Entries from March 2008 ↓

The Australian reports today:

SPORTING figures, academics and mainstream Muslims will be sought out by the Rudd Government to help recast the overly religious image of Islamic Australia.

…

In the Rudd Government’s first statement on Muslims, Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs Laurie Ferguson told The Australian yesterday it was time to tackle the myths surrounding Islam, arguing religious leaders were not representative of the mainstream Muslim community.

…

Mr Ferguson said the idea that all Muslims were religious was a “misconception” he wanted debunked. “The whole spectre of Muslims is women in hijabs and other stereotypical characteristics and I think there is not enough opportunity to see a difference,” he said. “There’s a need to have Muslims involved in parents groups, sporting clubs, political parties … tuckshops.”

Having already imposed price controls on the rental market, the UAE government is reportedly now setting maximum prices for food products, such as eggs, rice, chicken and even bottled water.

This may appear to some to be a reasonably good idea to ease the pressure on residents. However, as history has shown, when governments force people to sell products for a price that is at or below their natural market level, it creates a shortage: it will increase demand whilst simultaneously reduce the current and future supply of the product.

Continue reading →

A coterie of ex-HT members, including Ed Hussain and Maajid Nawaz, have formed a “think tank” called the Quilliam Foundation. The entire focus of the organisation appears to be bickering with Hizb ut-Tahrir, challenging members and leaders of the group to “open debate”.

The problem, of course, is that it’s hard for many of us to take them seriously. If they were once weak-minded enough to be captivated by an ideology they now scream from the rooftops (rightly or wrong) is “extremist” and “wrong”, what guarantee do we have that this same weak-mindedness hasn’t persisted across to the post-HT phase of their “journey”? Surely, rather than this motley crew of easily led and easily hoodwinked spiritual show ponies, the best people to be talking about ‘extremism’ are the people who were smart enough not to be drawn into it in the first place.

In other words, pretty much everyone except them.

(And given they are supposedly against Islamism, isn’t it curious that they chose the name of the Ottoman Sheikh ul-Islam for the British Isles and reportedly England’s first Islamist?)

Andrew Norton and Irfan Yusuf both have posts up advertising the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) Liberty and Society weekend seminar to be held next month. As the website explains:

Continue reading →

When I first arrived at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, I must confess that I was somewhat disappointed. Given the customary brouhaha preceding a Muslim academic’s (or scholar’s) arrival, I’d expected at the very least a picket (even if it consisted solely of the distinguished Ameer Ali).

You can imagine my further disappointment when the most controversial things Tariq Ramadan, the source of the controversy, said, would be more likely to offend some Muslim sensibilities than the non-Muslims in attendance. In fact, Ramadan, who is an incredibly engaging and charismatic speaker, presented his very sensible points softly but with clear conviction. There was absolutely nothing that might require monitoring by authorities.

Admittedly, the Brisbane conference on the “challenges and opportunities” of Islam in Australia was my first true introduction to Ramadan and his thesis. I understood the following: he is a “reformist”; he believes Muslims need to try harder to reconcile their beliefs with those surrounding them in their particular Western nation; he is dubbed Islam’s Martin Luther; he lacks mainstream appeal; he is more successful in Europe than Australia and the US.

Continue reading →

Abu Omar writes in the comments to point out a fascinating piece by Brendan O’Neill in the American Conservative on Obama and the euphoria that surrounds him in some quarters. He begins:

Obama-mania is getting out of hand. Full-grown and well-educated men—from swooning Andrew Sullivan to the entire staff of GQ magazine—are developing “man crushes” on Barack Obama, going weak in the knees for his immaculately pressed suits, oratorical skills, and shameless hope-mongering.

“I’ve never wanted anyone more than I want you,” warbles Obama Girl in a song called “I Got a Crush on Obama,” which has been viewed over 6 million times on YouTube. Celebs are queuing up to fall at his feet. “My heart belongs to Barack,” says Scarlett Johansson. There’s a palpable whiff of semi-religious hysteria at Obama rallies. As Joel Stein wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “Obamaphilia has gotten creepy,” and its “fanatical” adherents are starting to embarrass themselves.

Actually, it’s worse than that: they are deluding themselves. Many Democrats have become so goggle-eyed, so insanely convinced that Obama is the savior of American politics (potentially rescuing both the Democratic Party from political ruin and America herself from the decadence and violence of the Bush era), that they are beginning to suffer political hallucinations. They fantasize that he is pure and righteous, a miracle-worker who, in a pique of rage, will overturn the conventions of neocon-ruled America.

Obama, according to O’Neill, is simply a “wide-eyed, zealous interventionist”.

Small wonder the Archbishop of Canterbury announced, just 24 hours later, that he wants sharia law in Britain. He was mocked, of course, but come on: Muslimism lets you throw apple cores onto the grass verge and swim with the dolphins and make telephone calls without having a Scottish man grunting and moaning in the background. Plus, we’d have the added benefit of being able to dismember shoplifters.

Also, though I have only a scant acquaintance with the Koran, I’m fairly certain it contains no call for motorists to be fleeced, hounded, mocked and, worst of all, held up on purpose by a swarm of power-crazed traffic wombles.

Here, Here! Anyone who has experienced a Riyadh street in a high performance car will know what freedom truly is. Jeremy Clarkson’s full piece is here

Qiblalocator is a nifty use of Google Maps. Enter any address and the site will overlay the direction to Makkah; perfect for those times when nobody can decide which is the correct direction to pray.

The Australian reports that Swiss academic Tariq Ramadan will be speaking at a conference in Queensland on Monday.

CONTROVERSIAL Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan, who was refused entry into the US over alleged links to terror networks, is due to deliver a lecture on Islam at a conference sponsored by the Queensland Government on Monday.

Professor Ramadan – whose grandfather Hassan al-Banna founded one of the world’s most radical Islamist movements, the Muslim Brotherhood, in 1928 – will be introduced by federal Labor Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs Laurie Ferguson at the Griffith University event, which has drawn $50,000 worth of sponsorship from the Bligh Government.

But the former Prime Minister’s handpicked Muslim advisor Dr Ameer Ali is not impressed at all. In fact, he’s calling for the government to subject Professor Ramadan to “close surveillance” whilst visiting Australia:

Continue reading →