[Buddha-l] Was Buddhists Taking a Stand Against Isllamophobia

[Dan Lusthaus]

That there are different muslims is only half the story. Buddha-l remains 
one of the bastions of denial of what is taking place in the real world. Why 
label anyone willing to acknowledge that Islam has a long violent streak as 
Islamophobes. Cheap way to duck an argument. While the ridiculous "Innocence 
of Islam" video has garnered all the attention and deadly riots, the riots 
only reinforce the image of Islam that Muslim videos made by Muslims for 
Muslims about Muhammed present:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrDPAVo-J-g
That's the trailer. If you've got the stomach and an hour you won't get 
back, the whole hypnotic thing is also on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blxHYZfX78k

That's their self-expression of their idealized self-image.

How are different muslims treated by different muslims? One can no longer 
hide behind the delusion that Islamists are a tiny minority in an otherwise 
moderate Islamic world. The arab spring has put the lie to that -- islamists 
get the majority of votes. Yay, democracy!

We know how Pakistani sunnis treat their co-national shiite brethren.
http://tinyurl.com/ccqmrmx
http://tinyurl.com/9mc8th4
http://tinyurl.com/93eqqnw
and so on.

And how the Ahmadis are faring there as well:
Ahmadi (Ahmadiyya)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bqtQE-g36E

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2010/0528/Why-Taliban-attacks-two-Muslim-minority-mosques-in-Pakistan
"Members of the Ahmadi sect were officially declared non-Muslims in 1974 and 
are generally the most persecuted of Pakistan’s minority groups."

The Alawites, having enjoyed a brief moment of prosperity under the Assads 
in Syria, are facing a bloodbath once Assad is removed from power (no one 
questions *whether* that will happen, only question is how severe will it 
be).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alawi
http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2012/09/20/the-alawites-toohave-a-story-to-tell/

Some additional Muslim majorities in Muslim countries:

Kharijites (Arabic: خوارج‎ Khawārij, literally "those who went out" "...They 
first emerged in the late 7th century AD... are distinct from Sunni Muslims 
and Shiʿa Muslims....particularly noted for adopting a radical approach to 
Takfir [infidels], whereby they declared other Muslims to be unbelievers and 
therefore deemed them worthy of death."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kharijites

Azeris (esp. in Iran, where they are the largest minority)
http://tinyurl.com/92l7l54
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8516682.stm

You may remember some attention to the Yazdis in northern Iraq, who were 
facing some ethnic cleansing:

Yazidi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidis
"The Turkish Yazidi community declined precipitously during the 20th 
century. By 1982 it had decreased to about 30,000, and in 2009 there were 
fewer than 500. Most Turkish Yazidi have emigrated to Europe, particularly 
Germany; those who remain reside primarily in their former heartland of Tur 
Abdin. Population estimates for the communities in Georgia and Armenia vary, 
but they too have declined severely... This mass emigration has resulted in 
the establishment of large diaspora communities abroad. The most significant 
of these is in Germany, which now has a Yazidi community of over 40,000. 
Most are from Turkey and more recently Iraq, and live in the western states 
of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. Since 2008 Sweden has seen 
sizable growth in its Yazidi emigrant community, which had grown to around 
4,000 by 2010, and a smaller community exists in the Netherlands. Other 
diaspora groups live in Belgium, Denmark, France, Switzerland, the United 
Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia; these have a total 
population of probably less than 5,000....

"the Yazidi have been accused of devil worship. Because of this ...they have 
been oppressed by their Muslim neighbors. Treatment of Yazidis was 
exceptionally harsh during the rule of the Ottoman Empire during the 18th 
and the first half of 19th century and their numbers dwindled under Ottoman 
rule both in Syria and Iraq. Massacres at the hand of Ottoman Turks and 
Muslim Kurdish princes almost wiped out their community in the 19th century. 
Several punitive expeditions were organized against the Yazidis by the 
Turkish governors (Wāli) of Diyarbakir, Mosul and Baghdad. These operations 
were legitimized by fatāwa from Islamic clerics. The objective of these 
persecutions was the forced conversion of Yazidis to the Sunni Hanafi Islam 
of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.

Recent controversies
"On August 14, 2007, some 500 Yazidis were killed in a coordinated series of 
bombings that became the deadliest suicide attack since the Iraq War began.
On August 13, 2009, at least 20 people were killed and 30 wounded in a 
double suicide bombing in northern Iraq, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official 
said. Two suicide bombers with explosive vests carried out the attack at a 
cafe in Sinjar, a town west of Mosul. In Sinjar, many townspeople are 
members of the Yazidi minority."

Not uncommon stories:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze
"The Druze (Arabic: درزي, derzī or durzī‎, plural دروز, durūz, Hebrew: 
דרוזים‎ druzim) are a monotheistic religious community, found primarily in 
Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century 
from Ismailism school of Shia Islam....
"The Unitarian Druze movement, which existed in the Fatimid Caliphate, 
acknowledged az-Zahir as the Caliph, but followed Hamzah as its Imam. The 
young Caliph's regent, Sitt al-Mulk, ordered the army to destroy the 
movement in 1021. At the same time, Bahā'a ad-Dīn as-Samuki was assigned the 
leadership of the Unitarian Movement by Hamza Bin Ali.

"For the next seven years, the Druze faced extreme persecution by the new 
caliph, al-Zahir, who wanted to eradicate the faith. This was the result of 
a power struggle inside of the Fatimid empire in which the Druze were viewed 
with suspicion because of their refusal to recognize the new Caliph, Ali 
az-Zahir, as their Imam. Many spies, mainly the followers of Ad-Darazi, 
joined the Unitarian movement in order to infiltrate the Druze community. 
The spies set about agitating trouble and soiling the reputation of the 
Druze. This resulted in friction with the new caliph who clashed militarily 
with the Druze community. The clashes ranged from Antioch to Alexandria, 
where tens of thousands of Druze were slaughtered by the Fatimid army. The 
largest massacre was at Antioch, where 5,000 Druze religious leaders were 
killed, followed by that of Aleppo. As a result, the faith went underground 
in hope of survival, as those captured were either forced to renounce their 
faith or be killed. Druze survivors "were found principally in southern 
Lebanon and Syria." In 1038, two years after the death of al-Zahir, the 
Druze movement was able to resume because the new leadership that replaced 
him had friendly political ties with at least one prominent Druze leader...

"In 1043 Baha'uddin declared that the sect would no longer accept new 
pledges, and since that time proselytization has been prohibited.

[And the following is for Richard -- who thinks the US is the root of all 
evil. All the following happened before there was a US]

"Persecution during the Mamluk and Ottoman period

"Having cleared Syria of the Franks, the Mamluk Sultans of Egypt turned 
their attention to the schismatic Muslims of Syria. In 1305, after the 
issuing of a fatwa by the scholar Ibn Taymiyyah calling for jihad against 
all non-Sunni Muslims like the Druze, Alawites, Ismaili, and twelver 
Shiites, al-Malik al-Nasir inflicted a disastrous defeat on the Druze at 
Keserwan and forced outward compliance on their part to orthodox Sunni 
Islam. Later, under the Ottoman Turks, they were severely attacked at 
Ayn-Ṣawfar in 1585 after the Ottomans claimed that they assaulted their 
caravans near Tripoli.

"Consequently, the 16th and 17th centuries were to witness a succession of 
armed Druze rebellions against the Ottomans, countered by repeated Ottoman 
punitive expeditions against the Chouf, in which the Druze population of the 
area was severely depleted and many villages destroyed. These military 
measures, severe as they were, did not succeed in reducing the local Druze 
to the required degree of subordination. This led the Ottoman government to 
agree to an arrangement whereby the different nahiyes (districts) of the 
Chouf would be granted in iltizam ("fiscal concession") to one of the 
region's amirs, or leading chiefs, leaving the maintenance of law and order 
and the collection of its taxes in the area in the hands of the appointed 
amir. This arrangement was to provide the cornerstone for the privileged 
status which ultimately came to be enjoyed by the whole of Mount Lebanon in 
Ottoman Syria, Druze and Christian areas alike."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bekta%C5%9Fi
"The Bektashi Order ... is an Islamic Shi'a Alevi Sufi order (tariqat) 
founded in the 13th century by the Persian saint Haji Bektash Veli."

"After the foundation of republic, Kemal Atatürk banned all Sufi orders and 
shut down the lodges in 1925. Consequently, the Bektashi leadership moved to 
Albania and established their headquarters in the city of Tirana. Among the 
most famous followers of Bektashi Sufisim in the 19th century Balkans were 
Ali Pasha and Naim Frasheri.

"Despite the negative effect of this ban on Bektashi culture, most Bektashis 
in Turkey have been generally supportive of secularism to this day, since 
these reforms have relatively relaxed the religious intolerance that had 
historically been shown against them by the official Sunni establishment."

"...In Albania the Bektashi community declared its separation from the Sunni 
community and they were recognized ever after as a distinct Islamic sect 
rather than a branch of Sunni Islam, as are most other Sufi orders. 
Bektashism continued to flourish until the Second World War. After the 
communists took power in 1945, several babas and dervishes were executed and 
a gradual constriction of Bektashi influence began."


Islam does contain some potent seeds of universalism. What happens when 
those seeds begin to germinate?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinarism
Ishikism, [pron: 'Ishik-ism] (Turkish: Işıkçılık or Işık Aleviliği), also 
known as Chinarism or Ishik Alevism.

"Ishikis consider themselves to be esotericists, claiming that Alevism is 
Esotericism itself, meaning that they identify themselves with every type of 
esotericism in history (e.g. Jewish esotericists, Christian esotericists, 
Islamic and Pagan esotericism etc.)

"They claim that Alevism is the oldest religion in the world, that has 
changed shapes throughout time. This 'First and True Religion' of the world, 
is claimed to have been the main source for all other religions and beliefs 
in the world."

"Traditionalist Alevis have strongly opposed the Ishikis, who they consider 
as people who are creating a completely new religion, or sometimes as 
undercover agents, trying to disrupt Alevi unity. Ishikis are also 
criticized for being extremely political... The Ishik movement have 
succeeded in becoming very influential in important and powerful Alevi 
organizations. The Alevi Confederation of Europe (AABK) for instance, has 
abandoned its traditional Alevi beliefs in 2006, which it replaced with a 
marginal Ishiki type of understanding."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurufiyya
"Hurufism (Arabic: حروفية‎ hurufiyya, adjective form hurufi literal meaning 
"letters" [of the alphabet]) was a mystical kabbalistic Sufi doctrine, which 
spread in areas of western Persia, Anatolia and Azerbaijan in later 14th - 
early 15th century.
"In the mid-1370s Nāimī (Fazlallah) started to propagate his teachings all 
over Persia and Azerbaijan. While living in Tabriz, he gained an elite 
following in the Jalayirid court, where the writing of his main work, 
Jawidan-Al-Kabir, allegedly took place. At that time he was still in the 
mainstream of Sufi tradition. Later, he did move towards more esoteric 
spirituality, and, failing to convert Timur, was executed in 1394 near 
Alinja castle in Nakhchivan by the ruler's son Miran Shah. The uprising of 
Hurufis, who had gathered a large following, was crushed in Azerbaijan, but 
the popular movement survived for another decade or so in different guises."

[While Hurufis did not survive, many of their teachings continued to be 
transmitted, and were influential on the Babis, who, despite being 
persecuted, influenced Baha'i.]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1bism
The Bábi Faith (Persian: بابی ها‎ Bábí há ) is a religious movement that 
flourished in Persia from 1844 to 1852, then lingered on in exile in the 
Ottoman Empire (especially Cyprus) as well as underground. Its founder was 
Siyyid `Alí Muhammad Shirazi, who took the title Báb—meaning "Gate"—from a 
Shi'a theological term. Unlike other Islamic messianic movements, the Bábí 
movement signalled a break with Islam and attempted to start a new religious 
system. While the Bábí movement was violently opposed and crushed by the 
clerical and government establishments in the country in the mid 1850s, the 
Bábí movement led to the founding of the Bahá'í Faith which sees the 
religion brought by the Báb as a predecessor to their own religion, and 
gives a renewed significance to the Bábí movement.

As for Baha'i under Islam:
http://tinyurl.com/92n5mw8

Which brings us to how NON-muslim minorities fare under Islamic rule. I 
don't think I need to document the situation of the Copts in Egypts, or 
Maronites in Lebanon.

An excellent overview:
Human rights and minorities in Islamic states:
http://tinyurl.com/8jylf7u

Then again:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsi
Parsi,
"...the present-day Parsis descend from a group of Zoroastrians of Iran who 
immigrated to India during the 10th century AD, to avoid persecution by 
Muslim invaders who were in the process of conquering Persia/Iran. At the 
time of the Arab invasion of Persia, the dominant religion of the region was 
Zoroastrianism. The Iranians rebelled against the Arab invaders for almost 
200 years; in Iran this period is now known as the "Two Centuries of 
Silence" or "Period of Silence". After many failed attempts to free the 
country from Arab domination, the Iranians were forced to either pay heavy 
taxes (Jizya) or to convert to Islam, the latter being the ultimate goal of 
the new rulers and thus the easier way. During this time many Iranians who 
are now called Parsi rejected both options and instead chose to take refuge 
by fleeing from Iran to India.

"Their long presence in the region distinguishes the Parsis from the Iranis, 
who are more recent arrivals, and who represent the smaller of the two 
Indian-Zoroastrian communities."

Sikh,
http://www.searchsikhism.com/islam3.html
http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Martyrdom_of_Guru_Arjan
The kirpan, or dagger adult male Sikhs are obligated to carry, was 
instituted by the 10th guru, Gobinth Singh, in response to Muslim attacks 
and abuses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirpan

Hindus (WARNING: The photo is as graphic as the reality it reports)
http://tinyurl.com/9xkfu8j

If one trolls the websites that deign to discuss such things, the apologists 
try to make reality go away by arguing on the one-hand that one shouldn't 
use the current situation of conflicts to think about the past (so let's 
imagine everything was peachy keen and tranquil back then; this tends to be 
the approach touted by academics), and on the other, don't drag the violent 
past into thinking about today (those were nasty times, we're all so much 
more enlightened these days). Combined one can fantasize no violence 
occurred in the past or present (except western, esp. US imperialism). Time 
to stop sucking on that teat -- it's run dry, overshadowed by reality.

Joanne and Curt had it right. The rest of you are trying to visualize a 
muslim-pure-land that has never existed and doesn't exist now. And unless 
you call the Muslim world to task now, it never will. This is what concerted 
intl attention challenging the status quo there can sometimes accomplish:
http://tinyurl.com/8hukysh

Dan