King Fahad Academy Wins Libel Case Against Daily Express Over Islam Fanatic Claims

A west London school and its director have accepted libel damages over a newspaper claim that it had been infiltrated by Islamic fanatics.

The King Fahad Academy and Dr Sumaya Alyusuf brought High Court proceedings over a June 2011 story in the Sunday Express.

Their counsel, Clare Kissin, told Mr Justice Tugendhat in London that it wrongly stated that the Acton day school, which has more than 500 pupils aged from three to 18, taught an extremist form of Islam, and some readers may have understood it to suggest it had been infiltrated by dangerous fanatics. [The Huffington Post] Read more

Egypt: Coptic teacher arrested for 'insulting' Facebook cartoons

.... The lawyers claimed the cartoons offended Islam but Sawiris said they were just a joke and had no religious dimensions.

Coptic Christians make up around 10 percent of Muslim-majority Egypt's population and have frequently been targeted by Islamic extremists. They also claim they are discriminated against by the state.

In January 2011, a suicide bomber killed more than 20 Christians outside a church in the northern port city of Alexandria, amid accusations by Islamists that the Coptic Church had detained a woman who converted to Islam. [AKI] Read more

The Ramadan Olympics and Islam's "Law of Necessity"

.... There is a powerful principle in Islamic jurisprudence, the "Law of Necessity," that permits what is forbidden -- the end justifying the means. If a goal is obligatory, then the means can also be obligatory, even if otherwise they might be forbidden.

In Islam the universe of possible human deeds is divided into what is obligatory, permitted neutral, disliked, or forbidden. Then there is the need to balance the pros and cons of every act. This is a world of choice which can embrace a necessary evil, or take a pass on a good deed for the sake of a greater good.

Some "Law of Necessity" exceptions go back to Muhammad; they are hard-wired into Islamic law. A case in point is the exemption for travelers during Ramadan, which some athletes rely on. Another exemption for travelers, which also comes straight from Muhammad, allows Muslims to catch up on prayer times later than the correct hour. [Gatestone Institute] Read more

Austrian Justice Ministry gives OK for circumcisions

Doctors in Austria's westernmost province have been cleared to resume circumcisions after the Justice Ministry reassured them that they can perform the religious practice without risking criminal charges, officials said on Monday.

Spooked by a regional court ruling in neighbouring Germany that the practice supported by Muslims and Jews amounted to physical abuse, the governor of Austria's Vorarlberg province last week advised doctors to suspend it, triggering a heated debate. [Reuters] Read more

Immigrants with multiple wives will get more benefits, officials admit

Officials have admitted that polygamous households, of which there are an estimated 1,000 in Britain, could be handed more money under reforms to the welfare system.

Currently the state effectively recognises polygamous marriages by paying extra wives smaller amounts of income support in addition to the normal sum received by the husband and their first spouse.

When the streamlined Universal Credit regime is introduced next year, this policy will be scrapped.

But a House of Commons library paper admits that as an unintended consequence of this, any second or third wives in a household would be able to claim a full single person’s benefits in addition to the standard amount claimed by the husband and their first wife. [telegraph.co.uk] Read more

Mali unwed couple stoned to death by Islamists

A couple who had sex outside marriage have been stoned to death by Islamists in the town of Aguelhok in northern Mali, officials say.

The man and woman were buried up to their necks, then pelted with stones until they died.

The northern half of Mali has been overrun by rebels - Tuareg and Islamist - following a coup in Mali's capital. [BBC] Read more

Judge’s matrimonial ruling is bound to horrify sharia law proponents

A MUSLIM doctor learned this week that shariah law relating to matrimonial affairs has no standing in the UK.

After Dr Zaid Al-Saffar, a consultant rheumatologist at Scarborough Hospital and head of the town’s Islamic society, was ordered by the Appeal Court to pay his ex-wife £60,000 maintenance, he declared: “Family law in this county is biased against Muslim people.”

Al-Saffar’s clash with the law began when he and his wife, academic Hanan Al-Saffer, split in 2008. According to this report, in traditional Muslim societies there is often no expectation that the ex-husband will pay maintenance to the divorced wife and that she has to look to her extended family for support. [The Freethinker] Read more

Anti-Semitism, Islamism and Islam

.... Not to understate it at all: this is a tragedy. It is a tragedy for Muslims first, for the Jews next and for all the rest of us after that. The best way to ensure that no equivalent of Nostra Aetate ever emerges from the Islamic faith is help to deny — rather than face up to — very uncomfortable facts and instead join in the popular pretence.

My personal hunch, and hope, is that the Islamic faith will one day go through a similar transformative process to that of the Catholic Church. It will not be easy and it will not be painless. But whether honest inquiry or pleasant lies prevail will mark the difference over whether this process takes years or centuries. [The Spectator] Read more

Landmark case: Government argues that Islam is political

What began as a clear first amendment issue has exploded into a landmark case regarding the the status of Islam as a political entity.

Today the Detroit Transit Authority (SMART), a government entity, argued before the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals that our "Leaving Islam" ad was political because Islam is political. At least two of the three judges seemed to go along.

If the Court rules against us, it will be ruling that Islam is political and that Sharia is a political program -- something that other government agencies have strenuously denied. If that happens, will Islam and Sharia deserve the protection of a religion? [Jihad Watch] Read more

Sri Lankan at Risk of Being Beheaded for Praying to Buddha

A Sri Lankan youth employed as a domestic aid has been arrested in Saudi Arabia for praying to a statue of Lord Buddha, which is considered an offence according to Islamic Sharia law.

According to the Bodu Bala Sena, the youth bearing passport no. 2353715 identified as Premanath Pereralage Thungasiri has been arrested by Umulmahami Police, which is a grave situation. While the youth is a Buddhist, the charge levelled against him is that he paid obeisance to the Buddha at the house where he was employed. [The Chakra News] Read more

Accused DHS Advisors Say Claims Of Muslim Brotherhood Ties Are Unfounded

.... Elibiary, along with Mohamed Magid and Dalia Mogahed, are mentioned in one of the letters sent to various government agencies earlier this month by Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), Thomas Rooney (R-Fla.), Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) and Gohmert.

The representatives are all calling for investigations into whether the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the U.S. government. Magid is also mentioned in a letter to the Justice Department.

All three say they are in no way affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. But it's difficult for them to clear their names, Elibiary said, when members of Congress seem intent on dragging them through the mud. [The Huffington Post] Read more

Muslim Persecution of Christians: June, 2012

.... Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; apostasy and blasphemy laws that criminalize and punish with death those who "offend" Islam; theft and plunder in lieu of jizya (financial tribute expected from non-Muslims); overall expectations for Christians to behave like dhimmis, or second-class, "tolerated" citizens; and simple violence and murder. Sometimes it is a combination.

Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the West, to India in the East, and throughout the West wherever there are Muslims—it should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Islamic Sharia law, or the supremacist culture born of it. [Gatestone Institute] Read more

Mohammed Amin: Islamophobia – a trap for unwary Muslims

.... Muslims need to keep it concrete. What is wrong is Muslims being denied their rights as citizens, as listed at the beginning, and that is all that Muslims should ever complain about.

I do not want other people to slag off Islam, any more than I want to see them slagging off Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism or any other religion.

However, if they wish to do so, they have every right in a free society to be as trenchant as they wish about Islam. What people are not free to do is deny me the rights listed above. That distinction needs to be understood by every Muslim (and indeed non-Muslim) citizen.

It would help if we stopped using term Islamophobia. “Anti-Muslim violence” and “anti-Muslim hatred” are much clearer, and focus the issue properly on the rights of individual citizens.

[A COMMENT] When I feel free to openly criticise Islam without fear of violence to my person, perhaps I will no longer be an Islamophobes. As a woman I would describe my Islamophobia as a dread of Islam, rather than a hatred.

I know some rather nice Muslims in the same way that I know some rather nice Christians. However, I feel freer to criticise the belief system of the Christian religion and some of its practices than the Muslims religion and some of its practices. [Conservative Home] Read more

Churches Should Not Be Built In Islamic Countries, Say Preachers

.... Furthermore, Sheikh Sayed A-Rifae Al-Husseini expressed displeasure towards Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, and the Municipality for approving the construction of a new church in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, stressing that it is not permissible as per the Sharia.

He added that giving excuses such as it is a matter of human rights and international norms to build it, is not acceptable, as Islam comes first, and people should respect religion first before serving humanity or anything else. [Arab Times Kuwait] Read more

Swiss legal experts divided over circumcision

Moves by two Swiss hospitals to suspend the practice of circumcising boys in the wake of an adverse court ruling about the procedure in Germany have sparked heated debate amongst legal experts in Switzerland.

The children’s hospitals of Zurich and St Gallen announced they had suspended the practice after the Cologne district court ruled last month that circumcision for religious purposes amounted to willful bodily harm which could be punishable under criminal law. [swissinfo.ch] Read more

Muslim hospital consultant told to pay ex-wife maintenance despite claims he owes her nothing under Islamic rules

A Muslim hospital consultant was told yesterday that he must pay his ex-wife maintenance even though under Islamic rules he believes he owes her nothing.

A judge told Dr Zaid Al-Saffar that he must follow ‘the rule in this country’ and share his money.

The Appeal Court decision means Dr Al-Saffar must pay £60,000 to his former wife, academic Hanan Al-Saffar.

The ruling sounded a warning to Muslim couples who believe their marriages are ordered according to sharia law and agree to be bound by Islamic courts. [MailOnline] Read more

Mob 'attacks’ police during Islamic veil ID check

In the restive port city of Marseille, police fear that the release of four people arrested for allegedly attacking officers during an ID check on a woman wearing an Islamic veil will undermine their fight against violent crime in the city.

Marseille police say three of its officers were injured in the early hours of July 25 when a mob of some 50 people tried to prevent them from checking the identity of a woman who was wearing a full Islamic veil. [FRANCE 24] Read more

Council of Europe slams govts for anti-Muslim laws

Muslims living in Europe regularly face violence and prejudice and are the subject of several discriminatory European laws that bolster their social exclusion, a top human rights official said Tuesday.

Nils Muiznieks, the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner, called on governments to do more to combat anti-Muslim discrimination and said lawmakers should stop targeting the religious group through legislation or policy.

“It is time to accept Muslims as an integral part of European societies, entitled to equality and dignity,” he said in a statement. “Prejudice, discrimination and violence only hinder integration.” [AFP] Read more

Where is the Evidence?

.... Although all the illegal measures taken by the Egyptian authorities against the Muslim Brothers from 1948 up to the present day are truly deplorable, at the same time, what proof do we have that the faction of Hassan el-Banna, who advocated accession to power by peaceful means, is today the only faction within the Society of the Muslim Brothers?

And what proof is there that the faction which opted for forceful reform, through the use of violence and bloodshed, has disappeared?

Or, for that matter, what proof is there that the accession to power of the peaceful faction of the Muslim Brotherhood will not be followed by a takeover by the non-peaceful faction, which will refuse to step down, as Hamas has done in Gaza, on the pretext that only they are qualified to apply God's law? [Gatestone Institute] Read more

Huma Abedin: Assistant Editor of Islamist Journal

.... The ridicule and outright dismissal of the letters’ overall concern about the Muslim Brotherhood-tied groups and individuals working with the U.S. government is more unsettling than the attacks on the specific Huma Abedin issue.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s own documents state that it seeks to influence U.S. government proxy via front groups. Brotherhood operatives have claimed success in infiltrating the government as far back as 1988.

The letters’ concern about Brotherhood influence operations may sound like a fantasy, but such operations are to be expected. Foreign governments, companies, special interest groups, lobbyists and activists all try to influence the government. Why should we expect the Brotherhood to act any differently?

Huma Abedin isn’t being accused of being a terrorist or Brotherhood operative. She may very well be an anti-Islamist Muslim that has rejected the views of her family. If that is the case, she should tell her story and educate Americans about what she has learned about Islamism from her family members’ activities. [radicalislam.org] Read more

Veiled women are face of new channel

Maria TV is run primarily by women. They operate cameras, present shows and interview female guests ranging from doctors to students of Islamic theology. But they cannot show their faces during the broadcasts, and no men are allowed on air during the female programming, not even for phone-ins.

Shrouded in long flowing black robes and scarves known as niqabs, with black gloves to match - the women are distinguishable only by their voices and the slits for their eyes.

The channel, which was launched on Saturday to coincide with the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, is the brainchild of Ahmed Abdallah as part of a broader effort to expand his religious pan-Arab satellite station Ummah TV. [AP] Read more

Muslim world in crisis

.... The Muslim world today is indeed in a crisis. Representing one-fifth of humanity as well as of the global land mass spreading over 57 countries and possessing 70 percent of the world’s energy resources and nearly 50 percent of the world’s natural resources, the Muslim world should have been a global giant, economically as well as politically.

Rich in everything but weak in all respects, it represents only five percent of the world’s GDP and is totally a non-consequential entity with no role in global decision-making, or even in addressing its own problems. [The News International] Read more

The History and Ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood

.... The first pamphlet al-Banna wrote has not been included in any collection of his works. It is an undated pamphlet, but internal evidence suggests it was written in May 1929, and published not much later, probably in June 1929.

The pamphlet is an attack on the Egyptian educational system, which is interesting, but even more interesting is that the pamphlet contains long paragraphs full of praise for the Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini. If there ever was any doubt that European fascism played the role of midwife at the birth of modern Muslim radicalism, this pamphlet will take all your doubts away. [RightSideNews] Read more

Circumcision Debate Has Berlin Searching for Answers

.... The justice minister has appointed a task force of senior legal experts to address the complexities of the issue. The group, which includes the directors of the departments of civil law, criminal law and constitutional law at the Justice Ministry, will spend the summer brooding over how a law could neutralize the Cologne court's decision.

"The matter is more complicated than just inserting a simple little sentence somewhere, as some people envision," says the minister. "After this emotional debate, I wouldn't rule out the possibility that the law will come before the Federal Constitutional Court. The judges there will have to determine whether they share the balancing of fundamental rights that we intend to make." This could take years.

Dr. Ulus from Cologne, the man who likes to listen to Bach, has been given a respite for a while -- because of Ramadan, not the debate. Things won't be busy at his practice again for another four weeks. [SPIEGEL ONLINE] Read more

Bad language, racism and dodgy votes at the Guardian

Guardian Cif had a field day the other week running several articles highlighting the BTL abuse thrown at Muslim writers and journalists. The first was by Mehdi Hasan who asked “who will stand with me” against this unwarranted hatred.

He was quickly answered by Jonathan Freedland in his article “I stand with Mehdi Hasan against the torrent of Islamophobic abuse” and added “By all means disagree with me below the line. But no one should have to put up with vile racism and bigotry”

Freedland’s view can be summarised by this passage:

... it is racism, of the crudest kind. That last quotation is the easiest example [Hasan was told "Get out of my country, goatfucker"], but the subtler ones are not much better. They can be confusing, because they often dress up in progressive, Guardian-friendly garb – slamming Islam as oppressive of gay and women's rights, for example – but the thick layer of bigotry is visible all the same. Call it progressives' prejudice.

His article attracted 885 reader comments (this is a high number even for Cif) and the one with the greatest number of reader recommends (a massive 4407) fully supports him. It has even been awarded the accolade “Guardian pick”. It says:

“The attraction of Islamophobia to bigots is that it provides them with 'plausible deniability', i.e. despite the fact that most Muslims are non-White, bigots can still claim that their hatred has nothing to do with racism, because Islam is a religion and not a race.

Whenever someone scratches the surface when it comes to groups like the EDL and BNP, beneath the Islamophobic exterior, there is often a racist motivation. If most Muslims were Anglo-Saxon, I doubt that Islamophobia would hold much appeal for the likes of the EDL and the BNP”. [islamophobiasucks (4407 votes) 10 July 2012 1:33PM]

No doubt some White people can pursue their hatred of non-Whites by attacking some other characteristic not to do with colour. But who are they, these bigots?

How did Freedland himself fare in his robust defence of Muslim fellow writers? Did he, in fact, attract comments from these bigots and was he in his turn subjected to this rampant BTL abuse? He must have stood out in their eyes as just as bad.

The comment critical of Freedland with the highest number of recommends (a lowly 1590 compared with the Guardian pick quoted above), says:

“I feel what you've written is very patronising. You seem to find it unacceptable that people can have strong views about Islam which in my opinion are understandable. For instance you state that critics of Hasan and Islam use language that ' they often dress up in progressive, Guardian-friendly garb'. But perhaps these people really are progressive but do not find Islam to be, probably because it isn't.

I found very little of the 'language and imagery so vile' that you spoke and I read them all, the moderator removes most such things and others which are not offensive anyway so not sure what you're referring to as they weren't there.

I don't know Jonathon I really don't know why you're so obsessed with calling anyone a racist who objects to the obvious unpleasantness of this religion. Also you may accept Hasan's explanation of his deeply offensive comments but that doesn't mean everyone else has to.

Let me add my own brief explanation of myself so as not to be labelled racist/fascist or whatever term is being used at present. My Grandfather came to UK from Germany (guess why?). My Grandmother is from a family of Irish Gypsys (usually referred to as Pikeys). My wife is the daughter of immigrants from Bangalore. I could go on …” [Stowlawn (1590 votes) 1st 10 July 2012 1:41PM]

The man who wrote this is not a bigot. He is not a racist. In fact, it is very hard to find any measure of bigotry or racism in the comments critical of Freedland (and indeed in the critical comments on the Mehdi Hasan article which set this ball rolling).

There are a good number that might have been better worded but then we don’t all possess the literary skills of a Guardian journalist such as Freedland who can produce brilliant non-bigoted phrases such as “.... the thick layer of bigotry is visible all the same. Call it progressives' prejudice.“

The fact is, despite the “Guardian pick” comment quoted above with its massive 4407 recommends, the great majority of Guardian Cif readers are critical of Islam and those that try to promote it, and they are not bigots or racists, and they show their disapproval without resort to abuse. The table below shows the numbers for Freedland’s article.

Analysis of first 250 published comments
Type of Comment	Readers Comments	% of comments	Readers Votes	% of votes
Critical of Mr Freedland	142	56	35608	66
Neutral/unclassifiable	55	22	4574	8
Supportive of Mr Freedland	53	21	13975	26
Total	250	100%	54157	100%

27, about one in ten, of all the commenters in the period examined had their comments removed. The only explanation given is “.... removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community standards”.

Typical published comments are:

“I agree that vile personal abuse is wrong, and has no place. It is a pity Mehdi Hasan has fled CIF. However, all Muslims must be able to take criticism of their belief and faith, and be prepared to uphold them intellectually, with reasoned arguments based on intelligence, detailed questioning and understanding.” [Existangst (1498 votes) 3rd 10 July 2012 1:33PM]

“.... Sorry, that sounds suspiciously like a means of dismissing any rationally argued point that happens to ask uncomfortable questions of the Islmaic faith.... “ [ToastandMarmite (1189 votes) 5th 10 July 2012 1:43PM]

And one commenter uses the f#### word!

“Muslims can quote insulting passages from their holy text which are rude about us, is apparently what you and he are saying, but we mustn't be rude about them back, is what this boils down to. I call that fooey. [southlondonerabroad (531 votes) 15th 10 July 2012 1:49PM]

“So is there a way that one can criticise the oppression of gay people or the inferior position of women in Muslim countries, or homophobic statements by high-profile Muslims in the UK, without being accused of merely "dressing up" bigotry?” [Heresiarch (167 votes) 63rd 10 July 2012 2:09PM]

I used to think I abhorred National Socialism. Now I realise I am just bigoted against Germans. [CruiskeenLawn (94 votes) 92nd 10 July 2012 2:47PM]

There is another dimension to all this. If you click rapidly enough on the recommend button you can rack up more than one recommend, even increasing the count by several votes. Anyone can fiddle the Cif readers’ recommends number.

The process is however time consuming and it takes a very dedicated hacker to increase recommends by “hundreds” on just one comment. There is also supposed to be a programme which the technically competent can use to increase recommends.

There is a question mark hanging over all the recommends both those criticising and those supporting Freedland.

The comments themselves are on firmer ground as coming up with and posting a large number of original sounding comments from different identities is a much bigger challenge.

Though that does not rule out someone sufficiently infuriated with or in admiration of Mr Freedland having a go. In the opinion of the present writer who has read the first 250 comments and scanned the rest the comments are all or very nearly all from different people.

In this particular case there is another factor.

If a line of comment is popular, many comments repeating that line will get high recommend scores, even if a few especially at the beginning of the comment period get very high scores.

Now, amazingly, the top three comments (out of 53) in support of Freedland with 4407, 2594, and 1715 recommends respectively account for 62% of all his supportive recommends. After these top three all you get are a few low 100s and lots of 10s.

In contrast, the top three comments criticising him (out of 142) with 1590, 1520, 1498, recommends respectively account for only 13% of the total recommends going against him.

Somebody or something has been getting at those top recommends in Freedland’s favour. It sticks out like a sore thumb.

It doesn’t help that the highest scoring pro-Freedland comment with 4407 recommends has been given the label “Guardian pick” and that the second highest scoring comment with 2594 recommends , published only five minutes after Freedland’s article itself and first in the stream, is by a Guardian Cif employee who comes up with this:

“Excellent point [Freedland’s remarks quoted at the top]- it's easy to spot and dismiss out and out racist comments, a few of which are highlighted above, but the subtle hate speech is just as damaging.

Has Guardian Cif finally lost the plot? [LibertyPhile]