1. November 2009 by admin.

One thousand years of slavery. Millennia of defeat and domination caused by a dogmatic adherence to the doctrine of ahimsa, preventing an effective resistance to foreign domination. This is what most Hindus are brought up to believe about their history.

These and other such theories are happily put forward as history of Hindus for the past 14 centuries and postulated by self proclaimed scholars from both within and without the Hindu fold. It was something I have heard from my youth and accepted without question. However some thoughts rankled in my mind. If the Hindus were truly slaves for a thousand years plus, then how have we survived to this day with dignity and honour and with a spiritual tradition stretching back to the mists of time and beyond? Many other cultures, civilisations and spiritual traditions have been reduced to museum pieces, but the words of the Holy Vedas are recited in an identical fashion today as they were thousands of years ago when first revealed to the Rishis. This is no mean achievement. How did Hindus survive and manage to maintain a civilisational identity stretching into the dawn of human history? How was Sanatana Dharma kept alive as a living presence in the world, and indeed regenerated over time if the Hindus were slaves for so long? This impelled me to look for the truth myself, and undertake a study of the history of the Hindu people. The beginning of Hindus’ “thousand years of slavery” is supposed to have begun with the overrunning of India by Muslims of Arab and Turkish origin. It is popularly believed that Hindus put up a feeble defence and that the Islamic armies had a cake walk through India. If we examine at what actually happened, however, we see that Hindus put up a huge struggle, which was eventually victorious. Following the death of their founder, Muhammad we see the Arab Khilafat expand swiftly over the Middle and Near East, pouring over the deserts of North Africa and crossing the waters to begin a six century occupation of Spain and beyond. The combined might of Christian Europe struggled again and again to reclaim the ‘holy lands’ to end in bitter failure with the rise of the Ottoman Empire, who ruled over a large part of Eastern Europe for centuries. On the other side, the lands of Iran, home of the ancient and historical Persian civilisation fell to the yet undefeated Arab warriors and within a short period the indigenous culture becoming extinct or expelled, today being largely the confine of museums and relics. The Arab hordes then pushed into the Indian Subcontinent, land of the Hindus, overwhelming the small desert region of Sindh and then attempted to push and conquer the existing Hindu kingdoms. Here however their advance was stopped. With the inspiration of Sant Gorakhnath the warrior clans of the Rajputs united under their legendary king Bappa Rawal and in a series of Battles known collectively as the Battle of Rajashtan inflicted a heavy defeat on the Arab invaders in 738 CE. Any further advances by the Arabs were repelled, impelling the formation of large organised Hindu states in the centre and west of India. Frustrated by their failures in India the Arabs turned northwards shortly after defeating the Chinese Empire in the Battle of Talas in 751 CE opening the gate for the Islamisation of Central Asia. India remained unaffected for another three hundred years. (the “thousand years of slavery theory” was beginning to shake) The Islamisation of Central Asia began to grow apace and one by one the ancient Buddhist kingdoms began to totter and fall as tribe after tribe joined the ranks of the growing Muslim religion. The destruction of Buddhism and its centers in the region prompted an exodus towards India, and the conversion of the remaining clans to Islam. The Muslim armies were expanded, filled with the zeal and energy of new converts, who were sent spiraling towards the Middle East to fight the advancing Crusaders under the leadership of Saladin. Another wave of attacks poured towards India resulting in large scale damage and loot from the subcontinent under the leadership of Mahmud of Ghazni around 1000 CE. Two further centuries passed as further advances were resisted until a breakthrough around 1200 CE allowed the invaders access to the North Indian plains. The remaining Buddhists were slaughtered or converted in an unprecedented orgy of violence and horror. The majority Buddhist regions of Afghanistan, Kashmir and West Punjab joined the crescent banner of Islam. However the conversion of Hindus was slower and the resistance was more fierce. Hindu warrior clans kept up a relentless resistance fighting from the deserts, the mountains and the forests. The heavy cavalry of the Muslim Turks which had proved fatal to the Crusaders of Western Europe were victorious on the plains of North India but this did not prevent an endless cycle of attack and counter attack by the Hindus. It took nearly another hundred years under the leadership of the infamous Aladdin Khilji for the Muslims Empire firmly established itself in India. This mantle was inherited by the Tughlaqs only to lead to a revival from the Hindu population. The religious traditions of India had been severely mauled by the endless bloodletting over the past two centuries. Many important institutions and temples were destroyed. Prosperity suffered, as it tends to in times of continuous war. This created a certain weakening of Hindu society. Religion became preserved in rituals which were les and les understood. Sanskrit learning was on the decline. Caste became more rigid. However, a religious renewal took place in the form of the “Bhakti movement”. A simplified form of Hinduism particularly suitable to the times emerged. A new wave of spiritual teachers preaching that simple devotion and love of God and love of all people and creatures is the simplest root to salvation. A message of defiance and brotherhood from saints and rishis from all corners of India emerged. From Tukram and Namdev from the west of India, from Nanak in Punjab, from Chaitanya in the east and Kabir in the north plus many others, the message of dharma revived itself in the teeth of an implacable enemy. The fearless postulating of the brotherhood of all mankind defied the savagery raging around them as the Turks endeavoured to convert the entire subcontinent to Islam and the Hindus fighting tooth and nail to resist. The Muslim empire seemed to rest on specified military encampments and cities surrounded by a sea of hostile Hindus usually left to their own devices. Hundred of Rajahs and Maharajahs dotted the nation living in virtual independence from the central authorities in which traditions of culture and religion were maintained unchanged through the centuries. Other larger organised resistance emerged in the Vijaynagara Empire of South India around 1336 CE which consolidated Hindu resistance for over two centuries. In the north the revival of the Rajput kingdoms and the defiance of kings like those of Orissa under the Gajapati Kings, the hills of Punjab under Jasrath Khokhar and the rise of neo Hindu kingdoms in the north east of India along with the entire hill region signaled the revival of Hindu rule over vast tracts of India. A steady period of Hindu growth then ensued until by the dawn of the 1500’s the southern region of India was dominated by the mighty king of the Vijaynagara Empire, Krishnadevarya and the north by the revival of the valiant Rajputs under the charismatic leadership of Rana Sanga (grandfather of the equally illustrious Rana Pratap). The tides of history however turned again – with the influx of cannons and other artillery utilised by Babur the Mughal entered into the Indian subcontinent against which the wild charges of the Rajputs and Pathans had no answer. The reckless disregard of their own lives in the defence of dharma saw a series of battles in which the Hindu forces fought quite literally to the last man woman and child, most famously the siege of Chhitor in 1567. The utter refusal of the Hindus to surrender in the century old tussle with Islam for political control over the subcontinent was a lesson not lost by the new Emperor Akbar. He instead moved away from the tenets of Islam to a new faith of the Din i Ilahi. By following the age old traditions of religious toleration in India he endeared himself to the majority population and through a period of compromise and alliance brought a brief period of peace to the troubled land. This tenuous alliance was shattered by his descendant Aurangzeb who in his zeal for the establishment of an Islamic state caused an upheaval which left the Mughal Empire fall beyond all hope of repair. The renewal of the civilisational Hindu-Islam conflict saw the rise of a generation of Sants and holy men inspiring the people for the defence of dharma which saw the might of the Mughals humbled by Rajputs, Marathas, Jats, Satnamis, Ahoms, Sikhs, Bundelas and others. In a cataclysmic wave of defiance the Mughal Empire lay broken and on its ruins rose a number of Hindu states competing for space in the subcontinent. The inspirational rise of the Maratha king Shivaji and his bold defiance of the Mughal empire in the noontide of its realm is an apt example. Who did the British wrest control of India from? When the British came on the Indian scene, it if thought or assumed by many people that he British took control of India from the Mughals. This is not true. In fact, by the time that the British emerged as a major force in India, the Muslim political power in the subcontinent had been virtually cast down. The situation is best defined by a British author, H.G.Keene The idea, however, that the British have wrested the Empire from the Mohamadans is a mistake. The Mohamadans were beaten down — almost everywhere except in Bengal — before the British appeared upon the scene; Bengal they would not have been able to hold, and the name of the “Mahratta Ditch” of Calcutta shows how near even the British there were to extirpation by India’s new masters. Had the British not won the battles of Plassey and Buxar, the whole Empire would ere now have become the fighting ground of Sikhs, Rajputs, and Mahrattas and others. Except the Nizam of the Deccan there was not a vigorous Musalman ruler in India after the firman of Farokhsiar in 1716; the Nizam owed his power to the British after the battle of Kurdla in 1795), and it was chiefly British support that maintained the feeble shadow of the Moghul Empire, from the death of Alamgir II. to the retirement of Mr. Hastings. Not only Haidarabad but all the other existing Musalman principalities of modern India owe their existence, directly, or indirectly, to the British intervention.
The march of western civilisation ended the Hindu revival at a time when Hindus exercised control over almost the entire subcontinent. But it took Three wars with the Marathas, Two wars with the Sikhs, two wars with the Gurkhas, war with the Jaats, also smaller ranging wars with the Santhals, Sanyasis and many others – all Hindu rebellions. Hindus unwillingness to surrender culminated in the huge uprising from the predominantly Hindu sepoys in 1857 which almost brought the British Indian Empire to a swift conclusion being the largest anti colonial uprising in history. The end result was 90 years of imperialist rule. This was matched by a concerted disarming of the population by the British rulers, leaving only select regions free from the disarming which were perceived as loyal to the British under the flawed marital race theory. This theory propagated by the forerunners of the concepts of eugenics and Nazism believed the Indian races could not match the British combination of physical and mental facilities. Thus a large percentage of Hindu population, despite holding sway of almost all of the Indian subcontinent were delegated into the non martial section by the British. Other sections believed to be of sufficient physical abilities (but not mental development) were delegated by the Imperialists as ‘martial races’ This flawed theory was propagated as an absolute truth (still followed by some) and together with the disarming of the population led to the diminishing of the martial spirit amongst Hindus. However the theories propagated by the British found challengers from the Hindus. Spurred by a revaluation of their history and the knowledge of western theories a new revival began to take fruit. From the universal preaching of Swami Vivekananda to the guns of the Anushilan Samiti the Hindus were at the forefront of a growing anti colonial challenge to the most powerful empire in the world. Finally finding control of the subcontinent untenable in the teeth of endless opposition the British Indian Empire collapsed in a wave of unprecedented bloodshed which has seen a slow and steady spread and reach of the Hindu world. So again, I was stumped by this ‘thousand years of slavery’ theory. I was even more surprised to find this postulated by otherwise very earnest Hindus in the mistaken belief of their own history. When examining our history I saw a spirit of defiance stretching over a thousand years in the face of implacable and merciless enemies, who put an end to many other cultures and civilisations. The same forces which had overcome virtually every indigenous civilisation in the world had thrown their entire might against India – and failed. Attack after attack was defeated. Horrific massacres did not force the people to abandon their religion and identity. The destruction of holy places did not see dharma die but rise again and overcome their opponents with the power of truth. The banner of freedom was raised generation after generation despite the best attempts of some vested parties to blur the truths and sacrifices made again and again. So 150 of effective rule by the Muhamadans and 90 of British rule was suddenly expanded into ‘one thousand years of slavery’ an utterly absurd contention is being bandied about like an absolute truth but has failed to hide the facts that remain unaltered in history. Ancient faiths like Buddhism and Zorasterism were almost obliterated from the Middle East, Central Asia and India but the Hindus rose in defiance to emerge even stronger at the end of the blood soaked millennia. Even well wishers of Hindus, lost in their Victorian outlook on India have propagated the same absurdities in total insult of the enduring Hindu spirit. The spirit is best exemplified by the renowned historian Sir Jadunath Sarkar when talking of the legendary Maratha king Shivaji: He [Shivaji] has proved that the Hindus can still produce not only clerks and soldiers but rulers of men. (…) Shivaji proved that the tree of Hinduism is not really dead – that it rose from the seemingly crushing load of centuries of attack and put forth new leaves and lift its head to the skies.     Courtsey: M. R. Vaghela
Hindu Voice UK, 26 September 2009
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1. November 2009 by admin.

Two of the most influential people in history, Constantine and Ashoka, are also the center of constant debate. Historians have to discern who they were, what they did, and what they truly believed.

  While Constantine did not create Christianity, he certainly brought it to a place of prominence in the Roman Empire when he converted to it. And he increased its prestige when he gave bishops a level of authority which surprises many people to this day.[1] But he did much more. Perhaps the four things which he did that had the greatest impact on history are the proclamation of the Edit of Milan in 313, the calling of the Council of Nicea in 325, the creation of the Holy Sepulchre (a project begun around the time of Nicea), and the consecration of Constantinople in 330.   Ashoka, like Constantine, was a convert to a new faith, Buddhism. By his royal patronage, he gave it the kind of respect and resources it needed in order to become a major, world-spanning religion. Like Constantine, it appears Ashoka wanted the adherents of his new faith to come together and work out what it was they believed, and he did this by calling a Buddhist council. If any of the traditions associated with it has any validity (which is likely), this council was to impact the future shape of Buddhism in the way Nicea helped shape Christian history.[2] And like Constantine, Ashoka had a major impact on the land in which he lived: not only was he to have established one of the greatest kingdoms in India through his conquests (before his full conversion to Buddhism), once he became a Buddhist, the number, extent, and quality of the projects he created for the improvement of the lives of those within his kingdom was to become second to none in the ancient world. He became one of history’s greatest humanitarians.   While the legends associated with Constantine and Ashoka developed along similar lines, this could only have happened if there were similarities in their actual histories. Legends come out of real events and develop them, creating fanciful interpretations of what happened. They have to have been based upon something which really happened, for without those events, nothing would have been said. Thus, for both of them we find:

• Even before they were converted, it appears both were actively seeking religious insight for their lives, helping to explain why they would latch on to a new faith once they believed it helped answer questions which had long confused them. They were both, in their own way, prepared for their conversion. Constantine was already monotheistic; he was trying to understand who the one Great Divinity actually was. Even his vision of the cross seems to have been initially misunderstood, and treated as if revealed to him by Apollo.[3] Ashoka, before his becoming Buddhist, was already in dialogue with Buddhist monks and was learning from them; and since Buddhism at this time was closer to Hinduism and was able to adapt Hindu cosmology for its new teaching, this made the transfer from one to the other much easier.[4]
• Both of them had two stages of conversion. For Constantine, his acceptance of the Christian faith did not lead him to baptism until the end of his life; he was clearly interested in integrating his pre-Christian monotheistic faith with his Christianity, although the reason seems to have been for the sake of unity in the empire. Constantine wanted to use the concord between faiths, wherever it could be found, to keep the peace. Ashoka on the other hand had come to accept the tenets of Buddhism while he was actively involved in his conquest of India; it was only after experiencing the aftermath of a very bloody battle did he find the need to give himself entirely to the teachings of the Buddha and grieve over the slaughter he had caused. [5]
• Both seem to have been influenced, in part, by the work of the women in their lives: Constantine’s mother, Helen, helped shape his pious activity. For Ashoka, history suggests that it was one of his queens, one who was from Vidisa and the mother of Mahinda and Sanghamitta, who lead him to Buddhism.[6]
• For both, it was during war, and through the execution of that war, that they would slowly find themselves drawn into their new faith. For Constantine, the power and authority of the Christian God in the time of war affirmed his conversion. For Ashoka, it was the tragedy of war, and the suffering which came from its wake, that transformed him into a man of peace.[7]
• Both had a sense of great guilt associated with them. Constantine certainly had some blame in the death and execution of his wife and son Fausta and Crispus;[8] for Ashoka, the tyranny it took to become emperor was place a lot of blood on his hands (including many in his own family).[9] Both seemed to satisfy that guilt in part through the creation and visitation of holy sites: Constantine with the Holy Sepulchre, Ashoka with various monuments concerning the life and relics of the Buddha (indeed, extending the relics far and wide so that many would have access to them).
• Both saw their empires flourish during their reign. Constantine re-established a unity in Rome which had been lost the previous century. Ashoka created a great empire, bringing the greater part of India together for the first time in the process. But both of their successes was limited to the time of their life; as soon as they died, both empires would quickly be lost – Rome becoming divided, India being conquered.
• Both had to find a way to balance their new faith with the administration of their kingdoms. Both wanted to establish peace in their lands, and this included the promotion of people in their administration without any necessary religious requirement.
• Extremely important to both was how they should deal with schismatics in their new faith, since they did not want to use their patronage to help promote division, and yet they also saw any action on their part would be the cause of some sort of reaction. Constantine had a greater difficulty with this than Ashoka, though Ashoka is known to make examples of those who divided the Buddhist Sangha.[10]

The last two of these likely played a significant role in their respective administrations. Constantine had to deal with conflicts within the Church while trying to appease the non-Christian majority of Rome. The pagan majority would not follow Constantine if he did not provide a place for them. He tried to build a better Rome, and much of what he tried to do remains with us to this day. However, we must always realize he was not successful, and a major reason for this was the lack of unity among the Christians of his day.

  Their squabbling caused him no end of heartache. He wasn’t prepared for it, and thought they would just work together despite differences in belief. How was he to bring peace to Rome if the Christians, whom he backed, were the ones causing the greatest disturbances throughout the empire? His solution was pragmatic; he would take sides in disputes according to how well he thought a given side would work for peace; for those who were the cause of division and were unwilling to work with him for peace, he sent into exile (he would not send those disputants who, despite their schism with the majority of the Christians, were harmless and causing no problems to his administration of Rome).   This can easily explain his seemingly contradictory actions, where he would one day support one group of Christians, the next, another group, sending and bringing back from exile the same people over and over again (like St. Athanasius). His treatment of non-Christians, for the most part (there were a few exceptions) was of toleration, and this is because they did not have the same kind of rivalries and divisions harming his rule as the Christians; indeed, they were still more in tune with the empire and wanted to work with him to preserve the integrity of the empire (and hoped he would reconvert back to the ancient pagan traditions).Ashoka, it seems, also had to deal with conflicts within Buddhism, and from the little evidence we have, he was just as displeased with it as Constantine was with Christian strife.   The solution to both was to encourage as much inclusion in their empire as possible; they really wanted the members of their new faith to feel the need to follow them with the creation of new political alliances, the kind which was inclusive in content. Their decrees demonstrate this: they were written in such a way as to be able to be read and accepted by as many people as was possible, using what was in common agreement to promote both political and religious harmony. Certainly, they both knew their position in power was both political and religious, and if they did not want to disenfranchise their empires, they had to do this. Historians, sometimes missing out on what it was they were doing, have used this sometimes to question their respective adherences. For some, Constantine was a manipulative politician who just saw the future in Christianity, but he did not hold any real Christian faith. For others, Ashoka never converted, he remained a Hindu all his life, and his conversion to Buddhism is a myth. But anyone who looks at the evidence offered sees that these historians only show a small selection of the possible texts – the most vague – and ignore the ones which were made for more particular use, the kind which show their true devotion. Both give ample evidence of their conversion, both in word and in deed, though both also knew it meant the governing of their empire required prudence and the ability to interact with and promote those aspects of their old faiths which best connected with their new one, such as the idea of the logos in ancient Rome, and the idea of dharma in ancient India.[11]   The paths Constantine and Ashoka took in their lives were rather unusual for their day. It was not that common for rulers to convert from one faith to another; when it happened, it was generally expected that their subjects would their lead and convert with them. One can see the kind of conflicts this brought in the ancient world when one looks at the history of Egypt. Constantine and Ashoka tried to get around that conflict. They made mistakes. What they did was not entirely perfect. And it seems it was too early for the fruit of their labor to be established. The Roman Empire after the death of Constantine would become a hotbed of religious conflict. Even St Vladimir of Rus, who wanted himself to be seen in the light of Constantine, did not follow through with Constantine’s example here: he made it quite clear that he wanted his people to be baptized like he had been, and he made sure this would happen through the use of his armed forces (he sent his soldiers out far and wide with priests to help administer the baptism, and to give out crosses those who had been baptized as a sign of their conversion). India would be conquered from one group after another, each sponsoring one religious tradition or another; when Islam took control of the continent, Buddhism and Hinduism was in conflict with one another, and Muslims took the side of Hinduism (for many political reasons), leading to the end of mainstream Indian Buddhism. But the example of Ashoka, which had once been lost, would be brought back into the forefront  in modern times, and Ashoka was to become praised as one of the great heroes of Indian history, and his example promoted in modern day India.   The modern separation of religion from the affairs of state was something which was to develop much later in history than the times of Constantine and Ashoka, through many trials and tribulations; but we must not forget what Constantine and Ashoka did to help make this possible. They were exemplars of toleration in the ancient world. Perhaps if we understood them better, and what they actually accomplished, we could find a better way to deal with the religious pluralism of today (for then we could understand their mistakes and avoid them). Indeed, they should be the shining stars of religious liberty. They both show us that toleration does not have to mean relativism, nor does the holding to one religious faith mean one has to totally denigrate and reject the good found in other traditions. They also show us that this idea has ancient religious foundations, and one does not have to fear it as if it comes from secular humanism trying to push aside the role of religion in the contemporary world.    
Footnotes
[1] For example, the so-called Sirmondian Constitution gave bishops the authority to act as a court of appeals in secular courts. For an analysis of why this was done, and how long it lasted, see H.A. Drake, Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of Intolerance (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2002), 325 – 336.
[2] While there is some debate as to the historicity of the council, it is more likely than not that something happened, and that the council was convened in part to elaborate on what could and could not be viewed as authentic Buddhist practice and teaching.  See Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Volume II: Abhidharma Buddhism to 150 A.. Ed. Karl H. Potter (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1998), 29-30.
[3] A panegyric given to Constantine before his conversion to Christianity places his victory with a vision given to him by Apollo:

“For you did I believe, Constantine, see your patron Apollo, and Victory accompanying him, offering you crowns of laurel, each of which represents a foretelling of thirty years. That is of course the length of human generations, which are certainly due to take you beyond the old age of Nestor. And yet why do I say ‘I believe’? You did see him, and you recognized yourself in the image of the one to whom the sacred poems of bards prophesied that the kingdoms of the whole world were due by right. That has now I think at last come to pass, seeing that you are, Emperor, like him, young blessed, our saviour and a most handsome one!”

– “The anonymous panegyric on Constantine (310), Pan. Lat. VII (6)” in From Constantine to Julian: Pagan and Byzantine Views. Ed. Samuel N. C. Lieu and Dominic Montserrat (London: Routledge, 1996),90.
[4] See D.C. Ahir, Asoka the Great (Delhi: B.R. Publishing Corporation, 1995), 24.
[5] Thus, in Rock Edict 13, we read:

Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, conquered the Kalingas eight years after his coronation. One hundred and fifty thousand were deported, one hundred thousand were killed and many more died (from other causes). After the Kalingas had been conquered, Beloved-of-the-Gods came to feel a strong inclination towards the Dhamma, a love for the Dhamma and for instruction in Dhamma. Now Beloved-of-the-Gods feels deep remorse for having conquered the Kalingas.
Indeed, Beloved-of-the-Gods is deeply pained by the killing, dying and deportation that take place when an unconquered country is conquered. But Beloved-of-the-Gods is pained even more by this — that Brahmans, ascetics, and householders of different religions who live in those countries, and who are respectful to superiors, to mother and father, to elders, and who behave properly and have strong loyalty towards friends, acquaintances, companions, relatives, servants and employees — that they are injured, killed or separated from their loved ones. Even those who are not affected (by all this) suffer when they see friends, acquaintances, companions and relatives affected. These misfortunes befall all (as a result of war), and this pains Beloved-of-the-Gods.
There is no country, except among the Greeks, where these two groups, Brahmans and ascetics, are not found, and there is no country where people are not devoted to one or another religion. Therefore the killing, death or deportation of a hundredth, or even a thousandth part of those who died during the conquest of Kalinga now pains Beloved-of-the-Gods. Now Beloved-of-the-Gods thinks that even those who do wrong should be forgiven where forgiveness is possible.
Even the forest people, who live in Beloved-of-the-Gods’ domain, are entreated and reasoned with to act properly. They are told that despite his remorse Beloved-of-the-Gods has the power to punish them if necessary, so that they should be ashamed of their wrong and not be killed. Truly, Beloved-of-the-Gods desires non-injury, restraint and impartiality to all beings, even where wrong has been done.
Now it is conquest by Dhamma that Beloved-of-the-Gods considers to be the best conquest. And it (conquest by Dhamma) has been won here, on the borders, even six hundred yojanas away, where the Greek king Antiochos rules, beyond there where the four kings named Ptolemy, Antigonos, Magas and Alexander rule, likewise in the south among the Cholas, the Pandyas, and as far as Tamraparni. Here in the king’s domain among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the Nabhakas, the Nabhapamkits, the Bhojas, the Pitinikas, the Andhras and the Palidas, everywhere people are following Beloved-of-the-Gods’ instructions in Dhamma. Even where Beloved-of-the-Gods’ envoys have not been, these people too, having heard of the practice of Dhamma and the ordinances and instructions in Dhamma given by Beloved-of-the-Gods, are following it and will continue to do so. This conquest has been won everywhere, and it gives great joy — the joy which only conquest by Dhamma can give. But even this joy is of little consequence. Beloved-of-the-Gods considers the great fruit to be experienced in the next world to be more important.
I have had this Dhamma edict written so that my sons and great-grandsons may not consider making new conquests, or that if military conquests are made, that they be done with forbearance and light punishment, or better still, that they consider making conquest by Dhamma only, for that bears fruit in this world and the next. May all their intense devotion be given to this which has a result in this world and the next.  

This and all subsequent translations from his edicts and pillars come from the translation by Ven. S. Dhammika (http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/ashoka.html). I have used this translation because it is offered for free distribution via DharmaNet by arrangement with the publisher. DharmaNet International P.O. Box 4951, Berkeley CA 94704-4951.
[6] See D.C. Ahir, Asoka the Great, 23.
[7] This is not to say he did without the use of an army, but they were used for self-defense, enforcement of law and order, and to help in various humanitarian projects throughout India.
[8] We do not exactly know the circumstances of their death; we do know that pagan critics would use it to indicate not only the immorality of Constantine, but also his Christian advisors, who were said to entice him to Christianity as an easy way out of the consequences for his actions. We see this kind of argument being used to try to seduce a Christian to give up their faith in the works of John the Monk about the martyr Artemius

“For Constantine, as you yourself know, who was easily deceived by men and uneducated and proved to be stupid, introduced innovations in religion, and revoked the Roman laws and inclined towards Christianity. This was because he was in fear of his unholy deeds, and because the gods drove him from the flock as accused, and unworthy of their religion, being steeped in his family’s blood. For he killed his bothers who had done nothing out of place, and his wife Fausta, and his own son Priscus who was a good and worth man.”

-”Artemii passio” in From Constantine to Julian: Pagan and Byzantine Views, 240 -1.
[9] D.C. Ahir is right in suggesting there probably is some truth behind the legends which state Ashoka had to kill off family members to make his way to the throne. See D.C. Ahir, Asoka the Great, 18.
[10] “Beloved-of-the-Gods commands: The Mahamatras at Kosambi (are to be told: Whoever splits the Sangha) which is now united, is not to be admitted into the Sangha. Whoever, whether monk or nun, splits the Sangha is to be made to wear white clothes and to reside somewhere other than in a monastery,” Minor Pillar Edict 2.
[11] The obviously Christian Eusebius provides to us a vague picture of Constantine’s faith than Constantine himself did in his own speeches; it is through Eusebius we get a better picture of Constantine’s attempt to bridge the Christ as Logos with the pre-Christian philosophical tradition; Eusebius is the one who gives Constantine the title “friend of the Logos.” But as Drake points out, when Eusebius does this, it is in his own orations in praise of Constantine, given while Constantine was still alive, indicating that it was in part based upon what Constantine wanted to hear and want Constantine wanted to be heard throughout his empire; after Constantine’s death, Eusebius develops much further Constantine’s Christianity in his Life of Constantine. See Drake, Constantine and the Bishops, 378 -84.
For Ashoka, some of his edicts show us how he tried to establish a universal morality as the basis of his empire, and it was one which he thought could work to bring members of various religious traditions together, such as we find in Rock Edict 5:

“In the past there were no Dhamma Mahamatras but such officers were appointed by me thirteen years after my coronation. Now they work among all religions for the establishment of Dhamma, for the promotion of Dhamma, and for the welfare and happiness of all who are devoted to Dhamma. They work among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the Gandharas, the Rastrikas, the Pitinikas and other peoples on the western borders. They work among soldiers, chiefs, Brahmans, householders, the poor, the aged and those devoted to Dhamma — for their welfare and happiness — so that they may be free from harassment. They (Dhamma Mahamatras) work for the proper treatment of prisoners, towards their unfettering, and if the Mahamatras think, ;This one has a family to support,’ ‘That one has been bewitched,’ ‘This one is old,” then they work for the release of such prisoners. They work here, in outlying towns, in the women’s quarters belonging to my brothers and sisters, and among my other relatives. They are occupied everywhere. These Dhamma Mahamatras are occupied in my domain among people devoted to Dhamma to determine who is devoted to Dhamma, who is established in Dhamma, and who is generous.’”   From link: http://vox-nova.com/2009/10/31/some-reflections-on-the-constantine-and-ashoka-of-history/#_ftn7

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1. November 2009 by admin.

One year anniversary for Obama in office

The tale of the turbulent year since US president Barack Obama’s historic election win is told by his evolving political theme: once he promised ‘change we can believe in’ and now he warns that ‘change is hard’.
On November 4, 2008, Obama bathed in the adoration of a crowd of tens of thousands in a Chicago park, after beating Republican John McCain to the presidency in an election that promised to reshape the US.
They chanted ‘yes we can’ on that clear hope-filled night in Obama’s hometown of Chicago, and tears streamed down thousands of cheeks as the president-elect proclaimed America was still a place where anything was possible.
‘It’s been a long time coming,’ Obama said.
‘But tonight, because of what we did on this date, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.’
A year on, the historic promise of America’s first black president is being tested by the grim grind of governing a divided nation humbled by the worst recession in decades.
Abroad, Obama’s policy of engaging US foes has so far yielded few breakthroughs, and the president who came to power vowing to end one war, in Iraq, must now decide whether to escalate another - in Afghanistan.
Obama is battered, his political magnetism is dimmed and he stands accused by opponents of masterminding a disastrous government expansion.
But despite everything, he is still standing, with his approval rating above the crucial 50 per cent barrier that defines a viable presidency, and some historic reforms tantalisingly within reach.
Before the end of the year, the president may be celebrating a landmark health care reform bill and a foreign policy victory with a US-Russia deal to trim nuclear stocks.
He can take comfort in shepherding the US economy back to growth - though rampant unemployment presents a grave political threat.
His Nobel peace prize suggests he made good on a promise to rescue the US image abroad.
‘He has delivered more than most presidents, and more quickly than most,’ said Bruce Buchanan, a professor of government at the University of Texas.
Had it not been for the huge expectations in the United States and abroad, Obama’s first 10 months in office might seem more of a success.
‘Change is hard,’ Obama said as he signed a bill slashing wasteful defence spending last week.
‘Change isn’t supposed to be easy,’ he said in Florida a few days earlier.
‘Change doesn’t happen overnight,’ he told Democrats the next day in Virginia.
Promises made in the monumental election campaign have proved tough to meet.
Obama’s political program, the most ambitious in decades - with plans for landmark health reform, financial regulation and a battle against climate change - has stumbled in Congress.
The ugly political mood he promised to quell meanwhile rages louder than ever and dictated that only three Republicans voted for the $US787 billion economic stimulus bill passed in February.
For now, passing that rescue package stands as one of Obama’s top domestic achievements.
Democrats say it revived the economy and created a million jobs.
Republicans call it a colossal waste of money.
Hanging over the Obama presidency in the next year, ahead of elections that could test Democratic control of Congress next November, is unemployment running at nearly 10 per cent.
Hopes for a swift rebound are tempered by tight credit markets, a massive deficit and a lingering mortgage crisis, and Obama must somehow divest the government of its huge crisis-induced role in the economy.
Obama promised to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp within a year. But that deadline will likely be missed.
Where change has come, it has been incremental, not the stuff of a glorious presidential legacy.
Obama lifted curbs on federal funding for stem cell research, banned torture, outlawed pay discrimination for female workers, reined in predatory credit card companies and launched a push for a green energy economy.
On the international front, he has transformed the climate for US diplomacy, and promised a ‘new beginning’ with the Muslim world during a powerful speech in Cairo. But Republicans said he was on a global apology tour.
Nuclear talks with Iran are on a knife edge and the Islamic Republic has snubbed Obama’s ‘open hand.’
His efforts to forge Israeli-Palestinian peace hit a brick wall, North Korea tested a nuclear weapon and Afghanistan has deteriorated.
But Obama’s promise to pull all US troops from Iraq still seems on track, though it may take longer than supporters hoped.

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1. November 2009 by admin.

They hate us for Who we Are

On the near one-year anniversay of Obama’s election, former President George W. Bush gave his first official speech. He declined to comment on Obama or his administration. However, he had strong words for America’s enemies. From the (Qatar) Gulf Times, Oct. 31:

He said the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan must be won to stop a return to “brutal tyranny” in the nation.“If the Taliban, Al Qaeda and their extremist allies were allowed to take over Afghanistan again, they would have a safe haven and the Afghan people, particularly the Afghan women, would face a return to a brutal tyranny.” “This region and the world would face serious threats,” he added.

Bush said both the US and India were “involved in an ideological struggle against extremists who murder the innocent to advance a dark vision of extremism and control.”

“They attack political, financial and diplomatic targets because they hate our way of life and they hate our vision for freedom and human rights and human dignity and prosperity and peace,” Bush told the conference.

President Bush was addressing the Hindustan Leadership Summit. During the Question & Answer, he gave remarks on Iraq. From IndiaServer.com Oct. 31:

“The world is much better off without Saddam Hussein. There is no question about that. Hussein was a threat to the US… He was a brutal dictator. He used weapons of mass destruction against his own people.” he said.

MORE INFORMATION

Note - Libertarian Republican’s sister blog Worldwide Liberty is now headlining a three minute YouTube video of the Bush speech in India. It includes Q&A. The former President states that he believes Osama bin Laden to still be alive, but vanquished

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1. November 2009 by admin.

Has RADICAL ISLAM infiltrated YOUR CHILD’S SCHOOL yet?

Muslims discovered America? Saudi-funded textbooks that are being used in many American K-12 classrooms feature an Islamic-centric rather than a Euro-centric view of history.
28 of the most widely-used American textbooks were found to have more than 500 glaring lies, including:
* Muslims discovered America before Columbus did
* Christianity was founded by a Palestinian named Jesus
* Jerusalem is an Arab city
* God revealed the Qur’an to Muhammad
* Jews contributed very little to Arts and Science
 
 
Where the hell is the ACLU?
“Become a Muslim warrior.” Thus read the instructions for seventh graders in Islam: A Simulation of Islamic History and Culture, 610-1100, a three-week curriculum produced by Interaction Publishers, Inc. In classrooms across the United States, where students adopt a Muslim name and wear Islamic clothing.Students unwilling to wear Islamic clothes must sit mutely in the back of the class, seemingly punished for remaining Westerners. Interaction calls for many Islamic activities: taking off shoes, washing hands, sitting on prayer rugs, and practicing Arabic calligraphy.
 

Students study the Qur’an, recite from it, design a title page for it, and write verses of it on a banner. Seventh graders adopt the speech of pious believers, greeting each other with “assalam aleikum, fellow Muslims” and using phrases such as “God willing” and “Allah has power over all things.” They pronounce the militant Islamic war-cry, Allahu akbar (“God is great.”) They must even adopt Muslim mannerisms.
Muslim mannerisms? Would that include suicide bombings?
 
 
FLORIDA: This class was called “Family Dynamics” and was supposed to have nothing to do with religion but 3 Muslim speakers turned it into a religious discussion and students were not given the option to stay or leave.

Last April the United American Committee exposed Cultural Jihad In Central Florida. The Central Florida Chapter of the United American Committee contacted WFTV Channel 9 news in Orlando to expose a cultural Jihad at a local school.   CALIFORNIA: ‘Teaching Islam to American school children is as important as teaching European history.’ Small towns in America are having Islamic indoctrination forced upon their children while the mere mention of Christianity is all but forbidden.

And this is just how it’s supposed to be according to the president of the Lodi Mosque in central California. Parents are up in arms about the Islamic curriculum being forced on their elementary school age children. Just when any mention or symbol of Christianity has been all but banned from public schools, Islam is spreading like wildfire. And our liberal educators are embracing it with open arms.
Christmas trees?  NO.
Islamic Footbaths and Prayer Rooms? YES.
 
At public schools all over America, Muslim children are being accommodated with footbaths and special prayer rooms for their daily prayers. No other religion is afforded such privileges.

Is this happening in your children’s schools yet? What are you doing about it?

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1. November 2009 by admin.

Texas Doctors Stand Against Muslim Mafia CAIR and Islamic Supremacism: I love Texas

I love Texas, a state with testicular fortitude. 
 
Check this story out. The jihadis over at Muslim Mafia CAIR are waging a stealth jihad against this group of proud American doctors. I URGE YOU TO SUPPORT THIS DOCTORS GROUP
This is another front, another act of war in the stealth jihad. It’s their business and they can do what they want.  If I lived in Texas, they would be my new doctors. Mind you it was a job interview.  Sounds like a CAIR set-up.
More on  Workplace jihad in America
Un-indicted co-conspirator CAIR ALERT!

CAIR: Texas Medical Group Denies Muslim Doctor Right to Hijab

Muslim civil rights organization says ‘no hat’ policy must have religious exemption (WASHINGTON, D.C., 10/30/09)

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on a major medical group in Texas to change its policy denying accommodation for Muslim employees who wear religious attire such as Islamic head scarves (hijab) or beards.

CAIR said a Muslim doctor being interviewed for a position with CareNow, a medical group with 22 facilities in the Dallas/Fort-Worth area, was told that a “no hat” policy would prohibit her from wearing hijab. She was also reportedly informed that CareNow prohibits employees from wearing beards. (Many Muslim men view wearing a beard as a religious requirement.)

In an e-mail to CareNow’s human resources department seeking confirmation of the denial of religious accommodation, the Muslim potential employee wrote:

“Being that I wear a head scarf to cover my hair as part of my religious practice, I felt very discriminated against.

I have worked in many places that have a ‘no hat’ policy, and I have never been confronted with a problem regarding my head scarf. I can’t imagine this being an issue with an organization like CareNow. Please confirm if this is really a policy at CareNow.”

An e-mail response from CareNow stated that the Muslim doctor had been given the correct information about the medical group’s denial of religious accommodation.

In a letter to CareNow, CAIR wrote:

“Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion in hiring, firing, and other terms and conditions of employment.The Act also requires employers to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of an employee, unless to do so would create an undue hardship upon the employer.CAIR has reviewed the facts of this case and determined that CareNow’s staff did not make an exemption to the ‘no-hat policy’ to accommodate [the applicant’s] religious practices, and thus is in direct violation of Title VII.”

CAIR is asking CareNow to 1) offer the Muslim applicant a position for which she is qualified and to allow her to wear her Islamic head scarf, 2) provide the applicant with a formal written apology, 3) clarify CareNow’s policy on religious accommodation issues and allow a religious exemption to the“no-hat” policy, 4) institute workplace sensitivity and diversity training for staff, and 5) compensate the Muslim applicant for the emotional distress she has suffered as a result of the discrimination.

Link from: http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/10/texas-doctors-stand-against-muslim-mafia-cair-and-islamic-supremacism-i-love-texas.html

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1. November 2009 by admin.

Ask an officer and they will tell you that firing on a police dog is equivalent to engaging the human police. The imam deserved ever round. He earned them through his ignorance, his violence, piss poor judgment and his criminal actions. In some countries, the imam’s family would receive a bill for the ammo used to shoot him.
 
Muslim leaders called for justice today at the funeral of Luqman Ameen Abdullah, the Islamic leader killed by FBI agents this week during a shootout in Dearborn.
”We are looking for justice,” said Imam Mohammed Elahi of the Islamic House of Wisdom to a packed crowd that spilled outside. ”The closest road to Allah is justice. May Allah bless his soul.” Elahi said.
-The call for “justice” means islamic justice; the call is a threat and a call to arms. It is likely that more of these idiots will soon find themselves in hell right alongside their beloved imam.
”Allah Akbar,” God is great, the packed crowd said at times during the funeral.
The casket of Abdullah is now on its way to a cemetery in Canton.
”Imam Luqman had faith and constantly strived for righteous deeds,” Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid, a Muslim leader who heads the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood in New York City, to the crowd.

-More code “righteous deeds” means he was a radical islamist a-hole and worshipper of the worlds most famous pedophile.
”Imam Luqman had the consciousness…I never heard him discuss any subject whatsoever, even sports, without talking about Allah.”
The crowd consisted mostly of African-American Muslims, but also included Muslims with roots in Pakistan, India and the Arab world.

-Building an army?
A caravan of cars left the Muslim Center — donned with orange flags with the Islamic crescent and star — to the burial site in Canton.
Ameen was the head of a separate mosque, Masjid Al-Haqq, which consisted primarily of African-American Muslims, say federal authorities. They maintain in a criminal complaint that Abduallh was a violent extremist who urged attacks on police and called for an offensive jihad that would overthrow the U.S. government and establish Islamic rule.

-Ok, that makes them members of the majority of the countries muslims. I rarely see signs of moderate American muslims so they must be the minority.
But family, friends, and Muslims cast doubts on the claims, saying that Abdullah was a generous, modest man who helped the poor, tried to better lives through Islam, and was a respected imam. Abdullah took part in local and national Muslim groups, including the Muslim Alliance in North America, MANA. He was on MANA’s advisory board and was sometimes seen at meetings with local imams.

-A respected man that called for violence taught intolerance and ran a criminal enterprise. He was also a piss poor tactician and died like a dog. His death mirrored the fate he picked for a working animal an ironic end to a wasted life
The funeral is to be held at the Muslim Center, a mosque whose members are predominantly African-American, but has no relation to Abdullah’s mosque, Masjid Al-Haqq.
After the funeral, the mosque plans to hold a peace gathering in the afternoon to promote positive vibes, said Imam El-Amin.
“We want to create peace…some good vibes,” he said.

-Until the imam fired at the FBI, the community was at peace. The FBI actually restored the peace by shooting down a rabid animal. The local muslim community should thank them and give a healthy check to the FBI agents retirement fund.
On Friday, a dozen Muslim organizations called for an independent investigation into his death. His family said he was shot 18 times. But Detroit FBI Special Agent in Charge Andrew Arena said agents acted appropriately.

-Only 18 times? I thought they cared more ammunition than that but no matter they got the job done.

  By Niraj Warikoo, 31 Oct 09, Free Press Staff Writer

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1. November 2009 by admin.

The law of attraction has been around for centuries, however, only recently has it come into the eye of the world through the book and DVD ‘The Secret’. Once known only by successful business men and women of our time, and times before us, the law of attraction has become a wide-spread phenomenon, allowing just about anyone to benefit from the vast powers of the universe.

The secret law of attraction works by you believing in something so strongly that it manifests itself into reality. If this sounds like something from the X-Files, just hear me out.

The teachings of the law tell us that no matter what, the universe is with us and for us, waiting to be used to our advantage. To truly harness the power using the law, we cannot focus on what we don’t have or what we need, instead, we need to believe that we will have more in the future. We will have more happiness, more money, more love, and more children. What ever your true desire is in life, you must focus on believing it will come true.

If you focus hard enough, and truly believe according to the law, you will see a change, and you will experience the true joy of the law of attraction working in your life.

Karma fits into this equation because we reap what we sow. What we send out to the world, thoughts of happiness, or thoughts of hatred can come back to us. Karma is basically a manifestation of our anger, greed, unhappiness, or misery. If we create these things,they come back to us.

The law of attraction owes a lot to the Hindu concept of karma and dharma. Karma implies a cause and effect. Each of us is different and hence, contributes differently to our lives. But we ourselves reap the results of our conducts. Good conduct breeds good results. Dharma is relevant to the law of attraction as dharma means purpose in life. Each of us has a purpose in life. The law of attraction speaks to identifying the aim of ones life through self discovery. Hinduism supposes this end to be universal welfare, an extension of the law of attraction.

Ancient Hindu doctrines preached the idea that a persons place in the world is dependent upon his thought and practices. Ancient Hindu philosophies suppose that a persons course of life is determined by his conducts in the previous birth. This implies that if someone had contributed significantly to universal goodness in his past life, they are likely to follow the same path in his next life.

Positive thinking, which is an oft quoted phrase in the law of attraction, also finds its place in Hinduism. One, who is optimist in his attitude towards life, strives for a positive end, whereby he will find happiness. This happiness, according to Hinduism, does not mean wealth or power, but a sense of satisfaction and a feeling of completeness.

Both Hinduism and the law of attraction posit the concept of spiritual unity. Spiritual unity points to mental integrity. The mind should be absolutely clear of its mission and this should correspond in the actions. The mind, according to both Hinduism and the law of attraction, should be able to withstand all external disturbances and remain focused on what it wants to achieve. The means or the ways to attain the end may change in the course of action, but not the end.

Hinduism defines the end as something abstract. It is the success of ones will, fortitude, and perseverance. It does not refer to monetary success, or a gain of power. The success is a state of mind, a sense of fulfillment, a sense of satisfaction. This is what is referred to as abundance, by the law of attraction.

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1. November 2009 by admin.

Heart rending Love Jihad statistics from God’s own country

October 9, 2009

Ashwin Krushna Panchami/Shashti, Kaliyug Varsha 5111

Know More about ‘Love Jihad’ - A Jihadi Organisations to trap Hindu girls

Read More: Modus Operandi of the Jihadi Romoes and Women Jihadis

This is happening in Bhaarat not in any Middle East country or Pakistan or Bangladesh  Parents in Kerala suffer from extreme anxiety and fear from the time their young daughters leave home for school or college till she is back home. Official statistics say that about 8 girls are reported missing under suspicious circumstances everyday in Kerala and this is the reason for their growing anxiety and fear.   Based on the statistics of the Crime Record Bureau of Kerala Police, Kochi’s National University of Advanced Legal Studies carried out a study in which it was found that the number of girls missing from Kerala was 2167 in 2007 and 2530 in 2008. The police or other investigative agencies have no information regarding nearly 600 out of these girls. The actual number may be much more taking into consideration the fact that these are the statistics of only the cases that have been registered.  Many of the cases are those of couples falling in love, then eloping and marrying, but information about such cases are gathered within 2 or 3 weeks. The question remained as to what happened to the others. The investigation then ultimately led to the now global disaster called Love Jihad.  The activities of Love Jihadis became more aggressive in Kerala in 2006. This led to the sudden increase in women and young girls disappearing from Kerala.  Jihadi Romeos promise to marry unsuspecting young girls within 6 months if they convert to Islam and take and dump these girls in the conversion centers. These Romeos then go for their next prey. These girls are subject to various tortures for weeks in these conversion centers. There is information that these girls are shipped to foreign countries after drugging them. They are shipped from the unmanned coasts of Kochi, Kozhikode, etc., to Mangalore, Goa, Chennai, Lakshadweep, from where they are taken abroad. They are taken to the Gulf countries under the false pretence of a job and forced into prostitution once they reach there.  It was found in investigations that many of the muslim girls found in police raids in the red light areas in Kochi and Kozhikode were actually Hindu-Christian girls who had converted to Islam in places like Mangalore and Bangalore.               The statistics of the Jihadi conversions in Kerala since 2006 are shocking. The number of those converted in this way was 2876. Cases were registered in only 705 of such incidents. Kasargod tops the list of Jihadi conversions with a figure of 568. Only 123 incidents have been registered with the police.     The numbers from 2006 till 2009 of such Love Jihad conversions on a district basis in Kerala is staggering. Below is a table giving the data district wise in Kerala with total incidents, cases registered, and those brought back with the help of various institutions and friends. The statistics of Waynad district are not available.

Central investigation agencies have recieved information that 4000 such girls all over India who have been converted under Love Jihad are being trained for Jihadi activities by Pakistan-based terrorist organizations.     Recently, an incident that left Keralites in a shock was the suicide of three girl students in Ambalapuzha. The reason behind that is being cited as Love Jihad. The three girls, Anila, Veni, and Julie, committed suicide as they were being tortured by their classmates, Soufar and Shanavas. Soufar and Shanavas reportedly have links to NDF, a muslim extremist organization in Kerala.  The Jihadi Romeos are given special ranks, rewards, and money for carrying out their operation of trapping more and more unsuspecting girls into this. Jahangir Razak, a former student of Kozhikode Law College, one such Jihadi Romeo, is said to have trapped 42 girls till date. He is reportedly the link between a sex racket running in Chennai and terrorist organizations. One Shajahan from Pathanamthitta has trapped 6 young girls from Malayalappuzha Panchayat itself.

Source: Janmabhumi Newspaper (Translated)

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1. November 2009 by admin.

from link: http://homelandsecurityus.com/?p=3204

US Mosques & Islamic Centers serving as paramilitary training centers for jihad

By Douglas J. Hagmann, Director

29 October 2009: A 45 page federal complaint unsealed Wednesday (PDF copy here), the raid on a Detroit warehouse and Detroit area residences, the shootout between mosque leader Luqman Ameen ABDULLAH, a/k/a Christopher THOMAS and law enforcement officials should be sufficient verification of the validity of our previously published investigative and surveillance findings that Islamic terror training is taking place on America soil.

On Wednesday, federal, state and local law enforcement officials raided a suburban Detroit warehouse and at least three Detroit area residences after a federal complaint was unsealed charging eleven-(11) individuals with a variety of crimes relating to Islamic terrorism. During the raid at the warehouse, ABDULLAH, 53, a “homegrown” Black Muslim terrorist and mosque leader fired on authorities as they executed the arrest warrant at that location. Before being killed by authorities, ABDULLAH shot and killed a K-9 dog.

Authorities state that six men are in custody while others remain at large. ABDULLAH, who converted to Islam while in prison, was the Imam of the Masjid Al-Haqq (mosque) in Detroit. The spiritual leader of the group is Jamil Abdullah Al-AMIN, formerly known as H. Rap BROWN, a prominent Black Panther in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  BROWN is currently incarcerated for the murder of two police officers in Georgia.

American streets will become the new Islamic Jihad battleground

The information contained within the federal complaint against the Detroit suspects is clear: Islamists in the US are advocating the spread of Islam through the use of violent jihad, and they are utilizing mosques and Islamic centers as their training grounds. The Northeast Intelligence Network has warned about this very issue, and even provided evidence of such activities.

On May 27, 2005, investigators from the Northeast Intelligence Network issued a fifteen-(15) page report titled Islamic Jihad Training in America. That report (in PDF format) specifically details paramilitary style training taking place at urban locations, including mosques and Islamic centers, in preparation for waging “jihad” or holy war by Islamists on the streets of America. The findings in this report are not merely speculation or commentary, but evidence based on extensive field investigation and surveillance performed by professional investigators.

On February 12, 2006 and updated later that summer, the Northeast Intelligence Network published a thirty-eight-(38) page report titled Exposing Terrorists in our Midst (in PDF format) detailing the paramilitary training at Muslim encampments as identified through on-site investigation and surveillance conducted by investigators of this agency. Again, the findings in this report are based on field investigation performed by professional investigators. So effective was this report that this investigator earned the wrath of a top Pakistani terrorist whose followers occupy several Islamic enclaves in North America. Following the publication of this report, Pakistani terror kingpin Shiek Mubarek Ali Gilani issued a religious statement and threatened this investigator/author in a rambling diatribe on a website maintained by his followers.

The Detroit raid serves to verify that there is a growing army of Islamic jihad “warriors” in our midst, operating behind the walls of an untold number of mosques and Islamic centers. Their seditious activity is protected by the careful exploitation of our democratic laws and the religious freedom that we offer.  Their activities are permitted to continue for numerous reasons, including but not limited to the blackmail of predatory litigation against those who dare to expose the threat, the insidious imposition of political correctness and multiculturalism, and the failure to understand that the “religion” of Islam is inextricably linked to an archaic and oppressive political ideology that is completely incompatible with a democratic nation and a free society.

The upcoming offensive

While scanning the various comments about the Detroit raid, I found a comment made on a conservative forum by someone who described the groups of individuals arrested as “basically nothing more than a gang of criminals wearing Halloween costume African outfits.” Unfortunately, that statement reflects the perilous lack of understanding that will result in blood being shed on the streets of America.

The individuals who are preparing for jihad love death more than we, as Americans love life. As illustrated on various Islamic terrorist message sites, the Islamists living in America keenly sense our current malaise about the threat posed by Islam, our political ambiguity regarding the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, our self-flagellation over the treatment and ultimate adjudication of enemy combatants, and the current political agenda coming directly from the White House. They are more empowered today than ever before, and feel insulated from any meaningful intervention as they continue to use US real estate as forward bases for their political and religious takeover of the United States.

Our articles published on May 3, 2007, titled Jihad coming to the streets of America and its follow-up dated May 17, 2007 are more relevant today than ever before. On Wednesday in Detroit, we saw the manifestation of events we warned about over two years ago:

“We’re talking about professional Muslim men, mosque leaders, leaders within our communities who are actually helping young men train for the eventuality of urban combat. They know what they are doing, yet they lie right to our faces about these activities- and we’re told by our supervisors that we have to accept what they tell us at face value when they know damn well they are lying.” -Federal source, speaking on condition of anonymity

Please download and read the reports linked within this article and pass them along to others. Read the criminal complaint against the 11 men in Detroit. Inform others about the growing threat inside America. Our survival as a nation depends upon action

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