The Fake Fatwa That Went Viral
Recently an Egyptian news site published a report quoting an Azhari scholar, Khaled Al Gendy, saying “that drinking liquor without getting drunk is not sinful.” It was based on a television panel discussion where four scholars—one from each school of law—was discussing the issue of ‘khamr’ from the perspectives of their respective Imāms. Also read: Famous story of German new years’ sexual assault by refugees was “completely made up” To their credit, the news site posted a link to the 30-minute-long discussion, however upon listening to the actual discussion it is clear that Al Gendy’s words were seriously misunderstood and…
Abandoning a two-state solution for an apartheid state
Palestinians angrily warned the United States on Wednesday against abandoning a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel, after a White House official said peace did not necessarily have to entail Palestinian statehood. Palestinian officials said the only alternative would be a single democratic state for Jews, Christian and Muslims together – or an “apartheid” state that would be “a disaster and a tragedy for both Israelis and Palestinians”. On Tuesday, in a sharp reversal of US policy, a senior White House official briefed journalists in Washington that it was up to the Israelis and Palestinians themselves to decide on the…
Neo-Nazi who made pipe bomb – acquitted of “preparation of terror acts”
A neo-Nazi teenager who made a home-made pipe bomb has been sentenced to a three-year youth rehabilitation order. The 17-year-old from Bradford, who cannot be named, was also ordered to receive intensive counselling from a deradicalisation expert. The teenager had been convicted of making the pipe bomb at Leeds Crown Court in January. During his trial it emerged he was a member of the "secretive neo-Nazi" group National Action. The boy, who praised the killer of MP Jo Cox, was arrested after he put a photo of the pipe bomb online. Last month he was found guilty of making explosives…
Prevent designed to censor academic freedom
The government’s Prevent duty has come under fire again after it was revealed that King’s College London, one of Britain’s most prestigious universities, had warned its students and staff that their emails may be retained and monitored in accordance with the anti-terror programme. Prevent is sold to universities as a safe and sensible method of clamping down on radicalisation on British campuses and promoting ‘British values’. In reality, it is a messy programme that promotes state censorship, chills academic freedom, attacks the relationships between teachers and students and dilutes some of the most fundamental British values. It weakens free speech…
Britain’s “extremist” bloggers helping the ‘alt-right’ go global
A rightwing network of British bloggers and social media activists has emerged as an increasingly influential voice for white nationalists and for those who oppose multiculturalism. The network is also credited with helping propel Donald Trump to the presidency, a new report has claimed. In its annual audit of the far right, Hope not Hate, the UK’s largest anti-racism and anti-extremism movement, said that although conventional far right groups such as the English Defence League continue to fracture, new forces have surfaced that can reach a vast international audience and bolster support for the “alt-right”, which is defined as the far…
Apple Boss: Fake news is ‘killing people’s minds’
Fake news is “killing people’s minds”, Tim Cook, the head of Apple, has said. The technology boss said firms such as his own needed to create tools that would help stem the spread of falsehoods, without impinging on freedom of speech. Cook also called for governments to lead information campaigns to crack down on fake news in an interview with a British national newspaper. The scourge of falsehoods in mainstream political discourse came to the fore during recent campaigns, during which supporters of each side were accused of promoting misinformation for political gain. “We are going through this period of…
52% of women sexually harassed in UK
More than half of women have suffered sexual harassment in the workplace, including sexual assaults and comments about their bodies, research has found. Researchers from the Trades Union Congress and the Everyday Sexism Project found that 52% of women had experienced unwanted behaviour at work including groping, sexual advances and inappropriate jokes. Among women and girls aged 16-24, the proportion reporting sexual harassment rose to 63%. Around one in eight women reported unwanted sexual touching of their breasts, buttocks or genitals or attempts to kiss them at work, which the report’s authors point out would be considered sexual assault under…
Research reveals British press most right-wing in Europe
It's a common criticism of the British press that journalists are too biased, although it can be hard to tell which side they are supposed to favour. The BBC is a case in point - in the run up to the election Labour criticised it for giving such prominence to fears over a deal with the SNP, and at a similar time Nigel Farage became outraged after being booed on Question Time. It was a “remarkable audience even by the left-wing standards of the BBC”, he said. New YouGov research across seven European countries reveals British people are the most…
6 African Muslims Who Brought Islam To America
As a Muslim of West African origin living in the United States, my Muslim-ness is always contested by Europeans, Americans, and even clueless Africans. They ask me questions like: “Are you Muslim?” and “Were you born Muslim?” I get asked these questions a lot by Americans because Islam is something that was made to sound foreign to them. “I’ve never seen a Muslim from that country wear Hijab.” Believe it or not, many Africans ask this question as if they are well-travelled. Is your country predominantly Muslim?” I get this question from European Muslims as if they had just discovered…
Muslims were also banned from America 400 years ago
On Christmas Day, 1522, 20 enslaved Muslim Africans used machetes to attack their Christian masters on the island of Hispaniola, then governed by the son of Christopher Columbus. The assailants, condemned to the grinding toil of a Caribbean sugar plantation, killed several Spanish and freed a dozen enslaved Native Americans in what was the first recorded slave revolt in the New World. The uprising was quickly suppressed, but it prompted the newly crowned Charles V of Spain to exclude from the Americas “slaves suspected of Islamic leanings.” He blamed the revolt on their radical ideology rather than the harsh realities…
