Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > "Moderate" Malaysian Muslims Confiscating Bibles,Arresting Christians
"Moderate" Malaysian Muslims Confiscating Bibles,Arresting Christians
January 8, 2014
The Many Faces of Jihad
By WILLIAM MAYER
January 7, 2014 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLinenews.org - The standard fallback retort to allegations that normative Islam is pathologically intolerant regarding other religions isn't new, for example they say that Malaysia allows for the free expression by its religious minorities including Buddhists and Christians.
The same is said regarding Indonesia [home of the world's largest Muslim population, over 200 M] where Muslim on Christian violence is on the rise and the al-Qaeda affiliate Laskar Jihad is pillaging Christian villages, killing and maiming as they go.
Thus, neither of these claims of tolerance are substantiable.
Regarding Malaysia, its reputation as proof that that there is no religious discrimination in Islam has been seriously eroded, with Christians now finding themselves targeted and their Bibles confiscated simply because they use the name Allah instead of God or some other designator for the Creator, a common practice among Middle Eastern [for example Jordan] Christians…what few of them remain.
"The Holy Bible, being at the very heart of the Christian community, was being confiscated in a country which is supposed to practice religious freedom and moderation. The dinosaur of Malaysian politics, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was among the first to make statements that the Christians in the peninsula should not irritate Muslims by using the name Allah, but unless Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak stood up against Islamic extremists in this country, he, too, would go down the history as a ‘weakling' in Malaysian politics..." [source, Simon Neoh, JAIS Bible raid hits the world news: Already a PARIAH, Umno Baru will have to CLOSE SHOP! , Malaysian Chronicle]
The "dinosaur" in question is Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who served as Malaysia's Prime Minister for 22 years, from 1981 to 2003. He is now in his late 80s, retired but still a player in the country's politics.
Throughout his long period of service he established policies which clearly favored the indigenous population known as Bumiputeras which are 90% Muslim.
This is not a contention, as Mohamad hasn't been shy in saying so himself.
Such was the case in a speech delivered by him on January 9, 2000 at the Islamic Cultural Center of Greater Chicago in Northbrook. [source, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad Address At the Lariba Life Time Achievement Award Ceremony "Malaysia's Experience," Lessons for the Umah" , Lariba.com]
Lariba, the source of this document, is a financial entity which provides Shari'a based "Islamic financial" services. Broadly speaking, these types of arrangements are of concern to national security professionals because one of the aspects of Islamic finance is that a portion of the earnings are commonly offered as zakat, Shari'a mandated charity which all too frequently ends up in the hands of terrorists.
The speech which Mohamad made upon receiving the "lifetime achievement" award contained remarks serving to confirm the former PM's Islamism.
His core thesis consisted of a rhapsody about a mythical Islamic past which he believed was glorious.
"...[the] golden age of Islam, which was a period of temporal as well as spiritual achievement, an age of conquest and brilliance. The Persian empire and much of the Roman Empire fell to the Muslims. Islam quickly established a new order stretching from the Pyrenees to the Himalayas, an empire larger than the Roman at its height..."
Contrary to Mohamad's characterization, rather than glorious, this period in Islamic history was experienced by the non-Muslim world as a time of predation, constant brutal jihad and conversion by the sword.
He touted his design of a top-down government controlled "reform" of Malaysia's economic system designed to benefit a protected religious class, obviously proud that his new policies favored Muslims to the detriment of those with other faiths. Mohamad described this system of ethnic/religious preference as one which produced "equity" perhaps not fully realizing that such arrangements are standard operating procedure in the Muslim world and countenanced under the Shari'a.
"The indigenous population (known as Bumiputeras), make up about 60 per cent of the population. About 90 per cent of the Bumiputeras are Muslims. In terms of wealth and income, the Bumiputeras had always lagged behind the non-Bumiputeras. In 1970, we embarked on a New Economic Policy (NEP) to ensure that the Bumiputeras enjoy their fair share of the economic pie...As 90 per cent of the Bumiputeras are Muslim, the NEP is almost synonymous with enhancing the economic status of the ummah in Malaysia."
During Mohamad's long tenure he instituted an Islamic banking system which as we mentioned above is often distinguished as a mechanism for channeling money to jihadists.
"We also implemented a unique system of Islamic banking, called the dual system, where a full fledged Islamic banking system functions..."
Throughout this relatively short address Mohamad mentioned "ummah" nine times, another indication of his Islamo-centrism.
It goes deeper than that however.
Ummah is the Arabic word for "the people." Its common usage alludes to a global "nation of Muslims" and is intellectually linked to the idea of an Islamic caliphate, a world government run by and for those of the Islamic faith. As such it should be seen as confrontational, exclusionary and religiously intolerant. In short it's a code word in the same sense as the use of the term "Aryan Nation" which is suggestive of racist tendencies.
In Mohamad's acceptance speech he also stated that he was seeking a rebirth of Islamic fundamentalism, so that the "glorious Islamic civilization," [the one steeped in the blood of non-Muslims] could be reinstituted. He also raised the omnipresent and absurd charge of Islamophobia and the specter of jihad.
"True, we live in a world which is not particularly fond of Muslims. But there is nothing to prevent the ummah from rising again, if the ummah wants to.
"...the fundamentals of Islam were what created the centuries of the glorious Islamic civilization. True `jihad' is the struggle for Muslim unity, acquisition of Muslim statecraft, knowledge and skills so that the Muslims will be freed of oppression and be able to take their place as successful members of a regenerated Muslim civilization."
In Mohamad's mind the oppressors are of course the Western "Islamophobes."
Though not within central scope of this writing we must note that the venue in which Mohamad spoke, the Islamic Center of Greater Chicago at one time was led by, imam Mustafa Ceric.
"Among the Center's Imams was Imam Dr. Mustafa Ceric who later became Rais (Ra'ees) Al-Ulama and the Grand Mufti of Bosnia Herzegovina. Imam Ceric." [source, the Islamic Center of Greater Chicago website]
Ceric is more than a controversial figure, he has a very long history of stoking Islamism in the countries which emerged upon the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the resultant warfare which took place in the Balkans through the 90s.
An example of this divisive tactic can be seen in Ceric's "Declaration of European Muslims" which was published in March, 2006. It's insensitivity to the attacks by Islamic terrorists against the West is insipid, with Ceric attempting to turn the aggressor into the victim, a technique straight out of the jihadist playbook.
"Whereas on September 11, 2001, thousands of men and women who worked at the World Trade Center in New York were killed by a terrorist attack, and on March 11, 2004, hundreds of people who had traveled by a train in Madrid were massacred, and on July 7, 2005, many innocent passengers were victims of bomb explosions in London, and whereas all these acts of violence against humanity have been attributed to "Islamic terrorism"; Whereas following the New York attack, the Madrid massacre, and the London bombing European Muslims live under the heavy pressure of a collective guilt for "Islamic terrorism," which is constantly being propagated by some politicians and media; Whereas European Muslims believe there is no collective guilt, but an individual responsibility; Whereas European Muslims suffer from Islamophobia due to irresponsible coverage of Muslim issues in Europe by some media…"
Additionally we quote from a WikiLeak document referring to a 2005 interview with Ceric , originally published on Angelfire.com, "From a 2005 interview with Ceric.
"Will Bosnia remain a secular state or develop into a theocracy?As far as Islam is concerned, all countries belong to one of the following categories: Dar al-Islam, Dar al-Harb or Dar as-Sulh . Each and every Muslim should know the difference between the three groupings and decide which one they are resident in.
In the first category, Islam must be implemented to the furthest extent. Islam can never be implemented perfectly, but in dar al-Islam the government ought to try their best and continue trying; Islam is an ideal that people in nations in this category must strive for.
In a dar al-Harb state, non-Muslims form the majority of the population and Islam is not recognised by the legislature. Hence it cannot be implemented to any degree. This category applies to most Western states.
In the third, intermediary category, Sulh, the situation is such that Islam or the shariah cannot be implemented fully, but the government should endeavour to put it into practice as much as possible.
Bosnia is not in the first category, but the third. Therefore we are obliged to try our best to put Islamic legislation into practice, but it is unrealistic to expect us to implement shariah completely. That's what I want, of course, but it will not happen just like that…"
In this statement by Ceric, he clearly identifies the West as Dar-al-Harb, the house of war, traditionally lands which have yet to be conquered by Muslims, though not for lack of trying. He also refers to Dar al-Sulh, the house of compromise, a temporary accommodation in countries which have substantial Muslim populations but insufficient numbers to force the establishment of the Shari'a, which Ceric states is "what I want, of course."
This is the jihadist which served as the Islamic Center of Greater Chicago, also the venue for Mahathir Mohamad's plain spoken Islamism.
It's therefore no surprise that Christians are being harassed, manhandled, arrested and having their Bibles confiscated in Malaysia, people such as Mohamad have openly encouraged this type of behavior by their actions and statements.
Additionally, the affinity between an American mosque of this and individuals such as Ceric are an example, writ large, how deeply ingrained the ideology of Shari'a based jihadism has taken root in the United States.
End Notes:
1. The effect of NATO's American led bombing [directed by then President Clinton] in the Balkan's war, was to give Muslims their first European foothold since the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The beneficiaries of this action were the descendents of those who had allied with the Nazis during World War II [creating the Hanjar 13th Waffen SS division] people who carried out some of the most grotesquely cruel atrocities during the conflict. They did this under the supervision of Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini, who had met personally with Adolph Hitler. It's also worth pointing out that Yasser Arafat, the now deceased leader of the terrorist PLO, was the al-Husseini's grand nephew, it seems that anti-Semitism and jihad was never far below the surface with some members of this family.
With the intention of creating an Islamist state, the Bosnian Muslims employed a clever strategy, they hired some of the most powerful public relations companies in the world to present dog and pony shows to important DC politicians, NGOs and special interest groups with obvious success. The details of how this expensive campaign was funded remains a mystery, however the Saudis are thought to have been heavily involved.
2. For a telling interview regarding this sordid affair, please see Yohanan Ramati, Stopping the War in Yugoslavia, Balkan Peace.
3. We also recommend "Media Cleansing: Dirty Reporting" by Peter Brock, the former Balkan correspondent for the New York Times. This book discusses in minute detail the machinations which led to such biased and inaccurate reporting about the war. That this work was authored by an establishment reporter only adds to its credibility.
BEILA RABINOWITZ contributed to this article.
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