{"id":90606,"date":"2019-06-20T17:31:21","date_gmt":"2019-06-21T00:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=90606"},"modified":"2019-06-20T17:31:21","modified_gmt":"2019-06-21T00:31:21","slug":"a-matter-of-great-importance-to-the-sinhala-community-the-increasing-nature-of-the-muslim-menace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/06\/20\/a-matter-of-great-importance-to-the-sinhala-community-the-increasing-nature-of-the-muslim-menace\/","title":{"rendered":"A MATTER OF GREAT IMPORTANCE TO THE SINHALA COMMUNITY : THE INCREASING NATURE OF THE MUSLIM MENACE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The Muslim community in Sri Lanka is a small non-indigenous minority\nsettler community amounting at present, to about 10% of the total\npopulation of the country. They are the descendants of small groups of Arab\ntraders, exclusively males, who came to the island at different times in the\npast. In the late 13th<\/sup> century they established trading posts in Sri\nLanka\u2019s western coastal region and by the 15th<\/sup> century, increasing\nnumbers of Arab traders from the South Indian coastal regions came and settled\nin Sri Lanka. By the early 16th<\/sup> when Portuguese vessels first\narrived in Sri Lanka, these Arab Muslims were well settled in the coastal\nregions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From their attitude and actions, it is clearly noticeable the Muslim\ncommunity has posed a serious threat to national unity and the cultural\nand territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. They have resorted to actions that undermine\nthe national cultural heritage and to the way of life of other communities,\nand in a covert manner to democratic principles and rule of law of the country,\nespecially with the adoption by them of the Sharia law. These Sharia rules\nof Islam appear to govern politics, marriage and the day-to-day lives of its\nfollowers. Islam is associated with a political ideology where the church and\nstate are not separate. Under the circumstances, one cannot expect Muslims to\ndevelop a sense of patriotism and national pride in a predominantly non-Muslim\ncountry such as Sri Lanka. In recent years, it is well evident that most\nMuslims do not appear to be interested in integrating with other communities,\nperhaps because assimilation is not permitted under the Islamic Shariah law.\nThey rarely if at all participate in national events. They do not participate\nin the singing of the National Anthem in public events. They do not observe the\ntraditional way of greeting by placing both hands together in the form of\nworship. Muslim children are taught not to worship their teachers which is a\ncommon practice among other non Muslim school children.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are schools that operate with government assistance, where not\nonly the Principal and academic staff, but all students are Muslim. Some of\nthese schools have been elevated as National Schools enjoying special\nprivileges. Muslims have established many private International schools in\nseveral towns, where the student population and majority of staff are almost\nentirely Muslim. The most threatening of all is the establishment of their\nso-called Madrasas or Islamic schools, similar to those found in Muslim\ncountries such as Saudi Arabia, where the curriculum is focused on the teaching\nof the Koran and Shariah law. Saudi Arabian sources have funded the\nestablishment of most of these Madrasas. Here, the younger generation of\nMuslims are being strongly exposed to the Saudi Arabian fundamentalist Wahhabi\nform of Islam. Scholarships are awarded to Muslim youth of these schools to\ncontinue their Wahhabi Islamic studies in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim\ncountries, where Wahhabism predominates. This type of exclusive Islamic\neducation and indoctrination is having a well-evident divisive effect in our\nnation and is beginning to disrupt national efforts to bring about overall\nunity and togetherness among communities that have made Sri Lanka their home.\nTheir new male and female attire displays the desire of Muslims to look\ndifferent and to be exclusive and separate from the nation\u2019s mainstream. This polarization\ntendency and divisive spirit of the Islamic community is self-imposed. It is\ndefinitely not because they feel marginalized. The Koran forbids Muslims to\nclosely associate non-Muslims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The long term implications of these extremist trends are highly\nundesirable for the maintenance of peace and stability in the country. What is\nwell evident from the several Muslim instigated, disruptive, illegal and\nextremely violent incidents that occurred in some places in the country in\nrecent times, is how these extremist trends are impinging upon the religious\nfreedom, traditional cultural base and integrity of this country, in particular\non the wholesome Sinhala norms and principles upon which this nation is built,\nand also on the rule of law of this country. One should not overlook the fact\nand take for granted the long-standing opportunity for peaceful cohabitation of\ndifferent communities, provided by the traditional cultural foundation\nestablished by the Sinhala people of this nation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the patriotic and caring Sinhala nationals of this island, irrespective\nof their religious affiliations, there is one moral law that stands above\neverything else, and that is to do everything possible to strengthen their\nSinhala Nation and to curb the efforts of anti-national elements such as the\nextremist Muslims in particular, engaged  in violating and undermining\nSinhala Buddhist national interests. It was such an attitude and approach that\nenabled our valiant Sinhala soldiers to wipe-out the anti-national separatist\nTamil terrorist elements who were hell-bent on destroying the integrity of this\nnation in the past.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinhala nationals should not tolerate any individual or community who,\nwhilst living in the Sinhala Nation and considering it their home, deliberately\nmisusing such a privilege by scheming and adopting extreme means or\ncontributing to such actions, in violation of the sovereignty and territorial\nintegrity of this only nation of the Sinhala people. This includes both direct\nand indirect efforts on the part of these extremist elements living among us,\nwith ridiculously unfounded claims to carve out ethnic and religious enclaves\nwithin our country, merely because some of them had lived in specific places\nfor extended periods of time. These individuals and communities with\nself-serving attitudes and objectives should be considered as traitors or\nenemies of our nation and should be dealt with accordingly. There is\nno place in our nation for such traitors, double crossers, renegades,\nturncoats, collaborators of enemies, criminals and terrorists, conspirators,\nconnivers, schemers and emissaries, spies, secret agents, undercover agents and\ndouble agents of the enemies of this Sinhala Buddhist Nation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Action is required to contain the menace caused by uncaring and ruthless\nMuslim settlers of Sri Lanka where peaceful cohabitation and religious freedom\nhave been a hallmark for a long period of time. Buddhists need to be\nvigilant and need to organize themselves against the abuse of privileges,\naggression and misdemeanor by the Muslims living in Sri Lanka – the\nonly motherland of the Sinhala Buddhist. No Muslim gives any other religion a\nstatus of equality with Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest problem with Muslims is their belief that Islam is one and\nonly \u2018chosen religion\u2019 and  Muslims are the one and only \u2018chosen people\u2019.\nIn an Islamic state people of other faiths are not tolerated. Non-Muslims\ncannot establish their shrines or  monasteries in any of the Middle\nEastern Muslim countries. They cannot hold their religious functions or prayers\nin public in these countries.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this Sinhala nation of ours although they are a non-indigenous\nminority  settler community, the Muslims insist on living an alienated and\nun-integrated life and are  agitating for concessions specified by their\nIslamic religion and Muslim Shariah law.  Misguided by their extremist leaders, they continue to work for\ntheir own narrow self interests. The interest of the country as a whole is not\ntheir concern, primarily  because Sri Lanka is not an Islamic country.\nThey are least interested in joining the national mainstream\u201d and work towards\nnational unity and well-being. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No meaningful dialogue on Islam or on the divisive attitudes and\nactivities of Muslims is possible with most Muslims in Sri Lanka. They\nunnecessarily feel intimidated whenever  legitimate questions pertaining\nto Islam or the Quran are posed. Those who question are immediately considered\nas being anti-Islam. Most Muslims lack the courage to respond to even the most\nabject injustices evident in their Islamic beliefs and practices.  They\nfail to realize that true open-mindedness consists of contemplating all\npremises and weighing the evidence, not of refusing to draw conclusions no\nmatter how strong the case. Reasoning involves deduction and induction. This is\nthe basis of the scientific process. Why do Muslims cause disharmony and battle\nall societies they infiltrate? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increased Propagation of Wahhabism <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With increased funding by the Saudi\nArabia with their petro dollars, and other forms of penetration, the Wahhabi\nfollowers have increased in Sri Lanka during recent decades. This was clearly\nevident in the Eastern province. Wahhabis claim that the Sufis or the moderate\nSri Lankan Muslims are ignorant of the basic teachings and practices in Islam.\nThey claim to be the real scholars of Islam. Scholarships are offered to Muslim\nyouths to go to Wahhabi institutions in Saudi Arabia and Egypt with the\ncondition that those who complete their Wahhabi studies should return to Sri\nLanka and propagate Wahhabism. This is happening extensively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wahhabis are trying to take the\ntraditional Islamic community in Sri Lanka down the path of extremism and\nviolence. The Wahhabis have already created deep divisions in among Sri Lankan\nMuslims and have formed gangs that intimidate moderate Muslims who speak out\nagainst Wahhabi fanatics. Like the Christian fundamentalist groups using NGOs\nto convert innocent poor families to Christianity, Wahhabis help poor Muslim\nfamilies by providing cash and other material benefits to convert them to their\ncult. Wahhabis appear to be using Sri Lankan Government agencies to propagate\nWahhabi  activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The House of Saud pretending to be\nthe leaders of the Islam promote their Wahhabi ideology world-wide. The result\nhas been the birth of al-Qaida, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Wahhabi\nterrorist groups which are killing Sunni and Shia Muslims alike in Iraq,\nAfghanistan and Pakistan.  All the \u2018Islamist\u2019 terror attacks in South Asia\nincluding in Mumbai, Afghanistan and Pakistan had the hallmarks of Wahhabism.\nWahhabi Jihadists are blinded by faith to believe that they have the mandate of\nAllah to rid the world of \u2018infidels\u2019 and \u2018heretics\u2019. Until this Wahhabism is\nthoroughly discredited, combating Wahhabi terrorism is impossible. Since the\nWestern countries subterfuge to destabilise Sri Lanka, by surreptitiously\nsupporting the LTTE failed, now the Western countries will promote Wahhabi\nJihadism to cause strife and trouble to destabilize Sri Lanka. Wahhabi\nfollowers \u2013 al-Qaida, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Wahhabi terrorist\ngroups \u2013 have caused untold misery in several countries including Iraq,\nAfghanistan, Pakistan and India. Sri Lanka appears to be their next target.\nWahhabis have already built several illegal Mosques in Sri Lanka using Saudi\nArabia\u2019s petro dollar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is clear evidence of increasing tension and extreme forms of\nviolence between traditional and more fundamentalist Islamic groups in Muslim\ncommunities across Sri Lanka. During the latter period of the war with Tamil\nLTTE terrorists, Muslim Home Guards were recruited by the Sri Lankan government\nto fight the terrorists. In the East some of these Home Guards deserted with\ntheir weapons and joined the Wahhabis rebels to fulfill its demand for Jihad\u201d\nagainst traditional Sufi Muslims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a nation with a historic cultural tradition that extends to over 2200\nyears, where freedom, compassion, tolerance and accommodation of people of all\nfaiths and ethnicities have been the founding principles, it is necessary\nthat we as a nation take necessary steps to protect and preserve these noble\nand wholesome cultural traditions. We cannot allow them to be undermined under\nany circumstances. It is necessary that all communities living in this country\ndevelop respect towards the social values and norms of other communities\ninhabiting this land and not pursue policies and activities that would\njeopardize the quality of life and stability of our nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane The Muslim community in Sri Lanka is a small non-indigenous minority settler community amounting at present, to about 10% of the total population of the country. They are the descendants of small groups of Arab traders, exclusively males, who came to the island at different times in the past. In the late […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-daya-hewapathirane"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90606\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}