Sweden funds imam courses to curb extremism

The first government-funded imam training course will start in Stockholm this autumn.moris aimed at introducing potential spiritual leaders with a “locally anchored” version of Islam, instead of any radical interpretations which they may have adopted abroad.

Starting next school year, an annual central government educational grant distributed to Sweden’s adult education centers, will fund an Islamic vocational program at Kista Folkhögskola in Stockholm. The one-year program aims at providing a basis in Islamic theology and leadership for those who want to continue their education to become spiritual leaders.

“We will teach Islamic theology and leadership. The first year is only an introduction. Over, the next few years, the study program will be broadened and deepened,” Abdulkader Habib, the headmaster explained to Sveriges Radio.

The principal believes that by offering Islamic training to young Muslims and immigrants in particular, the high school can help raise clerics who are familiar with Scandinavian values. Such religious training will also fight any radical indoctrination that may take place in some Muslim communities.


A U-Bahn metro train drives past the Mevlana Mosque in Berlin's Kreuzberg district

“It will help provide stability. Many Muslims will avoid feeling that they must leave the country for the Middle East to get a proper education,” Habib said.

There are no official statistics on the number of Muslims in Sweden with estimates ranging between 100,000 and 500,000 people. While the wave of migration into Sweden began in the 1970s, the European mass refugee influx last year has exacerbated the problem and created a stronger need to deal with Muslim fundamentalism within Swedish society.

Roughly 163,000 migrants applied for asylum in Sweden last year, which made it the highest per capita destination in Europe. At the same time, at least 300 Swedish nationals traveled to Iraq and Syria to join Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) according to recent research conducted by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT).

In these circumstances, the grant awarded to Kista Folk High School to conduct basic training in theology, the first of its kind, has been widely welcomed.

“It’s a step forward,” imam Salahuddin Barakat told news agency TT, as cited by The Local. “Partly it’s about getting an education in Islam that is locally anchored in order to address local circumstances, and to give students the ability to do the same. It is also important for women, who for various reasons find it more difficult to study Islam abroad.”

http://www.rt.com/news/344158-sweden-funded-imam-courses/

Sweden has gone to Hell in a Handbasket a while ago!

Well.. what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

So instead of this double standard. The government should offer classes catering to ALL 5 MAJOR religions & to ALL genders..


Yea..that's the ticket.

Or,maybe,Government ought to get out of the Religion-Business completely?

Hell, venues in France just cancelled concerts by that American band whose concert was attacked...

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/435735/eagles-death-metal-show-canceled-statements-criticized-islamophobic

All Europe does is capitulate to these people.

I was being facetious.

Sweden did.... didn't they?
Weren't they so liberal that no religion was public in anyway?
Or was that years ago.?
I know I read it somewhere.

But yes, I agree. No government financing / promoting religion.
Too many kinds in the world.
And it is personal anyway.

So this is new? Are they going to ban pork sausages too ?
And have separate train cars, & an excuse for that too?
* Women in separate train cars to prevent terrorism & keep them from leaving the country & being radical... Who believes this sh#t?*

WTH is going on?

One of my clients is an imam who wants to build an Islamic Learning Center for the community, to teach people about the proper religion of Islam, and to stave off all the terror fears. He recently received 501-c3 status, so he's now eligible to collect funding for the project.

The really fascinating thing is, they cannot take any money from non-Muslims, according to their faith. Which makes it much harder for these people to receive monetary assistance.

If Sweden is offering monetary aid, I'd like to know how they're doing it. A government-funded grant that they describe doesn't seem like it's coming from an Islamic entity.

as long as it's an interest free loan, they can...
Islam doesn't allow for interest, so will not deal with anyone that charges interest on loans, which is the rest of the world...

bet it will be The Cordoba Learning Center!

I guess this must have been interest-free then. But from the government? You just wonder what they're making on the side. =P

In related news Germany is funding the new iMa'am, a self driving robot that wanders refugee neighborhoods pointing to its genitals and random parts of its body and saying "no!" in 20 languages.

nationalreview.com
Je Suis Charlie, Unless . . .
National Review

When terrorists stormed an Eagles of Death Metal show at Bataclan theatre in December of last year, killing 89 attendees, the events understandably left the band shaken and distraught.

There was an outpouring of support from the music community to singer Jesse Hughes and the band. In a famous gesture, an artist placed a piano right outside the riddled theater and began playing Jon Lennon’s “Imagine” to an emotional crowd of Onlookers. The message was that music and peace would prevail over terror and fear.

When U2 took the stage in Paris this past December to make up for their cancelled show in the wake of the attack, lead singer Bono invited Eagles of Death Metal out onto stage for the show’s encore finale. It was a stirring moment that reverberated throughout the arena.

But that was then and this is now, and today Eagles of Death Metal find themselves embroiled in controversy regarding speech and artistic expression in the same country that rallied around them after the Bataclan massacre.

Slated to appear at the upcoming French music festivals Rock en Seine and Cabaret Vert, the band has reportedly been pulled from both festival line ups. The reason cited by festival officials?

Disagree with the recent statements made by Jesse Hughes, Eagles of Death Metal singer, an American media, Cabaret Vert and festivals Rock en Seine have decided today to cancel the concerts of the group that were scheduled this summer. Thank you for your understanding.

Translation: Event organizers are canceling appearances by Eagles of Death Metal due to recent statements by members of the band, specifically Hughes.

The “statements” the festival organizers are referring to were made by Hughes to Takimag.com:

I saw Muslims celebrating in the street during the attack. I saw it with my own eyes. In real time. How did they know what was going on? There must have been coordination.

Hughes, no stranger to controversy concerning Muslims and free speech, apologized, and chalked the interview up to a traumatic reaction to the shooting. This is understandable. Members of the band’s own road crew were among the dead and Hughes and band members have struggled to recount the episode in interviews for Vice and others.

The obvious question, then, is this: Was there an expiration date on Je Suis Eagles of Death Metal? What happened to all those artists and musicians who sang anthems to free expression and embraced the survivors with open arms?

Apparently, they didn’t mean it. Last year, the people of France marched arm-in-arm declaring that they would not cower in fear, that they would not bow to terror, and that they would not punish people for speaking out. Last year, musicians and artists across France stood up for Eagles of Death Metal’s right to free expression, among others.

Now would be the time to show that they meant it.

yep,that will stop those Perps dead in their Tracks!
They will immediately comply and those attacks will cease pronto,or even faster!

Kind of like the "Gun Free Zone", signs.. .. stopped terrorism here.