I don't remember seeing this in the mainstream media:Monday, June 11
HUNDREDS of people paid tribute to the victims of the terrorist attacks in London with a candlelit vigil staged outside the British Embassy, [Bahrain], last night.The joint vigil was organised by Al Wefaq National Islamic Society and the National Democratic Action Society and involved the Islamic Action Society, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and the Bahrain Society for Freedom and Support of Democracy.
The only write-up I can find of the Bahraini protest is in the Gulf Daily News. The photos are at the Chan'ad Bahraini blog.
And there was also this news from The Scotsman, that "sixty Jordanians held a vigil outside the British Embassy in Jordan's capital, Amman, to protest at the London terror attacks and express solidarity with the British people." Photos here.
In the current environment, I found it inspiring to see some Muslims at least genuinely and enthusiastically denouncing the evil supposedly committed in their name...
It's by no means a Reformation of the religion, as I argued for here, (and Irshad Manji argues for so much better than I here) but it certainly put a smile on my dial.
10 comments:
Been (busy) talking to a mate in London about this exact scenario - we don't see it here, but apparently the UK press is full of responses from the Muslim community, condemning the bombings.
The largest relevant body is called the Muslim Council of
Britain and they've been vicious in their criticism of what these losers
did. Muslim News, the largest Islamic newpaper, came out 100% against
it. So too have lots of Mosque chairmen, in London, Luton and West
Yorkshire...
Smile on the dial indeed. Change as is required must come from within, eh?
Good news indeed. Thanks for sharing that PC. That one had slipped under my radar. This time around, we have indeed seen a much more robust response from the Muslim community, and that is a good thing. I really hope it might be the first sign of a sea-change, but only time will tell.
The Muslim Council of GB that tcm has referred to above is the same body whose website I quoted from the other day on here. I'm pleased to see that the message is getting out.
Actions, however, speak louder than words.
Err, newsflash (several hundred years late): "The Reformation" involved lots of violence.
Thanks for your comments, guys. As Hippolyte say, actions will speak louder than words.
Anonymous, you noted for those who hadn't realised: "The Reformation [I've removed your inverted commas] involved lots of violence."
Are you suggesting the present violence is ~because~ there is an Islamic Reformation going on?
Or that the process of secularisation necessarily involves violence?
Or that the standard of living and freedoms of the West could have been achieved without the secularisation of the Reformation?
Or perhaps that a Reformation is unnecessary because life in Islamic theocracies is so shit anyway and secularisation wouldn't help?
Or are you just, as I suspect, a troll.
"Anonymous" may actually have a point - if that's what he's trying to say. Any attempt at a reformation of Islam will be met with extreme violence by the "old school".
Consider the killings of Shia Muslims in Iraq that you posted about here.
PC - I saw this today as well. It put a smile on my face too, but the accompanying article also noted that it was only about a hundred or so. It is good to see this kind of response, but I seriously doubt that there's any hope for a "seachange".
More good news today about unequivocal condemnation fo the bombings and bombers from the Muslim community in Britain:
"Meanwhile Britain's top Muslims have branded the London suicide bombings "utterly criminal, totally reprehensible, and absolutely un-Islamic".
A joint statement of condemnation came as 22 leaders and scholars met at the Islamic Cultural Centre, in London.
Muslim leaders said there could never be any excuse for taking an innocent life, it said.
The statement said everyone must confront the problems of Islamophobia, racism, unemployment, economic depravation and social exclusion.
Of the Muslim stance on suicide bombing, the leaders said: "There can never be any excuse for taking an innocent life.
"The Koran clearly declares that killing an innocent person was tantamount to killing all mankind and likewise saving a single life was as if one had saved the life of all mankind.
Those who carried out the bombing, the statement said, "should in no sense be regarded as martyrs"."
Source: BBC News.
"The Koran clearly declares that killing an innocent person was tantamount to killing all mankind and likewise saving a single life was as if one had saved the life of all mankind."
And the Talmud, long before the Qur'an, clearly stated that "Who saves one life, saves the world entire".
"Innocent life" is a smokescreen - by Islamic law, very few of the people the Islamofascists have been killing are innocent. See my letter to the NZ Herald for details (sadly but unsurprisingly, they didn't publish it).
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