Why Is There Such Widespread Criticism, Dislike, and Suspicion of Islam?
The answer is simple and obvious. Islam is the cause of so many things that puzzle, annoy, or repulse non-Muslims.
To demonstrate this point, this survey provides a very large sample of headlines and extracts from news reports concerning Islam and Muslims published by UK media and other English language media (especially in Europe and America) over the last 12 months.
It concentrates on social, cultural, religious, and political topics and mostly ignores terrorism and armed conflict in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, and issues such as FGM and honour killings. The Islamic State is sometimes covered because it has such a strong Islamic dimension.
The Daily Express, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, and the Sun account for 16 percent of the reports. The BBC, The Guardian, The Independent, and The Times account for 24 percent, and UK regional newspapers account for 8 percent. Details of all the media sources used are given here. For articles on the role of the media see here.
The news reports are listed by month. Each month starts with items directly concerning the UK then has two sections for the Western and Muslim worlds.
November 2016
Britain has “turned a blind eye” to abuse of women by sharia ‘courts’
Bradford family hit out over flu vaccination
A MUSLIM father has made a formal complaint to the NHS after claiming his daughter and niece were given flu vaccinations containing synthesised pork products without the family’s knowledge.
Justin Welby: It’s time to stop saying Isis has ‘nothing to do with Islam’
Society should no longer say the atrocities of Isis have “nothing to do with Islam” because the approach restricts efforts to fight extremism, the Archbishop of Canterbury has warned.
Sharia court told rape victim to RETURN to her attacker husband
Watchdog raps ‘reckless’ Islamic charity
Islamic Education and Research Academy has organised dozens of meetings with extremist speakers. …. iERA’s head of research, once said: “We as Muslims reject the idea of freedom of speech, and even of freedom.” He has since distanced himself from the comment and claims he was quoted out of context.
Scots Koran revisionist offered police guard
A Scottish publisher who has published a new translation of the Koran that challenges many of its accepted statements on issues including violence, polygamy and female dress has been offered police protection amid fears for his safety.
British ‘sharia courts’ under scrutiny
Campaigners cite instances where courts have refused to grant religious divorces to women who are victims of domestic abuse, and accuse them of legitimising violence, including marital rape.
Shame on Sharia: Women beaten, robbed and raped. A chilling expose of how BRITISH females are being sentenced to lives of misery by Muslim courts
…. the clerics tried to persuade her to attempt a reconciliation with her abusive husband. Then, after they disclosed her address, he threatened to kill her, kidnapped her children, and subjected her to an horrific rape that left her needing an abortion.
Uber driver fined after saying it was ‘against his religion’ to let guide dog in car
Leading Islamic charity told by watchdog to distance itself from extremism
Islamic Education and Research Academy (iERA) was investigated by the charities watchdog amid allegations that its leaders promote anti-Semitism and have called for homosexuals and female adulterers to be stoned to death.
Muslim family law is a conundrum for those who make the laws of the land
There should be one civil law for civil society, period. To allow religious bodies of any type legal authority over civil matters is a gross abrogation of government responsibility.
Campaigners Hand in Petition after 100,000 Call for Ban on Halal Slaughter
One woman’s brush with Sharia courts in the UK: “It ruined my life forever”
“My daughter and I appeared before the Sharia court at Regent’s Park mosque in London. They were not interested in anything we had to say, the whole process was shocking.”
The ‘extremist’ schools we can’t close: Four Muslim colleges ordered to shut down by the Government use the courts to defy ministers
One allegedly taught girls that men can beat their wives. Another distributed leaflets saying music is an ‘act of the devil’. They could continue operating for months, if not years, after launching legal appeals against closure.
Man forced to flee his home after converting from Islam to Christianity
‘My family are distraught and extremely traumatised to be leaving. But when your life is at stake there is no other choice.’ ….. He points the finger at sections of the Islamic community.
Islam – No Mockery Allowed: A New Case
UK Institutions Have ‘De Facto Blasphemy Law’ Protecting Islam, Claims Secular Critic
Louis Smith’s mockery of Islam was neither clever nor funny. But his suspension for it is outrageous
The decision by British Gymnastics to suspend Louis Smith for two months for he and a mate pretending to pray to Mecca (at a private party) is appalling. His actions were neither clever or funny. But religious freedom (including mockery) and a belief in a private sphere are two of the cornerstones of not just British but Western and enlightenment culture.
Sharia councils treat Muslim women unfairly, MPs told
MPs also heard that between 30 and 40% of Muslim marriages were religious only, meaning the women did not have the same rights as wives in a civil marriage.
Western World
Montreal woman asked to remove hijab in court appeals judge’s refusal to clarify rules
Marengo contended the courtroom was a secular space and compared the hijab to a hat and sunglasses, which would not normally be allowed in a courtroom.
Row erupts after staff state store is now Muslim – and they will not be selling Christmas decorations
When shoppers asked why the decorations had been removed, a staff member at the store in Germany is reported to have said: “We are a Muslim business now. We do not want to sell Christmas articles.”
Muslim cleric criticised for anti-Semitic speech
The comments were made by Shaykh Mohammad Anwar Sahib at the At-Taqwa mosque in Manukau (New Zealand) earlier this month, where he also made derogatory comments about women.
‘We’re being subverted by Islam’ Almost HALF of Germans feel migration undermines society
Quebec ‘uproar’ over proposed Muslim community
A tax accountant from Montreal who came under fire for proposing to build a Muslim residential community has temporarily shelved the project. It was aimed at Muslim homeowners who did not want to take out traditional mortgages because interest is banned in Islam.
Islam expert: Salafism is part of German youth culture
The rigid rules advocated by the movement – which supports the implementation of Islamic law, or sharia – are an “answer to uncertainty” experienced by young Muslims in Germany.
Sydney sheik Youssef Hassan downplays Jewish hate claim
A Sydney sheik who told a group of children that the Jewish people have only envy and hatred in their hearts says he was referring to a particular group of Jews mentioned in the Koran, and not to the Jewish people more broadly. Sheik Youssef Hassan also said he was joking when he forbade the children from celebrating Halloween.
Muslim police chaplain says women commit ‘major sin’ if they refuse to have sex with husbands
…. the Toronto Police Force’s new chaplain, held a web seminar entitled ‘The Heart of The Home: The Rights and Responsibilities of A Wife’, in which he also implied getting married to 9-year-old girl is permitted in Islam.
Muslim Toronto Police chaplain’s views troubling
He says Muslim women should obey their husbands. He even suggests a wife should make herself available and “not withhold this right from her husband without a valid excuse.”
France closes 4 mosques for promoting ‘radical ideology’
Muslim World
Iranian filmmaker starts sentence
Iranian filmmaker Keywan Karimi, sentenced to 223 lashes and a year in jail for a film he made about graffiti, started his prison sentence in Tehran on Wednesday.
Indonesia’s blasphemy laws
…. this month police formally declared the country’s most prominent Christian politician, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the governor of Jakarta, to be a suspect in a blasphemy case. If convicted, Mr Purnama, faces up to five years in prison.
Shocking Rise In Religious Persecution Fuelled By ‘Islamist Hyper-Extremism’
11 Christian Television Stations Shut Down in Pakistan; 6 Operators Arrested
Turkey withdraws child rape bill after street protests
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has withdrawn a bill that pardons men convicted of sex with underage girls if they have married them.
Saudi court sentences poet to death for renouncing Islam
Fury in Turkey over bill overturning child sex offences if men in question marry victim
A BILL IN Turkey that would overturn men’s convictions for child sex assault if they married their victim has provoked fury with critics accusing the government of encouraging rape of minors.
Brits urged not to report Dubai crimes after ‘gang-raped’ woman arrested for extra-marital sex
Lashes for drinking communion wine: Iran’s persecution of Christians continues
Jakarta’s Christian governor to face blasphemy trial over Islam insult claim
The case involving Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has caused uproar across the country in recent weeks and is being seen by some as a test of Indonesia’s commitment to religious tolerance and pluralism.
Mob calls for death of Mauritanian ‘apostate’
Amid chants of “Allahu akbar”, huge and angry crowds gathered outside the Supreme Court in Mauritania on Tuesday demanding the execution of a man who complained about religion being used to justify social discrimination.
Exiled writer Nasreen fears for Bangladesh’s future
“I wrote about Islamic fundamentalists. I said that they should not go unopposed or they will destroy our society, that’s exactly what’s happened now.”
Woman is caned in public for standing too close to boyfriend
Marlina bin Abdul Rahman grimaced as she endured the beating in front of a crowd in the city of Banda Aceh for the offence of khalwat. Under Sharia, unmarried men and women are forbidden from being alone together.
October 2016
Major push for UK mosques to make loud call to prayer THREE TIMES a day
Top sharia court ‘is protecting wife-beater suspects’
A prominent sharia court has been accused of “sabotaging” criminal proceedings to protect alleged perpetrators of domestic violence against women.
I’m A Muslim Reformer. Why Am I Being Smeared as an ‘Anti-Muslim Extremist’?
Muslim rules on halal meat mean ‘animals are dying in pain’
Muslim civil war on streets of Britain: Islam divide carries ‘death warrant’, says expert
The Muslim leader, Khalid Rashad, hired a hit man to shoot dead Abdul Hadi Arwani because of a mosque power struggle. Rashad, who was jailed yesterday, decided to carry out the murder following a struggle over who had the right to run the An Noor cultural centre, a mosque in west London.
Muslim woman REFUSES community service order saying she needs husband’s permission
Polygamy ‘Commonplace’ Within Muslim Communities in Britain
Polygamy is “commonplace” within Muslim communities in Britain, with husbands fathering as many as 20 children by four wives, a Peer has said. She has called for a change in the law so that Muslim women know their rights under British law not to be discriminated against.
Islamist girls’ school that taught pupils gay people should be killed and men could beat their wives forced to close
An Islamist girls’ boarding school which taught pupils that men could beat women and gay people should be killed is facing closure after a pupil exposed its sharia-inspired rules.
Coach driver ‘put children’s lives at risk’ by stopping on busy Portsmouth road – to pray
The Muslim coach driver stopped his vehicle in the middle of the Eastern Road, just before rush-hour, for 10 minutes while he conducted his daily prayer. The man’s actions have since been condemned by parents and Muslims in the city and have prompted an investigation by Cosham-based coach company Vision Travel
Gymnast Louis Smith: I’ve had death threats for mocking Islam
Olympic medal-winning gymnast Louis Smith has told BBC 5 live that he’s had death threats “every day” since a video was leaked showing him mocking Islamic prayers.</p
Leaflet ‘handed out at east London mosque’ tells Muslims to kill all who insult the prophet
Police today launched a hate crime probe after literature saying those who insult Islam “must be killed” was allegedly handed out at a London mosque. A Standard investigation has uncovered claims that the booklet, which says “any Muslim should kill” those who insult the Prophet Mohammed, was distributed at a gathering in Walthamstow.
Revealed – five schools STILL open despite extremist fears… and 18 private Islamic schools defy inspectors branding them unsafe
Dozens of Islamic schools continue to operate despite inspectors finding that pupils are unsafe, exposed to extreme views or unaware of basic British values, a Mail investigation reveals today. The findings suggest that a supposed Government crackdown on extremism in schools – following the Trojan Horse scandal – has failed to materialise.
Husband who stabbed care worker wife to death is sentenced
A care worker was murdered by her husband after he told her that looking after men was ‘not halal’.
Muslim preacher who calls for beheading & burning of homosexuals to give speech in London
Charity Commission opens formal inquiry into mosque where ‘Kill Ahmadis’ leaflets were allegedly found
In April, leaflets calling for the murder of members of the Ahmadiyya sect – a minority group which many Muslims consider heretical – were allegedly found in Stockwell Green mosque.
Western World
Fury as German primary school ‘forces’ children to chant ‘Allahu Akbar’ in Muslim prayer
In Germany, Syrians find mosques too conservative
Hani Salam escaped civil war in Syria and survived the journey from Egypt to Europe. But when he saw men with bushy long beards at a mosque near his current home in Cologne last November, he was worried.
Woman sues dentist over job rejection for headscarf
A dentist in Stuttgart is being taken to court by a woman whom he rejected for a job as his assistant on the basis that she wears a Muslim headscarf. “We do not employ women who wear headscarves and do not understand why applicants would expect us to,” the rejection letter said, according to the woman’s lawyer.
Athletic club drops cross from its crest over Isil fears weeks before Dublin Marathon
Turkish delegate rips Mohammed cartoon from Council of Europe mural
Islamic woman who wouldn’t shake male boss’ hand sues for $1 million after firing
When Bowline tried to shake Rahman’s hand, Rahman declined by explaining that her faith prohibited her from shaking the hands of men, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
The American chess champion challenging Iran’s hijab fetish
Last week, FIDE, the international chess federation, quietly announced that Iran would host next year’s Women’s World Chess Championship, which means contestants will have to cover their hair with scarves to comply with a “modesty” law fundamentalist clerics put in place after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Muslim World
Saudi activist Raif Badawi to receive more lashes
Frightening photos show woman screaming as she’s caned for standing too close to her boyfriend
The woman was one of 13 people — all between the ages of 21 and 30 — who were publicly flogged on Monday at a mosque. The six couples all stood accused of violating Islamic law by having touched, hugged, or kissed each other without being married.
Angry Muslims Say Teen Christian Boy Must Die For ‘Insulting Islam’
CHRISTIAN CRACKDOWN: Pakistan bans TV stations in sweeping ‘attack on religious freedom’
Pakistan, home to some 2.8 million christians, ordered the censoring of pro-Christian programmes after the nation’s TV regulatory body declared them illegal. One censored station, Catholic TV, broadcasted from Lahore where 42 adult Christians and 30 children were killed in a suicide blast while celebrating Easter last March.
Iranian judges sentence writer to jail for story about stoning to death
Saudi male-guardianship laws treat women as second-class citizens
Man says he had ‘no choice’ but to shoot his sister to death after she married a Christian
The Associated Press has released a positively chilling video interview with a Pakistani man who killed his teenage sister in cold blood because she had defied his orders and married a Christian man.
September 2016
Andalusia Academy Muslim school: Ofsted says ‘pupils not safe’
The watchdog said admissions registers at Bristol’s Andalusia Academy were inaccurate and the school failed to check up on absent pupils.
Stockwell Green mosque under investigation after ‘promoting killing of Muslim Ahmadis sect’
Preacher guilty of calling Muslim woman ‘prostitute’ who will ‘burn in hell’ for wearing tight jeans
Leicestershire Police bosses would consider including the burka in the uniform
The controversial topic was brought to public attention last week when West Midlands Police said it would allow female officers to wear a full-face veil, after it launched a recruitment drive to increase diversity.
On Trip to US, London Mayor Says Immigrants Shouldn’t Have to Assimilate
Chobham Academy makes Islamic religious observance mandatory for pupils of all faiths
School gives parents three days’ notice before closing so staff can celebrate Eid
‘Met ignored extremism among my fellow Muslim officers’
A former counterterrorism sergeant has attacked the Metropolitan police for failing to tackle extremist views among some of its Muslim officers for fear of being labelled “Islamophobic”.
Birmingham street preacher ‘abused woman over her tight jeans’
‘Satanic Verses’ author Salman Rushdie: ‘Today, I would be accused of Islamophobia, racism’
Now, Mr. Rushdie says in an interview with a French magazine, Western governments are too eager to appease Islamism, both at home and abroad. He was also sharply critical of President Obama for his reluctance to use the I-word when speaking of terrorism.
Sharia Academic: ‘Inherently Discriminatory’ Sharia Councils Have No Place in Britain
Sharia courts should be abolished in Britain, and British courts handed legal powers to adjudicate on Islamic divorce, an expert in Sharia has advised a government committee.
Councils ‘ignoring’ illegal faith schools
Attempts to close and prosecute illegal Muslim schools are being impeded by some local authorities anxious not to upset community relations, Ofsted’s chief inspector has warned.
Top Academic: Muslims Would Not Tolerate Multiculturalism in Islamic Countries
Professor Afshin Ellian has warned that bleats of “multiculturalism” are a one-way street as Muslims in Europe oppress historic minorities in their own lands and have no intention of showing “tolerance”. The Iranian-born professor of law argues that while Muslim migrants are quick to claim their customs under “multiculturalism”, they have no intention of reciprocating.
Western World
Islamic group blasts leader for speaking publicly about his desire for a second wife – but at the same time claim that polygamy ‘is a NON ISSUE’
Keysar Trad, the president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC), this week spoke about his longing for another bride. He is searching for a second bride with the blessing of his wife of 30 years and mother of his nine children.
Islamic extremist says Allah will reward him for ‘threatening’ texts to Muslim politician
“They have mocked my religion, Islam. Therefore I have calm and peace in my heart because I know my intention for what I did. “I hope Allah will reward me for correcting these enemies of Allah.” The Profetens Ummah member, who has previously pledged their support to Islamic State and praised Islamic terrorism, added his hatred was fuelled by Mr Raja’s comments regarding the niqab and hijab.
‘You’re DESTROYING Europe’ Hungary PM predicts ‘parallel Muslim society’ due to migration
Muslim woman teacher leaves job after being told to shake hands with male colleagues
Muslim pupils must shake hands – ‘no ifs and buts’
A school in the canton of Basel-Country has rejected the appeal of a Muslim schoolboy who refused to shake hands with his female teachers for religious reasons.
One in four French Muslims in ‘revolt’ against secular laws
Just under 30 percent of French Muslims reject secular laws: poll
When asked if they considered the Islamic legal and moral code of sharia to be more important than the French Republic’s laws, 29 percent of respondents answered “yes.”
Austrian farmer horrified by sheep slaughter in fields
An Alpine farmer in Styria who agreed to lend a Turkish friend his field for a month to graze sheep was horrified when he discovered they were being ritually sacrificed.
Strong reactions in Norway to hijab discrimination verdict
The 10,000 kroner fine given to a Norwegian hairdresser for turning away a Muslim client wearing a headscarf has led to varied reactions in the Nordic country.
Muslims urged not to SLAUGHTER ANIMALS in the streets of France at Eid
In France the government has been providing skips because many followers discard their carcasses to rot in the streets after they have killed them. While it is illegal to slaughter an animal publicly it is allowed for Muslims to go to a slaughterhouse and carry out the act for religious reasons.
Italy expels Muslim cleric who refused to accept gender parity
The decision was taken because the man refused to swear on the constitution before taking up Italian citizenship, arguing that his ultra-conservative Salafist Islam beliefs were “fully incompatible” with Italy‘s fundamental laws.
‘No other religion is causing problems’ Le Pen continues to back burkini ban
She said: “The burkini is a symptom. One of the multiple symptoms of the rise of fundamentalist Islam in France for many years. “It is about demands that are designed to say ‘We Muslims, though not all are in agreement with this, we want to eat differently, we want to live differently, and we want to dress differently’.”
CDU-CSU bloc says Germany needs new laws on ‘child marriage’
Muslim World
In Jordan, Laws That Provoke Violence
Jordan has stood out for its relative stability and religious tolerance in a region roiled by conflict. But the murder on Sunday of Nahed Hattar, a prominent secular writer, is an alarming sign that Jordan’s laws on defamation of religion encourage violent extremism.
Female chess players forced to wear hijab as governing body awards world championship to Iran
Arab TV host cheers secular writer’s assassination on television
On Sunday, a prominent Jordanian writer was assassinated on the steps of an Amman courthouse, where he was to face charges for having shared a supposedly blasphemous cartoon on social media.
Thousands of women storm Saudi King’s office demanding basic freedoms
‘Islamic law demanded it’ Istanbul uproar after nurse kicked in HEAD ‘for wearing shorts’
Women defy fatwa on riding bicycles
Iranian women have reacted with defiance to an edict by the Supreme Leader that they must give up cycling because it “contravenes chastity”.
Algerian man jailed for Facebook posts ‘insulting Islam
August 2016
Burkinis? Here’s why we should fight them on the beaches
On a bathing platform in Turkey, I found myself sunbathing next to a Muslim family. The father strutted about in a pair of teeny red trunks, just visible beneath the landslide of his vast belly. The mother wore a black and orange burkini, which left only her face, hands and feet exposed. She looked like a broiling penguin, clearly suffering in the intense heat.
Birmingham council ‘endorsed Muslim sectarianism’ against persecuted Ahmadi sect
Membership For Muslim Polygamy Website Skyrockets
“In the last two months, the number of people visiting the Muslim polygamy website SecondWife.com has soared,” founder Azad Chaiwala wrote in a press release. “Meanwhile, its companion site, Polygamy.com, has enjoyed a similar increase in web traffic all thanks to the increasing demand for polygamous relationships.”
Police Scotland says Muslim hijab will become an optional part of its uniform
Muslim on Muslim hatred is far more of a problem than hatred against non-Muslims
Recently, Tanveer Ahmed was sentenced for the brutal murder of Asad Shah. The case heard that Ahmed was incensed over the beliefs held by Mr Shah. He then travelled to Glasgow to brutally murder the family man and shopkeeper.
The Guardian view on Islamist extremism in prisons: above all, don’t make things worse
Muslim ‘bully choked schoolboy until he passed out because he was hugging a girl in the street’
Conflating abuse with criticism of Islam risks a return to a UK blasphemy law
In fact, Demos have inadvertently set out what has been warned of for many years; that ‘Islamophobia’ is a nonsense word with sinister implications. On reading the report it is clear that the Demos research isn’t just focused on anti-Muslim tweets, or bigotry against Muslims, but, as they define it in their research paper, “anti-Islamic ideas”.
Pakistani clerics who praised brutal murderer Mumtaz Qadri welcomed into UK by mosques
Halal abattoirs forced to reveal how many animals they kill without using a stun gun
Cancer of Islamic extremism was tolerated for 20 years
Why would it surprise us then that more Muslims left the UK to join Isis than joined our armed forces? They were simply responding to 20 years of unchecked radicalisation within our communities. Two decades earlier, they had been promised at Wembley arena: Khilafah — coming soon to a country near you.
Pointless death of this brainwashed teenage bride
Kadiza Sultana, one of the Bethnal Green schoolgirls who travelled to Syria last year during a half-term break to join Islamic State, after being radicalised online, is believed to have been killed by a Russian airstrike on the city of Raqqa.
Oppressed in Islam’s heartlands, Ahmadis hope to fare better in the West
Volleyball in a hijab: Does this picture show a culture clash?
Men-only sessions in Luton pool a ‘cultural thing’
Luton’s olympic swimming pool has began hosting gender-segregated swimming sessions because of “cultural” reasons, it has been alleged. Users of the competitive pool at Inspire Sports Village in Stopsley – built with taxpayer-funded Olympic money – were given sudden notice that there would be men-only sessions on Friday evenings from July 29. Women-only sessions will also take place on a Friday evening, but in the smaller community pool.
Western World
Now Bunnings is pandering to Muslims
The most baffling rule to one social media user was that bacon is not allowed to be sold at the BBQ’s.
You don’t get the choice to leave Islam
Majority in France against burqinis on beaches
Canada’s Mounties allow women officers to wear hijab
Extremist literature common in many mosques and Islamic school libraries in Canada, study says
Many mosques and Islamic schools in Canada are placing young people at risk by espousing — or at least not condemning — extremist teachings, a new study says.
German court rules Muslim woman can’t wear face veil in class
Germany proposes burqa ban in public places
Germany’s interior minister on Friday proposed partially banning the full-face burqa Islamic veil, as a debate on integration rages after two jihadist attacks and ahead of key state elections.
‘There’s not much that’s German here anymore’
Bad Godesberg was once home to diplomats working in Bonn. Today, Muslim women in veils and Arab shops and restaurants are abounding. Many long-term residents no longer feel at home, reports Daniel Heinrich.
French PM backs burkini bans as three more towns consider outlawing garments
Germany Now Has More Than 1,000 Documented Child Marriages
…. Child marriages have not been an issue in Germany until recent years. The practice is illegal in Germany, but since the country doesn’t recognize “religious marriages,” authorities can’t do anything to stop it in most cases.
Charlie Hebdo threatened after ‘Muslims loosen up!’ cartoon
Charlie Hebdo staff have been threatened with a new attack following the publication of their latest edition, the cover of which features a cartoon naked Muslims at a beach, with the words “Muslims loosen up”.
German judges call for headscarf ban in court to show ‘neutrality’
Two influential German legal associations are calling for headscarves to be banned for judges and lawyers to uphold “neutrality” in court. Fierce discussion has been sparked by the case of a Muslim lawyer who was banned from wearing a hijab in the Bavarian town of Augsburg earlier this year.
Halal supermarket in Paris told to sell pork and alcohol or face closure
The Good Price mini-market in Colombes has not followed the conditions of its lease, which states the shop must act as a “general food store”, the local authority has said.
‘Burkini-only day’ at French waterpark criticised
France has ‘shut 20 radical Islam-preaching mosques’
There are some 2,500 mosques and prayer halls in France, about 120 of which are considered to be preaching radical Salafism, a strict Sunni interpretation of Islam.
Muslim World
Malaysian singer Namewee held for ‘insulting Islam’
Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, was detained on Sunday. He is known for his profanity-laced music. The offending video, for his song Oh My God, was first released in July and features him rapping in front of places of worship around Malaysia.
Hundreds protest after Iranian police arrest ‘un-Islamic’ women caught riding a bicycle
Saudi woman can’t travel with her father without hubby’s nod
Saudi women launch Twitter campaign demanding end to male guardianship
July 2016
Cardiff imam tells teens ‘it’s permissible in Islam to have sex slaves’
His sermon comes two years after the three men, Nasser Muthana and Reyaad Khan, then 20, and Muthana’s younger brother Aseel, then 17, left for Syria, where they are suspected of joining Islamic State (Isis). Before they left Wales worshipped at the mosque where Hammuda still preaches.
Sharia courts are a human rights scandal
…. a man can have four wives and divorce his wife by simple repudiation, whereas a woman has limited rights to divorce; child custody reverts to the father at a preset age, even if the father is abusive; and marital rape is not considered a crime.
Imams giving out Islamic extremist texts calling for jihad in BRITISH prisons
A book dubbed the ‘Mein Kampf of Islamic terrorism’ is among one of the titles distributed to volatile prisons, urging Muslims to turn to turn to violence against all non-believers. Another text, by extremist preacher Sayyid Qutb, blames Jewish people for “materialism, animal sexuality, the destruction of the family and the dissolution of society”.
Fireman Sam slips on the Qur’an, and all Sharia breaks loose
…. You’d think this would be a complete non-issue. It is a children’s programme, after all, and neither Fireman Sam nor his mate Elvis is recognisably Muslim (at least not practising), so a page from the Qur’an is, to them, just another piece of paper; the Qur’an just another book.
Sharia courts review branded a ‘whitewash’ over appointment ‘bias’ concerns
In their letter, campaigners said there was “considerable evidence” to show that sharia courts are violating women’s rights with respect to marriage, divorce, custody of children, property and inheritance.
Children’s exposure to extremism is an urgent problem, says Ofsted head
Repeated failures by local authorities to safeguard children from extremism is an “urgent and escalating problem”, the head of Ofsted has told the government, in a scathing report that calls for close monitoring of areas where children are most at risk of radicalisation. Sir Michael Wilshaw claimed that headteachers in Birmingham still faced “intimidation from some elements within the local community” over school policies and teaching of topics such as equality.
Muslim shopkeeper Asad Shah had ‘disrespected Islam’ according to man who admits his murder
Chelmsford man ‘forced wife to wear headscarf and banned her from speaking to men’, court hears
College and catering firm apologise after Muslim student bites into bacon sandwich
Western World
Fearing Islamist reprisal, French publisher revises decision to publish book critical of Islam
1 in 3 Danes believe Denmark is at war with Islam
The survey asked respondents whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement that “Denmark, together with the rest of the Western World, is at war with the religion of Islam and not just radicalised Muslims”.
Muslim man fired for not shaking women’s hands
A man is suing a local council in Sweden after he lost his job for refusing to shake hands with female colleagues. The man, a practising Muslim, worked for Helsingborg municipality in southern Sweden. He said it was against his religious beliefs to shake women’s hands, although he was happy to shake the hands of male colleagues.
Please stop saying the Nice attacks have nothing to do with Islam
In the wake of the Nice attacks people are already saying: “But the terrorist wasn’t pious. See! It has nothing to do with Islam.”
Refused Berlin handshake: Religious freedom or sexism
On May 30, the principal of Berlin’s private Platanus school had a meeting with the father of one the elementary students she was teaching. The man, an imam from eastern Turkey, refused to shake her hand, at which point, he has claimed, she ended the meeting with him and his son, called him misogynistic and said he should adapt to German culture.
Children choose hijabs against Islamophobia: Muslim leaders
One of Mr Trad’s daughters chose to wear the hijab at the age of three, and another at four.
Does Islam Belong to Germany? “Islam is a political ideology that is not compatible with the German Constitution.”
Nearly two-thirds of Germans believe that Islam does not belong to Germany, according to a recent opinion poll, which also found that only 22% of Germans consider Islam to be an integral part of German society.
Council concerned about Salafist school plans in Rotterdam
Salafism is an ultra-conservative movement within Sunni Islam, and a small proportion of its followers – known as jihadi Salafists – believe in violence.
Muslim World
Afghan cleric defends ‘marriage’ to six-year-old girl by saying she was ‘religious offering’ to him
Women ‘arrested for riding bicycles’ in Iran and made to sign pledge never to cycle in public again
Hindu teenager shot dead over allegations of Quran desecration; 150 arrested for rioting
Iran Arrests 150 People at Mixed-Gender Party: Report
I am a Muslim doctor. I saved a Christian in Pakistan and it nearly cost me my life
He survived but I immediately faced the wrath of the nurse. She was mad at me because the patient was a Christian and she said Islamic alms are not meant to be used on non-Muslims. But I did not know the patient’s faith, nor did I know that such a law existed.
One dead after Muslim mob attacks Christian priests in Egypt, officials say
Call to end ‘guardianship’ system for Saudi women
As with most reform issues in Saudi Arabia, however, the underlying problem is the royal family’s reluctance to confront the religious establishment in any serious way. Unless it does so, change is likely to remain painfully slow. Going into battle with the clerics would be a dangerous move, however, because the royal family’s main claim to legitimacy is its religious credentials.
Pokemon Go is ‘un-Islamic’, Muslim cleric says
Christian man charged with blasphemy in Pakistan ‘for insulting Muhammad’ in Whatsapp poem
A Saudi Morals Enforcer Called for a More Liberal Islam. Then the Death Threats Began
June 2016
Ofsted warn of ‘music act of devil’ leaflet found during Muslim school inspection
“These leaflets should have no place in any school – and we will not hesitate to take strong action when schools focus on ideological indoctrination rather than a high-quality education,” said the DFE spokeswoman.
More than half of Britons surveyed think Islam is NOT compatible with British values
Police Scotland ‘adds hijab to uniform’ to encourage Muslim women to join force
Islam course for inmates teaches jihad, cleric warns
A training manual used in English and Welsh jails to teach prisoners about Islam should be withdrawn because it encourages them to become jihadists, a cleric has warned.
BBC religion chief says it is wrong to suggest Isis has nothing to do with Islam
Mosque whistleblower ‘receives death threats’ over hate preaching claims
A whistleblower who made shocking allegations of hate preaching in three High Wycombe mosques says he has received serious death threats since speaking out.
Western World
Switzerland denies Muslim girls citizenship after they refuse to swim with boys at school
French police are investigating ‘new death threats’ targeted at Charlie Hebdo
Anger as Swiss council plans non-pork school lunches
Pork sausages are as much a part of Swiss cuisine as fondue and chocolate – so much so that a decision to remove them from the lunch menus of four primary schools in the district of Binningen in Basel-Country has left some local politicians fuming.
Islam has ‘no place’ in my country, says next EU president
Norway Salafist: ‘Homosexual death penalty’ misunderstood
In a recording from one such meeting in 2013, Qureshi appears to say that supporting the death sentence for homosexuals, as well as stoning to punish adultery, was not an extreme view for Muslims but a mainstream one.
Half of Turkish Germans hold Islam above state law
A total of 47 percent of the 1,201 respondents said that “following the tenets of my religion is more important to me than the laws of the land in which I live.”
Germany to clamp down on migrants’ multiple wives and child brides
Germany to end unofficial tolerance of polygamy
Christians forced to hide their faith from ‘abusive’ Muslim refugees
Dena Kasravi, a Christian convert from Iran, spent years attending illegal bible groups in her homeland but after making her way to Germany said she still lives in fear. The 33-year-old said: “If they find out, I will be fair game. Everyone will have the right to destroy me. Some Muslims even think it is their obligation.
Muslim students in Denmark banned from praying during school hours
…. “Some [students] wanted to establish a prayer room on school property and the Muslims’ prayers have become far more visible because in some cases and they have used the hallways to pray. Religion and education don’t belong together – it belongs to the private life.
Cleric who preached death for homosexual acts and toured Orlando visits Sydney
Waitress ‘attacked by Muslim men for serving alcohol during Ramadan’
The woman, a practising Muslim of Tunisian origin, was working on the terrace of the Vitis Café in Nice when she was reportedly insulted by two passers-by on Wednesday. The men are said to have started to abuse her when they saw she was serving alcohol to customers, The Times reported.
Islam is Europe’s ‘new fascism,’ and other things European politicians say about Muslims
“Islam is not a religion like Catholic or Protestant Christianity, but a faith linked intellectually with a takeover of the state. Therefore, the Islamization of Germany is a danger.”
Muslim group sues U.S. firm for religious discrimination after it dismissed 15 workers over prayer break policy
An Islamic group has filed a complaint for religious discrimination against a Wisconsin company on behalf of 15 Somali Muslims who were terminated for failing to follow break policy.
Muslim World
India’s top court to consider intervening in Muslim ‘triple talaq’ divorce law
India’s Supreme Court said it will examine how far it could interfere in Muslim laws governing family-related issues as it heard a plea to end a practice allowing Muslim men to divorce their wives by saying “talaq” three times.
Saudi Arabia arrests 50 men for wearing ‘un-Islamic’ ripped jeans and Crocs during Ramadan crackdown
For millions of Muslims, the murder of Sufi singer Amjad Sabri is about way more than music
The man who spent his life singing the praises of the prophet Muhammad, continuing a centuries-long tradition of musical veneration, was accused of blaspheming the prophet, and he was executed for it.
Pakistan: Christians jailed for six years on blasphemy charges
Turkish students up in arms over Islamization of education
The most significant change, bulldozed through parliament amid fistfights and protests in March 2012, expanded the imam-hatip religious schools and introduced Quranic studies and the life of the Prophet Muhammad as elective courses in public schools, among other changes.
Pakistan bans Ramadan TV shows for discussing blasphemy
Pakistan’s religious leader explains how men should beat their wives
The leading Mullah in Pakistan who said that men should be able to beat their wives “lightly” has given a detailed explanation into the process in which domestic abuse would be allowed. In an interview with the BBC, the head of Pakistan’s Council of Islamic Ideology defended the right of men to beat their wives.
Qatar convicts Dutch woman held ‘after being raped’
A court in Qatar has convicted a Dutch woman of having sex outside marriage after she told police she was raped.
Turkey’s Erdogan says women who reject motherhood ‘incomplete’
May 2016
Theresa May’s inquiry into sharia courts is long overdue
It follows growing concern that some of these courts, or councils, may be working in a “discriminatory and unacceptable way”, seeking to legitimise forced marriage and issuing divorces that are unfair to women, contrary to the teachings of Islam.
One in three Muslims do not feel ‘part of British culture’
British Muslims are more than twice as likely as Hindus and more than 40 per cent more likely than Sikhs to feel excluded from society, a report by the pollsters Opinium Research shows.
Islamophobia is understandable, not a phobia, says former Egyptian extremist
Dr Tawfik Hamid, who is giving lectures in Edinburgh on tackling radicalism, said Imams and scholars should do more to disavow the Islamic texts which support the stoning of women, the taking of sex slaves, the killing of apostates and violent Jihad.
Wycombe Islamic Mission and Trust investigating claims of hate preaching by three Imams at mosques in High Wycombe
Whistleblower Khalil Ahmed, from Micklefield, claims the trio led a prayer earlier this year for a bodyguard who assassinated the Pakistani governor he was hired to protect because of the politician’s opposition to blasphemy laws.
Muslim students to be given ‘charitable’ sharia loans
Muslims are forbidden from taking out loans on which they would be charged interest, but under the new arrangements they would instead pay “charitable contributions” which would allow more youngsters to go to university.
Maximum security Belmarsh prison is ‘like a jihadi training camp,’ says former inmate
Some British Muslims refuse to let their children be part of British society. We should say so openly
…. Nor would Ofsted confirm publicly that many of these unlisted schools are operated by British Muslims, parents who do not want their children to be taught in the state school system. This refusal to state plain facts is deeply troubling.
Claims of extremist views in Cardiff classroom
In an article on the ‘Mail on Sunday’, the teacher writes that some of the students thought those behind the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris and the murder of Lee Rigby, were heroes. Whilst the teacher adds that the majority of students were ‘lovely’ and ‘respectful’, they claim the school failed to respond effectively to those showing extreme views.
Mosques ban Muslim women from wearing trousers, leaving the house without their husband’s permission and order them to close Facebook accounts
The Green Lane Masjid in Birmingham said that women were not allowed to wear trousers, even in front of their husbands, while the Central Masjid of Blackburn called Facebook a ‘sin’ and an ‘evil’.
British Muslim group tells women not to travel more than 48 miles without male escort
Blackburn Muslim Association gave instructions that it is “not permissible” for a woman to go more than 48 miles – deemed to be the equivalent of three days walk – without her husband or a close male relative. The ruling also stipulates that men must grow beards and advises women to cover their faces.
Western World
Sweden stirs debate with women-only swimming, in nod to Muslims
Views of 44% of Europe Muslims are fundamentalist, Czech study shows
Muslim pupils must obey teacher handshake rule: Swiss canton
Religious belief is no excuse for refusing to shake a teacher’s hand, authorities in a northern Swiss region ruled Wednesday, reversing one school’s controversial decision to grant exemptions for Muslim pupils unwilling to touch the opposite sex.
Leaving Islam not like other religions, author says
Toronto author Ali Rizvi says leaving Islam is not like leaving other religions. In his forthcoming book, The Atheist Muslim, Ali explores the divide between the religion of Islam and Muslim culture, and how giving up the religious side of the culture can mean being shunned and perhaps worse.
Belgian cabinet minister: Time for total ban on ritual slaughter
Female student at US Citadel military college threatens to sue over right to wear hijab
French Mayor Christian Estrosi vows to penalise football clubs that allow Muslim prayers at games
The charter, based on a centuries-old French law requiring the separation of church and state, was introduced after a dozen incidents of Riviera club players praying on or near the field or in locker rooms since October 2015.
Muslim World
Former Miss Turkey gets suspended sentence for insulting Erdogan
Turkey sentenced a former beauty queen to 14 months in prison on Tuesday, deepening concerns that the country is swaying toward an increasingly authoritarian form of rule.
Who are the Pakistani group proposing to ‘lightly beat’ women?
It also prohibits female nurses from taking care of male patients, and bans the presence of women in receptions held for visiting foreign dignitaries.
No Muslim family should engage in birth control: Turkey’s Erdogan
Iranian Students Lashed 99 Times Over Coed Party
Saudi man shoots male doctor for delivering his baby
…. Although many Saudi Twitter users condemned the attack, there were also some who supported the attacker – saying a female physician should have treated the pregnant woman.
Iranian women cut their hair off and dress as men to avoid morality police
She Won a Seat in Iran’s Parliament, but Hard-Liners Had Other Plans
The evidence, it turned out, consisted of photographs of Ms. Khaleghi, “leaked” on social media last week, showing her in public in Europe and in China without the obligatory Islamic head scarf. Hard-liners immediately accused her of “betraying the nation.”
Bangladeshi prof under 24-hour armed guard after asking woman to remove veil
After a Dhaka University professor asked a woman to remove her veil during his class, Muslim extremists called for his death, posting his personal details online along with tips on how to kill.
Saudi Arabia gives women the right to a copy of their marriage contract
April 2016
Ofsted warns of Muslim school staff gender segregation
Inspectors found male and female staff and governors were being divided in Luton’s Rabia Boys and Girls School, said the education watchdog.
Staff segregated by gender at some faith schools, says chief inspector
Religious independent schools ‘actively undermining’ British values, Ofsted chief says
Imams are allowed to preach hate in prisons
It uncovered misogynistic and homophobic leaflets, hate tracts encouraging the murder of apostates and ultra-conservative Islamic literature preaching contempt for basic British values.
Trevor Phillips’s documentary on Muslims was shocking – but not surprising
I think the general British public have known for some time what Phillips’s documentary professed to find surprising: that large numbers of Muslims don’t want to integrate, that their views aren’t remotely enlightened, and that more than a few of them sympathise with terrorism. It’s only the establishment elite that has ever pretended otherwise.
What do British Muslims really think?
One in 25 Muslims (four per cent) said they felt at least some sympathy with people who took part in suicide bombings, while a similar proportion said they had some sympathy with “people who commit terrorist actions as a form of political protest”. Less than half (47 per cent) agreed that Muslims should do more to tackle the causes of extremism in the Muslim community.
Muslim support for theocracy, not terrorism, is the real threat to confront
…. Trevor Phillips offered some partial suggestions about breaking up ethnic segregation in schools, but why would any non-Muslim want to send their child to an Islamic faith school? Diversity cannot exist in schools designed around one religious ethos to the exclusion of all others. We cannot continue with a faith-segregated education system.
SO, WHAT DO BRITISH MUSLIMS REALLY THINK?
We should be rightly concerned with the degree of illiberal social attitudes within Muslim communities, especially as it was very different just a generation ago. We should not simply shrug our shoulders and say ‘That’s what happens in a plural society’.
Why the ICM poll of British Muslims shows we need to defend our values more than ever
The Prime Minister is on the right track, insisting that Muslim women learn English so they’re not prisoners of their men. School segregation must end with state schools prohibited from admitting more than 50% of one ethnicity.
Birmingham has failed to integrate Muslims, says MP Khalid Mahmood
A Birmingham MP has backed warnings that some Muslims have struggled to integrate into British society – and said both central government and local councils must take a share of the blame.
Repressive Islamic beliefs on women, gays and freedom create social ‘chasm’ in Britain
Four in 10 Muslims believe a wife should ALWAYS obey her husband; More than half UK Muslims believe homosexuality should be illegal; One in four British Muslims wants Islamic sharia law to replace British law.
Leaflets calling for the slaughter of Ahmadi Muslims are found at mosque
One in four British Muslims back Sharia law
Shunned for saying they’re Muslims: life for Ahmadis after Asad Shah’s murder
Why some British Muslims are calling for the death of other British Muslims
The hatred that Ahmed, 32, apparently felt for Shah wasn’t because of his kind words about Christians, but because Shah was a member of the small and long-persecuted sect of Muslims called the Ahmadiyya.
Asad Shah death: Man admits killing shopkeeper because he ‘disrespected’ Islam
Bradford Man Admits Killing Ahmadi Shopkeeper
Muslim conference selling different tickets to men and women
Organisers confirmed men and women will have to sit in separate areas, despite a tribunal finding another Islamist group guilty of discrimination by not allowing women to sit with men.
Death threats made against lawyer who called for unity in Muslim community
‘Freedom of speech is ending where conversations about Islam begin. Teachers and students are walking on eggshells’
Children are being brainwashed into holding extremist views in illegal madrassas, preached at by hate-filled imams and subtly encouraged to isolate themselves. What chance does the average teacher have of changing that pattern, asks this history teacher.
Exposed: UK School Promoting Extreme Islam
A private Muslim school in Yorkshire is promoting an extreme form of Islam, claiming that Jews are engaged in a global conspiracy to take over the world and that adopting British customs is forbidden.
Western World
Unease with Islam on the rise in France and Germany, new poll finds
A new poll published on Friday revealed that a growing number of people in France and Germany hold an unfavourable view of Islam and believe the religion has become too visible in their respective countries.
France gets tough on Muslim footballers praying on pitch
Muslim woman says judge asked her to leave courtroom when she declined to remove her head covering
A Muslim woman in Jefferson Parish says she was discriminated against in court because of her religion. The judge says the incident was simply court procedure.
Muslim ‘girls only’ swimming sessions ripple Danish waters
Hundreds of young Muslim girls have flocked to swimming lessons in Copenhagen’s immigrant-heavy Tingbjerg district after Hovedstadens Svømmeklub (Capital City Swimming Club) introduced segregated swimming sessions.
French Muslim shopowner fined for sexist opening hours
A Muslim shopkeeper has been fined €500 ($560) for ordering different opening hours for men and women at his store in the French city of Bordeaux, his lawyer said Tuesday.
Belgian minister defends claim many Muslims ‘danced’ after Brussels attacks
Germany Islam: CSU head Scheuer calls for German in mosques
French doubt Islam is compatible with values of the Republic, claims prime minister
Outrage as airline orders stewardesses to wear Islamic-style headscarf when flying to Iran
Muslim World
Bangladesh: Hindu tailor hacked to death in Tangail
Police said he had been arrested in 2012 for allegedly making derogatory comments about Islam, then released. Islamic State claimed the attack although the authorities deny the group is active in the country.
Turkey columnists get two years in jail over Charlie Hebdo cartoon
Bangladesh jails 2 Hindu teachers for insulting Islam
Prince Says Saudi Arabia Not Yet Ready to Allow Women to Drive
Yemeni accused of atheism is murdered
Renouncing Islam is a crime punishable by death in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Bangladeshi university professor hacked to death in Rajshahi
A university professor has been hacked to death in Bangladesh, in an attack police say is similar to killings of secular bloggers and atheists by suspected Islamist extremists.
Mauritanian Court Upholds Death Sentence for ‘Blasphemous’ Blogger
Saudi Arabia Cleric Argues Driving Is ‘Dangerous And Exposes Women To Evil’
March 2016
Police probe Scottish mosque figures’ links to banned sectarian group
Sipah-e-Sahaba is a militant anti-Shia political party formed in Pakistan in the 1980s. The group and its armed off-shoot, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), have accepted responsibility for deadly sectarian attacks against Shia Muslims and other religious minorities in Pakistan.
Why normally vocal Muslims stay silent when it comes to Ahmadi killings
For example if this had been a crime committed by a non-Muslim against a Muslim we may well have had a stream of Imams and Muslim advocacy groups lining up to condemn the actions. Where were these Imams, Muslim groups and political commentators this weekend?
Glasgow mosque leader praises extremist killer
Gender segregation: breaking the law to appease Islamism
Court rules four children must have vaccines after mother objects
A family court judge has ruled that four children must be immunised after their Muslim mother refused consent because she said vaccines contained pork gelatine.
Women segregated at LSE’s Islamic society banquet
The Islamic society of the London School of Economics has been criticised for hosting a banquet at which men and women were segregated by a screen 7ft high and had to dial separate phone numbers to buy tickets.
These sharia courts have no place in our country
Time and again the rulings made are horrifyingly misogynistic. The entire system is rigged in favour of men with the rights of women given little more than passing consideration.
Stop allowing gender-segregated meetings, David Cameron tells Labour
Top doc axed in bust-up after reporting Muslim surgeon’s hijab was ‘spotted with blood’ before an NHS operation
AN NHS consultant has been suspended for revealing how a Muslim surgeon refused to remove her hijab for an operation — even though it broke hospital health rules.
Western World
Muslim girl sues Prague nursing school for ban on hijab
The school argued that students must not have their heads covered in the classroom. Sabatova demanded that the school rules be changed as the hijab is a religious symbol.
German food minister stands up for pork on public menus
Germany’s food minister is concerned about pork being removed from public menus because of cultural sensitivities, saying accommodating religions requiring halal or kosher should not mean depriving Germans of their favorite traditional dishes.
Australian Muslims may resort to violence if headscarf laws not changed, SA imam says
Muslim World
The 13 countries where being an atheist is punishable by death
…. having no faith can be a life or death matter around the world. In thirteen countries, you can be sentenced to death for not having a faith: Afghanistan, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Yemen. In a number of other countries, the death penalty is not a formal punishment on statute books but atheists and humanists have been murdered by religious extremists on account of their beliefs.
Obscene Praise for the Pakistani Muslim Who Murdered a ‘Blasphemer’
Pakistan: New law protecting women against abuse is against Islam say religious groups
How Muslim Governments Impose Ignorance
…. I was troubled by something else that I suspect many Muslim authors have experienced: My publisher was worried about censorship. The risk, I was told, was that the Department of Islamic Development, a government body that “was formed to protect the purity of faith,” could ban the book if it was viewed as violating traditional Islamic doctrine.
The country where you have to dodge the religious police to fall in love
Top Pakistani religious body rules women’s protection law ‘un-Islamic
A powerful Pakistani religious body that advises the government on the compatibility of laws with Islam on Thursday declared a new law that criminalizes violence against women to be “un-Islamic.”
February 2016
Young British girls forced into marriage over Skype
Imams in Britain and abroad have been conducting ceremonies using Skype to marry British girls remotely to men abroad, said the charity Freedom, which campaigns against forced marriage.
Sexism row as mosque turns away women worshippers
The Islamic Centre in Soho is a mosque where women cannot pray. A sign clearly states no facilities for “sisters”, and tells them to go elsewhere.
Trojan Horse scandal: Teachers banned indefinitely
The men had denied a central allegation they had agreed with others to the inclusion of “an undue amount of religious influence in pupils’ education”.
Thousands of pupils at unregistered schools ‘are at risk of radicalisation because of misogynistic, homophobic and Islamic-focused curriculums,’ experts fear
At least 21 schools that haven’t been officially registered in Britain are being investigated over fears some of them are radicalising pupils with ‘narrow Islamic-focused curriculums’, it has been claimed.
Majority of prison imams are ‘teaching anti-western’ values that promote gender segregation, study claims
Around 70% of Muslim prison chaplains teach a hardline fundamentalist interpretation of Islam which challenges British values and encourages radical thinking.
Why the Commons should support this Bill to liberate Muslim women
…. there are two interrelated issues to address: “the suffering of women oppressed by religiously sanctioned gender discrimination in this country; and a rapidly developing alternative quasi-legal system which undermines the fundamental principle of one law for all.”
Muslim Labour councillors ‘sabotaged and blocked Muslim women from standing for election’
Labour would not let us stand, say Muslim women
Muslim women say that they were blocked from standing for the Labour party and accused officials of turning a blind eye to discrimination.
Why Are Some Muslims in Britain Choosing Sharia?
…. From evidence garnered on Sharia councils in London and Birmingham, Machteld argued that these were leading to ‘marital captivity’ – an important new addition to the legal lexicon – and called on the UK government to enact Dutch-style laws that allow women whose husbands refuse to grant religious divorce, to undertake civil or criminal proceedings.
Police probe ‘threats’ claims at Glasgow Central Mosque
Seven members of Glasgow Central Mosque executive committee resigned, saying their efforts to make reforms had been opposed by traditionalists. They also said they and their families were subjected to threats and abuse.
Muslim group urges chair of Birmingham central mosque to resign
One of Britain’s leading Muslim women’s groups has called on the leaders of Birmingham central mosque to resign after she said they dismissed the group’s concerns about domestic violence and forced marriages.
Lord Mayor elect Muhammad Afzal stands down after storm over controversial comments
The under-fire councillor had been expected to become the city’s next First Citizen but lost support after comments linking the Prime Minister to Islamophobia. Days later, he stood accused of being dismissive about concerns over domestic violence and forced marriage by the Muslim Women’s Network.
Western World
Muslim preschools ‘linked to Islamist groups’
“Intellectual Salafists and political Islamists are the dominant groups in the Islamic kindergarten scene in Vienna,” the study concluded. “In many of their publications the Muslim Brotherhood and Milli Gorus reject the Western way of life as an inferior worldview,” Aslan writes in the 178 page study.
Imam at Danish mosque: Stone women to death
A hidden camera showed Abu Bilal Ismail, an imam at the mosque, teaching a class about what he says is the appropriate punishment for adultery.
After Paris Terror Attacks, France Struggles With Faith on the Job
While supervisors had sometimes reminded him of a company dress code requiring whiskers to be kept “tidy” and “short,” Bachir said that the rule had been enforced only sporadically over his six years working for Securitas, a private security company. This time, the manager made clear that the new crackdown was “because of what was happening in the news,”….
Islam Can’t Be Modernised’ Says World’s ‘Greatest Arabic Poet’
Adonis said: “You can not reform a religion. If they are reformed, [the original meaning] is separated from it. Therefore, modern Muslims and a modern Islam is already impossible. If there is no separation between religion and state, there will be no democracy especially without equality for women. Then we will keep a theocratic system. So it will end.
The court in Elsinore has sentenced a man fined for comparing Islam with Nazism
German univ. closes interfaith room after Muslim students turn it into mosque, segregate women
Ariens Co. fires seven Muslim employees over unscheduled prayer breaks
More than 50 Somali immigrant Muslims at the Brillion manufacturer recently protested the company’s enforcement of a policy of two 10-minute breaks per work shift — without accommodations for unscheduled prayer time.
Muslim World
Saudi man gets 10 years, 2,000 lashes over atheist tweets
Saudi religious police trained to fight black magic
Egypt Sentences Coptic Teenagers to Prison for Insulting Islam
Iranian media outlets add £430,000 to bounty on Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie’s head
Women can’t ask for divorce without husband’s consent, rules CII
The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has declared ‘Khula’ (right of a woman to seek divorce) without the consent of a husband to dissolve a marriage, is un-Islamic.
Bangladesh arrests publisher for books said to hurt Muslims
Hitting that does not make her ugly
Mufti of Gaza Hassan al-Lahan explains how to hit your wife: …. The Prophet [Muhammad] said: “Do not hit the face and do not make her ugly.” (Hadith) In other words, not hitting that will bring the police, and break her hand and cause bleeding, or hitting that makes the face ugly.
Valentine’s Day condemned by Pakistan President because it has nothing to do with Muslims
New app helps young Iranians avoid Islamic Republic’s ‘morality police’
January 2016
Muslim extremists’ ‘campaign of lies’ to undermine the government’s fight against terror
Investigations by the Telegraph reveal that several widely reported recent stories about Prevent are false or exaggerated – and many of the supposedly “ordinary Muslim” victims are in fact activists in the campaign, known as Prevent Watch.
Britain’s top judge wants ban on veils during criminal trials
Britain’s senior-most judge has spoken out against veils being allowed during criminal trials, saying women should not be allowed to cover their faces in court to rule out any doubts over their credibility.
Creationist views ‘risk going unchallenged in schools’
The antagonism that creationist students feel when their faith is challenged by science is quite extreme; it’s a big deal to tell them that they are wrong. It provokes a response that in the current climate could be misconstrued.
Sharia law UK: ‘Ban Sharia? Say goodbye to chicken tikka masala’ says Muslim leader
Oxford Muslim leader Dr Hojjat Ramzy criticises Sir Michael Wilshaw’s statement on veils in the classroom
A Muslim leader in Oxford has accused the chief inspector of schools of “bullying” after he ordered Ofsted inspectors to mark down schools if the veil was acting as a barrier to learning. Dr Hojjat Ramzy said the policy could lead to some Muslim students deciding to stay at home instead of attending class.
Fireman Sam creator detained at airport for veil comment at security gate
Placing his belongings, including a scarf, into a tray to pass through the X-ray scanner he spotted a Muslim woman in hijab pass through the area without showing her face. In a light-hearted aside to a security official who had been assisting him, he said: “If I was wearing this scarf over my face, I wonder what would happen.”
Ofsted chief backs schools that restrict ‘inappropriate wearing of veil’
Islamic school ‘suspended a teen boy for talking to a girl’
Al-Khair secondary school in Croydon, south London, prohibits interaction ‘through any medium’ between male and female students who are considered ‘non-mahrams’ (not close relatives).
Private Muslim school in London had books promoting stoning people to death
It is crucial that Muslim women learn English as without it they and their daughters are kept captive
There were many Muslim men – but no women out and about. It was as if they had been spirited away in a spaceship. I went knocking on doors. The women were there, but they would not come out. Many, I believe, felt they had to stay indoors unless they were accompanied by a male member of their family. And most spoke little English.
Bradford’s language bubbles: ‘it’s perfectly possible never to speak English’
Some 22% of women in Manningham, where Kanwal works, either can’t speak English very well or can’t speak it at all, ….
Muslim women to be taught English in £20m plan to beat ‘backward attitudes’
No plan to move exams for Ramadan, Ofqual chief tells schools inspector
The heads of England’s two most powerful education bodies, the exam regulator Ofqual and the schools regulator Ofsted, have clashed over reshaping the summer exam timetable to accommodate Islam’s holy month of Ramadan.
Muslims in UK living ‘as if still in countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan’
Muslim cleric who ‘said it’s OK for husbands to hit wives’ allowed to tour UK universities
Western World
Cologne Imam: Girls Were Raped Because They Were Half Naked And Wore Perfume
‘Islam is INCOMPATIBLE with Western life’ Czech leader warns of more Cologne-style attacks
Norway imam: Muslim kids should shun birthday parties
“I believe that birthdays are not a part of our religion. That pertains to both children and adults,” the 49-year-old imam Abdikadir Mahamed Yussuf told Fæderlandsvennen. Yusuf is the leader of the mosque in Posebyen in Kristiansand, which is the largest Muslim community in Southern Norway.
Germany confirms most mob attack suspects were asylum seekers
Unsettled by a record refugee influx, Germany has reacted with shock to news that women had to run a frightful gauntlet of groping, insults and robberies in an aggressive and drunken crush of around 1,000 men.
190 Muslims fired after going on strike over being ‘denied a prayer break’ from meat packing factory
Muslim World
Starbucks ‘gender wall’ collapses; women barred
Saudi Arabia’s religious police barred women from entering a Starbucks coffee shop after a gender-separating wooden wall collapsed many times under customer stampedes, a newspaper reported on Sunday.
Egyptian writer Fatima Naoot jailed for insulting Islam
Chess forbidden in Islam, rules Saudi mufti, but issue not black and white
Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti has ruled that chess is forbidden in Islam, saying it encourages gambling and is a waste of time. Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh was answering a question on a television show in which he issues fatwas in response to viewers’ queries on everyday religious matters.
Iraq’s oldest Christian monastery destroyed by Islamic State
Satellite images confirm that the oldest Christian monastery in Iraq has been destroyed by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS). St Elijah’s stood on a hill near the northern city of Mosul for 1,400 years.
Iran bans use of the word ‘wine’ and foreign animal names in books
The Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance is imposing the ban to counter a “Western cultural onslaught”.
Bill banning child marriage fails in Pakistan after it’s deemed ‘un-Islamic’
December 2015
Archbishop gives warning over IS threat to Christianity
Christianity faces “elimination” in the Middle East, the region where it began, the Archbishop of Canterbury has warned in his Christmas Day sermon.
Muslim Council of Britain CONNECTED to controversial Muslim Brotherhood, report shows
Al-Jazeera blocks article slamming Saudi Arabian human rights record
Society of mosques to boycott ‘racist’ anti-terror Prevent programme
It is the first time a council of mosques has issued such a boycott and it will be seen as a blow to the government’s attempt to involve religious communities in the fight against radicalisation.
Veil row halts race trial – Muslim’s refusal to show face
A SHOCKED sheriff who halted a trial after a Muslim witness refused to remove her veil said he’s been forced to balance “religious beliefs against the interests of justice”.
‘Trojan Horse’ school ‘renamed Easter eggs so they did not sound Christian’
Dinner lady sacked for burka joke overwhelmed by “fantastic” show of support
Prevent programme ‘spying on our young people’, say east London imams
Muslim religious leaders in one of the most ethnically diverse boroughs in Britain have criticised the government’s programmes to stop people turning to extremism and terrorist violence as “divisive” and leading to a “breakdown in trust”.
Sharia Law is alive and well in the UK as investigation uncovers shocking details
Her report, entitled Choosing Sharia? Multiculturalism, Islamic Fundamentalism and British Sharia Councils which has been seen by the Independent newspaper, also claims one judge, known as a qadi at a sharia council also said UK law did not matter in cases of divorce.
Altaf Hussain AM: At the root of the problem of extremism is the notion of multiculturalism
Birmingham school headteacher banned pictures of pigs, court hears
Western World
“Not a house of prayer”: Petting zoo owner defends ejecting Muslim family
According to Van Leijsen, he noticed kids getting anxious in the petting zoo about an hour after the Muslim family arrived and realized that the family started praying. “I tried to explain that Pukkemuk is not a house of prayer, but a playground for children.
18 Months For Woman Who Assaulted Police After Being Told To Remove Niqab
U.S. fast food chain now caters to Muslim consumers, replacing pork with halal beef and chicken
Merkel is wrong – demanding Syrians assimilate could backfire
Lombardy in Italy bans burqas and Islamic veils following European terror attacks
Tony Abbott: Societies can’t ‘remain in denial about the massive problem within Islam’
Saudi must stop financing fundamentalist mosques abroad: Merkel’s deputy
France shuts three mosques on ‘grounds of radicalization’
One of the mosques …. was targeted by raids early Wednesday, with police seizing a 9-mm revolver, a computer hard disc and jihadist propaganda. …. the mosque also had a non-authorized Koranic school.
Muslim World
Egypt TV host jailed for thought crime
Egyptian TV presenter Islam Beheiry left court in handcuffs on Monday to begin a one-year prison sentence for thought crime. He had been convicted of “defaming” religion by calling for reform in Islam.
Christmas ban to be strictly enforced in Brunei after sharia law introduced
“Using religious symbols like crosses, lighting candles, putting up Christmas trees, singing religious songs, sending Christmas greetings … are against Islamic faith,” imams said in sermons published in the local press.
Iranian pastor released after five years behind bars for his faith
Farshid Fathi was jailed in 2010 by intelligence officials after converting from Islam and openly preaching Christianity.
Iran seizes more than 40,000 cars over women’s veil offenses
Iran has impounded tens of thousands of cars since March because women inside the vehicles had not properly covered their hair with a headscarf, Tehran’s traffic police said Tuesday.
Sudan threatens 25 Muslims with death on charges of apostasy
Persecuting the non-believers – Report highlights a grim picture across the Middle East
The global Freedom of Thought Report for 2015, published today, begins with a map of the world where every country in the MENA region, from Morocco and Mauritania on the Atlantic coast to Iran in the Gulf. is coloured either black (indicating “grave violations) or red (indicating “severe discrimination”).
November 2015
Children told that art is ‘unislamic’, teacher disciplinary panel hears
MP says ‘tyranny of political correctness’ stops debate on Islam and extremism
Madrassas to face tougher regulation amid Government plans for clampdown
“But in some madrassas, we’ve got children being taught that they shouldn’t mix with people of other religions; being beaten; swallowing conspiracy theories about Jewish people. “These children should be having their minds opened, their horizons broadened, not having their heads filled with poison and their hearts filled with hate.”
Senior leaders pushed for non-faith ‘Trojan Horse’ linked schools to be Islamised, hearing told
Four senior leaders at Birmingham schools linked to the so-called Trojan Horse plot “were pushing for them to become increasingly Islamic”, it has been claimed.
Muslim school’s female governor forced out of sight
A female governor at a Muslim school was forced to sit in a separate room during meetings and had to talk through an open doorway, Ofsted revealed yesterday. Another school’s library contained literature with extremist and sexist views, including a book that said that women made unreliable witnesses, the regulator said.
How the twisted ideology of Islamic State came to dominate British universities
For the last twenty years I’ve witnessed the spreading of two toxic elements running amok in the West. One is Wahhabism, heavily pushed by Saudi Arabia via its preachers, sponsorship programs, mosque funding and book stores. Running parallel is a broader ideology of Islamism, a politicised Islam seeking to impose one version of Sharia on its citizens.
Terror attacks have everything to do with Islam
Sadiq Khan: UK Muslims must do more to root out cancer of extremism
Moment dad is attacked with pickaxe ‘for converting from Islam to Christianity’
Trained nurse Hussain says he’s been living in fear for years, and thinks he was the victim of a calculated religious hate crime. It’s not the first time Hussain and his family have been targeted. They have been attacked in the street, had eggs thrown at their house and had their car windows smashed.
Islam is still rooted in the values of the dark ages – and until we accept that, we will never get rid of radicalism
…. As Mr Khan said: “Too many British Muslims grow up without really knowing anyone from a different background. We’ve protected people’s right to live their cultural life at the expense of creating a common life.”
Kids in ‘no choice’ row over halal meat at Bilborough school
Parents say they are “furious” after claiming a school has given their children no choice over whether they eat halal meat or not.
Trojan Horse tribunal: Staff ‘culturally divided between Muslims and non-Muslims’ at city school
Children told to chant: ‘Do we send Christmas cards? No!’ and ‘Do we celebrate Christmas? No!’
Pupils at Oldknow Academy, a school implicated in the Trojan horse scandal, were led in anti-Christian chants in assemblies, it has been alleged. Teacher Asif Khan allegedly led pupils shouting: “We don’t believe in Christmas, do we?” and “Jesus wasn’t born in Bethlehem, was he?”, a tribunal was told.
Muslims in Birmingham told vote Labour or go to hell, court hears
Western World
Sharia law ‘exists in Austria and Germany’
She added that “there are democratic Muslims, no question – they are not the problem… but the established theology of Islam must deal with the problem of violence against women. But it lacks critical debate.”
Call to force imams to give sermons in French
Imams in France’s mosques should deliver all their sermons in French to help stop the spread of extremism, politicians on both sides of the French political spectrum argue. With France in shock after the November 13th terror attacks in Paris, politicians on both the left and right are calling for Imams in the country’s mosques to preach their sermons in French only.
Voters to Obama: Yes, We Are at War with Radical Islam
Paris attacks were not ‘nihilism’ but sacred strategy
ISIS believes that killing disbelievers is a moral act, in accordance, for example, with Sura 9:5 of the Qur’an, which states :‘Fight and kill the idolators (mushrik) wherever you find them’.
After Paris: the myth of Islamophobia
…. And yet the backlash, Islam’s night and no doubt day of broken glass, never arrives. There never is an anti-Muslim pogrom. There never is a mass eruption of spitting, niqab-renting hatred. Some nasty graffiti and unpleasant tweets, yes; perhaps, lamentably, a fire at a mosque; and even the odd, isolated physical attack on a Muslim for no other reason than the fact he or she is a Muslim.
Paris attacks and the civil war between Islam’s medievalists and modernisers
The latest terrorist attacks in Paris serve as a grim reminder that the threat of global terrorism is unlikely to end until the resolution of the civil war of ideas between Muslim modernisers and those adhering to an outmoded theology of Islamic dominance.
Muslim World
Woman condemned to public stoning in Saudi Arabia; her lover gets 100 lashes
In Saudi Arabia, artist Ashraf Fayadh sentenced to death for atheism
Mob torches factory in Pakistan following blasphemy accusation
Saudi court sentences poet to death for renouncing Islam
62% Pakistanis lack definite opinion about IS: report
A survey conducted by the [Pew] research centre shows that nine percent of Pakistanis think positive about the extremist group while 62 percent do not have a definite opinion over the self-proclaimed Islam endorsers. Among Muslim countries, Pakistan has the highest ‘confused’ ratio when it comes to IS.
Iran arrests cartoonist as crackdown on free expression goes on
Muslim women take on clergy, demand ban on triple talaq, polygamy
Asma from Jaipur left her family and converted to Islam to marry the man she loved. But instead of providing her a home, he pronounced triple talaq and tried to grab her house.
Table – Analysis of Media Sources
| Percentage of above 370 News Reports Coming From Different Media | |
|---|---|
| Media | Percent (%) of Total News Reports |
| BBC | |
| Daily Express | |
| Daily Mail | |
| Guardian | |
| Independent | |
| Telegraph | |
| Times | |
| Other UK Media [See Note 1] | |
| UK Regional Press [2] | |
| US, Canada, Australia Media [3] | |
| News Agencies [AP, Reuters, AFP] | |
| UK & European English Language News Websites [4] | |
| Middle East, Asia, Media [5] | |
| Political Websites & News Blogs [6] | |
| Misc. | |
Notes
[1] Daily Mirror, Sun, Metro, ITV, ITN, Sky News.
[2] Evening Standard (), Birmingham Mail, Luton Today, Leicester Mercury, Manchester Evening News, and others.
[3] New York Times, Washington Post, Toronto Star, Fox News, NBC, CBC, Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, ABC, Daily Caller, Daily Beast.
[4] The Local (), International Business Times (), Brietbart (), Huffington Post UK, Deutsche Welle, NL Times, Dutch News, RT News, Europe Online Magazine, France24, Prague Monitor, TheJournal.ie.
[5] Asian Image, The New Arab, Saudi Gazette, Al Monitor, Al Arabiya Network, Emirates247.com, and others.
[6] al-bab, ConservativeHome, The Freethinker, Archbishop Cranmer, Spiked, Political Scrapbook, and others.
Islam Surveyed 