Category: Islam

To Fast Or Not To ‘Let Others’ Fast

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To Fast Or Not To ‘Let Others’ Fast

By Shamila Ghyas It’s that time of the year again when everyone starts fighting whether it is Ramzan Mubarak, Ramadan Kareem or a chutney of the two – Ramzan Kareem. Call it whatever you like, but one thing is certain: we will once again spend this year not bathing in the spirituality of fasting, but rather worrying if the neighbor’s aunt’s daughter’s husband is fasting or not. Whether cousin Shabana really can’t fast or is she just lying about it. Why that guard outside my favorite shoe store took a…

The Lady of Heaven: Have we become desensitised to the threat posed by Islamists

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The Lady of Heaven: Have we become desensitised to the threat posed by Islamists

By Khadija Khan Cinemas in the UK have caved into the demands of Muslim fundamentalists and refused to show an allegedly “blasphemous” film: The Lady of Heaven, a historical epic about Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. When the film first released, protesters across England aggressively picketed cinemas, claiming The Lady of Heaven hurts “the feelings and the sentiments of a billion people around the world”. The furious offence-takers made provocative speeches outside the cinema houses threatening “repercussions”. Cineworld then pulled the film from all of its venues nationwide, and other cinema chains…

The dishonesty of the debate on “Islamophobia” and the threat to free speech

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The dishonesty of the debate on “Islamophobia” and the threat to free speech

By Khadija Khan We are barely a month into 2022, and already we face the same old social and political challenges that have plagued us for centuries. Among them is a crucial battle to protect our right to free speech from the influence of religious ideologues who remain hell-bent on normalising their theocratic beliefs by silencing dissent. However, what makes this struggle against fundamentalism even more strenuous is that the left, once champions of free speech, seems to have abandoned the values of liberalism. Debate is often stifled so as…

The Muslim Council of Britain finally has a female leader – but there’s a long way to go towards equality

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The Muslim Council of Britain finally has a female leader – but there’s a long way to go towards equality

 By Khadija Khan   A historic occasion has been marked in the British Muslim community. Zara Mohammed, a 29-year-old Glaswegian, became the first woman to be elected as secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). The news was met with a lot of approval, particularly by women, and seen as a step in the right direction towards inspiring other Muslim women to take leadership roles. It was all going well for Ms Mohammed, with all the complimentary articles about her in the papers. That is until she was asked…

Will my daughter still love me tomorrow? A reflection on leaving Salafism

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Will my daughter still love me tomorrow? A reflection on leaving Salafism

By Thomas Maldonado Last weekend, I celebrated my youngest daughter’s birthday for the first time since I left Salafism (a branch of Islam that believes in a literal approach to the faith). Now that I am no longer bound by ridiculous religious rules, I am free to explore and celebrate the world around me, without giving two fucks about what anyone thinks or is brave enough to say to me. To see my daughter’s beautiful little face light up as she jumped in delight at my horrible happy birthday canticle made me…

Ex-Muslims are “not an authority on Islam!”

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Ex-Muslims are “not an authority on Islam!”

By Thomas Maldonado Not long ago on Twitter, I came across the loaded tweet of one Dr. Craig Considine, a PhD in Sociology and devout Catholic, according to Sheikh Google, who oddly tweeted: “Being an ‘ex-Christian’ does not make one an authority on Christianity. Similarly, being an ‘ex-Muslim’ does not make one an authority on Islam. It’s intellectually dishonest to claim that your lived experience is part of some general truth about something as complex as religion.” There is a common theme popping up lately that ex-Muslims cannot use their lifeworld…

The myth of the hijabi woman’s agency

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The myth of the hijabi woman’s agency

By Saima Baig   Let’s clear one thing out from the beginning. This blog is not about banning women from wearing the veil. Freedom of religion necessitates that people are able to practice their religion the way they are required to. People are free to make religious decisions, even if those decisions are stupid, so long as they are personal and not harmful to others. This blog is also not about the false equivalence between veiled women and the so-called “scantily-clad” women. There is no equivalence. Yes, women should dress whichever…

The case of Rahaf Mohammed is a wake-up call for us all

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The case of Rahaf Mohammed is a wake-up call for us all

By Aliyah Saleem   Saudi teenager Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun showed tremendous courage as she barricaded herself into a hotel room in Bangkok, Thailand, to prevent being sent back to Saudi Arabia, where she could have faced prison and death for renouncing Islam. Her case demonstrated the power of social media as people such as the journalist Mona Eltahawy joined in to gather as much attention as possible for her. Rahaf has now been provided asylum by Canada where can she build a life for herself on her own terms. We…

A new day for Pakistan? The Asia Bibi Verdict

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A new day for Pakistan? The Asia Bibi Verdict

By Saima Baig   A strange thing has happened in the land of the pure, the bastion of Islam that is Pakistan. A woman imprisoned for almost nine years and who was on death row for blasphemy has been acquitted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The reason I call this strange is that in Pakistan — it is. The country’s infamous blasphemy laws are used willy-nilly to settle personal scores and it is very difficult to be absolved of this ridiculous crime. Plenty of people are languishing in jail…

Is the Danish ‘burqa ban’ an infringement on Muslim women’s rights?

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Is the Danish ‘burqa ban’ an infringement on Muslim women’s rights?

By Khadija Khan After France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Bulgaria, Austria and the German state of Bavaria, Denmark has become the latest European country to ban full veil in public places. The veil, or niqab, is the attire mostly worn by ultra-conservative Muslim women. The ban has been criticised for being an infringement on Muslims women’s right to practice their religion. The Danish government, however, claimed that it is neither religiously motivated nor an infringement on Muslim women’s rights. Nevertheless, the law has once again stirred up debate about the western…