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June. 17, 2006
Since the
arrest of 17 Canadians for terrorist-related activities,
discussions are taking place at many levels here at home and
internationally, some serious and others simply sensational. But
no one's talking about the price of oil?
What does the
price of oil have to do with terrorism? Everything, if we take
an honest look at the chain of events and put them into
perspective.
This is not
about the rise and fall of gas prices; it's about acknowledging
that the source of oil and the source of terrorism are the same.
(Recall that 15 of the 19 hijackers of 9/11 were Saudi.)
The Canadian
youth who are alleged to be terrorists were not born with hate
in their hearts. Someone taught them an ideology of hate and
encouraged them to vent their anger and violence on the targets
of their hatred.
The critical
question we need to ask right now is, where are the roots of
this ideology? It comes to us courtesy of Wahhabism, the
state-sponsored religion of Saudi Arabia, where people follow
the religion of those who exercise power over them.
A small example
of how hate is propagated in Saudi was published in on the
Star's Religion page on June 3. Freedom House, a U.S.
non-governmental organization that monitors political rights and
civil liberties worldwide, published a study of current Saudi
government-approved textbooks, proving that they still demonize
Christians, Jews, non-Wahhabi Muslims and other
minorities.
Long before a
few brave organizations and individuals started investigating
human rights violations and hate propaganda in Saudi Arabia,
some Muslims were expressing their outrage over Saudi policies,
but their complaints fell on deaf ears.
The house of
Saud has occupied two of the holiest sites for Muslims, Mecca
and Medina, for far too long. If they were actually protecting,
promoting and preserving our religious heritage, that would be
fine, but the Saudis, following their own puritanical version of
Islam, have razed all monuments associated with the Prophet
Muhammad
and his family.
The same people
who had the temerity to incite Muslims to violent reactions to
the infamous Danish cartoon have no compunction about destroying
our Islamic heritage and brazenly promoting a culture of hate
against anyone who disagrees with them.
The United
States has known for decades that the Saudis discriminate
against women and minorities and spout hatred against anyone who
does not follow their misogynist and exclusivist brand of faith.
They openly mark Shias and Sufis as being waajib-ul'qatal
(acceptable
to be killed).
Through
millions of petro dollars, they have exported their dogma to
other countries. In Pakistan, it has become common practice to
oust a moderate imam from a mosque and replace him with a
radical, Saudi-financed cleric who spouts the Wahhabi ideology
and delivers venomous polemics from the pulpit.
The same
ideology arrived in North America more than a decade ago and has
insidiously infiltrated our places of worship. It has taken root
in a Islamic school in Mississauga where young Canadian Muslim
women are encouraged to dress like penguins and share their
goodwill by embracing polygamy.
Within our
mosques, Muslims are too often exposed to hate-filled,
self-righteous preachers and teachers. What these
"leaders" fail to mention is that Islam does not and
will never condone such behaviour; it actually urges Muslims to
work for justice in the world.
But why have
our politicians and leaders allowed this to happen, knowing the
threat was staring us in the face? Why were there no
demonstrations in front of the Saudi embassy when the Prophet's
house was leveled or when we became aware of human
right atrocities?
Is it because
we have sold our souls for the price of oil and allowed a
radical theology to seduce the minds of our youth?
Today, we lack
a strong, united voice to stop these preachers from teaching
violence and hatred in the name of religion. As long as these
leaders remain the "spiritual" guides of mosques,
these sacred places will continue as breeding grounds for
extremists and violent Muslims willing to commit horrendous acts
of terrorism. Unless and until Muslims learn to be tolerant and
respectful of others who do not agree with them or who are
perceived to be hostile to them, this irrational behaviour will
continue.
It's time to
act. Muslims and non-Muslims, individuals and institutions must
work together to change such attitudes among their preachers and
teachers and ensure that Canada does not become an easy target
for hate-mongers and proponents of violence.
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