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Showing posts with label themselves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label themselves. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Fatal Attraction – The Left’s Perilous Embrace of Radical Islam, Islam and the West, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and the West
Fatal Attraction – The Left’s Perilous Embrace of Radical Islam
By Alex Alexiev
January 4, 2010

Shortly after 9/11 a lively discussion ensued on the pages of a prominent green journal regarding the possibility and merit of an alliance between the Greens, the Left and radical Islam. The discussion identified the emergence of radical Islam as a “geopolitical opponent of the dominant West, equal or greater in magnitude to the specter of communism” with Osama bin Laden and the Taliban providing a “charismatic voice articulating the vision of an Islamic revolt against the West.” Moreover, the green theoreticians argued, radical Islam was a “movement of social revolution” that may be “moving towards some form of socialism…” It concluded hopefully that “Greens and Muslims might somehow collaborate as parallel, overlapping movements of liberation from the dominance of capital.”

Eight years later, the putative romance of the American Left with radical Islam appears to have become an affectionate embrace. Congressional hearings have revealed that no less than 500 leftist lawyers, many of them hired by Attorney General Eric Holder’s law firm, Covington & Burling, rushed to defend pro bono the 244 Islamic extremists and terrorists held at Guantanamo. At least a couple of these radicals, now working for Mr. Holder in top positions, have already had to recuse themselves from prosecuting detainees because of their previous advocacy for them and more such cases are certain to come out.

http://newageislam.com/fatal-attraction-%E2%80%93-the-left%E2%80%99s-perilous-embrace-of-radical-islam/islam-and-the-west/d/2374


Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Taliban and Al-Qaeda: Theological Tensions?, Radical Islamism and Jihad, NewAgeIslam.com

Radical Islamism and Jihad
Taliban and Al-Qaeda: Theological Tensions?
By Jeffrey Donovan

To this day, that relationship endures. But will it last? Rifts and tensions between the Taliban and Arab Al-Qaeda, as well as vastly different Islamic traditions, suggest that a basis for separation exists. Whether it occurs could determine whether peace negotiations between the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Taliban foes ever get off the ground.

Afghan Muslim traditions, including the Taliban, are culturally and historically distinct from Al-Qaeda's Saudi-rooted Salafist Islam, says Francesco Zannini, an expert on modern Islam. In that sense, the two Sunni movements have always been awkward bedfellows.

"The whole Indian subcontinent, including Afghanistan, still lives an Islam that is profoundly rooted in local customs," says Zannini, author of the recently published "Islam In The Heart Of Asia: From The Caucasus To Thailand." "So they have always found themselves ill at ease with the strictly Arab Wahhabist doctrine and the entire Salafist movement."

With the Afghan war worsening, NATO officers and political leaders have made it clear that the seven-year conflict won't be resolved militarily.

http://newageislam.com/taliban-and-al-qaeda--theological-tensions?/radical-islamism-and-jihad/d/1186


Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Rebooting Islam: Let us at least resolve the issue - Who is a Muslim?, Ijtihad, Rethinking Islam, NewAgeIslam.com

Ijtihad, Rethinking Islam
Rebooting Islam: Let us at least resolve the issue - Who is a Muslim?
The pace of change has accelerated so much in the last decades that our very way of life has become quite distinct even from the recent past. How does the Islamic way of life mesh into and cope with the demands of the New Age is the major challenge before us Muslims, that too at a time when we have not only vast numbers of Muslim societies in nearly all parts of the world varying from one another in our social norms and customs, but also a vast number of interpretations of Islam resulting in deep sectarian divisions. While for enemies of Islam in the extortionist and exploitative sections of human society Islam is one religion and Muslims are one religious community the world over, for Muslims themselves there are scores of Islams and scores of Muslim communities, nearly all baying for each others’ blood. We apparently need to reboot Islam in our systems.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Ramadan: Motivation for excellence, Islamic Ideology, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic Ideology
Ramadan: Motivation for excellence
Adil Salahi I Arab News
True submission to God means a happy acceptance of whatever comes from Him and a determined effort to carry out His commandments and implement His guidance. Worship plays an important role in all this. It strengthens the relationship between man and God and makes it an active relationship, which affects man’s behavior, values and ideas. In Islam, worship does not belong to the cosmetic or idealistic side of life. It is indeed an important part of the essential and practical side. By offering five prayers a day, everyday, Muslims acquire a very real sense of God’s presence with them every second of their lives. Thus, they have no chance to forget or overlook the fact that they have submitted themselves to Him. Hence, all their actions, ideas, and concepts about life, their role in it and their destiny are conditioned by this fact. Their overriding ambition becomes simple: to win God’s pleasure.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Internal refugees and Bajaur conflict, War on Terror, NewAgeIslam.com

War on Terror
Internal refugees and Bajaur conflict
Monday, August 18, 2008
The number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) has grown steadily in Pakistan over the past few years, mainly as a consequence of conflict in the northern areas and also Balochistan. The latest wave of displacements comes in Bajaur Agency, where 150,000 people are reported to have fled their homes. Some efforts have reportedly been made to establish camps for these persons outside the agency, but many of those fleeing complain such measures are inadequate and that they have received almost no official assistance as they board trucks, vans or jeeps in a bid to reach safety. Some, left with no choice, have simply set out on foot. In the past, similar scenes have been witnessed in Swat, Khyber Agency, South Waziristan and other areas. In all these cases, people have spoken angrily about government actions that have destroyed homes and injured or killed family members. Most victims find themselves caught in an almost impossible situation between the local Taliban and the troops fighting them.