There is no compulsion in religion, but...

Egyptian Shaykh Muhammad Hassan, who is one of the most popular and well-known Islamic clerics in Egypt and even throughout the Islamic world (there is even a campaign in Egypt to try to get him to run for president), emphasizes in this video that apostates from Islam must be killed.

He argues, interestingly, that this does not conflict with the principle of no compulsion in religion, because no one is forced to enter Islam (or so he says). However, after they choose to enter Islam, they cannot be allowed to leave it.

He contends that this is akin to treason, and every country in the world punishes treason by death. This is a very common argument from Islamic clerics and others who try to defend the killing of apostates, and take on the impossible task of reconciling this with the Western ideas of freedom of religion and conscience. [Translating Jihad] Read more

Sharia: a law unto itself?

After being beaten repeatedly by her husband – who had also threatened to kill her – Jameela turned to her local Sharia council in a desperate bid for a way out of her marriage.

Today she discovers the verdict. Playing nervously with her hands, the young mother-of-three listens as the panel of judges discuss whether they should grant her a divorce.

.... Although the judges appear sympathetic, they are concerned about the rights of the father, as Islamic law says he is still responsible for his children’s education. “For the sake of the children, you must keep up the façade of cordial relations,” says Dr Naseem. “The worst thing that can happen to a child is to see the father and mother quarrelling.” [telegraph.co.uk] Read more

Dad forbids daughter to play with non-Muslim children

When he went to court seeking custody of the little girl, who was born in 2007, a federal magistrate said it was disturbing that he had tried to alienate the girl from the non-Muslim community in Australia.

The Federal Magistrates' Court, sitting in Victoria, heard that the girl had refused to play with another, fair-haired girl during a visit with a family counsellor.

The girl allegedly said "Baba says it is haram", explaining to her mother that she was not allowed to play with non-Muslim children.

The family counsellor searched for the meanings of the words on the internet and discovered "Baba" meant father and "haram" meant forbidden, the federal court heard. [Herald Sun] Read more [via The Iconoclast]

Islam and democracy - Uneasy companions

“OF COURSE they say nice things these days,” says a Lebanese woman, a sophisticated Sunni Muslim in her 50s, gliding between English, French and Arabic. “They know who they’re talking to. But you cannot trust them—absolutely not.”

Again and again, in secular and liberal circles in Beirut, Cairo, Rabat, Tunis and even Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, you hear almost identical dark warnings against the Islamist movements that are gaining ground across the Arab world as dictators are toppled, tackled or forced into concessions. [The Economist] Read more

Assaulted for wearing a sleeveless shirt

.... A few days ago, a police officer along with his squad burst into the Nairang Art Gallery and beat up the female curator for wearing a sleeveless dress and interacting with men. The police officer, a SHO, was perturbed by the ‘fahash’ ambience of the place.

After being assaulted the woman and her colleagues who came to her rescue were taken to the police station and booked under an obsolete ordinance.

Nairang Art Gallery is a work of devotion to art, literature, music and design by the iconic architect Nayyer Ali Dada. Some say it’s the modern day’s equivalent of the Pak Tea House – where left-leaning intellectuals come to spend their time. [The Express Tribune] Read more [via The Samosa]

Europe needs a grassroots movement to tackle the threat of Islamophobia

.... Expressions of outrage are no longer enough. There needs to be a grassroots movement across Europe to stand up to those who peddle bogus religious justifications, resurrecting memories of the Crusades; to expose the racist ideology drawn from nazism, in which Muslims have now become the new Jews of Europe; and to tackle the myth of "Islamification" and those who claim to be defending western civilisation, Christian and secular, from conquest by Muslim immigration and the spread of sharia law. [Guardian Cif] Read more

WLUML dossier on the struggle for secularism

.... when we speak against the growing rise of Muslim fundamentalism, we are accused of being sold out to governments, labelled racist, or ‘Islamophobic’2, as if one could not struggle at the same time against both the traditional extreme right and the new fundamentalist extreme right.

What is problematic, in short, is not what we do for women’s rights, for secularism and against the rise of fundamentalism, but where we do it. Should we wage these same struggles in our countries of origin, we would get support or at least we would not be accused in the same way.

Progressive forces in Europe are afraid to get into the same situation and to be labelled ‘Islamophobic’ and racist. Bending to both the pressure from fundamentalists (a tactic we know well for they use the same one to silence us in our countries) and to the guilt feelings inherited from the colonial past, progressive forces fear above all to confront Muslim fundamentalists (and not other fundamentalisms), as they know that fundamentalists will accuse them to be ‘against Islam’, as they claim they are Islam and the only legitimate representatives of the true Islam. [Women Living Under Muslim Laws] Read more [via Butterflies and Wheels]

Muslim woman attacked for having relationship with non-Muslim

A Muslim woman (34) from the Brussels suburb of Schaarbeek was attacked Wednesday night for having a relationship with a non-Muslim.

The woman left her residence with her partner at 8:30pm, when three youth turned up and started punching her. The three ran off. They were chased by a witness, who manged to catch Mohammed (19) and call the police.

The young man was taken for questioning, where he told the police that he attacked the woman because she was having a relationship with a non-Muslim and he couldn't accept that.

According to Brussels parliamentarian Fouad Ahidar (sp.a) This is not the first time Muslim women are attacked for having a relationship with a non-Muslim, but such attacks are often kept quiet. [Islam in Europe] Read more

25 jailed for eating in public during Ramadan

A total of 25 people were arrested and sent to jail in Pakistan's central Punjab province for eating in public during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The people were arrested in Faisalabad city this week for violating the Ehteram-e-Ramadan Ordinance, officials said.

A spokesman of the city district government said special teams had been formed to conduct raids and nab persons who were found eating in public. The raiding teams arrested 25 people from across the city for eating and drinking in public. These people were sent to jail for 72 hours, the spokesman said. [Rediff.com] Read more

Letter on Sharia Law to Justice Ministry

.... the councils openly admit to carrying out these activities and they do so within a context where a woman’s testimony is worth half of a man’s, marital rape is deemed “impossible” and violence against women is permissible provided it does not leave any marks.

These councils operate as registered charities – I wonder if you could clarify under which legislation registered charities are permitted to carry out such activities.

.... you also state “The Government does not prevent individuals from seeking to regulate their lives through religious beliefs or cultural traditions”. However, I am seeking clarification on whether there is any limit to this, and where that limit lies. For example, if permissible domestic violence is deemed to be a “cultural tradition”, does this take precedence over our anti-violence laws? [Maryam Namazie] Read more

Perspectives on Sharia law in Britain

.... Christina Patterson is right to raise concerns about Sharia councils and tribunals operating in this country. Under the Arbitration Act 1996 their "judgements" can in fact acquire the force of law; a recent Bill introduced by Baroness Cox would have amended this situation.

Not only is Sharia law "gynophobic" as David Crawford's letter points out (4 August), but Sharia bodies should never be making decisions about children in "custody" cases. Their rulings are not in line with the Children Act 1989, which is supposed to protect all children in the country.

Sharia looks to fixed rules and arbitrary preferences on where the child shall live, according to her/his age; the Children Act, by contrast, seeks the welfare of each individual child, in his or her unique individual circumstances, as the guiding principle for settling where the child should live, and who should have contact with him/her. [independent.co.uk] Read more

New Muslim 'Reality' Show Is Anything But

The American TV network TLC recently announced that it is making a reality series following the lives of Muslims living in America. The program—called "All American Muslim"—will follow five Muslim families in Dearborn, Michigan, hoping to expose the "misconceptions and conflicts" they face "outside and within" their own community…

.... If one truly wished to understand the differences between the Muslim and Western mindsets, one need only look to their respective medias. Far from trying to depict the "other"—the infidel—as "just one of us," the Arab media is devoted to making the West look as if it is on a "crusade" to destroy Islam, and that the Jews are "pigs and monkeys" who are behind any number of animal-related conspiracies. Meanwhile, here is America's media, floating in an idealistic, Utopian bubble, conditioning minds accordingly. [Hudson New York] Read more

Muslim Countries Financing Jihad in Spain

.... A newly leaked secret report prepared by Spain's National Intelligence Center (CNI), excerpts of which were published by the Madrid-based El País newspaper on July 31, says the Spanish government is struggling to stop the flow of tens of millions of dollars to Islamic groups in Spain from Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and above all Saudi Arabia.

The CNI report states: "The financing is having negative consequences for [multicultural] coexistence in Spain, such as the emergence of parallel societies and ghettos, Islamic courts and police that operate outside of Spanish jurisprudence, removing girls from schools, forced marriages, etc." [Hudson New York] Read more

Hague: Dentist opens night for Ramadan patients

For the first time in the Netherlands, Peter Thiel, a dentist from the Hague is opening his clinic in the evenings and nights during Ramadan, to enable fasting Muslims to get dental care.

"they can't swallow their own saliva from sunrise to sunset," explains Thiel. "One of my patients told me last week that because of that he didn't want to come for a follow-up appointment. That got me thinking."

After speaking with an imam in the Hague, he decided to open his clinic in the evenings and nights. Muslim who want to, can come to him after sunset. He accepts emergency cases all night. [Islam in Europe] Read more

Teacher suspended for 'insulting' Muhammad in Bangladesh

A Hindu teacher in Muslim-majority Bangladesh has been suspended after allegedly making offensive remarks about the Prophet Muhammad that triggered angry protests.

Madan Mohan Das, a follower of the Hindu faith, taught at the Dhanmondi Government Boys High School from the year 2010. On July 26, 2011, he allegedly made disparaging remarks about the Islamic Prophet's pilgrimage and his numerous wives at a teachers' meeting that infuriated many teachers, students and parents.

The comments led to severe protests around the city and at the school, where protesters ransacked the office building, broke flower pots and vandalized the garden. [Deutsche Welle] Read more

Family of albino Muslims terrorised after one of them marries a Christian man

.... Aslam Parvez, 53, blames members of the Muslim community who believe the family have been dishonoured by his daughter's marriage.

The hate campaign started five months ago when a national magazine published an article on albinos which featured Naseem, who no longer lives in Coventry and has little contact with her family.

It revealed how she has married a Christian, goes to church and is expecting her second child with her husband.

Moved away: Daughter Naseem Akhtar married a Christian and spoke about her life in a magazine

Mr Parvez says copies of the article were quickly spread maliciously, and were posted on walls near their house and through the doors of Muslim homes in the community. [MailOnline] Read more

Iranian youths arrested for public water pistol fight in Tehran

In the 40C heat of an Iranian summer, what better way to have fun and stay cool than a water fight with friends? In the Islamic republic, however, things are a bit more complicated.

For one group of boys and girls, their game turned serious when they were arrested for taking part in a water pistol fight in a park in the capital, Tehran.

Last Friday hundreds of enthusiasts used plastic pistols and empty bottles to play in the ironically named Garden of Water and Fire for hours and, to the surprise of many, without police interference. But the event – organised on Facebook – prompted criticism from conservatives when pictures of it emerged online days later. [guardian.co.uk] Read more

In the Burqa Ban, Italy's Left and Right Find Something to Agree On

.... the bill's main sponsor is a naturalized Moroccan immigrant, a Muslim woman who runs an association of Moroccan women and edits an Arabic-language newspaper.

Souad Sbai is a member of Silvio Berlusconi's party and a former member of the National Alliance, a party with fascist roots that in Italy's topsy-turvy political system has become one of the country's main champions of immigrant rights. she is also championing a measure that would ease the path to citizenship for second-generation immigrants.

Sbai says she proposed the veil ban as a response to what she says is a rising wave of extremism in Italy's Islamic community: "I feel humiliated having to talk about burqas. I never saw burqas [as a child in Morocco]. Why do I see them here?" [TIME.com] Read more

Latest threat to the Islamic Republic: squirt gun fights

.... I got up early in the morning to write the previous post on the Islamic Republic’s lack of tolerance for a public water pistol fight in a Tehran park. By the time I got home in the evening, the state TV was parading some of the organisers and participants who were confessing to their “crime.”

The head of the Moral Police, Roozbehani : “We have asked the judiciary to deal with these wrong doers as severely as possible. We can not tolerate such public events any where in the country”. [Harry’s Place] Read more

Germany Tries to Forge European Brand of Islam

.... One challenge is that nearly 90% of the nation's imams come from abroad, particularly Turkey, and many promote an Islam that is "oriented to Turkey," said Rauf Ceylan, professor of religious sciences at the University of Osnabrück, and therefore "disturb the integration process."

With German consent, the Turkish government began sending imams to Germany in the 1980s, a decision fueled by concern that more conservative forms of Islamic teaching forbidden in Turkey were taking hold among Europe's Turkish diaspora.

Today, some 900 mosques, about one-third of the total in Germany, are led by Turkish-state employees. These imams, Mr. Ceylan said, have trouble relating to a new generation of German Muslims because they often know little about German society when they arrive for periods of up to five years and speak little German. [WSJ.com] Read more [via National Secular Society]

Italy approves draft law to ban burqa

An Italian parliamentary commission has approved a draft law banning women from wearing veils that cover their faces in public.

The draft, which was passed by the constitutional affairs commission on Tuesday, would prohibit women from going in public wearing a burqa, niqab or any other garment that covers the face. It would expand a decades-old law that for security reasons prohibits people from wearing face-covering items such as masks in public places.

Women who violate the ban would face fines, while third parties who forced women to cover their faces in public would be fined and face up to 12 months in jail. [AP - Guardian] Read more

Egypt's Islamists mobilising mass support

.... When a protest was called in Tahrir Square late last week, it was known the Islamists would dominate it. But the numbers brought in by the Salafists far exceeded even those the Muslim Brotherhood could muster.

The Salafists favour an Islamic state, with Sharia law, as soon as possible, whereas the Brotherhood has emphasised the separation of state and religion - at least for the time being.

Hundreds of thousands of Salafists came to the square - many waving the flag of Al Nour or "The Light", the party they have established to contest the elections.

One Westernised Cairo woman who was shocked by this show of strength said to me "I think I will have to leave Egypt". [BBC] Read more

Two legal systems, and two choices. Which do we want?

.... And I'm absolutely sure that those councils are not all run by highly educated, moderate Muslims like him.

Most of them, according to Fiyaz Mughal, the Muslim director of an organisation called Faith Matters, are run by men over 60 who "don't have a clue what happens in life in this country" and "will give you an autocratic, dictatorial line".

Sharia, he told me, "was never meant to be an imposition on communities". Young Muslims, he said, need to be given the opportunity, "to revive the 500-year-old Muslim tradition of healthy debate".

God (or Allah, or whoever) only knows how we've got ourselves into this position, where a big chunk of our population waits for the edicts of men schooled in a medieval interpretation of a 1,500-year-old religion, with medieval views on freedom of expression, homosexuality and women's rights.

Some of it, clearly, is a result of a Labour government which thought it didn't matter what you believed as long as you were sincere, even if that sincere belief meant wanting you dead. [independent.co.uk] Read more

Poll: Muslims, atheists most likely to reject violence

New data from polling firm Gallup shows that out of all the religious groups in the U.S., Muslims are most likely to reject violence, followed by the non-religious atheists and agnostics.

Through interviews with 2,482 Americans, Gallup found that 78 percent of Muslims believe violence which kills civilians is never justified, whereas just 38 percent of Protestant Christians and 39 percent of Catholics agreed with that sentiment. Fifty-six percent of atheists answered similarly. [The Raw Story] Read more [via loonwatch.com]

Italy: 'Moderate' Muslims cheer draft law banning 'women-segrating' burka

The approval of a Italian draft law to ban the burka is a victory for women's rights, according to some leaders of Italy's Muslim community

"We learned of the news with great pleasure," said Gamal Bouchaib and Ahmed Bashir of advocacy group Moderate Muslims in Italy and Mustapha Mansouri, member of the Interior Ministry's Committee for Islam, an advisory group, in a joint statement.

The draft law passed by a parliamentary committee on Tuesday would prohibit the wearing of a burka, niqab or any headwear which covers the face. It has the backing of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's government and is due to face a parliamentary vote when politicians return from their summer break. [AKI] Read more [via Islam in Europe]