by Noa Hoffman, Spectator (Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons)
The creator of the ‘Palestine poppy’ is an Oxford-educated paediatrician who has written books for Muslim teenagers justifying stoning and warning that homosexuality is ‘a test from Allah’. Abdul Qader Ismail was accused of trying to ‘hijack’ Remembrance Day after he began selling an enamel pin shaped like a poppy in the colours of the Palestinian flag for £1.78 on eBay. The pin is listed as ‘not for profit’ with money being donated to Gaza charities. The Spectator can now reveal that Ismail is an active member of Greens for Palestine and co-sponsored the group’s ‘Zionism is Racism’ policy. He is also the author of a book series titled An Introduction to Challenging Topics for Muslim Teens.
A chapter in the first book, marked for readers aged 13 to 15 and older, discusses religious punishments including stoning, whipping, crucifixion and amputation. Ismail describes them as deterrents and writes that, if applied, they may be a blessing because a person pays for their sins in this life and avoids punishment in the afterlife.
He writes: ‘In the Shariah there are some very severe punishments, but they are for crimes that would harm the wider community if they were allowed to spread. However, Allah’s mercy is such that these punishments are meant to serve as a deterrent, a reminder of Allah’s intense displeasure, and any excuse is found to not apply them. Even when they are put into practice it is still a blessing from Allah, since it will mean we pay for our sins in this life and avoid punishment in the hereafter.’
The chapter also recounts a religious account of a man who confessed to fornication and was stoned to death. He had begged Allah for punishment in order to be ‘purified’ and as such was now enjoying the afterlife by ‘swimming in the rivers of paradise’.
Read here (£)