Warsi and the OIC

.... earlier in the speech she speaks enthusiastically about her friendship for the same Ihsanoglu who wanted to restrain our freedom of expression. Admittedly, this is not quite the same as wanting to enforce a particular belief – we are to be allowed to be quiet, polite atheists.

But if we are not allowed to poke fun at the religious beliefs of others, why should the religious be allowed to insist on their own superiority, and, in extreme cases, assert that those who don’t share their views deserve eternal torment? She speaks with equal delight of her meeting with Sheykh Ahmed Al Tayyeb, who was involved in a rally described by many as anti-Semitic, and who – guess what – thinks the defamation of religion should be criminalised. [Harry’s Place] Read more

Raping women in Tahrir NOT ‘red line’: Egyptian preacher Abu Islam

An Egyptian Salafi preacher said raping and sexually harassing women protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square is justified, calling them “crusaders” who “have no shame, no fear and not even feminism.”

In an online video posted Wednesday, Ahmad Mahmoud Abdullah, known as “Abu Islam” and owner of the private television channel of “al-Ummah,” said these women are no red line.

“They tell you women are a red line. They tell you that naked women -- who are going to Tahrir Square because they want to be raped -- are a red line! And they ask Mursi and the Brotherhood to leave power!,” he said. [AL ARABIYA NEWS] Read more

Western conservatives need to engage positively with democratic Islam

.... the new regimes are remarkably uninterested in each other. Many North African government include what might loosely be termed Islamist groups: the PJD in Morocco, Ennahda in Tunisia, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and so on.

Yet the idea, sometimes promulgated by Western writers, that these parties are branches of a single Islamist movement, is quite misleading. Despite facing similar challenges, and sharing a language, they are almost wholly focused on their domestic affairs, and have little to do with one another.

They vary enormously in their approaches to politics. Indeed, the more you discover about them, the more you realise that Islamist is a wholly inadequate label. To posit a continuum between salafist radicals, who want a sharia-based theocracy, and pluralist Muslim parties that see themselves as local equivalents of Europe’s Christian Democrats, is preposterous. [telegraph.co.uk] Read more

Police arrest 3 for threatening Kashmir girl band

Three people have been arrested in Indian-controlled Kashmir for allegedly threatening the first Kashmiri all-girl rock band, which disbanded after its debut concert following abusive comments on social media and a demand from a top Muslim cleric that they stop performing. [The Associated Press] Read more

Over 70 per cent of Belgium Muslims interested in Islamic finance

Key findings published this week from Belgium’s first independent market study, Islamic finance in Belgium – sizing the retail market points to a very strong interest from local Muslim consumers in Islamic finance products and services. Over 70 per cent of survey respondents interviewed for the study have indicated their likelihood to take up such services if local banks were to begin offering them.

Islamic finance in Belgium – sizing the retail market was independently commissioned by the Association for the Development of Islamic Finance (ADEFI) in conjunction with IFAAS (Islamic Finance Advisory & Assurance Services). [CPI Financial] Read more

Coptic Pope Tawadros II criticises Egypt's Islamist leadership, new constitution

Egypt's Coptic patriarch delivered a cautious but unusually sharp criticism of the nation's Islamist leadership in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, dismissing the new constitution as discriminatory and rounds of national dialogues sponsored by the president as meaningless.

Pope Tawadros II's dive into politics came as he tried to energize the spiritual solidarity of a demoralized community with a visit to a historic monastery that no Coptic pontiff has been to in decades because of security tensions in southern Egypt. [Associated Press] Read more

Sharia Law has no place in Britain or anywhere else

.... Sharia discriminates against non-believers, atheists and apostates.

I have seared in my memory the brutal persecutions and executions of many atheists and scientists for the “crime” of critical thinking.

Cases such as Iranian Ali Ghorabat for apostasy, Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaie for enmity against God, Sudanese theologian Mahmoud M. Taha for his progressive Islamic views and Egyptian Nasr H. Abu Zaid are examples of the widespread persecution of people who dare to question blind belief.

Being an atheist and an ex-Muslim should have been a private matter for me under a secular state.

However, under an ‘Islamic Inquisition’, as fellow secular campaigner Maryam Namazi describes, it is necessary for minority groups, especially those who are persecuted, to publicly air our views and call for equal treatment because this persecution will not end until we stand together and speak out. [Left Foot Forward] Read more

Only 11 in 100 Muslims take up higher education

Eleven of 100 Muslims in India take up higher education – the lowest as regards religion-based enrolment in higher education. In comparison, 20% Hindus and 31% Christians pursue higher education, states a draft report compiled by the union ministry of human resource and development.

The figure for other religions is above the national average pegged at 18.8% of the country’s total population. The draft report, which is based on the National Sample Survey (2009-10) data, attributes the low percentage among Muslims to “various socio-economic reasons”. [Daily News & Analysis] Read more

"If They [Muslims] Had Gotten Rid of the Punishment for Apostasy, Islam Would Not Exist Today"

The most influential Sunni leader in the Middle East has just admitted what many of us who grew up as Muslims in the Middle East have always known: that Islam could not exist today without the killing of apostates.

Yusuf al-Qaradawi, head of the Muslim Brotherhood and one of the most respected leaders of the Sunni world, recently said on Egyptian television, "If they [Muslims] had gotten rid of the punishment [often death] for apostasy, Islam would not exist today."

The most striking thing about his statement, however, was that it was not an apology; it was a logical, proud justification for preserving the death penalty as a punishment for apostasy. Al-Qaradawi sounded matter-of-fact, indicating no moral conflict, nor even hesitation, about this policy in Islam. On the contrary, he asserted the legitimacy of Islamic laws in relying on vigilante street justice through fear, intimidation, torture and murder against any person who might dare to leave Islam. [Gatestone Institute] Read more

Islam's Atempts To Impose Blasphemy Laws Everywhere

.... Hillary Clinton made a few good points at the United Nations back in September when the Egyptian and Yemeni government pushed to impose their prejudices on the rest of us. “None of us can insulate ourselves from insult,” she said. “In the time since I began speaking just minutes ago, more than three hundred hours of video has been uploaded to YouTube. Some of it, no doubt, is vile. Some of it, no doubt, is offensive to my religion or yours. But we must not give these views power they do not deserve.”

She’s right, of course, but she’s still on the defensive. She’s explaining why we shouldn’t criminalize blasphemy in the United States. But she’s not even quite doing that right.

It’s fine that she’s arguing in a diplomatic way that those who are offended need to grow up and get over it, but she’s eliding the most crucial point, that the persecution of blasphemers is tyrannical. It wouldn’t just be tyrannical in the United States. It’s tyrannical in Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and everywhere else. [New English Review] Read more

Denmark shooting: Gunman targets Islam critic Hedegaar

A prominent Danish critic of Islam, Lars Hedegaard, has been targeted in a gun attack in the capital Copenhagen, police say.

The 70-year-old writer and historian was not injured in the shooting.

The gunman approached Mr Hedegaard pretending to be a postman and missed with a shot at his head, police said.

Mr Hedegaard heads Denmark's Free Press Society, which argues that religious and ideological interests are threatening freedom of expression. [BBC] Read more

Danish critic of Islam says gunman shot at him, then fled

A gunman tried to shoot a Danish writer and prominent critic of Islam on Tuesday, but missed and fled after a scuffle with his intended victim, police and the writer said.

Lars Hedegaard, who heads a group that claims press freedom is under threat from Islam, told The Associated Press he was shaken but not physically injured in the attack at his Copenhagen home. [Associated Press] Read more

Lawsuit forces Chicago to accept anti-jihad bus ads

The Chicago Transit Authority has agreed to display plain-spoken anti-jihad ads on city buses, following a lawsuit by the American Freedom Law Center.

City officials initially rejected the American Freedom Defense Initiative’s anti-jihad ads, even after the city accepted bus ads that advertized a sanitized portrayal of jihad as exercise and education rather than warfare.

The center’s new anti-jihad ads are “morally reprehensible — advocating racism, hatred and intolerance of cultural diversity,” said a Feb. 4 letter from Karen Seimetz, the general counsel of the city’s bus authority. [THE DAILY CALLER] Read more

Singing is un-Islamic, says Grand Mufti to girls rock band

Praagaash - the Valley's first all-women rock band, initially faced threats and abuses online, now, Muslim groups have said singing is "un-Islamic". Grandmufti of Jammu and Kashmir Bashiruddin Ahmad on Sunday, Feb 3 termed singing as "un-Islamic" and asked them to abandon it.

The Grandmufti issued a decree, terming singing as un-Islamic. "I have said that singing is not in accordance with Islamic teachings," Ahmad said. The cleric said he has advised the members of the rock band to "abandon" singing as it is against Islamic teachings and will not help them in playing any constructive role in the society. [Oneindia] Read more

A day after fatwa, Kashmir's all-girl band calls it quits

Kashmir lost its only all-girls rock band on Monday as its three teenage members decided to call it quits, a day after the Grand Mufti issued a fatwa terming singing as un-Islamic and asked them to abandon it.

Although the girls have maintained silence over the issue, sources close to them said, they have decided to quit singing and music. [THE TIMES OF INDIA] Read more

Two Children to be Tried for Insulting Islam in Egypt as Anti-Christian Hostility Escalates

Among files on arrested converts from Islam, kidnapped Christian girls and beaten monks piling up on the desk of a noted lawyer in Egypt, on top is the case of two boys about to be tried for allegedly showing contempt of Islam.

Attorney Karam Gabriel said anti-Christian hostilities in the restive country are getting worse as the two boys are to be tried in a court in Beni Suef – the same city where a mother and her seven children were convicted last month for reconverting to Christianity – for showing "contempt to Islamic religion and insulting the Koran." [The Christian Post] Read more

Geert Wilders’ Speech in Bonn

.... Allow no one to tell you that Islam respects freedom. Freedom and Islam are not compatible. Allow no one to tell you that Islam is a religion of peace. Islam is an ideology of violence. Allow no one to tell you that the intolerant must be tolerated.

We have to show our colours. We have to draw a red line. We have to call for the following: Firstly, no more mosques; secondly, no more Islamic schools; and thirdly, all criminal immigrants with double citizenship must be deported!

We have to cease giving in to every Islamic demand. Winston Churchill said once, when he was confronted with Nazi tyranny: “never, never give in, in nothing, great or small, large or petty; never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense.” Instead of following Churchill’s example, Western politicians allow themselves to be intimidated by Islamic sensitivities. [Gates of Vienna] Read more

The Silent Conquest of a Continent

Overall, the birthrate across the continent is far below the replacement level of 2.1 children per couple. Italy, Spain, Austria, and Germany have a fertility rate of only 1.4, while Poland and Russia languish at 1.3 and 1.2, respectively.

However, as a subgroup, Muslims in Europe are producing from 4 to 6 children per couple. Encouraged by some sheiks in Muslim countries who have forbidden the use of birth control, Muslim immigrants are producing children at two to three times the rate of Europeans.

Even Muslims in Europe who came from more westernized Islamic countries, like Turkey and Tunisia, have twice the birthrate of other Europeans. And the rate among their second generations is holding to that factor [Townhall.com] Read more

More in France Are Turning to Islam, Challenging a Nation’s Idea of Itself

The spacious and elegant modern building, in the heart of this middle-class suburb of Paris, is known as “the mosque of the converts.”

Every year about 150 Muslim conversion ceremonies are performed in the snow-white structure of the Sahaba mosque in Créteil, with its intricate mosaics and a stunning 81-foot minaret, built in 2008 and a symbol of Islam’s growing presence in France. Among those who come here for Friday Prayer are numerous young former Roman Catholics, wearing the traditional Muslim prayer cap and long robe.

While the number of converts remains relatively small in France, yearly conversions to Islam have doubled in the past 25 years, experts say, presenting a growing challenge for France, where government and public attitudes toward Islam are awkward and sometimes hostile. [The New York Times] Read more

“Burkas for babies”: Saudi cleric’s new fatwa causes controversy

A Saudi cleric has called for all female babies to be fully covered by wearing the face veil, commonly known as the burka, citing reports of little girls being sexually molested.

In a TV interview on the Islamic al-Majd TV, which seems to date back to mid-last year, Sheikh Abdullah Daoud, stressed that wearing the veil will protect baby girls. The Sheikh tried to back his assertion with claims of sexual molestation against babies in the kingdom, quoting unnamed medical and security sources. [AL ARABIYA NEWS] Read more

It is a Lie that Turkey Has a Lot of Churches

.... I know precisely how many churches there are in Turkey, a few dozen active ones. While the Turkish Government will list hundreds and hundreds, most are either in ruins or being used for other purposes such as storage or garages.

There are a hundred or so Greek Orthodox Churches but only a handful are active since almost all Greeks have been forced out of Turkey (there are less than 2,000 Greeks left today). As for non-Greek churches, here are 4, only the third one is still in use. [Planck's Constant] Read more

New Hijab Controversies Looming in Europe

The Belgian branch of the popular Dutch department store chain HEMA has lost a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a Muslim shop assistant whose contract was not extended after she refused to stop wearing a hijab, the traditional Islamic headscarf.

The woman had worked for the store in Belgian city of Genk for two months while wearing a headscarf, but after the store manager received complaints from customers, was then asked to remove it.

The woman, a Belgian convert to Islam, had been employed as temporary sales staff; HEMA declined to renew her contract because, its representatives said, of her refusal to remove her hijab.

In its defense, representatives of the Belgian shop said that to maintain the "neutral and discreet image of HEMA, the shop did not want employees wearing any kind of religious symbols." The store then offered the woman a job in its warehouse, where she would not have direct contact with clients. She said the alternative job offer was unsatisfactory and then consulted a lawyer.

[AND] A member of the Kuwaiti delegation of the UN Human Rights Council, Malik Al-Wazzan, said France should revoke the ban [on full-face Islamic veils] to "protect the human rights in discrimination and inequalities toward foreigners and those with different beliefs." This comes as the Kuwaiti Parliament considers a draft law banning the construction of churches. [Gatestone Institute] Read more

Muslims allowed to 'take action' if islam disputed or mocked

Federal religious authorities today urged Muslims nationwide to respect non-Muslims, but warned against compromising their faith in tolerating other beliefs.

Today’s message comes a week after last Friday’s sermon that warned Muslims of attempts by “enemies of Islam” to confuse them into believing that all religions are the same.

In today’s sermon, in conjunction with World Interfaith Harmony Week here, the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) urged Muslims to respect and protect the rights of adherents of other faiths.

“The most important lesson (in Islam) is that we are prohibited from treating others unfairly just because of religious differences,” it said.

The sermon however said Muslims were allowed to “take action” if their religion was disputed or mocked, citing verse 60:9 from Quran: [Malaysia Chronicle] Read more

Sharia divorces could be allowed after legal ruling

The prospect came after a couple had their divorce settlement under Beth Din, or Jewish law, referred to by the High Court.

According to the Times, it is the first time in British legal history where an English family judge has agreed to refer a divorce dispute to a religious court.

Experts said that the judgment could have far-reaching consequences and clear the way for other couples to seek a divorce in a religious court, including Sharia. [telegraph.co.uk] Read more

Catholic event cancels talk by Islam critic

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester rescinded an invitation Wednesday to Robert Spencer, a Catholic whose work depicts Islam as an inherently violent religion, to speak at its annual Catholic Men’s Conference in March.

The invitation was withdrawn after Muslims in Massachusetts expressed concerns to the diocese about the appearance of Spencer, scheduled to be a featured speaker at the DCU Center on March 16.

Spencer is director of the blog Jihad Watch and a leader of the American Freedom Defense Initiative and Stop Islamization of America, both of which are seen as anti-Muslim groups by some organizations that monitor extremism. [BostonGlobe.com] Read more