Talk:April Fools' Day

Content

Claimgoal just removed the content below, does anyone want to add it in to the article? -- Da Punk '95 (talk) 06:34, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Done? Claimgoal (talk) 06:44, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Incorrect, uncited and POV material

I have just removed the same information the Claimgoal removed . see the following:

Most of us celebrate April fool day every year and fool each other. But how many of us know facts hidden behind it. It was around a thousand years ago that Spain was ruled by Muslims. And the Muslim power in Spain was so strong that it couldn't be destroyed. The Christians of the west wished to wipe out Islam from all parts of the world and they did succeed to quite an extent. But when they tried to eliminate Islam in Spain and conquer it, they failed. They tried several times but never succeeded.

The unbelievers then sent their spies in Spain to study the Muslims there and find out what was the power they possessed and they found that their power was TAQWA. The Muslims of Spain were not just Muslims but they were practicing Islam. They not only read the Quran but also acted upon it. When the Christians found the power of the Muslims they started thinking of strategies to break this power. So they started sending alcohol and cigarettes to Spain free of cost.This technique of the west worked out and it started weakening the faith of the Muslims in particular the young generation of Spain. The result was that the Catholics of the west wiped out Islam and conquered the entire Spain bringing an end to the EIGHT HUNDRED LONG YEARS' RULE OF THE MUSLIMS in Spain. The last fort of the Muslims to fall was Grenada (Gharnatah), which was on the 1st of April. From that year onwards, every year they celebrate April fools day on the 1st of April, celebrating the day, they made a fool of the Muslims.They did not make a fool of the Muslim army at Gharnatah only, but of the whole Muslim Ummah. The Muslims, were fooled by the unbelievers. They have a reason to celebrate April fool day, to keep up the spirit.

The reasons for removal are as follows:

• The information is uncited
• It is completely contradictory to the Wkipedia page.
• It talks about an Historial event, the Muslim conquest of Spain in vague, non-historical terms ...around a thousand years ago....
• It makes a series of biased statements: ...

"The Muslim power was so strong it couldn't be destroyed".

"The Christians of the West wished to wipe out Islam from all parts of the world..." No. The Christians of the West wished to reclaim previously Christian sites that had been invaded.

"The unbelievers sent their spies in Spain".

The term "unbelievers" is not being used here to describe atheists. This is the Muslim term for Christians and others who are not Muslim. This is a term in general use with Muslims, but is not encyclopedic language because it is biased, and insulting to Christian people. Christians are believers. They believe the teachings of Jesus, not the teachings of Muhammed.

• "When the Christians found the power of the Muslims they started thinking of strategies to break this power. So they started sending alcohol and cigarettes to Spain free of cost."

This is absolute nonsense. It is presented as if the only way to break the power of the Muslim was to resort to underhand trickery. This is written to make the Christians look as deceitful as possible.

How do we know that it isn't true?

The Muslims left Spain in 1492. A very famous year that sticks in the mind!

"Fourteen hundred and ninety two,

'Columbus sailed the ocean blue."

What has Columbus got to do with the story? He found the "New World". About 90 years after Columbus, in the 1580s, Sir Walter Raleigh, introduced the foul custom of smoking tobacco to the Western World. Tobacco came from the Americas.

So that there is no possible way that the Christians could have defeated the Muslims by corrupting them with cigarettes and liquor.

• Granada was surrendered to Ferdinand and Isabella (Columbus' patrons) on January 2nd 1492. Not Ist April.
• The use of capital letters "EIGHT HUNDRED LONG YEARS' RULE OF THE MUSLIMS" is non-wiki formatting to add emphasis.

I think this story may be a traditional Muslim story invented specifically as a warning against the dangers of drinking and smoking. It is a story which strongly associates the perceived "deceit" of Christians, and the perceived "corruption" of Christians as being responsible for the loss of the major possession in Europe.

This type of POV writing has no place in Wikipedia.

Amandajm (talk) 09:06, 28 March 2008 (UTC)