Muslim Hate of Fun
Iraqi
Grand Mufti says New Year’s celebrations ‘not permissible’
Kosar
Nawzad
December 28-2018
ERBIL
(Kurdistan 24) – Iraq’s prominent Sunni, cleric Sheikh Abdul-Mahdi
al-Sumaidaie, on Thursday declared New Year’s celebrations to be
impermissible for Muslims.
Although
New Year’s celebrations, held in most countries using the
Gregorian calendar, are largely seen as a non-religious event, it
is still associated with Christianity.
Individuals
with little knowledge of the specifics of the observance confuse
it with the Christmas holidays, the supposed date of the birth of
Jesus Christ, who is considered a holy prophet in Islam, though
perceived differently from Christianity.
Recently,
the Iraqi council of ministers approved Christmas to become a
public holiday. This is the first time Baghdad has declared the
event a national holiday, involving all citizens after being
limited only to Christians for decades.
In
doing so, the rest of the nation joined the semi-autonomous
Kurdistan Region in including Christmas as a public holiday.
“It
is not permissible to celebrate the New Year or congratulate it or
participate in it,” the Facebook page “the Iraqi Dar al-Iftaa”
quoted Sumaidaie as saying. The page is for a non-official
religious body headed by Sumaidaie himself.
He
attributed the basis of his proclamation to senior religious
clerics, including Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, a 14th-century scholar
and expert in Islamic jurisprudence.
Jawziyya
considered congratulating Christians on their various festivals to
be an act of “Shirk,” one of the gravest sins a Muslim could
commit, meaning the deification or worship of anyone or anything
besides the Islamic god, Allah.
Sumaidaie
himself is the self-styled Grand Mufti of all Sunnis in Iraq. The
pronouncements of the holder of such a post, though not legally
binding, hold significant sway over public opinion and behavior.
The
influential Sunni leader has close ties with the Iraqi government.
He adheres to a particular brand of Salafism that strictly rejects
individuals from renouncing their faith.
He
also commands two Sunni brigades in the Hashd al-Shaabi, the
majority of which are Shia, some of whom are closely linked to
Tehran.
In
early December, Sumaidaie was seen in photos posing with the
Deputy Chairman of the Hashd al-Shaabi as well as the more famous
Qasim Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps Quds Force.
Many
leaders in the Hashd al-Shaabi took part in Christmas celebrations
and also sent congratulatory messages to the country’s Christian
community, which was estimated to have been around 1.5 million in
2003. It has since then dwindled, with many moving to Kurdistan or
abroad due to constant war and persecution, causing that number to
plummet.
In
2014, when the so-called Islamic State (IS) emerged in Iraq, tens
of thousands of Christians were forced to flee their homes, with
many seeking refuge in the Kurdistan Region. The jihadi group
killed Christian civilians, forced some to convert to Islam, and
destroyed or desecrated churches in cities like Mosul, which it
controlled for years.
Egypt comedian found guilty of
offending Islam
April
24, 2012
CAIRO
(AP)
— An Egyptian court on Tuesday upheld a conviction against one of
the Arab world's most famous comedians, sentencing him to jail for
offending Islam in some of his most popular films.
The
case
against Adel Imam and others like it have raised concerns among
some Egyptians that ultraconservative Muslims who made gains in
recent
elections after Hosni Mubarak's ouster last year are trying to
foist
their religious views on the entire country. Critics say the trend
threatens to curb Egypt's vibrant film industry and freedom of
speech.
Imam
was
sentenced to three months in jail and fined around $170 for
insulting Islam in roles he played in movies such as "The
Terrorist",
in which he acted the role of a wanted terrorist who found refuge
with
a middle class, moderate family, and the film "Terrorism and
Kabab. "
The
actor
was also found guilty for his 2007 role in "Morgan Ahmed Morgan,"
in which Imam played a corrupt businessman who tries to buy a
university diploma. The film included a scene parodying bearded
Muslim
men wearing traditional Islamic clothing.
Author
Alaa
al-Aswany, whose best-seller "The Yacoubian Building" was turned
into a film costarring Imam, said the court ruling sets Egypt back
to
the "darkness of the Middle Ages."
"This
is an unimaginable crime of principle in developed nations," he
said in remarks posted on his Twitter account Tuesday.
The
case
is one of many brought by conservative lawyers in recent months
seeking to punish individuals they deem as having offended Islam.
Earlier this year, two courts rejected blasphemy cases against
Christian media mogul, Naguib Sawiris, after he relayed a cartoon
online of Mickey Mouse with a beard and Minnie in a face veil.
The
cases
highlight the newfound sense of empowerment among followers of
the ultraconservative Salafi trend of Islam in Egypt after Mubarak
was
toppled in a popular uprising. Their newly formed Al-Nour party
won 25
percent of seats in parliament, emerging as the second most
powerful
group in Egypt after the more moderate Muslim Brotherhood.
The
mere
filing of such blasphemy cases by Salafi lawyers has raised
concern among rights groups and liberals about attempts to curb
freedom
of speech.
Egyptian
entertainment
reporter Tarek el-Shinnawi said the case against Imam is
a setback for Cairo's famed film industry, which has produced the
region's most popular films.
"It
will make any writer, director or actor think before considering
the role of a Muslim figure," el-Shinnawi said.
Imam
was
initially found guilty in February in a case brought by an
ultraconservative Islamist lawyer. He was given a retrial since he
was
first tried in absentia. He did not appear in court Tuesday but
his
lawyers did. Imam has the right to appeal.
Under
Mubarak,
government censors controlled what could be shown in theaters
or filmed by major studios. The films Imam starred in were
approved by
the censors.
El-Shinnawi
argued
that a legally sound case would involve the writers and
directors, and the censors who approved the movies, not just the
star
of the films.
Imam,
71, has acted in dozens of films in a career that spans nearly 50
years.
Long
a
beloved figured in Egypt, Imam lost popularity among Egyptian
protesters for supporting Mubarak during last year's 18-day
revolt.
In
one
of his most popular roles, Imam played an Arab dictator in a 1998
satirical play called el-Zaeem. The play has since been aired on
satellite television across the Arab world, bypassing state
censors and
gaining popularity through its comedic take of a tyrannical
figure.
Fear of Funning
October 12, 2005
The cheerless oppressors.
Now that the president has (finally) conceded that (most of) our enemies in the Middle East are actually fanatical Muslims, he should realize that his initial intuition about the war on terrorism — that we are fighting tyrannical regimes and their murderous footsoldiers — was correct. And this, in turn, should encourage him to unleash our greatest weapon: the people who live there.
The tyrannical Islamofascists obviously despise and dread their people; otherwise they wouldn’t be constantly seeking new ways to make sure there is no independent thought and certainly no independent action. All those madrasas, for example, are extended experiments in what used to be called "rote learning." The children sit around and memorize the Koran and the sayings of the prophet, blessings be upon him. But, unlike the schools in the civilized world, nobody ever asks anybody else what he thinks about anything.
In a world like that, several things happen. Above all, creative activity ceases to exist, since culture depends on advancing knowledge and improving understanding. Neither of these interests the clerical fascists who rule the terror countries. They want good little Muslim androids, who will accept the preposterous belief that all knowledge was acquired several centuries ago and that man’s only worthwhile intellectual activity is to imbibe that knowledge in order to recite it when called for.
The most devastating critique of such a system is laughter, which the leaders of the terror regimes can not and dare not tolerate. Laughter bespeaks fun, and fun is totally forbidden. Remember the Taliban, from whose caves Osama bin Laden and his merry band of killers emerged about ten years ago? They not only locked away all the women, they banned music. Some French film producer went all over Afghanistan, filming eerie landscapes featuring poles driven into the ground, wrapped with audio tape. The only sound was the rustling of the tape in the wind. This was the country in which Osama et al. found the perfect atmosphere for their preparations for the jihad.
In like manner, the Saudi religious police, a couple of years ago, refused to let female students escape from a burning building because they were improperly dressed. They burned to death. In like manner, the mullahs are increasing the power of the basij, their own religious police, to enforce the dress code on women and to prevent couples and groups from having fun. The tragicomic efforts of the terror masters to eliminate fun from public life tells us everything we need to know about the kind of world they will inflict on those whom they defeat in combat. If our reporters and editors had any real interest in giving their readers a full picture of the war in which we are engaged, there would be much more reporting on the relentless crackdown on fun. But they rarely give us the whole context, nor, unaccountably, does the Bush administration, which for the past several years has tiptoed delicately around the nature of most of the Islamic regimes. And so we have to rely on blogs and on such publications as MEMRI.
The October 7 MEMRI report entitled "Anti-Soccer Fatwas Led Saudi Soccer Players to Join the Jihad in Iraq" is a classic of the "you couldn’t invent this sort of thing" sort. Even Charlie Chaplin couldn’t have found anything at once so dreadful and so hilarious as the story told originally by the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan. It turns out that a "religious authority" by the name of Sheikh Abdallah Al-Najdi had issued a fatwa back in late August, warning the faithful that soccer was a creation of the infidel Christians and Jews, and was thus to be avoided, unless the rules were changed. It was not permissible to play for the fun of it, but only to harden the body in preparation for jihad. Al-Najdi then laid out the Islamic decalogue on soccer:
1. Eliminate the four lines defining the playing area;
2. Ban the use of language like "foul," "penalty kick," "corner kick," "goal," and "out of bounds." Anyone who says such things must be thrown out of the game and duly punished;
3. You can’t stop playing just because you break your hand or foot. And no yellow or red card for anyone who does that to you. No way. You drag the opponent into a proper sharia court and testify against him;
4. Since the infidels have eleven players on a side, Muslims must have either more or less, but not that satanic number;
5. Proper dress codes must be enforced, no colorful shirts and shorts, and no numbers;
6. Remember that this is preparation for jihad, don’t waste time celebrating a win;
7. Change the length of the game from the usual 45-minute halves;
8. In fact, no halves. Either play the whole game non-stop, or have three periods (remember that the infidels play two halves);
9. If the game is tied at the end of regulation, that’s it. No overtime, no penalty kicks;
10. No referee. That’s obvious, since you can’t talk about fouls, corner kicks, or any of the other things that referees decide;
11. No fans. If soccer is preparation for jihad, why would anyone watch? They should be getting ready for jihad themselves;
12. After the game, no comments about either the outcome or the merits of the players. You can talk about how your body feels (your muscles are stronger, so you’re going to do better when it’s jihad time, etc.);
13. No cross bar on the net. Two poles will do just fine;
14. If anyone tries to hug a player who has scored, uh (can’t say "goal"), inserted the ball between the posts, "you should spit in his face, punish him, and reprimand him, for what do joy, hugging and kissing have to do with sports?";
15. No substitutions.
You might think that this is so ridiculous that it was laughed out of civil society, but you would be wrong (and the society isn’t civil, anyway). At least three members of the "Al Rashid" team set off for jihad after hearing the learned advice, and one of them, Majid Al Sawat, was only saved at the last minute in Baghdad when explosives failed to detonate in the truck he was driving. A well-known Tunisian who had played in the German first division, Nizar Trabelsi, was arrested before he could blow himself up. These were all men who had excelled at soccer, but were grimly convinced that it was sinful to enjoy themselves in athletics.
It’s an odd thing to believe, even for an Islamofascist. After all, Osama himself is said to have rooted for Arsenal when he lived in England, and Khomeini himself, than which nobody grimmer can be conceived, actually played the game. But times have changed, as the power of the clerical fascists has expanded over a new generation of believers.
Instead of poking fun at fools like Sheikh Al-Najdi, leading lights of Islam, like the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia, piously reviewed the literature to argue that soccer — as defined by the governing body, FIFA — could indeed be played (and watched) by good Muslims. And of course the mufti called on the Saudi religious police to track down "those involved in the publishing of these fatwas" and drag them into a religious court for prosecution and punishment.
But that should not stop our leaders from calling on the
people of the Middle East to rise up against their cheerless oppressors.
All the while holding them up to ridicule. All in the name of fun.
— Michael Ledeen, an
NRO contributing editor, is most recently the author of
The War
Against the Terror Masters.
He is resident scholar in the Freedom Chair at
the
American
Enterprise Institute.