HUGH FITZGERALD: JACINDA ARDERN, NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER, SHOULD WIN KING FAISAL INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR SERVICES TO ISLAM
She hasn’t won it quite yet. And that’s not the only prize she is up for. Little more than a week after the attack in New Zealand, nearly 30,000 people had signed online petitions calling for New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her response to the Christchurch terror attack. So she surely must be on the short list, too, for the King Faisal International Prize For Services To Islam.
“Ms. Ardern has received widespread acclaim for the compassion she has shown to the victims and their families.” That “compassion” has included her donning of the hijab during every public appearance for at least a week after the Christchurch attack, as she met first with survivors, then with other Muslims when she visited Islamic centers in Christchurch and Wellington, made a televised address to the nation expressing what would become her trademark “We Are One” sentiment, and announced that the government would not only pay for all the funerals, but provide financial assistance to the families of the victims. And the nation mourned with her, or at least all of those sorrowful faces who were caught on camera. She received praise from Muslims worldwide for her performance. Footage of her wearing the hijab, consoling Muslim women, and reciting one of Muhammad’s hadith, went worldwide.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent clips of Ardern visiting mosques in a hijab and clips of her speeches translated into Arabic and Turkish to Islamic countries, as a way to head off any possible reprisal attacks from Muslims who might blame New Zealand, and not a lone lunatic, for the attack. Apparently, in the view of the New Zealand government, Muslims are splendid, peace-loving people — “We Are One” — but on the other hand, you never know…
In Turkey, that outreach apparently didn’t work. Al Jazeera reported that crowds gathered in Istanbul mosques with signs reading “Crusader Savagery in New Zealand.”
Erdogan showed blurred video of the Christchurch attack at campaign rallies, while claiming that the Christchurch shooter did not work alone, but collaborated with others who were motivated by hatred of Islam. He warned that Turkey was in the crosshairs of this hatred. That would make sense; after all, Recip Tayyip Erdogan is, in the view of R. T. Erdogan, the foremost Muslim leader.
“They are testing us from 16,500km away, from New Zealand, with the messages they are giving from there. This isn’t an individual act, this is organized,” he said, without elaborating.
He also tweeted a chilling reference to the killing of Anzacs (Australian/New Zealand) soldiers in the Gallipoli campaign in World War I, in which Ottoman forces soundly defeated the Allies. He threatened that anyone going to Turkey with ill intent would also be returned in “caskets like their grandfathers were.” Later, in light of Ardern’s performance, Erdogan backtracked a bit; a spokesman claimed that his views had been misconstrued, and in an article in the Washington Post, Mr Erdogan praised Ms Arden’s “courage, leadership and sincerity” in handling the crisis.
The high point of the Tribute To Islam Week (as it deserves to be called), was the outdoor gathering at which the Prime Minister offered brief remarks and quoted one of Muhammad’s hadith:
According to Muslim faith, the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said:
“The believers in their mutual kindness, compassion, and sympathy are just like one body. When any part of the body suffers, the whole body feels pain,” Ardern said, reciting the hadith. Then she ended: “New Zealand Mourns With You. We Are One.”
Then two minutes of silence were observed, all over the country.
Tens of thousands of people paid their respects around the country with some forming human chains in front of mosques. Others said silent prayers at schools, cafes, and even offices. It has made a deep impression. A sudden outpouring of love and respect, with displays of Hijabs Not Hate!, for wonderful Islam. And that hadith certainly summed up the faith, as Jacinda Ardern understands it, offering “mutual kindness, compassion, and sympathy” for all mankind. Except that…
Except that the hadith she recited means exactly the opposite of what Jacinda Ardern took it to mean. It has nothing to do with all mankind. It does not apply to the Infidels.
No one questioned at the time, nor has anyone questioned since, Jacinda Ardern’s understanding of that hadith. Instead of being a call for universal compassion, because “We Are One,” the hadith refers only to the “believers” — or better, “Believers” — that is, the Muslims. The “mutual kindness, compassion, and sympathy” are to be extended only to other Muslims. The commentary at a Muslim site makes this clear:
“This Hadith has the same purport which is mentioned in the HaD-632. It says that Muslims are akin to a living person. When he feels pain in one of his eyes, for example, his entire body feels it. When he suffers from a headache, he feels its pain throughout his body. As a result the whole body focuses to repair any deficiencies.
“That is how the Muslims should be, we should live as though we are one body and if one of us is in need then the whole community should get behind them to bring them back on their feet.”
Nowhere in the Qur’an or Hadith will Jacinda Ardern find expressions of “kindness, compassion, and sympathy” for non-Muslims. The hadith she chose to read, the meaning of which she did not understand, expresses the uncompromising division of the world between the Believers (Muslims), to whom kindness, compassion, and sympathy are due, and the Unbelievers, who are “the most vile of created beings”(98:6), and should not be taken as friends, “for they are friends only with each other” (5:51). Muslims are commanded to fight against them, to smite at their necks, to strike terror in their hearts. (2:190-194, 4:87, 8:12, 8:60, 9:5, 9:29, 47:4, and many other verses). Once they have subjugated the Unbelievers, they can offer them three options: death, or conversion to Islam, or acceptance of the status of dhimmis, making the Unbelievers subject to a host of onerous conditions, including payment of the Jizyah.
The Hadith are just as disturbing in their expression of hate for the Unbelievers.
Here, Prime Minister, are a few more hadith (from the most reliable (Sahih) collections, those of Bukhari and Muslim), out of many hundreds that express Muhammad’s views toward Unbelievers, that you need to look into:
Muhammad said “A Muslim shall never leave another Muslim helpless in the time of need.” Not “shall never leave another person helpless” but “shall never leave another Muslim helpless.” There is a difference. This hadith is found in both Bukhari and Muslim.
Sahih Bukhari (54:487) – Someone asked, “O Allah’s Apostle This (ordinary) fire would have been sufficient (to torture the unbelievers),” Allah’s Apostle said, “The (Hell) Fire has 69 parts more than the ordinary (worldly) fire, each part is as hot as this (worldly) fire.” Ordinary fire is not hot enough to torture non-Muslims. Therefore the fire in Hell is 69 times hotter.
Sahih Muslim (40:6831) – “Non-Muslims in Hell will be given thick skin so as to prolong their agony” (before they are given fresh skin for a new round of torture – Quran verse 4:56).
Sahih Bukhari (59:727) – Allah’s Apostle [said]... “Allah’s curse be on the Jews and the Christians.” This was said by Muhammad on his deathbed, one of the last things he ever said.
Do you now realize that the hadith you read out meant the opposite of what you assumed? You don’t have to admit it to the public — so very embarrassing — but go ahead and admit it to yourself.
Your image has now been projected onto the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It’s hardly surprising. You’ve become a hero to the world’s Muslims, for your over-the-top display — your wearing of the hijab, which was then emulated by tens of thousands of New Zealanders, your relentless insistence that “We Are One,” the Muslim prayer you had broadcast nationwide, the two minutes of silence you insisted be observed by the entire nation, the hadith you failed to comprehend but recited anyway. You are exactly the kind of Unbeliever whom Muslims value most. That King Faisal International Prize for Services to Islam is one you richly deserve, and I hope very much, for reasons of my own, that you win it.
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