Songs Against Terrorism
Thursday, August 24, 2006
This article was posted in October 2005. So it might be old news.
Songs Against Terrorism
By Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid and C. Holland Taylor
The latest suicide bombings on the resort island of Bali appear to have been carried out by young Indonesian Muslims indoctrinated in an ideology of hatred. Once again the cult of death has proved its ability to recruit misguided fanatics and incite them to violate Islam's most sacred teachings in the very name of God. The only way to break this vicious cycle is by discrediting the perverse ideology that underlies and motivates such brutal acts of terrorism.
One of us, Abdurrahman Wahid, was Indonesia's president when tragic violence inundated the eastern region of Ambon and the Malukus six years ago. A seemingly trivial argument between a Christian bus driver and a Muslim passenger in early 1999 triggered a bloody religious war that eventually claimed 10,000 lives and drove a half-million Christian and Muslim inhabitants from their homes. Radical Muslims from throughout Indonesia flocked to the region to wage jihad on Indonesian Christians, backed by powerful Islamist generals and plenty of money.
The largest such group was Laskar Jihad ("Warriors of Jihad"), led by an Indonesian of Arab descent whose ancestors came from the same province in Yemen as those of Osama bin Laden. Jafar Umar Thalib is a veteran of the Afghan jihad and knows bin Laden personally. Backed by spiteful generals close to the disgraced Suharto regime, Thalib sounded the call to jihad, and thousands of young Muslims flocked to his green banner to slaughter Indonesian Christians in the name of God.
Enjoying powerful clandestine support, Laskar Jihad had actually established a military training camp less than 60 miles from the capital, Jakarta. When national police broke up the camp, Thalib promptly announced that Laskar Jihad would sail for Ambon and wage jihad there. I (Wahid) ordered the army generals in East Java to prevent them from sailing and ordered the navy to intercept them if they did. I also ordered the governor of East Java to guard the docks and prevent Laskar Jihad from boarding. But these presidential orders were ignored by a military that refused to accept civilian control in the newly democratic Indonesia. An unholy alliance of fundamentalist jihadists, Islamist generals and people close to the Suharto family ensured that thousands of Laskar Jihadists poured into Ambon and the Malukus.
Once there, they spread out in the Muslim communities and launched devastating raids on neighboring Christian enclaves, burning and desecrating churches; destroying homes; and slaughtering thousands of men, women and children.
All of Indonesia knew what was happening. It was in the news day and night. Laskar Jihad became a symbol and a byword for the suffering inflicted upon that region. The goal of its clandestine backers -- and those in parliament itself -- was to create chaos and block the reform that desperately needed to occur in the Indonesian government. They succeeded; the process of reform ground to a halt.
Then came the first Bali bombing in 2002, with jihadists incinerating a popular club and more than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists. Although that attack was the work of a different jihadist group, Jemaah Islamiah, it was obvious that the military -- by then in the hands of "red," or nationalist, generals allied to my successor, Megawati Sukarnoputri -- would crack down on all active jihadist groups. Immediately afterward, Thalib announced that Laskar Jihad had served its purpose, and he recalled its warriors to Java. Thousands of battle-hardened jihadists returned to Java's towns and villages to await his further call.
One of the people watching this tragedy unfold was a brilliant young musician named Ahmad Dhani. Leader of the immensely popular rock band Dewa, Dhani began to use his musical platform to influence millions of fans in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia to resist the tide of religious extremism.
In response to Laskar Jihad's atrocities, and to discredit the appeal of fundamentalist ideology, Dhani composed the best-selling album "Laskar Cinta" ("Warriors of Love"). Released in November 2004, it quickly rose to the top of the charts as millions of young Indonesians embraced its message of love, peace and tolerance.
Dhani and the other members of Dewa have presented Indonesia's youth with a stark choice, and one easy for the vast majority to answer: Do they want to join the army of jihad, or the army of love? In response, numerous radical Muslim groups have accused Dhani -- who is a devout Sufi, or mystically inclined Muslim -- of being an infidel, an apostate (code words inciting violence) and a Zionist agent. They have hauled him into court on charges of defaming Islam and seek to ban his use of rock music to promote a spiritual and progressive interpretation of Islam that threatens the appeal of their own Wahhabi-inspired extremism.
Yet rather than be intimidated, Dhani recently announced to the Indonesian press his plan to launch another "ideological smart bomb" -- in the form of a song that uses the revelatory tone of the Koran to declare: "Truth dwells in the hearts of those who love and are free of hatred; the hearts of those who hate . . . are possessed by Satan."
Dhani and his group are on the front lines of a global conflict, defending Islam from its fanatical hijackers. In a world all too often marred by hatred and violence committed in the name of religion, they seek to rescue an entire generation from Wahhabi-financed extremists whose goal is to transform Muslim youth into holy warriors and suicide bombers. For every young Indonesian seduced by the ideology of hatred and fanaticism -- including those responsible for the recent, awful attacks in Bali -- countless others see through the extremists' web of lies and hatred, in no small part thanks to the visionary courage of people like Ahmad Dhani. For as they listen to Dewa's music, the hearts of millions of young Indonesians have been inspired to declare: "No to the warriors of jihad! Yes to the warriors of love!"
Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid is a former president of Indonesia. From 1984 to 1999 he headed Nadhlatul Ulama, the world's largest Muslim organization, with nearly 40 million members. C. Holland Taylor is chairman and chief executive of Libforall Foundation, a nonprofit that works to reduce religious extremism and discredit the use of terrorism. Dhani serves on the foundation's board. The authors can be reached atmedia@libforall.org.
Finger Acrobatics Performed by Avloomat @ 4:09 PM,
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From Heavy Metal to the Hajj
Monday, August 21, 2006
This is an interview conducted by the Egypt Times earlier this year with Paul Di'Anno, former Iron Maiden vocalists.
April 2006
A former Iron Maiden vocalist shows that one can be politically active, religiously observant — and a rock ‘n roller
By David Lee Wilson
Redemption: in its true and pure form, it’s as rare as hen’s teeth, and those who have it are truly blessed. Few know that as well as heavy-metal music legend Paul DiAnno, a man now on the road to righteousness who hasn’t completely left all of his old ways to the past.
Having achieved his greatest fame as a member of the iconic British rock group Iron Maiden, DiAnno lived the life of a rock-star to the hilt. Sex, drugs, violence and the fulfillment of his wildest desires was pleasing for a time, but ultimately proved a hollow pursuit. Though he wasn’t specifically searching for an alternative to his decadent ways, DiAnno stumbled upon what has been, for him, a much better way.
Paul DiAnno embraced Islam some 15 years ago, and has since endeavored to reshape his life. Drugs and drink are out and the singer is far less likely to be found using his voice to summon demons than he is world-leaders in his effort to battle poverty, injustice and disease.
Though there is obviously much more to Paul DiAnno than a back catalog of heavy-metal classics — “Running Free,” “Wrathchild,” and “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” amongst the platinum sellers — he hasn’t fully abandoned his music. DiAnno still performs 200 concerts a year and has literally brought his music and message to the farthest reaches of the globe.
Egypt Today caught up with DiAnno during a rare break as he was wandering the United Kingdom’s Salisbury Plain, where he lives amongst a small group of British Muslims. Excerpts from our discussion:
Egypt Today: It seems you have entered a particularly productive phase in your career.
Paul DiAnno: I just had a month off and it was the first month off from work in four years. After the second week of it I wanted to kill everybody, so it was back to work for me! [laughs] We are going back to Russia at the end of the month and that is going to be pretty nuts.
Egypt Today: Since we last spoke there has been a biography out with your life story
No, I’m not quite dead yet! I have a few more bits to get on with yet, but I have changed my lifestyle so much now that it is nowhere near as bad as it was in the book.
I only agreed to do [the book] because all of the proceeds go to a cancer charity that I sponsor.
Egypt Today: Have you lost someone to cancer?
Yes, several actually. My Nana died of cancer, then my keyboard player in Battlezone, Attila, we lost him three years ago, and that is what made me decide to have a go at doing something about it.
Egypt Today: You do other charity and community service work as well, don’t you?
It has taken a lot of time, so much time, in fact, that it finally dawned on me that I don’t have enough money to do it all on my own. I need some help and dealing with these kinds of things, particularly in Brazil [DiAnno splits his time between Brazil and England]. It takes so much time to get everything together, chase it all down and then try and tour as well, so I just can’t do it all by myself.
I am going back home to Brazil in May. I haven’t been there since December, when we did a couple of shows there and met with the president.
He kept saying “Yeah, yeah, yeah” to everything, but he hasn’t gotten back to me yet, so maybe he needs a kick to nudge him on! [laughs] It will take some effort to get the permits and the premises and everything working, but it will come.
Egypt Today: Wait, this is the president, of Brazil?
Yes, Lula. Yeah, he is probably the second biggest Corinthian [the popular Brazilian football club] fan out there next to me! They had a quite productive year out there in South America last year really. I know what the American’s think of Hugo Chavez, but I actually think that he is a fantastic man. I played in Venezuela last year and I got a nice call from him that morning and had breakfast round the governor’s house as well, and by about one o’clock in the afternoon, I am talking to Fidel Castro, so I had a fantastic day!
Egypt Today: It seems as though you are becoming quite the political celebrity?
Oh no! The reason I did that was because I had hooked up with the wife of Hugo Chavez and we are going to do some stuff for the children’s foundation, and then we wanted to see if we could get something up and running in Havana as well. The foundation is affiliated with UNESCO, and a new office is open in Brazil, and I agreed to do that with the president.
Good old uncle Fidel asked if we wanted to go and play in Cuba! We are going to do that next year and we will probably be the only heavy-metal band that has ever done it.
Egypt Today:It seems like the only places you don’t tour is in America and the Middle East.
It is bloody difficult at the moment. With the last tour, it was the government in England that was the problem. We had that whole tour booked up, and when I left America 10 years ago it was all OK, but with 9/11 it has just been impossible for me to tour over there. It is just too much hassle for people in Europe to go to America. I think that America has been gripped by paranoia.
Egypt Today:The UK is having a bit of its own paranoia at the moment as well.
Yes. Let me tell you, it has been crazy. I was away in Denmark the other day and everything was just kicking off with the embassy over these stupid cartoons. I think that it is all down to freedom of speech, really.
They [fundamentalists] are condemning the Danish, but then are supporting these suicide bombers who say that they are going to blow up everybody that disagrees with them, and it is just nuts.
I mean, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and it seems what the Danish people did, OK, it was quite disgraceful, but that is the freedom of the press, isn’t it? If you piss people off, you suffer the consequences in some way, but not by blowing someone up!
They are all mad and I can’t deal with it. No one seems to be capable of sitting down and talking.
Egypt Today:As a Muslim, were you offended by the cartoons?
Yeah, very much so, but as I said, everyone has the freedom of choice to say what they want. It was bloody stupid, for sure. It was just somebody trying to be clever and they later realized that they did something really stupid. I don’t think that an embassy should be burnt down for it though. There were other people in those embassies, not the cartoonists. Innocent people are getting hurt and there is no need for that.
Egypt Today:Do you feel that this kind of reaction feeds into the general fear of Muslims in the West?
Yeah. I mean years ago the crusaders did some terrible things to Muslims, so it has been going on back and forth for centuries. There has got to be a better way, a way where everyone can sit down and talk, but everyone seems to be so jumpy that when one says something, then another says something else, and it all falls to pieces.
It’s mad and I am just trying to keep my head down and keep working on this children’s foundation and on my own kids; that is all I want to do.
Egypt Today:How did you come to embrace the teaching of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH)?
I turned to Islam 15 years ago. My ex-wife was a Muslim, and she said to me, “Don’t say anything, just read this,” and I read the Qur’an and some other literature.
I had always believed in God, but because you say that you are a Muslim, people in the West think that you are running around with a machine gun. Most Muslims are very peaceful people. I have always believed that if you believe in God and you get down on your knees to pray to God, then you should pray directly to God, you don’t have to go around the ‘Holy Mother’ and everybody else to get there. It just made more sense to me. I also cut out doing drugs. I firmly believe that God has kept on letting me do what I am doing because he thinks that I am finally writing about issues that matter.
I may be kidding myself, but that is what I believe.
Egypt Today:I know that you had been planning on performing the Hajj for some time, have you done it yet?
No. I have had only a little time off in four years and my wife and I broke up this year, so it has been really difficult. When I go back to Brazil my two daughters stay with me and things get busy, but I will get there one day for sure, insha’Allah. It is something that I must do and I have to do it before I die, but I don’t plan on dying just yet.
I was at the Wailing Wall a few years ago, but that is as close as I have come. You know, Jerusalem is a very important place to Muslims. I nearly got into a fight with some Israeli soldiers who were trying to stop me from going into a mosque there once.
Egypt Today:Why would they stop you from going in?
You have to go through this little market thing downstairs from the mosque that is run by both Jews and Arabs side-by-side, but there is a gate with soldiers there stopping Muslims from going in to pray. I finally managed to get in and went to afternoon prayers, but it was a hassle.
It was a real eye opener to see that there are people running around with machine guns in front of a mosque. I hope that they can work it out and live side-by-side in peace some day. I wasn’t always a peaceful person. I would be violent, but I am a different man now.
Egypt Today:Do you try and spread the teachings of Islam to non-Muslims?
Of course. My Qur’an goes everywhere with me. For those who are interested I have little pamphlets that I bring out with me. There is no mosque here in Salisbury, which is a shame because there are a few hundred of us here. They do have a Muslim foundation, though, and we meet and pray there often.
Egypt Today:I know that you haven’t performed in Egypt, but you do travel here?
Yeah, I like to go to Sharm El-Sheikh. I love traveling through the entire Middle East, really. There are some really cool things there, but some really un-cool things as well at the moment. All of these great things seem to come from there, the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and Jesus. There is something mystical about the land and I can’t work out really what it is, but I love going there. It is just a whole different world.
Egypt Today:Is it difficult to be a Muslim and live in the UK or Brazil?
No. I am really not in one place for too long though, am I? [laughs] When I do get a lot of time off, I usually go straight back to Brazil and I am a total recluse with my kids. I don’t do anything or go out anymore. I don’t drink or anything, so the craziest thing that I do these days is sit around with the kids and watch TV.
I am really boring now. [laughs]
Egypt Today:You are constantly recording. What is new?
I am having a bit of trouble writing at the moment. I just can’t seem to write when I am on the road. The thing that has really lifted my spirits, though, is knowing that there are some good things going on in South and Central America. That is the greatest thing going on in my life right now apart from my own children.
You know, there shouldn’t be one kid in the world who is not fed, clothed, educated or sheltered. If you took some of the money that you put into all of these useless gadgets, like tanks and bombs and things like that, we could feed all the people — they are the future after all.
We are just trying to get things up and running and I am just trying to do it in my part of the world the best that I can. et
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Dear Muslims,
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Dear Muslims…
First and foremost, I would like to congratulate you people (well not all but that minority) on establishing the notion that Islam is a religion of terror.
Secondly I would like to congratulate my dear fellow Muslims also that you have successfully construed the teachings of Prophet Muhammad.
When Prophet Muhammad established the Islamic State, he established a state that is based on justice and compassion, not one based on fear. The only thing he asked us to fear is ‘Allah’ which is for non-Arabic speakers translated as ‘The God’. That is not OUR god, that is not THEIR god, it is ‘The God’ that rules here and after. At the height Islamic Empires throughout the centuries (meaning up to the beginning of 20th Century, Ottoman empire), most of the major religions, i.e. Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, even Buddhism were considered as ‘People of the Book’. Which is why the churches in Jerusalem still exists. Which is why Jews were welcomed in the Abbasiad, Umayyad Caliphates and the Ottoman Empire, when they were OSTRACISED in mostly Catholic Europe. Which is also why, India is still largely a Hindu nation. Which is probably why THAT big statue of Buddha still remain after thousand of years, until THAT incident involving the Taliban. In other words past Muslims have tolerated the existence of non-Muslims. On top of that, let me say, non-Muslims DOES NOT equate NON-BELIEVERS. They DO believe in ‘THE GOD’. They pray to the same GOD that we do. I believe our way is the right way (but as they believe that theirs is), but WE are in no position to say that they are wrong. Most so called ‘non-believers’ nowadays do not believe due to Darwinism. Well partly. But that is another story altogether. I shall then not digress.
Do you remember that little Christian Ethiopian Kingdom that the Prophet sent some his followers to seek asylum? Yeah, right… ignore THAT fact.
Do you remember the remaining THREE Jewish clans that COOPERATED with Muhammad’s Medina government? Yeah, ignore that fact.
Do you remember when Khalifah Umar’s present to the Catholic community that Catholics were given the free passage to the holy land of Jerusalem? Yeah ignore that fact…
All you want to do is kill, kill, kill…fine obliterate everyone. Obliterate everyone till there is no one in the world. It’s beginning to sound like a small world after all.
Nevertheless, let me tell you… WE are supposed to save everyone… I mean everyone… not only the ones with turbans and beards… (so does that mean those greek orthodox priest are included… and ZZ Top?) It is supposed to be a just, compassionate, and peaceful society. Does not matter whether it is an autocratic or democratic society… if the government is just, then it is. That is what matters, my dear people…
Which brings me to the next most important topic.
If you live in someone else’s country, your first duty as A MUSLIM is to adhere to the laws of that country, as long as it is in line with the Muslim Laws. As far as I am concerned, only Communist Soviet Union is probably closest to being anti-Islam. But it is strange that many Muslim countries subscribe to the Soviet ideology. If you do not like Sunday sessions, no one is asking you to… if you do not want to subscribe to sodomy, no one is forcing you to… I think Australia’s law pertaining to law and inheritance is more just than many practicing so called Islamic Nations…
And please, people… GOD’S LAW is NOT cast in stone…you know, Charlton Heston’s Moses, lightning striking the stone and magnificiently wrote the Ten Commandments. I mean, no doubt the fundamentals were laid by our beloved Prophet but much of it was developed over the centuries by the subsequent governments as the problems got sophisticated. So read your histories please…
Basically, let me say, a big fuck you and thank you for making my life and millions others so difficult you narrow-minded bastards!!!!
SHAME ON YOU!!!!
Finger Acrobatics Performed by Avloomat @ 11:32 AM,
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