Germany Becoming a Haven For Radical Islam - France 24 video

Germany is becoming a haven for radical Muslim extremists- especially the Salafist-ridden city of Dusseldorf.  Many of them are converts, like Bernard Falk, who went from being a left-wing extremist to a Muslim extremist, after he converted to Islam in jail. One of his buddies is Sven Lau aka Abu Adam, ex-firefighter and former pothead. He too is a convert, and is responsible for the sharia patrols in the small town of Wuppertal. According to a Moroccan Muslim woman interviewed in a France 24 video, there are over 5,000 (and growing) radical Salafist Muslims in Germany, and she believes something must be done now to prevent the problem from becoming worse down the line.

There are estimated to be at least 400 of them fighting in Syria.

Watch the France 24 video here.

Sharia Police Roam Small City In Germany

"Sharia police" in Germany. More radicals roaming the streets of European cities. This time in Wuppertal- a small city in North Rhine-Westphalia.

A group of radical young Islamists has recently caused concern on the streets of a German city. The "Sharia police" have been observed trying to deter young Muslims from doing things like drinking or gambling.

Police in Wuppertal are seeking ways to stop the group of men who have been seen patrolling the area around the western city's main train station on several evenings recently. The bearded fundamentalists have declared the sleazy nightlife area of the city of 340,000 to be a "Sharia Controlled Zone."

The young men, who are followers of Salafism, a puritanical form of Islam, walked around the area in orange traffic safety vests with the words "Sharia police" written in English on the back.

They have also been observed distributing leaflets urging people to refrain from alcohol, drugs, gambling, attending concerts, watching pornography or visiting prostitutes.

The rest here.

But the government is striking back.  Apparently, the 33-year-old who is behind the patrols, though he claims they're not actually patrols, is Muslim convert, ex-firefighter Sven Lau aka Abu Adam.  More on that here.

Wahhabism and Salafism A Satanic Faith, Claims Al-Azhar Scholar

Wahhabism a Satanic faith?

Al-Azhar religious scholar Yusri Rushdi al-Sayyid Jabr al-Husni thinks so. He claims that Wahhabis along with Salafis, Najdis and Horners all have the same ideology, and per prophet Mohammed's prediction it is a Satanic faith.  

Al-Azhar is located in Egypt and is the ancient center of Islamic and Arabic learning.

Watch video here.

Egyptian Cleric Says V'Day Is "Adultery Day"- People Celebrating Will Burn In Hell

All you people who gave your sweethearts or loved ones flowers or chocolates or a Valentine's Day card will burn in hell. Oh, and by the way you're all adulterers, too- I guess even those who gave their parents or their brothers and sisters a card or a gift. At least according to Ahmad Mahmoud Abdullah, an Egyptian Salafi cleric, you are.

In an online video posted Wednesday, Ahmad Mahmoud Abdullah, known as “Abu Islam” and owner of the private television channel of “al-Ummah,”referred to February 14 as ‘adultery day’.

“February 14th, we celebrate “adultery” day. The Christian church will surely celebrate this day but I urge all Muslims and those who fear God, not to use anything tinted in red. Even al-Ahli team [the national football team] will not wear its red jersey."

“We [Muslims] do not have fornicators, we do not commit sins. Valentine’s Day represents for the Christians, a celebration for adultery and prostitution, and those who go out on this day are prostitutes. Each prostitute would choose a guy with whom she will spend her day and night.”

Muslims don't have fornicators or commit sins?  No, they just torture and murder their kids in the UAE and rape them in Saudi Arabia. In Afghanistan they practice pederasty and sit around lusting after young male dancers dressed as women. In Iran they have temporary marriages, which is simply Islam-sanctioned prostitution.  And sexual harassment and violence against women in Egypt is far more prevalent than in any Western country I've ever visited. No that pious lot don't commit sins at all.

Abu Islam went on to say:

“They spend their life in celebration and “promiscuity”. What does love mean for them? Adultery, prostitution and obscenity.

Yes, he's a Salafi, the worst of the lot, but they are gaining more traction and popularity.

You can see the video on Al Arabiya.

Egyptian Salafis Threat To Al-Azhar University- Says Shariah Professor

Founded in the 10th century, Egypt's Al-Azhar is the seat of Arabic literature and Islamic learning in the Arab world, so I found the following rather interesting.

A professor of Islamic Shariah at al-Azhar University warned on Sunday that Salafi Islamists were seeking to undermine the role of the acclaimed institution and accused them of seeking to spread their “radical and extremist ideas.”

Ahmed Karima’s statement came after Salafi Leader Yassir al-Burhami said his group succeeded in including in the constitution that will pave the way for removing Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayyeb.

“I told you that Salafis are seeking to erase the role of Azhar not in Egypt only but in the Islamic world as an introduction to spreading their ideas which carry radicalism, extremism, intellectual and armed violence.,” Azhar professor Ahmed Karima told Al Arabiya.

In the fourth article of the draft constitution, he said, Azhar's role was reduced in favor of the Salafis. “And of course, unfortunately, this was done to appease the civilian powers which thought that Azhar would be like priesthood above the authority,” he added.

“They did not know that Azhar is the guarantee of coexistence, acceptance and the spread of Values of tolerance.”

Salafi leader Burhami had said his group was able to put an age limit for the position of Azhar grand imam and that is 65 years. This, he said, provides legal group for deposing of the current Grand Imam Tayyeb.

Tayyeb was appointed by ousted president Hosni Mubarak in 2010. He was a member of the Mubarak’s National Democratic Party (NDP)’s political committee and he was known for his firm stances against the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Salafis are even too extreme for some Muslims.

Nudity in Films Okay- Says Egyptian Salafi Sheik El Qusy.

So, I'm watching this video thinking, wow, that's pretty amazing, a progressive Salafi (an oxymoron, if there ever was one)- there is hope yet, if the most conservative of Muslims are this tolerant. Egyptian Salafi Sheik Osama El Qusy is even more accepting than I am about nudity in films, which (for the most part) I find gratuitous and excessive. Until his final comments referencing Salafis in general: "But I am different from there". Ah. Well there you have it, he admits he does not represent mainstream Salafism and says he was like them 20 years ago. Which means we have another 20 years before Salafis become remotely able to deal with modern society.

Tunisians Take To The Streets To Protest Conservative Islam

Here's some promising news out of Tunisia. Some people there are not too happy about the turn of events since the Islamists took control of the government in October. It seems the uber-conservative Salafists are, like in Egypt, trying to see how far they can push the envelope, so to speak, and the moderate Islamist Ennahda party is not doing much to stop it.

So, the people are back on the streets, but this time it's not to demonstrate against former dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, it's to protest the Islamists. 

An AFP correspondent estimated several thousand activists, professors, artists and other demonstrators flooded the streets of the nation’s capital, including along Bourguiba Avenue, a well-known thoroughfare that became a center for dissent during protests that led to the ouster of dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali a year ago.

Some in Tunisia are angry by the growing influence of radical Islamists, known as Salafists, who have dominated headlines in recent weeks.

Police on Tuesday ended a weeks-long sit-in by Salafists at the university in Manouba, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from Tunis. The Salafists were angry the university had banned the full-face Muslim veil, or niqab, over security concerns if students were concealed from head to toe.

Journalists have also suffered attacks at Salafist protests.

“We are here to speak out against aggression against journalists, activists and academics,” said Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, founder of the Democratic Progressive Party. “And to tell the government that Tunisians’ hard-fought freedoms must not be compromised.”

Sarah Kalthoum, a retired teacher in her 70s, said she was concerned by what she viewed as regressive ideas from Salafists.

“We spent our lives educating people, and now some want us to go back in time 14 centuries,” she said.

These people might have lived under autocratic rule for several decades, but at least the country was secular. The possibility, nay,  probability of their country turning religiously conservative- if they don't fight it now- is not appealing in the least. One woman  said of the growing problem,

“The grocer told me the other day, ‘I don’t like your jeans,’“ said Leila Katech, a retired anesthesiologist. “I told him I didn’t like his beard.”

Through this religious prism, “Everything becomes tougher: Going to see a gynaecologist, what to wear, how to talk,” Katech said.

According to Chebbi,  Ennahda just doesn't want to rock the boat when it comes to their more extremist brothers; they're "complacent", as he put it.  Which, of course, is the quickest way to lose control.  The Tunisian people are very smart to tackle the problem now, before it's too late. You cut that tumor out before it metastasizes.

Since Tunisia was the catalyst for the Arab Spring, perhaps those other countries who kicked out or killed their own dictators who are having their own Islamist troubles will do the same thing.

Salafi Leader Bassem al-Zarqa Wants The Word "Civil" Clarified, Says All Egyptians Salafis

Salafis, those uber-conservative, ultra religious Saudi Arabian brand of Muslims that are poised to take control of the Egyptian government alongside their Muslim Brotherhood brothers refuse to get down with the word "civil", at least until they fully understand what it means.  So what exactly is their problem?  What I gather is that in post-revolution, post-Mubarak Egypt the liberals are battling the soon-to-be majority Islamists over a secular "civil" state versus a religious Sharia dominant Egypt. 

The Egyptian Salafi al-Nour Party, via  Bassem al-Zarqa (one of its members), recently told Al Arabiya News, that

“Salafis reject the use of the word ‘civil’ in a way that does not clarify what it entails and they are now trying to reach an understanding on its meaning with other political powers in Egypt."

“Salafism means following the teachings of the Prophet and his companions. It is based on those teachings that both religion and state were founded, so we can say that all Egyptians are Salafis.”

Wrong. Not all Egyptians are Salafis- there are a heck of a lot of Coptic Christians and secular-minded Muslims living in Egypt who would beg to differ, including Hani Nessira, an Egyptian writer. Nessira explains why Salafis have such a major problem with words like "civil" and "democracy":

“From the Salafi point of view, democracy and civil state mean giving people power over God’s laws and this for them is unacceptable. The creation of a civil state is part of Egypt’s history and it can be traced back to even before the 19th century.”

So, of course they would reject those words, because there is no room for democracy in an Islamist,  Shariah compliant country.  Unfortunately,  a non democratic, non "civil" Egypt would be most detrimental to the Copts who even under a predominately secular, civil state have been terribly persecuted over the decades.  Emad Gad, a Copt and member of  one of the more liberal political parties believes that the Salafis' have a problem with the word "civil"  because of their attitude towards non-Muslims living in Egypt.

“Salafis do not recognize the presence of Egyptian Christians and consider a Pakistani Muslim closer to them than an Egyptian Christian. Therefore, they undermine the principle of citizenship,” he said.

Well, if they believe that all Egyptians are Salafis (as al-Zarqa cleary stated), that doesn't leave room for
anyone else, does it.

According to Gad,  there have been

.... several fatwas issued by Salafi clerics and which label Christians apostates and prohibit dealing with them.


“The Salafi discourse is confused and has very dangerous implications which become clear in their statements about democracy as a form of apostasy.”

Gad wants the Salafis to be more upfront about their position on things like, free speech, freedom of religion, rotation of power- you know, all those democratic principles that the liberal activists fought so hard to achieve during their revolution in Tahrir Square.

“They also need to state whether they are willing to accept whatever the majority of Egyptian political powers agrees on or not,” he concluded.

I think it's a little too late, since the Islamists have pretty much won a majority in the elections there. And, somehow, I don't think the Salafis are ever going to come to terms with the word "civil".