‘It is important in the context of respect for the rights of the
person and of the communities, the recognition of the freedom to confess
one’s religious beliefs and to exercise community of the cult. May
everyone be moved to contribute so that this right becomes concrete,
even in our city and for all religious faiths, not least Islam, the
religion that venerates you as the chosen one, the Virgin mother of
Jesus,[1] the one who certifies the truthfulness of words of God.’
Freedom of religion, like freedom of speech and movement, is the
foundation of human dignity. Yet this freedom does not entail to
publicly exercise what is contrary, if not threatening to, the common
good. The paradox of Muslims having a public place of worship in the
West as Christians and Jews do is that, as former US House Speaker Newt
Gingrich once said:
‘Sharia is incompatible with Western civilization.’ This is because
Islam in itself, contrary to the politically correct claim, does not
mean ‘peace’.
Islam Does not Mean Peace
The fourteen-hundred-year history of Islam shows that Islam is not a
religion of peace. ‘Islam,’ which is a verbal noun, the fourth form of
the Arabic root s-l-m (al-Silm), in fact signifies ‘to
submit’ or ‘to surrender.’ One who accepts Islam and makes such
submission is a Muslim. Such a person is termed a mu’min (believer), and one who does not accept Islam is a kafir (unbeliever).
The rationale for atrocities committed by Muslims is based on their submission to the notions that they must kill the kafirs for
Allah’s greater glory and that their acts of terror would inscribe them
in a book of martyrs, for which Allah would reward them with instant
ascension into the paradise that awaits all faithful Muslims:
‘Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His
Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but
that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off
from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land [bolded for emphasis]. That
is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a
great punishment; Except for those who repent before you apprehend
them. And know that Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.’ — Sura 5, 33–34
‘He who goes forth in Allah’s path and dies or is killed is a martyr,
or has his neck broken through being thrown by his horse or by his
camel, or is stung by a poisonous creature, or dies on his bed by any
kind of death Allah wishes is a martyr and will go to Paradise.’ [bolded
for emphasis] —Sunan Abu Dawood, Book 15, hadith 2493
The late Nabeel Qureshi, a convert to Christianity from Islam who
then became politically active against the Islamisation of Western
society, stated:
‘If we understand that to be Islam, then there’s no question that
Islam has violence in its original form.
The Mosque: Not Just a Place of Worship
