Why Iranian Mullahs helped the US install the Shah and then turned against him?, Islam and Politics, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and Politics

Why Iranian Mullahs helped the US install the Shah and then turned against him?

In August 1953, the CIA organized a coup, which overthrew Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh. Iran’s foremost democratic leader. Mossadegh had nationalized the oil which was controlled by the Anglo Iranian Oil Company (now BP), instituted free elections, allowed full freedom of the press, and made a minor land reform and other progressive and democratic reforms. The U.S. helped the Shah to consolidate his dictatorship after the coup. This coup ensured the hostility of Iranian democrats who were brutally repressed since.

The communists were already hostile to the U.S., but this coup and the continued American support for the Shah provided fertile environment for them to spread their ideas and recruit members and supporters.

Despite the propaganda by Islamic fundamentalists, the hostility of the conservative religious forces against Americans was not due to the 1953 coup. Actually, Islamic fundamentalist forces were among the groups that were either mobilized by the CIA and the Shah supporters for the coup, or publicly supported the Shah after the coup. The fundamentalists opposed Mossadegh and collaborated with the CIA in 1953 as well as with the subsequent regime until 1961. Among those who closely worked with the CIA and the Shah during and after the coup are: Ayatollah Abolqassem Kashani, Kashani’s son who was one of the very first persons who talked at Radio Tehran as soon as it was captured by the coup plotters, Ayatollah Mohammad Behbahani, Hojatolislam Mohammad Taqi Falsafi, and Grand Ayatollah Brujerdi.1

http://newageislam.com/why-iranian-mullahs-helped-the-us-install-the-shah-and-then-turned-against-him?----/islam-and-politics/d/1249

Did Prophet Mohammad Exist? German Muslim Academic Questions Muhammad's Existence

Did Prophet Mohammad Exist? German Muslim Academic Questions Muhammad's Existence

The final argument is even more awful because it can only be described as cowardly. Religious fundamentalists are spreading out (not only Islamic fundamentalist) and freedom of thought must be defended no matter what. There must not be any compromise on this otherwise we set the track for a retreat into the Middle Ages and this can happen much faster than many people think.

My position with regard to the historical existence of Muhammad is that I believe neither his existence nor his non-existence can be proven. I, however, lean towards the non-existence but I don't think it can be proven. It is my impression that, unless there are some sensational archeological discoveries -- an Islamic "Qumran" or "Nag Hammadi" -- the question of Muhammad's existence will probably never be finally clarified.

http://www.newageislam.com/did-prophet-mohammad-exist?-german-muslim-academic-questions-muhammad-s-existence/islamic-history/d/994

'Jihad is business for the Taliban'

'Jihad is business for the Taliban'

20 Aug 2008

The whole community and society is affected by the rise of fundamentalists. It's, of course, true that women are vulnerable in this process. They are seen as the symbol of the community. It is necessary to distinguish between what is attributed to the Quran, with regard to restrictions imposed in the name of religion, and what is social. Many of the restrictions have more to do with tribal customs, and these should not be imputed to the religion. This is especially so in the case of Pakistan's frontier areas.

http://www.newageislam.com/-jihad-is-business-for-the-taliban-/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/604

Sultan Shahin battling Petrodollar Islam, says Mohammad Wajihuddin of Times News Network

Mr. Mohammad Wajihuddin of Times News Network quotes Sultan Shahin, the Editor of liberal Islamic website New Age Islam as saying that he is battling Petrodollar Islam. In a write-up on the anti-fundamentalist website, he says: Virtual warrior Sultan Shahin takes on Muslim fundamentalists through his website NewAgeIslam.com.

He describes his titanic struggle against the fundamentalists of all hues and Islam-supremacists in the following words: “Son of a maulvi, Shahin grew up in a village in the backwaters of Aurangabad in Bihar, and remembers the many nights, he, along with his five siblings, went to bed hungry as his father fell ill and later died, leaving the responsibility of supporting the family on Shahin’s young shoulders. While studying in a college in Patna, he worked part-time for a couple of local Urdu dailies. Shahin later landed up in London as editor of Asia Times, a weekly owned by one Arif Ali of Indian origin. A decade or so in England, he says, gave him great experience “as it exposed me to different strains of Islam and Muslims”. Like, once at a friend’s house in Nottingham, he heard a 20-year-old Muslim extolling the virtues of Ahle Hadees, a sect which propagates puritanical Islam. Shahin asked the boy the treatment he would prescribe for those Muslims who didn’t follow the Ahle Hadees sect. “Kill them,” said the young fanatic in a cold-blooded tone. “It really disturbed me. The boy had apparently been influenced by radical organisations like Al Mohajirun and Hizb-ut-Tehrir. Thousands of young Muslims had been brainwashed by incendiary preacher Omar Bakri who commanded the following that saints do,” recalls Shahin. “I knew it would not take long before the fires of fanatic Islam reached the Indian subcontinent and consumed our youth.” ... Read More