Being the son of an African Muslim, Obama has been trying his best to change the unilateralism of ex-President Bush since becoming the U.S. president. To a certain extent, this has allowed the relationship between the U.S. and the Muslim world to resume. In a country with deep Christian roots like America, Obama somehow has an “ambiguous” religion, reflecting the social change in America.
As the ninth anniversary of September 11 approached, a Christian pastor in a small town in America swore to burn 200 copies of the Quran on that anniversary, “paying tribute” to those who were killed in the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. and sending a warning to Muslim extremists, including al-Qaida.
This pastor is Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida. The center is one of those very small religious congregations in the U.S., with only 50 members. However, his [threatened] action caused great outrage. He finally had to back off from his plan to burn the Quran.
Concerns of the U.S. Military
The Quran is the [equivalent of the] Bible for 1.5 billion Muslims around the world. To burn the Quran is absolutely provocative and insulting to the Muslim world, arousing a strong reaction from Muslims. The U.S. and NATO commander-in-chief in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, was the first person to give such a warning. After he learned about Jones’ plan, he immediately and openly called Jones to request that he cancel his plan, as such an action would definitely lead to revenge on U.S. and NATO troops, and would have a detrimental effect on the military efforts of NATO in Afghanistan.
Later, President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, E.U. leaders and even the Vatican strongly opposed Jones’ plan. The U.S. Department of Defense also directly exerted pressure on Jones to oppose his organization’s plan to burn the Koran. Their reason was the same as that of Petraeus.
As for Obama’s worries, they are not based solely on military concerns, but also include political reasons. As the son of an African Muslim, Obama has tried very hard to change the unilateralist foreign policy of ex-President Bush and has, to a certain extent, resumed relations between the U.S. and the Muslim world. If footage of the Quran being burned were broadcast around the world on the anniversary date of 9/11, Obama’s efforts would all be wasted. Moreover, the relationship between the U.S. and the Muslim world would fall into an abyss.
Internal Contractions in France and Germany
Nine years ago, on Sept. 11, it was a big question why 19 Western-educated youngsters from well-off Arab families committed horrible suicide attacks on New York and Washington.
Why do so many Muslims live in Western countries, but oppose Western culture and refuse to integrate into the mainstream culture? This is related to the migration era of globalization, the Muslim world lagging behind in modern history, and conflict between Israel and Palestine in the Middle East, as well as the history of hatred between Muslims and Christians.
This problem is even worse in some European countries. For example, 10 percent of the French population is Muslim, and many white French are not happy with this. The French Parliament passed legislation to prevent female Muslim students from wearing the burqa. This reflects how mainstream French culture will not allow Muslim culture to expand its influence into the French education system.
In his book “German Self-Destruction,” Thilo Sarrazin, a member of the board at the Bundesbank, criticized Turkish and Arab immigrants in Germany for having low IQs, adhering to their own culture and refusing to assimilate into German culture. He has been strongly condemned by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and criticized by the German media, despite the fact that he had the private support of many Germans. Finally, he was forced to resign and was mocked by the German media, discussing “Sarrazin’s self-destruction.” Note that Sarrazin is not a member of a right-wing political party; he belongs to the left-wing Social Democratic Party.
French Muslims originate from former French colonies, and their presence can be considered “retribution.” Turkish immigrants in Germany originate from massive labor recruitment in the 1960s and 1970s. Large Muslim populations in France and Germany have a historical background. On the other hand, Nordic countries like Sweden and Denmark have neither a historical burden, nor have they imported labor from Islamic countries; they have attracted a lot of Muslims to settle in the name of asylum, based on humanitarian principles. They have built their own neighborhoods, schools and mosques in northern Europe, to the dissatisfaction of local residents.
Obama’s Faith
Although Terry Jones is under tremendous pressure for his extreme [proposed] action, he has earned the support of many people. He left for New York to meet with local Muslim leaders and avoided the embarrassment of staying in Gainesville, as he swore to burn the Quran on Sept. 11. Leaving Gainesville is a relief for him, but he also claims that he will win a promise from Muslim leaders not to build a mosque on ground zero; otherwise, he will burn the Quran. However, the Muslim leader in New York has not made such a promise, nor does he intend to discuss this issue with Jones.
The issue raised by Jones — the establishment of a mosque on ground zero — arouses great outrage in America. The Republicans and many Christians, including the recently surging tea party, are all strongly opposed to the suggestion. They consider building a mosque on ground zero to be a great insult to those killed on 9/11. Such opposition voices also include criticism of and challenges for Obama, who supports the establishment of a mosque on ground zero.
In an opinion survey, those believe Obama is a Muslim are equal in number to those who believe he is Christian, but still more Americans do not know his religion. In a deeply rooted Christian society, the ambiguity of Obama’s faith relates to the fact that both his birth father and stepfather are Muslims, but also reflects changes in American society. The traditionally advantageous position of white European descendants is beginning to be shaken. Obama’s presidency and his current difficult position are directly related to this.
It is good that such issues hit the headlines of global media but no need to spread hysteria and phobia. It is a failing of Islam, in the first place, to have lost its shine as guidance for all faiths. Qur’an comprises both essence of Torah and the Gospels. Read it yourself to be convinced. In fact, Quran reinforces and gives it a glow to these messages with supplications. As a Muslim, I have no hesitation to assert that Muslims by and large have put the blessed teachings of Quran on the backburner. Islam’s image is so badly tarnished that nothing less than an infusion of fresh blood can restore its authenticity and blessings to mankind. Accept solitary Turkey and Malaysia, the entire Muslim world is plagued by autocracy. There are relics of decaying monarchies in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Morocco. Palestinians are so ignorant of Jewish history that they have missed to observe the folly of Israel’s founding father. How strange. indeed, shocking that the founding father David Ben Gurion, in is utter loss of faith in the Jewish God, disgraced Him with contempt at the founding ceremony, saying: God had too little for the Jews.” Why to fight with an entity that is not Jewish and that is another evil in the sight of God liable for cruel suffering to the Zionists. Iran is another sore point. Why are Jews so frightened from the bragging of Iran’s President, who in his lack of the teachings of Quran seems hell-bent to destroy Israel. Nonsense. Israel’s fate is tied with the Jewish “Yahweh.” Israel’s threat lies from within. Coming back to the woeful forgetfulness of Muslims of the teachings of Quran, they have degenerated into the backwater of history. Let me reassert that there is no Shar’ia in practice anywhere. The Saudi model is a disgrace in that it is too much burdened with prevention measures and absolutely no promotional drive. Saudi Kingdom itself is a square peg in a round hole. Its practice of “Wahabism” is a contradiction of Islam. Islam is so simple a religion that just to declare one’s faith in the Oneness of God and His Messenger Mohammad is enough for his redemption on the Day of Judgment. The bottom line is that Qur’an declares that God has created satanic forces to impel people towards disregard and even blaspheme of Qur’an. It strictly restricts any outcry against this incident in that God has marked such evil-minded people for retribution on Day of Judgment.