Not in my name
A candlelight vigil was held this evening in front of the British Embassy to Bahrain to show solidarity with the British people, and to express our complete rejection of the terror attacks in London that took place on Thursday. It was attended by over a hundred people and was organized by a wide range of civil societies: Islamists, Leftists and human rights groups.
——
Update (11-Jul-05): I’ve just learned from a tip by a commenter on Natasha’s site that a similar vigil was held outside the British Embassy in Jordan. The link to the article is here. This is good news. (You can view a bunch of photos from the Jordan vigil at Yahoo News. Have a look before the links expire.)
——
There are lots more photos below
The British ambassador, Robin Lamb, came out to speak with some of the leaders (Shaikh Ali Salman, Murtadha Bader, Ibrahim Sharif). Everyone was quite impressed with the ambassador’s excellent Arabic skills.
I’m not sure, but I’m guessing the gentleman below is a pastor from one of the local churches.
Sorry for the crappy quality of the photos.
(Technorati tag: London Bombings)
July 10th, 2005 at 11:33 pm
Thank-you for publishing these.
July 10th, 2005 at 11:48 pm
Pictures from London
First of all, you should go read this: ‘She never once cried’ It’s the story of the two in what’s probably the best-known photograph from the London bombings: A project manager for the AOL telecom network, Paul Dadge was two…
July 10th, 2005 at 11:50 pm
great pictures
worth a thousand words
July 11th, 2005 at 12:07 am
Very Moving. Thank you for your support and sympathy.
July 11th, 2005 at 12:36 am
thanks for updating us with all that’s happening in wonderland.
where the pic of that moron? what did he do? did u see any of his crocodile tears?
July 11th, 2005 at 1:39 am
That’s very nice.
July 11th, 2005 at 4:08 am
Great pics.
Robin Lamb actually grew up in Bahrain and did something like Arabic Studies at uni.
The pastor guy is The Very Rev’d Alan Hayday, the Dean of St. Christopher’s Cathedral and I think, the highest authority of the Roman Catholic Church in Bahrain.
July 11th, 2005 at 9:31 am
[...] ainst terrorism,” and “Our sympathy with victims of the London blasts.” Here’s a link to a very encouraging series of photos.
[...]
July 11th, 2005 at 4:25 pm
A man hold up a picture saying ” There are not muslims” the ironic thing about all of this is that YES they are. They couldn’t be more muslim, they are prepared to die for this. So please save us this political correct rethoric, you dont fool all of us all the time.
July 11th, 2005 at 5:39 pm
Alex
I advise you to step back and back off with your comments. The point being is NOW for one of the first times people are finding their OWN damn voices this is very very encouraging. So why don’t you try seeing the glass as half FULL instead of HALF empty?
I see no DEATH to the GREAT SATAN signs or others blaming the “jooos” so I don’t see how you can draw policical rehtoric charges from this. Ever dawn on you that me as a Christain might think Pedohile Priests aren’t Christians? News flash asshat they AREN’T in my eyes and they aren’t in any rational persons either. Your inability to rationaly see that side of the coin makes you at best ignorant and at worst an extremist. So please do us all a favor. Open your eyes and mind or kindly find the nearest rock or hole and go back into hiding.
Good post Chan’ad!
July 11th, 2005 at 5:41 pm
Someone send these photos to Steve the American.
July 11th, 2005 at 7:23 pm
Those are great pictures. I wish the relatives of the dead and missing could see them and draw some comfort from them.
July 11th, 2005 at 9:53 pm
Scorpio,
It doesnt matter. Steve and Ethan would come back with the same excuses and rhetoric that Alex above has. There is nothing anyone could do to convince them that most Muslims, religious and non religious, do not support these acts. They are filled with as much hate as anyone out there.
July 11th, 2005 at 9:59 pm
Yeah Malik and your better on the flipside? Please spare this blog the dribble you spill elsewhere. Where did you get that convict mentality you have?
July 12th, 2005 at 12:24 am
[...]
Muçulmanos contra o terrorismo
Muçulmanos no Bahrain protestam contra o terrorismo da Al-Qaeda. Nem tudo está p [...]
July 12th, 2005 at 12:47 am
[...] frica Bahrain Global Roundups The blog Chan’ad Bahraini has coverage of a well-attended candlelight vigil held outside the British Embassy in Bahrain, with extensive pictures. Pa [...]
July 12th, 2005 at 1:12 am
Thank you , Malik, for bringing me up on a website that I ever so rarely frequent. Nothing against Chan’ad, mind you, I’s just not on my daily read list.
Now, my opinion:
This sort of demonstration is wonderful. Today, one group stood up against the infectious Death Cult that has gripped the world.
I can only hope that such cries will get louder. Without equivocation.
July 12th, 2005 at 1:16 am
It’s good to see this coming from the heart of the Middle East. Bahrain is indeed a progressive country and has much to be proud of.
That said, just 100 Muslims out of 1,000,000,000 (9 zeros) worldwide, and 4 years after 9/11…there is just no easy way to put a good face on that fact. These people are way out on the long tail of a bell-curve. That’s not hate or ignorance, that’s just a fact.
July 12th, 2005 at 1:25 am
It’s a start.
While I would have liked to see this after 9-11, and we need to see more of this, it *IS* a start.
Until this type of attack is decried each and every time, and until the Muslim community in each country helps in the apprehesion (preferably before any further attacks) of terrorists who cloak themselves in the mantle of the Koran, each and every peace loving Muslim will be suspect. But this is an encouraging sign. I can only hope that it spreads before the next attack, as I fear the backlash against those who are decent should this happen again.
July 12th, 2005 at 1:30 am
Thank you so much for participating in this event and publishing these photos!
It makes a world of difference seeing that folks from your country feel as we do and are willing to publicly demonstrate it.
It gives us all hope for a peaceful future.
July 12th, 2005 at 1:38 am
[...] ly people who would eventually defeat terrorism would be the Muslim community itself. This anti-terrorism protest in Bahrain is good evidence that this is finally happening. It will probably be condemned [...]
July 12th, 2005 at 1:39 am
Thanks for your comments Zach and Bert. I agree with you completely that the scale of this vigil is tiny compared to what it needs to be. But it’s got to start somewhere. I hope that this is just the start of a much bigger movement.
July 12th, 2005 at 1:44 am
Dear Chan’ad,
I would like to thank you for the excellent job you have done, both with the pictures and the message.
I is a welcome sign that you and I have known. The people that this also kill Muslims. They are not Muslims. They are cowards, or else they would put on a uniform and fight an Army!
Off Topic: Am I to understand Ali is free???!!! Please let me know. This would be such wonderful news! Praises be to God. Thank you.
July 12th, 2005 at 1:57 am
Calling someone a Muslim and a coward is redundant, isn’t it?
July 12th, 2005 at 2:13 am
Unfortunately, if this is just a start, it is going to take alot more of these attacks to get the rest of the billion or so muslims on our side.
July 12th, 2005 at 2:19 am
[...] stand up and denounce terrorism as these courageous people are. God bless them. From Chan’ad Bahraini:
Trackback Link: http://www.killrighty.net/200 [...]
July 12th, 2005 at 2:22 am
Thanks for publishing these.
I’d love more of the same.
L
July 12th, 2005 at 2:24 am
It’s nice to see these pictures, but unfortunately it doesn’t mean anything until a significant amount of the religious leadership starts condemning the terrorists.
July 12th, 2005 at 2:30 am
Chan’ad:
You are welcome. I think that it needs to be said that those of us with a non hating mind understand that these are not people who represent all muslim people. Having said that, I do think that it is time for the muslim community to make their dislike of these actions known in a more visible way.
Each and every time a radical extremist does a bombing, or a behaeading, and cries “God is great”, it damages the reputation of the decent muslim man or woman who is not so different than the reat of us, merely worhips the same God in a different manner. Unfortuately, whether it is not being shown here in the US, or whether it is not happening, we do not see the muslim community doing much to discourage the terrorists. To my knowlege, no one has been turned in by a fellow muslim for planning a terroist attack, or been thrown out of a mosque for preaching hate against the “infidel”.
I have a few muslim friends, and they cannot explain it.
THe sad part is, they are not so different than me.
I don’t think the media really understands the damage they do to the muslims each and every time they show a “celebraton” after such an attack, or show a radical cleric proclaiming hate for the “Great Satan” or encouraging more such behavior.
It is a shame, really.
But those of you who read this, 2 things:
1.Not all Christians or American people hate or fear Muslims. In fact, most of us don’t.
2. This sort of protest needs to grow, and expand, or that might change should these cowardly attacks continue in the “Name of Allah”.
July 12th, 2005 at 2:34 am
exhelodrvr: Let me tell you that one of the two main sponsors of this vigil was the Al Wefaq society, the largest Islamist society in the country. You can see the leader of society, Shaikh Ali Salman, in a couple of the photos wearing a big white turban speaking with the ambassador. Shaikh Salman is one of the most popular and influential clerics in Bahrain.
Asides from him pretty much all of the clerics in Bahrain condemned the bombings during the Friday sermons this week.
Yes, more needs to be done… but this vigil was very significant because it represented the very mainstream of Bahrain… not some group way out on the fringes.
July 12th, 2005 at 2:48 am
With my daughter-in-law being Islam – - – I needed this. THANK YOU – it’s time!
July 12th, 2005 at 2:51 am
Chanad – Thank you.
Alex – The man with the sign is right. Terrorists are not people of faith.
exhelodrvr – On the contrary, irrespective of what religious leadership says, nothing will happen until enough people say enough. Little works from top down. It either doesn’t function, or it builds from the bottom up.
See TCS: Tech Central Station – Terrorism Lessons From 1870
July 12th, 2005 at 2:56 am
This is so wonderful to see!!!! Just in time as I was I thinking I was destined to be let down by the Muslim world. Good job to these people — now we just need a few several million more to stand up and say “ENOUGH”!!
July 12th, 2005 at 3:04 am
Out of 1 billion muslims, and four years after 9-11, we have a few hundred gathered in Bahrain to condemn islamic terrorism.
I wish I could be as enthusiastic as some of the other posters here, but the evidence indicates that muslims who oppose terrorism are the “small minority.”
July 12th, 2005 at 3:21 am
Thanks for your support.
No true believer in our God (he is the same for both Muslim, Christian & Jew) would commit such barbaric acts.
Those who do will find no comfort when they go to their maker.
I have no hatred of the followers of Islam, only of those who kill, maim & destroy for their own twisted beliefs.
July 12th, 2005 at 3:36 am
Observer summarized my thoughts nicely. The images shown are a welcome change, but images of of Palestinians dancing in the streets after hearing about September 11, 2001 are hard to forget.
Hopefully, the images on this site will be heralded as some of the first examples of how Islam brought itself back from a very dark time. The Inquisition is not a sense of pride for Christians and the memory of exile in the wilderness is not an image of comfort for the Jews. Many in the world will wait to see if killers of innocents or righteous people define the word Muslim for the modern world.
July 12th, 2005 at 3:44 am
Thank you, Chan’ad.
And the information about Shaikh Ali Salman is most helpful.
When the clerics get serious about criticizing and purging those amongst them who encourage and support terrorist acts, then we can all be better off.
This goes for muslim clerics in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Iran especially.
July 12th, 2005 at 4:19 am
In Case You Missed It
This is the first (and quite possibly only) time I'll have linked to something titled "Not In My Name." In case you missed the Instapundit link, all I'll say is that this was a really good thing to see.
Share it with your friends.
July 12th, 2005 at 4:28 am
Dear Chan’ad,
I am having trouble backtracking to your site. Is there any help you can offer? When I press “backtrack,” nothing happens except it takes me to the top of the page. lol. Appreciate any help. Thank you.
PS. Sorry about the misspellings and words omitted in my first comment.
July 12th, 2005 at 4:43 am
I wonder if this kind of event makes the news on Al Jazeerah TV, and what its effect on the Muslim world might be. I am sure there are millions of thinking Muslims who feel the same way; also millions who can neither think nor feel as humans because they are completely under the sway of the rhetoric of hate.
The brain trust of Al Quaeda who thought they could scare the British out of the fight against terror with some bombs may soon wish they had first consulted a history book. May the tragedy in London serve to deepen all nations’ resolve and to hasten the inevitable day when these animals are hunted down and brought to justice, and terrorism joins Nazism, Communism and others on history’s ash heap of failed ideas.
July 12th, 2005 at 5:15 am
I’ve just read the posts, and it’s interesting that Zach’s post, and my post, are nearly indentical:
Zack’s post:
http://chanad.weblogs.us/?p=396#comment-1501
My post:
http://chanad.weblogs.us/?p=396#comment-1518
If any “moderate” muslims exist in any quantity, take note of the growing sentiment fueled by your inaction.
It is not acceptable to sit by in silence. There’s a saying for a woman who quietly stays with an abusive husband who beats her: “Silence Equals Consent.”
And it’s true.
July 12th, 2005 at 6:00 am
[...] is. It seems that demonstrations of support for London occurred at the British Embassy to Bahrain and Jordan. If this kind of thing happened after 9/11 then I just missed it. Thank you to the people of [...]
July 12th, 2005 at 7:46 am
Thank you. God bless you.
July 12th, 2005 at 8:04 am
Funny how so many Muslims come out against terrorism just as your jihadist brothers have screwed up irredeemably; this smacks of either cowardice or cynicism. A few years ago would have been a great time to speak out, but it was easier to support the terrorists then when it was only the odd Americans or Jews getting killed in Somalia, Iraq, Lebanon, or Israel, eh?
I don’t buy it for a second. Yes, they were Muslims that did this, and they are Muslims who continue to plot such heinous crimes, and they will continue to be Muslims that murder innocent people to satisfy their savage bloodlust kindled by this sick death cult. You will all pay for these sins, because you could have stopped them long ago, but chose not to.
The civilized people of the world are slow to anger and slow to action, but the barbaric acts of savages can only be tolerated for so long. You have wakened sleeping giants, and their wrath shall consume you. Prepare to reap the whirlwind.
July 12th, 2005 at 11:53 am
Thanks Channad. I didn’t reaalise that these protests were happening and I found your pictures very heartening (Especially the people and kids in British shirts.) I believe all people are basically good but in times like this it’s nice to have your beliefs confirmed.
Cheers mate
July 12th, 2005 at 12:07 pm
This is a good protest!
Now this is a good protest!
There are a whole ton of pics over there. Check it out!
July 12th, 2005 at 12:08 pm
And if we’re asking Muslims to denounce the comments of repellent extremists let’s also denounce Festus’s repellent comment
>
as another example of unwanted bigoted ignorance.
July 12th, 2005 at 2:29 pm
Ethan writes “This sort of demonstration is wonderful. Today, one group stood up against the infectious Death Cult that has gripped the world. ”
Interesting when one of the groups standing up against the “Death Cult” is the largest Islamic society in Bahrain! Ethan you hatred gets you at every stop. I dont understand how someone can live with so much ahtred inside of them Ethan! I do not dislike you or hate you, I actually feel sorry for you and pity you. Life must be miserable with such hatred burning inside of you.
July 12th, 2005 at 2:58 pm
[...] inst the Middle East that when terrorist acts occur, they aren’t decried. Turns out not to be the case. (H/T: zb.) No Comments » No comments yet [...]
July 12th, 2005 at 4:02 pm
Malik
You’re the one who is a skinhead. Take about who hates who.
July 12th, 2005 at 4:24 pm
This is a good start to what will hopefully be a widespread denouncement of terrorism within the Islamic community, especially in Arab nations. Bahrain may well be a leader in defeating the extremism that has gripped so much of the middle east.
Lionheart wrote “You will all pay for these sins, because you could have stopped them long ago, but chose not to.” 4 years ago many people living in the middle east were living in what Sharansky describes as a “culture of fear”, and they almost certainly did not realize that they had the option of speaking out, or that it would make a difference if they did. While American music and t-shirts may be commonplace in the furthest corners of the globe, American concepts of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are almost inconceivable in many places. Events of the last four years, like real elections in Afghanistan and Iraq and the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon, have shown that ordinary people can take action and make a difference. The “culture of freedom” has not yet supplanted the “culture of fear”, but we have made great progress, and this demonstration is just one more example.
The progress that has been made empowers people of the middle east to reject terrorism and establish governments that represent them, and thus it bolsters our security. Lionheart’s threats toward people whose only crime is not knowing how to confront tyranny and terror undermine that progress.
July 12th, 2005 at 4:49 pm
[...] 49 am. Filed under News, Commentary, People
It’s nice to see Muslims saying ‘NO!’ to the terrorist blasts in London. Thanks to MT Politics for the link. [...]
July 12th, 2005 at 5:47 pm
Not in Bahrain
Wow…
July 12th, 2005 at 6:56 pm
LOL! I sure have a full head of hair for a skin head! LOL! Keep them coming.
July 12th, 2005 at 7:32 pm
Thank goodness they’re not head-tilting!
July 12th, 2005 at 7:34 pm
Bob the Builder? Give me a break.
July 12th, 2005 at 8:39 pm
“# Abu Sinan Says:
July 12th, 2005 at 2:29 pm
Ethan writes “This sort of demonstration is wonderful. Today, one group stood up against the infectious Death Cult that has gripped the world. â€
Interesting when one of the groups standing up against the “Death Cult†is the largest Islamic society in Bahrain! Ethan you hatred gets you at every stop. I dont understand how someone can live with so much ahtred inside of them Ethan! I do not dislike you or hate you, I actually feel sorry for you and pity you. Life must be miserable with such hatred burning inside of you.”
Now there’s the pot calling the kettle black. So how many times have you watched your downloaded videos of people getting their heads cut off Abu? This sort of hypocrisy is the very reason that very few people will believe any sort of rhetoric about peaceful muslims. You have all demonstrated for many years now that you support terrorism either actively or passively, and the few, very few, who seek peace are afraid to speak out. It’s 99% of muslims that give the other 1% a bad name. If you want to be accepted by the civilized world, drag the preachers of hate out into the streets and give them their own brand of justice, but until then, don’t expect us to trust you any further than we can keep you in our gunsights. Whatever happens to you is of your own making; you reap as you sow, as it were.
July 12th, 2005 at 11:50 pm
Seeing this makes me very happy. But I’d like very much to see the following statement, not only on signs, but voiced by Imams in the Friday sermon:
“It is the religious duty of all Moslems to assist the British authorities in apprehending and prosecuting the people who were involved in these bombings.”
When I see statements like that, I’ll know that they are serious in stopping this kind of thing.
July 13th, 2005 at 2:04 am
Some Call It A Bonfire/Carnival Of Classiness…
We call it “Classiness, All Around Us.” Click to explore more WILLisms.com. In no particular order, WILLisms.com presents classiness from the blogosphere (now with 50% more classy!): 1. Nancy Pelosi and Eminent Domain- Vodka Pundit (via Daly Thoughts…
July 13th, 2005 at 2:29 am
I really wish you people would stop saying that we are all worshipping the same God. You are displaying a high level of ignorance. Do we all believe we’re worshipping the one, true God? – Yes. Are we? – No. The Christian faith says the Jesus is the only way to be saved. John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.†That doesn’t leave much room for these Muslims to make it.
On the same point, they don’t believe we’re going to make it either. Their Koran calls for them to slay disbelievers. 2:190-191 “Allah loveth not aggressors. And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter. And fight not with them at the Inviolable Place of Worship until they first attack you there, but if they attack you (there) then slay them. Such is the reward of disbelievers.†If that’s not religion endorsing violence then I don’t know what is.
As far as Jews are concerned, they are much closer related to the Christian faith than Muslims. They just missed the whole Jesus thing. They’re still waiting on Him to come for the first time, while Christians are waiting on him to come for the second time. Still, the Christian faith doesn’t give them any hope of making it to Heaven.
So yeah, we all think we’re right. We all think the others are wrong. If any of one of these religions is correct, then others must be false. There is one, true God. These religions are on the opposite ends of the spectrum. They are not talking about the same God. Either one of their gods is false, or both them are. Please don’t sanitize the situation with the politically correct answer that everyone is free to worship how they want to worship. Someone or everyone is wrong here. Either way, a whole lot of people are in trouble. Any true Christian would want to convert the Muslims, not tolerate them. The same goes for the Jews. These religions call for us to Love our neighbor as ourselves. If we are to love everyone, how can we sit idle and watch them go to Hell? That’s the difference. Christians and Jews want to convert nonbelievers, Muslims want to slay them.
July 13th, 2005 at 2:48 am
Interesting !… After these kind of attacks we don’t really see the Muslim people in this kind of light. Most of us see Muslims as robed and hiden lurking in the shadows! I know I think of this group of individuals as Followers of the warrior Mohammad!…It is nice to see that these are families who love eachother! It is too bad a crazy group of fanatical hate mongers are able to call themselves Muslims! … I know very little about the Muslim religion!…But…I like to think I know a bit about people!… Fanatical religious people can believe they are following any religion and still make the rest of them look bad!…I hope this will help all of us to be more tolerant when we see Muslim’s!!! Thank You for showing these beautiful people in these pictures!
July 13th, 2005 at 3:05 am
Dear Weaver,
I understand and appreciate your point of view. But I think that those of us who believe that we all worship the same God are moved by something deeper than scripture, texts and laws. In the words of Ibn Arabi, a great Islamic scholar of the 13th century:
———
O Marvel! a garden amidst the flames.
My heart has become capable of every form:
it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks,
and a temple for idols and the pilgrim’s Kaa’ba,
and the tables of the Torah and the book of the Quran.
I follow the religion of Love: whatever way Love’s camels take,
that is my religion and my faith.
——–
Some people might think this view is too idealistic… yet some of us still adhere to it.
Best regards to you and all the commenters.
July 13th, 2005 at 4:56 am
Ibn Arabi was a sufi, and as such is not even considered a muslim by today’s standards. Were he alive today he would be beheaded or stoned for apostasy or heresy. I have no problem with sufis, because they don’t kill people, but sunnis and shia do, and have done so for a long time. Like RonF said, when I see preachers calling for a jihad against terrorism then I’ll begin to believe, but only a little, because muslims have proven time and again to be treacherous friends.
July 13th, 2005 at 12:48 pm
Impressive and welcome. I am just looking forward to seeing thousands of Muslims protesting in the streets of London against the bombers.
July 13th, 2005 at 2:55 pm
I love the Ibn Arabi poem Chan’ad, thanks!
July 13th, 2005 at 2:56 pm
http://www.ibnarabisociety.org/index.html
July 13th, 2005 at 5:32 pm
Chanad: “I think that those of us who believe that we all worship the same God are moved by something deeper than scripture, texts and laws.”
Amen!!!!!
July 13th, 2005 at 8:15 pm
Chanad,
I’m fine with you thinking that everyone is worshipping the same God. Just make sure you don’t call yourself a Christian, Jew, or Muslim. Their teachings are very specific on this issue. Outside looking in, one could say that everyone is worshipping the same God, but it doesn’t look that way from the inside. If your point of view is correct, then great! Everyone will be fine. We’ll all end up in Heaven some day. If any of these religions are correct though, alot of people are going to Hell.
Now to your reference to Ibn Arabi. Like Lionheart said, he wasn’t a Muslim. He wasn’t really anything. Well I guess we could say he was indecisive, mystic poet. I find it interesting that you chose to quote what is probably his most famous poem. It sums him up quite well. He’s saying he’s open to pretty much anything. I think that’s a good starting point, but not a great destination. Every man should start his spiritual journey where Ibn Arabi’s poem describes; open to everything, looking for the truth. No one should let it be their destination. Ibn Arabi was an appeaser, a compromiser. He wanted to be all things to all people. That IS too idealistic. It’s nice and fuzzy-warm to think that we’re all on our own path to God, but it’s not a practical point of view. We can’t all be right at the same time. The level of variance is too great. It’s easy to sit back and say, “What the heck, I’ll just believe every religion;” but when religious points of view are this opposite, you’ve got to choose one of them or none of them. All of them isn’t a real option. The only type of person who could make such a stand would have to be fairly ignorant of what these religions teach, or so indecisive that they just give up. I don’t beleive you are of the latter. You say you are moved by something deeper than scripture, texts and laws. Well I guess so, you don’t seem to have a real grip on what these religious scriptures, texts and laws are teaching.
Now lets agree on something. You’re right, a relationship with God is more than scripture and texts. It has to have a spiritual connection. It has to be deeper, personal. Something you feel, not just something you read, memorize and recite. Any of these religious text alone won’t do anyone any good. They have to be coupled with a personal relationship with God. It’s not an accurate assessment to say that all of these text are talking about the same god though. The are total opposites of opinion. They make Republicans and Democrats looks like best friends. To say that they are both right is a copout in my opinion. You’re right about it needing to be deeper though, I just think these text are a tool to get us there. Which one is correct? That’s where the free choice comes in. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Atheist, Pluralist; we all just need to let each other choose for ourselves. If we call ourselves any of these things, we must try to reach the others and convert them. We must reach out to them and try to make them believe what we believe. These religions all call for that type of witnessing. If we call ourselves Muslims however, it seems that violence is an option to accomplish this. That’s where the argument is. That’s why the Muslim faith is under attack right now, because they won’t seperate from that point of view.
July 13th, 2005 at 8:38 pm
The muslim faith isn’t under attack, civilization is under attack from the muslim faith, and ahs been for over a thousand years. The brief flowering of a civilized islamic culture is long dead, replaced by savage barbarism.
July 13th, 2005 at 9:18 pm
Well said Lionheart. Most non-Muslims are starting to think that this is some kinds of murderous cult parading around as a viable religion. They might not have ever agreed with it, but they tolerated it. Now it’s knocking on our doors all over the world. It’s not just a middle-east problem anymore. We turned a blind eye to it before now. That’s why it seems they are under attack. The rest of the world is just starting to confront them on the issue. They aren’t really under attack, the rest of us are just starting to playing harder defense.
I personally believe their religion as a whole is a sham, but I also believe they should have the right to worship whatever god they want. Right or wrong, we can’t force anyone to agree or disagree with us. When one person’s religious beliefs include killing other people, we’ve got to draw the line. It’s been going on for over a thousand years and the rest of the world has turned a blind eye. Now we’re going to have to stand up to them. If they want their religion to survive, they’re going to have to return to what you describe as a “civilized islamic culture.” If they can’t do that, then they’re going to face increasing opposition from everyone else in the world.
July 13th, 2005 at 11:05 pm
“No to Violence” / “Not in My Name”
Now here’s something I’d like to see mor
July 13th, 2005 at 11:09 pm
No matter what our religion is… We are all members of the HUMAN RACE… because of that “Terrorists” are nothing more, nothing less than murdering criminals swarming and roaming freely through society!… Thank goodness all Muslims are not suicidal bombing, murdering maniacs obsessed with hate! ( one bad apple does not spoil the whole bunch ) BUT… left to rot in the bunch can cause a great deal of decay! I see hope and love in this particular group! … I just hope this group will spread their goodness and kindness on thr others!
July 13th, 2005 at 11:23 pm
Zsa Zsa,
Great point. The longer Muslims take to get rid of this type of thought, the more decay they’ll see in their religion, society, and world support. The people photographed above seem to be well-natured people who are sick of their religion being hijaked by terrorist. “Not in My Name” says alot. They are trying to distance themselves. Let’s hope it’s not too little too late.
July 13th, 2005 at 11:27 pm
Oh and one more thing before I forget. This vigil was not the first of its kind… If you visit this post of mine from last year you will see a photo of a vigil to mark the 9/11 anniversary in the Pakistani city of Multan.
July 14th, 2005 at 11:06 am
There’s been a wave of sympathy from all over the world for the victims of the London bombing, including the vigil in Bahrain. If anyone in the UK wants to communicate sympathy for the families of the children killed and injured in the atrocious bombing in East Baghdad yesterday who have suffered equally alongside the families in London and all other innocent victims of political violence the e-mail address of the Iraqi Embassy in London is lonemb@iraqmofa.net
July 14th, 2005 at 12:30 pm
Not in their name
In the current environment, I found it inspiring to see some Muslims at least genuinely and enthusiastically denouncing the evil supposedly committed in their name…
It’s by no means a Reformation of the religion, as I argued for here, (and Irsha…
July 14th, 2005 at 6:29 pm
Marching against terror
Big thanks to Blackfive for posting this widely unreported march against terrorism in Iraq…
July 16th, 2005 at 8:38 pm
Thanks for that. As a Londoner I was especially moved by guy with the sign “They are not Muslims”. I hope future terrorist wanabees realize that that is what Muslims are going to be saying about them.
Thank you.
Daivid
July 17th, 2005 at 3:02 am
I commend these people for doing this. I really do. Im proud of them. I hope that the unfortunate minority of those who assume that these terrorists represent Islam listen up to this sort of thing and see the right way.
Thanks for posting this Chanad!
Thanks,
Sarah
July 17th, 2005 at 4:52 pm
The Great British people will see through this politically correct tosh and rise to the challenge that faces them. Ie. Muslims using the cloak of racism as preached by blacks in America to shield themselves from criticism.
They will also hopefully realise the waves of traitors and anti-British roaming in Britain, first amongst them the British Brainwashing Corporation that is the BBC, and it’s consipirators the guardian and independent newspaper preaching their liberal leftist mindnumbing sewer.
July 18th, 2005 at 3:23 pm
Chan’ad, Bahrain
…
July 19th, 2005 at 4:08 pm
I just learned that Instpundit is considered the Guru of Blogland World!…I was at one of the carnivals that WILLisms. sent me to and someone dieing for an “Instalaunch”!!! I wasn’t sure what an Instalaunch was or why someone was dieing for one?… Thanks for having me Guru Instapundit ! I love the photos…
July 20th, 2005 at 12:26 am
[...] .” Criticism of the “Muslim” response keeps coming though, both across commenters, many of them from Americans and/or non-Muslims, and also from bloggers such as Iraqi Exp [...]
July 20th, 2005 at 5:38 pm
Before the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, did ‘the Catholic community’ apologise every time Catholic terrorists killed innocent people? Did ‘the Protestant community’ apologise every time Protestant terrorists killed innocent people? I’m a (Scottish) Catholic, but I don’t feel responsible for the deaths of people killed by the IRA just because the IRA are [nominally, but not in their actions] mostly Catholic, in the same way ordinary Muslims have nothing to apologise for just because Al Quaeda are [nominally, but not in their actions] mainly Muslim.
July 20th, 2005 at 9:22 pm
Some good points. The IRA also did some “Suicide proxy bombings” as well, and that was not layed at the feet of any religion.
I agree with Robert Pape when he said that most suicide bombers were fighting for clear political goals, usually as a part of a wider military struggle. Religion plays a role, but not the defining one.
July 21st, 2005 at 9:35 am
I think you have to look at the other side of the coin as well when you talk about these pictures. You also have to look at why these people did this (london bombings), you can’t just say ‘oh, they’re so cruel and cold-hearted. when people in palestine see infants being killed every day of their lives I guess it would make anybody cold-hearted.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:57 am
The best part about these pictures was seeing muslim women in comfirtable dresses with out their veil. Looks to me a very moderate muslim community. Nice to see that things are changing slowly.
Even in other religions like Christianity, Hinduism,Budhism merely 100 years ago women used to cover up from toe to the head. But these religions are quite flexible and that allowed their women to adopt modern clothes like jeans and skirts. if Islam had this flexibility to change with time I think we would not have seen these bombings in London.
But hey…..I am seeing that in these pictures! Good job and more job lies ahead!
July 26th, 2005 at 6:01 am
Last sentence in my last comment should read “lays ahead” instead of “lies ahead”….typo is regreted
August 13th, 2005 at 5:12 pm
Let me ask you Lionheart, why d’u call yourself the Lionheart? A bit of a crusader blood boiling in your veins is it? The arrogance with which you label part of the world civilized, and another part not, reveals how conceited you are. Civilization is for pacifists, not for hypocrites like you who say that all Muslims “will have to pay” for their sins. If you’re preaching messages against hatred, why don’t you start with yourself: stop hating.
October 29th, 2005 at 12:32 am
Combating Terrorism Nonviolently
The world has seen great changes since 9-11, great enough to get into the entire human history’s hall of fame. Just comparing the world we know today with what we knew five years ago will shock any concerned mind, especially if you are in a developing country. Changes are there in all aspects, not only in politics. We now divert our attention to terrorism, as it has arisen in the past few years. Various countries have taken steps to increase security after attacks on the World Trade Center and the United States’ Pentagon ignoring the fact that increases in security lead to decreases in fundamental rights of humanity.
Socio-Political changes are sweeping the globe and affecting economic systems at grass root levels. Every nation is in conflict with other and in a broader sense world peace is at stake. Many organizations including governments, law enforcement agencies, counterterrorism wings and task forces have established set of rules and methods to counter terrorism in an affective and legitimate way but none of them have been able to produce satisfactory results.
Terrorism is growing like child grows in mother’s womb and new forms of terror have always been introduced by terrorists. As it is difficult to define terrorism it becomes impossible to outline one set of rules or methods to counter terrorism. Terrorism is a parasitic phenomenon also when network roots are found in organized crime. Abrupt Geopolitical changes, Bad Governance and Power-Vacuum create a fertile ground for corruption and organized crime. Terrorism sponsored by organized crime becomes difficult to counter and easy to illustrate.
Naturally speaking the probability of one man’s actions is unlimited but the probability of motives behind these actions is comparably limited in this systematic world of occurrences. Nature created us, and we are forced to exist with the qualities that were imposed upon us. It is as if we were only semi-intelligent beings: intelligent only to the degree that we are aware of the fact that our actions are determined by the characteristics and the qualities that are inherent in us, and that we cannot go against them. If we are at the mercy of nature, then there is no predicting where this wild, unreasonable nature can lead us, constantly causing conflict between individuals and entire nations, who, like wild animals, are engaged in a vicious struggle of the instincts. Yet, subconsciously, we cannot reconcile the idea of ourselves on the one hand, and primitive beasts on the other.
With all understanding terrorists are humans driven by influential motives affecting their cognition and forming set of user defined rules and methods to make unlawful change in political, social, ethnic and religious levels. If humans are not part of any terrorist activity then concept of aliens and animals as terrorists would have been evolved.
An embarked strategy of reporting of unexpected behavior, patterns, or events that might signal an intensified or immediate terrorist threat has been implemented leaving a big question mark behind that what exactly should be recognized as important, reportable indicators and events that security and law-enforcement professionals need to know about. One can consider this as solution to combat terrorism in developed countries where infrastructure is strong enough to facilitate civilians or authorized personals to initiate instant alerts or messages. Some see democratization as a potentially successful counterterrorism strategy and by others as taking a backseat to the U.S.’s war on terrorism. The theory behind democratization as a counterterrorism strategy is that democratic institutions and procedures provide peaceful avenues for individuals to criticize government actions and, therefore, prevent the need to resort to violence. On the other hand, the severe repression indicative of non-democratic governments pushes moderate opposition and criticism underground and encourages the type of political extremism that leads to terrorism.
After 2001 measures has been taken to counter terrorism globally under the title “War against Terror”. No doubt it’s a great initiative but still is not promising a coherent and unified system to counter terrorism by non violent means. Killing a terrorist doesn’t help solving the equation of terrorism rather it invites uninvited humans as terrorists. At present scenario best breed method is working at morality level and creating an international networked community rejecting terrorism and organized crime.
We need to encourage the use of non-violent means in order to express ourselves, whether here in our society or anywhere around the world. We need to go back to doing the right thing. For us as a society and as a world community not to stand up and do justice and bring those who have committed these atrocities and crimes against humanity, we will be failing the most fundamental rules of humankind, which is to allow the collective interest of the people to prevail and to allow the interest of the people to be protected, both as individuals and as a group.
We need a “A Unified System to Combat Terrorism by non-violent means” basing on a new model of knowledge unification. The unification of knowledge has great implications in philosophy, and even psychology. “Textbooks” may not talk much about it, if they might do. Even in physics, which is a branch of knowledge with extreme importance, theoretical physicists seek a unified theory of universe, which they believe will be the ultimate theory explaining everything. Specifically in context of terrorism research concludes that, “When Unification Engine reduces and represents complex entity as simple entity in multidimensional knowledge forest, it formulates and factors out a common representation that maps directly abstract representation to its relationships. Entity represents type of organization, and motives behind actions represent the path to the entities (cross-links).”
January 11th, 2006 at 10:20 pm
hey my # is 1-517-765-2740 call me if you have a problem with those pictures because i thought it was quite touching. got too go im at school
February 7th, 2006 at 4:47 pm
those pictures might be touching,,but it is a little too late.. where were these people after 9/11…& where were they after people were being kidnapped and beheaded on the internet… I hope they are waking up and seeing that there religion needs a change…they need a change..I hope the younger generation is positively influenced by the west..but so far it doesnt seem that way…
March 8th, 2006 at 9:48 pm
‘Positively influenced by the West’?
Let me remind you that the September 11th 2001 attacks, dreadful as they were, killed around 3,000 people. George Bush’s illegal invasion of Iraq (no buts, read art. 2 of the UN Charter) killed 100,000 people (according to The Lancet, you know, the world’s best-known medical journal). So what ‘positive influence’ are you referring to?
January 21st, 2012 at 9:51 am
[...] was delighted to see this vigil taking place in Bahrain where Muslim youth took to the streets condemning the terrorist attacks [...]