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from FaithWorld:
Saudi clerics condemn protests as un-Islamic
(Supporters of Saudi Shi'ite cleric Tawfiq al-Amir hold his pictures during a demonstration following his release in Al-Ahsa March 6, 2011. Cleric Tawfiq al-Amir was arrested last week after calling for a constitutional monarchy and a fight against corruption/Stringer)
Saudi Arabia's council of senior clerics has issued a statement forbidding as un-Islamic the public protests, which the rulers of the U.S. ally and key oil exporter fear could spread following demonstrations by minority Shi'ites. The kingdom has escaped major protests like those which toppled leaders in Egypt and Tunisia, but the wave of unrest has reached its neighbours Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan and Oman.
"The Council of Senior Clerics affirms that demonstrations are forbidden in this country. The correct way in sharia (Islamic law) of realising common interest is by advising, which is what the Prophet Mohammad established," said the statement by the body headed by the Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al al-Sheikh.
"Reform and advice should not be via demonstrations and ways that provoke strife and division, this is what the religious scholars of this country in the past and now have forbidden and warned against," said the statement, carried by state media on Sunday.
from FaithWorld:
Libyan Islamic scholars issue fatwa for Muslims to rebel
(Protesters in Benghazi, February 20, 2011/Youtube via Reuters TV)
A coalition of Libyan Islamic leaders has issued a fatwa telling all Muslims it is their duty to rebel against the Libyan leadership. The group also demanded the release of fellow Islamic scholar Sadiq al-Ghriani, who was arrested after criticising the government, and "all imprisoned demonstrators, including many of our young students".
Calling itself the Network of Free Ulema of Libya, the group of over 50 Muslim scholars said the government and its supporters "have demonstrated total arrogant impunity and continued, and even intensified, their bloody crimes against humanity."
from FaithWorld:
Tunis march against Islamists, for harmony after Polish priest murdered
(Tunisians march against Islamists and for interfaith harmony in Tunis, February 19, 2011. The protesters' T-shirts in Arabic read: Tunisia secular", the sign on top reads: "Tunisia for all" and the sign on bottom left in French reads: "Terrorism is not Tunisia"/Zoubeir Souissi)
About 15,000 demonstrators have protested in Tunis against the country's Islamist movement, calling for religious tolerance a day after the Interior Ministry announced a Polish Catholic priest had been murdered by an extremist group.
from FaithWorld:
Libyan Muslim leaders urge military to stop shooting protesters
(Benghazi port, 13 March 2009/Dennixo)
The bloody crackdown on protesters in Libya has prompted about 50 Libyan Muslim religious leaders to issue an appeal to the security forces as Muslims to stop the killing or face the wrath of God.
Dozens of protesters were killed in clashes with Libyan security forces in the eastern city of Benghazi on Saturday, an eyewitness told Reuters, in the worst unrest in Muammar Gaddafi's four decades in power. Snipers fired at protesters from a compound to which they had withdrawn, said the resident, who did not want to be named.
from Oddly Enough Blog:
Go ahead, I’ve seen worse… Well, maybe not…
Blog Guy, what is your policy on negotiating with extremists?
My what?
Your policy. Now that you qualify as a Senior Blogger, you have to take some shifts directing counter-terrorism tactical units. You didn't see that in the Facebook Network rules?
No, I guess I just clicked on AGREE, like everybody else. But I'll tell you this, I will never negotiate with extremists. We will not compromise.
from FaithWorld:
Indonesia Muslims attack court, churches; mob kills Ahmadis
(Anti-riot police block protesters outside the court where a Catholic man is on trial for blasphemy in Temanggung February 8, 2011/Stringer)
Hundreds of Muslim radicals set two churches ablaze and attacked a court in Indonesia's central Java on Tuesday, calling for harsh punishment for a Christian on trial for blasphemy, police said.
from FaithWorld:
British police avert clashes at Luton anti-Islamist rally
(An English Defence League supporter with effigy of Osama Bin Laden mask during a rally in Luton, February 5, 2011/Paul Hackett)
About 1,500 far-right protesters marched through the centre of the British city of Luton Saturday to rally against "militant Islam," requiring a heavy police presence to avert clashes with 1,000 anti-fascist demonstrators. A sixth of Luton's population is Muslim, and past marches by the English Defence League have led to conflict with their opponents. The city centre turned into a virtual ghost town before the rally, with shops boarded up and pubs closed.
from Oddly Enough Blog:
The creepiest photo of all time?
What's the matter, Blog Guy? You look very upset.
It's my eyes. I saw something I shouldn't have. Probably the creepiest photo I've ever seen in my whole life. The pain won't go away.
Wow! Do tell.
The best way I can describe it is, say I sat for hours and made a list of all the things that I think make this a wonderful country, right?
from FaithWorld:
Tide turns in favour of Egypt’s Brotherhood in revolt
(Essam El-Erian, spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood, at a news conference in Cairo February 6, 2011/Mohamed Abd El-Ghany)
The first time Essam el-Erian went to jail, he was 27. Last Sunday, he left prison for the eighth time at the age of 57. The medical doctor's crime for each incarceration was belonging to the Muslim Botherhood, Egypt's most influential and best-organised Islamist opposition movement and long feared by President Hosni Mubarak, Israel and the United States.
from FaithWorld:
Can Arabs learn from Turkish model of Islam and democracy?
(Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, December 2, 2008/Umit Bektas)
If President Hosni Mubarak bows to the clamor of the street and goes, Egyptians and other Arabs seeking to turn a page on autocratic government may look at Turkey for some clues on marrying Islam and democracy.
