Plans for an "unprecedented" 5,000-place Muslim girls' boarding school will be scrutinised closely by the Government, junior minister Diana Johnson has said. Ms Johnson told MPs there would have to be "very careful consideration" of such a school, which would be easily the biggest boarding school in the UK.
She was responding to a question from Labour MP Gordon Prentice (Pendle), who warned that building the school in his constituency could "undermine community cohesion". [UKPA] Read more
A Muslim woman from Kista north of Stockholm who was denied a job as a dentist after refusing to wear short-sleeved work clothes for religious reasons has lost her discrimination case against the Swedish Public Dental Service
“It’s incomprehensible,” the woman told The Local following the ruling by the Stockholm District Court. Following the completion of her dental studies in January 2008, the now 29-year-old woman applied for a position with the public dental service in Stockholm. During the hiring process, she was informed that the dental agency requires personnel to wear short-sleeved gowns when treating patients. [The Local] Read more
Conservative peer Baroness Warsi of Dewsbury, named Britain's most powerful Muslim woman, has been pelted with eggs during a visit to Luton. Baroness Warsi was taking part in a walkabout in the predominantly Muslim Bury Park area of Luton when she was confronted by a group of protesters. The male protesters accused her of not being a proper Muslim and supporting the death of Muslims in Afghanistan. [BBC] Read more
Baroness Warsi ‘doesn’t even look like a Muslim’ She is deemed to be the most powerful female Muslim in the UK: she is certainly the most powerful Muslim of either gender in the Conservative Party. Her Labour co-religionists have been in no doubt as to why she was elevated to the peerage and promoted straight to the Shadow Cabinet, and they may have a point.
But Baroness Warsi’s walkabout in Luton, during which she was pelted with eggs (haram), is interesting on a number of levels. [Archbishop Cranmer] Read more
.... When will HT realise that political paradigms of the 7th century will not work in the 21st century? Political systems, social structures and economic systems have changed over the centuries. Today dreams of global Muslim unity are laughable especially when a small group like HT can’t even stay united. …. HT is a failed movement with a bankrupt ideology that is no longer relevant in the 21st century. [Harry’s Place] Read more
.... But it turns out to be Ed Balls, just as much as Cameron, who's been playing politics and failing to check the facts. The issue is not the situation with the schools now. It's the situation at the time the public money was paid. It turns out that the schools' chief Hizb ut Tahrir trustee, Yusra Hamilton, only resigned last month, in response to my story, long after the Government grant came in.
…. who remains a trustee to this day, refuses to deny that she was a Hizb member and has written in a Hizb journal condemning the "corrupt western concepts of materialism and freedom." [telegraph.co.uk] Read more
The Hizb School Row Is Far From Over .... I don’t know what is going on in OFSTED. It is possible, as Gilligan suggests, that there has been entryism into OFSTED – who knows. But it is equally possible that OFSTED just doesn’t take seriously the possibility that a fascist group is trying to work the system, to get public funds, and to further their campaign for sectarian politics of the worst sort. [Harry’s Place] Read more
UK: Hizb ut-Tahrir in schools dispute A month ago I reported that Hizb ut-Tahrir was receiving gov't subsidies in order to run a nursery and two schools in the UK.One commentator on my blog claimed that those allegations were untrue, and that the school did not teach a Hizb ut-Tahrir ideology. [Islam in Europe] Read more
Public funds must not be used to propagate an Islamic state .... The Government has failed to refute our central allegation, that public money has gone to an organisation with extremist views that run counter to our democratic values. This is part of a wider failure by this government to recognise the seriousness of the threat posed by Hizb-ut-Tahrir.
…. I, too, have seen a curriculum from the school. It has also been reviewed by several former Hizb-ut-Tahrir members. They confirm that it propagates, in detail, every particular of the group's vision of an Islamic state. [telegraph.co.uk] Read more
.... it's perfectly reasonable to believe that public displays of religious symbols should be kept to a minimum, whether they take the form of crucifixes or hijabs.
…. the referendum was a proxy for a much wider argument which doesn't divide easily into "for" and "against" camps. Somewhere in all this noisy rhetoric of racists and religious apologists, the reasonable voice of secularism urgently needs to be heard. [Guardian Cif] Read more
Shadow of the minaret …. After all, Saudi Arabia bans all Christian churches, not just those with bell-towers, while in Egypt religiously-motivated planning rules have made it virtually impossible for the Coptic community to repair their existing churches, let alone build any new ones.
When it comes to religious pluralism, few Muslim countries are in much position to complain. [Heresy Corner] Read more
Switzerland tackles Islamification in a very un-neutral way .... There is arguably a danger of discrimination in terms of how different religions are treated, but to my mind the solution is very simple: ban all religious buildings that seek to dominate the landscape rather than blend into it.
…. Even though the government didn’t support the ban, Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz said that ”muslims should be able to practice their religion and have access to minarets in Switzerland too, but the call of the muezzin [call to prayer] will not sound here.” He gets it. Shame British politicians don’t. [Letters from a Tory] Read more
Against the ban on minarets …. a great disservice to Libertarians everywhere by holding up this as an example of democracy in process. Bizarrely he concludes with “The people told the Government, not the other way round” when in fact what has happened is the “the people told some other people to stop doing “that”.” Moreover, they told them to do it by co-opting the massive repressive potential of the state. [Liberal Conspiracy] Read more
Minaret Vote: Muslim reactions Various reactions from European Muslims. [Islam in Europe] Read more
European Right: Let's all ban minarets (UPDATE: France, Sweden, Vatican) Various responses to the Swiss decision to ban minarets. [Islam in Europe] Read more
Quote: "Islam is by now a Swiss and a European religion" I agree with Tariq Ramadan on one point here: the message of this referendum is that the Swiss don't want to see the Muslims. But his conclusion is exactly what the Swiss fear. Islam might be a religion in Switzerland, just as other minority religions, but it is not a 'Swiss religion". [Islam in Europe] Read more
The Case of the Swiss Minarets (as Switzerland votes to ban minarets) .... What makes this bad situation even more worrisome is the fact that such an overtly xenophobic and racist attitude finds so much support in an otherwise neutral country. If this vote had occurred in, say, Denmark, one would not be surprised, after the Danish cartoon controversies and the reaction in the Muslim world, to find a majority of Danes voting for such a referendum.
But, of all places, Switzerland? Muslims worriedly and rightly ask: If these negative attitudes are so popular in Switzerland, what does that augur for other European countries? [MuslimMatters.org] Read more
Tom Friedman is quite right in his New York Times op-ed piece of November 29th where he exclaims to Muslims: “Whenever something like Fort Hood happens you say, ‘This is not Islam.’ I believe that. But you keep telling us what Islam isn’t.
You need to tell us what it is and show us how its positive interpretations are being promoted in your schools and mosques. If this is not Islam, then why is it that a million Muslims will pour into the streets to protest Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, but not one will take to the streets to protest Muslim suicide bombers who blow up other Muslims, real people, created in the image of God?
You need to explain that to us — and to yourselves.” [The American Muslim (TAM)] Read more [via Islam in Europe]
A well-known atheist emails me to ask how a good, kind and intelligent woman like myself can be part of such a "disgusting" religion. I thank him for his genuine concern and pity his inability to understand those elements of human nature - like love, tenderness and jealousy too - which cannot be precisely measured or validated by rationality alone.
I can see how a hard-wired scientific mind is programmed to reject divine mysteries and inner faith which cannot be verified. But disgust? Such extreme denunciation? Among western elites - artistic, political, scientific, media - I notice more expressions of abhorrence of Islam and its diverse adherents than ever before. [independent.co.uk] Read more
Swiss voters have supported a referendum proposal to ban the building of minarets, official results show. More than 57% of voters and 22 out of 26 cantons - or provinces - voted in favour of the ban. The proposal had been put forward by the Swiss People's Party, (SVP), the largest party in parliament, which says minarets are a sign of Islamisation. The government opposed the ban, saying it would harm Switzerland's image, particularly in the Muslim world. [BBC] Read more
My compatriots' vote to ban minarets is fuelled by fear The Swiss have voted not against towers, but Muslims. Across Europe, we must stand up to the flame-fanning populists.
It wasn't meant to go this way. For months we had been told that the efforts to ban the construction of minarets in Switzerland were doomed. The last surveys suggested around 34% of the Swiss population would vote for this shocking initiative. [Guardian Cif] Read more
Defend Religious Freedom in Switzerland .... The visual message is clear, isn’t it? Minarets are a metaphor for Muslims, and they’re taking over Switzerland, in their sinster veiled minions. There is no attempt here to differentiate between ordinary Swiss Muslims and the particular clerical fascist parties that present themselves as religious movements. This is broad brush attack on anybody who identifies as Muslim. [Harry’s Place] Read more
Regarding the Nov. 12 letter from Assistant Secretary of State P.J. Crowley …. defending the sponsorship by the U.S., together with Egypt, of a resolution in the U.N. Human Rights Council denouncing any "negative religious stereotyping" that constitutes "incitement to discrimination":
Mr. Crowley's letter ignores the dangers to free expression inherent in any such resolution.
It is perfectly true, as Mr. Crowley observes, that the U.S. continues to oppose any resolution (and the U.N. has already adopted many of them) seeking to impose direct legal sanctions against what has been referred to as "defamation of religion." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has spoken out unequivocally against such efforts and the Obama administration has already cast the first of what is likely to be many votes against such efforts. [The Wall Street Journal] Read more
.... The decisions of the council’s hearings – Sheikh Haddad insists they are not courts – are widely respected in the Muslim community. Except in cases where a spouse, usually the wife, has been abandoned, both parties agree in advance to accept the findings.
But he acknowledges that uncertainty about the legal status of the proceedings was a cause for concern. “It is one of our biggest problems that there is no formal recognition of Muslim personal law within the judicial system,” he said.
“But we are talking to politicians and to people in the churches in the hope that Britain will make some accommodation for our work. That would make it easier for the legal system generally, and easier for us.” [The National] Read more
The struggle against Islamism in this country is a long war, with all that entails. It unfolds in a world of skirmishes, false-starts and minutely shifting power balances. Every now and then, however, comes a set-piece moment: “The Trustees of Policy Exchange are delighted to report that Mr Justice Eady yesterday struck out the claim brought against us by the North London Central Mosque. [The Spittoon] Read more
.... Inayat says that he has moved away from his enthusiastic support for Hamas and Osama Bin Laden, and now embraces liberal secular democracy. If so, what is he doing writing for the website of a man whose entire mission in life is to oppose liberal secular democracy, and a political movement whose programme has been described by a Egyptian secularist as “an assassination to the civic state“. [Harry’s Place] Read more
Suheil Azam was sitting in a coffee shop in east London last month when one his friends began a debate on whether it was permissible under Islamic scripture for Muslims to wish their non-Muslim friends happy Christmas.
As a 23-year-old professional who socialises widely, Mr Azam had never considered the possibility that someone in his community might frown upon him for going round to his neighbours at Christmas or partying during New Year. But his friend, who had become increasingly devout, was adamant that such behaviour was haram (forbidden). [independent.co.uk] Read more
Asim Hafeez, the head of the ‘Prevent Interventions Unit’ at the Office of Security and Counter-Terrorism, has recently been profiled by Martin Bright of the Jewish Chronicle, who quoted Home Office officials as describing him as a ‘hardcore salafi’.
A number of Hafeez’s talks are available online which appear to not only back up Bright’s accusations but also to suggest that Hafeez might additionally be a hard-line Islamist who wishes to replace the British constitution with ‘the Quran and the Sunnah’. [Harry’s Place] Read more
Any institution that promotes segregation and openly prescribes members of society to lead separate lives deserves no sympathy and most definitely not public support in the form of tax money.
Certainly not in a secular modern democracy such as Britain, where the graduates of such institutions are at risk of coming out the other end less able to integrate with the rest of the society. On top of this, they are potentially liable to fuel the disintegration of society by firmly believing in segregation, not only of the sexes but also along the lines of faith and belief.
It is therefore quite disconcerting to find that countless "Muslim or Islamic schools" – whatever the distinction might be – receive public funds, and which go to extreme lengths in instilling the seeds of segregation into these young minds. [Guardian Cif] Read more
.... scientific progress in Muslim countries requires greater personal and intellectual freedom. Without this there can be no thinking, ideas, innovations, discoveries, or progress. The real challenge is not better equipment or faster internet connectivity. Instead, to move ahead in science, Muslims need freedom from dogmatic beliefs and a culture that questions rather than obeys. [Guardian Cif] Read more
David Cameron, Leader of the Opposition, during Prime Minister’s Question Time today questioned the PM on the subject of public funds allegedly given to two Muslim schools that are said to have links to Hizb ut-Tahrir. Cameron also touched on proscribing the group arguing that despite an ‘explicit promise’ by the former Prime Minister to ban HT, it remained active in the UK. [ENGAGE] Read more
Schools supremo Michael Gove learns painful lesson about getting the facts right Seeing that two schools linked to Hizb ut Tahrir had received cash from the Early Years Pathfinder scheme which funds free nursery places, Mr Gove had mistakenly thought that it was part of the Preventing Violent Extremism pathfinder project that is supposed to tackle indoctrination. In fact the two schemes are entirely separate. [Times Online] Read more
Islamists would not be Islamists without demanding that Muslims live by separate rules and that the rest of us modify our behavior to suit them. Male-female interactions form a common battleground in this respect, with even neighborly hellos to Muslim women known to stir trouble.
Whether hypnotized by multiculturalism or simply hoping to avoid conflict, some Westerners clearly have internalized the view that female Muslims are to be kept off limits to unrelated men, regardless of the specific circumstances and context — including car crashes and police raids. [Islamist Watch] Read more
In future an immigrant arriving in Germany and wishing to stay may have to sign an "integration contract". That is the idea of the Integration Minister, Maria Boehmer.
The contract would set out basic German "values," including "freedom of speech" and "equal rights for women". The idea behind this is the club: if you join you have to accept the rules.
"Anyone who wants to live here for a long time," says the minister, "and who wants to work has to say 'yes' to our country". In different forms ideas like this are surfacing across Europe. The concern is that significant parts of European cities exist as "parallel societies". There is not a shared identity and so there is not a common citizenship. [BBC] Read more
Reform Islam is still by far a minority reading of Islam.
- The majority of Muslims believe in an orthodox, literalist reading of Islam.
- What is written in the Quran and Sunnah is not compatible with the modern values held in the secular states we live in today.
- If we accept the idea that the Quran was written by human beings then we can easily change or abrogate parts of the Quran.
- If you are a Muslim who believes the Quran can be changed you are under the threat of death.
- The Ismailis, the Bahai, and the Ahmadis have taken some steps to change Islam, not necessarily to match modern values but in their own way. They are now considered Non-Muslims by other Muslims are not allowed to enter Mecca for Hajj.
- There is some movement on more modern, dynamic readings of Islam in the Muslim community in places like Germany and Morocco (Germany has many Moroccan immigrants, Morocco is known for being somewhat liberal in their Islam). [Muslims Against Sharia] Read more
The world’s top 500 Muslims - Read and vote .... A new book .... lists prominent Muslims from different fields — politics, religion, women, media, even radicals — with informative short biographies explaining who they are. It starts with an overall “top 50" list and then surveys the most prominent Muslims in their fields. [Reuters Blogs - FaithWorld] Read more
I’m a Orthodox Traditional Fundamentalist Sunni according to “Top 500 Most Influential Muslims” .... From what I read it’s clear there is a clear bias of anti-Salafism. They said that “Traditional Islam” makes up about 96% of the world Muslims. “Islamic Modernism” makes up about 1% and “Islamic Fundamentalism” makes up about 3%. I thought to myself, that’s a pretty good analysis and understand of Muslim demographics worldwide. Within any masjid community that’s pretty much what I say (give or take a few percentages). [Mujahideen Ryder] Read more
.... That brief moment of principled politics is over. There's talk of the government giving the MCB's Sir Iqbal "death perhaps is a bit too easy for Salman Rushdie" Sacranie a peerage. Meanwhile, ministers are about to cut financial support for Sufi Muslims who, like the majority of Britain's Muslims, Sunni or Shia, are not represented by the MCB.
.... Islamists are all over Whitehall again. Denham is entertaining Inayat Bunglawala of the MCB, who gave a taste of the "progressive" policies Labour is encouraging when he wrote an article defending Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and a preacher who recommends wife-beating, genital mutilation of girls and the murder of apostates and homosexuals. [Guardian Cif] Read more