the famous Church of the Basilica of the Annunciation, the site at which many Christians believe the Virgin Mary was visited by the Archangel Gabriel and told that she had been selected as the mother of Jesus. The Islamic Movement, the main Muslim political party in Nazareth, said it organized yesterday's march to celebrate Eid ul-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, which commemorates the Muslim belief Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Ishmael for Allah. Christian and Jewish faith dictates it was Isaac, not Ishmael, whom Abraham almost sacrificed. Islamic Movement leaders paraded down Nazareth's main thoroughfare brandishing their party's green flag. Young Muslim men in battle gear marched and beat drums as a man on loudspeaker repeatedly exclaimed in Arabic, "Allah is great." Hundreds of activists strutted screaming Islamist epithets, including "Islam is the only truth" and "Islam shall rule all." Tens of thousands of Nazareth residents, seemingly mostly Muslim, congregated on the streets as the march passed by. Muslim children launched firecrackers into the sky, occasionally misfiring, with the small explosives landing dangerously close to the crowds. Many of the town's Christian residents stayed away from the event, with the exception of Christian shopkeepers who worked in the area. WND observed as several Muslim youth marching in the parade started to charge at three local Christian shopkeepers but the youth stopped short. While the march was billed as a celebration, it's militant virtues were clearly visible. The event seemed more a show of force than a street party. "The march is meant to intimidate Christians," said Saleem, a Nazareth Christian resident who asked that his last name be withheld for fear of what he said was "Muslim retaliation" for speaking out. "It's part of the methods used by the Muslims in very obvious ways to create an atmosphere where the Christians should know the Muslims are the main power and we are not welcome anymore," Saleem said. ... [More] http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53574 Australia: Suspect 'spoke of rocket attack ideas' THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD - By AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS - January 11, 2007 -- A terror suspect who allegedly bought five stolen army rocket launchers said he would use them to blow up "the nuclear place" and Parliament House, a Sydney court has been told. It is alleged the man, Mohammad Ali Elomar, was later seen near Sydney's Lucas Heights nuclear reactor, where an access lock for a gate to a nearby reservoir had recently been cut. The claims were contained in a police statement tendered to Central Local Court, where Taha Abdul Rahman - the man accused of selling the rocket launchers - was refused bail. Abdul Rahman, 28, from Leumeah, in Sydney's south-west, faces 17 charges related to the possession and supply of seven rocket launchers allegedly stolen from the Australian Defence Force. ... [More] http://www.smh.com.au/news/NATIONAL/Suspect-spoke-of-rocket-attack-ideas/2007/01/10/1168105030674.html Spanish bishops fear rebirth of Islamic kingdom THE INDEPENDENT - By Elizabeth Nash in Madrid - January 5, 2007 -- Spain's bishops are alarmed by ambitious plans to recreate the city of Cordoba - once the heart of the ancient Islamic kingdom of al-Andalus - as a pilgrimage site for Muslims throughout Europe. Plans include the construction of a half-size replica of Cordoba's eighth century great mosque, according to the head of Cordoba's Muslim Association. Funds for the project are being sought from the governments of the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, and Muslim organisations in Morocco and Egypt.Other big mosques are reportedly planned for Medina Azahara near Cordoba, Seville and Granada. The bishops of those cities are alarmed at the construction of ostentatious mosques, fearing that the church's waning influence may be further eclipsed by resurgent Islam financed from abroad. Up to one million Muslims are estimated to live in Spain. Many are drawn by a romantic nostalgia for the lost paradise of Al-Andalus, the caliphate that ruled Spain for more than five centuries. ... [More] http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2125423.ece Airport Battles Some Muslim Cabbies ASSOCIATED PRESS - January 4, 2007 -- MINNEAPOLIS -- Officials at Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport are proposing stiffer penalties - including suspension of an airport taxi license - to Muslim cab drivers who refuse service to passengers toting alcohol or service dogs. Officials on Wednesday asked the Metropolitan Airport Commission for permission to hold public hearings on a proposal that would suspend the airport licenses of cab drivers who refuse service for reasons other than safety concerns. The penalties would also apply to drivers who refuse a fare because a trip is too short…. "Our expectation is that if you're going to be driving a taxi at the airport, you need to provide service to anybody who wants it," commission spokesman Patrick Hogan said…. Airports Commissioner Bert McKasy said the issue raised by Muslim cab drivers who say that carrying alcohol or dogs, including those that help people with disabilities, violates religious beliefs is "unfortunate."…. Each month, about 100 people are denied cab service at the airport. Airport officials say that in recent months, the problem of service refusals for religious reasons has grown. About three-quarters of the 900 taxi drivers at the airport are Somali, many of them Muslim…. Last year, the airports commission received a fatwa, or religious edict, from the Minnesota chapter of the Muslim American Society. The fatwa said "Islamic jurisprudence" prohibits taxi drivers from carrying passengers with alcohol, "because it involves cooperating in sin according to Islam."…. But Hassan Mohamud, imam at Al-Taqwa Mosque of St. Paul and director of the Islamic Law Institute at the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, one of the largest Islamic organizations in the state, said asking Muslims to transport alcohol "is a violation of their faith. Muslims do not consume, carry, sell or buy alcohol, and Islam also considers the saliva of dogs to be unclean, he said. Mohamud said he would ask airport officials to reconsider. But many Somali taxi drivers don't have a problem transporting passengers with alcohol and are worried about a backlash, said Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center. Jamal said he supports the tougher penalties. …[More]http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070104/D8MEJEU00.html Ellison Uses Thomas Jefferson's Quran ASSOCIATED PRESS - By Frederic J. Frommer - January 4, 2007 -- WASHINGTON -- Keith Ellison made history Thursday, becoming the first Muslim member of Congress and punctuating the occasion by taking a ceremonial oath with a Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson. "Look at that. That's something else," Ellison, D-Minn., said as officials from the Library of Congress showed him the two-volume Quran, which was published in London in 1764. A few minutes later, Ellison took the ceremonial oath with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at his side. So many of Ellison's family members attended the ceremony that it was done in two takes. Ellison had already planned to be sworn in using a Quran, rather than a Bible. He learned last month about Jefferson's Quran, with its multicolored cover and brown leather binding, and arranged to borrow it. …[More] http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/01/04/D8MEPKIG0.html Muslims warn of 'problems' in shared prayer room Somali leader says Islam, Christianity incompatible WORLDNETDAILY - January 4, 2007 -- Muslims are demanding a private room to pray at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, saying there will be problems if they have to share an existing "quiet room" with people of other religions. "Where you have Christians and Muslims praying at the same time, it will create a problem," said Fuad Ali, a Somali leader who spoke at a meeting with airport officials, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The meeting was a followup to an incident Nov. 20 when ticket agents and other passengers noticed six Muslim imams who had attended a conference in the area praying loudly before their flight, and shouting "Allah, Allah" when their flight was called. Officials said then they also asked to be scattered throughout the plane, rather than sitting together as they had been assigned. And some of the imams, although they did not need them, asked for seat-belt extenders. ... [More] http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53621 Judgement UK: Sharia law is spreading as authority wanes Islamic sharia law is gaining an increasing foothold in parts of Britain, a report claims. LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH - By Joshua Rozenberg, Legal Editor – November 29, 2006 -- Sharia, derived from several sources including the Koran, is applied to varying degrees in predominantly Muslim countries but it has no binding status in Britain. However, the BBC Radio 4 programme Law in Action produced evidence yesterday that it was being used by some Muslims as an alternative to English criminal law. Aydarus Yusuf, 29, a youth worker from Somalia, recalled a stabbing case that was decided by an unofficial Somali "court" sitting in Woolwich, south-east London. Mr Yusuf said a group of Somali youths were arrested on suspicion of stabbing another Somali teenager. The victim's family told the police it would be settled out of court and the suspects were released on bail. A hearing was convened and elders ordered the assailants to compensate their victim. "All their uncles and their fathers were there," said Mr Yusuf. "So they all put something towards that and apologised for the wrongdoing." Although Scotland Yard had no information about that case yesterday, a spokesman said it was common for the police not to proceed with assault cases if the victims decided not to press charges. However, the spokesman said cases of domestic violence, including rape, might go to trial regardless of the victim's wishes. Mr Yusuf told the programme he felt more bound by the traditional law of his birth than by the laws of his adopted country. "Us Somalis, wherever we are in the world, we have our own law," he said. "It's not sharia, it's not religious — it's just a cultural thing." Sharia's great strength was the effectiveness of its penalties, he said. Those who appeared before religious courts would avoid re-offending so as not to bring shame on their families. Some lawyers welcomed the advance of what has become known as "legal pluralism". Dr Prakash Shah, a senior lecturer in law at Queen Mary University of London, said such tribunals "could be more effective than the formal legal system". In his book Islam in Britain, Patrick Sookhdeo, director of the Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity, says there is an "alternative parallel unofficial legal system" that operates in the Muslim community on a voluntary basis. "Sharia courts now operate in most larger cities, with different sectarian and ethnic groups operating their own courts that cater to their specific needs according to their traditions," he says. These are based on sharia councils, set up in Britain to help Muslims solve family and personal problems. Sharia councils may grant divorces under religious law to a woman whose husband refuses to complete a civil divorce by declaring his marriage over. There is evidence that these councils are evolving into courts of arbitration. Faizul Aqtab Siddiqi, a barrister and principal of Hijaz College Islamic University, near Nuneaton, Warwicks, said this type of court had advantages for Muslims. "It operates on a low budget, it operates on very small timescales and the process and the laws of evidence are far more lenient and it's less awesome an environment than the English courts," he said. Mr Siddiqi predicted that there would be a formal network of Muslim courts within a decade. "I was speaking to a police officer who said we no longer have the bobby on the beat who will give somebody a slap on the wrist. "So I think there is a case to be made under which the elders sit together and reprimand people, trying to get them to change." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=Y3UZA1RZGTHK5QFIQMFSFGGAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2006/11/29/nsharia29.xml CNN Should've Seen Osama-Obama Flub Coming The confusion between Osama Bin Laden and Barack Obama MEDIABISTRO.com - January 2, 2007 -- Considering their lighthearted report on people who confuse "Osama" with "Obama" aired less than a month ago ... CNN airs video of Osama Bin Laden with the question superimposed on the screen “Where’s Obama?” http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/tv/cnn_shouldve_seen_osamaobama_flub_coming_50370.asp CNN Apologizes for Mistaken Headline ASSOCIATED PRESS - January 2, 2007 -- NEW YORK -- CNN apologized Tuesday for mistakenly promoting a story on the search for Osama bin Laden with the headline "Where's Obama?" A spokesman for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama said the apology was accepted. The blunder came Monday evening on Wolf Blitzer's news show "The Situation Room." Both Soledad O'Brien and Blitzer offered separate apologies during CNN's morning show Tuesday. CNN called it a "bad typographical error" by its graphics department. … [More] http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/01/02/D8MDBBEG0.html Muslims demand pope convert to Islam WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - September 19, 2006 -- Christian churches in the Middle East are vandalized, a Catholic nun in Africa is killed and Muslims have demanded that the pope convert to Islam – all because he read a quote from a medieval text that described Islam as "evil and inhuman." The pope has issued an apology for even referencing the historic text, emphasized that those views are not his, but still many in the Islamic world are demanding blood.... And now, a report in the Jerusalem Post said that Muslim religious leaders in the Gaza Strip are warning the pope that he must "accept" Islam if he wanted to live in peace. One Muslim cleric, Imad Hamto, said the pope must "repent and ask for forgiveness" and Hamto referred to a phrase taken from letters sent by the founder of Islam to the chiefs of tribes in his times – when he reportedly urged them to convert to Islam in order to keep their lives. ... [More] http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52057 Salman Rushdie says Muslim veils 'suck' THE EVENING STANDARD of LONDON – October 10, 2006 - The row over Muslim women's dress codes reignited today after author Salman Rushdie declared that "veils suck". Rushdie, whose book The Satanic Verses triggered death threats from Islamic clerics, gave his full backing to Leader of the Commons Jack Straw for raising the issue. Rushdie was forced into hiding for 10 years after Iranian cleric Ayatollah Khomeini served a "fatwah" on him over his book's alleged slight on the prophet Mohammed. …. [More] http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23370188-details/Salman+Rushdie+says+Muslim+veils+'suck'/article.do Seeker Sensitive Islam? Discover Islam Wetpaint.com - By Kamala - The Florida-based Web site DiscoverIslam.com sells ornate posters and brochures covering a range of topics about Islam. In their own words, Each poster masterfully integrates traditional Islamic art and calligraphy with modern computer graphics... They powerfully communicate the beauty of Islam, and yet are gentle enough to sway any heart, Muslim and non-Muslim. According to the Web site, over 10,000 sets of posters and more than 2.7 million Readers (brochures) have been distributed worldwide:The Discover Islam series of products have become the mainstay of outreach materials here in the United States and in many parts of the world... Post 9-11 America, wars against terror, war with Afghanistan and Iraq, and Islam taking center stage in world affairs mean that the onslaught of attacks on Islam and Muslim ideologies will continue and will intensify. Simply put, we cannot afford to sit back and let this ideological attack continue. We have to respond, we have to reply in a better, kinder, gentler manner. We have to invite and educate non-Muslims about Islam. Our outreach efforts have to be greater in quantity and quality. ... [More] http://revuse.wetpaint.com/page/Discover%20Islam More Articles: Man convicted for anti Muslim banner FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.