Chechnya: door-to-door sermons for restaurant owners who do not close for Ramadan

From Asia News:

Muslim religious authorities set up a special commission to visit cafés and eateries to lecture on the importance of respecting Islamic principles, and close down during the day on Ramadan. Experts and observers discuss the initiative; some groups with special needs are not required to fast.

Moscow (AsiaNews) – Cafés and eateries that are staying open during the day in Chechnya are poised for a visit by a special commission set up to raise awareness about Ramadan. According to Muslim authorities, door-to-door sermons will remind people of the need to adhere strictly to the precepts of fasting and abstinence, this according to Chechen Mufti Sultan Mirzayev, who is concerned that some people in the predominantly Muslim autonomous republic do not observe one of the fundamental principles of Islam.

The cleric did acknowledge though that owners of dining places usually apologise to the members of the visiting special awareness commission for being open, thanking them for their trouble. Some have even shut down their establishments in the daytime.

Ramadan is the ninth month on the Islamic calendar and is marked by dawn to dusk fasting. Compelling restaurants and other such places to close has led to a public debate across Russia.

According to the deputy chairman of Russia’s Mufti Council (Muftiyat), Imam Ildar Aljautdinov, what is happening in Chechnya cannot be applied to other Russian regions with a Muslim population. 

In his opinion, each region is unique, and local religious leaders must accordingly decide what is best in regards to their community. For example, in Tatarstan or in the northern Caucasus, it would be unfair to propose such an initiative since most people are not religiously observant, the imam said.

Consider the following information. There are generalizations for the purpose of simple analysis. But, while generalizations may often seem to be the enemy of rational argument, think about this question: Are there any cases in the world, or in the history of the world, where the following is NOT true?

Adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond's book: Slavery, Terrorism & Islam: Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat.

When politically correct, tolerant, and culturally diverse societies agree to Muslim demands for their religious privileges, some of the other components tend to creep in as well. Here's how it works. As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given country, they will be for the most part be regarded as a peace-loving minority, and not as a threat to other citizens. This is the case in:

United States — Muslim 0.6%
Australia — Muslim 1.5%
Canada — Muslim 1.9%
China — Muslim 1.8%
Italy — Muslim 1.5%
Norway — Muslim 1.8%

At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs. This is happening in:

Denmark — Muslim 2%
Germany — Muslim 3.7%
United Kingdom — Muslim 2.7%
Spain — Muslim 4%
Thailand — Muslim 4.6%

From 5% on, they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population. For example, they will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature halal on their shelves — along with threats for failure to comply. This is occurring in:

France — Muslim 8%
Philippines — Muslim 5%
Sweden — Muslim 5%
Switzerland — Muslim 4.3%
The Netherlands — Muslim 5.5%
Trinidad & Tobago — Muslim 5.8%

At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves (within their ghettos) under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islamists is to establish Sharia law over the entire world.

When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. In Paris , we are already seeing car-burnings. Any non-Muslim action offends Islam, and results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam , with opposition to Mohammed cartoons and films about Islam. Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections, in:

Guyana — Muslim 10%
India — Muslim 13.4%
Israel — Muslim 16%
Kenya — Muslim 10%
Russia — Muslim 15%

After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues, such as in:

Ethiopia — Muslim 32.8%

At 40%, nations experience widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks, and ongoing militia warfare, such as in:

Bosnia — Muslim 40%
Chad — Muslim 53.1%
Lebanon — Muslim 59.7%

From 60%, nations experience unfettered persecution of non-believers of all other religions (including non-conforming Muslims), sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon, and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels, such as in:

Albania — Muslim 70%
Malaysia — Muslim 60.4%
Qatar — Muslim 77.5%
Sudan — Muslim 70%

After 80%, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad, some State-run ethnic cleansing, and even some genocide, as these nations drive out the infidels, and move toward 100% Muslim, such as has been experienced and in some ways is on-going in:

Bangladesh — Muslim 83%
Egypt — Muslim 90%
Gaza — Muslim 98.7%
Indonesia — Muslim 86.1%
Iran — Muslim 98%
Iraq — Muslim 97%
Jordan — Muslim 92%
Morocco — Muslim 98.7%
Pakistan — Muslim 97%
Palestine — Muslim 99%
Syria — Muslim 90%
Tajikistan — Muslim 90%
Turkey — Muslim 99.8%
United Arab Emirates — Muslim 96%

100% will usher in the peace of 'Dar-es-Salaam' — the Islamic House of Peace. Here there's supposed to be peace, because everybody is a Muslim, the Madrasses are the only schools, and the Koran is the only word, such as in:

Afghanistan — Muslim 100%
Saudi Arabia — Muslim 100%
Somalia — Muslim 100%
Yemen — Muslim 100%

Unfortunately, peace is never achieved, as in these 100% states the most radical Muslims intimidate and spew hatred, and satisfy their blood lust by killing less radical Muslims, for a variety of reasons.

"Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; the tribe against the world, and all of us against the infidel."
— Leon Uris, "The Haj"

It is important to understand that in some countries, with well under 100% Muslim populations, such as France, the minority Muslim populations live in ghettos, within which they are 100% Muslim, and within which they live by Sharia Law. The national police do not even enter these ghettos. There are no national courts nor schools nor non-Muslim religious facilities. In such situations, Muslims do not integrate into the community at large. The children attend madrasses. They learn only the Koran. To even associate with an infidel is a crime punishable with death. Therefore, in some areas of certain nations, Muslim Imams and extremists exercise more power than the national average would indicate.

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Closing down all eateries during the day would also not take into consideration that some groups are exempt, namely pregnant and breast-feeding women, children and the sick.

“Even in countries like Saudi Arabia, some restaurants are open for non-Muslim,” Igor Bucharov, president of the Restaurant Owners Federation, told Echo of Moscow radio.

In Chechnya, the local population is also not very happy. “Observance of all religious prescriptions is certainly a duty of every Muslim,” Saikhan T., a local resident, is quoted as saying in Caucasian Knot (Кавказский Узел), a local website. 

“I think however every person should have the right to choose. Based on his actions, God will judge him. The authorities instead should not act as the defenders of religion,” he added.

More broadly, door-to-door sermons are part of a strategy pursued by Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov (pictured) to impose his version of “Chechnya’s traditional Islam”. 

This includes firing imams who are not loyal to his regime as well as sending black-clad men from the president’s Centre for Moral and Spiritual Education into the streets to remind people of the evil of alcohol, spread the word about the right Islam, and verbally and physically attack women who do not cover their heads.

Recently, Kadyrov has proposed changes to the title of the chief executives of Russia’s federated entities (republics, krais and oblasts), with that of ‘Father of the Nation’ or even better, ‘Imam’, for himself. The title of President would instead be reserved for the head of the Russian Federation.