Clerics & Preachers

The Berlin Muslims reforming Islam, one co-ed prayer meeting at a time A female cleric. Men and women praying together in the same room. Berlin’s liberal mosques are working toward an Islamic reformation, all while avoiding death threats.

(Handelsblatt) German security services were recently in touch with one of Berlin’s best-known Muslim clerics. He should take their warnings seriously, they again told Abdul Adhim Kamouss. Death threats were being made against him by members of the Islamic State extremist group […]

Clerics & Preachers

German intelligence mulls putting largest Turkish-Islamic group under surveillance German intelligence is reportedly examining whether to put the Turkish-Islamic umbrella group DITIB under surveillance. The Turkish-state backed DITIB has been at the center of multiple controversies.

(Deutsche Welle) Germany’s domestic intelligence agency is deciding whether to put the country’s largest Islamic umbrella group under official surveillance, the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper and public broadcasters NDR and WDR reported on Thursday. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) has […]

Government & Politics

Turkey’s Erdogan to open Cologne mosque in controversial state visit The Turkish president's hopes of addressing the German-Turkish community are closer to becoming reality. His upcoming state visit was described as a 'betrayal' by journalist Deniz Yücel, who was imprisoned in Turkey.

(Deutsche Welle) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will officially open a new central mosque in the western German city of Cologne, the Turkish-Islamic organization DITIB confirmed on Tuesday evening. Erdogan will open the mosque at a ceremony at the end of his […]

Academics & Education

Macron to review report calling for reform of Islam in France President follows in the footsteps of those who have tried, and failed, to establish an ‘Islam of France.’

(Politico) Islamists have an “intellectual monopoly” over public debate among Muslims in France and the state must intervene to limit foreign influence over worshippers, according to a new report submitted to President Emmanuel Macron. The 617-page report, “The Fabric of Islam,” presents […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

UCP nomination candidate apologizes for remarks about Fort McMurray Muslims NDP describe comments made by Cindy Ross in 2015 as 'racist views'

(CBC) A Calgary United Conservative Party nomination candidate has apologized for three-year-old social media comments in which she compared Muslims in Fort McMurray to bank robbers. Cindy Ross, who is seeking the UCP nomination in Calgary-Fish Creek, apologized for now-deleted Facebook posts […]

Clerics & Preachers

Germany cuts funding to largest Turkish-Islamic organization DITIB The German federal government had provided funds to DITIB for counter-extremism and refugee aid programs. The Turkish-Islamic group has been under fire over a number of scandals.

(Deutsche Welle) The German government will no longer be funding projects run with the country’s largest Islamic umbrella group, the Interior Ministry in Berlin said on Thursday. Since the start of the year, the federal government has not approved any funding for […]

Crime

Attacks on Muslims drop in Germany in first half of 2018 The number of attacks on Muslims and mosques has fallen significantly in Germany, new figures show. But lawmakers warn the country is still failing to include its Muslim community in society.

(Deutsche Welle) In the first six months of 2018, there were 320 offenses committed against Muslims, mosques and other institutions associated with Islam in Germany, according to information from the Interior Ministry. That’s significantly lower than the nearly 500 cases reported during […]

Clothing

Germany tolerant of LGBT neighbors, but not Muslim ones While homophobia has seen a drastic decrease in Germany over the years, Islamophobia has remained stubbornly stagnant. A new Playboy poll has found that most Germans are opposed to mosques, hijab, and refugee homes.

(Deutsche Welle) A new poll published on Thursday by Playboy Germany shows that while national hostility to minority sexualities may have taken a nosedive over the years, hostility to Islam remains depressingly stagnant. According to the survey, which polled over 1,000 men […]

Children & Teens

The trial of the Blind Sheikh ties in to a New Mexico child-abuse case Named in the prosecutor’s letter in 1995, Siraj Wahhaj lost his grandson earlier this month to the mayhem of a squalid compound run by fundamentalist Muslims.

(National Review) In an awful story out of New Mexico last week, five adults were arrested on charges of abusing children, conduct that allegedly resulted in the death of one child. Apparently, the defendants are fundamentalist Muslims who were running the squalid […]

Christians

Europe: Prayer in public spaces

(Gatestone) A few months ago, a global media tempest erupted after Polish Catholics held a mass public prayer event across the country. The BBC deemed it “controversial,” due to “concerns it could be seen as endorsing the state’s refusal to let in […]