Iranian Fatwa against 3G!

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/02/22/267706.html

This is illustrative of the forces at work in the Islamic world. The introduction of 3G telecommunications prompts the release of a religious fatwa.

Of course, this reminds me of the decision by the Ottoman ulema in the early sixteenth century to ban the introduction of the printing press into the empire, at least for its Muslim subjects. As a result, the Ottoman Empire didn't lift the final restrictions on printing until the nineteenth century.

You have to ask yourself the question: what is it that the Mullahs think will happen if the people own 3G devices?

I know that if you say that Islam, either as a religion or as a culture, is a drag on progress you get attacked as an Islamophobe. And I'm sure that there will be people who will argue that this effort has nothing to do with Islam and is somehow rooted in some other aspect of Iranian culture (as if Iranian culture hasn't been shaped almost exclusively by Islam for the past 1300 years).

But I don't buy it. Sorry.

Islam is one of two things.

You can believe that Islam reflects the literal word of God as dictated to the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century AD. If you believe that, then you should already be a Muslim. If you are not, you need to head to the nearest mosque and declare yourself a Muslim, otherwise you are headed to hell.

What if you don't believe that? Then what is Islam? It is a comprehensive system for society devised by an obvious talented fellow in the Arabian peninsula in the seventh century. At the time, I would argue as a historian, that it was rather progressive, which was a main reason for its early successes. But Islam is, and always has been, a far less flexible creed than Christianity. And, in my opinion, that lack of flexibility combined with its comprehensive nature is the main reason why the Islamic world looks like it does today. Bottom line: no one ought to be surprised that a seventh-century societal system yields seventh-century results. Hence, no 3G!