I found Ataurk’s top 25 quotes and some of them are quite interesting. Here are a few:
1)Everything we see in the world is the creative work of women.
2) I have no religion, and at times I wish all religions at the bottom of the sea. He is a weak ruler who needs religion to uphold his government; it is as if he would catch his people in a trap.
3)My people are going to learn the principles of democracy, the dictates of truth and the teachings of science. Superstition must go.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/02/palestinian-poet-ashraf-fayadhs-death-sentence-overturned-by-saudi-court (Article from United Kingdom’s “The Guardian”)
This is a story I mentioned previously in Islamic Civ I, where a Saudi poet was accused of apostasy due to his poetry and was sentenced to death. Apparently his lawyers argued that his case was illegitimate because he never had a fair trial, and his sentence is now 8 years in prison and 800 lashes (issued over 16 occasions). I think that there is still injustice at play here, but this entire event just shows how different other parts of the world can be from the United States, where we would never see such a crime (let alone punishment) be trued and carried out.
After World War I, Talaat fled to Germany under assumed an assumed name. Talaat was gunned down in Berlin in 1921 by Soghomon Tehlirian (Armenian). Tehlirian’s trial exposed the knowledge that the German government had of the Armenian genocide, which was kept from the German public during WWI. The jury acquitted Tehilirian based on German officers’ eyewitness accounts. Talaat’s body was returned to Istanbul in 1943 by Nazi Germany, over 20 years after he was killed, and given a burial with full honors. If you would like to know a few more details about his life and death click here.
Rumi Forum and the American Turkish Friendship Association is hosting a conference tomorrow where Northern Virginia county officials will be discussing the Syrian Refugee Crisis. It is in Fairfax and open to the public. Refreshments begin at 6:30 and the discussion starts at 7pm. The address is 3949 University Drive, Fairfax, VA, 22030. However, they ask people to register beforehand. Here is the link to register.
http://www.collegehumor.com/post/7036004/if-world-war-ii-were-a-facebook-news-feed
Anders Brevik was discussed in a New York Times article due to his claims that his solitary confinement violated his rights. He has apparently brought up a law suit against the Norwegian government claiming that under laws set forward by the European Convention on Human Rights the conditions he lives in are akin to torture. The Norwegian government of course maintains that his situation is necessary due to his flight risk and his danger to society as a terrorist.
The Times article provided an image of Breivik’s cell, and it strikes as more of a private dorm room than a prison cell, but Breivik has been vocal about Norway’s refusal to use capital punishment has sentenced him to something harsher than death, so maybe something is happening that we are not seeing.
Over break, Rumi Forum sent out an email to everyone on their email list condemning the government takeover of Zaman and Today’s Zaman newspapers. For quite awhile now, the Turkish government has been cracking down on opposition journalists across the country. This could be considered one of the biggest steps they’ve taken to suppress freedom of the press in Turkey. Here is the email sent from Rumi Forum:
“The Rumi Forum is saddened with today’s attack on Zaman and Today’s Zaman in Turkey. Media freedoms have hit rock bottom in Turkey. Kindly review the below statement by Zaman and the various links from Amnesty International, Freedom House, International Press Institute, The Committee to Protect Journalists and The National Press Club.
Your continued support of Rumi Forum is appreciated as well as the wider ideals of democracy, human and media rights and respect for the rule of law – values that we at Rumi Forum will continue to advocate and encourage.”
Here are some links that were sent in the email as well discussing the incident:
The Committee to Protect Journalists
http://islamtruth4all.blogspot.com/2011/01/types-of-shirk-greater-shirk-and-lesser.html
This is the summary taken directly from the page:
“The following differences between the Greater Shirk and the Lesser Shirk are deduced from the above mentioned:
1. The greater Shirk constitutes apostasy and nullifies all good deeds, while the lesser Shirk does not constitute apostasy or nullify all good deeds.
2. The greater Shirk condemns the one who practices it to eternal life in the Fire. Whereas the lesser Shirk does not condemn the one who practices it to eternal life in the Fire if he enters it.
3.Those who commit shirk akbar (greater shirk) violate their marriage contract(s) and their children will no longer be attributed to them. This is not the case for a person who commits shirk asghar.”
I hope this clarifies the difference, -Casey Ryan
Yale recently introduced an Islam Awareness Week to fight the Islamaphobia that is a major issue in American society. Although the “Yale bubble” consists of the educated elite this is still a present issue and enough that the students at the University felt the need to implement a school wide awareness week to combat this issue. This is a positive step towards fighting the idea of Islamaphobia because it shows that Americans are recognizing the problem and attempting to fix it in a timely manner.
-Casey Ryan
After a string of attacks against non-Muslim people, there has been a cry in Bangladesh to no longer have Islam as the official religion. Bangladesh assures its people that it is not the work of ISIS; however, the United States believes it is and that ISIS numbers are growing larger in Bangladesh.
When Bangladesh first became a nation in 1971, it was a secular nation, however, when the constitution was amended in 1988, Islam was declared the official religion.
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