Category: Islamic reform

The Orlando tragedy brings out the same old comments

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The Orlando tragedy brings out the same old comments

By Tehmina Kazi   In what appears to be the worst mass shooting in US history, 29-year-old Omar Mateen opened fire in a gay Florida nightclub at 2am on Sunday, killing 50 people and injuring up to 53 others. Orlando sheriff Jerry Demings called the shooting a “domestic terror incident” and the FBI — who already had Afghan-American citizen Mateen on their radar — are now investigating his links to terror groups abroad. His father, Mir Seddique, claimed that Mateen’s motives were not religious, and that he had been incensed…

Islamophobia is a convenient word to shut down a debate

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Islamophobia is a convenient word to shut down a debate

By Arshia Malik   Islamophobia is a term bandied around very casually these days on anything and anybody who stands up to the regressive practices in Muslim culture and denounces their oppressive characteristics. The first to scream Islamophobia are the practicing Muslims themselves at ex-Muslims, or agnostic Muslims, or liberal Muslims who feel they should speak out against the various shortcomings in their culture, their religion, their text and their fellow Muslims. A disclaimer first – I am aware that many cases of discrimination and abuse against Muslims are on…

Let’s take Islam back from the extremists and fundamentalists

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Let’s take Islam back from the extremists and fundamentalists

By Hassan Radwan   Islam – my religion – is facing the most serious crisis of its 1400 year history. Extremists like ISIS only serve to bring this crisis to a head, but it has been growing over the last 200 years. Yet despite this, we refuse to accept there is need for reform or even to engage in a conversation about it. The past 200 years have seen some of the greatest changes in human history. Changes in relationships, gender roles, law and order, morality and ethics. Changes in the…

Muslims Must Accept LGBTQ People

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Muslims Must Accept LGBTQ People

By E.A. Sofia   Every so often, there is a news story about persecution against LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer) people in Muslim-majority countries or a poll on Muslim views on social issues. The resulting conversations are all too often derailed and the topic of the conversation changed to non-Muslims’ views on Islam. This derailment is convenient for those who wish to avoid the long-overdue conversation that’s needed about how Islamic views affect the lives of LGBTQ people. As Muslims are a minority in the West, there’s a desire to be seen…

Is Charlie Hebdo ‘Islamophobic’ for echoing liberal Muslim voices?

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Is Charlie Hebdo ‘Islamophobic’ for echoing liberal Muslim voices?

By Kunwar Khuldune Shahid   For a publication that has published barely 10 editions satirising Islam in the past decade, Charlie Hebdo has earned its ‘Islamophobic’ label rather effortlessly. ‘Islamophobia’ even in its most liberal definition would at least imply prejudice against Islam, Muslims or any variation thereof. Accusing a magazine that has mocked Christianity thrice as many times in the same duration, and religion in general twice as much, of bias against Islam betrays – at the very least – bias against the publication. Maybe it’s because there weren’t…

After Asad Shah’s murder solidarity must extend to reformist Muslims

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After Asad Shah’s murder solidarity must extend to reformist Muslims

By Rasool Bibi The brutal murder of Asad Shah of Shawlands, Glasgow, on Good Friday has shocked us all.  All those who knew him or even encountered him in his shop talk of a peaceful, loving man.  Even those who did not know him, having read the tributes, feel deep sorrow and a loss. Hours before the terrifying attack that led to his death, Mr Shah had gone on Facebook to wish his “beloved Christian nation” a “Happy Easter”. Mr Shah had been repeatedly stabbed and stamped on, an indicator…