Shaista Gohir questions Tell Mama’s use of public funds, creating debate over its role, accountability and future

A leading Muslim peer has called for an inquiry into the Islamophobia monitoring group Tell Mama over concerns about a “lack of transparency” on how it is spending public money.

Shaista Gohir, the chief executive of the Muslim Women’s Network UK, has also accused Tell Mama of failing to provide detailed data on anti-Muslim hate crimes, being “silent” when politicians have targeted Muslims, and questioned whether the Tories used it as a vehicle to monitor extremism.

Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Sikh women say bill has ‘insufficient safeguards’ to protect those who are vulnerable

The legalisation of assisted dying in England and Wales could create “a new tool to harm vulnerable women”, particularly those subject to domestic violence and coercive control, say female faith leaders from different traditions.

More than 100 women from Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Sikh groups have warned in an open letter that the terminally ill adults bill has “insufficient safeguards to protect some of the most marginalised in society, particularly women subjected to gender-based violence and abuse by a partner”.

In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org

British Muslims are too often acceptable only when they bake cakes or win medals. Now the nation has had a true insight into our faith

If anything is going to get me to turn on BBC One early on Eid morning, it’s Eid prayer being televised on a UK terrestrial channel for the first time in British broadcasting history. Held at Bradford Central Mosque, the groundbreaking coverage on Monday followed the entirety of the Eid prayer – starting with Qur’anic recitation, then a sermon in both English and Arabic and the congregational prayer itself, culminating in the customary eid mubarak embraces.

For Muslims like me, these scenes are part and parcel of every Eid. The keffiyeh-draped uncles sporting orange beards dyed with henna, some to emulate the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and some simply to hide their grey hairs; the children using the congregation as an assault course and scouting out the auntie who is handing out the best sweets; fancy clothes, henna-patterned palms and smiling faces; people high on both the spirituality of the just-passed holy month and probably too much sugar. This is the stuff Eid is made of, but watching it unfold on the nation’s main TV channel was a refreshing novelty – and I found it strangely affirming, as well as a little emotional, to witness.

Nadeine Asbali is the author of Veiled Threat: On Being Visibly Muslim in Britain, and a secondary school teacher in London

Worshippers performed Eid al-Fitr prayers across the globe, marking the culmination of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. Several Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, celebrated the first day of Eid al-Fitr on Sunday, while other countries including Malaysia, Indonesia and Syria announced the holiday would begin on Monday 31 March

Cyclone Alfred drives wild seas, a seagull eclipses the moon, and our Kylie performs on a trapeze: Guardian Australia looks at some of the month’s best images

Groups call for a unified anti-racism standard and say separate definition would ‘shield’ universities from criticism of the antisemitism definition

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A coalition of Muslim and Palestinian organisations have rejected a push by universities to adopt a new definition of Islamophobia, arguing it would “shield” the institutions from criticism of their contentious new antisemitism definition, and that a unified standard that rejects all racism is what is needed.

Last month, Australia’s universities confirmed they would unilaterally enforce a new definition of antisemitism on campuses after an inquiry recommended higher education providers “closely align” with the contentious International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition.

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After disaster struck, all three faiths are worshiping under the same roof, forming a microcosm of peaceful coexistence

Entering a sacred space like the First United Methodist church in Pasadena can stir emotions. Curious visitors often wander through the church doors, attracted by its gothic exterior, and instinctively start to whisper.

The space on Colorado Boulevard – a busy thoroughfare that doubles as part of the Rose Parade route every New Year’s Day – has always felt holy, said the Rev Amy Aitken, the pastor. Now she wants it to feel like a safe space for two other religious groups that are sharing the facilities for worship: the Islamic Center of Southern California and the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center.

Post-Eaton fire, congregants who want a quick rebuild are met with a question: how long are they allowed to grieve?

Before the Masjid Al-Taqwa, a mosque in Altadena, was reduced to rubble in the Eaton fire in January, it was a space that belonged to all its worshippers. When the urge for prayer stirred the soul during off-hours, a faithful follower could borrow the key and have the place to pray.

Now without a mosque during Ramadan, members are worshipping in diaspora. The weekly communal prayer services are temporarily held in a park community room. After hours at a Muslim elementary school, members break their fast together. It’s a fragmented spiritual existence.

The cherished tradition reminds us to pause and reflect on our words and actions, and cultivates a profound sense of empathy

With its month-long array of beautiful rituals and meditations, Ramadan offers an enriching pause from the demands of daily life, allowing people to cultivate compassion and prioritise truthfulness in both small and significant ways.

As a Muslim observing the challenging yet cherished daytime discipline of refraining from food and water, the experience within a multicultural landscape is particularly fascinating. In a society often fixated on material pursuits and instant gratification, fasting provides a sense of contentment that cannot be found in worldly possessions.

Fasting has been prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may learn self-restraint.

Shadi Khan Saif is a Melbourne-based journalist and former Pakistan and Afghanistan news correspondent

‘The chanting you heard was not directed at you in any way,’ inspector tells Sydney man who complained about neighbour’s Christmas party in Glenmore Park

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A NSW police internal investigation has found that off-duty officers who allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar boom” and “Hezbollah” at a Christmas party after a verbal dispute with a Muslim man who lived next door were indulging in “banter between friends”.

The incident allegedly took place on 13 December at Glenmore Park in western Sydney, after the man complained to his neighbours about water from their swimming pool leaking into his property.

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At 18, Mustafa was told his only way out of prison was to join the regime forces. After 14 years, his past as one of Assad’s fighters could get him killed

Mustafa was 16 when he was detained and beaten by the police for the first time. It was early 2011, and the first stirrings of the Arab spring had grown into anti-government demonstrations across the Middle East. In Syria, a sense of anxious anticipation hung in the air, and the government was responding with propaganda films and TV shows designed to fire up nationalist sentiment. A friend of Mustafa’s hired him to play an extra in one of these shows. The job didn’t pay much, but it was more fun than the long hours Mustafa spent working in a restaurant kitchen. Tall and handsome, with dark eyes and long eyelashes, Mustafa dreamed that maybe one day he could join the long list of Syrians who starred on Arab TV dramas.

The youngest of three brothers and a sister, Mustafa had grown up in a crowded working-class district in the eastern part of Damascus. His father was a stern and conservative cleric, who would beat his children for even minor infringements. At 14, Mustafa had run away and a relative in another neighbourhood had found him the restaurant job. On his first day at work, it took him four hours to peel a sack of potatoes. Within a week, he could do it in half an hour. He soon began working two shifts: mornings in the kitchen and nights making deliveries. He worked 20 hours a day. Looking back now, Mustafa thinks of this as the happiest time of his life.

Islamophobia in Australia report details 309 in-person incidents between early 2023 and late 2024 with girls and women bearing the brunt of the attacks

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Islamophobic incidents – including physical attacks, verbal harassment, people being spat on and rape threats – have more than doubled in the past two years, with girls and women bearing the brunt of hatred towards Muslims in Australia, new research shows.

The fifth Islamophobia in Australia report details 309 in-person incidents between January 2023 and December 2024 – a more than 2.5-fold increase from the previous reporting period. Verified online incidents more than tripled to 366.

In my experience, to fast in a non-majority Muslim country is to withdraw into a type of social hermitage. Plus, 100 years of Black British music

Hello and welcome to The Long Wave. It is halfway through the month of Ramadan, and this week I have been chatting to fasting family, friends and colleagues across the diaspora about what people don’t know about the Muslim holy month, and what questions we are constantly asked (yes, not even water).

But first, the weekly roundup.

Halal or haram? Flirt to convert? Why didn’t he call? The comedian and matchmaker discusses a fraught Muslim dating scene and her new Hulu show

Does a hedonistic lifestyle prevent young Muslims from ever finding love? Should Muslims flirt to convert? What’s the right halal to haram ratio?

Like any dating demographic, the rules of romance for Muslims looking to meet other single Muslims are fraught. So Yasmin Elhady is stepping in as their nosy auntie, helping them navigate everything from lifestyles choices, which may include alcohol and sex, to spirituality and attachment styles, on Hulu’s new dating show Muslim Matchmaker.

Police sources raise alarm over cut as anti-Muslim hate incidents in Britain hit record high

The government is cutting all funding for the Islamophobia reporting service Tell Mama, leaving it facing closure weeks after it revealed a record number of anti-Muslim hate incidents in Britain.

Since its foundation in 2012, Tell Mama has been wholly funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to run its reporting service, which received almost 11,000 reports in 2023-4, and support victims of Islamophobia.

Amid claims that deportees may face torture, family of one man say he was forcibly repatriated and will never see his children again

The family of one of dozens of Uyghurs feared to have been forcibly deported from Thailand to China have condemned the decision as “shameful”. The deportations came despite a UN statement saying those being sent to China faced a “real risk of torture” on their return.

Thailand ignored protests by the UN refugee agency, EU and US in deporting 40 Uyghurs who had been detained in the country for a decade, claiming they had returned voluntarily “to their normal lives” with their families.

As the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life study found Hindus are at the forefront of environmental activism, British Hindu, Muslim, and Christian participants discuss how they reconcile faith and the environment

Does belief in God make you more environmentally friendly? It depends on which God you believe in.

That’s the conclusion of new research by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL), which found that British Hindus lead the way in environmental action compared with other faith groups.

City damaged during occupation by Islamic State group reopens 850-year-old mosque in time for Ramadan as reconstruction gathers pace

In the small courtyard of Sara’s grandmother’s house, children are running and playing as if time had never passed. “The house kept our memories,” Sara says, sitting on the sofa of the courtyard. “It seems like we never left. On the contrary, when we came back, we felt we belonged to this house.”

Located in the old Iraqi city of Mosul, right behind the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, their home is part of the local cultural heritage. It was heavily damaged during the occupation by Islamic State (IS) and the battle to reclaim the city by Iraqi armed forces, backed by US coalition airstrikes. Sara and her family were forcibly displaced during the fighting in 2017 and for many years feared they would never see their home intact again.

The city’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, led the celebrations to observe holy month of Ramadan, now in their third year

Piccadilly Circus has once again been lit up by an installation to mark Ramadan.

It is the third year of the annual display, which features 30,000 LED bulbs in the shape of Islamic geometric patterns and symbols hanging over the West End street.

The religious festival is a month of fasting, prayer and community – not consuming and comparing ourselves with one another

• Nadeine Asbali is the author of Veiled Threat: On being visibly Muslim in Britain

Supermarkets have wheeled out the 20kg bags of rice. High-street stores have popped hijabs on mannequins. Cosmetic companies are churning out products scented with pomegranate, cardamom, saffron and “sticky date” – at Lush you can buy Salam shower gel, Noor lip butter and a massage bar that apparently smells like a turmeric latte. All this can only mean one thing in our modern, consumerist world: Ramadan is upon us.

Ramadan, the holiest month in the Muslim calendar, begins this weekend. Like many Muslims, I find it is my favourite time of the year (and not because I can bulk-buy rice for the entire year in my local Tesco). It is a time of spiritual growth and reflection, of turning away from our own desires and egos to focus on God, and of letting go of the trappings of the earthly world – including food and drink in daylight hours.

Nadeine Asbali is the author of Veiled Threat: On being visibly Muslim in Britain, and a secondary school teacher in London