Kewl
Posted on 02/13/2008 4:42:27 AM PST by fweingart
There's an uproar in the U.K. over recent comments by the Archbishop of Canterbury that, given the country's growing and restive Muslim population, it is "unavoidable" that certain aspects of Islamic law would, at some point, have to be accepted in Britain.
What many Americans do not realize is that there's a concerted effort by some in the American Muslim community to move slowly in a similar direction right here in the United States.
While this effort is not necessarily about Sharia law, it is an attempt by some Muslim Americans to force the rest of us to enable their cultural and religious practices in the public sphere. Instead, they should be assimilating and abiding by general U.S. norms.
One of the front lines of this fight: footbaths.
Growing numbers of Muslims living in the United States are seeking to wash their feet in the sinks of public rest rooms. The foot-washing is part of wudu, the ritual ablutions a Muslim performs before the five prayer sessions he or she observes every day at intervals from morning till night. The ablutions can take several minutes and involve repeated washing or rinsing of the hands, mouth, nostrils, face, arms, forehead, hair, ears and, finally, the feet.
There is nothing wrong with a devout Muslim seeing it as his religious duty to wash his feet. I take no issue with the practice whatsoever.
But I do not accept the notion that large, primarily secular institutions - or society as a whole - should invest time and money building facilities expressly to make it easy for people to perform the ritual.
Yet that is precisely what is happening. Not surprisingly, it is universities - bastions of open-ended tolerance - that are on the leading edge of the trend. Last year, it was reported that the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where more than 10% of students are Muslim, announced it would install $25,000 foot-washing stations in a number of rest rooms.
In contemplating this, the school was following in the footsteps of other institutions including Stanford University, the University of Houston, Boston University, St. Cloud State University and the University of Minnesota at Duluth. Indeed, right here in New York, NYU is considering installing footbaths in the Islamic section of its planned interfaith center.
Somehow, the American Civil Liberties Union - normally given to howls of execration at the mere thought of a creche in any semipublic place at Christmastime - is not challenging any of this. Why? Because, it says, it's not a matter of religion but of "cleanliness and safety." Foot-washing in regular sinks can be a messy business. It can also be off-putting for non-Muslims who must use the sinks and rest rooms for ordinary purposes.
But the question of whether footbaths improve cleanliness and safety is beside the point. What is at issue is the extent of public accommodation of religion. And furthermore, while the Council on American-Islamic Relations is specifically recommending that Muslims perform their ablutions in rest room sinks, it turns out that elaborate foot-washing at every prayer time isn't even required under Muslim law.
Indeed, a perusal of Islamic Web sites reveals some flexibility regarding the washing - for example, simply wiping over the sock is sufficient, rather than soaking the bare foot.
But this seems not to matter to those who want to thrust Islamic practices into the public sphere or to the politically correct officials who refuse to draw the line.
Foot-washing done in public places, whether in sinks or footbaths, sets Muslims apart from larger society. Rather than facilitating that, we should ask members of the American Muslim community to adapt their behavior to the country in which they live.
“You just know someone is going to pee in it”
From a bacteriological (or virological, for that matter) point of fact, there is the hard reality that some Muslim washing it’s nose in a sink IS more of a health hazard than said Muslim urinating in the sink.
Urine is usually sterile - snot’s not!
‘Nuff said.
Actually, His apparent disregard of the elaborate washing customs of the day contributed to the enmity of the authorities.
“That is a gross generalization of Islam.”
Might this unenlightened one inquire as to which aspects of that post are gross generalizations, and the Sura on which you base your position?
Thanks.
I’m so glad I live in Wyoming.
Changing the subject?
Is there room left? How are the winters?
Have you ever read the Koran? Or Hadith?
I’ll give you a few gems from the Religion of Peace:
The Koran:
Sura (2:191-193) - "And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution of Muslims is worse than slaughter of non-believers...and fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah."
Sura (4:74) - "Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward."
Sura (4:76) - "Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah…"
Sura (5:33) - "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement"
Sura (8:12) - "I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them"
Sura (8:39) - "And fight with them until there is no more persecution and religion should be only for Allah"
Sura (8:57) - "If thou comest on them in the war, deal with them so as to strike fear in those who are behind them, that haply they may remember."
Sura (9:14) - "Fight them, Allah will punish them by your hands and bring them to disgrace..."
Sura (9:29) - "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, even if they are of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued."
Sura (9:30) - "And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!"
Sura (9:123) - "O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness."
Sura (47:4) - "So when you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you have overcome them, then make them prisoners,"
Sura (61:4) - "Surely Allah loves those who fight in His way"
Sura (66:9) - "O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be stern with them. Hell will be their home, a hapless journey's end
From the Hadith:
Muslim (1:33) - the Messenger of Allah said: I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah
Bukhari (8:387) - Allah's Apostle said, “I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah’”
Tabari 7:97 The morning after the murder of Ashraf, the Prophet declared, "Kill any Jew who falls under your power."
Ibn Ishaq: 327 - “Allah said, ‘A prophet must slaughter before collecting captives. A slaughtered enemy is driven from the land. Muhammad, you craved the desires of this world, its goods and the ransom captives would bring. But Allah desires killing them to manifest the religion.’”
Ibn Ishaq: 992 - "Fight everyone in the way of Allah and kill those who disbelieve in Allah."
That's a very good question. Maybe I'd like clean feet once in a while and wouldn't mind using them? Would some Muslims be insulted if an "infidel" used their foot bath and then claim the foot bath to be contaminated and useless? I don't know.
Are they going to put a "Muslims Only" sign above the foot baths? It certainly wouldn't be legal to discriminate against people who want to wash their feet on the basis of religion.
It is not a gross generalization of Islam but a well documented list of murder and mayhem perpetrated by the nations of Islam against Christian and other minorities all over the globe. Darfur is only one of the most recent examples of the actions of Islamists against Christians.
Regarding proselytiz(ing) when the law prohibits them from doing so, it's a matter of who's Law is Higher; should we obey the Law of Men and Nations or the Commandments of God? Jesus said in the last Chapter of Matthew, "19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen" If He is God as many think and believe he is, then Christians must disobey the laws of men in order to follow the Will of God. The United States endorses Freedom of Religion but this 'freedom' (like all of the others that are prescribed by the Constitution and Bill of Rights ends at someone else's nose). This means everyone if free to follow the Religion of his or her own choosing (or to make up a Religion of their own if one does not exist) but that freedom does not exist in most other places around the world but you don't have the right to kill someone who doesn't want to hear your version of "the Truth".
I understand that there are many people who have a great deal of disagreement with the "exclusivity" of Christianity; that doesn't change the fact that the nature of who Jesus said He was and what He taught His Disciples is very much "exclusive" (according to John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.").
You need to get out more.
A few years ago (I don't recall exactly when) Muslim taxi drivers demanded footbaths at the Phoenix airport so they could wash while waiting in line for passengers.
"Refreshing".
The saddest thing is that it's not the nation as a whole that wants to cater. It's a tiny group of extreme liberals, and they tacitly control everything about this society because the rest of society just goes along and does nothing; this lack of action is due in part to apathy and in part to fear of all the labels created by that tiny group of liberals.
MM (in TX)
Kewl
If they ever build these abomination baths anywhere I frequent I WILL drop bacon strips in them.
You’re pretty close to on target.
According to the by-laws of the aclu, their first and foremost objective is to overthrow the government of these United States and replace it with a communist government. That’s it’s only objective, no matter how they cattawhal otherwise, that is the reason the aclu was put together by a bunch of communists lawyers.
What many Americans do not realize is that there’s a concerted effort by some in the American Muslim community to move slowly in a similar direction right here in the United States
And guess who is falling over each other to coddle, appease and deliver. YES! You are correct! The very people me and you elect to represent us, the american citizen. Ya see we are getting less and less out of our reps we send to Washington so I suggest you check your elected officials record on pandering to specific groups AND VOTE THE SKUNK OUT! I would suggest to our unwelcome guests who demand but will not assismilate, use the urinal if they want to wash thier feet.
Not only does the aclu whine about christianity, they will take to court anyone they can if someone allows prayers in school, ball games, public arenas, the hall of presidents, and use our tax money to prosecute us. lawyers! Did you know a former president of ours and his wife, now running for the whitehouse were not members of the ABA before becoming presidents, they were card carrying aclu members.
Wonderful opportunity for the Islamic inventor/entrepreneur: sell small inflatable rubber containers -— little little bitty kiddy pools —— which come equipped with a hose that fits over the restroom sink faucet. They can blow it up* , fill it with water, wash their feet, dump the water, deflate it, fold it up in the nylon zipper tote, and put it back in their backpack— there you go.
*So to speak.
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