On non-Muslims
“What if you’re cycling and accidently eat a fly?”
That was one of the questions I received about fasting, among others, some equally as silly. I did my best to answer them because I knew the person enough to know they were genuinely interested - “it’s nice to be able to talk about this stuff, I never really learnt about it at school and if this had been school I’d have been given detention ages ago for all these questions”.
BBC Radio 4 Documentary: "The Deobandis"
The Deobandis are virtually unknown to most British people, yet their influence is huge. As the largest Islamic group in the UK, they control over 40% of mosques and have a near monopoly on Islamic seminaries, which propagate a back-to-basics, orthodox interpretation of Islam...
The first episode was aired on BBC Radio 4 on 5 April 2016, with episode 2 to air on 12 April 2016.
I havent listened to it yet, but someone who has said it was quite damaging to the Muslim community as a whole.
Manchester girl, 16, pleads guilty to terror charges
BBC News reports that an unnamed 16 year old girl from Manchester has pled guilty to 2 counts of terrorism charges related to posessing documents that were likely to be of use to a person preparing or committing an act of terrorism.
This is linked to the arrest of a 14 year old boy from Blackburn who had previously pleaded guilty to terrorism charges.
There are no specifics, and the article stated that no evidence was found that the girl was aware or played any part in the Anzac Day plot or any plan to harm others or incite terrorism in the UK or elsewhere, the court was told.
US Christian wears hijab for 40 days
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRFhCn72G4o]
Jessey Eagan is a Christian and a mother of two, who works as a children's director at Imago Dei Church in Peoria, Illinois. This year during Lent, she decided to wear a hijab. She kept a diary of her experience in a blog called #40DaysOfHijab, which is sparkling a debate both in the Christian and Muslim community.
"I wanted to put myself in someone else's shoes", says Eagan who hopes her practice of solidarity and empathy with the Muslim community will foster interfaith dialogue.
The BBC spoke with Eagan about her experience and her faith.
Filmed and edited by Anna Bressanin
Originally posted on the BBC News Magazine
Germany - Anti Muslim rallies and counter rallies
I've got a quiet admiration for Germany - they seem to be a hard working, productive no nonsense type of nation that doesn't fall for the normal marketing tricks.
However recently there has been a phenomenon of large rallies taking place across Germany:
Germany PEGIDA protests: Rallies over 'Islamisation'
Supporters and opponents of a group campaigning against what it sees as the "Islamisation" of Europe have held rival rallies across Germany.
There have been weekly protests by the Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West (Pegida) since October.
A record 18,000 people turned out on Monday at one rally in Dresden.
Boohoo - Santa never stopped at my house as a child.
I just came across this article in the Guardian comment is free section.
I enjoy the free time voer christmas as much as the next person, but its important to not forget our faith and that Christmas - as indicated by the name - is a Christian festival.
You don't see people of other faiths falling over themselves for the need to fit in, so why do Muslims have this inferiority complex?
Have some backbone!
(PS Santa was Turkish)
Political Assassination of Muslim attempts to stop schools failing Muslim children
New leaks in the Guardian suggest that 6 schools in Birmingham will face censure, and two previously considered to be outstanding schools will be rated as "inadequate" - a rating that allowed the government to place the schools under special measures and force changes including replacing of school governors.
These schools were among 21 investigated as part of a "Trojan Horse" plot, where the leaks suggest that nothing has been found:
Ofsted's inspectors appear to have been unable to find much evidence of claims of homophobia or gender discrimination, which have been alleged by anonymous former teachers at some of the schools.
Al Jazeera: UK hysteria over 'Islamist' threat is fuelling race hate
UK hysteria over 'Islamist' threat is fuelling race hate
Britain's panicked take on 'Islamists' has enabled the spread of racism and emboldened the far-right UKIP party
Once again, the British press is panicking over the "Islamists" that are apparently lurking with malicious intent on every street corner in the UK.
While tabloids fret over imagined Islamic plots to take bacon off Britain's streets, the broadsheets reflect a more highbrow hysteria over an extremist Islamism that has apparently taken root on British soils.
Meanwhile, the political class is doing its bit, too. Tony Blair, the Middle East war-mongering former prime minister turned Middle East peace envoy, has declared "radical Islam" to be the biggest threat ever, in the world. The British government itself has launched an inquiry into the Muslim Brotherhood, which, according to Prime Minister David Cameron is to "establish a complete picture" of the organisation.
And the UK Charities Commission - headed by William Shawcross, formerly of the neo-con Henry Jackson society - has declared "Islamist extremism" to be the most "deadly threat" facing charities in England and Wales
Read more @ Al Jazeera