Dr. Asim Qureshi of CAGE takes on Michael Gove
In this episode of Empowered by Islam21c, we look at one of the masterminds behind the recent "extremism" redefinition.
Israel dealt blow as ICJ progresses genocide case
Is the interim measure a step toward justice or a missed opportunity to have demanded an end to bloodshed?
The untold 9/11 story | Dr Asim Qureshi | Unscripted #61
In today’s episode, Dr Salman Butt is joined by CAGE research director, Dr Asim Qureshi for a relatively rare perspective on 9/11.
#MuslimPower: can Muslims do their own politics?
Do Muslims need to rely on non-Muslims for their political activism and alliances?
Critique of ‘Jihadi John: The Making of a Terrorist’
The Muhammad Emwazi I met in 2009 was indeed a polite and friendly young man as the author Robert Verkaik and many others attest to, but by the summer of 2014 he was executing innocent Muslims and non-Muslims in the name of the so-called “Islamic State” and I could not recognise the man I had once known. One year on from a difficult period my organisation and I encountered due to my inappropriate description of him once being a "beautiful young man" – one that I am regretful of due to the impact this insensitivity had on all families who…
Reflecting on ‘Between the World and Me’
Reflecting on Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates “When I finished reading this book, I realised that I’m still actually quite racist.” These were the words spoken to me by a white doctor of Anthropology who has spent her life defending black men facing the death penalty in the South of the US. Her own story is one full of racism, having grown up in a racist house that despised her for rejecting their ‘ways’, in having a sister who married a member of the KKK in order to have a pure blood child, and being generally surrounded in…
Sikhs: Victims & Proponents of Islamophobia
Asim Qureshi reviews the book, Unsettling Sikh and Muslim Conflict by Dr Katy Sian “I wonder what happened to her? I think the last I heard was that she was in Pakistan…” At the centre of Dr Katy Sian's book, Unsettling Sikh and Muslim Conflict, lies the question of Sikh identity, and particularly, what being Sikhni means in modern day Britain. Sian effectively charts how Sikhs in the UK have largely built an identity that is based on the politics, history, folklore and myths surrounding their intersection with Muslim communities dating back to their formation during the Mughal period of…
Doubt in Islamic Law – a history of avoiding punishment
Book Review - Doubt in Islamic Law: A History of Legal Maxims, Interpretation, and Islamic Criminal Law "Avoid imposing criminal sanctions in cases of doubt" - idra’u ‘l-hudud bi’l-shubahat - is the juristic maxim at the centre of Professor Intisar Rabb’s phenomenally well-researched work, Doubt in Islamic Law: A History of Legal Maxims, Interpretation, and Islamic Criminal Law. I came to this book largely due to my own lack of insight into the detail of how traditional Islamic jurisprudence viewed evidence and determined guilt or innocence within criminal law cases. Even where guilt was ascertained, was punishment to be taken as a final consequence? Rabb…
How the government makes you a terrorist without ever arresting you
In this piece, Asim Qureshi Research Director at CAGE takes us through how a routine stop under Schedule 7 and its specially engineered questions, can lead to oppressive civil orders leaving the individual having been declared guilty without judicial oversight, left to prove their innocence. Further, concerns about the implementation of the new Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill which seeks to arbitrarily impose orders under the elusive idea of “extremism”. I want you to imagine going through an airport where you are subjected to a Schedule 7 stop under the 2000 Terrorism Act. This stop results in you being taken away…
Life in Britain is about to get MUCH worse…
1984 in 2015: Counter Terrorism & Security Bill A new piece of legislation currently being rushed through Parliament called the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill carries serious implications for communities across the UK. In particular, the Muslim community is brought under particular scrutiny as Part 5 of the Bill seeks to make reporting on those on pathway to terrorism (through ‘extremist’ actions, beliefs of statements) a statutory requirement. This means that nursery teachers, university lecturers, doctors, nurses and even opticians, will all be under a mandatory duty to inform to Prevent police if they feel one of their students, patients of…