Archive for June, 2010

En pønker av Allahs nåde

Written by admin
Wednesday, 30 June 2010 12:28
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Intervju med Klassekampen

Hvordan er det egentlig å være muslim i Norge?

(trykk på bildet for å få full størrelse)

The English version:

Nobody reacted when Per Yousef Assidiq had Mohawk, but when he took on the kufi, it was chaos.

A punker of Allahs forgiveness.

Trouble: He have gotten a lot of trouble since he converted. From his parents, Islamhating norwegians and Irfan Bhatti

Conflicts and trouble have followed the loudmouth Per Yousef Assidiq (former Per Bartho Hansen) since he was born on 11th of september 1998 (correction: 1988). Two years old, he got diagnosed with ADHD, and have through all his childhood been hyperactive. He’ve learnt several music instruments, played in a punkband, walked with mohawk and read a lot of literature of life-values. From his parents he learnt about Jesus, he used to like reading the Bible, but in the end of this teens he found the Qur’an. As a serious socialist and feminist he started to question imams and “guiders” on Islam.no with Qur’an verses he was critical towards. Discussions went into conversations. Those were increased when he found more Muslim friends in Socialistic Youth (political party). As time went by, he got certain on his call. The date he choose were Friday, 13th of February, 2009.

Prays five times a day

- My first question was: Do I have to pray Salat-ul-Fajr every day? It’s 03:30, says Per Yousef Assidiq

He have just told us that he take the practice of his religion seriously, and that it helps him focus on the important things in life. Even though waking up early is sometimes tough, he manage through.

More and more Norwegians choose to convert to Islam. Religion historian Kari Vogt estimated around 1.000 converts in 2006. Since then have over a hundred found their ways to the biggest mosques in Norway, which suggests that the estimate should be adjusted.

In a new miniseries Klassekampen asks tree different converts to Islam about what made them join a religion with such a bad reputation, and which tendencies is related to Norwegian Islam today.

- I used to wear a Mohawk on the buss, nobody reacted to it. But at once I started wearing Kufi, suddenly everyone stared at me. When I became a punker it was to make uproar. I searched towards Islam to clam down and find the values that was important for me in life. Despite of the thought, it was first after the convention the worst chaos began, says Per Yousef Assidiq to Klassekampen.

Good friend with Mohyeldeen

- I was ready to convert three months before I did it. I waited because I was scared of the reactions from my parents.

Maybe they would throw me out, maybe they would never speak to me again?

When he went on the train to Tønsberg and his childhood home on Nøtterøy after he had been in the Rabita-mosque in Oslo and converted, he had already arranged a place to sleep in Oslo, in case his parents threw him out.

- I told them during the dinner. First they just sat there staring at me. Then my father stood up and started shouting at me. I was relived. He at least talked to me. When he was done, I thought: He didn’t say anything about throwing me out, I can live with this.

- What was it about your choice to become a Muslim, that your parents reacted to?

- The religion, simple as that. They have watched TV, like the rest of us. Suicide bombers and all that. After the worst shock had passed, they were afraid of the environment and which friends I would get. Thinking about everything that has happened, I can understand why they were worry initially, says Per Yousef Assidiq and he is aiming at all the chaos around the demonstration against Dagbladet (Norwegian Newspaper) and their printing of the drawing of Prophet Muhammed as a pig this winter. Then he got in the media highlight together with the young Sharia-student Mohyeldeen Mohammad, also he from Vestfold.

Have been reciving death threats

- Mohyeldeen was one of the first I got to know after I converted. We came in contact on Facebook, but both him and his dad are often in the mosque of Tønsberg, so we have been a lot together there as well, says Per Yousef. Together with Irfan Bhatti, the two young men got involved with the planning of the demonstration 12th of February. Both held a speech on Universitetsplassen, but Mohyeldeen did something unexpected: He warned about a 11th of September in Norway. Some days later he also defended stoning of homosexuals in a interview with Klassekampen. Over night, the two buddies became famous all over the nation: Mohyeldeen becomes the beast and is hunted down as fresh meat by the journalists, whilst Per Yousef becomes the convert that take full distance from violence, and that always answers when the journalists call.

- How did this experience challenge your friendship?

- Already the same night as the demonstration, I told him that I was going against him. He fully understood that. He is very understanding and we respect each other, even though we disagree in much. I look at him as a good friend, and my mother knows that. Shes okay with it, even though she doesn’t like all he says. She trust me, that I can differ between being a Muslim, and being affected by extremism.

Not all see the difference.
To many Islam-hating Norwegians, Per Yousef is a traitor toward his country. He have gotten 300 death threats by letter, e-mail and phone.

PST on a visit (Norwegian FBI)

- It was a little like James Bond.

This is how Per Yousef describe his first meeting with PST. They showed up at his work some few months after he had converted, it was a “calm-down”-meeting. They had followed him on Facebook and seen that he was friend with Mohyeldeen and suchlike, as they already had in the spotlight.

- It’s typical that they visit converts. We have easy to become extreme, because we lack knowledge and because of that, we’re easy to mislead, says Per Yousef that knows a lot of young people who have been visited by PST after they have converted.

- Is it right of PST to do this?

- Its good that they scans the environment and is “before, rather than after”. The worst that can happen to us Muslims is that a bomb goes off in Norway. Then we can just move all together. The only thing I’m critical towards, is their diffuse press-conferences, where they give the impression of the threat level being higher than it is.

- Are they mistaken when they say that there are Radical Islam in Norway?

- There is nobody in Norway who is Terror-Radical, but a lot is practicing their religion strictly. There are two extremes in Islam. Those who goes into an extreme direction in their way of practicing their religion personally, and those who aggregate. The last type at least I haven’t met, and if I do  meet one, I will contact PST directly.

Young protest against music

Per Yousef knows only Mohyeldeen Mohammad and Irfan Bhatti, which have expressed support to terror. He looks at Mohyeldeen as a sofa-jihadist that never will make actions of his words. And even though Bhatti have been convicted for terror earlier, Per Yousef doesn’t think that he will go through with plans like that.

- Irfan Bhatti is among those who practice their religion strictly. He is of that impression that music is illegal. After I went public in Aftenposten (Norwegian Newspaper) with plans of making a Muslim punkband, he told me to stay away from him.

Nothing of what Per Yousef have done, have made as when he stood forth as a Muslim punker. More than 500 angry Facebook messages, flooded in on his Facebook profile from young Muslims.

- It’s their choice if they don’t want to listen to music, but I want them to respect that I choose to do it, says Per Yousef, that got support from Mohyeldeen Mohammad when the punkdiscussions went on like worst.

- He was of that opinion that people should remember all the good I’ve done for Islam, and not get stuck on the punk stuff.

Norwegian punk-intifada

Punk is large among Muslim Youth in the USA, and is called Taqwacore. Around Christmas times, Per Yousef hope to book one or more of the Taqwacore-bands to Norway. He and some others also have plans to make their own punkband. They’ll just jump straight out in it, when they are ready.

- I believe it can be a very exciting band, that can break barriers, says Per Yousef.

The band have already gotten the name Intifada, and have 184 fans on Facebook, without them having a single concert.

So far it is the values and intentions of the band which appeal to the masses: They want to make uproar against the authorities that misuse Islam and to shake away violence, woman suppression, and other things that destroys the religion they love. In difference from Taqwacore, they are defining themselves as Muslim Punkers, and not Islamic Punk, just to emphasize that they don’t make uproar against their religion, but the culture and the political part of it.

- Why is it so controversial among the Muslim Youth of Norway?

- It isn’t the message in itself thats controversial. They are provoked by Muslims playing in a band.

-How long have it been controversial for Muslims to make music?

- Not that long. You can say that IslamNet have raised the level, and make it more normal to practice more strict. A lot of young people is attracted by the strictness. I believe its better to join IslamNet, than to join some criminal gang, I feel it’s positive, even though they make my life full of critique. They don’t like me being so active in the society and politics.

Per Yousef tells that there are ideology discussions all the time, not so different from the left-side in the politics.

- It’s maybe typical for a active growing youth to challenge the already established organisations, like Islamsk Råd?

- What happends now, is that the youth is defining themselves. When we were planning the demonstrations against Dagbladet, we also discussed if we were rallying against Islamsk Råd as well.

Will never conquer Norway

- IslamNet talks a lot about clearing up in misconceptions of Islam. What would you say is the biggest misconception?

- That we are taking over Norway. If we would try, it would just end in chaos and discussions, we are so different.

- The worst people can do against us Muslims is actually to stop criticizing us, because then we’ll start criticizing each other. Media is doing us a huge favor by keeping the pressure up, says Per Yousef and laugh in his beard.

 

Viktig!: Den som tier samtykker, gjør du?

Written by admin
Tuesday, 29 June 2010 17:36
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(VG Nett) siterte 28.06.2010 en status oppdatering fra Facebook, som ble laget i forbindelse med drapene på de 4 norske soldatene i Afghanistan.

«ALLAHU AKBAR! Norske terrorister drept i Afghanistan! Alhamdulillah, lovpriset være Allah, dette skal feires!»

De ringte da naturligvis til flere muslimer i Norge (de samme som alltid) og lurte på hva vår umiddelbare reaksjon var når vi hørte slikt, og reaksjonen var noenlunde den samme. Vi var imot det, og selv om vi ikke nødvendigvis støtter krigen i Afghanistan, eller i Irak. Så ønsker vi heller ikke at mennesker skal dø, uansett hvilken bakgrunn de måtte ha.

Jeg argumenterte også lenge med journalisten om dette via epost i ettertid av telefonsamtalen, siden jeg mente det var utrolig dårlig journalistikk, det å legge ut denne saken – og det var så tydelig at den blir brukt til å øke oppslutningen rundt deres egen nettside, at det er vel knapt nok noen som kan være uenig i dette…

I mine øyne, og også mange andre sine – Så har VG i denne artikkelen, og i videre artikler om denne saken, bevisst satt fokus på en sak de visste ville være polariserende og stigmatiserende for muslimer i Norge – De valgte allikevel å trykke den.

Min mening ble da:

- Man skal aldri glede seg over at noen har dødd

Også den norske konvertitten Yousef Assidiq, som var initiativtaker til karikaturdemonstrasjonen i Oslo i februar i år, tar sterk avstand fra uttalelsen til Mohammad på Facebook.

- En ting er at folk må få lov til å være uenig i at norske styrker opererer i Afghanistan. Men man skal aldri glede seg over at noen har dødd, sier Assidiq til VG Nett.

Han avviser at norske soldater i Afghanistan blir sett på som terrorister som fortjener å komme hjem i kiste.

- Hver får stå for sine egne uttalelser. Hvis han mener dette er en utbredt oppfatning blant muslimer i Norge, tar han feil. Reaksjonen på dette hos muslimer er som i resten av samfunnet ellers – at det er trist, sier han.

Ikke la deg bli diktert!

Når noen sier slikt i media, så antar alle at det er meningen til alle muslimer i Norge. Det gamle ordtaket “den som tier, den samtykker”, det gjelder i denne situasjonen.

Det er på tide at vi snakker for oss selv, og ikke lar andre prate for oss. For disse uttalelsene ødelegger for muslimer i Norge, og det er en gavepakke til fremmedhatere og politikere som spiller på frykt.

Kom med ditt standpunkt, ikke bare lat som du ikke bryr deg, og tro at denne saken bare går over, for den vil komme tilbake igjen, som alltid. Det er på tide at vi tar kontrollen, og tar ordet. Start idag!

Skal man feire at noen er døde, selv om vi ikke liker dem? En krig kan aldri være morsom, festlig eller noe som helst. Vi burde heller gjøre Du’a om at krigen skal ta slutt, enn at flere skal dø. Hva mener dere?

Ikke la noen definere deg, definer deg selv!


 

Where is the love?

Written by admin
Monday, 14 June 2010 13:37
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I’ve been in quite some arguments lately, and some thoughts keeps circulating in my head, in my heart and in my soul. Where is the love?

We live in this world, and we are not alone, there are around 7 billion peoples living here with us.

What is wrong with the world, when the biggest surprise you can give another person, is to show some love? Our lies, are greater than the truth. How can we spread the truth, when all we do is – living in a lie?

This world, is not made for me, it’s not made for you, it’s not made for them, and it’s not made for those – This world is made for ALL OF US!

And, here comes the testimony of faith,

The biggest irony of all, is that we’re mostly better people than we pretend towards ourself and show verbally in conversations with others.

If you saw someone crash with their bike, and you were the first person at the scene, what would your first question be?

- What is your religion?
- Who is your Prophet, and can you tell me his whole history?
- What do you have to say about people doing bad things in the name of a faith shared by billions?

I doubt it, and I seriously hope that the first question would be,

- Are you okay? Let me look at that wound!
- Oh, this doesn’t look good, let me call 911.

So, why do we practice our daily life, differently from how we express it verbally, or while we chat online..

No matter which faith, or how we define our values in life, regardless if we believe in God, or if we believe in some icons, or if we just believe in ourself….

…there will be someone who disagree, there will be someone whom believes in the direct opposite.

Why do you think, that every human made unique?
Why do you believe that we’ve gotten the opportunity to control our own life – no strings attached – no remote control – no owner – no chains – no nothing?

…there will come a day, where we’ll be held responsible for our actions, good and bad – There are no justice in 2010, but there will come a day of justice, and there will come a day, a day where all lies are spread apart from the truth.

Never can a lie become the truth, so while we live our lives in a lie, all our good deeds become a part of it, so how can we accept to ourself – That we can define others, but not ourselves?

It all comes down to the beginning - Where is the love?

All we show is blunt arrogance, it’s more important to BE right, than to DO right.
…and when we do right, we complain when the favor isn’t returned.

We’ve been told since the early Greek Philosophers, and probably before that also, to have patience, because being patient is the biggest virtue. Even in Norwegian we have our saying ‘The one who waits for something good – Never waits for nothing’

And, now comes the important part:

We’re all ONE out of EVERYONE, no matter how rich you are, no matter how powerful you are, and no matter how famous you are – you can never be more than ONE.

If we can’t be greater in numbers, we can define our differences in other ways, and this is the problem in the world today. Everybody want to be greater than another, everybody want to excel each other in fame, materialistic goods and power.

From this day being, I don’t want to be defined as a muslim, from this day being I don’t want to be described as a Norwegian. From this day, and onwards, I want to be defined as a human being. A valued individual.

I will have my faith, and it will be the reason of my actions, and I want you all to judge me from my actions, not my imaginary intentions, and not my faith, not my nationality, and most of all, not from my color. I would wish that the whole world could look through my eyes, because I am colorblind.

While we argue about details, children are dying, elders are suffering, people are starving and other valued individual human beings like myself are driven out of their countries, all based on the lack of tolerance, the lack of universal respect for our differences.

In my eyes, the human kind of today, have sunk down to the bottom of the ocean in terms of moral, ethics and the view on our responsibility towards our neighbor and fellow humans of the world.

Today our focus on conflicts, injustice, the ongoing rotten reality of suffering among those 7 billion people we share the world with – is on who started it, who’s fault it were and how we best can punish them for their actions.

So, may I ask one more time – Where is the love?