Read Holy Hell : A memoir of Faith, Devotion and Pure Madness by Gail Tredwell, an Australian woman who escaped from an Indian godwoman ashram.
She wrote how she was repeatedly raped by the chief priest and physically tortured by the godwoman Amritanandamayi, the hugging saint, during her stay in the ashram as a devotee and a head female disciple for 20 years.
Muslims are saying that ‘Dark Horse’ music video is blasphemous. “Dark Horse,” is sparking harsh reactions from the international Muslim community for disrespecting a symbol representing their God, Allah.
A petition launched Tuesday on Change.org is urging supporters of Islam as well as other religions, to ask YouTube to remove the “blasphemous” music video. Thus far, the petition has received 35,000 signatures.
Perry portrays an animated representation of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra, and she is seen using her powers to destroy those who oppose her. One character in the video is seen wearing a religious symbol around his neck, who she then zaps into a pile of sand, along with his pendant.“At 01:15 into the video Dark Horse; a man is shown being burned, whilst wearing a pendant (also burned) forming the word ‘Allah’, which is the Arabic word for God,” says the online petition.
A man wearing a pendant forming the word Allah was turned into a pile of sand in the video. Muslims are sure that this video is a blasphemous video. They believe that Islam would be saved if the video gets vanished.
Islam-believers are becoming increasingly insane. Is it because we fulfill all their devilish demands, satisfy all their weird wishes and make all their dreams come true? I think it is time to stop treating them as spoilt children. Better we should treat them as responsible adults. And if they don’t behave next time, we should seriously teach them how to behave.
Indian Supreme Court says, fatwa cannot be forced upon people. But fatwas are forced upon people.
Fatwa issued by Muslim clerics cannot be forced upon people and the state has to protect persons who are harassed for not following such diktats, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said while expressing reservation in interfering with shariat courts.
Holding that it’s a matter of choice for the people to accept fatwa or not, the apex court said running of institutions like Darul Qaza and Darul-Iftaa is a religious issue and the courts should interfere only when someone’s rights are violated by their decision.
“We can protect people who are subjected to suffering due to this. When a pujari gives a date of Dussehra, he cannot force someone to celebrate the festival on that day. If somebody forces them on you, then we can protect you,” the bench said after the petitioner pleaded that fatwa issued by clerics is unconstitutional.
The petitioner says fatwas or religious edicts are unconstitutional. If democracy, human rights, women’s rights, freedom of expression are constitutional, fatwas automatically become unconstitutional. I didn’t know before reading this news that fatwas were not illegal in India. Why does India need fatwas?
It said fatwa issued by clerics or prediction made by pandits do not violate any law and so courts should restrain them from doing so.
Fatwas violate laws, human rights and freedom. Fatwas are for violating rights. If fatwas did not violate laws, there would not be any fatwas. Laws made by gods or worshipers of gods and laws made by modern rational humans are completely different. God’s laws are bound to violate human’s laws. It is better to make fatwas illegal rather than judging each fatwa whether it violates any law. A secular state must not have religious laws or edicts. The state that is separated from religion is called secular state.
“Which law gives power to issue fatwa and which statute gives pundit power to make horoscope? Court can only say that the state will protect the people if one is subjected to suffering due to fatwa,” the bench said adding some fatwas may be issued for the welfare of the people.
“These are political and religious issues and we do not want to go into it,” the bench said while hearing a PIL filed by an advocate Vishwa Lochan Madam challenging the constitutional validity of shariat courts for allegedly running a parallel judicial system in the country.
It is like putting a poisonous snake in your room and assuring you that if it bites you, you will be taken to a hospital for treatment. Why don’t they take the snake out and let you live peacefully?
All India personal law board submitted fatwa is bot binding on people and it is just an opinion of Mufti and he has no power and authority to implement it.
Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, appearing for the Board, submitted if a fatwa is sought to be implemented against the wish of the concerned person, then he can approach court of law against it.
The petitioner submitted the fundamental rights of Muslims could not be controlled and curtailed through fatwas issued by qazis and muftis appointed by Muslim organizations.
A fatwa was issued against me by All India Muslim Law Board. No action was taken against the men who issued fatwas. The issuance of such fatwas was against the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution.
An unlimited amount of reward money was offered to my would-be killers in Kolkata. It happened in broad day light, and in the middle of the city. No one was arrested for setting price on someone’s head.
If they can get away with declaring fatwa once, they will declare fatwas more. Fatwas are contagious. Because fatwas were issued in Kolkata, fatwas were issued in Uttar Pradesh and other places. Others learn to issue fatwas, to create terror in society. The fanatics are having wonderful life. Nobody even questioned them for their crimes of setting price on people’s heads.
The state is now protecting me. It is the same protection Supreme Court offers to persons who are harassed by fatwas. Protection alone can not give a tension free life. I have been living in constant fear. Anyone can kill me at any moment. Fatwas are still there, not a single fatwa was withdrawn. I could get a life without being surrounded by police if there were no fatwas. The state could save money.
Mullahs have been issuing fatwas against women everyday. Women are not allowed to use mobile phones, to work for private companies, to go anywhere without wearing hijabs or burqas etc. Who will provide them protection? If fatwabaaz mullahs roam around free, and if they are free to issue fatwas against whoever they want, women won’t feel protected, they won’t enjoy their basic human rights.
Islamic Leaders Issued Fatwa Prohibiting One-Way Trips to Mars.
The fatwa committee of the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment in the United Arab Emirates issued the fatwa after determining that “such a one-way journey poses a real risk to life, and that can never be justified in Islam.” They continued, “There is a possibility that an individual who travels to planet Mars may not be able to remain alive there, and is more vulnerable to death.”
The committee says participating in the “hazardous trip” to Mars, will likely result in death for no “righteous reason.” This means that the unfortunate Mars adventurer will face a “punishment similar to that of suicide in the Hereafter.”
Did the Koran say anything about Mars? No. Because Muhammad did not know about Mars. He didn’t know about the universe, and billions of stars and planets. Muhammad talked about our sun, moon and earth– things he could see. After being influenced by Christian and Jews myths, Muhammad imagined heaven and hell. He described about his imaginary travel to heaven and hell. That was hilarious.
Humans walked on the moon and learned much more than what is available about the moon in the Koran. Obviously Islamists would not want humans to discover Mars, the planet unknown to Muhammad and his imaginary God. If humans start living in Mars, that will definitely embarrass ignorant masses. Allah says he will call people from earth (not from mars or any other planets) for the last judgement day.
Reportedly, around 500 Saudis and other Arabs applied for the Mars One mission. The fatwa committee believes that some of them may be fleeing to Mars to escape punishment from Almighty Allah. However, the committee says not even traveling to Mars will allow one to escape Almighty Allah’s judgment. They say, “This is an absolutely baseless and unacceptable belief because not even an atom falls outside the purview of Allah, the Creator of everything.”
Mars One plans on releasing more information in early 2014 on further cuts as they continue their selection process for the final candidates. They say in the next stages, “We expect to begin understanding what is motivating our candidates to take this giant leap for humankind.”
Muhammad makes Allah look so cruel. Allah will burn his creatures in hell, even though Muhammad claims Allah is merciful and kind. People want to escape to Mars, it is like catch me if you can game. Who wants to get eternal torture and burn in hell! But guys, stop believing in religious fairy tales, you will be free from your fear. I bet.
Mars One posted a response to the fatwa asking that it be canceled. They argue, “Any progress requires taking risks, but in this case the reward is ‘the next giant leap for mankind.’ That reward is certainly worth the risks involved in this mission.”
Mars One says that they would like to keep their opportunity open to Muslims. Mars One writes, “They can be the first Muslims to witness the signs of God’s creation in heaven, drawing upon the rich culture of travel and exploration of early Islam.”
It is yet to be seen whether the fatwa committee’s opinions have been swayed by the Mars One response.
Sometimes I feel that Muslims want to be separated from the rest of the world. Muslims verses the world. Sometimes when I read about weird fatwas like this one, I think that some insane Muslims just want to make all the sane people laugh at their insanity.
Let me tell you my family stories. I have five nieces and nephews. I educated three of them in critical thinking when they were about five years old. They are now all adults. Three of them are atheists, and two of them, whom I could not educate in critical thinking when they were children, are religious.
You are old, you are retired, you are lonely, you are depressed, you are derailed, you want to get rid of alcohol addiction, drug addiction, porn addiction, you are bedridden or in jail – people will advise you to do some irrational stuff like reading holy books, praying to god etc. but rational people do not get so easily convinced with irrationality.
Now, non religious Alcoholics Anonymous meetings began. Isn’t it fantastic! Let’s see what happened to Glenn.
Glenn, a painter living in Manhattan, When he first went to an A.A. meeting 27 years ago, he found himself confronted by religious language and ritual that he considered anathema. Desperate to stop drinking, he tried to fit in.
“They had this fake-it-till-you-make-it attitude,” recalled Glenn, “This feeling that the religion will catch up with you. It worked in the sense that I got sober. But I got weary of it. It felt mindless.”
Soon after resuming A.A., though, he heard about a meeting designed for atheists. Though he found that group dogmatic in its own way — more concerned with criticizing religion than with reinforcing sobriety–he subsequently discovered a meeting for humanists and freethinkers.
In its “fellowship of concerned, loving people,” he said, he found a secular version of the “Higher Power” to which A.A. literature refers. Humanist A.A. groups also have drafted their own nontheistic versions of the 12 steps. Instead of needing divine assistance for recovery, for example, one step states that “we needed strengths beyond our awareness and resources to restore us to sanity. By now, Glenn has sponsored seven humanists into A.A. He regularly attends three secular A.A. meetings each week.
People, sane or insane, can become addicted to different things. But secular or non-religious people do not require divine assistance for recovery. Ideas of rationalism and humanism are enough to encourage people in order to get rid of addiction and live life to the fullest, because we only get one life to live and obviously there is no afterlife!
Sudan court convicts Ethiopian woman over ‘gang-rape’.
It is nothing new.
We know it very well that we women get harassed, raped, abused, trafficked, tortured and then
we get punished for being harassed, raped, abused, trafficked, tortured. We get killed for not paying
dowry, for not behaving well or for not cooking well.
I tried to say:
‘Freedom of expression is again under attack in India. Penguin India should not have withdrawn Wendy’s book ‘The Hindus’. The publishers should uphold an author’s freedom of expression. Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti, the organization that claims that the book has many factual errors,could write a book correcting those errors. The book under attack is currently one of the bestselling books on Amazon. It shows that censorship cannot keep freedom of expression suppressed. In fact, it breeds curiosity and so censorship is really
its own worst enemy.
Penguin India is one of the biggest publishing houses in India. It had all the capacity to fight the court cases it faced. But instead, it compromised with those who do not believe in free speech. Penguin India said, “Indian penal code section 295a, makes it difficult for any Indian publisher to uphold international standards of free expression”. It is true, but my question is why don’t you fight for the abolition of the age-old British law, which is used by governments to ban books, harass and imprison authors? Free speech is universal. There is no such thing as national free speech, or international free speech. Like there are no such things as Islamic human rights or Western human rights. Like free speech, human rights are universal.
Writers should have the right to write whatever they like. Everyone should have the right to offend people. Without the right to offend, freedom of expression does not exist. Nobody should have the right to spend his or her entire life without being offended. Don’t we all know that if “Free Speech” means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not like to hear! Without hurting the sentiments of misogynists, obscurantists, ignorant irrationalists — you will not be able to bring change in society. Throughout history always some people’s sentiments were hurt – had to be hurt – especially when society was about to change. In this country when sati was abolished, or girls’ education started, many misogynist sentiments were hurt. But should we care about their so called sentiments or should we help society to evolve, to make the world a better place?
It is dangerous if the government tries to deny people’s freedom of expression in order to protect the sentiments of those who don’t believe in democracy. Many of my books are banned in Bangladesh. My book was banned in West Bengal too. The government of West Bengal not only banned my book, it forced me to leave the state too. The new government banned the release of my book Nirbasan in 2012 and a few months ago forced a TV channel called Akash Ath to stop telecast of a mega serial written by me. The serial was about women’s struggle and how three sisters living in Kolkata fight against patriarchal oppression to live their lives with dignity and honour. She (Mamata Banerjee) banned me in order to appease some misogynist mullahs.
The truth is I am used for the vote bank politics in India. If fundamentalists demand for the banning of books, should governments ban books? Should fundamentalists decide what we should read, write, watch, wear, eat, drink, think? Governments seem to give them the
authority to decide. Fundamentalists do not believe in plurality of thoughts. They do not believe in individual freedom. They believe intheocracy, not in democracy.
Most Indian secularists do not support me. They support writers who are attacked by Hindus, but not the writers who are attacked by Muslims. Salman Rushdie is supported by secularists though, probably because he is not so vocal against Islamic oppression on women the way I am. I am not a man. I am not macho. I am a woman. A single woman at that. And a feminist. We live in a misogynistic, patriarchal societyand people in this society hate feminists.
Freedom of expression is like rape in India. Politicians and intellectuals do not defend everyone’s freedom of expression like they do not condemn every rape. If I could get the same support Wendy got, the TV producer could start broadcasting my mega serial despite government’s threats.’
In Syria, a girl was stoned to death for having a Facebook account.
The girl, Fatoum Al-Jassem, was executed by a mob of Islamic extremists after being sentenced to death by a Sharia court.
The Al-Reqqa religious court, under the jurisdiction of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), ruled that having a Facebook account was “Zina” or immoral behavior, and deserved to be penalized the same way as adultery, Arabic-language media reported.
ISIS is a hardline Islamic group present in Iraq and Syria. The predominantly Sunni jihadist group has been active in the civil war against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria and government forces in Iraq.
Recently the central leadership of al-Qaeda sharply renounced ties with the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. ISIS’s savagery and draconian interpretations of Islamic law has alienated many Syrians and drove a wedge between rebel groups.The group’s ideology is based on an extremely strict interpretation of Islam.
This resistance group is generally described as being made up of Sunni Islamist mujahideen. Its goal is to overthrow the Assad government and to create an Pan-Islamic state under Sharia (the moral code and religious law of Islam) and aims to reinstate the Caliphate.
Sometimes I do not find any word to express my anger.
Al Qaida asked Muslims in bangladesh to start intifada.
The audiovisual message purported to be from al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has urged the Muslims in Bangladesh to wage an intifada (popular uprising) to confront the “crusader onslaught against Islam”.
Posted in Jihadology.net, the message alleged thousands of people were being killed in the streets of Bangladesh for protesting the “collusion of the anti-Islam secular government with a bunch of transgressing secularists”.
“I invite you to lead the masses in a vast and inclusive popular uprising (intifada) whose tide dose not recede, nor its dynamism subsides, until the Shariah of Islam governs the land of Islam, instead of being governed over,” it went on.
Titled “Bangladesh: A Massacre behind a Wall of Silence”, the message was released on January 14, but it surfaced in the media only yesterday.
In it, the voice of an unseen narrator is placed over still images including Zawahiri’s and video clips along with English subtitle. Not a single shot does show the al-Qaeda chief speaking on camera.
Jihadology, which describes itself as a clearinghouse for Jihadi source materials, said this was a new message of Zawahiri and it was presented by As-Saḥab, known as the media house of al-Qaeda.Zawahiri, an Egyptian physician, took the helm of the much-feared global militant organisation after US Navy SEALS killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.
The audiovisual material starts with photographs from the May 5, 2013 Hefajat-e Islam rally in Dhaka and the subsequent crackdown by law enforcers on it.
“A massacre of Muslims is being carried out these days, and the Muslim world is totally oblivious to it. The western media is colluding with the killers to belittle its significance and hide the facts,” the message said.
“Hundreds of callers to the religion and scholars are also facing hardships, manhunts, imprisonment, trials, death sentences and life imprisonments without any guilt,” it said.
“My Muslim brothers in Bangladesh, I invite you to confront this crusader onslaught against Islam, which is being orchestrated by the leading criminals in the subcontinent and the West…
The release went on, “Bangladesh is the victim of the conspiracy in which the agents of India, the corrupt leadership of the Pakistan army, and treacherous power hungry politicians of Bangladesh and Pakistan, who are always prepared to sacrifice everything for the sake of fulfilling their ambitions and desires, were all equal participants.”
Turning to the Liberation War, 1971, the message said, “Their purpose was not independence from Pakistan, stopping the aggression against the people of Bangladesh, or getting rid of military rule in Pakistan.” The real purpose was weakening the Muslim Ummah in the subcontinent, the release claimed.
Bangladesh is being turned into “a subjugated surrogate of India”, it also said.
“Those who massacred the Muslims in Bangladesh only yesterday are the same people who are massacring the Muslims in Pakistan today. Similarly, those who allied with India against Pakistan by claiming that they sought to defend the honour and sanctities of Bengalis are the same people who are attacking the sanctities, beliefs, honour, lives and properties of Bengalis today.”
While accusing the media for downplaying the alleged attacks, he also criticised the West for remaining “unmoved”.
The events in Bangladesh enjoy the blessings of both India and America, “since their interests in fighting Islam overlap, and this is why their bilateral relations are becoming stronger day by day”.
When people of Afghanistan, Mali, and Somalia “decide to implement” Shariah”, “they are then met with a full-fledged military onslaught, in which the leading international criminals and their local surrogates take part”.
“But when Salman Rushdie, Taslima Nasrin and Ali Rajib Haider insult Islam, the Prophet of Islam (pbuh), and the beliefs of Islam, they are treated as heroes who must be defended, honoured, and given awards,” said the al-Qaeda chief.
Comparing the situation in Bangladesh with the attacks on Muslims in Myanmar, he said, “The events in Bangladesh and Burma are not too distant from the oppression and killings of Muslims in Kashmir or the racial cleansing in Assam, Gujarat and Ahmadabad either.”
There are more than enough ignorant Islamists in Bangladesh who will get influenced by Al-Qaeda chief and turn the country into a fucked up Islamic hell. They should be fought now without any compromise. Don’t sit on your fat ass, lazy bum.
Full text of al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri’s audio message:
My dear Muslim brothers! May peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you! A massacre of Muslims is being carried out these days, and the Muslim world is totally oblivious to it. The western media is colluding with the killers to belittle its significance and hide the facts.
This is the bloodbath taking place in Bangladesh, without the Muslims paying the least attention to it.
Bangladesh is the victim of the conspiracy in which the agents of India, the corrupt leadership of the Pakistan army, and treacherous power hungry politicians of Bangladesh and Pakistan, who are always prepared to sacrifice everything for the sake of fulfilling their ambitions and desires, were all equal participants.
However, the real victim was the Muslim Ummah in the subcontinent generally, and in Pakistan and Bangladesh specifically.
The crimes that are being committed in Bangladesh today against the core beliefs of Islam, the Prophet of Islam (pbuh), and the Muslim Ummah are only the fruits of the rotten seeds sown by these criminals.
Their purpose was not independence from Pakistan, stopping the aggression against the people of Bangladesh, or getting rid of military rule in Pakistan. None of these was the real objectives, even if these criminals took cover behind these slogans, parroted these lines, and propagated these out of their malevolence or stupidity, or due to both. None of this was the real purpose.
The real purpose was weakening the Muslim Ummah in the subcontinent. It was to rip the Muslim Ummah apart into pieces, and lead it to death by getting it entangled in mutual strife, regional conflicts and wars.
Above all, their purpose was to attack the real capital of this Ummah, and the secret of its strength: the Islamic faith.
What is taking place today in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Afghanistan is only a prelude to the execution of this evil plan, and the aforementioned criminals are the tools of the enemies of Islam in this vile conspiracy.
Those who massacred the Muslims in Bangladesh only yesterday are the same people who are massacring the Muslims in Pakistan today. Similarly, those who allied with India against Pakistan by claiming that they sought to defend the honour and sanctities of Bengalis are the same people who are attacking the sanctities, beliefs, honour, lives and properties of Bengalis today.
They claimed that they created Pakistan more than 60 years ago to defend Islam and Muslims in the subcontinent. Today we have a Pakistan that has no Shariah, no independence and no honour. Its government, army, intelligence, police and judiciary act as mercenaries hired to defend the interests of the crusader onslaught in South Asia.
Similarly, they claimed that they created Bangladesh more than 40 years ago to protect the independence, glory, honour and freedom of its people. But today we see Bangladesh turning into a huge prison in which the sanctities, honour, dignity and sacred places of Muslims are violated. Their lives are put at stake, and they are tortured in defence of the crusader onslaught, which is fighting Islam politically, militarily and ideologically.
Bangladesh, which they claimed to have won from Pakistan so that it may get its freedom, is being turned into a subjugated surrogate of India. These anti-Islamic policies that assail Islamic beliefs, symbols and the noble Prophet of Islam (pbuh), are only a manifestation of complete subjugation to India.
The events in Bangladesh enjoy the blessings of both India and America, since their interests in fighting Islam overlap, and this is why their bilateral relations are becoming stronger day by day.
This is the bitter truth that we must be aware of, so that we can take the first step on the road to freeing ourselves from this misfortune, humiliation and subservience to foreign powers.