Day: October 23, 2009

Canada:  Toronto imam preaching ‘hate instead of harmony’
— National Post reports:“A Toronto-area imam is under fire for using derogatory language against Jews and Christians, calling for Allah to ‘destroy’ the enemies of Islam from within and calling on God to ‘damn’ the ‘infidels.'”
— “The address, given last Friday by Imam Saed Rageah at North York’s Abu Huraira Centre and then posted on YouTube, is an attack on those who have been calling for a ban on the niqab and burka, both of which cover the faces of women.”
— “‘Allah protect us from the fitna [sedition] of these people; Allah protect us from the evil agenda of these people; Allah destroy them from within themselves, and do not allow them to raise their heads in destroying Islam.'”
— “Tarek Fatah, a Canadian Muslim author and commentator, said that type of language could be interpreted as a call to violence. As well, the imam asks Allah to ‘damn’ Christians and Jews.”

Maldives: Adhaalath calls for sharia law punishments in penal code
— Minivan News: “The religious conservative Adhaalath Party has criticised President Mohamed Nasheed for saying the death penalty and amputation should not be included in the revised penal code.”
— “In a rally last night at Dharubaaruge (convention centre), senior officials of the party said commandments of God could not be questioned, debated or altered.”
— “”We changed the previous government because it defied Islam and opposed Islamic activities,” said Assadullah Shafie. “If today he [President Nasheed] is directly trying to do things like this, I ask him to made amends. If he doesn’t do it, I call on you beloved citizens to come out against it.””
— “”Isn’t this a religious problem? Islamic sharia is Islamic sharia. Things cannot be omitted from it…it doesn’t need anyone else’s opinion,” he said.”
— “Under sharia law, the death penalty can be administered to those who commit murder and for crimes against the community, which includes apostasy, treason, rape, adultery and homosexuality. Amputation is the punishment prescribed for theft.”
— “During the parliamentary debate on the penal code, several MPs called for the introduction of the death penalty in the Maldives, arguing it was obligatory to enforce punishments stipulated in sharia law. The bill is now at committee stage for further review.”
— Mohamed Zuhair, president’s office press secretary “added that under the constitution, if a punishment was not specified, the law automatically reverted to sharia law. ‘Therefore it is not necessary to incorporate it in the penal code,’ he said.”

— see also October 15, 2009: Maldives Government Creating New Extremist Sharia Code — Parliament Members Decry Lack of Sharia-Based Death Penalty

Maldives: Islamic foundation condemns Minivan News for publishing letter on homosexuality

Turkey: Lawyer Calls Turkish Christians’ Trial a ‘Scandal’
— COMPASS News reports: “After three prosecution witnesses testified yesterday that they didn’t even know two Christians on trial for ‘insulting Turkishness and Islam,’ a defense lawyer called the trial a ‘scandal'”