Rejected: the mosque plan that grew so big it attracted the wrong sort of crowd

Plans by a missionary Islamic sect to build one of Britain’s largest mosques that left a community divided and attracted far-right groups, including the English Defence League, were tonight rejected.

Police officers were stationed outside the Old Town Hall of the east London borough of Newham as about 3,000 supporters of the plans to build the mosque gathered tonight.

Tablighi Jamaat, a socially conservative Muslim revivalist movement with a strong presence in east London, wanted to build a mosque on a site in West Ham, close to the Olympic Park, to accommodate more than 9,000 worshippers – about four times the capacity of St Paul's. [independent.co.uk] Read more

Worcester Park mosque plans kicked out by councillors

.... The applicant claimed, both at the meeting and in the planning documents, most people would walk, cycle or use public transport to get to the mosque but neighbours and councillors were unconvinced by the claims.

Arthur Hookway, chairman of the Worcester Park Residents' Association, addressed councillors at the meeting. He said: "I personally delivered a petition with more than 3,700 signatures to the council. I feel I can say I've been in touch with many local residents and I've found less than a handful in support of this. [Sutton Guardian] Read more

Haslam talks Shariah, judicial appointments, health care with Nashville Republicans

Gov. Bill Haslam spoke Tuesday to what used to be rock-ribbed Republicans, answering questions about Shariah law, health care reform and judicial selection in a lunchtime appearance before Davidson County Republicans.

Answering a question from the crowd, Haslam defended his decision to hire and stand by Samar Ali, a Muslim woman working in the Department of Economic and Community Development, as reflecting his fundamental moral values, despite continued claims by some Republicans that she is secretly part of a plot to impose Shariah law on the state of Tennessee.

Haslam said that Ali, a native of Waverly, Tenn., serves as a trade representative for Tennessee and has no involvement with Islamic law beyond once having advised Middle Eastern clients on how to structure financial transactions. [The Tennessean] Read more

Turkey fines Simpsons for blasphemy

Turkey's broadcasting regulator is fining a television channel for insulting religious values after it aired an episode of The Simpsons which shows God taking orders from the devil.

Radio and television watchdog RTUK said it was fining private broadcaster CNBC-e 52,951 lira (NZ$36,130) over the episode of the hit US animated TV series, whose scenes include the devil asking God to make him a coffee. [Stuff.co.nz] Read more

Row over halal meat in Lancashire schools

A row has broken out in Lancashire over the kind of meat being served to Muslim children in the county's schools.

The county council has approved the serving of halal meat from animals which have been stunned before they're killed.

But the Lancashire council of mosques says the stunning process means the meat is not suitable for Muslim children. [ITV] Read more

Mysterious circumstances: Blasphemy accused dies in custody

A 22-year-old youth, accused of burning a copy of the Holy Quran, died in police custody at Warburton police station on Sunday, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The youth, Nadeem, was detained without an FIR by the Nankana Sahib police seven days ago. Police say he was being kept in protective custody. He was later shifted to Warburton police station, 20km for Nankana Sahib.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Nankana Sahib district police officer (DPO) Ghulam Mubashar Maken said the youth fell severely ill while in custody at Warburton police station and subsequently died. [Express Tribune News Network] Read more

The revolution continues: Morsi’s miscalculations and the Ikhwan’s impasse

Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood may have seriously overestimated the Islamist movement’s grip over Egyptians’ allegiances.

Having passed a decree which awarded the presidency both legislative and executive powers, as well as rendering the President himself immune from judicial oversight, the Brotherhood now has on its hands protest as serious as any which a post-Mubarak government has faced.

Several times, since the January Revolution’s heady days, have opposition groups called for milioneyy, million-man marches, but rarely have these resonated with the broader public. [openDemocracy] Read more

Students sport a new look to support Muslim culture

During a rainy afternoon at Cal State Long Beach, the Muslim Student Association handed out head scarves to women — not to protect their hair from the humidity but rather to provide them with a new experience.

The hijab challenge that took place in front of Liberal Arts 5 on Thursday was an attempt to help educate CSULB students about a religion that has received criticism and negative press over the years, according to Amina Hasan, organizer for the Muslim Student Association (MSA). [Daily 49er] Read more

The World View of Hasan al-Banna and the Muslim Brotherhood

Founded in Egypt in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood has emerged as a force to be reckoned with, not only in Egypt and the Gaza Strip, where it has won elections and assumed power, but also in Europe and North America, where it has been very successful at forming national Islamic organizations claiming to represent Muslims in non-Muslim countries.

It is more important than ever to understand this group and its ideology. A natural starting point in this effort is to examine the writings of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian Sunni Muslim Hasan al-Banna (1906-1949).

Al-Banna’s worldview may be summarized in four main propositions: First, Islam is a perfect and complete way of life; second, Islam must be the basis of all legislation; third, Western societies are decadent and corrupt; and fourth, God has commanded Muslims to conquer and rule the earth. Each of these propositions is deeply rooted in the worldview of classical Sunni Islam. [New English Review] Read more

In northern Mali, music silenced as Islamists drive out artists

Khaira Arby, one of Africa’s most celebrated musicians, has performed all over the world, but there is one place she cannot visit: her native city of Timbuktu, a place steeped in history and culture but now ruled by religious extremists.

One day, they broke into Arby’s house and destroyed her instruments. Her voice was a threat to Islam, they said, even though one of her most popular songs praised Allah. [The Washington Post] Read more

More Germans to accept Muslim holidays

The region of Bremen in northern Germany on Friday said it would be the second of the country’s 16 states to recognise Muslim holidays.

“I am delighted because Islam and Muslims are part of our city and part of our life,” said the mayor of the city state, Jens Boehrnsen, after signing the deal with representatives of the local Muslim community.

The agreement signed reflects “mutual recognition and respect of mutual values,” added the mayor. The deal will allow members of the community to take days off work for Muslim celebrations, although they will not receive paid holiday. It needs to be ratified in the Bremen state parliament. [AFP] Read more

It's Hatred and Violence in the Qur'an Awareness Month!

.... Inspired by a remark from Pat Condell in this video, I have proclaimed December to be Hatred and Violence in the Qur'an Awareness Month.

After all, November was Islamophobia Awareness Month, and certainly the hatred and violence in the Qur'an kills many, many more people than "Islamophobia" ever has or ever will, and so it is far more deserving than "Islamophobia" of a month of its own. [Jihad Watch] Read more

A self-styled "Lord" who cheated on his wife has lost his legal battle to stop her divorcing him

Millionaire property developer Houshang Jafari, 60, claimed under Sharia law - the moral code and religious law of Islam - that he was allowed to take a second wife.

He left the family home in Bristol and moved his new girlfriend Katrina Jafari into his exclusive flat in the city.

His wife had sought a divorce on the grounds of "unreasonable conduct".

Aghdas Bidaki, 53, who now uses her maiden name, was granted the divorce at Bristol County Court by Recorder Susan Jacklin. [BBC] Read more

Anti-Shiite violence rises in Pakistan as Islam’s sectarian divide moves beyond the Middle East

More members of Pakistan’s Shiite Muslim religious minority were killed by Sunni Muslim extremists this year than in any previous year, a development that could further destabilize this key U.S. ally and draw it into the widening Shiite-Sunni conflict that up to now has been manifest primarily in Middle Eastern countries. [McClatchy Newspapers] Read more

Muslims Pressing for Blasphemy Laws in Europe

.... In Austria, where the government of Saudi Arabia has officially opened the King Abdullah International Center for Inter-Religious and Inter-Cultural Dialogue (KAICIID) to "foster dialogue" between the world's major religions in order to "prevent conflict," critics say that KAICIID's work will parallel long-standing efforts by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a bloc of 57 Muslim countries, to pressure Western countries into making it an international crime to criticize Islam or Mohammed -- all in the name of "religious tolerance."

This was effectively confirmed by the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, who spoke at the inauguration ceremony of KAICIID in downtown Vienna on November 26. Ihsanoglu declared: "Islamophobia leads to hate crimes and as such, it generates fear, feelings of stigmatization, marginalization, alienation and rejection.

The West must define hate crimes broadly and address the information deficit as well as enact adequate legislation and implement this legislation effectively. In conjunction with national legislation, they should also implement international commitments and agreed norms." [Gatestone Institute] Read more

Still fighting? for their freedom: ‘No concrete evidence’ that women? are better off because of ?the Arab Spring, researcher says

.... With three Arab Spring countries slated to revamp their constitutions wholesale, the future of women in North Africa and the Middle East is teetering on the precipice — at a crossroads like no other time since the uprisings erupted in 2010.

“Women still have to fight for their rights because for them, the revolution is not over yet,” said Heide Gottner, who works with Amica, a Germany-based women’s organization with field workers in Libya and the West Bank.

“Women fought for and demanded their rights. Now we see that they’re sort of the losers of the revolution.”

Nowhere is that more true than in Egypt, at least so far. [National Post] Read more

Egypt’s revolution at a ‘crossroads’ with secularist anger at what Egyptians regard as an Islamist power grab

.... The problem with references such as “the true nature” of Egyptian society is that they underline the ruling Muslim Brotherhood’s conservative Islamic philosophy and bring to the surface longstanding cultural and religious fissures in the most populous Arab country.

Egypt is a country where, for example, many women cover themselves in black garb from their heads to their toes while many others dress as women in Europe or North America do.

Although both the old and new constitutions state that Egypt must be governed by “Islamist principles,” this means one thing to Islamic fundamentalists and something else to secularists. Another clause that is open to interpretation states that women, but not men, must balance their duties between home and work. A third declares that clerics at a respected Sunni mosque in Cairo must be consulted on legislation concerning Islamic sharia. [Postmedia News] Read more

In mosques and pubs, people are more worried by the cuts than ethnic tension

Those who paint Tower Hamlets as a balkanised community fail to notice the social solidarity that exists in the community.

[A COMMENT] Thing is you aren't offering much evidence for cohesion, just a spokesman blaming the state which is the same amongst any community, that doesn't mean they are mixing together.

[ANOTHER COMMENT] I live in Luton too. Taking a walk down George Street actually means not hearing a single conversation in English. At least on George Street you are usually allowed to pass unmolested. Try walking through Bury Park while being a white woman in a skirt. If you're lucky, the "social solidarity" will only be verbal and nobody will spit at you. [Guardian Cif] Read more

Saudi cleric under fire for labelling waitresses as ‘prostitutes’

.... The burger chain had recently allowed women – for the first time – to work as waitresses at their branches across the coastal city of Jeddah.

“At the beginning of her shift she’s a waitress. When her shift ends she becomes a prostitute. The more she’s around men the easier it becomes to get closer to her”, tweeted Al-Mutairi, whose twitter account boasts more than 5,000 followers.

Despite this cleric’s views reflecting an existing frustration amongst some conservative segments in Saudi Arabia which oppose women’s right to work and fear that allowing females to mix with men may lead to unwanted social behaviours, Mutari’s rather controversial tweet was deemed too extreme to many Saudis on Twitter. [AL ARABIYA NEWS] Read more

Muslims who said Muslims free to choose religion must repent – Chief Imam

Muslims who said that Muslims are free to choose their religion are misguided and need to repent and ask for forgiveness from Allah, said Chief Imam of Istiqlal Mosque here, Prof Dr Ali Mustafa Yaqub.

“They (Muslims) who said this admitted the truth of other religions and had gone astray. Those who said that all religions are equal, can join and leave as they please, can become infidels,” he told reporters here.

Ali Mustafa, a famous Indonesian scholar and hadith expert was commenting on remarks by Lembah Pantai Member of Parliament Nurul Izzah Anwar who quoted a verse form the Quran which means “There is no compulsion in religion” and linked to views on religious freedom for the Malays in Malaysia. [BorneoPost] Read more

Disputed Articles in Egypt's Draft Constitution

An Islamist-dominated panel is voting on Egypt's draft constitution, the country's first charter after the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. The draft largely reflects the conservative vision of the Islamists, with articles that rights activists, liberals and Christians fear will lead to restrictions on the rights of women and minorities and civil liberties in general.

Omissions of certain articles, such as bans on slavery or promises to adhere to international rights treaties, were equally worrying to critics of the new draft, who pulled out from the panel before the vote.

Here are some of the disputed articles: [AP] Read more

Protesters scent victory in fight to halt Newham mega-mosque

.... The mosque, which could take 12,000 people — four times as many as St Paul’s Cathedral — would be as big as Battersea power station and become the HQ of Islamic sect Tablighi Jamaat. However, officers for Newham council recommend the plan is refused.

The sect, to which the July 7 bombers and shoe bomber Richard Reid have been linked, could now be forced to leave the Abbey Mills site altogether in Canning Road, near the Olympic Park, after a 13-year battle.

Alan Craig, campaign director of MegaMosque No Thanks and a former Newham councillor, said: “Now it’s up to the planning committee to follow the recommendation to reject. The building would be ugly, it would add nothing to the area and we have huge concerns about the group behind it.” [Evening Standard] Read more

Norway hospital dons new Hijab

The Norwegian medical institution says it has introduced a new redesigned Hijab in cooperation with designers that both adheres to Muslim rules and at the same time is more comfortable to wear.

OUH has long had Hijabs suited to staff uniforms, it says, but explains the new type has softer fabric that is better.

“We can’t refrain from hiring an employee because the individual wears religious headgear, Hege Linnestad, head of section for equal opportunities health services, says in a statement.

“This is why we are facilitating for the use of Hijabs. We want to be an attractive place of work that is set up for the employees’ religious beliefs,” she adds. [The Foreigner] Read more

The Problem With Multiculturalism

Most conservative observers are of the opinion that multiculturalism as it has been understood and practiced is nothing short of a social and economic disaster. And it must be said they are largely, if not entirely, correct.

The multicultural project in its contemporary form suffers from two grievous flaws: the filter is too wide, allowing into the country unskilled people who are poorly equipped to participate in a modern, technologically oriented economy and who consequently become a financial burden to the nation, disproportionately swelling the welfare rolls; and, no less critical, many of these immigrant groups import the hatreds, prejudices and conflicts of their countries of origin, sequester themselves with official approval into closed or aggressive enclaves, and often cause violence and disruption in the public life of their new home. [FrontPage Mag] Read more

Tunisia's Ghannouchi - Islamists to dominate Arab world

The leader of the Tunisian Islamist party that rose to power after the first Arab Spring uprising last year said this week that Islamist movements would eventually emerge triumphant throughout the Arab world after a difficult transition period.

Rached al-Ghannouchi, whose Ennahda party governs with two junior leftist partners, said secular groups should join forces with Islamists to manage the first phase after autocratic rulers were removed. [Reuters] Read more