Friday 25 January 2008 Age-old Ritual
Pilgrims gather near Jabal al-Rahma in Arafat. They remain there until sunset, before spending the night at Muzdalifah and then moving on to Mina to perform a ritual stoning of the devil more
How much do you know about Islam? Try our quiz to find out how you score. Choose an answer for each question and then click results at the bottom of the page. Good luck!
Monday 21 April 2008 When Muslims become Christians There's a widespread belief that the penalty for leaving Islam is death - hence, perhaps, the killing of a British teacher last week. But Shiraz Maher believes attitudes may be softening.
Sunday 30 March 2008 UNITED NATIONS: CANADA OPPOSES RELIGION RESOLUTION
Canada and EU states voted against a resolution that was adopted by the UN Human Rights Commission and had been proposed by Muslim member states. The resolution says the UN is concerned by the defamation of religions and urges government to prohibit such behaviour. The text of the resolution mentions only one religion, Islam, and contains eight paragraphs which refer to it. European diplomats had said before the vote that their countries oppose a trend to use the protection of religion as a pretext to limit free speech. The UN body is dominated by Arab and other Muslim countries.
Monday 24 March 2008 Website for anti-Koran film blocked AMSTERDAM — A Website where a Dutch lawmaker was promoting an upcoming film that criticizes the Koran has been suspended by its U.S. hosting service.
The site had shown Geert Wilders' film's title, “Fitna,” the words “Coming Soon” and an image of a gilded Koran. Now it shows a note that the company is investigating whether the site violates the firm's terms of service.
Wilders has not described the 15-minute movie, due to be released by March 31, in detail but has said it will underscore his view that Islam's holy book is “fascist.”
Sunday 09 March 2008 A Muslim couple was shot dead after separatist militants stormed into their home in Thailand's restive Muslim-majority south. Militants killed the couple on Friday in Yala, one of three provinces struck by a bloody separatist insurgency. The man was killed because he provided information to authorities about the shadowy insurgency that has battled the government for more than four years. More than 2,900 people have been killed since the violence broke out along the southern border with Malaysia.
Monday Feb 18, 2008 Media are getting all lathered up over nothing
A controversy has been ignited over the climate of free speech in Canada. Ezra Levant republished the Dutch "Mohammed-as-bomber" cartoon, triggering a human-rights complaint against him in Alberta. Maclean's published excerpts from journalist Mark Steyn's book about the implications of population growth among Muslims. The Canadian Islamic Congress asked for equal editorial "time" to reply. Macleans refused. Complaints were then filed by the Canadian Islamic Congress in B.C. and in Ontario.
Saturday Feb 16, 2008 Muslim imams soothe anger in Denmark
Danish Muslim preachers sought to soothe Muslim anger yesterday after newspapers reprinted a drawing...
Saturday Feb 16, 2008 Sikhs 'have option' of helmet, lawyer says
A Sikh who is challenging Ontario's motorcycle helmet law as a violation of his rights has several options...
Monday 11 February 2008 MONTREAL: JEWISH AND MUSLIM GROUPS STAGE JOINT PROTEST
About 200 people held a protest rally in downtown Montreal on Saturday to demand an end to what they called the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. Some 30 different groups representing Jewish and Muslim communities organized the event.
Saturday Jan 26, 2008 Beyond Kandahar, an oasis
Adeela lifts the blue burka over her head and rushes into her frigid, one-room home.
Friday 25 January 2008 A major move is underway within Turkey's government to lift a ban on wearing headscarves at universities. The court-ordered ban was introduced 19 years ago under pressure from the military and intellectual elite. They continue to emphasize Turkey's separation of religion and state. The governing AK Party and a key opposition party, the MHP, have agreed to re-evaluate the ban in terms of human rights. A majority of Turkey's Muslim women wear a headscarf. Many of them avoid attending university because they prefer to keep their heads covered.
Thursday Jan 24, 2008 Dutch set to restrict burqas
The Dutch government is set to impose a ban on the Muslim
burqa in schools and government offices, media...
Tuesday 08 January 2008 OTTAWA: ISLAMIC GROUP IN BATTLE WITH MACLEAN'S
A leading Canadian Islamic organization is in a heated battle with Canada's leading weekly news magazine, Maclean's. The Canadian Islamic Congress says Maclean's subjected Muslims to hate speech with an article in October 2006 by best-selling author Mark Steyn that said a high Muslim birth rate, combined with Muslims "hot for jihad," could conquer a West that is unwilling to stand up for its civilization. The Islamic group has asked a government body to step in to guarantee it the right to an equal-length rebuttal to the article, which was an excerpt from Mr. Steyn's September 2006 book "America Alone." Maclean's says it has already run 27 letters from readers, many opposed to Mr. Steyn's piece, and is ready to consider a further response. But it says the CIC wants to direct the art work for the rebuttal and to run it on the cover. Publisher Kenneth Whyte says he would rather go bankrupt than have the CIC set the terms for what the magazine publishes. The Canadian and British Columbia human rights commissions have agreed to investigate the complaints, and the Muslim group has the high-profile backing of the Ontario Federation of Labour.
2007
Prime Minister John Howard -
Australia
Muslims
who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to
get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid
to head off potential terror attacks.
Separately,
Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he
supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques. Quote:
'IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am
tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some
individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali ,
we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of
Australians.'
'This
culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials
and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom'
'We
speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese,
Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to
become part of our society . Learn the language!'
'Most
Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing,
political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on
Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly
documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls
of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider
another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of
our culture.'
'We
will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is
that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment
with us.'
'This
is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you
every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done
complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our
Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take
advantage of one other great Australian freedom,
'THE
RIGHT TO LEAVE'.'
'If
you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here.
You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.'
A friend recently purchased a teddy bear for $10. He named it Mohammed and sold it for $20. Our question is though... ...did he make a prophet?
2007
December 18, 2007 Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra joins the Muslim faithful as they trace the footsteps of the Prophet Mohammed to the Mount of Mercy outside Mecca.
more youtube
Saturday 15 December 2007 TORONTO: MUSLIM LEADERS DEPLORE GIRL'S MURDER BY FATHER
Muslim community leaders deplored the killing of a 16-year-old Muslim girl by her father on Monday and say it has nothing to do with Islam. The leader of one of the city's largest mosques, Alaa El-Sayyed, says the killing of Aqsa Parvez should reflect on her family's faith. Fifty-seven-year-old Muhammad Parvez faces a murder charge. The teenager's friends said that Aqsa had a longstanding quarrel with her family over her reluctance to wear the traditional Muslim head scarf. El Sayyed says Islam condemns acts of violence and teaches that women have the right to choose whether to wear the hijab.
Saturday Dec 15, 2007 Pilgrims pack Mecca ahead of annual hajj
More than a million Muslim pilgrims from across the world packed the mosque and streets around the Kaaba...
THE DEATH OF AQSA PARVEZ by Daniel Casey December 12, 2007
Aqsa Parvez got into fights with her family over how she dressed.
In the Star,
her friends say that she wanted to listen to rap and hang out with her
friends past the 5 p.m. curfew imposed by her family, and had told people
that her father beat her when she refused to wear a hijab in school. The Post
reports that she had left home for a friend’s house last week to
avoid more arguments, and was “scared of her father.” On
Monday night, the teenager died after reportedly having been strangled in
the Mississauga house where she had lived with her family, and Peel
Regional Police arrested her father,
Muhammad Parvez, on murder charges and her brother, Waqas Parvez, on
charges of obstructing police. Both The
National and CTV
News show Parvez’s fellow students at Applewood Heights Secondary
School, let out early to mourn their classmate, standing grimly in the wet,
falling snow and reminiscing about their classmate.
The papers run pictures of Parvez, taken from her Facebook profile, that
show the most normal-looking sixteen-year-old imaginable, mugging for the
camera with pals, wearing jeans and hoodies. The story that Aqsa
Parvez’s friends are telling the media is equally unremarkable, with
the exception of its terrible ending: A teenager came into conflict with
her family over wanting to live by her own rules, their disputes had grown
physically violent in the past, and this time her father reportedly snapped
and attacked her so fiercely that he called police and told them he had
killed his daughter. When we drop the adjective “Muslim” into
the equation, why does this story change? How does a hijab make it a tale
of cultural conflict, “igniting a public debate on religious
extremism in Canada” in the words of the
Globe, rather than the story of a father’s murderously violent
overreaction in a dispute with his adolescent daughter? In a rare moment
of clarity, La Presse’s Vincent Marissal (not available online)
recognizes that the cultural controversy around the crime will
unnecessarily “risk making a horrible family drama into a grave
social and political crisis.” A man allegedly killed his daughter
and must now face justice. That is as tragic as it is basic to this
affair; no government affirmation of equal rights will prevent a crazed
person from committing a horrifying act of infanticide, and whatever name
or religious sanction anyone else gives to the scrap of fabric that
supposedly triggered it is irrelevant.
Wednesday Dec 12, 2007 Muslim teen killed after hijab clash
A cab driver has been charged with the murder of his 16-year-old daughter, who was attacked in the family...
TORONTO: FATHER KILLS GIRL WHO REFUSED HIJAB
A 57-year-old Toronto man, Muhammad Parvez, has been charged with murder after telling police that he killed his 16-year-old daughter. When authorities arrived at his home, they found Nina Parvez suffering from live-threatening injuries. The girl was taken to hospital where she died. Some of the girl's school friends say she had recently rebelled against her parents by refusing to wear a hijab. Samaa Elibyari of the Canadian Council of Muslim women says there is no law in Islamic belief that forces the wearing of a hijab. In addition to the murder charges against the girl's father, her brother is charged with obstructing police.
Monday 10 December 2007 Muslim apostates threatened over Christianity- Alasdair Palmer explores the dangers facing Islam's apostates. When Sofia Allam left the Muslim faith for Christianity, the response from her family was one of persecution and threats. Alasdair Palmer explores the dangers facing Islam's apostates
Friday 07 December 2007 Islam’s Silent Moderates IN the last few weeks, in three widely publicized episodes, we have seen Islamic justice enacted in ways that should make Muslim moderates rise up in horror.
A 20-year-old woman from Qatif, Saudi Arabia, reported that she had been abducted by several men and repeatedly raped. But judges found the victim herself to be guilty. Her crime is called “mingling”: when she was abducted, she was in a car with a man not related to her by blood or marriage, and in Saudi Arabia, that is illegal. Last month, she was sentenced to six months in prison and 200 lashes with a bamboo cane. [the world can not asccept this as "their way".."]
Tuesday 04 December 2007 A 54-year-old British teacher found guilty of insulting the prophet Muhammad has flown from Khartoum to Dubai and is expected in London on Tuesday morning. Gillian Gibbons had been found guilty of having allowed her pupils to confer the name "Muhammad" on a teddy bear. She was given a 15-day jail sentence and ordered deported. Her case inspired angry crowds to take to the streets of Khartoum, some demanding she be executed for blasphemy. President Omar al-Bashir pardoned her after intercession by two British Muslim members of the House of Lords. Mrs. Gibbons said she had no wish to offend anyone. LIBREVILLE: MIGRANTS DROWN OFF GABON Interior Minister André Obame reports that at least a dozen illegal immigrants drowned in waters off Libreville when their boat capsized. The minister says the date of the accident and the exact number of victims is unknown. According to local charities, the boat was carrying migrants from western Africa. Oil-rich Gabon is a popular destination for such migrants. Of the country's population of !.3 million, 400,000 are immigrants, many illegal.
Friday 30 November 2007
THE IMPOLITIC PEDAGOGUE AND HER MENACING MISNOMER The
National, CTV
News, and the
Star go inside with the ruling of a Sudanese court in the case of a
British teacher who allowed her class to name a teddy bear Mohammed.
Gillian Gibbons was sentenced to fifteen days in prison yesterday after
she was found guilty of “insulting the faith of Muslims,” the
Star reports. Gibbons’ case attracted international attention after
it was discovered that she faced a maximum sentence of six months in
prison, a fine and forty lashes for her crime. During the seven-hour
trial, Gibbons wept profusely and promised that she had intended no
offence in the naming of the stuffed animal. The teacher’s troubles
began in September when one of her seven-year-old pupils brought a teddy
bear to class and requested that his cohorts give it a name. The students
chose the common Muslim forename of Mohammed, which, being also the name
of the prophet, turns out not to be an appropriate title for a toy in
Islamic Sudan. An office assistant at the school found out about the
bear’s naming and reported the offence to the ministry of education.
The National reports that, while Gibbons’s lawyers are pleased with
the verdict, the British government is “extremely
disappointed” that the teacher should face any punishment at all. An
editorial in the
Globe (subscription required) suggests that the unfortunate
fifty-four-year-old pedagogue has been merely “a pawn in the
conflict between the Sudanese government and Britain, which has been a
leader in condemning Khartoum’s role in mass killings of civilians
in Darfur.”
Monday Nov 26, 2007 Hijab and soccer: another red card
'Ref said it was for safety reasons' Calgary girl, 14, walked off field 'in tears' [Canada rules apply!]
Sunday 18 November 2007 Skirt too long to please employer Muslim airport worker, laid off after altering uniform, takes case to rights commission
THE TALE OF THE UNLIKEABLE MR. JAZIRI
by Rishi Hargovan October 23, 2007
Said Jaziri is never going to be a loveable figure for most Canadians. The outspoken and conservative imam from the Montreal area has called homosexuality a sickness; last year he led protests against the Danish cartoons that portrayed the prophet Mohammed as a suicide bomber; he has been one of the most prominent supporters of adopting Sharia law in Quebec. And, according to the Immigration and Refugee Board, he concealed a past conviction for assault of a fellow mosque member in France and he entered Canada with a false passport. Officially, it is for those last two reasons that Jaziri has been deported to Tunisia; but Jaziri’s family members are asking whether he was really deported for his controversial political views. Sarah Adams, Jaziri’s Canadian-born wife, who is eight months pregnant, is inconsolable. Jaziri likely faces arrest and torture, say supporters and human rights groups, pointing to the 2001 example of Haroon M’Barek—another man deported by Canada to Tunisia who faced imprisonment and torture. The question left to the wider Canadian public is, if torture is really considered to be anathema to human rights and notions of fundamental justice, how can Canada justify sending even its most unsympathetic resident to face it?
La Presse fronts and CTV News goes inside with Jaziri’s deportation. Providing multiple pages and angles on the story, La Presse stands alone in its coverage. Readers are presented with a handy chronology < of Jaziri’s time in Canada, replete with his more choice quotations and political stands, as well as the events that eventually formed the basis of his deportation order. Another piece details how Tunisia is facing increasing criticism from both the US and Europe for its human rights record. According to a Tunisian human rights group, the situation is so poor that two men who were detained at Guantanamo Bay prior to being deported to Tunisia say they would like to go back to the US prison. In a third article on the deportation, La Presse offers more of the family’s perspective , quoting Jaziri’s brother, Mohammed, as saying: “We don’t know what time he’s arriving, we don’t know in which plane … We know nothing, nothing, nothing.” All in all, La Presse deserves praise for its in-depth coverage of an important and compelling story that the rest of the Big Seven almost entirely ignored.
Saturday 27 October 2007 Ottawa wants Syria investigation kept secret
OTTAWA–The federal government is fighting any move to open up the secret inquiry into how three Canadian Muslim men came to be detained and interrogated under torture in Syria.
Thursday Oct 25, 2007 Commissioner Challenges Code Authors
TROIS-RIVIERES, Que. - A two-man delegation from Herouxville, the Quebec village that provoked a provincewide debate when it adopted a code of conduct...
U.S. Prosecution of Muslim Group Ends in Mistrial DALLAS, Oct. 22 — A federal judge declared a mistrial on Monday in what was widely seen as the government’s flagship terrorism-financing case after prosecutors failed to persuade a jury to convict five leaders of a Muslim charity on any charges, or even to reach a verdict on many of the 197 counts. ...President Bush announced he was freezing the charity’s assets in December 2001, saying that the radical Islamic group Hamas had “obtained much of the money it pays for murder abroad right here in the United States.”
Tuesday 23 October 2007 OTTAWA: MUSLIM GROUPS SAY THEY RECEIVED NO HARPER GREETINGS
Six different Muslim groups, including some of the largest in the country, say Prime Minister Stephen Harper's religious holiday outreach to Jewish households apparently does not extend to Muslim individuals. The Muslim groups say they are not aware of any Muslim households receiving holiday greetings from Mr. Harper for Eid, which was celebrated last Saturday to mark the end of Ramadan. They say the oversight appears to belie Conservative assertions, voiced repeatedly in the House of Commons, that the government believes in celebrating all of Canada's cultural communities' holidays and important dates. The issue is a sensitive one for the Conservative government. The Globe and Mail reported last week that internal Tory documents show the party is heavily wooing certain ethnic communities. At the same time, a number of non-Jewish households complained when Rosh Hashanah greetings from Mr. Harper arrived in their mail last month during the Jewish new year.
Celebrating Differences
The sky was still dark when Oussama Boudaa woke up this
morning. Within a few minutes, the 14-year-old was enjoying his
breakfast, aware that it was the last meal he would have a chance to
eat before his day was through.
Ramadan explained
Ramadan is a religious observance practiced by Muslims around
the world. It takes place during the ninth lunar month of the
Islamic calendar year, which is 11 to 12 days shorter than the
Gregorian solar calendar. That means the dates on which Ramadan
falls advance every year. During one person's lifetime, it can be
observed in all four seasons.
Wednesday 26 September 2007 Indonesians tune in to digital Koran
gadgets sell well during the fasting month of Ramadan in the world's most populous Muslim country
Saturday 08 September 2007 Canadians with faces veiled can vote
Veiled women will be able to vote in the upcoming Quebec
byelections -- and all future federal contests -- without showing
their faces, Elections Canada...
Friday 07 September 2007 GRADE SCHOOL STUDENTS TO RECEIVE MANUAL EXPLAINING ISLAM
A group of researchers at the University of Calgary is working to write manuals for grade school pupils across Canada that will explain Islam. The goal is to impart basic ideas about the religion and its contributions to society. The director of the project, Prof. Rahat Naqvi, says young Canadians need to be educated about Islam. She says some people associate the religion with violence but are unaware of Islam's contributions in the fields of art, culture and science. Prof. Naqvi says her project will include radio and television programs. The project will be officially launched at the end of September in Ottawa.
Tuesday 21 Ferb 2006 WATCH THIS BEFORE IT'S TAKEN OFF THE WEB!! One impressive woman. Here is a powerful and amazing statement on Al Jazeera television.
The woman is Wafa Sultan, an Arab-American psychologist from Los Angeles.
Suggest watching it ASAP because I don't know how long the link will be active.
This film clip should be shown around the world repeatedly!
You have to read pretty fast, everything is in subtitles [Turn off sound] 5:33
thanks to Ron Robertson
Subject:
Tuesday 14 August 2007 MONTREAL: MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS IN DIFFICULTY IN QUEBEC
A specialist at the University of Quebec in Montreal, Frédéric Castel, reports in a study that unemployment is high among the 60,000 Arabs who arrived in the province in the 1990s. The newcomers' arrival was the result of the Quebec government's policy of encouraging immigration by francophones. Mr. Castel reports that one-quarter of Muslims between the ages of 25 and 44 are unemployed, compared with a provincial unemployment rate of eight per cent. The expert also reports that 37 per cent of these Muslims have earned a university degree, compared with 20 per cent of the general population. Mr. Castel also says the group studied experiences great difficulties in having their foreign diplomas recognized in Quebec. An expert on Islam with the same university, Jean-René Milot, says that the Muslim community is a victim of the bad reputation due to a small minority of religious fundamentalists, which results in a reluctance on the part of employers to take any chances in hiring.
CLAIMS AND BLAME by Daniel Casey June 29,
2007
It's been a few years since Canada as a whole had a good,
old-fashioned, unproductive and divisive debate about ethnicity, belonging
and appropriate behaviour. When Quebec politicians do it to Jews and
Muslims, of course, it's roundly—and quite rightly—deplored.
When the Canadian media do it to natives, it's common sense, populist
anger at special treatment for a whiny minority, or high-minded hopes that
the downtrodden will bring their concerns to us in an orderly and
respectful fashion. The
National, CTV
News, the
Globe, the
Star, the
Post and La
Presse all lead with today's Aboriginal Day of Action, but (with the
noteworthy exception of La Presse) in the most curious way: not by leading
with the peaceful mass demonstrations planned across the country, but by
focusing on a single blockade in one spot. The Mohawks of Tyendinaga, near
Deseronto north of Kingston, have announced plans to blockade not only
Highway 401 but nearby Highway 2 and the CN rail line—on the eve, as
The National and CTV News both ominously pointed out, of a summer holiday
weekend. The protesters may be fighting for the survival of their
families, but it's your vacation that's on the line, and sure enough VIA
Rail cancelled service between Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa in
anticipation of disturbances.
The Tyendinaga protestors are led by Shawn Brant, who doesn't mind
giving impolitic quotes and therefore is the focus of much of today's
reportage. Brant visibly enjoys being on the television, and when riled up
can swagger mightily. When asked on the National if his group would be
armed, he shot back that their weapons wouldn't be far—“if
they want to get it on, then we're prepared to get it
on”—while on CTV News he readily adopted spokespersonese in
making a much calmer affirmation that they would have "ample resources
available if the situation arises.” The Star calls him “the
lone voice calling for militancy on what others had hoped would be a day
of education”—but, as the
Globe's Jeffrey Simpson (subs only) claims, previous protests have come
and gone “without fundamentally changing anything” for natives.
So what are they to do? Give up, effectively: Simpson thinks that it's the
determination of these communities to remain nations in some meaningful
sense that's holding aboriginal people back, though he offers that
resolving land claims might solve some problems “at the
margins.” The
Post's Terence Corcoran, meanwhile, vituperates Brant as the
“darling of the Marxist-Leninists” before putting his Uzi of
simile on full-auto and emptying his clip of ill-advised metaphors:
Deseronto's Mohawks are holding the town under “economic
siege” on the basis of “microbes of historical evidence”
because natives “hold all the cards.” The big problem we seem
to have with the blockades is the native-ness of their creators, their
stubborn insistence on not being assigned a subhead under some Canadian
umbrella, but instead grasping for some historical continuity with the
lives and claims of their ancestors. We do not label these protesters by
their grievance but by their heritage, as these are “native
protesters” (the first words of the Globe's front-page article)
engaged in “native protests” (the first words of the Star's
headline). This is a day on which their crises and their defiance, and our
responses to them, become everyone's problems.
Monday 02 July 2007
Ont. Human Rights Commission blasts headscarf removal The Ontario Human Rights Commission says the recent decision to force an 11-year-old girl to remove her Muslim headscarf or leave a soccer tournament is potentially "tragic."
Saturday 28 April 2007 nyt Rewriting the Ad Rules for Muslim-Americans
Consumer companies and advertising executives are focusing on ways to use the cultural aspects of the Muslim religion to help sell their products
Monday Apr 16, 2007 Hijabs ... again Muslim girls barred from martial arts tournament A Muslim girl barred from competing in a Longueuil tae kwon do tournament because of her hijab was adamant Sunday that she would give up neither her sport nor her head covering regardless of what rules are imposed on her.
“I won’t take it off for any reason,” said Bissan Mansour, 11. “Even if I can’t go to tournaments, I can continue to practice until I become world champion.” [good]
February 27 Deeyah, the so-called "Muslim Madonna" has had death threats issued at her after appearing in a video, stripping off a burka to reveal a bikini underneath. The song, "What Will It Be," is ostensibly an anthem in support of Muslim women's freedom of expression and besides the burka/bikini scene, there's another where Irshad Manji, a feminish Muslim writer, is seen tearing off duct tape that had been covering her mouth.
Tuesday 06 February 2007
LITTLE MOSQUE IN THE SUBURBS by Daniel Tencer February 6, 2007
On the northern fringes of Toronto’s sprawling suburbs, a
political battle is being waged over the meaning of Islam. Yesterday, the
municipality of Newmarket, Ontario, gave the go-ahead for the construction
of a mosque, much to the consternation of the many residents who came out
in opposition—not to the mosque itself, but to the imam who will be
running it. According to the
Star, Zafar Bangash is known for his “stridently anti-Israeli
views, forceful support for an independent Kashmir and advocacy for
Iranian-inspired Islamic theocracies.” Surprisingly, among
Bangash’s detractors is the founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress,
Tarek Fatah, who calls Bangash “the unofficial spokesperson for the
Iranian regime in Canada.” Fatah complains in the Star that
Islamists like Bangash are trying to “monopolize the Muslim
narrative,” not allowing more moderate, secular voices to be
heard.
In that respect, Fatah has a friend in Khaleel Mohammed, the San Diego
State University professor and Canadian citizen featured in today’s
Citizen,
who is pushing for a more modern Islam based on the Koran, rather than on
the teachings of imams. Mohammed argues that imams sometimes use their
followers’ ignorance of the Koran in order to spread their own
radical messages. For this, the Citizen points out, Mohammed has been the
target of hate mail from all over the world. But step back from the heated
debate for a moment and take a look at the arena where the battle is being
fought: newspapers. The Star’s article over a mosque in Newmarket
comes on the heels of a simmering debate in the Quebec media over
“reasonable accommodation” of religious minorities. And the
Ottawa Citizen’s article highlighting a moderate Muslim viewpoint
comes just as Ottawa’s 50,000-strong Muslim community searches for a
new spiritual leader. From the rise of the evangelical movement in the
United States to the debate over Muslim headwear in Western Europe to a
controversial mosque in Newmarket, it seems the mechanisms of religion are
increasingly becoming politicized. The reasons for this are
obvious—let’s just use the moniker “9/11” to cover
that base. Yet as religion looms ever larger in the consciousness of the
media, and therefore the public, important questions will have to be
answered, such as: How much political influence should religious leaders
be accorded? How much influence should a municipality have over who
preaches in a place of worship? And, perhaps most saliently, can a society
where the divide between religion and politics is being blurred survive as
a secular community, open to all faiths? It is these nagging questions
that bite at the conscience of today’s media frenzy about Islam. The
answers, however, are far from clear.
Monday Feb 5, 2007 Muslim groups to file complaint against town
Canadian Muslim groups say they will file a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights Commission against the town of Herouxville over its widely reported "norms" for prospective immigrants. ... The Canadian Islamic Congress and Canadian Muslim Forum announced yesterday they'll prepare a joint complaint because they contend the Jan. 25 town council resolution detailing behaviours expected of anyone settling there "clearly propagates negative stereotypes of Canadian minorities," the groups said in a statement.
They contend the norms violate Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which calls for preservation and enhancement of Canadians' multicultural heritage.
Audio Slide Show: A Cleric’s Journey to the Suburbs Sheik Reda Shata discusses his new mosque in New Jersey, a world away from Brooklyn, where he toiled for almost four years. Related Article
Canadian Arabs, Muslims may campaign against Tories Following Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay's first Middle East tour, Canadian Arabs and Muslims are threatening to campaign against the Conservative government in the next federal election because of it what is says is a continued pro-Israeli stand.
Friday 12 January 2007 TORONTO: MUSLIMS PREPPING FOR SITCOM PREMIER
The debut of the CBC sitcom "Little Mosque on the Prairie" has been generating much anticipation in the Canada's Muslim community. Canadian Islamic Congress president Mohamed Elmasry said Tuesday imams were actively encouraging Muslims to watch the show. The comedy about Muslims living in a small Canadian Prairie town premiered Tuesday night. Mr. Elmasry said it was about time Muslims were given the chance to laugh at themselves on TV, but he said he recognized that a sitcom based around a mosque is 'risky business' in the wake of the attacks in the US in September, 2001.
The exiled leader of China's Uighur Muslim minority wants the United Nations to investigate claims that Muslim extremists are operating in the country's western autonomous Xinjiang region. The request came after Chinese police killed 18 suspected terrorists in an attack last week on an alleged training camp in the Muslim-populated region. One policeman was also killed in the attack. Just before the incident, Beijing accused the president of the World Uighur Congress, Rebiya Kadeer, of seeking to overthrow the Chinese government through terrorist activities. He currently lives in exile in the United States. China is carrying out a campaign against what it calls the violent separatist activities of Uighur Muslims.
2006
Monday 25 December 2006 A British newspaper reported Sunday that Islamic militants may be planning an attack during this holiday season on the Chunnel Tunnel between England and France. The Observer said French intelligence warned the French government of the threat last Tuesday, following a tip from the US Central Intelligence Agency. The newspaper cited unidentified French officials as saying the plot is being directed from Pakistan and involves militants in Western Europe, possibly Britons of Pakistani descent. The Observer also said militants with links to al-Qaida are plotting a wave of attacks on an unidentified European country. British officials warned Friday that there is a high threat of an attempted terrorist attack over the Christmas and New Year period, although they said they had no intelligence of any specific plots.
Monday Dec 4, 2006 Man killed in Beirut clashes A man has been shot dead in clashes between rival groups in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, as supporters of the Hezbollah-led opposition alliance continue to protest against the Lebanese government.
The man, a Shia Muslim, died after being shot in the Qasqas area of west Beirut. It was not clear where the gunfire came from, witnesses said.
Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 National Post
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Re: Beyond The Veil, ongoing series.
Aren't one's own clothes
a matter of personal choice? Many Muslim women have pointed out that
they would be accused of rampant Islamofascism if they asked women with
short skirts or naked midriffs to cover up. But you can't have it both
ways: I can disagree with what you wear, but -- if I am to remain true
to universalist Enlightenment values -- the other half of Voltaire's
formulation has to click in too!
However, the question of the
veil does put those who have anti-Islam agenda on the spot. For most of
the past 100 years, being in favour of free speech meant being in
favour of good things and against denial and repression. That should
also apply to the right to wear. The furor over the right to wear the
veil has exposed the double standards of the anti-Islam agenda. Sorry,
but you can't just pick and choose what to tolerate
Sunday Oct 5, 2003 bbc US image drops among Muslims Hostility towards the US has reached "shocking" levels in the Muslim world, according to a report released in Washington.
Wed 1209 Wed 22 Nov 2006
Among several good backgrounders, the Economist offers thought-provoking pieces on at least three topics dear to WN hearts. Try the piece on Canada and multiculturalism(particularly interesting in the light of the recent initiative in The Netherlands to ban the wearing of burqas and other Muslim full-face veils).
np Which is more offensive?
Aren't one's own clothes a matter of personal choice? Many Muslim women have pointed out that they would be accused of rampant Islamofascism if they asked women with short skirts or naked midriffs to cover up. But you can't have it both ways: I can disagree with what you wear, but -- if I am to remain true to universalist Enlightenment values -- the other half of Voltaire's formulation has to click in too!
Saturday 18 November 2006 Dutch Consider Banning Burqas in Public By GREGORY CROUCH [good!]
The government has raised the fear that a terrorist might wear such a garment to move beyond security checks.
Monday 13 November 2006 rci VATICAN CITY In an unprecedented meeting, Pope Benedict has welcomed a leading Muslim academic, Mustapha Cherif, at the Vatican. Mr. Cherif, who teaches at Algiers University and who vigorously campaigns against religious hatred, had requested the meeting several months before the Pope made controversial remarks in Regensburg, Germany, earlier this year. The remarks angered Muslims in many countries who thought that the Pope was equating Islam with violence. The two men agreed that a dialogue between religions is possible to reduce misunderstandings. Mr. Cherif proposed holding an international conference bringing together Christians and Muslims. He said that the Pope called Islam a great religion. The Pope travels to Turkey later this month.
Saturday 11 November 2006 The head of Britain's domestic spy agency, MI5, says Muslim extremists are planning at least 30 terrorist attacks in the country. Eliza Manningham-Buller says some of the attacks may involve chemical and nuclear weapons. She says young British Muslims are being groomed to become suicide bombers. British agents are tracking some 1,600 suspects, most of whom were born in Britain and linked to al-Qaeda in Pakistan. Miss Manningham-Buller says the terrorist threat is growing and affects others countries as well, from Spain to France to Canada and Germany. Britain suffered its worst peacetime attack in July 2005, when four British Islamists blew themselves up on London's transport network, killing 52 commuters and wounding hundreds.
Friday 10 November 2006 A London court has convicted a British Muslim on charges of stirring up racial hatred after he called for September 11th-style attacks during a protest outside the city's Danish Embassy. However, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on a separate charge of soliciting murder after he was alleged to have called for the indiscriminate killing of British troops in Iraq. Mizanur Rahman denied both charges.
Saturday 04 November 2006 Four-hundred delegates from the Muslim world and Europe are attending a conference in Barcelona, Spain, on Islamic feminism. The purpose is to support Muslim women who are fighting for recognition of their rights within the Islamic world in opposition to men wishing to maintain their long-established supremacy. Participants are addressing such concerns as discriminatory codes in Sharia law, polygamy, sexual rights and the intellectual rights of women.
Sunday 10 September 2006 More Muslims Arrive in U.S., After 9/11 DipAs the U.S. wrestles with questions of terrorism and immigration control, Muslims appear to be moving here again in surprising numbers.
BBC
Guide to militant Islam
The Trouble with Islam
Deeyah, the so-called "Muslim Madonna" has had 
Audio Slide Show: A Cleric’s Journey to the Suburbs
