Pakistani Christian Couple Burnt Alive Because They Wanted to Quit

From Pamela Geller

The horror. Beaten to within an inch of their lives and then burnt alive in an oven. Think of it — all in the name of Islam. The bloodthirsty mob was “led by clerics” (remember that when Islamic supremacists and their apologists tell you that Islam is like Christianity and Judaism):

‘A mob attacked a Christian couple after accusing them of desecration of the holy Koran and later burnt their bodies at a brick kiln where they worked,’ local police station official Bin-Yameen told AFP. - This is the sharia — “blasphemy.” And when you speak of these monstrous atrocities, you are clubbed with “Islam is peace” or charges of “islamophobia.”

The brutal laws of the sharia are used to exact revenge against religious minorities. This is such a case — a false charge of blasphemy was leveled at a Christian couple in what was really a money dispute. Muslims exact revenge on non-Muslims by leveling false charges, and the punishments are savage.

Christian protest, unrelated to yesterday's events

PakistanChristians

Dawn reports:  “Secondly, when one of them is accused, the entire community is made to suffer, as illustrated by the mob violence in Joseph Colony, Gojra, etc or in lesser known cases where communities have been intimidated into moving en masse out of the locality. In fact, the desire to grab land or settle personal scores often underlies blasphemy allegations. That is all the more reason the law needs to be revisited.”

LAHORE: In a gruesome incident, a Christian couple was on Tuesday thrashed and burned alive by a group of angry Muslims in Pakistan’s Punjab province for allegedly desecrating the Quran.

The horrific crime was reported from the villages of Kot Radha Kishan of Kasur district, some 50 kilometres from here.

A large number of police personnel were deployed in the villages to provide security to the minority community.

Emaneul Sarfraz, a relative of the deceased couple, said that his cousins, Shahzad Masih, 35, and his wife Shamah, 31, had been working in the kiln of Muhammad Yousuf Gujjar for sometime near Chak (village) 59.

“The couple along with their four children wanted to leave the kiln as Yousuf was not paying their remuneration. He demanded Rs 5,00,000 from them, if they wanted to quit. That must be Islamic math. When people quit in any other country in the world, they get paid what is owed them, rather than losing what's owed them and having to pay your boss to leave. 

“Two days ago, after an exchange of words Yousuf locked the couple along with their children in a room,” Emaneul said.

He further said that an announcement was made today from two mosques of Chak 59 that Shahzad Masih and his wife had committed blasphemy by burning the pages of Quran.

“A large number of Muslims led by area clerics reached the kiln and dragged the couple out of the room after breaking into it.

They first tortured them and then threw them in the kiln.

No one from the crowd listened to the couple, who were pleading that they were innocent as Yousuf had levelled false allegation of blasphemy against them to settle money dispute,” Emanuel said adding, “Thank God they did not burn the couple’s children”.

He alleged that police from the nearby post had reached there on time but did not intervene seeing the charged mob.

“We have taken some 50 people into custody in connection with the killings and raids were underway to arrest more including the kiln owner,” Jawad Qamar, police chief of Kasur district, said.

Qamar also denied the incident had taken place in police presence.

Human Liberation Commission Pakistan chairman Aslam Sahotra said he visited the district headquarters hospital in Kasur and saw the remains of couple.

“It was all ashes and some bones of the couple which is left to bury,” he said.

Pakistan Mob Kills Christian Couple over Alleged "Blasphemy'

Previous attacks on minorities over blasphemy allegations have led to protests

A Christian couple in Pakistan have been beaten to death by an angry crowd after being accused of desecrating a Koran, police say.

Their bodies were burned at the brick kiln where they worked in the town of Kot Radha Kishan in Punjab province.

Police identified the victims only as Shama and Shehzad, AFP reports.

Blasphemy is a highly sensitive issue and critics argue the laws are often misused to settle personal scores and that minorities are unfairly targeted.

"Yesterday an incident of desecration of the holy Koran took place in the area and today the mob first beat the couple and later set their bodies on fire at a brick kiln," local police station official Bin Yameen told the AFP news agency.

A security official told the BBC that local police had tried to save the couple, but they were outnumbered and attacked by the angry crowd.

Senior police officials and government ministers have now arrived there to investigate the killings.

In May gunmen in the city of Multan shot dead a lawyer, Rashid Rehma, who had been defending a university lecturer accused of blasphemy. This is how absurdly insane many Pakistanis are about the Quran and the prophet. Apparently, Allah is so weak that he has to be protected by out-of-control people. The God of Christians and Jews is very capable of defending Himself. When one blasphemes against our God we usually only have pity for him knowing that he has a long, painful future awaiting him.

It's curious why Muslims are so fanatic about Mohammed when the Quran tells us about Isa, who was born of a virgin, performed many miracles, and will sit on the Judgement Seat on that great and terrible day. They persecute the children of the Son of God in the name of a mere prophet. How do you think that will serve them when they stand before that very Son of God?

And last month a Pakistani court upheld the death penalty for Asia Bibi, a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy in 2010 - a case which sparked a global outcry.

Since the 1990s, scores of Christians have been found guilty of desecrating the Koran or of blasphemy.

While most of them have been sentenced to death by the lower courts, many sentences have been overturned due to lack of evidence.

However, correspondents say even the mere accusation of blasphemy is enough to make someone a target for hardliners.

Muslims constitute a majority of those prosecuted, followed by minority Ahmadis.

Suicide Bomber Kills 15; Security Arrives and Shoots 5 More

Shias are a minority among Nigeria's Muslims

A suicide bomber has killed 15 worshippers and injured about 50 at a Shia religious ceremony in north-eastern Nigeria's Potiskum town, a Shia leader has said.

Security forces killed another five people after arriving at the scene and opening fire, he said.

The military has not commented on the allegation.

No group has said it carried out the attack, but suspicion is bound to fall on militant Sunni Islamist group Boko Haram.

It denounces Shias, a minority in Nigeria, as non-Muslims.

The bomber detonated himself after joining worshippers who were marching to mark Ashura, a solemn day when Shias mourn the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, in 680 AD at Karbala in modern-day Iraq, witnesses told the BBC Hausa service.

People at the site of a bomb blast at a bus station in Gombe,
north-eastern Nigeria - 31 October 2014

A police officer at the scene who requested anonymity told the AFP news agency: "It was a huge crowd and many of them were affected."

Although witnesses reported that 20 people had died in the blast, a Shia representative said the explosion had killed 15 of them and the other five had been shot dead by the security forces, BBC Nigeria correspondent Will Ross reports from the main city, Lagos.

About 50 people are said to have been wounded in the blast.

One man, Mohammed Gana, told Reuters news agency that his brother had been killed in the attack.

He counted 23 bodies at the scene, he said.

Resident Yusuf Abdullahi told Reuters the explosion took place near his home.

"I heard a very heavy explosion as if it happened in my room," he said.

This is not the first time that Shia officials in Nigeria have accused the military of killing their members, our correspondent says.

In July, they accused soldiers in the northern town of Zaria of opening fire on a demonstration, killing three sons of Shia leader Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky.

Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky is influential in Shia circles in Nigeria

Black-shirted followers of a Shia Muslim sect carry a banner depicting their leader 

Ibrahim Zakzaky  on 10 February 2005 in the northern Nigerian city of Kano 

He advocates the creation of a Shia-oriented Islamic state in Nigeria, and his supporters have been involved in many clashes with the security forces over the decades.

Boko Haram has waged an insurgency in Nigeria since 2009, with some 2,000 civilians killed this year alone, rights activists say.

It has repeatedly targeted Christians and rival Muslim groups.

In July, it was blamed for bombing an open-air mosque in Potiskum, killing four people.

Potiskum is in Yobe, one of three states where Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan imposed a state of emergency in May 2013 after vowing to crush the insurgency. Potiskum town is about 200 km straight west of Maiduguri.

Boko Haram has intensified attacks since then and sparked global outrage in April by abducting more than 219 schoolgirls.

Last week, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau rejected government claims that the two sides had agreed a ceasefire in talks brokered by Chad.

Mr Shekau also denied that Boko Haram planned to release the schoolgirls.

All the girls had converted to Islam, and had been married off, he said.

The Islamization of the UK - Is It Real?

Source: Pamela Geller

THE ISLAMIZATION OF THE UK - THE TRUTH ABOUT ISLAM

British-Muslim-fighter-vows-hoist-black-flag-Islam-over-Downing-St-Buckingham-Palace

Muslim slavery of blacks accounts for 20% of the population of Mauritania. According to a pew poll, 75% of Muslims worldwide want sharia for the family issues including divorce and property disputes.

75% also want amputation and death for apostates in places like South Asia.

94% of Muslims in Afghanistan want sharia, 

70% of Egyptians and 76% of “Palestinians” want stoning and hand chopping, etc. 

40% of Muslims in the UK want sharia and 

25% of Muslims in the USA think suicide bombing is okay. So how far away from all that is the Islamic State?

“80% of London Muslims Support ISIS,” by  Daniel Greenfield, October 31, 2014

I don't have a link to support that statement attributed to Daniel Greenfield, and I suspect the 80% to be highly exaggerated.

This is what the Islamization of a Western country looks like. Good luck with your integration and your moderate Islam. All the empty words in the world can’t change the fact that what’s happening in Iraq and Syria will be coming to the UK… sooner than you think.

One in seven young British adults has “warm feelings” towards Islamic State, according to a poll.

A tenth of Londoners and one in 12 Scots view Islamic State (Isis) favourably, but sympathy for the militant group reaches its highest levels among the under-25s, the Populus survey found.

Although an overwhelming majority of the public —

88 per cent — gave Isis a low score,

5.2 per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds gave it a nine or a ten. Overall,

14 per cent of under-25s and 

12 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds gave Islamic State a score of between six and ten, implying a degree of sympathy.

There are about 1 million Muslim settlers in London where they make up 12 percent of the population. These figures suggest that the vast majority of them, perhaps as high as 80 percent , support ISIS.

Again, I can't support that number. I admire Pamela Geller for her courage and determination, however, I have since stopped using her as a source because I have lost confidence in her objectivity and find her to be overly inflammatory.

There’s a lot of nonsense about skepticism among young people, but this isn’t about young people. It’s about Muslims.

The report, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on May 16, shows that although Christianity is still the main religion in Britain—over 50% of the population describe themselves as such—nearly half of all Christians in Britain are over the age of 50, and, for the first time ever, fewer than half under the age of 25 describe themselves as Christian.

By contrast, the number of people under 25 who describe themselves as Muslim has doubled over the past ten years: one in ten under the age of 25 are Muslim, up from one in 20 in 2001.

These numbers suggest that most or virtually all young Muslim settlers in the UK support ISIS.

See what I mean? As if 80% wasn't enough, she wants us to believe that the real number is closer to 90% or even 100%.

That’s not surprising. Major papers such as the New York Times have found similar results in even supposedly moderate countries such as Tunisia among young Muslim natives. It’s not surprising that young Muslim settlers in Europe hold similar views.

'Peaceful' Muslims in Calgary Mark Holy Day with Anti-Terror March

For those who criticize Islam for not condemning violence by Islamic extremists, which includes me, here is one march for moderate Islam. And in a cold rain in Calgary, Canada.

Most Muslims are peaceful, however, that will not always be the case as the most violent Muslims invariably rise to the top and get their way. This week, IS killed 322 people from one small tribe of Sunnis in Iraq. IS is Sunni! But, apparently, the Al-Bu Nimr tribe was too moderate, so they are being slaughtered. The day is not so far off when all of Islam will be extremists.

Hundreds of Calgary Muslims gathered on Saturday ahead of the holy day of
Ashura to condemn recent violence by young Canadian men who police
say held radical Islamist beliefs (CBC)

An annual gathering of Calgary Muslims took on a different tone this year, as hundreds came out to protest terrorism ahead of the holy day Ashura.

Muslims around the world will mark Ashura on Monday to commemorate the death of their prophet's grandson, Hussain, who was killed for protesting tyranny in 680 AD. It's recognized as a national holiday in many Muslim countries and this weekend in Calgary, community members came together to use the event to condemn the recent killings of two Canadian Forces members.

"We are here to build this country together, to make peace and love together," said Fatima Albarri, who took part in the march. "We are originally from the Middle East but we are Canadian."

Earlier this week, funerals were held for Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent.

RCMP investigators said their deaths were acts of terrorism by young Canadian men who held radical Islamist beliefs.

Once again, the violence has put Islam under the microscope and those attending the march in Calgary said it's important they clarify what their religion is about.

"Islam is a religion of peace," said Riyaz Khawaja, the leader of Calgary's Muslim community and head of the Hussaini Association of Calgary. "We are here to gather, to stand against terrorism."

Participants say commemorating Hussain's fight against tyranny gave them a perfect opportunity to remind Calgary just what Islam stands for.

"Islam is a religion of peace."  If that were really true, they wouldn't have to keep repeating it every day. The very anniversary they marked yesterday where Hussain was killed protesting tyranny, is the proof that Islam is not a religion of peace, and never was.

There can be no peace without the Prince of Peace. The good news is, He will return soon. The bad news is, things will get much, much worse before He does. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

Iran - Land of Contradictions

The works of the 14th Century poet Hafez can be found in almost every Iranian home - more than 600 years after his death, the writer still offers an insight into his country's identity.

In Iran they say there are two books in every household - the Koran and Hafez. One is read, the other is not. Hafez may be the antithesis of Mohammed.

To understand this joke you need do no more than join the millions who regularly throng the tomb of Hafez, the 14th Century poet of Shiraz and Iran's national hero, as I did one recent afternoon.

The tomb of Hafez

The atmosphere was buzzing, happy and relaxed - Iran at its best.

Day and night the tomb, raised up on a beautifully decorated dais surrounded by its own fragrant rose gardens, water channels and orange trees, is crowded with devotees stroking Hafez's alabaster sarcophagus, declaiming his verses, relishing his clever plays on words.

Hafez represents all the rich complexities of the Iranian identity. His brilliant use of metaphors in their native Farsi language unites them.

Rubaiyee 21, by Hafez

Don't make me fall in love with that face.

Don't let the drunk the wine seller embrace.

Sufi, you know the pace of this path.

The lovers and drunks don't disgrace.

But there is another reason the tomb is so popular.

In today's Islamic Republic of Iran it is hard to express resistance to the powers that be.

The ruling clerical elite has consolidated its grip on power. It uses the rhetoric of revolution while crushing opposition. President Hassan Rouhani's smiling face has projected a new image outside the country, but inside everyone tells me things are worse, more oppression, and more executions than ever before.

But dissent can be displayed in subtle ways. Thanks to Hafez, Shiraz is Iran's most liberal city.

Women's fashion is the giveaway, affecting the whole mood of the place. While women are obliged by law to cover themselves from head to toe, in Shiraz the women dress almost outrageously by Iranian standards.

The compulsory headscarf is highly coloured and worn dangling precariously from the back of the head, hardly covering any hair at all; the young sport tight black leggings topped by close-fitting slinky mini-coats, each one daring the next to raise the hemline further.

A woman smokes a hookah in Shiraz

Far from concealing the feminine curves as the rules dictate, the outfits flaunt them, and the lively groups both young and old, men and women mix freely, laughing and chatting together.

This is Iran at its least compliant, a far cry from the religious conservatism the establishment seeks to impose on its population.

A famous actor arrives to pay his respects and is mobbed Hollywood-style by adoring fans.

As the sun disappears from the sky and the illuminations come on round the tomb, the atmosphere becomes ever more festive. People start singing and reciting their favourite poems.

Children dangle their feet in the pools, giggling and soaking up their parents' infectious high spirits.

The scene conceals the paradoxes of Iran but, thanks to the Mullah's policy of education for all, there are some surprising changes afoot in Iranian society.

More women than men now graduate from university. The birth rate has dropped so dramatically, to one child per family, that the clerics have introduced financial incentives for couples to breed more. Most refuse, saying that it is still too expensive to have more than one child.

While the west remains obsessed with Iran's nuclear enrichment it is an open secret that the well-connected clerics and businessmen enrich themselves through sanction busting.

When I hesitate over buying a Persian rug through lack of cash, knowing Western credit cards are banned from use inside Iran, the carpet dealer disregards my concerns and simply rings a friend in Dubai to seal the transaction.

Unfortunately for the mullah's the mystic poetry of Hafez, besides lauding the joys of love and wine, also targeted religious hypocrisy.

"Preachers who display their piety in prayer and pulpit," he wrote 600 years ago, "behave differently when they're alone. Why do those who demand repentance do so little of it?"

Bans apply to many things in Iran, including the BBC, yet the BBC's Farsi is the most watched TV channel here. Facebook, Twitter, GooglePlus and Instagram are all officially blocked.

Rouhani is calling for internet restrictions to be eased but the last word on such matters rests with the supreme leader, who is so far unrelenting.

Small wonder the people of Iran comfort themselves with the poetry of Hafez. Even the mullahs cannot ban their own national poet.

Hope and Pray PHor Aubrie Starr

It's that time of the year, Aubrie has needed her first breathing treatment of the year tonight. She fell asleep so I had to hold her head as far upright as I could. Thankfully the machine didn't wake her up. 

Hopefully putting her back on allergy meds and breathing treatment will help. 

Looks like I am going to start next week limiting Aubries activities again. No visitors and avoiding public places. Some people don't understand how deadly a simple cold could be for a child with pulmonary hypertension. It's my job to protect her every way possible. 

Let my nightly bleaching and sanitizing frenzy begin!

And let us remember to keep this precious little girl in our prayers, and her mother too. Find out more about Aubrie here.