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Friday, December 4, 2009

[mukto-mona] Press Inivitation for people's assembly 6.12.09 at Rabindra Sarobar [1 Attachment]

[Attachment(s) from CDP included below]



============================================================================
Coastal Development Partnership (CDP)
Program & Management Office: 55/2 Islampur Road, Khulna-9100, Bangladesh
Research, Coordination & Networking Office: H # 12/A, Rd # 02, Shyamoli, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh
Phone: +088 041 810573 (Khulna), +088 01916033444 (Dhaka)
Contact E-mail: tutucdp@yahoo.com OR cdp@cdpbd.org
Website: www.cdpbd.org

--- On Fri, 12/4/09, CDP <tutucdp@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: CDP <tutucdp@yahoo.com>
Subject: Press Inivitation-6.12.09
To: bapa2000@gmail.com
Cc: "Mohd.Abdul Matin" <memory14@agni.com>, "mihir biswas" <mihirburiganga@yahoo.com>
Date: Friday, December 4, 2009, 10:35 PM

fye

============================================================================
Coastal Development Partnership (CDP)
Program & Management Office: 55/2 Islampur Road, Khulna-9100, Bangladesh
Research, Coordination & Networking Office: H # 12/A, Rd # 02, Shyamoli, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh
Phone: +088 041 810573 (Khulna), +088 01916033444 (Dhaka)
Contact E-mail: tutucdp@yahoo.com OR cdp@cdpbd.org
Website: www.cdpbd.org



Attachment(s) from CDP

1 of 1 File(s)


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[mukto-mona] New, Interesting Blog on Jihad





Dear Friend,

The Islamic doctrine of jihad has for long been a source of much debate and controversy. An enormous number of books have been written on the subject, by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Jihad remains at the heart of contemporary discussions about Islam and its place in the modern world and about Islamic teachings with regard to people of other faiths.

 

Some months ago, I chanced upon an Urdu book titled al-Jihad written by a Lucknow-based Islamic scholar, Maulana Yahya Nomani. In his early 40s, Maulana Yahya is the grandson of the well-known Sunni Muslim scholar, the late Maulana Manzoor Nomani. His father, Maulana Muhammad Zakariya, taught Hadith (traditions attributed to or about the Prophet Muhammad) at Lucknow's renowned Nadwat ul-Ulema madrasa. Having completed the fazil or advanced-level course from the Nadwat ul-Ulema in 1993, Maulana Yahya did a Bachelor's course in Islamic History at Medina University, after which he joined the monthly al-Furqan, an Urdu religious magazine based in Lucknow founded by his grand-father.  Besides working as the Associate Editor of this magazine, he holds regular Quranic classes in mosques and Islamic camps for youth. Recently, he set up the Al-Mahad al-Ali lil Dirasat al-Islamiya ('Institute for Higher Islamic Studies') in Lucknow, which provides a two-year course to madrasa graduates to, as he puts it, 'make them aware of modern issues, concerns and challenges'.

 

So fascinating did I find Maulana Yahya's book that, once I began reading it, I could not put it down till I had finished it. Although I had read several books, in English and Urdu, before on the issue of jihad, this book struck me as quite distinct. Written by a young scholar trained in a traditional Indian madrasa, it seemed to appeal to Muslims as well as non-Muslims alike. It was equally critical of portrayals of jihad by Islamophobic scholars as being allegedly akin to terrorism as it was of radical self-styled Islamists, who believe it to be a license for indiscriminate slaughter of non-Muslims as well as Muslims who do not subscribe to their vision of Islam. While I did not agree with everything that the author had to say, I felt that, on the whole, the book made a valuable contribution to longstanding, and still on-going, debates about the doctrine of jihad. I believed that the book definitely deserved a much larger audience, and that is why I decided to translate it into English after seeking permission from the author.

 

Some of the salient issues that this book raises are the concept and purposes of jihad, the limits and rules governing jihad, the conditions under which armed jihad may be resorted to, various non-violent forms of jihad, the treatment of non-Muslim combatants and non-combatants or civilians during armed jihad, the need for the contextual revision of certain rules related to jihad that are contained in the medieval corpus of fiqh or Muslim jurisprudence, the impermissibility of proxy war and communal conflict in the name of jihad, the duties and responsibilities of Muslim citizens or residents of non-Muslim states, and Islamic teachings about relations between Muslims and followers of other faiths.

 

My translation of the book is available on www.jihadforourtimes.blogspot.com

 

                                                                             Yoginder Sikand





--
Allah, Farid, juhdi hamesha
Au Shaikh Farid, juhdi Allah Allah.
Acquiring Allah's grace is the aim of my jihad, 0 Farid!
Come Shaikh Farid! Allah, Allah's grace alone is ever the aim of my jihad
(Baba Guru Nanak Sahib to Baba Shaikh Farid Sahib)

Check out my blogs: www.madrasareforms.blogspot.com
www.islampeaceandjustice.blogspot.com



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"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




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[mukto-mona] Fwd: Mohammad Faisal Demolished Radha Krishna Murthi in presence of Hindu devotees at Savar-Dhaka: [1 Attachment]

[Attachment(s) from Sitangshu Guha included below]



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rabindra Ghosh <ghosh.minoritywatch.rabindra@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Dec 4, 2009 at 10:42 PM
Subject: Mohammad Faisal Demolished Radha Krishna Murthi in presence of Hindu devotees at Savar-Dhaka:



Dear Sir/Madam,
 
 
 

Mohammad Faisal demolished Radha Krishna Murthi (Hindu Deity) at Savar –Dhaka in front of hundreds of Hindu devotees on December 2, 2009. One arrested.

 

From our correspondent from Savar:

 

There was continuous 12 hours religious songs ( Hare Krishna ) in the name of Sadhu Baba at Panchabati Ashram. Hundreds of Hindu devotees from different parts of the country attended the function on 2nd of December, 09 at Savar-Dhaka, Bangladesh.

 

All on a sudden Mohammad Faisal son of Mohammad Tazul Islam – a Muslim student of Class X residing at Shahibag Area of Savar town forcefully entered into the temple, violently kicked out Radha Krishna in front of several devotees. He also started cutting deities by a chopper.

 

The local ward commissioner Md.Manik Mollah informed that during continuation of pilgrimage Mohammad Faisal reached nearer to Radha Krishna and kicked out the deity, demolished and desecrated Murthi and he continuously started cutting the deity into pieces. The devotees became astonished and detained him instantly.

 

After this incident hundreds of devotees became agitated. Tension was prevailing amongst the Hindu devotees at Panchabati Ashram.

 

Police and local Awami League leaders intervened and the situation came under control. Police arrested the perpetrator and started case against him.

 

GHRD Dhaka instantly communicated with the local Officer-in-Charge of Savar police station, Dhaka over phone and came to know that a case has been started against him and the situation is now under control. I also enquired about why this boy demolished this Hindu deity, in reply the Officer in charge informed me that due to religious fanaticism Md. Faisal committed this offence as was committed by one journalist throwing shoes to President J. Bush during his tenure.  

 

Source: The daily "Jugantor" dated the 3rd of December, 2009. ( Copy attached)

 

Through:

 

Adv.Rabindra Ghosh

Founder President of Bangladesh Minority Watch (BDMW)

12, K.M. Das Lane, Bholagiri Trust, Sutrapur PS, Dhaka,, Bangladesh

www.bdmw.org

 



Attachment(s) from Sitangshu Guha

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               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




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[mukto-mona] Fwd: Fw: Re: Re: Asiapeace (ACHA) Swiss minaret ban



 
 
From: mehulkamdar@yahoo.com
To: Kirfani@aol.com
Sent: 12/4/2009 8:49:47 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Re: Fwd: Fw: Re: Re: Asiapeace (ACHA) Swiss minaret ban
 
Dear Dr Irfani,

Mr Akhtar may not be aware of some of the most prominent cases of the kind that I have mentioned - the Indian and international media went to town with the Ameena case in particular, but little happened afterwards. Details can be found here in a book on violence against women which deals with the Ameena episode in Chapter 3: http://books.google.com/books?id=cm4PBNdaFjYC&pg=PA45&lpg=PA45&dq=ameena+case&source=bl&ots=4HWuSqzI_v&sig=A32HFgdCSuDD-hzKs_JB1R5YDHA&hl=en&ei=Bq8ZS9rsMIPGMNLr2e8C&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CCgQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=ameena%20case&f=false

A decade after that incident, another prominent case took place with a girl called Haseena and that case is spoken about in this article: http://www.hvk.org/articles/0504/129.html

Yes, the girls' parents are responsible for this treatment, no doubt, but I do think that this is a major societal evil overall that does not do the Saudis any favors. Thailand used to be a poor country that many Western pedophiles went to in order to practice their perversions. About fifteen years ago, first Canada started prosecuting its own citiens for doing this and after that, most Western nations followed the Canadian example. I am unaware of a single Saudi who has been punished for what is definitely a crime by his government.That Mr Akhtar's Hyderabadi friends have not been involved in this obnoxious practice simply suggests that they are decent people and these are everywhere. On the other hand, a society like the Saudi society that sanctions this kind of legal misbehavior against girls by its men can certainly be seen as one that is not just flawed but is also reprehensible because it allows this kind of evil to exist.

Best wishes,

Mehul Kamdar
 
The Ark was built by amateurs. Experts built the Titanic.



From: "Kirfani@aol.com" <Kirfani@aol.com>
To: Kirfani@aol.com
Sent: Fri, 4 December, 2009 15:56:23
Subject: Fwd: Fw: Re: Re: Asiapeace (ACHA) Swiss minaret ban

 
 
From: akhtar46_1999@yahoo.com
To: Kirfani@aol.com
Sent: 12/4/2009 4:37:20 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Re: Fwd: Fw: Re: Re: Asiapeace (ACHA) Swiss minaret ban
 
All that you have said may be true. If Saudis are doing that in Hyderabad then who is to blame. What about the girl's family. I have a lot of Hyderabadi friends and they are very happy here. They have been here for years and years and are very happy but no one told me about this problem. It has not happened to any of their daughters.
Saudis are not angels but if they are so ba why millions are selling all their assets to come here from India a nd bangldesh and Pakistan. I am here 29 years and alhamdolillah I am exrtremely happy. Any how today Islamically this is the place in the world.

--- On Fri, 12/4/09, Kirfani@aol.com <Kirfani@aol.com> wrote:

From: Kirfani@aol.com <Kirfani@aol.com>
Subject: Fwd: Fw: Re: Re: Asiapeace (ACHA) Swiss minaret ban
To: Kirfani@aol.com
Date: Friday, December 4, 2009, 4:51 PM

 
 
From: mehulkamdar@yahoo.com
To: Kirfani@aol.com
Sent: 12/3/2009 10:46:52 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Re: Fwd: Fw: Re: Re: Asiapeace (ACHA) Swiss minaret ban
 
Dear Dr Irfani,

While I do not know the entire debate that has taken place here, I often find it interesting that Muslims from South Asia who, put together, perhaps outnumber all of the Muslims in the rest of the world, always find something to admire in the brutal and repressive regime that rules over Saudi Arabia. Leave aside the severe discrimination that the Saudis practice against other faiths (unless, of course, those practising other faiths happen to be Americans, Britons, French or similar - the Saudis even used French commandos to take back the holiest mosque at Mecca from insurgents barely thirty five or so years ago) Muslims from the South Asian region have never been treated well in that country. In Hyderabad in India, the practice of old Saudi men coming in and marrying young and poor Indian girls for a couple of weeks before they divorced them and left giving the families money, has been a major problem for decades inspite of some prominent cases where the Indian government arrested the Saudi men and their Indian marriage-brokers in the past. I am sure that similar practices exist among the poor in Bangladesh as well. Countries in the West, often derided as immoral by the Saudis and their admirers in other parts of the world, prosecute pedophiles from their own countries who go out and misbehave with children elsewhere. I am not aware of a single Saudi Arabian attempt at trying to curb the kind of behavior that takes place in places like Hyderabad and to a lesser extent in cities like Mumbai in India.

Some time ago, on a Bangladeshi discussion group, I challenged a senior Bangladeshi bureaucrat who is a known extreme supporter of Saudi Arabia with some facts pertaining to his own association with that country. Some years ago, this gentleman scuttled a proposal by Bangladesh to build a second refinery and petrochemical complex at Chalna with financing from a US and Indian consotrium including India's Tata group because he managed to persuade the Bangladeshi government that he would be able to get the Saudis to invest the money "interest free" instead. Leave aside the fact that there was no "interest" involved in what was an industrial project and not a loan being given to the Bangladeshi government, the sad fact is that when this gentleman went to Saudi Arabia, he was not even allowed to meet anyone of significance in that country and he had to return to his country empty handed. The Saudis know - as does the rest of the world - that Bangladesh has huge natural gas reserves. They have not bothered to invest a cent in helping an overwhelmingly Muslim nation one bit in developing these, confining their "investments" if one may call them that to funding extreme groups that mimic their own narrow-minded thinking instead. I doubt that the situation is any different in other parts of the world where Saudi money finds its way.

I might be criticized as a non-Muslim and a non-believer for this opinion by some, but, frankly, I do think that there is a case to be made that a great religion like Islam has been hijacked by extremists like the Saudis leaving the overwhelming majority of Muslims with a bad reputation among other communities by unfair association.

Best wishes,

Mehul Kamdar



From: "Kirfani@aol.com" <Kirfani@aol.com>
To: omarali502000@yahoo.com; akhtar46_1999@yahoo.com
Sent: Thu, 3 December, 2009 18:47:01
Subject: Fwd: Fw: Re: Re: Asiapeace (ACHA) Swiss minaret ban

 
Mr Akhtar Husain, when you say  "criticism of Saudi Arabia is unfair", then,
What says you  Mr Akhtar Husain, in defense of your "KSA" your holy citadel of "good things!" and pure Islam?
 
Let's count the ways!
 
 
 
From: omarali502000@yahoo.com
To: asiapeace@yahoogroups.com
Sent: 12/3/2009 1:59:53 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Fw: Re: Re: Asiapeace (ACHA) Swiss minaret ban
 



--- On Wed, 12/2/09, Shahid Husain <Husainfive@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Shahid Husain <Husainfive@yahoo.com>
Subject: RE: Fw: Re: Re: Asiapeace (ACHA) Swiss minaret ban
To: omarali502000@yahoo.com
Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2009, 6:11 PM

I lived in Saudi Arabia for 18 years and I know of 2 instances where Christians were 'caught' holding a service in their house and the 3 families were deported within 24 hours and the second case where a house was raided and they had a 'chapel' in one of the bedrooms and the family was imprisoned and then deported. They had worked in KSA for 24 years and they were not given their termination bonus because they were deported.

I am no scholar of Islam but I cannot believe that this treatment is sanctioned in Islam.

Yes ritualistic Islam is everywhere in KSA but not Islam the deen the way of life. I am sure some of you have worked there and know how the Saudis treat their servants and labourers.

Shahid

From: akhtar husain <akhtar46_1999@ yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Asiapeace (ACHA) Swiss minaret ban
To: "omar ali" <omarali502000@ yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 2:09 AM

 

*KSA= Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

<<...The criticism of Saudi Arabia is unfair. According to hadeeth of our beloved PROPHET. NO OTHER RELIGION SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO BE PRACTISED IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA. There is no such thing as wahabbism. IN KSA* there is great emphasis on avoiding shirk and bidaat which is widespread all over the Islamic countries. KSA has its own faults but we must appreciate their good things as well...>>

-akhtar husain

 


From: omarali502000@yahoo.com
To: asiapeace@yahoogroups.com
Sent: 12/2/2009 3:42:19 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Fw: Re: Re: Asiapeace (ACHA) Swiss minaret ban

 




--- On Wed, 12/2/09, Ghulam F Dogar <gdogar@yahoo.com> wrote:


From: Ghulam F Dogar <gdogar@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Re: Asiapeace (ACHA) Swiss minaret ban
To: "omar ali" <omarali502000@yahoo.com>
Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2009, 2:15 PM

Further to it Omare
Imam Bukhari, says, there were more than 100, 000 hadiths in circulation and he only selected ten thousands........ (whatever criterion he used) so by his own standards if a pool has more than 90 percent unreliable traditions ..... it is hardly a reliable pool anyway.

Secondly it is about "HAJJAZ" not Arab Peninsula  in which  non Muslims are not allowed .......
If all countries implement Akhtar Hussain's formula and Canada declares itself Christian country ...... I suppose we should pack our bags and head somewhere else!!!!!
gd

 


From: omar ali <omarali502000@yahoo.com>
To: asiapeace <asiapeace@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: akhtar46_1999@yahoo.com
Sent: Wed, December 2, 2009 2:18:53 PM
Subject: Fw: Re: Asiapeace (ACHA) Swiss minaret ban


Devender,

There are thousands of hadiths and I am sure Mr. Hussain can find one that says something vaguely in line with his claim. In fact, i remember reading a hadith that "two religions cannot exist in Arabia". Who knows what context and in what manner this statement was made. As you know, hadiths were collected 200 years after the fact using the system of "my grandfather used to say that his uncle reported that X heard the holy prophet say Y". This is obviously a recipe for finding thousands of statements, mostly without context and almost all without independent corroboration. Make of it what you will...
How this is interpreted obviously varies. Hardline wahabis DO interpret it as an order to keep the peninsula clear of all other religions. But equally obviously, there are many religions in the peninsula right now, so the "rule" is not being followed....

Omar

--- On Wed, 12/2/09, davender bhardwaj <davenderbhardwaj@yahoo.com> wrote:


From: davender bhardwaj <davenderbhardwaj@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Fw: Re: Asiapeace (ACHA) Swiss minaret ban
To: "omar ali" <omarali502000@yahoo.com>
Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2009, 11:40 AM

 

Omar,

 

I would like to ask Mr. Akhtar Hussain if he can quote a reference for  the Hadees about allowing no other religion to be practiced in Arabian Penninsula. What happened to sura in Quran saying no compulsion in religion? Is there a Hadees banning all other religions beyond Arabian Penninsula also or may be the whole world?

 

Does Mr. Akhtar Hussein know that there are still Christians in the Arabian Penninsula and there were Jews in Jeddah till the last century?

 

Davender Bhardwaj

--- On Tue, 12/1/09, omar ali <omarali502000@yahoo.com> wrote:


From: omar ali <omarali502000@yahoo.com>
Subject: Fw: Re: Asiapeace (ACHA) Swiss minaret ban
To: "asiapeace" <asiapeace@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 8:04 AM

 



--- On Tue, 12/1/09, akhtar husain <akhtar46_1999@ yahoo.com> wrote:


From: akhtar husain <akhtar46_1999@ yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Asiapeace (ACHA) Swiss minaret ban
To: "omar ali" <omarali502000@ yahoo.com>
Date: Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 2:09 AM

The criticism of Saudi Arabia is unfair. According to hadeeth of our beloved PROPHET. NO OTHER RELIGION SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO BE PRACTISED IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA. There is no such thing as wahabbism. IN KSA there is great emphasis on avoiding shirk and bidaat which is widespread all over the Islamic countries. KSA has its own faults but we must appreciate their good things as well.

--- On Tue, 12/1/09, omar ali <omarali502000@ yahoo.com> wrote:


From: omar ali <omarali502000@ yahoo.com>
Subject: Asiapeace (ACHA) Swiss minaret ban
To: "asiapeace" <asiapeace@yahoogrou ps.com>, abdalian@yahoogroup s.com, shaheryar.azhar@ gmail.com, crdp@yahoogroups. com, Pakistan_Futures@ yahoogroups. com
Date: Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 1:51 AM

 

This ban runs counter to all traditions of liberal democracy and must be overturned.

 

Of course, the hypocritical protests from places like Saudi Arabia (no religious symbols of ANY religion other than the wahabi sect are allowed) and Lashkar e Tayaba (they actually had the gall to say "this is a blow against inter-faith harmony" [O' Really? Ha! Ha! Ha!Look, who's talking!], I kid you not) is not going to help matters. But we should apply diplomatic, economic and moral pressure on the Swiss and on Europeans in general, based on principles of freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of association.

Comparison with the Danish cartoon case is misplaced because in that case the Danish were actually on the side of freedom of expression.

 

Omar

 

November 30, 2009

Swiss minaret ban fits pattern of populist protest in Western Europe

The Swiss vote to ban the construction of minarets fits a wider pattern of populist protest in Western Europe. Parties of the Right have campaigned vigorously against the supposedly alien influence spread by Muslim populations.

That movement should be sharply distinguished from the secularist and liberal defence of the principles of a pluralist society.

Geert Wilders, the Dutch politician who recently overturned a Home Office decision to ban him from Britain, says that the Koran is a "fascist book" and calls for it to be banned. His message consists largely of extravagant predictions of the "Islamification" of Europe.

The Danish People's Party depicts Muslim migration to Europe as a threat to Denmark's Christian identity. Writers such as the Canadian conservative Mark Steyn talk of a European "demographic time bomb" of Muslim immigration and high birthrates.

This is nonsense. Muslims are a small minority in Western Europe and their median fertility rate is declining. The secularist position seeks to remove religion from government, not to drive it out of civil society.

The ramifications of the Swiss vote will evoke comparisons with the diplomatic isolation of Denmark after the newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005. There is no genuine analogy at all.

The Danish Government valiantly upheld freedom of expression against attempts to stifle it. The Swiss electorate has, by contrast, struck a blow against freedom of association and conscience. It should be speedily overturned.

 


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"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




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[mukto-mona] Al-Qaida Kills Eight Times More Muslims Than Non-Muslims -SPIEGEL



 

 

 

From:  mehulkamdar@yahoo.com

 

SPIEGEL ONLINE

12/03/2009 04:09 PM

Surprising Study On Terrorism

Al-Qaida Kills Eight Times More Muslims Than Non-Muslims

By Yassin Musharbash

Few would deny that Muslims too are victims of Islamist terror. But a new study by the Combating Terrorism Center in the US has shown that an overwhelming majority of al-Qaida victims are, in fact, co-religionists.

In the battle against unbelievers, can one also kill Muslims? Even the terror network al-Qaida is troubled by this question.

A leading al-Qaida ideologue for the terror network, Abu Yahya al-Libi, has developed his own theologically-based theory of collateral damage that allows militants to kill Muslims when it is unavoidable.

Even the Iraqi affiliates of Osama bin Laden's terror group, who are known to be particularly bloodthirsty, claim that they too consider this question. For instance, in a message claiming responsibility for an August attack in Baghdad, the group wished those Sunnis injured in the "operation" a speedy recovery and expressed their hope that those killed would be accepted by God as "martyrs."

But even as such apologetic communiqués from al-Qaida show the terror network stylizing itself as a defender of the true faith wrestling with religious concepts, they also make it look as though any dead Muslims are regretful but isolated cases. The facts, though, tell a different story.

Between 2004 and 2008, for example, al-Qaida claimed responsibility for 313 attacks, resulting in the deaths of 3,010 people. And even though these attacks include terrorist incidents in the West -- in Madrid in 2004 and in London in 2005 -- only 12 percent of those killed (371 deaths) were Westerners.

New Report Shows Many More Muslims Killed Than Non-Muslims

It is, of course, no surprise that al-Qaida kills more Muslims than non-Muslims -- particularly for people in the Islamic world. But a new report by the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at the United States' Military Academy at West Point in New York -- which has gathered together these and other relevant figures in one report ("Deadly Vanguards: A Study Of al-Qaida's Violence Against Muslims "), spells out the discrepancy in black and white.

The authors of the study admit that their report likely omits a number of Muslim victims. But that was the price of their rigorous methodology, used in an effort to avoid accusations of partisanship.

The researchers only counted the attacks for which al-Qaida claimed responsibility, thus preventing accusations that they were seeking to make al-Qaida look even worse than it is. Still, it is well known that al-Qaida does not claim responsibility for every attack perpetrated, meaning that many victims are likely left out of the report. Furthermore, the researchers only included attacks reported on by the Arab media and relied on the numbers they reported -- out of a conviction that the Arab media is more highly regarded in the Muslim world than the Western media. That, though, is not always the case.

Blurred Figures And Inexact Categories Are Problematic

The greatest potential for inaccuracy in the report, however, is the placing of victims into only one of two categories: Western or non-Western. The assumption being that Western would also mean non-Muslim and vice versa. The problems with such a system of categorization are myriad. Not all those living in the Muslim world are Muslim: In Iraq, al-Qaida has launched attacks against Kurds, Yazidi and Christians. Secondly, a lot of the Muslim victims are actually -- and deliberately -- Shiites. A Sunni group, al-Qaida considers the Shiites to be unbelievers.

Unfortunately news reports don't tend to differentiate between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, explains Scott Helfstein, one of the writers of the report. This is also the reason for the non-Western and Western categories. "It is easy for journalists to count nationality but they rarely, if ever, identify religion," Helfstein writes in reply to e-mailed questions from SPIEGEL ONLINE. The report's writers were well aware of the problem. "But we were not able to find a way around it," Helfstein notes.

Indeed, the report's authors confront the shortcomings of their methodology head on. In one passage, they remove attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan from their calculations altogether, resulting in the share of Westerners killed in al-Qaida attacks rising to a much more significant 39 percent. If one removes the Madrid and London attacks from the statistics, though, the share of murdered Westerners drops back down to 13 percent.

Perhaps more significantly, if one only examines attacks in 2007 and disregards those having been perpetrated in Iraq and Afghanistan, the share of non-Westerners killed by al-Qaida rises to 99 percent. In 2008, it was 96 percent.

Non-Westerners 38 Times More Likely To Be Killed

Put another way, between 2006 and 2008, non-Westerners were 38 times more likely to be killed by an al-Qaida attack than Westerners.

"Since al-Qaida has limited capability to strike against its Western enemies, the group maintains its relevance by attacking countries with Muslim majorities," the study concludes.

The conclusions reached by Helfstein and his co-authors are hardly world changing. They are valuable nonetheless, in that they provide a numerical foundation to the relationship between Muslim and non-Muslim al-Qaida victims.

Still, critics will no doubt point out that the study comes from the CTC, an organization that is part of an American military school. In recent years, the CTC has released a number of excellent studies on terrorism. But because it is actually supplying arguments, backed by scientific research, for the fight against terrorism to decision makers, politicians and military personnel in the US, it cannot be considered strictly neutral. That also applies to this case, especially since a number of American officials have recently begun stressing the point that al-Qaida is particularly violent toward Muslims and can now rely on solid data to back up their argument.

This perceived lack of neutrality doesn't change the fact that the fundamental findings of the report are correct and meaningful. The authors conclude that if they compare statistics for the years from 1995 to 2003 (excluding the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the US as a solitary event), they find that al-Qaida is becoming more violent and "increasingly indiscriminate" in its attacks.

Just how big a problem this discrepancy between Muslim and non-Muslim victims will become for al-Qaida remains to be seen. Even prior to the report's release, however, it had become a subject of intense debate within the Jihadist seen -- with more and more ideologues coming to the conclusion that al-Qaida's fight on behalf of the downtrodden Muslims isn't worth it.


 

© SPIEGEL ONLINE 2009
All Rights Reserved
Reproduction only allowed with the permission of SPIEGELnet GmbH



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