Muslim woman wearing burqa in Downtown Toronto. October, 3 2015. Photo: CIJnews
Burka and Swastika – symbols of Fascism
We, the Royal We, have based the discussion about Islomophobia on the
assumption that Islam and its ethic; and Western culture and it ethic,
are compatible.
In truth, nothing could be further from the truth. The ethic that underpins Islam is not in any way compatible with the morals and values and priorities of western Culture and its Judeo/Christian ethic, an ethic that is, in its perfect form, blind to race, colour, creed or religion. It is an ethic that is open to others but not so open that we lose our values in our desire to show the world that we are the most tolerant of people.
When people from a culture that conflicts with ours use our definition of rights and freedoms to take away rights and freedoms we are on a path to suicide by democracy. Religious freedom does not include imposing one’s religion on others. We have moved beyond that in Canada. Demands for prayer rooms, burkas, pork-free lunch rooms and public institutions, demands that we not say anything negative about Islam for fear of causing hurt that could lead to terror, is a Big Chill on freedom of speech.
For those who insist that Islam is compatible with the west would they say that Nazism is compatible? Let’s take a look at the definitive symbols of Nazism and Islam-the Swastika and the Burka.
There is a strong connection between the Swastika and the Burka. They are both symbols of fascism: right-wing nationalist ideologies with an authoritarian and hierarchical structure that is fundamentally opposed to democracy and liberalism. Nazism and Islam are two examples of ideologies that are intolerant of others and condone the murder of those who will not accept their precepts.
Wilhelm von Humboldt said, in the eighteenth century, “Language is, as it were, the external manifestation of the minds of the peoples. Their language is their soul, and their soul is their language.” In the twentieth century, Roland Barthes wrote; “Man does not exist prior to language, either as a species or an individual. We never find a state where man is separated from language, which he then creates in order to ‘express’ what is taking place within him: it is language which teaches the definition of man, not the reverse.” More recently, poet Muriel Rukeyser wrote: “The universe is made of stories, not atoms.”
We are our stories. And before language we told stories through pictures-symbols. Symbols are powerful ways of sharing ideas. Today we call many symbols “memes.” Recognized around the world through the internet.
Today, everyone recognizes the Swastika and automatically thinks of the Nazis and the Holocaust and the murder of six million people for the crime of being Jewish. Once a symbol of love it became a symbol of evil. No Western country would talk about integrating Nazism with the West, or suggest that Nazism is compatible with the ethic of the West.
Yet, we have leaders who preach that Islam and the West are compatible; from Justin Trudeau who said February 2016 “Islam is not incompatible with free and open Western societies” to President Obama who said in Cairo 2009 that Islam and the West have a relationship “based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles — principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.” Angela Merkel said January 2015 “Former German President Christian Wulff said: ‘Islam belongs to Germany.’ That is true. This is also my opinion.”
Yet in 2010 she said, “We feel bound to the Christian image of humanity—that is what defines us. Those who do not accept this are in the wrong place here.”
What has happened since 2010 that this belief has been swept away?
The Burka is no different from the swastika in its meaning. It speaks to a culture that is intolerant and oppressive mixed with a desire to take over the world-in the name of Peace.
Peace in Islam means submission to Allah. The ultimate meaning of Islamic peace is all of us living in Dar-al-Islam – the house of submission. This is not a “radical” interpretation. Modern-day Islamic scholar, Ibrahim Sulaiman, says submission and peace can be very different concepts, even if a form of peace is often brought about through forcing others into submission.
“Jihad is not inhumane, despite its necessary violence and bloodshed, its ultimate desire is peace which is protected and enhanced by the rule of law.” Armed responses are only permitted when all peaceful possibilities have failed. And once armed resistance begins it doesn’t stop “until the war lays down its burden” as Allah has mentioned in the Qur’an 47.
Shaykh Muhammad Sa’id Ramadan al-Buti, until his recent death, was the leading Islamic scholar in Syria, professor and a retired Dean at the College of Islamic Law at Damascus University. He is the author of Jurisprudence of the Prophetic Biography, regarded as one of the best Prophetic biographies written in the 20th century. He wrote:
“The theory that our religion is a peaceful and loving religion is a wrong theory. The Holy war as it is known in Islamic jurisprudence is basically an offensive war, and it is the duty of all Muslims of every age…because our prophet Muhammad said that he is ordered by Allah to fight all people until they say ‘No God but Allah,’ and he is his messenger. It is meaningless to talk about the holy war as only defensive, otherwise, what did the prophet mean when he said, “from now on even if they don’t invade you, you must invade them.”
The Burka, as a symbol, stands for these teachings and the fear-mongering, xenophobic, racist policies of Muslim governments around the world: honour killings; stoning of women; dhimmitude; amputating limbs to discourage stealing; hanging gays or throwing them off buildings in the name of compassion; stifling free speech. And it, too, is a symbol of hate for the Jews espoused by Islam-the same hate that has made all of us in the West turn on the swastika.
So why do we accept the Burka? Or the niqab? Or prayer rooms? Why do we not help Muslims coming into our country to acculturate to our way of life?
Could it be our new Liberal definition of Peace, Order and Good Government and values?
In truth, nothing could be further from the truth. The ethic that underpins Islam is not in any way compatible with the morals and values and priorities of western Culture and its Judeo/Christian ethic, an ethic that is, in its perfect form, blind to race, colour, creed or religion. It is an ethic that is open to others but not so open that we lose our values in our desire to show the world that we are the most tolerant of people.
When people from a culture that conflicts with ours use our definition of rights and freedoms to take away rights and freedoms we are on a path to suicide by democracy. Religious freedom does not include imposing one’s religion on others. We have moved beyond that in Canada. Demands for prayer rooms, burkas, pork-free lunch rooms and public institutions, demands that we not say anything negative about Islam for fear of causing hurt that could lead to terror, is a Big Chill on freedom of speech.
For those who insist that Islam is compatible with the west would they say that Nazism is compatible? Let’s take a look at the definitive symbols of Nazism and Islam-the Swastika and the Burka.
There is a strong connection between the Swastika and the Burka. They are both symbols of fascism: right-wing nationalist ideologies with an authoritarian and hierarchical structure that is fundamentally opposed to democracy and liberalism. Nazism and Islam are two examples of ideologies that are intolerant of others and condone the murder of those who will not accept their precepts.
Wilhelm von Humboldt said, in the eighteenth century, “Language is, as it were, the external manifestation of the minds of the peoples. Their language is their soul, and their soul is their language.” In the twentieth century, Roland Barthes wrote; “Man does not exist prior to language, either as a species or an individual. We never find a state where man is separated from language, which he then creates in order to ‘express’ what is taking place within him: it is language which teaches the definition of man, not the reverse.” More recently, poet Muriel Rukeyser wrote: “The universe is made of stories, not atoms.”
We are our stories. And before language we told stories through pictures-symbols. Symbols are powerful ways of sharing ideas. Today we call many symbols “memes.” Recognized around the world through the internet.
Today, everyone recognizes the Swastika and automatically thinks of the Nazis and the Holocaust and the murder of six million people for the crime of being Jewish. Once a symbol of love it became a symbol of evil. No Western country would talk about integrating Nazism with the West, or suggest that Nazism is compatible with the ethic of the West.
Yet, we have leaders who preach that Islam and the West are compatible; from Justin Trudeau who said February 2016 “Islam is not incompatible with free and open Western societies” to President Obama who said in Cairo 2009 that Islam and the West have a relationship “based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles — principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.” Angela Merkel said January 2015 “Former German President Christian Wulff said: ‘Islam belongs to Germany.’ That is true. This is also my opinion.”
Yet in 2010 she said, “We feel bound to the Christian image of humanity—that is what defines us. Those who do not accept this are in the wrong place here.”
What has happened since 2010 that this belief has been swept away?
The Burka is no different from the swastika in its meaning. It speaks to a culture that is intolerant and oppressive mixed with a desire to take over the world-in the name of Peace.
Peace in Islam means submission to Allah. The ultimate meaning of Islamic peace is all of us living in Dar-al-Islam – the house of submission. This is not a “radical” interpretation. Modern-day Islamic scholar, Ibrahim Sulaiman, says submission and peace can be very different concepts, even if a form of peace is often brought about through forcing others into submission.
“Jihad is not inhumane, despite its necessary violence and bloodshed, its ultimate desire is peace which is protected and enhanced by the rule of law.” Armed responses are only permitted when all peaceful possibilities have failed. And once armed resistance begins it doesn’t stop “until the war lays down its burden” as Allah has mentioned in the Qur’an 47.
Shaykh Muhammad Sa’id Ramadan al-Buti, until his recent death, was the leading Islamic scholar in Syria, professor and a retired Dean at the College of Islamic Law at Damascus University. He is the author of Jurisprudence of the Prophetic Biography, regarded as one of the best Prophetic biographies written in the 20th century. He wrote:
“The theory that our religion is a peaceful and loving religion is a wrong theory. The Holy war as it is known in Islamic jurisprudence is basically an offensive war, and it is the duty of all Muslims of every age…because our prophet Muhammad said that he is ordered by Allah to fight all people until they say ‘No God but Allah,’ and he is his messenger. It is meaningless to talk about the holy war as only defensive, otherwise, what did the prophet mean when he said, “from now on even if they don’t invade you, you must invade them.”
The Burka, as a symbol, stands for these teachings and the fear-mongering, xenophobic, racist policies of Muslim governments around the world: honour killings; stoning of women; dhimmitude; amputating limbs to discourage stealing; hanging gays or throwing them off buildings in the name of compassion; stifling free speech. And it, too, is a symbol of hate for the Jews espoused by Islam-the same hate that has made all of us in the West turn on the swastika.
So why do we accept the Burka? Or the niqab? Or prayer rooms? Why do we not help Muslims coming into our country to acculturate to our way of life?
Could it be our new Liberal definition of Peace, Order and Good Government and values?
Tagged with: burka burqa democracy Fascism Islam Islamophobia Judeo-Christian heritage Nazism swastika women's rights
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