Boreal
Islamic Scriptures as They Relate to Current Events
January 1 - June 30, 2023
News analysis you will not find anywhere else (O = Off-topic)
Sweden Quran burning: Protesters storm embassy in Baghdad Salwan Momika, said to be an Iraqi living in Sweden, set fire to a copy of Islam's holy book outside Stockholm's central mosque on Wednesday. BBC, June 29, 2023
Is desecrating a book in protest ever justified?
Eid al-Adha: 'This is a huge day for the Muslim community' One of the most important festivals in the Muslim calendar, Eid al-Adha is marked by special prayers and feasts. BBC June 28, 2023
The
feast of Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice occurs during the Hajj pilgrimage (see previous entry). The festival celebrates Abraham’s
willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael. On that day, in countries that allow it, fathers and sons, as part of the celebration, do to goats, sheep,
even cows, what Abraham would have done to his son, making the feast of Eid
al-Adha the day when more animals are tortured to death then at any other time of the year.
Muhammad not only demonstrated how God allegedly wanted an animal slowly put to death while fully conscious but also made eating meat an obligation.
2 million Muslim pilgrims expected in Saudi Arabia for hajj as pandemic restrictions ease... All Muslims are required to make the five-day hajj at least once in their lives if they are physically and financially able to do it. CBC June 26, 2023
Two and half million is about the maximum number of pilgrims that can be accommodated for the Hajj because of the limitations of the finite space that is the Ka'ba and its surroundings. If every Muslim alive today wanted to do the Hajj, it would take more than 750 years to accommodate them all. For practical purposes, this means that an estimated 80% or so could end up in Hell for not fulfilling one of the mandatory five pillars of Islam For a solution read to the end of The Hajj.
[22-Year-Old] Hamza Taouzzale became the first Muslim and youngest ever Lord Mayor of Westminster, a ceremonial post that outranks many of the capital’s most powerful and privileged... Being the first Muslim to hold the role required some negotiating, as part of the lord mayor’s job includes speaking regularly at the Abbey, an Anglican church. “Whenever I did a reading at the Abbey, we had to spend a lot of time with the dean to figure out what the right reading was,” he said. “I am a devout Muslim, I’m not going to hide my faith to read something that I don’t agree with, or don’t think is right. So we always had to find a verse somewhere in the Bible, or a reading, that would match my religious understanding.” NY Times, June 23, 2023
It could not have been easy, the New Testament being very much the antithesis of what Islam preaches.
Creeping Shariah Has Nothing on the Woke Mob, NY Times, June 16, 2023
The religious right is seeking rapprochement with people they wanted to stop from immigrating to the United States during Trump’s Presidency thinking that Sharia law is as narrow-minded as they are about exposing children and young people to sex education in school. Little do they know? Muslim children who have yet to attend school know more about sex, including gay sex, than evangelicals on their wedding night.
Southern Baptists Vote to Keep Out Churches With Female Pastors, NY Times June 14, 2023
Islam and Southern Baptists, two peas in a pod when it comes to female preachers; but, you would not get that impression from watching this episode of Little Mosque on the Prairie, the storyline.
Turning the Tide on Animal Suffering, At least nine states and the European Union now ban veal crates, hen cages or tight stalls for sows. New York Times June 10, 2023
In Canada, the tide is going the other way.
'Travesty' or 'forward thinking'? Hundreds weigh in on one-click citizenship oath CBC June 4, 2023
Why should only veiled women be allowed to take the oath of citizenship incognito?
A Rapper's detention Shows Iran's Crackdown is Failing. New York Times, May 31, 2023
I wouldn't be too sure about that. Rapper Toomaj Salehi has been charged with "corrupting the land" which carries the death penalty. Khamenei is doing what Muhammad did to successfully silence the wordsmiths of his time. I wouldn't bet against the example of the Prophet.
A Pillar of Erdogan's Victory: Devout Conservative Women, New York Times, May 30, 2023
Pink and Gwen Stephani song lyrics may hold a clue as to why women in their tens of thousands voted for the man who, in 2021, withdrew Turkey from an international treaty on preventing violence against them.
Thousands of ethnic minority Muslims defy Chinese authorities in defense of mosque CNN May 30, 2023
The Chinese simply want to reduce the mosque's profile by removing its minarets (not unlike the Swiss) and altering its dome.
Swiss Ban Building of Minarets on Mosques In a vote [by referendum] that displayed a widespread anxiety about Islam … the Swiss on Sunday overwhelmingly imposed a national ban on the
construction of minarets, the prayer towers of mosques... New York Times, November 29, 2009
What about restricting "religious practices of Hui Muslims across China, including the shuttering of Islamic schools, Arabic classes and barring children from learning and practicing Islam"? Not doing doing so would make the government complicit in teaching adult and often subversive material to children. As to not allowing the teaching of Arabic in conjunction with the Koran, ostensibly to read the text in the original when such a text does not exist, it is limiting the power of language to sow disunity.
Iran will face consequences, Ukraine warns. Russia launched dozens of Iranian-made drones at Ukraine overnight. CNN May 28, 2023
Khamenei will definitely have to answer to Allah. "Helping the oppressors" is the 30th of the fifty grave sins; sins where the sinner is guaranteed to spend eternity on fire.
(O) Canadian fans may not love the Stanley Cup matchup — but it's good for the game CBC, May 27, 2023
NO IT ISN'T! How to end the embarrassment of Bettman making a mockery of our national sport.
SpaceX mission lifts off with former NASA astronaut,
three paying customers... the mission is making history as stem cell
researcher Rayyanah Barnawi becomes the first woman from Saudi Arabia to travel to space CNN May 22, 2023
Her namesake in Muhammad's household would be proud. Ali AlQarni, another Saudi astronaut on this historic mission (the first Muslim in space was Saudi), at a news briefing said: "We are holding hands, we are working together for the betterment of humanity and just trying to innovate.” WOW!
(O) Fact Check: Sen. Tim Scott’s presidential announcement speech, CNN May 22, 2023
Scott is correct that US Customs and Border Protection encountered hundreds of people trying to enter the United States in fiscal year 2022 who are in the Terrorist Screening Dataset, but most of those encounters occurred at land border ports of entry on the northern border of the United States, not the southern border as Scott implied when he said it is “unsafe and insecure.” In fiscal year 2022, border officials had 380 encounters with people who had records on the watchlist and tried to pass through ports of entry – 313 of those were at the northern border.
Canada's population grew by a record 1 million in 2022. That is twice the planned immigration level of 500,000 immigrants a year by 2025. It would have been impossible to properly screen half a million immigrants, let alone a million. A million people a year means that Canada will do the equivalent of replacing its entire population in approximately 35+ years instead of the planned 70+. Both scenario represent a serious security problem for the United States (and Canada) since the vetting appears totally inadequate.
Combined with aggressive multiculturalism, this extraordinary level of planned and unplanned immigration will also elevate here the type of fear gripping France and other European countries of "becoming strangers at home" (Mathieu Bock-Côté) and further destabilize an increasingly fractured nation.
‘No one feels safe’: The Taliban promised to provide security to Afghans. New data shows threat from ISIS is growing CNN May 19, 2023
(O) Former ambassador repays Crown ($1,500 after being found out) corporation for moving her artwork. CBC May 15, 2023
Mother's Day, Boreal, May 14, 2023
Sadly, based on an analysis of observations made by Muhammad, most mothers will be spending Mother's Day (and every other day) in Hell.
Islamic Jihad targets Jerusalem for the first time in current conflict as it fires barrage of rockets at Israel CNN May 12, 2023
Hard to believe that Muslims once prostrated themselves in the direction of Jerusalem. Like Jerusalem before it, Mecca, in 680 or thereabouts, was besieged during which the Ka'ba was burned to the ground.
(O) Yes, Canada’s new passport really is that bad ... We are told that there is no political motivation behind erasing images of Canadian history from the passport. Globe and Mail, May 12, 2023
Ralston Saul may have something to say about that. A brief history of Canada.
Iran executes two men convicted of blasphemy Iran has executed two men who were convicted of "burning the Quran" and "insulting the Prophet of Islam", the country's judiciary says. BBC May 8, 2023
The Prophet of Mercy's way of dealing with critics serves as an example to this day.
Businesses Caught in Cross-Fire as Iran Enforces Hijab Law As more Iranian women go without the head scarves mandated by law, efforts by the government to force businesses to promote compliance... In the first days of the Iranian New Year holiday in March, the police showed up at a cafe in Tehran with orders to shut it down for two days. The cafe had run afoul of Iranian law by serving women who were not covering their hair with head scarves, they said. New York Times. May 5, 2023
Secret Service says it turned away Muslim NJ mayor from WH Eid reception. In a statement, CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relation)-New Jersey called the move “an affront to the Muslim community.” CNN May 2, 2023
The Secret Service obviously owes Mayor Khairullah an explanation. That CAIR would elevate this incident into “an affront to the Muslim community” is typical. Expect more of this type of intimidation as militant organisations like CAIR press for more accommodations that, if granted, would, in effect, make Islam the dominant religion in accordance with God's standing order and mission statement:
61:9 It is He Who sent His Messenger forth with the guidance and the religion of truth, to make it triumph over every religion.
The perils and pitfalls of accommodating Islam is a central theme of my next book Between a Pillar and a Hard Place. Bernard P.
(0) Horace Krever died on Sunday April 30, 2023 at the aged of 94 Toronto Star May 2, 2023
The Pamphlet is largely based on Justice Krever's report into Canada' tainted blood scandal.
Welsh teen forced to take virginity test before marriage. It wasn't just being forced to marry that Farah was against, she also didn't want the test to show she was a virgin. BBC April 26, 2023
Under Islamic Law a virgin cannot be married without her "permission." But, there is a catch.
Tarek Fatah November 20, 1949 - April 24, 2023
The Muslim who saved us from ourselves.
Supreme Court hears appeal of postal worker who didn’t work Sundays in dispute over religious accommodations CNN April 18, 2023
The beginning of the end of a secular state.
IS truffle picker attacks: At least 26 killed in Syrian desert ambush At least 26 people searching for valuable truffles in the Syrian desert have been killed by the Islamic State group, IS militants have repeatedly preyed on those searching for the fungus, with more than 150 people killed this year. A kilogram (2.2lb) can fetch more than the country's average monthly wage. BBC April 17, 2023
IS is not afraid to get its hands dirty. Remember Islamic State? It's making a comeback.
The Young Muslims Challenging Islam's Status Quo. A conservative religious movement spreads through social media has taken hold among Indonesian youth. NY Times April 12, 2023
The most visible part of the challenge are young women who, unlike their counterparts in Iran, insist on wearing the hijab and demand that a reluctant government rein in their stupid, lying, evil, lascivious selves.
'SNL' imagines former President Trump at the Last Supper James Austin Johnson poked fun at Trump loyalist comparisons to Jesus on "Saturday Night Live". CNN April 10, 2023
Allah catered the Last Supper.
Quebec Muslim associations denounce government ban on prayer rooms in schools A group representing Muslim associations in Quebec wants the provincial government to rescind a directive prohibiting the presence of prayer spaces in elementary and high schools. CBC April 8, 2023
Unlike the province of Ontario, Québec will not compromise its public school system. Education Minister Bernard Drainville issued a directive to that effect, prohibiting the presence of prayer spaces in elementary and high schools. The Minister said that they could always "pray silently."
That's not going to happen and a round table of Islamic organizations across the province (Table de concertation des organismes musulmans) is threatening to take the government to court if believers are not allowed to say their prayers so as to be heard in the public school system or in whatever space they find themselves.
Via Rail is apologizing after a video surfaced online of a Muslim man being told he couldn't pray inside the Ottawa train station, but the National Council of Canadian Muslims says an apology isn't enough. CBC March 22, 2023.
That the whole thing appears to have been a setup did not matter. In the video the man says: "Go ahead. You're going viral right now, no worries," as the guard walks away from him. Of course, if the aggrieved party had prayed silently, none of this would have happened. But, that was not the point.
Afghanistan’s women-run radio station vows to fight closure by Taliban: ‘Not afraid of jail or death’... Sadai Banowan, which means “women’s voice” in the Dari language, was ordered to shut down on 30 March by the hardline Islamist regime, which accused it of playing music during the holy month of Ramadan. Independent, April 5, 2023
How this teen memorized the Qur'an by age 10, Every Ramadan, Muslims have a goal of deepening their relationship with the Qur'an, spending more time reciting the holy book and pondering its teachings... some have mastered the difficult task of committing all of it to memory, earning them the title "hafiz." CBC April 4, 2023
Children memorizing the Koran is not a good thing, CBC!
New capital's lavish mosque angers Egyptians facing poverty Egypt has opened a record-breaking mosque in its new administrative capital city - but has been widely criticised for the costs involved. The government has been building a new city in the desert, to try to move people away from heavily-congested Cairo. BBC April 2, 2023
What’s with all the mosques anyway?
The high-speed train that zooms across the Saudi desert In the distant past, Muslim pilgrims came to the holy city of Mecca on foot. Now, though, they can come via high-speed train. CNN March 30, 2023
Pilgrims may be able to get to Mecca faster but, for the vast majority, there is no point. That God did not anticipate the obstacles to performing the Hajj after the end of the world was postponed is a real head-scratcher.
Afghanistan
girls' education: 'When I see the boys going to school, it hurts' Habiba [is] among hundreds of thousands of teenage girls who have been
barred from attending secondary school in most of Afghanistan by the Taliban. BBC March 27, 2023
Dear Habiba,
The Taliban is not about to waste money to further educate a sex whom God and His Spokesman consider mentality deficient. You have a received an education sufficient for you to recite the Koran to your eventual children. Return to reading the Koran and the sayings of the Prophet and you will stop feeling sorry for yourself for you will know your place in their universe and the hurt will stop.
Sincerely
Bernard
Inside Somalia's hidden world of sex work. BBC March 23, 2023
Unlike her counterpart in Muslim countries like Bangladesh where a prostitute can safely practice her profession in government-approved establishments, which includes the largest brothel in the world, working girls in Somalia are very much on their own.
How medication management can help you fast safely this Ramadan. CBC March 23, 2023
If fasting during Ramadan was observed from sunrise to sunset everywhere in the world, in some jurisdictions no medication management could help to fast safely. For example, Ramadan in the land of the midnight sun.
The Fast of Ramadan is a misnomer. It is not as much a fast, which done in moderation can be beneficial, but a changing of your eating schedule from three balanced meals during the day to one large meal on which you gorge yourself after nightfall. It is not only diabetics and people who must take their medicine with food at a specific time during the day who are effected, but healthy individuals who will have to depend on laxatives as such an unhealthy regiment puts the digestive system under considerable strain and who may develop chronic constipation from gorging themselves at night, before turning in, for 30 days straight.
Fasting during Ramadan was not much of a health issue during Muhammad’s lifetime when the vast majority of believers were desert dwellers who called the sizzling sun-drenched Arabian Peninsula home. You did not eat much during the day and conserved your energy during the hottest part of it, often by enjoying a long siesta waiting till the sun went down and the heat of the day started to dissipate to linger over a hearty meal in the company of friends and family before retiring for the night.
There is no consensus as to the impact on dreaming of eating, especially a substantial amount of food just before going to bed but, as pointed out in a Health Alert from Harvard Medical School, “nocturnal eating can interrupt your sleep in various ways, prompting recall of disturbing dreams… [and] trigger night sweats because the body generates heat as it metabolizes the food.” Much of the Koran was revealed, supposedly during Ramadan, during what Muhammad recalled as vivid dreams from which he would often wake up in a sweat.
I'm a biracial Muslim woman in the beer industry. I live in the space between your expectations CBC March 11, 2023
God was initially comfortable with worshippers enjoying an alcoholic beverage, as long as they did not show up for prayers under the influence, until a close collaborator of Muhammad convinced Him otherwise. Read Let me Rephrase That! for the more than 240 times Allah changed His mind.
Manchester bomber friend known to MI5, BBC reveals BBC March 1, 2023
The bomber's friend was Kuwait-born preacher Mansour Al-Anezi. All the more reason for Canada to certify imams, in spite of Elghawaby's opposition. Another reminder on how we could reduce, if not end, the scourge of young men committing mass murder on a god’s promise of an eternity of debauchery for killing and dying on His behalf .
The United Arab Emirates will soon become the first Arab nation to teach the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust in its schools, CNN Jan 13, 2023.
Without the cooperation of the Jews of Medina Islam would have been stillborn. Muslims and Jews used to respect each other and lived together in harmony until an unfortunate misunderstanding which, unless resolved, can only lead to another holocaust. This history too should be taught, in both Jewish and Arab schools, with a view to remedying that misunderstanding and avoiding the worst.
Quebec's Bill 21 on Secularism finds support in Ontario... Iranian-Canadian activist Homa Arjomand, who was instrumental in the campaign to outlaw Sharia Islamic Law from our family courts has now stepped in and taken the lead to make education and other public services in Ontario secular based on the model of the Bill 21 in Quebec. Tarek Fatah, Toronto Sun, Jan 11,2023
It's about teaching your children well | What is happening in English Canada
Iran executes two more protestors over the weekend. Two young men, one a karate champion, the other a volunteer children's coach, were executed in connection with nationwide protests. CNN Jan 9, 2023
And Judgement Day is not even imminent when the murder of young people by old men will be the order of the day. This is not to make light of young men being hanged on orders from men closer in age and temperament to Muhammad who wanted to ensure his legacy remained intact after he died.
Alabama woman who joined IS hopes to return to U.S. from Syria camp Associated Press, Jan 8, 2023.
Many young women, including two teenaged girls from Montreal who are presumed to have died whose transit to Syria was facilitated by CSIS would have never joined a terrorist organisation like the Islamic State if they had known what awaited them.
Jerusalem: Palestinian anger over far-right Israeli minister's holy site visit... The hilltop site is the most sacred place in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. It is known to Jews as the Temple Mount... and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, the site of Muhammad's ascent to Heaven. BBC Jan 3, 2023