Islamophobia - A Threat To World Security

The world's Muslim countries warned Wednesday that an "alarming" rise in anti-Islamic insults and attacks in the West has become a threat to international security.

The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) called on Europe and America to take stronger measures against 'Islamophobia' in a report prepared for a summit of the group's 57 members in Dakar on Thursday and Friday.

The report by a special OIC monitoring group said the organisation was struggling to get the West to understand that Islamophobia "has dangerous implications on global peace and security" and to convince western powers to do more.
Islamic leaders have long warned that perceptions linking Muslims to terrorism, especially since the September 11, 2001 Al-Qaeda attacks on the United States, would make Muslims more radical.

The West must understand that "the war against terror cannot be successful without the support of Muslim countries," said the report.

Denmark of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammed and a plan by the Dutch far-right MP Geert Wilders to release a film calling the Koran "fascist".
The OIC said Islam had faced constant attacks since it was created "but in recent years the phenomenon has assumed alarming proportions and has become a major cause of concern for the Muslim world."
The monitoring group called on Europe and North America to do more, through laws and social action, to protect Muslims from threats and discrimination and prevent insults against Islam's religious symbols.

The report added that Muslims in many parts of the world, in the West in particular, are being stereotyped, profiled and subjected to various forms of discriminatory treatment.

"The most sacred symbols of Islam, in particular the sacred image of of the Prophet Mohammed is being defiled and denigrated in the most insulting, offensive and contemptuous manner to incite hatred and unrest in society."
In a veiled reference to the Danish cartoons and Wilders' film, the OIC said: "The Islamophobes remain free to carry on their assaults due to the absence of legal measures necessary against the misusing or abusing (of) the right to freedom of expression."

It called on OIC member states to "step up their counter-measures by keeping the pressure on the international community at multilateral and bilateral forums."

The OIC said the Muslim world must launch a campaign to show that it is a "moderate, peaceful and tolerant" religion, closely monitor and the raise the alert over anti-Islamic incidents and organise more inter-faith initiatives.
"Victims of Islamophobia must be encouraged and given necessary help to file complaints," said the report.

Statement on Islamophobia Issued by the OIC Ambassadorial Group at the UN in New York on 29 February 2008 is here.

Gambian President urges OIC members to do more in fighting poverty

While Dubai spends money on horse races, ski lifts in the desert, and building the biggest shopping malls and tallest building, the investments of ZAKAT, or charity, never seem to reach the intended.

Dakar, Senegal - Gambian President Yahya Jammeh Friday challenged rich me mber states of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) to do more in fighting poverty in the least developed Islamic countries, national broadcaster, Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) reported.Jammeh was speaking at Banjul International Airport, on his return from Dakar, t he capital of Senegal, where he attended the just-concluded OIC Summit.The Gambian leader urged the rich Islamic nations to help their economically-wea k and poor sister countries, based on the spirit and teachings of the Islamic fa i th which, according to him, encouraged the culture of sharing and caring for eac h other.
He said the richer nations should channel financial assistance through Islamic Development Bank from which poorer states could turn to for soft-term loans.

“We are not asking for charity, but financial help by way of loans based on provisions of ‘Sharia’ (or Islamic law),” he reiterated.

President Jammeh also hailed the ‘Kuwaiti Fund’ for carrying out numerous develo pment projects in poor countries, and urged other rich member states to emulate Kuwait..

The mega cities of Dubai including ski lifts, golf courses and their liking of horse racing and the Projected height of Burj Dubai

OIC Vs Islamphobia

It is wellcoming that OIC listened to the issues confronting the muslim world and take its stand to have further dialogue of civilisations with the christian world.

DAKAR (Reuters) - World Muslim leaders on Friday condemned extremism and terrorism as incompatible with Islam and proposed a high-level international meeting to promote a "dialogue of civilizations" with the Christian world.

Leaders of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which represents 1.5 billion Muslims from across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, made the "Dakar Declaration" after a two-day summit in Senegal's capital.

"We continue to strongly condemn all forms of extremism and dogmatism which are incompatible with Islam, a religion of moderation and peaceful coexistence," the declaration said.

"We believe that it is important to plan along such lines a preparatory phase by organizing a major international gathering on Islamic-Christian dialogue that involves governments among other players," it said.

Read further here.

Looking at the followings reprint of Islamophia watch may seems indicating the long, harsh and difficult struggle to achieve its goal of fostering better relationship between Islam and Christianity.

"So Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, claims that the adoption of Islamic law in Britain is unavoidable. He believes that in a multi-cultural society our laws must be adapted to accommodate the other law traditions of the immigrant population, especially the Muslim community, in Britain.

"What hope is there for our Christian traditions when the most senior of clergy in the country are opening the door and welcoming the enemy in. And make no mistake, Islam is the enemy of Christianity and seeks its complete destruction. The Archbishop of Canterbury can at best be considered mad, or at worst a dangerous threat to his faith and the Christian future of our country."

The rector of one of Oxford's largest Anglican churches last night called plans to broadcast the Muslim call to prayer from the city's main mosque "un-English". Charlie Cleverly, of St Aldate's Church, in a seven-point statement to his congregation, called on the Central Mosque, in Manzil Way, to drop its plans to broadcast the messages.

He said: "I feel it is un-English and very different from a bell. When such an area is subject to such a call to prayer, it may force people to move out and encourage Muslim families to move in.... Bells are just a signal and have been around for 1,500 years. They are a terribly English part of our culture. I do not believe in the imposition of another culture on our country."

Reverend R. Albert Mohler Jr., the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, cited a number of reasons why he would not sign the letter which pushed for peace between Christians and Muslims, saying chief among his concerns were the apology for the sin of Crusaders and the ambiguous definition of God.

Speaking to the Towers Baptist seminary news publication, Rvd. Mohler said "I am not going to apologize for the Crusades because I am very thankful that the Muslim effort to reach a conquest of Europe was unsuccessful. Otherwise, we would be speaking Arabic on this program right now and we would be talking about the Muslim continent of Europe and potentially even of North America." Read here.

Some positive progress > Switzerland's Federal Court has overturned two decisions by local assemblies to refuse citizenship on the grounds of women wearing a religious veil. Muslim organisations welcomed the rulings, which were announced on Wednesday, as a "step forward". Under the Swiss federal system, communities also have a say on naturalisation issues.

The court ruling came after two local assemblies in canton Aargau, in northern Switzerland, rejected applications for Swiss citizenship by a Turkish woman and a Bosnian couple last year. Objectors said the veil was a sign of inequality between men and women and was therefore unconstitutional.

But Switzerland's highest court found that wearing a veil was an expression of religious beliefs, which are protected under the Swiss constitution. The veil in itself was not a sign of the debasement of women, the judges wrote. The court urged citizens to look beyond their prejudices and said the fact that a Muslim woman wore a veil did not mean she was flouting the basic values of Swiss society.

Waite is the author of Islam Uncovered, which holds that the Muslim faith is itself culpable for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Military.com reported. 'Undoubtedly our world will experience additional terrorist attempts or strikes all in the name of Allah. Some of these attacks may occur within the borders of our own nation by the remaining cell groups interspersed and hiding among the Muslim population of the United States. My words may make a number of Muslims in this country and abroad very uncomfortable. To them I would say, "Deal with it!" The suspicion that you encounter is merely a consequence to your own belief system....' Waite's book says. '...Should Islam be immune from attack because it calls itself a religion? If Adolf Hitler called Nazism a religion, would we be speaking German today? Evil is evil, no matter what nomenclature it hides under.' The book was removed from bookstore shelves after it was discovered that Waite had plagiarized much of the material and that the supporting blurbs on the back cover of the book from prominent members of the religious community had been fabricated." Read here