Muslim Social Services Worker Jailed for Trying to Derail Rape-Gang Trial

If someone I knew were guilty of abusing a little girl, I can't imagine myself obstructing justice in an attempt to derail the case. But when a girl came forward against Mohammed Imran Amjad and several other Muslim men, four members of the local Muslim community (one of whom was a social services worker) sprang into action . . . to protect Amjad and others from prosecution.

BBC News—A woman who worked in social services has been jailed for attempting to derail a grooming trial.

Receptionist Mahdiya Khan accessed a computer database 60 times to get details of a child sex victim.

She was jailed for eight months, but details have only just emerged. Three men have also been found guilty of interfering in the case.

Mohammed Imran Amjad, 26, was earlier jailed for four years and three months after he admitted abusing a child.

Five others were cleared of rape, sexual assault and child abduction at Burnley Crown Court in April.

Detectives realised Amjad's girlfriend, Mahdiya Khan, had tried to undermine the case. She was a receptionist working for Lancashire County Council social services in Burnley.

They found she accessed a confidential database 60 times over 15 days to find details of the witness and her family.

The county council said she was immediately suspended and dismissed.

A spokesman said: "When this security breach came to light, the advice from our data protection team was that no further practical steps could have been taken to prevent it from having occurred."

Three other people connected to Amjad had also attempted to interfere with the case.

His cousin Waqas Khalid threatened to rape the victim and her mother. His friend Qasim Hussain persuaded her to change her statement. His brother, Furqan Amjad, contacted the victim 350 times.

Furqan Amjad was jailed for 15 months. Khalid was fined £300 and Hussain will be sentenced next week. (Continue Reading.)

A Short Guide to the Middle East

In case you were confused . . .

Upcoming Debates

For those who are interested, here is a flyer for the debates that are coming up in September. Another debate that is not reflected on the flyer below, Does Islam Teach Pure Monotheism? Shadid Lewis vs. Anthony Rogers, is scheduled to take place on the 8th at 1:30pm. The location for this debate may or may not be the same as the others. I will update this post once I find out for sure.  

***Update 8/27/13***

The first debate on Does Islam Teach Pure Monotheism? is officially scheduled to take place on September 8th at 1:15pm at the following location:

Calvary Chapel Anaheim
270 E. Palais Rd.
Anaheim, CA 92805

U.S. Egyptians to Rally Against Media Bias and the Muslim Brotherhood

It appears that many Egyptians have caught on to the love triangle among the Obama Administration, the Western media, and the Muslim Brotherhood. Most interestingly, the protesters are calling CAIR's Washington office the "embassy" of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Ahram Online—Egyptians living in the United States have called for a protest in front of the White House on Thursday in Washington DC against the Muslim Brotherhood and in support of the Egyptian army. A statement by the protest's planners said the demonstration is planned to "expose Muslim Brotherhood terrorism and its collaborators around the world".

The US has condemned a recent crackdown against the Brotherhood following the dispersal by security forces of two Brotherhood-led protest camps which saw hundreds of supporters of deposed Islamist president Mohamd Morsi killed and thousands injured.

The statement added that the protests will also "expose the clear bias of the Obama administration and the American media in support of the Muslim Brotherhood and its terrorist ideology."

Following the dispersal of the two sit-ins in Egypt's Cairo and Giza governorates, Morsi supporters – some of them armed with automatic weapons – attacked police stations, government buildings and churches countrywide.

The attacks were followed by accusations by the Egyptian government that the Brotherhood was leading a terrorist plot against the state and attempting to terrorize its citizens. The Brotherhood has denied having resorted to any violence, meanwhile insisting on describing the military's intervention to remove Morsi as a result of mass protests against him as a "bloody coup" and has called on the international community to stand against the current interim government in Egypt.

The anti-Brotherhood protest is planned to gather at the White House and then move to The Washington Post offices, CNN, then to the headquarters of Islamic Council on American–Islamic Relations, which the group accused of being the Brotherhood's "embassy" in Washington. The rally's final destination is planned to be the Egyptian military attaché’s office in Washington where they intend to "praise the Egyptian army for its heroic stand against MB terrorism".

The protest organizers said they will provide buses to carry demonstrators from various Coptic churches in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, South Carolina and North Carolina. They said the demonstrators will include "both Muslims and Copts." (Source)

Proof for the Qur'an

In the video below Hamza Yusuf provides proof that the Qur'an is the Word of God. At least that is what he was no doubt intending to do. Unfortunately, something goes terribly wrong along the way and he ends up proving something else.

Omid Pasbakhsh vs. Naim Khan: Did Jesus Consider Himself To Be God?

Zakir Naik has never faced an experienced Christian debater in his entire career. Why not? Naik knows that his arguments would be destroyed.

In this debate, Naim Khan recycles Zakir Naik's material. Watch how easily Omid Pasbakhsh dismantles his claims.

Great Britain: Acid Attack Rate Triples in Six Years

When immigrants come to Great Britain, the multiculturalist government tells them to retain their cultural practices and beliefs. But what happens when those cultural practices include throwing acid into people's faces?

Telegraph—Experts say they believe many of the cases involving acid are linked to Asian communities, with women attacked by their husbands and punished for refusing forced marriages, while men were attacked during disputes over dowries.

Latest NHS hospital figures record 144 assaults in 2011/12 involving corrosive substances, which can also include petrol, bleach and kerosene.

Six years earlier, 56 such episodes were noted.

Jaf Shah, executive director of Acid Survivors Trust International said that many attacks in Britain were not reported, because women targeted lived in fear of reprisals.

He said: “There is a reluctance among women in the Asian community to come forward; these attacks do not usually come from strangers, but from someone close to them in the community – a husband, a father, or their family.” (Continue Reading.)

Allah Has Two Feet

A Muslim recently contacted the Fatwa site Islam QA and asked whether Allah has two feet or one foot. He wrote:

I am a seeker of knowledge and I am confused: do we affirm that Allah has two feet, as is mentioned in the mawqoof hadeeth the isnaad of which ends with Ibn ‘Abbaas, “The kursiy (foot stool) is the place of the feet”? Or do we affirm that Allah has one foot, as it says in the hadeeth: “… until the Lord of Glory places His foot in it (Hell)” (or, according to another report, “… His foot on it…”)?

The scholars of Islam QA correctly reply that, according to Islam, Allah has two feet:

Praise be to Allah.

One of the confirmed attributes of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, is the foot.

The evidence for that is the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (6661) and Muslim (2848) from Anas ibn Maalik, according to which the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Hell will keep saying, ‘Are there any more (to come)?’ until the Lord of Glory, may He be blessed and exalted, places His foot on it, then it will say, ‘Enough, enough, by Your glory!’ And all its parts will be integrated together.

Al-Bukhaari (4850) and Muslim (2847) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Hell and Paradise disputed, and Hell said: ‘I have been favoured with the arrogant and proud.’ Paradise said: ‘What is the matter with me, that no one will enter me except the weak, humble and downtrodden?’ Allah, may He be blessed and exalted, said to Paradise: ‘You are My mercy by which I will show mercy to whomsoever I will of My slaves.’ And He said to Hell: ‘You are My punishment with which I will punish whomsoever I will of My slaves. And each of you will be full.’ As for Hell, it will not be full until Allah, may He be blessed and exalted, places His foot on it and it says, ‘Enough, enough.’ Then it will be full and all its parts will be integrated together, and Allah will not treat any of His creation unjustly. As for Paradise, Allah will create a creation just for it.”

This indicates that it is confirmed that Allah, may He be exalted, has a foot.

Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The Kursiy (foot stool) is the place of the two feet, and the size of Throne cannot be known.”

This was narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah in at-Tawheed, 1/248, no. 154; Ibn Abi Shaybah in al-‘Arsh, 61; ad-Daarimi in ar-Radd ‘ala al-Muraysi; ‘Abdullah ibn al-Imam Ahmad in as-Sunnah; and al-Haakim in al-Mustadrak, 2/282 – he classed it as saheeh according to the conditions of the two shaykhs (al-Bukhaari and Muslim), and adh-Dhahabi agreed with him. It was also classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Mukhtasar al-‘Uluw, p. 102; and by Ahmad Shaakir in ‘Umdat at-Tafseer, 2/163.

Abu Moosa al-Ash‘ari (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Kursiy is the place for the two feet, and it creaks as a saddle creaks.

Narrated by ‘Abdullah ibn al-Imam Ahmad in as-Sunnah; Ibn Abu Shaybah in al-‘Arsh, 60; and by Ibn Jareer, al-Bayhaqi and others. Its isnaad was classed as saheeh in al-Fath, 8/47 and by al-Albaani in Mukhtasar al-‘Uluw, p. 123-124

These two reports confirm that Allah, may He be exalted, has two feet, and this is the belief of Ahl as-Sunnah.

Imam Abu ‘Ubayd al-Qaasim ibn Salaam (may Allah have mercy on him) said: These hadeeths which say that our Lord smiles at the despair of His slaves when things will soon change, and that Hell will not be filled until your Lord places His foot on it, and that the Kursiy is the place for the two feet – these hadeeths, as narrated, are true in our opinion; they were narrated from trustworthy narrators to other trustworthy narrators. But if we are asked about their meaning, we do not explain them, and we have never seen any scholar discuss their meanings.

Narrated by al-Bayhaqi in al-Asma’ wa’s-Sifaat, 2/198; Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr in at-Tamheed, 7/149

In Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah (2/376) it says: What we must do is affirm that which Allah has affirmed for Himself, such as two hands, two feet, fingers and other attributes that are mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah, in a manner that is befitting to Allah, may He be glorified, without distorting the meaning, discussing how, likening Him to His creation or denying any of His attributes, because He, may He be glorified, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Say (O Muhammad (Peace be upon him)): "He is Allah, (the) One.

Allah-us-Samad (The Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, He neither eats nor drinks).

He begets not, nor was He begotten;

And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him.”

[al-Ikhlaas 112:1-3]

“There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer”

[ash-Shoora 42:11].

So we take these (attributes) as true in a real sense, not metaphorical. As for going to extremes in affirming attributes that are not mentioned in the Qur’an or sunnah, we have to refrain from doing so. (Continue Reading.)

Hope that clears things up for those of you who were wondering how many feet Allah has. For more on Allah's body, see the following video by Anthony Rogers:

Dozens of Churches Attacked in Egypt

Muslim Brotherhood Playbook: When all else fails, attack Christians.

Kafr Hakim, Egypt (CNN) -- For 67 years, the Virgin Mary Church has been a peaceful refuge for Shenouda El Sayeh, much like the Giza province village of Hafr Hakim where it rests and where he has lived all those years.

But, as he swept its floors on Thursday, it was painfully obvious things had changed.

The night before, a mob -- chanting against Coptic Christians such as El Sayeh and calling for Egypt to become an "Islamic state" -- had torched and looted the Virgin Mary Church.

"I didn't expect this to happen," El Sayeh said.

He's not alone. Christians all around Egypt are cleaning up in the aftermath of a spate of attacks, which not coincidentally came on the county's deadliest day since the 2011 revolution that overthrew longtime President Hosni Mubarak.

Bishop Angaelos, the Cairo-born head of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom, said he was told by colleagues in Egypt that 52 churches were attacked in a 24-hour span that started Wednesday, as well as numerous Christians' homes and businesses.

Ishak Ibrahim, a researcher with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, told CNN he had confirmed attacks on at least 30 churches so far, in addition to the targeting of church-related facilities, including schools and cultural centers.

Those churches reportedly set ablaze Wednesday included St. George Church in Sohag, a city south of Cairo on the Nile River.

And the new day brought new attacks. Prince Tadros Church in Fayoum, which is southwest of Cairo, was stormed and burned Thursday night, according to the official Middle East News Agency. (Continue Reading.)

Fourteen Killed as Sunni Jihadists Bomb Hezbollah Stronghold in Lebanon

I try to post updates on violence in the Muslim world, in order to refute the common claim that Islam can somehow rescue the West from immorality. But I just can't seem to keep up with all of the carnage.

Beirut, Lebanon (CNN) -- A car bomb Thursday rocked a southern suburb of Lebanon's capital -- an area known as a stronghold of the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, the Lebanese Army said.

Fourteen people were killed and 212 were wounded, the Lebanese national news agency NNA reported.

Video shown on Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV showed fierce flames engulfing several cars in the Beirut suburb. Thick, black smoke rose from the vehicles; a nearby building also appeared to be on fire. Ambulances were rushing to the scene, NNA reported.

"Army units arrived immediately at the scene, enforcing a security zone within the area of explosion while military experts initiated investigations under the concerned judiciary's surveillance," the army said.

After the blast, a YouTube video surfaced in which three masked men holding weapons claimed they are part of a group responsible for the attack. They stood before a large Arabic sign containing the Islamic creed, "There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah."

The group, which calls itself "The brigade of Aisha, Mother of Believers," accused Hezbollah of being aggressors. Aisha is the last wife of the Prophet Muhammad and is especially revered by Sunni Muslims. (Continue Reading.)

Aisha was the "last wife of the Prophet Muhammad"? Who does the fact checking for CNN?

Afghan Muslim Kills His Wife for Going Shopping Without His Permission

The Global Post seems confused as to why women's rights continue to deteriorate in spite of the overthrow of the Taliban. But the reason women's rights aren't respected in Afghanistan isn't the Taliban; it's Muhammad's teachings.

Kabul, Aug 12 (EFE)-A man in the northern province of Kunduz shot his wife to death for going to the market without his permission, an Afghan police spokesman told Efe Monday.

The incident took place on Sunday in the Chahar Dara district, according to Sarwar Hussaini, who said that the murderer, identified only as Khodaidad, killed his 24-year-old wife in their home when she returned from going shopping.

Khodaidad fled after the killing and his whereabouts are currently unknown, the spokesman said.

Despite the social advances made with the fall of the Taliban regime 12 years ago, women's rights in Afghanistan continue to be systematically abused or ignored.

In May, the Afghan Parliament rejected approving a law against sexual violence over the opposition of the more conservative parties, which consider the existence of shelters for abuse victims, among other things, to be anti-Islamic. (Continue Reading.)

Islamic Rape Wave Continues in Great Britain

Great Britain's message to the world: "We will show you how tolerant we are by allowing you to gang-rape our children."

Ferdoush Hasan and Raabsan Khan

South Shields—Two schoolgirls were raped at a house where vulnerable youngsters were taken advantage of by older Asian men, a court heard.

A 14-year-old victim was held down by Raabsan Khan and Abu Sufian while Ferdoush Hasan raped her in a sickening attack last February, it is claimed.

Her ordeal was just days after another 14-year-old visitor at the property at Beaufront Terrace, South Shields, was taken into one of the rooms and raped by Hasan acting alone, jurors have heard.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the house was occupied by multiple foreign students, including the trio from Bangladesh, who were studying at South Tyneside College.

It is claimed the three men took advantage of the girls, who were allowed to drink and smoke at the flat, despite being underage.

Abu Sufian

Hasan, 22, Khan, 19, and Sufian, 21, who were all in the UK on student visas, deny a joint charge of rape.

Hasan denies a further rape charge relating to the first, lone attack.

The men, now of Ocean Road, South Shields, are being tried by a jury.

Prosecutor Anne Richardson told the court: "The crown's case is that these defendants took advantage of young girls who were vulnerable, who were drinking alcohol and smoking although underage, who came to the defendants' then house in order to have somewhere to do both those things.

"Many will wonder what on earth are young girls like this doing going to the house of men older than they were, who spoke very little English and with whom they had no friendly relationship.

"It was precisely because these girls were young, vulnerable and foolish the defendants felt they could act in the way the crown alleges.

"Basically these young girls could be used for sex and either they would not say anything for fear of getting themselves into trouble or, if they did say anything, because of their background and circumstances of how they came to be in the house, no-one would believe them." (Continue Reading.)

For more on the rape epidemic in Great Britain:

Italian Priest Paolo Dall’Oglio Killed by Rebels in Syria

Paolo Dall’Oglio supported the rebels in their quest to topple the Assad regime. The rebels executed him when he was no longer useful to their cause.

Paolo Dall'Oglio

BEIRUT—Al-Qaeda-linked rebels in Syria have killed an Italian Jesuit priest who disappeared in the east of the country late last month, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Paolo Dall’Oglio, a vocal supporter of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and some Islamist rebel groups, disappeared in the rebel-held city of Raqqa on July 29.

He had served for three decades at the Monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian, or Deir Mar Musa, before being expelled from the country in 2012. Since then he had returned to Syria at least twice.

The British-based monitoring group cited local activists in the city of Raqqa with close links to Dall’Oglio as saying he was killed while being held by fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

It was not immediately possible to confirm the report.

The Observatory urged all Syrian opposition forces to pressure the ISIL fighters to reveal exactly what happened to Dall’Oglio “so his killers can be held to account, and to hand over his body for burial.”

Activists initially said he was kidnapped by the ISIL fighters, although some later said he had been meeting the Al Qaeda-linked fighters to agree a truce with Kurdish brigades.

He was instrumental in restoring Deir Mar Musa, whose cathedral houses an exquisite 11th century fresco of the Last Judgment. (Source)

Pat Condell: Boycott Halal

Here's the latest from Pat Condell, who argues that Westerners should boycott halal meat (i.e. meat from animals that are slaughtered according to Islamic practice).

Ten-Year-Old Coptic Girl Jessica Boulous Murdered in Egypt While Walking Home from Bible Study

In the West, we believe that if you get rid of a country's dictator, freedom and democracy will flourish. If we've learned anything from the Arab Spring, it's that there are worse things in the world than dictators.

Egypt—A Coptic Christian girl walking home from Bible class with her Sunday school teacher was shot and killed last week in Cairo, the same day a 75-year-old man died in a kidnapping attempt on a Christian family in another part of Egypt, human rights activists said.

Ten-year-old Jessica Boulous of the Ain Shams section of Cairo was killed on Aug. 6 in the evening while walking from the Ahmed Esmat Street Evangelical Church through a market with the teacher, the nonprofit Morning Star News service reports.

The gunman was not identified, Morning Star News reports. Jessica was killed instantly from a single bullet that had passed through her chest and heart, witnesses said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the killing.

The shooting comes amid increasing threats and widespread attacks against Christians in Egypt by Islamic militants, activists told the news service.

According to Morning Star News, the teacher turned to buy an item at a stall in the market only to turn around and find Jessica lying in the dirt in a puddle of blood.

A Muslim shopkeeper who knew Jessica told the news service that he saw her fall to the ground and ran to her side. He took off his shirt, wrapped it around her body and rushed her to a hospital, but she was already dead.

"I just can’t believe she is gone," Nasr Allah Zakaria, Jessica’s uncle, told Morning Star News. "She was such a sweet little girl. She was like a daughter to me. I can’t believe she is gone."

Zakaria, pastor of an evangelical church in Egypt, said he did not know for sure if the shooting was religiously motivated but quickly added that violence against Christians "seems to be normal" in Egypt now.

On the same day Jessica was shot, masked gunmen burst into a grocery store in Jazeerat Al Khazendara village in Souhag and attacked a Coptic Christian family, rights activists told the news service.

During the kidnapping attempt, Milad Ebeed was abducted and his father, mother, and brother were shot.

His father, Sadek Ebeed, 75, died at the store. The others sustained serious, but non-life-threatening wounds.

Milad Ebeed was later released after a ransom was paid, the activists told Morning Star News.

Violence or intimidation against Christians has become almost a daily occurrence in most parts of Egypt. (Continue Reading.)

U.S. State Department Calls Jihadists "Enemies of Islam"

After a recent series of terrorist attacks in Iraq, the U.S. Department of State labeled jihadists "enemies of Islam." Apparently, the U.S. Government is now an authority on who is, and who isn't, a true Muslim. Will the State Department go on to say that Muhammad was an "enemy of Islam," because he committed acts of terrorism?

Farid Ghadry: I Indict My Religion

British teenagers Katie Gee and Kirstie Trup traveled to Zanzibar to help teach young Muslims. They were repaid for their kindness by having acid thrown in their faces.

Farid Ghadry, a Syrian Muslim, minces no words as he condemns his own religion for this brutal and unprovoked attack.

Times of Israel—I indict Islam.

Yes, I indict it for ignoring the terror against two innocent British teens in Zanzibar who were doused with acid. I do not give a damn what the reasons were and what justification those bastard Islamists had to change permanently the good lives of two innocent young teens who were there to help Muslims in the first place.

What is Holy about Ramadan when the Muslim bastards in Zanzibar use it to commit the unholiest of acts?

I am really, really angry.

Where are our Muslim leaders to speak out against such terror and to commit, once and for all, to its eradication?

Where is the King of Saudi Arabia, or the President of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation? Cooperation on what? With the OIC’s silence, how could not anyone interpret “Cooperation” to mean to cooperate to disfigure the innocent?

Where is the Grand Imam of al-Azhar University, or the Arab League, or Ayatollah Khamenei, or the millions of other religious Muslim leaders?

Where is Erdogan of Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood? Why are they silent in the face of such atrocities committed in the name of Islam?

Where are all our collective Muslim voices to indict these senseless acts not even animals in a jungle are capable of?

Islam has become synonymous with terror and the target of justifiable and global contempt. The religion I was born into, and which shelters 1.3 billion people, has turned into a weapon of global destruction against the other 5.7 billion people who do not adhere to Muslim principles.

Islam no longer exists for Islam. Islam exists today to destroy non-Muslims.

I indict all of Islam because the religion that is supposed to support the needy and the helpless has become a cult of terror against the self-sufficient and the enterprising.

I indict all the silent Muslim leaders for their weakness. With their silence, they are feeding these acts of barbarism to define Islam.

I indict them for all the acts of terror committed in the past against thousands upon thousands of innocent people.

I am really, really angry at all the Imams, the Grand Muftis, the Sheikhs, the Mawlawis, the Ayatollahs, the Emirs, the Kings, the Princes, and whatever titles they embrace.

At the end, if they do not indict these acts publicly and courageousely all of them share in the savagery of Zanzibar. That is their legacy.

The Muslim leaders in the OIC and the Arab League must awaken from their slumber by committing serious funds to re-educate our youth and to rid the world of the cancer within, instead of remaining silent or accommodating the evil source of Islamic terror.

It is obvious political correctness and generous aid by the West is not making a difference.

In fact, Western countries have donated hundreds of billions of Dollars in foreign aid to Muslim countries, and we Muslims pay back the West by dousing their children, who came to help our poor and disfranchised, with acid. It is truly sickening.

Something must change. The West must change course to help us find our way, the hard way. This status quo cannot go on.

If you want to help Islam, then it is time to tie your help with what our leaders do or say, and not by how much intelligence they deliver.

Otherwise, stop buying our oil and gas. Let us perish in our own waste. Maybe, then, our leaders will speak out and cooperate with the West based on equality and not based on them forcing Islam upon the rest of the world.

Enough is enough. I am really, really angry.

May those British teens, and all who were injured by Islamic terror in the past, find peace and happiness. May they, and their families, forgive us for not speaking loudly enough. (Source)

Iraq: Dozens Killed in Post-Ramadan Bloodbath

Shouldn't some representatives from CAIR and ISNA travel to Iraq and convince the Muslims there that Islam is a religion of peace? Since they spend so much time convincing non-Muslims in America that Islam is peaceful and tolerant, surely they have time to share their knowledge with Iraqis.

(CNN) -- Bloodshed exploded Saturday throughout Iraq as at least 64 people were killed in a wave of bombings and more than 190 people were wounded during Eid festivities marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, two Interior Ministry officials told CNN.

The violence in Iraq came as Muslims celebrated the recent completion of Ramadan's monthlong fasting. It followed a July that was the bloodiest in five years, when violence between Sunnis and Shiites -- both Muslim sects -- spun out of control.

Saturday's death toll included reports by Baghdad police that at least 22 people were killed and more than 40 others wounded in eight car bomb exploded in Shiite neighborhoods.

In Tuz Khurmatou, about 180 kilometers, or 112 miles, north of Baghdad, at least eight people were killed and more than 40 others were wounded when a suicide car bomber exploded on a commercial corridor.

Tuz Khurmatou is an ethnically mixed city of Arab, Kurd and Turkmen residents.

In Mosul, at least eight people were killed and 12 others were wounded in two separate explosions in the city. Mosul is a largely Sunni city about 400 kilometers, or 248 miles, north of Baghdad.

In Nasiriya, a car bomb exploded on a busy road, killing four people and wounding 12 others. Nasriya is located in the heavily Shiite region of southern Iraq, about 400 kilometers outside of Baghdad.

In Karbala, about 100 km south of Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near a bus station, kills two people and wound 15 others. Karbala is a Shiite city.

The bloodshed appears to mark a new round of violence to hit Iraq in recent months, much of it stemming from decades-old discord between Sunnis and Shiites, the two largest branches of Islam. (Continue Reading.)

U.S. Pulls Diplomats from Lahore Due to Terror Threat

I'm confused. Wasn't President Obama supposed to make peace with the Muslims who hate America? Doesn't it seem like things are getting worse, rather than better?

Washington (CNN) -- The State Department has evacuated most of its diplomats from Lahore, Pakistan in response to a terrorist threat against the U.S. consulate, senior State Department and other senior U.S. officials told CNN.

"We have picked up what we regard as a threat worthy of taking this action," one senior U.S. official told CNN.

The State Department issued an "ordered departure" for all of its diplomats in Lahore Thursday, except for a handful of emergency personnel. The diplomats were moved to Islamabad, the nation's capital, officials said.

A travel warning issued by the State Department said the department "ordered this drawdown due to specific threats concerning the U.S. Consulate in Lahore" and warned U.S. citizens against travel to Pakistan.

"The presence of several foreign and indigenous terrorist groups poses a potential danger to U.S. citizens throughout Pakistan," the travel warning said.

It was unclear whether the latest threat to the consulate was related to a current threat against U.S. facilities and personnel that prompted the United States to close diplomatic posts throughout the Middle East, Asia and Africa. (Continue Reading.)

Volunteer Teachers Katie Gee and Kirstie Trup Attacked with Acid in Zanzibar

If you're a young British girl interested in teaching and charity work, what could be more exciting than traveling to the exotic island of Zanzibar and educating its children?

That's what teenagers Katie Gee and Kirstie Trup must have thought, until they had acid thrown in their faces.

Acid Attack Victims Katie Gee and Kirstie Trup

The Mirror—The population of Zanzibar is more than 99% Muslim. Though Zanzibar is a long way from Afghanistan, we find the same hostility towards Western education in both countries.

Two British teenage charity workers have been attacked with acid on the east African island of Zanzibar.

A manhunt has been launched after volunteer teachers Katie Gee and Kirstie Trup, both 18, had the corrosive substance thrown in their faces during the assault last night.

The girls, from London, were strolling through the streets of Stone Town, in the capital of the island, around 8pm when they were attacked by two men on a moped.

They reportedly ran into the sea to wash the acid off their skin before it could do any permanent damage.

The teenagers suffered burns to their faces, hands and chests and were airlifted to hospital in Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania.

The women's injuries are "not life threatening", Saleh Mohammed Jidawi, a senior health ministry official, said.

They are believed to have escaped serious disfigurement, Zanzibar’s assistant commissioner of police Mkadam Khamis Mkadam said.

He said: “The girls were accosted by two men on a motorcycle. The men poured this liquid and ran away. The girls managed to get first aid very fast and were taken to hospital for further treatment.

“The doctors said the injuries are relatively minor. There is discoloration but they are not expected to be scarred. They are very lucky in that respect.”

The attack on the women came at the end of the Muslim holy month of fasting of Ramadan, and as people began to celebrate the Eid holiday. (Continue Reading.)

Ramadan 2013 Death Toll

Politicians and the media assure us that all religions are equal. In an effort to test this claim, TheReligionofPeace.com tallied the number of people killed and wounded in the name of religion throughout the month of Ramadan. Here are the totals for Ramadan 2013.

Are we learning yet?

Muta (Islamic Prostitution) Still Common in Poor Areas of Egypt

Muhammad allowed his followers to practice a form of prostitution called Muta. In Muhammad's time, a Muslim could pay a woman for "temporary marriage," which would last a few hours or a few days. According to certain traditions, Muhammad eventually changed his mind about this obviously immoral practice. However, some of Islam's most trusted sources declare that Muhammad never prohibited Muta. For instance, the following passage in Sahih Muslim declares that Muslims were practicing Muta well beyond the lifetime of Muhammad:

Sahih Muslim 3248—Ibn Uraij reported: 'Ati' reported that Jabir b. Abdullah came to perform 'Umra, and we came to his abode, and the people asked him about different things, and then they made a mention of temporary marriage, whereupon he said: Yes, we had been benefiting ourselves by this temporary marriage during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet and during the time of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar.

Some hadith claim that it was Umar, rather than Muhammad, who outlawed Muta:

Sahih Muslim 3250—Abu Nadra reported: While I was in the company of Jabir b. Abdullah, a person came to him and said that Ibn 'Abbas and Ibn Zubair differed on the two types of Mut'a (Tamattu’ of Hajj 1846 and Tamattu’ with women), whereupon Jabir said: We used to do these two during the lifetime of Allah's Messenger. Umar then forbade us to do them, and so we did not revert to them.

Hence, Muslim men who want to hire prostitutes can simply point out that Muhammad, Islam's final prophet, allowed prostitution, and that later Muslims (like Umar) cannot overrule Muhammad. Moreover, since Muhammad allowed sex with prepubescent girls, pedophiles are free to seek out child prostitutes. That's exactly what's going on in Egypt.

El HAWAMDIA, Egypt , Aug 5 2013 (IPS) - Each summer, wealthy male tourists from Gulf Arab states flock to Egypt to escape the oppressive heat of the Arabian Peninsula, taking residence at upscale hotels and rented flats in Cairo and Alexandria. Many come with their families and housekeeping staff, spending their days by the pool, shopping, and frequenting cafes and nightclubs. Others come for a more sinister purpose.

In El Hawamdia, a poor agricultural town 20 kilometres south of Cairo, they are easy to spot. Arab men in crisp white thawbs troll the town’s pot-holed, garbage-strewn streets in their luxury cars and SUVs. As they arrive, Egyptian fixers in flip flops run alongside their vehicles, offering short-term flats and what to them is the town’s most sought-after commodity – underage girls.

Each year, in El Hawamdia and other impoverished rural communities across Egypt, thousands of girls between the ages of 11 and 18 are sold by their parents to wealthy, much older Gulf Arab men under the pretext of marriage. The sham nuptials may last from a couple of hours to years, depending on the negotiated arrangement.

“It’s a form of child prostitution in the guise of marriage,” Azza El-Ashmawy, director of the Child Anti-Trafficking Unit at the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) tells IPS. “The man pays a sum of money and will stay with the girl for a few days or the summer, or will take her back to his country for domestic work or prostitution.”

The girl is returned to her family when the marriage ends, usually to be married off again.

“Some girls have been married 60 times by the time they turn 18,” says El-Ashmawy. “Most ‘marriages’ last for just a couple of days or weeks.”

The deals are hatched in El Hawamdia’s myriad “marriage broker” offices, identifiable by the conspicuous presence of air-conditioners in a ramshackle town with intermittent power.

The brokers, usually second-rate lawyers, also offer a delivery service. Village girls as young as 11 are brought to the Arab tourists’ hotel or rented flat for selection. Arab men travelling with their wives and children often arrange a separate flat for such purposes.

The temporary marriages offer a way to circumvent Islamic restrictions on pre-marital sex.

“Many hotels and landlords in Egypt will not rent a room to unmarried couples,” explains Mohamed Fahmy, a Cairo real estate agent. “A marriage certificate, even a flimsy one, allows visiting men to have sexual liaisons.”

Engaging in sexual relations with minors is illegal in Egypt. Brokers can help with that too, forging birth certificates or substituting the identity card of the girl’s older sister.

A one-day mut’a or “pleasure” marriage can be arranged for as little as 800 Egyptian pounds (115 dollars). The money is split between the broker and the girl’s parents. (Continue Reading.)

Iranian Convert Mohammad-Hadi Bordbar Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison for Evangelism

As Western politicians and the media continue to praise Islam, reality still applies to Christians living in Muslim countries.

Mostafa Bordbar

TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)—An Iranian Christian convert has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on what his supporters say are false charges linked to his evangelical church activities, local activist said Tuesday, August 6.

Mohammad-Hadi (Mostafa) Bordbar, a 27-year-old resident of the city of Rasht, was "tried by Judge Pir-Abbasi on the morning of June 9, 2013 in branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran," amid a wider government crackdown on spreading Christianity in Iran said Mohabat News, an agency of Iranian Christian and activists.

Bordbar, who has been detained since December 27, 2012, received a five-year jail sentence for "membership of an anti-security organization" and an additional five years for "gathering with the intent to commit crimes against Iranian national security," according to published court documents.

The court reportedly said that Bordbar was involved in "Christian evangelical activities" and "Zionism" aimed at undermining the Islamic leadership of the country through establishing "evangelical ministries and organizations and holding underground worship meetings."

It cited Mostafa Bordbar's baptism at the home of a pastor, his continued involvement in house churches in the capital Tehran and the areas of Gilan, Karaj and Esfahan as well as related evangelism work as further evidence that he violated the laws of this strict Islamic nation. (Continue Reading.)

Muslim Brotherhood Leaders to Stand Trial for Incitement to Murder in Egypt

These are the same guys the U.S. government supported.

CAIRO - Egypt's army-installed government said on Sunday it would give a chance for mediation to resolve the crisis brought on by the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, but warned that time was limited.

At the same time, a Cairo court announced that the leader of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and his deputy will face trial in three weeks' time for crimes including incitement to murder during protests in the days before he was toppled.

That could complicate efforts by international envoys and Egyptian factions to launch a political process, encourage national reconciliation and avert further bloodshed.

But an imminent battle between security forces and thousands of Morsi supporters standing their ground in two protest camps in Cairo appeared less likely while the mediators talked.

The National Defence Council, made up of civilians and soldiers, said in a statement it backed mediation "that protects the rights of citizens regardless of their affiliations and that spares blood, as long as that happens in a defined and limited time." It did not specify a deadline.

The statement was issued one day after US and European envoys met separately with members of the new government and allies of Morsi.

The crisis has led Egypt, the Arab world's most populous state, to its most dangerous days since a popular uprising in February 2011 ended US-backed strongman Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule and raised hopes of a new era of democracy.

Morsi became Egypt's first freely-elected leader in June 2012. But fears that he was tightening an Islamist grip on the country and his failure to ease the economic hardships afflicting most of its 84 million people led to huge street demonstrations, culminating in the army ousting him on July 3.

The military has laid out a "road map" to elections in about six months and promises a return to civilian government. The Brotherhood, an Islamist movement that spent decades in the shadows during Mubarak's rule, had spurned the road map.

Almost 300 people have been killed in political violence since Morsi 's overthrow, including 80 shot dead by security forces in a single incident on July 27, and much of the Brotherhood's leadership is in custody.

A Cairo court said on Sunday it would start the trial of Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and his deputy Khairat el-Shater on Aug. 25 on charges of inciting killings during the protests in the last day's of Morsi's rule.

The general prosecutor also ordered the pre-trial detention for 15 days of Rifaa El-Tahtawy, Mursi's former chief-of-staff, and his deputy, accused of inciting the detention, torture and interrogation of protesters in 2012.

Morsi's allies view them as political detainees who should be included in talks to ease tensions. Morsi, who has also been accused of murder and other crimes, is detained at an undisclosed location. (Continue Reading.)

U.S. Temporarily Closing Embassies in Muslim Countries Due to Terrorist Threat

Just when you thought the "Arab Spring" was making the world a safer place . . .

FoxNews—The State Department issued a worldwide travel alert on Friday to U.S. citizens over an Al Qaeda terror threat, as the U.S. government prepared to close its embassies and consulates throughout the Muslim world this Sunday over related security concerns.

U.S. officials have not offered many details on the nature of the threat, but apparently are taking it seriously.

John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said the alert indicates the U.S. government must have some "pretty good information" about a possible threat.

The travel alert issued Friday warned Americans of the "continued potential for terrorist attacks, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, and possibly occurring in or emanating from the Arabian Peninsula."

It said: "Current information suggests that al-Qa'ida and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August."

The alert reminded Americans about the potential for attacks on transit systems and other "tourist infrastructure."

Pentagon officials also said there is an increased alert among security personnel in the region in response to the Al Qaeda terror threats.

"Actions have been taken," one Pentagon official told Fox News.

Retired Gen. Jack Keane, a Fox News military analyst, said the threat is yet another sign that Al Qaeda and its affiliates are emboldened -- and stressed that the U.S. needs to do a better job securing its embassies.

"It has got to be one of our top priorities," he told Fox News.

Keane said it appears Al Qaeda is trying build off the Benghazi terror attack. "When they sense weakness, they attack," he said. "They believe that we're pulling back, and they were stunned ... that we did not come after them immediately after that attack." (Continue Reading.)