31 August 2014

Rotherham: politics ‘imported from Pakistan’ fuelled sex abuse cover-up – MP

An unhealthy brand of politics “imported” from Pakistan is partly to blame for the cover-up of mass child abuse in Rotherham and other British cities, a campaigning MP has claimed.

Simon Danczuk, who helped expose a pattern of grooming of white teenage girls by men from a Pakistani background in Rochdale, where he is the Labour MP, said a culture of intimidation and closing of ranks within parts of the Asian community had mired politics in towns and cities across northern England for years.

He said Asian councillors were under constant pressure from the community to “conform” and other politicians acquiesced for fear of being accused of racism, failing to face up to evidence of abuse as a result. [The Telegraph] Read more

What links UK jihadis and Rotherham sex abusers? Mosques failing to give them moral leadership says LORD AHMED

.... This brings me back to my argument that, although worlds apart, the British Muslims in the Rotherham sex abuse scandal and those fighting for IS have a common factor: you can be sure that they regularly went to their local mosque.

Clearly, no responsible Muslim would claim the actions of either were anything other than a betrayal of their faith – as well as being illegal. But, in my opinion, it is equally clear that mosques are not doing enough to provide strong moral leadership to young British Muslims.

Nobody would suggest that the answer to all these problems can be found by changing the way mosques are run. But given their hugely important role, they are a good place to start.

This issue must be addressed now and not swept under the carpet, as I fear it will be by many mosques.

[THE TOP RATED COMMENT] Perhaps Lord Ahmed should have spoken out a lot sooner...................it's too little too late.

[ANOTHER TOP COMMENT] I don't know how many mosques and clerics there are across the UK but I do know apart from a very small number, most have been deafening in their condemnation ....

[ANOTHER] Lord Ahmed speaks some sense! It's just a shame the Goverment doesn't have the balls to act. [Daily Mail] Read more

30 August 2014

Senior Muslims call for women to have more say in communities

.... Critics say the traditional male-heavy hierarchy of Muslim groups contributed to the community's silence on abuse and the culture of disbelief that meant many victims were not listened to. Jay's report found the abuse continued partly because of "blatant" failures by council and police, among them the habit of talking only to older male Muslim community representatives, which meant the true extent of the problem was obscured.

The hope now among many influential male and female Muslim figures is that the fallout of the Jay report will serve as a wake-up call in confronting the male dominance of many British mosques. [The Guardian] Read more

Outraged Muslims throw Somali Christian convert off 4th floor balcony

A convert living in Nairobi's Eastleigh neighborhood has been thrown from a fourth floor balcony after Muslims learned that he left Islam for his Christian faith.

Mohammed Ali, a 30-year-old convert from Islam, is now recovering but is still in a critical condition in a Kenyan hospital, Morning Star News reported.

"Mohammed left Eastleigh six years ago after escaping an attack," said his wife, who also fears for her security.

"I had been telling him to be careful of the Muslims at Eastleigh, as they are not happy with his conversion to Christianity." [ecunews.com] Read more

29 August 2014

My Muslim religion has problems that need fixing

.... When will the Muslim community see the other side of this argument and realise that yes, we are under attack. Our faith is under attack.

Our faith is being eaten up from within by fundamentalist elements around the world who twist it to suit their political agendas and interpret it to make their case. To them it's nothing but a tool to control people. They justify their actions through our faith.

When will Muslims stand up and accept that yes we have problems within our faith. Maybe a few more problems than other faiths, but sure, we have problems.

They don't just affect us as Muslims, they affect our friends, their families and our neighbours. They affect a society that welcomes us here, treats us as equals and gives us the opportunity to live a decent and dignified life. Democratic Australia gives us a voice and tries its best not to judge us. [The Age] Read more

28 August 2014

Mohammed is most popular name in Oslo

Statistics Norway (Statistisk Sentralbyrå - SSB) has counted the population of Oslo and found that Mohammed is the most common male name in Oslo for the first time ever.

Jørgen Ouren of SSB said to NRK: “It is very exciting.”

Altogether 4,801 boys and men are named Mohammed or variations of Mohammed as their first name, and Mohammed has thereby passed both Jan (4,667) and Per (4,155). [The Local] Read more

Parliamentary group publishes report on stun/non-stun slaughter

.... Acknowledging the issue as one of contention, Parish said: “When the group decided to conduct an inquiry into the welfare of animals slaughtered in accordance with religious rites, I knew we were entering into an area of public discourse that has been highly polarised, is often poorly understood and on which discussions in the media have often produced more heat than light. I hope our offering provides more of the latter.

“There are no easy solutions to what is – legally, scientifically and culturally – a very complicated set of circumstances, but given the legitimate concerns of the public, animal welfare organisations and religious communities, it is a debate worth having in a calm and transparent way.” [Meat Info] Read more

27 August 2014

Grand Ayatollah Issues Fatwa Stating High Speed Internet is against Sharia

A Grand Ayatollah in Iran has determined that access to high-speed and 3G Internet is “against Sharia” and “against moral standards.” In answer to a question published on his website, Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, one of the country’s highest clerical authorities, issued a fatwa, stating

“All third generation [3G] and high-speed internet services, prior to realization of the required conditions for the National Information Network [Iran’s government-controlled and censored Internet which is under development], is against Sharia [and] against moral and human standards.” [International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran] Read more

26 August 2014

Tolerance is bigotry's counterpart in keeping Muslims divided

Every time a controversy plays out, more conditions are added to our being ‘tolerable’. We deserve our rights – including to places to practice our faith without political interference

Everyone knows the game. It’s called “asking the Muslim question”. We’ve been playing it a lot this year. Can Muslims be trusted with a mosque in Bendigo? Are Muslims who travel overseas going to fight as terrorists? Are they Australian if they are prepared to speak about “honour” killings? Do Muslims turn the suburbs in which they live into “monocultures”?

Yassir Morsi describes this questioning as a ritualised act, eerily religious in form. The answers which are churned out time and again are a ritual too: “yes, no, not all of us.”

[TOP RATED COMMENT 321 votes] Very anti-white. Which majority black or Muslim countries would you like to put forth as an example of tolerance and inclusion of minorities or women? Pakistan? Saudi? Nigeria? The very notion of tolerance and multiculturalism is a white, Western one.

[SECOND 289v] "We shouldn’t need to defend what is our basic right – to have a place to practice our religion. Nobody should, this is the whole point of having rights."

Switzerland (one of the few remaining bastions of common sense and democracy) has already shown that the right to practise one's religion does not mean the right to erect constructions that are culturally alien to a given environment. Mosque design should reflect Australian tastes.

[THIRD 275v] "The left graciously tolerates, even celebrates, our otherness, our exoticism"

Speaking as someone whose politics are left of centre, I certainly don't celebrate the fact that we have increasing numbers of people in this country who are deeply hostile to Western culture, and who want that posture accepted as "all part of the rich tapestry of multiculturalism."

"Al-Qaeda and bin Laden, suppression of women, irrational beliefs and various other imaginations of barbarity and backwardness."

I see, so the clear evidence of barbarity and backwardness we see in the news every single day is actually all "imagined". That's very reassuring.

[FOURTH 220v] "Islam is the religion of peace, equality, brotherhood and respect. Those who don't believe this are Islamophobes."

Yes, I've noticed this peace and brotherhood spreading itself around the middle east lately, and closer to home with street marches calling for the execution of cartoonists and film makers. It's people like you, who utterly fail to see the impression you make on the rest of the world, who are to blame for the suspicion with which Islam is treated in any modern society.

[ANOTHER 82v] I hear a great deal from various self-appointed representatives of Muslims about how the rest of us need to understand why they are angry. Have they ever considered sitting down and trying to understand why *we* might be angry? [Guardian Cif] Read more

Ombudsman says banning the hijab at school is discrimination

Czech ombudsman Anna Sabatová has stood up for the Somali student of a secondary medical school in Prague who has been forbidden to wear a headscarf at school, server Lidovky.cz has reported, referring to the ombudsman office's internal document.

Muslim girls and women use the scarf, also called the hijab, to veil their hair and neck.

Sabatová says banning Muslims from wearing the hijab at school amounts to discrimination, the server writes. [Czech News Agency] Read more

Counsel of Immoderation - The Muslim Council of Britain is not a responsible body for government to consult

Conor Cruise O’Brien, the historian, was a redoubtable foe of what he termed “unilateral liberalism”. He identified this as a stance acutely sensitive to threats to liberty arising from actions by democratic states, but phlegmatic about threats to liberty from the enemies of those states.

Much of the debate on security policy for western democracies in the 21st century has been shaped by this type of unilateral liberalism. [The Times (£)] Read more

The difficulties of dialoguing with Islam

.... Most British Muslims are very happy to talk about their faith, expound the transcendence of Allah and justify the actions of their prophet. Many are eager to talk humbly about their religion and their beliefs about its place in pluralist society, and they will do so respectfully and courteously over a plate of fish and chips and a pint.

But there can be no dialogue with fundamentalist forms of Islam, which is what many term "proper" or "true" Islam, because it has nothing to learn.

We can discuss with Muslims the devotional similarities of Ramadan and Lent, and this may well extend to musing about doctrines of soteriology and the meaning of salvation. But fundamentalism knows no moderates and tolerates no compromise. [Archbishop Cranmer] Read more

The reluctance to talk about the link between beheadings and Islam

.... Towards the end I made the point I keep trying to make – which is that although the radicals like the murderer of James Foley have what is obviously the worst interpretation of Islam, it is nevertheless a plausible interpretation.

They didn’t get where they got from nowhere, and we hamper our efforts to defeat this terrible interpretation if Muslims and non-Muslims do not take it straight on. But it struck me again – as it does every time I make this point – just how unwilling people are to have this debate. Which brings me back to beheading.

.... But surely one part of the reason beheading is chosen – if not the major part – is the fact that the Qu’ran has verses telling believers, in certain circumstances, that this is the appropriate way to kill those who are not Muslim?

Is this not an important point? What about the fact that the founder of Islam himself engaged in such acts? There will be those who say I am making this up, so I suppose I ought to refer people to the sources. [The Spectator] Read more

25 August 2014

Governor at school linked to the Trojan Horse plot 'hired guards to bar staff bought in after Ofsted inspection'

A disgraced former governor of a school linked to the Trojan Horse plot in Birmingham is being sued over claims he barred staff brought in after an Ofsted inspection.

Waseem Yaqub is alleged to have harassed staff appointed to turn the Al-Hijrah School around, according to a high court writ lodged by the city council for up to £100,000.

The writ also accuses Mr Yaqub of intimidation and trespassing on the Bordesley Green school site after the council disbanded the governing body he headed in May.

The school, Birmingham's only Islamic school, is for pupils aged four to 16 and was once one of the most sought after in the country. [Daily Mail] Read more

24 August 2014

Multiculturalism has brought us honour killings and Sharia law, says Archbishop

.... “For too long we have been self-conscious and even ashamed about British identity. By embracing multiculturalism and the idea that every culture and belief is of equal value we have betrayed our own traditions of welcoming strangers to our shore.

“In Britain's hospitable establishment different beliefs were welcomed but only one was preeminent - Christianity. The fact is that for too long the doctrine of multiculturalism has led to immigrants establishing completely separate communities in our cities. This has led to honour killings, female genital circumcision and the establishment of sharia law in inner-city pockets throughout the UK.” [The Telegraph] Read more

We share blame for creating 'jihad generation', says Muslim strategist

British society, its political class and community leaders must share the blame for the "jihad generation" of young men and women joining the Islamic State terrorist organisation, a former senior Muslim Army officer says today.

.... "We must not be afraid to ask the difficult questions and to thoroughly cleanse our ghettoised communities from feeling so distant from the ideals of what it means to live in a free society where you can choose to practise faith or not to, where you can live alongside every faith and none, where your rights are protected under law and you are an equal citizen. These are noble values, yet in Muslim communities I have almost never heard these being discussed with young people in inner-city areas."

[TOP RATED COMMENT] Muslims - or enough of them to matter at any rate - choose to live in their own self-created ghettoes, choose not to integrate into British society, choose to keep alive medieval cultures and traditions, sometimes illegally (like FGM), choose to keep women as virtual prisoners in their own homes, cut off from the society they now blame, and sometimes never even learning to speak a word of English in case they are contaminated by TV and radio.

Their own little oasis of the Swat Valley, brought to your doorstep in Bradford.

Muslims alone are to blame for this cancer. And it is going to take radical measures, by the Muslim community as much as by "society", to cut it out and kill it stone dead.

[SECOND] How dare he blame British culture. It is Islam that has failed these young people. It is their own culture who have insisted on self segregation (and worse).

We owe them nothing. They were given everything and every opportunity and all they have done is build walls round themselves.

Islam itself is the reason this is happening.

[THIRD] Dear author, If Muslims are having problems living peacefully with their Non-muslim neighbors in Britain, France, Holland, U.S., Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Kenya, Australia, India and so many other countries then maybe, just maybe, the problem lies with Muslms themselves? [The Independent] Read more

21 August 2014

As long as Obama spouts the fallacy that the Islamic State "speaks for no religion", we will never kill the root

.... He appears not to grasp the Islamist worldview, which is as theological as it is political; as historic as it is present. Allah is not merely a "just God": he is perfect justice, and his prophet did no wrong.

The people beheaded, tortured or massacred are not "innocents": they are corrupted by idolatry; tainted by the blood on the hands of Western warmongers; and damned by perversions of liberal democracy and moral relativity.

We will never eradicate this cancer unless and until our politicians and religious leaders can bring themselves to acknowledge that the Islamist inspiration is a virulent quranic doctrine of God which is based on a particular reading of Hadith literature and a singular understanding of the Sunnah.

It may be offensive to our Western sensibilities to say so, but we are so steeped in mushy multicultural GCSE notions of ill-taught RE that we have ceased to have any ability to discern the spirits, determine right from wrong, or distinguish between the forces of good and the legions of evil. [Archbishop Cranmer] Read more

Why the British jihadis fighting in Syria and Iraq are so vicious

.... A second factor is the belief, however warped, that they are doing Allah’s work.

The majority of the British jihadists I spoke to genuinely wanted to die in their religious cause, thinking their membership of Islamic State would guarantee them a place in paradise.

The accelerating cycle of violence is seen as the route to salvation. Indeed, Hamindur’s father recalled that, in one of his last calls home, his son ‘asked us to pray for him and said he wanted to become a shaheed (martyr) for Allah’.

[THE TOP COMMENT] The radicalization of young Muslims in Britain is rife, and has been for many years. The government need to clamp down on schools, university's, Mosques that are responsible! (there maybe 500 British Muslims fighting over there, there's still 1000's that think the same here). [Daily Mail] Read more

Violence, threats, prompt more Muslim women in Britain to wear a veil

.... anecdotally it seems in recent years that more young women are choosing to wear a headscarf to assert a Muslim identity they feel is under attack and to publicly display their beliefs.

Shanza Ali, 25, a Masters graduate who works for a Muslim-led non-profit organisation in London, said she was born in Pakistan and her Pakistani mother had never worn the veil but both she and her sister Sundas chose to do so aged about 20.

"I decided to make a commitment as a Muslim and I have never stopped since," Shanza told Reuters in her family home in Walthamstow, east London where prayer mats hang from the walls alongside modern, family portraits. [Reuters] Read more

20 August 2014

James Foley’s murder will see calls for military action – just what Isis wants

.... Everything about the video seemingly of Foley’s murder is intended to chill. It is unlikely that Islamic State (Isis) selected an executioner with a strong London accent for no reason. It was the Iraq war that first popularised the execution video, but hearing the blood-curdling threats and dogma of Isis recited in tones that are all too familiar is itself a message.

[A TOP COMMENT] We could start by admitting that radical Islam is an increasing problem in our own society and one that must be tackled wherever it rears its head - no good crying Islamaphobia and racism when extremists try to take over schools in Birmingham and elsewhere.

[ANOTHER] .... I think it's worth adding that the teachings in Islamic core texts are a "true parent" of ISIS. That is to say, whilst Islamic teachings may not be a sufficient cause of the actions of ISIS, they are undoubtedly a necessary cause.

[ANOTHER] If wiping out ISIS to the last man is playing into their hands, I suggest we should do it.

[ANOTHER] Most people in Britain will be horrified by what is happening in Iraq and Syria but far more horrified by what is happening here in Britain.

For decades we have nurtured radical Islam and now we have a generation of young Muslims (not all Muslims. Not even most Muslims. But a fair few of them) who despise Western values, hate Jews, gays and women and are more than happy to murder for their cause.

[ANOTHER] You can have as much rational debate as you want but the bottom line is that these people - who will kill anyone; man, woman or child who disagrees with their twisted interpretation of their religion - need to be brutally wiped off the face of the planet.

[ANOTHER] Maybe time to stop any Imam who even remotely preaches fundamentalist Islam from coming to the UK or stopping those already here from preaching their hate.

I watched a BBC debate between young British Muslims and too many of them were making excuses for fundamental Islam.

One young female Shia made the best statement. If you don't want what UK society gives you in the way of freedom and safety, leave and go to a country that is run along strict Islamic lines. [Guardian Cif] Read more

UK failure on Islamism and James Foley's murder

.... It should be no surprise at all that a British Muslim is likely to be responsible for the murder, as several hundred home-grown terrorists have already jumped onto planes, with their UK passports ready to shed blood in Syria and Iraq.

Those on the left, who have spent years defending Islamic extremism in Britain, labelling anyone who has raised concerns about it as bigoted, have been finally proved wrong. Our country does indeed have a very serious problem with Islamic extremism.

From the beheading of British soldier Lee Rigby by two men chanting “allahu akbar” to the Trojan Horse school takeover plot, this evil ideology is engulfing our communities and creating the next generation of UK terrorists. [The Commentator] Read more

19 August 2014

The Caliphate Delusion: the political construct that bears no relevance in the modern world

I first came across the term Caliphate or Khilafah back in 1992 when, as a young teenager, I attended a lecture organised by a local Islamist group. The term was a reference to a global Muslim empire that would have a single ruler for life, referred to as Caliph, and implement a single interpretation of shariah. This empire would also be expansionist and seek to aggressively stretch its borders through warfare until the entire world fell under its domain.

The Caliphate, it was argued, was necessary because, theologically, it was an Islamic obligation and, politically, only such an entity could protect Muslims around the world, under siege as they are from non-Muslim enemies. [Left Foot Forward] Read more

Lutfur Rahman 'secured Tower Hamlets election win with curry house threats and bribes'

Campaigners for Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman threatened council staff and bribed religious groups to secure votes in knife-edge elections, an explosive High Court dossier claims.

The controversial mayor oversaw a “systematic campaign of intimidation” including widespread postal vote fraud in order to triumph in May’s election, documents seen by the Standard claim.

He, or those acting on his behalf, allegedly told activists for his party, Tower Hamlets First, to collect and fill out 250 postal vote application forms each at a meeting held in a Bangladeshi restaurant ahead of May’s election, which he won by 3000 votes. [Evening Standard] Read more

French politician angered by veiled Muslim at beach

A conservative French politician sparked a debate after she posted Monday a picture of a veiled Muslim woman on a beach in France and the cover of Le Figaro magazine portraying former French sex icon Brigitte Bardot.

Nadine Morano, who published the picture on her personal Facebook account, wrote: “When one chooses to come to secular, France... one must respect our culture and the freedom of women. If not, go elsewhere!”

.... Morano’s post came after she saw a headscarf-wearing woman allegedly left to sit by the shore while her male companion was in the water.

“The man got into a bathing suit showing off his well-sculpted body, while the woman sat completely dressed, obedient on the sand,” Morano wrote. [Al Arabiya News] Read more

Archbishop of Mosul: "Your liberal and democratic principles are worth nothing here"

.... You must consider again our reality in the Middle East, because you are welcoming in your countries an ever growing number of Muslims. Also you are in danger. You must take strong and courageous decisions, even at the cost of contradicting your principles. You think all men are equal," Archbishop Amel Nona continues, "but that is not true: Islam does not say that all men are equal. Your values are not their values. If you do not understand this soon enough, you will become the victims of the enemy you have welcomed in your home."

.... The West must heed the stark warning of Archbishop Amel Nona, and do so before it is too late. Mosul has fallen: his warning is that Toulouse, Brussels or Liege might be next. For now, the battleground is fixed in the Middle East.

But Jihadi-Salfist theatres of war recognise no state borders, and they have no time at all for democracy, diplomacy, or "moderate" notions of Islam which is not "proper" or "true" Islam. These fanatics find our governments weak and compliant; our liberal and democratic principles quite conducive to their political objectives; our Christianity favourably disposed to a multi-faith ecumenical love-in. [Archbishop Cranmer] Read more

'Drunk' Belgium diplomat specialising in protocol is arrested for tearing full-face veil off a Qatari princess

A senior Belgium diplomat specialising in protocol has been arrested for tearing off the full-face veil of a Qatari princess after she asked him for directions.

In the latest example of the difficulties involved in imposing a so-called ‘burka ban’, Jean-Marie Pire did not know the identity of the massively wealthy VIP before attacking her.

She approached him with two other women in broad daylight in central Brussels last week, asking for directions to the famous Grand Place.

[THE TOP RATED COMMENT] We need to ban the burka ..no intergration if you cannot see someones face ..its that simple! [Daily Mail] Read more

18 August 2014

Rant over veiled Muslim on beach sparks furore

A French politician was so upset after seeing a Muslim woman sitting on a French beach fully clothed and in a headscarf that she decided to take a picture and write a provocative opinion piece on Facebook.

In her rant former minister Nadine Morano, from the UMP party, said Muslims should go elsewhere if they don’t want to integrate.

The former French deputy used a picture of former sex icon Brigitte Bardot alongside that of the veiled woman on the beach to make her point that France has a proud history of women being free to dress how they wish. [The Local] Read more

It’s no longer only Christians who shape UK foreign policy

Britain is a multicultural nation and its minority communities are having an increasing influence on its voice in the world

.... The extent to which religious difference – exemplified by the Christian-Muslim-Jewish divide – threatens to impinge on UK foreign policy, however, is new, and will only grow. It is no wonder Cameron is wary of granting the bishops’ request to save persecuted Christians before others, but his very hesitation speaks eloquently of changing times, at home as well as abroad.

[TOP RATED COMMENT 455 votes] ... and the vast majority of people in the UK, who are irreligious? Where do they fit in within this fatuous "diversity" pluralism? Once again, multiculturalism prioritises cultural and religious zealots at the expense of the vast majority of easy-going, reasonable people

[SECOND 387v] Religion has no place in any policy.

[THIRD 346v] So long as there are large numbers of militant people who have allegiance to a religion based in other countries, and have little or no allegiance to this country, there is a danger of Britain's interests being subverted,

[FOURTH 277v] The UK may be a Christian country, but it is not only a Christian country, and if persecuted Christians are privileged above other asylum seekers, how might this be interpreted by the growing non-Christian (especially Muslim) part of the population?

The fact that this even has to be asked shows what a disaster multi-culturalism is becoming.

[FIFTH 267v] That's the same old story: let's appease to UK's Muslims by supporting the causes they are sympathetic to, and thus buy their loyalty. That simply doesn't work.

[SIXTH 259v] The sooner that no religions effect our policy, the better. [Guardian Cif] Read more

17 August 2014

Welsh mosque at centre of extremism row after Imam claims he was forced out after objecting to a speaker

Wales’ high profile Jalalia mosque is at the centre of an extremism row after the Imam resigned.

In a letter leaked to Wales Online, the Cardiff mosque’s religious leader, or Imam, Mohammad Bashir Uddin claimed his position became untenable after he objected to a Muslim speaker he regarded as extremist, and a follower of the Salafi strand of the religion.

This is the branch of the religion followed by Nasser Muthana, Assel Muthana and Reyaad Khan – the Cardiff terror suspects who left to fight in Syria. [WalesOnline] Read more

Islamic extremism and the hypocrisy of the Church of England

.... For decades, the Anglican and Catholic Churches have ignored the growth of the domestic Islamic extremism that has seen British Muslims travel to Syria and Iraq to fight for Isis.

They have warned us (rightly) against Islamophobia without considering the possibility that many Muslims hate the Churches with unwavering intensity. Archbishop Rowan Williams supported the extension of Sharia in this country.

His attitude was one factor in persuading the only C of E bishop who did draw attention to the Islamist threat, Michael Nazir-Ali, to resign the see of Rochester and work full-time to protect Christians abroad. [The Spectator] Read more

John Lewis to sell the hijab as school uniform - but not in Bath and other West Country stores

Department store John Lewis is offering the hijab in its school uniform department for the first time - but not in West Country stores including Bath.

Waitrose in The Podium is owned by the John Lewis Partnership and sells childrens clothing.

The hijab covers the head and chest, and is worn by Muslim women after the onset of puberty.

It is a sign of modesty in the presence of men who are outside their immediate family.

[A TOP COMMENT] The Hijab has no basis in the Koran. Mohammad only required head covering during prayer and otherwise directed Muslims to dress in accordance with the land they were in.

In the case of the hijab, niqab, burkha etc, these are archaic symbols of female subjugation from the Middle East a millennia ago and have nothing to do with religion other than some interpretations in Hadith written by men long after Mohammad died.

We live in the West, 100 years after women were given the vote, allowed to show our ankles, and treated to the same professional opportunities as men.

The idea of sexualising little girls' hair is abhorrent and normalising this perverse view by advocating the sale of an object of female submissiveness as school uniform is something all thinking people should reject. [Bath Chronicle] Read more

16 August 2014

Iraq crisis: Yazidi villagers 'massacred' by IS

Militants in northern Iraq have massacred at least 80 men from the Yazidi faith in a village and abducted women and children, reports say.

Senior Kurdish official Hoshyar Zebari said the men were killed in two groups after a column of Islamic State (IS) vehicles arrived in Kawju on Friday.

.... Before carrying out the massacre in Kawju village, IS fighters reportedly told men to convert to Islam or die.

.... "He told me that the Islamic State had spent five days trying to persuade villagers to convert to Islam and that a long lecture was delivered about the subject today," said the villager.

.... "He told me that the Islamic State had spent five days trying to persuade villagers to convert to Islam and that a long lecture was delivered about the subject today," said the villager. [BBC] Read more

John Lewis's new line, hijabs to wear at school: Department store signs contract with schools in London and Liverpool to offer conservative Islamic clothing

John Lewis is offering the hijab in its school uniform department for the first time.

The headdress is to be sold in the company’s stores in London and Liverpool after it signed contracts with two schools – one which was set up to educate Muslim girls and a second that welcomes pupils from all religious communities.

The hijab covers the head and chest and is worn by Muslim women after the onset of puberty as a sign of modesty in the presence of men who are outside their immediate family.

[A TOP COMMENT] Bye Bye JL, will take our money elsewhere

[ANOTHER] Oh well, thats no more John Lewis for me then. Shame, they are a great store.

[ANOTHER] The photo of the black hijab from John Lewis, fills me with dread and darkness......

[ANOTHER] Seriously? we're encouraging it now? When is the UK going to stop trying so hard to shove the word "diversity" down people's throats?

[ANOTHER] What in the world is going on? I can't believe this is happening in Great Britain... Shameful and disgusting. [Daily Mail] Read more

15 August 2014

Why aren't British Muslims condemning the maniacs killing in the name of Islam? From a leading Muslim voice, a troubling question...

.... What is terribly worrying is that, in the face of the IS atrocities, and extremist British Muslims' involvement in jihadism, mainstream Muslims here have remained largely silent at what is happening in Iraq today.

Where is the mass outcry against the systematic killing of the Iraqi Yazidis, the deadly harassment of Christians and the mindless destruction of their churches?

Where are the co-ordinated protests against the Islamic State? Where are the popular calls for an end to organised genocide by Sunni Muslim militants in Iraq?

This is pure hypocrisy and double standards from British Muslims. Only last week, more than 200,000 people — a large proportion of them British Muslims — took to the streets of London and Manchester to protest against Israel.

[A TOP COMMENT] Well said, the voices raised against the IS are all Shia, therefore ignored by the Sunni's this is a theological war of domination by one sect over another, a sort of inquisition 600 years late. And unfortunately the dominant theory of British Muslim life, of not integrating and rejecting multiculturalism just feeds it.

[ANOTHER] One problem with the Koran is that it contradicts itself. The orthodox Islamic rule is that one obeys the latest edict on any topic. So quoting early Koranic verses on tolerance us disingenuous, as these are contradicted by later verses calling for the slaughter of all non-believers.

[ANOTHER] The West has come a long way in excluding racism in its culture, unfortunately this appears to have given Muslims, particularly the extremists .... their culture is more important than ours. Our weak lily livered polititions are to blame for not understanding what's going on. And being PC to the point of stupidity. [Daily Mail] Read more

British Vets “appalled” by halal board letter

.... “I am appalled by the suggestion that veterinary surgeons would have any motive other than improving the welfare of animals at slaughter. Our government e-petition states that ‘We must differentiate between religious and non-stun slaughter.’ And that ‘Our concern does not relate to religious belief but to the animal welfare compromise of non-stun slaughter.’

“BVA is active across a whole range of health and welfare issues relating to food production animals and we are committed to improving the welfare of animals at all stages of their lives, from birth and rearing to transport and slaughter. [Meat Info] Read more

It’s time for Muslim leaders to speak up

AUSTRALIA has been forced to rapidly recalibrate its response to the threat of Islamist terrorism over the past few months. International intelligence failed to predict the speed with which the extremist Islamic State has swept through parts of Syria and Iraq.

Forces from the US, the UK, France, Australia, Kurds and some Iraqis are racing to prevent the Islamist psychopaths slaughtering the remnant 30,000-member Yazidi community on Mt Sinjar in northern Iraq in an act of genocide.

It is estimated as many as 150 young Australians have joined the ranks of the Islamic State murderers. They thrive on publicity and will certainly not be named here, despite their notoriety.

[A TOP COMMENT] Why are we stopping these so called extremists from leaving to fight so they can sit in this country and fester and grow resentment. We should be letting them leave and then preventing them from coming back in.

[ANOTHER] .... the word of the Muslim community here has been proven time and time again to be mere lip service. We know your belated platitudes ring false, we know you are simply bidding your time while your numbers here increase. We're not buying what you're peddling, because we've heard it all before. Give us real actions, not carefully crafted words & we might start believing you again. Trust is a 2-way street, stop playing us for mugs, stop using the inherent decency of Australians against us, become part of the solution not part of the problem. [The Daily Telegraph] Read more

Saudi men in jail for celebrating alone with women

A Saudi Court of Appeals has sentenced five young men to a total of 39 years in prison and 8,000 lashes for celebrating Valentine’s Day alone with six women.

Security patrols caught and arrested the men, who admitted to dancing with the women and meeting them in private, which is prohibited by the country’s Sharia Islamic law.

One man has been sentenced to five years in prison and 1,000 lashes in a public market. Two others are to spend seven years behind bars and undergo 1,500 lashes each. The two remaining men will be imprisoned for 10 years and whipped 2,000 times in 20 batches. [Pangea Today - Al-Dostor] Read more

14 August 2014

Keep radical Islam out of Canada

News from abroad about Islamist expansion makes for sombre reading.

The past weeks have plunged the world into a new wave of depravity, with reports of brutalized women, children buried alive, even severed heads.

But all that is, at least, “over there." What we do not expect is calls for jihad, the creation of caliphates and oppressive sharia regulations in the Greater Toronto Area.

I recently stumbled upon a gathering in the GTA promoting just such a revolution. [Toronto Sun] Read more

Caliphate? What an Islamic state means to British Muslims

When the extremist group Isis (now known as Islamic State or IS) declared a caliphate taking in parts of Syria and Iraq it reignited a debate over the role of an Islamic state.

For many a caliphate is a political leadership, others a spiritual figurehead, and for some a combination of the two.

"What we're seeing being carried out against helpless civilians like the Yazidis and other groups isn't what an Islamic state is about," says Yasmin Khatun, a journalist from London.

.... Saif holds the view that would be considered the most extreme of this group - he supports the Islamic State caliphate despite their violence and thinks that the group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is a valid caliph.

"The caliphate for me is a government, a state which rules by the Qur'an and Sunnah (practices of the Prophet Muhammad), and those laws are over Muslims and non-Muslims. [BBC] Read more

13 August 2014

Pro-ISIS leaflets handed out on Oxford Street

Men from Luton handed out leaflets to shopper that declared it was a Muslim’s duty to pledge allegiance to the ‘Khaleef’ – the title that the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr-al-Baghdadi, has taken for himself.

Although the leaflets don’t explicitly mention ISIS, they encourage British Muslims to pledge allegiance to the khaleef and to move to the ‘caliphate’ or Islamic state that ISIS have established in northern Iraq.

ISIS, or the Islamic State, is a terrorist group that has taken control of much of Syria and Northern Iraq. Its fighters are frequently photgraphed posing with the severed heads of their enemies. [London24.com] Read more

Chicken sandwich lands Kingswood Day Care Nursery in religious and racial dispute

A nursery is embroiled in a religious and racial row after a mother accused the manager of 'starving' her 5-year-old child due to concerns meat in her packed lunch was not halal.

Ofsted is investigating Kingswood Day Care Nursery in Mitcham after single mum and former nursery worker Yasmin Jackson, 24, reported the incident on Monday.

[A TOP COMMENT] Surely the enforcement of a Halal only policy upon those who do not wish it violates their religious rights.

Why have we let education become sectarian with each group trying to enforce its own beliefs on others. Faith schools are a horrendous idea that can only serve to establish an atmosphere of self segregation and therefore do nothing to create cohesion in society. [Your Local Guardian] Read more

12 August 2014

‘Three Choices’ and the bitter harvest of denial: How dissimulation about Islam is fuelling genocide in the Middle East

In northern Iraq religious genocide is reaching end-game stage. Islamic State (IS) soldiers, reinforced with military equipment originally supplied by the US, are driving back Kurdish defenders who had been protecting Christians and other religious minorities.

While hundreds of thousands of refugees have been fleeing into Kurdistan, around 40,000 Yazidis and some Christians are trapped on Mount Sinjar, surrounded by IS jihadis. (Yazidis are Kurdish people whose pre-Christian faith derives from ancient Iranian religious traditions, with overlays and influences from other religions.)

The Assyrian Aid Society of Iraq has reported that children and the elderly are dying of thirst on Sinjar. Parents are throwing their children to their deaths off the mountain rather than see them die of thirst or be taken into slavery by IS. [Lapido Media] Read more

Vatican calls on Muslim leaders to condemn Christian persecution in Iraq

The Vatican has called on Muslim leaders to denounce unambiguously the persecution of Christians and Yazidis in Iraq – and hinted that it is considering breaking off dialogue with Islamic representatives if they fail to do so.

In a statement on Tuesday, the department in charge of inter-religious dialogue said: "The dramatic situation of the Christians, the Yazidis, and other minority religious and ethnic communities in Iraq demands that religious leaders, and above all Muslim religious leaders, people engaged in inter-religious dialogue and all people of good will take a clear and courageous stance.

All must be unanimous in their unambiguous condemnation of these crimes and denounce the invoking of religion to justify them." [The Guardian] Read more

11 August 2014

BVA ramps up pressure on government on non-stun slaughter

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has written to party leaders in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland as part of its campaign to end non-stun slaughter.

Robin Hargreaves, president of the BVA has written to the National Assembly in Wales, Stormont, and the Scottish Parliament, emphasising the alleged animal welfare issues involved in non-stun slaughter.

The Association launched its campaign at the of April this year, and has so far gained 72,000 signatures, 28,000 short of the target needed for a petition to be debated in the House of Commons. [Meat Info] Read more

Does Islamic State ideology threaten Indonesia?

Jihadist fighters from the Islamic State militant group are swallowing up territory in Iraq and Syria. Officials fear the group is now trying to make ideological inroads in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation.

Meetings of radical Indonesian groups declaring their support for the Islamic State (IS, also called Isis) have been held in Jakarta, Solo in Central Java and Bima in West Nusa Tenggara.

Most of these meetings are accompanied by public marches of young men and women carrying the IS flag through towns and villages, shouting out slogans. [BBC] Read more

09 August 2014

Islam in the state is the end of everything worthy of a 21 century life

Islamists want the far-Right restructuring of societies – concretely this means a Caliphate or Islamic state, the implementation of Sharia law, the imposition of the burka and compulsory veiling, gender segregation, defending Hududd punishments like death by stoning, and the execution of apostates to name a few.

You don’t have to look far to see what Islamism is. The Islamic regime of Iran. The Saudi government. Hamas. Boko Haram. Muslim Brotherhood, Hizb Ut Tahrir and the Taliban.

And of course the Islamic State (formerly known as ISIS) which has made tremendous advances over the past few days and months and which continues to shock and outrage humanity with its sheer terror and brutality. [Maryam Namazie] Read more

Women Stoned To Death By ISIS Fighters In Syria For Adultery

A cleric read the verdict before the truck came and dumped a large pile of stones near the municipal garden. Jihadi fighters then brought in the woman, clad head to toe in black, and put her in a small hole in the ground. When residents gathered, the fighters told them to carry out the sentence: Stoning to death for the alleged adulteress. [Huffington Post UK/AP] Read more

Mehdi Hasan Tells Wilderness Festival The 'Hysterical' British Press Is Encouraging Islamophobia

.... To pretend that this "relentlessly hostile coverage" of a minority has no effect on community relations or on integration "is naive, if not disingenuous," he argued.

"From a moral point of view it is wrong… to smear or stereotype minority communities, to pretend or give credence to the idea that the actions of a minority within a community are somehow representative or the fault of the majority of members of that community. That is the very definition of bigotry."

"It has to change, it has to stop and, frankly, it’s un-British," he concluded.

[A TOP COMMENT] Don't you just get sick and tired of muslims telling us that they are a part of British culture? They are not! they are a different culture no matter how nice the individual

[ANOTHER] I am sick to my teeth of hearing about muslims. Every day. Every where these people live there is division and hatred. They separate themselves off, they expect me to embrace their culture even thought it is offensive to me, but they refuse to embrace my culture in my land. Just go away will you.

[ANOTHER] What a load of rubbish it is the Muslims themselves who are turning people against them with their constant take over bid and whining when things do not go their own way. They will not integrate and view us non Muslims as nothing more than dirt. [The Huffington Post UK] Read more

08 August 2014

Saudi survey: ‘Flirtatious’ women to blame for sexual harassment

It seems in male-dominated Muslim countries, women may not be entitled to mirth.

First, a top Turkish official last month reproached women for laughing in public, deeming such expressions immodest and a sign of the country’s moral erosion.

Now a Saudi social research centre reports that 80 per cent of people questioned in a national survey blame the scourge of sexual harassment plaguing the country on the “deliberate flirtatious behaviour” of women.

Feminist advocates in both countries dismissed the judgments as age-old reactions to changing social behaviour and a tendency in conservative cultures to accuse the victim of provoking her mistreatment. [Gulf News] Read more

We must be intolerant of intolerance

.... The rationale behind those who would claim the Will Crooks estate for their worldview is Balkanisation. They are not alone. Others in recent memory have proclaimed where they live to be “gay-free zones”.

There are zealots who have taken it upon themselves to harass people drinking alcohol, or women they see as immodestly dressed. This displays a baleful mindset, a complete misunderstanding of how we lived in shared space. We should leave no room for doubt: we are intolerant of such intolerance.

[A TOP COMMENT] Were they white Christians they would have no problem identifying them for the most conservative, neo-fascist, reactionary and barbaric forces imaginable.

[ANOTHER] No one will say it but Islam is inherently intolerant, hateful towards difference and others and incites violence. I was raised in the faith and I know.

[ANOTHER] Islam does not do 'shared space' or 'tolerance'. As a non- believer you have already sinned against God and only when you 'revert' (take note of that term) to the natural order of Islam will you be saved.

Saying there are 'mdoerate' Muslims is like saying there are moderate 'fascists' or moderate BNP supporters and no doubt there are but the ideology tends to tip over into intolerance and fear of others, of difference and yes, violence too. [Guardian Cif] Read more

Iraq Christian leader: People are being slaughtered

The UN Security Council has held an emergency meeting on Iraq, after the largest Christian town was seized by Islamic State militants.

Tens of thousands of Iraqi Christians and Yazidis have fled their homes following a warning by the militants to renounce their faiths or face death.

Canon Andrew White, who is the vicar of the only Anglican church in Iraq, says the international community must do more to help Christians and other minorities. He says people are being "slaughtered". [BBC] Read more

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan tells female journalist: 'Know your place, you shameless militant'

Turkey’s Prime Minister has called a prominent female journalist a “shameless militant woman” who should “know her place”. Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at Amberin Zaman, the Turkish correspondent for The Economist, on Thursday while speaking at an election campaign rally.

Remarks she had made while interviewing the opposition leader, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, on television the previous day had been condemned as “insulting to Islam and Muslims” by pro-Government supporters on social media.

[A TOP COMMENT] Mr Erdogan - no extremist when compared with Salafists and Wahhabists or with people like al Baghdadi of the Islamic State or al Zawahiri of al Qaida - usefully demonstrates attitudes which are general among ordinary run-of-the-mill non-extremist mainstream Muslims.

Which should make clear that Islam is a completely alien creed in terms of the values generally accepted in western Europe. Its beliefs are simply incompatible with those which, these days, are current here.

[ANOTHER] And incredibly, this country is held up by some Muslims as an example of tolerant, peaceful, non-misogynist Islam. Thanks, but no thanks.

[ANOTHER] The Muslim world is an economic, social, and or political basket case. The one partial exception to that was Turkey. Now the rise of Fundamentalist Islam is threatening that. [The Independent] Read more

This Islamic State nightmare is not a holy war but an unholy mess

.... Islamic State may wrap itself in the flag of jihad, but its success owes more to medieval lawlessness than medieval religious enmity – helped by the very 21st-century decline of the global behemoth.

Our world is being shaken, but the persistence of religion is more a symptom than a cause. The larger problem, as old as mankind, is power and the lack of it. For sometimes weakness can be just as dangerous as strength.

[A TOP COMMENT] I am pretty sure it's both. I don't know about you but those IS fellows seem pretty zealously religious to me.

It seems that the mistake was made by the West, it was assumed that the Middle East was in the 20th/21st Century when in reality it was still very much in the Middle Ages with just a veneer of modernity layered over the top. Once that veneer was stripped away it revealed the true horrors beneath.

In addition to the Yazidi its Israel I feel sorry for, trying to run a modern liberal-capitalist democracy amongst the chaos that swirls around it.

[ANOTHER] We might well all live in a world with enormous knowledge available, but we're still born with the same complete and utter ignorance that we were some 3,000 or even 30,000 years ago. In countries where education is restricted by religion in both breadth and depth we cannot expect 21st century attitudes towards human and civil rights.

Perhaps we should bear this in mind when giving evermore freedom to religions, and - in doing so - religious bigots, taking over the education of our children in this country.

[ANOTHER] "It isn’t religious zeal, it’s the collapse of state power that makes the clash in Iraq feel like a return to the dark ages"Sorry, for me its definitely the religious zeal that makes IS (great rebranding, guys!) seem like they want a return to less enlightened times.

[ANOTHER] And yet another Guardian piece telling us that it all has little to do with Islam..... a power vaccuum, nothing else, no need to woorry. you can all go home then. [Guardian Cif] Read more

07 August 2014

Islam 'does not belong in German society' - poll

A majority of Germans have rejected former President Christian Wulff's famous statement that "Islam is now also a part of Germany", with 52 percent against the idea.

Just 44 percent of people surveyed by the Forsa opinion institute for Stern magazine agreed with the former head of state that Islam was part of Germany.

However, a second question asking how people thought Germany should deal with hostility to Muslims found that 53 percent of people believed that it should be treated as seriously as anti-Semitism.

[A TOP COMMENT] .... we see that the problem is not the muslim religion itself, the problem is the Sharia, the islamic law which denotes an Islamic way of life that is more than a system of civil or criminal justice. If you read about it you will see that it can´t be allowed in any civilized country, after that, they can pray to whoever they want. [The Local] Read more

06 August 2014

Death of a religion: Isis and the Yezidi

If you haven’t noticed this epochal crime – the raping and the slaughter – you’re not alone. Of late, the world has focused on the horrors of Gaza. When we’ve had time to acknowledge the Satanic cruelties of Isis, in Iraq, we’ve looked to the barbaric treatment of women, and Christians.

Yet the genocide of the Yezidi, by Isis, is as evil as anything going on right now in the Middle East; it is also uniquely destructive of a remarkable cultural survival. [The Telegraph] Read more

Canon Andrew White: "The governments and media of the world may have forgotten us.."

.... Our Government mutters about the need for regional peace and stability, but the FCO offers no solutions. They whisper in Whitehall as Christians are systematically cleansed from their ancient lands, but they give no assistance.

As we witness waves of terror sweeping over the land and the emergence of a new hegemonic power, the geo-politics of the Middle East and North Africa are being irrevocably transformed.

The hope must be that space is eventually made in this turmoil for the Jews, Assyrians, Maronites, Melkites, Copts and other minorities whose presence in the region pre-dates those who are currently purging the land of apostates and infidels and claiming it for their malignant sharia, in the name of Mohammed and for the glory of Allah, the all merciful and most merciful. [Archbishop Cranmer] Read more

Iraqi MP Fiyan Dakhee Faints As She Tearfully Pleas For Help After ISIS Massacre Of Minority

For tens of thousands of ethnic minority men, women and children in Iraq, they face a bleak choice - face execution at the hands of ISIS, or starvation in hiding in the mountains.

Thousands from the Yezidi Kurdish minority are now in hiding in the northern mountain ranges, after the men were threatened with beheading and the women into forced prostitution, according to local reports. Yezidis practice a version of the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism, and as a sect they were once deemed 'devil worshippers' by Sadaam Hussein's regime.

[A COMMENT] There is one backward ideology responsible for this, and one backward ideology involved in 90/95% of wars in the world today. [The Huffington Post UK] Read more

A Friend Flees the Horror of ISIS

A humanitarian crisis that could turn into a genocide is taking place right now in the mountains of northwestern Iraq. It hasn’t made the front page, because the place and the people are obscure, and there’s a lot of other horrible news to compete with. I’ve learned about it mainly because the crisis has upended the life of someone I wrote about in the magazine several weeks ago. [The New Yorker] Read more

Tory campaign chief tells Cameron to 'ignore Muslims'

David Cameron should ignore Muslim voters at the next general election, the Conservative's election chief has reportedly told him.

Lynton Crosby believes the prime minister has nothing to gain from taking a harder line against Israel, because the Muslim vote will not be "decisive" in 2015.

"Lynton says there are hardly any of our marginal seats where the Muslim vote will be a decisive factor" a senior Tory told the Times. [Politics.co.uk] Read more

05 August 2014

'They would not convert and it cost them their life'. Family of eight Iraqi Christians shot in the face

"A community of 60,000 before 2003 has dwindled over the years and is now down to almost nothing. For the first time in 1,600 years, no Masses are being celebrated in Mosul. Many Christians have fled to the surrounding Nineveh Plains and into Kurdistan as militants from the Islamic State, formerly the Islamic State of the Levant (ISIS), threaten those who do not subscribe to their fundamentalist ideology.

"We are witnessing today an act of religious and ethnic cleansing toward Christians as well as many other communities such as Sufis, Shabaks, Mandaeans, Yazidis, Turkmen, let alone Shi'is and Sunnis, as extremists drive people out of the lands that have been their home for thousands of years; some churches have been converted into mosques, ancient monasteries lie abandoned and the homes of Christians have been daubed with signs that would mark them out as a target for the extremists." [Christian Today] Read more

The state of silence: Indonesia’s religious discrimination

.... Three members of the Ahmadiyya were killed in the violent clash. The tragedy caught the attention of both the national and international community. But this was not the only outrage of 2011. By the middle of the year, a minority Shia group in East Java found their community besieged by militants. With their property destroyed, they were forced to leave their village. [openDemocracy] Read more

Parliamentary group calls for more halal labelling research

.... BVA president and veterinary surgeon Robin Hargreaves highlighted the association had similar concerns: “BVA has long held the position that slaughter without pre-stunning unnecessarily compromises animal welfare at the time of death.

We are also concerned that meat from non-stun slaughter is entering the market unlabelled because there is no requirement to label meat and meat products with the method of slaughter. We believe strongly that food should be labelled as stunned or non-stunned and we are delighted that the APPG supports the BVA call for clearer labelling. [MeatInfo.co.uk] Read more

Italy expels imam for preaching hatred against Jews

.... The imam was filmed during a Friday sermon in a mosque near Venice last month calling for Jews to be killed “one by one,” according to the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute, which published the video on its website.

“Oh Allah, count them one by one and kill them all,” the imam allegedly preached during the service at the mosque in the northern city of San Dona di Piave. [The Washington Post] Read more

Baroness Warsi was over-promoted, incapable and incompetent

.... she held herself out as the voice of the Muslims, and in particular of the ‘middle ground’. In fact she simply created this image by attacking people who almost anybody from the Muslim communities can attack — Anjem Choudary, al-Muhajiroun etc.

But her interests were clearly not in trying to move opinion in a genuinely constructive direction. Increasingly as ‘minister of faith’ she used her position not to tackle the extremists who she should have been tackling but to persuade the UK government that it should make ‘a priority’ of tackling ‘Islamophobia’.

Her priorities remained skewed. When, earlier this year, she tried to put together a panel at the Foreign Office looking into ‘Religious Freedom’ (fine subject though this is at a time when Christians are being massacred and religiously ‘cleansed’ across two continents) those she invited to join it included the Muslim Brotherhood dauphin Tariq Ramadan.

[A COMMENT] Warsi should be a shining example to us all of what happens when you promote on tokenism. Cameron should be ashamed. The people can see right through this kind of positive discrimination - why can't our so called leaders? No wonder the Tory party is hemorrhaging members.

People like Warsi have one primary loyalty and that is towards their rel-igion. Everything else comes second - and loyalty to Britain comes way way down the list. All their judgements and decisions are made through the filter of their rel-igion.

They do not share the same values as us. In many cases they harbour deep-seated resentments towards us. Everyone else can see that, why can't those who are so desperate to promote these people to positions of power with such evangelical zeal?

[ANOTHER] Warsi is always in Pakistan, using taxpayers money of course. She like every Muslim will be for the Palestinians while ignoring Syria, Iraq & Libya because those places are Muslim on Muslim. [The Spectator] Read more

Baroness Warsi is a product of her own failed analysis

.... Interestingly, Warsi’s outspokenness on this issue contrasted with her silence on elements such as ideology, extremist narratives, identity politics or Islamist groups shows the absolute problem with giving her the counter-extremism portfolio.

In essence, she was in charge of a policy that she fundamentally disagreed with, something that has held national counter-extremism policy back for the whole of the three years that she has been in place. [Left Foot Forward] Read more

Britons 'liable to Sharia divorces' in UAE

UAE personal status law provides expatriates, even if they are not Muslim, with the right to have their case heard under the Islamic law.

It comes after a British mother lost custody of her son to her French ex-husband following a Sharia hearing.

.... "The fact that I didn't obey my husband, that shouldn't be a matter to condemn… it shouldn't be a reason to take my child away from me," she explained.

The BBC's Asian Network has seen official translations of her Sharia divorce and custody judgement.

The former civil servant was branded an unfit and un-Islamic mother for refusing to obey her husband and having gay friends. It also ruled she was a bad mother as her son had eczema. [BBC] Read more

British newsreader sparks outrage in Saudi Arabia after appearing on TV without a headscarf

A British newsreader has caused outcry in Saudi Arabia after reading a news bulletin for a government television channel ‘bare-headed’.

The unnamed female presenter broadcasted the bulletin from London for Al Ekhbariya, the state-owned news channel, with her dark brown hair loose around her shoulders and wearing a black jacket.

Her appearance is believed to be a first for a government-owned channel in Saudi Arabia, although women have appeared without veils or headscarfs on other non-state owned channels. [METRO] Read more

03 August 2014

Feminism fails to confront rise of Sharia law

.... "Sharia discriminates against women ... a woman's testimony is worth half a man's in Islam. She gets half the inheritance of her male siblings; a woman's marriage contract is between her male guardian and her husband. A man can have four wives and divorce his wife by simple repudiation . . . child custody reverts to the father at a pre-set age, even if he is abusive. Girls are eligible for marriage at their first period."

Mahmoud describes what is allowed under Sharia when it is radically implemented, including marital rape, honour killings, violence against women, stonings, public floggings and child marriage. She also mentions that fact that homosexuality is punishable in most Islamic states with fines, public floggings or imprisonment - however in 10 Islamic
states it is punishable by death. [Independent.ie] Read more

"Islamism is the Nazism of our time"

.... Following a sweeping review of the current global conflict zones, Åkesson shifted focus to Islam.

"Islamism is the Nazism and Communism of our time," he said, prompting the most generous applause of the afternoon.

Furthermore Åkesson said that he demanded that all aid to organizations and associations related to "Islamism" should be stopped, and directed his ire to the handful of Swedish citizens reported to be fighting in Iraq and Syria. [The Local] Read more

BBC 'angers Muslim staff' by hosting hog roast to celebrate Commonwealth Games under the windows of Arabic TV service

The BBC has enraged Muslim staff after holding a hog roast to celebrate the Commonwealth Games - under the windows of the Arabic TV service.

An entire pig was spit-roasted in the courtyard of New Broadcasting House, central London, with wafts of meat drifting up to the predominantly Muslim office.

Staff in the department whose religion bans them from eating pork blasted the 'horror' at spotting the carcass on their lunch break. [Daily Mail] Read more

Muslim movement accepts once-taboo causes

Akersim, 26, is part of a small but growing number of American Muslims challenging the long-standing interpretations of Islam that defined their parents' world. They believe that one can be gay and Muslim; that the sexes can pray shoulder-to-shoulder; that females can preach and that Muslim women can marry outside the faith — and they point to Quran passages to back them up.

The shift comes as young American Muslims work to reshape the faith they grew up with so it fits better with their complex, dual identity, with one foot in the world of their parents' immigrant beliefs and one foot in the ever-shifting cultural landscape of America.

The result has been a growing internal dialogue about what it means to be Muslim, as well as a scholarly effort to re-examine the Quran for new interpretations that challenge rules that had seemed set in stone. [AP] Read more

02 August 2014

'Islam is reviving British values', says former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams

Islam is rejuvenating “British values”, the former Archbishop of Canterbury has claimed while lambasting sections of the press for presenting Muslims as “un-British”.

[A COMMENT] Islam and western liberal deocratic values are incompatible. (Highest number of readers' votes)

[ANOTHER] What a sad, confused, out of touch silly old man. He has the temerity to compare our values to barbaric Islamic so called values. Anyone for a suicide vest?

[ANOTHER] Islam is as dangerous in a man as rabies in a dog. - Sir Winston Churchill

[ANOTHER] The man's totally doolally. Time he was packed off to a 'home'.

[ANOTHER] And they wonder why the Church of England is dying, it's because of brainless left-wingers like this.

[ANOTHER] This was the worst Archbishop of Canterbury ever,thank goodness he is gone. When Christians are being killed or expelled by Moslems all over the Middle East,Africa and Pakistan, he comes up with this drivel.

Christian communities like the one in Iraq, which existed for centuries are being wiped out. What kind of values does he actually mean? [The Independent] Read more

Islamic State's war on religion

Militants from the Islamic State have embarked on a campaign of religious destruction in the "caliphate", erasing shrines and mosques connected to the Shia Muslim and Christian faiths.

A large amount of the destruction has taken place in the cities of Mosul, the first city captured by the Islamic State in its recent charge through northern Iraq, and nearby Tal 'Afar.

The Islamic State believes the veneration of tombs in religious places is against the teaching of Allah, and as such has used explosives and bulldozers to destroy centuries-old monuments.

In a video posted by the Islamic State three days ago, entitled Upon the Prophetic Methodology, the Islamic State showcases its destruction of Shia mosques and shrines. [Channel 4] Read more

01 August 2014

Swedish police can’t protect convert, has to go into hiding, change identity

Threats and harassment became part of everyday life for Mona Walter when she began to criticize Islam publicly. Now she feels that it has gone too far and is looking for a new home and will need to acquire a new identity.

“I decided to move when people started ringing at the door.”

Mona Walter has almost become accustomed to the threats that she gets daily due to her criticism of Islam. But as the threats and harassment increased near her at home or on the way to work, she felt that it went beyond her control. [Jihad Watch] Read more

Sharia and the legal profession - Turning your lawyer into an imam

.... The question some lawyers are asking is how far their profession should go in facilitating the use of Islam in settling family affairs. In March, the Law Society (the representative body for solicitors in England and Wales) issued what it called a "practice note" to its members on Islamic inheritance rules.

It spells out the basic principles of sharia-based wills. One is that male heirs should in most cases get double the amount due to female heirs of similar proximity; another is that only fellow Muslims can inherit. As the document explains, it is intended to "assist solicitors who have been asked to prepare a valid will which follows sharia succession rules" and it represents the Society's "view of good practice" in this area.

A group called the Lawyers' Secular Society (LSS) has been lobbying hard for the practice note's withdrawal. The campaigners argue that through the note, the legal profession is not just tolerating but actively facilitating practices which violate basic principles of equality and fairness. The Law Society has retorted that it is simply acting in the spirit of testamentary freedom. The LSS scored a tactical victory in July when it persuaded the Solicitors Regulation Authority—a public body which oversees the profession—to withdraw its public endorsement of the Law Society's note as a "helpful" document.

[A COMMENT] This is just more multicultural nonsense, and destructive nonsense at that. Secular societies are governed by secular law, not religious law, period. Otherwise Sharia law and Biblical law will have us cutting off hands, stoning people to death, treating women as not fully human, and at least maiming people attracted to the same sex.

Opening up the law to parochial, superstitious, barbaric, and parochial norms based on supernaturalism is not only a bad idea, it is a very real threat to the national identity and security of the countries that allow it.

[ANOTHER] The Law Society joins a long line of organisations that feel obliged not simply to tolerate non-indigenous cultures but to actively fall over themselves in their enthusiasm to embrace them, however contrary they may be to British values. The Law society has no business in advising on Islamic values and its guidance should solely concern British law.

[ANOTHER] There is a much larger point here: how far should a modern secular society go in order to accommodate the superstitious/religious beliefs of a minority group?

The UK does not accept female genital mutilation simply because more primitive societies still inflict it on their females. The UK does not accept public stoning or amputations, despite the fact some more primitive societies still believe these things are sanctioned by their magical deities and cultural traditions. [The Economist] Read more