Dar's posts with tag: amilimani
Muslims’ Victim Mentality Amil Imani - 1/30/2008 As a group, Muslims are paranoid and suffer chronically from the disease of victimization. That is, they either victimize the helpless whenever and wherever they can, or scream murder against the strong. This mentality is one of the many bequests that Muhammad left for his Ummah.
Recall that Muhammad himself bemoaned his victim plight in Mecca, packed his bags and fled to Medina where the Jews were not as vicious as his own Quraish tribe operating the lucrative tourist business of the idolaters.
Then the infighting started in earnest among the various factions, as soon as Muhammad died. People began jockeying for power and doing their Muslim-best to destroy their competition. Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law was elbowed out of the way by the more powerful disciples of the Prophet and had to wait his turn to head the already fractured and feuding Ummah.
A number of the faithful resented the fact that Ali was not allowed to take over the reign. Some felt victimized by Omar and his powerful conspirators and hated Ali for not standing and fighting like a man. Some real stand-and-fight Muslims decided that Ali should be punished and he was knifed to death on his way to the mosque.
The death of Ali was the real stirring of the hornet’s nest, so to speak. All kinds of power struggle, infighting and bloodletting started among the followers of the religion of peace.
Ali’s boys, namely Hassan and Hussein, decided to salvage their dad’s honor by standing and fighting like a good Muslim should, as well as enjoying the perks that come with being the leaders of the gang.
So, a real fight was joined. On the one side was Yazid with his mighty army and wealth, and on the other side were Hassan and Hussein with their rag-tag band of followers. Hassan was killed unceremoniously in short order, but Hussein was not about to bow out. Hussein started a dialogue with his adversary, Yazid.
Hussein: I am the rightful inheritor of the house of Muhammad. I demand that all believers, including you Yazid, accept me (bayat) as the head of the Ummeh.
Yazid: Nothing doing man. Muhammad’s Ummah is not a family business. It is the faith of Allah that must follow his laws. The people select the most righteous man as the head of the faith, just the way the Caliphs did. The faith of Allah is based on meritocracy and not heredity.
Hussein: You are wrong, Yazid. My granddaddy started the business, my daddy gave his life for it, my brother was murdered to claim it, and I intend to take what is rightfully mine.
Yazid: Hussein, you seem to be just as stubborn as Hassan. You are not amenable to reason, so let the sword of justice settle our dispute.
So, you know the rest of the story. Hussein stubbornly refused to relinquish his claim to the powerful Yazid and ended up with his head cut off by Shimr, impaled on a spear and presented to Yazid as a trophy.
The followers of the house of Ali and his lineage, a minority of about 10 percent of the Muslims, felt victimized by the evil Yazid. Since there was very little these lovers of Ali’s house could do to materially change things, they assumed the role of victim. Year after year, century after century, they commemorated the victimization events of the time of Hussein, have beaten and slashed themselves bloody for their ancestors not going to the aid of Hussein, and bloodied themselves all aimed to atone for their ancestral sins.
Well, the Yazid-Hussein bloody drama was some 1400 years ago. Isn’t it time to let go? Why is it, particularly to Iranian Shias, that they just keep on continuing and promoting the tragic events associated with two Arabs fighting for personal power?
We Iranians don’t have a dog in this fight. In fact we should rid ourselves of all Islamic stains, Shia, Sunni, or whatever, and with it stop playing victims of one power or another. Playing victim may give psychological relief but doesn’t solve any problems on the ground. And problems of the ground we have aplenty.
Again, give it up my countrymen. Enough playing victim: victims of the Jews, our perennial excuse that we have been using to victimize them whenever we can; victims of America; victims of the Crusaders. We are victims alright: victims of Islam that invaded our land and implanted a raft of pathological ideas in our heads.
Victimization is an Islamic disease. Islam, irrespective of sects, either victimizes the people it can, or plays victim to the real or imagined oppressors. This victimization mentality is at the root of Muslim’s backwardness and primitiveness.
We Iranians are descendants of an optimistic, enlightened, and positive people. We are the children of Cyrus the Great and not blind slaves of an Arab cult called Islam. Islam has brought us nothing but misery. Let go of Islam; bury it along with the memories of two Arabs, Yazid and Hussein, who fought for leadership. Don’t bloody yourselves for ten days every year to bemoan Hussein’s plight. All of Islam is not worth one drop of an Iranian’s blood. And blood we have given to this blood-sucker Islam by barrel-full. Amil Imani is an Iranian-born American citizen and pro-democracy activist residing in the United States of America. Imani is a columnist, literary translator, novelist and an essayist who has been writing and speaking out for the struggling people of his native land, Iran. He maintains a website at http://amilimani.com and also writes for Islam-Watch.org
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More from Amil Imani. He is a very informative man and another one of those who needs and deserves to be heard.I have one disagreement with Amil.I don't think we should "Never Mind the Bomb and in reality i know niether does he.I get his point.If you want to know more about him go to this link where He was interviewed by Front Page Mag.Or just click on the amilimani tag. http://daralharb.multiply.com/journal/item/104/Fighting_For_the_Soul_of_Iran_An_interview_with_Amil_Imani Never Mind The Bomb,Beware of Islamofascism. The National Intelligence Estimate regarding Iran’s bomb project has stirred a great deal of controversy. Some say that there is now reason to abandon the war posturing and start negotiating a live-and-let-live deal with the Mullahs, since they have “abandoned” their quest for the bomb. At least that is what the not-so-reliable report seems to imply. Others, with good reason, remain skeptical of both the validity of the report and the ever-cheating, conniving Mullahs.
This controversy aside, the irrefutable fact is that the Jihadist belief of Islam itself poses existential danger to the world. Beliefs energize and direct actions. Beliefs are as indispensable as the air we breathe. Even an atheist is a believer, with his own system of disbelief. Not believing in anything is mental breakdown. There is something about humans that demands a belief. A belief can be anything or a combination of many things; it can be well-defined and even rigid, or a loosely put together hodge-podge with considerable latitude. It can be magnificent or the most abhorrent. But, it has to be there. Beliefs steer our vehicles in the journey of life.
A peculiar thing about beliefs is that they don’t have to be based on reason. Rationality does not have full charge of the human mind. Emotions, fantasies, misperceptions and a host of other operations make us the muddling fuzzy-thinkers that we are. A constant upheaval rages in the arena of the mind where all kinds of clashing forces and conflicting information vie for a place. All along, some mysterious housekeeper of the mind works at maintaining a semblance of coherence and order.
It is in the chaotic, fallible and conflict-ridden battlefield of the mind that beliefs are subjected to constant assaults as well as reinforcement. Somehow, usually in early life, the foundation for a belief system forms. Once this happens, the person tends to build on that foundation and protect it against anything that aims to change or undermine it.
The importance of early years in belief formation was recognized centuries ago by Saint Augustine, who said something to the effect: give me a child until he is seven and he will be forever mine. Sigmund Freud’s entire theory of Psychoanalysis is based on the primacy and importance of childhood experiences and education. The famed behavioral psychologist J.B. Watson went even further by declaring:
“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. I am going beyond my facts and I admit it, but so have the advocates of the contrary and they have been doing it for many thousands of years.”
What Watson said may not hold perfectly in every case. Yet, the essence of his boast is indeed supported by numerous studies. Early environmental influences play the primary role in programming the mind and setting it on its course. In actuality, the brain seems to say: first come, first served. It is for this reason that Muslims are overwhelmingly born to Muslim parents, Hindus to Hindu parents, Catholics to Catholic parents, and so on.
This is not to say that changes, even major changes, are not possible after the early years. They are possible and they do happen in some instances. However, in order for significant changes to occur, major re-working must take place in the mind. Change is effortful and the law of conservation of energy also applies to the working of the mind and mitigates change unless the incentives to do so overcome the default mode of inertia.
The parents, other adults and children, as well as the prevailing culture are powerful teachers and trainers of the young mind. In the Islamic world, for instance, Islam permeates every aspect of life with overbearing severity. The young mind has little access to competing non-Islamic input. As the child’s foundation of belief forms, the mind works to protect it, further reinforce it, and bar, falsify, or dismiss any ideas that may clash with its already in-place contents.
As humans, we lack comprehensive preprogrammed software, instincts, to direct us in life. We, however, are born with pre-dispositions which are the rudiments of software programs that will be further elaborated in interaction with life. We are, therefore, importantly dependent on how we and others, and in what fashion, further elaborate the rudimentary software. Somehow, there has been a trade-off. As our brain evolved both in size and power, what few instincts we may have had gave way. In a real sense, we took more and more charge of our own destiny.
As humans became more autonomous, a brain operation called “Confirmation Bias,” evolved to maintain internal harmony within the mind. Studies have shown that when Confirmation Bias is at work the brain areas ordinarily associated with rational decision-making are inactive. By contrast, an elaborate network of brain structures that process emotion and conflicts are highly activated. In short, confirmation bias has its own brain resources that shut out the reasoning parts in order to protect the already in-place beliefs and preferences.
The Confirmation Bias protects beliefs, values and ideas, be they political, religious, or of any other type; it is also helped in the discharge of its functions by the mind’s defense mechanisms such as rationalization (faulty reasoning) and denial (refusing to accept the reality of the irrefutable). Allocation of extensive faculties of the brain to content protection demonstrates the critical importance of the mind’s belief to its normal functioning.
The mind, concurrent with fiercely protecting its belief, actively seeks to further reinforce it with whatever supporting evidence it can muster. Total or major replacement of beliefs, particularly as one gets older, becomes less likely, yet it happens occasionally. Ideas, on the other hand, are much more amenable to change, replacement, or discard as long as they do not substantially undermine the integrity of the overall belief.
However, if a person’s ideas keep on changing gradually, they may swing the balance in favor of a total belief change. This is how Muslims usually become apostates, for example. Therefore, it is imperative that the belief of Islamofascism be challenged at every bend to make the Muslims start thinking and re-examining their ideas of faith.
Forming a religious belief is primarily an emotional undertaking. Therefore, reason must work extremely hard to override the emotion-based belief. Yet, it can be done.
There is nothing inherently wrong with religion. Religion can be a tremendous force for the good. However, when religion, this feeling-based belief, is filled with superstition, intolerance and hatred, then the observer of that religion embodies those qualities and becomes a menace to the self and to others. Feelings energize actions. Destructive feelings energize destructive actions.
Muslims living in theocratic states, in particular, are victims of their religious brains. Their religious brains are indoctrinated from the moment of birth by an extensive ruthless in-power cadre of self-serving clergy who are intent on maintaining their stranglehold on the rank and file of the faithful who are their very source of support and livelihood.
The mullahs and imams, as well as parents and others, envelop the receptive mind, feed it their dogma, and shield it from information that may undermine or falsify their version of belief.
Islamofascism is a pandemic fiercely-promoted belief system that enjoys a huge advantage over the competition. Some of the reasons for Islamofascism longevity and success are listed below.
* It is a crusading belief. Early on, it forced itself by the sword and as time went on it employed any and all schemes to promote itself while destroying the competition.
* It mandates prolific procreation on the faithful. It allows a man to have as many as four wives concurrently, in part to cater to the lust of the men and in part to produce more children who would, in turn, swell its ranks.
* It gets the first crack at imprinting its dogma on the blank slate of the child’s mind from the very first day of birth. The imprinting is usually deeply engrained and makes it difficult for the person to fully erase it, or replace it altogether. Even when successful, an ex-Muslim, or a “cultural” Muslim retains on his slate some traces of the early imprints. It may take more than one generation to fully erase the Islamic imprints.
* It does not allow anyone the choice of leaving its fold at the penalty of death for apostasy.
* It holds that the earth is Allah’s and no non-Muslim is entitled to the same rights and privileges reserved for its own members. Even the “people of the book,” Jews and Christians, must pay the religious tax of jazyyeh to be allowed a subservient place under the Islamic rule.
* It campaigns ceaselessly at propagating itself by any and all means, while banning other religions from so doing. Islamic proselytizers invade the lands of the unbelievers and work relentlessly to convert others while non-Muslim faiths are even barred from having a place of worship in lands such as the cradle of Islam, Saudi Arabia.
* It is anathema to many of civilized humanity’s values, such as those enshrined in the first amendment of the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights.
* It is a caste system where the male believer enjoys valued privileges denied to all minorities, women and slaves. This discriminatory provision guarantees generation after generation of avowed in-power adherents who would shirk at nothing to maintain their privileged status granted to them by Allah.
* It is a powerful carrot-and-stick system of belief. It maintains its stranglehold on its obedient followers by promising them unimaginable compensations, if not in this world, then assuredly in the next, while anyone who strays from the mandated path is threatened with a raft of unending horrid torture from a vengeful Allah.
* The extortion-high oil prices that oil-rich Muslims extract from the addicted and oblivious non-Muslim world fuel the Islamic jihad throughout the world. Muslim kings, emirs and sheiks enjoy opulent life and aim to have it the same in Allah’s next world by funneling a portion of their huge parasitic income to madresehs (religious indoctrinating schools), mosques, storefront recruiting centers and charitable outlets that would enlist and hold masses of choiceless and fanatical believers. By funding these activities in the service of the jihadist Islam, these in-power Muslims believe that they can have it both ways: a material existence of great enjoyment here and an eternal life of hedonism in Allah’s promised paradise. In the bargain, these ringleader menaces of the world, aim to assuage their guilt feeling resulting from oppressing the impoverished exploited masses of Muslims with the delusion they are furthering Allah’s cause.
The danger of the bomb in the hands of the Mullahs has not disappeared, in spite of what the mainstream media and the Useful Idiots claim by misrepresenting the NIE report. The NIE guesses that the Mullahs seem to have ceased the construction of the warhead in 2003. How can the CIA be sure that this is the case and that the Mullahs are not secretly constructing it? Yet, the IRI, by its own admission, is on a crash program to develop long range missiles and operates cascades of centrifuges to make enriched weapon-grade uranium needed for the bomb.
The handwriting is on the wall. Huge numbers of Muslims, overwhelmingly poor, under-educated, and deeply indoctrinated in the jihadist belief are invading the world. It is this human bomb that must be diffused as well as keeping a vigilant eye on the other one that Iran’s Mullahs are relentlessly pursuing.
In short, never mind the nuclear bomb, if you like. But, we must do all we can to erase the suicide-homicide belief-vest that Islamofascists straps on their masses of the poor, the undereducated, and their deluded followers.
“Think globally, act locally,” is the rallying cry of the environmentalist movement. The same exhortation even more urgently applies to the fight against the deadly spread and menace of Islamofascism http://www.amilimani.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=88&Itemid=2 Brought to us by our friends at www.Jihadwatch.org/
 Saudi king pardons teenage rape victim
1 day ago RIYADH (AFP) — King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia pardoned a teenage girl sentenced to six months in jail and 200 lashes after being gang raped in a decision swiftly welcomed by Washington on Monday. Justice Minister Abdullah bin Mohammad bin Ibrahim al-Sheikh hailed the king's "laudable instructions to grant the pardon", in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. The sentence against the 19-year-old girl had drawn criticism of the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom from key ally President George W. Bush. The girl, who was 18 at the time she was raped, was attacked at knifepoint by seven men after she was found in a car with a male companion who was not a relative, in breach of strict Saudi law. The king also pardoned the male companion, the justice minister announced. The victim's identity has not been revealed but she has become known as "Qatif girl," after the Shiite-populated area of Al-Qatif in the Eastern Province from which she comes. In October 2006, a judge sentenced her to 90 lashes for being with the man -- a taboo in the conservative Muslim kingdom which imposes segregation of the sexes. She appealed against the sentence but despite her ordeal the court ruled that her punishment should be increased to 200 lashes and a six-month jail term. The judges decided to punish the girl further for "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media," a court source told the English-language daily Arab News. The rapists were initially sentenced to one to five years in jail, but those terms were also toughened in November to between two and nine years. A rape conviction carries the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, but the court did not impose it due to the "lack of witnesses" and the "absence of confessions," the justice ministry said last month. The girl's husband praised the king for granting the pardon. "This fatherly care and noble gesture will help (in) lifting the emotional and psychological stress and suffering that our family has been enduring," the husband was quoted as saying on CNN television's website. "This is not something new because we know that the king was always generous in dealing with his people and the entire world," the husband said. "This week, we have two holidays to celebrate; the Eid and this great news of the pardon." King Abdullah's pardon came on the day that Muslims began the annual hajj pilgrimage as two million faithful set off from Mecca to the valley of Mina in Saudi Arabia. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino welcomed the pardon. "This is a decision that King Abdullah needed to make on behalf of Saudi Arabia, and we think it was the right one," she said. Bush expressed disappointment earlier this month at Saudi Arabia's lack of support for the rape victim, saying he would have been angry if his own daughter had endured such treatment. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Washington hoped that the king's decision would discourage the Saudi courts from issuing such judgements again in the future. "We're very pleased by the decision that was taken by the king, and we certainly hope it will send a signal to the Saudi judiciary," he said. "I think that we would like to not see a repeat of cases like this. If the king's decision has an impact of that kind on the thinking of those in the Saudi judicial system, I think that would be a good thing." Casey said he was not aware of any specific US contacts with King Abdullah on the move, but added Washington had "made quite clear what our views were on this subject" through its embassy in Saudi Arabia and in its public statements. Women in oil-rich Saudi Arabia live under restrictions imposed by a rigid interpretation of Islam and stringent tradition. They must be covered from head to toe in public and are not permitted to drive. Furthermore, they need a "mahram" or a guardian -- a husband or close male relative if they are widowed or single -- in order to apply for and obtain a passport. Political constraints also mean that Saudi women are totally absent from the Shura (consultative) Council, whose members are appointed by the king, and were barred from landmark municipal elections in 2005. While i am glad the woman escaped punishment for her being GANG RAPED i fail to see there is anything to applaud as her attacker/s were pardoned as well. This womans pardon and the Teddy Bear teacher Pardon,lets all witness the mercy of Islam.It's like throwing another log on the fire,so warming isn't it?
This is a pretty good interview with a muslim woman taking charge of her own life and not bowing to the wishes of her extremist masters.Still i have to wonder what makes a person who says all the things this woman does about Islam,or at least those leading Islam,remain a muslim.Am i missing something here?I mean if one is to take out all the extremism that is found in Islam then what exactly is there thats left to follow? I do respect very much her realization that a relationship with God is to be a personal one and not a forced one or a purchased one.That vision alone is enough to speak volumes of a persons belief in God and what his will is.Still the mystery as to what a person can see in Islam to keep them practicing it befuddles me. Take Amil Imani for instance.He claims he not a muslim and from what i gathered he is not a christian either.Yet he basicly claims the same thing as the woman speaking in the article below says.Amazingly what they speak almost rings true to what i believe as i too realize that there are plenty out there that would use the religion of Christianity for thier own purposes.Politics comes to mind as well as making millions od dollars.I always have and always will have a hard time with clergy of any religion who have more houses than they can count and ride in limos and have fancy dinner parties and the like all the while getting on thier paid for soap boxes asking for more for the poor people.There is absolutely nothing Godly about that.I would rather go to church in a freezing tenet than an emaculate or ornamented church.How much pain and suffering could all the money used for such grandier have eased? Then if the "Religious politicians" were so truly religious then they would truly follow the give the man a fish you fed him for for the day,teach the man to fish and you have fed him for life.Talk about something to emulate. The sooner muslims realize that Islam has no means of teaching them to fish but only to be handed fish,or better yet to steal the fish,the better off they will be and the sooner they can find a personal relationship with God rather than a forced one or a purchsed one. I will shut up now and let Mrs. Khan do the rest of the talking. Gina Khan on Breaking the Silence By Ophelia Benson http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articleprint.php?num=287 Last February an article by Mary Ann Sieghart in the Times (London) introduced us to Gina Khan: 'a very brave woman. Born in Birmingham 38 years ago to Pakistani parents, she has run away from an arranged marriage, dressed herself in jeans and dared to speak out against the increasing radicalisation of her community.' Here she tells us more and brings us up to date on her campaign. What prompted you to start speaking out? I had been doing my own research for a few years. After all, being a British Asian woman from a Pakistani ethnic background, a Muslim, the atrocities commited in the name of Islam effected me profoundly. Being a Pakistani had its own stigmas - being female meant being treated as sub-human in relation to the Muslim man. I can see how the ideology works - half the ideology is about oppressing Muslim women. That's evident when you note that the first thing Islamists do is reverse the rights and freedom of Muslim women, when they do manage to create an Islamic state, as in Afganistan or Iran. I wasn't going to participate in my own oppression! I have lived within the Muslim community in Birmingham. I'm a born and bred brummie, I had been speaking out for a while. I had been writing to a lot of people hoping someone would want to focus on the truth. I knew what I knew and didn't want to forever remain silent at any cost. I remain forever grateful to Mary Ann Sieghart for believeing in me and supporting me so that I could break my silence. It gave me the confidence to continue and believe in myself. These things have to be said and it was my duty - after all, we are engaged in a protracted and widely dispersed war at the Jihadists' discretion, which I knew had been going on before 9/11; our goverment was in denial...and still is. My insight has been through personal experiences and those of people around me. My father was indoctrinated with this ideology in the early 1980s. My dad was in his 60s, a pensioner when I was 14, he was 28 years older than my mum. He was a hardworking, honest, warm man who ran his corner shop like any other Mr Khan. Dad became religious towards his old age. After fulfilling the last pillar of Islam, the Haj, Dad started to attend the nearby mosques regularly; many of them had been established in the 80s by Tablighi-Jamaat and Jamaat-e-Islami. He used to talk to me a lot but it was only about God or religion and I was the only one who wouldn't get bored with his rhetoric. It was more or less the same rhetoric that you hear Islamists constantly repeat. Dad would say 'you kids don't know nothing - Islam will take over, there will be mosques everywhere, you must think of your after-life - not this life. Kaffirs will burn in the fire of hell.' His words would frighten me, and I had no reason to doubt his words of wisdom as he was reading the Quran and attending mosques where pious religious mullahs gave sermons about the Quran. He was becoming anti-Jewish, even though he had never met a Jewish person in his whole life. He was becoming anti-west although he never actually went back to live and retire in Pakistan until mum died. Even then he had an agenda, a holy mission. He had donated land in his village to construct a huge madrassa in Pakistan. His village isn't far from Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. He put all his money into it and had even denied us siblings the right to Mum's properties in Karachi by stating that she had wanted to donate the rent of the bungalows and the properties to the Madrassa. When he was feared to be very ill, I flew out to visit him and observed how 20 to 25 young boys who were orphans lived inside the madrassa, fed and clothed on kind donations..but they were not allowed to integrate with the villagers and spent nearly every living moment of their lives praying or reading the Quran to perfection. A residing mullah controlled their lives and these lads were very quiet and submissive in behaviour. I asked Dad why he built a madrassa and not a girls' school or even a hospital, which would have benefited the whole village, and he said, 'Even if just one of these children from my bloodline memorises the Quran off by heart - 7 generations of my bloodline will go straight to heaven.' Now in hindsight I realise he was brainwashed into an ideology - by the same mosques and mullahs in Birmingham that preach tenets of Jihadism. Pensioners as well as the young get indoctrinated. Dad had become colder and more disconnected the more religious he became. When he died, Pakistani army officials turned out to show respect at his funeral...I sometimes wonder if anyone there grasped the real threat. Today he is buried inside the compound of his Madrassa. In 1996 I remember seeing flyers and posters advocating meetings for Muslims to talk about Jihad - a call for the 'umma' and anti-west propaganda...in a chip shop in Ward End run by mullahs. I remember thinking: why haven't the police arrested these guys? When the horrendous events of 9/11 happened , I remember thinking 'oh my God, they have started to attack the West'. I was gripped in fear...and I understood who the enemy was. I was shocked when I realised that Western governments didn't know who the enemy was. I also predicted an attack on British soil, and sadly that happened too - 7/7. It was pretty obvious to me that that would happen. I spoke to a police officer recently and he agreed that had I spoken out ten years ago, I would have been considered 'mad' and no one would have listened to me. I had stopped my children from attending local mosques where children were being smacked over the head if they repeated any word of the Quran wrong. I remained silent for most of my life but I was seething with anger at Islamists...how did this goverment not sense what was coming, while many at the grassroots level could sense it ? Remaining silent wasn't an option for me any more, especially when more Jihadists were being discovered and named locally. Many mujahideens were known to people who had gone off to fight in Jihad in Bosnia. One of the Jihadists who was arrested in Birmingham in February was a friend's brother. A local British-born Pakistani lad in the armed forces had been killed in action in Afganistan, and I couldn't believe they wanted to behead someone in the armed forces just to instill fear in us all. My kids are in the Cadets. I'm proud to be British and have always found British people kind. I could have been doctrinated too, had I not questioned what I was reading against my own logical reasoning and thinking. In search of my religion I had also picked up books translated in English from the same bookshops that were raided. I had been a victim of domestic violence...the beating of women authorised in Islamic books and political Islam theories put my faith in turmoil. I'm pleased that other Muslim people are speaking out. My mother is buried here...I will be buried here...my children will be buried here...this is my Motherland. I have every reason to seek, acknowledge, expose the truth as I saw it and still see it...as I lived it and as I experienced it...without Fear. A loving Allah/God has got to be on the side of humanity...yeh? The Times article mentioned that you would love to start a movement of like-minded people. Has that been happening? Have people been contacting you? Yes. I had over 700 emails from people. It was almost as if what I said was on a lot of peoples minds - people from all races and religions, atheists, Muslim youths, and even a kind email from Cherie Blair. A lot of organisations and media contacted me but I knew I still had a lot of research and studying to do on nearly every issue I talked about. I had some amazing emails, some incredibly sad stories, all really supportive, a few radical Muslim women were disappointed in me but then that was expected. I wanted to get to the root of the ideology. I have stated to many that this war will last at least 25 to 30 years. Prime Minister Brown, just like Mr Blair, won't use the word 'Jihad' - they mention the ideology but never define it to their people, which I believe is counter-productive. Muslims themselves have to understand the concept and reasons behind the ideology, and it isn't just because of foriegn policy; this ideology was being implemented long before the Iraq or Afganistan war. The only way to really understand the enemy and what Jihad means, is to understand the historical roots of Jihad, intertwined with the history of Muslim women and their struggle to be emancipated. This is a slow process and I'm not keen to be on national tv - and I hate my voice on radio. I'm a one-woman band at the moment but there are things in the process that I am working on and then I hope to network with all likeminded people and organisations more closely. Thank God there are other people out there who know what they are talking about. I'm a huge admirer of Dr Wafa Sultan - one gutsy, brave and sincere woman. I hope to challenge these Islamists face to face one day. The real clash is between modern 21st century Muslims living in the present and backward-thinking Muslims with the mindset of the 7th century. Have you had support? Have you had criticism? hostility? Yes. I have had both. But nothing could ever make me remain as silent as I did for 34 years of my life. Just recently I had someone say to me 'only the kaffars (meaning unbelievers - anyone who is unislamic or a sinner) have supported you.' I gave this British-born young Muslim woman a mindful. How dare she use a discriminating and insulting term to define British people or Muslims who are supportive? It's a term that Islamists use a lot, and it is very insulting even to Muslims themselves. Initially I did face hostility and I was accused of 'putting the community down'...as if they didn't do anything themselves to bring down the communities. Non-muslims have more or less left the community. Trevor Phillips was spot on when he said we were sleepwalking into segregation...only everybody was waking up 20 years too late. I had a brick put through the window and the police were supportive. I had to have an alarm put in...my Catholic nieghbours looked out for me. People were more worried about me than I was for myself. I don't fear anyone...I've lived in fear for too long. I had to consider the children though...both are proud of me and I'm educating them my way; after all, the education system won't teach them Islamic history on Jihad. I have had moments where I thought: what am I doing? But then every time I look at my children, I know it's for the next generation that I have to keep trying to create change. We all want our children to live in a peaceful world. They have never asked me to quit...they have always encouraged me. I began to realise Islamists would always win if people like me remain silent. I remember in 1989 when Salman Rushdie recieved a fatwa off the mullah in Iran..I remember thinking 'my God he's had it'. .We are always taught never to question the authority or literature of the Quran...But looking back, I understand how they used Rushdie to instill fear into the rest of us British-born Muslims in the West. Truth is a lot of us didn't really care, my generation were more intergrated than the kids in the communities now, but the fear was silently embedded into the back of our minds. Islamic history is important to study and analyse. It wasn't always like this. Islam was frozen in the middle ages: it's time to defrost Islam. The Quran is a magnificent historical record. Even Imams couldn't possibly understand the depth of it. Millions of us read the Quran in Arabic...that doesn't mean we under stand what we read, we are dependent on translations. That's why I call it the biggest con of the century...interpretations and translations imported into this country for 40 years were more to do with Jihadism than with a peaceful Islam that gave equality to women and was plural. There is an American woman, Laleh Bakhtiar, who is a convert and isn't extreme...she still wears jeans - she doesn't wear the hijab as most do, she has interpreted the Quran in English and has had death threats. I'm waiting to read her translation. Jihadists don't want women translating the Quran or women becoming Imams...Yet the Prophet had a woman Imam in his first mosque who preached where men and women weren't segregated. Islamists have almost written Muslim women out of history and their natural rights. I do acknowledge that the Quran has violent edicts, but you have to read the Quran in context and time. To say that what happened in the 7th century must be revived and considered the 'true Islam' is ridiculous to any reasonable thinking human being - that would mean reviving desert Arabic Islam, which is becoming obvious and beginning to look like a cult. Muslims have to revive the spiritual message of the Quran, which is often suppressed by Jihadists. I guess I'll get a lot of hostility, but no one owns Islam. We all can have our own personal relationship with God. I'll do as I damn please. Islamists psychologically suppress us. It never worked on me, but that doesn't mean I'm not a Muslim. I'm against the idea of a revived Calipha...I mean for God's sake, who do these people want as a Caliph, Osama bin Ladin or Omar Bakri?? It can be hard to reform religious practices and rules, because they are supposed to be 'above' human beings. It's always open to people to tell you 'That's not what Allah says'. Do you get comments like that? If so how do you deal with them? Yes all the time; Allah's name is used to put the fear in us and close off debate or logical thinking. I ask Muslims to look within themselves and ask themselves - question their own humanity. What God would want you to behead an apostle or murder a gay or hate Jews? We are all human beings, no one is better than anybody else. The truth is the majority of Muslims like my mother lived through Partition and never wanted to live through it again, but there are signs that Jihadists want to revive Partition again. Indians and Sikhs understand this supremacy better. The reason it is diificult to change is because Islamists have invaded the public domain and media beneath the skin of the nation for nearly 40 years; we have been fed lies and they use the Quran to justify their actions. Watch Osama bin Ladin in videos and you will see he uses 7th century history in the Quran in order to strengthen the cause. Their aim is to spread extreme Islam to 'the four corners of the world'. Their ideology is the cause of terrorism and the young turning themselves into human bombs...brainwashing them to believe they will be blessed with 72 virgins in heaven or that female suicide bombers will sit at the right-hand side of God . What an insult...these guys kill themselves as well as others, in order to be blessed with milk, honey and perfect virgins...so that Isalmists can revive a Calipha and change the order of the world. My dad believed he had pleased Allah too, and saved 7 generations of his bloodline. Islam is in crisis... People say Islam needs reformation or enlightment...true...but I say that the thousands and thousands of Muslims who integrated in the West over the last 100 years, did transform/enlighten Islam. We are the Muslims who don't believe in violence or this modern Jihad, we are the Muslims who don't want extreme Sharia law, we are the Muslims who believe in democracy and adhere to the law of the land. We are the Muslims who don't agree with forced marriages, polygamy or honour killings. We are the Muslims who don't carry historical hate for the Jews or non-muslims. We are the Muslims who love our neighbours. We are the Muslims who would never murder Salman Rushdie or Ayaan Hirsi Ali, just because they are ex-muslims and use their freedom of expression or make their own informed choices. We are the Muslims who live and let live. We are the 21st century modern Muslims. Great Asians like Ghandiji and Jinnah and Bhutto were educated in Britain and took back the tenets of democracy to India and Pakistan. My mum was a feminist and supported democracy for Pakistan. She would have been sad to see how dangerous politics has become in Pakistan. She empowered herself in this country...she knew my dad couldn't commit polygamy in Britain because it was against the law. She knew that the British laws gave her rights she would not have had otherwise in her own country; unfortunately the tide seems to be changing and our goverment is letting us down by engaging with Islamists. How can any humane Muslim believe this wave of suicide bombing can be justified in the name of Allah/God and still remain silent? People don't realise that this 'ideology' has been manifested for centuries in the Middle East and Asia. The most tolerant, and plural brand of Islam is Sufism which emphasises inner and spiritual meaning of the Quran; elements of Sufism respect the views of women. For a long time it seemed that both the government and the media talked to the MCB and to no one else about Muslim issues. Do you think that's changed? Are you in contact with any more reform-minded groups? Groups in which women play more of a role than they do in the MCB? The goverment had until recently engaged and somewhat funded the MCB. In my eyes they are Islamists, they are Jihadists' mentors. They are not the voice of British-born Muslims or British Islam. Inayat Bunglawala gets on my nerves...everytime he makes a statement to the press, I wish he'd put a sock in it. Initially Inayat Bungalawala had supported Osama bin Ladin, calling him a 'freedom fighter' in 2001; he supported Wahhabi Clerics and Hamas leaders, and currently these men want a new law so that banning religious discrimination can be implemented - which could shut down debates about Islam. Bungalawala tried to shut down the veil debate by stating that 'the veil is not debatable'. Excuse me...the veil, polygamy, and child-bride marriages have all been debatable for over 100 years since the first Muslim women activists in Eygpt, Turkey, and India used the pen as a weapon and wrote to the first newspapers printed, to break their silence and create change for the emancipation of the Muslim girl and woman. They wanted their full humanity back , they fought for education and schools for young girls, demanding changes to family laws and divorce laws, demanding the end to child-bride marriages and husbands taking on other wives. In other words women have always stood up to the harshness of Sharia law and harsh Islamic practices. Who is he to say the veil cannot be debated? Under the current threat of terror and the segregation the veil causes - it must be debated. Historically 'taking the veil' meant becoming a wife of the Prophet. The veil is a 7th century Arabic dress...The Quran only asks the muslim woman to 'cover her bosoms and private parts' and most of us do that anyway, Muslim or not! Bungalawala made a statement when Rushdie was knighted, asking Muslims to 'remain calm' - as if we were all going to go out onto the streets of Britain and burn effigies and disrespect the Queen and our Motherland. Only Islamists cause the violence and incite hatred. Recently after the Conservatives' Policy Exchange did a research and report of extreme literature (The Hijacking of British Islam), which it found in the East London Mosque (that Abdul Bari is chairman of) among other places, Bunglawala made a statement to the Times: 'we live in an open, democratic society, where it is not illegal to sell books which contain anti-west views.' Is he making a dig at our democracy? He knows like most Muslims that the literature found incites hatred, intolerance, and abhorrence of non believers. These people use our democracy as a means to implement their political Islamist agendas.They have engaged with Islamists. Sacranie had previously made many comments that are counter-productive to modern Muslims. I use the term modern because a lot of 'moderates' are hypocritical. Modern Muslims - and there are millions of us - we have to break our silence. The MCB are bigots and have never done anything for the emancipation of Muslim women. At least Salman Rushdie has supported the emancipation of Muslim women. I have a suggestion for Bunglawala and Sacranie, who still hold historical hate for Jews and gays: why don't they buy a one-way ticket to any of the 22 Islamic states around the world and practice their 'true Islam' freely there? Why our government believed we needed imported imams or bearded Islamists as our voice for British Islam I'll never know. They dug us a grave. There are women's groups - Dr Shazia Vaassi does some great work. Asian women have been actively involved against extremism and the subjugation of Muslim women here - we just don't get to hear about them often enough. I wish someone would invite Dr Wafa Sultan over and put her in front of some British Islamists or mullahs...she would eat them alive. Her words have a profound effect on me. Is it your experience that women see these things differently from the way men do? Are women more receptive to what you're doing than men are? I don't know for sure - I think it depends what kind of family you are from and what kind of parents you have, what kind of community you engage with and your geography, and which brand of Islam you were taught as well as education opportunities. My brothers are British Asians through and through. When we were living in Ward End in the '80s, we were the only Asians there with shops, we blasted Saturday Night Fever or Bollywood music out for our customers and we intergrated. One of my brothers even dressed like John Travolta. Our friends are from all religions and races. Muslim men still have more freedom than women though...I have had to fight for my freedom and equality, it wasn't easy. I still see Muslim women trapped by backward thinking practices - and then, I see some Muslim women who participate in their own oppression, believing Allah ordained it. As girls we are conditioned from an early age to be submissive...for me it was completely unnatural. I've always been a free spirit. Most Muslim men would never commit polygamy, beat a woman or marry their young daughters off by force, but a backward wave still holds Muslim women captive because they live to a script. Each generation creates change...the cycle has to be broken, but it will still take some generations. A lot of British Asian men wrote to me with very sad stories about their sisters or female family friends who were subjugated, committed suicide or were victims of honour killings; they applauded my stand. Some Muslim radicals, men and women who emailed me, said I may have 'mental problems'...Oh well...But if you talk to Muslim women who came here from oppressed poorer countries, they thank Allah everyday that they were treated humanely and equally under British law. A lot of Pakistani women who have settled here embrace the culture and educate their children. Pakistanis understand all too well the agenda of Islamist political parties in Pakistan. All in all I found most British women and men receptive. After all we are all human beings first. We are the strongest sex no doubt...but we need the co-operation of men too. I don't agree with gender apartheid!! How are things going now? Are you feeling optimistic? I'm an optimistic person...I have to be. I'm doing a writing course, I want to be able to write in my own style without sugarcoating my words. I choose to speak the truth as I witness it, it's like off-loading for me: it's uplifting to be able to be my authentic self and never lie to myself again and hence to do what I believe. I was always critical about certain elements of my religion, but never thought I could exercise my rights. It's true life does begin at 40. I'm a lone mother but I never get lonely...too much to do and I have my little family to tend to. Unfortunately the lone mother is rarely in the Islamic conscience. I value my freedom. I'm committed to the work I do. I have a real passion for it - it's a challenge to me. I have met some wonderful people through this line of work - people with real integrity. You have to find your real purpose in life and I've found mine. I know that I will have 'issues' if I'm critical of my religion and the supremacist attitude that govern us all currently, but I'm not disrespectful, I wouldn't disrespect anyone's God or anyone's beliefs, but what the heck, Islamists disrespect our logical reasoning and humanity every day. I have a right to my full humanity...I do not believe that whoever created me wanted me or any other woman to walk out of the front door with half the IQ He blessed us with, no one could suppress/oppress me or shut me up again - ask my ex-husband. I don't want my daughter to have my life...I intend to set her free as a full human being, one day. She was born in a free country. She can write her own life script. In the mean time I will continue to fight this mentality and backward mindset - I will exercise my freedom of opinion and debate...that's what democracy is all about isn't it? ginakhanmail@googlemail.com Go on give her an e-mail,i'm going to.
Students stone police in Iran riot. Some of you may know who Amil Imani is.The other day i posted an interview with Amil at Front Page Mag and it was a very informative and inrteresting read indeed.Here is the link to the entire interview if you are intersested in reading it.http://daralharb.multiply.com/journal/item/104 However i wanted to pull out a section of what he stated in this interview. " President Ahmadinejad’s bellicosity notwithstanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran is on the verge of collapse upon the head of the despised Mullahs and their fronting thugs. A few nudges from the outside world would serve as the tipping point for the long-suffering Iranians to rise and bury the Mullahs in the graveyard they have made of Iran. In short, Iran is in a state of serious upheaval. Replacing Ahmadinejad with the already tried and proven wanting gang of Rafsanjani-Khatami is not going to change matters much. As for the West, it is prudent that it does not embark on a trigger-happy policy. The mullahs' lease on life is just about over. A concerted political, economic and moral support for the long-suffering valiant secular opposition can put an end to the shameful and hate-driven Islamofascist of any and all stripes." The one place at the moment that worries me about this statement is who then will it be that replaces the Mullahs and will it be still and yet more Islam?As long as there is any hint of Islam there will always be Islamofascist of any and all stripes. There has always been a support of a sort for the West in Iran as they too have tasted freedom.The only problem is Islam has a way of making those people disappear and they have thier way of breaking the future freedom seekers from such dreams and day by day this is done. These people who wish to wear jeans and listen to music and sip a beer should realize that they are not considered Muslims by thier dear masters,only those who have pledged thier lives and souls to those masters are considered the true muslims.In Islam even muslims are dhimmis.Why not fight it and learn all over again the love of life and greet the sweet death only when it visits and takes you because you have grown too old.Thats when it is your time to die,not when some murderer,rapist,thieving pedophile says so. Students defied a clampdown on protests in Iran yesterday by tearing down the gates of Tehran university. They chanted slogans against President Ahmadinejad and carried placards saying "Live free or die", "No war, no fascism" and "Women must decide their fate, not the state." They wrecked the iron-barred gates and threw stones at police, according to Iranian state radio, which said the protest ended peacefully. Tehran University is the largest and one of the oldest universities in Iran. Student protests have been rare in recent years. Western rights groups have accused Iran of banning dissent. But there was a demonstration in Tehran last month against the detention of three students who were picked up during a protest at another Iranian university a week earlier. Some of the placards yesterday named the arrested students. Professors have joined them in criticising Ahmadinejad for clamping down on dissent on campuses. The president and his government say they "support free speech and welcome constructive opposition". Yea right.I hope you don't mind if we sit and wait for an update as to all those who will be arrested,tortured and who disappear! You lie through your teeth because Freedom of Speech and constructive opposition are banned in Islam. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=500891&in_page_id=1811
I have been waiting for someone to interview Amil Imani as i have been very interested in this man since i read his first article.If you are interested in more of what he has said then hit the amilimani tag below. Alright FPM  Fighting For the Soul of Iran Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Amil Imani, a pro-democracy activist who advocates regime change in Iran. He was born in Tehran into a Muslim family and moved to the United States during the Islamic Revolution. An American citizen, Mr. Imani is a columnist, poet, literary translator, novelist, essayist, and political analyst. He is a regular contributor to The New Media Journal, American Thinker, Faith Freedom International and the popular Iranian online magazine, Iranian.com. [Editor’s note: due to the many death threats Amil Imani receives, Frontpagemag.com cannot produce a picture of him at this time.] FP: Amil Imani, welcome to Frontpage Interview. Imani: Thank you Jamie for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts and my views with your readers. I am also a fan of your wonderful online magazine. I visit it quite often. FP: Thank you Amil. Let’s begin by you telling us a bit about your background. Imani: I was born in Tehran, Iran into a wonderful, loving and intellectual family. Growing up in a Muslim family, I was fortunate that my parents never forced their will on me to follow Islam and its rituals or for that matter, any other religion or ideology. They believed that religion was of a personal choice and in time I would decide for myself. Yet, I did grow up in a Muslim society and have witnessed first-hand the horrors and indignity that Islamofascism visits on people it subjugates, and for that matter, I have taken it upon myself to do my part in defeating this ideology of oppression, hate and violence.
For as long as I can remember I have had a torrid passion for poetry. I finished my first book of poetry at the age of thirteen. I find writing to be therapeutic. It enables me to put in words my feelings about my native country Iran and its sad plight at this time. It empowers me to be able to "defend" Iran’s extremely rich culture and her people and gives me the freedom to say things from the heart. It also gives me strength to defend my adopted home, the United States of America and her extremely wonderful and gracious people from the threat and wrath of Islamofascism. I pray that God gives me the energy and resources to carry out my services to both Iran; the United States and the generality of humanity with evermore effectiveness. I was also fortunate enough to visit many countries around the world and appreciate other cultures. I moved to the United States during the thuggish revolt in Iran, better known as the Islamic Revolution of Iran. This untimely revolution outrageously installed the most oppressive theocratic Islamic system known to the history of mankind. With that, it renewed an era of Islamic terrorism. I have remained in contact with the people of Iran and understand their frustration and their pain. The overwhelming majority of Iranians of today stand shoulder to shoulder with the civilized free people of the world to defeat Islamofascism. The Iranians have not forgotten their heritage; they pride in their ancient creed of light—that of Zoroaster; they see themselves as inheritors of a great culture and tradition—that of Cyrus the Great, the exemplary just king; and, are determined to pay any price to put an end, once and for all, to the virulent disease of Islamofascism. We must remain resolute and maintain a warrior’s heart. I believe this is a righteous battle against evil. FP: Tell us the nature of the regime that rules Iran. Imani: The Islamic Republic of Iran is a unique creature—it is best described as a Theocratic Aristocracy. The “divinely-ordained” rulers maintain themselves in power by an elaborate system of patronage. Lucrative positions, contracts, and valued privileges are distributed by patronage. The Islamic Republic of Iran is a quisling entity that has betrayed its people, its tradition, its glorious pre-Islamic achievements, and is incessantly working against Iran’s national interest. Iran, under the stranglehold and machinations of the Mullahs, has been transformed, in less than three decades, to the lead perpetrator of all that is abhorrent to humanity. Iran’s ruling Mullahs are clustered around major factions such as the conservatives, the moderates, and the so-called reformists. Yet, the differences among these factions are tactical rather than strategic. One and all share the same overarching goal of defeating the “Crusader-Zionists” by any and all methods possible, bringing about the “end of the world” Armageddon, and thereby creating the requisite conditions for the appearance of the Hidden Imam, the Mahdi, to assume his rule of the world. Presently, the Mullahs have been doing all they can to imprison and kill with impunity the internal opposition, and want the rest of the world to keep its nose out of their “family” business. Executions in Iran have skyrocketed. Under the rule of these adherents of death, everything in Iran is deteriorating and dying. In spite of huge oil revenues, the per capita income of the Iranians is now about one third of what it was before the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Every form of misery has also skyrocketed. Drug addiction, prostitution and suicide have gone through the roof. The young and the educated continue deserting Iran and family, fleeing to the four corners of the earth in search of a decent life. Iran of today, on the one hand, has the potential of rapidly becoming a nuclear state and becoming a formidable adversary that would not settle for anything less than the total subjugation of the free world. On the other hand, in Iran’s people and culture is a genuine potential for replacing the doomsday-bent Mullahcracy and making Iran the free world’s staunchest partner with the U.S. in the Islamic world. FP: Your thoughts on the Mullahs’ ban on Western music? What other music is banned? Why does music represent such a threat to Islamic fundamentalism? What is the overall role of the religious police? Imani: In principle, music is forbidden by Islam, but they have not been able to take that away from the people. Classical and Jazz music is widely available in music stores, but the state-run media limits the use of such genres. Traditional Persian music is not restricted, but it is not easy to obtain government permits for recordings that are meant for commercial distributions. There is actually a government ministry that censors music, publications, and other art forms. There is a ban on Iranian music that comes from abroad, especially from Los Angeles studios. But, how can anyone stop 40 million strong youth under the age of 30 from listening to Western or pop music?
Under the Sharia law in Iran, Muslims are not allowed to drink alcohol. Men and women not from the same family are forbidden to dance together and women are obliged to cover their heads, arms and legs. Religious police or clerical police or morality police are groups that are funded, legally authorized, and/or recognized by the Islamic athurity, to enforce morality who enforce sharia law within Islamic theocraciess. Recently, these repression police have attacked Iraian women all across the country and have arrested thosands of them for petty offences such as showing a little hair or wearing tight jeans. Iranian women have come a long way in their struggle for their rights and they continue to challenge the Mullahs repressive police. FP: How have the institutions of higher education faired under the regime? Imani: The institutions of higher learning are still excellent, but the atmosphere of free thought is almost non-existent in the humanities, and the students are forced to take Islamic instruction and indoctrination. On the other hand, in the arena of science Iran still cranks out one of the highest number of geniuses, albeit in an atmosphere of nearly total control. For example Sharif University graduates are among the most sought after graduates by MIT, and other reputable institutions worldwide. There is a great "brain drain" in Iran, since there is no social freedom and the economy holds no future for graduates, so many of the country's prodigies are now in North America and Europe. Many of the Fortune 500 companies are owned by Iranian expatriates, and organizations like NASA benefit from the scientific talents of such Iranian exiles. In fact the current head of NASA's Mars Mission is Dr. Firouz Naderi (an Iranian) FP: What has the regime done to the economy? Imani: The country's income has grown exponentially, but the resources are not put back into the economy. There is an incredibly high rate of joblessness along with a high inflation rate. The lifeblood of Iran’s economy is oil and natural gas. The Mullahs neglect and squandering of these vital and irreplaceable resources holds a future of even more severe hardship for the Iranian people. Impartial expert studies show that Iran’s oil production, at the present rate of exploitation and absence of maintenance, will decline by nearly ten percent per year and will hit zero by 2015. Corruption and mismanagement, combined with the huge allocation of resources to acquire nuclear weapons, are bound to burden the country’s badly ailing economy that will likely bury the Mullahs in the rubble of their own making and grant them their death wish. FP: Can you talk a bit about prostitution and drugs in Iran? Imani: Yes. There are millions of drug addicts in Iran, especially young people. It is a major public health issue. It ranges from prescription drug abuse to I.V. drugs. A lot of people are addicted to opium, morphine, and heroin. There is a great spread of street drug use, such as crack cocaine, "crystal", and other "designer drugs". There is no uniform policy to enforce drug charges. A lot of big dealers are arrested and executed, yet others who have connections to the regime get off the hook and are in fact get subsidized by certain elements in the government to keep some drugs cheap and available, in order to poison the youth and keep them from revolting against the Islamic regime. The other ugly face of addiction and poverty is the widespread prostitution that goes hand-in-hand with this phenomenon.
FP: Tell us about the fate of homosexuals in Iran. Imani: Well, in Islam homosexuality is condemned, but they have not necessarily enforced it. In most cases, though, when they run out of other ideas to execute innocent people on political charges, they accuse them of homosexuality, pedophilia, adultery, etc. In fact the majority of mullahs engage in homosexual acts and are pedophiles, but they keep it quiet and look out for their own.
Mr. Ahmadinejad was challenged during his appearance on Amnesty International statistics that suggest that 200 people had been executed in Iran so far this year, among them homosexuals. FP: The Left played a pretty substantial role in the Iranian Revolution didn’t it? Imani: The communists of course were very active in the original uprisings against the Shah. A very strange marriage took place early on between the Islamists (who were an insignificant minority) and the variety of communist factions. They buried their hatchets and supposedly "unified" the nation for a "common" cause, which was supposed to be the achievement of democracy and freedom of speech.
Unbeknown to most Iranians who jumped on the bandwagon with these two main groups, the communists had the dream of socialism and the Islamists wanted to bring about Islamic fascism. They both lied to the people and betrayed their trust, and of course the Islamists used the idea of "Taqqyeh" or Islamic "white lie" and took the nation and its revolution hostage.
Then they started to arrest and kill the communists and anyone else they found to be against the establishment of an Islamic system. This is exactly the way these forms of uprisings turn out. You can see it played out almost as a parallel in the October Revolution in Russia, which was the basis for George Orwell's book "Animal Farm".
Nahavandi on his interview from FrontPageMag.com said: “The collapse of a pillar of stability in the East, of its army, its pro-western regime was a golden opportunity for Moscow. It effectively did help, thanks to the role played by the “Tudeh”, the ultra-left – mujahideens etc… who were then manipulated by the K.G.B., by Qaddafi’s Libya, then close to Moscow and which financed the revolution, by the support Damascus gave the revolution, by the role played by East Germany, etc.” FP: So what is your faith today? Do you consider yourself a Muslim? Imani: No, I do not consider myself a Muslim. You cannot possibly be a Persian and a Muslim at the same time. They are incompatible. As a matter of fact, to most of us, (true Iranians), calling us Muslim, is a great insult. This may come as a surprise to the Western people, but this is a mutual feeling with the new generation in Iran. The Iranians are fed up with Islam and they want out. I regained my freedom when I left Islam. Over the years the concept of religion and faith in my mind has transcended and matured up. It searched for the realms of real and unreal, my mind traveled and expanded beyond the meaning and definitions of words to regain its forgotten truth, a knowing, a deeper truth. Here, the real story is not whether one faith washes his feet, or signs a cross with holy water, or whirls like a Dervish. The issue is how they treat those who disagree with them or stray from their sanctioned behaviors. My beliefs have matured over the years. I now think that God has a set of values that are absolutely right and good, rebellion against which is wrong (sinful), and about which the commitment to deceive others is evil, as is the commitment to deny the existence of anything absolutely good or bad.
I believe that there is an unfathomable Being who is the Fashioner of this universe, including us. We refer to this Being as God, He, and so forth, in a futile attempt to encapsulate this Being into our extremely finite minds. I also believe that this Being is not a dot commer. He doesn't sit around and wait to fill orders or requests. Neither does he interfere in the details of our lives. What he has done and does, to my understanding, is to establish certain rules and parameters that give each one of us a tremendous leeway on how to play the game of life. Each one of us, according to these rules and parameters, receives a "hand" for playing the game. It really doesn't matter what kind of hand we start with, it matters how well we play the hand we are dealt. Do we enlist ourselves in the service of good and combat evil, or do we just squander away our time? I believe that prayers are primarily for giving us comfort, for calming us down, for helping us take the steps needed to mend our ways, to do all we can to be worthy humans. Also to clear our hearts and heads from the dross of daily worldly entanglement, to help put matters in proper perspective, to live at peace with both our gifts as well as our limitations, to aid us in entertaining good thoughts, uttering good speech and doing good deeds. When prayers are said with the above mindset, they are already answered prayers. Death is inevitable. It is the journey that invariably follows birth, sooner or later. Let us hope that we all do justice to our gift of humanness in this life and wing to the next with minimal sense of shame and shortcoming. FP: What do you think of the possibility of Islamic democracy? Imani: Islam clearly is incompatible with democracy. Keep in mind that the very name “Islam” is a derivation of “taslim,” the Arabic word for “surrender,” surrender to the will and dictates of Allah as revealed by Muhammad and recorded in the Quran.
This non-negotiable surrender to Islam requires the individual as well as the society to disenfranchise themselves of many of the fundamental and deeply cherished human rights. Below is a brief presentation of what this surrender to Islam entails and why it is imperative that all freedom-loving people arise and defeat the menace of Islamofascism. Amendment I of the Bill of Rights enshrines some of the most cherished ideals of freedom-loving people:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Islam considers itself the three branches of government. It enacts laws as it sees fit, adjudicates laws, and executes as it deems. Islam is anathema to the provisions of the First Amendment and much more. * Islam proclaims itself as the only legitimate religion for the entire world, grudgingly granting minor recognition to Judaism and Christianity from whom it has liberally plagiarized many of its dogma. Jews and Christians are allowed to live under the rule of Islam as dhimmis and must pay a special religious tax of jazyyeh. Buddhists, Hindus, Zoroastrians, Baha’is, members of other religions, agnostics, or atheists are not even allowed to live practicing their belief or disbelief. * Islam actively suppresses and even prohibits the practice of other religions, including those of the “people of the book,” Jews and Christians. There is not a single church or synagogue in the cradle of Islam, Saudi Arabia, while thousands of mosques dot the tolerating and welcoming non-Moslem lands. Islamic countries that allow for Jewish and Christian places of worship subject these “people of the book” to numberless subtle and not-so-subtle forms of persecution. Moslems in non-Moslem lands proselytize relentlessly and convert others while any Moslem who leaves Islam is judged as apostate and automatically condemned to death. * Freedom of speech is just about non-existent in Islam. The word is Allah’s, his chosen divines such as Ayatollahs and Imams are the only ones who are to make pronouncements squarely-based on Allah’s word, the Quran. Any expression in the least at deviance from the Quran, the Hadith and the edicts of Islamic high divines is heresy and severely punishable. Hence, stifling of free expression is the major mechanism by which the Islamic clergy retain power and prevent constructive change in Islamic societies. * Freedom of the press is completely alien to Islam, since a free press tends to express matters as it sees it, rather than as it is stated in the Quran. To Islam, the Quran is the press and the only press. There is no need for critical reporting, no need to present ideas that may conflict with the Quran, and no place for criticism of anything Islamic. The stranglehold of Islam on the individual and society is complete. * Peaceful assembly of the people is not allowed. The backward oppressive Islamic societies inflict great hardship on the citizenry and any assembly of the victims presents a threat to the suffocating rule. Islamic governments routinely prevent peaceful assemblies from taking place. Failing to do so, they unleash their hired thugs, the police and even the military against any assemblage no matter how peaceful and how legitimate is its grievance. The Islamic Republic of Iran which is vying with Saudi Arabia as the leader of true Islamic rule, routinely attacks any and all gatherings of its people, arrests them, imprisons them without due process, tortures them, and even executes them in secret dungeons. Journalists, academics, unionists, students, teachers, women rights groups who dare to petition the government for redress are labeled subversive and are severely punished. * Not only Islam does not allow freedom of assembly and the press, it is intrusively restrictive in every aspects of a person’s life. The way women should dress, the haircut of men, the music people are allowed, movies to watch, television programs to view, and even parties in the privacy of their home are subject to the ridiculous monitoring of moral police. Islam is hell-bent on outward morality and puritanical conduct while it is rotten to the core just below the pretentious surface. * Islam segregates by gender many public places and events such as beaches, sporting venues, public transportations, and even building elevators. Families are often prevented from attending a sporting event together or swimming together at a beach. That is why Islam cannot possibly work in those countries where democracy is at work. FP: Many people think Iranians are Arabs, but they are Persians. Can you explain the ethnological differences to our readers? How do Arabs feel about Persians? How do Persians feel about Arabs? It is clear, of course, that one whole group of people never completely feels the same about any one thing, I’m just asking about some common attitudes. Imani: I don’t really blame anyone for confusion on this issue. Many people or Americans are not well-travelers and obviously they don't know or they cannot tell the difference. However, if you travel to Los Angeles, you can hardly find an American who is not able to distinguish from the two races. Californians know Iranians well. There are roughly around 700,000 or more Iranians live in California.
The 700,000 Iranians include Azaris, Kurds, Baluchis and other ethnics. But, they are all proud to be Iranians. It is the strength of Iran that has successfully blended many ethnic groups into one whole nation called Iran (meaning the land of Aryans) for thousands of years. We pride ourselves in being ethnically diverse, yet united in our love for Iran.
Let's say, the "American Natives," and the "Mexican Natives" are from the same ethnic stock--Native Americans. Most Iranians are not Semites as the Arabs are. And not being able to tell a person from El Salvador apart from one from Mexico is like saying that you cannot tell an Iraqi apart from a Saudi. Well, they are both Hispanic in the case of the former and Arabs in the case of the latter.
Temperamentally, I am averse to making a big deal out of genetic difference. It smacks of Eugenics and racism. I prefer that we emphasize our cultural uniqueness and our ancient tradition of respect for human life and human rights.
Persians often take great umbrage at being confused with Arabs. Authors like Robert Kaplan and V. S. Naipaul have documented the Persian antipathy toward the Arabs, all the while espousing the Arab religion enthusiastically. It is rather understandable for reasons of history, geography and religion why Iran is bracketed into the Arab world in the minds of many.
Funny thing about racism is that it works both ways. I know that many Arabs also resent being taken as Iranians. So, best thing to do is to stay clear of notions that smack of superiority for oneself and denigrating others. FP: Tell us who the Baha’i are and their fate under the Iranian regime. Imani: The terrible plight of the Baha’i faithful in Iran is particularly heartwrenching, since they are the largest non-Muslim group in the country and have, from day one, been severely brutalized by Muslims. The Baha’i Faith dates back to the middle of the 19th century when an Iranian nobleman, Baha’u’llah, founded the new faith as an independent religion—a very painful thorn in the side of a ruling vested clergy with a stranglehold on the masses. The slaveholder, Islam, finds the Baha’i Faith a threat to its very existence, since many of the Baha’i teachings are anathema to that of Islamofascism—the current favorite version of Islam in official Iran. Below is a brief list that contrasts some of the two beliefs. Beliefs are impetus to action and when beliefs clash, people clash. 1. Muslims contend that Muhammad is the seal of the Prophets, that God sent his best and final messenger to mankind, and any other claimant is an imposter worthy of death. Baha’is believe that God has always sent his emissaries to educate humanity and shall do so in the future. They believe that Baha’u’llah is the latest in that line of prophets. 2. Blind imitation and obedience to any authority is anathema to Baha’is. Baha’is believe that the human mind and the gift of reason should guide the person in making decisions about all matters. To this end, they place a premium on education and independent investigation of truth. Baha’is consider the education of women as important as that of men, since women are the early teachers of children and can play their valuable part by being themselves educated. By contrast, Muslims look for to religious authorities for guidance and often deprive women of education and independent thinking. In recognition of the importance of independent thinking, no one is born Baha’i. Once one is born to a Muslim, he is considered Muslim for life. If he decides to leave Islam, he is labeled apostate and, apostates are automatically condemned to death. The slaveholders are intent on keeping all their slaves as well as their issue. By contrast, every child born in a Baha’i family is required to make his own independent decision regarding whether or not he wishes to be a Baha’i. Freedom to choose and independent thinking are cherished values of the Baha’is, in stark contrast to that of Muslims. 3. Baha’is believe that truth transcends all boundaries. Scientific and religious truth emanates from the same universal source. They are like the two sides of the same coin. To Baha’is, science and religion are as two wings of a bird that enable human flight toward the summit of its potential; that any religious belief that contradicts science is superstition. Muslims believe that their religious dogma, irrespective of its proven falsehood, is superior to that of science. The Muslims literally believe, for instance, that Muhammad unsheathed his sword and split the moon in half and many, many more scientifically-untenable views. 4. Muslims hold the view, expressly stated in the Quran, that men are rulers over women. Baha’is fully reject this notion and subscribe to the unconditional equality of the two sexes. This Baha’i principle emancipates one half of humanity from the status of subservient domestic to that of a fully participating and self-actualized human. It undermines the heartless exploitation of women and demands that women be treated with all due respect under the law. 5. Prejudice of any type is alien to the Baha’i Faith and severely undermines its pivotal principle of the oneness of humanity. Muslims are notorious when it comes to prejudice. Prejudice against others is thoroughly exploited by the Islamofascist. In contrast, Baha’i scriptures say, “…again, as to religious, racial, national and political bias: all these prejudices strike at the very root of human life; one and all they beget bloodshed, and the ruination of the world. So long as these prejudices survive, there will be continuous and fearsome wars.” The above is a short treatment of some of the salient features of the two belief systems—one dating back some fourteen centuries and one of relatively recent origin. It is understandable that the intolerant defunct fascist Islam sees its death in a competing ideology vastly at odds with its barbaric tenets. It is the modus operandi of radical Muslims to write graffiti on the walls of synagogues, churches, cemeteries and other holy places of non-Muslims. The plights of Baha’is are no exception. Here are some examples of graffiti in Abadeh, a small town in Iran: 'Death to Baha'is, the mercenaries of America and England,' 'Hezbollah despises the Baha'is,' 'Baha'is - mercenaries of Israel' and 'Baha'is are unclean' - phrases that relate directly to government propaganda that has been disseminated in the Islamic Republic news media in recent years," said Ms. Diane Ala’i, who represents the Baha’i International Community to the UN in Geneva. We also feel for our long-suffering Baha’i compatriots in Iran. They have been savagely brutalized for over a century and a half through the demonic machinations of the despicable mullahs. They continue to pay dearly for their audacity to believe in human dignity. FP: Children were used as human minesweepers in the Iran/Iraq war. Tell us about this horrifying crime against humanity perpetrated by the Mullahs. Imani: The Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Iranian Islamic state, for one, made extensive use of the fatwa. Widely-known in the west is Khomeini’s fatwa condemning Selman Rushdie to death for his book. A less known fatwa of Khomeini during the last Iran-Iraq war led to the slaughter of thousands of Iranian children. Children, nearly all under 15 years of age, were given plastic keys to paradise as they were commanded by the fatwa of the imam to rush forward to clear minefields for the tanks to follow. The Islamic murderers, in obedience to the fatwa of a bloodthirsty man of Allah, had no problem in deceiving the clueless lads with made in China plastic keys to paradise.
Such is the existentialistic threat of Islam. It is a rigid stone-age authoritarian system with a stranglehold over many of the nearly one and half billion people under its command.
It was a very well documented fact. They brainwashed these children to believe that they were serving god and would give them "keys to paradise" made out of plastic and headbands with Islamic verses that glorified "martyrdom". They even would spray a man on a horse with a fluorescent substance and had him gallop across the battle fields to mesmerize these kids into believing that it was the Shiite Islamic messiah "Mahdi". It only takes sick and criminal minds to do this to any human being, let alone to innocent children, who were mostly orphans. FP: What would be your advice to the Bush administration of what policy to pursue toward Iran? Imani: First and foremost, I will advise President Bush to hire new advisors on Iran. The past and the current U.S. policy on Iran has been a failure. It was former President Jimmy Carter who was instrumental of brining the Ayatollah Khomeini in power and creating this international mess. It was Jimmy Carter who reassured the world that the Ayatollah Khomeini was a peaceful and “Holy Man”. With Carter’s support, the Ayatollah Khomeini was installed as the unelected dictator of Iran. I think it would be conducive to say that now it is responsibility of the U.S, to help the Iranian people to regain their country back from the Islamic hijackers. I would advise President Bush to adhere to the policy of no bombs, no appeasement. I think in that regard, I speak for many Iranians. It is dangerous and unnecessary to attack Iran militarily, neither does the U.S. need to go the route of appeasement with a seriously weak adversary. President Ahmadinejad’s bellicosity notwithstanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran is on the verge of collapse upon the head of the despised Mullahs and their fronting thugs. A few nudges from the outside world would serve as the tipping point for the long-suffering Iranians to rise and bury the Mullahs in the graveyard they have made of Iran. In short, Iran is in a state of serious upheaval. Replacing Ahmadinejad with the already tried and proven wanting gang of Rafsanjani-Khatami is not going to change matters much. As for the West, it is prudent that it does not embark on a trigger-happy policy. The mullahs' lease on life is just about over. A concerted political, economic and moral support for the long-suffering valiant secular opposition can put an end to the shameful and hate-driven Islamofascist of any and all stripes. FP: Amil Imani, thank you for joining Frontpage Interview. Imani: Thank you again, Jamie for the opportunity to say a few words (maybe a little more than a few words) with your readers. I'm honored and grateful for the invitation. http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=FC3E3A2D-7B61-4485-977D-E7BBCC549684
Mr Amil Imani has more to say and i hope he continues to speak. Cross posted from TROP,original artlcle link below. Humanity has suffered horrific wars in the past. Yet, the present multi-form and multi-front war waged by Islamists has the potential of inflicting more suffering and destroying more lives than ever before. Ruthless Islamic forces are advancing rapidly in their conquests while those of freedom are acquiescing and retreating. Before long, Islamism is poised to achieve its Allah-mandated goal of cleansing the earth of all non-Muslims. Any and all means and weapons are to be enlisted in the service of this final holy war that aims to establish the Islamic Ummeh. Is “Moderate Islam” an illusion? Moderate Islam is a wedge that will jam open the door to Jihad, and "evil will triumph when good Muslims do nothing." The great majority of Muslims are not adherents of the radical line. Yet, because the Islamists wage their war under the name of Islam, they receive immense direct and indirect support from the rank-and-file ordinary Muslims. It is this support of moderate Muslims that keeps the Jihadists alive. And it is the Jihadists who intend to show no mercy to any and all who do not share their theology, be they Muslims or not.
For the record, all Muslims, moderates, radicals, Shiite, Sunnis and other sects and sub-sects of Islam are in unanimous agreement that the Quran is the word of “Allah.” All Muslims are also in agreement that “Allah” spoke through the Angel Gabriel to Muhammad. Allah declares, “The book is not to be doubted."
To be a loyal and faithful Muslim, one must adhere to and perform many rituals, as specified in the Quran by Allah and the Hadiths/Sunna, every waking moment of his entire life. Disobeying these rituals does not make one a moderate Muslim, but rather it would make him a non-Muslim, facing an uncertain future.
[They who deny the Quran]: "They have incurred Allah's most inexorable wrath. An ignominious punishment awaits the unbelievers..." Quran 2:89
“If you doubt what We have revealed to Our servant, produce one chapter comparable to it. Call upon your idols to assist you, if what you say be true. But if you fail (as you are sure to fail) then guard yourselves against the Fire whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the unbelievers. Quran 2:23-5
“Prophet, make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their home: an evil fate.” Quran 9:73
"That which is revealed to you from your Lord will surely increase the wickedness and unbelief of many among them. But do not grieve for the unbelievers" Quran (5:69).
The jihadists have searched the scripture and have selectively chosen those statements and precedents that they could use to legitimize their violent and primitive agenda. The Jihadists, for instance, claim that the Quran itself urges them to make jihad, “jahedoo fee sabeil-u-llah,” (make jihad for the cause of Allah.) The word “jihad” has at least two vastly different meanings. It means exertion. It also stands for making war, and it is the latter that the jihadists invoke as their mandate.
While the so-called moderate Muslims are generally silent, either out of fear, lack of organization, or apathy, the Islamists work around the clock and around the world to further their agenda. Hardly a week passes without a Grand Mufti or an Ayatollah issuing pronouncements in support of radical Islam. The rank-and-file Islamist clergy, for their part, transmit these fatwas and edicts to their flocks in mosques and hammer them into the minds of impressionable children in madressehs. Through this grassroots process, radical Islam is recruiting greater and greater numbers of adherents. On the one hand, the Islamists engage in acts of violence to disrupt the functioning of societies, while on the other they cleverly exploit the freedom they enjoy in non-Islamic lands to subvert them from within.
Issuing death threats and finishing the job are part of the modus operandi of the Islamists who disagree with them. It is not surprising that Salman Rushdie's "Satanic Verses" received a fatwa because it appeared to mock Muhammad......... This guy has much to say go here for the rest http://www.amilimani.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=85&Itemid=2
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