Converts from Islam Jailed, Pursued in Somalia’s Breakaway Region
Thursday, 17 September 2009
A convert from Islam in Somalia's self-declared state of Somaliland has been jailed for distributing Christian materials, and another is on the run from both family members and police upset over his new faith.
Promotion of any religion other than Islam in Somaliland is prohibited, contrary to international standards for religious freedom such as Article 18 of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 5(1-2) of the Somaliland constitution states that Islam is the state religion and prohibits the promotion of any other faith, according to the U.S. Department of State's 2008 International Religious Freedom Report, and Article 313 outlines penalties for Muslims who change their religion.
Hassan was accused of providing Christian literature to a village Muslim boy, who later showed it to his family and friends. The boy's Muslim family reported the incident to the police, the sources said, leading to the arrest of the 29-year-old Hassan. He was taken to Hargeisa central police station.
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Homophobia on the rise in the Muslim world
As recent incidents in Iraq show, in many Islamic countries, gays are ostracized, persecuted, even murdered
Sept. 18, 2009 | Bearded men kidnapped him in the center of Baghdad, threw him into a dark hole, chained him up, urinated on him, and beat him with an iron pipe. But the worst moment for Hisham, 40, came on the fourth day of his ordeal, when the kidnappers called his family. He was terrified they would tell his mother that he was gay and that this was the reason they had kidnapped him. If they did, he would never be able to see his family again. The shame would be unbearable for them.
"Do what you want to me, but don't tell them," he screamed.
Instead of humiliating him in the eyes of his family, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of $50,000, a huge sum for the average Iraqi family. His parents had to go into debt and sell all of their son's possessions in order to raise the money required to secure his freedom. Shortly after they received the ransom, the kidnappers threw Hisham out of their car somewhere in the northern part of Baghdad. They had decided not to shoot him. But they sent him on his way with a warning: "This is your last chance. If we ever see you again, we'll kill you."
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Malaysian court orders Muslim lovers caned for sex
(AP) – 18 Sept 2009
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — An Islamic court has ordered an unmarried couple to be caned for trying to have sex in a car in the latest of a series of harsh punishments for Muslims in Malaysia, a lawyer said Friday.
Though Malaysia has long been upheld as an example of a moderate Muslim-majority country, recent verdicts sentencing Muslims to whipping for drinking alcohol have made headlines. Two months ago, an Islamic judge triggered a national debate when he ordered a woman to be caned for drinking beer.
In the latest case, the Shariah High Court in central Selangor state sentenced the couple Wednesday to six strokes of the cane after they pleaded guilty to trying to have sex out of wedlock in their car, said prosecutor Shafezan Rusli.
Shafezan said Islamic religious police caught Mohamad Shahrin Abdul Majid, 29, and Nadiah Najat Hussin, 24, with only their undergarments on in a car at an office parking lot in May.
He said they are appealing the caning as they plan to get married soon, though they have paid the court-ordered fine of 5,000 ringgit ($1,400) each.
They could have been jailed for up to three years for the offense, the lawyer said.
Shariah laws apply to Muslims, who make up about 60 percent of the 28 million population, in all personal matters. Non-Muslims — Chinese, Indians and other minorities — are not subject to the laws.
Earlier this week, an Islamic court in another state ordered an Indonesian Muslim man to be whipped six times and jailed a year for drinking liquor at a restaurant.
In July, the same court had sentenced a Malaysian woman to six strokes of the cane and a fine for drinking beer in public. The caning, which would be the first time a Malaysian woman has received the punishment, has not been carried out yet. Many see the sentence as a setback for the country's reputation as a moderate Muslim nation.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Gays in Iraq. Asylum for the Iraqi activist Anwar Basim Saleh
EveryOne Group: we must stop the deportation of Anwar Basim Saleh, the Iraqi gay activist. An appeal to the Dutch authorities to award him immediate refugee status.
Anwar Basim Saleh, the 21-year old Iraqi gay activist from Baghdad, is at present in Holland, where he has applied for asylum.
Anwar, before leaving his country of origin, was the coordinator of a “safe house” for homosexuals working alongside the Iraqi LGBT organization. He was arrested in February 2009 by members of the Iraqi Interior Ministry (Badr Corps) for his role in the association. He was badly beaten up, tortured and he suffered a serious trauma after the long period of detention and the abuse he was subjected to.
He was put under investigation and interrogated over and over again about his role as an LGBT activist and his involvement in the running of a “safe house” in Iraq, where persecuted homosexuals are secretly taken in and offered assistance.
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Afghan Bill Forces Married Women to have Sex for Food
A law that affects the minority Shia population in Afghanistan—about 20% of the country’s 30 million people—is causing ripples. A bill was passed early this year which made it mandatory for a Shia woman to have sex with her husband at least every four days.
According to BBC News, this bill caused much outrage worldwide since it was seen as condoning marital rape. As a result, Afghan President Hamid Karzai was forced to withdraw it.
Earlier this month, an amended version of the bill was passed as law—it allows the man the right to withhold food from his wife if she refuses to give into his sexual demands. Women’s rights groups still consider the amended law a violation of "the principle of equality that is enshrined in their constitution," BBC News says.
The fact that this law has been passed under the regime of a ruler approved by the West does not sit well with many.
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Muslim Teen Violently Attacked in Mich.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A 16-year-old Iraqi-American girl was violently attacked last week resulting in numerous injuries that required six stitches on her face, reports The Arab American News.
According to the news report, the girl, who has requested anonymity, was returning from her first day of high school when she was grabbed and had her hijab pulled off as she was getting off the school bus. The news report says that an argument had erupted on the bus prior to the attack, but the bus driver believed it had been settled. The five-to-seven student attackers, allegedly made expletive remarks about Arabs and told her "Arabs are dirty” as they attacked her, finally dragging her near the front of her home.
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The Islamic Sharia Council is listed as a charity
but people seeking a divorce, or talaq, must fill in a form and pay a fee. For a man it is £100; for women, it is £250 because the imams say it takes more work to process a woman's application as her word has to be corroborated. (Fair enough too)
Malaysian judge orders man to jail for drinking
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A judge has ordered a Muslim man to be caned and jailed for drinking alcohol, two months after triggering a national debate for sentencing a woman to be whipped for a similar offense. Islamic High Court judge Abdul Rahman Yunos in eastern Pahang state ordered the Indonesian worker Monday to serve a year in jail and be whipped six times, a court official said Tuesday.
Judge Abdul Rahman Mohd Yunos triggered criticism from rights groups and concerns over the growing influence of tough Islamic punishments in Malaysia when he sentenced Kartika, a 32-year-old mother of two, to caning for consuming beer.
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Indonesia’s Aceh to allow stoning for adulterers
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) - Lawmakers in a devoutly Muslim Indonesian province voted unanimously that adulterers can be sentenced to death by stoning, just months after voters overwhelmingly chose to throw conservative Islamic parties out of power.
With only weeks to go before a new government led by a moderate party takes over in Aceh province, hard-liners still in control of the regional parliament pushed through legislation Monday to impose steep punishments for adultery and homosexuality.
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Mohammed is most popular name for baby boys in London
Telegraph.co.uk 15 September 2009
Mohammed is now the most common name for baby boys born in London and three other English regions, official Government figures have shown.
The Islamic name overtook traditional choices like Jack, Thomas and Daniel to become the number one name in the West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the North West, as well as in the capital, in 2008.
London is not the first European capital to see Mohammed become the number one name for baby boys. In Brussels, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Oslo the name has already gained the top slot.
The way in which the true figures emerged, days after the official publication, will fuel claims that Government statisticians tried to play down the increasing popularity of the Muslim name.
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Aceh to stone adulterers to death
JAKARTA: Indonesian rights activists condemned as “cruel and degrading” a new Islamic law calling for adulterers to be stoned to death in the country’s staunchly conservative Aceh province.
The law — which also allows punishments of up to 400 lashes for offences including rape, the consumption of alcohol, homosexual sex and gambling — was passed on Monday, by lawmakers in the region at the northern tip of Sumatra island.
The law replaces elements of Indonesia’s criminal code with sharia. It allows the death penalty for married people and 100 lashes for unmarried people found guilty of adultery.
“The laws that have been approved in Aceh are cruel and degrading to humanity,” said National Commission on Human Rights head Ifdhal Kasim. “The law went against the secular basis of Indonesia, and the rights group is appealing to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to review the legislation,” he said.
“This will bring Aceh back to the past. Throwing stones is like Aceh in the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries,” Kasim sa-id, adding the law would embolden conservatives pushing for sharia on a national level.
The controversial law was passed in Aceh just weeks before a new, more moderate provincial assembly was due to take power. Ma’ruf Amin, the head of the Indonesian Council of Ulema, Indonesia’s top Islamic body, welcomed the new hardline law.
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Mohammed is now the third most popular boy's name in England. So why this shabby effort to conceal it?
By Max Hastings
Last updated at 4:02 AM on 11th September 2009
This week, the Office of National Statistics published a list of the most popular boys' names in Britain: Jack, Oliver, Thomas, Harry, Joshua, Alfie, Charlie, Daniel.
There is just one small problem: the list is deceitful. In reality, the third most popular choice for boy children born last year in England and Wales was not Thomas, but Mohammed.
Persecution of Iranian Christians intensifies; 2 women refuse to renounce faith
August 12, 2009
In recent weeks, Iranian authorities have intensified their persecution of Christians, especially those who have converted from Islam. According to Compass Direct News, two dozen Christians who had gathered together in a house were arrested on July 31 and rearrested on August 7, and an additional eight Christians in another city were arrested on July 29 and 30. On August 9, two women held in the infamous Evin prison-- both converts from Islam-- refused to renounce Christianity when they appeared before the nation’s revolutionary court.
At the recommendation of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, the State Department has designated Iran a “country of particular concern” because of its egregious violations of religious freedom. Only 0.02% of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s 66 million people are Catholic, and they, like other minority religious groups, suffer pervasive discrimination and government monitoring of religious activities. It is illegal for Christians to evangelize Muslims, and the conversion of Muslims to Christianity and other religions is punishable by death. According to the State Department, “Christians, particularly evangelicals, continued to be subject to harassment and close surveillance … The government [has] vigilantly enforced its prohibition on proselytizing by closely monitoring the activities of evangelical Christians, discouraging Muslims from entering church premises, closing their churches, and arresting Christian converts.”
More here and here
Muslim mob burns Church after blasphemy allegations
JAYTIKE, Pakistan (UCAN) -- Hundreds of Muslims set ablaze a Protestant church Sept. 11 in this town of Punjab province after a Christian youth was accused of tearing the Qur’an.
The attack took place after torn pages of the Muslim holy book were found in front of a Christian house (OMG - not pages from the holy book!). Mobs have blocked access to the town and raised slogans calling for the severe punishment of the “blasphemer.”
According to initial information from Church sources, a love affair between a Christian youth and a local Muslim girl led to the assault. (Don't mate with the infidel)“The concerned Muslim family discovered the secret affair today and accused the Christian of tearing the Qur’an. We fear attacks on local Christians,” Francis Azad, a catechist in Jaytike told UCA News.
The latest anti Christian violence is the seventh such incident this year.
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UPDATE: LAHORE: A 25-year-old Christian accused of blasphemy died in a prison early on Tuesday, officials said, with rights activists saying they suspected he was tortured, AFP reported.
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New Search Engine Targets Muslim Web Users
ImHalal Filters Out Content Forbidden by Muslim Faith
A new search engine, called ImHalal.com, aims to protect the sensibilities of Muslims by filtering out content that is "haram" or forbidden by the faith.
Sex rates 2/3 (Oops! Your search inquiry has a Haram level of 2 out of 3. This means that the results fetched by ImHalal.com could be haram!)
Homosexual rates 3/3 (Oops! Your search inquiry has a Haram level of 3 out of 3! I would like to advise you to change your search terms and try again.)
Gay rates 2/3
Bollocks 2/3
Nude rates 3/3 with the Oops! Warning.
Cartoons rate 1/3
Penis rates 2/3
Babe rates 2/3
Search engine here
Church Firebombed in Egypt After Opposition From Muslim Neighbors
Cairo Egypt (AINA) -- The Coptic Church of Saint Paul and Saint Peter in the town of Shebin el Kom, 60 kilometers northwest of Cairo, was burnt on 9/8/2009, No casualties were reported.
Copts United were told "The reasons behind the church fire are the problems between the Church and the Muslim neighbors who are unhappy with the presence of the Church in their vicinity. The congregation was harassed, the priests insulted and threatened, and Koran chanting was played over the loud speakers during the Church services."
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Muslims criticise new opening laws
September 12, 2009
A leading Muslim spokesman has criticised new NSW, Australia, laws that enshrine the rights of staff to refuse to work on Christian-orientated public holidays.
The state government is banning most shops from opening on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Easter Sunday and Good Friday unless their owners can prove compelling demand from the local community.
Shops will also only be able to open for half a day on ANZAC day.
The new law prevents shop owners forcing staff to work on those days.
Sydney-based Muslim community spokesman Keysar Trad said workers of all faiths were entitled to a break and called for the two main Muslim public holidays to be recognised as well.
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Belgian Schools Ban Hijab
BRUSSELS —(Sept 2009)
Dutch-language public schools in Belgium will ban the wearing of hijab in classes, following the suit of many European countries.
"This decision promotes the feeling of equality and prevents group formation or segregation on the basis of external symbols of life philosophy," the schools said in a statement cited by Reuters on Friday, September 11.
The ban will affect 700 schools in the northern region of Flanders, including some in Brussels.
Hijab has been thrust into the limelight since France banned it in public schools and institutions back in 2004.
Several European countries have since followed the French lead.
Belgium has a Muslim minority of 450,000, about half of them are from Moroccan origin, while 120,000 are from Turkish origin.
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Angus Hohenboken | September 10, 2009
COMMUNITY tensions are running high in the western Sydney, Australia, suburb of Auburn after police from the Middle Eastern organised crime squad raided four houses during the Muslim festival of Ramadan.
The raids on Tuesday evening prompted a gathering of about 150 mostly Middle Eastern youths and then the arrival of about 100 police.
Police have denied their timing was culturally insensitive and labelled angry mobs who threatened police during the raids as "cowardly".
A heavily-tattooed Lebanese local, who asked to remain anonymous because his police record was "as long as the street", said police in Auburn were racist and should have had the courtesy not to interrupt
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Muslim woman presses French panel for burqa ban
By SYLVIE CORBET (AP) – 16 hours ago
PARIS, France,— Her voice trembling with emotion, the leader of an advocacy group for Muslim women and girls urged a French parliamentary panel on Wednesday to press for laws that would ban the wearing of Islamic body- and face-covering veils.
Sihem Habchi appeared as the first witness before a newly created parliamentary group studying Islamic clothing such as burqas and niqabs — part of France's effort to integrate its growing Muslim population while preserving its heritage and secular roots.
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Don’t Pray for Non-Muslims’ Downfall: Scholar
RIYADH, Egypt— An eminent Saudi scholar is calling on Muslim imams and preachers to avoid praying for the downfall of non-Muslims during their religious sermons. Amen!
"Praying for the ruin and the destruction of all infidels is not permitted,” Sheikh Salman Al-Ouda told the Dubai-based MBC Television channel, reported Reuters.
“(This is ) because it goes against God's law to call upon them ... to take the righteous path."
Some imams and preachers close their sermons with prayers that call for the downfall of enemies of Muslims, especially Israel and its allies.
"Calling for their offspring and ancestors to be eradicated is not legitimate ... (except) for the tyrants among the infidels and those who violate the sanctities and harm the faithful," said Ouda. (Sept 6, 2009)
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Egyptian Muslims: It Is a Sin to Build a Church
Reported: 09:39 AM - Sep/02/09 Follow Israel news briefs on Twitter and Facebook. (IsraelNN.com)
The Egyptian Muslim Council has shocked Christians with a new religious edict (Fatwa) stating, “The will of a Muslim towards building a Church is a sin against God, just as if he left his inheritance towards building a nightclub, a gambling casino, or building a barn for rearing pigs, cats or dogs." The Muslim community’s debate over the Fatwa reflects a growing intolerance of Christianity, according to sources quoted by the Assyrian International News Agency.
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Malaysia Muslim protest derails Hindu temple plan
A Malaysian state government searched for a new site for a Hindu temple Sunday, bowing to pressure from Muslim residents who staged a gruesome protest against its planned construction that triggered debate about religious intolerance. (Sept 6 , 2009)
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UPDATE:
Malaysian news Web site harassed over protest coverage
New York, September 15, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the recent official harassment of Malaysiakini, a widely read online news site that has faced persistent threats from government authorities over its 11-year history.
Officials from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) entered Malaysiakini’s offices on September 8 and videotaped its staff as they replied to questions related to the posting of two videos the government has called “provocative.”
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Ad Featuring Popular Police Pup Sparks Anger in Scottish Muslim Communities
(July 2 -2008)
Muslims in the Scottish district of Tayside are outraged by the appearance of a wide-eyed, 6-week-old puppy on postcards distributed by the local police force, according to the Daily Mail.
Postcards showing police dog-in-training Rebel, a German shepherd born in early December, are causing a furor among the region’s Muslims who believe dogs are "ritually unclean," the Daily Mail reports.
More Here
Police Dogs in Indonesia (from here)
However, the use of dogs in police work raised some doubts because many people in this predominantly Muslim country believed that man’ best friends were haram, or forbidden under Islam. Djoko said that while planning the establishment of the canine squad, the police force consulted the Ministry of Religious Affairs (WHAT?) and the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) on using the dogs in its work.
The ministry issued a decree in 1956 stating that based on verses from the Koran and the Hadist — a collection of sayings by the Prophet Muhammad — the use of trained dogs is allowed for hunting food and activities for the greater good of society.
Sharia law UK: Mail on Sunday gets exclusive access to a British Muslim court
July 2009
Confident, Dr Hasan tells them that in every part of the world, there can be only one authority.
'In Britain, the ultimate authority is the Prime Minister. In an army, it is the commander-in-chief. On the bus, it is the bus driver. And in the house, the smallest unit of society, sharia says authority must be with the man to maintain the house.
'The woman's duties are much harsher. Biologically, she differs,' he says. Her duties lie with the cleaning and childcare.
The mood turns black as Dr Hasan continues that under Islam, the woman is seen as someone who needs the protection of a man. In matters of divorce, the right of ending a marriage lies with the man because 'women have emotions, whereas a man thinks first before he speaks'.
At this, one white woman berates Dr Hasan. 'If you had said these things about a Jew or a black person, it would be totally unacceptable. Yet you think it is OK to say women are inferior. I cannot listen to this without making a stand.'
Another woman, an African professor, adds: 'In my house, my husband and I look after each other. It is an equal partnership. I don't need anyone to protect me.' Applause ripples through the audience.
Awarding Islam's challenger
July 15, 2009
An Egyptian critical of the Koran was recently chosen by Cairo for a scientific prize. Of course, barely anybody is happy Every year the Egyptian Minister of Culture distributes valuable prizes to outstanding scientists from various fields. The list is composed of about 50 scientists of differing levels of prestige. This year, sociologist and scholar Sayyid al-Qimni is among the winners of the top prize for social sciences, which is worth 200,000 Egyptian lira.
But what particularly angered the religious scholars were his books in which, they claim, he stated that Islam is a false religion and was nothing more than a political organization used to take control of the city of Mecca.
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