Open-source

A list of al-Qaeda-sponsored or -inspired hits and attempts-- updated 9/1/06

2/1993 Bombing of World Trade Center; 6 killed.
10/1993 Killing of U.S. soldiers in Somalia.
1994 Investigation of the WTC bombing reveals that it was only a small part of a massive attack plan that included hijacking a plane and crashing it into CIA headquarters.
6/1996 Truck bomb explodes outside Khobar Towers military complex in Saudi Arabia; 19 American servicemen killed, hundreds of others injured.
8/1998 Bombing of U.S. embassies in East Africa; 224 killed including 12 Americans.
12/1999 Plot to bomb millennium celebrations in Seattle foiled when customs agents arrest an Algerian smuggling explosives into the U.S. Other Algerians subsequently arrested were "Afghan alumni."Jordanian police arrested members of a cell planning attacks against Western tourists.
10/2000 Bombing of the USS Cole in port in Yemen; 17 U.S. sailors killed.
9/11/2001 Destruction of WTC, attack on Pentagon.
4/11/2002 Explosion at ancient synogogue in Tunisia leaves 17 dead, including 11 German tourists.
5/2002 Car explodes outside hotel in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 14, including 11 French citizens.
6/2002 Bomb explodes outside American Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 12.
10/2002 Nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia, kill 202, mostly Australian citizens.
Suicide attack on a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, kills 16.
5/2003 Suicide bombers kill 34, including 8 Americans, at housing compounds for Westerners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Four bombs kill 33 people, targeting Jewish, Spanish, and Belgian sites in Casablanca, Morocco.
8/2003 Suicide car bomb kills 12, injures 150, at Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.
11/2003 Explosions rock a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, housing compound killing 17.
Suicide car bombers simultaneously attack two synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 25 and injuring hundreds. The following week a British bank in Istanbul is bombed.
3/2004 Ten terrorists bombs explode almost simultaneously during the morning rush hour in Madrid, Spain, killing 202 and injuring more than 1,400. A Moroccan affiliate of al-Qaeda claims responsibility.
5/29–31/2004 Terrorists attack the offices of a Saudi oil company in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, then take foreign oil workers hostage in a nearby residential compound. After a stand-off, three of the four assailants escape, leaving 22 people dead, all but three of them foreigners.
6/11–19/2004 Terrorists kidnap and execute Paul Johnson, Jr., an American, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Nearly a week after his capture, photos of his body are posted on an Islamist website. Saudi security forces find and kill four suspected terrorists, including the self-proclaimed military leader of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, after they are seen dumping a body.
12/6/2004 Militants, believed to be linked to Al-Qaeda, drive up to the U.S. consulate in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, storm the gates, and kill 5 consulate employees, none of whom were American. Saudi security forces subdue the attackers, killing four.
7/7/2005 London - Four bombs exploded in three subway stations and on one double-decker bus during the morning rush hour, killing at least 52 and wounding more than 700. A group calling itself the Secret Organization of al-Qaeda in Europe claimed responsibility on a Web site, asserting that the attacks were a retaliation for Britain's involvement in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
11/9/2005 Amman, Jordan - over 60 killed and 115 injured, in a series of coordinated suicide attacks on Hotels in Amman, Jordan. Four attackers including a husband and wife team were involved.
3/7/2006 Bombings in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, India kill 28 and injure more than 100.
6/2/2006 Toronto - 17 would-be Islamist terrorists accused of planning an attack on the downtown headquarters of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS), as well as other targets such as the CN Tower and the Toronto Stock Exchange. Police allege that three tons of ammonium nitrate was to be used for the creation of massive bombs.
6/23/2006 Seven Indicted for Alleged Terror Plot to Hit Sears Tower, Other Buildings.
7/11/2006 A series of explosions rock commuter trains in Mumbai, India, killing at least 200. Approximately 700 civilians are injured.
8/2006 25 arrested in plot to blow up jetliners between London and U.S.

Let's not forget several other contributing members of the religion of peace...

* Egyptian Islamic Jihad
* The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group
* Islamic Army of Aden (Yemen)
* Jama'at al-Tawhid wal Jihad (Iraq)
* Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad (Kashmir)
* Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
* Salafist Group for Call and Combat and the Armed Islamic Group (Algeria)
* Abu Sayyaf Group (Malaysia, Philippines)
* Jemaah Islamiya (Southeast Asia)

What is Sharia?

According to Wikipedia.org, "Sharia is the Arabic word for Islamic law, also known as the Law of Allah, and governs both public and private lives of those living in an Islamic state. Sharia covers not only religious rituals, but many aspects of day-to-day life, politics, economics, banking, business or contract law, and social issues. The term Sharia refers to the body of Islamic law."

Also, "when the term Sharia or Islamic Law is used, what is really meant is not Islamic law as such, but the orthodox version from the classical legal schools before the 19th century... Most Sunni Muslims follow Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki or Shafii, while most Shia Muslims follow Jaafari."

Ok, they vary, and there are more modern versions of Sharia. But what is it like to live under (orthodox) Sharia?

Regarding the story of Abdul Rahman, the Afghan man who converted to Christianity Fox News, Afghan Clerics Call Christian Convert 'Apostate', 3/24/06, let's see what Sharia says about apostasy.

My source is: 'Abdurrahmani'l-Djaziri's Kitabul'l-fiqh 'ala'l-madhahibi'l-'arba'a The Penalty for Apostasy in Islam, Vol. 5, pp.422-440, Translated from the Arabic, First English Edition (Villach): 1997.

"Whoever falls away from faith in Islam commits -- from an Islamic perspective -- an unforgivable sin. He takes himself away from Allah, his owner -- which is theft -- and weakens the Islamic state, an action branded as revolt or insurrection. He who falls away from Islam must, according to the Sharia, be prosecuted, taken into custody by force, and called on to repent. If necessary, his return is to be 'helped' along with torture. He who does not embrace Islam again has, according to the Sharia, forfeited his life and is to be put to death by the state."

"All four imams (the founders of the four schools of Islamic law) -- may Allah have mercy upon them -- agree that the apostate whose fall from Islam is beyond doubt -- may Allah forbid it -- must be killed, and his blood must be spilled without reservation. The hypocrite and heretic (zindiq) who poses as a Muslim but has secretly remained an unbeliever must also be killed."

Uhhhhh... I don't think al-Qaeda is just a bunch of radicals who "hijacked a peaceful religion." Not all Muslims agree on matters of Sharia, but, does that matter??

More fun with Sharia

Wikipedia: Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy

"Throughout the history of Muslim societies, to insult the Islamic prophet Muhammad has been seen as one of the most serious crimes anyone could commit. In many cases, such as those of the Martyrs of Cordoba, this led to the Death penalty. Some interpretations of the Sharia, in particular the Salafi (Non-Maddhab), follow that any insult to Muhammad warrants death."

Death if you even speak...