ISIL in Ferguson

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Ferguson, fergusondecision, freedom, IS, ISIL, ISIS, Islam, IslamicState, propaganda

This recent article on ISIL using the uproar of the grand jury decision on Darren Wilson to promote their own cause is pretty surprising.

The article features many screen caps from different ISIL promoters throughout Twitter. I found this very useful because I normally search for those specific propaganda twitter accounts to see what’s going on in the world of ISIL.

Besides the obvious shock factor of how on top of their promoting game ISIL is, I think the real result we should be looking at is how many people see these tweets and think: These guys are right.

I found this tweet to be most compelling simply because of the bloody axe in the front. The rioting and looting in Ferguson got way out of control but the last time I checked no one killed anyone else with an axe. No one even had an axe, there was some gun shots and a lot of fire… but no axe.

Besides that picture, the other tweets went along the lines of this: “To #Ferguson people, the solution of #freedom is #islam. #IslamicState #IS #ISIS #FergusonDecision”

These types of tweets I think can potentially be the most influential on susceptible people.

A lot of these tweets use Islam as a scapegoat for all the world’s problems. I think the most common one is for judgement day. ISIL often references to the impending judgement day and how the followers of ISIL will be the only ones let up into Heaven.

Although the tweets can sometimes be influential, even more influential are the long propaganda videos posted in English. Although YouTube and Twitter are quick to take down the worst videos, mostly of beheadings and such, there are the quick users out there that get to see the worst of the worst.

So maybe after a Twitter user in Ferguson reads the aforementioned tweet and thinks, “Maybe I should learn more about Islam…”. So, he or she reads up on Islam online and tries to understand what ISIL is all about. He or she finds Dabiq, and watches some propganda videos online. Suddenly, he or she doesn’t think ISIL is all that bad.

Now I’m not saying he or she hoping on a plane and joining ISIL’s fight right now, but now perhaps he or she is a bit more sympathetic to ISIL and its “cause”. Clearly with all the propaganda videos ISIL is aiming for people to join them but they also aim to make people around the world sympathetic to them.

Especially the American people.

So what can be done about ISIL and its propaganda? In my next blog I will talk about what the U.S. and other Muslims in Middle Eastern countries such as Jordan and the United Arab Emirates are doing to combat the propaganda.

 

 

 

 

Why more Muslims should denounce ISIL

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AmericanJewishCommittee, Caliphate, Christianity, IS, ISIL, ISIS, Islam, IUMS, jihadists, Judaism, muslims, MuslimWorldLeague, NotInMyName, religion, Reuters, SaudiArabia, socialmediajihad, Unite

By now we have all heard about Obama saying “ISIL is not Islamic”. Whether you may have believed him or not, there are some Muslim organizations and movements that are denouncing ISIL and ISIL’s claim to be Islamic.

Last Wednesday, the Muslim World League met with top leaders of Christian and Jewish organizations in Vienna and together denounced ISIL’s actions against the religion and humanity.

All three Abrahamic religions came together to call out ISIL. There have been other instances of Muslims putting down the terrorist organization. Like the Not In My Name campaign online.

If you haven’t head about the “Not In My Name Campaign“, it is a social media movement of younger Muslim followers denouncing ISIL and their actions.

Many Muslims have condemned ISIL’s actions, but some Muslims refuse to condemn them.

While I do understand the opposing argument that some Muslims feel like condemning ISIL may be like condemning themselves. I cannot agree that Muslims should think “when you ask Muslims to condemn or denounce heinous actions, ideologies or groups what you’re saying is that you don’t trust any Muslim.” That’s honestly just taking an overly defensive view.

When Obama asks Muslim’s to do more in the way of condemning ISIL, he’s asking this to show that ISIL is not in fact Islamic! Not because Non-Muslim Americans think all Muslim-Americans agree with ISIL and will work for ISIL inside the US.

I believe Muslims publicly denouncing ISIL will show the group people– who believe all of Islam is violent and should be eliminated from the world- that all Muslims are neither extreme nor violent.

Some Muslims are extreme and violent, yes. But they do not represent the billions of other Muslims in the world and you shouldn’t let them.

There are many Non-Muslims who do believe ISIL represents all Muslims, and by the Muslims against ISIL remaining silent it is easy for those non-Muslims to have their false beliefs reaffirmed. 

Also, I agree Obama cannot be completely right in saying that ISIL is not Islamic, if ISIL claims to be Islamic, then they are Islamic. 

But don’t let the Islamic extremists define your entire religion. 

Speaking out for the billionth time is much better than saying nothing and allowing silent consent to what ISIL is doing. 

One small step for Muslim women- adding to the equality fight around the world.

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burjkhalifa, Dubai, dubaimall, emiratesmall, equality, ISIL, ISIS, Islam, Islamequality, IslamicState, muslims, progressive, ramadan, rights, summer2014, UnitedArabEmirates, whoruntheworldgirls, women

The treatment of women in Islam is another hot topic springing up about the Islamic religion while the world watches ISIL in the Middle East.

View of Dubai from the Burj Khalifa. Taken by TU Student/ Kayla Baines.

Even in modern Musim countries such as the United Arab Emirates, women are treated as second class citizens- and I, as a tourist, have experienced this.

Over this past summer, while ISIS was making its way down Iraq-headed toward Baghdad- I was in Dubai and Cyprus.

This year was the first time I was lucky enough to visit a majority Muslim country and also go to the Turkish occupied side of Cyprus.

Islamic apologists

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apologists, ISIL, ISIS, Islam, IslamicState, religion, RezaAslan, Shi'a, Sufi, Sunni, Wahhabi

I recently read an article claiming Islamic apologists to be the current problem with Islam.

What I learned is that there are apologists for every religion in the world because a religious apologist, by definition is: someone who defends a religion, usually their own, by speech or writing.

Sounds like something everyone who is religious would do, right? Perhaps the Catholic man down the street tells his Jewish neighbor that his Jewish views suck? The Jewish man would certainly defend his religion.

It does’t have to be in such a hostile situation, but you get my point.

I think the problem is that people who are religious automatically assume they have to defend their religion against people of other religions and “nonbelievers”, which I think author Jeffrey Taylor proves in this piece.

He says that Atheists are not the problem because atheists never started wars since they don’t have a Bible or Qur’an to tell them to and blatantly attacks Islam instead of just attacking Reza Aslan for his supposed “Islamic apologetic” behavior.

However, I agree with Reza who says that anyone can make their own interpretations of scriptures, especially in the Qur’an because of its ubiquitous and imprecise way of telling Muslims how to conduct oneself – which is why we have various types of Muslims (Sunni‘s, Shi’a‘s, Sufi‘s, & Wahhabi‘s).

For example, The Qur’an often states for its followers to “do good” but never stays exactly what the good is. So different Muslims take to the Hadith, which is basically a complilation of the Prophet Muhammad’s life that one should also follow by. It is believed that the Prophet lived just as God wanted his followers to.

So a Sunni Muslim will respond differently from a Sufi Muslim to the Qur’an’s call to “do good” since their specific sects have different interpretations.

It’s useful to know the different sects of Islam, because there are a lot more than the four examples I give. And by knowing that they’re are different sects of Islam that interpret their scripture in a different way, it then becomes easier to understand why some Muslims like jihadists in ISIL are killing Sunni’s and Shi’a’s.

Although being somewhere between Atheist and agnostic myself, I believe the problem is not solely at the hands of Islamic apologists but anyone who is not willing to learn more about the religion and is not willing to speak out against ISIL even if they are Muslim.

In the bigger picture, Islamic or not, ISIL is committing atrocious human rights crimes and that is why humans should care. If Islamic apologists defend Islam but do not denounce ISIL then I believe they are wrong.

If atheists denounce the entire religion of Islam as well as ISIL then I believe they are also wrong.

Do you guys believe that the problem is with the religion of Islam itself and the Islamic apologists?

Don’t throw off Emperor Obama’s Groove

Tags

hillbillies, ISIS, Islam, msa, muslimstudentassociation, NotInMyName, Obama, propaganda, redstate, republicans

(Before you read: I am registered republican, I was born Catholic, my health care insurance is through the roof, my parents own their own business, and I study journalism but seek BOTH sides of every story.)

I have recently found one of the best blog websites ever. This website contains some of the BEST republican, but “non-biased and completely truthful” opinions from across the US of A.

I recently found this article roaming around the website. I recommend this website for your entertainment. **If you don’t speak any sarcasm, I recommend you stop reading here.

Apparently “Eucharist Emperor Obama” controls the opinions of all people affiliated with the Democratic Party and spews out liberal bias on everything so that American’s are hidden from the truth.