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The Cairo Declaration on Human Rights, vis-à-vis Islam, 1990 was nothing more than a sheer travesty. In the words of Abul A'la Mawdudi, a leading Islamist of the 20th century, "all the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration are subject to the Islamic Shari'ah." Though apologists were out in full force spinning yarns regarding some golden age of Dhimmitude, the more erudite couldn't help but shake their heads; where was the objectivity in this so-called declaration of rights? Sarkar's words, written nearly a century back, lent a grim air to the proceedings in Cairo; non-conformism in a fully fledged Islamic state, which is essentially theocratic and run on the diktats of Shari'ah, is akin to treason and treason-Ipso facto- in the caliphate is punishable by death. Some of the more radiant facets of this declaration are quoted below: 'Call upon the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers to consider the possibility of establishing an independent permanent body to promote human rights in the Member States, in accordance with the provisions of the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam and to also call for the elaboration of an OIC Charter for Human Rights. Introduce changes to national laws and regulations in order to guarantee the respect of human rights in Member States...' followed further by the now infamous: 'Mandate the OIC General Secretariat to cooperate with other international and regional organizations to guarantee the rights of Muslim Minorities and Communities in non-OIC Member States, and promote close cooperation with the Governments of the States hosting Muslim communities.' Put simply, the preamble makes clear the OIC's desire to create and direct international organizations with the aim of preserving Muslim Rights (specifically the practice and promulgation of the Shari'ah as stated further in the charter) in non-Islamic nations even at the expense of the said nations' constitution and constitutional mandate. And: 'Believing that fundamental rights and freedoms according to Islam are an integral part of the Islamic religion and that no one shall have the right as a matter of principle to abolish them either in whole or in part or to violate or ignore them in as much as they are binding divine commands, which are contained in the Revealed Books of Allah and which were sent through the last of His Prophets to complete the preceding divine messages and that safeguarding those fundamental rights and freedoms is an act of worship whereas the neglect or violation thereof is an abominable sin, and that the safeguarding of those fundamental rights and freedom is an individual responsibility of every person and a collective responsibility of the entire Ummah...' It is to be noted here that only Islamic yardsticks are to be utilized to question the faith, any objectivity will not be tolerated on the grounds that it is blasphemy. Put simply apostasy, homosexuality, adultery and criticism of Islam will be severely punished etc etc: '(a) It is the duty of individuals, societies and states to safeguard this right [of life] against any violation, and it is prohibited to take away life except for a shari’ah prescribed reason.' More nefarious are the following: Article 9: '(a) The seeking of knowledge is an obligation and provision of education is the duty of the society and the State. The State shall ensure the availability of ways and means to acquire education and shall guarantee its diversity in the interest of the society so as to enable man to be acquainted with the religion of Islam and uncover the secrets of the Universe for the benefit of mankind.' This point is further clarified in Article 10: 'Islam is the religion of true unspoiled nature. It is prohibited to exercise any form of pressure on man or to exploit his poverty or ignorance in order to force him to change his religion to another religion or to atheism.' It should be remembered that conscious apostasy in Islam (by an adult) is punishable by death. Again, no parameters are ever set to assist in defining "pressure," "exploit," "poverty" and "ignorance." One cannot help but remember the words of Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cordozo here: 'Freedom of thought...is the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every other form of freedom...' -Palke vs. Connecticut (1937). Generally Muslims lie to deflect attention from such elements of their faith. The truth, however, stands. It must be remembered that because the 5th Guru had Sikhs who were ex-Muslims among his apostles, he was executed; in the words of the imbecile Adeeba: ‘The question that arises is how a community, enjoying sufficient freedom to achieve all that it had, could continue to increase its power establishment, move towards relative self-autonomy whilst impudently converting the Muslims from the truth of al-Islaam to the falsehood and disbelief of Sikhism...?' It becomes transparent to anyone reading this gross perversion of the UN Declaration of Rights that, vis-a-vis ideology, no separation of Church and State exists in the Islamic spectrum. In the words of Burckhardt: 'In Islam, where this fusion (between state and church took place), the whole culture was dominated, shaped and colored by it. Islam has only one form of polity, of necessity despotic, the consummation of power, secular, priestly and theocratic, which was transferred from the Caliphate to all dynasties. Thus all its pasts were mere replicas of the world empire on a small scale, hence Arabized (sic) and despotic...' -Burckhardt (1865-1885), 'Reflections on History,' Liberty Fund, 1979, pg. 141. *OIC- Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The Jihad against non-Muslims has already been declared. Where do you stand?