Jihad Jane and the Muhammad cartoons

The recent arrest of American Colleen LaRose (who reportedly called herself Jihad Jane online) and seven individuals for allegedly plotting the murder of Swedish Cartoonist Lar Vilks, could be a teachable moment.

.... As a Muslim-American writer, I know firsthand that creating thought-provoking art about Islam and Muslims can be a thankless task. If one’s fictional Muslim characters are not avatars of perfection or they happen to speak critically about certain Islamic customs, then the Muslim artist risks being convicted as a godless instigator by a vocal minority. [altmuslim] Read more

CFI-India Representative Arrested for “Hurting the Sentiments of Muslims”

Last month Dr. Innaiah Narisetti, CFI's Representative in India, was arrested for "hurting the sentiments of Muslims." His alleged crime? Distribution of a book titled "Crescent Over the World," a collection of works by Salman Rushdie, Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, and a cartoon of Mohammad from the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

Dr. Narisetti was reportedly taken into custody at his home on February 26 after Muslim legislators raised questions in the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh State and Chief Minister Konijeti Rosaiah promised to take action. Dr. Narisetti was among several individuals arrested in connection with the book. [Center for Inquiry] Read more [via Butterflies and Wheels]

Against multiculturalism

The policy of multiculturalism is built on two theories.

Firstly, there is the idea that human beings need, at a very primal level, some sort of attachment to cultural heritage. Without such attachment, the argument goes, people are likely to be less fulfilled and lack personal foundation. Without our cultural reference points, we are but leaves blowing in the wind.

Secondly, multiculturalism demands that all cultures have equal value. Indeed, it says that the value of a culture cannot be empirically measured because there is no fair starting point. The person making the comparison and value judgment will necessarily do so from a position that is informed by their own culture. [Liberal Conspiracy] Read more

Morocco continues mass deportation of Christian aid workers over "proselytizing"

The propagation of non-Islamic faiths is forbidden under Islamic law, and "moderate" Morocco seems to be taking the opportunity to purge Christian aid workers in general. "Christian aid worker purge? Morocco orders dozens in five cities to be deported," by Eric German for the Christian Science Monitor, March 11: [Jihad Watch] Read more

Irish could get to vote in a referendum on Ireland’s new blasphemy law

DERMOT Ahern, the Irish Justice Minister, is proposing a referendum this autumn to remove the newly-introduced offence of blasphemy from the Irish Constitution, along with two other referenda that the government is already committed to.

Atheist Ireland, which tirelessly campaigned against a law that made Ireland the laughing stock of the Western world, revealed today that the Minister told the Sunday Times: [The Freethinker] Read more

Hirsi Ali: How to beat Wilders

Hirsi Ali does give the established political parties advice on how to beat Wilders, but that advice amounts to forcing all immigrants to assimilate. I'm not sure Wilders would mind. [Islam in Europe] Read more

The Organization of the Islamic Conference Publishes Pig-Mohamed On Its Own Website.......

The Tundra Tabloids could hardly believe its own eyes while surfing through the OIC's webpage on "Islamophobia". Apparently it's ok for everyone to republish the dreaded pics of Islam's prophet, Mohamed, even the one as a pig! The text to the OIC's report on the Norwegian publication of the Pig-Mohamed reads as following: [Tundra Tabloids] Read more [via Islam in Europe]

Fears over non-Muslim's use of Islamic law to resolve disputes

Campaigners have voiced concerns over a growing number of non-Muslims using Islamic law to resolve legal disputes in Britain despite controversy over the role of sharia law.

A spokesman for the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT) said that there had been a 15% rise in the number of non-Muslims using sharia arbitrations in commercial cases this year.

Last year, more than 20 non-Muslims chose to arbitrate cases at the network of tribunals, which operate in London, Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester, Nuneaton and Luton. "We are offering a cheap and effective service for Muslim and non-Muslims," said MAT spokesperson Fareed Chedie. [guardian.co.uk] Read more

New Labour: Funding religious groups with public money – yet again

The real scandal – aside from Labour’s typical lavishing of funding on specifically ‘Islamic’ projects – is that a single penny of taxpayers’ money is being given to what are quite clearly factional and divisive religious groups which have absolutely no place in the context of public service. [Edmund Standing] Read more

Islam's Black Dog

.... Whatever is being said about the peculiarity of these episodes, Major Hasan and the Underwear Bomber (a horrible enough fate to be seared on your soul for eternity) are not unusual.

Their so-called radicalism is not based on attitudes unusual among the majority of Muslims, despite what is being said by vast numbers of religious people who have been appalled at this outbreak but still hold that violence is always an aberration of “religious” values, whatever their source and whatever the doctrine.

Whether people actually believe that most Muslims are “soft,” moderate souls, I have no idea. What true is that many Muslims are genial, intelligent people. Until it comes to religion. [Butterflies and Wheels] Read more

Halal dispute over Kentucky Fried Chicken

A trial involving the sale of halal poultry at dozens of outlets of a fast-food chain across Britain has left groups of Christians and Muslims embroiled in two very different controversies.

On one hand, non-Muslim groups are setting up internet petitions against KFC’s move to sell halal-only products in the trial at 74 of its outlets across the country. On the other, Muslims themselves are questioning whether, in fact, the poultry being sold is truly halal. [The National] Read more [via Islam in Europe]

Culture clash: European art provokes Muslims

.... Behind the scenes is something bigger: a rising European unease with a rapidly growing Muslim minority, and the spreading sense that the continent has become a front in a clash of civilizations.

Recent events — including surprising electoral success by an anti-Islamic Dutch party, moves to ban veils in France and minarets in Switzerland, and arrests in Ireland and the U.S. this week in an alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist — are signs of the rising tensions. [Associated Press] Read more

Associated Press laments "provocation" of Muslims in Europe .... Liberal democracies depend on the premise that there are unalienable human rights that a government cannot violate and retain a legitimate right to rule. To want to defend that concept is far from the extreme, rabid, reactionary position that it is portrayed as here -- even (horrors!) at the risk of being impolite. You don't defend your values by... not defending them. [Jihad Watch] Read more

Backlash at the mosque

In the two weeks since the Islamic Forum of Europe were exposed by The Sunday Telegraph and Channel 4’s Dispatches as hardline fundamentalists secretly infiltrating the political system, they have been furiously protesting their “proven track record of community cohesion”. Last week, however, the organisation showed its true face.

.... Mr Ali’s words sit strangely with his role as an official advisor to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, and to the police, but perhaps his annoyance is understandable. The undercover reporters filmed him saying: “Democracy, if it means not implementing the sharia, no one’s going to agree with that.”

The reporters found that, far from its protestations of being merely a “social welfare organisation”, the IFE is an organised political movement dedicated to creating an “Islamic social and political order” through “entryism” into mainstream democratic institutions. [telegraph.co.uk] Read more

Ian McEwan: Criticising Islam is not racist

The Booker Prize winner said those who claimed judging Muslims was "de facto" racism were playing a "poisonous argument".

McEwan, 61, the best-selling author of novels including Amsterdam, Atonement and Saturday, thought many in the left wrongly took this position because they had an anti-Americanism shared with Islamists.

In an interview with today's Telegraph Magazine, McEwan said: "Chunks of left-of-centre opinion have tried to close down the debate by saying that if you were to criticise Islam as a thought system you are a de facto racist. That is a poisonous argument. [telegraph.co.uk] Read more

I kissed tourist but only on the cheek, says Briton jailed in Dubai

A British businessman facing jail in Dubai after he was accused of kissing a woman in public has vowed to fight the charges and clear his name. Marketing executive Ayman Najafi, 24, and British tourist Charlotte Lewis, 25, were accused of kissing on the lips and drinking alcohol after a fellow diner reported them to the authorities.

The pair pleaded guilty to drinking alcohol - and were fined £180 - but said they only kissed on the cheek and are appealing against breaking the country's morality laws. [MailOnline] Read more

Islamist Blogpost of the Day 8: Political Rules Are For Other People

THE fundamentalist Islamic Forum of Europe is fond of telling us that it is merely a bunch of “democratic Muslims” seeking to take part in the political process – a line faithfully echoed by apologists like Inayat Bunglawala.

Here is the IFE’s real and rather more cynical approach to political participation and democracy, from the ever-gabby Azad Ali, its community affairs co-ordinator, on the group’s official blog on 5 November 2008:

“I am still convinced that participation is correct, but my contention is that it should be on our terms… Why allow ourselves to be boxed in by ‘rules’ that are clearly designed to destroy us in this world and the hereafter? [telegraph.co.uk] Read more

Islamist Blogpost of the Day 7: Sweep Out Of Power Those Who Question Us The fundamentalist Islamic Forum of Europe have spent the last several days furiously denying claims by – among others – the Labour minister Jim Fitzpatrick that they bring electoral influence to bear, or organise against politicians.

Unfortunately, a man named Abdullah Hasan doesn’t seem to have got the PR memo. “How should Muslims respond [to the allegations]?” he says. “Simply by getting rid of Fitzpatrick… If Muslims in the constituency organise against him, they can either sweep him out of power or erode his majority… Muslims should… show malcontents such as Fitzpatrick the door.” [telegraph.co.uk] Read more

Islamist Blogpost of the Day 6: We Are All Working Our Socks Off for an Islamic Superstate Here’s Azad Ali, the Islamic Forum of Europe’s community affairs co-ordinator (and adviser to the Director of Public Prosecutions, confidant of police chiefs, former head of the Civil Service Islamic Society, etc) talking about the IFE’s ambition to create a global Islamic superstate, the caliphate or Khilafah. And look who he wants to run it! [telegraph.co.uk] Read more

Islamist Blogpost of the Day 5: 'Little Miss Jewess Being a Good British Citizen' .... But there’s more: according to Bint Khan, a “hidden war of [pro-Jewish] propaganda” is going on in the British media. Her examples? The BBC dramatisation of the Anne Frank Diaries, and the release of the film The Reader (which is about difficulties of comprehending the magnitude of the Holocaust.)

How lucky we are to have the moderates of the IFE and the East London Mosque to remind us about the obligations of being good British citizens. [telegraph.co.uk] Read more

Islamist Blogpost of the Day 4: Suicide bombings are not terrorism I proudly present today’s post from the official blog of the Islamic Forum of Europe, the “moderates” who control the East London Mosque. The mosque has received at least £10 million of public money – some of it under government funds designed to “prevent violent extremism.” [telegraph.co.uk] Read more

Islamist Blogpost of the Day 3: Hate the disbelieving actions of the non-Muslims .... “Some may argue that the word infidel is a bit offensive… so what?…This reminds me of some apologetic Muslims who go round telling anyone who will listen that Islam has no concept of war, they would go to the extreme and deny Jihad, all due to their inferiority complex…We should in general ‘hate’ the disbelieving actions of the non-Muslims but not them as a person… Love the sinner, hate the sin.” [telegraph.co.uk] Read more

India: Muslim clerics oppose women in parliament, where they could "brush shoulders with men"

.... Leading Shia cleric and scholar Maulana Kalbe Jawwad, however, believed in the line adopted by the Nadwa principal. Asked how an Islamic state like Iran allowed women to participate in various political activities, he replied: "Well, Iran does have women members of parliament, who go through the process of elections, but they strictly follow the `purdah` system."

"Even when they sit in their parliament, they observe complete seclusion," he said, adding this could not be possible in Indian parliament. "Any woman entering the electoral fray would have to go into lanes and bylanes, stand on dais and brush shoulders with men. How can Islam permit all that?" he asked. [Jihad Watch] Read more

A pluralistic prescription

John Esposito's new book The Future of Islam is an examination of the current prospects for Muslim reformers around the globe to produce new legal and social models that better meet the challenges of a globalized Muslim community.

.... Finally, to counteract the viral spread of Islamophobia, Esposito emphasizes that Americans and Europeans must acknowledge a missing link in what Jews and Christians have come to regard as a shared heritage.

Only when Muslims are no longer viewed as the “other,” but as integral elements of a rich Judeo-Christian-Islamic history, can serious headway be made against the forces of extremism. A nice thought – but with the status quo always being the easier and more marketable route, it’s hard to see this notion transitioning into reality. [altmuslim] Read more

Niqab Gazette cartoon steps up debate

Montreal Gazette editorial cartoonist Aislin has sparked controversy over a provocative cartoon of a woman wearing a Niqab. An editorial cartoon in Friday's Montreal Gazette is highlighting a controversial incident in which a Muslim woman was asked to leave a French language school for refusing to remove her niqab.

The cartoon, by Terry Mosher, who draws under the name Aislin, shows the face of a woman in a niqab. In the space where her eyes would normally be seen, the cartoonist has shown prison bars and a lock. [CBC] Read more [via Islamophobia Watch]

Muslim groups consider boycott of German-Islam conference

Germany's four largest Muslim associations debated a potential boycott of the German-Islam Conference in Cologne on Friday after the Interior Ministry excluded one of the groups from attendance.

The four groups were unable to reach a collective decision after nearly eight hours of discussion. Talks could though resume next Friday. .... Only 20 percent of Germany's four million Muslims are actually represented by the four groups that participate, while the vast majority remains unaffiliated with any group.

Some Muslim participants have also complained of the conference's agenda, which has not focused on racism and Islamophobia. Read more [via Islam in Europe]

From an ex-Muslim, true Islamophobia

.... As a Muslim, I learned very early in life to walk in my adversaries' shoes to feel their pain. This is why I have not shied away from calling a spade a spade and outing the segregationist hate mongers within my community, an effort that has paid dividends in the slow decline of overt anti-Semitism and Hinduhatred in the public religious discourse of Western Muslims.

But last week, it was not a Muslim cleric whose speech traumatized me; it was the words of an ex-Muslim. [National Post] Read more

Muslim gangs are taking over UK prisons, a BBC investigation reveals

THIS Sunday, BBC Radio 5 is airing a disturbing programme focusing on the growing problem of Muslim gangs in British prisons. According to the report, the Muslim prison population in England and Wales has sharply increased in recent years.

Muslims represent 12 percent (9,795) of the prison population in England and Wales, according to the latest available figures from 2008. This has risen by 50 percent over five years. In some high security prisons, the figures are well above average. [The Freethinker] Read more

Burqa Ban for UK?

So, who agrees with Philip Hollobone, Conservative MP for Kettering, who told the Commons yesterday: ''This is Britain. We are not a Muslim country. ''Covering your face in public is strange, and to many people both intimidating and offensive. ''I seriously think that a ban on wearing the burka in public should be considered.''

Wonder will David Cameron row in behind this one or will he distance himself from Hollobone in his electorally suicidal wish to be seen as "progressive" at all costs. [A Tangled Web] Read more

The British Labour Government's Ruinous Approach to Combating Islamic Extremism

In a document on its 'Preventing Violent Extremism' strategy, the British Government states, in a section entitled 'Strengthening the role of faith institutions and leaders', that 'It is not for Government to intervene in theological debates'.

However, the entire Labour Government strategy regarding Islam and Muslims since the 9/11 attacks invalidates this claim. Since 9/11, the British Government's line has been that Islam is a 'religion of peace' that has been 'hijacked by extremists'. [Butterflies and Wheels] Read more

Swedish newspapers unite to defend freedom of speech over Muhammad cartoons

Three leading Swedish newspapers and the national broadcaster carried a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad with a dog’s body after an alleged plot to murder the artist who drew it was unveiled in the Republic of Ireland.

The threat to Lars Vilks was a threat against all Swedes, the country’s biggest daily newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, proclaimed, adding that the new year axe attack on a Danish cartoonist for drawing the Prophet meant that Scandinavian values of openness were being assaulted. [Times Online] Read more