I first got wind of the first ever Islam Expo event (google translated) to have taken place in Finland, from Vasarahammer a couple of days ago, but sadly, we both missed that event completely. Too bad, it offered so much material for sure. But you can’t possibly cover everything, right?
A cursory look though, at the website link provided in the above that was promoting the event, included a link to the Finnish Islamic Party (FIP). So it’s safe to assume that the FIP party members were there for sure, and most likely behind the creation of that blog that was specifically dedicated to the dissemination of the event. The event was hosted by the Finnish Islamic Council (SINE), an association, according to the site:
“whose single mission is to increase dialogue with the different religions living together in Finland. Its purpose is also to promote respect for and awareness of Islam in Finland and Finnish culture within the Muslim community. The Council will seek to prevent both Islamism and the emergence and development of anti-Islam as an extreme phenomena in Finland.
Islam-Expo 1 is a part of the Year of Dialogue. The year 2008 has been designated the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. The Year aims to bring European nations closer to each other, and to bring together the cultural backgrounds of the people and get them to understand each other’s idea of the world.”
To give you an idea of the kind of disingenuous message on store for any non-Muslim taking part in the Islam Expo event, you only need to go the URL link I provided in the above, Islam in Finland. The top of the page says it all, with this verse from the Koran that’s supposed to prove that Islam is indeed inclusive to other religions. Hardly.
Koran [60:8]: “Allah forbids you not, regarding those who do not fight you for [your] faith and do not drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for Allah loves those who are just.”
What that verse is referring to, are those non-Muslims who surrendered to Mohamed’s Islamic forces, and though refusing to convert to Islam, have agreed to pay the jizya tax (poll tax) and live as dhimmis, or second class citizens in an Islamic environment. Mohamed’s followers go on further to say later on, that paying the Jizya tax has to be accompanied with humiliation, it’s not enough to just pay an unfair tax.
T]he collector remains seated and the infidel remains standing…, his head bowed and his back bent. The infidel must place money on the scales, while the collector holds him by his beard and strikes him on both cheeks.(Al-Nawawi)[116]
Jews, Christians, and Majians must pay the jizya… on offering up the jizya, the dhimmi must hang his head while the official takes hold of his beard and hits [the dhimmi] on the protruberant bone beneath his ear [i.e., the mandible]… (Al-Ghazali)[117]
Following this [the handing over of the jizya payment] the emir will strike the dhimmi on the neck with his fist; a man will stand near the emir to chase away the dhimmi in haste; then a second and a third will come forward to suffer the same treatment as well as all those to follow. All [Muslims] will be admitted to enjoy this spectacle. (Ahmad al-Dardi al-Adawi)[118]
Also worth noting, is the fact that the SINE is using the word ISLAMISM, something of which, even the head of the Organization of the Islamic Council, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, refused to even consider.
Ekemleddin Ihsanoglu: “Well there are many other things to speak of..I don’t know what you mean by eh…this person asked me, “What is the alternative to Islamism?” I don’t know anything called Islamism, I know Islam, in fact I don’t know what Islamism is.”
Of course all of this is lost on naive Kafir Finns who take part in these events, and to be fair, many Finnish Muslims, I would assume, do not care for, or want to dwell on, the many troubling aspects within their religious books. But the fact remains, these highly racist and contemptible texts do indeed exist, and give respectability to the notions that the SINE says it won’t tolerate.
It would be refreshing if the SINE would dare mention any or all of these nasty verses publicly, and declare that the Finnish Islamic Council is actively working to distance themselves and the Islamic community organizations it represents, from ever interpreting these troubling texts as being relevant for the modern age. Crickets chirping I fear. KGS
