DiiDii

Outstanding ~

We should all be armed. I am a middle aged woman and I am armed. Have been for some time. Please exercise your second amendment and arm yourself. Imagine being Australia or England and having no recourse.

Godspeed soldiers !!!

Well they moved promptly in this matter.. Good to know.

1132.81 1/22/2015 Thank you for the link ocdude.

Devout Muslim found Jesus after lengthy investigation, dreams and visions March 15, 2013 By Nabeel Qureshi Nabeel Qureshi Born as a U.S. Citizen in California, I was raised by devout Muslim parents. My mother and father are immigrants from Pakistan and among the most dedicated Muslims I have ever known. My father was an officer in the U.S. Navy, and because of his career I have lived up and down the Atlantic Coast in the United States, as well as in the U.K. My mother taught me Urdu and Arabic before I learned English at the age of four. By age five I had read the entire Qur’an in Arabic and had already memorized many chapters. From that time on, my life as a Muslim was used as a model for all the children in the local Islamic communities. Every morning, as soon as my eyes opened, I recited the prayer that was to be read upon waking, thanking Allah for saving me from the death of sleep and for giving me another day to live. I would then proceed to my morning recitation of the Qur’an, following this with the first of the five daily prayers (salaat). Interspersed were many smaller prayers, such as the prayer recited during ceremonial washing (wudhu), the prayers before reciting the Qur’an, the prayers before the morning salaat (fajr), and the prayers immediately after fajr. Then would come the prayers before eating and after eating. Then there were the prayers upon leaving the home and while walking to the bus stop. Soon afterwards I would find myself sitting in class, reciting prayers which ask Allah to give me knowledge and help me learn . . . etc. All of this by 7:30 a.m. But the prayers did not stop there; a devout Muslim’s day is full of the remembrance of God through traditional Islamic methods. Suffice it to say, my youth was not lost in complacency and disillusionment with religion. I loved Islam with all my heart. The reason for this was not only that Islam was the religion of my parents (though this was surely a factor), but for two other reasons. First, as I had learned it, Islam was a very peaceful religion[1] that taught me to worship God Almighty, and because of this, my family’s devoted practice was not in vain: we were the happiest and most tightly-knit family that I (and many of my friends) had ever seen. Second, I had learned to defend Islam using reason and evidence. My parents taught me never to believe anything blindly, and as such they provided me with an apologetic stance on Islam (i.e. one that focuses on reason and evidence as a defense of the faith). Being naturally inquisitive, I greatly appreciated this approach to religion. Islam was not just my religion, it was the whole structure of my life. Born into and raised in Islam, it was my heart’s blood. Laying the foundation for how a youth should live, Islam was the framework and the blueprint of my life. Edified by apologetics, I challenged its opponents and called everyone else to it. It was here, standing atop the minaret of Islamic life, that Christ called out to me. CHRISTIANITY CHALLENGED In August of 2001, I made a new acquaintance by the name of David Wood. Although he was a Christian and I a Muslim, we quickly became close companions due to our common set of morals. One evening I found him reading the Bible. This was very surprising. As a Muslim, I had read the Qur’an every day for most of my life, but I had never seen a Christian seriously reading a Bible in his free time. My interest piqued by this chance encounter, I decided to see how much he really knew about the Bible. Has the Bible been corrupted? I challenged David, stating that no reasonable person could trust the Bible. As a Muslim, I knew that the Qur’an was the uncorrupted word of God transmitted from God Himself, through the Prophet of Islam. And although the Qur’an says that the Gospels (al-Injeel) were given by God, they had been irretrievably modified and corrupted in the centuries after Jesus. Why else would there be so many versions of the Bible throughout history, with constant editions and revisions even today? I advocated the position that Christ never claimed to be God, but rather that Christians had forged all verses that would indicate such a claim. And without a divinely inspired book worth trusting, Christians have no ground to stand on. False ideas were introduced into Christianity by power-hungry followers such as Paul, a self-proclaimed “apostle,” and others like him. Unbeknownst to me, David was not just a Bible-reading Christian, but a Christian with every intention of becoming a devoted apologist. So when he heard this argument, he wasn’t overcome by its logic (as I had assumed) but instead was shocked that I had decided to enter into such a discussion without any prodding of his own. And so began our series of informal debates about the truth of Islam versus Christianity, as well as my intellectual journey towards the throne of Christ. David’s response to my argument ran as follows. First, while there are indeed many variations of the Bible obtained from more than 5,000 Greek manuscripts, there is such a large amount of early manuscript evidence and such a concordance between those manuscripts that we can reconstruct the Bible and be certain of about 95% of the original content. Second, no doctrine of the Bible is in jeopardy by any of the variations. Third, there are so many quotations of and references to the New Testament from the ancient world that we can reconstruct practically all of it from early quotations alone. Fourth, there are multiple fragments of manuscripts that can be dated to within a couple of centuries after Christ’s death which we have in our possession even now (the earliest dating to less than 100 years after Christ, 125 AD). Fifth, he claimed that whole copies of the Bible are available from around three centuries after Christ’s death. Finally, the previously mentioned estimate of 95% accuracy was a conservative one; in actuality it is closer to 98 or 99%. Blown away by the overwhelmingly convincing argument he provided, I determined that he had made it all up, and I decided to investigate the issue myself. The result of my investigation was that there is no evidential reason to believe that the modern editions of the New Testament are in any way substantially different from the original autographs themselves. To challenge the scriptural integrity of the New Testament after sincere investigation is to reflect a bias against it. Did Jesus claim to be God? After being satisfied that the New Testament is trustworthy, I decided to take David to task on a different point. Nowhere, ever, did Christ claim that He was the literal Son of God, let alone God Himself. Christ, being the Messiah for Muslims as well as Christians, was a holy man. How dare the Christians ascribe such hubris to one of the greatest men of history, especially when He never claimed divinity in the Gospels themselves! This discussion took more time than the first. David’s claim was that Christ did say that He was the Son of God, though He didn’t run around proclaiming it from the rooftops, as this would have gotten Him killed immediately. Here is some of the evidence David offered. In the Old Testament, Isaiah prophesied that a child would be born who would be called “Mighty God” (Isaiah 9:6). But this isn’t the only Old Testament support for the deity of Christ. Jesus’s most common title for Himself was “Son of Man,” which referred back to a prophecy in the book of Daniel: In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. (vv. 7:14-15, NIV) According to the New Testament, Jesus was worshiped shortly after His birth (Matthew 2:11), during His ministry (Matthew 14:33; John 9:38), and after His resurrection from the dead (Matthew 28:9, 28:17; Luke 24:52), yet He never told his worshipers to stop what they were doing. Jesus claimed to have existed before Abraham (who lived in the 18th century BC). When asked whether He was the Son of God, He answered, “I am . . . And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62). Jesus also claimed to be the final Judge of all mankind (Matthew 25-31-32). After actually reading parts of the New Testament itself instead of merely reading Muslim books on the topic, I came to agree with David’s claim: both the New Testament in general and Christ Himself claimed that Jesus is God. Did Jesus die on the Cross? As a Muslim, there was one thing I had always believed that would make Christianity completely invalid, regardless of anything else. According to Qur’an, Christ did not die on the cross. That they said “We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah.” But they killed him not, nor crucified him, … of a surety they killed him not. (Al-Qur’an 4:157-158) If Christ did not die on the Cross, then Christianity is without question a vain belief, even according to Paul himself! Paul said that if Christ was not raised from the dead, then the faith of a Christian is worthless (1 Corinthians 15:17). Of course, His resurrection requires His death, and so Paul is stating that if Christ did not die on the cross, then the Christian faith is worthless. Thus we are presented with a question: “Which is right—the Qur’an or the Bible?” Of course, if I were to pick the Qur’an without perusing the evidence, I would not be searching for the truth; rather, I would be robotically defending what I had prejudicially taken as the truth. After investigating the facts surrounding the crucifixion of Christ, I was amazed by how incontrovertibly clear it is that He did die on the cross, a fact which is considered by some historians to be among the best established facts of history. Based on the first century evidence (including both Christian and non-Christian sources), as well as our historical knowledge about Roman crucifixion, there turns out to be no rational way to deny the death of Jesus. Any notion that says otherwise requires an elaborate conspiracy theory of some sort, and even those fail because the conspirators would have been His apostles, the very disciples who were quite obviously convinced of the truth of the Gospel message. Can someone else pay for my sins? It was in 2001 that I had been surprised by finding David reading the Bible. Two and a half years later, I had come to know that the book he had been reading was historically trustworthy, and that within the pages of that book we find one of the greatest men in history claiming to be God Himself. This man died on the cross and rose from the dead as He had predicted. But things were still far from adding up. As a Muslim, I believed that every person is individually responsible for all of his sins. And be on your guard against a day when one soul shall not avail another in the least, neither shall intercession on its behalf be accepted, nor shall any compensation be taken from it, nor shall they be helped. (Al-Qur’an 2:47-48) How could it be possible that someone else would be able to pay for my sins—and not just my sins, but the sins of the whole world? This is no justice! Causing an innocent man to suffer for the rest of the world is not only unjust, but sick and twisted. And the coup de grace: not only would that innocent man have to suffer, but He would also have to suffer a cursed death! Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” (Galatians 3:13) I could not believe that the all-loving Creator of the Universe would allow one of his most beloved messengers, let alone His Son, to die an accursed death in order to pay for billions upon billions of lives of sin. It did not add up logically nor mathematically. But would it add up if I gave it a chance? If billions of people in the world believed this for almost two millennia, it would be the pinnacle of pride to think that I was smart enough to see it as blatantly self-defeating while none of those billions ever found anything wrong with it. Of course, Christianity does not have to be true simply because many people believe it; however, if it has been the one faith with the most followers in all of history, it probably is not obviously wrong, either. After a series of discussions, I began to see that Christianity was not as self-defeating as I had thought. In fact, it was quite beautiful—perhaps the greatest love story in history. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) DEFENDING ISLAM More than three years had elapsed since I had first been introduced to Christian apologetics. The fire of my objections had been quelled. Now it was David’s turn. He raised many objections against Islam, some of which were stronger than others. Instead of covering them in this essay, you can read them here for yourself. Is the Prophet of Islam the greatest man in history? The thought that kept reverberating in my mind was this: “What relatively objective reasons do I have for believing that Islam is true?” I had heard many rather subjective ones: the Qur’an is the best book ever written, the Islamic way of life is the best, no other worldview is as comprehensive as Islam’s, Islam produces the best people, etc. All of these, however, are claimed by almost every religion in the world and are largely a matter of opinion. And even if the above subjective claims were true, would that mean that Islam is true? It would be supporting evidence, but not sufficient proof. As far as I could tell, only one piece of evidence would be appropriate: if it could be demonstrated that Muhammad was a true prophet of God, then Islam would have to be true. This one fact would be sufficient for proving Islam. Additionally, since there is a great deal of historical information available about Muhammad, this topic is capable of being carefully investigated. After reading various accounts of the Prophet’s life (early Islamic documents as well as more favorable current biographies) I came to a conclusion. Regardless of the details and the arguments surrounding them, it would be inaccurate to call the Prophet a bad person. However, it would also be inaccurate to claim that he is the greatest of prophets and history’s most perfect man, as the Islamic position dictates. And since the other arguments used to prove the prophethood of Muhammad fail, there is nothing in his life that could ever serve as proof that his message was from God. REASON IN THE BALANCE One point is essential and demands attention: the result of my appraisal of Islam, be it favorable or not, is only part of the investigation. The real question requires us to assess the weight of the evidence supporting Islam versus that in favor of Christianity. Is the evidence for the prophethood of Muhammad more powerful than the evidence for Christ’s death and resurrection? No matter which way I aligned the arguments for Islam and Christianity, Christianity always came out on top. A Muslim Intellect’s Last Stand By now, the fall of 2004 was fast approaching. Though I was still wrestling with the decisions I was facing, it was clear that my defense of Islam was pinned by the overwhelming reasons for believing the Christian message. I was quite scared. The most objective search I could manage was mandating that I relinquish the very foundation of my life—Islam. At the same time, it was mercilessly demanding that I alter my interpretation of God: no longer was I justified in taking refuge in the bastion of His indisputable unity. The only justified journey to take would be admitting the evidence and venturing into the seeming jungle of the Trinity. Having to worship a God that was simultaneously three and one was something that seemed more like science fiction than truth. Nevertheless, the most unpalatable doctrine of Christianity was strangely reminiscent of what I had learned the previous summer in an organic chemistry class, something that I wish were less science and more fiction. All materials are made of atoms, and each atom has electrons. These electrons orbit the center, or nucleus, of an atom, but when multiple atoms are together (i.e. a molecule), the electrons travel around all the atoms in what is called an “electron cloud.” Electrons in a molecule’s electron cloud are constantly in motion, sometimes resulting in various structures for a single molecule, called “resonance structures.” However, the professor said that there was a catch: a molecule is every resonance structure at once, and not any single one of them alone at a given point in time. To me, this seemed to be something in the natural world that was similar to the Trinity. A molecule was actually multiple molecules at once, though not found as any one of them alone. Although I did not solve the mystery of the Trinity, I at least realized that there are analogous phenomena. Fighting a Pointless Battle? Surprisingly then, the thought of resonance structures actually helped quell my objections to the Trinity. However, one thought still lingered in my head: I am a finite human being, limited in knowledge, subject to faulty reasoning, and biased by upbringing, education, etc. How could a kind, loving God set up the universe in such a manner that we, being thus flawed, would be required to make a finite decision that would have infinite ramifications, possibly an eternal suffering in Hell? The interpretation of Islam I had come to know allowed me to believe that God would reward all people who did good works and believed in God and the afterlife, regardless of specific faith: Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve. (Al-Qur’an 2:62) Did I, a fallible human being, really have access to absolute truth? Could I know for certain that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead, as the Christian message requires for salvation (Romans 10:9)? The answer to my question came from David as soon as I posed it: yes. God will answer if I humbly ask. I also knew He would. Something had happened in my life years earlier that couldn’t plausibly be explained by anything but God. THE SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE At the age of fifteen, I returned to the United Kingdom for a religious conference. It was my first visit since my father had been transferred back to the United States from Scotland. I had three friends that I had not seen since I had moved away, and there was a possibility that they would be at the conference. The chance of finding them was very slim, however, as there were more than 20,000 attendees spread over acres of land. I stood outdoors, lost in a sea of people, not sure if it was possible to find my friends or even if I should attempt the search. Being relatively young and quite accustomed to praying for almost everything, I prayed to God for some help finding my friends. It was a simple prayer by a boy with a simple faith: “God, please help me find my friends. Thanks.” Upon opening my eyes, I saw something unusual. There, painted in the sky, was one streak above another, trailing off into the distance. The first one gold and the second silver, they were reminiscent of lines drawn in the sand by a finger. My reaction was that of most anyone: “You’re kidding – I’m supposed to follow those, right?” I followed, sifting through the crowd as I went. Above a bazaar, the streaks seemed to swirl and dissipate over a particular spot. I said to myself, “That’s where my friends are going to be.” As I continued towards that site, I saw two of the three friends exactly under the spot where the streaks dissipated. God had heard my prayer and placed the answer right before my eyes. I am fully aware that this event in my life carries almost no weight for anyone who chooses to disbelieve in God. Such a person’s faith in atheism would probably overcome whatever credibility I have in his eyes. However, it is not for him that I relate what happened. I write it for the seeker who wishes to know whether God exists, and, if He does, whether He reveals Himself. I answer with an emphatic “yes.” But regardless of the weight someone might place in this answer to prayer, for me this event established the existence of God once and for all. My prayer was answered immediately and in a manner that cannot be explained except by the grace and kindness of a hearing, powerful, present God. LED BY THE HAND OF GOD Years later, I needed that kind, hearing, powerful God to help me with my battle. Was it futile to attempt to gain knowledge of religious truth? Would God help me see the truth for what it is? By 2004, I knew that I could not defend Islam in the face of Christian arguments, but I did not know if that was due to my intellectual inability or to the power of the truth. In all candor, I was hoping that God would come to my aid and fight for me, showing Islam to be the correct path. But I truly had no idea what was true and knew there was only One who could show me. A Vision Near the end of 2004, my father and I were in Florida. For months, I had been praying to God for an answer to my question; however, never had I prayed like I did this particular evening. It was the night of December 19th, and my father had fallen asleep in a hotel bed next to mine. But I was still awake. It was dark in the room, though not completely dark; there was still some light. The precariousness of my fate manifested itself in my mind. I admitted that despite all I thought I knew, I actually knew nothing. I needed God to show me the truth. I couldn’t do it without His help. At that instant, the most humble moment of my life, with tears in my eyes, I beseeched God for an answer. I asked for anything—a vision, a dream, a sign of some sort that would show me whether Christianity or Islam were true. No sooner had I prayed these words than the room became pitch dark before my eyes. I had been looking at the wall, but it was not there anymore; instead, it was replaced by hundreds of crosses. I was paralyzed. The vision was as simple as that. Just as quickly as it had come, it was gone. My reaction was that of most anyone. I said, “God, that doesn’t count. I don’t know if that was really You or if my eyes were playing tricks on me.” As you can see, I did not want to believe in Christianity. I instead took refuge in my uncertainty and prayed again, saying, “God, I don’t know if that was really what I thought it was – I could subconsciously want to become a Christian and my mind could be deceiving me. So visions won’t be any good; please give me a dream, and if the dream corroborates the vision, I will become Christian.” Thus I began trying to stall my decision, but God wouldn’t allow it. The First Dream – Iguanas and Crickets and Snakes… Oh My! Date: December 19th/20th That night I had a dream. Upon waking, I was fully aware that it was an answer from God, but I wasn’t sure what it meant. I wrote everything down as soon as I awoke. Permit me to post my entry: In the beginning of the dream, there was a poisonous snake with red and black bands going around it, separated by thin white stripes. All it did was hiss at people when they stepped into the garden. The people in the garden couldn’t see it – it was far away and watching from a stone perch. This perch was across a chasm. That perch then became my vantage point for the first half of my dream. In a garden-like area with hills and lush green grass and trees, there was a huge iguana, like a dragon. It would lie still and hide by becoming like a hill – no one who walked on it knew it was an iguana. If they had known, they would be scared, but the iguana liked the fact that no one knew. Then a giant boy comes, and this giant boy knows that the iguana was an iguana, and he stepped on it, accusing it of being an iguana. The iguana got angry, so he reared back to bite the giant boy, who had stepped on its tail. As he was about to bite the boy, the boy had a huge cricket that challenged the iguana to a fight. My vantage point changes now, and I am directly beneath the iguana, looking up at its head. The iguana accepted the challenge, and as the cricket flew away to go to a fighting place, the iguana turned to me and tried to lunge at me and kill me. The cricket saw that the iguana was lunging at me, so he came back and bit its head off, decapitating it. Now, I analyzed this dream from many angles. I tried substituting the ideas, concepts, and symbols in the dream with various aspects of my life. The most obvious implication that I could find was this: the snake at the beginning of the dream had to be evil in some way, simply because it was a snake. Since I took its place for most of the dream, I gathered that there might be some hidden evil within me. In addition, when the snake hissed, it was reminiscent of the iguana when it reared back to bite the boy; there was a striking similarity. Across the chasm, the giant iguana was blending in with the garden. I took the garden to mean the world (I just had that sense when I was dreaming). Since the iguana was there in the beginning of my dream I took the iguana to be Islam (Islam was there in the beginning of my world). I took the giant boy in my dream to be David, who called out the iguana for what it was. Finally, I took the cricket to be Christianity. The iguana was happy to be deceiving people, but it got angry when discovered. Though it almost killed me, it was ultimately decapitated by the cricket. Interpreting the symbols as such, I thought that God was telling me about the state of my world and the true nature of Islam and Christianity, something I had asked Him specifically. Indeed, there was more that caused me to interpret the symbols in this manner. Upon telling my parents of this dream, they gave me a partial interpretation: the iguana is a hidden enemy, as is the snake; the boy is a great helper; the cricket is a fighter; and the garden is the world. This interpretation came not from them, but from an Islamic book on dream interpretations. After interpreting the dream to mean that Islam is deceptive and that Christianity is the truth which would ultimately save me, my reaction was, again, that of most anyone. I prayed to God and said, “God, this dream was far too symbolic for me to be able to interpret it accurately. Rather than one dream, three seems like a better number. If they all point towards Christianity, I will definitely become a Christian.” At this point, I was not trying to escape God; rather, I wanted to be certain before making a move that would determine the rest of my life. I also prayed to God that He would make the next dream much clearer—so clear that I would not even have to interpret it. The fact that He answered each detail of my prayer is overwhelming. The Second Dream – The Narrow Door Date: March 10th/11th I am standing at the entrance of a narrow doorway which is built into a wall of brick. I am not in the doorway, but just in front of it. The doorway is an arch. I would say the doorway is about 7.5 feet tall, with about 6.5 feet of its sides being straight up from the ground, and a 1 foot arched part on the top capping it off. The doorway is slightly less than 3 feet wide and about 3 or 4 feet deep, all brick. It leads into a room, where many people are sitting at tables which have fancy and good food on them. I think I remember salads, but I’m not sure. They were not eating, but they were all ready to eat, and they were all looking to the left, as if waiting for a speaker before the banquet. One of the people, at the other side of the door just inside the room, is David Wood. He is sitting at a table and is looking to my left. I asked him, “I thought we were going to eat together?” And he said, without removing his eyes from the front of the room (i.e. left side), “You never responded.” That was the whole dream: a detailed narrow door leading to a feast, but I was not eating because I had not responded. As soon as I awoke, I had an interpretation. Even within the dream I felt that the room with the feast was Heaven itself. I was not able to enter because I had not responded to the invitation David provided. I had no idea what the narrow door meant, however. The following day I contacted David and asked him what he thought of the dream. He said that it was as clear as day; and I agreed. It was at that moment that I recalled that I had prayed for a very clear dream from God. David said, however, that he did not even need to interpret it. He referred me to Luke 13:22-29, which reads thus: The Narrow Door Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’ “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.” I had asked for a dream that I wouldn’t need to interpret, and God provided me a dream that was virtually a scene straight out of the Gospel of Luke—something I had never even read. This dream was clearly telling me that I would not be at the feast of God unless I responded to the invitation, though I was standing at the narrow door and it had not yet closed. My reaction, once again, was that of most anyone. I prayed to God, saying, “Thank you God. I think I know what you’re telling me now, but please give me one more dream to be sure. This time, please not so scary.” Indeed, the second dream was terrifying because it was quite clear that my life would have to change very shortly. The Third Dream – A Stairway out of the Mosque Date: April 23rd/24th I am sitting on the first step of a flight of white stairs. The stairs go up, and they have ornate posts at the first step and hand railings going up to the left (from my vantage point). I am not sure of the material of the stairs, though I’m thinking either stone/marble or wood. I am facing forward, away from the top of the stairs. I can see myself in this dream, and the angle of view is of my right side as I sit on the stairs and look forward, where I’m expecting someone to speak, possibly at a brown wooden podium, though I’m not sure. The room has green carpeting, and people are expected to sit on the floor, though I am on the first stair and I feel nothing wrong with this. I expect people to fill in the section to my left, which is also to the left of the stairs. Nothing is going on in the right side of the room. As the room gradually fills up, the Imam sits down on the floor slightly behind me and to my left (not on the stairs). He is wearing white and is looking in the same direction as everyone else (I do not recall anyone else actually being in the dream, but I distinctly remember the feeling during the dream that other people were there and looking forward). Since I expected him to be the speaker, and since he is a holy man and the Imam, I am surprised and confused that he is on the floor behind me. Out of respect, I try to get off the stairs and sit behind him, but I am unable to get off the stairs. I feel as if I’m being held on the stairs by an unknown/unseen force. The force did not seem particularly brusque nor particularly kind. It just held me down. The dream ended with a sense of confusion, as I did not understand what I was to do, and I did not understand what everyone was waiting for and didn’t know who was going to speak after all. This was the final installment of my three dream series. Again, upon interpreting it, I found it to be favorable towards Christianity. I interpreted the stairs to mean a pathway to Heaven, as they were heading up. When I asked my parents for an interpretation from the book they had used, they determined that stairs are a quest for knowledge and truth, something that fit better than my interpretation. I could not get off of my quest for truth and simply fall in line with Islam anymore, no matter how much I wanted to out of respect and duty. The Search for Answers At this point, I knew what I had to do. However, I didn’t want to base everything solely on my own reasoning. I wanted to verify the conclusions I had reached. Hence, I traveled to Washington D.C., Canada, and England in search of knowledgeable Muslims to answer the arguments against Islam that I had found. I heard various replies running the gamut from terribly unconvincing to fairly innovative, and I encountered people that ranged from sincere to condescendingly caustic. At the end of my research, the arguments for and against Islam still hung in the balance, but one thing was abundantly clear: they were far from approaching the strength of the case for Christianity. At the same time, I began praying to God for comfort. I knew that, by losing the support of my family and most of my friends, one of the most difficult chapters in my life was about to begin. Then something happened that was related to my search. I could not share it with anyone in my emotional support group (i.e. parents and friends); indeed, I can’t even share it in this testimony. I can only say that it was something that aroused immense remorse within me, and I was in dire need of comfort. The Qur’an had nothing that could soothe the pain. Out of desperation, I consulted the Bible to see if there was anything that would help. It was my first time reading the Bible to see what it said as opposed to reading it to formulate arguments against Christianity. The words of the Bible were to me as the caress of God Himself. Questions I had rhetorically asked God in the morning were answered very explicitly in my night’s reading. One example after another would fill pages of this testimony, and so I shall refrain. Suffice it to say, by reading His Word, I felt as if I had been wrapped in His wings as I lay wounded both by a pain that was already transpiring and by a pain that was soon to come. The Inevitable Not long after, I lay awake deep into the night, for sleep was ashamed to fall upon me. I had denied God long enough. The words of Christ found in Matthew’s 10th chapter would allow me no rest: Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. (vv. 32-33) It was then that I said to God, “I submit. I submit that Jesus Christ is Lord of Heaven and Earth, and that He came to this world to die for my sins. I am a sinner, and I need Him for redemption. Christ, I accept You into my life.” The difficult night that did not grant me peace was quickly fading away as sleep washed over me. I did not know it then, but that night was to be much easier than the ones to come. A FINAL APPEAL Dear seeker, please understand that I consider none of these visions, dreams, or signs to have been a result of anything I did other than the simple fact that I called to God; beyond that, all the work was of His hands. It took me years, however, to reach a state in which I asked Him for guidance with true humility and sincerity. Reaching that state took both time and contemplation spent searching for truth, and a willingness to endure unknown difficulties for His sake. After my family learned of my conversion, they have not been the same. My mother has tears in her eyes whenever I see her, a quiver in her voice whenever I hear her, and absolute despair on her face in sleep and while awake. Never have I met a mother more devoted to her children than my mother, and how did I repay her? In her mind, decades’ worth of emotional and physical investment ended up with her son espousing views that are completely antithetical to everything she stands for. My father, a loving, gentle, and big-hearted man with every ounce of the emotional strength expected of a 24-year veteran of the U.S. military, broke down for the first time that I had ever seen. To be the cause of the only tears I ever saw fall from his eyes is not easy to live with. To hear him… the man who stood tallest in my life from the day I was born, my archetype of strength, my father… to hear him say that because of me he felt his backbone has been ripped out from behind him, feels like patricide. It was then that I wondered why God had let me live; why had God not just lifted me to Himself when I had found the truth? Why did I have to hurt my family so much, and practically eschew the ones who loved me more than anyone else? The answer was sought and found in God’s word. After accepting Him, it is my duty to work for Him and walk His path. For now, my loss was to be comforted by His words found in Mark 10:29-30: “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.” But there was more. I have to inform my parents of the Truth, no matter how painful, because they need to be saved. Not just them, but I also have friends that need to be saved. At least billions upon billions of souls in this world need to be saved. Can I do these things? Can my parents be saved, even pulled from Satan’s trap itself? Am I really supposed to spread the message to the ends of the earth? Paul says in Philippians 4:13 that I can do these things through God. He tells me in II Timothy 2:25-26 that I must gently instruct everyone, even my parents, in hopes that they will be saved from the trap of the devil. And Christ Himself informs his apostles in Matthew 28:19 to make disciples of all nations. Thus, much like Paul in Acts 20:24, my life’s meaning is this: to testify to the gospel of God’s grace. And in doing so, He comforts me, and gives me fortitude. I no longer struggle on my own strength. The dreams and visions that I narrated above pale in comparison to the gift I have received, for God has taken an active role in my life. When I accepted Christ as my Savior, I received the Spirit of God, just as Jesus promised His followers the night before His crucifixion: If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. (John 14:15-17) With God’s Spirit comes the power to face whatever comes upon me, and with the knowledge of Jesus’s victory on the cross comes the understanding that with God all things are possible. As Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). This Spirit and this knowledge also compel me to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every tribe and tongue and nation. And that is why I beseech you, dear seeker, with all my heart. I invite you to search for Him and lay your current life on the line as I did. He is there, and He is waiting for you to come to Him so that He can walk with you. Since my conversion, God has filled me completely and guided me in His ways. He changed my life, and I invite you to let Him change your life. But be sure that you really are ready for your life to change; I guarantee you, it will. So it is written: you will be given a new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24). My prayers are with you. Do you want to know God personally? Here are four steps…

Thank you Yota and LGD, the size of their operation is what concerns me., but this article outlines the major issues they have.

Question to all, if this currency does in fact come into existence, won't it weaken the USD? Another dangerous maneuver by IS.

Thank you for sharing Rayzur, so important we see and feel this pain. I pray and have prayed daily for all military fighting isis as well as the all of the victims of their black plague.

http://rt.com/news/197228-homemade-kurdish-armor-isis/ Homemade APC: Iraqi blacksmith builds armored vehicle to fight ISIS (VIDEO) Published time: October 19, 2014 12:32 Edited time: October 19, 2014 18:20Get short URL Still from RT video 3K5076 Trends Islamic StateTags Arms, Conflict, Iraq, Military, Vehicles,Violence A homemade Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) is not something you usually find in a backyard. RT visited an Iraqi blacksmith, who has been working 10 hours a day for 2 months, to help Kurdish fighters stop Islamic State militants. Islamic State militants (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) have been capturing territory in Iraq and Syria since June, taking cities in both countries. The US-led coalition started bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq in August, and, in Syria, in September. On Friday and Saturday they carried out 25 airstrikes against the extremists. However, locals want to help and are eager to wage their own war to defend their land. Even if you have to learn how to build armored vehicles! “This [APC] has two layers,” Shahbaz Sindi from Dohuk in Iraqi Kurdistan, told RT’s Paula Slier. “The first layer is moveable, but the second layer you can’t move. It’s very hard. The tires are protected with movable shields that can be adjusted down on the frontline. “But if a bullet does hit the tire it can fix itself automatically as it has a special substance inside it,” the blacksmith says. His homemade bullet-repelling war machine can reach speeds of 100 kph, and it’s nearly ready for action against Islamic State militants. The amazing (and bizarre) homemade Kurdish armor fighting ISIS in Syria Shahbaz sorted out the essentials of the device without consulting any tank designers or military know-how. “It was in my head. I did not have anything on paper. Before now, I never thought about making an armored vehicle, but when the threat became so bad, I got the idea to make one.” Still from RT video The blacksmith said he “considered the area and length of roads” so that his product is “able to move along the streets.” “But what made it tough was that I don’t have the right tools, like big cranes to lift things. I did it all by hand,” he adds. Shahbaz’s neighbors were impressed by his homemade tank. Still from RT video “I am really proud of him. We understand that to keep our land and people safe, it’s not only about going to the frontline… I’m really amazed that he’s made all this by himself,” a local told RT. When the final window is installed in the homemade APC, Shabhaz will hand it over to the Peshmerga Kurdish fighters as a gift to fight IS militants. Shaba’s homemade APC is not the first of its kind. Earlier Kurdish militias, called People’s Protection Units, or YPG in northern Syria, also produced homemade APCs. The People’s Protection Units don’t have killer drones or stealth bombers. They mostly have small arms, some heavier weapons such as mortars and rocket launchers, pickup trucks turned into mobile gun turrets and an occasional piece of artillery. 3K5076 by Taboola

Lord hear our prayer, protect with your angels these precious lives. May the poisoned minds of these evil doers be immersed in the love of Jesus through ways only you can provide. Father, protect all military fighting this poison. Amen.

What a ride! That was awesome, thank you so much Puckster

Someone needs to tell the right hand what the left hand is doing... http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9c4_1412173792 Video of ISIS terrorists passing the Turkish border to attack Kurds in Kobane Part of channel(s): Syria (current event) The railroad and tunnel shown in the pictures are located on the Turkish border side to Syria. ISIS terrorists have apparently the permission of Turkish authorities to use their border and conduct attacks on Kurds in Kobane. Eyewitnesses reported that the terrorists had been brought there before by a train. Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9c4_1412173792#iFvkcGZodoQB0ekj.99

http://shariaunveiled.wordpress.com/2014/09/22/breaking-isis-releases-audio-broadcast-calling-on-all-muslims-around-the-world-to-begin-murdering-non-muslims/ https://ia601400.us.archive.org/34/items/mir225/English_Translation.pdf English translation: In the Name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful Indeed Your Lord Is Ever Watchful By Shaykh Abū Muhammad al-‘Adnānī ash-Shāmī All praise is due to Allah, the Strong and Mighty. And may blessings and peace be upon the one sent with the sword as a mercy to all the worlds. As for what follows: Allah the Blessed and Exalted said, {The people of Noah denied before them and the [disbelieving] factions after them, and every nation intended [a plot] for their messenger to seize him, and they disputed by [using] falsehood to [attempt to] invalidate thereby the truth. So I seized them, and how [terrible] was My penalty} [Ghāfir: 5]. And He the Exalted said, {And [remember], when those who disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you or kill you or evict you [from Makkah]. But they plan, and Allah plans. And Allah is the best of planners} [Al-Anfāl: 30]. And He the Exalted said, {Those to whom the hypocrites said, “Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them.” But it [merely] increased them in faith, and they said, “Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs.” So they returned with favor from Allah and bounty, no harm having touched them. And they pursued the pleasure of Allah, and Allah is the possessor of great bounty. That is only Satan who frightens [you] of his supporters. So fear them not, but fear Me, if you are [indeed] believers} [Āli ‘Imrān: 173-175]. Rejection of the truth, mockery of it, belying the people of truth, using falsehood in argumentation, plots, mobilization, intimidation, enmity, and war – all this is the condition of the disbelievers concerning the truth and the followers of the messengers since ancient times. The known factors of the battle are similar throughout the ages. Theirs is a conceited and brash encampment of falsehood, which demonstrates itself to be powerful, and subduing, one that no conqueror can dominate nor any defender withstand. But the reality is they are fearful and terrified, humiliated and left with a weak plan, shaken and defeated, despite their uninhibited movement throughout the lands. Their television and satellite channels as well as their sorcerers are in a state of alert day and night. They dispute by using sorcery, falsifying events, altering realities, and duping people. They deceive, incite, mobilize, and amass against the people of truth. They display the people of falsehood in every guise of strength, ability, force, and fierceness, in desperate and failed attempts to invalidate the truth, scare its followers, and defeat them. This is the case in every age and time. You see the followers of the messengers in the opposite encampment with lower numbers, meager equipment, and a weaker voice. But their strength can never be subdued. Their authority can never be broken. They are firm in every battle. And they are forefront in every encounter, having neither fear nor dread. In the end, they will have the triumph and victory. They are always and forever victorious, since the battle of Noah (peace be upon him) and until Allah inherits the earth and those upon it. All this is due to their faith in Allah, the Mighty, the Compeller. From Him is their strength, and through Him is their authority. He is sufficient for them, and upon Him they rely. They are certain of His aid. And they returned having attained His favor and bounty. They do not fear anyone save Him. O soldiers of the Islamic State, what a great thing you have achieved by Allah! Your reward is upon Him. By Allah, He has healed the chests of the believers through the killing of the nusayriyyah (alawites) and rāfidah (shiites) at your hands. He has filled the hearts of the disbelievers and hypocrites with rage through you. What a great thing you have achieved by Allah! Who are you? Who are you O soldiers of the Islamic State? From where have you come? What is your secret? Why is it that the hearts of the East and West are dislocated by their fear of you? Why is it that the chest muscles of America and its allies shiver out of fear of you? Where are your warplanes? Where are your battleships? Where are your missiles? Where are your weapons of mass destruction? Why is it that the world has united against you? Why have the nations of disbelief entrenched together against you? What threat do you pose to the distant place of Australia for it to send its legions towards you? What does Canada have anything to do with you? O soldiers of the Islamic State and its sons everywhere, listen and comprehend. If the people belie you, reject your state and your call, and mock your caliphate, then know that your Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) was belied. His call was rejected. He was mocked. If your people fight you, accuse you with the worst of accusations, and describe you with the worst of all traits, then know that the people of the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) fought him, expelled him, and accused him with matters worse than those you have been accused with. If the parties have gathered against you, then know they gathered against your Prophet before (blessings and peace be upon him). This is the established way of Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted. Or did you think that the people would greet you by saying “Allah is the greatest” and “There is no god but Allah”? And that they would joyfully bid you welcome? {While such trial has not yet come to you as came to those who passed on before you} [Al-Baqarah: 214], whereby you taste what they have tasted? No! You will be shaken. {But We have certainly tried those before them, and Allah will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars} [Al-‘Ankabūt: 3]. Allah has given you might and honor after your humiliation. He has made you rich after your poverty. And He has aided you despite your weakness and small numbers. He showed you that victory is from Him, the Glorified. He grants it to whomever He wills and whenever He wills. So know that – by Allah – we fear not the swarms of planes, nor ballistic missiles, nor drones, nor satellites, nor battleships, nor weapons of mass destruction. How could we fear them, while Allah the Exalted has said, {If Allah should aid you, no one can overcome you; but if He should forsake you, who is there that can aid you after Him? And upon Allah let the believers rely} [Āli ‘Imrān: 160]. How could we fear them, while Allah the Exalted has said, {So do not weaken and do not grieve, and you will be superior if you are [true] believers} [Āli ‘Imrān: 139]. How could we fear them, while you have proven yourselves to be the knights and men of war? When you defend, you are like the firmest mountains. And when you assault, you are like predatory warriors. You face death with bare chests, while the worldly life is beneath your worn feet. I swear by Allah that I have not known any of you except to be a forerunner towards every battle sound, eagerly searching for the place of death in every fight. I see the Quran walking alive amongst you. What a great thing you have achieved by Allah! The weak one of you is a brave warrior, and the merciful one of you is ferocious in battle. We have not known you to be except jealous and angry. Your jealousy is not but for the religion of Allah. And your anger is not but for the violation of Allah’s sanctities. You say the truth and according to it you judge. You love Allah and His Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him). And you are the most careful to follow his tradition (blessings and peace be upon him). You are harsh against the disbelievers, merciful among yourselves. For the cause of Allah, you do not fear the blame of a critic. Therefore Allah will give you victory. Indeed, Allah will give you victory. By Allah, Allah will give you victory. So guarantee for us two matters, and we will guarantee you by Allah’s permission constant victory and consolidation. First, do not oppress anyone nor be content with oppression by being silent about it and not raising the matter [to those in authority]. Second, do not become conceited or arrogant. This is what we fear from you and fear for you. So if you gain victory, then attribute it to Allah alone. Continue on with modesty, humbleness, giving praise and thanks to Allah. If you fail, then attribute the cause to yourselves and your sins. And attack the enemy again after asking Allah for forgiveness and repenting to Him with remorse. And we declare our innocence before Allah of injustices that could be carried out by any of you and did not reach us. And we declare our innocence before Allah of any injustice one of you conceals or turns a blind eye to. Thereafter know that a trial, sifting, and selection, are necessary between one period and another, for some people have entered your ranks who are not of you and are only claimants. And thus some disorder has occurred. So it has become necessary for a trial to come, expel the filth, and purify the ranks. We ask Allah for forgiveness and wellness. Also, pride and conceit has entered some of our souls, and thus some of us transgressed and oppressed others. So it is necessary for the sins to be expelled, so that you may return to your Lord. Allah has loved the mujahidin, and so there is no choice but for Him to take some martyrs. We ask Allah to make us of them, not from the disgraced nor those afflicted [in their religion]. O soldiers of the Islamic State, be ready for the final campaign of the crusaders. Yes, by Allah’s will, it will be the final one. Thereafter, we will raid them by Allah’s permission and they will not raid us. Be ready, for by Allah’s permission you are befitting for it. The crusaders have returned with a new campaign. They have come so that the dust clears, the fog disappears, and the masks fall, and thereby the hoax of falsehood is exposed and the truth becomes clearly visible, {That those who perished [through disbelief] would perish upon evidence and those who lived [in faith] would live upon evidence} [Al-Anfāl: 42]. O America, O allies of America, and O crusaders, know that the matter is more dangerous than you have imagined and greater than you have envisioned. We have warned you that today we are in a new era, an era where the State, its soldiers, and its sons are leaders not slaves. They are a people who through the ages have not known defeat. The outcome of their battles is concluded before they begin. They have not prepared for a battle since the time of Noah except with absolute conviction of victory. Being killed – according to their account – is a victory. This is where the secret lies. You fight a people who can never be defeated. They either gain victory or are killed. And O crusaders, you are losers in both outcomes, because you are ignorant of the reality that none of us is killed but to resurrect the dead amongst us. None of us is killed but to leave behind him a story that awakens the Muslims from their slumber by its recount. And then you see the weak one of us – he who has no experience in fighting and thinks he cannot contribute anything practical on the ground, having no goal except to be killed, so that he can illuminate the path with his blood and thereby enliven the hearts with his story, generation after generation. He makes his body and remains a bridge for those who awaken after him to pass over. This person has realized that the life of his nation is through blood and the honor of his nation is through blood. So he went on with a bare chest and bare head towards death eagerly searching for life and honor. If he survives, he lives as a victor with freedom, might, honor, and authority. And if he is killed, he illuminates the path for those after him and goes on to his Lord as a joyful martyr. He has taught those after him that might, honor, and life are through jihad and being killed, and that humiliation, disgrace, and death are through submission and subservience. O crusaders, you have realized the threat of the Islamic State, but you have not become aware of the cure, and you will not discover the cure because there is no cure. If you fight it, it becomes stronger and tougher. If you leave it alone, it grows and expands. If Obama has promised you with defeating the Islamic State, then Bush has also lied before him. Indeed, our Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, has promised us with victory, and here we are now victorious. He will grant us victory at every event. He is glorified and He does not fail in His promise. And so we promise you by Allah’s permission that this campaign will be your final campaign. It will be broken and defeated, just as all your previous campaigns were broken and defeated, except that this time we will raid you thereafter, and you will never raid us. We will conquer your Rome, break your crosses, and enslave your women, by the permission of Allah, the Exalted. This is His promise to us; He is glorified and He does not fail in His promise. If we do not reach that time, then our children and grandchildren will reach it, and they will sell your sons as slaves at the slave market. On the authority of ‘Abdullāh Ibn ‘Amr Ibn al-‘Ās (may Allah the Exalted be pleased with both of them), who said, “We were with Allah’s Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) writing down what he was saying, when he was asked, ‘Which if the two cities will be conquered first? Constantinople or Rome?’ So Allah’s Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) said, ‘The city of Heraclius will be the first to be conquered.’” Meaning the city of Constantinople. It was reported by al-Hākim in “Al-Mustadrak” according to the conditions of the two sheikhs (Bukhārī and Muslim) and declared authentic by Imam adh-Dhahabī. So mobilize your forces, O crusaders. Mobilize your forces, roar with thunder, threaten whom you want, plot, arm your troops, prepare yourselves, strike, kill, and destroy us. This will not avail you. You will be defeated. This will not avail you, for our Lord, the Mighty, the Prevailing, has promised us with our victory and your defeat. Send arms and equipment to your agents and dogs. Prepare them with the most modern equipment. Send them very much, for it will end up as war booty in our hands by Allah’s permission. You will spend it, then it will be a source of regret for you, then you will be defeated. Look at your armored vehicles, machinery, weaponry, and equipment. It is in our hands. Allah granted it to us. We fight you with it. So die in your rage. {Indeed, those who disbelieve spend their wealth to avert [people] from the way of Allah. So they will spend it; then it will be for them a [source of] regret; then they will be overcome. And those who have disbelieved – unto Hell they will be gathered} [Al-Anfāl: 36]. And O Obama, O mule of the jews. You are vile. You are vile. You are vile. And you will be disappointed, Obama. Is this all you were capable of doing in this campaign of yours? Is this how far America has reached of incapacity and weakness? Are America and all its allies from amongst the crusaders and atheists unable to come down to the ground? Have you not realized – O crusaders – that proxy wars have not availed you nor will they ever avail you? Have you not realized, O mule of the jews, that the battle cannot be decided from the air at all? Or do you think that you are smarter than Bush, your obeyed fool, when he brought the armies of the cross and placed them under the fire of the mujahidin on the ground? No, you are more foolish than him. You claimed to have withdrawn from Iraq – O Obama – four years ago. We said to you then that you were liars, that you had not withdrawn, and that if you had withdrawn that you would return, even if after some time, you would return. Here you are; you have not withdrawn. Rather you hid some of your forces behind your proxies and withdrew the rest. Your forces will return greater in number than they were before. You will return and your proxies will not avail you. And if you are not able to return, then we will come to your homeland by Allah’s permission. O mule of the jews, you claimed today that America would not be drawn to a war on the ground. No, it will be drawn and dragged. It will come down to the ground and it will be led to its death, grave, and destruction. O Obama, you claimed that the hand of America was long and could reach wherever it willed. Then know that our knife is sharp and hard. It cuts off the hands and strikes the necks. And our Lord – the Majestic and Exalted – is watching over you. {Have you not considered how your Lord dealt with ‘Ād and [with] Iram who had lofty pillars, the likes of whom had never been created in the land? And [with] Thamūd, who carved out the rocks in the valley? And [with] Pharaoh, owner of the stakes? [All of] whom oppressed within the lands and increased therein the corruption. So your Lord poured upon them a scourge of punishment. Indeed, your Lord is ever watchful} [Al-Fajr: 6-14]. {As for ‘Ād, they were arrogant upon the earth without right and said, “Who is greater than us in strength?” Did they not consider that Allah who created them was greater than them in strength? But they were rejecting Our signs. So We sent upon them a screaming wind during days of misfortune to make them taste the punishment of disgrace in the worldly life; but the punishment of the Hereafter is more disgracing, and they will not be helped} [Fussilat: 15-16]. O Americans, and O Europeans, the Islamic State did not initiate a war against you, as your governments and media try to make you believe. It is you who started the transgression against us, and thus you deserve blame and you will pay a great price. You will pay the price when your economies collapse. You will pay the price when your sons are sent to wage war against us and they return to you as disabled amputees, or inside coffins, or mentally ill. You will pay the price as you are afraid of travelling to any land. Rather you will pay the price as you walk on your streets, turning right and left, fearing the Muslims. You will not feel secure even in your bedrooms. You will pay the price when this crusade of yours collapses, and thereafter we will strike you in your homeland, and you will never be able to harm anyone afterwards. You will pay the price, and we have prepared for you what will pain you. O Muslims, America claimed when it first began this crusade, that it was defending its interests in Erbil and Baghdad and defending its citizens. Thereafter its blunder became clear, and the falsehood of its claims became obvious. It claimed that through its airstrikes it would save those expelled and left homeless in Iraq, and defend the civilians. Then it became clear to America that the matter was more dangerous and greater than it expected. So it started shedding crocodile tears over the Muslims in Shām (the Levant). It promised to save them and support them. It promised to save them from the terrorists. While at the same time, America and its allies remained watching the plight of the Muslims upon the hands of the nusayriyyah. They watched with happiness seeing the killing, abuse, expulsion, and destruction, neither interested in, nor concerned about, the hundreds of thousands of dead, wounded, and imprisoned Muslims, and the millions displaced – including men, women and children – all over the world at the hands of the jews, crusaders, rāfidah, nusayriyyah, hindus, atheists, and apostates, in Palestine, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Burma, Nigeria, Somalia, Afghanistan, Indonesia, India, China, the Caucasus, and elsewhere. Its sentiments were not stirred during the long years of siege and starvation in Shām, and it looked the other way when the deadly and destructive barrel bombs were being dropped. It was not outraged when it saw the horrific scenes of the women and children of the Muslims taking their last breaths with their eyes glazed over due to the chemical weapons of the nusayriyyah – scenes which continue to be repeated everyday, exposing the reality of the farce of having destroyed chemical weapons belonging to its nusayrī (alawite) dogs, the guardians of the jews. America and its allies were not emotionally moved or outraged by any of this. They closed their ears to the cries of distress from the weak, and turned a blind eye to the massacres carried out against the Muslims in every one of those lands for years and years. But when a state emerged for the Muslims that would defend them, take revenge for them, and carry out retribution, America and the crusaders started shedding crocodile tears for the sake of a few hundred rāfidī (shiite) and nusayrī criminal soldiers that the Islamic State had taken as prisoners of war and then executed. The hearts of America and its allies were broken by the Islamic State when it cut off the rotten heads of some agents, spies, and apostates. It was terrified and its allies were terrified when the Islamic State would flog and stone the fornicator, cut off the hand of the thief, and strike the neck of the sorcerer and the apostate. So America and its allies rose in order to save the world from the “terrorism and barbarity of the Islamic State” as they allege. They rallied the entire global media, driving it with false arguments to delude the masses and lead them to believe that the Islamic State was the root of evil and the source of corruption, and that it was the one killing and displacing the people, arresting and murdering those who are “peaceful,” demolishing houses, destroying cities, and terrorizing the women and children who were previously safe. The media portrayed the crusaders as good, merciful, noble, generous, honorable and passionate people who feared for Islam and the Muslims the “corruption and cruelty of the khawārij (a deviant, extremist sect) of the Islamic State” as they allege. To the extent that Kerry, the uncircumcised old geezer, suddenly became an Islamic jurist, issuing a verdict to the people that the Islamic State was distorting Islam, that what it was doing was against Islamic teachings, and that the Islamic State was an enemy of Islam. And to the extent that Obama, the mule of the jews, suddenly became a sheikh, mufti (Islamic scholar that issues verdicts), and an Islamic preacher, warning the people and preaching in defense of Islam, claiming that the Islamic State has nothing to do with Islam. This occurred during six different addresses he made in the span of a single month, all of them about the threat of the Islamic State. They turned into Islamic jurists, muftis, sheikhs, and preachers, standing up for Islam and the Muslims, so it appears that they no longer have confidence in the ability or sincerity of their sorcerers in the various committees of senior scholars working for the rulers – committees of the supporters of the tawāghīt (rulers ruling by manmade law). Dear Muslims, America hasn’t come with its crusade in order to save the Muslims, nor does it spend its wealth in spite of the collapse of its economy and burden itself in order to arm and train the sahwah councils in Shām and Iraq out of compassion and fear for the mujahidin from the “cruelty of the khawārij,” and out of support for them as they allege. {I wish my people could know!} [Yāsīn: 26]. Do the crusaders rush to the support of the mujahidin fighting on the path of Allah, and rush to rescue and save them from the khawārij? “Live long enough and you’ll see strange things!” Woe to my people! When will they remember? Allah the Exalted said, {Neither those who disbelieve from the People of the Scripture nor the polytheists wish that any good should be sent down to you from your Lord} [Al-Baqarah: 105]. Likewise, Allah the Exalted said about the people of the scripture (jews and christians), {And they will continue to fight you until they turn you back from your religion if they are able} [Al- Baqarah: 217]. So America has not come for any reason other than to wage war against Islam and the Muslims. It has not gathered its allies and spent its wealth for any reason other than to break the strength of the mujahidin. So you have the statement of Allah on one hand, and the claim of the crusaders on the other. Who are you going to believe, O Muslims? Then will you not reason? The hearts of the crusaders did not denounce anything, nor were their sentiments stirred or their tears shed, except when they saw the rāfidī-safavid army and their dogs in the Iraq war collapse in the face of the strikes carried out by the mujahidin, fleeing like rats, and being crushed like insects under the feet of the muwahhidīn (monotheists). Indeed, America went mad and its allies lost their senses when the nusayrī forces, guard dogs of the jews, began collapsing in terror and fleeing in panic in the face of the mujahidin’s advance. America and its allies had their hearts broken when they saw a group of nusayriyyah being herded by the soldiers of the Islamic State like animals, and slaughtered like sheep, in the largest battle the nusayriyyah had lost in their entire black history, so that the Islamic State could begin its march towards Damascus. It was only then that the crusaders realized the extent of the threat. It was only then that their emotions and sentiments were stirred. It was only then that their hearts spoke and their tears flowed. It was only then that they suffered pain and anguish. It was only then that America and its allies rose in alarm and summoned one another, terrified. The jews! The jews! Save the jews! This is the reason they came. This is the purpose of their mobilization. And, I wish my people could know! I wish my people could know! Indeed, the reality of their opposition and resistance has become very clear, and the nusayriyyah and rāfidah were not able to contain themselves. The nusayriyyah began openly calling for America’s help, and welcoming their strikes against the Islamic State, completely forgetting their alleged sovereignty, their imaginary strength and capabilities, and their enmity towards America, which in fact was just a lie. Likewise Iran, as it emerged that it had allied itself with its “great Satan,” when the uncircumcised old geezer, Kerry, recently declared that Iran had a role in the war against the Islamic State. So it became clear that their opposition was for the sake of protecting the jews and the crusaders, and that the resistance was a resistance against Islam and the mujahidin. O Sunnis of Iraq, the time has come for you to learn from the lessons of the past, and to learn that nothing will work with the rāfidah other than slicing their throats and striking their necks. They make themselves out to be helpless so that they can take power, they conceal their hatred, enmity, and rage towards Sunnis, they plot and conspire against them, and they trick and deceive them. They display false affection towards them and flatter them as long as Sunnis are strong. And they keep pace with them, compete with them, and work hard to weaken them when they are on equal footing. But if one day they overcome them, they bare their fangs and reveal their claws, biting them, tearing them apart, killing them, and humiliating them. History is right there in front of you, O Sunnis, so read it. How many times have the rāfidah conspired against the Sunnis, and what do they do to them when they gain power? Read their history and look at how they are in the present. Indeed, their idiot Nouri has shown you their true face, so do not let their new snake deceive you with his soft touch and sweet tongue. You have been stung through the hole of reconciliation before with Nouri, so beware. Our dear people of Shām, you can see the reality becoming clearer day after day. Take a lesson from our people in Iraq, for history repeats itself. Indeed, the crusaders began building the Iraqi-safavid army by training its core in Jordan, with a few thousand soldiers, as they have decided to do today with regard to Shām. So what did the Sunnis get out of that army other than to have the rāfidah completely gain power over them? They tasted humiliation, disgrace, and many misfortunes at the hands of that army over a period of ten years. Furthermore, what did the sons of the Sunnis get out of joining that army other than apostasy from the religion of Allah, the destruction of their homes, and having their heads cut off? And those of them who lived, lived in continuous terror and a persistent state of fear, not knowing when he’d be taken by a bullet, or have his joints cut by an adhesive IED, or be deformed by an explosive or bomb, or be suffocated to death, or have a knife cutting his neck, or when he would return to find his home demolished, left in pieces after it was once whole. And for what would all this have been for? So take a lesson, O people of intelligence. {And how many a generation before them did We destroy who were greater than them in [striking] power and had explored throughout the lands. Is there any place of escape? Indeed in that is a reminder for whoever has a heart or who listens while he is present [in mind]} [Qāf: 36-37]. So pay attention, O Sunnis. For the army that they have decided to prepare today by Āl Salūl (the Saudis) is nothing more than a new set of guard dogs for the jews, and a stick in the hands of the crusaders to be used against Islam and the mujahidin. Therefore, we advise the mujahidin in Shām to target anyone who joins that army or intends to join it. And he who has given his warning is free of blame. As for the sahwah councils and their political sponsors, they will not be able to hide their reality after today. Their reality, that they are the sahwah councils and the shoes of the crusaders, will emerge very clearly. So rally around the mujahidin, O Sunnis of Shām, and stop your sons from joining the army and the sahwah councils, for what good is there in an army built by the crusaders which they then train on the laps of the tawāghīt. So prevent your sons, and whoever of them refuses to listen, let him not blame anyone but himself if there comes to him a day in which he digs his grave with his own hands, his head is cut off, and his house is demolished. And the blessed one is he who learns from the lessons of others. To Allah belongs honor, and to His Messenger, and to the believers. And the final outcome will be in favor of the righteous. Let us not forget before ending to praise our mujahidin brothers in the bold Sinai Peninsula, for hope has emerged in Egypt and good news has loomed with their blessed operations against the guards of the jews, the soldiers of Sisi, the new Pharaoh of Egypt. Carry on upon this path, for it is the correct path, may Allah bless you. Disperse those behind them wherever you may find them. Rig the roads with explosives for them. Attack their bases. Raid their homes. Cut off their heads. Do not let them feel secure. Hunt them wherever they may be. Turn their worldly life into fear and fire. Remove their families from their homes and thereafter blowup their homes. Do not say it is a fitnah (tribulation). Rather the fitnah is that their tribes defend them and do not disavow them. {He said, “O Noah, indeed he is not of your family; indeed, he is [one whose] work was other than righteous”} [Hūd: 46]. {If you do not do so, there will be fitnah on earth and great corruption} [Al-Anfāl: 73]. And to our brothers the muwahhidīn in beloved Libya, until when will you remain dispersed and divided? Why do you not gather your groups, unify, unite your word, and solidify your ranks? Why do you not identify who is with you and who is against you? Your division is from Satan. {Indeed, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in a row as though they are a [single] structure joined firmly} [As-Saff: 4]. We also call out to the muwahhidīn in the robbed land of Tunisia, follow the footsteps of your brothers in Egypt. O brother in tawhīd (monotheism), what do you wait for while the tawāghīt have prevented you from making da’wah (calling to the religion)? They prohibited you also from emigrating and opened for you their prisons of false freedom. They arrest your brothers every day and kill them. What do you wait for? Do you wait for the life of humiliation and disgrace? Or do you love the worldly life and hate death? Rise against them for the muhwahhid (monotheist) is an army by himself. Where are the descendants of ‘Uqbah, Mūsā, and Tāriq? {Fight them; Allah will punish them by your hands and will disgrace them and give you victory over them and satisfy the breasts of a believing people} [At-Tawbah: 14]. As for Yemen, then O alas for what has come upon Yemen. Alas! Alas for Sanaa. The rafidī houthis have entered it, but the car bombs have not roasted their skin, nor have the explosive belts and IEDs cut their joints. Is there not in Yemen a person who will take revenge for us from the houthis? {And if you turn away, He will replace you with another people; then they will not be the likes of you} [Muhammad: 38]. O muwahhidīn in Europe, America, Australia, and Canada… O muwahhidīn in Morocco and Algeria… O muwahhidīn in Khorasan, the Caucasus, and Iran… O muwahhidīn everywhere upon the face of the earth… O brothers in creed… O people of walā’ (allegiance to the Muslims) and barā’ (disavowal of disbelievers)… O patrons of the Islamic State… O you who have given bay’ah (pledge of allegiance) to the Caliph Ibrāhīm everywhere… O you who have loved the Islamic State… O you who support the Caliphate… O you who consider yourselves from amongst its soldiers and patrons… Your state is facing a new campaign by the crusaders. So O muwahhid, wherever you may be, what are you going to do to support your brothers? What do you wait for as the people have become two encampments and the heat of the war increases day by day? O muwahhid, we call you up to defend the Islamic State. Dozens of nations have gathered against it. They began their war against us at all levels. So rise O muwahhid. Rise and defend your state from your place wherever you may be. Rise and defend your Muslim brothers, for their homes, families, and wealth are threatened and deemed lawful by their enemies. They are facing a battle which is of the decisive, critical battles in the history of Islam. If the Muslims are defeated, they will be humiliated in such a manner that no humiliation compares to. And if the Muslims are victorious – and this will be the case by Allah’s permission – they will be honored with all honor by which the Muslims will return to being the masters of the world and kings of the earth. So O muwahhid, do not let this battle pass you by wherever you may be. You must strike the soldiers, patrons, and troops of the tawāghīt. Strike their police, security, and intelligence members, as well as their treacherous agents. Destroy their beds. Embitter their lives for them and busy them with themselves. If you can kill a disbelieving American or European – especially the spiteful and filthy French – or an Australian, or a Canadian, or any other disbeliever from the disbelievers waging war, including the citizens of the countries that entered into a coalition against the Islamic State, then rely upon Allah, and kill him in any manner or way however it may be. Do not ask for anyone’s advice and do not seek anyone’s verdict. Kill the disbeliever whether he is civilian or military, for they have the same ruling. Both of them are disbelievers. Both of them are considered to be waging war [the civilian by belonging to a state waging war against the Muslims]. Both of their blood and wealth is legal for you to destroy, for blood does not become illegal or legal to spill by the clothes being worn. The civilian outfit does not make blood illegal to spill, and the military uniform does not make blood legal to spill. The only things that make blood illegal and legal to spill are Islam and a covenant (peace treaty, dhimma, etc.). Blood becomes legal to spill through disbelief. So whoever is a Muslim, his blood and wealth are sanctified. And whoever is a disbeliever, his wealth is legal for a Muslim to take and his blood is legal to spill. His blood is like the blood of a dog; there is no sin for him in spilling it nor is there any blood money to be paid for doing such. Allah the Exalted said, {And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush} [At-Tawbah: 5]. And He the Exalted said, {So when you meet those who disbelieve [in battle], strike [their] necks} [Muhammad: 4]. And Allah’s Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) said, “The disbeliever and his killer will never gather in Hellfire.” And he said, “Whoever kills a disbeliever, then he can have his loot [which is on his person].” So O muwahhid… O you who believes in walā’ and barā’… will you leave the American, the Frenchman, or any of their allies to walk safely upon the earth while the armies of the crusaders strike the lands of the Muslims not differentiating between a civilian and fighter? They have killed nine Muslim women three days ago by striking a bus transporting them from Shām to Iraq. Will you leave the disbeliever to sleep safely at home while the Muslim women and children shiver with fear of the roars of the crusader airplanes above their heads day and night? How can you enjoy life and sleep while not aiding your brothers, not casting fear into the hearts of the cross worshippers, and not responding to their strikes with multitudes more? So O muwahhid wherever you may be, hinder those who want to harm your brothers and state as much as you can. The best thing you can do is to strive to your best and kill any disbeliever, whether he be French, American, or from any of their allies. {O you who have believed, take your precaution and [either] go forth in companies or go forth all together} [An-Nisā’: 71]. If you are not able to find an IED or a bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman, or any of their allies. Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him, or poison him. Do not lack. Do not be contemptible. Let your slogan be, “May I not be saved if the cross worshipper and taghūt (ruler ruling by manmade laws) patron survives.” If you are unable to do so, then burn his home, car, or business. Or destroy his crops. If you are unable to do so, then spit in his face. If your self refuses to do so, while your brothers are being bombarded and killed, and while their blood and wealth everywhere is deemed lawful by their enemies, then review your religion. You are in a dangerous condition because the religion cannot be established without walā’ and barā’. Finally, we do not want to forget to direct a message towards our Muslim people and brothers from the Kurds in Iraq, Shām, and elsewhere. Our war with Kurds is a religious war. It is not a nationalistic war – we seek the refuge of Allah. We do not fight Kurds because they are Kurds. Rather we fight the disbelievers amongst them, the allies of the crusaders and jews in their war against the Muslims. As for the Muslim Kurds, then they are our people and brothers wherever they may be. We spill our blood to save their blood. The Muslim Kurds in the ranks of the Islamic State are many. They are the toughest of fighters against the disbelievers amongst their people. O Allah, America, France, and their allies transgressed against us. They came with their legions to fight us out of their enmity for your religion. They prevent us from establishing your religion and your hudūd (fixed punishments), and ruling by what you revealed. O Allah, you know our weakness. We have no way to deal with their airplanes. O Allah, you have said what is true, {So do not weaken and do not grieve, and you will be superior if you are [true] believers} [Āli ‘Imrān: 139]. O Allah, we have believed in you and relied upon you. You are sufficient for us and the best disposer of affairs. O Allah, America and its allies disbelieve in you and associate partners with you. O Allah, you have placed them above us by their airplanes. O Allah, you know we have no power nor strength against their planes except through You. O Allah, do not let them be above us while You are above them. O Allah, do not let them be above us while we are higher than them. O Allah, do not let them be above us while we are higher than them. There is no god but You. You are glorified and You do not fail in Your promise. We ask your forgiveness and repent to you. O Allah, you will prevent them from harming us with whatever You will and however You will. You are the Mighty and Compeller. O Allah, you will bring them down to the ground and place us above them. You are the King, the Prevailing. O Allah, make it their last crusader campaign, so that we raid them and they do not raid us. There is no god but You. You are glorified. We have been among the wrongdoers. We ask your forgiveness and repent to you, so do not hold us responsible for what the foolish among us may have done. You are sufficient for us and the best disposer of affairs. We take shelter with You, and entrust our affairs to You. You are glorified, glorified. You are the best protector and helper. May blessings and peace be upon our prophet Muhammad, and all his family and companions. Our final call is: Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds!

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/58439940-68/soldiers-camp-iraqi-islamic.html.csp Islamic State fighters drive Iraqi soldiers from army base Loveday Morris | The Washington Post First Published Sep 21 2014 08:15 pm • Last Updated Sep 21 2014 08:15 pm Baghdad • Hundreds of Iraqi soldiers were trapped or missing Sunday after a chaotic retreat from an army base in western Iraq, military officials said, underscoring the ability of Islamic State insurgents to remain on the offensive despite expanded airstrikes by the United States. At least 820 soldiers were stationed at Camp Saqlawiyah in Anbar province, north of the insurgent-controlled Iraqi city of Fallujah, when it came under attack from five suicide bombings Sunday afternoon, said Lt. Col. Ihab Hashem, a deputy commander with the Iraqi army’s 8th division who was at the camp. Two bombers drove explosives-packed armored vehicles and three others detonated vests, he said. 0 0 At a glance 100,000 refugees seek shelter in Turkey Kucuk Kendirciler, Turkey » The number of refugees seeking shelter in Turkey from the Islamic State (IS) group’s advance across northern Syria has hit 100,000 in less than a week, an official said Sunday. The head of Turkey’s disaster management agency, Fuat Oktay, said the figure relates to Syrians escaping the area near the Syrian border town of Kobani, where fighting has raged between IS and Kurdish fighters since Thursday. The U.N. refugee agency said earlier that about 70,000 Syrians have crossed into Turkey in the past 24 hours and that it was preparing for the arrival of hundreds of thousands more. Those are significant numbers, even in the context of the 1.5 million refugees who have fled to Turkey in the past 3½ years. On Sunday, heavy clashes broke out between the Islamic State group and Kurdish fighters only a few miles from Kobani. The Islamic State militants were bombarding villagers with tanks, artillery and multiple rocket launchers, said Nasser Haj Mansour, an official at the defense office in Syria’s Kurdish region. The Associated Press Join the Discussion Post a Comment In a statement Sunday night, Iraq’s Defense Ministry confirmed that it had lost contact with some of its "heroic soldiers" during operations in Anbar but did not give numbers. It vowed to continue to "clean every inch of land" of militants. Five battalions had been stranded at the base without supplies for six days after Islamic State militants seized a bridge that was the last access route to the camp. Soldiers said they were forced to boil water from a muddy stream and had been running low on ammunition when the bombings occurred. "We lost control," Hashem said after crossing territory controlled by the Islamic State to reach another army base. "We couldn’t gather to retreat. Some are dead, others stayed." He said retreating soldiers had abandoned their vehicles and were traversing enemy territory in small platoons. "Some are still crossing. They are walking through the trees and houses trying to hide from the insurgents." The Islamic State has carried out mass executions of seized Iraqi troops in the past. Iraqi officials say the group massacred 1,700 soldiers at Camp Speicher near the northern city of Tikrit in June. The latest advance comes despite stepped-up U.S. airstrikes against militants. France launched airstrikes against the extremists last week. Iraqi military officials said U.S. jets gave air support to a failed army effort to reach the stranded soldiers Sunday morning. U.S. Central Command, however, did not announce details of operations in the area. story continues below story continues below After Darrien Hunt shooting, Utah’s black, biracial families worry Published Sep 22, 2014 08:06:53AM Photos: Elton John rocks his way down memory lane at Utah show Published Sep 22, 2014 07:53:17AM Utah forecast: Make way for a warm, red autumn Published Sep 22, 2014 07:51:46AM Separated Utah family still keeping American dream alive Published Sep 22, 2014 07:49:56AM Only about 25 percent of the soldiers at Saqlawiyah had managed to reach safety at the nearby 1st division base at Camp Tariq, Hashem said

http://www.clarionproject.org/news/amnesty-isis-ethnic-cleansing-blood-soaked-killing-fields Amnesty: ISIS' Ethnic Cleansing & Blood-Soaked Killing Fields The Amnesty briefing contains first-hand reports of mass executions of hundreds of men and boys and the abductions of women. Tue, September 2, 2014 Print Email Amnesty's Senior Crisis Response Adviser Donatella Rovera (left) interviews survivors of the Islamic State's murderous rampage. Related Stories Ft. Hood Shooter Declares Allegiance to Islamic State Norway’s Muslims rally against ISIS, but not against ‘Armed Jihad’ Islamic State: Indoctrinating an Entire Generation Islamic State: Winning Over Next Generation of Jihadis Headlines Europe Cannot Be Trusted to Monitor Disarming of Hamas Amnesty: ISIS' Ethnic Cleansing & Blood-Soaked Killing Fields 'Moderate Islamists' Turn on MI Gov. for pro-Israel Comment Ft. Hood Shooter Declares Allegiance to Islamic State Amnesty International released a briefing today on the ethnic cleansing being carried out by the Islamic State in Iraq against Christians, Yazidis (a religion that pre-dates Islam), Shiite Muslims and other minorities. "The massacres and abductions being carried out by the Islamic State provide harrowing new evidence that a wave of ethnic cleansing against minorities is sweeping across northern Iraq,” said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Adviser, who is currently in northern in Iraq. “The Islamic State is carrying out despicable crimes and has transformed rural areas of Sinjar into blood-soaked killing fields in its brutal campaign to obliterate all trace of non-Arabs and non-Sunni Muslims.” The briefing, titled Ethnic cleansing on historic scale: the Islamic State’s systematic targeting of minorities in northern Iraq, details the horrific massacres and kidnappings of entire populations and the dire conditions of the thousands who were able to flee and have since become refugees. The Islamic State (commonly known by its previous name ISIS, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) began its systematic rampage against the minority populations when the brutal Islamist group took over Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, on June 10. Documenting the stories of survivors, the Amnesty briefing contains first-hand reports of mass executions of hundreds of men and boys. The briefing notes that the fate of hundreds – if not thousands (as reported elsewhere) -- of Yazidi women and girls who were taken by the militants remains unknown. Two of the worst killings took place in the villages of Qiniyeh on August 2 and Kocho on August 15. A survivor from Kocho told Amnesty, “There was no order, they [the IS fighters] just filled up vehicles indiscriminately.” Those taken on the vehicles were shot, including boys as young as 12 years old. Another survivor testified, “Some could not move and could not save themselves; they lay there in agony waiting to die. They died a horrible death. I managed to drag myself away [after being shot] and was saved by a Muslim neighbor; he risked his life to save me.” Previous reports garnered directly from women being held in Mosul’s prisons through smuggled cell phones have revealed that the women and girls have been raped, pressured to convert to Islam and are being sold as slaves. Those who have converted are reportedly being given to Islamic State fighters as “wives.” Rovera also had scathing words for how the Iraqi government has handled the crisis. “Instead of aggravating the fighting by either turning a blind eye to sectarian militias or arming Shi’a militias against the Islamic State as the authorities have done so far, Iraq’s government should focus on protecting all civilians regardless of their ethnicity or religion,” she said. "The people of northern Iraq deserve to live free from persecution without fearing for their lives at every turn. Those ordering, carrying out, or assisting in these war crimes must be apprehended and brought to justice.”

Prayers ~ Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, Please befall a plague unto this group, please send chariots of angels to protect your children, all., Christians, Jews, and Muslims opposed to this disease.

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/08/27/norways-muslims-rally-against-isis?token=ed1c4f6d3d4f8756e57d5d62969e0426&utm_source=addThis&utm_medium=addthis_button_facebook&utm_campaign=Norway%E2%80%99s+Muslims+rally+against+ISIS+%7C+Fatah+%7C+Columnists+%7C+Opinion+%7C+Toronto+Sun#.U_5vziKlrNM.facebook SUBSCRIBERS GET FULL ACCESS STARTING FROM $0.99/MONTH* *Certain conditions apply SUN+ LOGIN SEARCH AUTOS HOMES CLASSIFIEDS CAREERS OBITUARIES Toronto Sun THURSDAY AUGUST 28 2014 HOME NEWS SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT LIFE TECH MONEY TRAVEL OPINION PHOTOS VIDEOS SUNSHINE GIRL MOREMORE COLUMNISTS EDITORIAL LETTERS SEND LETTER TO THE EDITOR BLOGS CARTOONS ARCHIVES OPINION COLUMNISTS FATAH Norway’s Muslims rally against ISIS 144 BY TAREK FATAH, TORONTO SUN FIRST POSTED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 05:40 PM EDT | UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 10:29 PM EDT Tarek Fatah chats with anti-ISIS protesters in Norway. Article Change text size for the story Print this story Report an error Related Stories Harper: ISIS like the Taliban Canadian ISIS fighter: Headed down dark path Slain journalist's employer publishes email to family from Islamic State Don't let ISIS in “We have to kill each and every one of them, wherever we find ISIS.” Yezen Al Obaide was speaking to me amid last-minute preparations in the pouring rain for a rally Monday by Norway’s Muslims against the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group. As hundreds gather in Oslo’s historic Gronland neighbourhood with signs saying “No to ISIS”, Obaidea, one of the organizers of the event, told me as he arranged the podium: “Our Prophet Mohammed had prophesized that evil men will emerge and spread terror in the name of Islam and we Muslims were ordered to kill them wherever we found them.” Norway has been home to radical Muslims for quite some time. In one event in Oslo last year, 4,000 Muslim attendees raised their hands in support of sharia law and the killing of gays. A week before the protest, their leaders urged Muslims in the country to back ISIS. The Monday protest was intended to help stem the rising tide of Islamic radicalism. I talked to many Arab and Somali women in hijab, and asked them if they renounced the doctrine of armed jihad, or opposed the use of sharia as a source of public law. Not one was against jihad, but they all insisted they were against ISIS. Later, the crowd of more than 5,000 Norwegians, including hundreds of Muslims, marched to Norway’s parliament, where Prime Minister Erna Solberg spoke. She quoted the Prophet Mohammed saying, “If one of you sees something wrong, let him change it with his hand; if he cannot, then with his tongue; if he cannot, then with his heart and this is the weakest faith.” Mehran Marri, exiled leader of Balochistan’s Marri tribe in Pakistan’s war-torn Balochistan, where ISIS affiliates are fighting Baloch nationalists, also attended the protest, but thought political correctness was in play. Marri told me marching against ISIS was not enough. “We cannot fight ISIS without fighting the doctrine of jihad and without exposing the bankruptcy of Islamic states such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran,” he said. “Too many leaders in the West are reluctant to identify the elephant in the room, which is Islamism. If they cannot fight the ideological foundation of ISIS, then we will see the ISIS cancer spread.” I was hoping to see Emmy Award-winning, Oslo-born Muslim filmmaker Deeyah Khan, who had to flee Norway after harassment from Islamists, but she was not there. Also missing was Norwegian activist Aliaa Magda al-Mahdy, who received death threats after she uploaded a picture of herself menstruating and defecating with another woman on an ISIS flag. I asked Khalid Thataal, who came to Norway from Pakistan in 1970, why Islamists often dominate the Muslim discourse in Norway. He told me, “It’s because Islamic leaders have stifled any secular or humanist discourse among Norway’s Muslim community.” Deeyah Khan told me in an email, the harassment she faced at the hands of Norway’s Islamists was not isolated. “A Norwegian-Pakistani comedienne, Shabana Rehman, has been threatened and harassed for years, a young female Somali author was attacked and beaten in the streets of Oslo.” Nevertheless, she said, the event was a step in the right direction. The fact the keynote speaker was 19-year old Faten Al-Mahdi, a young woman who denounced the radical Norwegian group Profetens Ummah as “The Devils Ummah”, shows there is light at the end of the Muslim tunnel, but we have miles to go before we rest.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/tired-of-being-victims-iraqi-christians-arm-themselves-to-fight-isis-talking-about-jesus-and-peace-is-not-enough-they-say-125516/ Tired of Being Victims, Iraqi Christians Arm Themselves to Fight ISIS; 'Talking About Jesus and Peace Is Not Enough,' They Say 1 Share0 Sign Up for Free eNewsletter ›› Share on Facebook Share on Twitter BY LEONARDO BLAIR , CP REPORTER August 28, 2014|11:17 am (PHOTO: REUTERS)Volunteers have joined the Iraqi army to fight against the Sunni militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Tired of being slaughtered like sheep and chased from a place they have called home for two millennia, some Christian groups in northern Iraq have decided to take up arms to defend their place in the war-torn country from the terror of ISIS. Henry Sarkis, 44, an official with the Assyrian Patriotic Party which is one of several Assyrian political organizations in Iraq, told National Geographic that his party has armed and dispatched 40 of its members to join the Kurdish Peshmerga, the official security force of the Kurdistan Regional Government, in fighting ISIS in Iraq's northwest. ISIS militants are using mines and IEDs to stop Peshmerga forces trying to flush them from the area, according to The Wall Street Journal's Tamer El-Ghobashy. The last time Christians took up arms in Iraq was when they fought briefly alongside the Kurds against Saddam Hussein. "We keep talking about Jesus and peace, and now we've reached the point where it's not enough," Sarkis told National Geographic from his party's headquarters in Dahuk, Iraq. "The age of waiting for the Peshmerga to take back territory while we sit is over. We took the decision that, with our limited abilities, we will try to participate." Sarkis says the mostly symbolic move is the "first wave," and the group of Christian fighters have taken on the name Dukha, which means "sacrifice" in Assyrian. WSJ His party, says Sarkis, bought weapons with money donated by members in the diaspora and they are looking to raise more money to get more arms. Their main focus in the fight, he says, is to secure territory as the Peshmerga advances against ISIS. Christians taking up arms in Iraq stands in stark contrast to the passive victim profile they have been known for since 2003 and is likely to make them more of a target. Sarkis, however, isn't worried as he believes embracing a fighting life is much better than accepting a passive death. "We're being killed in our homes, so why not defend ourselves? Then even if we die, we die with dignity," he said. "We didn't want to reach this point — we just want to live in our areas." Christians make up less than 1 percent of Iraq's population, according to the CIA, and their numbers have dwindled from about 1.5 million in 2003 to less than 500,000 today. In Mosul, which was overrun by ISIS militants in June, Duraid Tobiya, 53, an Assyrian from the city said about 40 of the 8,000 to 10,000 Christians that once lived there still remain. And those that remain barely count. ISIS militants exempted them from an edict to convert to Islam, pay a tax or die after they were found to be too sick, too old or too poor to obey the order. "I'm from Mosul — this is the first time I've been displaced," said Tobiya. "I lived through everything else that happened in Mosul, but it's all very different from what's happening now." Tobiya has no faith in the Peshmerga or the Iraqi Army to protect Christians from ISIS because both forces once abandoned their duty to protect Christians and other minorities from ISIS attacks. He now only sees two options to the problems Christians face in Iraq: "Either mass emigration or an internationally protected safe zone. We have no other options. We are against emigration, because we are not only the sons of this country but its original inhabitants." "We must protect ourselves — and also have international protection," he said. Contact: leonardo.blair@christianpost.com; follow me on Twitter @leoblair

http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/boston-marathon-bombing-suspect-s-sister-charged-with-new-york-telephone-bomb-threat-1.1980213 Boston Marathon bombing suspect's sister charged with New York telephone bomb threat Aliana Tsarnaeva, sister of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, departs district court in Boston's South Boston neighborhood, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) Share: 20 Text: Share on print (0) The Associated Press Published Wednesday, August 27, 2014 9:16PM EDT NEW YORK - Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's sister has been accused of threatening to bomb a New York City woman and has been arrested. Police say Ailina Tsarnaeva made the threat via telephone Monday and turned herself in Wednesday. She's charged with aggravated harassment. Police say the North Bergen, New Jersey, resident is due in court Sept. 30. RELATED STORIESBoston police destroy 2 backpacks found at marathon finish line Boston runners return to the road: 'We're taking back our race' Tsarnaeva has been required to check in with Massachusetts probation officers since last October after prosecutors say she didn't co-operate with a counterfeiting investigation. Her lawyer in that case hasn't returned a message seeking comment. A working home phone number for her can't be found. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is charged in the April 2013 marathon explosions, which killed three people. He has pleaded not guilty. His brother died after a gunbattle with police Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/boston-marathon-bombing-suspect-s-sister-charged-with-new-york-telephone-bomb-threat-1.1980213#ixzz3BgoN20CX

Here is a testament to how the Iraqi people care for the Christians but were helpless to stop isis.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/07/islamic_front_reject.php Islamic Front rejects rival's caliphate, as well as proposed emirate in SyriaBy THOMAS JOSCELYNJuly 23, 2014 The Islamic Front, a coalition of several leading insurgency groups in Syria, has released a statement rejecting the caliphate announced by its rivals in the Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot, in late June. And the Islamic Front also says that any proposed emirate (state) or other government that is not agreed upon by the "people of power and decision" is unacceptable. The latter objection is almost certainly intended as a warning to the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria. Earlier this month, an audio recording of a speech by Abu Muhammad al Julani, the Al Nusrah Front's emir, was leaked online. "The time has come ... for us to establish an Islamic emirate in the Levant, to implement the limits and punishments of God Almighty, and his laws in every sense of the word, without compromise, complacency, equivocation, or circumvention," Julani says in the recording. Julani's words were widely interpreted by jihadists and other Islamists in Syria, as well as observers outside of the country, as indicating that the Al Nusrah Front was going to announce the creation of an emirate soon. This anticipated move was seen as a natural response to the Islamic State's caliphate, which Al Nusrah fiercely opposes. The audio of Julani's speech created so much buzz and controversy in jihadist circles that the Al Nusrah Front was forced to issue a "clarification" shortly after it was leaked. In a statement, Al Nusrah said it had "not announced the establishment of an emirate, yet." Julani's group added: "When the time comes and the sincere mujahideen and the pious scholars agree with our stance, we will announce this emirate, by the Will of Allah." The audio of Julani's speech had the potential to upset relations between the Al Nusrah Front and other insurgent groups. Al Nusrah has positioned itself as an acceptable jihadist alternative to the Islamic State, led by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who is now called "Caliph Ibrahim" by his supporters. Both the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front have battled Baghdadi's Islamic State for months. Indeed, Al Nusrah has been especially close to Ahrar al Sham, an al Qaeda-linked group that is one of the most powerful organizations inside the Islamic Front. (Some in the West have argued that the Islamic Front is a relatively moderate rebel coalition, but its ties to al Qaeda undermine this claim.) The Al Nusrah Front and its allies in the Islamic Front have consistently rejected Baghdadi's unilateral claim to rule. But the leaked audio of Julani's speech can be interpreted as meaning that Al Nusrah intends to declare the establishment of an Islamic emirate without the blessing of other leading factions in the insurgency. That is, some jihadists fear that Julani could be heading down a path similar to Baghdadi's. In its newly-released statement, the Islamic Front makes it clear that any such initiative will be rejected. The statement was released in both English and Arabic on the group's Twitter feeds. A screen shot of the Islamic Front's English language Twitter page can be seen above. "Any announcement of a caliphate or emirate or government that is not chosen by the people of the Levant and not accepted by 'Ahl Al-Hal wa Alaqd' (people of power and decision)...is a rejected announcement and belongs only to the people who made it," the Islamic Front's statement reads. "The murderer Assad regime depends on the consequences of such announcements, and on the infightings resulted from them to stay in power; so we should not give it the opportunity through showing great amount of wisdom and responsibility." The Islamic Front goes on to warn that no group should "consider itself a legitimate ruler" at the expense of others, "because this would lead to a fitna (strife or infighting) and shedding of blood that may lead to failing the revolution of the people in the Levant, and taking away their hopes of winning this war after hundreds of thousands have been killed and injured, and millions displaced." Bashar al Assad's "regime should be overthrown" before the establishment of an Islamic government, the Islamic Front argues, and the "complete system of operating a country, providing the basics, and carrying out the hudud [punishments according to sharia law] could not be achieved by a single group." Instead, according to the Islamic Front, the "legitimate" Islamic bodies should be supported in each "liberated" area and the "people of knowledge should be asked to determine what should be handled immediately without any delay." In other words, neither the Islamic State, nor the Al Nusrah Front, should impose its will on the other jihadist and Islamist groups overseeing territory won from the Assad regime. This is not the first time that there has been tension between the Islamic Front and Al Nusrah. In May, the Islamic Front and other allied groups released a "revolutionary covenant" that was intended to allay concerns about the role of extremists in the Syrian rebellion. The Al Nusrah Front swiftly rejected the covenant, arguing that it was not sufficiently rooted in religious principles and was too nationalistic in its focus. Despite these disagreements, the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front continue to jointly conduct operations. Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/07/islamic_front_reject.php#ixzz3BbjMGG3w WARNING ** GRAPHIC LINK ** http://syrianfight.com/2014/08/26/is-beheaded/ Seven Islamic State fighters beheaded by rival fighters in Aleppo

From August 13th: http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/08/uk-jihadi-poses-with-severed-head-chillin-with-my-homie-or-whats-left-of-him UK jihadi poses with severed head: “Chillin’ with my homie or what’s left of him” Aug 13, 2014 at 2:09pm A British rapper who travelled to Syria to fight for ISIS has posted a photograph on Twitter showing himself posing with a severed head. The sickening image was taken in the city of Raqqa – the capital of ISIS’ self-declared caliphate – and uploaded to the social media site along with the caption ‘Chillin’ with my homie or what’s left of him.’ The photograph shows masked former rapper Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, 23, holding the decapitated head while standing in Raqqa’s central square – the same location where the seven-year-old son of Australian jihadist Khaled Sharrouf was seen holding a different severed head earlier this week. The shocking image of Bary emerged as ISIS militants seized a number of key towns and villages close to Syria’s northern border with Turkey. As well as posing for an image himself, Bary – whose Twitter account has since been deleted – uploaded other shocking photographs of severed heads displayed on railings in the square. Alongside one image, he posted the words: ‘It’s beautiful when you see Allah’s laws implemented. The disturbing photographs come just days after convicted Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf uploaded an image of his seven-year-old son standing in the same spot holding a decapitated head. That image – which was captioned ‘ That’s my boy’ – received worldwide condemnation from political leaders, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Bary, meanwhile, is a former rapper who once had his music played on Radio One. He is understood to have walked out of his family’s £1million home in Maida Vale, west London, last year to join ISIS, telling them he was ‘leaving everything for the sake of Allah’. Friends said Bary – an aspiring rapper on the ‘grime’ music scene – grew increasingly radical and violent after mixing with thugs linked to hate preacher Anjem Choudary. He has posted a series of photographs online, including shots of him masked and posing with guns under the title ‘soldier of Allah’. In other messages he called on Allah to ‘grant us martyrdom’, and praised Osama Bin Laden. Bary, whose music has featured on Radio 1, is one of six children of Adel Abdul Bary, 53. Bary Snr was extradited from Britain to the US in 2011 after an eight-year legal battle that made him a cause celebre of the Left as lawyers took his publicly funded case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Investigators believe Bary Snr was one of Bin Laden’s closest lieutenants in the infancy of Al Qaeda and ran a London cell of the terror network. He faces life in prison if convicted of involvement in the bombings of US embassies in East Africa in 1998. His son’s appearance among the ranks of UK jihadists in Syria, where several Britons fighting for the militants have already been killed, will add to concerns about their potential threat to the West. The image emerged as ISIS militants seized a number of key towns and villages close to the Syrian border with Turkey. Deadly clashes between rebel groups saw ISIS forces take control of Akhtarin and Turkmanbareh in the Aleppo countryside earlier this morning, according to Syrian opposition activists. The ISIS militants also took control of three nearby areas – dislodging rebels troops who had held the stretch of north west Syria, having earlier seized it from President Bashar Assad’s forces. The towns are the latest prize for the ISIS militants, who have carved out a self-styled caliphate across vast swaths of eastern Syria and northern and western Iraq. The towns’ takeover was reported by several activists, jihadists affiliated with ISIS on social media, and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The news comes as Egypt’s top cleric branded ISIS a ‘terrorist’ group that poses a danger to all Muslims and to the Islamic religion itself. Grand Mufti Shawki Allam, Egypt’s highest religious authority, said the extremist group is ‘violating all the Islamic principles and the intentions of the Shariah [islamic law].’ In remarks carried by Egypt’s state news agency late last night, Allam also said the ‘bloody extremist group’ had tarnished the image of Islam and paved the way for the destruction of Muslim nations….

Could this be a test of sorts?

That is part of the equation., to gain that ever important 20% population in a country. Here is a projection for global Muslim projection in 2030. Although the trend shows the US (#235) with 6.2 million, the percentage of change is over 100 percent. http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/jan/28/muslim-population-country-projection-2030#data http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/27/world-muslim-population-doubling-report-projects/ http://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/the-future-of-the-global-muslim-population/