Some thoughts on the news, religion and life in general
Hatred and bigotry kills society
Caroline Petrie, a nurse for the North Somerset Primary Care Trust got suspended for offering to say a Christian prayer for an elderly patient at the hospital. The elderly lady, she offered to do the prayer for, kindly refused and subsequently told another nurse who reported it to the relevant authorities.
Apparently, this was not the first time Caroline Petrie has acted in this manner; past incidents resulting in her being warned. We don’t know enough about the case or Caroline Petrie’s background to discern her motives. What is clear is that she has an overactive missionary zeal. It should be clear to her that not every patient that comes to hospital wants a nurse to become all religious on them, and she should be bright enough to know that not all patients will be from her faith or if any at all.
What people do expect however is good medical care whilst in hospital. Unless Caroline Petrie had any malicious intent, North Somerset Primary Care Trust would be better advised to simply give her another warning and provide her with appropriate training.
The story thus far had no direct relation to Muslims or Islam, and rightly so until you read today’s gutter press. I for one, avoid reading them as they don’t contain anything slightly stimulating to anyone who can even knock two brain cells together. However, I inadvertently found myself reading the Mail. Journalism took a new meaning for me reading two of today’s biggest Islamophobes, Richard Littlejohn, and Melanie Philips.
Littlejohn rants:
“While they genuflect to Islam and ‘respect’ every oddball religion from paganism to devil-worship, they despise Britain’s Judeo-Christian tradition and use every extent of their powers to crush it. It’s only Christianity which is singled out for such vilification…”
Firstly the world ‘genuflect’ seems very odd in the whole article, it’s different, and it’s not a word that everyone at an instant understands. And for such a silly article which draws such preposterous linkages, it’s clearly a thesaurus job.
More importantly, one can see the obvious hypocrisy in the paragraph. Whilst Littlejohn seeks respects and acknowledgment of the Jews and Christians in this country, he with the same breath unjustly vilifies other faiths (Islam) and British people who may have a faiths besides the three Abrahamic faiths. And just to point out to Littlejohn; Britain was not always a Judeo-Christian nation, do remember your history! Jews were subject to a number of pogroms in Europe. After the expulsion of Jews in 1290, it was not until 1665 that Oliver Cromwell changed the situation and allowed Jews to return.
If we now travel back in time and rewrite the sentence above so that it reads as: “While they genuflect to Judaism and ‘respect’ every oddball religion from paganism to devil-worship, they despise Britain’s Christian tradition and use every extent of their powers to crush it. It’s only Christianity which is singled out for such vilification…”
What would Melanie Phillips think of that? The above sentence does not sound right, does it? In fact she would be outraged and call it anti-Semitic since it goes against her.
Phillips, in covering the same story links a YouTube video of a Gaza demo in which we see some protestors clash with police. She says:
“It was particularly telling to compare this incident with the astounding video footage featured in yesterday’s Mail on Sunday, showing police officers running away from chanting demonstrators who took part in a violent protest in London against Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip”…
“It is hard not to reach the dismal conclusion that a society faced with violence in pursuit of the goal of overturning Christian values and conquering Britain for Islam turns tail and runs away – while at the same time coming down like a ton of bricks on any expression of those Christian values which underpin British society, in the interests of ‘equality and diversity.”
She continues: “This is the way a society dies.”
Firstly, I was at all the demonstrations and from what I can recall, a small minority out of many tens of thousands were violent; and not all were Muslims, definitely not all brown. In fact some of those orchestrating the crowd from the sidelines were young middle class white non-Muslims. And from their actions you can tell they were very experienced at it too.
Secondly, what a far fetched link which attempts to divert the real reason people of all faiths and no faiths were protesting. Phillips very well knows that it was out of disgust, and outraged with Israeli barbarism that people protested. It was not as she likes to spin it, “violence in pursuit of the goal of overturning Christian values and conquering Britain for Islam.”
I can go on but i think you get the picture. Phillips’ and Littlejohn’s dislike for all things Muslim is clear for all to see. Their articles pander to the dark side of human nature. This is the same side that Hitler and his propagandists manipulated and led to the Holocaust.
As a Jew when Philips engages in this kind of xenophobia she tramples on the graves of all the millions of Jews who died under Hitler. To prove my point look at how Nazi discussion forums have received her article:
“She is a most unusual thing, a Jewess who sympathises with the indigenous population, and sees our survival as a good and necessary thing for the future of this nation.”
“Thanks, I’ve read a few articles from her and she seems to agree with many of our views, although she’s still a jew.”
“When the Islamic tidal wave smashes Israel into the sea where else but Europe and the States will there be for Jews to go? They better start using their scheming influence for the better or else the world will just be a big concentration camp for them all ran by their new owners- muzzers.”
So no Mel, diversity and differences do not kill a society. Society does however die due to hatred and bigotry.
| Print article | This entry was posted by Tohel on 3 February, 2009 at 9:59 pm, and is filed under Tohel Ahmed. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
about 1 year ago
Interesting points and well thought out. Smash the Nazis. M. Philips should take comfort- her writings are attracting the right crowd. This is what she wanted. My enemy’s enemy and all that… But what she forgets is that untimely, you still remain the enemy regardless of how much you try to appease.
Wake up Philips! As for Littlejohn well noting except to say he is just that little.
Question for all the lawyers out there, can’t we do them under incitement to hatred.. . their writings are intended for that?
about 1 year ago
Very intresting article. I am suprised that a jew (Melanie Phillips) can be saying such things – she has no knowledge of what her grandparents went through during the holocaust. She is a shame on the jewish people espically when she is now being endorsed by the Nazi’s. It was those jews like Melanie who sold their souls to the devil (Hitler) who did the worst damage to us during the extermination.
about 1 year ago
“They will do you no harm, barring a trifling annoyance…
They desire to harm you severely. Hatred has already appeared from their mouths, but what their breasts conceal is far worse. Indeed We have made plain to you the Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses) if you understand…
Lo! You are the ones who love them but they love you not, and you believe in all the Scriptures…
If a good befalls you, it grieves them, but if some evil overtakes you, they rejoice at it. But if you remain patient and become Al-Muttaqûn (the pious), not the least harm will their cunning do to you. Surely, Allâh surrounds all that they do.”
(Surah Aalu Imran: Verses 111-120)
“Many of the people of the Scripture wish that if they could turn you away as disbelievers after you have believed, out of envy from their ownselves, even, after the truth has become manifest unto them. But forgive and overlook, till Allâh brings His Command. Verily, Allâh is Able to do all things.”
(Surah Baqarah: verse 109)
about 1 year ago
RRR Very nice of you to leave some verses from the Quran. I feel you are trying to say somthing. And i don’t quite see the relevance of the verse above to the article. Please explain.
Thanks
about 1 year ago
Jamil i think it is self explanatory what RRR was trying to say. According to the article it was highlighting the enmity of the the people of the book towards Islam and Muslims. It has highlighted their cooperation in order to destroy Islam. The verses that RRR quoted were solidifying the point that the people of the book and mushrikeen will always hate Islam and will not be happy until you have given up Islam and adopted their way. This is the natural cycle that Haq (truth) and Batil (falsehood) will always be in battle against each other and even if haq is stagnant/dormant batil will not be satisfied until haq has been eliminated. Also you can see from the verses that they will have hatred agaisnt you and will do anything to harm us even with words (media) as they did during the time of the prophet with their poetry. Until we understand what is in their hearts we cannot be successful. NOTE this is not in regards to all people but to those who have waged war against Allah and his prophet openly e.g. the leaders etc
about 1 year ago
Since you are a ‘Shaykh’ i wont argue with that. But you know its very simplistic and easy to quote verses. Its always better to have explanations so that people don’t understand in the wrong context.
Philips is a Zionist pure and simple- Littlejohn, i don’t know what he is. We should separate them from decent people who are not Muslim but stand out for justice. And having attended one of the demonstrations over Gaza, I got to see just some of them.
In fact i know may Muslims, long beard, vocal and loud on other aspects who were seating and drinking tea rather than go to the demo… In fact I saw a small leaflet which was by a certain group who i shall not name- stating that the demos, and especially the picketing outside ‘Kingdoms’ embassy was wrong… Shame on them.
about 1 year ago
Aaaaah Littlejohn the not so ‘little’ chubby racist is still upset that his dear country is being over run by those Muslims and non-’natives’ is he? Perhaps he should keep up the banter before joining that ‘white’ flight he keeps moaning about.
A bitter over-weight chap who still cannot grasp why so many ‘white’ folk are accepting Islam willingly without swords being drawn- there goes his forced conversion conspiracies.
Johnny boy- you keep watching and sulking away as despite yours and Melanie Mail’s efforts Islam spreads far and wide until it enters every home.
about 1 year ago
***“They will do you no harm, barring a trifling annoyance…”
Those who oppose us from the People of the Book (and in extension all others who oppose from the Islamaphobia mob- e.g. Melanie Philips, Martin Bright, etc) will do no real harm by their lies, words ad deception other than being an ‘annoyance’. Harm and benefit are in the Hands of Allah (swt), and no matter how aggressive their lies and hate campaigns become, they will not be able to control the harm that befalls the Muslim community (this however is not a call for passiveness and inaction).
Those before them in the time of the Prophet (saw) had a wish for harm far worse than today – reaching treachery and assassination attempts at the Messenger’s life. Yet lies and false attacks are always overcome by truth: “Say, truth has come and falsehood has vanished. Surely, falsehood is ever bound to vanish.”
***”They desire to harm you severely. Hatred has already appeared from their mouths, but what their breasts conceal is far worse. Indeed We have made plain to you the Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses) if you understand…”
Allah tells us that this group of people have a severe hatred for Muslims, just in case some of us still are in doubt about it (!) – a hatred and prejudice very apparent and something that Tohel Ahmed is commendably exposing in his blog post. However, their hatred goes far beyond what they express, as Allahs knows what they hide, and ‘Allah is All-knowing of what is concealed in the hearts of men’.
Let us not underestimate their hatred that Alllah has exposed through His Book.
***”Lo! You are the ones who love them but they love you not, and you believe in all the Scriptures…”
There may still be some people amongst us, as there were before in the times this verse was revealed, who show love and solidarity with these opponents and haters of Islam and all things Islamic, including Muslims. However, again, the Knower of secrets exposes that they do not feel the same ‘love’ and solidarity in return, but rather feel the opposite. This is despite the fact that we believe in the Scriptures of the People of the ‘Book’ (as a revelation from Allah that came down to them) as well as ours.
***”If a good befalls you, it grieves them, but if some evil overtakes you, they rejoice at it. But if you remain patient and become Al-Muttaqûn (the pious), not the least harm will their cunning do to you. Surely, Allâh surrounds all that they do.”
This is extremely apparent both from the blog post and its purpose to the comments here. Melanie Philips and the Islamaphobia mob revel in glee and ‘rejoice’ when some harm befalls the Muslim community by Allah’s will, ranging from when the Muslim community comes under the false/negative media spotlight to when the Muslim Community of Gaza gets massacred, in which case you’ll find them posting disgusting justifications for that ‘harm’ in their online blog posts/articles.
On the other hand, when some good befalls the Muslim community, you will find their ‘grievance’ emulating crystal-clearly. Haneef above rightly points this out with an example: they ‘still cannot grasp why so many ‘white’ folk are accepting Islam willingly’. The massive protests against the Gaza massacres were from the ‘good’ which befell the Muslims – a unique and enormous show of unity, solidarity and activism. In turn, Melanie Philips’ ‘grievance’ becomes clear when she talks about these protests, as highlighted in Tohel Ahmed’s blog post above (read her quotes).
But again, harm and benefit lie with Allah who informs us that they will do us no hurt with their hate provided we are pious and keep our duty to Allah – I guess this is the most important lesson for Muslims above all the (praiseworthy) analysis and discussion.
***“Many of the people of the Scripture wish that if they could turn you away as disbelievers after you have believed, out of envy from their ownselves, even, after the truth has become manifest unto them. But forgive and overlook, till Allâh brings His Command. Verily, Allâh is Able to do all things.”
Note the word ‘many’. We are talking about a group of people from amongst the ‘People of the Book’. It would not be a surprise if Melanie Philips and others met the description of the verse above. They never will – and never have – shown any happiness or ‘good-will’ for the Muslm community, so long as Muslims stay firm to their principles and faith. Only when Muslims turn away from/deny the principles of their religion and adopt a path of/leading to disbelief will they ever show any happiness.
It is no wonder then that the likes of Ed Hussain who have exactly turned away from Islamic principles, denied articles/concepts of faith, and have taken that exact path of/leading to disbelief that the Islamaphobic mob have shown any happiness. Martin Bright and Anthony Glee for example praised Ed Hussain in a recent show of ‘solidarity’ with the ‘re-born’ individual: http://iengage.org.uk/component/content/article/1-news/233-islamophobes-declare-solidarity-with-ed-husain
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article5569275.ece
But when this same Ed Hussain half-stands by Islamic (or Islamic-supporting) principles (in the few instances when this occurs), such as criticism of Israel, these same Islamaphobes turn against him. See Melanie Philips falling out with Ed over this issue: http://sheikyermami.com/2009/01/01/melanie-phillips-why-ed-husain-was-never-one-of-us/
Which turns us back to the point that the Islamaphobes’ enmity is with Islam (hence the name Islamaphobia), and those Muslims who follow Islam, and they will not be happy with Muslims until Muslims leave principles from their deen and take after the Ed Hussains out there, thereby ceasing to be true Muslims.
But once again, Allah tells us never to forget His Masterful Command. Allah will decree something regarding them – and Allah is able to do all things.
As a closing note, the Quran itself points out regarding the People of the Book, “They are not all the same”. The Prophet’s example and biography is evident regarding this. There are those who are honest and stand up for justice, in which case we are commanded to co-operate on righteousness: “And co-operate upon righteousness and taqwa”. There are however others upon whom the above verses best fit, and those are the Islamaphobes that have been mentioned in these comments and about which Tohel Ahmed made his blog post.
These were some reflections, and Allah knows best.
about 1 year ago
“the jews and the christians will never be pleased/satisfied with you until you follow them in their religion” 2.120
“And they will never cease fighting you until they turn you back from your religion if they can. And whosoever of you turns back from his religion and dies as a disbeliever, then his deeds will be lost in this life and in the Hereafter, and they will be the dwellers of the Fire. They will abide therein forever” 2.218
* Jamil Says:
February 4th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Since you are a ‘Shaykh’ i wont argue with that. But you know its very simplistic and easy to quote verses. Its always better to have explanations so that people don’t understand in the wrong context.
Philips is a Zionist pure and simple- Littlejohn, i don’t know what he is.*
Jamil, your second post could be misunderstood to mean that when Allah revealed these verses, he failed to distinguish between different ‘types’ of disbelievers. It is obvious that these verses were revealed in a specific context referring to a specific incident. However, to assume that the meanings of these verses have no lesson for us in our world today would be to suggest that the quran lacks relevance today.
Similarly, when RRR posted some quotes, he didn’t just make them as a blanket statement nor on general terms (even though some lessons from those verses can be applied acroos the board for all disbelievers) – rather, he mentioned them in light or in the CONTEXT of the article submitted by Br tohel.
This is common sense… and to suggest that ‘people’ may understand ‘in the wrong context’ is outside of RRR’s or responsibility. The lack of intellect in others are their own shortcomings, not that of a person posting in context to the article above.
about 1 year ago
Sheikh, also rendered as Sheik, Shaykh, Shaikh, Cheikh, and other variants (Arabic: شيخ, shaykh; pl. شيوخ shuyūkh), is a word or honorific term in the Arabic language that literally means “elder”
So to Jamil’s point that – ‘Since you are a ‘Shaykh’ i wont argue with that’
My names is a blogger name and does not necessarly mean scholar so i hope i have cleared up the matter.
I hope you are satisfied by the reply you got from RRR? I agree with what miqaad said that the verses were quoted in context of the article and thus became self explanatory but i do also agree with your point that verses need explaning becasue it allows room for misunderstanding.
about 1 year ago
This is exactly what is the result of the actions of the extremists in our society. We must uproot them in order to attain a more acceptance from the british public. That is why IFE needs to be exposed as they are the main cause of this problem as they shows their selves as moderates but then support extremists like Azad Ali.
about 1 year ago
hey! y’aint foolin anybody now, cos we all know that you are the ‘imposter’ sid. why anybody would want to be the imposter of sid, god knows… surely, he wasn’t THAT appealing that he has created a following of sid wannabes.
sid is long gone peeps, we all know that he finally saw some sense after all the self inflicted humiliation, the outragous things he was saying…
Yeah, i know, he tried to retract some of his points by suggesting that somebody was imposing as him, we all know that was a good try.
this sid above, hmmm, too simple and clear to be the ‘real’ sid cos OUR old boy sid was a really confused, self-contradicting fellow unlike the dude above. but nice try 2! rofl
about 1 year ago
Unlike you Sid, I/We have no issue of belonging – this is our country, our land – we are not in need of acceptance…for someone who is a 2nd generation banger – you still haven’t adopted Britain as your home have you.
The only thing we (Muslims) need uproot are cheap sell-outs like yourself.
about 1 year ago
@ Sid
Loving your audacity here! You have a nerve to come on an IFE blog and then slander them?!
You say ‘we must uproot them [extremists] in order to gain a more acceptance from the British public’. Oh right, so is that you beating around the bush and trying to say ‘keep our mouths shut, accept everything ‘they’ throw at us, adhere to everything ‘they’ tell us to do, and basically agree with any rubbish the government or the Islamophobes want us to’? In other words, SELL OUR SOULS!!!
Wake up and smell the coffee Sid!! There are some Islamophobes who just aren’t going to accept Islam or any Muslims. Shouldn’t we direct our efforts into educating these bigoted fools! Instead Sid, you’re too busy pointing fingers at fellow Muslims. I would really like to know Sid, how do you define an extremist? And how would you define moderate? Honestly, it seems like anyone who voices their opinion (and rightly so!) is an extremist to you!
And you go on to foolishly say that IFE is the root problem in causing this? It is common knowledge that IFE has helped the community in outstanding ways. I cannot even begin to list the things it has done for the Muslim community, both local and internationally.
Who do suggest then Sid, that should lead or help ‘uproot the extremists’. Surely you cannot be talking about yourself here? Please do enlighten us with names of people and organisations that you think are ‘moderate’ enough to do this job (and just to say, please don’t say Ed Hussain. Don’t make yourself look like an even bigger fool than that which you already are!!).
And you just love Azad Ali don’t you? He has to be in every sentence you write – whether it’s the IFE blog, Harry’s place or Pickled Politics. Just to point out, jealousy is sinful!! Yes Azad is an outstanding person, a significant pillar of the community and generally a fantastic person – yes I agree with all that. But come on, to be jealous of him, that’s taking it a bit too far init? Why else would you continuously carry on slandering and bad mouthing him for no apparent reason.
Grow up Sid!
about 1 year ago
I think the time has come there is no more doubt left that sid is just a childish bigot that doesn’t know when to stop his painstakingly boring circular arguments. I think we (all rational thinking people who want to engage in sincere discussion) should just ignore him, just as one does when passing a barking dog at the corner of the street.
Back to our topic here. Intolerance and hatred are the key factors of violent extremism. so far in recent events, all i can say is that that the only ppl who have displayed these characteristics are zionist lovers of the likes of Mel P. who have undoubtedly contributed to the transformation of their extreme ideas into actual violent extremism and terrorism carried out by the state of israel. Maybe the govt’s PVE stream of work should look into this???