In a recent article, I argued that the Ground Zero mosque is counterproductive to Islam. The following day, on August 5, the Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Youm reported that none other than Al Azhar — one of Sunni Islam's most authoritative institutions — agrees. My translation of the relevant excerpt follows:
A number of Al Azhar ulema expressed their opposition to building a mosque near [where] the events of September 11 [occurred], convinced that it is "a conspiracy to confirm a clear connection between the strikes of September [11] and Islam." Dr. 'Abd al-Mu'ti Bayumi, a member of the Islamic Research Academy [of Al Azhar] told Al Masry Al Youm that he rejects the building of any mosque in this area [Ground Zero], because the "devious mentality" desires to connect these events [of 9/11] with Islam, though he maintains that Islam is innocent of this accusation. Instead, it is a "Zionist conspiracy," which many are making use of to harm the religion. Likewise, Dr. Amna Nazir, professor of doctrine and philosophy at Al Azhar, expressed her rejection that a mosque be built near the World Trade Center, saying: "Building a mosque on this rubble indicates bad intention — even if we wished to shut our eyes, close our minds, and insist on good will. I hope it is a sincere step, and not a new conspiracy against Islam and Muslims."
Building Churches in Egypt and the Ground Zero Mosque
(AINA) By Mary Abdelmassih
Egyptians, Muslims and Christians alike, are closely watching the controversy associated with the Ground Zero Mosque project, though for different reasons. The Egyptian media is giving this issue full coverage with articles mostly accusing Americans of Islamophobia, and supporting Muslims to hold on to their rights to build a mosque anywhere as guaranteed by the US constitution, regardless of what Americans think.
Egyptian Media and Islamic Justice by Dottore Architetto Ashraf Ramelah
A few days ago an Egyptian newspaper, Al-Ahram, reported the massacre of six Muslim employees of the Al-Mokauloon al Arab construction company and the wounding of six others when, apparently without warning or provocation, a Muslim bus driver stopped his bus, took out a rifle and began shooting. The incident took place about three hundred meters from the entrance of the company's office building. The driver then returned to his seat and drove the bus to its final destination.
As summer days pass by, many take time off for rest and recreation (R&R). Summer time brings back fond memories of growing up in Egypt and summer vacations at “Ras al-Bar”. Ras al-Bar used to be a quaint summer-vacation town, located on the northern sea shores of Egypt, close by the city of Damietta.
Secret Saudi funding of radical Islamic groups in Australia.
Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, it has become clear that there has been a seismic shift in the structure of global Islam, and from this situation is emerging an "age of sacred Terror", (1) in which "a new type of terrorism threatens the world, driven by networks of fanatics determined to inflict maximum civilian and economic damage [and] yearning for martyrdom and eager to kill". (2)
The structures of Islamic societyThe term Islamic Society has several different meanings:
Americans Stand Up Against Radical Islam in New York – We Will Not Submit!
Not one major network sent a satellite truck or camera crew to this event. Without bloggers this newsworthy event would have remained unknown to the public and history
On Sunday, June 6th, a multi-ethnic, multi-racial coalition of Americans opposed to Islamic violence and intolerance rallied at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City .
9/11 families were joined by immigrants from India, Russia, Egypt, Israel, Africa, Iran and Europe to show opposition to the construction of a mega-mosque at Ground Zero. Others flew in from overseas to speak or just to share their particular ethnic communities’ experiences at the hands of Muslims.
In Egypt, the Copts are being denied access to certain high positions, deprived from the freedom to build new churches, and suffering from increasing suffocating fanaticism from all directions.
My special interest in the Coptic question, which is known to many people, led me to conduct an in-depth study of the history of Christianity in Egypt, in an attempt to acquaint myself with the source of the Coptic culture in all its dimensions and aspects. This entailed establishing close relations with hundreds, not to say thousands, of Copts, including many prominent figures of the Egyptian church. A number of Coptic friends believe that the Coptic question has reached a critical stage, and others dismiss this as an imaginary problem with no basis in reality.
Uncovering the truth is always a convoluted affair when it comes to the Middle East. Consider the case of the Egyptian Nagla Imam. Is she a Muslim woman who advocates the sexual harassment of Jewish women, or a Christian woman, who advocates human rights — especially for fellow women of all faiths?
The story begins last June 24, when I was a guest on I Was a Prisoner, which airs weekly on the Arabic satellite station Tarek TV ("Way TV"). Named after its host, Nabil Bissada, who was imprisoned and tortured in Egypt for facilitating the way for Muslims to convert to Christianity, I Was a Prisoner explores the lack of human rights in Muslim countries.
Link to Al-Tariq TV interview with Nagla'a after the police brutal attack
From United Copts GB source: Nagla'a telephone line and electricity in her flat is cut off, door bell is burnt, people continuously know on her door in threatening manner.
Naglaa El-Imam was a prominent attorney in Cairo, Egypt. When she converted to Christianity, she lost everything, except for her two little kids,: her husband, her family, friends and source of income as she lost her attorney's license and the infamous State Security Administration put her under house arrest and ordered her not to leave her tiny apartment.
Robert Fisk: CNN was wrong about Ayatollah Fadlallah
I might have guessed it. CNN has fired one of its senior Middle East editors, Octavia Nasr, for publishing a twitter – or twatter in this case, I suppose – extolling Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah of Lebanon, calling him "one of Hizbollah's giants whom I respect a lot".
US should better define, counter Islamic extremism
By LOLITA C. BALDOR (AP)
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration's recent move to drop references to Islamic radicalism is drawing fire in a new report warning the decision ignores the role religion can play in motivating terrorists.
Several prominent counterterror experts are challenging the administration's shift in its recently unveiled National Security Strategy, saying the terror threat should be defined in order to fight it.
When the London bombers struck five years ago, many people blamed the invasion of Iraq for inspiring them. But the connection between 7/7 and British foreign policy goes much deeper.
We have not learnt the lesson of the July 7 suicide bombing
In the five years since suicide bombers killed 52 people in London, placatory government policy on Islamist terrorism has achieved little but store up trouble for the future, argues Douglas Murray.
By Douglas Murray
Whose law? Members of Islam4UK leave a London press conference in January Photo: Getty
Tomorrow marks the fifth anniversary of the day suicide bombing came to Britain.
Jaw-dropping court testimony by Faisal Shahzad, the would-be Times Square bomber, singlehandedly undermines Obama administration efforts to ignore the dangers of Islamism and jihad.
Shahzad's forthright statement of purpose stands out because jihadis, when facing legal charges, typically save their skin by pleading not guilty or plea bargaining. Consider a few examples:
Kyrgyzstan: Christians become latest target in ethnic violence
Kyrgyz Christians are already risking extra hostility for protecting Uzbek believers in the midst of the violent ethnic clashes in Kyrgyzstan. This morning (16 June) a pastor in Kyrgyzstan told Barnabas Fund that threats are now being voiced against Christians - rather than simply against a particular ethnic group.
About a quarter of a million people have fled their homes in Kyrgyzstan as the situation escalates into a humanitarian crisis; an estimated 150,000 people, including children, are sheltering in makeshift refugee camps in Uzbekistan. On Tuesday 15 June, it was reported that the Uzbekistan border had been closed to refugees, leaving the remaining displaced people stranded. Four days of fighting, in which ethnic Kyrgyz have targeted ethnic Uzbeks in the cities of Osh and Jalalabad and surrounding areas, have left over 170 people dead and at least 1,800 injured. Property has been torched and entire city blocks reduced to rubble. There is an urgent call for international intervention and humanitarian aid.
In the new National Security Strategy released by the White House last month, the Obama administration rightly reaffirms that America remains a nation at war. Unfortunately, it refuses to identify our enemy in this war as what it is: violent Islamist extremism.
This is more than semantics. As military strategists since Sun Tzu have appreciated, the first rule in war is to know your enemy so you can defeat it. The 2006 National Security Strategy did this: It correctly identified our enemy as "the transnational terrorists [who] exploit the proud religion of Islam to serve a violent political vision." The Obama administration removed those accurate and important words.
Jamie Glazov is Frontpage Magazine's editor. He holds a Ph.D. in History with a specialty in Russian, U.S. and Canadian foreign policy. He is the author of Canadian Policy Toward Khrushchev’s Soviet Union and is the co-editor (with David Horowitz) of The Hate America Left. He edited and wrote the introduction to David Horowitz’s Left Illusions. His new book is United in Hate: The Left's Romance with Tyranny and Terror. Email him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
In this special edition of Frontpage Symposium, we have invited two distinguished guests to discuss the question: When does a religion become an ideology? Our guests today are:
"The greatest hurdle Americans need to get over in order to properly respond to the growing threat of radical Islam is purely intellectual in nature; specifically, it is epistemological, and revolves around the abstract realm of 'knowledge.' Before attempting to formulate a long-term strategy to counter radical Islam, Americans must first and foremost understand Islam, particularly its laws and doctrines, the same way Muslims understand it—without giving it undue Western (liberal) interpretations.
