Belgistan? Sharia Showdown Looms in Brussels

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• published: 15 Mar 2012
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Brussels is the capital of Europe. But some are now calling it the Muslim capital of Europe (http://www.stonegateinstitute.org/2602/brussels-eurabia). The graffiti on a building in Belgium says it all: "Welcome to 'Belgistan." Muslims are still a minority in Belgium, but in the capital of Brussels, they're already the largest religious group, comprising one-quarter of the city's population. In less than 20 years they're expected to be the majority. The most confrontational Muslim group here is Sharia4Belgium. Many don't take the small group seriously. But Sharia4Belgium head Fouad Belkacem, alias Abu Imran, sounded very serious when he told CBN News he expects Muslims to dominate Belgium and the world. "The Sharia will dominate," Imran said. "We believe Sharia will be implemented worldwide." Sharia4Belgium is a public relations nightmare for those Muslim groups that try to play down their ties to radicalism and Sharia law. Imran was completely open with CBN News, saying Islam and Sharia law are inseparable, and that democracy is evil. "Sharia is Islam, to be clear," he said. "There is no difference between Islam and Sharia, it's just a name." "Democracy is the opposite of Sharia and Islam," he said. "We believe Allah is the legislator. Allah makes the laws. He decides what is allowed and what is forbidden." CBN News asked Imran about self-described "democratic Muslims" who are against the extreme parts of Sharia law. "That's really funny when I hear someone say I was speaking to a 'democratic Muslim,'" he replied. "It's the same thing as saying I was speaking to Christian Jew, or a Jewish Muslim or something like that. It's impossible." "How could you meet a Jewish Muslim or a Christian Jew?" he continued. "And the Muslim who says he's against Sharia, he's not a Muslim. It's impossible." Like in many countries across Europe, a culture war over Islam is well under way in Belgium. Last month, the mosque of Charleroi was desecrated when a pig mask was affixed to its gate. Then the daughter of the head of Belgium's right wing party, An-Sofie Dewinter, posed in a bikini and burqa with the words in Dutch, "Freedom or Islam." Someone later painted over the poster, giving her a full burqa. Dewinter received death threats. On YouTube, Imran called her father, politician Filip Dewinter "a pimp" for letting her pose in a bikini. "This community is a dirty, perverted community. We see that this community is breaking down, so we need to save this community like we saved it in Spain," Imran said, referencing the Muslim invasion of Spain 1,300 years ago. "We need to save this community and enlighten this community with Islam," he told CBN News. And Islam is flexing its muscle. Girls in bikinis have been attacked, and in some Muslim neighborhoods, Sharia law is enforced. "The big cities in Europe are first places we can see what will happen when the majority is Muslim," warned Sam van Rooy, co-editor of an important new Dutch language book called Islam: Critical Essays on a Political Religion. "We see it in the big cities: Brussels, Amsterdam also, Rotterdam and Antwerp," he said. "Islam is a fascist ideology, and it's not a religion like Christianity and Judaism," he told CBN News. "The danger in it is that it has a religious side, not like Communism and Nazism, which are only ideologies, but Islam has a bit of both." Imran is looking forward to someday replacing Belgian law with the Sharia law, including amputation for theft, stoning for adultery, and death to homosexuals. "A lot of people, when they hear about Sharia, immediately start thinking about amputations, stoning, killings. That's just, I don't know, one-thousandth of the Sharia," he said. "Did you know that in 1,302 years of the Islamic state, with the Sharia implemented, we had something like 60 hands cut off, amputated? So in 1,300 years, 60 hands," he noted. "Is that really a number that you can say is frightening to everyone? And if you're not a criminal, why should you be afraid of Sharia?" he challenged. A showdown over Sharia is coming because the high Muslim birthrate is changing the political landscape. The most common baby name in Brussels for four years running has been Mohammed. CBN News asked Imran if he thinks it's just a matter of time before Muslims are the majority in Belgium. "Of course," he replied. "Even the disbelievers themselves -- they say in 2030 something like that -- there will be a majority of Muslims here in Belgium. Here in Antwerp in the schools, 40 percent of the children are Muslim, so no problem." And Imran offered this advice to the white native Belgians who want to stop the coming Muslim majority: "If they want to push us back or something, I don't know, maybe they can start by marrying four wives and have a lot of children," he said. "Start with that and they will have a chance, but I don't think so." Van Rooy also said he sees a Muslim future for Belgium.