S P I R I T U A L · C H A N G E

Reason for war? Gaddafi wanted to nationalise oil

The Libyan leader proposed the nationalisation of U.S. oil companies, as well as those of UK, Germany, Spain, Norway, Canada and Italy in 2009., On January 25, 2009, Muammar Al Gaddafi announced that his country was studying the nationalisation of foreign companies due to lower oil prices., "The oil-exporting countries should opt for nationalisation because of the rapid fall in oil prices. We must put the issue on the table and discuss it seriously," said Gaddafi., "Oil should be owned by the State at this time, so we could better control prices by the increase or decrease in production," said the Libyan leader., These statements have worried the main foreign companies operating in Libya: Anglo-Dutch Shell, British Petroleum, U.S. ExxonMobil, Hess Corp., Marathon Oil, Occidental Petroleum and ConocoPhillips, the Spanish Repsol, Germany’s Wintershall, Austria’s OMV , Norway’s Statoil, Eni and Canada’s Petro Canada., In 2008, the Libyan state oil company, National Oil, prepared a report on the subject in which officials suggested modifying the production-sharing agreements with foreign companies in order to increase state revenues., As a result of these contract changes, Libya gained 5.4 billion dollars in oil revenues., On February 16, 2009, Gaddafi took a step further and called on Libyans to back his proposal to dismantle the government and to distribute the oil wealth directly to the 5 million inhabitants of the country.

Pravda

Libya refused to agree to US dominance in Africa

The question as to why US-led NATO forces are determined to engineer a regime change in Libya is now becoming clear. While media pundits and political experts still argue over whether the Libyan rebel gangs are actually being backed and directed by US, UK and Israel intelligence agencies, broader long-range Western policy objectives for Libya are being completely ignored.

One only has to read the strategic briefings in U.S. AFRICOM documents to realise the true endgame in Libya: the control of valuable resources and the eviction of China from North Africa.

When the US formed AFRICOM in 2007, some 49 countries signed on to the US military charter for Africa but one country refused: Libya. Such a treacherous act by Libya’s leader Moummar Qaddafi would only sow the seeds for a future conflict down the road in 2011.

Global Research

Rebels create Libyan Central Bank as they fight!

Riba (usury) is not permitted [in Libya]. The Central bank of Libya is a wholly-owned by the Libyan Government and is run as a state bank, issuing all government loans free of interest. This is in contrast to the exploitative fractional reserve banking system of the West. The no-fly zone and the bombing of Libya have nothing to do with the protection of civilians. It is an act of war - a blatant and crude attempt by the oil corporations and international bankers to steal the wealth of Libya.

Rense.com

The rebels in Libya are in the middle of a life or death civil war and Moammar Gadhafi is still in power and yet somehow the Libyan rebels have had enough time to establish a new Central Bank of Libya and form a new national oil company.

The Economic Collapse Blog

Mu’ummar Qaddafi speaks about the invasion

For 40 years, or was it longer, I can’t remember, I did all I could to give people houses, hospitals, schools, and when they were hungry, I gave them food, I even made Benghazi into farmland from the desert, I stood up to attacks from that cowboy Reagan, when he killed my adopted orphaned daughter, he was trying to kill me, instead he killed that poor innocent child, then I helped my brothers and sisters from Africa with money for the African Union, did all I could to help people understand the concept of real democracy, where people’s committees ran our country, but that was never enough, as some told me, even people who had 10 room homes, new suits and furniture, were never satisfied, as selfish as they were they wanted more, and they told Americans and other visitors, they needed “democracy,” and “freedom,” never realizing it was a cut throat system, where the biggest dog eats the rest, but they were enchanted with those words, never realizing that in America, there was no free medicine, no free hospitals, no free housing, no free education and no free food, except when people had to beg or go to long lines to get soup …

Information Clearing House

NATO supports Islamic Terrorists in Libya

Concepts are Turned Upside Down: The US-NATO military alliance is supporting a rebellion integrated by Islamic terrorists, in the name of the "War on Terrorism"…There are various factions within the Libyan opposition: Royalists, defectors from the Qadhafi regime including the Minister of Justice and more recently the Foreign Minister, Moussa Koussa, members of the Libyan Armed Forces, the National Front for the Salvation of Libya (NFSL) and the National Conference for the Libyan Opposition (NCLO) which acts as an umbrella organization. 

Global Research

Human Rights Watch puts Khadafy in the right

EVIDENCE IS now in that President Barack Obama grossly exaggerated the humanitarian threat to justify military action in Libya. The president claimed that intervention was necessary to prevent a “bloodbath’’ in Benghazi, Libya’s second-largest city and last rebel stronghold.

But Human Rights Watch has released data on Misurata, the next-biggest city in Libya and scene of protracted fighting, revealing that Moammar Khadafy is not deliberately massacring civilians but rather narrowly targeting the armed rebels who fight against his government.

The best evidence that Khadafy did not plan genocide in Benghazi is that he did not perpetrate it in the other cities he had recaptured either fully or partially — including Zawiya, Misurata, and Ajdabiya, which together have a population greater than Benghazi.

The “no mercy’’ warning, of March 17, targeted rebels only, as reported by The New York Times, which noted that Libya’s leader promised amnesty for those “who throw their weapons away.’’ Khadafy even offered the rebels an escape route and open border to Egypt, to avoid a fight “to the bitter end.’’

Boston.com

Ondanks de bittere kou mogen meisjes van sommige reformatorische scholen geen broek aan, zelfs niet op de fiets. Maar de middelbare school Pieter Zandt in Kampen knijpt een oogje dicht.

Daar gelden de kledingvoorschriften pas vanaf het schoolplein. Er zijn speciale kleedhokjes in het fietsenhok waar de vrouwelijke leerlingen hun broek kunnen verwisselen voor een rok, zegt locatiedirecteur Jan Kettelarij.(…)

De meiden meldden dat ze – ongemerkt – ook met een dikke skibroek of legging op school komen of naar huis gaan. Zij trekken deze beenwarmhouders stiekem onder hun rok of regenbroek aan of uit in het fietsenhok.

Volkskrant, 2009

Katholieke afbeelding van de Heilige Maria, vereerd als Moeder van God.

Geachte heer Dekkers,

U verbiedt de moslima’s op uw school een hoofddoek te dragen omdat het een religieus symbool zou zijn. Heeft u ook de hoofddoek afgehaald van de Maria beeldjes die ongetwijfeld in uw school staan, en heeft u uw plaatselijke kerk erop aangesproken dat Maria een islamitisch symbool draagt?

Natuurlijk niet. De hoofddoek en zelfs gezichtsbedekkende sluiers zijn niet exclusief voor de Islam. Zelfs in onze hedendaagse cultuur worden ze beschouwd als kledingstukken die vrouwen eer en waardigheid geven. De heilige Maria draagt ze en wordt als zodanig vereerd als de moeder van God. Nonnen geven ermee aan dat zij zich aan een geestelijk leven wijden. Verpleegkundigen droegen tot voor kort hoofddoekjes. Prinsessen en vrouwen van adel worden in films met een sluier afgebeeld. Onze traditionele klederdrachten kennen de prachtige kanten kapjes; Volendam staat hier zelfs bekend om. We vinden het romantisch om als bruidskleding een meterslange hoofddoek en een gezichtsbedekkende sluier te dragen. Ze staan symbool voor zuiverheid en kuisheid, en geven waardigheid aan de bruid.

Het is verkeerd om de hoofddoek te beschouwen als een religieus symbool. Het is een kledingstuk zoals alle andere. Het is niet te vergelijken met het kruisteken, maar eerder met de lange rok van sommige christelijke meisjes. Het verbieden van de hoofddoek is te vergelijken met het aan christelijke meisjes ontnemen van het recht om zich volgens hun normen te kleden.

Wanneer moslima’s naar een islamitische school gaan, is dat slecht voor integratie, zegt men. Wanneer zij naar een christelijke of openbare school gaan, beschouwt men hun klederdracht als een bedreiging voor hun identiteit en worden ze beperkt in het uitoefenen van hun geloof.

Christelijke scholen zouden een voorbeeldrol moeten nemen in tolerantie. Christus heeft nooit bezwaar gemaakt tegen de hoofddoek van zijn moeder, en laat in de gelijkenis van de Samaritaan zien dat het verkeerd is om mensen om hun godsdienst te discrimineren.

We hopen dat u tot inkeer komt en dat u straks tegen God de Vader kunt vertellen dat u barmhartigheid heeft betoond aan Zijn schepping, zoals Christus ons geleerd heeft. Wij kunnen u van onze kant zeggen dat wij christenen op onze scholen in Afrika niet discrimineren en onze godsdienst niet opdringen. Wij veroordelen plaatsen waar dat wel gebeurt, zie bijvoorbeeld onze brief in Nederlands Dagblad van 4 januari 2011.

Deze open brief is een officieel mediabericht van Ahmadiyya Moslim Gemeenschap Nederland en mag met bronvermelding vrijelijk  worden overgenomen.

General Wesley Clark, 2007:

About ten days after 9/11, I went through the Pentagon and I saw Secretary Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz. I went downstairs just to say hello to some of the people on the Joint Staff who used to work for me, and one of the generals called me in. He said, “Sir, you’ve got to come in and talk to me a second.” I said, “Well, you’re too busy.” He said, “No, no.” He says, “We’ve made the decision we’re going to war with Iraq.” This was on or about the 20th of September. I said, “We’re going to war with Iraq? Why?” He said, “I don’t know.” He said, “I guess they don’t know what else to do.” So I said, “Well, did they find some information connecting Saddam to al-Qaeda?” He said, “No, no.” He says, “There’s nothing new that way. They just made the decision to go to war with Iraq.” He said, “I guess it’s like we don’t know what to do about terrorists, but we’ve got a good military and we can take down governments.” And he said, “I guess if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem has to look like a nail.”

So I came back to see him a few weeks later, and by that time we were bombing in Afghanistan. I said, “Are we still going to war with Iraq?” And he said, “Oh, it’s worse than that.” He reached over on his desk. He picked up a piece of paper. And he said, “I just got this down from upstairs” — meaning the Secretary of Defense’s office — “today.” And he said, “This is a memo that describes how we’re going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran.” I said, “Is it classified?” He said, “Yes, sir.” I said, “Well, don’t show it to me.” And I saw him a year or so ago, and I said, “You remember that?” He said, “Sir, I didn’t show you that memo! I didn’t show it to you!”

Full interview transcript

Stan van Houcke stops his daily writings on his weblog. He was to me the only critical journalist left in the country. He used to work for the public radio station VPRO until he became an independent writer. He received the “Journalist for Peace Award” from the Humanist Peace Council in 2003. He authored the books “The Endless War” on Palestine, and “9/11, the Turning Point”.

Van Houcke held that the Neo Liberal world view desanctifies life and ultimately culminates in grave injustice. Another main subject was the injustice commited by Israel. A unique feature of his writings was that he would look for the person behind the news, criticizing and analysing the authors and motives of the mainstream media.

I had the honour of corresponding with him personally, parts of which I published on my weblog Spiritual Change.

The past writings of his weblog can be read at stanvanhoucke.blogspot.com

On October 4th, 539 BC, the Persian Army entered the city of Babylon, which was then the capital of the Babylonian state (in central Iraq). This was a bloodless campaign and no prisoners were taken. Later, on November 9th, King Cyrus of Persia visited the city. Babylonian history tells us that Cyrus was greeted by the people, who spread a pathway of green twigs before him as a sign of honor and peace. Cyrus greeted all Babylonians in peace and brought peace to their city.

On this great event, Cyrus issued a declaration, inscribed on a clay barrel known as Cyrus’s inscription cylinder. It was discovered in 1879 by Hormoz Rassam in Babylon and today is kept in the British Museum. Many historians have reviewed it as the first declaration of human rights.

The Babylonian annals, as well as the first section of the Cyrus’ inscription, shed light on the religiopolitical plight that had angered the people of Babylon and why they invited Cyrus’s military campaign. Evidently, the Babyloninan king, Nabonidus, eliminated the festival of the New Year and Nebo (one of the gods) was not brought into the city, and Bel (another god) was not taken in the procession of the festival. Also, the worship of Marduk, the king of the gods, was changed to an abomination and Nabonidus tormented the inhabitants with unbelievable oppression and forced labor.

Teheran Times

Read about the meaning of Cyrus as he is mentioned in the Holy Quran: Gog and Magog

AMSTERDAM – Zaterdag 26 februari werd in de Mozes- en Aäronkerk te Amsterdam "Profetendag Nederland" gehouden. Op de interreligieuze conferentie spraken vertegenwoordigers van zes godsdiensten over de leerstellingen van hun geestelijk leraren omtrent de Rechten en Plichten van de Mens. Organisator Ahmadiyya Moslim Gemeenschap beoogde met de conferentie wederzijds respect tussen de godsdiensten te bevorderen door de ontdekking van gemeenschappelijke waarden. Coördinator Mahmood Altaf is tevreden over het resultaat van de avond. "De Islam leert dat alle godsdiensten van dezelfde God afkomstig zijn. Door te leren over elkaar hebben we veel overeenkomsten ontdekt." Spreker Menno ten Brink van de Liberaal Joodse Gemeente: "We ervaren dat de ander minder eng is dan we misschien eerder hadden gedacht". Het viel op dat elke godsdienst leerde om aanhangers van andere godsdiensten te respecteren en te beschermen. "Dat is een belangrijke wetenschap in een tijd waarin extremisme en discriminatie onstuitbaar in opkomst lijken te zijn", merkt Hibatunnoer Verhagen op, voorzitter van de Ahmadiyya Moslim Gemeenschap. "Dit is dan ook een sterk gebaar tegen polariserende krachten in de samenleving". Er kwamen ongeveer 278 mensen af op het evenement in de beroemde kerk op het Waterlooplein. Vertegenwoordigd waren het Hindoeïsme, het Boeddhisme, Jodendom, Christendom, Islam en Sikhisme. De Ahmadiyya Moslim Gemeenschap werd in 1889 gesticht door Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, die er aanspraak op maakte de Messias te zijn die door alle godsdiensten wordt verwacht. De gemeenschap werkt aan een vervolg van het project.
 
Op deze video spreekt Cor Bon, directeur van het Mozeshuis, zijn waardering uit over het initiatief. Meer informatie: www.profetendag.nl

Police chief Gerda Dijksman from Zuidwest-Drenthe district has been removed from her job following unease about her use of the microblogging service Twitter.

In one message she called Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam party PVV a fascist organisation. In another, she made a joke about a double death from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Dijksman has not been sacked, but put on effective probation for two years.

For more click here

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Editor’s Comment
If Wilders would be put in probation for calling the whole of Islam fascist, there would be an upheaval about the freedom of speech.

Here is an interesting solution of the Promised Messiah (as) which is applicable in the Dutch situation in which both left and right call each other fascist. The Promised Messiah says the example of that time Ottoman government should be adopted:

"In my opinion, an easy way to deal with these problems is to adopt the example of the present Ottoman government. For an experimental period of a few years, every group should be strictly forbidden from using vicious language against other religions, be it explicit or implicit, in their writings or in their sermons. They should, however, be permitted to recount the virtues of their own faith. This will prevent the cultivation of new plants of hatred and as ancient tales fade away people will be inclined towards mutual love and reconciliation."

The British Government and Jihad (1900), p. 28

I will hopefully pay more attention to the application of this book to the situation in Holland.

It should be remembered that today’s Islamic scholars (who are called maulavis) completely misunderstand jihad and misrepresent it to the general public. The public’s violent instincts are inflamed as a result and they are stripped of all noble human virtues. This is in fact what has happened. I know for certain that maulavis who persist in propagating these blood-spattered doctrines are in fact responsible for murders committed by ignorant, egotistical people who know nothing of why Islam was forced to fight battles in its early history. When these maulavis meet present day rulers, they bow down as if ready to prostrate; but among their own kind they insist repeatedly that this country is “dar-ul-harb” [the zone of war]. They consider jihad to be obligatory in their hearts, and few of them think otherwise. (p. 8.)

At this point I must with great regret say that although ignorant maulavis have instructed the ordinary public in plunder and killing by calling these actions jihad, Christian clerics have also done something similar. They have, in Urdu, Pashto and other languages, produced thousands of publications, journals and flyers alleging that Islam was spread by the sword. This literature, which has been distributed by them in India, Punjab and the Frontier Region, wrongly claims that Islam is synonymous with violence. The people’s penchant for violence has increased as a result of the combined testimony of the maulavis and Christian clerics. The dangerous lies of the Christian clerics create unrest and rebellion and, in my view, it is essential that our government prohibit them. Muslims will never abandon Islam due to these senseless fabrications. By repeatedly calling their attention to the doctrine of jihad, these sermons will instead cause Muslims to rise from their slumber. (p. 10-11)

As I have detailed extensively in this booklet, the tradition prevalent among Muslims of attacking the people of other religions, which they call jihad, is not the jihad of Divine religious Law [Shari‘ah]. Rather, it is a grievous sin and a violation of the clear instructions of God and His Prophets. It may not be easy for certain Muslims to abandon this custom since it is wellestablished among some tribes. In fact, because they imagine themselves to be ghazis, they may even become the mortal enemies of one who counsels them against this practice and seek to kill him.

One solution that I can think of to this problem is that His Majesty, the Amir of Kabul, whose influence over Afghan tribes probably exceeds that of all previous Amirs, should gather the great scholars of religion and convene a discussion on the true nature of jihad. These religious scholars can then educate the public about its errors. In fact, the religious scholars of this country should compile a few pamphlets in Pashto and make them available to the general public.

I believe that this type of activity will have a tremendous influence on people. The passions instilled by the ignorant maulavis will gradually subside. The Amir’s citizens will surely suffer if he fails to pay heed to this essential reform. The government that ignores such fatawa from these mullahs ultimately creates problems for itself because these days the maulavis readily label people as disbelievers over minor religious differences, applying to them all other fatawa that they apply to disbelievers.

In light of this, even the Amir himself cannot remain safe from these fatawa. It is quite possible that the maulavis may cast the Amir out of the pale of Islam by taking offence over some trivial issue, and then subject him to the same fatawa of jihad that they have applied to others.

A group that has the power to declare a person to be a believer or disbeliever is dangerous, and the Amir should not be complacent with respect to them. They are the source of the rebellions confronted by every government. They have power over the common people and create havoc by turning them in whatever direction they please.

It is therefore no sin to free people from their influence through gentle education about the true nature of jihad. Islam certainly does not teach Muslims to behave like thieves and bandits, or to use jihad as an excuse to satisfy their basest inner desires. Since the general public knows that Islam does not allow jihad to be waged without the sovereign’s permission, it is possible that some people who are ignorant of the facts will blame the Amir for such events. The Amir must therefore do his best to prevent the issuing of these erroneous fatawa.

The Amir will exonerate himself magnificently in this way. God will also reward him well because, after the observance of duties owed to God, there is no act of goodness greater than delivering the oppressed from the swords of their oppressors. The Amir has been given an opportunity by God to make this great reform a part of his legacy because it is mostly Afghans who commit these acts and wield the sword with the intent of becoming ghazis, and a sizable majority of them live in his country. These barbaric practices defame Islam and he should do his best to cleanse the Afghan nation of them.

This is the time of the Promised Messiah. God will certainly create a way for the world, which is currently filled with persecution, injustice and bloodshed, to be filled with justice, peace and reconciliation. Blessed are the sovereigns and kings who play a part in achieving this objective. (p. 21-23)

In my opinion, an easy way to deal with these problems is to adopt the example of the present Ottoman government. For an experimental period of a few years, every group should be strictly forbidden from using vicious language against other religions, be it explicit or implicit, in their writings or in their sermons. They should, however, be permitted to recount the virtues of their own faith. This will prevent the cultivation of new plants of hatred and as ancient tales fade away people will be inclined towards mutual love and reconciliation.(p. 28)

The British Government and Jihad (1900)

A series of videos aimed against the anti-Islam Freedom Party (PVV) on a Dutch website have caused quite a stir. One of the videos entitled ‘Freedom’, in which children quote xenophobic and Islamophobic statements made by Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders, has prompted particularly fierce reactions.

Many people have condemned the video as ‘ridiculous’, ’scandalous’ and ‘disgusting’ on the website of populist newspaper De Telegraaf, although a number of people also expressed agreement. Most of the netizens who posted their reaction on the site of conservative magazine Elsevier also condemned the video. About 90,000 people have watched the Freedom video since it was first posted on YouTube.

RNW

Image source

The radical faction of Islam, known as the Salafi, are a movement created through British intrigue and coordination with occult secret societies, toward fomenting a “Clash of Civilizations”. And though the West is largely unaware of them, they are almost entirely responsible for the extremism that Islam is mistakenly perceived for.

Zarqawi, in his letter to bin Laden, described the Mujahideen, those who have been duped by the CIA to believe they are fighting a “holy war”, as follows: “These are the quintessence of the Sunnis and the good sap of this country. In general, they belong to the Sunni doctrine and naturally to the Salafi creed.”

Interestingly, their most recent response to challenges against their authenticity has been to admit, in part, to their Masonic origins, although apologizing that the men claimed as its founders, Masons and British agents like Jamal Aghani, and Mohammed Abduh, were not its true representatives.

But this is a feeble attempt to disguise their true mischief and service to Western powers. Instead, the Salafi now claim to be devoted followers alone of Abdul Wahhab, the founder of Wahhabism, whose service as a British agent they have yet to discover.

Islam was essentially consolidated for a period of about 1000 years, until the advent of Wahhabism. Islam developed four primary schools of legal thought, called Math’habs. These developed out of the tolerant attitude that it was possible to arrive at different conclusions based on an appraisal of the very same evidence. At a certain point, nevertheless, the legal development of Islam was eventually closed, called the “Closing of the Doors of Ijtihad”, to avoid any further controversy. That is how the schools were established at a number of four.

These various schools were not considered sects. They were legal schools of opinion, and were each considered orthodox and mutually compatible.

That is, until the 19th century, and the advent of colonialism, and the common British strategy of “Divide and Rule”, which evidently exercised its hand in disrupting this situation. (…)

An excellent article has now been posted … at Salafi Publications, which not only admits, but thoroughly exposes, the Masonic and deviant origins of the founders of the Salafi movement, and their successors, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Instead, they hold to the claim that Salafism derived from the earliest centuries of Islam, from the time of the Salaf, meaning the earliest generations, and referring to the time before the development of the Math’habs. Contrary to their claims though, while it is true that the word “Salaf” refers to these early generations, the use of the term in this manner is a modern development.

This deceptive interpretation of history is derived from Abdul Wahhab, who appeared in the mid-18th century. According to his memoirs, a British spy by the name of Hempher, was assigned to the Middle East in order to discover ways to undermine Islam, with the aim of advancing British control over the region. His mission eventually focussed on the support of Wahhab, and backing him through the Saudi family, through whom he preached the British’s destructive message of Islam.

Read further on: Terrorism-Illuminati.com

Like those who create the heaviest propaganda these days, like the Bush administration, or Dutch Arabist Hans Jansen, Geert Wilders makes the impression of using Doublespeak. He addressed the Court on monday with the following words:

“I believe Islam distinguishes itself by murder and killing. It is not just about me, but about something much bigger. We have fought for freedom for centuries. Now that freedom is being sacrificed for the sake of pampering to a totalitarian ideology. The final result is an Islamic Europe. A Europe without freedom. It is the duty of free people to resist this.”

Source: RNW

What should be read here is:

“I believe my party distinguishes itself by murder and killing. It is not just about me, but about something much bigger. We have fought for freedom for centuries. Now I want to sacrifice that freedom for the sake of a totalitarian ideology. The final result will be a fascist Europe. A Europe without freedom. It is my duty to establish this.”

The severest political propaganda distinguishes itself by not just obscuring the facts, but by turning them around completely. Doublespeak derives from George Orwell’s novel Nineteen-eighty four. Geert Wilders accuses Islam of exactly those things that his own agenda is aiming for. Geert Wilders is a dictator in his own party which cannot have members. Even the employees and MP’s of his own party do not have freedom of speech, and voters do not have the freedom to see where Wilders gets his money from. Wilders is supported by Zionist Israelis, who themselves have a totalitarian and discriminative agenda.

Wilders shows familiarity with the term when he said in his Berlin speech that “we are trapped … in the old Communist habit of deceit and double-speak”.

We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe? The Holy Quran, 21:31

Seeing revolution in Egypt, my mind turned to the 1960’s in Europe and the US. Many Ahmadis who come to the West seek explanations of what they encounter there in Christian teachings. Although there will eventually be a connection to Christianity, I believe it is important that Ahmadis try to understand this period of history as a factor in its own right before they draw the connection to Christianity. Most of the people currently in power have the "Sixties" as their ideological background and act upon its ideas.

Counterreaction against Christianity
"The Sixties" are labeled the Swinging Sixties because of the fall or relaxation of some social taboos especially relating to sexism and racism that occurred during this time. Typical images are people with long hair making music and using drugs. The Sixties is in part a counterreaction against a suppressive Christianity, with ideas that would conform to Islam, such as multiculturalism, universal love and brotherhood, peace, animal’s rights, having your personal relationship to God and intellectual and social emancipation for women.

Excesses
On the other hand, the counterreaction produced ideas that Muslims would judge as excessive, especially in the fields of sexuality, the disregard for marriage and the raising of children, the defence of child abortion and the use of drugs. These excesses are sometimes attributed (even by Christians themselves who like to indulge in them) to the Christian idea of atonement, but should be rather attributed to a protest against irrational, repressive and hollow teachings of the Churches. So in a way, these excesses are the result of a movement away from Christianity towards Islamic principles, but moving past the proper balance.

Spirituality and institutionalization
In the realm of spirituality, the Sixties sought liberation from institutionalized religion and looked for a spirituality outside of the institutions. Many older Ahmadi converts found love and spirituality in Ahmadiyyat, but many also left again because the community’s organization for them would come too close to the institutionalization they had disliked in the Church. The majority of seekers of spirituality would end up calling themselves Buddhists because of certain words they have come across, in fact not knowing much of the teachings.

Peace movements
On a political level, the Sixties saw a peace movement especially surrounding the Vietnam war. The current older generation still has sentiments towards the peace protests, but somehow does not extend these sympathies towards protest against the war in Iraq. One of the reasons is that the protest against the Vietnam war did not have a full understanding of the banking and military industrial complex which are behind the waging of war also today. Islam can help current generations pick up the anti war movement of the Sixties at the right place, which is the interest based currency system.

Women’s rights and the family
On the social level, it is clear that the disregard for traditional patterns of marriage and family is weakening society at the point of health and economy. Ahmadis should explain and show in practice that the freedom of intellectual and social development for women which the Sixties looked for, is available within the Muslim concepts of family and community.

Concluding, I encourage Ahmadis to study this period along the lines pictured above to increase their understanding of the complex "post-Christian" culture they live in. 

For more news and opinions read: The Muslim Times

KUALA LUMPUR — Former prime minister Tony Blair’s sister-in-law Lauren Booth, a rights campaigner and Muslim convert, said on Wednesday that he should be tried for war crimes over the invasion of Iraq.

Booth, the half-sister of Blair’s barrister wife Cherie, is in Malaysia for lectures organised by Viva Palestina, a British-based organisation associated with controversial politician George Galloway.

Asked whether Blair should be arrested and sent to the International Court of Justice in The Hague for war crimes, Booth replied: “Absolutely. He misled the British people and took Britain to war on a lie.”

The conflict in Iraq was “an offence”, she told reporters after a speech at a Malaysian university, saying it was organised well in advance between Blair and the United States leadership.

AFP

NEW YORK – UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon’s office condemned Richard Falk, a retired Princeton professor and a member of the Genevabased Human Rights Council, for questioning in a recent blog posting whether the 9/11 terror attacks were orchestrated by the US government.

In a letter to Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, the secretary-general’s spokesman Vijay Nambiar wrote that Falk’s remarks were “an affront to the memory of the more than 3,000 people who died in the attack.” (…)

“We welcome the secretary-general’s unequivocal condemnation of the despicable comments by this official of the UN Human Rights Council,” said Neuer. “And we urge Mr. Ban, together with UN rights chief Navi Pillay, to take the next logical step and call on Falk – who is a serial offender with zero credibility – to be removed.”

Jerusalem Post

What did Falk write?

“The arguments swirling around the 9/11 attacks are emblematic of these issues. What fuels suspicions of conspiracy is the reluctance to address the sort of awkward gaps and contradictions in the official explanations that David Ray Griffin (and other devoted scholars of high integrity) have been documenting in book after book ever since his authoritative The New Pearl Harbor in 2004 (updated in 2008). What may be more distressing than the apparent cover up is the eerie silence of the mainstream media, unwilling to acknowledge the well-evidenced doubts about the official version of the events: an al Qaeda operation with no foreknowledge by government officials. Is this silence a manifestation of fear or cooption, or part of an equally disturbing filter of self-censorship? Whatever it is, the result is the withering away of a participatory citizenry and the erosion of legitimate constitutional government. The forms persist, but the content is missing.”

Richard Falk: Citizen Pilgrimage

The bloodthirsty words issued by Neuer are reminiscent of Medieval accusations of heresy. The exclusion of “conspiracy theorists” has been compared to Medieval witch hunts by prof. Michel Chossudovsky: 9/11 and the American Inquisition

In zijn nogal warrig betoog maakt professor Heertje nog een fout. Hij beweert dat ‘het antisemitisme van alle tijden en van alle windstreken [is].’

Dit is onjuist, in de Arabische wereld werden onder andere de joden eeuwenlang beschermd door een zogeheten protectie-contract waarover de inmiddels extreemrechtse arabist Hans Jansen in 1993 schreef 

‘dat moslims terecht (nog steeds) trots zijn op het dhimma-systeem, en wanneer Arabische nationalisten zich op het dhimma-systeem beroepen om de Arabieren en de moslims vrij te pleiten van anti-joodse kwaadaardigheid, is er alle reden om dat serieus te nemen.’

Dutch Iranian woman Zahra Bahrami has been sentenced to death in Iran for smuggling drugs and undermining the state, Dutch world service radio reports on Wednesday.

The radio station bases its claims on an interview her daughter, Banafsheh Najebpour who said the court delivered its ruling on Sunday but that her mother’s defence lawyer had not been allowed to break the news earlier.

Bahrami, 45, was born in Iran but later moved to the Netherlands and became a Dutch citizen. She was arrested in Iran in December 2009 after returning to visit relatives.

The Dutch ambassador to Iran has been refused permission to visit her because Tehran does not recognise her double nationality.

Foreign minister Uri Rosenthal has asked the Iranian ambassador in The Hague to clarify the sentencing, Nos tv reports.

More: Radio Netherlands

For more click here

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Editor’s Comment
Very confusing games are being played in the politicla realm concerning Iran. For example, the statements of pres Sarkozy about the Iranian stoning case was completely false, as Iranian mullahs have banned stoning for years. See Thierry Meyssan.

Very mean propaganda against Iran seems to be made to demonize the country in the eyes of the global public. We don’t know where this case is coming from.

For a positive view on Iran, see Mirza Tahir Ahmad: The Gulf Crisis

 

Hadayatullah Hübsch was a great German, a great Muslim, and a great friend. Thank you, Hadayatullah Hübsch. We miss you. Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajihoon.

More: Ahmadiyya.de

In Charles II’s reign a young English woman, who had been a servant-girl, became an active member of the Society of Friends and suffered persecution on that account. She was twice flogged in England for protest­ing against Church customs of the day. She, with two other Quakers, went to preach in New England, as the American colonies were then called. There they were thrown into prison on a charge of witchcraft and released only after many hardships. After her return to England she set out with five other Quakers to convert the Grand Signior, as the Sultan of Turkey was called.

In the journey across Europe her companions fell into the hands of the Inquisition, and only one of them was  ever heard of afterwards. He returned to England after many years, a globering madman. She after much persecution and annoyance, pursued her journey quite alone, took ship at Venice and was put ashore on the coast of the Morea, far from the place she wished to go to, but in Muslim territory.

From thence she walked all the way to Adrianople, but she need not have gone on foot; far from the moment she set foot in the Muslim Empire persecution was at an end. Everybody showed her kindness; the Government Officials helped her on her way; and when she reached Adrianople, where the Sultan Bayazid was then encamped, and asked for audience of the Emperor, saying that she brought a message to him from Almighty God, the Sultan received her in State, according her all the honours of an ambassador.

He and his courtiers listened with grave courtesy to all she had to say, and, when she finished speaking, said it was the truth, which they also believed. The Sultan asked her to remain in his country as an honoured guest or, at least, if she must depart, to accept an escort worthy of the dignity of one who carried a message of the Most High. But she refused, departing, as she had come, on foot and alone and so reached Constantinople without the least hurt or hindrance and there took passage on a vessel bound for England.

Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall Tolerance: Cultural side of Islam

In Dr. Barry Fell’s book Saga America, he reports that the southwest Pima people possessed a vocabulary which contained words of Arabic origin. Dr. Fell also reports that in Inyo County, California, there exits an early rock carving which stated in Arabic:”Yasus ben Maria” (“Jesus, Son of Mary”). Dr. Fell discovered the existence of Muslim schools in Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Indiana dating back to 700-800 CE.

By 1312, Mansa Musa’s brother Sultan Abu Bakri II of Mali made his second expedition on the Atlantic ocean. In 1324 on his famous journey to Hajj, Mansa Musa reported in Cairo that his brother had left him in charge of Mali. Anthropologists have proven that the Mandinkas under Abu Bakri explored many parts of North America via the Mississippi and other river systems. At Four Corners, Arizona writings show that they even brought elephants from Africa to the area.

In 1492, Columbus had two captains of Muslim origin during his first voyage, one named Martin Alonso Pinzon the captain of the Pinta, and his brother Vicente Yanex Pinzon the captain of the Nina. They were wealthy expert ship outfitters who helped organize Columbus’ expedition and repaired the flagship Santa Maria. The Pinzon family was related to Abuzayan Muhammad III, the Moroccan Sultan of the Marinid Dynasty (1196-1465).

October 21, 1492, Columbus admitted in his papers that while his ship was sailing near Gibara on the northeast coast of Cuba, he saw a Mosque on the top of a beautiful mountain. Ruins of Mosques and minarets with inscriptions of Qur’anic verses have been discovered in Cuba, Mexico, Texas, and Nevada. (…)

There are more than 500 names of places, villages, streets, towns, cities, lakes, rivers, etc . . . in the United States in which there name are derived from African, Islamic, and Arabic words. Places like Mecca, Indiana; Morocco, Indiana; Medina, NY; Medina, OH; Medina, TX; Toledo, OH; Mahomet, IL; Mahomet, Texas; Yarrowsburg, MD; Islamorada, FL, and Tallahassee, FL are found throughout America. There are at least two cities in Illinois named after Nubian Cities Argo and Dongola, Illinois.
 
Other cities with possible Islamic and African root names are Allakaket, Alakanuk, and Soloman, Alaska; Ali Chuk, Ali Molina, Ali Oidak, Arizona; Cushman, Arkansas; Alameda, and Malcolm X Square, California; Abeyta, and Medina Plaza, Colorado; Liberia Historical, Connecticut; Medulla, and Sallee Heights, Florida; Mecca Historical, Tallulah Falls, and Zaidee, Georgia; Aliamanu, and Maili Hawaii; Hagerstown, Samaria, and Syria, Indiana; Cairo Junction, Egypt Shores, Egyptian Hills, Egyptian Acres, Hagarstown, Media, Medinah, and Shabbona, Illinois; Mingo, Ollie, Palestine Historical, Sabula, Salem, Tama, Makee, and Malak, Iowa; Assaria, Kansas; Gamaliel, Kentucky;  Jordan Hill, and Tallulah, Louisiana; Hagerstown, and Yarrowburg, Maryland; Egypt Beach, Massachusetts; Almira, Hagar Township, and Zilwaukee, Michigan; Amiret, Amor, Isanti, Mesaba, Kanaranzi, Quamba, and Suomi, Minnesota; Egypt Hill, and Itta Bena, Mississippi; Ameera Historical, Ebo, Egypt Grove, Egypt Mills, Sabula, and Yarrow, Missouri;  Madrid, Nebraska; Alhambra Historical, New Mexico; Cairo Junction, Hague, Nunda, Salem, Salamanc, and Unadilla, New York; Babylon Historical, Nevada, Amenia, North Dakota; Ashtabula, Damascus Historical, Kalida, Sabina, and Toledo, Ohio; Damascus Heights, Jordan Creek, Jordan Valley, and South Lebanon, Oregon; Aliquippa, Egypt Corners, Egypt Mills, Jordan Valley, and Media, Pennsylvania; Jordan Village, Utah; Bagdad Historical, Cairo Bend, Isham, Palestine Historical, and Zu Zu, Texas; Ahmedabad, Egypt Bend Estates, and Jordan Springs, Virginia; Bagdad Junction, Illahee, Shuwah, and Yarrow Point, Washington; Algeria Historical, Egypt Historical, Jordan Run, and Jumbo, West Virginia; Medina Junction, and Mecan, Wisconsin, and Holy Islamville, South Carolina.

Muslims in America

On March 24, 2008, a man was arrested in Amsterdam for ‘making discrimanatory statements against Jews’. He had taken a text from Geert Wilders and replaced the words ‘Islam’ and ‘Muslims’ with ‘Judaism’ and ‘Jews’.

This resulted in a text with slogans such as ‘No more Jews to enter the country’; ‘Many Jews out of the country’; ‘Denaturalisation of Jewish criminals’ and ‘Stop the immigration of Jews’.

The man had hoped that his arrest would also cause Geert Wilders to be arrested.

Dutch National Police

This makes it absolutely clear that we have started working with double standards. It is allowed to make statements against Muslims which one would be arrested for if made against Jews.

Saint Nicholas
Santa Claus is a figure which was was derived from the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas, a historical, legendary and mythological figure who in many Western cultures, is said to bring gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24[1] or on his Feast Day, December 6 (Saint Nicholas Day).[2]

Saint Nicholas of Myra is the primary inspiration for the figure. He was a 4th century Greek Christian bishop of Myra (now Demre) in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes.[8] He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity.

Odin
As with most Christian celebrations, they are ultimately a mixture of pagan and Christian traditions. Numerous parallels have been drawn between Santa Claus and the figure of Odin, a major god amongst the Germanic peoples prior to their Christianization. Since many of these elements are unrelated to Christianity, there are theories regarding the pagan origins of various customs of the holiday stemming from areas where the Germanic peoples were Christianized and retained elements of their indigenous traditions, surviving in various forms into modern depictions of Santa Claus.[14] Odin was sometimes recorded, at the native Germanic holiday of Yule, as leading a great hunting party through the sky.[15] According to Phyllis Siefker, children would place their boots, filled with carrots, straw, or sugar, near the chimney for Odin’s flying horse, Sleipnir, to eat. Odin would then reward those children for their kindness by replacing Sleipnir’s food with gifts or candy. This practice, she claims, survived in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands after the adoption of Christianity and became associated with Saint Nicholas as a result of the process of Christianization and can be still seen in the modern practice of the hanging of stockings at the chimney in some homes.[21]

Santa Claus
This practice in turn came to the United States through the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam prior to the British seizure in the 17th century, and evolved into the hanging of socks or stockings at the fireplace. While Saint Nicholas was originally portrayed wearing bishop’s robes, today Santa Claus is generally depicted as a plump, jolly, white-bearded man wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots (images of him rarely have a beard with no moustache). This image became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century due to the significant influence of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast.

Peculiarly, with popular American culture, Santa Claus came back to the Netherlands with the Christmas celebrations so that we now have two white bearded men in red clothes visiting the children in the last months of the year. Indeed a strange case of cultural mitosis!

Muslims and the meaning of Christian celebrations
Perhaps Muslims should pay attention to the real figure of Saint Nicholas and in this way contribute to restore the  meaning of Christian celebrations. Historically, for example in Al-Andalus, the Ottoman and the Moghul Empires, Islam contributed to healthy spiritual life in other religions, with a focus on virtue and faith rather than materialism and superstition. There is no reason why Ahmadiyyat will not have such an influence on the world today. For example, the real story of Saint Nicholas could be told to children who are confronted with these celebrations in school. In the same way, when talking about Jesus (a), Muslims should stress the importance of imitating his example. This shows how the worship of Jesus has actually lead to the denial of his personal example in many aspects of life.

Information for this article has been taken from: Wikipedia

No evidence of violence at coming of Muslims to Medieval Spain

In her conversation with Lauro Olmo Encisco of Alcalá University, Madrid, Bettany Hughes explains that evidence suggests no force at all was used in the take-over of Spain by the Muslims:

Lauro Olmo Encisco: [The Muslims] found cities in crisis. Social crisis. Urban crisis. The traditional explanation is that the Arabs came and then the society collapses and the city collapses. This is not true. The collapse of the city started during the Visigothic period.

Bettany Hughes: At many places like here at Recopolis, it seems that the newcomers were actually welcomed with open arms. We even have treaties where the Visigoths enthousiasticcaly hand over their land in return for effective Muslim protection. (…)

Lauro Olmo Encisco: We don’t have evidence of violence, not at all. The Muslims started to build a new society.

BBC: When the Moors Ruled Europe

Mythmaking obscures history of Muslims ‘invading’ France

The army that fell upon Roland and his Frankish soldiers [in 778, 42 years after ‘Poitiers’] was not Muslim at all. In the real battle of 778, the slayers of the Franks were Christian Basques furious at Charlemagne for pillaging their city of Pamplona. Not epic at all, the battle emerged from a parochial dispute in the complex wars of medieval Spain. Only later, as kings and popes and knights prepared to do battle in the First Crusade, did an anonymous bard repurpose the text to serve the needs of an emerging cross-against-crescent holy war.

John Feffer, CBS News

The harassment the Jewish man is talking about is in fact happening more to Muslims than to Jews. Muslims are continuously portrayed negatively in the media. Mosques have been attacked more often in the past years than synagogues.

The video on taking actual preventive legal measures against Muslims makes clear that the threat of Holocaust-type discrimination is much more in the direction of Muslims than in the direction of Jews – the same video could have been made in the Netherlands.

At the same time, Jews who get harrassed have a right of complaining. May Allah strengthen the morality of all Dutch citizens and give insight to Prosecutors to prevent our country of falling into the pit of ethnic disturbances. We should learn from times in history where tolerance was high; for example the best years of Al-Andalus and the Ottoman Empire. What were the contributing factors? What was the position taken by the Courts in respect of ethnic conflicts?

 

Senator Egbert Schuurman of the Christen Unie, a small Christian Party, asked the new government how they would feel if Christianity or Judaism would be called a ‘political ideology’, as government party PVV is doing to Islam.

Volkskrant

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Editor’s Comment
I strongly admire such people who counter the trends and their personal environment to speak the just word. They are praised in the Quran in the verse "speak the just word even if it is against your own families".

 
Teenager given a bomb by FBI to blow up Christmas tree

 

Since the 2001 terrorist attacks, the FBI has used informants successfully as one of many tactics to prevent another strike in the United States. Agency officials say they are careful not to violate civil liberties and do not target Muslims.

But the FBI’s approach has come under fire from some Muslims, criticism that surfaced again late last month after agents arrested an Oregon man they said tried to detonate a bomb at a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony. FBI technicians had supplied the device.

In the Irvine case, Monteilh’s mission as an informant backfired. Muslims were so alarmed by his talk of violent jihad that they obtained a restraining order against him.

He had helped build a terrorism-related case against a mosque member, but that also collapsed. The Justice Department recently took the extraordinary step of dropping charges against the worshiper, who Monteilh had caught on tape agreeing to blow up buildings, law  enforcement officials said. Prosecutors had portrayed the man as a dire threat.

Compounding the damage, Monteilh has gone public, revealing secret FBI methods and charging that his "handlers" trained him to entrap Muslims as he infiltrated their mosques, homes and businesses. He is now suing the FBI.

Washington Post

‘Technically, no laws have been broken’; ‘if this were not allowed, democracy would not exist’. Complete nonsense. The law in Britain seems to have the same problem getting the hate campaign against Ahmadis in court as the Dutch dept of justice has with Wilders’ campaign. This is despite the fact that history has repeatedly laid bare the road leading to ethnic and sectarian conflict. What should be done is:

1. Understand that freedom of speech was instituted to protect citizens from oppresive rulers, not to spread hatred in society
2. Understand that hate propaganda will ultimately lead to sectarian conflict and bloodshed by dehumanizing its victims
3. The law should use every means possible to prevent sedition

Government plans to ban the fundamentalist Islamic robe known as the burqa may also affect other face-covering garments such as carnival masks, home affairs minister Piet Hein Donner told MPs on Thursday evening.

‘I am drafting legislation on face-covering clothing which will apply to all Dutch nationals,’ the minister is quoted as saying in the Telegraaf.

‘We still have to decide how far we will go to deal with motorbike helmets, carnival costumes and balaclavas during the Elfstentocht [skating race],’ the minister said.

Dutch News

For more click here

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Editor’s Comment
In a way, this issue uncovers the internal contradiction in the suggested opposition between Islam and modern culture. "Mask" is in fact an Arabic word, "masqara", which was adopted in European vocabularies somewhere between the 9th and 12th centuries, when Muslim dress became the fashion at the royal courts.

See for an interesting case Frederick II of Sicily, Emperor to the Holy Roman Empire

I wish to also stress that equality before the law historically was a contribution of Islam to modern culture, which in time became included in modern Constitutions; Muslims should endeavour in politics to safeguard this Islamic principle, which will not be protected by either democracy, the ruling classes, or by big business.

Siger of Brabant in red cloak on the upper right

Siger of Brabant (c. 1240 – 1280s) was a philosopher from the southern Low Countries who was an important proponent of Averroism. The importance of Siger in philosophy lies in his acceptance of Averroism in its entirety, which drew upon him the opposition of his contemporaries Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas. In politics he held that good laws were better than good rulers, and criticised papal infallibility in temporal affairs. In December 1270 Averroism was condemned by ecclesiastical authority, and during his whole life Siger was exposed to persecution both from the Church and from purely philosophic opponents. Wikipedia: Siger of Brabant

Siger of Brabant was a child of the "12th century Renaissance". The increased contact with the Islamic world in Spain and Sicily, the Crusades, the Reconquista, as well as increased contact with Byzantium, allowed Europeans to seek and translate the works of Hellenic and Islamic philosophers and scientists (mainly in the Toledo School of Translators), especially the works of Aristotle. The development of medieval universities allowed them to aid materially in the translation and propagation of these texts and started a new infrastructure which was needed for scientific communities. In fact, European university put many of these texts at the center of its curriculum. Wikipedia: 12th Century Renaissance

The 12th Century Renaissance is the moment where science actually advanced. The 16th Century Renaissance is more a period of cultural redefinition, when Latin scholars desire to create an image of science and literature entirely based on Latin and Greek sources. The Arab heritage was aggressively erased from the European self image.

In an information session about Islam and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, to be held coming Saturday, the relationship between Islam and the Constitutional State will be addressed. An excerpt of the speech:

In our own country there are groups which desire to tear apart the first article of our Constitution. Indeed, these are the same people who want to tear apart the Holy Quran.

This is no coincidence. I tell you today that the message of Hajj is to honour the ideals of equality and justice for all. Not only in the law, but in your hearts. I even say that without the message of Hajj, our Constitution may not survive.

Whatever will happen, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has the mission of spreading these values across the globe. If Holland decides to tear up its Constitution, we will mend it with the Holy Quran.

The speech is inspired by the work of dr. Zia H Shah sb, editor in chief of the Muslim Times, on the message of hajj and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Historically, Islam played a major role in the establishment of the value of equality. For this issue, read Jonah Lendering, "Lost Heritage" and John A. Makdisi, "The Islamic Origins of the Common Law" in the North Carolina Law Review.

For the complete speech, see Zaplog

De berg Arafat, waar de profeet Mohammed (s) zijn laatste toespraak hield.

De islamitische bedevaart naar Mekka is een spiritueel evenement voor de pelgrim maar ook een moment waarop de broederschap van alle mensen wordt benadrukt.

Vanuit alle delen van de wereld komen mensen bijeen van alle kleuren en culturen om elkaar te ontmoeten en naast elkaar het gebed te verrichten. Rijk en arm staan naast elkaar zonder verschil. Iedereen draagt dezelfde eenvoudige kleding.

Dit is de boodschap van de Islam, die in de Hajj zichtbaar wordt. Deze boodschap is altijd de kracht geweest van de Islam en het heeft zijn stempel gedrukt op de geschiedenis.

We herinneren de woorden van artikel 1 van de Nederlandse grondwet.‘Allen die zich in Nederland bevinden, worden in gelijke gevallen gelijk behandeld. Discriminatie wegens godsdienst, levensovertuiging, politieke gezindheid, ras, geslacht of op welke grond dan ook, is niet toegestaan.’

Maar weinigen weten dat dit de krachtige boodschap is die de Islam al 1400 jaar uitroept over de aarde. 

Tijdens zijn laatste toespraak, gehouden tijdens de Hajj, voor een menigte van meer dan honderdduizend mensen zei de Heilige Profeet Mohammed (vrede zij met hem):

‘U bent allen gelijk. Alle mensen, tot welke stam of volk zij ook toebehoren, en welke positie zij ook mogen bekleden, zijn gelijk. Allah heeft u allen broeders gemaakt, wees dus niet verdeeld. Een Arabier is niet beter dan een ander, en anderen zijn niet beter dan een Arabier. een blanke is niet beter dan een zwarte, en een zwarte is niet beter dan een blanke.’ Hij hield zijn vingers naast elkaar. ‘Zoals de vingers van één hand gelijk zijn, zo zijn mensen aan elkaar gelijk. Niemand heeft het recht zich beter te vinden dan een ander. Jullie zijn als broeders’.

De wereldgeschiedenis is getuige van het belang van deze woorden. Hoe gruwelijk hebben mensen elkaar behandeld alleen omdat de een dacht beter te zijn dan de ander. We kennen allemaal de geschiedenis van de Spaanse Inquisitie, van de kolonisatie en de slavernij, de massamoord op de Indianen, de Aboriginals en de joden. En ook de moslims hebben hun aandeel gehad in onrecht, terwijl zij de lessen van hun profeet waren vergeten.

Pas na de miljoenen slachtoffers van de Tweede Wereldoorlog werden de universele mensenrechten naar voren gebracht in de internationale gemeenschap. Artikelen 1 en 2 kunnen worden gezien als een samenvatting van de woorden van de profeet Mohammed (s). 

Artikel 1 stelt: ‘Alle mensen worden vrij en gelijk in waardigheid en rechten geboren. Zij zijn begiftigd met verstand en geweten, en behoren zich jegens elkander in een geest van broederschap te gedragen.’

Artikel 2: ‘Verder zal geen onderscheid worden gemaakt naar de politieke, juridische of internationale status van het land of gebied, waartoe iemand behoort’

In de tegenwoordige wereld bestaan de mensenrechten wel op papier, maar de geest ontbreekt in de harten van de mensen. De Islam verbindt het principe van gelijkheid aan de spirituele en religieuze ervaring van ieder individu.

Mohammed (s) sprak voor de menigte, die tot tranen was geroerd bij de moskee van Mekka, die wordt beschouwd als gebouwd door aartsvader Abraham met zijn zoon Ismael:

‘Zoals deze maand heilig is, en dit land onaantastbaar, zoals deze dag gezegend is ­– zo heeft God leven, eigendom en eer van elk mens heilig gemaakt. Het ontnemen van iemands leven of bezit, of zijn eer aan te tasten, is even onrechtvaardig als het schenden van deze dag, deze maand, en dit land’.

De wereldvrede kan niet worden bereikt door lippendienst te bewijzen aan deze idealen. Ook nu is er een grote behoefte aan deze idealen in de wereld, maar de eerbied voor deze waarden neemt zienderogen af.

 

In ons eigen land zijn er groepen die het heilige artikel 1 van onze grondwet willen verscheuren. Ja, het zijn dezelfde mensen die de Koran zouden willen verscheuren.

Dat is niet toevallig. Ik zeg u vandaag dat de boodschap van Hajj is om deze idealen te eren. Niet alleen in de wet, maar ook in uw hart. Ik zeg u zelfs, dat zonder de boodschap van de Hajj, uw eigen grondwet misschien niet zal overleven.

Wat er ook gebeurt, de Ahmadiyya Moslim Gemeenschap heeft de opdracht om deze waarden over de hele wereld te verspreiden. Wanneer Nederland zijn grondwet verscheurt, zullen wij hem lijmen met de Koran.

Dank u wel.

Deze toespraak zal worden uitgesproken op:

Zaterdag 27 November 2010 om 19.30 uur

Wijkcentrum Alleman
Den Bloeyenden Wijngaerdt 1 , 1183 JM Amstelveen