bodhi
2007-04-21 07:20:02 UTC
Cho Seung-Hui and the Ismaili Cult, The Āgā Khān IV, Hillary Clinton's
shady Funraiser, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s devotion to the 12th Imam and
Muammar Gaddafi's Fatimid Assassins.
The Followers of ISMAIL
By Guest: David J. Jonsson on Apr 20, 07
http://newsbyus.com/more.php?id=7958_0_1_0_M
In recent weeks we have seen resurgence in the followers of the
Ismaili sect of Shia Islam. Libyan leader Mu’ammar Qaddafi called, in
a speech in Niger to Tuareg tribal leaders, for the establishment of a
second Shi’ite Fatimid state in North Africa, after the model of the
10th-13th century empire that ruled North Africa, Egypt, and parts of
the Fertile Crescent. It is worthwhile to review some of the
background and origins of this sect and also to see how it may be
impacting current events. The Ismailis are the followers of the
seventh caliph Ismail and are know as seveners vs. the followers of
the twelfth Imam or twelvers as Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The Ismaili Students’ Association operates on many campuses.
Origins of the Conflict
Until about 900, the centers of Islamic power remained in the Fertile
Crescent, a semicircle of fertile land stretching from the
southeastern Mediterranean coast around the Syrian Desert north of the
Arabian Peninsula to the Persian Gulf and linked with the Arabian
heartland. After the 9th century, however, the most significant
political centers moved farther and farther away--to Egypt and India,
as well as to what is now Turkey and the Central Asian republics.
Intellectual vitality eventually followed political power, and as a
result, Islamic civilization was no longer centered in Mecca and
Medina in the Hijaz.
Arabia was also the site for some of the conflicts on which the
sectarian divisions of Islam are based. The major Islamic sect, the
Shia (from Shiat Ali or “party of Ali"), is still represented in Saudi
Arabia but forms a larger percentage of the populations in Iraq and
Iran. The conflicts in Iraq arise largely from the ongoing hostilities
between the Shiites and Sunni populations.
One Shia denomination, known as the Kharijite movement, began in
events surrounding the assassination of Uthman, the third caliph, and
the transfer of authority to Ali, the fourth caliph. Those who
believed Ali should have been the legitimate successor to the Prophet
refused to accept the authority of Uthman. Muawiyah in Syria
challenged Ali’s election as caliph, leading to a war between the two
and their supporters. Muawiyah and Ali eventually agreed to an
arbitrator, and the fighting stopped. Part of Ali’s army, however,
objected to the compromise, claiming Muawiyah’s family were insincere
Muslims. So strong was their protest against compromise that they left
Ali’s camp (the term khariji literally means “the ones who leave") and
fought a battle with their former colleagues the next year.
The more orthodox Shia sect originated in circumstances similar to
those of the Kharijite movement. Shia believed that Ali should have
led the Muslim community immediately after the Prophet. They were
frustrated three times, however, when the larger Muslim community
selected first Abu Bakr, next Umar (died in 644), and then Uthman as
caliph. When Ali finally became caliph in 656, the Shia refused to
accept claims to the caliphate from other Muslim leaders such as
Muawiyah.
The killing of Husayn provided the central ethos for the emergence of
the Shia as a distinct sect. Eventually, the Shia would split into
several separate denominations based on disputes over who of Ali’s
direct male descendants should be the true spiritual leader. The
majority came to recognize a line of twelve leaders, or Imans,
beginning with Ali and ending with Muhammad al Muntazar (Muhammad, the
awaited one). These Shia, who are often referred to as “Twelvers,”
claimed that the Twelfth Imam did not die but disappeared in 874. They
believe that he will return as the “rightly guided leader,” or Mahdi,
and usher in a new, more perfect order.
The most remarkable aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad’s piety is his devotion
to the 12th Imam --- the Hidden Imam, the Messiah-like figure of Shia
Islam, and the president’s belief that his government must prepare the
country for his return.
The Shia minority in Saudi Arabia, like the Shia in southern Iraq,
traces its origin to the days of Ali. The Ismailis are a Muslim Shiite
sect that holds Ismail, the son of Jafar as-Sadiq, as its imam. On the
death of the sixth imam of the Shiites, Jafar as-Sadiq (d. 765), the
majority of Shiites accepted Musa al-Kazim, the younger son of Jafar,
as seventh imam. Those who remained faithful to Ismail, the eldest
son, soon evolved the belief that Ismail was endowed with an
infallible gift for interpreting the inner meaning of the revelation.
Ismailism developed an understanding of Islam and promoted it through
an active missionary system. Although the early history remains
obscure, Ismailism incorporated elements of Gnosticism, Neoplatonism,
and Hindu thought to explain its concept of the imam. An offshoot, the
Assassins, established a state in NE Iran, which survived until the
13th cent. In 1094 the Ismailis split into Nizaris and Mustalis.
Today, though a minority community that is not politically active, the
Ismailis are spread in small pockets in parts of the Middle East,
central and S Asia, and increasingly North America and Europe. The
family of the Aga Khan, the Nizari imam, traces its descent from
Ismail.
The current (49th) Imam, The Āgā Khān IV, or His Highness Prince Karīm
al-Hussaynī Āgā Khān IV, who is active in international humanitarian
efforts, is a direct descendant of Ali. He is a direct descendant of
the Prophet Muhammad through the Prophet’s daughter, Fātima, and her
husband, `Alī ibn Abī Tālib, the first Shī`a Imam.
The Aga Khan Foundation is a non-denominational, international
development agency established in 1967 by His Highness the Aga Khan.
Its mission is to develop and promote creative solutions to problems
that impede social development, primarily in Asia and East Africa.
Created as a private, non-profit foundation under Swiss law, it has
branches and independent affiliates in 15 countries. It is a modern
vehicle for traditional philanthropy in the Ismaili Muslim community
under the leadership of the Aga Khan.
So there were two faces of Arabia. To the west was the Hijaz, which
derived a cosmopolitan quality from the foreign traffic that moved
continually through it. In the east was Najd, which remained
relatively isolated. During the eighteenth century, Wahhabi ideas,
vital to the rise of the Al Saud, would originate in Najd.
The Virginia Massacre
Apparently, on the morning of April 17, an express mail package was
sent to NBC containing a rambling note and videos about Cho Seung-Hui.
According to posting on the Michael Savage website showing a sender
address as A. Ismail. It is well known that when people convert to
Islam they often take on new Islamic/Arabic names. Example include:
Malcolm X born Malcolm Little. Malcolm X was also known as also known
as El-Hajj (Referring to the Pilgrimage to Mecca.) Malik (A word
meaning “king” in Arabic.) El-Shabazz, was a Black Muslim Minister and
National Spokesman for the Nation of Islam. Cat Stevens - Yusuf Islam
a prominent convert to Islam. Stevens retired from the music world
soon after accepting the faith of Islam. He subsequently married, had
five children, auctioned off his possessions, and founded a Muslim
school in London. A vocal opponent of the war in Iraq, Yusuf Islam is
on a U.S. government security watch list and is barred from entering
the United States. Although this is not a Qur’anic requirement, many
do change their names to reflect conversion to Islam. Many men select
Islamic related names such as Ali, or Ahmid…etc.
There are many theories being proposed as to the meaning of the words—
ISMAIL AX found written in red ink on the inside of one of Cho Seung-
Hui, a 23-year-old senior’s arms, the gunman suspected of carrying out
the Virginia Tech massacre that left 33 people dead.
In his “multimedia manifesto” he spewed anti-Christian rhetoric.
I would propose for consideration that the ISMAIL AX or A. Ismail on
the letter may have reference is to Ismaili - a member of a branch of
Shiism that follows a living imam and is noted for esoteric
philosophy. It may take a while before the motives are known and if
there is any relation between Cho and the Islmaili sect of Shiism.
Others have proposed that it is the reference to Ismail the son of
Muhammad. Ismail is a common name including that of the Palestinian
Authority Prime Minister and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and prominent
Azerbaijani poet and statesman Shah Ismail Khatayi.
Connections between the Los Angeles Ismaili Community and Hillary
Clinton and Barbra Boxer
The Leftist Islamist Alliance remains in tact.
On April 15, 2007, Chuck Neubauer and Robin Fields writing in the Los
Angeles Times article Campaign donor’s cash arrived with real baggage
“On a sun-dappled October afternoon, Ray Jinnah stood beside his Bel
Air swimming pool to address 60 guests gathered for his latest
fundraiser, a 2004 affair for New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.”
“Jinnah belonged to Los Angeles’ small Ismaili community, Shiite
Muslims whose spiritual leader is the Aga Khan. Other Ismailis said he
used political connections to raise his status, inviting them to his
events.”
“Then-Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn was there, along with then-City
Council President Alex Padilla. Both had received backing from Jinnah,
a Pakistani businessman positioning himself as a player in Democratic
fundraising and organizer of support for Pakistan on Capitol Hill.”
“As captured on a DVD he distributed to guests, Jinnah introduced
Clinton, whose political action committee would take in $45,000
through his efforts.”
“By 2004, Jinnah had cemented his party ties. He and his family, who
had moved to Bel-Air, personally contributed $122,000 to Democratic
candidates and causes that year alone.”
“I’m just recalling how close I’ve been with the Clinton family and
those nights, movies, dinners, lunches in the White House,” he said in
unsteady English.
“At about the same time, the Justice Department began investigating
allegations that Jinnah’s fundraising on behalf of Clinton and others
was illegal. He would later be charged with violating federal law by
reimbursing employees and associates for contributions made in their
names to Clinton’s HillPac and the Friends of Barbara Boxer campaign.
Today, having fled the country, Jinnah is on the FBI’s “featured
fugitives” list.”
The Assassins – The Grand Master
Bernard Lewis in his book The Assassins: A Radical Sect in Islam
tackles and persuasively debunks most of the popular legends about the
Assassins, such as the claim that their Grand Master secured the
fanatical loyalty of his young followers by drugging them with
narcotics and then conveying them for short periods to an artificial
“paradise” of his own creation that was staffed by sensuous and
accommodating young women. Lewis instead finds that a more
straightforward (and plausible) explanation for the willingness of the
Assassins’ fida’ is to offer themselves up for suicidal missions:
religious passion and commitment to the Nizari community.
Lewis’s elegant account will thus introduce you to an intriguing
period of medieval Islamic history, one populated by a collection of
memorable figures - the brilliant and ascetic Assassin leader Hassan i-
Sabah, the real founder of the Order; the “Old Man of the Mountain,”
Sinan, who commanded the Order’s Syrian branch during the most
critical years of the Crusades; Saladin, who was at different times
both a target and an ally of the Assassins; Hulegu, the grandson of
Genghis Khan, who finally succeeded where the Seljuks had failed,
rooting out the Order from its mountaintop fortresses and then
ordering mass exterminations of its communicants; and last but not
least, Marco Polo, to whose vivid tales can be ascribed much of the
lingering fascination that continues to surround the Assassins.
Libya Promotes the Establishment of a Second Shi’ite Fatimid State in
North Africa
On March 30, 2007, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said that it was a
mistake to believe that Christianity was a universal faith alongside
Islam according to the Reuters correspondent Salah Sarrar writing from
AGADEZ, Niger.
It should be added that on April 19, 2007 “Turkey’s tiny Christian
minority is under attack. In the latest spate of violence, persons
unknown tied up three people at a publishing house that distributes
Bibles in Turkey then slit their throats on the same day that the so-
called “multimedia manifesto” of Virginia Tech mass murderer Cho Seung
Hui was televised with the 23-year-old Virginia student staring into
the camera and spewing anti-Christian rhetoric.” See: Article by Judi
McLeod on Canada Free Press—Christians slaughtered in Muslim-dominated
Turkey.
Quoting Gaddafi: “There are serious mistakes—among them the one saying
that Jesus came as a messenger for other people other than the sons of
Israel,” he told a mass prayer meeting in Niger.”
“Christianity is not a faith for people in Africa, Asia, Europe and
the Americas. Other people who are not sons of Israel have nothing to
do with that religion,” he said at the prayer meeting, held to mark
the birth of the prophet Mohammed.
Gaddafi, who is seeking to expand his influence in Africa, said his
arguments came from the Qur’an. He led similar prayers last year in
Mali.
On March 31, 2007, Libyan leader Mu’ammar Qaddafi called, in a speech
in Niger to Tuareg tribal leaders, for the establishment of a second
Shi’ite Fatimid state in North Africa, after the model of the
10th-13th century empire that ruled North Africa, Egypt, and parts of
the Fertile Crescent. In his speech, Qaddafi denounced the division of
Muslims into Sunni and Shi’ite as a colonialist plot, and rebuked the
Arab League members for “hating Iran” according to the article In
Overture to Iran, Qaddafi Declares North Africa Shi’ite and Calls for
Establishment of New Fatimid State by MEMRI Special Dispatch Series –
No 1535 of April 6, 2007.
The History of the Fatimid State
“The Fatimid state arose in the beginning of the 10th century, and it
formed an umbrella over North Africa, and under its banner all of the
tribal, denominational, political, and ethnic differences fused, and
they all became one single Fatimid identity, which lasted 260 years
and extended as far as the Arab East.
Islam has a long history of using terror as a political instrument.
The most famous of these was the ‘Fort of the Assassins’ of the
founder of the Ismaili order.
Terrorism, by which we mean the threat and use of violence against
innocents, has a long tradition in Islam going back to Prophet
Muhammad himself according to N.S. Rajaram in the article:
Grandmasters Of Terror.
The most famous of the Islamic terrorist organizations was the Nizari
Ismailiyun, a Shiite politico-religious sect, founded in 1094 by Hasan-
e Sabah. He and his followers captured the hill fortress of Almaut in
northern Iran, which became their base of operations. Hasan styled
himself Grand Master and went on to set up a network of terrorist
strongholds in Iran and Iraq. He had trained assassins, most of whom
according to Marco Polo were drug addicts. According to Marco Polo,
young boys captured by the Grand Master were turned into addicts by
giving them progressively large doses of the drug hashish. This way
they were totally dependent on him and would do anything in return for
hashish. They came to be known as hashishin, from which get the word
‘assassin.’ So the use of narcotics in terrorism is nothing new.
Some historians doubt Polo’s account, but it is difficult to believe
that he made up the whole thing. What is not in doubt, however, is the
fact that Hasan-e Sabah and his successor Grand Masters commanded an
army of assassins who spread terror among the people in Iran and Iraq.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, The Grand Master had “a
corps of devoted terrorists, and an unknown number of agents in enemy
camps and cities, who claimed many victims among the generals and
statesmen of the Abbasid caliphate as well as several caliphs.”
The Nizari Ismaliyun or the Order of the Assassins expanded into Syria
after its founder’s death. In the 12th century, Rashid ad-Din as-
Sinan, famous as the ‘Old Man of the Mountain,’ set himself up as an
independent Grand Master of the Assassin Order in the impregnable
castle of Masyaf in Syria. For over a century and a half, from 1094 to
1256, these Grandmasters and their assassins spread terror throughout
the Middle East. Their end came at the hands of the Mongol warriors of
Haleku Khan—the grandson of Chengis Khan. He captured and destroyed
assassin strongholds in Iran one by one, and finally Almaut itself in
1256. Two years later, in February 1258, Haleku’s soldiers sacked
Baghdad itself and ended the Caliphate by executing the Abbasid Caliph
al-Mustasim and his sons. So, the main result of the activities of the
Assassins was the end of the Caliphate.
In more recent times, terror was used to gain political ends by
Mohammed Ali Jinnah. In 1946, his call for ‘Direct Action’ in support
of his demand for Pakistan led to street riots all across North India.
The Congress party, which had won the election by promising that it
would not allow India to be divided, capitulated and agreed to the
Partition of India.
In all this, there is an almost religious belief that terrorism pays.
In the Pakistani official manual The Quranic Concept of War by
Brigadier Malik, it is explicitly stated: “Terror struck into the
hearts of the enemy is not only a means; it is the end in itself. Once
a condition of terror into the opponent’s heart is obtained, hardly
anything is left to be achieved… Terror is not a means of imposing
decision upon the enemy; it is the decision we wish to impose upon
him.”
One major point to ponder, when thinking about The Quranic Concept of
War, is the title itself. The Quran is presumed to be the revealed
word of God as spoken through his chosen prophet, Mohammed. According
to Malik, the Quran places warfighting doctrine and its theory in a
much different category than western thinkers are accustomed to,
because it is not a theory of war derived by man, but of God. This is
God’s warfighting principles and commandments revealed. Malik’s
attempts to distill God’s doctrine for war through the examples of the
Prophet. By contrast, the closest that Clausewitz comes to divine
presentation is in his discussion of the trinity: the people, the
state, and the military. In the Islamic context, the discussion of war
is at the level of revealed truth and example, well above theory—God
has no need to theorize. Malik notes, “As a complete Code of Life, the
Holy Quran gives us a philosophy of war as well. . . . This divine
philosophy is an integral part of the total Quranic ideology.” From
Parameters, US Army War College Quarterly, Winter 2006-07, pp. 108-27.
The authority for this is the Qur’an (Anfal 8:59-60): “And let not
those who disbelieve suppose that they can outstrip (Allah’s Purpose).
Lo! they cannot escape. Against them make ready your strength to the
utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into
(the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies, and others
besides, whom ye may not know, but whom Allah doth know. Whatever ye
shall spend in the cause of Allah, shall be repaid unto you, and ye
shall not be treated unjustly.” (Yusufal)
David J. Jonsson
David J. Jonsson is the author of Clash of Ideologies —The Making of
the Christian and Islamic Worlds, Xulon Press 2005. His new book:
Islamic Economics and the Final Jihad: The Muslim Brotherhood to the
Leftist/Marxist - Islamist Alliance (Salem Communications (May 30,
2006). He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in physics.
He worked for major corporations in the United States and Japan and
with multilateral agencies that brought him to more that fifteen
countries with significant or majority populations who are Muslim.
These exposures provided insight into the basic tenants of Islam as a
political, economic and religious system. He became proficient in
Islamic law (Shariah) through contract negotiation and personal
encounter.
-----------
namaste;
bodhi
shady Funraiser, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s devotion to the 12th Imam and
Muammar Gaddafi's Fatimid Assassins.
The Followers of ISMAIL
By Guest: David J. Jonsson on Apr 20, 07
http://newsbyus.com/more.php?id=7958_0_1_0_M
In recent weeks we have seen resurgence in the followers of the
Ismaili sect of Shia Islam. Libyan leader Mu’ammar Qaddafi called, in
a speech in Niger to Tuareg tribal leaders, for the establishment of a
second Shi’ite Fatimid state in North Africa, after the model of the
10th-13th century empire that ruled North Africa, Egypt, and parts of
the Fertile Crescent. It is worthwhile to review some of the
background and origins of this sect and also to see how it may be
impacting current events. The Ismailis are the followers of the
seventh caliph Ismail and are know as seveners vs. the followers of
the twelfth Imam or twelvers as Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The Ismaili Students’ Association operates on many campuses.
Origins of the Conflict
Until about 900, the centers of Islamic power remained in the Fertile
Crescent, a semicircle of fertile land stretching from the
southeastern Mediterranean coast around the Syrian Desert north of the
Arabian Peninsula to the Persian Gulf and linked with the Arabian
heartland. After the 9th century, however, the most significant
political centers moved farther and farther away--to Egypt and India,
as well as to what is now Turkey and the Central Asian republics.
Intellectual vitality eventually followed political power, and as a
result, Islamic civilization was no longer centered in Mecca and
Medina in the Hijaz.
Arabia was also the site for some of the conflicts on which the
sectarian divisions of Islam are based. The major Islamic sect, the
Shia (from Shiat Ali or “party of Ali"), is still represented in Saudi
Arabia but forms a larger percentage of the populations in Iraq and
Iran. The conflicts in Iraq arise largely from the ongoing hostilities
between the Shiites and Sunni populations.
One Shia denomination, known as the Kharijite movement, began in
events surrounding the assassination of Uthman, the third caliph, and
the transfer of authority to Ali, the fourth caliph. Those who
believed Ali should have been the legitimate successor to the Prophet
refused to accept the authority of Uthman. Muawiyah in Syria
challenged Ali’s election as caliph, leading to a war between the two
and their supporters. Muawiyah and Ali eventually agreed to an
arbitrator, and the fighting stopped. Part of Ali’s army, however,
objected to the compromise, claiming Muawiyah’s family were insincere
Muslims. So strong was their protest against compromise that they left
Ali’s camp (the term khariji literally means “the ones who leave") and
fought a battle with their former colleagues the next year.
The more orthodox Shia sect originated in circumstances similar to
those of the Kharijite movement. Shia believed that Ali should have
led the Muslim community immediately after the Prophet. They were
frustrated three times, however, when the larger Muslim community
selected first Abu Bakr, next Umar (died in 644), and then Uthman as
caliph. When Ali finally became caliph in 656, the Shia refused to
accept claims to the caliphate from other Muslim leaders such as
Muawiyah.
The killing of Husayn provided the central ethos for the emergence of
the Shia as a distinct sect. Eventually, the Shia would split into
several separate denominations based on disputes over who of Ali’s
direct male descendants should be the true spiritual leader. The
majority came to recognize a line of twelve leaders, or Imans,
beginning with Ali and ending with Muhammad al Muntazar (Muhammad, the
awaited one). These Shia, who are often referred to as “Twelvers,”
claimed that the Twelfth Imam did not die but disappeared in 874. They
believe that he will return as the “rightly guided leader,” or Mahdi,
and usher in a new, more perfect order.
The most remarkable aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad’s piety is his devotion
to the 12th Imam --- the Hidden Imam, the Messiah-like figure of Shia
Islam, and the president’s belief that his government must prepare the
country for his return.
The Shia minority in Saudi Arabia, like the Shia in southern Iraq,
traces its origin to the days of Ali. The Ismailis are a Muslim Shiite
sect that holds Ismail, the son of Jafar as-Sadiq, as its imam. On the
death of the sixth imam of the Shiites, Jafar as-Sadiq (d. 765), the
majority of Shiites accepted Musa al-Kazim, the younger son of Jafar,
as seventh imam. Those who remained faithful to Ismail, the eldest
son, soon evolved the belief that Ismail was endowed with an
infallible gift for interpreting the inner meaning of the revelation.
Ismailism developed an understanding of Islam and promoted it through
an active missionary system. Although the early history remains
obscure, Ismailism incorporated elements of Gnosticism, Neoplatonism,
and Hindu thought to explain its concept of the imam. An offshoot, the
Assassins, established a state in NE Iran, which survived until the
13th cent. In 1094 the Ismailis split into Nizaris and Mustalis.
Today, though a minority community that is not politically active, the
Ismailis are spread in small pockets in parts of the Middle East,
central and S Asia, and increasingly North America and Europe. The
family of the Aga Khan, the Nizari imam, traces its descent from
Ismail.
The current (49th) Imam, The Āgā Khān IV, or His Highness Prince Karīm
al-Hussaynī Āgā Khān IV, who is active in international humanitarian
efforts, is a direct descendant of Ali. He is a direct descendant of
the Prophet Muhammad through the Prophet’s daughter, Fātima, and her
husband, `Alī ibn Abī Tālib, the first Shī`a Imam.
The Aga Khan Foundation is a non-denominational, international
development agency established in 1967 by His Highness the Aga Khan.
Its mission is to develop and promote creative solutions to problems
that impede social development, primarily in Asia and East Africa.
Created as a private, non-profit foundation under Swiss law, it has
branches and independent affiliates in 15 countries. It is a modern
vehicle for traditional philanthropy in the Ismaili Muslim community
under the leadership of the Aga Khan.
So there were two faces of Arabia. To the west was the Hijaz, which
derived a cosmopolitan quality from the foreign traffic that moved
continually through it. In the east was Najd, which remained
relatively isolated. During the eighteenth century, Wahhabi ideas,
vital to the rise of the Al Saud, would originate in Najd.
The Virginia Massacre
Apparently, on the morning of April 17, an express mail package was
sent to NBC containing a rambling note and videos about Cho Seung-Hui.
According to posting on the Michael Savage website showing a sender
address as A. Ismail. It is well known that when people convert to
Islam they often take on new Islamic/Arabic names. Example include:
Malcolm X born Malcolm Little. Malcolm X was also known as also known
as El-Hajj (Referring to the Pilgrimage to Mecca.) Malik (A word
meaning “king” in Arabic.) El-Shabazz, was a Black Muslim Minister and
National Spokesman for the Nation of Islam. Cat Stevens - Yusuf Islam
a prominent convert to Islam. Stevens retired from the music world
soon after accepting the faith of Islam. He subsequently married, had
five children, auctioned off his possessions, and founded a Muslim
school in London. A vocal opponent of the war in Iraq, Yusuf Islam is
on a U.S. government security watch list and is barred from entering
the United States. Although this is not a Qur’anic requirement, many
do change their names to reflect conversion to Islam. Many men select
Islamic related names such as Ali, or Ahmid…etc.
There are many theories being proposed as to the meaning of the words—
ISMAIL AX found written in red ink on the inside of one of Cho Seung-
Hui, a 23-year-old senior’s arms, the gunman suspected of carrying out
the Virginia Tech massacre that left 33 people dead.
In his “multimedia manifesto” he spewed anti-Christian rhetoric.
I would propose for consideration that the ISMAIL AX or A. Ismail on
the letter may have reference is to Ismaili - a member of a branch of
Shiism that follows a living imam and is noted for esoteric
philosophy. It may take a while before the motives are known and if
there is any relation between Cho and the Islmaili sect of Shiism.
Others have proposed that it is the reference to Ismail the son of
Muhammad. Ismail is a common name including that of the Palestinian
Authority Prime Minister and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and prominent
Azerbaijani poet and statesman Shah Ismail Khatayi.
Connections between the Los Angeles Ismaili Community and Hillary
Clinton and Barbra Boxer
The Leftist Islamist Alliance remains in tact.
On April 15, 2007, Chuck Neubauer and Robin Fields writing in the Los
Angeles Times article Campaign donor’s cash arrived with real baggage
“On a sun-dappled October afternoon, Ray Jinnah stood beside his Bel
Air swimming pool to address 60 guests gathered for his latest
fundraiser, a 2004 affair for New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.”
“Jinnah belonged to Los Angeles’ small Ismaili community, Shiite
Muslims whose spiritual leader is the Aga Khan. Other Ismailis said he
used political connections to raise his status, inviting them to his
events.”
“Then-Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn was there, along with then-City
Council President Alex Padilla. Both had received backing from Jinnah,
a Pakistani businessman positioning himself as a player in Democratic
fundraising and organizer of support for Pakistan on Capitol Hill.”
“As captured on a DVD he distributed to guests, Jinnah introduced
Clinton, whose political action committee would take in $45,000
through his efforts.”
“By 2004, Jinnah had cemented his party ties. He and his family, who
had moved to Bel-Air, personally contributed $122,000 to Democratic
candidates and causes that year alone.”
“I’m just recalling how close I’ve been with the Clinton family and
those nights, movies, dinners, lunches in the White House,” he said in
unsteady English.
“At about the same time, the Justice Department began investigating
allegations that Jinnah’s fundraising on behalf of Clinton and others
was illegal. He would later be charged with violating federal law by
reimbursing employees and associates for contributions made in their
names to Clinton’s HillPac and the Friends of Barbara Boxer campaign.
Today, having fled the country, Jinnah is on the FBI’s “featured
fugitives” list.”
The Assassins – The Grand Master
Bernard Lewis in his book The Assassins: A Radical Sect in Islam
tackles and persuasively debunks most of the popular legends about the
Assassins, such as the claim that their Grand Master secured the
fanatical loyalty of his young followers by drugging them with
narcotics and then conveying them for short periods to an artificial
“paradise” of his own creation that was staffed by sensuous and
accommodating young women. Lewis instead finds that a more
straightforward (and plausible) explanation for the willingness of the
Assassins’ fida’ is to offer themselves up for suicidal missions:
religious passion and commitment to the Nizari community.
Lewis’s elegant account will thus introduce you to an intriguing
period of medieval Islamic history, one populated by a collection of
memorable figures - the brilliant and ascetic Assassin leader Hassan i-
Sabah, the real founder of the Order; the “Old Man of the Mountain,”
Sinan, who commanded the Order’s Syrian branch during the most
critical years of the Crusades; Saladin, who was at different times
both a target and an ally of the Assassins; Hulegu, the grandson of
Genghis Khan, who finally succeeded where the Seljuks had failed,
rooting out the Order from its mountaintop fortresses and then
ordering mass exterminations of its communicants; and last but not
least, Marco Polo, to whose vivid tales can be ascribed much of the
lingering fascination that continues to surround the Assassins.
Libya Promotes the Establishment of a Second Shi’ite Fatimid State in
North Africa
On March 30, 2007, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said that it was a
mistake to believe that Christianity was a universal faith alongside
Islam according to the Reuters correspondent Salah Sarrar writing from
AGADEZ, Niger.
It should be added that on April 19, 2007 “Turkey’s tiny Christian
minority is under attack. In the latest spate of violence, persons
unknown tied up three people at a publishing house that distributes
Bibles in Turkey then slit their throats on the same day that the so-
called “multimedia manifesto” of Virginia Tech mass murderer Cho Seung
Hui was televised with the 23-year-old Virginia student staring into
the camera and spewing anti-Christian rhetoric.” See: Article by Judi
McLeod on Canada Free Press—Christians slaughtered in Muslim-dominated
Turkey.
Quoting Gaddafi: “There are serious mistakes—among them the one saying
that Jesus came as a messenger for other people other than the sons of
Israel,” he told a mass prayer meeting in Niger.”
“Christianity is not a faith for people in Africa, Asia, Europe and
the Americas. Other people who are not sons of Israel have nothing to
do with that religion,” he said at the prayer meeting, held to mark
the birth of the prophet Mohammed.
Gaddafi, who is seeking to expand his influence in Africa, said his
arguments came from the Qur’an. He led similar prayers last year in
Mali.
On March 31, 2007, Libyan leader Mu’ammar Qaddafi called, in a speech
in Niger to Tuareg tribal leaders, for the establishment of a second
Shi’ite Fatimid state in North Africa, after the model of the
10th-13th century empire that ruled North Africa, Egypt, and parts of
the Fertile Crescent. In his speech, Qaddafi denounced the division of
Muslims into Sunni and Shi’ite as a colonialist plot, and rebuked the
Arab League members for “hating Iran” according to the article In
Overture to Iran, Qaddafi Declares North Africa Shi’ite and Calls for
Establishment of New Fatimid State by MEMRI Special Dispatch Series –
No 1535 of April 6, 2007.
The History of the Fatimid State
“The Fatimid state arose in the beginning of the 10th century, and it
formed an umbrella over North Africa, and under its banner all of the
tribal, denominational, political, and ethnic differences fused, and
they all became one single Fatimid identity, which lasted 260 years
and extended as far as the Arab East.
Islam has a long history of using terror as a political instrument.
The most famous of these was the ‘Fort of the Assassins’ of the
founder of the Ismaili order.
Terrorism, by which we mean the threat and use of violence against
innocents, has a long tradition in Islam going back to Prophet
Muhammad himself according to N.S. Rajaram in the article:
Grandmasters Of Terror.
The most famous of the Islamic terrorist organizations was the Nizari
Ismailiyun, a Shiite politico-religious sect, founded in 1094 by Hasan-
e Sabah. He and his followers captured the hill fortress of Almaut in
northern Iran, which became their base of operations. Hasan styled
himself Grand Master and went on to set up a network of terrorist
strongholds in Iran and Iraq. He had trained assassins, most of whom
according to Marco Polo were drug addicts. According to Marco Polo,
young boys captured by the Grand Master were turned into addicts by
giving them progressively large doses of the drug hashish. This way
they were totally dependent on him and would do anything in return for
hashish. They came to be known as hashishin, from which get the word
‘assassin.’ So the use of narcotics in terrorism is nothing new.
Some historians doubt Polo’s account, but it is difficult to believe
that he made up the whole thing. What is not in doubt, however, is the
fact that Hasan-e Sabah and his successor Grand Masters commanded an
army of assassins who spread terror among the people in Iran and Iraq.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, The Grand Master had “a
corps of devoted terrorists, and an unknown number of agents in enemy
camps and cities, who claimed many victims among the generals and
statesmen of the Abbasid caliphate as well as several caliphs.”
The Nizari Ismaliyun or the Order of the Assassins expanded into Syria
after its founder’s death. In the 12th century, Rashid ad-Din as-
Sinan, famous as the ‘Old Man of the Mountain,’ set himself up as an
independent Grand Master of the Assassin Order in the impregnable
castle of Masyaf in Syria. For over a century and a half, from 1094 to
1256, these Grandmasters and their assassins spread terror throughout
the Middle East. Their end came at the hands of the Mongol warriors of
Haleku Khan—the grandson of Chengis Khan. He captured and destroyed
assassin strongholds in Iran one by one, and finally Almaut itself in
1256. Two years later, in February 1258, Haleku’s soldiers sacked
Baghdad itself and ended the Caliphate by executing the Abbasid Caliph
al-Mustasim and his sons. So, the main result of the activities of the
Assassins was the end of the Caliphate.
In more recent times, terror was used to gain political ends by
Mohammed Ali Jinnah. In 1946, his call for ‘Direct Action’ in support
of his demand for Pakistan led to street riots all across North India.
The Congress party, which had won the election by promising that it
would not allow India to be divided, capitulated and agreed to the
Partition of India.
In all this, there is an almost religious belief that terrorism pays.
In the Pakistani official manual The Quranic Concept of War by
Brigadier Malik, it is explicitly stated: “Terror struck into the
hearts of the enemy is not only a means; it is the end in itself. Once
a condition of terror into the opponent’s heart is obtained, hardly
anything is left to be achieved… Terror is not a means of imposing
decision upon the enemy; it is the decision we wish to impose upon
him.”
One major point to ponder, when thinking about The Quranic Concept of
War, is the title itself. The Quran is presumed to be the revealed
word of God as spoken through his chosen prophet, Mohammed. According
to Malik, the Quran places warfighting doctrine and its theory in a
much different category than western thinkers are accustomed to,
because it is not a theory of war derived by man, but of God. This is
God’s warfighting principles and commandments revealed. Malik’s
attempts to distill God’s doctrine for war through the examples of the
Prophet. By contrast, the closest that Clausewitz comes to divine
presentation is in his discussion of the trinity: the people, the
state, and the military. In the Islamic context, the discussion of war
is at the level of revealed truth and example, well above theory—God
has no need to theorize. Malik notes, “As a complete Code of Life, the
Holy Quran gives us a philosophy of war as well. . . . This divine
philosophy is an integral part of the total Quranic ideology.” From
Parameters, US Army War College Quarterly, Winter 2006-07, pp. 108-27.
The authority for this is the Qur’an (Anfal 8:59-60): “And let not
those who disbelieve suppose that they can outstrip (Allah’s Purpose).
Lo! they cannot escape. Against them make ready your strength to the
utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into
(the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies, and others
besides, whom ye may not know, but whom Allah doth know. Whatever ye
shall spend in the cause of Allah, shall be repaid unto you, and ye
shall not be treated unjustly.” (Yusufal)
David J. Jonsson
David J. Jonsson is the author of Clash of Ideologies —The Making of
the Christian and Islamic Worlds, Xulon Press 2005. His new book:
Islamic Economics and the Final Jihad: The Muslim Brotherhood to the
Leftist/Marxist - Islamist Alliance (Salem Communications (May 30,
2006). He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in physics.
He worked for major corporations in the United States and Japan and
with multilateral agencies that brought him to more that fifteen
countries with significant or majority populations who are Muslim.
These exposures provided insight into the basic tenants of Islam as a
political, economic and religious system. He became proficient in
Islamic law (Shariah) through contract negotiation and personal
encounter.
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namaste;
bodhi