Muslim Heretics Conference

Nearly a third of British Muslim students polled in a new report to be published on Monday said that killing in the name of religion could be justified.

British Muslims [illustrative].
Photo: AP [file]

Slideshow: Pictures of the week

The report by the London-based Center for Social Cohesion (CfSC), entitled “Islam on Campus: A Survey of UK Student Opinion,” showed that 32 percent of Muslim students said killing in the name of religion could be justified, while 60% of active members of on-campus Islamic societies said the same. Only 2% of non-Muslims polled felt this way.

Based on a specially commissioned YouGov poll of 1,400 students as well as on field work and interviews, the report showed that most Muslim students supported secularism and democratic values, were generally tolerant of other minorities and rejected violence in the name of their faith. However, the report also revealed high levels of support for the adoption of Sharia law into British law and for a worldwide caliphate.

Forty percent of Muslim students polled supported the introduction of Sharia into British law for Muslims, and a third supported the introduction of a worldwide caliphate based on Sharia law; 58% of active members of Islamic societies supported the idea.

In addition, 43% of Muslim students said Islam was compatible with secularism.

“These findings are deeply alarming,” said CfSC researcher Hannah Stuart, one of the report’s authors. “Students in higher education are the future leaders of their communities. Yet significant numbers of them appear to hold beliefs which contravene liberal, democratic values. In addition, there are signs of growing religious segregation on campus. These results are deeply embarrassing for those who have said that there is no extremism in British universities.”

Stuart also said active members of campus Islamic societies “often hold opinions that are significantly more extreme than those of ordinary Muslim students. The government needs to be wary about treating members of these societies as being representative of all Muslim students.”

On attitudes toward Jews, only 7% said they had very little or no respect at all for Jews, while 79% said they respected Jews.

The report also found that many non-Muslim students held negative attitudes toward Islam. However, a significant minority (9%) said they did not respect Muslims. Of non-Muslim students, 50% stated that Islam and Western democracy were incompatible and 55% said Islam was incompatible with secularism.

CfSC director Douglas Murray said the report showed that Islamist groups such as the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) did not represent mainstream Muslim opinion.

“It is vital that students and government understand that groups like FOSIS - who often promote a highly conservative interpretation of Islam - are not representative of all Muslim students. Empowering these groups risks giving an official stamp of approval to extreme forms of Islam,” he said.

The report recommends that the government, university authorities and the Muslim community act to address these problems.

“It is important that pluralist and democratic Muslim voices are encouraged and promoted and that intolerant voices are sidelined. University authorities need to urgently take steps to reduce Islamist influence on campus. Universities should be places where people of all faiths and backgrounds can come together in an environment of mutual tolerance,” Murray said.

‘1/3 of UK Muslim students back jihad’ | International | Jerusalem Post

By Renee K. Gadoua

Author Michael Dowd is a traveling “evolutionary evangelist” and author of the book “Thank God for Evolution.” Religion News Service photo courtesy Penguin Books.

The Rev. Michael Dowd’s Dodge Sprinter van bears an image of kissing fish. The fish, labeled “Darwin” and “Jesus,” reflect his belief that evolution is sacred and that science and religion go hand in hand.
“I’m not into reconciling science and religion,” said Dowd, 49, a former believer in creationism. “If evolution doesn’t wholly jazz someone religiously, they should continue to reject evolution.”
Dowd, a pastor in the United Church of Christ, is the author of the new book, “Thank God for Evolution: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your World.”
Since 2002, he and his wife, Connie Barlow, an atheist and a science writer, have lived on the road, sharing their perspective that an understanding of evolution strengthens, rather than undermines, faith.
(Some answers have been edited for length and clarity.)
Q: You call yourself an evolutionary evangelist. What does that mean?
A: When I use the word “evolution,” I mean the history of the cosmos, Earth, humanity. I communicate it as good news. By good news, I mean it’s inspiring.
Q: Why is the conversation about evolution sometimes so heated?
A: Part of it has to do with the fact that religion has tended to find its authority in ancient texts. The scientific world finds its authority through the whole range of science and fact.
The other reason is that evolution — the history of the universe — has not been interpreted meaningfully. It’s not a surprise that conservatives reject evolution; they see it as meaningless. When evolution can be interpreted in ways that religious people can see as holy, it validates their deeper way of thinking.
Q: What is the gospel of evolution?
A: It builds bridges, it provides guidance and it restores realistic hope. It bridges science and religion, head and heart. It bridges different religions. Evangelicals and humanists who are family members can have a meaningful conversation.
It provides guidance for us as individuals, like composting and recycling and building a sustainable environment.
We need to create laws and incentives that make it easy for individuals, corporations and nations to do the right thing. It’s in their self-interest to do the just, ecological thing.
Q: How do you convince people of faith, particularly evangelicals who may be skeptical, that environmental concerns should be a priority?
A: Telling them it should be a priority isn’t terribly effective. What I find really effective is letting them see their own core language — the gospel of God, the Second Coming — to see in our lives and institutions where deep integrity is manifest, Christ is returned.
Q: You say that “facts are God’s native tongue.” What does that mean?
A: When I learn of a new fossil discovery, I don’t think to myself as I used to, “that doesn’t fit with Genesis.” I think, “Wow, isn’t this cool how God made us?”

10 Minutes With…Michael Dowd

I am a young woman who embraced Islam a few months ago and was in the process of considering moving to the Middle East because I was hoping that moving to that part of the world would enable me to live in a more Islamic environment.
After speaking to several sisters at my local mosque, I was surprised to hear the negativity Arab Muslim women feel about their homelands. I was even more surprised at their shocked looks when I said that I’d prefer living in a society that is an Islamic state rather than living in a society driven by Western democracy.
My three years of research and studying Islam prior to reverting leads me to believe that Islam is democracy, so why do we look elsewhere? I believe no form of democracy can measure up to the rights and freedoms Islam gives men, women and children in all matters, whether personal, marital, legal or state affairs.
My question then is why aren’t all Middle Eastern nations Islamic states? Why do we need a “domino effect” geared by the West to begin the process of their version of democracy when in reality, Muslim countries already have the tools to create such an environment for their peoples?

Dear Afrah,
While I am respectful of how people choose to live their lives (this being the very definition of democracy), I ask you as a woman, a mother and a human being to consider the plight of Nadia Muhsen and her sister Zana and then ask yourself if this is democracy – all in the name of “Islam, Muslim tradition and the West not wanting to upset the East.”
I agree that everyone should live in a society where they can be free and enjoy a good quality of life that is wholesome and good, but we must never accept that human suffering caused by another individual is acceptable to God. He is the only one to administer discipline except, of course, when we train our children or those appointed to maintain law and order in a democratic land, which in turn doesn’t torture, beat or maim our fellow brothers and sisters.
The Bible and the Qur’an are the rulebooks of life (working manuals for humans). Just as a washing machine requires an instruction manual, we also must consult these manuals regularly to keep us functioning properly.
However, neither book condones the use of kidnapping, slavery or violence against those who can’t defend themselves or who are weaker than the one asserting power. This isn’t God’s arrangement; rather, this is how man has interpreted things for his own gain.
Please do a Google search of the abovementioned two women’s names and remember that there are thousands of women and children in the same position who are being shipped off to Muslim states every day to meet the same fate. We turn a blind eye to this while others call this democracy.
Some may be able to see why some Muslim women are happy to come to England to find inner peace and just be able to care for their families, be good Muslims living law-abiding lives and caring for humanity because they know the true meaning of democracy when they come here. The West isn’t a bad place; rather, it’s the people there – just like everywhere else in the world – who take advantage of God’s goodness.
Thinking about these two women, please answer this: Did they or thousands like them come up during your research? If so, how do you feel about this being protected by Islam and the Muslim faith? Was it really part of the religious deal or was it simply from man? How was it justifiable?
If you knew about this situation, then why were you shocked that the women at the mosque prefer living in England?
I am interested in your views and I wish you every happiness and inner peace with all of your life choices.
Best wishes,
Gina Tyler
gina67@gina67.karoo.co.uk
P.S. I am a Christian but was raised in a multiracial community (a chaplet in Leeds) all of my life, so I have a range of friends from different faiths. I say this so you’ll know I’m not anti-Muslim – I just love people and I don’t like the suffering doled out in the name of religion or the misuse of power because being powerless is a horrendous place in which to be. Nadia’s family knows this more than most. Salaam.

Islam is democracy - Yemen Times

Rome, 31 July (AKI) - Pope Benedict XVI has played a key role in helping Muslims and Christians start to find common ground on issues ranging from poverty to pollution, according to a top Muslim intellectual.
“After years of attempted dialogue, Islam and Christianity have begun to find consensus on subjects of shared interest,” the president of Italy’s Association of Muslim Intellectuals Ahmad Vincenzo said in an interview with the Catholic daily Liberal.
“These topics range from the family to pollution, poverty, and the distribution of natural resources,” he said.
Vincenzo praised Benedict’s statements on religious dialogue.
“We have noted that the pontiff holds more advanced views on this subject than most of society and we would like public broadcasters to devote more air time to inter-religious dialogue,” he noted.
“This would help counter prejudiced notions that Islam is a violent religion to be discriminated against.”
Inter-faith dialogue could become the shared language of the world’s two biggest faiths and a tool to influence governments and decision-makers, ” added Vincenzo, who teaches Islamic law at the University of Naples Federico II.
The Pope last year received King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in a groundbreaking meeting and will host a landmark ‘Catholic-Muslim Forum’ in early November, aimed at improving ties between the two faiths.
Catholic-Muslim relations soured after a 2006 speech in Germany in which Benedict XVI quoted a 14th century Byzantine emperor’s criticism of Islam, linking it to violence.
Following Muslim fury over the speech and worldwide protests, last October, 138 top Muslim scholars from 43 countries launched an appeal to the Pope for greater theological dialogue. Their letter warned that global security was at risk if Muslims and Christians could not make peace.
The letter by Muslim leaders was widely viewed as a breakthrough in Muslim-Christian relations.
It was sent to the pontiff under the auspices of an Amman-based non-governmental organisation headed by Prince Ghazi, the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought.
The Pope replied expressing his “deep appreciation” for the letter.
At the Pope’s invitation, a delegation of Muslims leaders in March met Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran - the top Vatican official in charge of relations with Islam - and a delegation representing the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue in Rome to plan the November conference.

AKI - Adnkronos international Islam: Muslim thinkers praise Pope’s ‘advanced’ views on dialogue

By DONNA ABU-NASR

,

AP

posted: 14 HOURS 29 MINUTES AGO

comments: 258

PrintShare

filed under: World News

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (July 31) - Every single man knows: Walking a dog in the park is a sure babe magnet. Saudi Arabia’s Islamic religious police, in their zeal to keep the sexes apart, want to make sure the technique doesn’t catch on here.

The solution: Ban selling dogs and cats as pets, as well as walking them in public.

According to one Saudi official, the ban was ordered because of “the rising of phenomenon of men using cats and dogs to make passes at women and pester families.” Here, two men pet a cat in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Thursday.

The prohibition went into effect Wednesday in the capital, Riyadh, and authorities in the city say they will strictly enforce it — unlike previous bans in the cities of Mecca and Jiddah, which have been ignored and failed to stop pet sales.

Violators found outside with their pets will have their beloved poodles and other furry companions confiscated by agents of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, the official name of the religious police, tasked with enforcing Saudi Arabia’s strict Islamic code.

The commission’s general manager, Othman al-Othman, said the ban was ordered because of what he called “the rising of phenomenon of men using cats and dogs to make passes at women and pester families” as well as “violating proper behavior in public squares and malls.”

“If a man is caught with a pet, the pet will be immediately confiscated and the man will be forced to sign a document pledging not to repeat the act,” al-Othman told the Al-Hayat newspaper. “If he does, he will be referred to authorities.” The ban does not address women.

The Saudi-owned Al-Hayat announced the ban in its Wednesday edition, saying it was ordered by the acting governor of Riyadh province, Prince Sattam, based on an edit from the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars and several religious police reports of pet owners harassing women and families.

Commission authorities often do not formally announce to the public new rules that they intend to implement. Officials from the commission and Riyadh city government could not be reached for comment Thursday, which is a weekend day in Saudi Arabia. The English-language Arab News reported on the ban Thursday.

So far, the prohibition did not appear to have any effect in Riyadh. It’s extremely rare, anyway, to see anyone in the capital walking a dog — much less carrying a cat in public — despite the authorities’ claims of flirtatious young men luring girls with their pets in malls.

Salesmen at a couple of Riyadh pet stores said Thursday they did not receive any orders from the commission banning the sale of pets. Cats and dogs were still on display.

“I didn’t hear of the ban,” said Yasser al-Abdullah, a 28-year-old Saudi nurse, who was at one pet store with his 3-month-old collie, Joe.

Al-Abdullah, who also owns an 8-month-old Labrador, said a couple of Western friends had been told to get off the streets by the religious police for walking their dogs.

“I won’t allow the commission to take my dogs from me,” he said.

The religious police prowl streets and malls throughout the kingdom, ensuring unmarried men and women do not mix, confronting women they feel are not properly covered or urging men to go to prayers.

They also often make attempts to plug the few holes in the strict gender segregation that innovations bring. In 2004, for example, they tried to ban cameras on cell phones, fearing that men and women would exchange pictures of each other — though the prohibition was quickly revoked.

There was no word whether commission authorities intend to expand the dog and cat ban beyond the capital.

The prohibition may be more of an attempt to curb the owning of pets, which conservative Saudis view as a sign of corrupting Western influence, like the fast food, shorts, jeans and pop music that have become more common in the kingdom.

Although it has never been common to own pets in the Arab world, it’s becoming increasingly fashionable among the upper class in Saudi Arabia and other countries such as Egypt.

In Islamic tradition, dogs are shunned as unclean and dangerous, though they are kept for hunting and guarding. In large cities around the Middle East, stray dogs are considered pests.

The ban on cats is more puzzling, since there’s no similar disdain for them in Islamic tradition.

One of the Prophet Muhammad’s closest companions was given the name Abu Huraira, Arabic for “the father of the kitten,” because he always carried a kitten with him and a number of traditional stories of the prophet show Muhammad encouraging people to treat cats well.

Saudi Capital Bans Sale of Dogs, Cats - AOL News