Saturday, July 30, 2005

ISLAMIC DELUSION

Let us take just a moment to list some recent examples of delusion, denial, paranoia, and projection in Islam that were in the news in just the past two weeks. It will be illuminating.

LEADING CLERIC RAILS AT INJUSTICE OF MUSLIM BASHING
Money quote: Mohammad Naseem, the chairman of the city's central mosque, called Tony Blair a "liar" and "unreliable witness" and questioned whether CCTV footage issued of the suspected bombers was of the perpetrators.

He said that Muslims "all over the world have never heard of an organisation called al-Qa'eda".


SAUDI PRINCE SAYS ZIONISM RESPONSIBLE FOR ATTACKS
Money quote:Last month, an attack on contractors at the Saudi oil facility in Yanbu killed six Westerners, two of them Americans. Senior Saudi officials told the world al-Qaida terrorists were to blame and al-Qaida claimed responsibility.

But tape obtained by NBC News reveals that, inside Saudi Arabia, on Saudi television, Crown Prince Abdullah told a strikingly different story about who was to blame.

NBC News translated Abdullah's remarks from Arabic: “Zionism is behind it. It has become clear now. It has become clear to us. I don’t say, I mean... It is not 100 percent, but 95 percent that the Zionist hands are behind what happened.”

Other senior Saudi officials reaffirmed the claim that supporters of Israel — Zionists — were behind the terror attacks.

Prince Nayef, the Saudi Interior Minister said, “Al-Qaida is backed by Israel and Zionism.”


LEBANESE GENERAL ON HIZBULLAH TV: "GLOBAL ZIONISM" BEHIND LONDON BOMBINGS AND 9/11"
Money quote: Several Egyptian "security experts" and "political analysts" interviewed by Arab TV stations after the Sharm e-Sheikh bombings on Saturday claimed that Israel and Jews were behind the carnage.

The accusations were made despite a claim of responsibility by a group citing ties to al-Qaida, according to a statement posted on an Islamic Web site.


EGYPT SUSPECTS ISRAEL OF HOTEL BOMBINGS
Money quote: But in his sermon Friday, he said the "evil phenomenon" of terrorism "stems from the policy of arrogance (by the United States and Israel)."

At a small mosque in Cairo's Heliopolis suburb, the Friday preacher appealed to his congregation, trying to explain the proper meaning of "jihad" - a word often translated as "holy war" but more broadly meant as a "struggle" for Islam against oppression.


IRAN NEWS AGENCY SAYS ISRAEL BEHIND IRAQ AND LONDON BOMBINGS
Money quote: A news agency run by the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed that Israel was “using the mask of Al-Qaeda and [Abu Musab] Zarqawi to hunt down diplomats based in Iraq” and that “the London bombings were also part of the mischief by Israel”.

“Israel is now in control of religious extremists, particularly the Wahabis and the Salafis, in Arabia and North Africa”, it claimed.


LEBANESE MUFTI DR.MUHAMMAD ALI AL-JOZO: 9/11, LONDON ATTACKS BY U.S. OR ZIONISTS --NOT BIN LADEN
Money quote: Al-Jozo: "America and Israel... There is no doubt that Israel plays a major role in distorting the image of Islam. Even in London – I said that Zionists are involved in that operation – they want to distort the image of Islam in Britain and Europe, and to drive a wedge between Muslims and the West. This is obvious.

What really is obvious is that there are many leaders and followers of Islam who are living in a paranoid delusion of massive proportions.

Ask yourself what function a delusion like this serves for the user--what painful truths it serves to cover up, and what unacceptable thoughts or feelings it disguises--and you will understand why both paranoia and denial are powerful and immature/psychotic psychological defense mechanisms that are completely out of touch with reality.

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