Why do Muslims hate music?

.... Teaching music in state schools has always been prohibited, Bagherzadeh added. A school that teaches music may be permanently closed and its director barred from opening another school, he emphasised. The ban applies to the use of all instruments, including those played in traditional Iranian music. Iran’s 16,000 private schools have 1.1 million students.

Meanwhile, Iran has set aside $1.5 billion to promote “moral conduct,” including enforcement of its dress code for women, “to solve the cultural and social ills” in society, Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar said last month. [The Freethinker] Read more

Belgium: Parents against halal food for their children

"Muslims can only consume halal meat due to their faith, but that doesn't mean our children have to eat it," they say. The parents are asking for an alternative burger for their children, but the school says that's 'practically impossible'.

"Leaving our children home is also not an option, because we won't be refunded the cost of the outing." Several dozen parents have meanwhile signed the petition. [Islam in Europe] Read more

We need a compact with Muslim Middle England

One of the unsung heroes of this year’s election campaign was the Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse, Jim Fitzpatrick. Alone in his party, Mr Fitzpatrick stood up before the election and said something that everyone in east London Labour knew, but no one else had the guts to put on record.

To my newspaper, the Sunday Telegraph, and Channel 4’s Dispatches, he blew the whistle on the way that, in his words, the Tower Hamlets Labour party had been infiltrated and ‘corrupted’ by a radical Islamist group, the Islamic Forum of Europe, rather as the Militant Tendency operated in the 1980s. [The Spectator] Read more

Saudi religious police probe MTV programme for 'sin'

The two men and a woman were featured in a MTV documentary talking about how they wanted to subvert the Islamic laws of the country. In recent years the rulers of the oil-rich kingdom have said they want to instigate reforms. But lawyers say the three could face stern penalties. The Saudi judicial system is based on a strict Islamic code and can hand out jail terms and floggings for people who break them. [BBC] Read more

Conning the World. Veiling the Truth with Bedazzling Burkas

.... This policeman asked to see the lady’s license. Of course to check her license the policeman had to see the lady’s face and you know what that means for a Muslim feminista. Instant outrage. This lady did what any oppressed victim who has been asked to show her diriver’s license would do.

She went straight to the media and complained that the policeman was a racist, shouted at her, grabbed her veil and wanted to pull it off. Not a shy little hyacinth, this lass went to Channel 7 and told her tearful story aided and abetted by her Muslim handlers. [Australian Islamist Monitor] Read more [via The Iconoclast]

The Polite Islamophobia of the Intellectual

.... It is this messiness at the heart of contemporary Islam that needs to be highlighted even if it is less rhetorically gripping than a slavery-freedom narrative or has a less visceral appeal than an account of fatwas for or against public stoning for adultery.

All of us—not just academics and Islam watchers—need to recognize the real face (or faces, more accurately) of the 21st-century Muslim world, which is no less diverse and complex, nor less baffling, bemusing, and ennobling than its Abrahamic counterparts who happen to be, or choose to be, Christian, Jewish, or even secular.

One can opt for Islamophobia or Islamophilia, but either option misses the actual drama of today’s Muslim world, its enduring search for consensus and its multiple contestants for authority—both at home and abroad. [Religion Dispatches] Read more [via loonwatch.com]

Most victims of Muslim religious persecution are other Muslims

Religious persecution in Muslim countries has gotten a lot of ink lately, but what's been mostly overlooked is that Muslims themselves are the most frequent victims of that persecution.

Members of minority religions are hurt disproportionately, owing largely to the government's failure to prosecute crimes committed against these individuals. But in terms of sheer numbers, it is Muslims of minority sects or Muslim dissidents who are most consistently victimized. The recently released annual report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) makes this abundantly clear. [CNN] Read more

Islamic Foundation calls for death sentence if apostate fails to repent

The Islamic Foundation has called for self-declared apostate Mohamed Nazim to be stripped of his citizenship and sentenced to death if he does not repent and return to Islam.

Nazim claimed he was “Maldivian and not a Muslim” during a public question-and-answer session with Islamic speaker Dr Zakir Naik, the first time a Maldivian has publicly announced he is not a Muslim. [MINIVAN NEWS] Read more [via Religious Watch]

An exceptional woman's rejection of Islam

.... The other reason a reader might feel sad reading this book is the appalling scale of the problem the author discusses. She, with her beauty, brains and courage, has truly made a new life for herself (though one which, as the book's title suggests, does not bring peace of mind).

But, for every Ayaan Hirsi Ali, there are hundreds of thousands of Muslims trapped in the appalling politics of their own countries, or struggling to make new lives in a West which they are taught, even as they take its advantages, to detest. [telegraph.co.uk] Read more

Dutch, immigrants differ on Islam

.... The opinion of the ethnic Dutch respondents and Muslim participants differ sharply on several statements. One of the most controversial statement turns out to be: "Islam doesn't fit in a democratic state". 68% of Turks and Moroccan completely disagreed, while the response of almost half of the Dutch participants shows that indeed they think that Islam and democracy are incompatible.

To the statement: "Freedom of religion also means that new mosques can be built," the participant response was split. 74% of the Muslim participants agreed. The Dutch were split: 49% also agreed, but 40% preferred that new mosques won't be built. [Islam in Europe] Read more

'I'd invite Melanie Phillips to dinner'

She’s an odd choice of dinner guest for the man who wants to lead the Muslim Council of Britain, but frothing newspaper columnist Melanie Phillips could find an invitation landing on her doorstep on June 21st.

That is the day after the MCB elects its new secretary general, and if Mohammed Amin wins, Phillips – who issues dire warnings of the ‘Islamisation’ of Britain and calls for the government to give “no quarter” to the MCB – is on his invite list.

“I would be perfectly happy to entertain her to dinner,” says Amin. “Not because I believe I can persuade her in one dinner to change her views, but I just think it’s important to understand what the other person really believes and thinks and to have a dialogue. [The Samosa] Read more

A hatred exposed

The Guardian's brave and insightful undercover investigation into the activities of the EDL should finally persuade Westminster politicians to take the issue of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim violence seriously. Our own research supports the findings of the Guardian investigation, most importantly concerning the extent to which the EDL is fuelled by visceral, violent anti-Muslim hatred. [Guardian Cif] Read more

Talk of Women’s Rights Divides Saudi Arabia

Roughly two years ago, Rowdha Yousef began to notice a disturbing trend: Saudi women like herself were beginning to organize campaigns for greater personal freedoms. Suddenly, there were women asking for the right to drive, to choose whether to wear a veil, and to take a job without a male relative’s permission, all using the Internet to collect signatures and organize meetings and all becoming, she felt, more voluble by the month. [NYTimes.com] Read more [via Butterflies & Wheels]

Reflections on “Rethinking Islamic Reform”

Attending such a large-scale conference in Oxford immediately puts one at an intellectual mode, especially in Oxford University’s prestigious Sheldonian Theatre.

.... I walked away with many jewels and buoyant hopes for a world with better engagement on the part of Muslims. However, I was left puzzled as to how to define my role and identify means by which I could, as a Muslim citizen in a Muslims-majority country, participate in shaping and making reform, when there is absolutely no participating mechanism established, especially not for women. [Maqasid Press] Read more

Tariq Ramadan: Not so radical reform .... So is Dr Tariq Ramadan calling for something new in the call for reform? In general, he and other contemporary revivalist thinkers are really regurgitating the message of their predecessors that we need to engage in the process of ijtihad in order to translate the spirit and message of the texts upon the context (waqi’). And not that Islam itself requires reform like certain other faiths. [Maqasid Press] Read more

EU: Muslims go to mosque less often

.... The number of church-goers has dropped steadily for decades, but now there also a lot of space in mosques around Europe. Recent data from the extensive European Social Survey (ESS) show that the number of Muslim immigrants who regularly go to the mosque drops significantly after they've lived in their new homeland for some time.

The ESS figures, which are being published for the first time in Europe in Aftenposten, show that 60.5% of Muslims immigrants who have lived less than a year in Europe regularly go to the mosque. But after they've lived more than a year in their new homeland, the figure drops to 48.8%. More than half rarely or never go to the mosque to pray. [Islam in Europe] Read more

Nazi Sheikhs

In 2006, Paul Berman attended a seminar in Sweden which featured the Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan, just-resigned Dutch Parliamentarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Bassam Tibi, the critic of Islamism. Berman was meeting both Ramadan and Hirsi Ali for the first time, and their fame preceded them.

“He and I sat together, talking,” Berman says of the former, “then he made his presentation. I listened to Ramadan speak, and had a very strong reaction to his presentation. I felt that it was manipulative and a little demagogic and very unpleasant. On the other hand, I was impressed by Hirsi Ali.” [Guernica Magazine] Read more [via Mick Hartley]

Dialogue on Islam in Switzerland gathers pace

Switzerland is promoting dialogue with the Muslim world as it comes to terms with the electorate’s decision six months ago to ban the construction of new minarets.

For many people, November 29, 2009 came as a shock, when a majority of voters accepted the new legislation, and the vote has been seen as a “wake-up” call. “People are beginning to speak about Islam in Switzerland, which wasn’t really the case before,” said Saïda Keller-Messahli, president of the Forum for a Progressive Islam. [swissinfo.ch] Read more [via Islam in Europe]

"Every Muslim Should Be A Terrorist”

Zakir Naik, the Indian-born tele-evangelist for Peace TV, whose inflammatory remarks include extolling Muslims to “terrorise terrorist America” and who states western women make themselves “more susceptible to rape” by wearing revealing clothing, has been allowed into the country.

Naik will be appearing at Wembley Arena in London and in Sheffield on his British tour. David Davies, the Tory MP for Monmouth, who described him as a “hate-monger”, the last time this Naik was allowed Britain in 2006. [The Spittoon] Read more

Ban on burqa draws line in the sand

FOR obviously superficial reasons, I've always associated Belgium with expensive chocolates, rather than political acts of bravery. That changed with its decision to ban the burqa.

....It is true that only a tiny number of Australian-based women would don the burqa but volume is really irrelevant. Like Belgium, it is the message that a ban sends that is most important. Sometimes a line in the sand has to be drawn and the burqa is one such time.

In an open society that prides itself on egalitarianism, the endorsement of faceless oppression is not something that should be promoted. And, just like Belgium, neither should we feel guilty about actively discouraging it. [The Sunday Telegraph] Read more [via Islamophobia Watch]

Italy: Imam's consent needed for health-care

The coordinator for immigrant health in Tuscany is promoting this dynamic, explaining that without the religious leaders, he can't get Muslim women to come to the hospitals.

Rather than drawing women closer to the Italian health care system, the generosity of some of its basic services, such as disease prevention especially for those affecting the elderly, instead of helping them be like other Italian women, independent and without religious distinction, favoring integration, he recognizes the legitimacy of the imams and strengthens their veto power. [Islam in Europe] Read more

Has beens and wanabees

There is an air of desperation about the announcement of a conference at The Camden Centre next Saturday the 5th of June. Announcements in the Morning Star and on Socialist Unity meant that the omens were not good and the line up of those speaking confirms that.

Islamophobia has, it seems, become the new Anti Semitism and anyone who criticises the more extreme elements of Islam who want to impose a caliphate, reduce women to the status of second class citizens and murder gays and apostates is routinely regarded as the modern day equivalent of a member of the Waffen SS, at least as far as the assortment of Trots, Stalinists and Islamofascists who will be gathering at Kings Cross next weekend are concerned.

There is the full range of the usual suspects all of whom have plenty of form for defending anyone and any group that wants to attack democratic institutions and I won’t look at them all. Of the Muslim groups there are several that warrant attention. [Harry’s Place] Read more

Intolerant religion must be checked

These local battles over mosque construction underscore the need for a national debate on the impact Islam is having on America, including Muslim immigration rates and the building of mosques in particular.

For their part, Muslims seem to view Judeo-Christian values and culture as a threat to Islam, which is why there are no Jews, much less synagogues, remain­ing in places like Saudi Arabia. Christians are not allowed to take up permanent residency there, much less to build churches or to worship freely. The oppres­sion of the Copts in Egypt and Christians and Jews in Iran is well known. [Tennessean.com] Read more [via The Iconoclast]

A Moderate Muslim Writes Comments on my brief Tennessean op-ed continue to come in. Most are supportive and all have been cordial with one notable exception by Amin Salman at the Tennessean website. This one is interesting.

Your article in the 28 May Tennessean would be more accurate if you replaced “Islam” with “Saudi Arabia”. Some of the examples you cite are not limited to Islam. You have built a narrative. Similar narratives can be built for other groups, and I suggest trying on some examples below. [The Iconoclast] Read more

Young. British. Female. Muslim

And yet, while less than 2 per cent of the population now attends a Church of England service every week, the number of female converts to Islam is on the rise. At the London Central Mosque in Regent’s Park, women account for roughly two thirds of the “New Muslims” who make their official declarations of faith there – and most of them are under the age of 30.

[COMMENT] Britain is an amazing country where people like these young women have the right and privelege and FREEDOM to share these stories. In my country were a Muslim to convert and find comfort in Christianity, there would be no way they would live to tell the tale quite literally.

[COMMENT] Good luck to these women. Sometime we have to travel a long to find happiness. But I wonder if any of them actually read the Koran before converting? Are they happy with the fact that their new religion says that they are property of their husbands and should be beaten if disobedient? [Times Online] Read more

Muslims who support football world cup are deviants and hypocrites

LEBANON-based Islamist militant leader Omar Bakri Mohammed has urged British Muslims to snub England’s bid for World Cup glory, saying that the tournament is evil as it “inflames nationalism”.

Mohammed even condemned Muslims who support England as “deviant and hypocrites”. "Islam is against the World Cup because it inflames nationalism. That is why we get so much hooliganism with supporters of different countries fighting each other. I am sure there will be some Muslims supporting England, but they are deviant and hypocrites." [The Freethinker] Read more

Europe’s moves to ban veils hand ammo to extremists

French President Nicholas Sarkozy has pushed the idea for months. He wants to create a new crime, “inciting to hide the face” in public, punishable by a fine of $185. Next door in Belgium, similar legislation has passed one house of Parliament.

Bans are under discussion, with uncertain outcome, in Switzerland and the Netherlands as well. In another measure of growing European angst about Islam, Switzerland has banned the construction of minarets, the prayer towers on mosques. [loonwatch.com] Read more