Sleeping with a devil in Islamic clothing

Peace is sweet but peace without dignity and freedom is no peace at all.

The Islamists who took power in Mogadishu told the people to have peace, go about their business, eat and drink, conjugate and have many children, go to the mosque and pray five times a day. They also told them to send their children to Madrasses where they get brainwashed, and to chant verses from the Koran which have been interpreted in a satanic way by Wahhabist-Salafist clerics. And to give praise to Allah that the warlords who kept them hostage for 15 years have now gone.

They compare their conquest of Mogadishu to that of Prophet Mohammed's conquest of Mecca from the Quraishite pagans. They believe that they are acting on God's behest and that the Almighty guides their guns.

We tell them that they are not the army of Mohammed and that they are not in anyway nearer to Allah than a woman dancing to music in a beautiful wedding or tantalising people's inner feelings with her melodious voice would be.

We tell them that prophet Mohammed didn't ban music and dance and did not in any way deny people enjoying the pleasures of life. He is the one who told Aisha to send a singing girl for an Ansari wedding and who allowed Aisha to watch African dancers on an Eid day in Mecca. Mohammed is he who said, “God did not send me to be harsh, or cause harm, but He sent me to teach and make things easy”.

The warlords used brute force to oppress people and the Islamists use brute religion to dehumanise people.

They ban music not because it is against religion but because it is beyond their realm of control. They close cinema houses and theatre not because they spread vice but because they want to keep the people in the dark. They hide women not because Islam orders their mummification but because Islamists suffer from a masculinity problem. They think he who is not master of his wife cannot be master of others.

Power and tyranny is their ultimate goal and tyranny should first crush and subdue the weak so the strong will tremble.

Anyone who wants to see where the Islamists would like to lead Somalia should only see how they treat women, music and ideas. These three elements constitute the beauty, spirit and future of any nation.

In a story published by the Islamist Qaadisiya website on the graduation of 140 women who completed a course on cooking and handicrafts at Asma Bint Omair Centre, reflects a glimpse of what is in store for women. Only pictures of the Islamist officials who attended the ceremony and row after row of food were shown. It seems as if the photographer tried to draw attention to his frustration by showing many food items, as he was not allowed to show the faces of the women for whom the ceremony was held.

The Islamists like to call their usurpation of power as a popular uprising but the refugee camps in Kenya have more than double in size since the Islamic Courts came to power because of large numbers of people fleeing the dreary future waiting for them. Popular uprisings, as we have seen in Ukraine and elsewhere, do not use militia and firepower to subdue opponents.

Despite their sweet talk and their modest demeanours, the Islamists have a grand agenda. They want to Arabise Somalia and turn it into an Islamic Emirate in the fashion of Taliban. There is already a drastic cultural erosion taking place. Names of the people are no longer recognisable. The Islamists are fond of calling themselves names like Abu Qutaibas and Abu Mansours in keeping with the tradition of the al-Qaida and other radical groups who hide their real identities behind borrowed names of legendary Muslim leaders.

The beautiful Somali women have been buried under layers of heavy cloth just like the Taliban, and the faithful have been told to shackle them at home. It is just a matter of time before the Islamists declare the Latin alphabet of the Somali language as Haram and change it with an Arabic alphabet in line with Urdu and Farsi. They have already started flogging people for petty crimes and threatened death penalty against those who do not observe the five-times daily prayers.

It will not surprise anyone if they soon threaten international organisations which hire Somali women for work just like Taliban did, and as the extremist clerics in the earthquake devastated Kashmir have recently done when they warned NGO agencies against hiring their women or face violence.

Above all, the Islamist Rulers of Mogadishu are liars.

After routing the warlords from Mogadishu they promised that they had no intention of capturing more land and causing any more bloodshed. They said they wanted to consolidate peace in the capital and start negotiating with the TFG government, but since then they have become so belligerent and have sent their martyrdom brigades to lay waste to any town, city or people that stand in their way.

They vehemently denied any desire for power or ruling the country but all their actions show their loathing for democracy and their affinity for dictatorial powers. They denied any intention of applying Islamic Sharia but were quick to incite all Somalis to embrace Islamic Courts.

They said they would never impose Islamic clothing on women but they made it difficult for any woman unless she is fully clad to walk in the streets of Mogdishu.

They said they wanted to live in peace with neighbouring countries but they couldn't hide their intention to unify all Somali territories in the Horn of Africa under the rule of Islam.

And by doing this, the Union of Islamist Cabals in Mogadishu have declared war on regional and international peace. Therefore, allowing them to fulfill their agenda under the pretext of returning Somalia to peace is not only myopic but also foolhardy and sleeping with a devil in Islamic clothing.