Islamic party set up in Finland

[madkins]

*The group was established by native-born Finnish converts to Islam.


http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Moves+made+to+establish+Islamic+party+in+Finland/1135230117842


Wotanism has the authority of antiquity. Wotan lives in our blood.

David Lane(1938-2007)


Helsingin Sanomat International Edition

Moves made to establish Islamic party in Finland

September 7, 2007

An Islamic political party is being set up in Finland; organisers hope to gather the necessary 5,000 signatures for official registration, and to field candidates in next year's municipal elections.
The new party's chairman Abdullah Tammi said at a press conference held on Thursday that the aim of the new party is to promote healthy habits, and the Islamic lifestyle.

One of the goals of the party is to end the sale of alcoholic beverages at Finnish grocery stores and kiosks. Sales through the Alko stores would not be affected. The party also wants to make it possible for Muslim children to opt out of music classes and excursions to swimming pools, which Tammi says go against the Muslim faith.
The party further wants legislation that would sanction Halal slaughter and the religious circumcision of boys.

Asked if the party wanted Sharia law to be implemented in Finland, Tammi said that such a move would be "fantastic". He noted that the purpose of the law is to prevent crime in advance.
However, he was quick to add that the party is not seriously seeking a dominant position in Finnish politics or the building of an Islamic society here.
According to Tammi, the group does not have any contacts with any international Muslim organisation; he emphasised that it has emerged from the needs of Finns.
The organisers of the press conference were native-born Finnish converts, but the group hopes to get supporters from all ethnic groups.

Finnish Muslims have only quite recently established an umbrella orgnaisation for various communities - the Finnish Islamic Council.
The Council's chair Anas Hajjar did not directly wish to comment on whether an Islamic political party might bring together the roughly 40,000 Muslims living in Finland. A good many Muslims are already active in other political parties.
A similarly cautious view was taken by Abdi-Hakim Yasin Ararse, vice-chairman of the Islamic Society of Finland, who welcomed the idea in the sense that all Muslim problems are common.
As with Hajjar, the Somali-born Yasin was nevertheless unsure whether an Islamic political grouping was the best means of promoting Islamic culture and the position of the Muslim faith in Finland.
He noted that the Finnish Islamic Council sought contacts and cooperation with all political parties.

Skara Brae,

madkins

*Kari Pullinen

 

[madkins]

*Abdullah Tammi, Chairman of the Finnish Islamic Party.



http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Is...+go+to+be+officially+registered/1135233114668


Helsingin Sanomat International Edition

Islamic Party still has long way to go to be officially registered

January 8, 2008

An initiative for the formation of a Finnish Islamic Party, which began in the autumn, still has a long way to go to get the signatures that it needs to be entered into the register of political parties maintained by the Ministry of Justice.
The chairman of the would-be party, Abdullah Tammi, says that "a few hundred" cards signed by citizens who favour the establishment of an Islamic party have been collected so far. To be registered as a political party, an organisation has to gather the signed endorsements of 5,000 supporters for the approval of the Ministry of Justice.
Tammi says that signatures have been gathered in cafes, kebab restaurants, and shops.

Although it is not yet officially registered as a political party, the Islamic Party already has many activities.
Tammi says that last week it held a meeting of its party executive to prepare its political platform and its goals for the upcoming municipal elections. The programmes will be made public in February.
If it does not succeed in getting enough signatures to be registered as a political party, it hopes to take part in the elections in the form of alliances of individual independent candidates.
Arto Jääskeläinen, director of elections at the Ministry of Justice, says that parties that hope to be registered in time for the municipal elections in October should have their applications ready in August.
In addition to the eight parties in Parliament, the party register includes four other groups - the Finnish Communist Party, the Finnish Senior Party, the Communist Labour Party, and the Finnish Labour Party.
The last of these was dropped from the party register after failing to win seats in Parliamentary elections last spring. However, it was let back in later in the year after getting the necessary 5,000 signatures. Seven other parties were also dropped from the register. Some of them are expected to try to regain official party status this year.

Skara Brae,

madkins

*Timo Jaakonaho

 

[madkins]

*In the party's view, schools should teach Islamic family values and sex
education in the spirit of Islam.



http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Islamic+Party+gearing+up+for+municipal+elections/1135233909751


Helsingin Sanomat International Edition

Islamic Party gearing up for municipal elections

February 8, 2008

The Islamic Party, which is currently working to get the necessary signatures to register as an official political party in Finland, predicts that it will win two seats on the Helsinki City Council and one seat on the councils of Espoo and Vantaa in the municipal elections later this year.

The party also plans to run in Turku, Tampere, and Oulu.

To register as a political party, an organisation must collect the signatures of 5,000 supporters by the end of the summer. According to Islamic Party chairman Abdullah Tammi, 1,000 signatures have already been collected. Tammi presented the party's municipal election themes in Helsinki on Thursday.

In the party's view, schools should teach Islamic family values and sex education in the spirit of Islam.

According to Tammi, the present situation is too stimulating for children, and promotes casual relationships. The party's spokesman Imane Bellamine would replace the present type of sex education at school with the Muslim way of passing down matters related to love and family life from father to son, mother to daughter, and from mother to son.

The party says that Muslim children should be allowed to read the Koran during music classes and school festivities.

The party also wants to promote the construction of mosques, allow male circumcision at public health clinics, permit Halal slaughter of animals in all municipalities, and encourage the use of domestic organic food.

Another goal is a ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages in grocery stores, and outlawing the advertising of alcohol.

In addition to municipal election goals, Tammi outlined the party's foreign policy line. He called the United States a "Satanic" occupier of Afghanistan, and feels that Finland should not take part in the occupation.

Present at the press conference was Dr. Marko Juntunen, an expert on Finnish Islam at the University of Helsinki. He sharply criticised the working methods of the Islamic Party.

Juntunen called on the group to declare openly which fatwas, or Islamic interpretations, it bases its views on. He said that unless it does so, it will not be possible to evaluate the party's aims.

Also at the press conference was Yosif Haddad, an Iraqi writer and expert on Islam, who said that he the emergence of an Islamic party in Finland worries him. He notes that the party is in favour of Sharia law, which, he says, goes against democracy.

"They don't know what they're doing", Haddad said.

"Nobody can claim to follow pure Islam, as they say, because there is no such thing", Haddad said after the conference.

He noted that rules governing family life vary considerably from one Muslim country to another.

"Religion is a matter between man and God. Politics is between people", Haddad noted.

Skara Brae,

madkins

*Mika Ranta