Austria: Muslim Soldiers Refuse to Salute Flag

Last week three Muslim conscripts of the Austrian army refused to salute the Austrian flag because this was incompatible with their faith. The Austrian paper Die Presse (18 March) reported that three soldiers of the Maria Theresia barracks, where most of the 1,000 Muslim soldiers serve, refused to salute the flag at a parade and instead turned their backs on it. The soldiers were not disciplined. However, an imam was summoned to issue a fatwa stating that Muslims are allowed to salute the Austrian flag.

Austrian Army officers have complained that Muslim conscripts – about 3,5% of the Austrian armed forces – are unable to do most jobs because they have permission to pray 5 times a day, no matter what job they are performing at the time. Some who attend Friday Prayers stay away for the rest of the day.

Following the incident the Austrian defense minister Günther Platter announced that the army will engage imams as permanent chaplains in order to mediate future conflicts. Die Presse suggests that it would be better to follow the example of the Austrian police and appoint Muslim officers to command Muslim recruits.

www.brusselsjournal.com...

I wonder just how reliable these soldiers would be if called upon to serve and fight in Muslim countries. Surely they are a liability. How can you not salute your own flag

Those soldiers who fail to do their jobs on the grounds of going for prayers are opportunists and not following the teachings of the Prophet. The Prophet says that while the daily 5 prayers are an important form of ibadah (act of worship), doing ones job properly is also an important ibadah.

Ibadah in Islam

Making a living is considered as "ibadah" to Allah if the following conditions are met:

1. The work has to be allowed in Islam.
   
2. The work has to be accompanied by a good intention.
   
3. The work has to be performed with excellence.
   
4. The work has to be within the limits of Allah. So, there must be no room for injustice, disobedience of Allah or mistrust.
   
5. The work must not keep someone away from his deen obligations like prayer, Fasting,

What they are doing, taking the opportunity to avoid work like that is un-Islamic! I have no respect whatsoever for these lazy opportunists.

As for saluting the flag, I don't see why that is a problem. It's a sign of respect, not submission. These people are just looking for problems

[edit on 26-3-2006 by Beachcoma]

Oh god, what a faker. I hate people like that you no nobody is going to be greivously offended at saluting a flag.

Hey here is an Idea maybe you should've thought about all your retarded faith and beliefs before you joined the army. I mean surely killing HAS to be against the religious laws lawl



Why is this even news? They should be like koool dun wanna play by our rules? Then no pay.


this peg leg is what propels me!

[edit on 26-3-2006 by Lysergic]

Hmm sounds like a roof over your head, a paycheque and free meals all for doing nothing! These guys are smart, wait for a lot more to join up when they figure out that this is the scam of the century.

posted by Beachcoma: “Those soldiers who fail to do their jobs on the grounds of going for prayers are opportunists and not following the teachings of the Prophet. The Prophet says that while the 5 daily prayers are an important form of - ibadah] - act of worship - doing ones job properly is also an important ibadah.

In India, in 1857, the Sepoy (soldier) Revolt was the first real challenge to British rule. Almost any revolt of significance has a number of causes. Then inexplicably there is that final spark. The event that sparked the 1857 Revolt came as the episode of greased cartridges. The new Enfield rifles used greased cartridges - to be waterproof - whose end had to be bitten off by the solider before loading. The cartridge grease was made from animal fat, sometimes from beef or pig fat. Beef was a meat taboo to Hindus and pigs were taboo to Muslims. Introduction of the new cartridges offended the religious sentiments of the soldiers.

A number of Islamic revivalist groups, Wahabis - from Saudi Arabia - in particular, played an important role in the Revolt. According to the traditional Muslim perspective, the whole land, from Delhi to Calcutta, had passed into the possession of the 'Nasranis' (the British), and India ceased to be the 'land of Islam'. It was henceforth considered 'enemy territory.' It was incumbent upon Muslims to wage a jihad or holy war against the British or migrate to some free Muslim country.

The Wahabis operated from a network of organized centers spread all over northern India and exercised strong moral influence over Muslim intelligentsia in the entire country. In the 1840s, unnoticed by the British, Wahabi leaders had formed contacts with unofficial political committees of soldiers in the British Indian army. The Wahabis introduced to the soldiers techniques of conspiratorial work through a chain of hospices and secret agents. In the post-Mutiny period, belief about Muslim responsibility for the Revolt was strong among the British officials.

Hindus and Muslims united in their opposition to the British. The rebel Muslim government in Delhi abolished taxes on articles of common consumption, penalized hoarding, and as a gesture of goodwill to the Hindus, banned cow slaughter. Bahadur Shah's proclamation emphasized the standards of both Muhammad and Mahavir.

[edit on 3/26/2006 by donwhite]

Edited to fix quote.

[edit on 26-3-2006 by Benevolent Heretic]

Ok, DW. Interesting historical anecdote there, but how does this relate to the current issue? How does it relate to my previous post?

Just to clarify the situation a bit:
service in army is compulsory in Austria for all males over the age of 18. You can choose between actual military training (Präsenzdienst) or volontary social/community services (Zivildienst) for 6 months.
A lot of guys choose army cause it's cool and do it right after highschool.
A lot of small countries have this system.

So we are talking about spoiled teenagers rebeling against authority here, cause they must rebel against something. It is just three of them, out of 1,000 muslims in the army. That is really not a big deal. Somebody is extremely over-reacting here.

Besides, Austria won't send soldiers to fight anywhere, thats for sure. They are a neutral country, they only send people on humanitarian missions or peace missions, stuff like that.

Well that explains a lot. So I was right earlier. These kids are just looking for problems.

I agree with Beachcoma. They are looking for problems.
(and free meals and an easy income).

Fact of the matter is this - if you don't respect the flag of
the country that you are supposedly going to be serving
then you certainly shouldn't be in the military of that country.

If they have to wait for the muslim leader to issue a
directive to them to salute, then they don't belong in the
military of that country. Let 'em find other jobs. See how
long they last at those when they refuse to do the job
the employer asks.

How old are they anyways? Looks like it's time for
them to grow up.