July 2008

Jihad by the Numbers

…It is no accident or fluke of history that Islamists - Hamas, Hezbollah, Ahmadinejad, Saudi Wahhabists, the whole ménage of Islamists and Jihadists -- admire both Hitler and Nazism. Their hatred of Jews and Israel is merely one facet of that pathology. As Nazism required the complete submission of the individual to Party ideology and an unthinking, unwavering deference to Hitler, Islam requires the complete submission of the individual to Islam and an unthinking, unwavering deference to Allah and Mohammed. Islamists have long recognized that both the method and the ends of Nazism were in complete agreement and practical accord with their own. The "mechanics" of a functioning Islam differ in no fundamental way from the "mechanics" of a functioning Nazism or any other brand of total collectivism, as described by Toohey above. (2)  (One historical note: Kershaw points out that Hitler once entertained the idea of solving the "Jewish Question" by helping to establish a Jewish state in Palestine, where all German and other European Jews would be forcibly "relocated" and presumably - hopefully - perish in a wasteland of desert and hostile Arabs. He dismissed the idea because he feared that such a state could possibly become a political adversary dedicated to destroying Germany. Historically, the ironic joke is on Hitler. He destroyed Germany and the Jews turned the wasteland into a productive, prosperous garden.)…..(FSM, 3 Jul 08)

Conversion for marriage is against Shariat

Hardly a month after Darool-Uloom Deoband, 150-year-old India based ultra-conservative Islamic seminary, issued fatwa condemning terrorism as the “most inhumane crime” has once again now come with another fatwa related to a social cause. The fatwa issued on Wednesday has condemned the practice of conversion of non-Muslim women to Islam for the sole purpose of innumerable matrimony, which is against the ethics and principle of Shariat. The institution also issued an edict to check the practice. “Conversion to Islam must be in good faith and not for achieving material gains or something else even a relationship,”….(News Track India, 3 Jul 08)

Religion and Politics in Iran

In 2005, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran closed a speech at the United Nations with a call for the "mighty Lord" to "hasten the emergence" of Imam Mahdi, a direct descendent of the Prophet Muhammad. Shia Islam holds that the Mahdi, as the redeemer of Islam, will return from hiding to rid the world of injustice. This belief made Ahmadinejad's plea more than a pious invocation: Some analysts speculate the president was seeking to sow chaos by using religion to further his political goals. The debate reached a boil in May 2008. During a nationally broadcast speech Ahmadinejad suggested that Imam Mahdi supported the day-to-day operations of his government, a claim that brought condemnation from Iran's powerful clerical elite. The president also indirectly accused senior clerics of economic corruption, further upsetting the Iranian clergy and shining a rare spotlight on the increasingly tenuous relationship between politics and faith in post-revolution Iran…….(Washington Post, 2 Jul 08)

Iraq: Islamist group threatens churches in Mosul

An Islamist group has sent threatening letters to Assyrian chulrches in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, asking them not to cooperate with US forces.
The letter sent by The Batallion of Just Punishment, Jihad Base in Mesopotamia, also opposes the establishment of a sectarian Assyrian-Christian police force, reported the Assyrian International News Agency on Wednesday. "We caution and warn anyone who tries to rob us through dealings with the Americans or through the spreading of American forces and/or police to protect the Holy Shrines in the Islamic Republic of Iraq, that these shrines would remain target of the freedom fighters," the letter said……(AKI, 2 Jul 08)

Iran mulls death penalty for Internet crimes

Iran's parliament is set to debate a draft bill which could see the death penalty used for those deemed to promote corruption, prostitution and apostasy on the Internet, reports said on Wednesday. MPs on Wednesday voted to discuss as a priority the draft bill which seeks to "toughen punishment for harming mental security in society," the ISNA news agency said. The text lists a wide range of crimes such rape and armed robbery for which the death penalty is already applicable. The crime of apostasy (the act of leaving a religion, in this case Islam) is also already punishable by death……(AFP, 2 Jul 08)

Jordan to prosecute Dutch MP over anti-Islam film

The Jordanian justice authorities are preparing a criminal case against right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders because of his anti-Islam film, Fitna. A Jordanian judge has ruled that there is a case to answer. A number of procedures will have to be followed before any indictment is issued and this is likely to take a considerable time.   The complaint has been brought by organizations which believe the film constitutes an incitement to hatred of Muslims. They have already launched a campaign to boycott Dutch products, blaming the government in The Hague for not prosecuting Mr Wilders……(Radio Netherlands, 1 Jul 08)

Turkish ruling party put on trial

Turkey's chief prosecutor has appeared before the country's Constitutional Court calling for the governing party to be closed down.  Founded by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Justice and Development Party, the AKP, won a landslide victory in the last election.  But its critics say it is trying to impose Sharia law on the secular state…….(BBC, 1 Jul 08)

June 2008

No charge in Dutch Muslim incitement

The public prosecutor's office says it will not charge right-wing legislator Geert Wilders with inciting hatred for his film denouncing the Quran. The prosecutor says the film and statements Wilders wrote in Dutch newspapers were hurtful and insulting but not criminal… Wilders told The Associated Press he was not surprised by the decision because he had stayed within the boundaries of the law. Wilders' film, titled "Fitna," appeared on the Internet in March. It aroused protests around the Muslim world.…..(AP, 30 Jun 08)

SAFF: Pak. short films highlight emerging Islamic women

Short films from Pakistan which are being screened at the ongoing South Asian Film Festival (SAFF) here make a statement against fundamentalism and highlight the emerging women's movement in the Islamic world.  'Khuda Kay Liye', which was released in India in April this year and drew rave reviews at its premiere in IFFI Goa last year will be the closing film of SAFF. The film debates on the issues troubling the liberal young Muslims in face of growing fundamentalism within and being the potential suspects of terrorism in the western world because of their Muslim names…….(Hundu, 29 Jun 08)

India's Moderate Muslims See Peril In Growth of Stricter Form of Islam

On his way out of the town mosque, through a green archway, Ghulam Sarwar Sheikh was handed a copy of the community newspaper. Quietly glancing over the front page, he sighed. The article that had caught his attention was about a series of bombings in an Indian city last month that killed 80 people and injured more than 150. A previously unknown group, calling itself the Indian Mujahidin, claimed responsibility for the attack. It blamed the government for deliberately delaying justice for Muslim victims of religious riots. "These are dangerous times. We cannot trust anybody," Sheikh, a 28-year-old taxi driver, whispered as other worshipers around him nodded in agreement. "We are holding on to our teenage boys by a very fragile thread. We have to protect them from outsiders who come to change our moderate ways."…..(Washington Post, 29 Jun 08)

Saudi Marriage Officiant: It Is Permitted to Marry a Girl Aged One Year, If Sex is Postponed; The Prophet Muhammad, Whose Model We Follow, Married 'Aisha When She Was Six and Had Sex with Her When She Was Nine

Following are excerpts from an interview with Saudi marriage officiant Dr. Ahmad Al-Mu'bi. The interview aired on LBC TV on June 19, 2008.......(MEMRI, 26 Jun 08)

Is There a Nexus between Torture and Radicalization?

…Authoritarian regimes in the region are also widely viewed as compliant agents of a U.S.-led neo-colonial order as opposed to being accountable to their own people. Ironically, having realized that most of al-Qaeda’s leaders and foot soldiers received their start in radical opposition politics in their home countries, including U.S. allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the United States identified the persistence of authoritarianism in the Middle East as a critical factor in the spread of radicalization in its call for greater political liberalization and democratization in the region after the September 11 attacks [1]. Radical Islamist discourse highlighting the scourge of authoritarianism in the Middle East takes on many forms. One subject in particular, however, receives a great deal of attention in militant literature, communiqués, and discussions on radical Islamist chat room forums: The practice of systematic torture by the ruling regimes, especially that which occurs in prisons… Addressing the prevalence of torture, let alone the nexus between torture and radicalization, remains a taboo in the Middle East. Due to fears of reprisals by the authorities, many researchers and journalists in the region practice a form of self-censorship when addressing the topic.……(Jamestown, 26 Jun 08)

Christians on Trial in Algeria for Spreading Faith

Two men who converted from Islam to Christianity went on trial Wednesday on charges that they illegally promoted the Christian faith in Algeria. Rachid Mohammed Seghir, 40, and Jammal Dahmani, 36, were already convicted in absentia for illegal practice of a non-Muslim religion in 2007 but asked for a new trial, as Algerian law allows, their lawyer said. They are charged with praying in a building that had not been granted a religious permit by authorities and are also accused of trying to spread the Christian faith among Muslims……(AP, 25 Jun 08)

Militants set five girl schools on fire

Militants set on fire five girl schools in different places of Matta area of Swat in early hours of yesterday. However, no loss to life was reported.  As per details, the girls at village Chuparyal was set on fire by unknown persons on Tuesday night. Similarly another girls school was torched at Karamar in the same region by unknown militants……(Khaleej Times, 26 Jun 08)

Hardliners seize girl’s school

Pakinstani Taliban militants have seized a government-run girls school and re-named it after an Islamabad madrassa destroyed in a bloody siege last year.  The hardliners hoisted their flag atop the school in Pusht, a town in the lawless Bajaur tribal district, and named it Jamia Hafsa after the girls' seminary connected to the Red Mosque in the capital, residents and officials said.  More than 100 people died in a week-long siege and subsequent operation to clear al-Qaeda-linked militants from the Red Mosque and Jamia Hafsa in July 2007. The school was badly damaged and later bulldozed……(AFP, 25 Jun 08)

Measuring Mohammed and Dhimmitude

If you are willing to do some math that is no harder than counting how many apples you have in your shopping cart, you can measure the core of Islamic political doctrine found in Mohammed's biography, the Sira, a sacred text. What is surprising is that once you have a measure (metric) for Mohammed, you also have a measurement of our dhimmitude. It is an ugly and disgusting result…….(Political Islam, 25 Jun 08)

China demolishes mosque for not supporting Olympics: group

Chinese authorities in the restive far western region of Xinjiang have demolished a mosque for refusing to put up signs in support of this August's Beijing Olympics, an exiled group said on Monday.  The mosque was in Kalpin county near Aksu city in Xinjiang's rugged southwest, the World Uyghur Congress said.  The spokesman's office of the Xinjiang government said it had no immediate comment, while telephone calls to the county government went answered.  "China is forcing mosques in East Turkistan to publicize the Beijing Olympics to get the Uighur people to support the Games (but) this has been resisted by the Uighurs,"…….(Reuters, 23 Jun 08)

Legalize polygamy, says Islamic leader

An Islamic leader in Australia is calling on the Federal Government to recognise polygamous marriages. Keysar Trad from the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia says there are polygamists in the Muslim community in Australia who would like their relationships to be legal. He has told triple j's Hack program that the women are left in a vulnerable financial position if the man dies……(ABC, 24 Jun 08)

Poll: Majority of Indonesians support establishing Islamic law

A majority of Indonesians support establishing Islamic law, but fewer than half want measures such as cutting off the hands of thieves or forcing women to wear traditional Islamic dress, according to a national survey. Australian polling agency Roy Morgan Research said Tuesday about 52 percent of people questioned between July 2007 and March 2008 favored introducing some form of Islamic law, or Shariah, in their areas.  While most of Indonesia's 200 million Muslims practice a tolerant form of the faith, some groups want to chip away at the sprawling archipelago's secular traditions and reshape it in the image of orthodox Middle Eastern countries…….(AP, 24 Jun 08)

Malaysian state governed by Islamic party bans lipstick, high heels

The north-eastern Malaysian state of Kelantan, which is ruled by a hardline Islamic party, has issued a ban on lipstick and high-heeled shoes for working Muslim women, news reports said Tuesday. The State Executive Council - controlled by the Parti Islam SeMalaysia, which has ruled the state for 17 years but sits in opposition in the federal government - issued a circular to businesses stating the new dress code, the official Bernama news agency said. In its directive, the council said Muslim women may not wear thick makeup, bright-colored lipstick and high-heeled shoes that make 'tapping' sounds……..(DPA, 24 Jun 08)

Taliban issue burqa warning

Taliban in the Mohmand Agency have warned women to either wear burqas or face punishment, a private TV channel reported on Sunday. The TTP has pasted posters announcing this in various parts of the agency, Express News reported. The posters ask women not to work in the fields and prohibit them from attending marriage ceremonies and visiting doctors and markets without a male escort…..(Daily Times, 23 Jun 08)
 

Danish cartoon ruling may prompt "Islamophobia"-OIC

The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), a league of 57 Muslim nations, said on Monday a Danish court's rejection of a suit against a paper for printing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad could provoke "Islamophobia."
The High Court for western Denmark on Thursday rejected a suit against Jyllands-Posten, the newspaper that first published cartoons of Islam's prophet, leading to deadly protests in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The court said the editors had not meant to depict Muslims as criminals or terrorists, the cartoons had not broken the law, and there was a relationship between acts of violence and Islam -- comments that provoked outcry among Muslim groups in Denmark…….(Reuters, 23 Jun 08)

Afghanistan: Death penalty call for man who spread Koran translation

An Afghan journalist accused of distributing an unacceptable translation of the Koran should be put to death, says former Prime Minister Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai. Former journalist Ghows Zalmay, who was also the spokesman for Afghanistan's Attorney-General, was arrested in November last year for distributing a translation of the Koran into Dari, one of Afghanistan's two official languages. Ahmadzai, who ran in the 2004 presidential election against current President Hamid Karzai, told Adnkronos International (AKI) he supported the death penalty for Zalmay…..(AKI, 23, Jun 08)

Religious right wants end to war against Taliban and new campaign against India

Pakistan’s Islamist press has thrown its weight behind a group of mid-level and senior officers in the armed forces, who have been pressuring Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant-General Pervez Ashfaq Kiyani to terminate counter-terrorism operations in the North West Frontier Province and resume support for the jihad in Jammu and Kashmir. Last week’s air-strike on a Pakistan border post in the Mohmand Agency, in which several soldiers were killed, led jihadist leaders and commentators to call an end to Islamabad’s cooperation with the United States and to demand that it wind down the détente process with India, which they claim is working to exterminate Pakistan……(Hindu, 20 Jun 08)

Jordan court wants Wilders arrested

The maker of the controversial film Fitna, anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders, is afraid that he might be arrested while traveling abroad following a ruling by a court in Jordan earlier this week, reports Friday’s Volkskrant. A group calling itself The Messenger of Allah Unites Us has called for an international arrest warrant against Wilders accusing him of racism, inciting hatred and insulting Islam and Muslims, reports the paper. The group was also behind a call for a boycott of Dutch products in Jordan earlier this year. According to the Volkskrant the Dutch foreign affairs minister Maxim Verhagen is aware of the possibility that Wilders may be arrested and has ordered an analysis of the risks facing the leader of the anti-immigration PVV party……(Dutch News, 20 Jun 08)

Islamic law plays a role in British legal system

…For British Muslims, many of whom have one foot in Piccadilly Circus and the other in Pakistan, Bangladesh or Somalia, the British legal system is available, as it is to all. But it is singularly impotent when it comes to civil issues such as marriage, divorce and other disputes whose dispensation in heaven is often perceived as more crucial than any ruling that might be handed down by an English judge in a horsehair wig. A tumultuous debate was set off in Britain this year when the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, said it was time to consider "crafting a just and constructive relationship between Islamic law and the statutory law of the United Kingdom." Eventually, he hinted, this could mean allowing Britain's 1.8 million Muslims to seek legal recourse in Islamic courts in certain limited cases, such as marriage and divorce, as an alternative to the civil court system. Little known to the general public, though, is that Sharia is quietly being applied every day in Britain…..(LA Times, 20 Jun 08)

U.S. company: Blackwater Flight 61 crash lawsuit governed by Islamic law

To defend itself against a lawsuit by the widows of three American soldiers who died on one of its planes in Afghanistan, a sister company of the private military firm Blackwater has asked a federal court to decide the case using the Islamic law known as Shari’a.  The lawsuit “is governed by the law of Afghanistan,” Presidential Airways argued in a Florida federal court. “Afghan law is largely religion-based and evidences a strong concern for ensuring moral responsibility, and deterring violations of obligations within its borders.”.......(News Observer, 20 Jun 08)

Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates at UN

Muslim countries have won a battle to prevent Islam from being criticised during debates by the UN Human Rights Council. Religions deserve special protection because any debate about faith is bound to be “very complex, very sensitive and very intense”, council President Doru-Romulus Costea said Wednesday. Scholars: Only religious scholars should be allowed to discuss matters of faith, he told journalists in Geneva. While Costea’s ban applies to all religions, it was prompted by Muslim countries complaining about references to Islam…..(Daily Times, 20 Jun 08)

Jihad Against Freedom of Speech at the United Nations

…On June 16, 2008, UNHRC president Doru Romulus Costea announced that criticism of Sharia law will not be tolerated by the UNHRC, based on the complaints and pressure by Islamist delegates to the UNHRC. In effect, the Islamist nations represented at the UNHRC have effected a Jihad against freedom of speech at the United Nations when it comes to criticizing Sharia or Islamic supremacist (aka Islamist) theocratic ideologies that threaten the freedom and lives of innocents around the world. This again demonstrates the key imperative of control for Islamists - in this case in terms of controlling ideas, thoughts, and words of an international organization intended to promote human rights. Outgoing UNHRC Commissioner Louise Arbour subsequently raised concerns about debates on Sharia becoming "taboo" within the United Nations group, stating that it "should be, among other things, the guardian of freedom of expression."… This is not the first time that efforts have been made by such pro-Islamist Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) member nations to influence the United Nations. In my article "Jihad, Islamism, and the United Nations," I addressed the efforts of OIC member nations to reword a UNHRC resolution on religious freedom so that it would not respect the right of individuals to change their religion, as this would be in conflict with Sharia law. The OIC continues global efforts to influence the United Nations and worldwide organization to silence any debate on Sharia by painting such debate as "Islamophobia."…..(Counterterrorism Blog, 19 Jun 08)

Supreme Council Bans Hassan Saeed’s Book

The government’s Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs has banned a book co-authored by former attorney general and presidential candidate Dr Hassan Saeed, Freedom Of Religion, Apostasy and Islam, on the grounds that it “violates Islamic principles”. It is the first time the Council has banned a specific title since a short-lived bar on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 2005, which was retracted a week later. The ban was requested by the Islamic Democratic Party (IDP), which has now called for Saeed to stand down as a presidential candidate – but denies its action was politically motivated……(Mini Van News, 18 Jun 08)

UN's Arbour opposes "taboos" in human rights body

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour voiced concern on Wednesday over "taboos" on discussion in a key U.N. forum of subjects that Islamic countries see as offending their religion.Her comments followed a row at the forum, the 47-nation Human Rights Council, after Islamic countries intervened this week to stop mention of their system of sharia, or Islamic law, and the body's Romanian president appeared to back their stance…..(Reuters, 18 Jun 08)

UN Rights Head Concerned At Council "Taboos" After Sharia Row

…The 47-member council "should be, among other things, the guardian of freedom of expression," Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour told journalists. "There are obstacles at the council level," said Arbour, who steps down from her post at the end of the month. Her comments follow the decision of Council chair Doru Romulus Costea on Monday to cut off a speaker who raised the subject of Islamic Sharia law in relation to human rights……(AFP, 18 Jun 08)

Pakistani sentenced to die for blasphemy

A Pakistani judge sentenced a Muslim man to death Wednesday on charges he insulted Islam's Prophet Muhammad, a court official said. Falk Sher, a court administrator, said Judge Shoaib Ahmad Roomi also sentenced the man, Shafeeq Latif, to life in prison and fined him $75,000 on a separate charge of desecrating pages of Islam's holy book, the Quran, in 2006. Latif was accused of making derogatory remarks about Muhammad…..(AP, 18 Jun 08)

Jordanian Columnist and Former Minister Laments the Emigration of Christians from the Middle East Caused by Their Persecution

In the wake of the growing tensions between Copts and Muslims in Egypt, which were precipitated by the murder of four Copts in Alexandria and by violent attacks on Copts by Muslims in Upper Egypt, [1] former Jordanian information minister Salah Al-Qallab published an article in which he called for peaceful coexistence between the majority Muslim population and Christian communities in the Middle East……(MEMRI, 18 Jun 08)

Islam’s legacy of anti-Semitism

On Sept. 11, 2001, Andrew Bostom, an academic research physician at Rhode Island Hospital, did what many outraged and shocked Americans did. On his way home from work, he stopped at a bookstore and bought a book about Islam. As he recalls, it was something by Karen Armstrong, who, he didn’t know at the time, is famous — infamous — for being a serial apologist for Islam. Reading parts of the book aloud that same night to his wife, also an academic, as they went about accounting for friends and family in their native New York City, he found the book “treacley” and superficial, lacking not only the scholarly heft he was used to in scientific research, but also a connection to unfolding events. Even a more extensive survey of readily available works on Islam yielded similar platitudes rooted less in Islamic theology and history than in the contemporary political dictates of multiculturalism. The scientist in him wanted to know more……(Jamestown Sun, 18 Jun 08)

Islam Online's "Headless Homosexuals"

Is the beheading of homosexuals an Islamic religious duty or an independent political act? This is a question currently being posed on Islam Online (IOL), a website popular to the English and Arabic-speaking Muslim community. Given IOL’s violent anti-homosexual history, the answer may surprise you. Islam Online was established, in November of 1999, as a web portal for everything of concern to radical Muslims, from family matters and Islamic teachings to current events and the latest in technologies. The main individual behind its creation is Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, a spiritual leader and longtime member of the Muslim Brotherhood, who is presently IOL’s Chairman…….(FrontPage, 18 Jun 08)

Headscarves off in Tehran's first female-only park

Nasrin and Kimia cast aside their Islamic headscarves and quickly unbutton their coats as soon as they pass a gate watched by male guards -- the entrance to Tehran's first women-only park. The mother and daughter lay out their picnic on the lawn and lie in the hot spring sun as a group of other women jog past them in spaghetti-strapped vests and lycra shorts. An unusual sight indeed in Iran, where all women are obliged to cover their hair and body contours in public to obey the country's strict Islamic dress code. But last month the Tehran municipality opened the "Mothers' Paradise" park in the upmarket north of the city to create a male-free zone every day of the week except Friday……(AFP, 18 Jun 08)

Saudi Daily Harshly Criticizes the Treatment of Foreign Maids in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf

The Saudi daily Arab News dedicated investigative reports to the predicament of foreign maids, predominantly from Asia, who are employed in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries. Their abuses include enslavement without pay, torture, and in some cases even rape and murder. The following are excerpts from reports published by the newspaper from late December 2007 through May 2008……(MEMRI, 17 Jun 08)

Women: Islam's Domestic Animals

Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Abul Kasem, an ex-Muslim who is the author of hundreds of articles and several books on Islam including, Women in Islam. He was a contributor to the book Leaving Islam – Apostates Speak Out as well as to Beyond Jihad: Critical Views From Inside Islam……(FrontPage, 17 Jun 08)

Stalking Yemen's Streets: Self-Appointed Morals Police

…News reports of the incident in Aden came just after the country's newspapers reported that conservatives led by Abdul Majid al-Zindani, a religious leader accused by the United States of funding and arming al-Qaeda, had called upon Yemen's president to create official government bodies to promote virtue and prevent vice. Neighboring Saudi Arabia, where official religious police armed with clubs roam the streets and shopping malls enforcing a strict interpretation of Islamic law, also has vice and virtue committees. So did Taliban-era Afghanistan. Yemen's people are overwhelmingly Muslim and religiously observant……(Washington Post, 17 Jun 08)

Indonesian parliament passes sharia banking bill

Indonesia's parliament passed a new sharia or Islamic banking bill into law on Tuesday in a bid to tap the potential of the Islamic finance sector in the world's most populous Muslim nation. The sharia banking law allows foreigners to establish sharia banks in partnership with Indonesian citizens or local entities and also offers commercial banks the option of converting their business into sharia-compliant banks. Around 85 percent of Indonesia's population of 226 million people are Muslim……(Reuters, 17 Jun 08)

Iran police start wider crackdown on un-Islamic dress

Iranian police have launched a more extensive crackdown on "social corruption" such as women flouting Islamic dress codes, the Farhang-e Ashti newspaper reported on Monday. "In its wider crackdown which has started from Saturday, police will confront those who appear in public in an indecent way and will also seal off shops selling un-Islamic dress," the newspaper said, quoting an unnamed police official. The dress code imposed after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution requires women to cover all their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise the shape of their bodies. Violators can receive lashes, fines or imprisonment…..(Reuters, 16 Jun 08)

Sex trade thrives in Afghanistan

…Afghanistan is one of the world's most conservative countries, yet its sex trade appears to be thriving. Sex is sold most obviously at brothels full of women from China who serve both Afghans and foreigners. Far more controversial are Afghan prostitutes, who stay underground in a society that pretends they don't exist. Customs meant to keep women "pure" have not stopped prostitution. Girls are expected to remain virgins until their wedding nights, so some prostitutes have only anal sex. Police make two to three prostitution arrests each week….(AP, 15 Jun 08)

Islamic Republic of Iran News Network TV Documentary Traces Zionist Themes in Hollywood Films, from Disney to DreamWorks – With Special Focus On 'Chicken Run'

Following are excerpts from a segment of an Iranian documentary series on Hollywood cinema focusing on the film "Chicken Run." The segment aired on the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN), on May 29, 2008…..(MEMRI, 12 Jun 08)

Palestinian Journalist and Intellectual Criticizes Hamas TV Reports of Mahdi's Birth & Prediction Of Conquest Of Rome

On March 18, 2008, Palestinian journalist and intellectual Ahmad Abu Matar, who resides in Norway, posted on the liberal website Elaph a satirical piece [1] accusing Hamas of circulating reports of the birth of the Mahdi. [2] The article refers to an interview by Muslim Gaza cleric 'Issa Badwan with the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, in which Badwan announced to the Palestinian people, and to the entire Muslim and Arab world, that the Mahdi had been born in Gaza in 2004, and that in the near future the Arab nation can expect great victories…….(MEMRI, 12 Jun 08)

BBC commissions Islam documentary

The BBC has commissioned Oxford Scientific Films to produce Science And Islam, a three-part documentary set to air on UK digital channel BBC4 in 2009. The series will explore the contribution of early Islam to the development of scientific knowledge. Produced by Tim Usborne and exec producer Paul Sen, the series reunites the team behind BBC4's Atom series. Series presenter Professor Jim Al-Khalili will trace the lives and achievements of the great scientists of the medieval Islamic world. Oxford Scientific Films is a division of Southern Star Entertainment UK, and the series will be distributed internationally by sister company Southern Star International, launching at Mipcom in October……(c21 Media, 12 Jun 08)

Egyptian Writer Ahmad Al-Aswani: It's "Open Season" On Egypt's Copts

Ahmad Al-Aswani, an Egyptian writer, writes extensively on political topics from a critical and reformist perspective. In the following essay, posted June 7, 2008 on the liberal website Aafaq.org, [1] he focuses on the escalating series of physical attacks on members of the Coptic minority in Egypt……(MEMRI, 11 Jun 08)

Algerian Dissident Journalist Arezki Ait Larbi: Stop

In the western Algerian city of Tiaret, a 37-year-old convert to Christianity is currently on trial for "practicing a non-Muslim religion without authorization," under a 2006 law regulating the religious practice of non-Muslims. The charges were brought against her after police found copies of the Bible in her possession.(1)
In a May 27, 2008 article in the Algerian El-Watan daily, Algerian dissident and journalist Arezki Ait Larbi called the case a "witchcraft trial" and described a tightening alliance between the government and Islamists in the country. He argued that the only way out of the impasse was the formation of a popular movement that would confront intolerance and reaffirm respect for liberty of religion and conscience……(MEMRI, 10 Jun 08)

Muslim sect told to return to mainstream Islam

Members of a moderate Muslim sect were ordered by the government Monday to return to mainstream Islam or face possible imprisonment for insulting the country's predominant religion. Critics may see the step as a failure by the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to uphold the young democracy's secular values as it struggles to define its Muslim identity after decades of dictatorship. The vast majority of Indonesia's Muslims are moderate, but in recent years an extremist fringe has grown louder…..(AP, 9 Jun 08)

Indonesia acts vs radicals but intolerance remains--analysts

A police crackdown dealt a blow to Islamist extremists in Indonesia last week but the government's headaches with political Islam are only going to increase ahead of elections next year, analysts say. Normally cautious President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono earned praise for a rare swoop on Muslim extremists after scores of stick-wielding radicals attacked a peaceful rally for religious tolerance in Jakarta last Sunday. But analysts said moderate political Islam would pose an altogether more difficult challenge for the "secular" liberal reformers who share Yudhoyono's vision for the country's development…..(AFP, 8 Jun 08)

Islam: Shari'a-Compliant Finance Becoming Viable Part Of Global Banking

The rise in the price of oil in recent years has meant a windfall of revenue for the oil-rich Middle East. This infusion of petrodollars has led some of the world's wealthiest Muslims to search for new ways to manage their wealth, investment opportunities that are consistent with the teachings of the Koran. The result has been a rapid growth in Islamic financing, with centers of activity in places as far apart as London, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Singapore.  By some industry estimates, Islamic finance has grown worldwide during the past 20 years to $300 billion in bank assets. According to the General Council for Islamic Financial Institutions, that total is expected to exceed $1 trillion within the next five years. And those estimates do not include private savings accounts, which appear off the bank balance sheets……(RFE/FL, 6 Jun 08)

Crisis talks over Turkish ruling

Turkey's prime minister will chair an emergency meeting after his party's landmark measure, allowing students to wear headscarves, was blocked. The Constitutional Court said the move to overturn a ban on scarves violated the constitution's secular principles. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is meeting AK Party officials on Friday to discuss the next step. Correspondents say the court ruling could foreshadow the outcome of a case in which the AK Party could be banned……(BBC, 6 Jun 08)

Why Islamists Persecute the Baha’is

…Even a cursory look is enough to show that the software of Islam, over time, is so greatly manipulated by numberless sects, sub-sects and schools that it can hardly be considered a unitary belief system. And people are their ideas. Any assault on beliefs and ideas provokes the assailed to action.  This clash of beliefs is the reason for Islamists to unleash their power against the upstart iconoclastic Baha’i faith. In fact, the Baha’is revere Islam and respect all other religions. Baha’i faith has many teachings in common with Islam, so much so that some call it “Islam light,” because, while it retains some of Islam’s principles, it also abrogates a number of outdated and counterproductive Islamic laws and practices. Baha’is say their faith is not a wrecking ball that aims to demolish the schoolhouse of God called religion: a badly divided schoolhouse where everyone claims to worship the same God, yet keep oppressing, fighting and killing each other in the name of the same God…….(Amil Imani, 6 Jun 08)

Criticism in Syria of Ban on Interfaith Marriages

A two-part investigative article recently published in the Syrian weekly Al-Nour, the mouthpiece of the Syrian Communist Party, which is part of the ruling coalition, criticized the Syrian law banning marriages between non-Muslim men and Muslim women. The article stated that the ban discriminates between citizens of different faiths, and violates the principles of freedom of religion and freedom of marriage…..(MEMRI, 5 Jun 08)

'Allah's tailor' accused of disrespecting Islam

One of Turkey’s most successful fashion designers has been taken to court accused of exploiting Islam for personal profit. Mustafa Karaduman has been dubbed “Allah’s tailor” for his success at mass-marketing the ankle length coats and headscarves worn by conservative urban women who choose to cover up in style. His fashion empire, which encourages women to dress according to the Islamic beliefs, produced £25 million in sales across the Muslim world last year. But his commercial prowess has angered two Turkish theologians who claim he is profiting from Islamic belief having named his company after one of the Koran’s core statements……(Telegraph, 5 Jun 08)

Saudi king opens conference on interfaith dialogue

Saudi Arabia's king urged a gathering of Muslim scholars Wednesday to open religious dialogue with Christians and Jews. But politics intruded as a senior Iranian figure said the Islamic world should stand up to the U.S. and its "international arrogance." King Abdullah spoke at the start of a three-day conference of Islamic scholars, clerics and other figures in the holy city of Mecca called to get Muslims on the same page before the kingdom launches a landmark initiative for talks with adherents of other monotheistic faiths. The tone was one of reconciliation between Islam's two main branches, Sunni and Shiite. Abdullah, one of Sunni Islam's most prominent figures, entered the hall with Shiite Iranian politician Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who later sat at the king's left in a gesture of unity……(Washington Post, 5 Jun 08)

Music stores bombed in Pakistan

At least four people have been wounded after militants bombed video and music outlets in north-west Pakistan. The injuries were all from a blast at the Ashraf music store in Kohat, a town in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). Militants also blew up two dozen stalls selling CDs and videos in Miran Shah in the tribal area of North Waziristan……(BBC, 5 Jun 08)

A Jordanian organization wants to prosecute the Danes responsible for the printing of the Mohammed cartoons

Eleven Danes have been summoned to appear before the Jordanian pubic prosecutor to answer charges of blasphemy and threatening the national peace. They include the cartoonist who drew one of the Mohammed cartoons and editors from 10 of the 17 newspapers that reprinted them. The group behind the announcement is called The Prophet Unites Us, a union of Jordanian media organizations, organizations and private individuals……(CPH Post, 3 Jun 08)

Anti-terrorism police "monitor" Christian worship

Police burst into Christian religions functions, to film and identify those present. Although it has not yet been approved, a new law is already being applied that requires authorisation even for a religious from another city to visit. Police raids in church during religious functions, and repeated defamation in the state media: the Kazakh authorities are tightening their grip on Protestant Christian groups….(Asia News, 2 Jun 08)

Iranian Activist Faces Imminent Execution

Dr. Forood Fouladvand, a self-styled monarchist who disappeared along with two associates on the Turkish border with Iran on Jan. 17, 2007, faces imminent execution by the Iranian authorities, Iranian exiles in London and former colleagues tell Newsmax. According to these sources, Fouladvand will be executed in the coming days, on trumped-up charges of supporting terrorism inside Iran…..(FrontPage, 2 Jun 08)

Saudi Human and Women's Rights Activist Wajeha Al-Huwaidar Speaks Out Against Honor Killings

On April 7, 2007, a teenage Yazidi Kurdish girl named Du'a Al-Aswad was stoned to death by a lynch-mob in Iraq, because she had violated her family's honor. A video of the stoning, filmed by the participants themselves using their mobile phones, was posted on http://leilamagazine17.blogspot.com/2008/02/blog-post_6785.html. A year after the stoning, Saudi reformist and human rights activist Wajeha Al-Huweidar wrote a scathing article in which she harshly criticized the sexist character of Arab culture and particularly the phenomenon of "honor killing…….(MEMRI, 2 Jun 08)

Swat Taliban set up court in Piochar

The Taliban in Swat on Sunday set up their own court in the Piochar village of Matta tehsil, sources told Daily Times. They said that three cases were also heard in the court headed by a Qazi. Sources said that two cases were about land disputes, while the third one was a feud over money. The hearing of the first case, filed by complainant Lal Zada against Muhammad Rahim over a land dispute, will resume on June 5. The hearing of the second land dispute case will resume on June 8 which was filed by Muhammad Rafiq against Shah Zar. The third case — a monetary dispute between Shah Zar and Taj Khan – will be taken up again in the Taliban court on June 26, sources said……(Daily Times, 2 Jun 08)

Why Islam lies at the heart of Iraq's civil war

…not until 2007 did the Pentagon acknowledge that Iraqi sectarian violence had crossed a threshold to become a civil war. But policymakers still haven't come to terms with the implications of that fact. If they did, they'd see that a wisely executed withdrawal of US-led forces could well be the surest path to peace. That's because withdrawal is likely to transform the fighting in Iraq into a defensive struggle for power in a nation-state, as opposed to an offensive battle rooted in religion. The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the war in Iraq is a religious civil war and that – even putting aside Al Qaeda in Iraq – Islam is at the heart of it for three reasons……(Christian Science Monitor, 2 Jun 08)

Deoband first: A fatwa against terror

For the first time ever, Islamic seminary Darul-Uloom Deoband issued a fatwa against terrorism on Saturday, stating Islam had come to wipe out all kinds of terrorism and to spread the message of global peace. The Darul-Uloom had denounced terrorism for the first time in February, but had not issued a fatwa so far.  Saturday’s fatwa, signed by Darul-Uloom’s grand mufti Habibur Rehman, asserts that "Islam rejects all kinds of unjust violence, breach of peace, bloodshed, murder and plunder and does not allow it in any form". Citing the "sinister campaign" to malign "Islamic faith...by linking terrorism with Islam and distorting the meanings of Quranic Verses and Prophet traditions", Mahmood Asad Madani, leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, had wanted Deoband to spell out the stand of Islam on world peace….(Economic Times, 1 Jun 08)

Somalia: Islamic Court opened near Mogadishu

A new Islamic Court has been established in the town of Jowhar, capital of Middle Shabelle region which borders Mogadishu… The development is a blow to Somalia's interim government, which is backed by thousands of Ethiopian troops and African Union peacekeepers. Since arriving in Mogadishu 17 months ago, the government has faced a bloody insurgency in the capital and other parts of the country, including ambushes, assassinations and roadside bombings…..(Garowe, 1 Jun 08)

Assailants beat guards, steal bus from Christian school in Gaza: officials

A Palestinian human rights group says assailants have beaten up guards and stolen a bus from a Christian school in Gaza…A Palestinian Christian who worked at the school was killed in October, and a nearby Christian bookshop was firebombed months earlier. Last month assailants detonated a bomb outside another Christian school. No arrests were made in any of the incidents. Since the militant group Hamas came to power a year ago, attacks on Gaza's 3,000 Christians have increased…..(AP, 1 Jun 08)

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