There’s an interesting Cracked article entitled “5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam“, and while I thought it fair to point out religion hasn’t always been a gigantic problem for this world, it fundamentally glosses over the fact in many parts of the world, the dangerous combination of faith and tradition leads to the suppression, torture and murder of women. It’s true Christianity, on a whole, has been more cruel and oppressive than Islam in the past. But abuse, scandal and the maltreatment of minorities and females is something inherent to most religions. It’s part of their very “DNA”.

What frightens people about Islam is the West seems to have no affect on modernizing Muslim’s attitudes about women and their right to choose how to live their own lives. Take Afshan Azad, a sexy 22 year old actress who appeared in the Harry Potter movies: when it was discovered by her family she was dating a Hindu man, she was beaten and called a prostitute until finally being threatened with death for the “crime” of shaming her family.

The reason for the assault, apparently her association with a Hindu young man, that apparently being disapproved of by her family who are Muslim.
‘Specifically she spoke not only of assault but also threats to kill, made jointly by her father and brother.’

Afshan and her family are British citizens, but seems not to matter to her brother and father, who feel compelled by their tradition to murder a girl who has chosen to date outside of her family’s faith. And while it can be argued that this tradition is far older than Islam, the fact it maintains itself is a direct consequence of the extreme conservative nature of Islam. It doesn’t matter at one time Muslim scholars were the most educated and progressive in the world: that time has passed, and the religion has never transitioned into the modern world. I think the guys over at Cracked should have watched this debate before writing their article.

A couple working in The United Arab Emirates were sentenced in a Sharia Court to 100 lashes for having “unlawful sex“. Because these two lovebirds were on a work visa, both will also eventually be deported for their crime. The man, a Bangladeshi Muslim, faces an extra year in jail for the offense of having sex with someone he liked outside of wedlock. Fun times.

How bad is 100 lashes? Well, it could have been a lot worse, considering the fact that the crime of “fornication” (called “Zina” in Arabic) can often mean a death sentence to women having sexual encounters, even if they are raped.

This reminds me of the ridiculous article I read in HuffPo where a Muslim woman was defending Sharia Law, claiming any abuse was actually the result of politics rather than religion. Yeah, cuz you know, the two are very distinct in the Middle East, am I right?

We often joke about the “big brotherism” of Facebook and other social media, but it’s no laughing matter when these websites are used to track down apostates of Islam whose only “crime” is speaking their damn minds. Walid Husayin, a 26 year old barber in the West Bank, has been arrested and faces life imprisonment for insulting Muhammad. His friends and family are shocked he led a double life online, where thanks to his perceived anonymity, he blogged about his frustration over the terrible religion that is Islam.

Husayin used a fake name on his English and Arabic-language blogs and Facebook pages. After his mother discovered articles on atheism on his computer, she canceled his Internet connection in hopes that he would change his mind.

Instead, he began going to an Internet cafe — a move that turned out to be a costly mistake. The owner, Ahmed Abu-Asal, said the blogger aroused suspicion by spending up to seven hours a day in a corner booth. After several months, a café worker supplied captured snapshots of his Facebook pages to Palestinian intelligence officials.

Authorities used Facebook to uncover his identity, and now the local ignorant townsfolk want him “burned to death”. Yes, truly this is a religion of peace, a fucking beacon of tolerance!

What’s hilarious is while Muslims feel as though their faith is being attacked by the West, in truth the barbarism, intolerance to criticism and violent rhetoric of Islam is merely being exposed as a real threat to the civilized world. The problem is Islam cannot stand criticism, no matter how justified it is. It isn’t just fundamentalists who wish to murder apostates (or anyone for that matter who speaks ill of their founder); a significant portion of believers have a murderous commitment to their faith. They are like a petulant child carrying a loaded gun, and their dangerous outrage has no place in the modern world. Despite jailing or obliterating anyone who speaks ill of their religion, this pathetic faith continues to argue that they are a religion of peace. The proof is in the pudding, and they’re serving up Blutwurst, people.

You have to love how crazy Iran is sometimes. In 2006 they arrested a woman by the name of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani for having “illicit relationships” with two men after her husband’s death. She was then judiciously tortured, and made to confess she had also been adulterous. This conviction under Sharia Law meant she was to be executed via stoning, although recently it was changed to hanging after all the bad press stoning has been getting recently.

Iran is playing aloof, claiming that Ashtiani will not be executed, but France’s Foreign Minister isn’t convinced. He says her sentence could be carried out any day now.

While I was reading this article on the rag that is the Huffington Post, I noticed an article by a Muslim apologist claiming Sharia Law is compatible with the Bill of Rights, and sensationalism was being used to tarnish it.

The Center for Security Policy wants Americans to think that stoning and amputations are around the corner, but the report can’t quite explain why stonings are so rare and the streets of Saudi Arabia and Iran are not filled with one-armed thieves.

The Qur’an never mentions stoning as a punishment and there are conflicting interpretations of the Prophet’s involvement in implementing it. The most common interpretation is of a woman consumed with guilt over an adulterous affair that resulted in a child. She pestered the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) literally for years for him to wash away her sins with a death sentence. He refused, but when he could no longer find an excuse to send her away, he reluctantly agreed to punish her. What non-Muslim Sharia “experts” fail to mention is that stoning a person who commits adultery requires four eyewitnesses to the actual act of sexual intercourse. This fantastical burden of proof is almost impossible to fulfill. And rightly so. It’s designed as prevention, not an actual punishment.

So I guess this burden of proof was fulfilled in the case of Ashtiani, right? So much for “impossible to fulfill”. This is what angers me about moderate Muslims; they are in complete denial over the fact Sharia Law is actually killing and dismembering people on a regular basis. As far as they are concerned, these are just the actions of rogue Muslims who don’t represent the majority. What the fuck are we supposed to believe here? The author of this article claims Ashtiani’s conviction is in fact not Sharia, but rather simply politics. How are you supposed to make that distinction, lady?

Should we really be surprised moderate Muslims are in denial over the reality of their barbaric religious traditions? Denial of reality is their specialty, people!

(Update: Her sentence was eventually commuted after a 9 year sentence)

In most Muslim countries, it’s impossibly hard to be a woman. For starters, men have all the power, relegating women to the role of caretakers and not much else. Men also absolve themselves from any crime or misdeeds; if a husband beats his wife, she is to blame for not having been servile enough or not having been mindful enough of his moods.

It’s so nutty that when a rich Egyptian real estate tycoon paid $2 million to have his former lover killed, public opinion was still on his side. Suzanne Tamim was a Lebanese pop star who caught the attention of Hisham Talaat Moustafa, and when she decided to leave him, he had her killed. For many Egyptian women, her story is a cautionary tale of what happens when you defy the will of a husband:

She made him kill her, and she deserves it,” said Sherine Moustafa, a 39-year-old Egyptian corporate lawyer, an opinion that was echoed by every woman of dozens interviewed. “If he killed her, this means she’s done something outrageous to drive him to it,” reasoned Ms. Moustafa, who has no relation to the convicted businessman. Both her sister and mother, who sat next to her, agreed.

It obviously doesn’t help that Tamim dressed less than modestly and had taken a career most conservative women would disapprove of. Still, this level of callousness is shocking to our Western sensibilities, mostly because we can’t imagine feeling sympathy for the murderer rather than the victim. This is the power and control men have in the Middle East, and it’s not something that will change overnight. Considering how much Iran fears human rights and women’s studies (because these are supposedly “western” ideas that are incompatible with Islam), we can’t expect the situation to change in that part of the world for a long time to come. Fun, isn’t it?

The immortal words of Adlai Stevenson still carry with them the poignant reminder that there is more to life than merely fighting for what you believe; you also have to live by those principles, even when it seems impossibly hard to do so.

You might recall a few months ago, cartoonist Molly Norris gained a great deal of media attention after declaring May 20th 2010 “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day“, her response to Comedy Central censoring an episode featuring the prophet. Although she was enthusiastic about the project at first,  it soon spiraled beyond her control and she suddenly found herself desperately trying to disassociate herself from the “holiday”. By then it was way too late, and the day came to have a life of its own.

Fast-forward to today, where Molly has been forced to go into hiding after she became the target of a fatwa by the Radical American-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki back in July.

A soul that is so debased, as to enjoy the ridicule of the Messenger of Allah, the mercy to mankind; a soul that is so ungrateful towards its lord that it defames the Prophet of the religion Allah has chosen for his creation does not deserve life, does not deserve to breathe the air.

Since the threat, Molly has changed her name and gone into hiding at the insistence of the FBI. Her life has forever been changed simply because she tried to fight for principles she believed in. The fear, anxiety and isolation she now feels is the direct consequence of those principles conflicting with the dogmatic and violent insistence from fellow humans who take their ridiculous books of mythology way too seriously. Just remember when you’re fighting against irrationality and fear-mongering, living up to the principles of free speech can tax the resolve of even the noblest individual.

NOTE: Here’s an interesting article written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali talking about the need to take a more serious stance against death threats. By doing what she suggests (seriously prosecuting individuals who issue them), do we erode the very idea of freedom of speech, or are we protecting it?

Indonesian Muslims are being told to adjust their prayer antennae to improve transmissions to Mecca:

Indonesian Muslims have been praying in the wrong direction, the country’s highest Islamic authority has said.

The Indonesian Ulema Council told the country’s Muslim populace in March to turn west when they offered their daily prayers. Muslims are supposed to face the Kaaba, the religion’s most sacred site in the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

At the time, the council said the direction of Kaaba from Indonesia laid to the west.

Turns out, it didn’t. Africa did.

So, on Friday, the council issued a new edict: face northwest.

“After the first fatwa (edict) a few months ago that stated that the praying direction is west, we have announced the correct direction for praying is indeed northwest, and we have issued a new fatwa (edict) to correct it,” said Ma’ruf Amin, the head of fatwa division in the Indonesian Ulema Council.

“This is important because facing west will mean that people were facing Africa when they pray,” he said.

I hear that Sango, the African God of Thunder, is just happy he’s not going to keep getting five calls a day from several million confused Indonesians.

You may not like some of the things Mark Zuckerberg has done to Facebook (especially their fucked up lack of privacy), but I doubt most of you are seriously considering hurting this dude. Then again, you aren’t the government of Pakistan, which seems intent on trying to prosecute the goofy CEO for his involvement in hosting the “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” Facebook page.

It’s become pretty clear the West’s concept of free speech is in direct opposition to Islam’s powerful insecurities about itself. The whole point of the exercise was to show exactly how intolerant, stupid, and violent this religion is. So far, it’s succeeded brilliantly.

If you think I’m making this shit up, just check out Pakistan’s Section 295-C of their penal code:

Use of derogatory remark etc, in respect of the Holy Prophet, whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable for fine.

Wait, they kill you AND fine you for disparaging their prophet? Are they going to come and collect the money posthumously, or are you expected to pay for your own execution? That’s cold, man!