SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE: Muslim 'Breaking of the Crosses' in Syracuse NY

Muslims cut down, paint over 10,000 crosses to convert former Roman Catholic church to mosque. Plan approved by Syracuse Landmark Preservation Board.

This is surely another sign of our times, a sign of the impending apocalypse. The breaking of crosses and conversion of churches into mosques is widespread in Europe, but not yet so much in America.

The Final Mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Syracuse NY (February 2010).

For Christians, it is a reminder of the warning of our Lord Jesus Christ: "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8).

The number of crosses covered over � 10,000 � is a deeply symbolic, Biblical number, and was no doubt chosen by the Holy Trinity Church founders based on Revelation 5:11, where the seer John beholds the myriads of angels around the throne of God:

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands...

This scene comes immediately after "the Lamb who was slain" (who is, of course, Jesus Christ) takes the scroll with the deepest mysteries of God, sealed front and back with seven seals, and is immediately praised:

Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying:

�You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.� (Rev. 5:8-10)

Following this ecstatic worship of the Lamb by the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, and the prayers of the saints, the "ten-thousand times ten-thousand" worship Him too:

... saying with a loud voice: 

�Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!� 

And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: 

�Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!� 

Then the four living creatures said, �Amen!� And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever. (Rev. 5:12-14)

The whole point of chapter 5 of the Apocalypse is to show that the Lamb � Jesus Christ � is equal with God the Father, that He is worshipped just as the Father is, by all the hosts of heaven, all the saints, and by "every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth."

Such is the significance of the 10,000 crosses, and the name of the former parish, Holy Trinity. It was one of the most visible, richly symbolic representations of the Christian presence in Syracuse, and in New York State and the United States by extension.

Though it is certainly a temporal tragedy that such a symbolic church would be desecrated, let the significance of this serve to enkindle our zeal. The collapse of institutional Christianity is happening all around us, but Christ promised us that "Even the gates of hell shall not prevail against His Church."

During the desecration of Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, Syracuse NY.

Desecration accomplished: the former home of Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church
is now a functioning mosque. Lord have mercy.

As for observant Muslims, this will be seen as a victory over Christianity, and a powerful sign of Islam's new global resurgence, of Islam's eventual domination over the United States and the Western world, and especially, as an eschatological sign of the end times, when, Muslims believe,

Isa (the Muslim Jesus) will return and "fight the people for the cause of Islam. He will break the cross, kill the swine and abolish jizya� and establish the rule of Allah throughout the world (Hadith from Sunan Abu Dawud, Book of Battles, 37:4310).

Orthodox Christians! Let these dire signs rouse us to fervent faith and love for the Lord and His Church! As Blessed Hieromonk Seraphim of Platina wrote:

"Now one cannot be a half-hearted Christian, but only entirely or not at all."

Syracuse: Muslims cut down, paint over 10,000 crosses to convert church to mosque
Creeping Sharia � August 17, 2015 (Comments in italics below in original post.)

Holy Trinity Church of Syracuse, before the "breaking of the crosses..."

For background on this story, see also:

• Muslim Refugees Take Over Former Catholic Church in Syracuse, New York
• At Holy Trinity's final Mass, a bishop prays, a protest is made, and the pews are packed

ISIS destroys Christian symbols in the Middle East. Boko Haram attacks churches and churchgoers in Africa. In the west, the process is more refined� for now. 

via From church to mosque: Syracuse Islamic group cuts crosses, tries to connect to neighborhood | syracuse.com.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. � Two gray church spires grow out of a bumpy plain of city rooftops along Park Street. The skyline is the same as it has been for the better part of a century until you look closer at Holy Trinity Church: There are slim copper crescents where, for 100 years, there had been crosses. 

The six crosses were removed and replaced at the end of June. Four of them were massive: 600 pounds of concrete each, and more than 4 feet tall. The step was the last, and most visible, in the building�s change from church to mosque.

The transformation has been a series of careful choices aimed at balancing the forces of two religions in a neighborhood that is shifting. The North Side, once full of Italian and German immigrants, is increasingly home to new Americans who are refugees from countries where Islam is the dominant religion. 

Even as the crosses were cut from the church spires on the outside, and 10,000 crosses were painted over on the inside, the new owners of 501 Park St. tried to leave what they could, and reuse what they couldn�t. 

The wood from the pews has been repurposed to fix the floor, which is where Muslims sit to pray. Painters worked to make the minbar, the pulpit where the imam stands, blend in with the stonework. The name of the mosque is Masjid Isa Ibn Maryam, which translates to Mosque of Jesus Son of Mary.

Is this the history we want to leave for future generations? It will be and it will get much worse if Muslim immigration is not halted and/or reversed very soon. More below the fold.

The cost to buy and transform the church was great: $300,000 and counting, said Yusuf Soule, the volunteer director of the North Side Learning Center, which bought the property and is overseeing the mosque construction.

Yusuf Soule, director of the North Side Learning Center, with the desecrated church in the background.

But the physical work and fundraising has been the easy part of the transformation.  

Soule stood inside the mosque, his nearly 7-foot frame diminished by the vastness of the space. The 50-foot ceilings seem higher than they were when there were church pews and an altar inside the building. Painters, paid and volunteer, were up on ladders for weeks, painting over some 10,000 crosses, Soule said. 

The crosses were turned into other designs, or, in some cases, covered over by gray paint so they blended into the walls. 

Covering those 10,000 crosses was a small feat when compared with what it took to remove the crosses from the church spires. That took months of back and forth with the city�s Landmark Preservation Board, submitting and resubmitting plans for removing the crosses and storing them onsite, which the board required. 

On June 29, Paul Waelder rode a crane to the top of the church. Along with workers from Giarrosso Sheet Metal, Waelder spent two days 200 feet in the air, working first with concrete saws to remove the crosses. Then his son, David Waelder, an artist and metal worker, hammered the domes and crescents into place. The crescents are smaller, less than a foot, on top of thin metal spires. They cover up the lightning rods that were part of the crosses and had to be left to protect the building. 

Paul Waelder said the high-profile job came with two stipulations: no talking to the press and no pictures or video of the cross removal. 

Waelder understood. �They had a bull�s eye on their backs,� he said. �They are doing good things over there.�

So good they didn�t allow Waelder to talk to the press or allow anyone to take pictures of the crosses being taken down. Did they not want to catch Muslims cheering? 

Watching the crosses come down off of Holy Trinity was hard for the people who found their spiritual home there, week after week, year after year. 

Anne Angiolillo raised her 10 children spending every Sunday in the pews of Holy Trinity. She opposed taking down the crosses, and cried inside when it was done, she said. 

Angiolillo moved from the neighborhood last year, but when she goes back and looks to the sky now, it seems empty. �They�re missing,� she said. �They really were a landmark.� 

Even now, Soule was reluctant to have pictures taken of the massive crosses. After they were removed from the building, they were carefully wrapped in plastic and cloth. They look a bit like mummies. The two copper crosses, less than 100 pounds each, were easier to remove. They are not wrapped. 

The city allowed Soule�s group to take the crosses down, but it also required them to keep the crosses at 501 Park St. Soule said the hope is that the crosses can be kept in a way that lets the public see them. But the final plan hasn�t been worked out.

Why would the city allow them to take down the crosses then keep them on site? Don�t hold your breath waiting for a plan.

Read it all to notice the inherent Islamophilia in the Muslims-good, Americans-bad puff piece by Marnie Eisenstadt.

Our previous coverage of the church-now-mosque and previous Eisenstadt Islamophilia here.

10 Tips for a stronger relationship between Muslim Husband and Wife

the relationship of husband and wife is one of the most beautiful relation among all the relations which all Allah SWT has created between human beings. a husband and wife love each other and supports each other in every hard and easy time of  the life. they also become parents together. so this relation is special for many reasons. to make the relationship of marriage more stronger both the partners must keep some things in mind which will help them to avoid any trouble in their married lives.

Below are  these tips:

Don't try to control your partner: never try to control your partner and consider your spouse a slave. Instead treat your partner with equality.

Discuss before taking any decision: Discuss all the Important matters of life with your spouse before taking a decision. take him/her in confidence.

Don't be abusive: never be abusive towards your partner. this point is specially for the husbands.

Become best friend of your spouse: you should be best friend of your spouse with whom you can chill, enjoy, have fun and discuss anything.

Affection is Important: It is Important to show affection towards your partner. being loving and kind makes a relation stronger.

Appreciation is also Important: appreciate the good things about your partner. tell your partner that he/she is beautiful.

Help your wife in house works: help your wife in different tasks like cooking and cleaning.

Dress up and look attractive:  Try to dress up good and look attractive. this will attract your spouse towards you.

Control your anger: we can get angry sometimes but It is Important to keep our anger is control and don't do something bad in anger.

don't share your personal matters with third person: a husband and wife should not share their personal matters with anyone else.

Islamic State is 'beheading, raping, and selling' Christians while Obama does nothing, asserts Justice Group

The American Center for Law and Justice is pressing the Obama Administration to act swiftly to stop the genocide of Christians and other minorities in the Middle East, highlighting the administration's inaction on several fronts. But action is unlikely to be forthcoming. 

As Raymond Ibrahim has shown, reporting of Muslim persecution of Christians does not fit "The Narrative" which the Obama Administration holds to, that Islam is innocent and there is no religious dimension to the strife in the Middle East and Africa. Therefore the plight of Christians will likely continue to be ignored by the U.S. government as a matter of Obama's anti-Christian, pro-Islam policy.

Such is the political dimension of this new age of martyrdom in which we live. 


ISIS is 'beheading, raping, and selling' Christians while Obama does nothing, Justice group asserts
by Thomas D. Williams, PhD, Breitbart News, August 21, 2015

The American Center for Law and Justice is urging President Barack Obama to defend Christians who are suffering intense persecution from Islamic State terrorists, especially by naming an ambassador to fill the vacant mission of Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia.

The ACLJ has drafted a petition appealing to the Obama Administration to act swiftly to stop the genocide of Christians and other minorities in the Middle East. The petition has already garnered more than 93,000 signatures.

The organization reminds the administration that ISIS is �beheading, raping, and selling Christians� and that hundreds of thousands of Christians have been forced to flee or die. But while ISIS tracks down Christians for sale and slaughter, the Obama Administration and other Western leaders stand by idle.

For more than a year, the justice group states in an article on Thursday, �President Obama has failed to appoint an Ambassador to lead a Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia.�

�While Christians and other religious minorities are decimated in that region, the Obama administration leaves this vital position unfilled. This is why the ACLJ has urged them to fill this spot and will continue to do so,� it said.

Just this week, in fact, the Catholic relief agency Aid to the Church in Need announced that �Christians have become a form [of] currency in this tragedy.� They report that many Arab Christians are being abducted and held for ransom as a means of funding ISIS.  One priest�s family managed to scrape together the $120,000 ransom put on his head, but once they paid the sum, they were mailed his cut-up body parts in a box, the ACLJ notes.

The Islamic State has seized significant territory across Iraq and Syria, and for more than a year now has been heavily targeting Christians and other religious minorities.

�Despite President Obama�s insistence that there is no need for greater U.S. involvement with ISIS,� the letters states, �these jihadists continue to gain more influence, money, and power.  Every day, we see new accounts of Christians & Yazidis begin captured, women being enslaved, and mass murders being committed by ISIS.�

�If this is not the kind of evil that our government is established to stop, then one must ask what is,� the ACLJ said. �This evil must be stopped.�

When the Obama Administration when it intended to appoint a special envoy to protect religious minorities in the Middle East and South Central Asia�even though Congress passed legislation over a year ago creating the post�the White House responded that it does not know.

�We have no personnel announcement to make at this time,� said Alistair Baskey, a spokesman for the White House�s National Security Council told CNSNews.com in response to queries as to when the post will be filled and why there has been such a long delay in filling the position.

Q&A: Ruling on working with Network Marketing companies by Sheikh Ata' Abu Rashta

Bismillahi Al-Rahman AlRaheem
Answers to the Questions:
(( Ruling on Working with ?#?Network_Marketing_Companies?))
To Zdig For'Allah and Houssem Eddine
(Translated)
======================
?#?Questions?:
Question by Zdig For'Allah
Our respected Sheikh, As-Salaam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuhu, my question is regarding the rule of working with network marketing companies, Barak Allahu feek and protect you to support the dawah.
Question by Houssem Eddine:
As-Salaam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuhu, I would like to ask about the ruling on Q-net company based on the idea of network marketing, with the knowledge that the sales in this company is carried through marketing the products in a network, and the more clients a salesperson gets into the network increases his commission, even if he does not put effort to sell. For example, if the person No. 100 carries out the sale, then the founder of the network receives money, although he has not put in any significant effort, but he receives it only because he is the founder or is one of the parties of the sales network. Please provide us with the answer because this type of sale has spread rapidly in nearly all of the Islamic country including the Arabic countries.

?#?Answer?:
Wa Alaikum As-Salaam Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuhu to both of you,
Your questions are about the same subject, and although you did not provide details of the?#?subject?, but this kind of selling is widespread. I have received questions about it from more than one area, and I will mention some of the questions that came from Southeast Asia and Central Asia to clarify the picture, then I will respond to this type of sale:

1. Question from Southeast Asia:
�A trading company for health products dealing with its customers as follows:
If a customer bought a health product he gets the right to take the commission on two buyers he brings to the company. Once they buy a health product of the company, each one of them has the right to bring two customers and take commission for that, in addition to the right of the first buyer to take additional commission for the four who were brought by the two customers brought by the first customer. And so on and so forth. Is this permissible?� End.

2. Question of Central Asia:
�We have business transactions of the Quest Net company, which are as follows:
"The Quest Net ?#?Network? has products, and requires anyone who wants to market their products to buy something from these products, and then after their purchase of products, they have the right to also bring others to buy from it for a commission for those they bring. If he was able to bring six customers to buy its products, the company will pay him a commission of 250 ?#?dollars?, and then the process trickles down. For example, the first marketing customer brings two to buy products from the company, then each of these two customers bring two customers, the total is six, the first marketer receives 250 dollars, the other two marketers receive nothing until each and every one of them bring six buyers, and then each receive 250 dollars, and the first marketer gets 500 dollars for the fact that all of them are his ?#?followers? to buy products ...
If the buyer wants to market the company's products, he would receive a fortune! This is the motive behind the incentive purchase of the company's products, i.e. the expectation of attaining a fortune, and not the desire to buy the products, since the value of the product is not worth the tenth of the price set by the company for this product.

But if the buyer was not able to market the products, i.e. to bring buyers to buy from the company, then the product remains in his hand which he bought for an expensive price, without taking any money from the company. This leads to depriving the buyers who are not able to bring others or who are in the last row of buyers. In ?#?Central_Asia? many operate in this manner. Is this transaction permissible?" End.
It is clear that the issue is the same with a different number of customers that entitles the marketer who brought them to get a commission for, there was a question from Southeast Asia and Central Asia, no doubt that this is the reality of both your questions, and the answer for them is one, and because the question of Central ?#?Asia? is the most comprehensive, I will focus on it in the answer:

After considering the reality of the Quest Net company, with its different methods of transactions, and even though the idea is the same, which is that the company deals with marketers who will bring buyers "customers," for it and it will give them a commission in return, under certain conditions, i.e. they are brokers to the company, who bring buyers and take a commission in return ...and from analysing the reality of this transaction shows the following:

First, this type of companies deal with this network of marketing for several products, these companies require from those who market its ?#?products? to buy something from these products, and then it gives him the right to bring customers to it, in return for a commission, "i.e which makes him a broker for the company who brings buyers and takes commission for that." It does not give him a commission until he brings six of the buyers, according to the question of Central Asia, and until he brings two customers according to the question of the other region, i.e. according to the program prepared by the company for this purpose.
In other words, the first buyer takes a commission for the two, "or six" whom he?#?brought? plus another commission for the four customers brought by the first two, or six brought by the first two ...

Marketing continues "brokering" in such a sequence in the form of brokerage or marketing network.
Secondly, this type of trading business is contrary to Islam, and here is the explanation:

1. The company requires the marketer to purchase their products to have the right to become its broker, for a commission, i.e. he brings clients and takes commission in return, whether the commission is after he brings six buyers or after bringing two buyers.

This means that the purchase contract and the brokerage contract are two contracts in a single contract, or two transactions in a single transaction, because each is a condition of another. This is haram.
�????? ??????? ????? ???? ???????????? ??? ???????? ?????????�
The �Messenger of Allah (saw) has forbidden two transactions in one transaction� (Extracted by Ahmad on the authority of Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah bin Masood from his father). It is as if I tell you: If you sell for me, I will hire from you or become your broker or buy from you ... etc. It is clear that this is the reality according to the question, selling and brokerage are in one contract, i.e. the obligating of purchasing from the company is a condition for the brokerage, i.e. marketing for a ?#?commission? for buyers brought for the company.

2. The brokerage is a contract between the seller and those who bring the customers, and the brokerage commission in this contract must be for the person who brings them to the company, and not for the one brought by others. As the brokerage commission is in the transaction of the company mentioned. The broker �marketer� takes it, in return for customers he brings to buy from the company, as well as the ones brought by others; this is?#?contrary? to the brokerage contract.

3. The purchase price from the company is accompanied by exuberant injustice, that the buyer is aware of, however, it is not free from deception as a result of the "twisted" methods used by the company to promote its ?#?business?so that it leads the buyer to pay the high price for the company�s product, which cost a small fraction price ... 

And all because of what the company promotes of a bright future for the buyer because he will have the opportunity to market the company's product for a commission for the buyers he bring to the company, as well as for the buyers that his first customer will bring!

When the buyer fails to bring buyers, especially those in the last chain of the buyers, he will be entrapped by deception, and loses the high price he paid for the product which is not worth the tenth of the payment! Deception is forbidden in Islam. 
The ?#?Messenger? of Allah (saw) said, �??????????? ??? ???????�? �Deception leads to the fire ...� (Extracted by Bukhari on the authority of Ibn Abi Awfa). 
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said to the man who deceives in sales: �????? ????????? ?????? ??? ?????????��If you sell and buy then say no Khilabah� Narrated by Bukhari from Abdullah ibn Umar (ra), and Khilabah is deception. This is the literal text of the hadeeth and it meaning shows that deception is forbidden.

Thus, this transaction is not permitted in Shariah.
In summary, the transaction of the ?#?Quest? Net company in the manner explained in the questions violates the Shariah, I ask Allah (swt) to help us with His ?#?grace? and virtues to establish the ?#?Khilafah? and to implement the economic system in Islam, which shows the pure and transparent ?#?economic? transactions that provide a comfortable living and tranquil life to all its citizens and Allah is Mighty and Wise.

Wa Alaikum As-Salaam Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuhu

Your brother,
Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah

4 Dhul Qiddah 1436 AH
19 August 2015 CE
-------------------

American Muslims send their best wishes to President Carter.

We send our respectful wishes to President Carter and pray for his speedy recovery. We also pray and wish him a longer life, and hope he can witness the fruition of his work that he started for lasting peace in the Middle East. He is a genuine peace maker and a blessing to the world � and the true earner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

On August 20, 2015 - President Jimmy Carter announced that his cancer has spread to his brain and doctors in Atlanta found four "very small spots" of melanoma. Carter, who turns 91 in October, started receiving radiation yesterday.   

Carter is one of the presidents who remained active with the American people building homes for the poor through the Habitat for Humanity. He was instrumental in eradication of debilitating diseases in Africa like the guinea worm. The President traveled around the world monitoring democratic process taking roots, and watching the genuine voting process.

He is the most gracious man; he kept smiling and dedicated his life for humanity.  May God bless him a long life, and let the humanity benefit from his good work. 

American Muslim Institution, a pro-active voice for American Muslims.www.AmericanMuslimInstitution.org

http://news.yahoo.com/jimmy-carter-discuss-cancer-diagnosis-publicly-084102065.html

Islamic State bulldozes 1,500-year-old Syrian monastery, captures over 200 Syriac Christians

Islam's war against Christianity continues to advance. In this report you see it all: Muslims conquering, destroying Christian sites, taking of captives, offering the "three choices" � convert to Islam, pay the jizya, or death." And tens of thousands of Muslims from all over the world are flocking to the Middle East to join the Islamic State because they see it adhering to pure Islam.

Islamic State bulldozes 1,500-year-old Syrian monastery

by Robert Spencer, Jihad Watch � August 21, 2015

Besides removing supposed temptations to idolatry, Islamic jihadists want to destroy the artifacts of non-Muslim civilizations because doing so testifies to the truth of Islam, as the Qur�an suggests that the destroyed remnants of ancient non-Muslim civilizations are a sign of Allah�s punishment of those who rejected his truth:

Many were the Ways of Life that have passed away before you: travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who rejected Truth. (Qur�an 3:137)

This is one of the foundations of the Islamic idea that pre-Islamic civilizations, and non-Islamic civilizations, are all jahiliyya � the society of unbelievers, which is worthless. Obviously this cuts against the idea of tourism of ancient sites and non-Muslim religious installations. V. S. Naipaul encountered this attitude in his travels through Muslim countries. For many Muslims, he observed in Among the Believers, �The time before Islam is a time of blackness: that is part of Muslim theology. History has to serve theology.� Naipaul recounted that some Pakistani Muslims, far from valuing the nation�s renowned archaeological site at Mohenjo Daro, saw its ruins as a teaching opportunity for Islam, recommending that Qur�an 3:137 be posted there as a teaching tool.

�Isis in Syria: 1,500-year-old Mar Elian monastery bulldozed by Islamic State in Qaryatain,� by Gianluca Mezzofiore, International Business Times, August 21, 2015 (thanks to David):

Islamic State (Isis) militants have bulldozed parts of the ancient monastery of Mar Elian in Qaryatain, a strategic town located in the central Syrian province of Homs which has been seized from forces loyal to president Bashar al-Assad earlier this month. IS-linked Twitter accounts posted pictures of the destruction of the monastery, which was founded in 432 on the claimed spot of St. Elian�s death, for �worshipping a God other than Allah�.

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), IS also transferred dozens of Assyrian Christians, who were kidnapped after the capture of Qaryatain, near its northern Syria de facto capital of Raqqa.

Mar Elian is also the place where priest Jacques Mourad was abducted back in May. Mourad was known to help both Christians and Muslims and was preparing aid for the arrival of hundreds of refugees from Palmyra�.

The jihadist group captured Qaryatain, which lies south-west of Palmyra Roman ruins and 85km from Homs, after heavy clashes with regime forces. Then the group abducted about 230 Syriac Orthodox and Syriac Catholics. Of those captured, 48 have been released and 110 were transferred to Raqqa, according to SOHR. The Christians would be given the choice of conversion to Islam or paying �jizya�, a tax on non-Muslims.

Earlier in March, IS blew up part of the ancient monastery of Mar Behnam in Iraq near the predominantly Christian town of Qaraqosh, south-east of Mosul. Photos released by IS members on social media show the 4th-century monastery�s tomb complex of Mar (Saint) Behnam and Mart (Saint) Sarah reduced to rubble.The monastery was also founded in the 4th century and built on the tomb of Berhnam and his sister Sarah, who were converted to Christianity by St Matthew. IS fighters stormed the monastery in July 2014 and expelled its resident monks.

�They�re doing this gradually. They scared the people away and now they�re destroying these people�s heritage. I don�t understand: why would you do that? Why destroy something it�s not yours?,� al-Jeloo said. �No palace, monastery, church, ruins is ours to destroy. It�s the world�s property. That�s why I�m concerned the world�s community is not doing enough to stop Isis.�

In March, an IS-linked Twitter account posted pictures of what appears to be jihadists smashing crosses and defacing statues, Christian murals and paintings at St George Chaldean Catholic monastery near Mosul. The monastery, located on the Ba�werah neighbourhood on a hill north of Mosul on the other side of the Tigris river, was founded by the Assyrian Church of the East in the 10th century but rebuilt as a seminary by the Chaldean Catholic Church in 1846.

Also in March, IS militants reportedly bulldozed the 2,000-year-old city of Hatra, and the Nimrud archaeological site near Mosul. On 26 February, the jihadist group published a video showing militants destroying artefacts in a Mosul museum and at the Nergal Gate to ancient Nineveh.

Khutbah by Nouman Ali Khan: Be Grateful

Slovakia refuses EU plan to resettle Muslim refugees, �will only accept Christians�

Wisdom and prudence from the sovereign state of Slovakia. They (and all Christian countries) should be free to flatly refuse to accept forced Muslim immigration.

Keep Slovakia jihad free!

As of 2011, Slovakia was approximately 62% Roman Catholic, 8.9% Protestant, 3.8% Greek Catholic, and .9% Orthodox Christian, a very small Jewish remnant, the rest Atheist and other; no Muslim population even registered in the survey. No doubt they would like to keep it that way, given the historic problems their neighbors have had from Muslim incursions dating back a millennium (Slovakia herself was attacked by Muslim armies centuries ago), and the current woes suffered by every European country which has Muslim populations (sharia "no-go" zones, crime, etc).

More disturbing, the Islamic State has publicly targeted Slovakia in its 5-year plan to spread the caliphate from Spain to China, no doubt relying on mass Muslim immigration as a key component of their jihad.

The EU's demands amount to civilizational jihad, and would only result in the desolation of Slovakia.

Migrants crisis: Slovakia �will only accept Christians�
Slovakia says it will only accept Christians when it takes in Syrian refugees under a EU relocation scheme
BBC News via Pravmir, August 20, 2015

The country is due to receive 200 people from camps in Turkey, Italy and Greece under the EU plan to resettle 40,000 new arrivals.

Interior ministry spokesman Ivan Netik said Muslims would not be accepted because they would not feel at home.

The UN�s refugee agency (UNHCR) called on countries to take an �inclusive approach� to relocation.

But Mr Netik denied the move was discriminatory and said it was intended to ensure community cohesion.

�Not going to like it�

The number of migrants at the EU�s borders has surged in recent months, reaching a record high of 107,500 in July. Most are Syrians, Afghans, and sub-Saharan Africans, fleeing instability or poverty.

Last month, EU member states agreed to take in 32,000 asylum seekers arriving in Italy and Greece over the next two years � fewer than the 40,000 target.

The scheme was made voluntary after some nations � including Slovakia � refused to accept set quotas.

Mr Netik told the BBC: �We want to really help Europe with this migration wave but� we are only a transit country and the people don�t want to stay in Slovakia.

�We could take 800 Muslims but we don�t have any mosques in Slovakia so how can Muslims be integrated if they are not going to like it here?�

[No doubt they would do what they have done in France, England, Sweden, Denmark and elsewhere: create isolated Muslim enclaves, driving out native Slovakians through intimidation and crime, and eventually establishing sharia "no-go zones" where even police fear to venture.]

EU Commission spokeswoman Annika Breithard said she could not comment directly on the Slovak statement, but stressed that EU states were banned from any form of discrimination.

Meanwhile Babar Baloch, Central Europe spokesman for the UNHCR, said: �Resettlement is greatly needed for many refugees who are at extreme risk among the world�s most vulnerable groups.

�We encourage governments to take an inclusive approach while considering refugees for resettlement and should not base their selection on discrimination.�

More than 240,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean already this year, arriving on the shores of Greece and Italy before travelling on to other destinations.

Germany, the biggest recipient of asylum-seekers in the EU, has said it could receive as many as 800,000 applicants this year.

The numbers are far higher than the record 438,000 asylum applications in 1992 during the Bosnian crisis.

Both the EU and the UN have called on other countries to share the burden.

But EU leaders face a public backlash amid tensions over immigration.

[No doubt those tensions have been caused by a certain specific group of immigrants, namely the ones who bring jihad with them.]

Eyes on Muslim population in Bihar: Will 1.75 crore Muslims tilt the balance in 2015 Assembly election?

As the crucial election for Bihar assembly approaches, the focus is on the Muslim electorate in the state.

The question is will Bihar Muslims solidly support the Nitish Kumar-led JDU-RJD coalition.

Or will Asaduddin Owaisi's entry into the state would lead to polarisation on communal lines.

Owaisi has targeted Seemanchal, a backward region that has a huge Muslim population, for his rally.

MIM's entry has energised a section of Muslim youth. There is a chance that in Seemanchal, there will be an affect on JDU-RJD's prospects because of Majlis. The possibility is that it will not only divide Muslim but will also lead to consolidation of BJP's core vote?


Bihar has over 1.75 crore Muslims, accounting for 17% population in State

Bihar has the third highest population of Muslims in the country, after Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Bengal (in numbers, not percentage). While UP has over 4 crore Muslims and Bengal has 2.45 crore Muslims.

As per 2011 census, population of  Bihar was 10.41 crore. The percentage of Muslims as per the latest census (religious figures released only a few months ago), the percentage was around 16.9 (roughly 17).

Till now, it was believed that Muslims would vote en bloc for the RJD-JDU-Congress coalition.

Hence, it was felt that their vote would not be divided unlike past when minorities' votes were divided between Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal.

But, jointly, JDU-RJD-Congress have a support of over 50% electorate--at least, on paper.

It gives them the edge, as reflected in opinion polls too. However, the coming few weeks would determine if the 'secular forces' would take off or lose steam.

The BJP campaign is led by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is using his oratory and his tested skills to capture the imagination of the Biharis. A few more weeks and we will find out whom Bihar electorate hand over reins of the State.

Why did Uthman burn the Quran? - Yasir Qadhi

One of the questions that many people ask is:  Why did the third Caliph, `Uthman, burn all copies of the Quran during his reign? This is viewed as something sacrilegious or indicating that the Qur'an was wrong.

There is cultural misunderstanding here,  because from the Islamic tradition when you burn the Qur'an you are not disrespecting it; in fact this is the way to respectfully dispose of it, which is the exact opposite from the Western tradition.

Our religion teaches us that when you have a copy of the Qur'an that is worn out and you have to dispose of it, you don't just throw it in the trash; that is disrespectful. Rather, you disintegrate it. They didn't have paper shredders back then so how would they disintegrate the Qur'an respectfully? Simply they would light a fire and burn it because they didn't want people to trample on it; they didn't want people to throw it in trash can. They wanted to get rid of the sacredness of the Qur'an in a manner that is not intentionally disrespectful.