Pushing the Sharia Envelope in the US

Remember the flap in Minneapolis about taxidrivers and booze?

What a surprise - there's a Muslim Brotherhood fatwa in the woodpile and they are trying to cover it up.

A snippet:

When I asked Patrick Hogan, Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman, for his explanation, he forwarded a fatwa, or religious edict, that the MAC had received. The fatwa proclaims that "Islamic jurisprudence" prohibits taxi drivers from carrying passengers with alcohol, "because it involves cooperating in sin according to the Islam."

The fatwa, dated June 6, 2006, was issued by the "fatwa department" of the Muslim American Society, Minnesota chapter, and signed by society officials. (ed. note: Fatwa department - LOL)

The society is mediating the conflict between the cab drivers and the MAC. That seems odd, since the society itself clearly has a stake in the controversy's outcome.

How did the MAC connect with the society? "The Minnesota Department of Human Rights recommended them to us to help us figure out how to handle this problem," Hogan said.

Omar Jamal, director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, thinks he knows why the society is promoting a "no-alcohol-carry" agenda with no basis in Somali culture. "MAS is an Arab group; we Somalis are African, not Arabs," he said. "MAS wants to polarize the world, create two camps. I think they are trying to hijack the Somali community for their Middle East agenda. They look for issues they can capitalize on, like religion, to rally the community around. The majority of Somalis oppose this, but they are vulnerable because of their social and economic situation."

Read it all here It's an eye-opener. Hats off to Katherine Kersten of the Minneapolis Star for digging around and getting the real story. The article concludes with this sobering statement:

"...we now have reason to believe that the issue is only a prologue to a larger drama playing out in Minnesota and the United States."