Protest Against Islamist Extremism In Cologne:  Much Less Than Meets The Eye

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2017/06/21/protest-against-islamist-extremism-in-cologne-much-less-than-meets-the-eye/

The other day there was another of those much-ballyhooed demonstrations “against Islamic extremism” by Muslims (and their non-Muslim friends), this one in Cologne, Germany, under the title “Nicht Mit Uns,” Not With Us. (Otherwise expressed: Count Me Out.) It was billed as a march against Islamist extremism. The organizers were confident that at least ten thousand people would show up and publicly said so. After all, Cologne is a city of more than a million people, with more than 140,000 Muslims in the city itself, and another hundred thousand within easy commute of the city. How difficult would it be to get 10,000 of them to show up?

As it turned out, very difficult indeed. Instead of 10,000, there were anywhere from a few hundred to as many as one thousand. A great disappointment. For if there were not even a tenth of the number predicted, and assuming — as the photographs of the rally certainly indicate — there were many non-Muslims among the rally attendees, then something like one out of every 500 Muslims in Cologne and its immediate neighborhood showed up. That’s not a stirring demonstration against “Islamist extremism.”

To make matters still less impressive, many hundreds of those who did show up were Ahmadi Muslims. Ahmadis are followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who claimed in the late 19th century to have been divinely appointed as the Mujaddid (renewer) of Islam, the promised Messiah and Mahdi awaited by Muslims. The Ahmadis are not exactly representative Muslims. There are only 10 million Ahmadis in the world (out of 1.6 billion Muslims), and they are subject to discrimination, and worse, from Muslims. In Pakistan, their center, they are forbidden, by the Pakistani constitution, to officially identify as Muslims; they are persecuted, have even been killed, by Sunni Muslims who consider them to be Infidels who are particularly hated for daring to call themselves Muslims. 

So this “Muslim” rally was organized and led by hundreds of people whom most Muslims do not regard as Muslims at all, and perhaps another few hundred who were not Muslims but came out in solidarity. So how many mainstream Muslims were there in attendance? Very few.  

What the rally showed is how indifferent most Muslims in Cologne, or in Germany, or even perhaps in Europe, are to demonstrating against “Islamist extremism.” They know, and we should know too, by this point, that Islam does indeed not merely condone but commands what the so-called extremists do, as they wage Jihad, and employ terrorism as one of their many weapons.

Meanwhile, we still have the same Islamic texts, and the same believers in those texts, to deal with. And instead of the few hundred protesters against “Islamist extremism,” we have 1.6 billion Muslims who regard the Qur’anic texts as the literal and uncreated and immutable word of God. Perhaps you need to be reminded about some of those texts. There are 109 Jihad verses, it always bears repeating. And here are just eleven of them:

“Kill the unbelievers wherever you find them.” Qur’an 2:191

“Make war on the infidels living in your neighborhood.” Qur’an 9:123

“When opportunity arises, kill the infidels wherever you catch them.” Qur’an 9:5

“Any religion other than Islam is not acceptable.” Qur’an 3:85

“The Jews and the Christians are perverts; fight them.” Qur’an 9:30

“Maim and crucify the infidels if they criticize Islam” Qur’an 5:33

“Punish the unbelievers with garments of fire, hooked iron rods, boiling water; melt their skin and bellies.” Qur’an 22:19

“The unbelievers are stupid; urge the Muslims to fight them.” Qur’an 8:65

“Muslims must not take the infidels as friends.” Qur’an 3:28

“Terrorize and behead those who believe in scriptures other than the Qur’an.” Quran 8:12

 

So fasten your civilizational seat-belts. It’s not going to be, because it already is, a bumpy ride.