Additional reporting by Ahmed Nazeer
The Adhaalath Party has issued a statement condemning former President Mohamed Nasheed’s comments on Islamic radicalism during an address in Denmark.
During his address, Nasheed stated the Maldivian population had largely rejected Islamic extremism, and, in a veiled reference to the Adhaalath Party, noted that “the Islamists were never a credible electoral threat.”
“ The Islamic extremists also didn’t like the Maldives’ new democracy because they were unpopular. They failed to win the Presidential elections in 2008, they failed to win local government elections – in 2011 they won less that four percent of the vote. But now, after the coup, extremists have been rewarded with three cabinet positions in government, and in many ways set the tone of government communications. They are busy trying to indoctrinate people with a misguided version of Islam,” Nasheed said.
“Nasheed misled them about the party he fears and envies most: the Adhaalath Party,” the party responded in a statement. “Nasheed knows very well that the Adhaalath Party is not a party that has no power and influence, unlike what he said in Denmark.”
The party accused Nasheed of “placing idols” in Maldivian lands – a reference to the SAARC monuments gifted to the country by other South Asian nations during the 2011 SAARC Summit hosted in Addu Atoll – and of “giving our assets to foreigners” – a reference to the concession agreement to manage and upgrade the international airport granted to Indian firm GMR.
In his address, the former President acknowledged that there was “a lot of xenophobia, Islamic rhetoric and intolerance going on in the Maldives”, and noted the destruction of 12-century Buddhist statues, manuscripts, and other evidence of the Maldives’ pre-Islamic history.
“There is idea of wanting to return to Hejaz at it was in the 7th century. This is Wahabism in principle. And it is difficult and worrying,” Nasheed said.
“The vast majority of our society are very tolerant people. If all this Islamist rhetoric is removed from official discourse, there will be a much more liberal society. I assure you the rhetoric will be removed from official discourse,” he said.
The Adhaalath Party meanwhile expressed astonishment “that there are a few Maldivians joining [Nasheed] in his work to get another chance to brainwash the Maldivian people. God willing Mohamed Nasheed will not be able to come to power ever again,” the party said.
Nasheed’s address at Copenhagen university:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bLZMKv6PPhs
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If anyone listen to the full speech , you will realize how much Nasheed hate about Islam.
Truth is Nasheed is the man who had created a cabinet portfolio for the Adhalath in the first place.
Prior Nasheed, there was no designated Islamic Ministry but Nasheed did.?
What hell this guy is now talking about ? Just farting nothing more.
@adhaalath,
Look you hypocrites. You can't say he is the one brainwashing people when it is your religion that is brainwashing people. Literally from birth Islam is all we hear about. Other religions are always put down as lies and there is no room for discussion. Oh and you keep us in the religion with threats. Explain to me how is that not brainwashing?
The mullahs are growing powerful day by day as the Arab dawahganda machine has reached unprecedented speeds in the Maldives. The only way to counter this fascist ideology is to foster open debate - Islamism will not survive a battle of ideas. Brainwashed Maldivians should start examining their beliefs before we become another Pakistan or Afghanistan. It is time to discard Arab mythology and call for a secular Maldives.
These terrorist mullahs are blind to Shaheem's views on pork sale, or Fidha's Kali Ma speech or Waheed's statement on fornicattion. Such selective criticism betrays their political agenda. Kick them out of politics.
“There is idea of wanting to return to Hejaz at it was in the 7th century. This is Wahabism in principle."
This is where Nasheed loses all credibility. He is talking a load of horse shit, if I may say so. Hejaz in the 7th, 8th, 9th 10th centuries advanced human knowledge that Nasheed may not realise or perhaps do not want to acknowledge! Nasheed may have obtained his education from the United Kingdom, but he fails to acknowledge or realise the roots of all that knowledge.
I have seen with my own eyes and touched with my fingers the creations of the people of Hejaz from 7th century and the centuries that followed. The fountains of knowledge from the Greeks was enhanced and passed on to the present generation through those people of Hejaz and surrounding areas.
Oxford University was founded by people who travelled to Hejaz and neighbouring countries, who meticulously translated what they found there from Arabic to Latin! Where does Nasheed think the foundations of modern medicine came from? Whilst the Europeans were bleeding people to death, those from Hejaz learned investigative medicine and laid the foundations of modern medicine.
For example, I quote:
"The bimaristan was, in short, the cradle of Arab medicine and the prototype upon which the modern hospital is based." Source: http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199703/the.arab.roots.of.european.medicine.htm
Wahhabism is not a cult followed by ignorant and extremist Bedouins, which is what Nasheed is trying to portray. Wahhabism does have a lot of negative practices which are linked to the cultural traditions of its homeland, i.e. Saudi Arabia. Some of those traditions are certainly not compatible with the Maldives or other parts of the world.
Having said all that, I am not a fan of Adhaalath and in fact, I believe they Adhaalath has nothing meaningful to offer to Maldivian society. They are only concerned about grabbing political power. And I dare say, that, not everyone who grows a beard or wears short trousers is an extremist or a potential terrorist! I'd much rather sit down with a religious man (of whatever religion) than someone with no conviction.
However, just because there happens to be a group of ignorant people within a political party in the Maldives, Nasheed should not try to tarnish the name of Arabs of Hejaz in the 7th century or any other century. This is a very opportunistic, short sighted and down right inexcusable ploy to gather some sympathy for whatever cause he is after.
On the basis of speeches like these, Nasheed can be considered a dangerous man to be elected to power! More speeches like these, Nasheed may lose all credibility or whatever is left of it. Not because of his intolerance of extremism (which is a good thing), but by his callous disregard to history and the contribution of Arabs and Muslims to modern civilisation.
There is no need to listen to a speech by any one.
Maldives have witnessed these said to be sheikhs has nothing other than power and greed in their mind.
Therefore, as the leader of a people, President Nasheed has all the right to dislike anyone or everyone who is leading his people away from reality.
Yes! President Nasheed did try to entertain the Adhaalath party that did believe in real Islam.
But as one can see, the people who formed the Adhaalth party which believed in real Islam is disintegrated with those who are on the correct path standing aside and those who were and are misleading leading that Adhaalath party into doomsday!
We have heard many Islamic Scholars stating publicly that during the tenure of President Nasheed in power, he had never said no; or even disagreed to any extent on any Islamic principles that was unfolded to him by such righteous scholars like Dr. Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari or Sheikh Hussain Rasheed.
However, he could have never bowed down to such sheikhs you see in this photo! They are bad rubbish to be got ridden at all cost!
These are realities only the sensible can note and heed!
It is said that when the camel fart, there is loud noise only.
No smell, and a big nothing!
@ kuribee, man you are talking nonsense tell my why Nasheed hate Islam. Maybe he may not think the way Mullahs and you think. Be levelheaded will you.
Ahmed bin Suvadeeb,
What are you getting worked up about? Is it based on what you infer from the article or is it based on the whole of Nasheeds speech ?
I don't see an insult to anybody there. Not wishing to return to the 7th century culture of Hejaz does not imply that it was at terrible society during the time. But it is certainly not compatible with today. Slavery for one issue, was freely practised. Wahhabism in itself is harsh in its intolerance of the other, it is puritanical and preaches enforcement of the doctrine by force.
One must have enough faith in ones belief not to get worked up about every insult, perceived or otherwise. It is ridiculous to suggest a politicians sincerity, integrity and capability of leading a honest government for the benefit of the people depends on how strong his faith in religion is or how enlightened he is of the contributions of the Arab / Islamic peoples' to the world society. As ridiculous as the stand which Adaalath, which you look down with such disdain at, is taking.
There is no two ways about it, keep your religious beliefs out of politics, if you cite religion as a game changer in politics, you are playing Adaalath's game.
Its just sickening how bigotted our few bunch of home grown kuffars have become over the years. For them even the mention of islam is not tolerable. for them the mere sight of a muslim scholar even in a photo is disgusting. This is how intolerant they are. But let there be sympathy for them. Because Allah (swt) has promised that His aversion to them (the kuffar) will be greater than the aversion they have for His deen. And they will be losers in the hereafter.
@ Hassan Ahmed
I agree with you
In my opinion, Nasheed is doing the right thing by clearly explaining his mind. He is doing it from the past experience, he has tried to accommodate and reform Wahhabis through political means when he was elected which has backfired.
You can’t have double standard in order to get the power. Maldives need a change in order to give hope and you can’t do that with double standard, you have a dilemma here, if you come to power by accommodating extreme views, you will not be able to judge whether the people elected him to deliver his promises or to protect their faith.
If Nasheed is elected despite his moderate view on Islam, this will give him mandate to carry out his policies on economy and social justice and Mullahs will be silenced and contained by political means. There is no way that you can develop Maldives when Mullahs are free to spread their venom and if you win election by accommodating them, you can’t lock them up after election because it is against the spirit of democracy and it will lead to chaos and instability. Isn’t wonderful to know that this man is genuine and he is serious about to bring a change to Maldivians life.
Why Mullahs are grumbling when Nasheed bashes them, if they are comfortable with the idea that the Maldivian want go back to seven century Arabia people will not elect Nasheed and whole Nasheed’s rhetoric will be in Mullahs advantage. Such a useless brains these Mullahs are…! They want play politics but have no brains to play politics. Bunch of idiots,
“Nasheed knows very well that the Adhaalath Party is not a party that has no power and influence, unlike what he said in Denmark.”
yes yes we all know you have the power to order your wahhaabee minions to kill anybody you dislike with immunity from prosecution
@human being
We are not the ones trying to get rid of you and kill you you, or pass policy to make it illegal to be muslim so how are we the intolerant ones?
We kuffars are intolerant of any religion used for OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT POLICY. Because that government is there to serve all of it's citizens, not just the believers. It is not there to rule over a group of people with the use of force to enforce islam.
Remove religion from government. Use policy to create a better society. Work on reducing poverty, increase education levels and move towards a better standard of living for everyone. Use factual evidence to base policy on so we actually make progress.
Islam can be freely and openly practiced and preached in such a society. You can be as islamic as you want! That's how tolerant of everything such a society would be. Secularism in the muslim world isn't something new that the west is trying to implement by the way. It was the norm in many of the eras where islam was a powerful school of though. Just go look it up.
We are just saying don't use government resources (aka everyones tax money) for enforcing. Don't use government resources on anything religious. Because like we are trying to establish, not everyone is of the same religion. So we don't need you shoving it and all the laws that come with it down our throat.
You are the ones being intolerant of us. You preach how evil we are. How we are bad for society. How we have secret agendas. But we can't openly be who we are without you wanting to behead us and you force your beliefs on us. That is intolerance.
Seriously we should leave religion out of politics, but if we must consider religion within the political hemisphere then we must not get callous and must be factual and the rhetoric must be sensitive to peoples aspirations , and it is sadly not up to one individual to decide what the people want without a comprehensive study or survey.
Nasheeds biggest blunders have been trying to force feed to the public what he believes if right rather than to spoon feed what the public believe is what they want ,
last time around , Nasheed lost the presidency because of his arrogant disregard for peoples opinions and advice, a presidency that did not belong to him, but to the people who elected him
so my advice to Nasheed is , simmer down and listen , even to the littlest man or woman who gives you advise it might the words that may save the aspirations of the people who vote for you
Its not how smart you are as a campaign strategist or a Activist , its how smart you are in achieving the end result that we aspire to
As usual the extremists are out with their tails up for they got a life line again to fool the public. What Nasheed said was he needs the true version to be preached and not the sick version of Islam that these extremists are trying to preach. It is now revealed that this joker Imran have even claimed to have been delivered a message by Angel Gebriel during the first speech of Mr Waheed in Parliament after he was appointed as president of Maldives. These guys will ruin this country. May it be Yamin,Waheed or Nashe3ed please get rid of these demons who are selling the religion for survival and a livelyhood.
Thank you President Nasheed for speaking out on the sinister designs of the Islamists on Maldives; and thank you Adalat Party for validating the allegation made by President Nasheed.
There should be more open debate on the nature, status and extent of politicised Islam (Islamism) in the Maldives. Few Maldivians have recognised the gradual descent from Barelvi-Sufi like practices to Deobandism-Wahabism in the Maldives in the space of 30 years.
Thirty years ago also Maldivians were busy doing good deeds and practicing Islam in the pursuit of salvation in the Hereafter. They were able to do all that without threatening their neighbours, without murdering religious scholars, without interning women folk behind curtains of black cloth, without abusing children, without blowing up parks, without rejecting the possibility of civilizational progress through learning, without condemning others to hell, and without resort to violent jihad. They believed they could easily access Heaven even if they did not force their neighbours to go with them.
Today, it appears it would be impossible to go to heaven simply by ibadat-- through faith in the Almighty, by praying 5 times a day, fasting during Ramadan, paying zakat, going on pilgrimage, and living a peaceful life, full of compassion and tolerance of others. It seems that the faith of a Muslim in the Maldives can no longer survive the sight of a woman's hair or the sound of a woman's song. It also appears that a Maldivian's faith in Islam would dissolve if by any chance he or she had access to a copy of the Bible or saw a photo of the Pope on TV or saw an El Al plane at the airport apron!
Why has this descent to Deobandism /Wahabism /Salafism gone unnoticed? That is because the school curriculum is controlled by the mullahs; the khutbas are controlled by the mullahs; the air waves and the border checkpoints/ customs checks are controlled by the mullahs. In fact, the public discourse is so dominated by them that a Penal Code drawn up an in American University has now become the vehicle for the introduction of hadd penalties in the Maldives-- without regard to the context to which such penalties are deemed to be applicable.
Needles to say, President Nasheed would be accused of being an apostate during the election campaign, as nearly all his secular political opponents will be tempted, as in 2008, to think that the only way to discredit his political standing will be to attack his commitment to Islam.
But 5 years down the track, he has an opportunity now to be elected just because his secular enemies are branding him as a heretic. This is because most of the politically active population realize that the Islamist discourse does not add up. Mr Selvam might not have smelled a coup, but everyone else in the country saw exactly what happened; and they do not believe that there was any divine authority behind replacing Mr Nasheed with Mr Waheed. The coup has exposed the Islamists for the hypocritical, corrupt megalomaniacs that they are. It is time now the people chose a government that will allow women back into society as equals to men; a government that respected education, progress and reason. People now realise the folly of following the mullahs who have blatantly failed to observe the Islamic hudood in relation to those in authority.
One point from President Nasheed's speech however needs correction, because Adalat clearly will not want to make that correction. Adalat Party is not talking about 7th century Hejaz; but about 18th century Najd or at best, 10th century Baghdad. For if they were talking about 7th century Hejaz, they would still have to recognise that sharia was dynamic, developing, tolerant, and respectful of reason, research and debate; for example, Caliph Umar would suspend hadd for sariqa during famine; most of the Hadith literature had not yet been collected, and forgeries were largely absent; fiqh and court systems were at best nascent.
By contrast, Adalat Party beckons us to a time when the rationalists were beaten, and sharia had developed to multiple madhabs on the basis of considerable human construction called fiqh, acquired considerable rigidity; and ijtihad was replaced by taqlid. And of all different readings of sharia available, Islamists appear to favour not that which might deliver justice, compassion and peace; but that which might enable them to secure political control and vent their frustrations against the West for the capitulations of the European colonial era.
The reason that debates about Islamic law is banned in the Maldives is because people just might learn that there is no divine authority behind much of what Islamists claim, but the frustration over their powerlessness and a desire to acquire self-importance and authority. Or that they might lose some of the powers they already possess! It clearly is not about protecting the faith of the people or the general public interest!
On President Nasheed's part, he must persist in his commitment to moderate Islam, for what use would it be for him to be elected President simply to preside over the implementation of the Islamist agenda that he is criticizing?
@Athiests
We muslims dhivehins are not are not advocating something new here. We are asking let dhivehins be dhivehin. if we are brown, lets us be brown. Don't try to make us white. If we are muslims let us be muslims. don't try to shove atheism down our throats. Is that something too much to ask? The few vocal atheists are being intolerant by just trying to make everyone secular.
When you ask to remove religion from government, you are just asking to change our way of life. We muslims believe religion will be with us in every sphere of life. Be it politics, business, personal etc. Who are you or atheists to tell us what to separate from govt or personal life? Just think out of the shell for a second. As for reducing poverty, education; do you honestly think any religion advocates against this? The fact that western countries have more educational opportunities and more wealth doesn't mean its the work of atheism or Christianity. Its because of their control of wealth by colonialism.
If you said islam can be practiced anywhere in a 'secular' society, then you haven't been reading the news recently. You don't obviously notice all the fuss about minarets in western countries, muslim women's veils in Europe, and burning villages in Burma. You don't see the fanaticism and the pain they inflict on people for their personal belief.
if you are saying don't use everyone's tax money then who is the everyone here? How much of a percentage is atheists here? The majority of this country are muslims even by name. And atheists and kuffar represent the 1% here. We are the 99% so what tax money are you talking about?
As for 'beheading' an often overused allegation against Muslims, how is it good when the greatest champions of democracy are keeping 100s of prisoners without any charge for years in jail. Even now there are more than 100 inmates in Guantanamo bay jail who are on hunger strike to end either their life or their imprisonment. What is their crime? They have never been charged with a crime. Nothing has been proven against them. Just normal people plucked out from their families and loved ones and being incarcerated in your 'democratic jails'. Why don't the kuffar and atheists see this?
@peasant on Sun, 28th Apr 2013 9:33 PM
"Not wishing to return to the 7th century culture of Hejaz does not imply that it was at terrible society during the time. But it is certainly not compatible with today."
Indeed, I did address the compatibility issue in my earlier comment. "Wahhabism" is more of a cultural phenomenon in any case. That also seems to be the view from my conversations with natives who practise it or are at the receiving end of it.
I am of the opinion that Nasheed is going down the wrong road in terms of his attacks on the likes of Adhaalath, however much we may disdain their ways. He is probably trying a different tack after his alliance with them backfired after all.
There's a pattern with Nasheed. Every time MDP seems to gain the upper hand in local politics, Nasheed throws a bomb shell, which galvanises all of his enemies into a single minded attack on MDP. I'd imagine that this is not fair on a sizeable number of MDP members. I could be wrong.
It's a difficult game to play. Maldives, is a religious society and people are very sensitive to issues of religion. After all Emperor Abd El Gayyoom, the Father of Democracy, used that to great advantage during his three decades of absolute rule.
prior to Nasir and Gayoom the islam followed in Maldives was what the muslim travellers from Arab and later india preached.It can be given many labels according to the diferent tariqa's but if you read the books available written by our own learned respected scholars of the time,it is the "school of thought" of islam of the Reviver of religion Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani(if u need to label him he is a hanbali sunni) of Baghdad(the rose of Baghdad) that was practiced in Maldives.If you see in neighbouring Sri lanka even today it is the sufis(mainly Qadri) out of all the muslims in the mosque who pray as we Maldivians do in every rukun in the salat and read qunoot in fajr prayer.That Islam was about 'love' for Allah and the prophet and not for hate of fellow human beings but wishing them well.the religion taught by Rumi,ghazali and the likes.It was in 1100's of jilani's time that thousands of his followers left their homes to sail the oceans to spread the beauty of islam and some fought in islamic armies including the General of Saladins army who conquered Jerusalem.However since or after Ibn Arabi(doctor Maximus) many a deviants called themselves saints and the real TASAWUFF preached by the true sheikhs was lost with human greed for money,power and lust!Thus we have 'Abdul Wahhab'in the 17th century who came with the ThauHEED whose teachings were influced by Ibn Tammiya who refuted the excess of many Sufis but respected sheikhs like Jilani.The real fall of islam was when the scholar Abdul Wahhab joined forces with The Saud Family calling themselves Ahl al-Tawhid ("the monotheists").Now Abdul Whhab may have wanted a plainer version of islam but this sood family had the intention only of gaining control of the kingdom.Once in power the real nature of these people was shown when they destroyed anything to do with the prophet's family just as their ancestors beheaded the family of the prophet and had them paraded around.The real enemity of the quraish and the Banu hashim destroyed islam in the 7 century by dividing it into political factions of sunnis and shia's and once the saud family got hold they made up their mind to hold on to power by watever means even if it meant joing forces with power hungry individuals in the west and get the riches of the kingdom using the Name of the prophet and House of Allah the Almighty, yet they call the land of Mohammed "Saudi" Arabia and use the same system of penetrating cultures as the English,ie by forcing their cuture into the lives of other people by using religion.ISlam was spread in india by the people labled sufi's and it was received with love by the indian people and despite been miles apart hindus and muslims co-existed because those people spoke to the hearts of the masses.But The Wahabbism the Saud family spreads to maintain their kingdom has nothing to do with the heart but just literal interpretations which two people cannot fathom the same way as no two finger prints are identical.Clearly the devil is in the detail and they r using that trick well!!When this Wahabbism became a menace in the late 1900's today they brand it in several names such as people of Thauheed! and NOW SALAFISM!What in the world are these lables for?All muslims are the nation of Mohammed(peace be upon him) and every man's culture is his inheritence from his forefathers.We can have schools of thoughts but there should be no sects in islam waiting for a MAhdhi who is nowhere mentioned in the Quran!What Quran says is no1 not even the prophet knows the time of the end,so be Pateint and teach the ways of the propeht through example, not by waiting for every chance to kill a jew or capture back masjid al Aqsa by bloodshed.
Coming to Maldives Maumoon and Nasir have to take the blame because it was with these people that singing the praises of the attributes of the prophet stopped and we had to sing "thiyaee maai zaeemey lobvethi mi gaumu fahurvervaa,with his beautiful nan fulhu! !' thus we forgot that the prophet was sent as a mercy for humanity and not to kill them!and the Saud's with their riches are now taking advantage of the fragility of our nation and our faith by spreading desert culture here.
HELLO!!! It is NOT about what other Maldivians think that is important here. Maldives depends heavily on Tourists from European countries , who are primarily Christians. Every European would read the complete content of Mr.Nasheed's speech in the following manner:
1. There is a BIG problem happening in Maldives with the Islamic Radicalisation process , whereby there is a HUGE threat that the entire Maldives could be Wahabis in the near future!Hence, it is better to avoid travelling to maldives.
2. Mr.Nasheed is trying to be the Crusader who is trying to make Maldives tolerant to other religions and to follow a soft Islamic policy. EVERY EUROPEAN LOVES TO HEAR This. For them, the CORE of living is getting a country converted to Christianity! They will of course ROOT for Mr.Nasheed as this is exactly what they want (hidden Agenda)
3. Every follower of MDP (as Mr.Nasheed represents MDP) are tolerant and are open to allowing other religions coming in AND are NOT fanatic. I fail to understand why then there are so many Maldivian MDP women followers wearing the hijab/hair cover??? Are'nt you strong Islamic followers??
It is quite UNBELIEVABLE the amount of Hypocrisy that is all around. WAKE UP MALDIVES, it is NOT about Maldivians, IT IS ABOUT HOW THE WORLD IS PERCEIVING YOU!
Tourism BEING THE CORE REVENUE PROVIDER, I PLEAD with everybody DO NOT KILL THE GOLDEN GOOSE!!!
I am TRULY SADDENED AND SHOCKED WITH THE GULLIBILITY AND THE STUPID N RASH DRIVE TOWARDS ABSOLUTE DESTRUCTION Of the Economy, the people, the country...
WOW!!! I can see that Mr.Nasheed is trying to fast track this self-destruction process by about 20 years!! Adhaalath Party is also EQUALLY BAD in holding onto their EXTREME measures and idealogy.
Just 5 years, 90% of Tourist Arrivals in the Maldives, IF ASKED, would NOT have known this was a Muslim Country. Islam was something personal, HOLY to every single Maldivian. There were TWO SYSTEMS HARMONIOUSLY EXISTING in the MAldives - Local Culture, Tourist Culture, WITHOUT disturbing each other's values. All this wealth and glory for Maldives was built with this amazing Business/Culture model. I, as a foreigner was/is always PROUD about the MAldivian who is such a smart n wise human being, who has understood how to maximise revenue BUT ensure that their values n priorities are always preserved , especially their Religion.
NOW, this is being TURNED around on its head and everybody is SO CONFUSED, IRRITATED, ANGRY and so HYPOCRITICAL about everything!!
Very very sad... The above is the HARD TRUTH and many of the Maldivians HATE to hear the TRUTH! I cry for Maldives...
I just pray to Allah (I am a NON-MUSLIM), that the Almighty give the Maldivians a wise way of thinking and allow Maldivians to understand and appreciate what is the right way of life, without destroying Allah's gift to them senselessly....
Check what Nasheed had given his speech. He hates Islam and he thinks that Denish are the people who are going to vote him to win the election.
Lots of interesting comments here. But the ones which point out the history of Islam in the Maldives are the most interesting. I remember when pictures of buraq were hung on the walls of the average Maldivian even in the 90's. I don't think there was a culture of 'hate' back then, directed towards everyone who's a non-muslim. But now, with agendas which brainwash the masses to think that there's some invisible force out to get them originating from the west, people have become intolerant, misogynistic and extremely xenophobic. It really is the path to becoming the next Pakistan. Maldivian cultural values have been lost because they are deemed incompatible with what the local mullahs preach. I remember when I was young, we had a certain religious event to remember the day a family member passed. I remember when the only member of my family to wear a veil was my grandmother's mother. And even that wasn't the black tent. Now, if you don't wear the veil, you are considered a slut. Mullahs constantly remind us that a woman's status is as a housewife at home. In reality, these women are treated like stock animals and it makes me sick.
To the commenter who said that it is us atheists who are intolerant of you, that is very ignorant and illogical of you to say. It really isn't us who stone members of a peaceful gathering on the human rights day. It isn't us who bully innocent young adults into suicide. It isn't us who enforce our beliefs onto everyone else. It isn't us who slash homosexual's throats. Look around the world. No atheists are calling for the annihilation of anyone who's not an atheist. When you say let Maldivians be, that becomes intolerant. How can 400,000 people be exactly like each other. Everyone has their own ideas, their own preferences, and their own likes and dislikes. For you to not be able to accept that, but enforce what you think is right on the rest, and then say that the people who didn't accept that are actually the ones who are intolerant is utterly ridiculous.
Samaritan -
If you liked Maldivians so much you would have a clue about what it's like for non-believers, people of other faith and the LGBT community here. Hell even the moderates are labelled as infidels these days and the culture of folk Islam is in danger of being completely wiped out. Do you honestly think all those people don't exist and everyone is a Muslim from the exact same sect with the exact same set of beliefs? Do you honestly think there aren't Mullahs trying to manipulate religion for their own political means?
The bigger picture isn't about your precious tourist dollars, it's about the basic freedoms that are being denied to it's people. It's about spirituality being warped into a political tool.
It's about the very culture that you are praising. Benefiting off the people for tourist revenue while keeping the actual populace hidden from view and therefore not a problem.
You don't even see us as humans like you. Clearly we should all just forget about our rights incase your ludicrous tourist fantasies are ruined. God forbid someone's vacation is ruined because they found out about the realities of the place they're visiting.
@ Samaritan.
Your point #2 is absolute horse sh!t.
"For them, the CORE of living is getting a country converted to Christianity!"
For them, they don't care what religion you are. That's the whole point....except for a few nutters (Westboro Baptist Church), the idea of converting anyone is utterly disgusting. Religion is personal. That's the bottom line.
Yo,
You are wrong and they do care what religion you are ?
They have their missionaries going around infest the people.
Nasheed is a man who is trying to destroy this country for his personal gain.
@human being
You say to let devihin be devehin. Well what about the dhiehi men and women who are not muslims and dont think islam is essential to be dhivehi? After all it was where we were born and raised and we turned out atheist. Doesn't make us foreigners.
So extend us the courtesy of having our view point taken into consideration too and base policy for a society that can tolerate us. And if people want to leave islam that should be a free choice that won't bring harm to them too.
And the west is not how it will be like. The muslims will be the majority. You will have final say on any vote. Look at turkey, we can begin with something like that.
extremism does not only come from religious people or parties. it can come from political movements that are non-religious or who are secularists too. that is a historical fact. hatred is incited by extreme non-religious people, the same way a religious people do, for the same end of achieving political ends and personal ambition and greed. you can be an extremist while claiming you are defending democracy just as you can while claiming you are defending islam. how are some people so sure that afrasheem was murdered by an islamist, especially when by their own definition afrasheem was an islamist?why would islamist murder an islamist?
@Human being By the way I completely agree with you on the Guantanamo bay issue. I think most rational atheists would agree Guantanamo bay is an awful thing for the US to be doing as is the war on terror. I also think that the american government has some xenophobic people in elected positions right now and that has been an issue there for a while. Even some people in the US has admitted the wars they are fighting were a bad choice and was un justified.
In fact it is something that is condemned all over the world but USA is sovereign and have the power to do what they want.
But we don't have to be like them anyway!
The factis : thereis not one single "Muslim country" in the world where 'brothers' do not kill their 'brothers', where is democracy, where is development, where is perspective for a peaceful future for the people.
Facts of a retarded culture.
'brothers' are not the only killers in the world. development and so on will still be problems even if you remove 'muslim' from country