Free Republic

"Can't they take a joke?" That's the question that came up after the 2005 Danish cartoon controversy and now, again, after the massacre at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The suspected killers obviously reflect a tiny minority of extreme religious fanatics, but the question made us wonder: What is the role of satire in the Muslim world? First let's establish that saying "the Muslim world" is like saying "the Christian world" or Africa: We're talking one and a half billion people all over the globe — of different races, ethnicities and languages — who believe different things. That said,...

As the Islamic invasion advances, mosques are proliferating across the United States at breakneck speed. And there appears to be no end in sight. Since 9/11, the number of mosques in America has grown by 75%. The timing of this is no coincidence. Mosques are a symbol of Islamic supremacism. Islam attacks. Then it plants a triumphal mosque on the battlefield. And another. And another. And another. The proliferation of mosques is also a sign of our incomprehensible response (or lack thereof) to the threat of Islam. War has been waged against the United States and what have we done?...

WASHINGTON – Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh, the kingdom’s top religious authority in the ultra-conservative Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam, has ruled it’s acceptable for men to marry girls so young the West would deem it nothing short of pedophilia and rape. Despite the Saudi justice ministry’s failed efforts to date to set 15 as a minimum age to marry a girl in the kingdom, Grand Mufti Abdulaziz declared there is nothing prohibiting Muslim men from marrying girls even younger. As Grand Mufti, Abdulaziz is president of the Supreme Council of Ulema (Islamic scholars) and chairman of...

By Ed Whelan December 28, 2014 2005—“Allah” yes, “Christ” no. Having already enjoined the Speaker of Indiana’s House of Representatives from permitting “sectarian” prayers to be offered as part of that body’s official proceedings, federal district judge David Hamilton draws a curious line between “sectarian” and “non-sectarian” prayers. Whereas prayers that “use Christ’s name or title” are sectarian, Hamilton says that it’s presumptively not sectarian for a Muslim imam to offer a prayer to “Allah.” In March 2009, Hamilton’s politically correct favoritism of Islam over Christianity in the public square helps make him President Obama’s first nominee to a federal...

The heritage of centuries has been wiped out in little more than a year. Eventually the need to wipe out all traces of unbelief becomes obsessive. At one time, for instance, Egyptian law demanded that any house found to contain a copy of The Apology of al-Kindi (a book containing a polemical dialogue between a Muslim and a Christian) would be demolished along with 40 houses around it. Ethics were defined by what Allah said was good or evil in Sharia law. The Islamic State's behaviour is solidly rooted in Islamic ideology, law and practice. It is only when this...

The most obvious question to ask about the EEOC’s obsession with the Samantha Elauf case is why is it even a case? Setting aside the entire legal question of whether a store that sells trendy clothing is required to accept an employee wearing a 7th century symbol that says she is her husband’s or father’s property… Elauf’s being a Muslim woman wearing Hijab had nothing to do with why she wasn’t hired. There are two issues in the case 1. Abercrombie and Fitch have a policy against headcoverings for employees 2. Samantha Elauf was not hired by A and F...

The protests are part of a burgeoning grassroots movement calling for an end to the spread of Islamic Sharia law in Germany. Thousands of German citizens have been taking to the streets to protest the growing "Islamization" of their country. The protests are part of a burgeoning grassroots movement made up of ordinary citizens who are calling for an end to runaway immigration and the spread of Islamic Sharia law in Germany. The guardians of German multiculturalism are fighting back: they are seeking to delegitimize the protesters by branding them as "neo-Nazis" and by claiming that the Islamization of Germany...

A couple of months ago, the story of a couple at the brink of separation was published on this column and I asked readers the question above. Bisola and Akinola, blessed with three children, had been married for 17 years, living with each otherÂ’s excesses as most couples do. Then one day, Bisola stumbled on three travel documents, all bearing AkinolaÂ’s names. They belonged to a strange woman, a child and Akinola. A confrontation resulted in a heated argument between them and Akinola walked out of their home. His wife was free to take whatever decision she thought best for...

A story from New Hampshire reminds us once again that liberals are often willing to commit suicide to prove how liberal they are. It would be hard to imagine a more ridiculous scenario than a lesbian rabbi making a public stand in favor of adopting Sharia Law as the new ruling principles of any American state; but Rabbi Robin Nafshi of New Hampshire has done just that. With the type of smug,” I’m a liberal so I’m smarter than you” hubris only the sickest of liberals can muster, Rabbi Nafshi scolds her fellow Granite Staters in a piece she has...

Ah, the joys of tolerance. Sydney, Australia has begun to learn them after opening several Muslim-friendly restaurants that serve only halal food that is permissible to be eaten under Shariah law. One of those restaurants is featured in this video of a Muslim man who completely loses it when a customer, apparently unaware that he was in a halal-only KFC, asked for bacon on his sandwich. The video shows the KFC employee yelling — screaming, really — about being recorded. He also threatens the customer. Apparently he really, really doesn’t like the word “bacon.” Great customer service at those halal-only...

ISIS: Enslaving, Having Sex With 'Unbelieving' Women, Girls Is OK By Greg Botelho, CNN December 12, 2014 ISIS produces a document, "Questions and Answers on Taking Captives and Slaves" It has been posted online, and armed men distributed it to residents of Mosul In it, ISIS claims the Quran justifies taking non-Muslim women and girls captive It also says they can be sold as "property," and that sex with captive girls is permissible (CNN) -- Can you take non-Muslim women and children captive? Yes, says ISIS. Can you have sex with them, even prepubescent girls? Yes, according to the Islamist...

My first experience with Sharia Law ... Waiting to pass through customs, I observed a Saudi soldier swinging a machete, casually decapitating a score of Kewpie dolls that an unsuspecting westerner had tried to bring into the country. The torsos were returned to the traveler and the heads were dumped in the trash, all in accordance with Sharia Law. As a “how do you do?” there are better ways to make a first impression.

British jihadis now fighting for the Islamic State in Syria have tweeted a letter urging rioters in Ferguson, Missouri, to pledge their "allegiance" to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In return, militants would be sent to "shed" their own "blood" to help fight police forces. Trying to take advantage of the social unrest following the Ferguson grand jury decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson for shooting dead unarmed teenager Michael Brown, a British Islamic State militant tweeted a series of photos on Wednesday featuring a hand-written letter to the Ferguson protesters calling for them to convert to Islam...

There could be between 10,000 and 13,000 victims of slavery in the UK, higher than previous figures, analysis for the Home Office suggests. Modern slavery victims are said to include women forced into prostitution, "imprisoned" domestic staff and workers in fields, factories and fishing boats. The figure for 2013 is the first time the government has made an official estimate of the scale of the problem. The Home Office has launched a strategy to help tackle slavery. It said the victims included people trafficked from more than 100 countries - the most prevalent being Albania, Nigeria, Vietnam and Romania -...

Rep. Keith Ellison, Minnesota Democrat, said Tuesday that Republicans don’t have a mandate after a midterm election cycle in which they took back control of the Senate and picked up about a dozen seats in the House — pointing to low voter turnout and successful ballot initiatives on raising the minimum wage as evidence of a nuanced electorate. Appearing on CNN’s “New Day,” Mr. Ellison was responding to comments from Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican, that the American people have spoken and President Obama can listen to them on issues like immigration. “Well, you know, we had a 72-year low...

The terrorist front group that coerced federal and local law enforcement agencies in the United States to change the way they conduct terrorism training is also wielding its power to control what occurs in the nation’s public schools, including large taxpayer-funded universities. It’s a distressing power grab by a wealthy and politically-connected group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), that promotes itself as the nation’s largest Muslim advocacy organization. The truth is that CAIR is a terrorist front group with extensive links to foreign and domestic Islamists. It was founded in 1994 by three Middle Eastern extremists (Omar Ahmad, Nihad...

A little while back I spent several months researching the Common Core curriculum, and what I discovered absolutely shocked me. At times, it left me utterly incredulous. I wrote a two-part article on the subject. I still have part three (final installment) in progress. And I will be wrapping up that series of articles here in the near future. But the deeper I dig into Common Core, the more it has led me on numerous research paths, some of which interlock with what I thought were unrelated research paths. I still haven’t absorbed or synthesized it all. One of the...

Alabama has become the seventh state to ban Sharia law via a ballot measure that prohibits its courts from considering foreign, international or religious law. Tuesday night, the ballot measure, called the “American and Alabama Laws and Alabama Courts Amendment,” passed overwhelmingly with 72 percent of voters in support. The ban clarifies the state constitution to say that other state laws or foreign law cannot be used in ways that violate state law or rights under the Alabama Constitution or the U.S. Constitution. In 2012, an unsuccessful ballot measure, also proposed by Republican state Sen. Gerald Allen, would have explicitly banned...

A World History teacher in Maryland’s La Plata High School is forcing his students to study Islam, the so-called “religion of peace.” When Marine Kevin Wood learned his daughter was being force fed “The 5 Pillars of Islam” in her government run school, he was outraged and brought the matter to the attention of school officials requesting that his daughter be excused from preparing a three page assignment on Islamic beliefs. Now it is Wood who is being forced to defend himself and has been barred from even entering his child’s school. Wood’s objection should have led to an immediate...

Younger Americans who are content to live in mom’s basement and play video games represent an emerging problem for America’s long term survival. A recent YouGov survey of American attitudes toward Muslims shows lots of disturbing statistics including only 47% who think Islam is more violent than other religions. Yet incredibly, 34% actually think Islam is about as violent as other religions. Of course, the worst news is that among the “mom’s basement” crowd, 9% say Islam is LESS violent than other religions while 42% say it is about the same as other religions! At the other end of the...