All Comments (45)

Anon, Anon, Anon wherever you are,

The Gulf War was fought to free Islamic Kuwait from the warmongering Saddam Hussein.

From Wikipedia:

"The Gulf War or Persian Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991)[8][9] was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force from 34 nations[10] authorized by the United Nations (UN) and led primarily by the United States in order to return Kuwait to the control of the Emir of Kuwait."

No invasion, no war, no deaths, no corrupt Oil for Food program, and the normal infant mortality rate!!!

In 1991,george Bush senior mounted operation desert storm.Tens of thousands of Iraqis where killed in the war [200000 died in gulf war ,USAtoday,30may 1991].
Iraq's fields were bombed with more than 300 tonnes of depleted uranium,causing a fourfold increase in cancer among children.[CBS60 minutes,26Dec1999.THE NATION263:12,21oct1996.BBC Newsonline,29Apr2003]
For more than 13 yrs,24million Iraqis have lived in war zone and been denied access to medicine and clean water. Cruelty did not fluctuate whether the Democrats or Republicans where in the white house.
Half a million Iraqi children died because of sanctions [ UNICEF 1999,child and maternal mortalitysurvey1999,unicef,Iraq.] The new detailed lancet study say as many as one mllion iraqi deaths since 2003 Iraqi invasion

CCNL believes all religions should be deflawed,but he supports millions of deaths caused by illegal war.
Those who support the invasion and vote for the invaders cannot take refuge in ignorance.They must truly believe that this epic brutality is right and just,or at the very least acceptable,because it's in their interest

Anti A. Kafir wrote (addressed to me, Deb Chatterjee, on March 28, 2008 10:42 PM):

"Were you diagnosed with EXCESSIVE, COMPULSIVE, PERSONALITY DISORDER?"

and Anti-CCNL wrote (addressed to CCNL on March 28, 2008 10:42 PM ):

"Were you ever diagnosed with EXCESSIVE, COMPULSIVE, PERSONALITY DISORDER?"

Hey, anti- whatever look yourself in the mirror. I am amazed how your two posts show up at the same time ?

Our War on Terror and Aggression:
An update (or how are or have spent USA taxpayers’ money to eliminate global terror and aggression)

First a Partial Body Count:

1a) Assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

1b) 9/11, 3000 mostly US citizens, 1000’s injured.

2) The 24/7 Sunni-Shiite centuries-old blood feud currently being carried out in Iraq, 4000 US troops and 82,109 – 89,605 Iraqi civilians, ref. iraqbodycount.org/

3) Kenya- In Nairobi, about 212 people were killed and an estimated 4000 injured; in Dar es Salaam, the attack killed at least 11 and wounded 85.[2]

4) Bali-in 2002-killing 202 people, 164 of whom were foreign nationals, and 38 Indonesian citizens. A further 209 people were injured.

5) Bali in 2005- Twenty people were killed, and 129 people were injured by three bombers who killed themselves in the attacks.

6) Spain in 2004- killing 191 people and wounding 2,050.

7) UK in 2005- The bombings killed 52 commuters and the four radical Islamic suicide bombers, injured 700.

Other elements of our War on Terror:

1. Saddam, his sons and major henchmen have been deleted. Saddam's bravado about WMD was one of his major mistakes.

2. Iran is being been contained. (beside containing the Sunni-Shiite civil war in Baghdad, that is the main reason we are in Iraq. And yes, essential oil continues to flow from the region.)

3. Libya has become almost civil. Apparently this new reality from an Islamic country has upset OBL and his “crazies” as they recently threatened Libya. OBL sure is a disgrace to the world especially the Moslem world!!! or is he??

4. North Korea is still uncivil but is contained. With the opening up of rail traffic between North and South Korea after 50 years and with the assistance of the US Navy in retrieving NK ships and personnel, a fresh sense of civility is afoot. One of the most eminent US cultural institutions, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, has performed a landmark concert in North Korea.

The concert included music by Western composers and a Korean folk song, and was broadcast live on local television.

5. Northern Ireland is finally at peace.

6. The Jews and Palestinians are being separated by walls. Hopefully the walls will follow the 1948 UN accords and the Annapolis Peace Conference is at least somewhat successful.

7. Bin Laden has been cornered under a rock in Western Pakistan since 9/11.

8. Fanatical Islam has basically been contained to the Middle East but a wall between India and Pakistan would be a plus for world peace. Ditto for a wall between Afghahistan and Pakistan.

9.Timothy McVeigh was executed. Terry Nichols will follow soon.

10. Eric Rudolph is spending three life terms in prison with no parole.

11. Jim Jones, David Koresh, Kaczynski, the "nuns" from Rwanda, and the KKK were all dealt with and either eliminated themselves or are being punished.

12. Islamic Sudan, Darfur and Somalia are still terror hot spots.

13. Although a bit dated, the terror and torture of Muslims in Bosnia, Kosovo and Kuwait were ended by the proper application of the military forces of the USA and her freedom-loving friends.

14. And of course the bloody terror brought about the Japanese, Nazis and Communists was with great difficulty eliminated by the good guys.

1194935 Iraqi Deaths Due to U.S. Invasion
The number is shocking and sobering. It is at least 10 times greater than most estimates cited in the US media, yet it is based on a scientific study of violent Iraqi deaths caused by the U.S.-led invasion of March 2003.

Victoria, Victoria, Victoria,

You may have removed obstructions from your ears but you did not remove them from your mind as you still have not come to grips with the flaws and errors in Islam. Once again for your perusal, the first four:

1. Belief in "pretty/ugly wingie thingies".

2. Belief that an hallucinating, illiterate Arab did actually talk to the "pretty Gabriel" in the hot "Gabe" cave and therein received the warmongering and anti-female words and resultant laws now listed in the koran.

3. That Sunnis are superior to Shiites in all aspects of life. And Shiites think the same way about Sunnis.

4. That Islam is perfect and the koran inherently condones no sin even though the 24/7, 800 year-old blood feud between Sunnis and Shiites gives significant credence that greed, hate, suicides, assassinations, maiming, and murder are condoned by the koran. Having multiple wives also gives significant credence to the sins of rape, adultery, lust and polygamy. The condoned treatment of these wives gives credence that the koran allows the sins of hatred, anger and greed.

And accusing someone of spreading hate and lies does not work when these "someones" are simply listing the facts. If you have counter points about your beliefs then list them. Hiding behind imams and clerics blinded by 1400 years of brainwashing serves no purpose other than to secure a dishonest living for said imams and clerics.

Dear Mr Patel

Your essay on "Who sings for Islam" brought to mind a personal story which I wish to share for it does have my personal answer to your question "Who sings for Islam?"

When my father passed away eleven years ago, I could not attend his funeral. I had already taken my leave from him two weeks prior to his death and had been speaking to him almost everyday over the phone until he lost consciousness two days prior to his passing away. My father had assured me that it perfectly okay not to attend the funeral. I had even felt a strange sense of his presence at the precise moment his spirit moved on to another plane of existence; the phone call announcing his death came a couple of hours later.

The music I listened to for almost two days NON-STOP was the Quawwali songs of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan!!! I listened to NOTHING else! His music helped me get in touch with my grief in a way that defies description - it was grief and consolation at the same time - and in touch with my God whom my father had moved on to meet after his earthly time was ended. It made it possible for me to let go of my father and surrender him to God, our Creator.

I love all kinds of music, and yet from my music collection, I chose Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan because it had that heart rending effect to connect me to my deepest feeling and to God at the same time. I have no real answer about the magical effect Sufi music has on me.

Soja John Thaikattil
Sydney, Australia

arminius- looks like your abiltiy to see beauty has found like resonances in here-

one of the things i say when i prepare to pray, and i clean my ears-(part of the ablution process) is to ask the god to "let me hear what is good in an utterance."

i am really encouraged by thew healthy hearing ears in here-

Peoples in Dafur are Muslims. So please stop shedding crocodile tears.

[Secret- there are looots of oil there]

"It was the time of the Balkans war, and Yusuf, like most Muslims and many other citizens of good faith around the world, watched as the Bosnians were murdered en masse by the Serbs on the continent of Europe, while the U.S., Britain, France and others barely lifted a finger."

Yes it took too long for the US and NATO to bomb the Serbs until they stopped this atrocity against Moslems. But we finally did fight a war to protect the Moslems, and it did work.

Just like Islam has taken too long to defend the Africans in Darfur. Will the Arab League fight a war to stop to the genocide like the Americans, French, British and others (whom you glibly point your finger at) did in Bosnia?

There is only one song to be sung for Islam and that is Maria's Song:

A song compelled to be sung to eliminate disorder in the world!!!!

First verse:

"Yo there, Mohammed was an illiterate, womanizing, lust and greed-driven, warmongering, hallucinating Arab.

I'm being followed by a moon shadow, a moon shadow...

Concerned The Christian Now Liberated:

Where did you learn parroting? Were you ever diagnosed with EXCESSIVE, COMPULSIVE, PERSONALITY DISORDER?

When you cannot fight with your girl friend/s why u pple come & spoil precious discussions at Eboo's beautiful home.

It is so depressing that a post that was simple, heartfelt, and quite lovely has attracted such a number of vitriolic responses. As a Christian, I know very well that any number of horrible bloody deeds have been done under the name of my religion. I would be stupid to deny it. Every religion is used by some power-mad hateful type to justify his deeds. That doesn't speak to the religion itself, it speaks to the misuse of it. I feel far more kin to the Muslim who worships in humility, peace, and tolerance, than to Christians who are arrogant and beligerant. And I believe that God can easily see the difference in one who loves God and one who uses God's name.

I was glad to read that Eboo, at least, thinks that music is not forbidden by Islam. However, the music he describes sounds rather undeveloped in contrast to music in the European tradition. The music composed for Christian religious services, from the chanting of psalms to musical masses, as well as oratorios on on religious subjects, is one of the glories of Western civilization. After 9/11, I listened to Monteverdi and Bach and Charpentier with tears in my eyes and thought that the Wahhabis don't understand what they condemn. The cooperation required of musicians to perform this music together and offer it to the glory of God is a part of worship and the music itself elevates the soul in a way that words alone cannot. To me, the lack of music in Islam is a huge void.

There is only one song to be sung for Islam and that is Maria's Song:

A song compelled to be sung to eliminate disorder in the world!!!!

"Yo there, Mohammed was an illiterate, womanizing, lust and greed-driven, warmongering, hallucinating Arab.

Yo there, He also had embellishing/ hallucinating/ plagiarizing scribal biographers who not only added "angels" and flying chariots to the koran but also a militaristic agenda to support the plundering and looting of the lands of non-believers.

Yo there, this agenda continues as shown by the assassination of Bhutto, the conduct of the seven Muslim doctors in the UK, the 9/11 terrorists, the 24/7 Sunni suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the 24/7 Shiite suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the Islamic bombers of the trains in the UK and Spain, the Bali crazies, the Kenya crazies, the Pakistani “koranics”, the Palestine suicide bombers/rocketeers, the Lebanese nutcases, the Taliban nut jobs, and the Filipino “koranics”.

Yo there, And who funds these acts of terror? The warmongering, Islamic, Shiite terror and torture theocracy of Iran aka the Third Axis of Evil and also the Sunni "Wannabees" of Saudi Arabia.

Mr Eboo,
Although I don't agree with you frequently, I do agree with Arminius who formulated my opinion for me above for this article of yours:

Sir, you are a light in the darkness. And that terrible darkness has many supporters in this blog, spewing their ignorance and hatred.

God bless you, Eboo, and may God forgive those here who hate.

Deb Chatterjee:

Do you keep changing your name to post here? Have you been using the name A. Kafir previously?

Were you diagnosed with EXCESSIVE, COMPULSIVE, PERSONALITY DISORDER?

This asinine gloating by Eboo Patel and that Yusuf Islam, who was raising money for Jihad is possible in USA where 1st Amendment applies equally well for a criminal and do-gooder, shows why the West needs to ban Islam on its soil. Its an injustice in form of Islamic appeasement.

Well, Yusuf Islam supported the killing of Salman Rushdie for defamaing Quran/Prophet Muhammad. And Eboo suggests that he (Yusuf Islam) should sing for Islam !

For all, this is what motivates death for apostasy (which Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini cited in calling for Rushdie's head):

YUSUFALI: "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;" [Quran(005:033)]

Similar "bad things" happened to Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Tasleema Nasreen. So, who sings for Islam ? Liars like Eboo Patel who are trying to mislead the gullible Americans by presenting a "sanitized" or "whitewashed" version of Islam ?

The only solution is to ban Muslim immigration to the USA.

Just today the UN OKed Islamic Text
Against Defamation ...

> The document, which was put forward
> by the Organization of the Islamic
> Conference, "expresses deep concern
> at attempts to identify Islam with
> terrorism, violence and human rights
> violations."

Perhaps those who are trying to "defame"
Islam should simply cite the Koran:

1. [3.151] We will cast terror into the
hearts of those who disbelieve ...

1. [8.12] When your Lord revealed to
the angels: I am with you, therefore
make firm those who believe. I will cast
terror into the hearts of those who
disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads
and strike off every fingertip of them.

> The resolution "urges states to take
actions to prohibit the dissemination ...
of racist and xenophobic ideas" and
material that would incite to religious
hatred.

Oh, I'm sorry, if what the Islamic resolution
is after is to ban the Koran, then, by all
means, I for one am all for it.

It is religion(s) that should be banned.

It is time for humanity to purge itself from
pernicious and (mostly) vile superstitions
which are not only dragging down our very
humanity but destroying our morality with
hate-mongering and a corrupting fight
against democracy and human rights.

We should pass a universal world-wide law
which states categorically that "things are
either real OR unreal," and that anyone
caught trying to make anyone believe that
a thing unreal IS real is committing a self-
evident fraud (punishable by substantial
prison time).

Yes, it's going to be tough because, frankly,
we are monkeys. And, who among us has
not argued over the living room coffee table
with someone about whether there is or
there isn't a coffee table in the damn living
room? But, it's a struggle to save lives and
to perhaps even push mankind into
progressing far enough ahead that we may
survive the next extinction-causing meteor
that is inevitably coming our way.

S D Rodrian
http://poems.sdrodrian.com

All religions are local.
Only science is universal.

Concerned The Christian Now Liberated:

Your comments are stupid, hateful and irrelevant to the articles, you racist pig!!

Eboo Patel - thanks for the article, and well written as always. I was particularly taken with your brief Cat Stevens excerpt. Back in the early 1970's I was one of many who deeply admired both his music and his originality as a song writer - he has never been successfully copied or emulated, he was that original.

And of course his music was full of overtones and undertones of the spiritual quest - that was his primary theme. He seemed to be a true mystic. Frankly, I was more than a little surprised when he turned up years later (after a sudden and unexplained hiatus from the musical scene) as a born-again Muslim.

I think by now people should or must know that his orientation remains deeply spiritual, and that his religious affinities run much closer to the peaceful (and mystical) Sufi outlook, rather than the Wahabbi-inspired Muslim fundamentalism that is so deeply mistrusted everywhere in the West.

Of course Cat Stevens has payed a dear price in some respects for his faith - being pegged as a terrorist suspect and included on the no-fly list in the USA as one example.

While we may wonder at the possible destiny of the Cat Stevens of old as a musician of singular genius, it's ever more clear that his music was all about his own personal search for truth - if he's found it now, we must all wish him well. He is clearly doing good work for the sake of the many, and at it's core every religion preaches the same message. Many true believers could take a lesson......

It is not "generalizing". It is the fact. Every day Muslims are blowing up and murdering people all over the globe. Just read the news on WaPo.

Meanwhile, "moderate" Muslims like Eboo here are blaming the U.S. for not interferring earlier to help Bosnia become another one hundred percent intolerant Muslim nation.

Eboo should have also known that the U.S. knew about holocaust of Jews for a long time but did nothing until its hand was forced by Japanese attacking the Pearl Harbor.

Idolator:

Your problem is like that of so many ignorant people, i.e. you think people of all religions or ethnic groups are monolithic. That is why you generalize on the basis of your monolithic notions of human groups.

WaPo and Newswires: 40 killed today in Sunni-Shia clashes in Pak, Muslims behead people they accuse of being U.S spies in Afghan, 8 civilians blown up in car bomb in Afghan...

U.S. did help create an almost 100 percent Muslim populated Bosnia. What thanks do they get from Muslims like Eboo? Bosnian Muslims have killed and plotted to kill Americans in America. That is their thanks.

Shiva Das:

You proved my point. You think that killings of people or destroying places of worship (like Babri mosque) is justifiable because you believe that some people in the past might have destroyed their temples (Hindu temples).

Do you think Christians around the world would be justified in destroying Hindu temples in London(England) or in America as a revenge for Hindus of India destroying Christian Churches on Christmas day in Orissa in 2007?

You seem to be ignorant of one basic element of sociological theory that people of one identity at a given time or place can not be killed or their property destroyed as a revenge for the people of the same identity of another time or place. GUILT BY ASSOCIATION IS ILLOGICAL AND IRRATIONAL.

But you couldn't care less. Your mind is controlled by saffron colored cap your wear.

Yes, I am grateful for receiving good education in India and acknowledge that at least in my time there were a lot of good Hindus who treated me right. But I also know that there are people like Modi, Advani, Singhal, Joshi, Vajpayee who are so narrow minded that they want India to go back to the Dark Ages of religious dogma and prejudice.

They have influence on India's overseas Hindus like you.

There is only one song to be sung for Islam and that is the following:

A song compelled to be sung to eliminate disorder in the world!!!!

"Yo there, Mohammed was an illiterate, womanizing, lust and greed-driven, warmongering, hallucinating Arab.

Yo there, He also had embellishing/ hallucinating/ plagiarizing scribal biographers who not only added "angels" and flying chariots to the koran but also a militaristic agenda to support the plundering and looting of the lands of non-believers.

Yo there, this agenda continues as shown by the assassination of Bhutto, the conduct of the seven Muslim doctors in the UK, the 9/11 terrorists, the 24/7 Sunni suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the 24/7 Shiite suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the Islamic bombers of the trains in the UK and Spain, the Bali crazies, the Kenya crazies, the Pakistani “koranics”, the Palestine suicide bombers/rocketeers, the Lebanese nutcases, the Taliban nut jobs, and the Filipino “koranics”.

Yo there, And who funds these acts of terror? The warmongering, Islamic, Shiite terror and torture theocracy of Iran aka the Third Axis of Evil and also the Sunni "Wannabees" of Saudi Arabia.

Formar Indian:

I am sure you Former Indian that you did not come to the USA because you were just a Former Indian. You, or some one who came here before you and brought you here, got some first rate education in a Hindu country in the midst of the ‘saffron terrorists’ that gave you the ticket. Show me one Hindu who would get such an education in any of your great Islamic countries. Show me one Hindu who could ever become the head of an Islamic country, now or in a thousand years. I can show you hundreds of thousands of Muslims and Christians who get the finest education and chances to become whatever they can be in the Hindu India among all of the ‘saffron clad terrorists’.

Your ramblings about Rajaneesh is just plain crap. I am sure you raise funds for your jihads also.

The Muslim barbarians who plundered India destroyed thousands of ancient Hindu temples. Babri Masjid sits on top of one such ancient temple. I am glad someone took the courage to raze it. Let them also erect a temple on top of it. The Hindus allow hundreds of thousands of Mosques and Churches in their land. Show me one Islamic country that will allow one Temple or Church.

The Hindus should be tired of the Muslims in their country. Still, they let them live and thrive there. At least those who have the brains to do something for themselves. You think Pakistan would do that? Former Indian, I am sure India is relieved that you have left her soil. Now you are the USA’s problem.

Rahul and Shiva Das:

The only proven incident of bioterrorism the United States has ever experienced, we learned, was a bizarre plot by the Rajneeshee Hindus, to steal a county election in Oregon in 1984. The Rajneeshees, followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, a self-proclaimed guru exiled from India, had moved into a ranch in rural Wasco County, taken political control of the small nearby town of Antelope, and changed its name to Rajneesh. Next, the Hindus sought to run the whole county by winning the local election in 1984.

The amazing story of the Wasco County election scandal was revealed to the conference's riveted participants by Leslie L. Zaitz, an investigative reporter for The Oregonian, and Dr. John Livengood, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control. To win the county election, the Rajneeshee Hindus planned to sicken a good portion of the population in the town of The Dalles, where most Wasco County voters live. Their weapon of choice to keep local residents from voting was salmonella bacteria.

These Rajneeshi Hindus decided to test the use of salmonella and, if successful, to contaminate the entire water system of The Dalles on Election Day. First, the Rajneeshees poisoned two visiting Wasco County commissioners on a hot day by plying them with refreshing drinks of cold water laced with salmonella.

Then, on a shopping trip to The Dalles, these Hindus sprinkled salmonella on produce in grocery stores "just for fun." According to reporter Zaitz, that experiment didn't get the results they wanted so the Rajneeshees proceeded to clandestinely sprinkle salmonella at the town's restaurant salad bars. Ten restaurants were hit and more than 700 people got sick.

The website elvenway@excite.com has the following warning about Hindu terrorism:

What US strategic planners do not realize is that the saffron clad (semiliterate and illiterate) sants behind the Hindu extremist movement spearheaded by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Bajrang Dal and such outfits have a deep hatred of the US and the West, as much as the Islamic fundamentalists.

Sooner or later, the US and Europe is going to have to face Hindu terrorists operating out of their soil. Hinduism is violently opposed not only to Islam but also Christianity. The Hindu rightwing extremists want to destroy the secular fabric of India, eliminate Muslims and turn Christians into second class citizens and take the country back into the medieval dark ages of Hinduism.

Much of this mad fervour comes from North India which is chockfull of illiterate idol worshippers now rallying under the militant banner of the god Ram. They seek to demonstrate their militant and violent intent by building a temple where the Babri Masjid mosque once stood in Ayodhya.

The mosque was razed by these extremists on December 6, 1996. Now the Hindu terrorists want to build the mosque beginning March 15. The communal conflagration unleashed in Gujarat is but the beginning of the attempt by these extremist, fascist forces to impose a saffron code across modern India and take the land back to a caste-based, feudal set-up.

The West may be concerned about the strengths of Islam, but Hindu extremism is as backward looking and inimical towards the West as the mullahs are. Let the US beware in dealing on friendly terms with the Hindu terrorists for short-term gains against the Muslim world.

The Hindus will turn against the West sooner than later. A lot of Hindu terrorist/extremist fund-raising outfits operate out of the West, especially the US, spreading a subversive faith in idolatry and mind-altering techniques among Westerners. This will undermine the civilisation of the West in the long run.

Victoria,

Are you and I the only ones here who can see the beauty of what Eboo has to share? If so, I mourn for humanity.

Arminius

Eboo,

Your essay is profoundly moving, and all so true. How can any person with a heart deny that music is the true universal language? How can anyone put down the incredible poetry of Rumi? How can any deny that this music and poetry, in praise of our Creator and His creation, is so glorious?

Sir, you are a light in the darkness. And that terrible darkness has many supporters in this blog, spewing their ignorance and hatred.

God bless you, Eboo, and may God forgive those here who hate.

Arminius

Rahul:

Did Hindus around the world stage demonstrations of protest after more than 2,000 Muslims were massacred in 2002 Gujarat riots? Did they protest the destruction of property and businesses of Muslims in Gujarat?

Did Hindus around the world stage protests against the riots in which Sikhs were killed, their property destroyed after the assasination of Indira Gandhi?

Did Hindus around the world stage protests against the the Christmas day burning of Christian churches in 2007?

Eboo, I don’t know what you are trying to prove. Islam is a music loving religion? True Musilims are music lovers? Islam is full of music? That is the biggest load of BS, nay camel droppings, I have ever heard coming out of your interfaith-something-something. Islam prohibits music and dance of any kind. Period. If one hears the singing of a woman, your prophet has expressly given permission to your mullahs to stone the poor woman to death. And a few lashings with a camel whip to those faithfuls who heard it willingly. If Cat Stevens or Yusuf something, misses his music, well tough luck to him. He is the one who went after Mohammed. And he deserves it.

Every Muslim artist in India sings and plays music of the Hindus. That is because there is no Islamic music worth singing or playing. If they want music, then they have no choice but to look elsewhere.

I wish you would cut out this BS propaganda about a non existent feature of your barbaric religion. It is as much a lie as telling us all how much freedom your women have. I can’t understand why WP gives this fellow a platform to broadcast his blatant lies.

Concerned The Christian Now Liberated:

Have you been diagnosed with EXCESSIVE, COMPULSIVE, PERSONALITY DISORDER?

America, NATO, and the UN embargoed all of Yugoslavia, keeping vital arms, medical supplies, and aid from reaching the Bosnian Muslim forces even while Bosnian Serb forces were recieving all of their supplies from Serbia. This continued for years where even Muslims in America numbering 10s of 1000s marched in Wash DC calling for Clinton to lift the embargo on the Bosnian Muslims so they can defend and feed themselves.
America did not rescue and save the Muslims in Bosnia, they handicapped them, obstructed their efforts and allowed Croat and Serb forces to outweigh Muslim before they called for ceasefires. By then, the massacres were done & the cleansing had occurred.

Right now, the chorus of those murdered by Islam sings the loudest.

your words are an island of peace and hope in a sea of cacophany brother patel

Cat Stevens/Yousuf Islam/Whatever-he-wants-to-be-called makes great music. He decided to hang it up for religion. See what religion does to you? It makes you stupid.

Not one mention in the article about the help the USA and NATO under President Clinton provided for Bosnia! Maybe, Eboo hasn't heard that in any of the songs of gratitude the Bosnians sing. I know Bosnian who thinks Clinton is a terrorist and Osama is a freedom fighter.

There is only one song to be sung for Islam and that is the following:

"Yo there, Mohammed was an illiterate, womanizing, lust and greed-driven,warmongering, hallucinating Arab.

Yo there, He also had embellishing/ hallucinating/ plagiarizing scribal biographers who not only added "angels" and flying chariots to the koran but also a militaristic agenda to support the plundering and looting of the lands of non-believers.

Yo there, this agenda continues as shown by the assassination of Bhutto, the conduct of the seven Muslim doctors in the UK, the 9/11 terrorists, the 24/7 Sunni suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the 24/7 Shiite suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the Islamic bombers of the trains in the UK and Spain, the Bali crazies, the Kenya crazies, the Pakistani “koranics”, the Palestine suicide bombers/rocketeers, the Lebanese nutcases, the Taliban nut jobs, and the Filipino “koranics”.

Yo there, And who funds these acts of terror? The warmongering, Islamic, Shiite terror and torture theocracy of Iran aka the Third Axis of Evil and also the Sunni "Wannabees" of Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Patel,

You say the U.S., France and others did not raise a finger while Bosnians were massacred. U.S. eventually saved the Bosnian Muslims (and now support newly independent Kosovo) but do they get any thanks from Muslims?

But a more relevant question now is: What are the Muslims doing to save millions of Muslims in Darfur/Sudan who have been massacred by fair skinned Muslims? In fact, why don't Muslims protest, like they do for cartoons, movies etc, for the killings in Darfur (and even in Bosnia in the past)?

Did Muslims have a mass protest when Chenchya Muslims massacred 300 Elementary school children in Beslan, Russia?

The country you were born in (India) was raided and looted and ruled over by Muslims since 9th century. Did Muslims protest?

Re:Singing and Dancing in Islam
Some Muslim scholars consider singing as Haram (not allowable) and quote (Quran 31:6, 17:64 53;23). Others quote stories in Quran about Prophet (King) David and his psalms as a proof that Allah is not against singing. The story about Ayyoub (Job) tapping his feet to "bring forth “ a spring of water is used by others as a proof that Allah is not against dancing. It is, as I had pointed out a number of times earlier, that the Muslim’s holy book has within it so many abrogation and outright contradictions to cover almost any point of view. The trick is to know where to look. It took Cat Stevens twenty years to discover that truth.

Nice to see that Yusuf Islam finally got over the no-music-in-islam hangup.

His story is yet another cautionary tale for people who are being evangelized into a different religion. All too often those bringing you into their fold are grinding their own axes and either omitting important details or deliberately lying about their religion; all in the effort to sink their hooks in deep enough to not let a convert get away.

Another sugar coated banter from Ebrahim..
Dude, your religion has a pretty funny relationship to singing.. you need a computer program with all the hadiths algorithamized to figure out if/when/how singing is permitted....

Here is one sample....
"From among my followers there will be some people who will drink wine, giving it other names while they listen to musical instruments and the singing of female singers; Allah the Almighty will make the earth swallow them and will turn them into monkeys and pigs.” (Reported by Ibn Hibban in his Sahih)
So; If I try to program
"There should be no instrumental music or female songs in bars...."

But then again there "should be no bars" per your religion either....
Hmph.. but then again; there could be bars for Kafirs; right? so
I could start my algorithm somewhat like

If (kafir)
Then
if (bar)
then
if (singer kafir)
then music ok

else if (god praising)
then if( male singer)
then (music ok)

Grrrrrrr my head is spinning ....I think on line 5 the compiler will give an error "Statement not reached... (bars) ->haram" ....
( No wonder you need the best and brightest minds to become mullahs... this is beyond a regular computer scientist!)
So whatever singing happens; happens despite of your religion, not because of it. The Sufis (thankfully) kept alive the traditions of their societies (Indian/Persian) despite getting converted to this Arab creed. Stop sugar coating...

As to Cat Stevens aka Yusuf Islam
here is his true compassion
from New York Times story fon May 23, 1989: "Cat Stevens Gives Support To Call for Death of Rushdie," by Craig R. Whitney (thanks to all who sent this in):

LONDON, May 22 -- The musician known as Cat Stevens said in a British television program to be broadcast next week that rather than go to a demonstration to burn an effigy of the author Salman Rushdie, ''I would have hoped that it'd be the real thing.''
The singer, who adopted the name Yusuf Islam when he converted to Islam, made the remark during a panel discussion of British reactions to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's call for Mr. Rushdie to be killed for allegedly blaspheming Islam in his best-selling novel ''The Satanic Verses.'' He also said that if Mr. Rushdie turned up at his doorstep looking for help, ''I might ring somebody who might do more damage to him than he would like.''

''I'd try to phone the Ayatollah Khomeini and tell him exactly where this man is,'' said Mr. Islam, who watched a preview of the program today and said in an interview that he stood by his comments.

So, stop misleading people under some harmless-sounding disguise as "Interfaith youth something something"
Any faith that is beyondone's own personal faith is organized religion and organized religion is not only the last resort of scoundrels but it is a 5 star resort of scoundrels!