As the heady winds of revolution sweep across the Middle East, a startling moment last week proved to be a sobering eye-opener.
Former IAEA chief and Nobel Laureate Mohamed El-Baradei had to retreat from the polling booth without casting his vote after a crowd of Islamists threw stones at him.
It marks the precise moment when realisation hit global media outlets that the Egyptian revolution, which was fueled almost entirely by educated, liberal and non-ideologically driven youth, has been hijacked by Islamists.
Some might argue that with 77 percent of voters in favour of the referendum, which El-Baradei opposed, democracy has clearly spoken and that the issue merits no further discussion. But in fact, it needs more scrutiny than ever.
Who watches the watchmen?
On the walls of Cairo, posters signed by the Muslim Brotherhood were put up declaring that it was the ‘spiritual obligation’ for all Muslims to vote in favour of the referendum, which many believe gives the Brotherhood – the only organised opposition – a strong edge in short term elections. It is an outcome that many secular Egyptians, and the large Coptic Christian minority in Egypt are loathe to see.
In each of those posters lies one of the most crucial questions of our times – can democracy survive under the shadow of Islamism?
Democracy, by its very nature, relies on the ability of a population to use its free will and judgment to make informed decisions. When the writing on the wall literally ordains the faithful to vote in a particular fashion, upon no less an authority than God himself, whence lies the free will of the people?
There’s an inherent conflict of interest when an Islamist party enjoins upon the people, by invoking the name of God, to vote in a manner most suitable to its own political ambitions.
Nevertheless, Muslim democrats have, time and again, failed to challenge the Mullah on the impropriety of his partaking in politics on the platform of religion.
In what is an affront to both religion and democracy, deep issues of faith and morality, with their strong emotive underpinnings, have ended up as mere political tools for manipulating crowds and gathering votes.
The ramifications of this convenient marriage between politics and religion are not hard to spot.
With the Arab freedom movements engulfing it from all sides – Syria in the north, Yemen in the South, Bahrain in the east, and Egypt, Tunisia and Libya in the west – a frantic Saudi Arabian interior ministry was quick to pull out the preemptive religion card.
The Saudi state media carried the following statement:
“The Council of Senior Clerics affirms that demonstrations are forbidden in this country. The correct way in sharia of realising common interest is by advising, which is what the Prophet Mohammad established… Reform and advice should not be via demonstrations and ways that provoke strife and division, this is what the religious scholars of this country in the past and now have forbidden and warned against.”
It is disingenuous at best for the Wahhabi-monarchy nexus in Saudi Arabia to claim that Islam forbids protests against a ruler, considering the Saudi monarchy itself was established by a series of conquests beginning with a pan-Arab revolt against no less an authority than the Islamic Caliphate.
The enormous utility of religion as a political tool was reaffirmed by the Taliban’s strong run in Afghanistan, imposing one of the harshest theocracies in recent memory.
Democracy is all but lost in Pakistan as well, where at least two senior politicians have recently been murdered in broad daylight for refusing to toe the line of the hard line clergy that wields influence over an increasingly radicalised Pakistani society.
Misuse of religion also remains the predominant political gimmick in the Maldives.
Former President of the Republic, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, had no qualms about asserting himself as guardian of the faith, constantly hammering in the notion that the ‘100% Muslim’ nation’s cultural identity was defined entirely by its religious homogeneity which had to be protected against ever-present, invisible threats – an assertion that has put a paranoid Maldives in the list of top ten countries of the World noted for religious intolerance, according to a study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in 2009.
Outlandish theories brimming with conspiracy have found a mainstream foothold in the Maldives, with self-proclaimed “religious” groups protesting for weeks against a visit by Israeli “Zionist organ-stealing” doctors, displaying a fanatic zeal rarely before seen in public and certainly never exhibited for causes like rampant pedophilia and child abuse.
Highly-charged religious rhetoric permeates issues ranging from education to foreign policy; politicians privately admit to being unable to vote on bills in Parliament on merit, because of the guaranteed backlash from the clergy class.
The already indistinct line between fanatic militants recruiting youth in the islands, and the intolerant ideologues openly preaching on public podiums is increasingly blurred.
In one episode, the Maldivian government website of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs posted an article declaring the Haiti earthquake, where 316,000 people lost their lives and a million were left homeless, as the ‘wrath of God’ showered upon a deserving, wicked people.
The danger with that kind of rhetoric is, of course, that it creates a loophole where any Tom, Dick and Harry can – and will – assume the high seat of arrogance and presumption from which they unravel the divine reasoning behind everything from natural calamities to personal tragedies.
Following a report on the recent tragedy in Male’, where two women lost their lives in a fire that engulfed their home, a commentator was quick to ascribe it to ‘the wrath of God’, insinuating the deceased were deviants who deserved their tragic end, simply because he disagreed with their lifestyle.
Me Tarzan, You infidel
In the heydays of the reform movement in the Maldives, the pro-government media regularly depicted opposition leaders as Christian missionaries bent on destroying Islam.
Similarly, opposition propaganda channels exploited the religious insecurities of the public by presenting the ruling party as depraved alcoholics and homosexuals.
One political party with religious affectations, the Adhaalath Party, even took the former President – a religious scholar – to court on apostasy charges.
There appears to be not a single political party in the Maldives that has not indulged in the cheap political abuse of religion by abandoning discussions of governance and policy in favour of petty fear-mongering and emotive politics.
In this atmosphere of whipped up religious paranoia, a book by former Attorney General Hassan Saeed and Professor Abdullah Saeed of Melbourne University, titled ‘Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Islam’ was banned in June 2008, amid accusations that Hassan Saeed would introduce freedom of religion if elected to power.
At the time, Hassan Saeed reportedly responded by claiming the ban was a “cowardly Act driven by a 30 year-long leadership that has made Islam as a political tool.”
That moment of lucidity, however, proved to be short-lived. Following a viewer poll on national TV regarding religious freedom in December 2009, Hassan Saeed’s own party repeated, almost verbatim, the exact same allegations against the present government – accusing it of attempting to import “other religions” into the country to “undermine Islam”.
In the first week of March 2011, the opposition-allied political party People’s Alliance (PA) accused the government of following the agenda set by ‘Zionist Jews’, and mentioned ‘irreligious’ people in the government.
The next week, MDP MP Ahmed Rasheed invoked the scriptures when calling for an amendment to the Clemency Act to uphold the death penalty.
The bill was co-sponsored by Independent MP Muttalib who has in the past found time to introduce bills of such national importance as rescinding the right of resident foreigners to worship in the privacy of their bedrooms – while crucial bills like the Evidence Act continue to be delayed.
Another MP further argued that even the country’s requisite Foreign Policy could be gleamed from a single verse in the holy book.
Gag Orders
As with other countries, religion, in the hands of politicians, has transcended its spiritual role, and entered the domain of fear in the Maldives.
The rhetoric of the Mullah has reached a point where the media – the fourth pillar of democracy and defender of free speech – has spinelessly retreated into a shell of self-censorship and servitude.
Articles mildly critical of Islamists have been retracted after being published. Websites critical of Islamist parties have quietly been banned. Lifestyle magazines have been forcibly shut down after relentless harassment and intimidation from pseudo-religious groups, while authorities conveniently turn a blind eye.
The prevailing climate of fear prevents legitimate questions about the involvement of ‘religious’ NGOs in terrorist activities, and their role in promoting violent rhetoric, child abuse and abuse of women from being widely asked.
The few remaining liberals who dare raise these issues are confronted with reactions that range from the bizarre to the comedic.
In May 2010, the Adhaalath Party posted an article on its website with the fantastic claim that Minivan News was promoting ‘lesbianism’ and ‘national sissyness’.
The incredible claim, unfortunately, is symptomatic of a society where discussions are quickly ended by painting feminists as ‘lesbians’ and unilaterally declaring secular opponents as ‘atheists’ and ‘Zionists’ – a society characterised by paranoia, fear-mongering and dysfunction in the name of religion. In other words, a society where democracy cannot survive.
Each of the stones thrown at Mohamed El-Baradei represents an attempt to silence critique, to overwhelm reason with violence, to suppress disagreement with intimidation, an attempt to abort democracy in the womb.
One prays for the sake of Egypt’s rich civilization that their hopes for democracy do not get consumed by the petty fires set by self-appointed representatives of God.
The ancient Nile, after all, bears witness to a long chain of mortals who assumed the mantle of religion, only to end up mistaking themselves for God.
The Indian Ocean doesn’t.
All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]
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Excellent article... what waits ahead for us is worrying 🙁
another muslim bashing article by a secularist. I didnt even bother wasting my time on the writing, considering the fact that it came form an open muslim-hater who run a hate blog (the things in those can be prosecuted under maldivian law)
i just wanted to bring the attention of the general readers to something i came across today, american soldiers killing muslims for fun and cutting up their body parts in Afghanistan. i just felt so sad seeing those horrible photos and reading the article in Rolling Stone magazine. please see it. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-kill-team-20110327
why dont minivan news cover this for a change?
We have completed our strategic report on islamists some time ago and we have come to a decision; they feed off insecurity, weakness and greed in order to grow. They parasitize weakened nations like a fungus with their lies, backed by their threats and weapons.
How can we defeat such a ruthless gang?. Overwhelm their kill teams with superior firepower, make them bleed and die - show the world that they are not the chosen men of god, but just normal people.
Rukshana Kausar proved to us that the only way to defeat them is to fight back - without regret or fear. Their greatest weapon is fear - break it, and they become nothing.
Hey fathun, I like the way you quickly accept pictures in a 'non-muslim news service' when it shows muslims being massacred, but deny the same things happening when muslims are behind the trigger. It's funny in a sad sort of way.
Here's some tasty 'muslim-powered oppression' for you to stare at. I hope you know arabic.
http://www.mediafire.com/?9kubwz3mzmi81c6
Religion is nothing more than a tool for tyrants to bully and oppress the masses. And now, that tool has become rusted; the people fear the wrath of these so-called gods no more!.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-kill-team-20110327
"At one point, soldiers in 3rd Platoon talked about throwing candy out of a Stryker vehicle as they drove through a village and shooting the children who came running to pick up the sweets"
how sick can these Americans get? hope they and their family/children suffer from what they have done to us and our kids.
Hmmm!!! Iz everybodys faaavorite zionist come bak to try and convert us ALLL to secularism. I am surprised he has not been eaten yet. This stupid Christian is worreed that ppl mite vote for decent pius Muslim brothers than atheist colonizer allies like El Baredi, who is really only just a tool of US.
Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) threw stones at shaithaan too, nuthing wrong with throwing stones at devil!!!!
Fear Allah! Do not beleif the lies of secularists prtending to be democracy ppls.
Look at all these Israeli atrocities in Palestine!
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11859
Pay atenshion to those instead.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-kill-team-20110327
"According to one soldier, members of 3rd Platoon of US marines, also talked about a scenario in which they “would throw candy out IN FRONT of the Stryker(their vehicle); the Stryker would then RUN THE CHILDREN OVER”
this is the what the great-secularist-freedom-loving westerners are doing!
Being stupid and arrogant must be the most rewarding thing in the world.
It would leave the mind free of embarrassment by being unable to ever comprehend the idiocy of ones own statements. Never losing an argument by being unable to understand reasoning or logic. Best of all the self satisfaction of knowing you are 100% right.
It would be like a permanent high- no chemical assistance necessary. Bliss.
@Fathun
It's funny how you judge the article after just reading the headline. Are you one of those people, who judge other human beings based on their appearance as well? Like the KKK perhaps? They too just looked at African Americans to decide what sort of people they really were. Just like you, in this case.
And talking about Afghanistan, I'll give you a better idea. You know a country called Japan? Tens of thousands of people recently lost their lives in a tragic disaster there. So, stop whining and try to go help people who really do need help, AND have helped us in the past and currently as well, whenever we needed. You do know how Male' survived the '04 tsunami right? Oh yeah....Japanese aid. Also, I wonder if you feel anything for the Americans who lost their lives during 9/11, which was directly caused by Al Qaeda...based in....YEAH you guessed that right! Oh wait.....are you gonna blame this on "Evil Zionists hell-bent on destroying all Muslims" as well?
As for the article, it was pretty good actually, and it IS in fact true that nobody can disagree with the mullahs in our country now. If you say no to them, you "according to them" already have a spot down in hell. I bet if "Seyku" Fareed says that it is a Fard Ain for all Maldivians to vote for him as the president, and he shows random made-up hadith to prove his claim, he will be the next president of the Maldives, with an endless supply of 5 year old girls for sex. Why? Because a "great" "scholar" called Bilal Phillips said that pedophilia was okay. I wonder why that wasn't taken as a major issue in the hypocritical media of this country.
Well, have a nice day, and remember, a cucumber a day, is good for health.
Of course they'd be planning to throw candy and massacring children after british muslim seykus admit that it is legitimate to kill children and women for islamic jihad.
I'm not even half-surprised.
What, you don't like your own medicine?.
Oh, and those atrocities in Palestine?. It's just a huge play, to entice people like you to keep burning a slow war so that OPEC can reap oil sales profits. And besides, if Aramco refused plink oil into Tel Aviv, none of this would happen. Trust me, helicopters, tanks and gunships need fuel to operate.
You have no one to blame for the atrocities but the mastermind - the Saudi Arabian leadership. Of course, you, being a 'good muslim' you'll try to deny everything.
And yes, an Egypt free from Saudi influence would put a stop to the suffering in Palestine by effectively shutting the Suez Canal off to Saudi oil barges. Which is why the islamists must do everything it can to steal the rights of the people of Egypt, so that the the whole middle east can keep suffering - all for what?. Oil sales.
There is no doubt which faction is 'the devil' and 'sick/barbaric'. It is the so-called 'muslims' from Saudi Arabia. The weakling Americans are the puppets of Saudi dictatorship.
And now, their global regime is crumbling. Not even their so-called shari'a law will be enough to stop their collapse.
I love the smell of burning wahhabis in the morning!.
Hey MP Abdullah Yamin, how much does Israel pay you to write these ugly comment pieces about the World's Most Loved religion?
Islam: Why Islam hasn't become a "men-only" club before now baffles me.........the religion that is so ashamed of it's women that it hides tham and covers them in black....... j
Nice article brother yameen! I will pray to allah that the misguided brothers of islam wake up from the darkness and stop being frogs in the well
insha'allah, islam will not be brought down by ignorant people! Golden age of islam (which created early computer) was brought down by ignorant fake muslims sideing with evil crusaders and barbarians... islam will never fall!. allah akhbar!
keep speaking truth! Remember...."Rather, We dash the truth upon falsehood, and it destroys it, and thereupon it departs." - the holy Quran [21:18]
@John
Why do comments on subjects that you have no clue at all. You dont need to prove that you are stupid.
If a Muslim woman's understaing of her faith leads her to covering her hair and that makes Islam a 'men-only club ... ashamed of its women...' then both Christianity and Judaism may also be judged the same. Nuns seem to feel obliged to cover her hair as well as many Othordox Jewish women; the former wear veils/scarfs whereas the latter shave their hair and wear wigs.
Christianity and Judaism in it's heyday committed genocide, before they were relegated to purely ceremonial positions with no power.
Is it islam's turn to turn into a museum relic?
@The Balrog
Remember for you a Wine glass and a prostitute is good for your health!
@Ahmed Aliased and the likes!
TRY YOUR BEST AND LETS SEE IF YOU GUYS CAN SECULARIZE THIS SOCIETY!! REMEMBER WE BELIEVE IN ALLAH SW AND WE BELIEVE A DEFEAT TODAY IS AN ETERNAL VICTORY. A VICTORY IS STEP FORWARD TO WHAT WE CAME TO THIS WORLD. NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU GUYS TRY, YOU WILL HAVE TO ACCEPT THE WILL OF GOD (YOUR BUNCH CALL IT FORCE OF NATURE..JOKERS!!).
YOU COWARDS!! YOU DARE NOT COME OPEN TO OUR SOCIETY TO SPREAD GAY'S, ALCOHOL, GAMBLING AND OTHER UNCIVILIZED ACTS OF SATAN!
YOU SATAN WORSHIPERS!! LETS US ALL WAIT TILL WE ALL ARE CALLED FOR FINAL CALL..FOR THAT DAY IS SURE TO COME AS YOU ARE SURE OF YOUR ANYTHING ELSE! WHERE ARE THE MIGHTY KINGS AND QUEENS, PRESIDENT'S, PRIME MINISTERS, DICTATORS, HERO'S WHO REFUTED THE WILL OF GOD? DEAD?
STUPID GUYS!! SHOW US YOUR STRENGTH!! WE SHALL SHOW YOU OURS..REMEMBER OUR FOREFATHERS FOUGHT BRAVELY TO PROTECT ISLAM IN THIS NATION AND WE SHALL DO THE SAME!!
Although you try to discredit religion Islam, you can't. Allah will protect his verses.
Yameen Rasheed, when you point extremism, don't you know that most of the criminals in the jails represent your philosophy? Religious practitioners are not the people involving in the crimes like murder, rape, child abuse, drugs, group sex...etc. Shame to you all.
Because of failure to implement Islamic Sharia, we can't walk on the roads of Male'. Party's like you are stealing and looting every where. Shame shame shame!!!
One of the so called "human rights activist" Hilath Raheed was found falling in an uninhabited island after drug overdose. Not a member from a religious party.
First see you face from the mirror, and comment on others.
It wasn't this article that made me ashamed of being a muslim - it was the wanna be idiots who were covering up their crimes by throwing lies and lies and lies.
please look at fathun, bulha and the others mindlessly attacking with words because they cant digest the truth of what is happening to islamic world.
And to this 'really?' fellow; you are committing shirk by assigning clergy to allah. Repent now, for the sin of shirk is the biggest sin of all.
Islam as delivered by the prophet Mohammed was the greatest secular religion that made Europe grovel in shame.
I will not allow what happened to Christianity to befall Islam. (They put the pope and the priest between men and Allah). Allah is the one god. Not Fareed, not Baree. This is my jihad. Insha'allah, we will defeat the fake muslims who assign men to godhood.
Yameen, people may call you an atheist, but to me, you are the shining beacon of hope to all true muslims. Please keep writing about the horrors happening to the islamic world everywhere.
Speaking the truth is also a jihad.
Mohammed Thakurufan would think the 'muslims' of today were Portuguese colonialist invaders. Because they say 'join our version of islam, or be killed!'
'really', don't you desecrate Maldives great past and the name of the good muslims who protected Maldives from colonialism.
Because today we are faced with Saudi colonialism.
@ really? on Wed, 30th Mar 2011 11:04 AM
nice job bro/sis
keep it up.
we knw that we muslims are the strongest force in our society and our strength is growing day by day. Thats why these secularist faranjee-wegen-ulhey nuts are so scared of. they have no support of the public and the only thing they can do is hide behind a computer and write some nonsense, which we dont give a dame abt. on the other hand, look at our number, look at our energy, look at the number of attendees in religious sermons, islamic protests, etc.. secularists, keep drooling over this!
"the way in which people write is as unique as their finger prints"
i can bet that most of the comments written from secularist side is done so by Yamyn himself, including the ones praising him. what a self obsessed nut.
two thumbs up to John's comment.
this is pointless. radicalization and fundamentalism in this country cannot be on the rise solely because of a misunderstanding of world events.
it is due to the mismanagement, blatant and open corruption and cruelty of the people who governed this country. maldives is basically like an african country with a lucrative tourism industry. our rulers come from a pool of ill-trained, cruel and "non-ideological" citizens.
this government has failed although it still succeeds in brainwashing pretentious, self-righteous roanu edhuru people like yameen rasheed. i don't know the guy personally and this is not meant to be personal but this kind of writing, no matter how lucid it seems because of a fair command of the English language is based on presumptions and hearsay. leave the social theory to the experts Yaameen. sheesh!
@Yameen (the author of this article), I am curious to know your opinion, if you would please be kind enough to give me your opinion, on whether you believe a Government should take repressive measures to curb the unreasonable thought and behaviour you describe in your article or not.
All reasonable thinkers I have spoken to believe that to end such behaviour and thought, positive measures need to be taken (education, creation of employment opportunities and granting of rights, counselling and assistance in identity formation, social justice realization etc..)to eradicate the causes which lead to a vulnerability to this thinking and behaviour.
Yet these same thinkers are divided on whether to then actually implement the banning of certain types of Sermons, materials and groups.
On one hand there is the argument that the extremist tension comes from oppression in the first place and that oppressive measures will only intensify the violent thinking. On the other hand, there is also the argument that if you allow to much freedom the extremist element exploits democratic freedom and human rights and grows.
I am sure that you are aware of the evidence for both sides of this argument. I myself am still trying to make my mind up about this issue.
So, please, because I admire your critical thinking ability and your capacity for illuminating in depth analysis, I would love your opinion.
Ben
kekeke, these frog in the well 'muslim wanna be' types don't know difference of opinion.... cant digest truth... taught since maumoon era to be close minded... Yameen bro please forgive them... they are taught that being Maldivian is "SUPERIOR"... arrogant, and stupids... they are only 'modern' in face only... inside is like wild animal.
Ahmed Aliased is a dangerous man... EVIDENCE: HE CLAIMS TO HAVE MONEY AND A NEW DRUG CALLED 'LULZ' (which I think is named because of BRAIN LULLING EFFECT MOSTLY SEEN ON ALL SECULARIST AND ZIONISTS).
I call upon police to arrest this 'Ahmed Aliased' and investinage him... maybe they can arrest the biggest drug lord...
BUT CORRUPT COURT WILL LET HIM GO. REFORM THE JUSTICE SYSTEM TO PUNISH ATHEISTS, GAYS, APOSTATES AND ZIONIST AGENTS WITH DEATH SENTENCE.
Shareef open ur eyes! islam is not a great force in this country... if Maldives was 100% islamic... then there wud be no drugs, no theivs, no parteys and no unfairness... u people yell and yell but u twist the message of islam!.fake scholars like bilal and zakir are big show players for gullible ppl like urselfs! people like u are discrediting islam and turning brothers and sisters away from the wonderful religion of peace!please stop and think! IQRA! READ, READ IN THE NAME OF ALLAH. Get knowledge before u open ur mouths! learn abt REAL ISLAM not the fairy tale stories of the show players!
@ fish on Wed, 30th Mar 2011 3:10 PM
"these frogs...‘muslims’ don’t know difference of opinion…. cant digest truth"
is it us or you who cant digest the truth & difference of openion?
i will just quote a single comment by one of the wannabe westerner a.k.a secularist.
"How can we defeat muslims? Overwhelm them with superior firepower, MAKE THEM BLEED AND DIE. Rukshana Kausar proved to us that the only way to defeat them is to fight – without regret or fear." (Ahmed Aliased 29th Mar 2011 9:23)
well, so much for tolerance democracy and freedom from secularists. If they come to power they will be worse than the Portuguese.
and i just couldnt help when these secularists tried to defend the massacre of children by westerners in Afghanistan (by running them over with their vehicles, or bluntly shooting them, or throwing grenades at them just for fun).
dear, ppl of maldives: open your eyes at these secularists and the dirty games they play, before they start carrying out their threats of 'making us bleed and die without regret or fear'!!
To Abdulla: Problem, Fundie scumbag?. 😛
To Maldivian: That would be my line. Give credit where credit is due.
Yes, do some research to who Rukshana Kausar is. And secondly, yes, the thugs and bullies who use religion as an excuse to carry out horrors and bullying don't deserve to be tolerated.
No, they deserve a peace treaty framed in their own intestines and signed with their own blood.
Now, if you're so bothered about the massacre of children in Afghanistan, why don't you try denouncing your own sheikhs when they say such horrific actions are 'in line with jihad'?. What, are you too afraid to speak out?.
Oh, and stop changing people's quotes. 'Frog in the well' is a common euphemism for 'ignorant' and you completely dropped 'wannabe' in fish's quote, changing the context entirely.
But that's to be expected. You so-called muslims will go to any and all measures to ensure your tyrannical grip strangles yet another nation.
And lastly "Maldivian", I'll even show you where you did some excellent 'quote mangling'.
My original quote went like this;
How can we defeat such a ruthless gang?. Overwhelm their kill teams with superior firepower, make them bleed and die - show the world that they are not the chosen men of god, but just normal people.
Rukshana Kausar proved to us that the only way to defeat them is to fight back - without regret or fear. Their greatest weapon is fear - break it, and they become nothing.
And yet you've seen it fit to change some things around to make your side look more acceptable to the gullible gang of thugs.
And just for the sake of evidence, here's a screencap;
http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/6834/myquote.png
Why are you making up things as you go?. Is it because you know you have no truthful basis to your argument?.
You're an embarrassment to the few muslims in the world. And yes, attack us, and we will retaliate - we are not afraid of your so-called 'muslim gang enforcers'.
Rukshana Kausar gave us good advice when dealing with imperialistic religious invaders - shoot to kill. Afraid? You should be. I hope you like the taste of your own medicine.
to Aliasod- the faranjee wegen ulhey kaley ge.
its ppl like u who deserve such a fate, if not in this world then in the hereafter.
and yes, everyone has the right to defend him/herself be it a child or an adult. the scholars are correct in that. this doesnt give the right for the westerners to occupy muslim countries and kill its civilians for sport.
in my earlier comment i gave reference to fish and you. its you the secularists who are trying to distort the truth, anyone can see that.
Actually, we muslims will go to any and all measures to ensure that secularist tyrannical grip doesnt strangle our nation. so, "bleed us to death" and just see how you end up.
@ Aliasod
I dont have to re-write ur BS of a comment, i just gave reference to it. Anyone with a bit of sanity should re-read ur comments and mine, to check the argument i presented. and i wrote "frogs..." which indicate the sentence is continuous, learn some basic english first!!
I have no idea why you're directing your comment at some hilariously upset 'islamic apologist'.
But I'll humor you.
I think you're the one who has to stop taking everything out of context first - but then again, you so-called islamic apologists are great at twisting the facts.
You don't have to rewrite my comment, indeed - but you did, in an attempt to frame me. 😛 Unfortunately, for you, it backfired.
But that's only to be expected - the moment you abandoned the truth and started slinging hilarious insults, you lost all credibility. You purposefully misquoting me to look good in front of your fellow liars and thugs only made you look like a fool.
Remember - don't lie. As the honest muslim dude put it, a verse from the quran says aptly; Truth wins against falsehood.
Which brings us to the next conclusion - you should learn the quran, instead of your arrogant hypocrisy if you're going to call yourself a 'muslim'.
If your religion was indeed the religion of truth, I doubt that you would be forced into such underhanded and primitive tactics. Whatever you're following isn't islam - it's a pile of lies, arrogance and tyranny backed by hypocrisy that you have the nerve to call Islam.
I should thank you, though - you've demonstrated to us that you're willing to lie, misquote and purposefully change the meaning of things just to look good. We find great mirth in such actions.
@Maldivian,
You've just exposed yourself and showed everyone how you sell those lies, by misquoting and twisting other peoples words and ultimately when you are exposed you retreat to denial.
These people have gone as far as twisting the words of the Holy Quran to their own whims and desires and the blind just follow them like the pied piper.
Oh by the way the post you intentionally misquoted is on the very same page.
So in your face, in your face Maldivian
@Maldivian... I wonder - you so desperately claim we are killing muslims and islam. Tell me, do you have evidence?.
Do you have any evidence to prove your claims?. Isn't it the islamist who kill anyone who dare to speak out against their bullshit laws?. Why are you making up such hilarious nonsense? In the hopes that some gullible fool will believe you?.
I say this because - what we can see when we study the nodes from all over the world, are examples of your arrogance and deceit in these 'so-called muslims'. Those who speak out against tyranny are punished for it. For example, The Taliban are not above executing children to silence dissent.
And yet, you're remarkably silent on that matter. It's as if you know, but you purposefully drop it out, the way you cleverly dropped out certain phrases when you quoted me in order to falsely accuse me of 'hating all muslims'.
And last but not least, I think you couldn't work up the courage to watch that video... which is why you choose to ignore it.
Lastly, you misquoted something I wrote in this very page (comment #2). Your excuses are puny.
Why do some people commenting here, get the feeling that the ousted Dictator Mubarak resembles Maumoon and the Muslim Brotherhood resembles Adhaalath party? So in their f**ked-up brain, they think they need to protect them inorder to protect Qayyoom and Adhaalath here. ROFL
@ Ahmed Aliased
"You’re an embarrassment to the FEW MUSLIMS IN THE WORLD".
what a loony! doesnt he knw that there are around 2 billion muslims in the world?
I think this person is too crazy to understand any of it.
so, i advise others not to respond to this person. What he needs is a mental hospital.
leave the mad dog to bark on its own. it will bark and bark and get tired and will ultimately stop. If it attacks defend yourself and attack back. otherwise leave it to bark, cause we are better than it.
Saleem, you should be ashamed to call yourself a muslim. People like you don't deserve to good name of muslim.
You can run, if you wish - but your hilarious ad hominem attacks only mean one thing to us. Certain victory.
Yes, I know that in Maldives, it is standard procedure to call someone 'mad' if said person ascends and leaves behind the hypocrisy and double standards of this so-called '100% muslim country'.
No. This dark age of ignorance is ending - yes, fight with all your might to stop us. It will make our final victory all the more sweeter.
Yameen, I appreciate your article and you have made very valid points. For those who comment with hate and intolerance, neither of you live the way of Islam. I refuse to live in fear and I don't like Islam being politicized and used as a means to gain power. I do like the freedom to be, with myself and within myself in my spiritual development. No one has the right to take God's position on this Earth and for those who do, I say, YOU ARE ABUSING ISLAM. The constitution, in my opinion is contradictory to Islam by trying to force people to a certain behavior because Islam does not force anyone and those who try to force their Islamic traditions and practices are also contradicting the Qoran.
@Saleem
'there are around 2 billion muslims'
Well. You can claim so, and even more.
More than half of them DO NOT speak or even have a clue what they are chanting about.
And if it goes by the likes of whats happening in Maldives, more than half drink alcohol, have outside-marriage sex regularly, watch porn, slander about, etc...
And you claim, 2b muslims in the world? Well 4b others dont give a shit of it either. And they have not been the target of Gods wrath either...
Correction :
DO NOT speak Arabic.
Divert "I say, YOU ARE ABUSING ISLAM. The constitution, in my opinion is contradictory to Islam by trying to force people to a certain behavior because Islam does not force anyone and those who try to force their Islamic traditions and practices are also contradicting the Qoran."
Could not have said it better! The Constitution is hypocritical to maintain a false religious homogeneity. Also let us all think about this, are we to retrospectively conclude that those of our ancestors that lived in these islands before 1150* were not Maldivians? Since the Constitution has unalterably connected the Maldivian identity with being a Muslim. We deny our ancestors to be Maldivian. The constitution has crystalised the absolute core of the hypocritical/ identity-crisis ridden society we live in today.
Sorry *1153 was the year Maldives embraced Islam.
You know why rapes and stuff are so common these days? Cause the haabees have veiled the women! the men get horney!
Yameen is right, its the so called religious leaders who are using islam as a tool to gain power.
So right, when they say bark, you bark aye?
Think about what you are told before you follow.
And to those who think implementing sharia law, i do hope you realise that what i might interpret from it and what you interpret might be totally different, so who is right? And did you know that its ALWAYS an islam or quran teacher who abuses the children in schools? A perfect example of evil people hiding behind our religion.
Adam, the 'religious homogeneity' was yet another tool to excuse the brutality of the previous regime. They could easily label anyone standing up against their oppressive regime as 'foreign missionaries' and massacre them and no one would dare to bat an eyelid.
Mia, while I agree with you on some counts, allow me to state that it is not always 'quran or islam teachers' who do the abuse.
People anticipating the fact that 'islamic law' will find them 'not guilty' do it too. Remember the girl who was attacked by four men and gang-raped; and the idiot mullah judge let the criminals go, claiming it was 'consensual', just because she didn't/couldn't yell out.