Children & Teens

Labour rejects Oldham’s call for government inquiry into grooming gangs scandal Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips has said Oldham should 'take its own approach' instead

(GB News) The government has formally rejected repeated requests for a Home Office-led inquiry into historic child abuse in Oldham after the town’s council voted on the matter earlier this year. Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips has responded to two letters from the […]

Clothing

Switzerland’s burqa ban takes effect as of January 1 The question remains whether these laws are a step toward equality or a step backward in the protection of individual freedoms.

(Morocco World News) The controversial burqa ban has officially taken effect today, January 1, in Switzerland, prohibiting the wearing of full-face coverings in public spaces. The law, which passed through a nationwide referendum in 2021, echoes an ever-growing wave of restrictions and […]

Clerics & Preachers

Britain becomes ‘western capital’ for sharia law courts as 85 open throughout the UK The councils serve as informal bodies issuing religious rulings focused on marriages and divorces

(GB News) Britain has emerged as the “western capital” for sharia courts, with 85 Islamic councils now operating across the country since the first was established in 1982. These religious bodies have become increasingly influential, drawing Muslims from across Europe and North […]

Clerics & Preachers

Jewish groups warn of antisemitic past of two speakers at large Islamic conference in Toronto Organizers of RIS conference reject the concerns saying all speakers are carefully vetted 'to only include those who are committed to the pursuit of peace and harmony'

(National Post) Two Jewish groups are calling on organizers of a large Islamic conference scheduled for downtown Toronto this weekend to cancel two planned speakers, citing previous statements deemed antisemitic. Reviving the Islamic Spirit (RIS) is an annual convention that, over two […]

Children & Teens

Germany: Muslim seminar to prepare 13-year-old girls for marriage sparks backlash The right-wing AfD says 'Girls’ Evenings in the Mosque' is clear proof that migration and integration policies have failed.

(European Conservative) An invitation by a mosque in Germany for girls as young as thirteen to take part in a “preparatory marriage course” has sparked a huge backlash, with centre-right and right-wing parties demanding an explanation. The invitation was sent out by […]

Clothing

Finns Party MPs call for burka ban in public places Although supportive of the proposal, Interior Minister Mari Rantanen (Finns) told Yle it is unlikely to pass into law during this government's term in office.

(Yle) Finland’s interior minister, Mari Rantanen (Finns), has confirmed to Yle that she supports a proposal put forward by 14 of her party colleagues earlier this week calling for a ban on face coverings in public places. The proposal would effectively mean […]

Government & Politics

After fleeing Taliban and abuse, Afghan woman in Canada for 8 years told she’s being deported soon IRCC ruled Frozan Hassan Zai’s marriage to Canadian is one of convenience, she got deportation orders Tuesday

(CBC) Frozan Hassan Zai thought she would finally be safe after leaving an abusive marriage in the Netherlands with her two children, her second time fleeing a country. She arrived in Canada, married a Canadian, had a child, started a business and […]

Books

Security boosted around top politician

(Views and News from Norway) Abid Raja has long been an outspoken, controversial but popular politician for Norway’s Liberal Party (Venstre). Now he’s under special protection by Norway’s domestic intelligence agency PST, after being threatened during a presentation of his latest book […]

Clothing

UN experts urge France to reverse hijab bans in sports, calling it ‘discriminatory’ 'Muslim women and girls who wear the hijab must have equal rights to participate in cultural and sporting life, and to take part in all aspects of French society of which they are a part,' they say

(Anadolu) UN experts on Monday called on France to reverse “discriminatory measures” banning women and girls who choose to wear the hijab from doing so while playing sports. The experts said in a statement that the decisions by the French football and […]

Academics & Education

Violence in French school sparks debate on headscarf and secularism An 18-year-old student assaulted a teacher after being asked to remove her headscarf at a high school [in] Tourcoing, in the latest incident involving France's ban on hijab.

(Euronews) An 18-year-old student was taken into police custody on Monday evening after allegedly assaulting her teacher at Lycée Sévigné in the northern French city of Tourcoing. The incident reportedly happened after the teacher asked the student to remove her headscarf, as […]

Crime

Sakina Muhammad Jan: Mother jailed for forcing daughter Ruqia Haidari into deadly marriage A mum who forced her daughter to marry a man who later killed her has delivered a shock outburst in court, saying she 'cannot be locked in.'

(NCA NewsWire) A woman who forced her daughter to marry a man against her wishes, before he later murdered her in a “fit of rage,” has refused to sign a document that will release her from prison early. Judge Fran [Dalziel] jailed […]

Crime

‘Can’t do this in Australia’: Court weighs up jail for mum who coerced daughter into murderous marriage A woman faces deportation to Afghanistan as a court weighs up whether she goes to jail for forcing her daughter into a murderous marriage.

(NCA NewsWire) A woman who coerced her daughter into an arranged marriage that ended with the husband murdering the bride could be jailed for the act, a court has heard. [Sakina] Muhammad Jan, 48 of Shepparton, faced the Melbourne County Court on […]

Arts & Entertainment

Muslim feminists denounce Islamist patriarchy at Beverly Hills event 'The problem is going to continue as long as we have organizations like CAIR having a seat,' said Zainab Khan, of Muslim American Leadership Alliance.

(JNS) Since the suicide attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Muslim American voices like Zainab Zeb Khan’s “have been bullied into silence,” the founder of the Muslim American Leadership Alliance told an audience in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Monday. “I call this coerced […]

Clothing

German lay judge challenges a headscarf ban in court A German Muslim woman has been barred from working as a lay judge because she wears a headscarf which was alleged to be in violation of the requirement of neutrality. The matter is now before the constitutional court.

(Deutsche Welle) In 2015, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court ruled against a general headscarf ban for teachers, saying that such a ban was incompatible with the freedom of religion guaranteed in the German Constitution. Nine years later, the same court is again addressing […]