Two Christian brothers sentenced to death for blasphemy in Punjab

Qaisar and Amoon Ayub, from Lahore, were arrested in 2015 after one of the two was accused of posting offensive material against Islam on their website.

Qaisar and his wife Amina have three children, whilst Amoon is married to Huma, a teacher at Lahore Cathedral School.

The allegations surfaced in 2011 when they were accused of posting disrespectful material on their website; however, the accused say that their website was not active since 2009.

The two brothers have been held in Jhelum District Jail since their arrest. Additional Session judge Javed Iqbal Bosal informed them of the sentence directly in the prison for security reasons.

CLAAS, an interdenominational organisation dedicated to the victims of religious intolerance, has been representing the accused and now plans to appeal the sentence before the Lahore High Court.

Blasphemy charges tend to trigger violent reaction among Islamic radicals, who interfere with the proper operations of the court system and threaten judges. [AsiaNews] Read more

Non-stunned Halal meat campaigner says Kirklees should have apologised to families

Kirklees Council has come under renewed attack for serving non-stunned halal meat in its schools.

It has been accused of being "deficient" in its handling of the issue and of its "ongoing failure to be transparent with families and the wider public".

In a deputation to a meeting of full council in Huddersfield Town Hall on Wednesday, Aleks Lukic, who set up an online petition calling for all meat served in the borough's schools to be stunned before slaughter, said the authority should have issued an immediate apology to local families concerned about the issue. He also provided advice enabling them to make informed choices.

Mr Lukic, added: "This council should also have immediately considered supplying alternative choices of meat to those schools where only non-stunned meat is currently served, while evaluating the case for stopping the supply of non-stunned meat altogether."

Mr Lukic said the petition, which attracted 7,000 signatures, was set up primarily to persuade the council to change its policy and uphold welfare standards during slaughter. [ExaminerLive] Read more

Government urged to adopt new definition of Islamophobia following rise in hate crimes

The government has been urged by more than 50 cross-party parliamentarians to adopt a new definition of Islamophobia which would classify discrimination against Muslims as a form of racism, The Independent can reveal.

Members of a cross-party group of MPs and peers have warned discrimination against Muslims in the UK is going “unreported and unchallenged” because of the absence of a concrete definition.

The warning comes weeks after official government statistics showed reports of racial and religiously motivated hate crime in England and Wales had risen for a fifth consecutive year.

Following six months of consultations with various groups, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims proposed “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness” as an official definition.

Now, in a cross-party letter from the APPG seen by The Independent, dozens of parliamentarians are calling on the government to adopt the phrase to clearly identify what constitutes discrimination against Muslims. [The Independent] Read more

Egyptian Christian Receives Three-Year Prison Sentence for Insulting Islam

International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on November 27, Coptic Christian Abd Adel Bebawy was sentenced by an Egyptian court to three years in prison for “insulting Islam in the first degree.” His lawyer was granted access to the verdict on December 6 and has opened an appeal which is expected to be heard at the end of December.

Bebawy was originally arrested in Minbal, a village located in Upper Egypt’s Minya Governorate on July 6, 2018. He had posted on Facebook an image of God, the angel Gabriel, and a verse from the Quran. The day after he was arrested and charged by the police, a mob gathered in Minbal and attacked several Christian homes. It is common for Islamic extremists in Egypt to collectively punish the Christian community for the perceived wrongs of one individual.

One Christian woman, Mariam, shared with ICC shortly following the July attack, “The mob stoned the houses of all the Christians (in Minbal). The Christians were afraid and all locked themselves in their houses and closed the wooden shutters of the windows.” [Persecution.org] Read more

Twitter warns critics of Islamic extremism that their tweets could break Pakistani law

Twitter has warned prominent critics of Islamic extremism that their tweets may break Pakistani law.

The social network has emailed two well-known commentators on Islam, terrorism and women’s rights to tell them that their tweeting has been complained about and could be illegal in the country.

Pakistan has previously threatened to block Twitter if the company did not remove content which the government had deemed “offensive”.

The recipients of the emails are not of Pakistani nationality or resident in Pakistan.

One of them, Saudi Arabia-born human rights activist Ensaf Haidar was contacted by Twitter’s legal department, who told her that the social network had received “official correspondence” about her account. [The Telegraph] Read more

Home secretary urged not to adopt definition of ‘Islamophobia'

The National Secular Society has urged the home secretary to resist calls to adopt a formal definition of 'Islamophobia' which have been put forward by a parliamentary group.

NSS chief executive Stephen Evans co-ordinated a letter to Sajid Javid on the subject after a high-profile reportfrom the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on British Muslims.

The APPG's report recommended that the government define 'Islamophobia' as "a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness".

The NSS's letter has been co-signed by six other activists. A shortened version was published in the Sunday Times.

The letter called the APPG's definition "vague and unworkable" and said it "conflates hatred of, and discrimination against, Muslims with criticism of Islam".

"While we believe that in a liberal secular society individuals should be afforded respect and protection, we are clear that ideas should not." [National Secular Society] Read more

Acquitted of blasphemy and living in fear in Pakistan

Saima - not her real name- still hasn't recovered from her four years in solitary confinement in a small Pakistani prison cell.

"Even now I feel like I am in jail. You can see the scars on my legs from when I was chained."

Saima was sentenced to life imprisonment for having committed blasphemy, before her conviction was eventually overturned.

She says her jailers at times wouldn't give her food because she was Christian. "They would say, 'You disgraced our religion,'" she told the BBC.

She was accused of defiling the Koran and using it to perform exorcisms.

But Saima says her Muslim neighbours launched the case against her, following a petty fight between their children.

.... According to the Pakistani penal code, anyone convicted of insulting Prophet Muhammad can be sentenced to death, and anyone guilty of insulting "any religion" can be sent to jail for up to 10 years.

A spokesman for the police in Punjab, Pakistan's largest province, declined to give figures on the number of blasphemy cases registered this year.

But at least 1,472 people were charged under the law between 1987 and 2016, according to advocacy group the Centre for Social Justice. [BBC] Read more

The danger of the ‘Islamophobia’ label

MPs' official attempt to legally define ‘Islamophobia’ is deeply flawed.

Sadiq Khan is an Islamophobe. Not just any old Islamophobe, and not just in the woollier parts of the web. According to a group part-funded by the EU called the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), the mayor of London, a practising Muslim, is one of the four ‘politicians and figures of note in the UK who [have] flagrantly displayed the most Islamophobia’ in 2018.

Barack Obama is an Islamophobe. Cathy Newman, the Channel 4 News presenter, is an Islamophobe. So are Louise Casey, who led an inquiry into the Rotherham grooming scandal, Michael Wilshaw, the ex-head of Ofsted, and Maajid Nawaz, the Muslim counter-extremism activist. Over the last few years, all have been shortlisted for the coveted ‘Islamophobe of the Year’ trophy at the IHRC’s annual Islamophobia Awards, a real event with a real gala dinner in a real London hotel ballroom.

.... One of the APPG’s secretariat, Muhbeen Hussain, is from Rotherham, where in 2015 he organised the local Muslim community to boycott the police for their ‘Islamophobic’ behaviour after the child-sex grooming scandal. And the man who jointly coined the proposed definition of Islamophobia?

He is Salman Sayyid, ‘professor of social theory and decolonial thought’ at Leeds. But Professor Sayyid has another gig, too: he works with our very dear friends the Islamic Human Rights Commission. He’s even spoken at the Islamophobia Awards: the year they gave it to Barack Obama. [The Spectator] Read more

Watchdog condemns Muslim Aid

The former management of Muslim Aid, one of Britain’s largest charities with a budget of £34 million a year, has been condemned by the Charity Commission for failing to safeguard against funding illegal groups.

The charity, which worked in some of the most sensitive conflict zones, failed to check whether its money was going to blacklisted groups. The failed group has been wound up and replaced by a new organisation with the same name.

The previous Muslim Aid was run by Islamic leaders including former senior figures in the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), an influential lobby group. Its secretary was the physicist Muhammad Abdul Bari, who wrote an MCB paper on education with Tahir Alam, chairman of governors at one of the Birmingham “Trojan Horse” schools.

One of the founding trustees was Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, whom a war crime tribunal in Bangladesh sentenced in his absence to hang. He has denied allegations linking him to the killing of pro-independence activists during the civil war in the 1970s. [The Times (£)] Read more

Isn't it time Bradford reviewed its policy on halal meat?

SIR - You have been reporting on the controversy that some schools in Kirklees serve meat from animals that are not pre-stunned before slaughter and yet in Bradford ALL the halal meat served in maintained schools is from non-stunned animals.

This information isn't given to parents and the Council's webpage goes into considerable detail about "the integrity of our halal food" but doesn't mention animal welfare or make it clear that the animals are not stunned before slaughter.

Given that evidence clearly indicates that slaughter without pre-stunning can cause unnecessary suffering and at least 75 councils across the UK only use meat that is pre-stunned (including at least 47 that provide halal) isn't it time Bradford Council was more transparent on this issue and reviewed its policy by consulting with residents and respected animal welfare organisations? [Telegraph & Argus] Read more

NSS asks Google to remove Indonesian app for reporting blasphemy

The National Secular Society has written to Google to ask it to remove an app which encourages Indonesians to report people they suspect of religious 'heresy' to the authorities.

Two weeks ago the Indonesian government launched the Smart Pakem app, which allows Indonesians to report "deviant" religious ideas.

The app lists several religious minority groups, including the Ahmadiyah, Shia, and Gafatar. It names their leaders and Indonesian office addresses and describes their "deviant teachings".

Rights groups have condemned the app but it remains available on the Google Play store. It has received a series of negative reviews from people concerned about its impact on freedom of expression.

NSS chief executive Stephen Evans has now written to Rajan Anandan, the vice-president of Google in south-east Asia, to ask the company to reconsider its decision to stock the app.

Mr Evans said the app would help Indonesia's government to crack down on freedom of expression and persecute religious minorities. [National Secular Society] Read more

Parents of 13-Year-Old Syrian Girl Convicted in Swedish Court for Arranging Underage Marriage

A Swedish appeals court has confirmed a conviction against the parents of a 13-year-old Syrian girl for attempting to marry her off to a 24-year-old man, while the child’s intended husband has been found not guilty.

The court upheld a ruling from a Swedish district court that found the parents of the Syrian girl guilty for attempting to plan an arranged marriage in 2015.

The marriage contract had been signed between the young girl and her 24-year-old husband at an engagement party, a press release from the Court of Appeals of Western Sweden stated. [Breitbart London] Read more

Forced marriage law 'could stop victims reporting crime'

Criminalising forced marriage could stop victims from speaking up if their parents are locked up, campaigners say.

While legislation sends a "strong message," a charity working with victims said it also scared off others.

Rubie Marie, 35, who was forced to marry in Bangladesh when she was 15, said: "It is hard because you love your family of course you do... But at the end of the day abuse is abuse."

The Home Office said it was essential victims had confidence to speak out.

Forced marriage became a criminal offence in 2014, but only one case has been brought in Wales since then - with four convictions in total across the UK. [BBC] Read more

Tensions rising in battle for German Islam

The blunders of German officials spurred heated responses from traditional Muslims at last week’s Islam Conference in Berlin, as the two sides seemed to take their positions in the fight for the future of Islam in Germany, and across Europe.

By calling for the end of foreign funding for mosques and a more secular-minded Islam, German officials and liberal-minded German Turks have in recent weeks sought to sideline the conservative Islam of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey.

In response, all three leading Turkish Muslim organisations in Germany sent low-profile figures to the two-day event, instead of their leaders, as a form of protest, reported Diaspora Daily. Some 3 million people of Turkish origin call Germany home; no country is home to a greater share of the Turkish diaspora.

The Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB), which is an arm of the Turkish government, the German chapter of Turkey’s Islamist Millî Görüs movement (IGMG), and the Islamic Council (Islamrat) view several of the figures the government has chosen to invite to the event, and collaborate with, as having questionable Islamic credentials. They often criticise Seyran Ates, who runs an LGBT-friendly Berlin mosque, and former Green Party co-chair Cem Özdemir, leader of the recently launched Initiative for Secular Islam. [Ahval] Read more

Still thumbing their noses at the law: Muslim brothers haven't demolished their illegal religious hideaway months after being ordered to tear it down

Two Muslim brothers ordered to demolish an illegal religious compound north of Sydney have done almost nothing to abide by court orders made three months ago.

Mustapha and Diaa Kara-Ali were told to stop all work on the bushland hideaway at Colo in the Hawkesbury region but instead erected more buildings on the site.

On August 27 the Land and Environment Court ordered the pair to demolish and remove sheds, slabs, fences and every other structure they had illegally built on the property within 28 days.

.... The Kara-Ali brothers had previously said they would not obey Australia law and indicated they would refuse to abide by any court rulings over their religious retreat.

They refused to acknowledge legal action brought by Hawkesbury City Council and for months ignored all orders of the Land and Environment Court.

Mustapha Kara-Ali had told Daily Mail Australia he would refuse council officers access to the land, stating they were 'Cruasaders' and an affront to Islam.

He and Diaa refused to attend the court because they did not recognise its authority. [Daily Mail Australia] Read more

Ukip being turned into 'anti-Islamic party' that could soon have Tommy Robinson as leader, defectors say

Ukip is being turned into an “anti-Islamic party” that could soon have Tommy Robinson as one of its leaders, according to alarmed defectors.

Three MEPs have resigned in a little over two months, amid infighting over leader Gerard Batten’s shift towards the far right.

Robinson is currently banned from becoming a member by party rules, but has been inciting his supporters to join Ukip so they can influence its policies.

The national executive committee (NEC) delayed a potential ballot on Robinson’s membership until after Brexit in March, but Mr Batten responded by making him an “adviser” on grooming gangs and prisons.

Defectors believe Mr Batten will be further emboldened by surviving a vote of no confidence mounted by supporters of former leader Nigel Farage on Sunday. [The Independent] Read more

We Are Still Ignoring Victims Of Anti-Muslim Prejudice

Muslim women overwhelmingly bear the brunt of anti-Muslim attacks, but too often, they are also the target of hatred from other Muslims.

.... This failure to recognise that Muslims can be abused, attacked, even killed, by other Muslims because of their ‘Muslimness’ is a blind spot in our public debate and detrimental to the well-being of British Muslims and those of Muslim heritage.

Finally, this definition worries me as Lead Commissioner for Countering Extremism because it is alarmingly ambiguous when it comes to those who are brave enough to speak out about Islamist extremists and Muslim hate groups.

I’ve seen how some Muslim hate groups promote gender-based violence, homophobia and anti-Semitism. Islamist extremism – just like all forms of extremism - has a damaging impact on Muslims and everyone else in our country.

But too often when Muslim and non-Muslim civil society groups who are motivated by a passion for equality, community cohesion, social justice and human rights push back against hatred, they are subjected to abuse and written off as ‘Islamophobic’. We have seen the distressing consequences, in some Muslim countries, against those who are accused of “insulting Islam”. This has left many feeling deeply fearful. We cannot allow a definition of Islamophobia to have a chilling effect on this vital work.

We all want to live in a society free from hate, discrimination and violence and for people to be able to live their lives freely without fear.

It is high time that national and local anti-hate policy recognised all victims of anti-Muslim prejudice, provided support to them and challenged all perpetrators, regardless of their background. [The Huffington Post UK] Read more

Introduce special Act to protect Islam, Malay rulers

Right wing Malay movement Perkasa has proposed that a special Act, namely the Insulting Islam and the Malay Rulers Act or abbreviated as the ‘Amir’ Act be enacted to prevent actions or attempts to threaten the peace and harmony of the country.

Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali said the law could be enacted with the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Malay Rulers.

“This new Act proposed by Perkasa is the same as the one (lese majeste Act) implemented in Thailand right now. Perkasa suggests that the Act has two sections, the first part provides for detention without trial and the second, open to prosecution in court as a criminal offence.

.... Ibrahim said this punitive Act would act as a reminder and lesson to all parties not to touch on or insult the honour of Islam and the Malay Rulers, as the Malay Rulers are the head of Islam at state and federal levels.

Earlier, at noon, more than 100 Perkasa members had gathered peacefully for an hour at a hotel compound in Jalan Raja Alang here holdings placards and shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’. [Malay Mail] Read more

"Burnt Beyond Recognition": Extremist Persecution of Christians, August 2018

.... another convert to Christianity, Naser Navard Gol-Tapeh, inquired about the charge for which he was convicted: "Action against national security through the establishment of house churches."

On August, 2018, in an open letter to the Iranian court that sentenced him to ten years in prison, he asked, "is the fellowship of a few Christian brothers and sisters in someone's home, singing worship songs, reading the Bible and worshiping God acting against national security?

Isn't it a clear violation of civil and human rights, and an absolute injustice to receive a ten-year prison sentence just for organizing 'house churches...'" Iran is widely considered one of the top ten worst nations where Christians experience "extreme persecution." [Gatestone Institute] Read more

Egyptian actress could face up to five years in prison after wearing a see-through dress that showed off her legs at a film festival in Cairo

An Egyptian actress could face five years in jail after appearing on the red carpet wearing a see-through dress that showed off her legs.

Rania Youssef attended the closing ceremony of a film festival in Cairo on Thursday wearing a black leotard with a transparent over-dress embellished with a sequined criss-cross pattern and a bow belt.

Youssef, who is in her 30s, has now been charged with public obscenity and is set to stand trial on January 12 following a complaint by a group of lawyers to the chief prosecutor. [Daily Mail] Read more

Egyptian actor Rania Youssef charged with public obscenity after wearing 'revealing' dress at film festival

An Egyptian actor could face up to five years in prison if found guilty of public obscenity for wearing a see-through dress that revealed her legs.

Rania Youssef, an actor and model known for her roles in Egyptian films and television shows, attended the closing ceremony of a film festival in Cairo wearing the black dress, which had a gauze skirt.

Her appearance at the event on Thursday caused instant debate on social media.

Users were divided, with some subjecting Ms Youssef to abuse, and others defending her right to wear the dress.

Following the uproar, a group of lawyers complained to Egypt’s chief prosecutor about her appearance and she was subsequently charged with public obscenity. [The Independent] Read more

Prevent critics 'on side of extremists,' says home secretary Sajid Javid

Sajid Javidhas attacked some critics of the government’s Prevent anti-terror scheme for being “on the side of the extremists.”

The Home Secretary warned there were organisations putting out propaganda and false information to turn people away from Prevent, which aims to combat radicalisation that might lead people into terrorism.

"There are organisations out there that are trying to find ways to warp young people's minds and they put out what you might call propaganda or false information to try and turn people away from it. We have to fight against that," he said.

Asked if its name should be changed as some critics have advocated, he said: "The thing about the name is that if you didn't call it Prevent, whatever other name we chose I'm sure there would be people trying to attack it because they actually are on the side of extremists."

Mr Javid did not name any groups but the most vocal critics have been Cage, Prevent Watch and the Muslim Council of Britain. [The Telegraph] Read more

Christians on brink of extinction in Middle East, warns Archbishop of Canterbury

.... Describing the “daily threat of murder” faced in the Middle East, the Most Reverend Justin Welby says Christians are experiencing “the worst situation since the Mongol invasions of the 13th Century”.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Archbishop Welby, the most senior clergyman in the Church of England, calls on the Government to take in more refugees.

It comes as figures have revealed just one in 400 Syrian refugees given asylum in the UK last year were Christians despite them being subjected to “horrendous persecution”.

Highlighting their plight ahead of a special service at Westminster Abbey to celebrate the contribution of Christians in the Middle East, the Archbishop writes: “Christians face daily the threat of violence, murder, intimidation, prejudice and poverty.

.... “Many have left. Hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes. Many have been killed, enslaved and persecuted or forcibly converted. Even those who remain ask the question, 'Why stay?'

The Christian population of Iraq, for instance, is less than half what it was in 2003 and their churches, houses and businesses have been damaged or destroyed. The Syrian Christian population has halved since 2010. As a result, across the region Christian communities that were the foundation of the universal Church now face the threat of imminent extinction.” [The Telegraph] Read more

Extremist Tanveer Ahmed who murdered Glasgow shopkeeper Asad Shah held jail meet-and-greets with fantatics who hail him as a hero

Prison chiefs were forced to intervene after sickos flocked to see the knife nut at Shotts nick, Lanarkshire.

MP Siobhain McDonagh said: “The killing brought him rock star status. It’s terrifying.”

Extremist Ahmed signs photos and posters behind bars for the brainwashed Islamic fanatics who idolise him as a “celebrity”.

He regularly receives letters from supporters asking to visit and salute him in jail for stabbing newsagent Asad Shah to death over a Happy Easter message to customers.

Senior insiders at Shotts prison, Lanarkshire, say zealots from across the UK pray in the car park before going in for the vile meet-and-greets.

A highly-placed source said: “He’s hardcore when it comes to religion and other Muslim inmates are in thrall to him. [The Sun] Read more

Muslims demand full legal protection from Islamophobia

Muslim organisations are urging Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn and all other party leaders to adopt a newly proposed working definition of Islamophobia in an attempt to put pressure on a reluctant Home Office to follow suit.

The Muslim Council of Britain and other Islamic groups want the Conservatives and Labour to take the lead in the aftermath of a week marked by public outrage over the alleged racist bullying of a 15-year-old Syrian refugee in Huddersfield.

The definition was set out in a report published by a cross-party group of MPs last week and says: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.”

Harun Khan, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said his and other groups hoped political leaders would “all understand the importance of listening to communities” and make a “positive response” by adopting the definition.

.... However, a Home Office minister said earlier that the department had no intention of adopting a definition, in response to a question from one of the chairs of the cross-party group, the Conservative MP Anna Soubry. Victoria Atkins told the Commons in March that there were “many definitions of Islamophobia”, but added: “We do not accept the need for a definitive definition, but we know that Islamophobia is clearly recognised and that we have very effective monitoring systems of all race-hate crimes.” [The Guardian] Read more