Ethics Forum: Islamic extremism

Showing posts with label Islamic extremism. Show all posts

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Five Million March in Nigerian Protests

On 10 February, militant Islamists killed at least 30 people and abducted women and children in Auno town on a major highway in Borno State, north-eastern Nigeria.

M. Buhari’s government has repeatedly said that the militants have been defeated, but the attempted genocide against Nigerian Christians have continued for over a decade.

Meanwhile, on February 2, five million people took part in marches across Nigeria to protest the murder of Pastor Lawan Andimi by Boko Haram, and the failure of the Buhari government to halt the violent attacks against Christians by Islamist extremists.

Pastor Andimi was a local chairman of CAN in Adamawa State. He was kidnapped on 2 January and murdered by Boko Haram on 20 January.

On the same day as Pastor Andimi’s murder, the terrorist group released video footage of its murder of kidnapped student Ropvil Dalep. In Plateau State, at least 32 Christians were killed in January during attacks by Fulani extremists on two villages.

In 2019 the Islamic extremists expanded their terrorist attacks to Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Burkina Faso.

In Burkina Faso a series of attacks began on 28 April in Silgadji, when gunman rounded up a pastor, his son and four of his congregation and demanded they deny their Christian faith and convert to Islam. After refusing they were executed one-by-one. Six were then killed at a church on 12 May and four at a Christian parade on 13 May. Four were then murdered at another church on 26 May. The fifth and sixth reported attacks took place on 9 and 10 June in which 29 were butchered by Islamist extremists.

Burkina Faso is part of a five-nation regional force against extremism, known as the G5 Sahel. Islamic extremist violence has increased in Burkina Faso's north and east near its Mali border. Hundreds have been killed in the attacks thousands have fled.

Islamic terrorists attacked the Christian village of Kalau in the North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo on 6 March 2019. They attempted to infiltrate the village under the guise of being security agents, but some village youth warned the villagers. The militants shot the village leader’s guard dogs and then opened fire, killing six Christians, including three women and a child.

The attack was launched by members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group that attempted the overthrow the Ugandan government in the 90’s, seeking to replace it with an Islamic regime. The group has ties to other terrorist groups such as al-Shabaab and al-Qaeda. They are responsible for thousands of deaths throughout Uganda and eastern DRC.

For a partial list of attacks by Boko Haram from 2011 to the present, see this post.

Friday, September 6, 2019

Terrorists Target African Christians

Women from a Christian village in Cameroon recover after having their ears chopped off by members of Boko Haram in July 2019. (Photo: Open Doors)

For the past 18 years Islamic terrorism has been directed against African Christians in an attempt to eliminate Christianity and to force conversions to Islam. Nigeria has experienced the most attacks on Christians. Nigeria’s conflict with Boko Haram has resulted in the deaths of over 20,000 civilians and a large-scale humanitarian crisis. Approximately 2.1 million people have been displaced by the conflict while 7 million need humanitarian assistance. The crisis is likely to expand as Boko Haram broadens its ruthless attacks.

In December 2008 more than 360 victims of brutal ethic and religious clashes in Nigerian central city of Jos were given a mass burial by federal government. The clashes between Christians and Muslims began when results of the disputed local government elections were being announced by election officials. The clashes left over 4,000 displaced and facing starvation.

From the office of the Anglican Archbishop of Jos.

"We are just relying on God. Things are quieter but this thing does not seem to be over. There are unfinished agendas. There have been miraculous escapes. We are documenting what has happened. Two Anglican pastors have lost their houses but escaped with their lives. Other pastors from other churches have been killed and a number of churches have been destroyed.

The number of displaced people in the camps was nearly 26,000. But there will also be many hundreds being cared for by families and friends. There have been mass burials because the corpses have to be removed. One pastor said he had never seen anything like this. It has surpassed what happened in 2001. There are mercenaries who have been drafted in with machetes and guns.

The government have admitted that this must have been pre-planned because the violence began before the election results were announced."

It has been confirmed that Islamic terrorists planned an attack of Jos Christians. Archbishop Kwashi reported on 29 November 2008: "The reports from those I have sent out to collect information are that the Muslims are attacking and burning this morning. It looks well co-ordinated. They are well armed with AK 47 and pump machine guns. This morning they have been at Dogonduste. Quite a number of Christian homes have been burnt. We do not know how many have been killed. The local government has underestimated the vehemence of the militants. At the moment this is all restricted to Jos City.

This year (2019) the terror has spread to Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Burkina Faso.

In Burkina Faso a series of attacks began on 28 April in Silgadji, when gunman rounded up a pastor, his son and four of his congregation and demanded they deny their Christian faith and convert to Islam. After refusing they were executed one-by-one. Six were then killed at a church on 12 May and four at a Christian parade on 13 May. Four were then murdered at another church on 26 May. The fifth and sixth reported attacks took place on 9 and 10 June in which 29 were butchered by Islamist extremists.

Burkina Faso is part of a five-nation regional force against extremism, known as the G5 Sahel. Islamic extremist violence has increased in Burkina Faso's north and east near its Mali border. Hundreds have been killed in the attacks thousands have fled.

Islamic terrorists attacked the Christian village of Kalau in the North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo on 6 March 2019. They attempted to infiltrate the village under the guise of being security agents, but some village youth warned the villagers. The militants shot the village leader’s guard dogs and then opened fire, killing six Christians, including three women and a child.

The attack was launched by members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group that attempted the overthrow the Ugandan government in the 90’s, seeking to replace it with an Islamic regime. The group has ties to other terrorist groups such as al-Shabaab and al-Qaeda. They are responsible for thousands of deaths throughout Uganda and eastern DRC.

Monday, May 13, 2019

Features of Islamic Extremism

Apologists for Islam claim that Islamic terrorism is the work of a few religious fanatics. However, Islam demands this level of extremism. Devout Muslims believe they have a duty to expand the rule of Islam. They justify abuse of "infidels" and "idolaters" and under the right circumstance, can be turned to violence. The most prominent leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, admits that the "killing of apostates is essential for Islam to survive." He simply is reiterating what is said in the Qur'an.

"If anyone desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him." (3:85)

Qur'an 9:30 states that Christians and Jews are perverse. Allah himself fights against them.

"He it is who has sent His Messenger (Mohammad) with guidance and the religion of truth (Islam) to make it victorious over all religions even though the infidels may resist." (61:9)

The Qur'an contains 109 verses that call Muslims to war against non-Muslims in order to advance Islamic rule globally. Some include commands to chop off heads and fingers. Terrorist acts are encouraged. "If thou comest on them in the war, deal with them so as to strike fear in those who are behind them, that haply they may remember." (8:57)

The Qur’an declares that Allah has made Muslims “his agents, inheritors of the earth” and “promised to… make them rulers in the earth” (24:55, 6:165).

After capturing Mecca in 630 A.D., Mohammad delivered this speech:

"Bear in mind that every claim of privilege, whether that of blood or property is abolished...I reject all claims relating to life and property and all imaginary honors of the past, and declare them to be baseless... A Muslim is the brother of another Muslim and all the Muslims are brothers of one another and constitute one hand as against the non-Muslims."

In Muhammad’s farewell speech he said, "I was ordered to fight all men until they say, 'There is no god but Allah'".

The Turkish journalist Uzay Bulut studies religious movements. She has written:

"Sadly, the founder of Islam did not leave behind a humanitarian message to respect people of other faiths and to be on an equal footing with them. What the Islamic State (ISIS) and other barbaric Islamist groups have been doing to people is horrific beyond words; but it is meticulously based on Islamic scriptures. So it is not the West causing these human tragedies; it is Islam and Muslims."

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) wrote,

"Mohammedanism is characterized by arrogant pride because it finds confirmation of its faith not in miracles but in victories and the subjugation of many peoples..." (Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone, p, 172.)

Consider these words of the Islamic theologian Syed Abul A'ala Maududi:

"Islam wishes to destroy all states and government anywhere on the face of the earth which are opposed to the ideology and program of Islam regardless of the country or the nation which rules it. The purpose of Islam is to set up a state on the basis of its own ideology and program."

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Priceless Manuscripts Saved

Timbuktu has become a byword for the farthest corner of the earth. But it was once an important cultural and artistic center

In 2012, jihadists—armed to the teeth with weapons seized in Libya after the fall of Muammar Qaddafi—overran northern Mali and established a brutal, sharia regime in Timbuktu. Once a center of learning and culture, the city housed a priceless collection of manuscripts: volumes of poetry, encyclopedias, and even sexual manuals that invoked the name of Allah. Threatened with destruction, the manuscripts were spirited out of the city to safety in a thrilling, cloak-and-dagger operation.

Speaking from his home in Berlin, Joshua Hammer, a former Newsweek bureau chief in Africa, recounts the tale of The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts—and explains how the Timbuktu manuscripts disprove the myth that Africa had no literary or historical culture, why Henry Louis Gates had an epiphany when he saw them, and why the jihadists found them so threatening.

In the chaos of the uprising against Qaddafi, the jihadists raided the armories of Libya, took the weapons into Mali, and quickly swept across the northern part of the country, occupying all of the major towns in the north, including Timbuktu. They imposed sharia law and began to destroy every symbol of moderate Sufi Islam that almost all residents of modern Timbuktu subscribe to. Shrines to Sufi saints were destroyed; whippings and amputations were carried out in the public squares of the city; and, of course, the manuscripts were threatened.

Read it all here.

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Islamic Extremism and Iconoclasm

2000-year-old temple in Palmyra, Syria
destroyed by IS in August 2015

In early June 2016, Islamic State (IS) insurgents posted a video on the internet showing a 3,000-year-old temple being blown up at the Assyrian city of Nimrud in northern Iraq. This is the latest example of radical Islamic iconoclasm. The Nabu Temple is one of the world's archaeological and cultural treasures.

The United Nations confirmed in a statement that satellite imagery showed "extensive damage to the main entrance" of the temple of Nabu, the Babylonian deity of wisdom.

Nimrud was a 13th century BC Assyrian city located about 20 miles south of the modern city of Mosul. Islamic State militants took control of Mosul in June 2014.

The IS video also shows scenes of bulldozers razing the ancient Gate of Nergal, part of the historic Nineveh city wall in Mosul. The fanatical Islamic group considers all pre-Islamic culture idolatrous, along with any religion outside its own radical interpretation of Sunni Islam.

IS has systematically destroyed many sites of archaeological and historical importance. Islamic State militants destroyed the 2,000-year-old temple of Baalshamin in Palmyra, Syria in August 2015.