Eid Can Be Lonely for Reverts. Here’s What You Can Do.
As Ramaḍān is nearing an end, Br Eskandar al-Fārsi reminds us to remember our revert brothers and sisters on the day of Eid.
United on Paper: hypocrisy of Iran’s ‘unity week’
‘Unity’ or Hypocrisy? The Iranian Regime’s Game with the Sunnis of Iran Whilst the world was occupied with the events in France, it was ‘Shia – Sunni Unity Week’ in Iran, which commenced on Monday the 5th of January. The picture above interestingly shows how “Iranian security forces barred Sunni worshipers from entering a Sunni prayer site in Tehran on Friday 9th January 2015, preventing them from holding congregational Friday prayers.” The 9th being the last day of this so-called unity week. Without doubt this ‘Shia – Sunni Unity Week’ sounds appealing on paper, apparently aiming to keep differences at…
The plight of your Chinese brothers and sisters
China’s massive 1.3 billion population is home to 10 million Uighurs; these are China’s biggest ethnic Muslim minority. However in recent years they have been subject to persecution by the Communist government in Beijing. The Uighurs predominantly live in China’s largest administrative division known as Xinjiang, they make up approximately 43.3% of the population in the administrative division. Over recent years they have been subject to discriminatory laws and ‘witch hunts’. They have been subjected to accusations of “extremism” and “separatism”. Moreover, legislation passed in the region has been accused of targeting Muslims as the month of Ramaḍān is banned;…
The militarisation of US police
Aren’t the police supposed to protect the people of Ferguson? The death of Michael Brown, a young African-American teenager who was shot six times—whilst unarmed—by police officer Darren Wilson, has caused great controversy in the United States. This has caused the debate on race to begin anew with citizens in Ferguson protesting in the state of Missouri. However what is most concerning to the general public is the way the police and the state of Missouri have handled the incident, seeing that we cannot tell the difference between the police and the army. Ever since the early 1990s the military-transfer…
Should Russia’s annexation of Crimea concern us?
The Tartars are the state of Ukraine’s ethnic Muslim minority. Years ago this community were exiled by USSR leader, Joseph Stalin, to Uzbekistan and Siberia. This was done as a form of collective punishment for the Tatar’s alleged collaboration with the Nazi occupation. In the process of their mass exodus, more than 100,000 of the deportees died of starvation and disease. Following the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, very little was reported about the condition of the Muslims in that region. When the situation developedto include other Ukrainian cities including Donetsk along with the Ukrainian government’s campaign to…
The Oppressed Sunnis of Iran
The Sunni population of Iran has been in existence since the conquest of Persia by Caliph Omar Ibn al-Khattāb (radiy Allāhu ‘anhu) in the years 632–634 CE. Iran remained under Sunni rule for over 800 years until the Safavid Dynasty arose and overturned its leadership in the year 1501. The Safavids began to spread Shia Islām in Iran leading to the persecution and exile of the Sunni population. Many accepted death over converting to Shia Islām. Today the Sunnis of Iran are the biggest and most oppressed minority with many of their basic human rights heavily restricted. The main purpose and…