Caliphate, Somali Beheadings and Khat

Caliphate; coming to a town near you, well maybe not if you like to get high!!!

Somalia official issues beheading threat

Residents of a southern Somalia town who do not pray five times a day will be beheaded, an Islamic courts official said Wednesday, adding the edict will be implemented in three days.

Public places such as shops and tea houses in Bulo Burto, about 124 miles northeast of the capital, Mogadishu, should be closed during prayer time and no one should be on the streets, said Sheik Hussein Barre Rage, the chairman of the town's Islamic court.

Those who do not follow this edict "will definitely be beheaded according to Islamic law," Rage told The Associated Press by phone. "As Muslims, we should practice Islam fully, not in part, and that is what our religion enjoins us to do."

He said that the courts are announcing the edict over loudspeakers in the town.

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Their sometimes strict and often severe interpretation of Islam has raised the specter of Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime, and contrasts with the moderate Islam that has dominated Somali culture for centuries.

Some of the courts have introduced public executions, floggings of convicts, bans on women swimming at Mogadishu's public beaches, and the sale and chewing of khat, a leafy stimulant consumed across the Horn of Africa and in the Middle East.

The religion of peace is spreading its iron hand over most of Africa by using terror and fear imposing strict adherence to Islamic law. Banning almost every freedom the people once had like music, singing, cinemas, going to the beach for women and even denying women to go out of their house without a chaperon!

The one ban that might become the straw that broke the camels back is the recent ban on khat!

This piece explains the situation and possible consequences of banning Khat:

The Khat and the Caliphate

decision to ban Khat, the narcotic stimulant, that millions of Somalis use as a pastime and for generating income to feed millions of children in a country where more than 43 percent of the population lives on less than a dollar a day.

Yes, Khat is a curse on the economy, health and family fabric of the Somali people. It props the economies of Somalia's neighboring countries; with Kenya exporting $250 millions worth of Khat to Somalia annually and Ethiopia earning $60 million a year from Somaliland alone. Most of this money is the remittances sent by overseas Somalis to feed their loved ones back home. In addition to its financial burden, the Khat causes numerous health problems; causes family break ups, wastes people's time and energy and increases the ranks of the country's unemployed as addiction forces millions of productive countryside people to quit their farms and livestock to khat markets, towns and villages.

On the surface of it therefore, it seems any sound thinking Somali should applaud such move and thank the clerics for ridding the community of such an age-old curse. But the timing of it may make one question the real motive of the clerics. The ban comes at a time when Islamists view Ethiopia and Kenya, exporters of Khat to Somalia, as hostile countries and accuse them of siding with the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) that they want to topple. They have declared a jihad on Ethiopia and they showed their mistrust to Kenya. By banning the Khat, the Islamists have waged an economic war on both countries. It is also a quick answer to Kenya's ban of all flights to and from Mogadishu.

Banning the Khat, however, is different from all the other bans the Islamist have imposed on the Somali people such as prohibiting music, singing, cinemas, going to the beach for women and even denying women to go out of their house without a chaperon. The Khat is not only a narcotic that almost all Somali men and many of the women use on daily basis, but unfortunately it is the only lucrative business in Somalia that feeds tens of thousands of families. It is the main business for thousands of women who sell the Khat in order to secure food, medicine and schooling for their children. What alternative do the Islamists have for all these families one may ask? Did they think about the reaction of Ethiopia and Kenya? What about if Ethiopia and Kenya decide to slap a trade ban on Somalia? With Khat replacing tea and coffee as a hard currency earner for both countries, it is obvious that both countries will feel the pinch. According to some estimates, Kenya alone would lose up to Sh19 billion and an estimated 500,000 jobs. It is my hope that the Islamists have seriously thought about how they would feed the Somali people if both Kenya and Ethiopia decide to close their borders and airports to Somali trade.

One may also remind the Islamists that when the British colonial authorities attempted to ban Khat in Somaliland it only strengthened the people's resolve for freedom. It was also the ban of Khat that fueled the Somali people's resentment of Siyad Barre and eventually contributed to his downfall.

While I continue to urge people to pay close attention to the spread of radical Islam as I believe it to be a direct threat to the United States. I can’t help feel that it might be the overwhelming need for the freedom to use a narcotic that finally drives the people in Africa to stand up and rebuff the spread of oppressive Islam!


Cross posted at The Minority Report