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 […]

Slovakia election: neo-Nazi party gains fourteen seats

Slovakia’s ruling party lost its parliamentary majority, and neo-Nazis gained 8 per cent of the vote in Saturday’s election. More than 200,000 Slovakians voted for the neo-Nazi People’s Party Our Slovakia (L’SNS). That figure includes 23 per cent of first-time voters. Some of the fourteen elected L’SNS MPs were once monitored by the state. But they are now free to express their views in the National Council. Marian Kotleba, who leads the L’SNS, gained a parliamentary seat. He was elected governor of the Banská Bystrica Region (BBSK) in 2013. Kotleba’s brother, Martin, also gained a seat in parliament. Natália Grausová, another L’SNS MP has defended the Slovak regime which acted as a Nazi satellite in World War II. The Nazis murdered 75,000 Slovak Jews (around 83 per cent of the pre-war total). Deportations stopped after a Vatican representative intervened. But after the Slovak National Uprising in 1944, the SS took control of the fascist Hlinka Guard militia. Before taking office, Marian Kotleba fashioned himself in the image of the Hlinka Guard. Mr Kotleba established his first political party Slovenska Pospolitost (Slovak Brotherhood) in 2003. The interior ministry banned it in 2006 for its incitement to racial, national and religious hatred. [...]

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Muslims in Dublin continue to face hostility, report finds

Muslims in Dublin continue to face hostility and discrimination, according to a study. The Immigrant Council of Ireland found that anti-Muslim hostility manifested in the workplace, in schools and in sections of the media. Some young female Muslims reported being unable to wear the hijab in the classroom. A broader policy gap on school uniform means some face exclusion. Others do not. Teachers are failing to challenge anti-Muslim racism in some schools. One Muslim mother had to send her son to private school because the primary school would not accept a non-Catholic. In spite of equality legislation, a loophole allows schools to reject other faiths if it ‘undermines’ their ethos. This gateway to discrimination is nothing new in a country where the Catholic church runs more than 90 per cent of state schools. Non-Catholic teachers face similar discrimination. Two students had experienced anti-Muslim abuse in the classroom. The school, however, dismissed their complaints. Some students recalled the abuse they had received from teachers. In one example, a teacher had asked a student if the hijab had limited her hearing. The prejudice experienced by some Muslims in Dublin mirrors that in Britain. Hostility became exhausting in its day-to-day interactions. One Muslim [...]

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Revealed: UK keeps no record of citizens barred from boarding US flights

The Home Office has admitted it holds no record of British citizens barred from boarding transatlantic flights despite them being identified by US security officials as potential threats at UK airports. James Brokenshire, the immigration minister, confirmed that information regarding the numbers, religion and ethnicity of Britons prevented from travelling abroad was not retained by […]

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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With the Niqab Being a Political Football, Let’s Listen to the Voice of One Who Wears It

Since Jack Straw’s comments exactly a decade ago, the Niqab has been in political debate which at times have become heightened. Currently, there are reports that the Prime Minister is considering a ban on the veil in schools, courts and other public institutions. No doubt, the Niqab will become the subject of much debate over

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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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Why would someone dump a pig’s head outside an Islamic institution?

Staff and students at the Madani Academy in Portsmouth suffered the fear and indignity of discovering a pig’s head attached to the school gates. The pig’s head had a swastika drawn below the phrase ‘F**k Allah’. It mirrors an incident in December 2013 when a pig’s head was stuck on a spike outside of the

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