French authorities have shut down around 20 mosques and prayer halls

PARIS (AFP) – French authorities have shut down around 20 mosques and prayer halls considered to be preaching radical Islam since December, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Monday.

”There is no place … in France for those who call for and incite hatred in prayer halls or in mosques, and who don’t respect certain republican principles, notably equality between men and women,” the minister said.

“That is why I took the decision a few months ago to close mosques through the state of emergency, legal measures or administrative measures. About 20 mosques have been closed, and there will be others.”

Cazeneuve confirmed that authorities were working on a French foundation for Islam which would guarantee total transparency in financing of mosques “with rigorous respect for secular principles.”

Imam at a Cardiff mosque preaches you can take captives and own sex slaves

Saudi Arabia’s religious scholars are the ultimate authority on the verification of Islamic materials that Muslims worldwide read, follow, teach and promote. The Saudis spread their approved doctrines throughout the world.

Ali Hammuda, an Imam at a Cardiff mosque where three young jihadis from the city worshipped before travelling to Syria to join Islamic State, told the group of boys as young as 13 that the ‘day of judgment is close’ – a key part of IS’s warped propaganda.

The teachings that cleric Ali Hammuda is propagating has been approved and cleared right from Mecca. In other words, parallel with British law and society there is a Saudi culture and legal system building momentum in the city of Cardiff where that Imam is also preaching things which are not according to our Western values.

Many may not understand that radicalising authority is till allowed to teach in Great Britain.

He tells those who come by him for guidance to what the Prophet says one of the Doomsday signs will be when a slave girl gives birth to her master:

‘One of the interpretations as to what this means is that towards the end of time there will be many wars like what we are seeing today, and because of these wars women will be taken as captives, as slaves, yeah, women will be taken as slaves.

When wars go on  often we can see that children and women are degraded and used as sex slaves. But that does not mean we have to agree with that or to find it normal. but in this teacher his interpretation of the Hadith, coming near the end it will be acceptable that children will come to treat their mothers like slaves and that it is permissible

to have relations with a woman who is your slave or your wife.

 he said.

At no point does Hammuda, who was born in Palestine but brought up in the UK, point out that slavery is no longer permitted in Islam, nor indeed that it is illegal in the UK.

Hammuda, in white, is the English Islamic programmes officer at Cardiff’s Al-Manar Mosque. His Halaqa – or study circle – are advertised on posters stating Keep Calm And Come To Halaqa

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UK: Muslim cleric teach Islamic law: ‘Yes, you can take captives and own sex slaves’

Belgisch priester neergestoken

Zondag namiddag kreeg de 65 jarige Belgische priester een asielzoeker op bezoek. Deze vroeg om zich te kunnen wassen waarop de priester hem toe liet een stortbad te nemen.

Enkele dagen nadat de Franse katholieke priester Jacques Hamel ter dood werd gestoken door twee mannen die trouw hadden beloofd om de Islamitische Staat is er in het Noorden van België ook een priester neergestoken.

In Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandië, Frankrijk was er eerder, op dinsdag, de 85-jarige predikant die in zijn kerk met enkele gelovigen werd gegijzeld door twee tieners. Adel Kermiche en Abdel Malik Nabil Petitjean, beiden 19, name vijf gijzelaars voordat ze de keel van de priester drastisch doorsneden aan het altaar.


De priester is verantwoordelijk voor acht Lanakende parochies en werd eerder deze maand nog gevierd voor zijn 40-jarig priesterschap.

Toen de asielzoeker de priester geld trachtte te ontfutselen ontstond een schermutseling waarop de  overvaller de pastoor daarbij met een mes verwondde. Het slachtoffer raakte gewond aan handen en pezen. De dader sloeg vervolgens op de vlucht.

Pastoor Vanderlee werd naar het ziekenhuis in Genk gebracht voor een operatie. Hij verkeert niet in levensgevaar.

English version / Engelse versie: Belgian priest stabbed at his home in Lanaken

What Does it Really Mean to Be a Radical Follower of Jesus?

In Faithlife today is being discussed what it rally means to be "a Radical Follower of Jesus".

Do you feel that your life is pleasing to God—almost? When you hear about pastors, missionaries, and popular speakers, do you feel just a bit second-class, as if your life appears lukewarm and not as radical as theirs?

You’re not alone. A vague sense of guilt is common in the church. We know God’s grace is the key to eternal life, but it’s so much more than that—it’s the key to a joy-filled walk with Him every moment. Josh Kelley shows why you don’t have to give away everything you own to be a fully committed follower of Jesus Christ.


What is Jesus worth to you? It’s easy for American Christians to forget how Jesus said his followers would actually live, what their new lifestyle would actually look like. They would, he said, leave behind security, money, convenience, even family for him. They would abandon everything for the gospel. They would take up their crosses daily . . . but who do you know who lives like that? Do you?

In Radical, David Platt challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated the gospel to fit our cultural preferences. He shows what Jesus actually said about being his disciple—then invites you to believe and obey what you have heard. And he tells the dramatic story of what is happening as a “successful” suburban church decides to get serious about the gospel according to Jesus.

Finally, he urges you to join in The Radical Experiment—a one-year journey in authentic discipleship that will transform how you live in a world that desperately needs the Good News Jesus came to bring.

Start appreciating life’s small moments

Our obsession with bigger and faster is spinning us out of control. We move through the week breathless and bustling, just trying to keep up while longing to slow down. But real life happens in the small moments, the kind we find on Tuesday, the most ordinary day of the week. Tuesday carries moments we want to hold onto—as well as ones we’d rather leave behind. It hold secrets we can’t see in a hurry–secrets not just for our schedules but for our souls. It offers us a simple bench on which to sit, observe, and share our stories.

For those being pulled under by the strong current of expectation, comparison, and hurry, relief is found more in our small moments than in our fast movements. In Simply Tuesday, Emily P. Freeman helps readers

· stop dreading small beginnings and embrace today’s work
· find contentment in the now–even when the now is frustrating or discouraging
· replace competition with compassion
· learn to breathe in a breathless world

Jesus lived small moments well, slow moments fully, and all moments free. He lives with us still, on all our ordinary days, creating and redeeming the world both in us and through us, one small moment at a time. It’s time to take back Tuesday, to release our obsession with building a life, and believe in the life Christ is building in us—every day.

In the aftermath of the failed coup

Erdogan is continuing to clean up his country, making sure all those who could ever say something against him shall be taken out of the way.

It did not end by 8,800 policemen, 6,000 soldiers, 2,700 judges and prosecutors, dozens of governors, and more than 100 generals – or just under one-third of the general corps. More than 30,000 teacher shall not be there to give classes and educate the citizens about the human rights and to show them what went wrong in the last centuries so that they could avoid such historical missteps again.

Already before the coup several newspapers and blogs were silenced, but now also some 20 news websites critical of the government have also been blocked.

The Turkish government says it is carrying out a legitimate security operation to safeguard the country in the aftermath of a failed coup that came close to toppling the elected president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the early hours of Saturday morning.

For the Turkish government all those who have links to Fethullah Gülen, the US-based Islamic cleric are also responsible for the more than 300 dead at the weekend.

Large swaths of the population back the actions by the president, whom they idolise for boosting Turkey’s economy and representing the country’s lower classes. In Europe we can see daily thousands of enthusiast carrying the Turkish flag and shouting "Erdoğan". But not only in Turkey we see pro-Erdoğan rallies since the weekend. In Belgium several Erdoğan fans made life sour to other minded Turks or to those they think responsible, though they live here in Belgium.

Many Turks consider this present president the father of the re-risen nation, Turkey never having seen this kind of president or prime minister. For many Turks, even those living abroad Erdoğan’s perceived achievements since reaching power in 2003 lifted the country and made a better life for the Turks.

“No other president or prime minister achieved what he has done – in economic terms, in charitable terms, and in patriotic terms. There’s such a difference, a world of difference, in our lifestyle. Healthcare has especially improved. We have opportunities, and we have options.”

 is what we hear a lot.

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Additional reading

1. Bosphorus bloodshed
2. Belgian aftershock from the Turkish coup d’état
3. Editor of Flemish Gülen inspired newspaper threatened
4. State of emergency and respect for human rights