Islam is not a religion of peace, Saudi edition

The Center for Religious Freedom of Freedom House, the human rights organization originally founded by Eleanor Roosevelt, has released a new report, "Saudi Publications on Hate Ideology Fill American Mosques," [PDF, 535 Kb] The report compiles examples of Saudi-government-sponsored propaganda distributed in mosques in the United States.

The report is arranged in topical chapters:

1. Christians, Jews and Other "Infidels"
2. Jews
3. Other Muslims
4. Anti-American
5. Infidel Conspiracies
6. Jihad Ideology
7. Suppression of Women

Here is a selection from the chapter on jihad ideology:

One example [Document No. 28] is a book for third-year high school students published by the Saudi Ministry of Education that was collected from the Islamic Center of Oakland in California. The text, written with the approval of the Saudi Ministry of Education, teaches students to prepare for jihad in the sense of war against Islam's enemies, and to strive to attain military self-sufficiency:

"To be true Muslims, we must prepare and be ready for jihad in Allah's way. It is the duty of the citizen and the government. The military education is glued to faith and its meaning, and the duty to follow it." [Document No. 28]

Strength is defined in this textbook in physical, spiritual, and material terms, namely men, beliefs, and the latest advances in military technology:

"Preparing the weapons for war and possessing them; even better than that is building special factories for manufacturing military vehicles, tanks, rockets, planes, and other things needed in modern warfare." [Document No. 28]

The text then assures students that the Kingdom does not concentrate only on defensive capabilities, but also on building an offensive arsenal to face,

“the dangers of communism and the Crusades from the East and the West, and in the first cause for all the Arabs, the Palestinian cause and the liberation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque; the cause of Muslim Afghanistan and the causes of persecuted Muslim minorities around the world.” [Document No. 28]

The bibliographic reference to Document No. 28 reads "Reading. Riyadh: Ministry of Education, 1995. Collected from Islamic Center of Oakland CA, 12/18/03."

Many of the documents cited are from the 1970s, 80s, and 90s--I wonder if there has been any change since 9/11/2001? I also wonder if there was bias in the selection of the 200 documents used for this study. The impression I get from reading this report is that Wahabbist Muslims should not even be allowed in any democratic country.

This is a day of new beginnings,
time to remember and move on,
time to believe what love is bringing,
laying to rest the pain that's gone.

For by the life and death of Jesus,
God's mighty Spirit, now as then,
can make for us a world of difference,
as faith and hope are born again.

--Brian Wren
This is a day of new beginnings, 1978, alt.
(1st 2 verses)