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[sheikh radlinrol]

You may have noticed in the local press that a radical islamic group gathered together 100,000 assorted bearded muslims and their burka-clad womenfolk in Djakarta to call for the restoration of the Caliphate and-wait for it-Spain will be included.
This would mean many things. No more serrano ham, chorizo or fine Rioja wines.
The ladies would have to throw away their bikinis and replace them with abayas.
Men only crowds at the Bernabeu. The works of Goya, Velazquez, Picasso and company would be destroyed and the Prado become an Islamic cultural centre.
I can't imagine Ramadan in Ibiza.
Seriously though, spare a thought for those who live under such regimes.

[Moore]

...though to be fair, the last time the Muslims were here they built the Alhambra which in my humble opinion is truly one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Seriously, any time anyone starts getting slightly negative thoughts about that religion, they should get on a plane to Granada and spend an afternoon there and remember that 99.99% of Muslims are normal people who appreciate beauty just as much as anyone else and they are sadly let down by a small, very hairy, vocal and heavily armed minority.

[forest1979]

What a load of sensationalist rubbish! Is the OP serious?

[sheikh radlinrol]

Thought that might get a response! I don't know if either of you have any experience of living in the Gulf States but the Muslims who created the Alhambra, among other things, have little in common with the autocrats who now rule in that part of the world.
I once bought a Berlitz guide to Spain in the Middle East and was horrified to find that the page devoted to La Maja Desnuda had been obliterated with a felt-tip pen.
Personally, I find it outrageous that a group of fanatics in South-East Asia should dare to claim that Andalus should return to the fold simply because they were in charge here for 700 years. What about the opinions of the people who inhabit the peninsula nowadays?
By the way, Moore, the next time you go to Granada you might want to ponder the words of a Saudi student of mine who told me that, whether I liked it or not, Granada would one day be Muslim again.... and Rome, too!

[QatarChic]

RE Jakarta: Yeah I saw that too on TV - my reaction?
I have to agree with Moore though, it only takes a few to give the whole religion a bad name....although in Sheikh Radlinrol's defence.....being here in the Gulf is certainly an eye opener, when a student starts telling me what I should or shouldn't do...I simply say don't preach what you don't practice yourself...very often the ones who start preaching or act like they are representatives of a religion- are usually the worst ones in their own faith!

I avoid like the plague discussing religion & politics in class- only leads to a headache

[sheikh radlinrol]

As I'm sure you'll realise I only wanted to provoke discussion and not cause offence. However, I stand by my point that people here will decide their future and not extremists at the other end of the earth.
BTW, the group who organised the event is outlawed in many Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia.

[spiral78]

It'd be comforting to say 'it's just rhetoric' but unfortunately some stated policies of current superpowers are nearly as radical and far-fetched...

but I hope it's just rhetoric, and primarily designed to fire the imaginations of the young, gaining the groups new members. All radical groups, whether they're vociferous Christians or gun owners or what have you, need young recruits, else the groups die out.

And it must seem pretty compelling to teenagers to imagine the glory of taking over a whole region of the world that 'belonged' to their ancestors. I can see the emotional appeal.

[spiral78]

ok, not just teenagers, but others of that sort of idealistic mindset as well... before I get jumped for the limitation!

[QatarChic]

cause offence to who? I think it's quite right that you ask this as it is quite worrying- although the part about Ramadan in Ibiza made me laugh

On another note, some of these people who follow such groups are ignorant, unemployed and have nothing better to do...

[forest1979]

Ramadan in Ibiza? I suppose that's when the partygoers forfeit ingesting ecstacy tablets between sunrise and sunset?!

[stoth1972]