Opinions

The reports about rioting and murder in Nigeria related to the Miss World Beauty Pageant bother me, and I'm seeking some clarity.

First, some background: I was already horrified by a news item from Nigeria before the Miss World Pageant came along. Apparently, a young divorcee named Amina Laval was convicted by a Muslim court in Katsina state for bearing a child outside of marriage. According to BBC News, she is to be stoned to death. What are your thoughts about this?

At any rate, it is traditional for the Miss World Beauty Pageant to be hosted in the country of the previous year's winner. Since Miss Nigeria won last year, Nigeria was selected to host the pageant this year. Apparently a segment of the Muslim population objected to the pageant and was vigorously protesting against it. They claimed the pageant promoted "nudity" and "promiscuity". A young Christian female journalist, Isioma Daniel, wrote an editorial about it in the Nigerian newspaper ThisDay on November 16th, stating the following:

"The Muslims thought it was immoral to bring 92 women to Nigeria and ask them to revel in vanity. What would Mohammed think? In all honesty, he would probably have chosen a wife from one of them. The irony is that Algeria, an Islamic country, is one of the countries participating in the contest."

When the editorial was published, Muslim readers found it insulting and "blasphemous". The newspaper published an immediate apology, and Ms. Daniel was pressured to resign. A "fatwa" (religious edict) urging Nigerian Muslims to kill her for writing the article has been issued by authorities in the northern Zamfara state. One Muslim cleric said that "the only way she could save her life would be to convert to Islam". Consequently, Isioma Daniel has fled the country, presumably to the United States. The editor of the newspaper has been arrested and hasn't been seen since. Your thoughts?

In the city of Kaduna in northern Nigeria, Muslim rioters burned over twenty churches, then torched cars and houses. Scores of Christian places of business were razed. Christians counterattacked and the result is that over 200 Nigerians have been killed, some burned alive in gasoline-soaked tires placed around the necks of the victims.

Western media, in reporting the events, used phrases such as "violence broke out" and "sectarian violence erupted". I can't find any published source that directly places blame on THE MUSLIM RIOTERS, and I have a problem with that. What are your thoughts? (For the record, I am not Jewish or Christian or particularly religious at all.)

In my search for additional information, I read articles detailing the dispute between various Muslim factions about the "fatwa" issued against Ms. Daniel. Apparently, some want the death warrant recalled because she apologized, and because she was not a Muslim (this makes me remember author Salmon Rushdie, who received a "fatwa" after publishing his novel The Satanic Verses, a book some Muslims considered blasphemous). But nowhere did I read about official Muslim organizations, like the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, condemning the "fatwa" or condemning the murderous actions of the Muslim rioters. Maybe I'm naive -- and if so, please correct me with specific examples -- but I can't conceive of any of the world's other "major" religions refusing to condemn rioting and murder done in the name of that religion. Your thoughts?

In America, we are often told that Islamic extremism exists because of American foreign policy, or because of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. But when I read of events in Nigeria, I am not sure that contention is accurate. Unless someone can correct me, I believe the rioting and murder in Nigeria by Muslim extremists has nothing to do with America or Israel. Rather, it has everything to do with a strain of Muslim religious intolerance and the lack of courage or conviction -- by the Western media and Muslim clerics -- to confront it directly.

In my mind, the issue isn't a Palestinian state. This cancerous strain of Muslim extremism won't be satisfied until Israel and the United States no longer exist. They won't rest until the entire world is under Islamic control. Your thoughts?

In the city of Kaduna in northern Nigeria, Christians and Muslims reside in policed segregated sections because some Muslims there have attacked the Christians. The media reports that a segment of the Muslim population is pushing the notion that Sharia law (Muslim edicts that prescribe stiff punishments for alcohol consumption and other activities) be applied to all residents, Christian and Muslim alike. The tension there is a volatile powder keg.

Could this be a microcosm of what may happen in other parts of the world? An intolerant, extremist segment of the Muslim religion is making inroads in various places on the map, yet it appears that few people are confronting it. Is it because of political correctness? Fear? What should the rest of the world do about this?

Of course I realize that the vast majority of Muslims are peace-loving, tolerant people. But the question remains: Why are they silent while a malignant strain of extremists hijacks their religion?

I am not a political wacko or a fear-monger, and I try to be open-minded, but I cringe when I think of a world where women are stoned for adultery, where a "fatwa" can be issued even after an apology for a comment not ever intended to be blasphemous, and where an editorial comment in a newspaper can animate offended religious extremists to murder hundreds of innocent people. And to top it off, I especially wince when the media is too cowardly to identify those culpable and when Muslim clerics don't apologize for the violence or condemn the Muslim rioters.

I welcome any comments.

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Maybe I'm naive -- and if so, please correct me with specific examples -- but I can't conceive of any of the world's other "major" religions refusing to condemn rioting and murder done in the name of that religion. Your thoughts?

Click to expand...