Rotherham: politics ‘imported from Pakistan’ fuelled sex abuse cover-up – MP

An unhealthy brand of politics “imported” from Pakistan is partly to blame for the cover-up of mass child abuse in Rotherham and other British cities, a campaigning MP has claimed.

Simon Danczuk, who helped expose a pattern of grooming of white teenage girls by men from a Pakistani background in Rochdale, where he is the Labour MP, said a culture of intimidation and closing of ranks within parts of the Asian community had mired politics in towns and cities across northern England for years.

He said Asian councillors were under constant pressure from the community to “conform” and other politicians acquiesced for fear of being accused of racism, failing to face up to evidence of abuse as a result. [The Telegraph] Read more

What links UK jihadis and Rotherham sex abusers? Mosques failing to give them moral leadership says LORD AHMED

.... This brings me back to my argument that, although worlds apart, the British Muslims in the Rotherham sex abuse scandal and those fighting for IS have a common factor: you can be sure that they regularly went to their local mosque.

Clearly, no responsible Muslim would claim the actions of either were anything other than a betrayal of their faith – as well as being illegal. But, in my opinion, it is equally clear that mosques are not doing enough to provide strong moral leadership to young British Muslims.

Nobody would suggest that the answer to all these problems can be found by changing the way mosques are run. But given their hugely important role, they are a good place to start.

This issue must be addressed now and not swept under the carpet, as I fear it will be by many mosques.

[THE TOP RATED COMMENT] Perhaps Lord Ahmed should have spoken out a lot sooner...................it's too little too late.

[ANOTHER TOP COMMENT] I don't know how many mosques and clerics there are across the UK but I do know apart from a very small number, most have been deafening in their condemnation ....

[ANOTHER] Lord Ahmed speaks some sense! It's just a shame the Goverment doesn't have the balls to act. [Daily Mail] Read more

Senior Muslims call for women to have more say in communities

.... Critics say the traditional male-heavy hierarchy of Muslim groups contributed to the community's silence on abuse and the culture of disbelief that meant many victims were not listened to. Jay's report found the abuse continued partly because of "blatant" failures by council and police, among them the habit of talking only to older male Muslim community representatives, which meant the true extent of the problem was obscured.

The hope now among many influential male and female Muslim figures is that the fallout of the Jay report will serve as a wake-up call in confronting the male dominance of many British mosques. [The Guardian] Read more

Outraged Muslims throw Somali Christian convert off 4th floor balcony

A convert living in Nairobi's Eastleigh neighborhood has been thrown from a fourth floor balcony after Muslims learned that he left Islam for his Christian faith.

Mohammed Ali, a 30-year-old convert from Islam, is now recovering but is still in a critical condition in a Kenyan hospital, Morning Star News reported.

"Mohammed left Eastleigh six years ago after escaping an attack," said his wife, who also fears for her security.

"I had been telling him to be careful of the Muslims at Eastleigh, as they are not happy with his conversion to Christianity." [ecunews.com] Read more

My Muslim religion has problems that need fixing

.... When will the Muslim community see the other side of this argument and realise that yes, we are under attack. Our faith is under attack.

Our faith is being eaten up from within by fundamentalist elements around the world who twist it to suit their political agendas and interpret it to make their case. To them it's nothing but a tool to control people. They justify their actions through our faith.

When will Muslims stand up and accept that yes we have problems within our faith. Maybe a few more problems than other faiths, but sure, we have problems.

They don't just affect us as Muslims, they affect our friends, their families and our neighbours. They affect a society that welcomes us here, treats us as equals and gives us the opportunity to live a decent and dignified life. Democratic Australia gives us a voice and tries its best not to judge us. [The Age] Read more

Mohammed is most popular name in Oslo

Statistics Norway (Statistisk Sentralbyrå - SSB) has counted the population of Oslo and found that Mohammed is the most common male name in Oslo for the first time ever.

Jørgen Ouren of SSB said to NRK: “It is very exciting.”

Altogether 4,801 boys and men are named Mohammed or variations of Mohammed as their first name, and Mohammed has thereby passed both Jan (4,667) and Per (4,155). [The Local] Read more

Parliamentary group publishes report on stun/non-stun slaughter

.... Acknowledging the issue as one of contention, Parish said: “When the group decided to conduct an inquiry into the welfare of animals slaughtered in accordance with religious rites, I knew we were entering into an area of public discourse that has been highly polarised, is often poorly understood and on which discussions in the media have often produced more heat than light. I hope our offering provides more of the latter.

“There are no easy solutions to what is – legally, scientifically and culturally – a very complicated set of circumstances, but given the legitimate concerns of the public, animal welfare organisations and religious communities, it is a debate worth having in a calm and transparent way.” [Meat Info] Read more

Grand Ayatollah Issues Fatwa Stating High Speed Internet is against Sharia

A Grand Ayatollah in Iran has determined that access to high-speed and 3G Internet is “against Sharia” and “against moral standards.” In answer to a question published on his website, Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, one of the country’s highest clerical authorities, issued a fatwa, stating

“All third generation [3G] and high-speed internet services, prior to realization of the required conditions for the National Information Network [Iran’s government-controlled and censored Internet which is under development], is against Sharia [and] against moral and human standards.” [International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran] Read more

Tolerance is bigotry's counterpart in keeping Muslims divided

Every time a controversy plays out, more conditions are added to our being ‘tolerable’. We deserve our rights – including to places to practice our faith without political interference

Everyone knows the game. It’s called “asking the Muslim question”. We’ve been playing it a lot this year. Can Muslims be trusted with a mosque in Bendigo? Are Muslims who travel overseas going to fight as terrorists? Are they Australian if they are prepared to speak about “honour” killings? Do Muslims turn the suburbs in which they live into “monocultures”?

Yassir Morsi describes this questioning as a ritualised act, eerily religious in form. The answers which are churned out time and again are a ritual too: “yes, no, not all of us.”

[TOP RATED COMMENT 321 votes] Very anti-white. Which majority black or Muslim countries would you like to put forth as an example of tolerance and inclusion of minorities or women? Pakistan? Saudi? Nigeria? The very notion of tolerance and multiculturalism is a white, Western one.

[SECOND 289v] "We shouldn’t need to defend what is our basic right – to have a place to practice our religion. Nobody should, this is the whole point of having rights."

Switzerland (one of the few remaining bastions of common sense and democracy) has already shown that the right to practise one's religion does not mean the right to erect constructions that are culturally alien to a given environment. Mosque design should reflect Australian tastes.

[THIRD 275v] "The left graciously tolerates, even celebrates, our otherness, our exoticism"

Speaking as someone whose politics are left of centre, I certainly don't celebrate the fact that we have increasing numbers of people in this country who are deeply hostile to Western culture, and who want that posture accepted as "all part of the rich tapestry of multiculturalism."

"Al-Qaeda and bin Laden, suppression of women, irrational beliefs and various other imaginations of barbarity and backwardness."

I see, so the clear evidence of barbarity and backwardness we see in the news every single day is actually all "imagined". That's very reassuring.

[FOURTH 220v] "Islam is the religion of peace, equality, brotherhood and respect. Those who don't believe this are Islamophobes."

Yes, I've noticed this peace and brotherhood spreading itself around the middle east lately, and closer to home with street marches calling for the execution of cartoonists and film makers. It's people like you, who utterly fail to see the impression you make on the rest of the world, who are to blame for the suspicion with which Islam is treated in any modern society.

[ANOTHER 82v] I hear a great deal from various self-appointed representatives of Muslims about how the rest of us need to understand why they are angry. Have they ever considered sitting down and trying to understand why *we* might be angry? [Guardian Cif] Read more

Ombudsman says banning the hijab at school is discrimination

Czech ombudsman Anna Sabatová has stood up for the Somali student of a secondary medical school in Prague who has been forbidden to wear a headscarf at school, server Lidovky.cz has reported, referring to the ombudsman office's internal document.

Muslim girls and women use the scarf, also called the hijab, to veil their hair and neck.

Sabatová says banning Muslims from wearing the hijab at school amounts to discrimination, the server writes. [Czech News Agency] Read more

Counsel of Immoderation - The Muslim Council of Britain is not a responsible body for government to consult

Conor Cruise O’Brien, the historian, was a redoubtable foe of what he termed “unilateral liberalism”. He identified this as a stance acutely sensitive to threats to liberty arising from actions by democratic states, but phlegmatic about threats to liberty from the enemies of those states.

Much of the debate on security policy for western democracies in the 21st century has been shaped by this type of unilateral liberalism. [The Times (£)] Read more

The difficulties of dialoguing with Islam

.... Most British Muslims are very happy to talk about their faith, expound the transcendence of Allah and justify the actions of their prophet. Many are eager to talk humbly about their religion and their beliefs about its place in pluralist society, and they will do so respectfully and courteously over a plate of fish and chips and a pint.

But there can be no dialogue with fundamentalist forms of Islam, which is what many term "proper" or "true" Islam, because it has nothing to learn.

We can discuss with Muslims the devotional similarities of Ramadan and Lent, and this may well extend to musing about doctrines of soteriology and the meaning of salvation. But fundamentalism knows no moderates and tolerates no compromise. [Archbishop Cranmer] Read more

The reluctance to talk about the link between beheadings and Islam

.... Towards the end I made the point I keep trying to make – which is that although the radicals like the murderer of James Foley have what is obviously the worst interpretation of Islam, it is nevertheless a plausible interpretation.

They didn’t get where they got from nowhere, and we hamper our efforts to defeat this terrible interpretation if Muslims and non-Muslims do not take it straight on. But it struck me again – as it does every time I make this point – just how unwilling people are to have this debate. Which brings me back to beheading.

.... But surely one part of the reason beheading is chosen – if not the major part – is the fact that the Qu’ran has verses telling believers, in certain circumstances, that this is the appropriate way to kill those who are not Muslim?

Is this not an important point? What about the fact that the founder of Islam himself engaged in such acts? There will be those who say I am making this up, so I suppose I ought to refer people to the sources. [The Spectator] Read more

Governor at school linked to the Trojan Horse plot 'hired guards to bar staff bought in after Ofsted inspection'

A disgraced former governor of a school linked to the Trojan Horse plot in Birmingham is being sued over claims he barred staff brought in after an Ofsted inspection.

Waseem Yaqub is alleged to have harassed staff appointed to turn the Al-Hijrah School around, according to a high court writ lodged by the city council for up to £100,000.

The writ also accuses Mr Yaqub of intimidation and trespassing on the Bordesley Green school site after the council disbanded the governing body he headed in May.

The school, Birmingham's only Islamic school, is for pupils aged four to 16 and was once one of the most sought after in the country. [Daily Mail] Read more

Multiculturalism has brought us honour killings and Sharia law, says Archbishop

.... “For too long we have been self-conscious and even ashamed about British identity. By embracing multiculturalism and the idea that every culture and belief is of equal value we have betrayed our own traditions of welcoming strangers to our shore.

“In Britain's hospitable establishment different beliefs were welcomed but only one was preeminent - Christianity. The fact is that for too long the doctrine of multiculturalism has led to immigrants establishing completely separate communities in our cities. This has led to honour killings, female genital circumcision and the establishment of sharia law in inner-city pockets throughout the UK.” [The Telegraph] Read more

We share blame for creating 'jihad generation', says Muslim strategist

British society, its political class and community leaders must share the blame for the "jihad generation" of young men and women joining the Islamic State terrorist organisation, a former senior Muslim Army officer says today.

.... "We must not be afraid to ask the difficult questions and to thoroughly cleanse our ghettoised communities from feeling so distant from the ideals of what it means to live in a free society where you can choose to practise faith or not to, where you can live alongside every faith and none, where your rights are protected under law and you are an equal citizen. These are noble values, yet in Muslim communities I have almost never heard these being discussed with young people in inner-city areas."

[TOP RATED COMMENT] Muslims - or enough of them to matter at any rate - choose to live in their own self-created ghettoes, choose not to integrate into British society, choose to keep alive medieval cultures and traditions, sometimes illegally (like FGM), choose to keep women as virtual prisoners in their own homes, cut off from the society they now blame, and sometimes never even learning to speak a word of English in case they are contaminated by TV and radio.

Their own little oasis of the Swat Valley, brought to your doorstep in Bradford.

Muslims alone are to blame for this cancer. And it is going to take radical measures, by the Muslim community as much as by "society", to cut it out and kill it stone dead.

[SECOND] How dare he blame British culture. It is Islam that has failed these young people. It is their own culture who have insisted on self segregation (and worse).

We owe them nothing. They were given everything and every opportunity and all they have done is build walls round themselves.

Islam itself is the reason this is happening.

[THIRD] Dear author, If Muslims are having problems living peacefully with their Non-muslim neighbors in Britain, France, Holland, U.S., Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Kenya, Australia, India and so many other countries then maybe, just maybe, the problem lies with Muslms themselves? [The Independent] Read more

As long as Obama spouts the fallacy that the Islamic State "speaks for no religion", we will never kill the root

.... He appears not to grasp the Islamist worldview, which is as theological as it is political; as historic as it is present. Allah is not merely a "just God": he is perfect justice, and his prophet did no wrong.

The people beheaded, tortured or massacred are not "innocents": they are corrupted by idolatry; tainted by the blood on the hands of Western warmongers; and damned by perversions of liberal democracy and moral relativity.

We will never eradicate this cancer unless and until our politicians and religious leaders can bring themselves to acknowledge that the Islamist inspiration is a virulent quranic doctrine of God which is based on a particular reading of Hadith literature and a singular understanding of the Sunnah.

It may be offensive to our Western sensibilities to say so, but we are so steeped in mushy multicultural GCSE notions of ill-taught RE that we have ceased to have any ability to discern the spirits, determine right from wrong, or distinguish between the forces of good and the legions of evil. [Archbishop Cranmer] Read more

Why the British jihadis fighting in Syria and Iraq are so vicious

.... A second factor is the belief, however warped, that they are doing Allah’s work.

The majority of the British jihadists I spoke to genuinely wanted to die in their religious cause, thinking their membership of Islamic State would guarantee them a place in paradise.

The accelerating cycle of violence is seen as the route to salvation. Indeed, Hamindur’s father recalled that, in one of his last calls home, his son ‘asked us to pray for him and said he wanted to become a shaheed (martyr) for Allah’.

[THE TOP COMMENT] The radicalization of young Muslims in Britain is rife, and has been for many years. The government need to clamp down on schools, university's, Mosques that are responsible! (there maybe 500 British Muslims fighting over there, there's still 1000's that think the same here). [Daily Mail] Read more

Violence, threats, prompt more Muslim women in Britain to wear a veil

.... anecdotally it seems in recent years that more young women are choosing to wear a headscarf to assert a Muslim identity they feel is under attack and to publicly display their beliefs.

Shanza Ali, 25, a Masters graduate who works for a Muslim-led non-profit organisation in London, said she was born in Pakistan and her Pakistani mother had never worn the veil but both she and her sister Sundas chose to do so aged about 20.

"I decided to make a commitment as a Muslim and I have never stopped since," Shanza told Reuters in her family home in Walthamstow, east London where prayer mats hang from the walls alongside modern, family portraits. [Reuters] Read more

James Foley’s murder will see calls for military action – just what Isis wants

.... Everything about the video seemingly of Foley’s murder is intended to chill. It is unlikely that Islamic State (Isis) selected an executioner with a strong London accent for no reason. It was the Iraq war that first popularised the execution video, but hearing the blood-curdling threats and dogma of Isis recited in tones that are all too familiar is itself a message.

[A TOP COMMENT] We could start by admitting that radical Islam is an increasing problem in our own society and one that must be tackled wherever it rears its head - no good crying Islamaphobia and racism when extremists try to take over schools in Birmingham and elsewhere.

[ANOTHER] .... I think it's worth adding that the teachings in Islamic core texts are a "true parent" of ISIS. That is to say, whilst Islamic teachings may not be a sufficient cause of the actions of ISIS, they are undoubtedly a necessary cause.

[ANOTHER] If wiping out ISIS to the last man is playing into their hands, I suggest we should do it.

[ANOTHER] Most people in Britain will be horrified by what is happening in Iraq and Syria but far more horrified by what is happening here in Britain.

For decades we have nurtured radical Islam and now we have a generation of young Muslims (not all Muslims. Not even most Muslims. But a fair few of them) who despise Western values, hate Jews, gays and women and are more than happy to murder for their cause.

[ANOTHER] You can have as much rational debate as you want but the bottom line is that these people - who will kill anyone; man, woman or child who disagrees with their twisted interpretation of their religion - need to be brutally wiped off the face of the planet.

[ANOTHER] Maybe time to stop any Imam who even remotely preaches fundamentalist Islam from coming to the UK or stopping those already here from preaching their hate.

I watched a BBC debate between young British Muslims and too many of them were making excuses for fundamental Islam.

One young female Shia made the best statement. If you don't want what UK society gives you in the way of freedom and safety, leave and go to a country that is run along strict Islamic lines. [Guardian Cif] Read more

UK failure on Islamism and James Foley's murder

.... It should be no surprise at all that a British Muslim is likely to be responsible for the murder, as several hundred home-grown terrorists have already jumped onto planes, with their UK passports ready to shed blood in Syria and Iraq.

Those on the left, who have spent years defending Islamic extremism in Britain, labelling anyone who has raised concerns about it as bigoted, have been finally proved wrong. Our country does indeed have a very serious problem with Islamic extremism.

From the beheading of British soldier Lee Rigby by two men chanting “allahu akbar” to the Trojan Horse school takeover plot, this evil ideology is engulfing our communities and creating the next generation of UK terrorists. [The Commentator] Read more

The Caliphate Delusion: the political construct that bears no relevance in the modern world

I first came across the term Caliphate or Khilafah back in 1992 when, as a young teenager, I attended a lecture organised by a local Islamist group. The term was a reference to a global Muslim empire that would have a single ruler for life, referred to as Caliph, and implement a single interpretation of shariah. This empire would also be expansionist and seek to aggressively stretch its borders through warfare until the entire world fell under its domain.

The Caliphate, it was argued, was necessary because, theologically, it was an Islamic obligation and, politically, only such an entity could protect Muslims around the world, under siege as they are from non-Muslim enemies. [Left Foot Forward] Read more

Lutfur Rahman 'secured Tower Hamlets election win with curry house threats and bribes'

Campaigners for Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman threatened council staff and bribed religious groups to secure votes in knife-edge elections, an explosive High Court dossier claims.

The controversial mayor oversaw a “systematic campaign of intimidation” including widespread postal vote fraud in order to triumph in May’s election, documents seen by the Standard claim.

He, or those acting on his behalf, allegedly told activists for his party, Tower Hamlets First, to collect and fill out 250 postal vote application forms each at a meeting held in a Bangladeshi restaurant ahead of May’s election, which he won by 3000 votes. [Evening Standard] Read more

French politician angered by veiled Muslim at beach

A conservative French politician sparked a debate after she posted Monday a picture of a veiled Muslim woman on a beach in France and the cover of Le Figaro magazine portraying former French sex icon Brigitte Bardot.

Nadine Morano, who published the picture on her personal Facebook account, wrote: “When one chooses to come to secular, France... one must respect our culture and the freedom of women. If not, go elsewhere!”

.... Morano’s post came after she saw a headscarf-wearing woman allegedly left to sit by the shore while her male companion was in the water.

“The man got into a bathing suit showing off his well-sculpted body, while the woman sat completely dressed, obedient on the sand,” Morano wrote. [Al Arabiya News] Read more

Archbishop of Mosul: "Your liberal and democratic principles are worth nothing here"

.... You must consider again our reality in the Middle East, because you are welcoming in your countries an ever growing number of Muslims. Also you are in danger. You must take strong and courageous decisions, even at the cost of contradicting your principles. You think all men are equal," Archbishop Amel Nona continues, "but that is not true: Islam does not say that all men are equal. Your values are not their values. If you do not understand this soon enough, you will become the victims of the enemy you have welcomed in your home."

.... The West must heed the stark warning of Archbishop Amel Nona, and do so before it is too late. Mosul has fallen: his warning is that Toulouse, Brussels or Liege might be next. For now, the battleground is fixed in the Middle East.

But Jihadi-Salfist theatres of war recognise no state borders, and they have no time at all for democracy, diplomacy, or "moderate" notions of Islam which is not "proper" or "true" Islam. These fanatics find our governments weak and compliant; our liberal and democratic principles quite conducive to their political objectives; our Christianity favourably disposed to a multi-faith ecumenical love-in. [Archbishop Cranmer] Read more