Damning report cites human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims in north-west Chinese province
China has committed “serious human rights violations” against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province which may amount to crimes against humanity, the outgoing UN human rights commissioner has said in a long-awaited and damning report.
Continue reading...T Raja Singh suspended earlier this week for hate speech after allegedly abusive comments
Police in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad have arrested a suspended leader of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) for making allegedly abusive remarks about the prophet Muhammad.
Police arrested T Raja Singh, 45, on Thursday after thousands of Muslims took to the streets in the city protesting against his speech.
Continue reading...The writer had no idea his novel would unleash such anger and become a litmus test of freedom of expression
When Salman Rushdie wrote his novel The Satanic Verses in September 1988, he thought its many references to Islam might cause some ripples.
“I expected a few mullahs would be offended, call me names, and then I could defend myself in public,” Rushdie would tell an interviewer much later.
Continue reading...Police in New Mexico have warned that deaths of local Muslim men, including one last year, may be linked
Three Muslim men have been killed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in a span of just 10 days, stoking fear in one of America’s smallest Muslim communities as police have warned the deaths may be linked.
The killings also followed the November 2021 killing of Mohammad Ahmadi, another Muslim man, which local advocates and law enforcement officials believe could also be linked to the more recent attacks.
Continue reading...Rallies in support of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr follow occupation of Iraqi parliament amid a political vacuum
Protesters from rival Shia blocs have taken to the streets of several Iraqi cities in a show of force that sparked fears of a descent into violence amid a 10-month political standoff about naming a new government.
The rallies followed a weekend occupation of the Iraqi parliament by supporters of the powerful Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has called for the post-2003 political system in Iraq to be overthrown through popular revolt in perhaps the most serious challenge Iraq has faced since the Islamic State terror group overran Mosul and nearly stormed Baghdad in June 2014.
Continue reading...Dawoodi Bohra leader Mufaddal Saifuddin, who is in the UK to preach, is an advocate of the abusive practice whose visa should be revoked, say activists
Campaigners have criticised the UK government for granting a visa to a religious leader who has advocated for female genital mutilation (FGM).
Mufaddal Saifuddin who is the syedna, or leader, of the Dawoodi Bohra community, a sect of Shia Islam with 1.2 million followers worldwide, will give sermons in front of tens of thousands of people at Northolt mosque in London between 29 July and 7 August.
Continue reading...Gil Tamary of Israel’s Channel 13 sparked online fury after he filmed himself in Islam’s holiest city despite a ban on non-Muslims
A Saudi citizen who allegedly helped a non-Muslim enter the holy city of Mecca has been arrested, police in the kingdom said, after an online backlash against a journalist working for Israeli television.
The journalist, Gil Tamary of Israel’s Channel 13, posted on Twitter a video of himself sneaking into Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, in defiance of a ban on non-Muslims.
Continue reading...Study challenges idea poor outcomes are due to Muslims’ so-called ‘sociocultural attitudes’
Poor outcomes for Muslims in the British labour market cannot be explained by sociocultural attitudes, such as commitment to traditionalism, a study has found.
The research, published in the peer-reviewed Ethnic and Racial Studies journal, confirmed the existence of a “Muslim penalty” in the employment market but rejected previous suggestions that it was due to cultural and religious practices.
Continue reading...Campaigners say sentence amounts to torture amid fears that country’s new regime is rolling back women’s rights
A woman in Sudan has been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, the first known case in the country for almost a decade.
Maryam Alsyed Tiyrab, 20, was arrested by police in Sudan’s White Nile state last month.
Continue reading...Journalists demand release of co-founder of Alt News after he was accused of insulting Hindus
The co-founder of a factchecking website has been arrested by police in Delhi weeks after he highlighted derogatory comments made by a spokesperson for Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) about the prophet Muhammad.
Mohammed Zubair, who set up the Alt News website, flagged the remarks made during a television debate at the end of May on Twitter, bringing them attention they may not otherwise have had.
Continue reading...Saudi Arabia tells pilgrims to use new online system and to seek refunds from any agencies they have already paid
British Muslim travel companies have said they face going out of business, with travellers potentially losing thousands of pounds, after Saudi Arabia launched a new system for applying for the hajj pilgrimage.
The Saudi government announced this month that pilgrims from Europe, the US and Australia could no longer book through travel agencies and would instead have to apply through a lottery system.
Continue reading...Remains thought to be more than 1,200 years old shed light on region’s transition from Christianity to Islam, say officials
Israeli archaeologists have unveiled a rare ancient mosque in the country’s south that antiquities officials said shed light on the region’s transition from Christianity to Islam.
The remains of the mosque, believed to be more than 1,200 years old, were discovered during works to build a new neighbourhood in the Bedouin city of Rahat, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said in a statement.
Continue reading...Pencil cases, skirts and hats among items targeted for ‘contradicting Islamic faith and public morals’
Saudi officials have been seizing rainbow-coloured toys and clothing from shops in the capital as part of a crackdown on homosexuality, state media has reported.
The kingdom opened to tourism in 2019 but, like other Gulf countries, it is frequently criticised for its human rights record, including its outlawing of homosexuality, a potential capital offence.
Continue reading...Michelle Bachelet, strongly criticised over Xinjiang visit, cites personal reasons for decision
The United Nations’ human rights chief has announced her decision to step down, citing “personal reasons”, amid weeks of speculation following her recent China trip that drew fierce criticism from activists and western politicians.
Writing on Twitter, Michelle Bachelet, who assumed the office of the UN high commissioner for human rights in 2018, said: “It is time to go back to Chile and be with family.”
Continue reading...Disciplinary action against members of BJP fails to quell growing anger in Muslim world over comments insulting the prophet
Six more countries have joined diplomatic protests across the Muslim world over derogatory remarks insulting the prophet Muhammad made by spokespeople for the party of Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi.
Indonesia, the UAE, the Maldives, Jordan, Bahrain and Libya have joined Qatar, Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Afghanistan in lodging official complaints over comments from representatives of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party. Meanwhile hardline party members have reacted angrily to disciplinary action against the pair after their comments went viral in the Middle East.
Continue reading...‘Insulting’ comments by spokespeople for ruling Bharatiya Janata party met with anger in Middle East
The Indian government has become embroiled in a diplomatic row with Gulf states after two ruling party spokespeople were accused of making Islamophobic and derogatory comments insulting the prophet Muhammad.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) suspended its national spokesperson, Nupur Sharma, and expelled its Delhi media head, Naveen Kumar Jindal, after their comments went viral in the Middle East, where they were met with a chorus of diplomatic anger.
Continue reading...BJP’s Tejasvi Surya’s comments come as Muslim student associations, religious groups and academics protest his visit
An Indian politician visiting Australia called the Muslim conquest of India “the bloodiest chapter in the history of the world” and appeared to equate it with the Holocaust amid a controversial speaking tour.
Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) MP Tejasvi Surya, in Australia to take part in a series of events, including the Australia India Youth Dialogue (AIYD), told an audience in Parramatta on Monday that the history of Islam is “writ large with bloodshed and violence.”
Continue reading...One in 25 people sentenced to prison on terrorism-related charges in Konasheher, Xinjiang province, where Communist party represses Muslim minority
Nearly one in 25 people in a county of the Uyghur heartland of China has been sentenced to prison on terrorism-related charges, in what is the highest known imprisonment rate in the world, an Associated Press review of leaked data shows.
A list obtained and partially verified by the Associated Press cites the names of more than 10,000 Uyghurs sent to prison in just Konasheher county, one of dozens in southern Xinjiang. In recent years, China has waged a brutal crackdown on the Uyghurs, a largely Muslim minority, which it has described as a “war on terror”.
Continue reading...Grenoble mayor wants swimmers to dress ‘how they like’, including topless or in full-body suits
The burkini, or full-body swimsuit, is once again at the centre of a political row in France as Grenoble’s town council prepares to debate loosening rules on swimwear at open-air pools.
Rules on swimwear are strict at most French public pools, with men, for example, having to wear tight-fitting racing trunks and not longer board-shorts. Currently, in Grenoble municipal pools, UV-protective tops are banned, except short-sleeved tops for children under 10, or for adults who present a medical note from their doctor.
Continue reading...Witnesses say police failed to disperse mob of fellow students in Sokoto who set victim on fire following WhatsApp comments
A female student in Nigeria was beaten to death and set on fire by fellow students who accused her of posting “blasphemous” statements in a WhatsApp group, two witnesses have said.
The school, located in Nigeria’s north-western state of Sokoto, was immediately closed down following the attack.
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