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Southeast Asia
Muslims Told To Raise Image Of Islam
2005-07-13
SHAH ALAM [Malaysia], July 12 (Bernama) -- Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo Tuesday night called on Muslims to raise the image of Islam which he said had been further tarnished after last Thursday's terrorist bombings in London. He said Muslims were no longer a respected community like during the days of the Prophet but were now labeled as terrorists and feared by all levels of society, especially in the Western countries.

"In the present day, we are feared, and regarded as immoral and prepared to do anything," he said at the opening of the state-level Quran Reading Competition here.

Mohd Khir said Islam had never taught its followers to become terrorists or to kill but the incident which led to the deaths of 52 people and injury of hundreds of others in London had made Muslims the target. He advised Muslims in the country to unite and help one another despite differences in their political affiliations.
Posted by:Pappy

#29  But the muslims who distinguish themselves are disparaged by muslims.

The current Indian President is a muslim. Several Indian muslims have criticised him for "non islamic" interests (poetry and ancient Indian scripture).
Some have openly said he was not a real muslim.
They take no pride in his achievements (designing the first Indian satellite launch vehicles).

Professor Abdus Salaam is the only muslim nobel physics laureate. Born in undivided India, he chose to live in Pakistan and serve as science advisor. He was sidelined because of his sect.
He was Ahmamadi and they are considered non muslim in Pakistan law. Today no textbook in Pakistan even mentions his name.

The richest man in India, Azim Premji, is a muslim. His company Wipro is a leader in the Outsourcing industry.He isn't good enough either.

One has to be a rabid salafist muslim to be "real".
Unfortunately thos are the sort who achieve nothing.
Posted by: john   2005-07-13 21:12  

#28  "Fly me to the moon God"?
Posted by: Frank G   2005-07-13 20:34  

#27  or out the window, or down the drain
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever)   2005-07-13 20:33  

#26  Honestly, its got no place to go but up!
Posted by: Secret Master   2005-07-13 19:52  

#25  
He should have added "loathed", "despised", and "distrusted".

Not added, but replaced the word "feared" with those three, just for the sake of accuracy.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2005-07-13 19:13  

#24  James:

Yes, I saw that article. But note the following:

1. This was not a "grass roots" muslim event, but one convened by the UN and other world entities. I think there's a big difference between agreeing with motherhood and apple pie (i.e., "terrorism is bad," in this case) and truly being outraged to the point where the muslims themselves scream "ENOUGH! STOP!" And I don't see that happening anywhere.

2. In Fuengirola, cleric Mohammed Kamal Mustafa said Friday that the terrorists who committed the attacks in Madrid last March "are not Muslims and have nothing to do with Islam, but only exploit the religion's name to inflict harm on innocent people." is simply another rationalization and marginalization of what the facts -- that the attacks ARE islamic, and that they'd better clean up their cesspool from within. By insisting it is not islam, they divorce themselves of responsibility. Is is all that islam is? Nope. There are all sorts of christians, all sorts of jews...and all sorts of muslims. and these jihadists are a "sort" of muslim"

3. yes, there was an isolated fatwa against bin laden. from spain. again, motherhood and apple pie -- they HAD to do it. Not out of outrage, but because of public scrutiny.

4. I honestly believe a significant part of the muslim world truly feels pride in these attacks. and these aren't the islamicists -- they're the moderate muslims we're counting on for changing things.
Posted by: PlanetDan   2005-07-13 14:37  

#23  ...called on Muslims to raise the image of Islam

Let's give them a baseline. Sea level sound all right?
Posted by: tu3031   2005-07-13 13:50  

#22  Heh, prolly is, lol! They prolly even have a rat-pack of young royals and the wilder "notables", heh.
Posted by: .com   2005-07-13 13:37  

#21  BTW, the guy who calls prayers in Mekkah at the Grand Mosque is like the Frank Sinatra of SaoodiLand.

In deep with the local mob?
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2005-07-13 13:33  

#20  Heh, on Saudi TV they used to have demonstration readings by youngsters who were being polished for becoming imams or whatever. Kids from about 6 or 7 up to about 14 or 15 were featured everyday. Every fucking day. Lol. This was in '92 when satellite dishes were illegal, so only the mucho-wasta guys had 'em. The Bahrain channel was stealing the CNN Int'l signal - until they began scrambling it. And the highlight of the week was the UAE station which ran those Indian Love-Sing-Fight super-falsetto movies which showed little crinkly naughty bits of skin, like ankles and elbows. Some said they were about class struggles. We didn't care WTF they were about, lol! It was the only hoot available, other than the weekend camel races. BTW, the guy who calls prayers in Mekkah at the Grand Mosque is like the Frank Sinatra of SaoodiLand.
Posted by: .com   2005-07-13 13:09  

#19  Quran Reading Competition

Oooh, that looks like fun.
Posted by: Dreadnought   2005-07-13 12:58  

#18  The International Islamic Conference was held in Jordan in July of 2005. King Abdullah’s stated goals were to clarify the image of Islam and spread the religion's true principles. What was described as “historic and unprecedented” was the Ummah's decision forbidding the declaration of any Muslim as an apostate. Perhaps this helps explain why the condemnations of last weeks London terrorist attacks from Muslim leaders had such a hollow ring. Every statement disavowed the “terrorist attacks” as contrary to Islamic teachings. Yet none seemed willing (and perhaps now able) to denounce the actual perpetrators of the heinous crime. To admit and further condemn Muslims for these barbaric transgressions effectively stifles their apologist’s efforts to shift responsibility. Until Muslim leaders stop trying to reshape the context of events and hold their followers accountable, their “negative image” will persist.
Posted by: DepotGuy   2005-07-13 12:46  

#17  The only "respect" their "prophet" got was fear of slavery and death.

Problem is that we will not submit. And if they keep trying, the West will have to kill them all in order to survive.

So, as a first step, Moslems should reject as repugnant all violent conquest made in the name of Islam over the last 14 centuries. Then they should openly renounce sharia, taqiya, and jihad. After that, we may talk.
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever)   2005-07-13 11:52  

#16  PlanetDan: Refer to this Rantburg article. Its a start, anyway . . . I hope.
Posted by: James   2005-07-13 11:05  

#15  Mohd Khir said Islam had never taught its followers to become terrorists or to kill but the incident which led to the deaths of 52 people and injury of hundreds of others in London had made Muslims the target.

What is it with Muslims? He starts off good, gets us hopeful that perhaps a moment of introspection has been actualized ... but then he finishes crying like a little baby...dey are meeeen to me, wah, wah. They gave me nasty faces, wah, wah. Sure, the representatives of our religion are responsible for brutal terrorism world-wide, but I'm so scared they might give me a nasty face because of it.

get a clue, because if you don't the clue bat awaits.
Posted by: 2b   2005-07-13 10:12  

#14  Transfer the big black stone on top of the Everest?
Posted by: SwissTex   2005-07-13 10:01  

#13  He said Muslims were no longer a respected community like during the days of the Prophet but were now labeled as terrorists and feared by all levels of society, especially in the Western countries

Yea...
Like the Islamic conquest of northern Africa? The Islamic forces defeated the local warlord's troops then entered the villages. They lined the people up and killed the mayor in front of them. Then, they installed a new Islamic leader and went down the line of people asking them a simple question. "Will you convert to Islam?" Those that said no, were pulled out of the line and beheaded in front of everyone.
Yea, they were well respected....
Posted by: mmurray821   2005-07-13 09:56  

#12  I don't know that the image ever looked too good to anyone but the brainwashed.
Posted by: Tkat   2005-07-13 08:57  

#11  He said Muslims were no longer a respected community like during the days of the Prophet but were now labeled as terrorists and feared by all levels of society, especially in the Western countries.

Somehow, methinks those people "conquered" by the Prophet back then didn't "respect" their "community" either. These guys are only following the example of their blood-cult leader.
Posted by: BA   2005-07-13 08:38  

#10  "In the present day, we are feared, and regarded as immoral and prepared to do anything," he said at the opening of the state-level Quran Reading Competition here.

Odd, isn't it, how often the problem and the cause are that close to each other, yet no one seems able to see them?
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2005-07-13 07:33  

#9  Rex:

Not just 9/11. Where were they after Madrid? Or in response to the Darfur massacres and rapes? Or in response to the muslim on muslim attacks in Iraq? Or in response to the drumbeat of wahabbi-based vitriol that spews out of the imams in western mosques? Or of the murder of innocent people, in the name of islam, in Israel. Instead of decrying how dastardly the acts are, these "moderate" muslims both praise the murderers and contribute money to the cause.

Unfortunately I didn't have to rack my brains to find these examples These are simply but a few of a litany of tragedies, where the "moderate" muslims had their chance to say "stop!" to their co-religionists. Yet their response has been to deflect, minimize and rationalize terror and murder. Terror and murder done in the name of their religion. No other religion in the world condones such things. None.

And I suspect these "moderate" muslims even secretly feel pride about the world impact they see in their name.

Raise their image? Hardly.

Just think of a religion. And putting stereotypes aside, ask yourself what good things are they known for.

Christians? For me, charity work worldwide stands out.

Hindus? Reflection. Striving for perfection, perhaps? Of course, there are world class Indian doctors and engineers.

Jews? Doctors. Lawyers. Scientists. Teachers.

Muslims? um.......

Still waiting for the fatwa that declares bin laden a murderer. I'll not hold my breath.
Posted by: PlanetDan   2005-07-13 06:44  

#8  "In the present day, we are feared, and regarded as immoral and prepared to do anything," he said...

He should have added "loathed", "despised", and "distrusted".

And the word "immoral" misses the mark: "anti-moral" would be more to the point.
Posted by: Dave D.   2005-07-13 06:42  

#7  Raise the image of Islam for all to see.
Posted by: gromgoru   2005-07-13 04:37  

#6  How do you raise the Image of Islam, if the Koran contains language to kill all Infidels.
I wonder why they think we look at them as terrorists.....a track record comes to mind.
Yes there are probably decent muslims out there, but.....
Posted by: Jan   2005-07-13 04:15  

#5  Where was this guy on 9/11? Nope, not good enough. He didn't come out and put himself behind his words. Typical of his ilk, he wants someone else to do his bidding, because just mebbee he doesn't really believe in it.
Posted by: Rex Mundi   2005-07-13 02:07  

#4  I will raise the image of Muslimutts, by impaling them on my sturdy sword and swinging their lifeless bodies for all to see. I love the smell of dead Muslims in the morning.
Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler   2005-07-13 01:43  

#3  Duhhh, oops - we thought you wanted us to raze the image of Islam, uh-hyuk.
Posted by: BH   2005-07-13 00:53  

#2  He advised Muslims in the country to unite and help one another

I would feel better if I knew this statemant was just bad language skills of the reporter of this article. But... this sentence seems to have that habital "but" from most of our "moderate" Muslim friends. "Help one another"??? My gut tells me, he doesn't mean this in the way we hear Bush say, "treat your neighbor as you want to be treated."
Posted by: Sherry   2005-07-13 00:43  

#1  Article: Muslims Told To Raise Image Of Islam

It would be better if they were told to stop supporting terrorists instead of worrying about their image.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2005-07-13 00:42  

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