In Our Response to Brussels, We Must Ensure All Communities are Included

As another terrorist attack rocks Europe and in the heart of Brussels, the reality is that Daesh or IS are sending a set of signals to us all. The first is that they can hit back in a European city and create huge fear and apprehension which causes significant ripples and impacts for the life […]

Strand Campus in King’s College the Centre of an Islamophobic Hate Incident

We have received a report of an assault against a Muslim female student who was part of the ‘Discover Islam Awareness’ week which is held by the King’s College London Islamic Society (ISoc). Muslim women who were at the stand outside the Strand campus were there to try and break down misconceptions about Islam and

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How a small group of people helped generate anger at ‘Islam conversion’ homework story

A school in Guernsey made headlines after a homework assignment about Islam went viral. Miss Stables, a Religious Education teacher at Les Beaucamps High School in Guernsey, had asked students to complete a letter to their parents about their choice to convert to Islam. This creative writing exercise sought to test their knowledge and argue objectively. The homework assignment asks students to focus on how their parents would react to the news. It sought to engage their emotional and critical faculties. It had little to do with prosletyising Islam. But asked students to empathise with others of a different faith. Complete the letter you started or started planning in class to your family on how you are converting to Islam. Include: How you’re feeling, how becoming a Muslim has changed your life, how much you love your family and hope they can accept your choice. Focus: How would it make you feel having to tell your parents this?? How would/could they react? **Please also note this is a piece of creative writing and completely fictional YOU ARE NOT ACTUALLY CONVERTING TO ISLAM. It is purely to test your knowledge of what we have learnt this year and how well you [...]

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Cameras in Prayer Rooms in Westminster University Leads to Concern

The University of Westminster Students Union has just reported that CCTV cameras have been installed in prayer rooms in Westminster University. The Director of Faith Matters, Fiyaz Mughal, made the following comment to the Quintin Hogg, the online news-site for the Students Union. “This is very concerning and utterly ludicrous, students who want to reflect […]

Divisions in Scunthorpe Need Cool & Level Heads on Ahmaddiya Mosque Application

The planning application for an Ahmadiyya mosque in Scunthorpe has been highlighted by the Scunthorpe Telegraph.  We understand that some members of the local Muslim community also objected to the planning application for this mosque and various reasons were given from mosques already being present and functioning in the area, through to the design and

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A new national Catholic-Muslim dialogue hopes to counter Islamophobia in the United States

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops hopes that a national dialogue with Muslims can change perceptions of Islam in the United States. In the past, efforts to foster Catholic-Muslim have succeeded at local levels. But in the face of rising Islamophobia, Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski, of Springfield in Massachusetts, who chairs the committee, said a wider conversation was needed. “As the national conversation around Islam grows increasingly fraught, coarse and driven by fear and often willful misinformation, the Catholic Church must help to model real dialogue and good will,” he said in a statement. This national dialogue will begin at the start of 2017. In the Midwest, Catholic-Muslim dialogue began in 1996 and meets once a year. The co-chairs represent both faiths. One document produced explored how Muslims and Catholics interpret revelation. In the Mid-Atlanic, a representative from The Islamic Circle of North America co-chairs the yearly meetings that started in 1998. Out in California, a number of Islamic Societies join the yearly dialogue which began in 1999. They co-published Friends and Not Adversaries: A Catholic-Muslim Spiritual Journey in 2003. A 2014 directive reaffirmed a commitment to Catholic-Muslim dialogue. How Catholics view other faiths changed following the Second Vatican Council. [...]

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Scholar’s corner: on Citizenship and Islam

There has been an increasing focus on what it means to be a citizen in society in recent years; the nature of responsibilities, rights and how different aspects of our identity contribute towards shaping our sense of belonging.[1] In this debate, the Islamic perspective becomes even more complex. Muslims in Britain often pose many questions: Who am I? Where do I belong? Where do my loyalties lie? Am I a British Muslim or a Muslim living in Britain? Am I part of an Islamic umma ‘Nations’? What are my responsibilities towards my umma? All these questions are important and deserve thorough consideration; but “is there indeed a Muslim identity and, if so, is it of a religious or a cultural context?”[2] In essence, is it permitted for Muslims to be a citizen of a non-Muslim state? From an Islamic point of view, citizenship is wholly religious, and this is based on the principles “enshrined in the revealed word of Allah in the Holy Qur’an and on the action, judgment and conduct of His Prophet [Muhammad]”.[3] The Qur’an tells us that God created Adam to be his vice-regent on Earth. The late Prof. Zaki Badawi, who worked tirelessly toward integrating Muslim [...]

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Over-Reactions on Prevent Are Causing Fears Within Muslim Students

Over the last few months, we have received a number of cases involving schools and where Muslim young people have been interviewed on the back of alleged comments that they have made within the school environment. A growing number of parents have reported into us that their children have been questioned on the back of

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Ukip MEP wants to end immigration from Islamic countries

A Ukip MEP called for an end to immigration from Islamic countries during a debate on the crimes of ISIS on January 20. Gerard Batten, who represents London, argued that ISIS represents “a literalist interpretation” of the Qur’an. Batten claimed that “ISIS represents a revival of the original ethos of the Mohammedan cult”. He defended these comments and told Religious Reader yesterday that “ISIS represents the worst excesses of the Mohammedan cult”. When asked for further clarification he insisted that his purpose “was not to upset any individual but to talk about a belief system, an ideology”. Batten maintains that “Islam is of course a cult”. A ‘cult’ that “up until relatively recently was properly referred to as ‘Mohammedanism’ in the West'”. This religious literalism, for Batten, remains antithetical to ‘western liberal democracy’. And drives his desire to end immigration from Islamic countries. As ‘importing millions’ from Islamic countries may constitute a security risk since “we cannot be sure of just how many of them take their religion literally?” Batten holds little sympathy for men fleeing ISIS. He told Religious Reader that: “Most of the waves of migrants coming to Europe, and queuing up at Calais are not fleeing ISIS, [...]

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‘Christian Patrols’ Just as Divisive as ‘Muslim Patrols’. But Where is the Outrage?

Do you remember January 2013 when members of a ‘Muslim Patrol’ were handing out morality advice to passers-by in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. They also harassed members of the public commentating on how they needed to cover up and members of this group also went on to be convicted and jailed

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