EU: Addressing Religious Persecution The Mechanism Of The EU Special Envoy On FoRB Needs More Teeth - by Ewelina U. Ochab

On February 4, 2016, the European Parliament, as the second international institution, adopted a resolution that formally recognized the systematic mass murder of religious minorities by Daesh as genocide. The resolution, among other things, urged "the members of the UN Security Council to support a referral by the Security Council to the International Criminal Court in order to investigate violations committed in Iraq and Syria" perpetrated by Daesh. The resolution further called for the creation of a new mechanism of a special representative for the promotion of religious freedom.  

On May 6, 2016, President of the European Commission, Mr Jean-Claude Juncker, announced that Mr Jan Figel was appointed as the first Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU (EU Special Envoy on FoRB) with a mandate for one year, which is renewable.

Over the recent years, and having had his mandate renewed twice, the EU Special Envoy on FoRB has been supporting the implementation of the "EU Guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief." He has been conducting country visits to engage a wide range of actors working at the national and international level, including governmental bodies, religious leaders, civil society, human rights organisations, and the affected communities. Furthermore, as the European Parliament’s page identified: "At the core of his work lays the promotion of respect for diversity on religious or belief grounds and the support for inclusive intercultural and interreligious dialogue processes. In his work, the Special Envoy is committed to an approach based on the protection of all human rights including freedom of religion or belief, the right to believe or not to believe."

On September 4, 2018, the European Parliament Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance launched its FoRB Annual Report 2017. The report comments upon the work done by the EU on the issue of freedom of religion or belief outside of the EU and highlights the ways in which the EU can be more effective in promoting the protection of the right for all. The report further explains its vision on how the mandate of the EU Special Envoy on FoRB could be strengthened to achieve this aim.  

Establishing the mandate of the EU Special Envoy on FoRB has been a historic development at the European Parliament. However, the mandate needs more powers to be able to better serve the needs of the topic, especially in the age of the ever-growing religious persecution worldwide.

 Read more: To Address Religious Persecution The Mechanism Of The EU Special Envoy On FoRB Needs More Teeth

Middle East: Operation in Mosul to lead to Iran-Saudis conflict

Operation on liberation of the Iraqi city of Mosul from the IS fighters may turn into a catastrophe in the Middle East.

'The attack on Mosul is turning out to be a total disaster. We gave them months of notice. U.S. is looking so dumb. Vote Trump and win again!' the US presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed. What did he mean?

What is going on around Mosul? Isn't the American operation there not only a fight against ISIS, but also a plan to deploy more terrorists in Syria given latest reports that the number of refugees in Syria has drastically increased?

You can say that again. The main thing in arrangement of this attack is demonstration of the US principal intentions and those of the coalition troops to combat international terrorism.

The area which is under control of the Bashar al-Assad's army has increased four times at least. In this regard, the Americans have nothing to boast of.

Thus, during the last months of Obama's being in power they decided to organize such a political play on the US adherence to fight against terrorism.

What may come out? The worst I'm expecting is a new clash between the Sunni and Shia. That is the worst problem.

In case massacre is started, and it can't be excluded, there will be hell to pay. Because both Iran and Saudi Arabia will not stand aside. It's a pity that the US practical Oriental studies have a few people who think about consequences of interreligious clashes.

Read more: Operation in Mosul to lead to Iran-Saudis conflict - PravdaReport

Terrorism: UK court sentences Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary for supporting ′Islamic State′

British judge Timothy Holroyde on Monday announced a court decision to sentence Anjem Choudary, Britain's most well-known Islamist preacher, to five years and six months in prison for inviting support for the "Islamic State" militant group on social media.

Prosceutors claimed that Choudary used online lectures and messages to bolster support for the militant group, which rose to notoriety in 2014 when it seized large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria.

The preacher's name appeared on an oath declaring legitimacy for the "proclaimed Islamic Caliphate State," calling on Muslims to obey or provide support for its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, prosecutors said.

Note EU-Diges: a very weak sentence by the British judge.


Read more: UK court sentences Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary for supporting ′Islamic State′ | News | DW.COM | 06.09.2016

Daesh weakening: France sees sharp fall in number of citizens joining Islamic State

The number of French citizens traveling to join Islamic State in 2016 has dropped drastically from last year, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Tuesday, putting the fall down to military reverses suffered by the militant group.

With Europe's largest Muslim population, France has been a major center for recruitment of would-be jihadis joining Islamic State, with hundreds of people traveling to the region since the group took control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Speaking to security agents at the ministry, Cazeneuve said there had been a "fourfold decrease" with just 18 French people recorded traveling to the area in the first six months of the year compared with 69 in the corresponding period in 2015.

The depletion, he said, was explained by the group's recent losses on the ground but also by France's "enhanced anti-terrorism efforts."

Read moreFrance sees sharp fall in number of citizens joining Islamic State | Reuters

ISIS on the run in Syria as fighters flee from last territory on Turkish border - by Anthony Bond

Islamic State fighters in Syria have fled the battlefield having lost their last territory on the Turkish border.

Turkish-backed rebels on Sunday secured the area in northern Syria stretching from Azaz to Jarablus, pushing out Islamic State militants, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The move marks a substantial advance for an operation called Euphrates Shield, which started on August 24.

Turkish-backed rebels fighting under the loose banner of the Free Syrian Army have now taken the border town of Jarablus.

Read more: ISIS on the run in Syria as fighters flee from last territory on Turkish border - Mirror Online

Turkey: Lunatic Phycho Wedding Suicide Bomber 'was child aged 12-14' says Erdogan

Mr Erdogan said the so-called Islamic State (IS) was behind the Kurdish wedding party attack, which targeted a Kurdish wedding party. Gaziantep, near the Syrian border, is known to have several IS cells.

The bomb wounded 69 people, Mr Erdogan added, 17 of them seriously.

The bomber targeted the wedding guests as they danced in the street.

The BBC's Seref Isler, who is from Gaziantep, says the city of 1.5 million was already on edge because of events in Syria, where IS has been battling Syrian Kurdish forces.

Note EU-Digest: When will the press stop giving ISES the light of day, and call Daesh/ISES what they really are.. Mentally sick killers form an Imaginary Lunatic Psycho Filled Caliphate.
 
Turkey wedding suicide bomber 'was child aged 12-14' - BBC News

Terrorism: ISIS Orders Its Franchises to Kill Christians

The so-called Islamic State has different strategies in different parts of the world, but in Africa and in Europe, certainly, its core objective is becoming clear: to kill Christians. Its long-term goal: to provoke a new Crusade, reviving the holy wars of many hundreds of years ago in the belief that this time around Islam will win.

In practical terms, this focus on a single pervasive, easily targeted enemy is useful to a “caliphate” under pressure that is trying to keep its troops in line.

The way ISIS has handled its Nigerian disciples in the terror organization called Boko Haram, best known for kidnapping girls and using women and children as suicide bombers, is a perfect case in point.

Earlier this month, a man named Abu Musab al-Barnawi announced that he had taken over the infamous Boko Haram organization. And his first message as Boko Haram’s leader was as clear as it was concise—on his watch, the group’s main focus will be killing Christians.

According to an interview published this month by the self-proclaimed Islamic State group (ISIS), al-Barnawi threatened to bomb churches and kill Christians, but will no longer attack places used by Muslims.

The man described as the new wali, or governor, of ISIS West Africa Province (as Boko Haram wants to be known), said there is a plot by the Western nations to Christianize the region and also claimed that charity organizations are being used to achieve this, according to an interview published in the Islamic State newspaper al-Nabaa and translated by SITE Intelligence Group.

"They strongly seek to Christianize the society,” he said of these charities. “They exploit the condition of those who are displaced under the raging war, providing them with food and shelter and then Christianizing their children.”

The man who now runs Boko Haram said the group will deal with Christians by “booby-trapping and blowing up every church that we are able to reach, and killing all of those who we find from the citizens of the cross.”

Not only were al-Barnawi’s intentions clear, his agenda for Boko Haram also appears to be a clear script written by ISIS, to whom he answers. The new leader will be expected to deliver results that his predecessor, Abubakar Shekau, failed to achieve.

When Boko Haram under Shekau’s leadership pledged allegiance to ISIS last year, it looked like the group would adopt ISIS modus operandi and embrace its ultimate goal to lead Muslims toward an apocalyptic battle against “infidels,” and eventually create a unified, Muslim territory where it would enforce its extremist beliefs. But that didn’t turn out to be the case.

While ISIS, with a precise goal of gaining and inspiring its followers, developed strategies of achieving its aim, including citing the Quran in shaping its vision, and referencing the words of the Prophet in its statements, most of which it released on its well packaged online magazine, Dabiq, Boko Haram on the other hand showed it was a loosely organized group with militants lacking in strategy and erratic in behavior as it began to focus its attacks on the same Muslims it needed to inspire and recruit.

In recent months, rumors began to fly that Shekau had run into problems with the leadership of ISIS for his failure to obey its guidance.

In June, U.S. Marine Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the nominee to lead the U.S. military's Africa Command, told a congressional hearing that Boko Haram have fractured internally, with a big group splitting away from Shekau over his failure to heed to instructions from ISIS, including ignoring calls to stop using children as suicide bombers.

"He's been told by ISIL to stop doing that,” Waldhauser said, using the U.S. government’s preferred acronym for Islamic State at his nomination hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. “But he has not done so. And that's one of the reasons why this splinter group has broken off.”

"What concerns me is the breakoff group of Boko Haram who wants to be more ISIL-like,” said Waldhauser, “and consequently buy into the ISIL-brand of attacking Western interests.”

Note EU-Digest: as one Christian pastor in Nigeria commented after hearing the above report said: " for every Christian Boka Haram kills 25 Muslims will voluntarily convert to Christianity.

Read more: ISIS Orders Its Franchises to Kill Christians - The Daily Beast

Spain islamic terrorism: Spanish police arrest two men in Girona accused of financing ISIS

Spanish police arrested two brothers in the northern city of Girona accused of helping to fund the so-called Islamic State's operations in Syria and Iraq, the interior ministry said on Wednesday.

The two Moroccans, aged 22 and 32, and who have not been identified, diverted funds from Europe to pay for the transfer of members of the militant group into conflict zones, the ministry said.

They are charged with financing terrorism, collaboration with a terrorist group and indoctrination, sent money to Islamic State administrators operating under false identities, it added. A search of the two men’s homes was later carried out.

Interior Ministry sources said that a third brother was involved in the funding, but is believed to have died fighting in Syria. The three had used false identities provided by ISIS.

Police say the supposed false identities are part of ISIS’s international fundraising network.

The death of the one of the brothers in Syria, who had travelled to the country with his wife and children to join ISIS, did not end their fundraising activities in Spain. Authorities say they used recent legislation to tackle money laundering in order to trace the international money transfers the cell was making.

This is the first time Spanish police have been able trace remittances to ISIS, establishing that the money was put at its disposal and used primarily to fund recruiting costs.

Spain increased its anti-terrorist alert to level 4 on June 26, since when the Civil Guard has extended its investigations into suspected ISIS cells. An Interior Ministry spokesman highlighted the importance of preventing ISIS from recruiting and fundraising in Europe.

Note EU-Digest: Government officials in all EU coutries are advised to encourage anyone who believes he is aware of someone ot an organization recruiting or fundraising for Daesh, also known as ISIS to immediately report this to the palice

Read more: Spain islamic terrorism: Spanish police arrest two men in Girona accused of financing ISIS | In English | EL PAÍS

Syria: Women burn niqabs after Syrian town of Manbij is liberated from ISIS.

Residents from the northern Syrian city of Manbij are celebrating their freshly restored freedoms after U.S.–backed forces seized full control of the town from ISIS, which had been using civilians as human shields.

Photographs show people pouring into the streets to celebrate after a battle that lasted 73 days. Wrestling control of Mabij from ISIS marks the biggest defeat for the group in Syria since July 2015, notes the Associated Press, and comes amid a string of territorial losses for the extremist group. “The city is now fully under our control but we are undertaking sweeping operations,” a member of the Syria Democratic Forces, the alliance of Kurdish and Arab forces who receive air support from the U.S., said.

One particularly poignant photo shows a woman burning her niqab, as women could finally walk the streets without having to cover their faces for the first time in more than two-and-a-half years. Similar scenes have become common in other towns liberated from ISIS.

Read more: Women burn niqabs after Syrian town of Manbij is liberated from ISIS.

Netherlands Regularly Reviews Security Measures Amid Fears of New Attacks

Dutch Security Tightened - code Yellow

The Netherlands is constantly reviewing its security measures to determine whether further reinforcement is needed in addition to the safeguards put in place recently, a spokeswoman for the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security told Sputnik on Friday.

The statement came amid warning issued earlier on Friday by the German Federal Criminal Police Office of a threat of new attacks on railway passengers following the Monday attack in southern Germany by an Afghan refugee, who was later shot dead by the police.

"Measures related to security screening have indeed been strengthened in the Netherlands and are under constant review to determine whether further reinforcement is needed," the spokeswoman said.

She stressed that the principle of checking whether a refugee poses a threat to national security and public order is equally applied to all migrants, irrespective of their religion and country of origin.

"None [of the measures] are designed for or applied specifically to persons from Muslim countries or of Muslim origin," she said, referring to the fact that most recent attacks — like the one in Germany and Nice — were perpetrated by Muslims claiming ties with the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia).

In her words, before starting the asylum procedure, every applicant entering the country is identified, registered and screened by relevant experts of the police or border guards. Applicant's passports are checked for authenticity, names are run through databases and travel routes and motives for coming to the country are analyzed, in addition to language analysis.

"Also mobile phones may be screened as well as activity on the Internet and social media of the person in question," the spokeswoman added.

In mid-July, the National Coordinator for Terrorism and Security Dick Schoof said that the threat level for the Netherlands was still on "substantial" level 4 (out of total 5 levels), with a "real" possibility of a terrorist attack in the country, though with no concrete evidence that an attack was being planned.

Following numerous deadly attacks in Europe many experts on terrorism suggested that new attacks could be avoided if social accounts of migrants and radicalized citizens were better scrutinized.

On Wednesday, the Bavarian local parliament called on the government to provide police with more powers to follow Facebook, Twitter accounts and mobile phones of the asylum seekers. Currently, the German police are not authorized to do that.

Read more: Netherlands Regularly Reviews Security Measures Amid Fears of New Attacks

Germany: Deranged Killer At It Again: Munich shooting: Police say nine dead as manhunt continues

German police are engaged in a huge anti-terror manhunt in the city of Munich after nine people died in a shopping mall shooting.

Police are investigating whether one of the bodies is that of a perpetrator.
Three attackers carrying guns were earlier reported to be on the run. Police urged people to avoid public places.

The attack was at the Olympia mall in the north-western Moosach district. Public transport is suspended.

Police, who describe it as "an acute terror situation", say the first reports of a shooting in Hanauer Street came in just before 18:00 (16:00 GMT).

Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff, Peter Altmaier, told national TV the motive for the attack was still unclear.

"We cannot rule out that it is linked to terrorism but we can't confirm it either, but we are also investigating in this direction," he said.

A meeting of the government's security cabinet will be held on Saturday.

The Bavarian capital's central railway station has been evacuated.

People stranded by the emergency and unable to get home are being offered shelter by locals. The initiative was launched with the Twitter hashtag #Offenetür (open door).
 
Read more: Munich shooting: Police say nine dead as manhunt continues - BBC News

France-Terrorism; Truck plows in crowd

Media reports: Many dead after truck plows into crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice

Click here for more details

Dallas Shooting-Daesh Connection ?: Some Suspects in USA: Dallas Shooting Attended South Dallas Mosque

Five police officers were killed by sniper fire in Dallas, Texas. Six other officers and a civilian were injured. The shooting occurred at a protest against police killings in the aftermath of the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. This is all generally known.

It seems improbable that Black Lives Matter members would fire on a Black Lives Matter demonstration. And that is in fact, not what happened.

Among the five suspects now in Dallas Police custody are self described "Islamic Americans" who attended a Nation of Islam mosque in the South Dallas area. It should be noted that the Nation of Islam itself is splintered into several groups. Louis Farrakhan, who took over the organization in 1981, subscribes to Dianetics and appears to have left Islam altogether. It's ideology is barely recognizable as Islamic.

No American Islamic leader publicly promotes violence, and the Nation of Islam is no exception to that rule. However, members of this particular Mosque might reasonably have believed that they themselves were under attack.

A tense, armed protest in front of a South Dallas mosque required Dallas police intervention one Saturday afternoon in April. It happened in front of the Nation of Islam mosque on April 3, 2016, according to CBS Dallas.

Anti-Moslem demonstrators, dressed in fatigues and masks and most of them armed, were easily outnumbered approximately 10 to 1 by the mosque supporters, some of whom were also armed, reported CBS Dallas. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/anti-muslim-protest-in-dallas-features-fatigues-masks-lots-of-guns/

Dozens of police officers stood in between the two groups and also on rooftops to ensure nothing more than words were exchanged.

In a statement released before the April protest, the Dallas Police Department said, "The department is committed to protecting the Constitutional rights of all citizens and will make every effort to keep this protest peaceful."

The was no violence and no arrests. But the seeds of anger and dissent were sown.

Militant Islam Reaches America is a book written by historian Daniel Pipes, published in 2002. It focuses on Islamic fundamentalism and Islamism, reflecting Pipes' view that, as he said in 1995, "Unnoticed by most Westerners, war has been unilaterally declared on Europe and the United States." The latest shooting in Dallas appears to have been a part of that war.

The protest was organized by the Next Generation Action Network after the killings of two black men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, by police in Louisiana and Minnesota, respectively. It was one of several protests held across the U.S. on the night of July 7. Several hundred protesters were involved in the Dallas protest, and before the shooting occurred, no other incidents were reported and the event was peaceful.

Belo Garden Park, the location where the protest began and near where the shooting occurred, was a popular gathering place for Black Lives Matter demonstrations, such as one held after the death of Sandra Bland at a Waller County, Texas, jail in 2015.

The people firing on the Dallas police used another group's protest event, to settle what they saw as an offense against their race and their religion.

Read more: Islamic Connection: Some Suspects in Dallas Shooting Attended South Dallas Mosque - Santa Monica Observer

Christianity: Billy Graham Interview: Satan is real and should be feared

Q to Billy Graham by Kansas City Star Newspaper reporter: "You don’t actually believe the devil is real, do you? I think “Satan” is just an imaginary idea that people dreamed up to explain why there’s so much evil in the world. But that doesn’t mean he’s real, like you or me". — Q.G.

Is Satan Real?

A: You’re partly right; Satan is not like you or me. But the reason is because Satan is not only real, but he is far greater than we are, so great that we should have every reason to fear him.

How do I know Satan is real? One reason is because Jesus engaged in battle with him. At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry Satan did everything he could to turn Jesus away from the work God had given him. Satan knew that Jesus was the divine son of God, sent into the world to deliver us from sin and death and hell — in other words, to deliver us from Satan’s power.

But Jesus refused every temptation from Satan. When Jesus did that, He wasn’t fighting a fictional idea; Jesus’ conflict with Satan was real. (Matthew 4:1-11.)

But I also know Satan is real by looking at the world around me, and even within my own heart. How else can we explain terrorism, or racism, or injustice, or a hundred other examples of evil and destruction and brokenness? Satan, the Bible tells us, “was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him” (John 8:44).

Don’t be deceived, and don’t be misled by Satan’s false promises. Instead, face your need for God’s forgiveness and help, and turn to Jesus Christ for the new life and hope you need. He alone is “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6).

Yes indeed: Satan comes in many forms: Terrorism, Daesh, Wall Street, Prejudice, Discrimination, Child Abuse, Militarism, Drug Addiction, Corporate financial manipulation - you name it.

Read more: Billy Graham: Satan is real and should be feared | The Kansas City Star

Turkey: At least 28 innocent people killed, 60 injured by "derelicts" as blasts rock Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport

Istanbul: Daesh Deranged Murderers Killing Innocent People

 At least 28 people have been killed and 60 more injured in two blasts that rocked Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, according to Turkish officials. The explosions were reportedly suicide bomb attacks.

The blasts occurred in the airport’s International Arrivals Terminal. 

A Turkish official confirmed to Reuters that two explosions have hit the airport. According to some Turkish media, the blasts were terrorist attacks targeting two separate locations in the airport.

Twenty-eight people have lost their lives in the blasts that hit the airport, Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said, Turkey’s NTV channel reported.

More than 60 people have been injured, six of them seriously, in explosions at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, according to the Turkish state Anadolu news agency.

Many people caught in the blasts and near the airport posted photos and videos from the scene, showing the destruction caused by the explosions as well as people hiding in various places in search of safety.

Gunfire was heard from the car park near the airport, CNN Turk reports, citing the witnesses. Four armed men were reportedly seen running away from the terminal building after the explosions, according to Turkey’s NTV channel.

Note EU-Digest: Whoever eventually gets  blamed for this cruel act can only be regarded as totally deranged murderers.

Read more: Over 20 killed, 60 injured as blasts rock Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport — RT News

Middle East: Iraq forces retake Fallujah, facing little resistance from Daesh = by Tim Arango

After weeks of fighting, Iraqi forces have entered central areas of Fallujah, facing little resistance by the Islamic State, as thousands of civilians fled in a new wave of displacement that has overwhelmed the ability of aid agencies to care for them.

Counter-terrorism forces raised the Iraqi flag over the main government building in central Fallujah, about 65 kilometres west of Baghdad, and they moved on to besiege the city's main hospital, which was the first target of American forces when they invaded the city in 2004, according to officers and news reports on state television.

The rapid, and unexpected, gains suggested a shift in tactics by the Sunni extremists of the Islamic State, or perhaps a sign of their weakness, as they abandoned their dug-in positions and regrouped in western neighbourhoods. That allowed thousands of civilians, which aid groups had said were being held as human shields, to flee across two bridges over the Euphrates River beginning on Thursday.

Even as the battle appeared far from over, Iraqi commanders on the ground were optimistic that the advance, which had slowed in the face of Islamic State snipers, roadside bombs and tunnel networks that allowed fighters to move around undetected, would continue.

"ISIS has lost its power to defend Fallujah," Colonel Jamal Lateef, a police commander in Anbar Province, said in an interview. "Its defensive lines have collapsed, and the battle of Fallujah will be over in no time."

Read more: Iraq forces retake Fallujah, facing little resistance from Islamic S

Terrorist Financing: Gulf Donors Remain Important Source of Terrorist Financing says US Treasury

Criticism of Saudi Arabia has mounted in recent weeks on Capitol Hill, after one of the authors of a congressionally-commissioned report on the 9/11 terrorist attacks called for the declassification of 28 pages he says show that the kingdom was involved..

Iraq has called on Saudi Arabia for explanation after a senior official admitted fundraising in the kingdom for ISIS terrorists fighting in the Iraqi city of Fallujah.

The call by Iraq’s Foreign Ministry came after Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki said earlier this week that Iraq’s current offensive against Daesh has sparked a flurry of new fundraising campaigns in Saudi Arabia.

“You cannot control the sympathies of people,” Turki said before acknowledging that those were potentially fake campaigns to raise money in the name of the “children of Fallujah” that actually funds terrorism.

"They are focusing on any event that results in a humane crisis, like the one going on in Fallujah now in Iraq," he said.

"This is now heavily being used by many to encourage people to give money for the children of Fallujah," Turki added during a conference call with reporters on terrorist financing.

In a statement on Saturday, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry denounced the case as “an obvious violation of the Security Council’s decisions.”


Saudi Arabia threatened to pull out several hundreds of billions of dollars in assets held in the US if the country was incriminated in the attacks.

Hence, US Treasury officials have said their concerns about wealthy Saudis funneling money to terrorist organizations have largely abated.

Riyadh is widely viewed as one of the major supporters of Daesh, mainly operating in Syria and Iraq.

EU-Digest

 

Religian - Christian Muslim: What Prophet Muhammad’s covenants with Christians say about IS - by Craig Considine

Picture this. A Muslim leader reaches out to a group of Christians and invites them to his country. The Christians happily accept the invitation, while the Muslim leader prepares his people for their arrival. This is the first time the two communities have met in an official delegation. Matters of state, politics and religion are the topics of discussion. The two groups see eye-to-eye on most issues, but also agree to disagree on theological issues. If one phrase can best describe their meeting, it is “mutual respect”.

At the end of their talks, the Christians tell the Muslims, “It is time for us to pray”. The problem for the Christians is that there is no church nearby to worship. Instead of letting the Christians pray on the dirty street, the Muslim leader tells the Christians, “You are followers of the one true God, so please come pray inside my mosque. We are all brothers in humanity.” The Christians agree to use the “Islamic space” as their own. A bridge between these religious communities is made in the name of peace and goodwill.

This story is not some fairytale. It is a historical fact (I did, however, make-up quotes based on how the interaction might have played out). The Muslim leader of the story is Prophet Muhammad and the Christians are from Najran, or modern-day Yemen. The event happened in Medina in 631 AD. This moment in time represents one of the first examples of Muslim-Christian dialogue, but more importantly, one of the first acts of religious pluralism in Islamic history.

Now fast forward to 2016 in Damascus, Syria. The city – and much of the Middle East - has plunged into darkness. Pastor Edward Awabdeh leads a prayer in a Church despite threats on his life by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) militant group. Pastor Awabdeh maintains the Christian faith, although many of his religion have fled a country which is now ranked the fifth most dangerous country in the world to be a Christian.

The militant group regularly persecutes religious minorities in the large swathes of Syrian territory it has taken, and its ultimate aim is to destroy all traces of Christianity in the Middle East.

But to put it bluntly, the daily abductions, murders, beheadings and destruction perpetrated by IS fanatics on the vulnerable Christians of the Middle East directly contradict Prophet Muhammad’s vision of an Islamic state.
The covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of his time indicate that Christians living within the ummah – Arabic for community – were protected and defended. These covenants were written between 622 and 632 AD and were designed to protect peaceful Christian communities, not attack them.

The covenants have been located in obscure monasteries around the world and books that have been out of print for centuries. Islamic scholar John Andrew Morrow, author of The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of His Time (Angelico Press 2013), is responsible for translating the documents and distributing them to a wider audience. Scholars like myself are turning to them now in the hope of countering the widespread violence against Christians in the Middle East.

In “The Covenant of the Prophet with the Christians of Najran,” the prophet was emphatic on the issue of complete religious freedom. He was not relegating Christians to the status of second-class citizens. On the contrary, the prophet was treating them as equal citizens of the Islamic state.

Muhammad wrote: “I hereby declare that my horsemen, my foot-soldiers, my armies, my resources, and my Muslim partisans will protect the Christians as far away as they may be located… I commit myself to support them, to place their persons under my protection, as well as their churches, chapels, oratories, the monasteries of their monks, the residences of their anchorites wherever they are found…

I will protect their religion and their Church… I commit myself to protect them from any harm or damage; to exempt them from any requisitions or any onerous obligations and to protect them myself, by means of my assistants, my followers and my nation against every enemy who targets me and them.”

Prophet Muhammad is clear – Christians should be free to be Christians while living in the ummah. This is an integral part of any “Islamic state.” Similar, if not identical passages are found in other covenants of the prophet with Christians that were living in Egypt, Persia and Jerusalem.


“The Covenant of the Prophet with the Christians of Najran” goes further than simply tolerating or supporting Christians in practicing their religion. Muhammad commanded that Muslims are duty bound to aid and care for Christians.
In a recent peer-reviewed paper that appeared in the academic journal Religions, I argue that the principle of religious pluralism espoused by Muhammad in the covenants can and should be used to further improve relations between Muslims and Christians not only in “Islamic states,” but also around the world.

The covenants reveal that Muhammad preferred religious pluralism over mere tolerance. He called on Muslims to energetically engage with diversity, both cultural and religious, and called on his followers to embrace commitments and agreements across the religious divide. Ultimately, the covenants show that the prophet of Islam encouraged members of the ummah to celebrate – instead of denounce – difference. Tolerance, after all, is too thin of a foundation for a community of religious difference and proximity.

The covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of his time clearly show that modern-day “Islamic states” that mistreat Christians cannot be justified in light of Prophet Muhammad’s commandments and vision. Considering that IS’s treatment of Christians is so severe that it has been called “genocide” by the United States, it is difficult harmonise Muhammad’s views and the actions of IS.

Christian heritage is part of the social fabric of the Middle East and always has been. Prophet Muhammad’s treatment of Christians is a testament to that. His covenants can be viewed as a kind of medicine to cure the diseases of both Islamophobia and Islamic extremism. It is time that IS and its sympathizers heed his call.

-Craig Considine (PhD, Trinity College Dublin) is a Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Rice University in Houston, TX. His research interests include Muslim-Christian Relations, Islamophobia, Prophet Muhammad and Islam and American identity. His website is craigconsidinetcd.com. You can follow him on Twitter @CraigCons

From: What Prophet Muhammad’s covenants with Christians say about IS | Middle East Eye

EU-Digest

Isis, Isil, IS or Daesh?-has journalistic quest for sensationalism glorified these "Crapules"?

Daesh executions - a daily ritual

The western corporate owned press, obsessed by sensationalism to meet their profit motives has been going overboard in publicizing the exploits of a band of, nothing less than derelict, deranged murderers, who have killed thousands of innocent people, including their own, by terrorist acts, and plain brutal murder.

In this process of extremely poor journalism, a large number of press outlets have indirectly glorified this bunch of brutal  murderers, their followers and ideology,  by giving them a variety of  names, including,but not limited to - Isis to Isil, IS and  Daesh.

Maybe the worst thing the Press did was naming the land occupied  by this band of  killers, the "Islamic State".

You don't need to be Einstein to understand that these swatches of land are not a state, will never be a state, and have very little to do with Islam.

"Daesh" (or Da'ish) is probably a far better name to call this group of murderers.

 Both in the Middle East and further afield, it has been used as a way of challenging the legitimacy of the group, due to the negative connotations of the word.

Daesh is essentially an Arabic acronym formed from the initial letters of the group's previous name in Arabic - "al-Dawla al-Islamiya fil Iraq wa al-Sham".

Although it does not mean anything as a word in Arabic, it sounds unpleasant, and the group's supporters object to its use.

Daesh also sounds similar to an Arabic verb that means to tread underfoot, trample down, or crush something.

So if  one feels the need to identify this group of terrorists, please use the name  "Daesh", or you can also simply call them "les Crapules", as the French like to call them.

 EU-Digest.