Responses to this week’s Spectator article by Patrick Sookhdeo, from Melanie Phillips and Riyad Nadwi. Phillips predictably goes into raptures about Sookhedo’s “tremendous, totally authoritative and hugely important article” while the astute points in Nadwi’s piece are not assisted by its “Zionist conspiracy” framework.
Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia
Patrick Sookhdeo on moderate Islam
Yusuf Smith on Patrick Sookhdeo.
Crick hits out at call for ‘Britishness’
The UK government’s former chief adviser on integrating immigrants into British society has attacked attempts to denounce multiculturalism in favour of promoting “Britishness” in the wake of the London bombings.
Professor Sir Bernard Crick, who until his resignation three months ago was chair of the government Advisory Board on Naturalisation and Integration, said he was “pretty pissed off” over comments condemning multiculturalism made by Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, and the former Home Secretary David Blunkett. He added that any attempt to promote Britishness in its place could make Muslims feel threatened in the current climate.
Amir Taheri follow-up
Yusuf Smith posts a useful link to an article that refutes Amir Taheri’s line on the origins of the hijab.
British Muslim women respect fatwa, keep hijab
While respecting a recent fatwa by a leading British Muslim scholar allowing them to take off hijab to avoid spiraling harassment, a number of young British Muslim women said they would keep their religious dress code and seek police protection against racists.
“As a British citizen I have every right to wear my hijab, which is part of my Muslim identity,” Yusra, a University of London student, told IslamOnline.net by phone. “If harassed because of my religion, I would immediately resort to the Metropolitan Police to protect me from racists.”
She maintained that taking off her hijab would be tantamount to giving in to extremists and racists “who would not stop at that”.
Walk don’t run
A warning on the London Underground …
Thanks to Mark Shapiro.
Why the West has lost goodwill of Muslims
Why the West has lost goodwill of Muslims
By Javed Akbar
Toronto Star, 29 July 2005
These are treacherous times. Peace seems to have become ever more elusive and we are all traumatized, as if an impending danger is lurking over our heads. The victims, who are falling to acts of either individual or state-sponsored terrorism, have mainly been innocent civilians.
This vicious cycle of tit-for-tat madness must stop. Every innocent life lost is too precious, too great.
To honour the souls of the more than 50 people who died in a planned and pathologically-motivated attack in London, people the world over did stop in solemn silence and paid their respects by adopting the slogan: “Today we are all British.”
It was a poignant way to express solidarity with the bereaving families and nation. Paradoxically, when more than 200,000 people were killed in attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan, no one said: “Today we are all Iraqis or Afghanis.”
What hypocrisy. What gall.
The horror of 9/11 and now the aftermath of the London bombings reveal, more than anything else, the discord between the true nature of Islam, as religion, culture and civilization, and the way it is projected in the current palpable cloud of Islamophobia. Islam is relentlessly portrayed as an obscurantist, unethical enterprise. Muslims now actually wear the garb of the very demons that the media have been projecting as a collective profile for an entire community and a whole faith.
Assembly for the Protection of Hijab concerned by anti-hijab propaganda
In the wake of the July 7th attacks in London, there has been a sharp rise in attacks against Muslim women in Hijab who are visible and vulnerable targets. This has lead a small minority of Commentators to attack the Hijab and label it a traditional Arabian dress rather than an edict of religious code, thus in their view unnecessary.
There can be no doubt about the obligation of Hijab in Islam. The Islamic scholars world-wide unanimously agree on this. Protect-Hijab is concerned by the manner in which the attacks in London are being unashamedly used as a smokescreen by individuals to attack aspects of the Islamic faith to serve individual agendas.
While we all remain concerned about the well-being of our fellow Muslim women, we reject calls by a tiny fraction of scholars who call for the removal of the Hijab in defence against attacks on Muslim women. Britain is a place of tolerance and Protect-Hijab feels it is necessary now more than ever to educate society on the issue of the Hijab, rather than submitting to the threat emanating from some misguided members of our society who blame all Muslims for terrorism.
Assembly for the Protection of Hijab press release, 29 July 2005
Muslim groups warn tabloids inspire attacks
Muslim groups warn tabloids inspire attacks
Morning Star, 29 July 2005
Muslim community leaders accused “xenophobic” tabloids such as the Daily Express yesterday of sparking a violent upsurge of racial attacks in the wake of the recent terror attacks.
The Muslim Association of Britain said that the “hysterical” gutter press – the Express, the Daily Mail and the Sun – had stoked up racial unrest, simply to sell papers, putting British Muslims in danger.
The Islamic Human Rights Commission said that violent attacks have increased 13-fold since July 7. Committee chairman Massoud Shadjareh revealed that verbal and physical assaults have increased from a base rate of six or seven per week to more than 170 in the last fortnight.
Nine mosques have been attacked, a garage has been fire-bombed, people are being assaulted on the street and homes have had their windows broken, he revealed.
Anti-Muslim backlash intensifies
Update from the Institute of Race Relations.