The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has published a story entitled “What is Islamophobia?” containing misleading information such as the common trope that “Islam means peace”.
Published just hours after the terrorist attack outside Finsbury Park mosque, the BBC’s article is hosted on their CBBC (Children’s BBC) website. It begins: “Following recent events in the news you might have been hearing a lot about Islam and maybe the term ‘Islamophobia’ – but what does this mean?”
It states:
Islam is over 1,400 years old, dating back to the 7th Century.
The Islamic word for God is Allah.
The word “Islam” comes from an old Arabic word meaning “peace.”
UPDATE 21 June 2017: Following the publication of this article, the BBC has changed its copy to state:
Islam is over 1,400 years old, dating back to the 7th Century.
The Islamic word for God is Allah.
The word “Islam” means submission to God’s will and obedience to God’s law.
It comes from an old Arabic word meaning “peace.”
In reality, the word “Islam” actually means “submission”, implying submission to Allah.
There has been a broader discussion on the matter in recent years, but while “Salam” means welcome or peace, the root of the word Islam is grounded in the idea of submission to Allah.
This has been confirmed by a number of Quranic scholars, as well as Muslims on the Ummah Forum website.
One writes: “i would sum it up as, islam means submission, one who submits is a muslim, and submission to Allah will bring peace to your heart insha Allah.”
Even Britain’s most notorious Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary concurred, in an interview with CBN:
“You can’t say that Islam is a religion of peace,” Choudary told CBN News. “Because Islam does not mean peace. Islam means submission. So the Muslim is one who submits. There is a place for violence in Islam. There is a place for jihad in Islam.”
CBBC adds, with no evidence: “…many people say those terrorist groups have extreme beliefs of hatred and violence that have little to do with what most Muslims believe.”
In reality, vast numbers of Muslims, even in the Western world, hold anti-Western views and ideals that fit well with the modus operandi of terrorist groups.
While indeed there is some anti-Muslim discrimination all around the world, pro-Islamist and Muslim Brotherhood affiliated groups created and seized upon the word Islamophobia in order to promote the ideas of fitna and fasad: effectively the idea of standing in the way of the spread of Islam.
Quran 2:191 commands: “And kill [the unbelievers] wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers.”
Quran 5:32 says: “Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment.”
Following the London Bridge terrorist attack, CBBC wrote:
There has been a terror attack at London Bridge in the centre of London in which eight people have died and at least 48 people injured.
A white van hit pedestrians on London Bridge at about 10pm on Saturday, then three men got out and attacked people in nearby Borough Market.
Police arrived within a few minutes and the three men believed to be responsible for the attack were killed by the specially trained police.
Dozens of emergency service workers were sent to the scene and the injured were taken to five London hospitals to be treated.
Police investigations into what happened are continuing.
A group called Islamic State has said it was behind the attack, but police haven’t confirmed if that is true.
Under an article entitled “What is the Islamic State?” the BBC’s children’s website says: “IS are a group based in the Middle East, mainly in Iraq and Syria, who have extreme religious beliefs. They use brutal violence against anyone who doesn’t agree with their views.
“They claim to follow the religion of Islam, but many people say their beliefs of hatred and violence have little to do with what the majority of Muslims believe.”
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