Sharia In Somalia: No TV For Anyone
Unless they'd like to be shot on the spot:
Is Somalia the next Afghanistan? It's been reported that Islamist gunmen opened fire on a crowd watching World Cup football in a cinema in the town of Dhuusa Marreeb. The cinema's owner and a young girl were killed.
The Somalis were watching last night's Italy-Germany match when the militia, reported by the BBC to be loyal to the Union of Islamic Courts, burst in. Claiming that sharia law forbids the enjoyment of football matches, they ordered the game to be switched off. When the crowd protested they fired in the air, and then at the protestors.
The killings follow riots in Mogadishu last week, when another gang of Islamist gunmen tried to prevent youths from watching the World Cup.
While much of Somalia remains lawless, much of its south, including the capital Mogadishu, is ruled by or is allied to the Union of Islamic Courts, which has enforced strict sharia law on these regions it controls. This has led to a crackdown on crime and even a return to public executions. Many Somalis express qualified support for the Islamists, who offer stability of sorts compared to the previous war-torn decade and a half, when quarrelling warlords laid waste to much of the country. However, some have expressed concerns that the Islamists, thanks to their religious extremism, risk taking Somalia down the Afghan path: Afghanistan's Taliban brutally enforced a very strict interpretation of Islam, complete with public executions, amputations and oppression of women. A ban on television seems the least of Somalia's worries compared to these horrors, but many in the international community fear that the World Cup ban is the tip of the iceberg. In June, The Times reported on how Islamists had banned dancing to pop music - and how Somalis feared questioning their new rulers risked a death sentence.
I don't do soccer. I find it as boring as watching golf or tennis. I'm a puck-head; a hockey fan. But I think this sort of idea where they are going to dictate that you can't even watch TV is a bit much. Imagine, for a moment, a theocratical regime here in the US shooting people for watching American Idol? (No, I don't watch that either; we're lucky to catch an hour's worth of TV a day.) But think about that. How about instituting a death sentence for Sunday football (of which I'm sure it would have a lot of support from some beleagured housewives on that particular day). Going to line up and shoot the Yankees fans for watching their favorite team? (And yes, I saw the drubbing that Hugh's Indians handed out to them on Tuesday.)
But this is what Somalia is becoming. It is becoming another Afghanistan. In addition to this from Somalia, Charles Johnson brings us another mandate of sharia law from the clerics there:
Somali Muslims who fail to perform daily prayers will be killed in accordance with Qur’anic law under a new edict issued by a leading cleric in the Islamic courts union that controls Mogadishu.
The requirement for Muslims to observe the five-times daily ritual under penalty of death was announced late on Wednesday and appears to confirm the hard-line nature of the increasingly powerful Sharia courts in the capital.
“He who does not perform prayers will be considered as infidel and Sharia law orders that that person be killed,” said Sheikh Abdalla Ali, a founder and high-ranking official in the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia.
“Sharia law orders the killing of any Muslim person when he fails to perform prayers,” he said in an address at the opening of a new Islamic court in Mogadishu’s southern Gubta neighbourhood.
That story comes from The Mail & Guardian Online. And it shows the world how quickly our enemies--these Islamofascist animals, as my better half refers to them as--can destroy a nation. Granted, Somalia wasn't exactly a vacation spot, and was hardly considered anything more than a Third World Nation. However, this is sharia law in action, and it's virtually indistinguishable from what the Taliban did in Afghanistan. Oh yes, our enemies are trying to set up a new home base, and if we want to end this conversion, we need to do our best to undermine their efforts.
With al Qaeda working to create a a power base in northern Africa, we can ill afford to allow them this foothold in the center of the nation off the Horn of Africa.
Publius II
Unless they'd like to be shot on the spot:
Is Somalia the next Afghanistan? It's been reported that Islamist gunmen opened fire on a crowd watching World Cup football in a cinema in the town of Dhuusa Marreeb. The cinema's owner and a young girl were killed.
The Somalis were watching last night's Italy-Germany match when the militia, reported by the BBC to be loyal to the Union of Islamic Courts, burst in. Claiming that sharia law forbids the enjoyment of football matches, they ordered the game to be switched off. When the crowd protested they fired in the air, and then at the protestors.
The killings follow riots in Mogadishu last week, when another gang of Islamist gunmen tried to prevent youths from watching the World Cup.
While much of Somalia remains lawless, much of its south, including the capital Mogadishu, is ruled by or is allied to the Union of Islamic Courts, which has enforced strict sharia law on these regions it controls. This has led to a crackdown on crime and even a return to public executions. Many Somalis express qualified support for the Islamists, who offer stability of sorts compared to the previous war-torn decade and a half, when quarrelling warlords laid waste to much of the country. However, some have expressed concerns that the Islamists, thanks to their religious extremism, risk taking Somalia down the Afghan path: Afghanistan's Taliban brutally enforced a very strict interpretation of Islam, complete with public executions, amputations and oppression of women. A ban on television seems the least of Somalia's worries compared to these horrors, but many in the international community fear that the World Cup ban is the tip of the iceberg. In June, The Times reported on how Islamists had banned dancing to pop music - and how Somalis feared questioning their new rulers risked a death sentence.
I don't do soccer. I find it as boring as watching golf or tennis. I'm a puck-head; a hockey fan. But I think this sort of idea where they are going to dictate that you can't even watch TV is a bit much. Imagine, for a moment, a theocratical regime here in the US shooting people for watching American Idol? (No, I don't watch that either; we're lucky to catch an hour's worth of TV a day.) But think about that. How about instituting a death sentence for Sunday football (of which I'm sure it would have a lot of support from some beleagured housewives on that particular day). Going to line up and shoot the Yankees fans for watching their favorite team? (And yes, I saw the drubbing that Hugh's Indians handed out to them on Tuesday.)
But this is what Somalia is becoming. It is becoming another Afghanistan. In addition to this from Somalia, Charles Johnson brings us another mandate of sharia law from the clerics there:
Somali Muslims who fail to perform daily prayers will be killed in accordance with Qur’anic law under a new edict issued by a leading cleric in the Islamic courts union that controls Mogadishu.
The requirement for Muslims to observe the five-times daily ritual under penalty of death was announced late on Wednesday and appears to confirm the hard-line nature of the increasingly powerful Sharia courts in the capital.
“He who does not perform prayers will be considered as infidel and Sharia law orders that that person be killed,” said Sheikh Abdalla Ali, a founder and high-ranking official in the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia.
“Sharia law orders the killing of any Muslim person when he fails to perform prayers,” he said in an address at the opening of a new Islamic court in Mogadishu’s southern Gubta neighbourhood.
That story comes from The Mail & Guardian Online. And it shows the world how quickly our enemies--these Islamofascist animals, as my better half refers to them as--can destroy a nation. Granted, Somalia wasn't exactly a vacation spot, and was hardly considered anything more than a Third World Nation. However, this is sharia law in action, and it's virtually indistinguishable from what the Taliban did in Afghanistan. Oh yes, our enemies are trying to set up a new home base, and if we want to end this conversion, we need to do our best to undermine their efforts.
With al Qaeda working to create a a power base in northern Africa, we can ill afford to allow them this foothold in the center of the nation off the Horn of Africa.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 3:29 PM
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