Weapons gone astray!

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A Mosque in Munich (2010)

Author: Ian Johnson

When 9-11 attacks came about, investigations traced the perpetrators of sleeper cells spending a time of their lifetimes in Germany. These terrorist group did not spring up just before attacks on the American soil. They, in fact, have a very long past, going as far back as the Bolshevik revolution.

When Communist Soviet took over the predominantly Muslim lands in the Caucasus, collectively known as Western Turkestan, the area was filled with adrenaline-filled Muslim fighters who wanted to liberate their lands from their godless rulers. They were collectively known as the Prometheans, the mythical Greek hero who defied Zeus to save humanity.

This golden opportunity was grasped by Wehrmacht, the unified WW2 German Army to aid in their attack of Russia. As is common knowledge, many Muslim scholars, including the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, soar at the thought of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after WW1, decided to pour their support on the side of the AxisPower. 

Betting on the wrong horse, they lost more than just their homeland. Many of the Muslim freedom fighters ended up as refugees in Germany. By 1950s, West Germany, especially places like Munich, had undergone an economic transformation. The miracle of German tenacity and engineering marvel saw industrial giants like Siemen and financial titans like Allianz proving their strength. Many Turkish immigrants soon start coming into West Germany.
After WW2, communism became the bogeyman, and there was an urgent need to keep activities behind the Iron Curtain under check. Many of these ex-Soviet Muslims became the eyes and the ears of the CIA and West Germany. They were rolled in the CIA-sponsored propaganda Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe as well as many of its espionage work. Along the way, the CIA decided to use Islam as their weapon to go after the non-believer Communists. They are said to create ruckus in Mekkah during a Haj season to highlight injustices against Muslims in the Soviet Union. At the 1955 Bandung Conference,  their members also created an embarrassing moment for the Soviets.

Schematic representation of the Mosque

The idea of having a mosque was drummed in by the Muslim community of Germany to garner more support to this end. Somehow, there soon came to be a tussle for leadership as members of the Muslim Brotherhood gained a stronghold in the Munich Mosque donation collection and construction. 

The Muslim Brotherhood movement, known for its doublespeak, saying one thing to one party and denying it to another, managed to hoodwink the Americans into believing that they could speak for the general world Muslim population. In reality, they advocated a rather conservative and domineering form of Islam; a kind which tends to control all aspects of day-to-day living and has no reservations against terrorism or killing of its enemies. 

Munich Mosque

The Munich Mosque was finally opened in 1973.

The Muslim Brotherhood, with the cooperation of the US intelligence agencies, managed to outmanoeuvre the ex-Nazi soldiers to control the mosque. As time went, The Muslim Brotherhood gained more traction in the world politics. The conservative, arch-Catholic city in Bavaria soon became a centre of radical Islam.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Time after time...

Gyanvapi Mosque at Varanasi was originally Kasi Viswanath Temple

Gyanvapi mosque is located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was constructed by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb after he demolished the original Kashi Vishwanath temple at the site.

One can clearly notice the old Hindu temple wall mixed into the mosque.

There is a small well in the temple called the Jnana Vapi also spelt as Gyaan vapi (the wisdom well). The Jnana Vapi well sites to the north of the main temple and it is believed that the Jyotirlinga was hidden in the well to protect it at the time of the invasion. It is said that the main priest of the temple jumped into the well with the Siva Linga in order to protect it from invaders.

This mosque was built by Aurangzeb in 1669 CE, after destroying the Kasi Viswanath temple located on the site.

The mosque is named after Gyanvapi (“the well of knowledge“), which is situated between the temple and the mosque.

Kasi Viswanath temple existed since many thousands of years and has been reconstructed every few hundreds of years.

The temple structure that existed prior to the construction of the mosque was built by Raja Man Singh during Akbar’s reign.

The temple’s demolition was intended as a warning to the anti-Mughal factions and Hindu religious leaders in the city after few helped Maratha King Sivaji to escape from Agra.

Maratha ruler Malhar Rao Holkar (1693-1766) wanted to demolish the mosque and reconstruct Vishweshwar Temple at the site.

However, he never actually did that. Later, in 1780, his daughter-in-law Ahilyabai Holkar constructed the present Kasi Viswanath Temple adjacent to the mosque.

The original Kasi Temple is mentioned in Siva, Skanda Puranas and original Viswanath temple was destroyed by the army of Qutb-ud-din Aibak in 1194 CE when he defeated the Raja of Kannauj as a commander of Mohammad Ghori.

Its temple was rebuilt by a Gujarati merchant during the reign of Shamsuddin Iltumish (1211-1266 CE).

It was demolished again during the rule of either Hussain Shah Sharqi (1447-1458) or Sikandar Lodhi (1489-1517).

Raja Man Singh built the temple during Akbar’s rule, but orthodox Hindus boycotted it as he had let the Mughal emperors marry within his family. Raja Todar Mal further re-built the temple with Akbar’s funding at its original site in 1585.

Even after Aurangazeb demolishing the original temple and constructing a mosque over it, the remains of the former temple can be seen in the foundation, the columns and at the rear part of the mosque.

During 1833-1840 CE, the boundary of Gyanvapi Well, the ghats and other nearby temples were constructed.