According to an article published in the English language "Brazzil
Magazine" on June 1, 2006, free copies of the Koran were
distributed by Muslim academics, to the Sao Paulo Trade
Association, Sao Paulo State University and the Sao Paulo City
Council. Thousands more copies will be distributed to other
Brazilian institutions, courtesy of the Saudi Embassy.
The Koran is the central guiding text of Islam. It is regarded
by Muslims as the unalterable word of God (Allah), given piecemeal
in Arabic, to Islam's founder, Mohammad, over about a 20 year
period in the early 7 th Century. The actual text was finalized,
and all competing versions banned, by Mohammad's immediate
successor.
On its face the Koran donation in Brazil seems to be an
ordinary cultural exchange to expand knowledge of Islam. However,
pure cultural exchanges are based upon mutual respect and
reciprocity. There is no evidence that Brasil, or any other
non-Muslim country, is allowed corresponding rights by Muslim
governments. Furthermore, the Koran is being freely donated
without any thing or idea actually being exchanged. Gifts, whether
religious or from corporations, are intended to promote an idea or
sell a product. Furthermore, gifts given by governments usually
have a political motive, thus making it necessary to question the
donor's motives and beliefs.
Equally disquieting is why a secular Brazilian state university
and the Sao Paulo City Council are receiving copies of the Koran
at all. It is difficult to see the connection or relevance between
these bodies and Islam, or for that matter any religion.
The Koran distribution in Brasil is in fact not an isolated
event but part of an ongoing effort by Muslim activists to spread
Islam in non-Muslim countries. Orthodox Islamic teaching divides
the world into two mutually exclusive camps; the house of peace or
"Dar al-Islam" and the abode of war, "Dar al-Harb", as represented
by the "infidels", especially the West. It is a fundamental tenet
of Islam to bring "infidel" nations under its religious and
political control. This relentless belief has driven Islamic
expansion since Islam began in 7th Century Arabia. In the past
Islamic domination was brought about by the sword, however, in the
modern era, Islam's "soft power" and demographics are just as
effective.
Islam's soft power is largely based on petro-dollars. After the
1973 oil price hike raised Arab, and in particular Saudi, wealth
to staggering levels, part of that money was targeted for the
expansion of Sunni Islam in the West and Asia. In the United
States, for example, the majority of mosques have been constructed
with Saudi money. In fact, many of the preachers or imams at these
mosques are also appointed by the Saudi religious establishment.
Mosques aside, Saudi and other Muslim money has also been busy
financing Islamic studies Departments at American universities.
Georgetown University even has a center for Muslim-Christian
Understanding which was funded by and named after one of the
world's wealthiest men, Alwaleed bin Talal – a member of the Saudi
ruling elite and also a close friend and business partner of
ex-President George H. W. Bush.
In the face of Islamic expansionism, "infidel" countries, such
as Brasil, before allowing their institutions to accept free
Korans, should be asking basic questions about the underlying
Islamic agenda. Of course Brasil is no stranger to religious
infiltration; American evangelicals have been busy reducing
Catholic influence there for decades. However, as opposed to
Islam, there is reciprocity and relative openness with evangelism;
Catholics are free to practice and preach in the U.S. and other
western countries. This is not the case with Islam. While the
Saudis feel entitled to finance the spread of Islam in the West,
they allow no reciprocal rights to other faiths. Saudi Arabia
acting under the dictate of the Koran and Islamic law bans the
practice of any faith other than Islam. In virtually every Islamic
nation, non-Muslim minorities occupy second-class status and live
in fear and insecurity. Under Islamic Shariah law, a non-Muslim
may not even testify against a Muslim. Therefore, while Muslims
ceremoniously donate the Koran in Brazil, Muslim countries offer
no rights, or second-class citizenship at best, to non-Muslim
minorities.
Before well-meaning Brazilian intellectuals and politicians
accept free copies of the Koran, they need to ponder over these
moral and human rights contradictions and ask some difficult
questions. Countries like Saudi Arabia, which exploit western
liberalism and have the gall to donate Korans in Brasil, should be
stopped and challenged over their treatment of non-Muslims. Would
Saudi Arabia allow, for example, Brazilian bishops to donate the
Christian bible in Mecca? No and since it never will, why then
does Brazil extend this right to Islam? The courage to ask these
questions requires setting aside the culture of political
correctness and moral relativity that pervades the western liberal
intelligentsia. Western passivity in the face of Islam's soft
power makes a mockery of all concepts of universal human rights
and equality.
It is an urgent matter of self respect and self preservation
that the people of Brasil, and the West in general, ask these
critical questions instead of allowing intellectually dishonest
academics and self-serving politicians to jeopardize their
country's political and cultural well-being.