Nathan Cheiman
The recent terrorist attacks in Brussels, and indeed, the terrorist attack some years ago, known as the “Jewish Museum attacks”, put an end to the serene beauty and memories of the Brussels of yesteryear.
It seems that Europe now has a vexing problem of immigrant Muslims failing to integrate into Western culture and society.
A study by the Bertelsmann Foundation shows that most people in Spain, Switzerland, France, Germany and Israel believe that Islam does not fit in the Western world. Of those polled in the US, Canada, Sweden and Great Britain, less than half said that Islam does not fit in the West.
Perhaps those polls show concern about Muhammad’s teachings and Islam’s impact on society.
To illustrate this, consider what Dr Zakir Naik, a renowned orator, and doctor of medicine and president of the Islamic Research Foundation (India), recently said: “if he is terrorising the terrorists, if he is terrorising America the terrorist {…} I am with him. Every Muslim should be a terrorist.”
Conversely, a Canadian Muslim professor at Mount Royal University, Calgary, Mahfooz Kanwar, said: “If you want to live under sharia law, go back to the hellhole country you came from, or go to another hellhole country that lives under sharia law.”
The failure of Muslims to integrate, is entirely and undoubtedly the responsibility of Islam and Muslims themselves.
Professor Kanwar, cites examples of Muslim families who do not want their children to attend music and co-ed physical education classes for religious reasons.
He tells them: “This is Canada, and in Canada we teach music and physical education in our schools. If you don’t like it, leave.”
The frequent excuses made by apologists and disciples of Islam, that Muslims in Europe are excluded from society are becoming threadbare.
An illustration of this schismatic proclivity is the fact that imams at mosques in Belgium reportedly disallowed prayers for infidels that were killed or injured in the two terrorist bomb attacks. Instead, they prayed for Muslims who were either killed or injured.
The enigma is Islam, which forbids assimilation with non-Muslims, or what they call infidels.
Is it conceivable that the world is beginning to comprehend the problems in the Middle East and Israel?
Northcliff, Johannesburg
Ronnie Scheurenberg
Apr 3, 2016 at 9:48 pm
‘There are not only Muslim groups who \”simply don’t want to integrate into Western culture\”. There are also Jewish groups who don’t want to integrate into Western culture. Take the example quoted by Nathan Cheiman that there are Muslim families who do not want their children to attend music and co-ed physical education classes for religious reasons. Are there not many strictly Orthodox Jews who would have the same attitude? One need look no further than right here in Johannesburg.
I suggest that maintaining one’s cultural and religious traditions is one thing, and may be acceptable, even desirable, while seeking to impose them on the wider society is another thing, and certainly not acceptable.
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