Feminists' dilemma: How to respond to Muslim oppression

.... It is very possible that Ashtiani may have been pressured, forced or coerced into making such a statement. She may also be trying to strategically curry favour with the authorities.

But the issue of Muslim women becoming complicit in their own subjugation (through fear, obeisance or wilful intent) and by extension, the issue of some Muslim women becoming complicit in the symbolic oppression of women in general is an important — though fraught — topic.

In 2010, three Muslim women in Malaysia who were caned for having sex outside of marriage claimed that the punishment was justified and even beneficial. The three women, aged 17-25, said they turned themselves in after feeling guilty for having pre-marital sex with their respective boyfriends. [The Age] Read more

Islam now considered 'a threat' to national identity by almost half of French and Germans, according to new poll

Islam is considered a ‘threat’ by millions of French and Germans to their national identity.

A poll by France’s Le Monde newspaper also found a majority in both countries believe Muslims have ‘not integrated properly’. Le Monde ran the results under a headline which brands efforts to get different religious communities to live side by side as a ‘failure’.

France, with seven million, and Germany, 4.3 million, have the largest Muslim communities in Europe. There are 2.4million in Britain.

Last year German Chancellor Angela Merkel conceded that her country’s multicultural society had ‘failed’, while French president Nicolas Sarkozy has also complained about the growing influence of radical Islam. [MailOnline] Read more

Helsinki Drops Muslim Women-Only Pool Sessions

The City of Helsinki will stop reserving special hours for Muslim women to use the public pool in Jakomäki. In the future, the timeslot for Muslim ladies will be open to all women.

Other swimmers had criticised the practice, according to Teemu Raatikainen, who manages the pool.

Previously, the Jakomäki swimming hall blocked off Saturday mornings specifically for Muslim women. The women's session followed a swimming class for Muslim girls. [YLE] Read more

Cafe bosses in ‘bacon smell’ row to fight ban

A cafe is to fight an extractor fan ban – after a neighbour complained that Muslim friends would not visit him because of the smell of bacon.

The Snack Shack, on Adswood Road, Cale Green, is to appeal against the decision by the Stepping Hill area committee. The Planning Inspectorate will give a final ruling by the end of January.

The cafe installed the fan three years ago and applied for retrospective planning permission.

But neighbour Graham Webb-Lee told the council it made his family feel sick and his Muslim friends refused to visit him because they were offended by the smell. [Manchester Evening News] Read more [via Jihad Watch]

Coptic Christians cannot celebrate Christmas for fear of Muslim terror attacks… in Germany

Who cares about the Copts?

His Grace has spoken of their plight many times (eg HERE and HERE), yet there is no respite from their appalling persecution. Perhaps now that the terror has reached Europe, the authorities may act.

For the Copts are not only being threatened in Germany: the inexorable Islamist jihad is also spreading through the Netherlands, with Coptic churches in Italy, France, Austria, Sweden and the UK also being targeted.

There is now a general terrorist threat against Coptic Christians living throughout Europe. [Archbishop Cranmer] Read more

Extremists, the Majority and the Moderate Minority

It is fashionable to talk about the ‘extremist minority’ and the ‘moderate majority’ when discussing Muslim extremism. This is usually followed by statements such as ‘we must empower the moderate majority’ and ‘isolate the extremist minority’.

But, as recent events in Pakistan have demonstrated, this simple dichotomy – though politically expedient- is not entirely accurate. In truth their are various camps, many of which are problematic in their own way. These can be broken down into: [Harry’s Place] Read more

Pakistani governor who opposed blasphemy law slain

The governor of Pakistan's most dominant province was shot and killed Tuesday by a bodyguard who authorities said was angry about his opposition to blasphemy laws carrying the death sentence for insulting the Muslim faith.

Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer, regarded as a moderate voice in a country increasingly beset by zealotry, was a close ally of U.S.-backed President Asif Ali Zardari. He is the highest-profile Pakistani political figure to be assassinated since former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto three years ago, and his death underscores the growing danger in this country to those who dare challenge the demands of Islamist extremists. [Associated Press] Read more

'Moderate' clerics praise politician's killing

Five hundred moderate Pakistani religious scholars have warned that anyone who expresses grief over the assassination of a senior ruling party official who opposed the country's blasphemy law could suffer the same fate.

Salmaan Taseer, a liberal politician close to President Asif Ali Zardari, had no day-to-day role in the central government, but his killing in broad daylight at a shopping centre in Islamabad reinforces the sense that the government is incapable of stabilising the Muslim country of 170 million. [Reuters] Read more [via National Secular Society]

Liberals are completely deluded about Islam in Britain and the existence of sectarianism

For sectarianism to flourish all you need to do is import a large number of people with what sociologist Enest Gellner called “counter-entropic” traits – differences of identity that stop people intermarrying. Race is one such trait, but religion is a far stronger one, with British Muslims (and Sikhs and Hindus for that matter) all more than 90 per cent likely to marry within their own religious and ethnic groups.

This is hardly surprising, when according to the last census, only 0.5 per cent of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis said they had no religion, against 11.3 per cent for African-Caribbeans and an even higher figure for whites.

.... The demographic situation as it is has already entailed serious sacrifices, such as stricter rules about freedom of speech, a return to blasphemy laws, the existence of a large anti-terror surveillance network, not to mention the hundreds of millions of pounds spent on “community cohesion”, with no end in sight. As the Muslim population grows will these problems go away, or get worse? I don’t think I’m being paranoid in betting on the latter. [telegraph.co.uk] Read more

Muslim teenage girl takes out AVO over clash of cultures

A MUSLIM girl caught between her religion, her parents and wanting to be a typical Aussie teenager is at the centre of an apprehended violence order against her father after he found she had a boyfriend.

Police were called to the family home after the man threatened to kill himself and the 14-year-old girl when he discovered the boy in a room of their home, Parramatta Bail Court heard yesterday.

The man, who cannot be named, allegedly told police the relationship was disrespectful to Muslim culture and brought shame on his family in the Afghan community.

The court heard he tried to detain the boy in the early hours of New Year's Day at the house in Blacktown. The family called police because they were scared the father would kill the boy.

After police arrived, the man became enraged because they would not arrest the boy, who had been invited into the house by his daughter. [news.com.au] Read more [via Political Correctness Watch]

Denmark: 30% see Islam as a threat to Denmark

The Centre for Studies in Islamism and Radicalisation (CIR), Department of Political Science, Aarhus University in Denmark conducted a survey on the attitude of the Danes to Islamophobia. (h/t Hodja)

The survey is available for download (PDF), as is an analysis by professor Peter Nannestad "The Danes, Islam and Muslims" (PDF)

30% either agreed or fully agreed with the statement: ”Islam as a religion is a threat to Denmark”. 62% disagreed with the statement. Only 17% of the under-30s asked agreed. Btw, 8% (ie, one) of the Muslims interviewed fully agreed. [Islam in Europe] Read more

Television News Keeps Mentioning, But Never Explaining, That Blasphemy Law In Pakistan

Some details to round out the picture:

Pakistani authorities charged 1274 people with offences under the blasphemy laws since 1986 till 2010. Sixty percent of the people charged were non-Muslim. Most of those charged were murdered soon after the charge was laid.

In November 2010, Asia Bibi was sentenced to death by hanging on a charge of blasphemy; the case that has yet to be upheld by the Lahore High Court has sparked international reactions.

On Dec. 12, 2010, during a press conference major Islamic parties in Pakistan launched a campaign for upholding the sanctity of Prophet Muhammad against the proposed amendment in the blasphemy laws.

In July 2010, the Lahore High Court ordered the release of Zaibun Nisa, a woman who was jailed in 1996 on a charge of blasphemy when police were investigating a complaint that a Quran had been defiled. Nisa's lawyer reported, "There was no evidence linking her to the crime." [The Iconoclast] Read more

The Islamification of Britain: record numbers embrace Muslim faith

The number of Britons choosing to become Muslims has nearly doubled in the past decade, according to one of the most comprehensive attempts to estimate how many people have embraced Islam.

Following the global spread of violent Islamism, British Muslims have faced more scrutiny, criticism and analysis than any other religious community. Yet, despite the often negative portrayal of Islam, thousands of Britons are adopting the religion every year. [independent.co.uk] Read more

Don't blame the West

The 'root causes' of Islamist terrorism do not lie in poverty or western imperialism, but an age old conflict between reason and revelation.

.... The Islamists' answer, obviously, is that no accommodation is possible. Hence, they ultimately seek the transformation of the West to accommodate Islam. Chandra Muzaffar, a widely respected Malaysian Islamic scholar, writing in a 2006 book, The New Voices of Islam, captures this spiritual aspiration: "Islam and the post-Enlightenment secular West are diametrically opposed to one another.

Muslims will then realize that unless they transform the secular world of the West, that vision of justice embodied in the Koran will never become a reality." The challenge for Islamists, obviously, is whether they can achieve that transformation better through demographic domination over the next few decades or through violence. [Ottawa Citizen] Read more [via The Iconoclast]

Hockey referee suspended for publishing Muhammad cartoon on Facebook

A Swedish Premier Division hockey referee published a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed on Facebook. Now he has been suspended and, according to sources, SÄPO [the security police] were contacted.

“We had a meeting with this person and we agree that he should take a time out,” said Swedish Hockey Association’s security chief Peter Anderson. [Islam in Europe] Read more

A big hump on the head

MEMRI are sometimes accused of mis-translation. No problem here: the bastard's speaking in English. It's from the Islamic Awakening Conference (posted 16th December on YouTube):

This was an event that brought togeather [sic] many duaat across the UK on one platform to discuss some of the most controversial topics which have been forgotten or neglected nowadays.

It highlighted key issues that the Ummah faces today and more importantly our roles in the West. Each speaker walked through key Islamic principles and a factual analysis which ALL Muslim youth should be aware of. Especially since the UK government has recently devised new strategies to stop the Muslims from rising in the west and realising their true Islamic identity. [Mick Hartley] Read more

Have You Stopped Beating Your Wife? The Quran, Hadith and Domestic Violence

Usama Hassan has posted a masterful interpretation on the problematic Qur’anic license given to wife beating.

.... Bismillah. I began work on this at about 5am on 1st January and, Praise God, have completed it around 55 hours later. I am grateful to all my teachers and friends who encouraged me to write this work.

My conclusion is simple: God and Muhammad, peace be upon him, clearly wished to ban domestic violence, as numerous hadiths indicate. The verse was always known to be a temporary compromise, an extremely limited concession that required minimum use of violence, if at all. “New” findings are: [The Spittoon] Read more

The invention of Islamophobia (ii)

Islamophobia was invented to silence those Muslims who question the Koran and who demand equality of the sexes. By Pascal Bruckner

At the end of the 1970s, Iranian fundamentalists invented the term "Islamophobia" formed in analogy to "xenophobia". The aim of this word was to declare Islam inviolate. Whoever crosses this border is deemed a racist.

This term, which is worthy of totalitarian propaganda, is deliberately unspecific about whether it refers to a religion, a belief system or its faithful adherents around the world. [signandsight.com] Read more [via National Secular Society]

Muslims Get the Message as Turkey’s Bid to Join EU Stalls

.... The spread of Islamic militancy is not the major issue – at least not yet, despite what some northern Europeans and Americans fear, based on reports of Islamic religious schools springing up in the Bosnian countryside.

Rather the increased activity in Bosnia by Muslim-majority nations appears to be a reflection of the desire, particularly of Turkey, to expand its sphere of influence in one corner of Europe while also buttressing a small nation that was once part of the Ottoman Empire and has had a Muslim majority for centuries.

Turkey has been following similar policies in Iraq and other Middle Eastern nations for some time, officially and unofficially. [The Nation] Read more

The invention of Islamophobia (i)

.... Let us not forget that today, of all the monotheist religions, Christianity is the most persecuted – particularly in Islamic countries such Algeria, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey or Egypt.

It is easier to be a Muslim in London, New York or Paris than a Protestant or Catholic in the Middle East or North Africa. But the term "Christianophobia" does not function – and that's a good thing.

There are words which taint language, which obscure meaning. "Islamophobia" is one of the words that we urgently need to delete from our vocabulary. [signandsight.com] Read more [via Butterflies and Wheels]

Iran shops banned from selling Valentine gifts

Shops in Iran have been banned from selling Valentine cards and gifts, the ILNA news agency reported on Sunday, as the traditional lovers' day gains increasing popularity in the Islamic republic.

"In the run-up to Valentine's Day on February 14 the printing works owners' union issued a directive banning the printing and distribution of any goods promoting this day," ILNA news agency reported.

"Printing and producing any goods related to this day including posters, boxes and cards emblazoned with hearts or half-hearts, red roses and any activities promoting this day are banned," the union said in the directive.

"Outlets that violate this will be legally dealt with," it warned. [AFP] Read more [via Religious Watch]

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani may not face death by stoning, says prosecutor

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning, may not face her original punishment, the judicial authorities have signalled.

In the latest twist in the saga, the prosecutor of East Azerbaijan province said today it was "possible" the original sentence could be dropped.

But Malek Ajdar Sharifi did not comment on whether Mohammadi Ashtiani might instead be hanged. [guardian.co.uk] Read more

Mideast sources fund controversial mosque

.... Foreign institutions have donated more than $650,000 to the Salaheddin Islamic Centre for renovations and an expansion of an Islamic school. It is the first time the mosque has received money from outside Canada.

Imam Hindy said that by securing funding from outside Canada the Toronto mosque was preserving Muslim culture, helping the local construction industry and employing Canadians and new immigrants in the education field while saving the public school system money.

.... Imam Hindy is known for his controversial views. He says he has officiated or blessed 30 polygamous marriages around Toronto, and that he would follow Islamic law if it conflicted with Canada’s laws. He has defended accused terrorists and says Canadian authorities have long monitored his mosque. A New York Police Department report calls Salaheddin “a known radical mosque.” [National Post] Read more [via The Iconoclast]

Reforming voices in the Middle East

AMID calls for jihad emanating from websites and television channels in the Muslim world, a counterpoint has emerged: fierce Arab self-criticism and openness to the West.

Although small in number compared with fundamentalists in the media, Muslim liberals have been able to expose the Arab world to a totally different, often shocking, way of seeing itself.

"Why do the Arabs boast of their courage when in fact we are the most cowardly people on earth?" Iraqi researcher Mohammed al-Khodari said last month on al-Jazeera TV, the leading news channel in the Middle East. "Of all peoples, Arabs are most likely to resign themselves to injustice, oppression and persecution." [The Australian] Read more [via Political Correctness Watch]

Nation protests any change in blasphemy law

A complete shutter-down strike was observed across the country on Friday as religious parties held rallies and protests against any alleged move by the government to amend the blasphemy law.

All major business centres, markets and bazaars remained closed throughout the day, while there was thin traffic on roads in all the major cities of the country. The Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat gave a strike call on Thursday.

It was supported by the traders community and transporters. Strict security measures were adopted in all the major cities to avoid any unpleasant event. [The News International] Read more [via Religious Watch]

Pakistan Will Not Repeal Its Blasphemy Law .... It may be true -- may be -- that Pakistan has not officially put anyone to death for blasphemy. But quite a few people who were charged by others with the crime of blasphemy -- outrage against some aspect of Islam -- have been put to death, in some cases by members of the police who had them in their custody, in other cases by those who, as they are permitted, meted out Islamic justice without waiting for the government to do so.

And as long as that law remains valid, there will be those will, with impunity and a sense of immunity, take that law into their own hands. [The Iconoclast] Read more