DARK LANDS

DARK LANDS

DARK LANDS BY JABEUR MEJRI

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INTRODUCTION

I tried through this book to reveal the unknown life of the most prominent leaders of the Dark Lands referring to the crimes committed throughout the period of their rule.

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THE MESSENGER IS THE EXAMPLE OF FAULT AND DEPRAVITY

DARK LANDS Perhaps the main cause to stay off the doctrine of the so called Muhammad is the large number of flaws, breaches, and deviations which characterize his history. When we count the faults of this man, he will be the leader of heresy and fraud. Because many Muslims are dispersed, I found that it would be better saying

DARK LANDS these deviations in the form of brief points: 1- The story of his marriage to a girl aged nine. 2-Ransacking the spoils of defeated foes. 3-Killing prisoners of war, the majority of them are Jews knowing that Islam shows no mercy in beheading them. 4 Sustaining the bad habits such as

DARK LANDS slavery, which was continued till 1960 but it is still existing in some Islamic regions. 5- Allowing the murder of dissidents under the pretext of Jihad and Atonement (Takfir in Arabic). 6-The imposition of five prayers with their trivial movements which are preceded by finishing the ablution that increases the dirtiness of the Muslim.

DARK LANDS 7- Reinforcing the duty of starvation for a month(Ramadan), with its psychological and physical harm, under the ridiculous disguise of Islam. 8- Adopting and applying the concept of female circumcision. 9- Leaving things floating before Muhammad's death, has contributed to the establishment of the bloody dictatorship principle of Succession (AI

DARK LANDS Khilafa in Arabic). 10-Normal life of children was killed by urging the use of violence against them in their early age to start the process of brainwashing.
11-Killing the children of Banu Qurayza

was a bloodthirsty offense in Muslims' history and they feel remorseful when they are reminded of that incident. To justify this terrorist and brutal deed,

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the apostle of Islam said that the God

orders him through the fictional messenger The angel Gabriel to carry out this massacre. 12-His claim that he is a medical expert, damages people's health then he denies his responsibility. 13- He erased the temples and civilizations of the neighboring communities, destroyed the national

DARK LANDS heritage after killing most of its people and subjected the rest to his power. 14-His allegation that he was familiar with agriculture vandalized inhabitants' crops and when they asked him about this damage he says:"you are donkeys because you listen to me and put my advices into effect. It is not my mistake."

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THE REMINDER AND AISHA

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Greetings to everyone who is rational and of sound mind. Our topic today is about God's diviner named Muhammad-also called the Messenger, the Caller, the Reminder, the Announcer ... - . And now we see the degree of nobility and morals, when he marries a six-year-old girl named Aisha. The latter reported that she was

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married at six years old, then introduced to the Caller at age of nine, and stayed with him at this age. Look, dear reader, at the vile habitude of this man who pretends that he is the postman from the sky: Muhammad screws Safiya-married to him after killing her husband by this apostlewhen she was menstruating on the Day of

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Sacrifice in front of people. It is a vulgar deportment of the Reminder to kill enemies during invasions in order to make from their widows and daughters his enjoyment. Aisha said that her holy husband used to lie in her lap when she was menstruating and he read the Quran. She stated that the Caller's wives

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remained with him in the mosque for prayers, as they were menstruating. So, each one of them put a pot underneath until finishing dripping blood in it. She adjoined that the Warner was praying when she was menstruating and may be she touched his clothes when he prostrated. ln this case, his prayer would

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be invalidated due to his wife's impurity. She added that he was praying to the wine. Muhammad expectorates sputum in the palm of his people and advises them to knead their faces and skins using this utile stinky spit. The myth of neutralizer existing in the wing flies :The stupid prophet told that if a

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housefly landed in the meal pot, we ought to drown it entirely then bring it out because in one of its wings there is a disease and the antidote is in the other one. The Messenger used to tell Aisha that her stinky uterus causes him troubles.

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AISHA AND THE APOSTLE S FASTING

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Aisha reveals that her mate kisses some of his spouses when they are fasting which is totally prohibited by the silly Islam. The Announcer used to make love with Aisha in Ramadan and sucks her tongue. The hypocrite prophet allows himself enjoying his sexual desires with his wives during fast which nowadays dures 14 hours every day i.e. from 05:33am to

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07:31 pm. Back to the Quran, it is lawful to make sexual relation after 14 hours of commitment. That is why Aisha refuses caress and love from her holy man and don't want to disobey The Lord .But she doesn't know that Muhammad who creates the Quran relying on Waraqa Ibn Nawfal the cousin of Khadija-Muhammad's first

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wife- and a Nestorian priest who converted to Christianity, becoming the preacher of Mecca who knows a lot about Gospels and the Old Testament scriptures. Aisha doesn't recognize that her grimy life partner uses and leaves his own verses whenever he wants. He breaks the law as he likes, applying what he wants, sucking tongues, and having sexual intercourse

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with every woman that appeals to him knowing that he ties the knot with eleven ladies without counting the number of women slave who serve him all the time. Omar Bin Khattab who is considered as a leader as well has a bad reputation in breaking the rules during Ramadan and fasting in general by screwing captives noting that this lecher and his adulterer

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apostle have a sheep of slaves all of them are females. Even Omar's son wants to satisfy his desires. When he decides to buy a female slave, he debates the price, check her backside, belly, vagina, and her feet. Each part of her body has a price in the Arabic mood and the precious one is the uterus because virginity makes from a detainee

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the lustful one. Moreover, what makes from Muhammad a farce was his method to make children stop crying and go to sleep. He used to spit in their mouths and gives them his tongue for sucking instead of breastfeeding.

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TORTURE IN ISLAM

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DARK LANDS All the world know that Islam had been sent down in a desert place where people are adapted with the cruelty of desert life and accustomed with it. They learn also that survival is for the fittest and stronger and violence has become part of the Muslim's features. That is why people were not surprised as they found Islam full of intimidation and torture that Arabs would be exposed to it if they did not believe in this

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DARK LANDS new religion. They took that threat seriously. The Quran tells them that Allah is mighty, powerful, avenger which are features that makes someone glad when he sees them in his chieftain. Besides, the Messenger told them that Allah would punish and destroy unbelievers who rejected Islam. An extremely sadistic criminal God creating people only for worship. The wild postman

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DARK LANDS from the sky confirmed the principle of torture when some Bedouins stole her camels. He sent some of her knights for tracking and bringing them back. After fulfilling their mission, the Reminder orders his men to cut off thieves' hands and feet, burst their eyes then discard them in the hot sunshine until death. The suffering reaches the intellectuals who speak in philosophy or fate :It was said that

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DARK LANDS on the reign days of Umar Ibn Abd al-Aziz, there was a man named Ibn Muslim Ibn Marwan who was always talking about fate, that is why the Umayyad Caliph Umar brought him and ordered to cut off his hands and his feet then crucified. Further, came the Ottoman Empire with its art of torture. The Turks invented several devices to make individuals suffer from pain. the most famous one was the stake-

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DARK LANDS alkhazouk in Arabic-, which is a tapered onyx placed at the backside of the accused when his feet are tied to a horse in order to drag the defendant stuck to the pole which gets into his intestines and destroys them. ln addition, Turkish people excelled in causing unbearable dolor to their enemies. In 1570, when invading the island of Sicily, Sultan Suleiman sat in a garden and requested the mayor of the

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DARK LANDS city to be brought wearing his official dress. He ordered to bridle him like a horse, put a saddle on his back, and tie two baskets full of sand on either side of the saddle. Then, they punish him by crawling with this burden to the city wall several times to fix what was destroyed from it. After exhausting his effort, they hung him for skinning till death from hurt. Torture to death spreads into all Islamic

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DARK LANDS countries and to Arab countries in particular. Nowadays, all Arab lands contain secret prisons and houses of ghosts from which the accused rarely gets out alive. Besides, the number of clandestine cemeteries and mass graves becomes noteworthy in Morocco, Tunisia, lraq and elsewhere. We note also the spread of enforced disappearances in Egypt and Morocco. In Egypt, human rights organizations

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DARK LANDS published in 2005 a report showing that torment and death in police detention increased year after year. According to local organizations working in human rights in the land of the pharaohs, this rise in prisoners' death was due to dolor and the weak living conditions in jails. Since that time, the number of guilty persons who die under torment was of hundreds, including children. However,

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DARK LANDS government or religious authorities did nothing. As for Libya, abuse in its prisons is more brutal compared to what is found in its neighbors. According to a report from the US. State Department in 2005, the Libyan Security Services detained several people for years without charge or trial. Mistreatment is exercised routinely against political enemies, according to the same

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DARK LANDS report. The methods of making opponents suffer include beatings, electric shocks, pouring harmful acids on wounds, breaking fingers, leaving injuries recovering itselves without medical care, strangling using plastic bags, and hanging people from their wrists. In Morocco, after the demise of King Hassan, the creation of the associations of reconciliation, and after the reveal of the mass

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DARK LANDS graves, torture is still existing with its awful devices. Reports have shown that 108 of the detainees in the jail of Sal Zaki called also Guantanamo or Temara 2 are fundamentalists suffering from the worst forms of psychological and physical humiliation, noting that it starts from the deprivation of prisoners' rights to the uncovering of genitalia. Even in Kuwait, a country leading in the

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DARK LANDS field of democracy, persecution in its detention camps may not be less than the rest of the Islamic countries. According to the Islamic Media Observatory in London, Kuwait's security devices was responsible for the death of Amir Khalif Anzi the leader of the "Peninsula Lions" -a secret terrorist network- due to unbearable suffering .But the Kuwaiti authorities announced that he died due to a decline in blood circulation.

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DARK LANDS In Tunisia, oppression and torture become more and more intensive under the rule of president Ben Ali. In March 1994, Dr. Moncef Marzouki-head of the Tunisian League of Human Rights- announced his candidacy in front of Ben Ali. That is why he paid for his challenge as did Dr. Ayman Nour with president Hosni Mubarak. The Intelligence Sector of the latter abducted the journalist Abdel-Halim Kandil, beat him, took off his

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DARK LANDS clothes and left him naked in the desert. As for Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iran excruciation and death in their penitentiaries is a daily process. It is strange that even the women are disposed to severe mental or physical pain in the State of Islam, despite Muhammad's Quran which honored them. Because the Arab and Islamic nation are weaned on Torture, news of detainees' death in

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DARK LANDS prisons due to suffering do not raise in them any feelings of revolution or anger. Unlike other nations that arose and got rid of the rulers who practiced repression and abuse. Nations of Latin America, especially Chile erupted and got rid of Pinochet and demanded to trial him in retaliation for the souls of the innocents. Polish people revolted against the communist rulers who practiced browbeating and murder.

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DARK LANDS South Africa and Ethiopia erupted and erased the corrupt regimes that rely on murder and terrorism . But the nation of Islam did not react. Even Romania revolted against Nicolae Ceausescu and killed him.

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ISLAM AND TERRORISM

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DARK LANDS Muslim man speaks: Many of the Muslim community blame me because I consider Islam as a doctrine of terrorism. They try to convince me that Islam is a religion of love and peace, and struggling a lot to beautify its image. But are they laughing at me or at themselves? Can you believe that I discover something terrible? But it is a secret between me and you do not tell anyone about it. Or take your

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DARK LANDS time revealing it to anybody you know. Like this issue makes me ashamed of myself. Listen to me dear reader to the end of this story : I heard about terrorism and crimes but I did not know that I carried within me signs of criminality. I checked and compared myself with these criminals. Unfortunately, my doubts began to grow. Look my friend reader how bombers behave:

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DARK LANDS The first thing to be done by the terrorist to begin his criminal day is the dawn prayers in the mosque and praying in this holy place distinguish him from other thugs who do worships at home. Arriving and praying on time in the mosque is an evidence that he was a dangerous assassin. Among the attributes of slaughterers, we note their repeating of suspicious phrases like

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DARK LANDS Praise be to God .. I put my trust in God ... There is no power except Allah ... God forgive us ... God is the best reliable ... The most significant of these phrases at all, which serve as a symbol for each of these terrorists is there is no Lord except Allah ... There is no messenger except Muhammad. An advice from a friend, if you see a man used to pray in houses of God, stay away from him because he carries crimes and evil

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DARK LANDS in the inside. Of course, I admitted that I was not aware about my conviction until I saw that all the symptoms of terrorism and criminality, which I heard in all the media were similar to those that I have. I heard them describing a thug Muslim while he tried to remove the whipped cream-crme chantilly in French- from his piece of cake doubting that it contains derivatives of pork meat noting that this type of meal is forbidden

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DARK LANDS in the so called Islam. Additionally, these gangsters are always trying to pray collectively. The terrorism is exercised by each person believing in Islam, such as Musab alZarqawi in the slaughter of individuals, Bin Laden in the mass murder on September 11, 2001, and those who blow themselves up in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Palestine, Egypt and other Muslim regions. My advice to all the countries against Islam is

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DARK LANDS to spend as much as they can to educate and aware the people about the corruption of the holy book and what the Warner said before. According to the Quran and the Sayings of the Prophet, there is 260 verses talking about terrorism, 710 about assassination, 177 about revenge, 159 about genocide,1798 about invasion, 1511 about swords, 2400 about shooting arrows,1951 about bloodshed,9048 about murder, 4258

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DARK LANDS about war, and 6898 about Jihad.

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WOMEN WOMEN IN ISLAM

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DARK LANDS The best place for Quran and its legislations is the museum of the ancient ruins. Woman is humiliated in Islam. She was minor and ready to betray at any time. She was the main stimulus of getting Adam out of paradise and his suffering when he came to earth. These are some of my questions: 1- Why menstrual blood is an impurity that annulled prayer, fasting and reading the

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DARK LANDS Quran? The God who created the body cannot in anyway considered menstrual blood as an objection to the performance of worship, Ramadan and some other religious rites, as if the women in this situation will harm The Lord. However, we have seen sick and traveling persons fast and pray even though God prefers the breakfast in these cases. So, there is no

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DARK LANDS blame on woman who cannot control menses. 2-lf marrying four women limits men's betrayal, how can we limit wives from cheating their husbands? There are Muslims who say that marriage with four women is an immunity from extramarital relations. This is a clear evidence of the Contempt for female human by repressing her instincts. Why The Lord allows males enjoying their sexual desires and

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DARK LANDS depriving females from doing that? Muslims justify marrying four ladies by saying that if one of them does not give birth, the second plays this role. But in case where husband is sterile, why cannot a woman marries another man and lives with two guys? They continue claiming that the spouse menstruates that is why it must be an extra wife to make love with her. However, assuming that the other half does not satisfy his bride's

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DARK LANDS sexual desires, why could not the latter person select another male and sharing life with two individuals. 3-How can we consider a marriage of a young girl at nine years to a prophet with fifty years old? This marriage is essentially a wild desire from an apostle aged fifty to rape Aisha aged nine. This girl is not allowed to choose her life partner at this age. This is a blatant attack on

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DARK LANDS children. In this case, the old man is practicing pedophilia on this child. This marriage has nothing to do with love, morality, and humanitarian concepts of marital relationship. 4- Why is the share of women less than men's portion in inheritance? What does it mean the girl takes half his brother's share of their father's properties when the latter passed away?

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DARK LANDS They say that the man who looks after women, and this justification does not make sense. If this daughter does not marry? Why half is the share? If the guy to whom she gets married is poorer than her? which person will be able to take care of family? What is also her fault when deserving the moiety of premises ? Even the wife's part of her dead husband's estates is the same. 5- Why Islam does not put a cover on the

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DARK LANDS man's hair and chest? I do not understand how women are supposed to strangle themselves in hot summer with gloomy black dresses and oppressive dark veil (hijab) while man enjoys his physical freedom. Islam is generally not interested in the spirit of woman, but in the body to be covered in the four seasons so as not to allure devout people. They want her looks like a black

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DARK LANDS mummy. Because the fair sex are obsessed with copulating male human, Why a man does not cover his body in front of them. 6- Why Islam allows a man to beat his wife? Where is her dignity after being hit by her husband? ls there any feelings of mutual love and morality inside this house full of terror and violence? This dignity can only be understood by the Islamists, while civilized people do not

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DARK LANDS accept any abuse towards wives unless these persons are masochist and enjoy being tortured and humiliated. 7-Why the husband tracked his better half when she wanted to visit a place? The lack of trust between two married is a clear evidence of the fragility of the marital relationship. The Islamists adopted a principle asserting that they mistrust woman that is why they imprison her in their houses and

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DARK LANDS prohibiting her from going to bed with her secret lover. Muhammad cannot imagine the female human being a doctor, a head of state, or a judge. This is due to the disdain imposed on women's talents. As for the punishment of adulterous wives, the Warner orders to dig a large hole where the woman would be placed and buried to their shoulders in the center square

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DARK LANDS surrounded by Muslims and juries. After fixing her in this pit, they start stoning the convicted at her head. Thus, this sadistic sanction device ensures the killing of this unlucky sinner. This process is different in penalizing husband because this trespasser would not be enclosed in a hole. The whole story is about throwing towards him some stones while the accused is standing in the yard surrounded by some persons.

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THE GOLDEN RULE

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DARK LANDS We are ex-Muslims. Some of us were born and raised in Islam and some of us had converted to Islam at some moment in our lives. We were taught never to question the truth of Islam and to believe in Allah and his messenger with blind faith. We were told that Allah would forgive all sins but the sin of disbelief. But ultimately we questioned this belief that was imposed on us and we came to realize that far from being a religion of truth,

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DARK LANDS Islam is a hoax, it is hallucination of a sick mind and nothing but lies and deceits. What we believe: Some of us have embraced other religions but most of us have simply left Islam without believing in any other religion. We believe in humanity. We believe that humans do not need to follow a religion to be good. All we need to follow is the Golden Rule. All we have to do is to treat others the way we expect to

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DARK LANDS be treated. This is the essence of all the goodness. All good religious teachings stem from this eternal principle. This is the ultimate guidance humanity needs. This is the Golden Rule. Why Mohammed was not a prophet? One who claims to be a messenger of God is expected to live a saintly life. He must not be given to lust, he must not be a sexual pervert, and he must not be a rapist, a highway robber, a war criminal, a mass

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DARK LANDS murderer or an assassin. One who claims to be a messenger of God must have a superior character. He must stand above the vices of the people of his time. Yet Muhammad's life is that of a gangster godfather. He raided merchant caravans, looted innocent people, massacred entire male populations and enslaved the women and children. He raped the women captured in war after killing their husbands and told his followers that it is okay

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DARK LANDS to have sex with their captives and their "right hand possessions" (right hand possessions is a reference in the Quran to slaves).He assassinated those who criticized him and executed them. The Reminder was bereft of human compassion. He was an obsessed man with his dreams of grandiosity and could not forgive those who stood in his way. The Caller was a narcissist like Hitler,

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DARK LANDS Saddam or Stalin. He was astute and knew how to manipulate people, but his emotional intelligence was less evolved than that of a 6-year-old child. He simply could not feel the pain of others. He brutally massacred thousands of innocent people and pillaged their wealth. His ambitions were big and as a narcissist he honestly believed he is entitled to do as he pleased and commit all sorts of crimes and his evil deeds are justified.

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DARK LANDS Why Quran is not from God: Muhammad produced no miracles and when pressed he claimed that his miracle is the Quran. Yet a cursory look at the Quran reveals that this book is full of errors. Quran is replete with scientific heresies, historic blunders, mathematical mistakes, logical absurdities, grammatical errors and ethical fallacies.lt is badly compiled and it contradicts itself. There is nothing intelligent in this book. This

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DARK LANDS messenger challenged people to produce a "Surah like it" or find an error therein, yet Muslims would kill anyone who dares to criticize it. In such a climate of hypocrisy and violence truth is the first casualty. What is our goal? We are apostates of Islam. We denounce Islam as a false doctrine of hate and terror. However, we are not against Muslims who are our own kin and relatives. We do not

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DARK LANDS advocate hate and violence. Muslims are the main victims of Islam. Our goal is to educate them and let them see the truth. We are against Islam and not the Muslims. We strive to bring the Muslims into the fold of humanity. Eradicate Islam so our people can be liberated, so they can prosper and break away from the pillory of Islam. We would like to see Islamic countries dedicate more time to science and less time to Quran and Sharia. We would like

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DARK LANDS to see them prosper and contribute to human civilization. We would like to see the draconian laws of Islam eliminated and people are treated humanely. We strive for freedom of beliefs, for equality of gender and for oneness of humankind. Humankind's biggest challenge: Today the humanity is facing a great danger. Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise and the hatred is brewing in the minds of millions of Muslims. This hatred must be contained or

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DARK LANDS there would be disastrous consequences. We believe that the education is the only answer. Muslim intellectuals must realize that Islam is a false doctrine and they must let the rest of Islamic world know the truth. Islam is a religion that thrives on the arrogant assumption that it is the most logical, the most scientific and the most perfect religion. While the fact is that it is the stupidest doctrine, the most backward and absurd belief. Once the truth about Islam

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DARK LANDS becomes common knowledge, it will be weakened and the Islamic fanaticism will lose its fangs. Hundreds of dollars are being expended to combat Islamic terrorism, yet no effort is made to contain the ideology behind this terrorism. It is our belief that Islamic terrorism will not be eliminated unless and until the ideology behind it is exposed and eradicated. This is what we intend to do.

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OPPRESSION IN ARAB ISLAMIC COUNTRIES

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DARK LANDS Most Arab nations are ruled by oppressive, dictatorial regimes that deny their citizens basic freedoms of political expression, speech, the press, and due process. The Arab Human Development Report, published by a group of Arab researchers from the UN Development Program, concluded that of the world's seven major geographic regions, Arab countries ranked lowest in terms of freedom, civil liberties, political rights. and independence of the media.

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DARK LANDS Moreover, in most Arab countries the Shari'a, or Islamic law, defines the rules of traditional social behavior. Under that legal system, women are accorded a role inferior to that of men and are therefore discriminated against with regard to personal rights and freedoms. Below is an overview of the human rights situation in various Arab countries. SAUDI ARABIA With the demise of the Taliban, Saudi Arabia is

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DARK LANDS probably the worst oppressor of religious rights in the world. It is a dynastic monarchy governed by a strict interpretation of Islamic law. Because the country has no democratic institutions, its citizens play no role in the government. Security in the country is enforced by both a secular police force and a religious police force (Mutawwa'in), the latter of which comprises the "Committee to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice." The Saudi government has allowed both

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DARK LANDS the secular and religious security forces to commit serious abuses. Prisoners are commonly tortured and beaten by both the Mutawwa'in and officials in the Ministry of Interior. Numerous prisoners have been executed by means of stoning, beheading, or firing squad ... for crimes ranging from "deviant sexual behavior" to sorcery; other convicts have been punished by amputations or the loss of an eye. Prisoners are sometimes

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DARK LANDS held for long periods of time without charge or trial. In Saudi Arabia it is illegal to criticize Islam or the Royal family, a crime that can result in prolonged imprisonment without trial. Television, radio, literature, and the Internet are all heavily censored. Freedom of assembly and association are also limited, subject to regulations such as the segregation of men and women at meetings. Women are the victims of systematic discrimination in Saudi Arabia. Domestic violence

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DARK LANDS and rape are widespread problems, and women have no redress when victimized by such crimes. Nor can women travel, be admitted to a hospital, or drive a car without their husbands' permission. Buses are segregated, and women must sit in the rear. Women not wearing an abaya (a black garment covering the entire body) and covering their faces and hair are harassed by the Mutawwa'in. Saudi women are discriminated against as well by laws governing property

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DARK LANDS ownership, testimony in court, inheritance, and child custody in cases of divorce. Comprising only five percent of the nation's work force, Saudi women find it nearly impossible to find employment in any but the lowest-level jobs. Also, female genital mutilation is practiced legally in some parts of Saudi Arabia.AII Saudi citizens must be Muslims, and only the Sunni branch of Islam can be practiced publicly; there is institutional discrimination against Shi'a Muslims.

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DARK LANDS Religions other than Islam are tolerated only if practiced discreetly. JORDAN The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a constitutional monarchy. While direct elections are used to appoint representatives to the ineffectual 104- seat lower house of Parliament. the 40-seat upper house is appointed by the king. Virtually all governmental power is concentrated in the king. who can dismiss any representative

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DARK LANDS or disband the parliament altogether. Thus, citizens of Jordan cannot change their government. Many serious human rights violations occur throughout the country and are condoned by the government. Jordanian security forces use torture on a regular basis. It is common for prisoners to be held without charges, to be prevented from meeting with lawyers, and to be kept in unsanitary conditions; this applies also to journalists charged with "defamation," meaning

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DARK LANDS they criticized the government or the king. Freedom of assembly, association, the press, and speech are all restricted by the Jordanian government; authors of articles criticizing the government are often arrested and imprisoned. In August 2002, the AI-Jazeera television network's license was revoked for airing views affronting the government. Women are at a distinct legal and social disadvantage in Jordan. Social security, inheritance, divorce, and testimony laws all favor

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DARK LANDS men. Marital rape and wife-beating are permitted by law, and "honor crimes" (domestic violence committed against women by men who feel the women have undermined their honor by their "immoral behavior") receive minimal sentences. According to one study conducted in 2000, such honor crimes in Jordan comprised 25 percent of all the murders committed nationwide. LEBANON The Lebanese government and army do not

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DARK LANDS respect human rights, and the several terrorist organizations that are headquartered within the country commit many abuses as well. Arbitrary arrests are common, and some prisoners are held for long periods of time without trials or charges. The use of torture is widespread. Many political prisoners have disappeared or died without explanation while awaiting trial. ln the areas of Lebanon controlled by the Syrian-backed militia Hezbollah, only Islamic law is applied; in

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DARK LANDS the independent Palestinian refugee camps in the south, no specific legal system is empowered. Domestic violence and rape are significant social problems in Lebanon, and they affect a large segment of the population. "Honor crimes" are illegal, but reduced sentences are applied in such cases. While technically women can enter any profession they wish, strong societal pressure prevents most of them from doing so. Many other laws in Lebanon are based on Islamic

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DARK LANDS rules, and are discriminatory against women and children. Forced labor is not illegal in Lebanon, and many foreign servants, women, and children are compelled to work against their will. Child labor in general is rampant. Child abuse, kidnappings, and even the sale of children to adoption agencies are relatively common, and are ignored by the government. SYRIA Technically, Syria is a parliamentary democracy

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DARK LANDS in which officials are appointed through direct elections. In practice, President Bashar Assad wields virtually absolute power. Because of an emergency martial law that has been in place since 1963, powerful security services and militias operate independently of each other and, unimpeded by the government, commit many serious abuses. Arbitrary arrests, torture and disappearances of prisoners all occur regularly. Syrian, Lebanese, and Jordanian political

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DARK LANDS prisoners have been held incommunicado by the government for long periods of time, as have missing Israeli soldiers captured by Syria and by Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based terrorist organization it backs. Prisoners captured as many as twenty years ago remain unaccounted for. In Syria, publication of any "false information" that opposes "the goals of the revolution" is punishable by lengthy jail sentences. All press industries are owned and operated by the

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DARK LANDS government. Freedom of association is severely restricted by the Syrian government, and freedom of assembly does not exist at all. Many financial laws, such as those pertaining to inheritance and social security, discriminate against women, and the punishment for adultery by women is twice as severe as the punishment for the same transgression committed by men. Women cannot travel outside the country without their husbands' permission. Freedom of religion is generally

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DARK LANDS respected in Syria, with one notable exception: Jews are systematically excluded from government involvement and they lack many basic rights. Kurds are systematically oppressed by Syria: they cannot become citizens, they have few rights, and the teaching of their language and culture is outlawed by the government. EGYPT According to its constitution, Egypt is a social democracy in which Islam is the state religion.

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DARK LANDS President Hosni Mubarak and his National Democratic Party, however, exert absolute control over the political scene. An Emergency Law in effect since 1981 allows the government to arbitrarily detain persons without charge, and to regularly deny legal rights to Egyptian citizens. Freedom of speech and of the press are guaranteed by the Egyptian constitution, but are often withheld in practice. The government owns and controls the three largest newspapers and

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DARK LANDS holds a monopoly on printing and distribution. Scholars and officials who criticize the government are often imprisoned for the crimes of libel, slander, or "disseminating false information about Egypt." Freedom of association and assembly are severely restricted. Prison conditions in Egypt are squalid. The police routinely arrest suspects arbitrarily, often holding them for long periods of time without charge, trial, or access to a lawyer. Domestic violence is a

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DARK LANDS serious social problem in Egypt. A majority of the nation's women undergo female genital mutilation. PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces use arbitrary arrest and prolonged detention as methods of quashing dissent. Lack of due process is prevalent in court proceedings. The PA executive and security services frequently ignore or fail to enforce court decisions.PA security commonly closes down media outlets and bans

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DARK LANDS publications or broadcasts whose reports paint the Palestinian Authority in an unflattering light, and periodically harasses or detains members of the media who are responsible for such reports. Palestinian women endure various forms of social prejudice and repression within their society. Because of early marriage, girls frequently do not finish the mandatory level of schooling. Cultural restrictions sometimes prevent women from attending colleges and universities. Women who

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DARK LANDS marry outside of the Islamic faith are often disowned by their families and are sometimes harassed and threatened with death.

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WOMEN TREATMENT IN ARAB COUNTRIES

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DARK LANDS In most Arab countries, women are accorded a role inferior to that of men, and are therefore discriminated against with regard to personal rights and freedoms. In the Islamic view, female sexuality is thought of as being so powerful that it constitutes a real danger to society. Therefore, unrestrained females constitute the most dangerous challenge facing males trying to carry out God's commands. In combination, females' desires and their irresistible attractiveness give

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DARK LANDS women a power over men which rivals God's. Men might well fall victim to women and abandon God, resulting in civil disorder among believers. In traditional thought, women pose an internal threat to Islamic society similar to the external one represented by the infidel. Traditionally, the Arab woman marries at a young age to a man of her father's choice. A husband is entitled to divorce at any time, even against his wife's will, by merely declaring verbally that this is his intention.

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DARK LANDS Although the image of the egalitarian woman is slowly developing within some more secular Arab states, it remains largely confined to urban centers and upper-class circles. Ritual sexual mutilation of females is still common in rural areas of Egypt, Libya, Oman and Yemen. Furthermore, laws that restrict women's rights remain in force in almost all Arab countries. In Syria, a husband can prevent his wife from leaving the country. In Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Jordan, Morocco, Oman and Yemen,

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DARK LANDS married women must have their husbands' written permission to travel abroad, and they may be prevented from doing so for any reason. In Saudi Arabia, women must obtain written permission from their closest male relative to leave the country or travel on public transportation between different parts of the kingdom. Utilization of Arab women's capabilities through political and economic participation remains the lowest in the world in quantitative terms. In some countries

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DARK LANDS with elected national assemblies, women are still denied the right to vote or hold office. And one in every two Arab women can neither read nor write. ln a Saudi Shari'a court, the testimony of one man equals that of two women. In Kuwait, the male population is allowed to vote, while women are still disenfranchised. Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and Saudi Arabia all have laws stating that a woman's inheritance must be less than that of her male siblings (usually about half the size).

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DARK LANDS Moroccan law excuses the murder or injury of a wife who is caught in the act of committing adultery; yet women are punished for harming their husbands under the same circumstances. Wife-beating is a relatively common practice in Arab countries, and abused women have little recourse. Wife beating is technically grounds for divorce, but the husband may seek to demonstrate that he has authority from the Quran to correct an irreligious or disobedient wife by striking her.

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DARK LANDS In Saudi Arabia, restrictions against women are among the most extreme in the Arab world. Saudi women may not marry non-Saudis without government permission (which is rarely given); are forbidden to drive motor vehicles or bicycles; may not use public facilities when men are present; and are forced to sit in the backs of public buses, segregated from men. Women must cover their entire body and face in public. And those who do not are subject to physical

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DARK LANDS harassment from the Saudi religious police. The Saudis even extend their discriminatory treatment to women abroad. During a visit to the United States by Crown Prince Abdullah, the prince's aides requested that no female air traffic controllers be allowed to control his flight into Texas to meet President Bush. They also requested that no women be allowed on the airport tarmac with the jet. International organizations, local human rights,

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DARK LANDS and non-governmental organizations constantly pressure the regimes in Arab countries to improve the state of human rights in general and women's rights in particular. The proportion of women's representation in Arab parliaments is only 3.4% (as opposed to 11.4% in the rest of the world). In addition, 55% of Arab women are illiterate. The Assistant to UN Vice Secretary General, Angela King, publicly called on Arab states to grant women their rights.

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DARK LANDS Arab regimes find different ways to deal with the international pressure to improve women's rights. They often prefer to introduce mild improvements in women's status rather than to enacting radical reforms that might contradict their ideology and antagonize conservative elements in the country.

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THE END

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DARK LANDS
MEJRI JABEUR (BORN AUGUST 23 , 1984) IS A TUNISIAN WRITER .

HE DEDICATES THIS BOOK TO STRUGGLERS WHO DEVOTED THEIR PRECIOUS TIME IN ESTABLISHING THE VALUES OF FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY.

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