AN IRISH CONVERT to Islam has told Metro Éireann that any Muslim with the opportunity to kill Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who drew the Prophet Muhammad as a dog, is obliged to do so.
Former nurse Abu Usuma – who told participants at the protest outside the Belgian embassy in Dublin that the country’s proposed veil ban will be “counterproductive” – later elaborated to Metro Éireann that under Islam, practicing Muslim men would be permitted to “fight” any individual “dishonouring his wife by telling her to take it off”.
Usuma, who has worked in Saudi Arabia, went further by saying that any Muslim with the opportunity of killing controversial cartoonist Lars Vilks would be compelled to commit the act.
“The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said if somebody insults me, kill him,” he told Metro Éireann. “He didn’t say slap his face, he said kill him – if he insults his honour badly, which was done with the cartoons.
Usama continued: “In Islamic jurisprudence, if anyone is capable they have an obligation to kill this man. There were people arrested in Ireland for [allegedly] conspiring to kill this man; they were arrested for conspiring to fulfil their duty in Islam.”
– Catherine Reilly
Amnesty condemns French proposal to ban full-face veils
AMNESTY International’s Ireland section has spoken out against the proposed full-face veil ban in France.
Last week the French government approved the relevant legislation, despite a warning from France’s Council of State – the country’s highest legal advisory body – that an outright ban on veils would be unconstitutional.
The bill must now be approved by the country’s parliament.
Breach of the law would be punishable by a €150 fine and/or the requirement to complete a community rehabilitation programme.
Noeleen Hartigan, programmes director for Amnesty International’s Ireland section, commented: “A complete ban on the covering of the face would violate the rights to freedom of expression and religion of those women who wear the burqa or niqab in public as an expression of their identity or beliefs.”
The French government has argued that the ban is necessary for public safety and to protect women from being pressured into wearing full-face veils.
“Legitimate security concerns can be met by targeted restrictions on the complete covering of the face in well-defined high risk locations,” said Hartigan.
“For those women who are being coerced into wearing full face veils, the ban means they will either face punishment if they go out in public – or more likely, they will be confined to their homes.”
