A week ago yesterday I was supposed to appear at the Sahafa police station to receive 75 lashes on my back. I had been sentenced by a religious court because of articles I had written calling for freedom of speech and criticizing Wahhabism, Saudi Arabia’s official religious doctrine. At the last minute, I decided not to go to the police station and undergo this most humiliating punishment. With the nation at a virtual standstill for the holiday Id al-Fitr, the sentence remains pending. I will leave this matter to fate.
This article was translated from an Arabic article which appeared in the Al-Riyadh newspaper in Saudi. This clearly demonstrates the paradigm shift that is happening in the Arab world in general, and the Gulf countries in particular. The fight against Muslim extremists has not yet begun and it will take a very long time to erradicate it once the process to remove this cancer from our midst begins in earnest.
I wouldn’t be too surprised if our friends Al-Moawadah and Al-Saidi magically create a new fatwa against me and the plethora of other journalists who castigate them not personally but their backward ideas. Yet, they, particularly Al-Moawadah chooses to go personal in his attacks, to the level of describing his tormentors as “enemies” not of himself only but Islam!(arabic pg6) He went further in his Friday sermon as to label all those opposed to him and his ilk as animals, refusing to name them in the mosque as not to “desecrate” the place of worship!
He’s clearly incensed at his portrayal in the media, thinking that the media is against him personally and the Salafi movement. He’s even organising a seminar “soon” to show people the great strides and motions he tabled in parliament, as if without him the country and parliament would grind to a complete halt.
Hey bozo, WAKE UP. What they’re saying about you and your ideas IS true, and the sooner you wake up from your lala-land the better.
We had a good scare during the Eid holidays with one of the major malls being evacuated because of a real fear of a car-bomb. Of course the machine denied all knowledge of it and calmed people down as this is just a rumour. Well I say that there is no smoke without fire, and if it is to lead anyone to any idea, then it will be that extremism and violence has raised its ugly head in Bahrain as never before.
We won’t get over this by re-electing these bozos. We won’t get rid of terrorism by patting these Salafis and other religious nuts on the back, nor will we get rid of it by sweeping it under the carpet as we have been doing with any social problem we experienced for generations, and we won’t get rid of it by sticking our heads in the sand.
But again, we as Arabs have practiced the ubiquitous ostrich move for generations and we have elevated it to a form of high art. So why stop now?
I’m waiting for the announcement of this so-called seminar, and hope that I will be able to gather a few people to peacefully demonstrate at the venue… want to join me? Let me know as soon as possible.
Comments
75 lashes, for telling the truth
Mahmood, I have tried to register. It throws me out at every attempt.
I just wanted to make one point. It occcurs to me, as an outsider, that aspiring tyrants will always seek to wrap themselves in the flag of Islam, in order to proclaim their sovereignty. In much the same way, medieval absolute monarchs slated their claims to absolute power over the serfs of Russia and Europe.
The only thing that saved us, in the west, from these leeches was the ascendance of democracy. And the great powerhouse behind that ideal was the United States.
Best Regards
Meggie Whetstone
Horrible old English biddy
Re: 75 lashes, for telling the truth
Thank you for letting me know about the registration problem, the link was wrong and I fixed that now and it was confusing as well as the “register” link originally took the user to the log in page rather than the registration page! This is fixed now. Let me know if you experience any other problems with the site. You can go ahead and register now if you wish.
Yes I agree that we have to split politics from religion, that’s the only way to live in a modern world. Leave religions to their houses of worship and leave the running of a modern country completely separately.
I have commented before regarding the democratic lead of Europe and the US and yes we do have a lot to learn from them. We might not agree as to the application of their onw brand of democracy, vis-a-vis lobbies, corporate bias etc, but the essence is good and should be at least considered and amended to suit a local situation.
As to people cloaking themselves in piety or religion to gain a foothold and continue to grab seats of power, well here is a very good example of that. Mr. Al-Moawdah did not hesitate one second in using his Friday sermon to advance his own political ideas. His sermon had nothing to do with Islam, but to bolster his powerbase among his own followers, rather than preaching the word of God, tollerance and the betterment of man. Does that surprise you that this jerk used the pulpit for his own personal motives? It doesn’t me!
You’re telling me?
Hey Mahmoud –
My name is Tarin – Palestinian/Afghan by blood, Athiest in faith.. (or lack of it. 🙂 ) but behind you all the way. This 75 lash business makes me SO MAD. The previous person “meggie” said it right: Our corrupt Arab rulers do mis-use Islam for their own agenda – much like the old Kings of Europe would claim that they are divine.
I wish I could come to you and protest, but I am in Virginia, although I used to live in the Emirates. I can tell you that I DID have a run-in with the religious gestappo at the American University of Sharjah at one point, because I was overheard having a conversation with a couple friends over athiesm/religion during lunch. Right then and there, I had my IDs forcibly confiscated from me by one of the guards. I protested the entire affair, only to be told to shut up “in the name of god.” Then I PHYSICALLY protested the entire affair by blocking the exit of the building, until the guards returned my IDs, and told me why “in gods name” I was being bothered like this. The guard approached, tried to push me, when I told him not to touch me and pushed him back. The second guard separated us. They left on their way.
2 days later I was summoned from the gym (how they knew I was there at that particular time I dont know). I was taken to the police chief, and to make a long story short, told that if I didnt stop “preaching blasphemy” that there would be “dire consequences”.
Now I will take a bullet or two for my ideals, but I would never endanger my family in doing so. Not wanting to make things worse for the family, I “agreed” to his demands, and then sat there and listened to his rant on how I have disrespected “His highness shiekh Qasimi – leader of Sharjah”. I didnt even know the man, and somehow I had disrespected him. I sarcastically asked the police chief if he thought my haircut was also disrespectful to his emminence, and what I could do about it.
I was then kicked out of the building with this warning, and looming threat. Of course, I am not being sentenced to lashes (just as yet), but in a way, I feel your pain.
Hang in there. 🙂
75 lashes, for telling the truth
This is medieval barbarism. It’s nauseating that sadists like this are still in power anywhere. Subvert the hell out of them; they’re anachronistic dead men walking.
75 lashes, for telling the truth
Islamic Radicals..Heard them to saudi arabia and fence them like sheep.
http://badou-inc.blogspot.com