Denmark: Muslim attitudes towards terrorism, terrorist groups and the Iraq/Afghanistan Wars

An overwhelming majority of the Danish population clearly rejects terrorism. But in the group of Muslims the numbers are not as high as in the rest of the population.

When asking the non-Muslim part of the population, 97% says that terrorism is unacceptable. But only 82% of Muslims clearly reject terrorism, a survey conducted by Capacent for DR Nyheder shows. The rest of the Muslims do not directly reject terrorism. Six percent agree that terrorism can be acceptable.

Justice minister Brian Mikkelsen is concerned about the numbers. "We live in a rule of law and a democracy. In a society like ours it should have been all Muslims without exception who reject terrorism." [Islam in Europe] Read more

Reading Ayaan Hirsi Ali in Birmingham

I am not just a woman who was born in a Muslim family; I am also a British citizen who loves her country and stands behind our soldiers who lose their limbs and lives fighting Jihadists and Islamists. I grew up with friends and neighbours from all walks of lives, gays, atheist, Christians, Sikhs, Hindus and Buddhists. My mother never taught me to hate or despise anyone from a different religion or culture.

So I admire Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born Muslim woman who fled an arranged marriage to live in Holland where she became famous as an MP, a writer, a fighter for Muslim women's rights and an opponent of terrorism. In her remarkable books Infidel and The Caged Virgin she tells us important truths that many of us have maybe suppressed.

There are men who have written disparagingly about Ayaan who clearly have no idea how much courage that took. Ayaan shows us that personal trauma can be the spur to speak out against patriarchal communities which lock us away and religious preachers who say we are inferior. [Democratiya] Read more

Denmark: 18% of Muslims want to see Sharia law implemented

Close to a fifth of Muslims in Denmark want to see Sharia law implemented in Denmark. A study conducted by analysis institute Capacent for DR news shows that 18% of Muslims in Denmark declare they 'agree' or 'completely agree' with the statement: "Sharia law should be integrated into Danish law". [Islam in Europe] Read more

Denmark: 55% of Muslims think criticizing religion should be forbidden, 64% support curtailing freedom of speech

A clear majority of Muslims in Denmark doesn't want religion to be criticized, according to a survey Capacent prepared for DR. In the study "Your Muslim Neighbor" conducted among Muslims in Denmark, They were asked whether it should be forbidden to criticize religion. 55% thought it should, while 34% didn't agree.

Capacent also asked the rest of the Danish population the same and here 10% thought that it should be forbidden to criticize religion. [Islam in Europe] Read more

Flemming Rose on free speech

When asked why he decided to publish the cartoons, Rose said, "Not to insult the Muslims. It was in response to the spreading self censorship with regards to Islam. It started with a discussion on a children's books about Muhammad, whose author could not find an illustrator for it. One person was willing to do the drawings, but demand to remain anonymous, and later admitted this was out of fear of the Muslims' reactions.

"The publication also came after the murder of Dutch director Theo van Gogh at the hands of a Muslim (in response to his film about the Islam's attitude towards women), and the assault of a non-Muslim professor in Denmark after reading from the Quran to his class in the university. [Islam in Europe] Read more

One Law for All - No Sharia Campaign

Sharia law is discriminatory and unjust, particularly against women and children. Sharia courts in Britain are a quick and cheap route to injustice and do nothing to promote minority rights and social cohesion.

Their voluntary nature is a sham as many women will be pressured into going to these courts and abiding by their decisions. Those who fail to make use of Sharia law or seek to opt out will be made to feel guilty and can be treated as apostates and outcasts. [RichardDawkins.net] Read more

Supreme Court dismisses plea against death sentence for blasphemy

The Pakistani Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal against a Federal Shariat Court judgement holding that death was the only punishment for people convicted of blasphemy, a media report Tuesday said. With this, the Federal Shariat Court’s order that a light sentence in blasphemy cases is un-Islamic and unconstitutional has become effective, Dawn News channel said.

Deputy Attorney General Agha Tariq Mahmood was present before the Sharia appellate bench while the case was being heard.

Dismissing the petition, the five-member special bench noted the absence from the courtroom of those who had challenged the Shariat court judgement. [Thaindian News] Read more

Muslims/Christians: A Bridge to Far?

Mohamed Pascal Hilout is the former vice-president of the Movement for French Secular Maghrebians and co-editor of Riposte Laïque. He's the founder of the reform movement Le nouvel islam (New Islam).

To summarize what Hilout says: Religion is not a basis for dialog, human rights are. Muslims must recognize their history - that Mohammad was a warrior, and the Koran calls for Jihad (war) - and move beyond it. The West must stand for its fundamental values, and Muslims must accept human rights. Freedom of speech enables people to evolve further.

The Islamic world has problems with human rights. Relativism got to Europe, which means inequality is tolerated. If you respect Muslims, you should push them for more equality, democracy and freedom, and not tolerate what is unacceptable. [Islam in Europe] Read more

Britain Struggles With Questions Of Identity

The whole concept of what it means to be British has come into question in recent years, as immigration has increased and as the pillars of the old identity that united the kingdom — empire, monarchy, the Church of England — have been eroded.

Many communities have now withdrawn into a kind of tribal loyalty to their own groups. Rightly or wrongly, the spotlight has fallen on the Muslim community, and a journey across the British landscape in many ways has to begin with them. [NPR (National Public Radio)] Read more

The Free World Bars Free Speech

For years, the Western world has listened aghast to stories out of Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations of citizens being imprisoned or executed for questioning or offending Islam. Even the most seemingly minor infractions elicit draconian punishments. Late last year, two Afghan journalists were sentenced to prison for blasphemy because they translated the Koran into a Farsi dialect that Afghans can read. In Jordan, a poet was arrested for incorporating Koranic verses into his work. And last week, an Egyptian court banned a magazine for running a similar poem.

But now an equally troubling trend is developing in the West. Ever since 2006, when Muslims worldwide rioted over newspaper cartoons picturing the prophet Muhammad, Western countries, too, have been prosecuting more individuals for criticizing religion. The "Free World," it appears, may be losing faith in free speech. [The Washington Post] Read more

The Guardian and Islamism - is anybody counting?

Last week The Guardian’s Comment is Free (CiF) weblog published a robust defence of ‘mainstream Islamists such as Daud Abdullah’ claiming that they were being ‘unjustly demonised and uniquely held out for political attack’. This also illustrated the power of anti-Islamist groups.

Daud Abdullah, the deputy secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), recently attended a conference of Islamic religious scholars, clerics and Hamas officials in Istanbul and signed the conference declaration (see BBC report: Clerics urge new jihad over Gaza). [Archbishop Cranmer] Read more

Studying European Islam

On January 1st, 2009, the Free University named Thijl Sunier to the first 'Islam in Europa' professor. The interest of this professorship: following a dynamic religions which is developing in a European context.

"Islam in Europe is now in a transition phase. It changes from a brought along religion to an integrated one. Therefore it's necessary to study and research the dynamics and changes in Islam, such as it experiences in Europe. [Islam in Europe] Read more

Islamophobia or legitimate defense

Swiss newspaper Le Matin reports of a new book titled "Islamophobia or legitimate defense: Equality of the Sexes and Democracy - the Swiss face Islamic Fundamentalism". In her book Mireille Valette says that when it comes to Islam, in Switzerland, the only ones to be constantly heard on the side of this religion are the fundamentalist, their imams and their spokespeople. Even worse, to put the people to sleep, these spokespeople adorn themselves with the trappings of modernity and open mind, and are specialists in double-talk, ducking and maneuvering. [Islam in Europe] Read more

Muslim chaplain at Harvard to be toying with idea of executing apostates?

.... there is an uproar developing over comments made by Harvard Muslim Chaplain Taha Abdul-Basser in response to an email query about apostasy stating that apostates should be killed - though they can only be killed by a legitimate “Muslim governmental authority and can not be performed by non-state, private actors.”

Concerned Muslims who are Harvard alums (or not) are being encouraged to write to Harvard and complain. Some are calling for his removal. Below the fold, the message fragment that is being forwarded around. [Talk Islam] Read more See Also: [Diana West] Read more

A Muslim mother was turned away from a school parents' evening for her son because she was wearing a full-length veil

Police were called when the 34-year-old refused to leave Our Lady and St. John Catholic Art College, in Blackburn, Lancashire, which she attended herself. The comprehensive school operates a policy which requires anyone entering the building to remove specific headwear for identification purposes.

She claims the problem first surfaced at a parents' evening two years when she was told she was not allowed into the main hall while wearing her niqab. The full veil, which covers all the body except the eyes, is worn by a minority of Muslim women in the UK as part of their religious beliefs, to protect their modesty from men. [telegraph.co.uk] Read more

Muslim Union says veiled woman should not use bus-passes

Bus drivers are right to require to reject Muslim women who get on the bus with a monthly pass and a veiled face, says the Muslim Union, which represents 30 Muslim associations and organizations.

The union published a statement calling on Muslim women to accept that they can only pay with a ticket, if they go with a niqab for religious reasons. A niqab only leaves the eyes visible.

The union says that bus drivers should of course be able to obtain identification from the passengers to a sufficient degree, so that they can adequately establish the correspondence between the passenger and the photo in her pass. [Islam in Europe] Read more

British Islam after Rushdie

The young Muslims who protested on the streets of Bradford, Bolton, and Birmingham, who attended in their thousands the rallies in Hyde Park, are no longer so young, but neither are they so old. Most are probably in their late thirties or forties. Half a generation behind them are the young Muslims of today, the inheritors of a mantle forged in the flames of a burning book.

One strand of the Islamist narrative that began twenty years ago led, tragically, to the events of the 7 July 2005. But, as I have argued before (Prospect, August 2008), Islamism is not—and never was—a unitary phenomenon and other threads have led in different directions. How have these other stories turned out?

In order to find out, I began a journey across Britain, speaking to "ordinary" young Muslims—that is, those who are not, or have ever been, affiliated to radical Islamism—from different ethnic, class, regional and doctrinal backgrounds. I wanted to hear what they had to say for themselves; I wanted to peer into their inner worlds, to mine their experiences and emotions as well as their thoughts and opinions. [Prospect] Read more

Mosque goers vs. Dog walkers

Visitors of the El Fath mosque in the Amersfoort neighborhood of Liendert (Netherlands) and dog walkers along the Valleikanaal, behind the prayer house, are not hitting it off. Some mosque goers are annoyed by the four-legged animals, who for many Muslims are impure, running freely.

The dog owners say that El Fath didn't have permission for an entrance on the footpath. Most don't plan to leash their dogs. Local party BPA brought the issue up to the city council. [Islam in Europe] Read more

In Defense of Blasphemy

Firstly, there is currently no other society – within UCT (University of Cape Town) and its surrounding sphere – that represents a naturalistic world-view, defends reason as opposed to the proliferation of “faith”, and stands up for secularism, freedom of speech and thought amidst the clamouring of clerical bullies. Indeed, last year when religious lobbies at UCT demanded the exam time-table be changed to cater for their holidays, mostly religious students were given a voice, since they had one in the solidarity of a society.

For the first time, the unification of those who stand for reason must coagulate their disproportionate views into a coherent stream of civilised, open criticism of a surrounding environment, filled with a plethora of faith-based initiatives. Francis Goya’s eminent painting, in 1799, encapsulates our drive, entitled “the sleep of reason brings forth monsters.” [Tauriq Moosa] Read more

Religious Persecution Wolf in Anti-Defamation Sheep’s Clothing

The Inquisition is back, and this time it has set up shop at the United Nations. Consider the resolution “Combating the Defamation of Religions” passed by a comfortable margin last week at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva (and passed by the General Assembly every year since 2005).

The resolution decries a “campaign of defamation of religions,” intensifying since 2001, in which “the media” and “extremist organizations” are “perpetuating stereotypes about certain religions” (read: Islam) and “sacred persons” (read: Muhammad). It urges UN member states to provide redress “within their respective legal and constitutional systems.”

Capitalizing on cartoon riots and Western anxieties over the excesses of the war on terror, the language conflates peaceful criticism of Islam with anti-Muslim bigotry and seeks to stifle speech in the name of “respect for religions and beliefs.” [Religion Dispatches] Read more

Driver kicks niqab wearing woman off bus

A woman wearing a Muslim veil was kicked off a bus Monday, after she got on an Arriva bus with her husband and children in Aarhus (Denmark), reports Århus Stiftstidende.

The driver said he doesn't drive women with a veil since he doesn't drive masked passengers and refused to continue unless the woman got off. The woman and her family are originally from Algeria. She wears a veil and niqab, which covers her face. [Islam in Europe] Read more

The slow death of freedom of expression

The United Nations Human Rights Council today passed a resolution aimed at restricting criticism of religion, or ‘religious defamation’. Roy W Brown examines why the UN is putting protection of ideas above freedom of expression.

Slowly but inexorably the shutters are coming down on what history will surely recall as one of the high-points of human civilisation: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The first shot was fired by Ayatollah Khomeini shortly after he came to power in the Iranian Revolution of 1979, when he said: ‘When we want to know about human rights we do not go to the UN, we go to the Holy Quran.’

Since then, Islamic states and their allies have been slowly whittling away at the Universal Declaration and its counterpart in international law, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). [Index on Censorship] Read more

A smart and tough approach to Islamist extremism: The Government is right to take on the unrepresentative minority

The Government unveiled a new strategy yesterday designed to curb domestic Islamist radicalisation. A rethink was certainly in order. The suspension earlier this week of official ties with the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) was a vivid demonstration of the shortcomings of the previous strategy.

Public money was channelled to the organisation to help it turn the young away from terror. But it turned out that, despite its name, the MCB was not actually representative of British Muslims, and it had little clout with those individuals the Government needed to influence.

The problem is that British Muslims are a diverse and fragmented community. Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Somalis, Iraqis and Nigerians living in Britain all have different cultures, outlooks and economic circumstances. The lesson is that it would be better for the Government to decentralise its approach to dealing with British Muslims, rather than trying to communicate through a single umbrella organisation of doubtful authority such as the MCB. [independent.co.uk] Read more

Overheard at the Human Rights Council Geneva during a discussionof the resolution “Combating Defamation of Religions”

NGO representative: “You can’t defame an object or an idea. You can’t defame a dead person, you can’t defame the Prophet Mohammed.” Pakistani delegate: “That’s precisely why we need this resolution. He’s not around to defend himself!” Read more

Concern Grows Over Proliferation of Fatwas

An explosion of fatwas on television and the Internet has led to contradictory and occasionally bizarre decrees. The problem is that although Sunni Muslims do have rules for who can become a mufti, a scholar who may issue fatwas, there is no clear mechanism for enforcing them. And these days, viewers of Arab satellite channels are being deluged with fatwas.

There have been fatwas both encouraging and forbidding Muslims from fighting in jihads in other countries or belonging to militant groups. A Saudi cleric said owners of TV channels could be killed for broadcasting immoral content. An Egyptian cleric — not on TV, but from Cairo's venerable Al Azhar University itself — issued the much-ridiculed "breastfeeding fatwa," which proposed that a woman could work alongside an unrelated man if she had breast-fed him five times.

Cairo lawmaker Mustafa al-Gendi says enough is enough. Gendi says fatwas were originally intended to be private decisions to help individuals with their problems, and blanket prescriptions for the masses were rare and only issued by the most senior and trusted muftis. [NPR (National Public Radio)] Read more