Minaretes e suas mequitas

Sobre a escolha do local em que são construídas as mesquitas, excerto de uma boa peça de Seth J. Frantzman no Jerusalem Post.

«(...) A survey of historical placement of mosques in important cities and newly conquered Muslim lands, as well as a survey of the placement of mosques in diverse neighborhoods, shows that their placement is anything but random and that strikingly often they are built next to the houses of prayer or the neighborhoods of non-Muslims.

Across the Middle East and the Muslim world the existence of the minaret is taken for granted. Sometimes square and stout as they are in North Africa, or tall, skinny and cylindrical as they are in Turkey and Eastern Europe, they are the symbol of the Muslim world. Yet their commonness leads people to take them for granted.

According to architecture historian Prof. Keppel A.C. Creswell, the minaret was first developed after the Umayyad dynasty (661-750) came in contact with church towers of the Syrian Orthodox Church. Photos of old Syriac churches show what appears to be a conical tower identical to a minaret. Creswell claimed that "having heard that the Jews used a horn and the Christians a naqus or clapper, [Muslims] wanted something equivalent for their own use."

The Umayyads also were the first to construct mosques atop or next to famous Christian and Jewish holy sites. In Damascus they turned the Church of St. John the Baptist into a mosque between 705 and 715. In 638 when Caliph Omar prayed near, but not in, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, he noted; "If I had prayed in the church it would have been lost to you, for the believers [Muslims] would have taken it saying: Omar prayed here." He was prescient, for the Mosque of Omar was eventually built directly opposite the 13th century entrance to the church. Also inJerusalem construction was begun on the Aksa Mosque in 690. It was constructed over what had been the Church of Our Lady and before that, the Jewish Temple's storehouse.

Further afield mosques were built atop the giant Hagia Sophia Church in Istanbul (then Constantinople) in the 15th century by the Ottomans and the Babri Mosque at Ayodhya was constructed over the Temple of the Hindu god Ram in the 16th century by the Mughals in India. The Great Mosque of Gaza was built first in the 7th century atop a Byzantine church and then rebuilt in the 13th century atop a Crusader church.

THE MOSQUE and its minaret are symbols of power. The giant brick tower of Qutb Minar in Delhi is 72 meters high and until recent times was the world's tallest minaret. It was constructed by the sultans of Delhi to celebrate their victory and conquest of the city.

Even in more obscure locations, the building of minarets has served as an expression of power and influence. The center of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem has long been the Hurva Synagogue which was constructed and reconstructed several times between 1700 and the present. But attached to this great synagogue is a mosque whose minaret is intentionally taller than the Hurva's dome.

The America Colony Hotel in Sheikh Jarrah has a mosque next door to it. The Western Wall of Jerusalem has a mosque perched atop its northern end. The Mount of Olives Jewish graveyard has a mosque which adjoins it. Jeremiah's Grotto in eastJerusalem, which was for a long time a pilgrimage site, now obscured by the east Jerusalem central bus station, also has a mosque at its entrance. The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem has a large mosque just across from it on Manger Square, constructed in a town which at the time was 80 percent Christian. A controversy over Muslim attempts to build a mosque next to the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth led to riots in 2002. In each of these cases the mosques were built after the non-Muslim building was constructed.

The building of mosques is not always an expression of power, but historically and today in mixed communities mosques are constructed with a view toward the non-Muslim other. This author is even familiar with a family of Palestinian communists in the West Bank where a mosque was, not coincidentally, constructed next door to their house.

It becomes blatantly obvious in a community like Sheikh Jarrah in east Jerusalem, where almost every other mosque is situated next to a Christian building or former holy site. The next time one sees a mosque, he should not take it for granted. Many of them have a history and geographicalplacement that is not coincidental and which serves as an expression of political Islam and its aspirations.»

A torre de uma igreja ortodoxa e um minarete na parte de Chipre ocupada pelos turcos.

Via Atlas Shrugs.

Minaretes enquanto símbolo de domínio

O referendo suíço trouxe para primeiro plano a questão dos minaretes. Sobre o objecto arquitectónico e o que representa, ler a Brill Encyclopedia of Islam citada por Andrew Bostom:

“It seems on the whole unrelated to its function of the adhān [q.v.] calling the faithful to prayer, which can be made quite adequately from the roof of the mosque or even from the house-top. During the lifetime of the Prophet, his Abyssinian slave Bilāl [q.v.], was responsible for making the call to prayer in this way. The practice continued for another generation, a fact which demonstrates that the minaret is not an essential part of Islamic ritual. To this day, certain Islamic communities, especially the most orthodox ones like the Wahhābīs in Arabia, avoid building minarets on the grounds that they are ostentatious and unnecessary. … It must be remembered, however, that throughout the mediaeval period, the role of the minaret oscillated between two polarities: as a sign of power and as an instrument for the adhān.”

[Re: Ottoman minarets]: “These gigantic, needle-sharp lances clustered protectively, like a guard of honour, around the royal dome, have a distinctly aggressive and ceremonial impact, largely dependent on their almost unprecedented proportions; the pair of minarets flanking the Süleymaniye dome are each some 70m. high.”

Par do Reino Unido alvejada com ovos

Uma muçulmana, par do Reino Unido, membro do partido conservador inglês, foi alvejada com ovos atirados por seguidores da religião da pás. Ver também a civilizada (mas não à maneira britânica) discussão entre a Baronesa Warsi e os seus correlegionários com vista a determinar quem representa o Islão. Lá na terrinha da abundância de fome, até se esfolam por um ovo. Via Vlad Tepes.

Conformidade com a sharia IX

A conformidade com a sharia consegue-se através do medo, mas também se compra. Na Bolívia, as funcionárias de um hospital construído com dinheiro iraniano têm que usar hijab. Essa condição foi-lhes imposta na entrevista de admissão. Entre ficar sem emprego e usar o hijab, as senhoras terão escolhido cobrir-se, o que se compreende. Agora, também compreensivelmente, sentem-se ultrajadas.

Imagem da inauguração do hospital.

Via Bivouac-ID.

Povo suíço proíbe minaretes (4)

Soeren Kern, no Pajamas Media, numa peça anterior ao referendo, relata as circunstâncias que levaram à sua convocação:

«(...) The current controversy dates back to 2005, when the Turkish cultural association in Wangen bei Olten, a small town of some 4,500 people in northern Switzerland, applied for a permit to erect a 6-meter (20 feet) high minaret on the roof of its Islamic community center. The project to build the minaret, which was opposed by the majority of local residents, was roundly rejected by the town’s building and planning commission. But the Turkish cultural association appealed the decision, claiming that the local building authorities were motivated by religious bias. The case eventually made its way to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, which in 2007 ruled that the project could proceed apace. The minaret was finally erected in July 2009. Up until recently, Muslims living in Switzerland had mostly been keeping a low profile, preferring to practice their religion discretely in nondescript mosques. But over the past several years the number of mosques has mushroomed; there now are some 200 mosques and up to 1,000 prayer rooms dotted around the country. And although only four of those have minarets (plans to build a half-dozen more minarets are currently pending approval), observers say the minarets symbolize the growing self-confidence of Switzerland’s Muslim community. (...)»

À medida que a população muçulmana cresce, vai fazendo mais exigências. E porque será que os suíços vêem os minaretes como símbolos do avanço do Islão? Porque os muçulmanos os consideram isso mesmo:

«(...) Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, (...) once implied that the construction of mosques and minarets is part of a strategy for the Islamization of Europe. The pro-Islamic Erdogan said: “The minarets are our bayonets, the domes our helmets, the mosques our barracks and the faithful our army.” (...)»

Aí está: os suíços fizeram aquilo que os restantes europeus e os americanos se recusam a fazer: levar a sério o que os próprios muçulmanos dizem e fazem.

Povo suíço proíbe minaretes (3)

Reacção do comité Egerkinger, promotor do referendo:

«The Egerkinger Commitee who launched the minaret ban initiative, welcomes the vote in favour of a minaret ban by the Swiss Sovereign. It was decided, that no further minarets are to be build in Switzerland. And the call of the muezzin is not to be heard. With the “Yes!” to a ban on minarets the people confirmed that Swiss Law also applies to all immigrants without any curtailments. And any attempt to implement parts of sharia law in Switzerland has thereby been uncompromisingly rejected. Forced marriages – also if carried out during a stay on foreign ground – have no validity for persons with legal residence in Switzerland. And the same applies to other elements of sharia. The basic rights of freedom which are mandatory in Switzerland have been consolidated. The “Yes!” to the minaret ban by the Swiss sovereign – our highest political entity – is now to be implemented in its exact wording. The Professorial ideas about undermining its actual implementation by filing a complaint to the European Courts of Justice, which were aired during the campaign, are unacceptable and a breach of constitutional law. Officials of the law, who are reluctant to enforce the expressed will of the Swiss Sovereign are to be discharged. The Egerkinger Commitee observes with content that the public debate about the minaret ban – contrary to all the biased doomsaying of the opposition – has been passionate indeed, but orderly and our direct democracy worthy. The ones who went out of line, were the people who attempted to halt free speech regarding the issue, at times even through use of illicit means. The role played by church-officials during the debate has been alarming. The neglect of their duty to counter the persecution of Christians especially in muslim lands, stands in disquieting contrast to their hasty partisanship against a ban on minarets The Egerkinger Commitee Walter Wobmann, National Council of Switzerland Dr. Ulrich Schüler, National Council of Switzerland 29. November 2009 (Many many thanks for the Translation: Frank Kitman)»

Notável a clareza e a lucidez do comunicado. Uma lástima a posição da Igreja, que continua a negar a sabedoria acumulada durante séculos de confronto com o Islão. Via Vlad Tepes.

Povo suíço proíbe minaretes (2)

Algumas reacções ao resultado do referendo suíço que ditou a proibição da construção de minaretes nas mesquitas da Suiça recolhidas pelo blogue Islam in Europe. Via Muslims Against Sharia.

Povo suíço proíbe minaretes

Cerca de 57% dos suíços decidiram em referendo proibir a construção de minaretes nas mesquitas do país. O povo decidiu contra a classe política, contra o politicamente correcto, contra o medo de parecer retrógrado e ultramontano, contra o medo de represálias, tudo boas razões (para além da questão dos minaretes em si mesma) para votar no sentido em que os suíços o fizeram. Estarão os suíços a voltar-se contra os princípios que professam defender, ao limitar a liberdade dos muçulmanos de construir templos ao modo que querem? Será isso uma violação da liberdade religiosa? Pode ser, mas há princípios que as pessoas devem respeitar antes de deles quererem usufruir. Concretamente, os muçulmanos sabem que a sua religião e os estados que por ela se orientam não reconhecem aos cristãos e aos judeus o direito à plena liberdade religiosa, nem o direito à plena cidadania, já para não falar dos politeístas e dos ateus, que são ainda mais mal tratados. Num quadro destes, como pode um muçulmano reclamar o direito a usufruir da mesma liberdade que a sua religião, mais amplamente a sua civilização, não reconhece aos outros? Como outros já observaram, esperemos que este referendo constitua o ponto de viragem da islamização da Europa, que seja uma afirmação da vontade dos povos europeus de defender a sua civilização e a sua cultura, que seja o estabelecer de um limite a partir do qual o Islão não há-de passar. Viva a Suíça! Ver Princípio da Reciprocidade e Princípio da Reciprocidade - adenda e Liberdade Religiosa.

The History of Political Correctness - Video

The History of Political Correctness ou do Marxismo Cultural. Muito instrutivo para perceber, para além do politicamente correcto, o multiculturalismo, o relativismo, os estudos de género, os estudos raciais, os revisionismos históricos à volta do imperialismo, do colonialismo e das religiões, os estudos raciais, a revolução sexual, em suma, os agentes corruptores da cultura ocidental.

The History of Political Correctness Son of Liberty - Restore Our Republic | MySpace Video Via Vlad Tepes.

Eid-al-Adha: Festa do Sacrifício

Eid-al-Adha: Festa do Sacrifício, hoje, um pouco por todo o mundo e também na Europa, com o beneplácito dos nossos dirigentes políticos, mesmo dos que têm fama de ser recalcitrantes ao Islão.

Via Bivouac-ID.

Sands of Passion: Episódio 3

Já que a cimitarra pende sobre a nossa cabeça e não parecemos muito interessados em defender a nossa civilização, a nossa cultura, os nosso países, as nossas famílias, os nossos pescoços, mais vale rirmo-nos de tudo isto.

From Crackle: Sands of Passion - Episode 3

Via Tundra Tabloids.

Videoteca do Islamismo: lapidação (addendum)

O leitor Manuel da Fonseca chamou a minha atenção para uma incorrecção gravíssima do postal anterior e que é a seguinte: a lapidação registada no video que entretanto removi, por razões que ficarão claras, foi perpetrada por uma turba de curdos de religião yazidi. A violenta ocorrência registada no video não tem como base a prática islâmica de lapidar os adúlteros descrita no texto do postal, o qual mantenho integralmente. O acontecimento parece ter circulado pela internet em 2007 e está descrito na Wikipedia, sabendo-se inclusive o nome da vítima. Peço desculpa aos leitores induzidos em erro. A ressalva feita na primeira frase do postal devia ter-me levado a ser mais cauteloso antes de publicar o video no contexto em que o fiz, nomeadamente tentando descobrir mais pormenores sobre ele. Considero a publicação do video perfeitamente legítima, até desejável, como demonstração de que as culturas não são todas iguais, por exemplo, numa Videoteca do Multiculturalismo, mas não do Islamismo, que já tem tantos crimes na folha de serviços que se torna desnecessário atribuir-lhe outros pelos quais não é responsável.

Videoteca do Islamismo: lapidação.

Lapidação, aparentemente mortal, de uma mulher. Não disponho de informações sobre o local, nem sobre a vítima e o crime que terá cometido, nem sobre responsáveis pelo seu linchamento. Recordo que a lapidação é o castigo aplicado aos adúlteros no Islão, de acordo com as prescrições recolhidas nas ahadith, ou seja, nos relatos dos ditos e feitos do profeta Mafoma. A prescrição corânica determina a flagelação com cem vergastadas (Corão 24,2), mas a hadith de Sahih al-Bukhari (Volume 8, Livro 82, Versículo 816) relata o seu uso na presença e com a aprovação de Mafoma, e deplora o risco da sua aplicação cair em desuso, dado que nenhum versículo corânico a prescreve, exortando os muçulmanos a zelar pela continuidade da sua aplicação.

Video removido pelo autor do blogue. Veja o postal seguinte.

Agradeço o video ao leitor ejsantos.

Eurábia: antevisão (2)

«(...) [A] town of 6500 in Denmark called Tingbjerg is dramatically changing due to high Muslim immigration and birthrate. The report says that residents are complaining that many Muslims are not assimilating and are changing Danish society.

"As the neighborhood has become increasingly Muslim, it's also been increasingly plagued by gang violence, burglaries, car-burnings, vandalism, and other offenses," the report says. "Over the years, the members of Tingbjerg's non-Muslim minority have come to feel increasingly vulnerable and ill at ease in their community."

The homosexual pastor of a church in Tingjerg fled the town this month due to persecution from Muslim youth. His church has been repeatedly vandalized and broken into, and his personal property has been stolen. The church is now for sale.

Two journalists from Denmark's TV-2 station tried to do a story on the church and were threatened by two Muslims who demanded that they delete the tape because they did not want to be seen on TV. The two then smashed the windows of the station's van.

The TV station also ran a letter from one resident describing how they had seen Muslim youth set a dumpsters and buildings on fire and carried wagons of stones to attack those who tried to stop them. The resident claimed that the local police initially failed to stop their crimes because of the stones and had to come back "dressed for combat."»

Via Muslims Against Sharia.

Turquia: império islâmico

A Zenit reproduz as seguintes palavras do bispo de Sarajevo, cardeal Vinko Puljić:

«(...) “No final de Outubro, o ministro do Exterior turco, Ahmet Davutoglu, disse em Sarajevo que o objectivo da política turca é o novo surgimento do império otomano nos Balcãs, como no século XVI (...).»

Ninguém viu, ninguém ouviu, ninguém fez caso. Os inimigos do Ocidente não se inibem de expressar as suas intenções imperialistas e totalitárias, sabendo que os ocidentais estão paralisados pelo relativismo, pelo multiculturalismo e pelo politicamente correcto. Tudo isto nos impede de ver o perigo que se concentra sobre as nossas cabeças, contra todas as evidências, inclusive a profissão de intenções dos nossos futuros algozes.