Ed Husain’s book about his experiences with Hizb ut-Tahrir perpetuates a false narrative about Islam, argues Taji Mustafa.
Cohen’s confusion about inclusion
“Now that the Assembly in the Six Counties has been re-established we can expect some serious discussion on the future of education. However, writing in the Observer today, Nick Cohen takes the opportunity to once again depart from reality and pick and choose some arguments to further the spread of Islamophobia…. Disgracefully, he quips ‘When white friends took their daughter to inspect one of them, the teachers all but begged them to send her there: hers was the only white face in the playground. They declined, as most parents would’.”
United bigots of the ‘mega-mosque’ campaign
Yusuf Smith examines the role of Alan Craig and the Christian People’s Alliance in the campaign against the Newham so-called “mega-mosque”.
What ‘Dave’ learnt about Muslims
Tory party leader David Cameron does a rewrite of his blog about his stay with a Muslim family in Birmingham. This one is pitched at a liberal audience, so he omits the stuff about Muslims being in denial about 7/7. Yes, it’s yet another example of Cameron trying to be all things to all people.
Amazingly, Cameron does have his admirers in the Muslim communities, despite his track record of anti-Muslim rhetoric. See for example here, here, here, here, here and here. Or try putting “David Cameron” into the search engine on this site.
Madeleine Bunting interviews Ed Husain
“It is as if, just as Husain once swallowed large chunks of Hizb ut-Tahrir propaganda, he now seems to have swallowed undigested the prevailing critique of British Muslims. He has no truck with the idea of Islamophobia, which he dismisses as the squeal of an Islamist leadership pleading special favours; he criticises Asian racism and castigates Muslims ‘who go back home to get married’ and produce ‘another generation confused about home’. On issues such as segregation, he is confident it is the fault of multiculturalism….
“One suspects the naivety which took him into Hizb-ut Tahrir has blinded him as to how his story will be used to buttress positions hostile to many things he holds dear – his own faith and racial tolerance, for example. A glance at the blog response to a Husain piece in the Telegraph reveals how rightwing racism and anti-Islamic sentiment are feasting on his testimony.”
Madeleine Bunting in the Guardian, 12 May 2007
For “left” support for Husain (from the AWL’s Jim Denham) see Shiraz Socialist, 12 May 2007
For right-wing support see Jihad Watch, 2 May 2007 and Melanie Phillips’s Diary, 13 May 2007
North Carolina church’s sign against Islam sparks controversy
Words like “bomb” and “die” draw attention to the small sign in front of Good News Independent Baptist Church.
Rev. Gary Murrell put up the sign, which on one side claims the message of Islam is “submit, convert or die.” The other side reads: “When is the last time you heard of a Jew or Christian with a bomb strapped to their body?”
Despite some in the Islamic community who claim the sign is offensive, Murrell says it is not a hate sign. “It was not put up there with the purpose of showing that we hate those people,” he said. “It’s not the people, it’s the religion.”
Murrell says it is a violent religion compared to Christianity. But not everyone agrees.
“I would really say that the actions of one individual really do not represent the Islamic faith,” said Debbie Jaunich, with the Islamic Center of Raleigh. “The Islamic faith really calls for peace.”
“It’s sad to see that we still have this kind of ignorance in the community about the Islamic faith,” she added. Murrell says he is trying to make people think but Jaunich said she thinks it breeds discrimination and bigotry.
“The point is that their salvation is in Jesus Christ, not in the Islamic faith,” Murrell said. “I am not trying to be a bigot. I’m not. I don’t hate those people.”
Murrell says the sign has been up for about a week and that he plans to change it this weekend.
But discussion about the message will likely continue. The Islamic Center of Raleigh is inviting Murrell and his congregation for a visit to learn more about Islam.
Hijab ban lifted
Competitors at a world Tae Kwon Do tournament to be held in Quebec City on May 31 will be allowed to wear a hijab, an international federation governing the sport has ruled.
‘One in 10 Muslims are in 7/7 denial’
The Evening Standard puts a predictable spin on David Cameron’s blog about his stay with a Muslim family in Balsall Heath.
It’s not hard to identify a considerable degree of political cynicism here on the part of the Tory leader. Cameron must have been well aware that the right-wing press would highlight this particular aspect of his article, reinforcing his appeal to hardcore Tory voters. But at the same he tries to cosy up to Muslim communities by making some progressive-sounding criticisms of the misuse of the phrase “Islamist terrorists” and of the general anti-Muslim bias in the media.
Anyone tempted to fall for Cameron’s BS should read this article by Soumaya Ghannoushi.
What is a ‘Muslim Reformer’? SANE explains
David Yerushalmi of the Society of Americans for National Existence (yes, that does produce the laughably inappropriate acronym SANE) explains why there are no moderate Muslims and why “Muslim Reformers” like Ayaan Hirsi Ali should be supported instead:
“The mythical ‘moderate’ Muslim … the Muslim who embraces traditional Islam but wants a peaceful coexistence with the West, is effectively non-existent … because he chooses to remain within traditional Shari’a-based Islam, where the Ulamā or Islamic legal scholars, and the Muftoon (singular: Mufti) who issue fatawa (singular: fatwa) or legal edicts, reign supreme together with the lesser mullahs, imams, and maulvis. A ‘moderate’ among these men will simply be shouted down, coerced into silence, or murdered. In contrast, the Muslim Reformer takes the proper position that Islam as it was created, as it has existed for 1,300 years, and as it exists now, is an evil political ideology the goal of which is a worldwide Islamic Caliphate.”
BNP announces candidate for London Mayor
“The man from the BNP breezes up in a white linen suit looking like some latter-day Martin Bell and says: ‘Can you believe it? Two of our schools are having Muslim days tomorrow – on 7/7! It’s like chucking mud in people’s faces’.”
The man from the BNP is Richard Barnbrook, who the fascists have just announced will be their candidate in next May’s London mayoral election.
For a picture of Barnbrook leading the massed ranks of the Master Race, see here. You do wonder whether this is part of some cunning plan by Nick Griffin to deflect accusations that his members are dangerous fascists by making them look like total prats.