Egypt: the Other Side of the Coin!
Yesterday, I received a comment on one of the videos posted on my YouTube site. The comment is about a news report by AlHurra Television regarding Egypt's National Council for Human Rights' symposium that examined the issue of ID cards for Egyptian Baha'is. The symposium was reported on last August in this blog and in this previous post.
The comment on YouTube, even though is insulting, can be seen to be quite amusing because it clearly betrays the sentiment of some extremists in the region and serves to expose the serious challenges facing Egyptian Baha'is in their homeland. For that I thanked the person making the comment!
The comment, submitted by a person named Abosooka, is quoted below in its entirety:
"Does tatooing a seen cross or wearing one, and writing "Christian" in religion-entry in an ID card differ?
Blow in ashes,plan evil,try to divide our nation, yet growth of non-muslim minorities centuries ago is an enough witness.
Game of Bahais and others,game of no-religion-entry in ID cards,use of weak faiths and disloyals, no rational beliver accepts that about muslim Egypt. Try in Iraq through "Horra" and your american servants ... Your end is the bottom of the sea!"
After reading this and comparing it to the material posted on the new site named The Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights, one can clearly see what this new Muslim Network is up against and get to truly appreciate how courageous and righteous this group of enlightened Muslims is!
The comment on YouTube, even though is insulting, can be seen to be quite amusing because it clearly betrays the sentiment of some extremists in the region and serves to expose the serious challenges facing Egyptian Baha'is in their homeland. For that I thanked the person making the comment!
The comment, submitted by a person named Abosooka, is quoted below in its entirety:
"Does tatooing a seen cross or wearing one, and writing "Christian" in religion-entry in an ID card differ?
Blow in ashes,plan evil,try to divide our nation, yet growth of non-muslim minorities centuries ago is an enough witness.
Game of Bahais and others,game of no-religion-entry in ID cards,use of weak faiths and disloyals, no rational beliver accepts that about muslim Egypt. Try in Iraq through "Horra" and your american servants ... Your end is the bottom of the sea!"
After reading this and comparing it to the material posted on the new site named The Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights, one can clearly see what this new Muslim Network is up against and get to truly appreciate how courageous and righteous this group of enlightened Muslims is!
the oddest thing to me is that someone with such a low command of english would do so.
ReplyDeleteSMK,
ReplyDeleteActually he has done reasonably well considering that his mother tongue is not English. Can you imagine yourself writing the same in Arabic? :-)
This highlights the destructive tensions within Islam and among Muslims. There are loud voices calling for the destruction of "infidels". There are quieter voices that are now beginning to protest against the extremists, to establish that there are Muslims who hate what is being done in the name of Islam and who are now prepared to stand up publicly for human rights of minorities, including the Baha'is.
ReplyDeleteHere in the UK, the latest attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow have prompted some Muslims - including former members of extremist Islamist organizations to disown the actions of the alleged bombers. Even the Muslim Council of Britain, which has strong Mawdudist links, sees which way the wind is blowing and has made a public statement condemning the attempted bombings (on previous occasions they have often been ambivalent in their comments on terrorist outrages).
I hope the voices of peace and reconciliation will grow in strength, but I am not convinced that they are yet able to outweigh the extremists. They are subject to criticism by Islamists of the kind that the comment Bilo has received.
The hatred expressed by this person unfortunately reflects an erroneous image of the peaceful Faith of Islam as religion of hate. Baha'is have to stand firm in defending Islam as a faith of compassion, understanding, and tolerance even if some or many of its adherents want to inflict harm on Baha'is.
ReplyDeleteBaha'is have a balancing act of defending their legitimate right to worship without loss of their civil and human rights on the one hand and of continuing to obey their governments on the other. Their most critical role is to show their fellow citizens that as adherents of the Baha'i Faith they believe in the oneness of God, the oneness of His Messengers, and the oneness of humanity.
"What harm is there in this"?
This morning across the U.S. National Public Radio aired a very interesting interview with Hassan Butt a British moslem who used to have terrorist ties http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11778628 (do listen to the interview)
ReplyDeleteHe confirms a fact that is saddening: holy books (not just the moslem ones) do contain incitement to violence and intolerance and unless someone in a position of religious authority is ready to make some changes, many others use these words to justify their acts. Religion is a powerful tool, we cannot afford its misuse.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. This does not take into consideration that all Holy Books (except for the latest: Baha'i) were not personally written or dictated by the founders of the religions, but rather written later (at times 80 years or longer) by their close disciples. Some Books even have multiple versions!
Barney,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the British experience...we can all learn a lot from it. This process of "peace and reconciliation" will take time, but it will have to happen--for humanity's sake.
Nabil,
Thank you for your wise comment. It is indeed a balancing act!
dear bahai friends
ReplyDeletethis is english translated bromo of the film about Egyptian bahai. u can see it in my blog
http://basmagm.wordpress.com/
greting
Smile Rose,
ReplyDeleteI am sure you meant "dear friends" rather than "dear bahai friends" as this blog and many others are really for everyone, and not just the Baha'is. The translated Promo is duly noted.
Thank you....
dear bilo
ReplyDeletesure we are all friends.
http://basmagm.wordpress.com/
I hope the Musilims are PAYING ATTENTION to what the extremists are doing to their religion...
ReplyDeletethere will be unintended consequences here in the USA when Christian extremists will want to deny the right for Musilims to live in the United States or Build any religious structres...
this could get real UGLY!!! :-(
Extremism is bad anywhere and under any circumstances! The question is what you and everyone else can do to minimize its prevalence and its influence?
ReplyDelete