How Many Fishers Are Hidden in the Garment of Asceticism!

Yesterday, a Kenyan court sentenced Reverend Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison for causing the deaths of 191 children through starvation, as Kenya does not have the death penalty. Mackenzie, formerly a taxi driver, claimed religious devotion, abandoned his profession, and founded a church named “Good News,” headquartered in a forest called Shakahola. He urged followers to undertake what he termed the “Fast for Paradise”—a fast unto death—to hasten their meeting with Christ and enter heaven. He had 27 assistants, security personnel, and cooks. Those who refused to fast to the point of death were killed, and their organs were sold, similar to the fate of others. Meanwhile, Mackenzie and his guards enjoyed three meals a day and opened 20 bank accounts to collect money from the sale of children’s organs...

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If such an incident occurred exceptionally in Kenya and the harm was confined to self-harm, similar and even worse cases have been committed by some who call themselves advocates of the “Awakening Era,” including Kuwaitis, Gulf Arabs, Arabs, and Muslims. They became known for deceiving others in the name of religion through articles and media interviews, targeting the youth of others—not their own children—who they insisted on sending to study in the West, which they claimed to oppose. They rejoiced when these youths graduated and married. They sent these naive, deceived youths to Afghanistan to fight Russians and Americans, then to Kosovo, Chechnya, Iraq, Syria, Sinai, and Libya to kill others or to carry out suicide bombings in public markets. Undoubtedly, the number of victims deceived by some of our preachers amounts to thousands, not hundreds like the victims of Reverend Mackenzie. Moreover, the wealth they amassed totaled millions, and no one has held them accountable to date for incitement, agitation, killing, terrorism, and violence, or for their actions against Gulf, Arab, and international systems. Some of them still appear unashamedly on media from their luxurious palaces, continuing to deceive youth by spreading hate and violence under the same pretext... the “rapid path to Paradise.”

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Final station:

1. In Jordan, sentences of imprisonment were recently issued against leaders of Islamic parties that collected huge sums for Gaza victims. It was discovered that all the funds were stolen, with not even a single dollar reaching the victims. This repeats the theft of half a billion dollars by Islamic charitable associations in some Arab countries and Turkey, which were supposed to be designated for Gaza victims, as well as millions collected to build a hospital in Gaza, all of which were entirely stolen.

2. Among the contradictions or competitions in trafficking with the Palestinian cause and the blood of Gaza victims is what a member of Fatah named Ali S. did by accusing Hamas leader Saleh J. of stealing donations intended for Gaza families. It was later discovered that both were involved in the same thefts.

3. The same contradiction occurred in Turkey. While the Islamic Nation Foundation was accused by the administrators of a secular humanitarian association called Ahbab—supported by secular journalists and artists, and founded by Khurq Levant, who is aligned with the secular opposition to the Turkish Islamic government—of disappearing $500 million in charitable funds, accusations were later turned against Khurq and his secular association for stealing secular donors’ money. He allegedly donated 120 million Turkish lira to his assistant, Yeliz Kaya. This shows that in cases of theft, trafficking with genuine causes, and manipulating people’s emotions, no one is better than “Hadd”...