Farooq Siddique: Barbarism has no faith no matter what barbarians say
There are always emails that do the rounds, highlighting one thing or another, with one agenda or another, and they always end with "please share with everyone" – you know the kind.
Most rarely go beyond the initial, short-lived curiosity phase. Some do pass that boundary, and pass it with ease; a journalist colleague of mine sent me one such email that has been doing the rounds all over the internet.
-
It was captioned "in the name of Islam". It showed a series of horrifying images of a young boy whose arm had been deliberately placed underneath a car front tyre, and the car was then rolled over it. This email stated that this was Muslims in Iran, punishing the boy for stealing bread. The boy appeared to be no more than eight years old.
My initial reaction was one of scepticism. This simply could not be true. This was another of those anti-Islamic emails designed to incite hatred of all things Islamic and Muslim. I looked closely. The images looked genuine. The horror on the child's face simply could not be faked. I looked for signs the image had been edited; doctored somehow; again, a false hope. My disbelief turned to rage. I looked at the face of the adult who appeared to be co-ordinating the travesty. His face seemed oblivious to the merciless horror he was about to inflict. A callous, cold bloodedness, the kind you would need to carry out such a horrific act, was evident in his face.
There was a crowd of people that appeared to have gathered, just to witness this act. But the camera angle was not enough to be able to see their faces.
Once it became clear, that the images were real, that what I was seeing actually had happened, I couldn't look anymore. All of them; savages! May God curse all of them; from the witnesses who stood there as they watched such an abominable act of savagery, to the one who carried it out, to the one that sanctioned it, to the one that remained silent. I am finding it difficult to find the words to express my utter outrage at what had happened.
I don't know where it was, or who carried it out. But it was pure barbarism. If it was done in the name of Islam, as the email states, then it needs Muslims to stand up and condemn it! That was NOT Islam. No matter how warped, how ignorant, how stupid, how merciless anyone can become, such things can never be justified in Islam. They may be justified in sick, ignorant societies, where people are afraid to stand up to authority, afraid to speak out against corrupt, tyrannical and oppressive regimes, but they can never be justified using Islam. Where the people are too weak, or too ignorant or too afraid to stand up for the truth, then that society has lost all the basic principles of Islam.
The Quran states; "O ye who believe, stand out firmly for justice, and be true witnesses, even if it be against your own selves, or your parents, or your kin and whether it be against rich or poor… follow not the lusts of your heart, lest you swerve (from doing justice) or distort (justice) or decline (to do justice). Verily, God is well-acquainted with all that you do." God, in the Quran, also says to the Prophet Muhammad, "I have sent you not except as a mercy to Mankind". There is no mercy in barbarism.
Barbarism has no faith, no creed, no cause, and no reward.
15 Comments
View all
by tony, Italy
Thursday, August 13 2009, 1:25PM
“Vern
Irrespecitve of whether you think religion amounts to fairy stories and nonsense, the reality is that many people suffer because of its application in theocratic nations such as Iran. The reason in the case of Islam is because at its heart it is barbaric.
Interesting chap Theo Paphitis, watch some of his off camera facial expressions etc. Peter Jones is a lot more congruent, possibly because of his upbringing. Same could be said for Duncan B - his biography is a good read.
Tony”
by Vern, Kingswood
Thursday, August 13 2009, 8:25AM
“Is theology the study of Theo Paphitis off the Dragons' Den or the study of nonsense and fairy tales?
So you are an expert on nonsense and fairy stories or millionaires Tony?”
by tony, Italy
Wednesday, August 12 2009, 3:55PM
“Hello Xavier
It's a pity that you feel it necessary to resort to name calling in order to make your point because there is the potential for an interesting discussion here.
It's not at all necessary or even helpful to compare religion with religion in the context of this discussion. Mr Siddique did not make a comparative case between Islam and Christianity (perhaps he should), he was referring only to Islam. The title of his article is: 'Barbarism has no faith no matter what barbarians say'. That's blatantly untrue because in my opinion Islam is a barbaric religion and I provide examples from it's own law to illustrate my point. Your example of torture etc in 'blightly' underscores the point I was making: we look back at those times in horror, however acts like these are being perpetrated in countries which live by Sharia law. You wrote "It has nothing to do with religion it is to do with modernism. " If by 'it' you mean Barbarism, then I don't see your point at all.
As for your claim that I have a hatred of Islam, I hope you were being flippant. I imagine, from what you've written, that I am far more tolerant than you of other religions and for the record I believe in a real and personal God. Perhaps you've studied theology like I have or travelled the world and spent time with Muslims?
The point remains: the excesses of Islam need to be addressed and loudly decried and I don't see that in Mr Saddique's writings. If you don't believe this is necessary perhaps you should go talk to the 'Greens' in Tehran.”
by Raderino, Italy
Wednesday, August 12 2009, 2:26PM
“Hello Mr Siddique
with all respect, once again you try to present a wholly false image of Islam. Let's consider the theme of barbarism by looking at the practical out-working of Islam in everyday life through the lens of Sharia law. Here are some excerpts taken from Wiki:
1.
In accordance with the Qur'an and several hadith, theft is punished by imprisonment or amputation of hands or feet.
2.
In accordance with hadith, stoning to death is the penalty for married men and women who commit adultery.
3.
The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication¿flog each of them with hundred stripes: Let no compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by God, if ye believe in God and the last day.¿Qur'an 24:2
4.
In most interpretations of Sharia, conversion by Muslims to other religions, is strictly forbidden and is termed apostasy. Muslim theology equates apostasy to treason, and in most interpretations of sharia, the penalty for apostasy is death.
5.
Insulting Muhammad or blasphemy has also resulted in the death penalty.
Islam was not born out of peace, far from it:
"The Prophet did not urge his followers to love their enemies or to turn the other cheek. The Prophet of Islam preached his message during a bloody and violent period in Arabian history. He waged holy war--jihad--upon his enemies, the polytheists of Mecca, before overcoming them with superior numbers and force. On occasions he behaved with utter ruthlessness towards his ideological opponents, like his former Jewish allies, the Banu Qurayza, whose males were massacred after the Battle of the Ditch (627 CE). The men--about 600 of them--were all beheaded, apart from those who converted to Islam; the women and children were sold into slavery." p. 48 "According to Ibn Taymiyya, anyone defaming the Prophet must be executed, whether he is a Muslim or not. There is disagreement among the experts about whether the blasphemer should be allowed to repent. Ibn Taymiyya comes down on the side of those who insist that even if the culprit repents, or converts to Islam in the case of a non-Muslim must be killed. Some authorities argued that Jews or Christians who cursed the Prophet should be killed unless they converted to Islam, and there are documented cases where this was applied."
- Malise Ruthven, A SATANIC AFFAIR: Salman Rushdie and the Rage of Islam
I do not mean to insult you or your fellow believers and I have nothing against Muslim people. However the religion of Islam is a relic, like something from the Middle Ages, something like fifteenth century Christianity. I am only pointing out these things because you are not being honest at all. You know perfectly well what is crawling around under the stone of Islam. You just try to ignore the barbarism or deflect us from it, but alas that will not make the reality go away.”
by Dave, Stapleton
Wednesday, August 12 2009, 6:44AM
“Okay, Spartacus, you have me there...”