ONE ISLAMIC TEACHING AUTHORITY POINTS TO THE ONLY HOPE FOR THE PEOPLE OF GAZA. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the leading Islamic organization to categorically reject terrorism in any form. Ahmadiyya Imams submit that true Islam does not support genocide or a requirement to push Israel into the sea. Additionally the Ahmadiyya believe in separation of mosque and state. Conversion of Gaza to Ahmadiyya Islam and the subsequent dumping of Wahabi Hamas might save Gaza. This isn't a tiny sect its 125,000,000 Muslims.
Greetings bipeds! I've been watching the news coverage of the GAZA debacle. We have to talk. The disproportionate damages and injury between the two parties has been obscuring the relevant facts that have to be addressed to find peace. As you know as a 3,000 year old catfish I am ineligible for Baptism, conversion to the Jewish faith, or becoming a Muslim. Though as I explained to my Christian conservative friends I am a monotheist and find both good and bad in the biped religious impulse. In finding the good I am very particular in accepting a particular preacher as "authoritative". Of late it seems anyone nominally claiming to be Muslim, with a gun and a willingness to use it has no compunction about demanding the loyalty of other Muslims. In looking at Gaza I feel that there are certain realities that have been over looked by the people of Gaza and that they have been encouraged by Islamic "false prophets". Westerners whether Christian, Jewish, or Secular are confused and looking for an authentic guide to Islamic core beliefs vice the outrageous claims and admonitions of militant Political Islam. In my key points below I point out the misperceptions of the people of GAZA that are causing so much suffering, the unfortunate reality of the situation , and point all bipeds in the direction of an reliable authority on the core of the Islamic religion vice Political Islam. Eventually organizations like Hamas and the ISIS are going to force the West into a severe repression of political Islam. Only an understanding of the differences between Political Islam and the Islamic faith can prevent much tragedy among Muslims living in the West and potential shame on Western societies. Muslims and the West need a guide to the authentic Muslim core. Here are my key analytic points and my proposal for a reliable guide to the Islamic religious and ethical core.
1. First and foremost, for peace in Gaza ,Hamas rocket attacks and tunneling must stop. We can argue about events prior to the latest rash of attacks such as the occupation, the blockade, etc. These may well be provocations for the latest Hamas attack on Israel. But these Israeli measures were responses to earlier attacks by Hamas which has as its basic premise that Israel must be "pushed into the sea. " By international law and U.S. and allied states assurances Israel has the right to exist behind secure borders. Where Israel has occupied land beyond her 1948 UN declared borders this has been a result of defensive war. Neighboring states or NGOs often supported by neighboring states, attacked Israel and Israel seized and continues to occupy the strategic ground needed to protect her from the never ending onslaught of enemies who deny her right to exist. If Gaza is ever to be free of Israeli military attacks then Gaza must cease its attacks. No matter how devastating and effective Israeli military actions are relative to Hamas terrorist actions, Israeli actions are defensive and would stop when Hamas stops. YOU CANNOT EXPECT UNILATERAL ISRAELI CESSATION OF MILITARY ACTION IN THE FACE OF UNRELENTING AND CONSTANT ARMED AGGRESSION. The Holocaust was real, "never again" means never again. Hamas may deny it ever happened but that's a delusion. Every Israeli soldier knows better and is committed to insuring that it never happens again.
2. The disproportionate devastation visited on Gaza by the Israeli defensive efforts is a red herring that won't in the end win the case for Gaza / Hamas. Hamas started the attacks , and continues the attacks through cease fires. Hamas missiles are deliberately targeted at Israel's civilians and their rocket launchers and tunnel entrances are deliberately located in or adjacent to targets normally prohibited by the International Law of Armed conflict such as hospitals, schools, cultural icons, and mosques. Hamas has not developed the technical prowess to defeat Israel's "iron dome " anti missile defenses. Their tunneling for infantry raids has not gone undetected. Hamas simply can not inflict sufficient damage on Israel to dictate policy changes to Israel. Nor is policy change towards Gaza Hamas's real goal. They expect to "drive Israel into the sea". Of course Israel is going to defend itself and that means more damage to Gaza. Complaints about excessive collateral damage don't fall on deaf ears either in Israel or among her Western supporters, that is why ground operations began. With Hamas deliberately locating weapons in or near prohibited targets, boots on the ground were the only solution to reduce collateral damage. But of course boots on the ground increases the chance that in the heat of battle Israeli forces may occasionally step over lines imposed by the International Law of Armed conflict. But those ground forces came in as much to protect Palestinian as Israeli lives. It would be far safer for Israel to just stay under their Iron dome and lob missiles at Hamas launch sights and back fill tunnels from their own side than enter Gaza. EVERYTHING THAT IS HAPPENING IS THE DIRECT RESULT OF HAMAS INTRANSIENT AGGRESSION AGAINST OVERWHELMING BUT RESTRAINED ISRAELI DEFENSES. Under international law Israel has an obligation to avoid "collateral damage" as best they can, but also every right to bunker down and fire back from under their "iron dome" until Gaza is eventually leveled. Gaza has freely elected Hamas and maintains a state of armed conflict with Israel. States under constant armed attack from another identifiable society behind known and recognized borders have the right to attack not only the forces attacking them but the war making ability of the attacking society. Thus the blockade is legal, encirclement is legal, if it requires it, eventually the complete disassembly of Gaza is legal. It is Hamas that operates outside international law and Hamas was elected so there can be little empathy for the society that backs an organization dedicated to genocide. Either Hamas has to stop its aggression or the people of Gaza have to stop Hamas.
3. Don't expect Hamas to change. If the people of Gaza want to reverse their illogical and doomed decision to live under Hamas rule they can't expect this murderous and fanatical organization to simply leave because they are asked. Hamas every day shows no mercy towards the people of Gaza deliberating endangering them and using them as human shields. In the end GAZA may have to accept a full scale Israeli invasion and extermination of Hamas in Gaza. This will be followed by military occupation. The faster the people of Gaza drop the destruction of Israel from their agenda and start to bargain in good faith over a two state solution the faster the occupation will end. The parents of Gaza have to realize that they have chosen foolishly and have destroyed the lives of some of their children and the futures of most. Reverse the damage change attitudes now.
4. The dispute in Gaza is older than Hamas. In fact its older than 1948. All claims by the Palestinians of prior rights ignore even older claims of prior rights by the Hebrew peoples. The Palestinians were offered full Israeli citizenship and complete religious and economic freedom in 1948 and chose to walk out. They were once offered Jordanian citizenship and refused, or some accepted but then refused to live by Jordanian law. We maintain based on Islamic scholarship that we recognize as authoritative that separation of mosque and state is entirely acceptable to core Islamic principals. There was never an authentic Islamic religious obligation to refuse citizenship in 1948 Israel. The two state solution was then offered but the Palestinians chose terrorist organizations to represent them and maintain to this day the goal of pushing Israel into the sea. There is nothing left but the two state solution or eventual gradual annihilation for Gaza. That is, there is nothing left, so long as both sides see reconciliation and reassimilation as impossible.
5. The Muslim World could help by dropping its all too wide spread demand that Israel cease to exist. There is no tenet in the core of authentic Islamic teaching that requires relentless war against another "people of the book". All calls to violence against Jews and Christians by those claiming leadership or authority in the Islamic world are heretical and must be rejected. There is so much division in the Islamic world it is difficult for Muslims to discern true and authentic theological authority and to separate religious teachings from "political Islam". One branch of Political Islam is the ISIS now calling themselves the "Islamic State" and calling all Muslims in the world to join their murderous campaign to take over the world by force. The ISIS has hanged and crucified Christians in its occupied territory, but the greatest number of its victims have been Muslims who they judge insufficient in their level of support for ISIS conquest, murder and mayhem. Yet millions of Muslims around the world are silent on this organization. Muslims appear to be seeking for some central and reliable teaching magisterium that can identify the heart and soul of the Islamic religion beyond the Five Pillars. We , while not Muslim, rely on largely but not exclusively one authority when we say that preaching hatred and murder are heretical and not part of the Islamic faith. That authority is the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community- We quote from their web site:
"Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the leading Islamic organization to categorically reject terrorism in any form. Over a century ago, Ahmad(as)emphatically declared that an aggressive “jihad by the sword” has no place in Islam. In its place, he taught his followers to wage a bloodless, intellectual “jihad of the pen” to defend Islam. To this end, Ahmad(as) penned over 80 books and tens of thousands of letters, delivered hundreds of lectures, and engaged in scores of public debates. His rigorous and rational defenses of Islam unsettled conventional Muslim thinking. As part of its effort to revive Islam, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community continues to spread Ahmad’s(as) teachings of moderation and restraint in the face of bitter opposition from parts of the Muslim world."
Also: "Similarly, it is the only Islamic organization to endorse a separation of mosque and state. Over a century ago, Ahmad(as) taught his followers to protect the sanctity of both religion and government by becoming righteous souls as well as loyal citizens. He cautioned against irrational interpretations of Quranic pronouncements and misapplications of Islamic law. He continually voiced his concerns over protecting the rights of God’s creatures. Today, it continues to be an advocate for universal human rights and protections for religious and other minorities. It champions the empowerment and education of women. Its members are among the most law-abiding, educated, and engaged Muslims in the world."
Most importantly to our non Muslim minds in deciphering the true and authentic doctrines of the Islamic faith from political Islam we find that this large international Islamic community has an identifiable teaching Magistrum. "
" Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the foremost Islamic organization with a central spiritual leader. Over a century ago, Ahmad(as) reminded his followers of God’s promise to safeguard the message of Islam through khilafat (the spiritual institution of successorship to prophethood). It believes that only spiritual successorship can uphold the true values of Islam and unite humanity. Five spiritual leaders have succeeded Ahmad(as) since his demise in 1908. It’s fifth and current spiritual head, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, resides in the United Kingdom. Under the leadership of its spiritual successors, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has now built over 15,000 mosques, over 500 schools, and over 30 hospitals. It has translated the Holy Quran into over 70 languages. It propagates the true teachings of Islam and the message of peace and tolerance through a twenty-four hour satellite television channel (MTA), the Internet (alislam.org) and print (Islam International Publications). It has been at the forefront of worldwide disaster relief through an independent charitable organization, Humanity First."
My dear biped friends as always I thank the American Admiralty Informational Services organization and their American Admiralty Books blog for the opportunity to address you. I know my insights are not always what many bipeds want to hear. But they reflect 3,000 years of contemplation of the biped condition. If I were to sum it up in a nut shell there appears to be no solution to Gaza except a change in attitude and regime in Gaza. That would be helped by a return to authentic Islamic core teachings in the Islamic world as taught by Mirza Masroor Ahmad and certain Sufi leaders. Other wise the rise of the ISIS with its formal claims of a right to forceful world dominion will eventually lead to suppression and expulsion of Muslim minorities in the Western World and needless military conflict and defeat among many so called Islamic states that are claiming bogus religious rationales for irrational hatred and behaviors. The most visible and immediate consequence of Muslims rallying to the call of political Islam instead of the Islamic religion and its core values will be the near total deconstruction of Gaza. There is a cultural civil war in the Islamic world. We can only hope that the Muslim religion which is perfectly compatible with good citizenship as a minority in non Muslim state , or as a citizen in an Islamic majority state wins out over the violent heretics leading political Islam.
Namazu
1. First and foremost, for peace in Gaza ,Hamas rocket attacks and tunneling must stop. We can argue about events prior to the latest rash of attacks such as the occupation, the blockade, etc. These may well be provocations for the latest Hamas attack on Israel. But these Israeli measures were responses to earlier attacks by Hamas which has as its basic premise that Israel must be "pushed into the sea. " By international law and U.S. and allied states assurances Israel has the right to exist behind secure borders. Where Israel has occupied land beyond her 1948 UN declared borders this has been a result of defensive war. Neighboring states or NGOs often supported by neighboring states, attacked Israel and Israel seized and continues to occupy the strategic ground needed to protect her from the never ending onslaught of enemies who deny her right to exist. If Gaza is ever to be free of Israeli military attacks then Gaza must cease its attacks. No matter how devastating and effective Israeli military actions are relative to Hamas terrorist actions, Israeli actions are defensive and would stop when Hamas stops. YOU CANNOT EXPECT UNILATERAL ISRAELI CESSATION OF MILITARY ACTION IN THE FACE OF UNRELENTING AND CONSTANT ARMED AGGRESSION. The Holocaust was real, "never again" means never again. Hamas may deny it ever happened but that's a delusion. Every Israeli soldier knows better and is committed to insuring that it never happens again.
2. The disproportionate devastation visited on Gaza by the Israeli defensive efforts is a red herring that won't in the end win the case for Gaza / Hamas. Hamas started the attacks , and continues the attacks through cease fires. Hamas missiles are deliberately targeted at Israel's civilians and their rocket launchers and tunnel entrances are deliberately located in or adjacent to targets normally prohibited by the International Law of Armed conflict such as hospitals, schools, cultural icons, and mosques. Hamas has not developed the technical prowess to defeat Israel's "iron dome " anti missile defenses. Their tunneling for infantry raids has not gone undetected. Hamas simply can not inflict sufficient damage on Israel to dictate policy changes to Israel. Nor is policy change towards Gaza Hamas's real goal. They expect to "drive Israel into the sea". Of course Israel is going to defend itself and that means more damage to Gaza. Complaints about excessive collateral damage don't fall on deaf ears either in Israel or among her Western supporters, that is why ground operations began. With Hamas deliberately locating weapons in or near prohibited targets, boots on the ground were the only solution to reduce collateral damage. But of course boots on the ground increases the chance that in the heat of battle Israeli forces may occasionally step over lines imposed by the International Law of Armed conflict. But those ground forces came in as much to protect Palestinian as Israeli lives. It would be far safer for Israel to just stay under their Iron dome and lob missiles at Hamas launch sights and back fill tunnels from their own side than enter Gaza. EVERYTHING THAT IS HAPPENING IS THE DIRECT RESULT OF HAMAS INTRANSIENT AGGRESSION AGAINST OVERWHELMING BUT RESTRAINED ISRAELI DEFENSES. Under international law Israel has an obligation to avoid "collateral damage" as best they can, but also every right to bunker down and fire back from under their "iron dome" until Gaza is eventually leveled. Gaza has freely elected Hamas and maintains a state of armed conflict with Israel. States under constant armed attack from another identifiable society behind known and recognized borders have the right to attack not only the forces attacking them but the war making ability of the attacking society. Thus the blockade is legal, encirclement is legal, if it requires it, eventually the complete disassembly of Gaza is legal. It is Hamas that operates outside international law and Hamas was elected so there can be little empathy for the society that backs an organization dedicated to genocide. Either Hamas has to stop its aggression or the people of Gaza have to stop Hamas.
3. Don't expect Hamas to change. If the people of Gaza want to reverse their illogical and doomed decision to live under Hamas rule they can't expect this murderous and fanatical organization to simply leave because they are asked. Hamas every day shows no mercy towards the people of Gaza deliberating endangering them and using them as human shields. In the end GAZA may have to accept a full scale Israeli invasion and extermination of Hamas in Gaza. This will be followed by military occupation. The faster the people of Gaza drop the destruction of Israel from their agenda and start to bargain in good faith over a two state solution the faster the occupation will end. The parents of Gaza have to realize that they have chosen foolishly and have destroyed the lives of some of their children and the futures of most. Reverse the damage change attitudes now.
4. The dispute in Gaza is older than Hamas. In fact its older than 1948. All claims by the Palestinians of prior rights ignore even older claims of prior rights by the Hebrew peoples. The Palestinians were offered full Israeli citizenship and complete religious and economic freedom in 1948 and chose to walk out. They were once offered Jordanian citizenship and refused, or some accepted but then refused to live by Jordanian law. We maintain based on Islamic scholarship that we recognize as authoritative that separation of mosque and state is entirely acceptable to core Islamic principals. There was never an authentic Islamic religious obligation to refuse citizenship in 1948 Israel. The two state solution was then offered but the Palestinians chose terrorist organizations to represent them and maintain to this day the goal of pushing Israel into the sea. There is nothing left but the two state solution or eventual gradual annihilation for Gaza. That is, there is nothing left, so long as both sides see reconciliation and reassimilation as impossible.
5. The Muslim World could help by dropping its all too wide spread demand that Israel cease to exist. There is no tenet in the core of authentic Islamic teaching that requires relentless war against another "people of the book". All calls to violence against Jews and Christians by those claiming leadership or authority in the Islamic world are heretical and must be rejected. There is so much division in the Islamic world it is difficult for Muslims to discern true and authentic theological authority and to separate religious teachings from "political Islam". One branch of Political Islam is the ISIS now calling themselves the "Islamic State" and calling all Muslims in the world to join their murderous campaign to take over the world by force. The ISIS has hanged and crucified Christians in its occupied territory, but the greatest number of its victims have been Muslims who they judge insufficient in their level of support for ISIS conquest, murder and mayhem. Yet millions of Muslims around the world are silent on this organization. Muslims appear to be seeking for some central and reliable teaching magisterium that can identify the heart and soul of the Islamic religion beyond the Five Pillars. We , while not Muslim, rely on largely but not exclusively one authority when we say that preaching hatred and murder are heretical and not part of the Islamic faith. That authority is the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community- We quote from their web site:
"Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the leading Islamic organization to categorically reject terrorism in any form. Over a century ago, Ahmad(as)emphatically declared that an aggressive “jihad by the sword” has no place in Islam. In its place, he taught his followers to wage a bloodless, intellectual “jihad of the pen” to defend Islam. To this end, Ahmad(as) penned over 80 books and tens of thousands of letters, delivered hundreds of lectures, and engaged in scores of public debates. His rigorous and rational defenses of Islam unsettled conventional Muslim thinking. As part of its effort to revive Islam, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community continues to spread Ahmad’s(as) teachings of moderation and restraint in the face of bitter opposition from parts of the Muslim world."
Also: "Similarly, it is the only Islamic organization to endorse a separation of mosque and state. Over a century ago, Ahmad(as) taught his followers to protect the sanctity of both religion and government by becoming righteous souls as well as loyal citizens. He cautioned against irrational interpretations of Quranic pronouncements and misapplications of Islamic law. He continually voiced his concerns over protecting the rights of God’s creatures. Today, it continues to be an advocate for universal human rights and protections for religious and other minorities. It champions the empowerment and education of women. Its members are among the most law-abiding, educated, and engaged Muslims in the world."
Most importantly to our non Muslim minds in deciphering the true and authentic doctrines of the Islamic faith from political Islam we find that this large international Islamic community has an identifiable teaching Magistrum. "
" Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the foremost Islamic organization with a central spiritual leader. Over a century ago, Ahmad(as) reminded his followers of God’s promise to safeguard the message of Islam through khilafat (the spiritual institution of successorship to prophethood). It believes that only spiritual successorship can uphold the true values of Islam and unite humanity. Five spiritual leaders have succeeded Ahmad(as) since his demise in 1908. It’s fifth and current spiritual head, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, resides in the United Kingdom. Under the leadership of its spiritual successors, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has now built over 15,000 mosques, over 500 schools, and over 30 hospitals. It has translated the Holy Quran into over 70 languages. It propagates the true teachings of Islam and the message of peace and tolerance through a twenty-four hour satellite television channel (MTA), the Internet (alislam.org) and print (Islam International Publications). It has been at the forefront of worldwide disaster relief through an independent charitable organization, Humanity First."
My dear biped friends as always I thank the American Admiralty Informational Services organization and their American Admiralty Books blog for the opportunity to address you. I know my insights are not always what many bipeds want to hear. But they reflect 3,000 years of contemplation of the biped condition. If I were to sum it up in a nut shell there appears to be no solution to Gaza except a change in attitude and regime in Gaza. That would be helped by a return to authentic Islamic core teachings in the Islamic world as taught by Mirza Masroor Ahmad and certain Sufi leaders. Other wise the rise of the ISIS with its formal claims of a right to forceful world dominion will eventually lead to suppression and expulsion of Muslim minorities in the Western World and needless military conflict and defeat among many so called Islamic states that are claiming bogus religious rationales for irrational hatred and behaviors. The most visible and immediate consequence of Muslims rallying to the call of political Islam instead of the Islamic religion and its core values will be the near total deconstruction of Gaza. There is a cultural civil war in the Islamic world. We can only hope that the Muslim religion which is perfectly compatible with good citizenship as a minority in non Muslim state , or as a citizen in an Islamic majority state wins out over the violent heretics leading political Islam.
Namazu
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