’Tis the season for abject folly?
There has long been a movement to ban authentic Christmas carols from American schools. Now some German politicians and religious leaders are recommending that Muslim “carols” be sung in some of their institutions — their churches — during Christmas services.
The idea, which supposedly would increase “tolerance,” also involves the singing of Christian songs in mosques.
Of course, critics would point out that the two actions are not equivalent, since no Muslim high holy day falls on the 25th. Many would also suspect that church leaders are far more likely to entertain the idea than are Muslim ones; this seems especially true since only the Imam sings during Islamic services.
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The idea is a response to the burgeoning PEGIDA movement. Loosely translated as “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West,” it has inspired increasingly well-attended marches of late, with 17,000 gathering and singing Christmas carols in Dresden just yesterday. The group objects to Germany’s loose immigration policy, which, following the trend in Western Europe, has led to rapid Islamization in the country. Germany is now home to approximately 3,000 mosques and Muslim prayer halls, including what upon completion will be one of Europe’s largest Islamic houses of worship, the Cologne Central Mosque; and Muslims constitute the majority of the school systems in some parts of the nation.
Even though this musical ecumenism would likely be a one-sided effort, some advocate it enthusiastically. Focus.de reports that Omid Nouri Pour, a Green Party member of parliament of Iranian descent, told the Bild newspaper Monday (translated from German), “It would be a great sign of peace among the religions, when in a church an Islamic song is sung and in a mosque a Christmas song.” And Junge Freiheit reports (translated from German) that Central Council of Muslims in Germany chairman Ayman Mazyek “also encouraged churches to sing Islamic songs at Christmastime,” saying “‘It would be a wonderful sign of peace and compassion.’”
Mazyek even recommended a song: “Tala’a al-Badru alayna” (“The White Moon Rose Over Us”) by legendary singer Cat Stevens, a Muslim convert who now calls himself Yusuf Islam.
Junge Freiheit continues, “‘We need understanding, respect and tolerance,’ said SPD [Social Democrat Party] member of parliament of Baden-Württemberg, Thomas Funk, praising the proposal.”
But not everyone shares Funk’s sentiments. In fact, if one Muslim cleric had his way, people wouldn’t even be saying “Merry Christmas” to one another, let alone singing carols. In a 2011 video once again circulating in social media, Lebanese-born Islamic “scholar” Abu Musaab Wajdi Akkari minces no words opining on the yuletide wish. He says:
You cannot say Merry Christmas, not even if an alien came and he told you — you cannot even say it to him and say: “He’s just an alien; I’m never going to see him again; he’s not going to tell anyone.”
No Merry Christmas. Not from a Muslim, not from a non-Muslim. It’s not part of our [religion] period.
It’s the concept that God was born on the 25th of December. That’s as [polytheistic] and [heretical] as you can get. And you say “Merry Christmas,” saying “Congratulations on your false religion; congratulations on your false understanding of life.” You are congratulating them on the most evil of [polytheism] and [heresy]. And as [Sunni Muslim theologian] Ibn Qayyim said:
“This is worse than fornication, and drinking alcohol and killing someone.”
Because you’re approving of the biggest crime ever committed by the children of Adam, [polytheism].
Many critics point out that such Islamic chauvinism isn’t unusual. Nor should it be unexpected; just as a zealous Democrat or Republican is sure the other side is wrong and that everyone should embrace his ideology, no one will truly govern his life with a faith unless he believes it reflects Truth, that it’s absolutely correct.
In contrast, many in Germany — especially among its leadership — are defined by what’s politically correct. While PEGIDA protesters hold placards expressing sentiments such as “Zero tolerance towards criminal asylum seekers,” “Stop the Islamization,” and “Protect our homeland,” Justice Minister Heiko Maas condemned the movement as “a shame for Germany” while other leftists have demeaned its rally-goers as “pinstripe Nazis” (ironic since Adolf Hitler held Islam in high esteem and allied himself with the WWII-era Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini).
In fact, Germany’s ruling elite is so opposed to populist, PEGIDA-like movements that it has actually used the machinery of government against them. As The New American wrote last month reporting on the construction of yet another mega-mosque in Germany, a $51 million behemoth in Munich:
Originally called the “Center for Islam in Europe-Munich” and rumored to be oriented toward the radical Wahhabi Muslim sect, its opponents have alleged that it is “designed to be a key strategic platform for spreading Islam throughout Europe,” as the Gatestone Institute’s Soeren Kern put it in 2013. And the matter has inspired government surveillance.
Of the mosque’s critics.
And now a court in Bavaria has reaffirmed that such spying is lawful.
Moreover, a referendum that would have allowed local citizens to decide if the mosque should be constructed has been blocked by Munich city officials — even though twice the necessary number of signatures for the referendum to proceed were gathered.
… The referendum supporters also suspect that the Munich mosque is being funded by very undemocratic forces — namely, the Sharia-guided, petroleum-rich and potentate-ruled emirate of Qatar, which is constructing Wahhabist mega-mosques all across Europe. Wahhabism is the extremist sect of Islam that was embraced and advanced by feared terrorist Osama bin Laden.
As for average Germans, their opinion seems to fall somewhere between the elites’ pusillanimity and PEGIDA patriotism. As the Guardian recently wrote, “Almost two-thirds of Germans, according to a poll for news magazine Spiegel by the TNS institute, believe that Angela Merkel’s government is not doing enough to address concerns about immigration and asylum seekers, and 34% think Germany is enduring a process of ‘Islamisation’.”
Elsewhere on the Christmas-meets-violent-extremism front, dozens of people were injured last night when a man drove his van into a Christmas market in the Nantes area of France while screaming “Allahu Akbar”; the individual, presumably Muslim, then stabbed himself nine times before being apprehended by police. It was “the third incident of its kind in as many days in the country which have been linked to Islamic terrorism,” wrote the Mirror.
Nonetheless, Islamic immigration into Germany has been increased over last year, and an estimated 5.4 percent of the nation’s residents are now Muslim. As for this population, a 2012 poll found that 72 percent of Turks in Germany believe Islam is the only true religion. And a 2013 six-nation study that included Germany found that two-thirds of Muslims “say that religious rules are more important to them than the laws of the country in which they live.”
