Islamist terrorism may have its roots in the Middle East, but it has long since expanded globally. Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country, is no exception. Jemaah Islamiyah has for more than fifteen years fought to transform Indonesia into an Islamist state. In recent years, its terrorist campaign has suffered setbacks. As Jemaah Islamiyah regroups, it builds upon the experience of Middle East terrorist groups. From Al-Qaeda, it adopts philosophical underpinnings that guide its dual strategy. From Hamas and Hezbollah, it borrows an "inverse triangle model" in which a broad network of social services supports a smaller jihadist core, and from Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf emirates it adopts a model of charities and NGOs that help Jemaah Islamiyah advance its jihadist goals.

Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), will deliver a prayer at the National Cathedral during the National Prayer Service on January 21st. The event is part of the festivities for the inauguration of Barack Obama, which occurs January 20. A convert to Islam, Mattson directs the Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations at Hartford Seminary.

With the inclusion of Ingrid Mattson, President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), in the national prayer service this week, it seems it is again time to re-evaluate America?s desire to forge alliances with ?moderate? Muslims. Various news sources report that Mattson?s invitation raised criticism due to ISNA?s alleged connections to terrorism. It is a fact that ISNA is a listed un-indicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorist financing case and one of a number of "individuals/entities who are and/or were members of the US Muslim Brotherhood." It is also a fact that Mattson and heads of other ?moderate? Muslim organizations have failed to criticize Hamas by name.

During the recent Somali pirate standoff with U.S. forces, when American sea captain Richard Phillips was being held hostage, Fox News analyst Charles Krauthammer confidently concluded that "the good news is that these [pirates] are not jihadists. If it's a jihadist holding a hostage, there is going to be a lot of death. These guys are interested not in martyrdom but in money."

British police have released nine of the 11 mostly Pakistani men arrested during a major anti-terror operation in northwest England earlier this month. (Source)

European researchers said they not only found the smallest exoplanet ever, called Gliese 581 e, but realised that a neighbouring planet discovered earlier, Gliese 581 d, was in the prime habitable zone for potential life. (Source)

 

Here is an article written by lawyer and author, Randel Abdel-Fattah. My interpretation: Islamists have losts their way, interpreting their religion to suit their needs. I agree with the Abdel-Fattah. It is how I felt about how Christ's message of love being drowned in a confusion of priorities, when I wrote the article Two Thousand Years Later -- The Passion Of The Christ.

What I take from this article is this

"...one must understand that Islam has no church; no person or institution embodies God's divine authority. There is simply no authoritative centre other than God and Prophet Mohammed. Both are represented by texts, which must be interpreted: first, the Koran, and second, the documented sayings and traditions of Mohammed. Each Muslim will interpret the Koran and Prophet's sayings through the prism of the human mind, refracting different meanings depending on education, class, gender, culture and so on. The Islamic juristic tradition is based on an ethos of diversity and egalitarianism because of the principle that truth is accessible to all regardless of class, race or gender."

This stance is somewhat similar to Martin Luther's more egalitarian approach to Christianity. However, this article is impotant because it confirms the arguments I have made in The Tyranny Of God.

"We have to face the fact that if Pakistan collapses it will dwarf anything we have seen so far in whatever we're calling the war on terror now," said David Kilcullen, a former Australian Army officer who was a specialist adviser for the Bush administration and is now a consultant to the Obama White House. (Source)

An Azeri immigrant in Russia's northern city of Saint Petersburg has been charged with hiring hit men to kill his 21-year-old daughter for wearing a mini-skirt, police say...Russia has experienced a revival of conservative religious tradition since the fall of the Soviet Union both within its Russian Orthodox and large Muslim communities. (Source)

A LEADING female Afghan politician was shot dead after leaving a provincial council meeting in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, that her colleagues had begged her not to attend.Sitara Achakzai was attacked by two gunmen on Sunday as she arrived at her home in a rickshaw, a vehicle colleagues said she chose to use to avoid attracting attention.The Taliban claimed responsibility. (Source)

PERSONAL COMMENT: Empowering women is probably the best way to dilute the virulent effects of a religion that is written by men. Unfortunately for Afghan women, Sitara Achakzai has been murdered