May 2008

In Iran, Covert Christian Converts Live With Secrecy and Fear

…Leaving Islam for another religion, or apostasy, has long invited reprisals from the Iranian government, forcing the likes of Illyas and his family into absolute secrecy, practicing their new beliefs only in the privacy of their home. In Iran, Christians are prohibited from seeking Muslim converts, although there has been tolerance for those who are born into Christian families. The government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has introduced legislation before the Iranian Majlis that would mandate the death penalty for apostates from Islam, a sign that it will brook no proselytizing in the country. "Life for so-called apostates in Iran has never been easy, but it could become literally impossible if Iran passes this new draft penal code,"….(US News, 9 May 08)

Islamic Court Says Muslim Convert Can Return to Buddhism

A Malaysian Islamic court allowed a Muslim convert Thursday to return to her original faith of Buddhism, setting a precedent that could ease religious minorities' worries about their legal rights. Lawyers said the Shariah High Court's verdict in the northern state of Penang was the first time in recent memory that a convert has been permitted to legally renounce Islam in this Muslim-majority nation.

A rising number of disputes about religious conversions has sparked anxiety among minorities _ predominantly Buddhist, Christian and Hindu _ because in the past courts virtually always ruled against people seeking to leave Islam……(AP, 8 May 08)

Universities to open Islam centers

Two of the country's top universities have announced plans to create new research centers for Islamic studies. The move by Edinburgh University and Cambridge University is funded by a £16 million endowment from Prince Alwaleed bin Albdulaziz Alsaud, chairman of the philanthropic organization Kingdom Foundation. The new centers will aim to carry out research and public engagements designed to increase understanding between the Muslim world and the West…..(UK Press, 8 May 08)

Ahmadinejad Criticized for Saying Long-Ago Imam Mahdi Leads Iran

Several leading Iranian clerics criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday for saying that the last imam of Shiite Islam, a messianic figure who Shiites believe was hidden by God 1,140 years ago, leads modern-day Iran.  "We see his hand directing all the affairs of the country," Ahmadinejad told theological students in the city of Mashad during a speech that appears to have been given last month but was not broadcast until Tuesday. "A movement has started for us to occupy ourselves with our global responsibilities. God willing, Iran will be the axis of the leadership of this movement," Ahmadinejad said…….(Washington Post, 8 May 08)

Saudi Anthropologist Sa'd Al-Sowayan Advocates Modern Interpretation of Religious Texts, Suggests Swords Be Removed from Saudi Flag

The following are excerpts from an interview with Saudi anthropologist Sa'd Al-Sowayan, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on April 25, 2008:…..(MEMRI, 7 May 08)

Indian Cleric Ashraf Mohamedy: Every Muslim Should Be a Terrorist against the Anti-Social Elements in Society

Following are excerpts from a public address delivered by Indian cleric Ashraf Mohamedy, which aired on Peace TV on April 22, 2008…..(MEMRI, 6 May 08)

Saudi Daily Arab News Publishes Article on Eunuch Hajjis: 'We Are Neither Men nor Women, But Muslims like Anyone Else'

In its December 20, 2007 issue, the Saudi English-language daily Arab News published an article about a group of eunuchs from India who regularly perform the Haj. The eunuchs discuss their lives in their home town of Bhopal, their practice of Islam, how they adopt and raise baby girls, and their experiences with other worshippers on the Haj……(MEMRI, 6 May 08)

Women clerics counter al-Qaida teachings

Scholars in Morocco launched a program to train female Muslim clerics in an effort to counter the ideologies of al-Qaida, officials said.  More than 400 applicants applied to courses in general business management, Islamic studies and psychology. Applicants must have a university degree and expertise in the Koran and only 50 women will be accepted…..(UPI, 6 May 08)

The Muslim Interfaith Charade

Despite the outward appearance of infirmity, Omar Abdel-Rahman, the "Blind Sheikh" is a central figure in the Islamic global jihad. He was convicted in 1995 of conspiring to bomb the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993, which killed 6 and injured over 1,000. Rahman is now serving a life sentence for that crime…Rahman has written and spoken voluminously on his conception of the faith and that vision should serve as welcome, though unsettling candor, in the make believe world of interfaith exchange. Understanding the new Islamist game plan - the stealth jihad - is important because so many resources are being devoted to it and the phenomenon itself is roundly misunderstood. As we have previously written, for example in Islamic Marketing 101 - Maha ElGenaidi Takes Da'Wa Act On The Road, "...Islamic speaker's bureaus are proliferating in the United States. They represent the vanguard of a new paradigm in jihad being waged by Islamists under the guise of "dialogue." This emphasis on "legal" Islamism, the stealth jihad has been dictated in part by circumstances on the ground, where many of the most violent Islamists have been either killed, captured or forced to go into hiding, proving that aggression has been counter-productive……(Pipeline News, 6 May 08)

Fundamentalism on rise due to lack of govt’s influence, says Fatima

Fundamentalism is on the rise in Pakistan because of the lack of the government’s influence in the country’s rural areas, Fatima Bhutto said in an interview published at the weekend by Counterpunch, an American political newsletter.  She said that because the government did not provide the most basic needs for the people, Islamic organisations had come in and set up madrassas. Therefore “families do not have any other option to get their children educated apart from sending them to madrassas,” she added. She also slammed the Western media for portraying madrassas as terror training camps, which she said was not true. “Of course not all madrassas are bad, and we have to distinguish between good and bad madrassas,” she added……(Daily Times, 5 May)

Women's rights, often wronged

Trafficked across the border from Pakistan with her 3-year-old son, Rukhma was handed to an Afghan who raped and abused her, then beat the toddler to death as she watched helplessly. He was jailed for 20 years for murder, but Rukhma ended up in prison, too. Rukhma, who doesn't know her age but looks younger than 20, had put up with her mistreatment for three months last summer before seeking protection and justice from authorities. Instead, she was given a four-year sentence Dec. 5 for adultery and "escaping her house" in Pakistan, even though she says she was kidnapped and raped……(AP, 5 May 08)

Pakistan Taliban leader gives beard warning: residents

A Pakistani Taliban leader has warned local tribesmen to grow beards within the next two months in accordance with Islamic teachings or face harsh punishment, residents said Monday.  The threat came amid an apparent increase in incidents of militants trying to enforce Islamic Sharia law in Pakistan's tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, where the new government is trying to make peace with hardliners……(AFP, 5 May 08)

TTP institutes two-month ‘beard deadline’

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) warned people on Sunday against shaving their beards, giving people two months to comply with their directive……(Daily Times, 5 May 08)

"Women Are Being Beheaded for Taking Their Veil Off": Honor Killings On Rise in Iraq

…The 19-year-old Iraqi was, according to her father, murdered by her own in-laws, who took her to a picnic area in Dokan and shot her seven times. Her crime was to have an unknown number on her mobile phone. Her "honor killing" is just one in a grotesque series emerging from Iraq, where activists speak of a "genocide" against women in the name of religion…Despite the outrage, recent calls by the Kurdish MP Narmin Osman to outlaw honor killings have been blocked by fundamentalists. "Honor killings are not actually a crime in the eyes of the government," said Houzan Mahmoud, who has had a fatwa on her head since raising a petition against the introduction of sharia law in Kurdistan. "If before there was one dictator persecuting people, now almost everyone is persecuting women.   "In the past five years it is has got [much] worse. It is difficult to described how terrible it is, how badly we have been pushed back to the dark ages. Women are being beheaded for taking their veil off. Self immolation is rising -- women are left with no choice. There is no government body or institution to provide any sort of support. Sharia law is being used to underpin government rule, denying women their most basic human rights."….(Alternet, 2 May 08)

Imams condemn Islamic teacher

Angry Muslim groups have attacked the University of Western Sydney over an Islamic studies course they claim is too sexually explicit, promotes lesbianism and derides the Koran as misogynistic. Students, community members and the Australian National Imams Council have complained about the content of the course, Women in Arabic and Islamic Literature, being taught at the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies. They say it gives a negative view of women in Islam.  The imams council has circulated a petition recording its "deep concern with regards to the course structure and content”…..(Australian, 2 May 08)

Ranchi boils over exam paper

…The language used in the paper so incensed some Muslims that they assembled in large numbers and attacked the university building. Police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the crowd following which the agitators forced down the shutters of shops on the Jharkhand capital's main road. Later, a delegation of socio-religious organizations met DC Avinash Kumar and SSP M S Bhatia demanding inquiry into the lathicharge and arrest of those who hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims by posing such an inflammatory question… Admitting that the life of Prophet Muhammad was discussed under the topic "Rise of Islam" in the section "Islamic world" in PG history course books, Khan said there's no mention of the content raised in the form of the impugned examination question…..(Times of India, 2 May 08)

Tawheed: The essence of Islam
Literally Tawheed means to make something one or to call it one. In English when something is made one it is deemed to be unified. However, in Islamic terminology Tawheed means to believe that Allah is the one and only God. It is sometimes referred to as monotheism, however in the purest sense in that no other entity can in any way have the attributes or be equivalent or even in competition with Allah……(Gulf Times, 2 May 08)

Minister: Muslim decree to condemn bombings

High-ranking Shiite and Sunni leaders are preparing to issue a religious decree condemning suicide bombings and other forms of violence, according to an Anglican minister who has led efforts to bring the two Muslim sects closer. The draft decree, also called a fatwa, cites Quranic verses and says, "The prophet Mohammed prevents the spilling of blood, Muslim against Muslim, and thus suicide bombings are totally prohibited," said the Rev. Canon Andrew White during a dinner Monday with Pentagon officials. The draft calls on Iraqis "to reject and forsake all violence, forsake all killing and provocation," White said.  "What is new is that this will be a fatwa from Shiite and Sunni,"….(USA Today, 1 May 08)

A Comprehensive Interview with Syrian Philosopher Sadik Jalal Al-'Azm

In an extensive January 2008 interview with the Qatari Al-Raya daily, eminent Syrian philosopher Sadik Jalal Al-'Azm discussed the state of religious thought in the Muslim world, democracy in Turkey and in Arab countries, Hizbullah and the 2006 war, and the role of the intellectual in Syria and the Arab world. The following are excerpts from the interview…..(MEMRI, 1 May 08)

University question riles Indian Muslims

In India, the University of Ranchi in Jharkhand state had to cancel its post-graduation history paper on Thursday, after thousands of Muslims took to the streets protesting against a reference to the Prophet Mohammed, which they said was derogatory. The university Vice Chancellor cancelled the paper after studying the history paper question which caused some Muslim organizations to march and ransack university offices….(Irish Sun, 1 May 08)

Saudi religious police arrest Filipina nurse, male colleague

Saudi Arabia’s religious police have arrested a Filipina nurse for sitting in a restaurant with a male colleague, a Philippine diplomat said.Abigail Valdez, a nurse who works at the Riyadh Military Hospital, is being held at Al-Malaz Prison on charges of “immorality,” Philippine Ambassador Antonio P. Villamor told Arab News.

Villamor said the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh was trying to gain access to Valdez, who was arrested by members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice on Monday evening for being with an unrelated man, a taboo in the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom……(Global Nation, 1 May 08)

Why Islamic States Would Be Bad for Muslims

Maybe it's an only-in-America sort of irony: A prominent scholar who happens to be Jewish makes the case for more Islamic sharia law in Muslim-majority states, while another distinguished legal scholar, a devout Muslim, argues that the best thing for those states, and for sharia, is to keep them separate.

But beyond the little irony, there is much at stake in the difference of opinion that emerges from their respective books: Noah Feldman's The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State and Abdullah Ahmed An-Na'im's Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari'a. That difference is of such crucial importance, in fact, that its wise resolution should be of great concern to all who claim to be interested in the cause of promoting democracy in the predominantly Muslim parts of the world……(US News, 1 May 08)

April 2008

Al-Qaeda’s al-Zawahiri Repudiates Dr. Fadl’s “Rationalization of Jihad”

A previous issue of Terrorism Monitor discussed a document issued by Sayed Imam Abdulaziz al-Sharif, an imprisoned founder of the Egyptian Jihad organization and a prominent jihad theoretician better known as "Doctor Fadl." The work, called Tarshid al-amal al-jihadi fi misr wa al-alam (Rationalizing the Jihadi Action in Egypt and the World), was a critical look at Salafi-jihadist extremism (see Terrorism Monitor, December 10, 2007; Terrorism Focus, January 8). As predicted, al-Qaeda did not open direct dialogue with Dr. Fadl but rather responded with a book of their own refuting the document. In March the second man in al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, published a 188-page document through al-Sahab Islamist media called A Treatise Exonerating the Nation of the Pen and the Sword from the Blemish of the Accusation of Weakness and Fatigue (The Exoneration), refuting the views expressed in Dr. Fadl's document……(Jamestown, 30 Apr 08)

Sunni-Shia conflict not hurting Islam

A large majority of participants at Qatar Foundation's Doha Debate yesterday expressed the view that the Sunni-Shia conflict was not damaging the reputation of Islam. A majority of 61 percent voted against the motion, "This House believes that Sunni-Shia conflict is damaging Islam's reputation as a religion of peace", while about 39 percent supported it. The panelists supporting the motion included Professor Juan Cole and General Ali Shukri, who was a military and intelligence adviser to the late King Hussein of Jordan for more than 20 years….(Peninsula Qatar, 30 Apr 08)

Mahsud Scouts commandant woos militants through Quran

Col Mujahid Hussain, the Mahsud Scouts commandant in Khyber Agency, on Tuesday recited some verses from the holy Quran to appeal to the tribal people to join hands with the Pakistan Army against terrorism. “This (Pakistan Army) is the army of Islam. This is the army of Pakistan. But there are forces, which want to divide the army and the tribal people,” Hussain told students of a private school at a function…..(Daily Times, 30 Apr 08)

Islam cannot be separated from the politics of Somalia

Much of today's world is transfixed on the ideology of political Islam, as if this is a new phenomenon and not a feat with a centuries-old track record of just governance, tolerance, human and economic development. The one-sided news and views spewed across Western media, and incorporated into the media outlets of cultures subservient to Western interests and hegemony, wrongly portray Islam and the Muslims as a people intent on overthrowing every government on earth and forcefully installing militant regimes. Somalia is a classic example; in December 2006, the U.S. government backed Ethiopia's ill-thought military invasion that aimed to topple Mogadishu's rulers: the Islamic Courts Union. No diplomat in Washington, D.C., or London, Paris or Addis Ababa, seemed to care that Somalia's first-ever Islamist rulers succeeded in a few months where tens of thousands of Ethiopian troops and their Somali government allies continue to fail to date: secure Mogadishu! While the Islamists' methodology remains a topic of heated debate, they were nonetheless credited for bringing stability to one of the world's most unstable regions…….(Garowe, 29 Apr 08)

In Saudi Arabia, moderate article on Islam draws death fatwa

In his youth, Abdullah Bejad al-Oteibi was devoted to a doctrinaire version of Islam. He regarded those who disagreed with him as unworthy Muslims. But during a government crackdown on religious militants in the 1990s, Mr. Oteibi spent time in prison, then traveled outside Saudi Arabia. Today, he says he believes in a more open-minded, moderate Islam and is an outspoken critic of extremists. In a recent article in Ar Riyadh newspaper, for example, he wrote that some clerics, to advance their own interests, make Islam more complicated and uncompromising than it actually is. Unlike his past articles, this one drew an unusually harsh response from the hard-line religious community. Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Barrak declared that Oteibi's "heretical" ideas meant that he should be brought to court and asked to recant. If he refused, \Sheikh Barrak said, he should be put to death – an outcome, he added, that no Muslim would mourn… Barrak's so-called "death fatwa" against Oteibi and another Saudi writer, Yusuf Aba al-Kheil, shocked many Saudis. Despite the extreme conservatism of Islam in this country, it is rare for a religious scholar to publicly call for someone's execution because of his writings……(Christian Science Monitor, 29 Apr 08)

Mosque belonging to sect burned by protesters in Indonesia

Hundreds of protesters chanting "kill, kill" set fire Monday to an Indonesian mosque belonging to a Muslim sect they claim is heretical, police officials said, as calls mounted for the group to be formally banned. No one was injured in the early-morning blaze at the mosque in West Java Province, and several suspects were taken in for questioning…..(AP, 28 Apr 08)

Morocco training female clerics to promote moderate Islam

Morocco has recently started recruiting and training mourchidat, female Muslim clerics whose role is to help usher in a more moderate Islam, according to a report published in the Telegraph on Saturday. The Dar al-Hadith al-Hassania – a madrassa training the mourchidat (female guide) – is training a second batch of 50 female students, after a first batch of 50 graduated in April 2006. Men and women learn side by side, but only men will be able to lead prayers……(Daily Times, 28 Apr 08)

Police warned convert: 'stop being crusader'

Police told a man attacked and threatened after his family converted to Christianity from Islam to "stop being a crusader," according to a report published today. Nissar Hussein, 43, from Bradford, claims an officer made the comment….(Edinburgh Evening News, 29 Apr 08)

Undercover Officer Complains of Mistreatment by Vice Cops

An undercover Saudi intelligence officer filed an official complaint yesterday at the Governorate of Riyadh for allegedly being sworn at, humiliated and offended by members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice while he was accompanied by his friends at the Thumama desert area early Thursday morning…..(Arab News, 28 Apr 08)

Indonesians torch Muslim sect's mosque

Hundreds of protesters chanting "Kill, kill" set fire Monday to an Indonesian mosque belonging to a Muslim sect they claim is heretical, police said. A policeman was wounded in the head when the crowd stoned the mosque in West Java province before setting it ablaze, said police spokesman Col. Dade Ahmad. Several suspects were taken in for questioning. The attack was the latest targeting the Ahmadiyah sect in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation……(Bakersfield, 28 Apr 08)

Christians 'should wear veil'

Outspoken Muslim cleric Taj Din al-Hilali says the Bible "mandates" the wearing of the veil by Christian women. Writing in a new book, Sheik Hilali, who lost his job as mufti of Australia after comparing scantily clad women to uncovered meat, argues that the Bible and the Koran make similar demands of a woman's modesty…In the soon-to-be published The Legitimacy of the Veil for Women of the Scripture - Evidence of the Veil in the Bible, the cleric points to references in the Old and New Testaments to women wearing a veil. "Through this I hope to raise awareness and understanding and eliminate apprehensions and misunderstandings about the veil," he writes…..(Australian, 25 Apr 08)

Saudi Cleric Muhammad Al-Munajid Warns: Freedom of Speech Might Lead to Freedom of Belief

The following are excerpts from an interview with Saudi cleric Muhammad Al-Munajid. The interview aired on Al-Majd TV on March 30, 2008…..(MEMRI, 24 Apr 08)

Nigeria: Muslim Rioters Attack Christians in Kano

Hundreds of Muslims took to the streets of this northern Nigerian city on Sunday (April 20), attacking Christians and their shops and setting vehicles on fire on claims that a Christian had blasphemed Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. Thousands of Christians were trapped in churches until police dispersed rioters. Fearing that Muslims may attack again, many Christians have relocated to army and police barracks in the city. An as yet unidentified Christian was said to have written an inscription on a shop wall that disparaged the prophet of Islam. Muslims at a market in the Sabon Garia area of the city reportedly attacked the Christian, whom police rescued and took to the area police station…..(Compass Direct, 23 Apr 08)

Open Meeting with Sheikh Ayman Al-Zawahiri – Part II

On April 22, 2008, Al-Ikhlas and other Islamic websites posted an Al-Sahab audio recording titled "An Open Meeting with Sheikh Ayman Al-Zawahiri - Part II." This recording is the second set of replies to questions reportedly addressed to Al-Zawahiri by Muslims via Islamist forums. Among the topics discussed are Al-Zawahiri's religious credentials, the role of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in the future Islamic caliphate, the need to fight the Arab regimes, the Muslim Brotherhood's political platform, women's participation in jihad, and the duty of Muslims residing in the West to carry out attacks against the host countries……(MEMRI, 23 Apr 08)

'Prophet' jailed for contempt of Islam

The leader of an Indonesian sect who had controversially claimed he was a prophet has been jailed for four years for contempt against Islam. Ahmad Mushaddeq alias Abu Salam, 63, leader of the Al Qiyadah Al Islamiyah sect, was "guilty of showing contempt in public against a religion recognized by the state," Judge Zahrul Rabaid told a packed courtroom today…..(Australian, 23 Apr 08)

On Hamas TV: Hamas Culture Minister Presents Excerpts from Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Claims Jews Trying to Control the World

The following are excerpts from an interview with Hamas Culture Minister 'Atallah Abu Al-Subh. The interview aired on Al-Aqsa TV on April 9, 2008…..(MEMRI, 22 Apr 08)

Website proposed to improve Islamic studies

The Higher Education Funding Council for England is considering creating a virtual centre of excellence that would network academics, faith and community Islam groups to boost Islamic studies in the UK. The moves were discussed at a closed conference on improving Islamic studies in universities held last week, after the government earmarked £1m to improve the subject following last June's Siddiqui report. The website would act as a national resource, listing who is teaching Islamic studies and where, give details of conferences and act as a link between academic and non-academic organizations…..(Guardian, 21 Apr 08)

AP IMPACT: Islamic schools lure African boys into begging

…Since the 11th century, families have sent their sons to study at the Quranic schools that flourished on Africa's western seaboard with the rise of Islam. It is forbidden to charge for an Islamic education, so the students, known as talibe, studied for free with their marabouts, or spiritual teachers. In return, the children worked in the marabout's fields. The droughts of the late 1970s and '80s forced many schools to move to cities, where their income began to revolve around begging. Today, children continue to flock to the cities, as food and work in villages run short. Not all Quranic boarding schools force their students to beg. But for the most part, what was once an esteemed form of education has degenerated into child trafficking. Nowadays, Quranic instructors net as many children as they can to increase their daily take……(AP, 21 Apr 08)

Covering Up the Plight of Muslim Women

Islamic spokesmen in the West routinely claim that non-Muslims are only suspicious of Muslim intentions out of “ignorance” of the true, peaceful Islam. This, of course, goes hand-in-hand with the idea that it is not Muslims, but non-Muslims (like Geert Wilders in Fitna), who are responsible for linking Islam with violence. This approach deftly shifts the focus away from acts of violence committed by Muslims in the name of Islam, and onto the alleged “Islamophobes” who are supposedly victimizing Muslims by connecting Islam with violence. An example of this came Friday in The Ranger Online, a publication of San Antonio College and Alamo Community College. An article entitled “Islam teaches respect for women” by Martin R. Herrera reported on a lecture series held on women in the Islamic world…..(FrontPage, 21 Apr 08)

Saudi women 'kept in childhood'

Saudi women are being kept in perpetual childhood so male relatives can exercise "guardianship" over them, the Human Rights Watch group has said.

The New York-based group says Saudi women have to obtain permission from male relatives to work, travel, study, marry or even receive health care.

Their access to justice is also severely constrained….(BBC, 21 Apr 08)

Aid group: Only 35 percent of Afghan students are girls

Only 35 percent of the students in Afghanistan's schools are girls, and while overall enrollment is increasing, the percentage of female students is not, an aid group said Monday. A shortage of female teachers, a number of boys-only schools and cultural barriers are factors keeping girls out of school, the group Care International said. The education of girls in post-Taliban Afghanistan is held as an example of success by Afghan and Western officials. During Taliban rule, which ended after a U.S.-led invasion in 2001, girls were banned from going to school, and only about 1 million boys attended classes…..(AP, 21 Apr 08)

Egyptian Author Sharif Hatata Talks about Life with Egyptian Feminist Nawal Al-Sa'dawi, States: The Hijab Symbolizes the Claim that Women Have No Brains

The following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian author Dr. Sharif Hatata, husband of Egyptian feminist and activist Nawal Al-Sa'dawi. The interview aired on Al-Mihwar TV on March 31, 2008…..(MEMRI, 18 Apr 08)

Pakistani Taliban Hold Jihad Conference, Issue 6-Point Shari’a Implementation Program

Pakistani Taliban have successfully held a two-day jihad conference at the shrine of 20th-Century local Islamic preacher Haji Sahib Turangzai in Pakistan’s tribal district of Mohmand Agency. According to the Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Mashriq, the local Emir of the Movement of Pakistani Taliban Umer Khalid issued a 6-point program for the implementation of Shari’a in Mohmand Agency…….(MEMRI Blog, 18 Apr 08)

Parliament body drafts Taliban-style moral law in Afghanistan

An Afghan legislative committee has drafted a bill seeking to introduce Taliban-style Islamic morality codes banning women from wearing make-up in public and forbidding young boys from wearing female fashions. The draft, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, needs approval by both chambers of the Islamist-dominated parliament and President Hamid Karzai signature to become a law. “Women and girls are obliged to not wear make-up, wear suitable dresses and observe hijab (veil) while at work or classrooms,” said one article of the draft…..(Daily Times, 17 Apr 08)

Why young Moroccans embrace Islam

Young Dutch Moroccans are increasingly turning to their religion. Anthropologist Martijn de Koning says this is a direct result of the current polarisation of the debate on Islam. "Even before 9/11 there was already an increase in interest for religion among young Moroccans," says Martijn de Koning. "But once the debate on Islam flared up, their interest increased enormously." When during the late 1990s, Mr De Koning was finishing off his anthropology degree, he decided to research religious experience under young Moroccans at the same mosque in Gouda where he had supervised homework sessions during his study. At the time, the general perception was that young people were turning away from their religion. But things went differently…..(Radio Netherlands, 17 Apr 08)

Jamaat-e-Islami for Shariah in tribal areas

Provincial Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami and former senior minister Sirajul Haq yesterday demanded the implementation of Shariah in Federally Administered Tribal Areas after the abrogation of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).  Speaking at a Press conference, Sirajul Haq attributed the abolition of FCR to the decades long struggle of journalists, politicians and local people who he said worked hard to get rid of the draconian law. Flanked by JI general secretary for tribal regions Zar Noor Afridi, former MNA from Bajaur Agency Haroonur Rashid and JI provincial spokesman Iqbal Khan, Sirajul Haq drew attention of the government towards the vacuum created by the repealing of FCR, saying the implementation of Shariah was the best way to fill the gap as it was also an outstanding demand of the tribal people…..(Khaleej Times, 17 Apr 08)

Indian soap operas stir outrage in Afghanistan

Indian soap operas with their tales of family drama and trysts among the rich and beautiful have transfixed Afghans brought up on turgid state broadcasts and under a Taliban ban on television. But not everyone is a fan. Conservative Muslim clerics and some politicians are outraged by the soap operas aired hour-after-hour by more than a dozen private television stations that have sprung up since the Taliban were ousted in 2001……(Reuters, 16 Apr 08)

Video: Saudi Cleric Omar Al-Sweilem Extols the Breasts and Thighs of the Black-Eyed Virgins of Paradise (MEMRI)

Brigitte Bardot on Trial For Muslim Slur

French former film star Brigitte Bardot went on trial on Tuesday for insulting Muslims, the fifth time she has faced the charge of "inciting racial hatred" over her controversial remarks about Islam and its followers. Prosecutors asked that the Paris court hand the 73-year-old former sex symbol a two-month suspended prison sentence and fine her 15,000 euros ($23,760) for saying the Muslim community was "destroying our country and imposing its acts."……(Reuters, 16 Apr 08)

Iran: Seven historic synagogues in Tehran destroyed

…The synagogues were in the Oudlajan suburb of Tehran, where many Iranian Jews used to live. "These buildings, which were part of our cultural, artistic and architectural heritage were burnt to the ground," said Ahmad Mohit Tabatabaii, the director of the International Council of Museums’ (ICOM) office in Tehran. "With the excuse of renovating this ancient quarter, they are erasing a part of our history,"…..(AKI, 15 Apr 08)

Islamic finance sector 'in danger'

The Islamic finance sector is in danger because both banks and Sharia scholars are not providing solutions which are Sharia-based, a senior Islamic finance expert warned on Tuesday.  "I believe that the Islamic finance sector is in danger," said Abdulazeem Abozaid, member of the Sharia department in UAE-based Emirates Islamic Bank, in an exclusive interview with ArabianBusiness.com……(Arabian Business, 15 Apr 08)

Symposium on “Women’s rights in Islam” to be held in Yemen

A symposium entitled “women’s rights in Islam” is to be held in Sana, the capital of Yemen on April 17. The conference intends to raise awareness of women rights via discussing women’s equal civil rights in Islam, and the role of government in the Islamic thought…..(Mehr, 15 Apr 08)

Welcome to ‘Lawfare’ - A New Type of Jihad

The Islamist movement has two wings – one violent and one lawful, which can operate apart but often reinforce each other. While the violent arm attempts to silence speech by burning cars when cartoons of Mohammed are published in Denmark, the lawful arm is skillfully maneuvering within Western legal systems, both here and abroad.  Islamists with financial means have launched a “legal Jihad,” filing frivolous and malicious lawsuits with the aim of abolishing public discourse critical of Islam and with the goal of establishing principles of Sharia law (strict Islamic law dating back to the 9th Century) as the governing political and legal authority in the West.  Islamist Lawfare is often predatory, filed without a serious expectation of winning, and undertaken as a means to intimidate, demoralize and bankrupt defendants….(FSM, 14 Apr 08)

No gender discrimination in Islam

A former Kuwaiti MP said here Sunday the Islamic Shari’a or law is essentially averse to gender discrimination, and this era belongs to women. Saleh Ashour was addressing a seminar on women’s civil rights, held in Kuwait University. The Islamic Shari’a discriminates between men and women only over a very few matters, mainly heritage and penal code, he said. Dismissing gender discrimination, the Kuwaiti Constitution states that justice and equity are core pillars of the society, he added. But, discrimination came due to habits, customs and norms, which have nothing to do whatsoever with the rightful heavenly principles……(KUNA, 14 Apr 08)

200 hurt in Dhaka as Islamist bodies protest law for women

Bangladesh's top judge and an Indian jurist have come out strongly in support of a move to formulate a law to ensure equal rights for women even as Islamist bodies termed it 'anti-Quran' and clashed on the streets, leaving 200 wounded. 'Women are about a half of the total population. Hence, their demand for equal rights is logical. Then why are various incidents taking place now on the issue?' Chief Justice M. Ruhul Amin remarked at a seminar Friday as protests entered the second day……(India Abroad, 12 Apr 08)

International Islamic Conference in Pakistan Calls on Authorities to Confront Ahmadi Muslims

The Ahmadis are a religious movement founded in the late 19th century by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1839-1908), a spiritual leader from the town of Qadiyan, now in the Indian Punjab. Although they consider themselves Muslims, many Muslims reject them because of the Ahmadis' belief that their founder received divine revelation. This belief is regarded as a violation of the basic Islamic tenet which defines Muhammad as the last prophet. In Pakistan, Ahmadis are officially designated as non-Muslims, and suffer from persecution; many of them have been tried for blasphemy…..(MEMRI, 10 Apr 08)

Saudi blogger posts Internet video on Christian extremism as response to Dutch anti-Quran film

A Saudi blogger has made a short video featuring Bible texts allegedly calling for war and Christian extremists preaching violence, in response to an anti-Quran film by a Dutch lawmaker that has sparked angry street protests across the Muslim world. Raed al-Saeed says the purpose of his video is to show that it's easy to take segments of any holy book out of context and make it sound like the most inhumane text ever written…..(PR-Inside, 10 Apr 08)

Indian Scholar to Discuss Myths of Islam

Asghar Ali Engineer, an Islamic scholar and activist from Mumbai, India, will discuss “Myths About Islam” in a public lecture on Friday, April 18, at 4:15 p.m. in Bourns Hall B118 at UC Riverside. Engineer will spend the week of April 14 at UCR, where he will meet with students, faculty and community activists. He will conduct a faculty-student workshop, “Teaching about Islam: Issues and Challenges,” on Thursday, April 17…..(Univ California Riverside, 8 Apr 08)

Targeting Iraq's Christians

Whether it’s al-Qaeda’s murderers in Iraq, or Islamist prejudice in other parts of the Arab world, the defense of minorities in the Arab world must not be left only to the Vatican or Western church leaders. We then encourage the dangerous notion that Arab Christians are somehow alien to the very region which gave birth to their faith, says Mona Eltahawy….(Middle East Online, 8 Apr 08)

Can Women's Rights Coexist With the Tenets of Islamic Law?

Judged by much of the media coverage, the status of Muslim women seems to come down to a matter of clothing: what they are required to wear in countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia or what they were once discouraged from wearing in Turkey. But to veil or not to veil is hardly the question. The fate of women's rights throughout the Islamic world today hinges on matters of far greater substance, from reforms of family and penal codes to new understandings of Islamic law and teaching. In these best and worst of times for Muslim women, it is perhaps not surprising that every promising bit of news seems to come with a disturbing counterpoint……(US News, 7 Apr 08)

‘Islam bestowed women rights 1,400 years ago’

Islam bestowed women rights 1,400 years ago, during the Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) last sermon, said speakers during a one day seminar on Human rights.
The seminar was organized by the ‘Easy and Equitable Access to Justice Program Women of Chitral,’ a project of Legal Aid Forum for Human Rights (LAFH) in collaboration with Koh Integrated Development Program (KIDP) at its office. Advocate Danin Niaz A Nizai was chief guest on the occasion while the ceremony was presided by Captain Noroz Khan. Participants were briefed about the aims and objectives of the seminar as well as the functions of the KIDP. She said that the KIDP was a local support Organization working in an area of 72 square kilometres, which included 30 villages and 6,250 households…..(Daily Times, 7 Apr 08)

Iraqi Christians: Exodus, Ethnic Cleansing & Identity Annihilation

In Bagdad on Saturday (5 April 2008), another innocent Iraqi clergyman fell victim to the on-going persecution and ethnic cleansing of Christians in Iraq. Iraqi security sources announced that a group of unknown armed men gunned down Father Youssef Adel Aboudi, a Christian priest with Saint Peter's Assyrian Orthodox Church. He was murdered while on his way to the church which is located in the centre of Baghdad. It is worth mentioning that last month, the body of Paulos Faraj Rahho, Chaldean Catholic archbishop of the Iraqi city of Mosul, was found in a shallow grave in the northern suburb of the city, two weeks after he was kidnapped…..(Analyst-Network, 6 Apr 08)

Iraqi priest killed in Baghdad

A Christian priest was killed in a drive-by shooting and a bomb exploded on a minibus, killing at least four passengers Saturday in separate attacks in Baghdad, police said. The priest, Youssef Adel, was driving to a church when gunmen in another car sped past him and opened fire in the central district of Karradah, two police officials said…….(AP, 5 Apr 08)

Excerpt: To Our Great Detriment: Ignoring What Extremists Say about Jihad

GOING DEEP ON JIHAD: THE ROLE OF SUBMISSION: The requirements of jihad neither begin nor end with the kinetic aspects of warfare. Flowing from the law of jihad is the Islamic concept of submission and the division of the world into the dar al-Islam and dar al-harb. While Qur’an Verse 9:29 allows “People of the Book” 318 to “submit and feel themselves subdued,” rather than be executed if choosing not to convert, the option of servitude is not automatic……(FSM, 4 Apr 08)

Afghan Women Protest Anti-Islam Film

About 70 Afghan women burned the Dutch and Danish flags during a demonstration Wednesday in the capital against an anti-Islam film and the reprinting of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad. The women chanted slogans against the two countries during the protest outside the Ministry of Information and Culture in Kabul. Most wore the all-covering blue burqa…..(AP, 2 Apr 08)

First Muslim Woman Nobel Prize Winner to Speak at Duke April 11

Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, will be the keynote speaker for “Moral Mathematics: the Science of Human Rights,” a conference at Duke University on science and human rights protection.  Ebadi, who founded and runs the Association for Support of Children’s Rights in Iran, was one of the first female judges in Iran. She served from 1975-79 as president of the city court of Tehran, but was forced to resign after the 1979 revolution. She also was a professor at the University of Tehran……(Duke Univ, 2 Apr 08)

Arab rights groups, figures slam Saudi death fatwa

A group of over 100 Arab rights groups and intellectuals on Tuesday condemned a Saudi religious edict calling for the death of two writers for apostasy, saying "clerics of darkness" were practicing intellectual terrorism. Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak, one of Saudi Arabia's most revered clerics, said in a rare religious ruling last month that two newspaper columnists should be put to death if they did not renounce their "heretical articles" in public. The two had questioned the Sunni Muslim view in Saudi Arabia that Christians and Jews should be considered unbelievers…..(Reuters, 2 Apr 08)

Egypt seizes German magazine over Islam portrayal

Egypt ordered the confiscation of a special edition of the German magazine Der Spiegel about Islam on Tuesday that the government says insults the Muslim Prophet Mohammad, Egypt's state news agency MENA said. Information Minister Anas el-Feki said the decision "comes in the context of defending Islamic values and standing firmly against those who try to insult the prophet, the Islamic faith, and religions generally," MENA reported……(Reuters, 1 Apr 08)

Wazirs say Shariah only acceptable alternative to FCR

Ahmedzai Wazir tribes in South Waziristan opposed Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani’s statement on Saturday that the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) in FATA will be removed, and a tribal elder said on Monday that the only acceptable alternative to the FCR, was the implementation of Shariah law. “A jirga of Ahmedzai Wazir has decided to oppose any attempt to abolish the FCR in absence of a pre-arranged alternative system, which should be no less than Sharia,” tribal elder Malik Behram Khan told Daily Times by phone from Wana. He said the jirga had decided that only Sharia law was an acceptable alternative, if the government was bent on removing the FCR……(Daily Times, 1 Apr 08)

March 2008

Afghanistan moves to censor TV

Afghanistan's lower house of Parliament passed a resolution Monday seeking to bar television programs from showing dancing and other practices deemed un-Islamic. The decision came just days after the private Tolo TV channel aired a dance number featuring men and women together on an Afghan film awards program. The Information and Culture Ministry condemned the scene, saying "dancing by men and women together was completely against the culture of the Afghan, Muslim society."…..(AP, 31 Mar 08)

Escaping Sharia

Frontpage Interview's guest today is Rabab Khaja, a visitor from Kuwait who came to the U.S. with her two sons over a year ago. She escaped persecution by Sharia Law……(FrontPage, 31 Mar 08)

Islamic loans turn profit for banks in USA

A customer showed up at little Devon Bank on Chicago's North Side, asking for a loan to open a neighborhood shop. But there was a hitch, the would-be borrower explained: "We can't pay any interest. Can you help?"

At the time, seven years ago, the answer was: "Nope," recalls David Loundy, Devon's vice president and legal counsel. That was then. Since fielding that first request, Devon Bank has transformed itself into a specialist in the kind of no-interest Islamic financing the customer was seeking. Islamic financing now accounts for more than 75% of the bank's mortgage portfolio, and Devon has made mortgages compliant with Islam's sharia law in 36 U.S. states, Loundy says. Devon Bank, responding to local customers in a neighborhood filled with Pakistani and Middle Eastern immigrants, stumbled onto something big: Islamic finance is booming worldwide, fueled by the windfall from sky-high oil prices and a return to a more strict interpretation of the holy Quran across the Islamic world. Once Devon Bank introduced sharia-compliant mortgages and other loans, "People started coming out of the woodwork,"…..(USA Today, 27 Mar 08)

Religious Leaders Welcome Saudi Proposal

Several Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders reacted warmly to a proposal for dialogue among the religions by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, welcoming the overture from the leader of the strict Muslim country as a major development in interfaith relations.  Specifics of the initiative, including whether Israelis could take part, remained unclear _ leading some to caution against too much optimism. Abdullah's proposal comes at a time of stalled peace negotiations and heightened Middle East tension. It also comes amid Muslim anger over cartoons published in Europe seen as insulting the Prophet Muhammad and in the wake of the pope's controversial baptism of a prominent Muslim convert. But Abdullah said Saudi Arabia's top clerics gave him a green light _ crucial in a society that bans non-Muslim religious services…..(AP, 26 Mar 08)

Scholar denounces Muslim baptism

A Muslim scholar involved in high-level dialogue with the Vatican has denounced the Pope's baptism on Saturday of a prominent Italian Muslim convert. Aref Ali Nayed, the head of Jordan's Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, called the baptism of journalist Magdi Allam a deliberate and provocative act.  The Vatican has not yet commented, but its official newspaper said the gesture aimed to promote religious freedom……(BBC, 26 Mar 08)

A Prayer for Freedom: Will the West protect and defend?

Italy’s leading Muslim writer has become a Catholic. As Pope Benedict XVI baptized Magdi Allam during an Easter service at the Vatican, the glare of international publicity annoyed at least one Muslim, Yahya Sergio Yahe Pallavicini, vice president of Coreis, the Italian Islamic Religious Community. He told reporters: “What amazes me is the high profile the Vatican has given this conversion. Why could he have not done this in his local parish? . . . If Allam truly was compelled by a strong spiritual inspiration, perhaps it would have been better to do it delicately, maybe with a priest from Viterbo where he lives.”….(National Review, 26 Mar 08)

Bangladesh Retreats on Women's Rights After Muslim Protest

Bangladesh's military-backed government has backed down from a policy to ensure equal property rights to women amid angry protests by Muslim clerics that the move would override Islamic law. The country's law minister Hasan Arif said the government "does not have any plan to enact any laws that goes against the Koran and the traditions of Prophet Mohammad," a government statement said. Arif gave the assurance to top Islamic clerics and scholars late on Tuesday, after Islamic groups warned of nationwide protests, saying they would not tolerate any law that went against sharia, the Islamic law code…..(AINA, 24 Mar 08)

Beat up infidel tourists, says radical cleric

ISLAMIC cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has returned to his hardline rhetoric with a call for followers to beat up Western tourists and for young Muslims to die as martyrs. In the sermon, organised by an Islamic youth organisation and delivered a few kilometres from the home village of convicted Bali bombers Amrozi and Mukhlas, Bashir likened tourists in Bali to "worms, snakes, maggots", and specifically referred to the immorality of Australian infidels……(The Australian, 24 Mar 08)

Iran: Parliament to discuss death penalty for converts who leave Islam

In its first session since last week's general elections, the new Iranian parliament is expected to discuss a law that will condemn to death anyone who decides to leave the Muslim faith and convert to other religions……..Under the proposed law, anyone who is born to Muslim parents and decides to convert to another faith, will face the death penalty. Currently converts, particularly those who have decided to leave the Muslim faith for Evangelical churches, are arrested and then released after some years of detention. The new legislation, which has caused concern in Iran and abroad, was proposed mainly because of fears of proselytising activities by Evangelical churches particularly through the use of satellite channels. There has also been concern over fact that many young people in Iran have abandoned Islam because they're tired of the many restrictions imposed by the faith. According to unofficial sources, in the past five years, one million Iranians, particularly young people and women, have abandoned Islam and joined Evangelical churches. This phenomenon has surprised even the missionaries who carry out their activities in secret in Iran……"We find ourselves facing what is more than a conversion to the Christian faith," he said. "It's a mass exodus from Islam."……...(AKI, 19 Mar 08)

Gadhafi Celebrates Prophet's Birthday

In his drive to spread Libyan and Islamic influence in Africa, Moammar Gadhafi inaugurated a huge new mosque in this predominantly Christian country Wednesday, with several African heads of state attending and scores of Arab journalists flown in for the occasion……(AP, 19 Mar 08)

Writer flees Islamic death threats

BANGLADESHI writer Taslima Nasreen has left India after being hounded into hiding by death threats from Islamic extremists, her publisher and friends say…..(Herald Sun, 19 Mar 08)

Ayaan Hirsi Ali addresses issues of Islam

As a child, former Dutch Parliament member and filmmaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali fervently embraced Islam. The controversial best-selling author told members of the Vanderbilt community gathered in the Student Life Center on Monday night that when she wore her robe and covered her hair, she felt powerful; however, as Ali aged, she said, "a deep part of me rebelled.”…..(Vanderbilt University, 18 Mar 08)

'My wife said I had to stop the jihad. I divorced her. Fighting was my duty'

……In the early days of the insurgency, Khalil, like many of the tens of thousands of Iraqis who fought with him, was an observant but not particularly religious Muslim. He fell in with the Islamic fighters, however, and soon found himself part of a jihadi Islamic faction. "I didn't fight for Osama bin Laden, I fought because the Americans invaded my country," he tells me. "If I go and invade America, they will have the right to fight me back." He says he and his men felt "blessed by Allah" when they went out on missions to kill US soldiers…..(Guardian, 19 Mar 08)

Saudi Shura Council Recommends Allowing Saudi Women to Drive, With Limitations

The following is a summary of the Saudi Shura Council recommendation…..(MEMRI, 18 Mar 08)

Algeria: Al-Qaeda attacks moderate Muslims

Members of the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb militant group in Algeria have reportedly attacked members of a moderate organisation opposed to its terrorist activities. A report on Tuesday in the Algerian newspaper el-Khabar said an al-Qaeda militant carried out a raid against a mosque in the Algerian province of al-Wadi on Sunday night and killed two men while they prayed. According to the report, eyewitnesses said masked men entered the mosque as evening prayers were being held forcing everyone to fall to the ground. The armed militants called for the two men, Harun Ahmad, and his cousin, Harun Abdel Jabbar, to step forward. They were then taken to the courtyard in the mosque where they were shot to death as the killers, speaking in an Algerian dialect, said: "We kill you with God's consent."….(AKI, 18 Mar 08)

DFM Sharia Board issues first Islamic standards for classifying listed companies

The Dubai Financial Market's (DFM) Sharia Board issued today the first Islamic standards for trading shares of DFM companies. The establishment of such standards is in line with DFM becoming first Islamic financial market in the world. The first set of standards was announced during a special session held today in Dubai. The session was attended by a large number of dealers, brokers, representatives of listed companies, professors in Sharia law and members of the media. …..(Business Intelligence Middle East, 18 Mar 08)

Complicity in Iran's Anti-Gay Jihad

The British government announced Thursday that it was ending efforts to deport Mehdi Kazemi, a 19-year-old Iranian who has been studying in Britain – a move that should be applauded by human rights activists everywhere. Had he been forced to return to Iran, Kazemi would almost certainly have been executed there…..(Robert Spencer, FrontPage, 17 Mar 08)

Former Mossad officer Michael Ross: Canadian Jews should worry less about neo-Nazis and more about Islamic fundamentalism

…..Within the Mossad, Israel's secret intelligence service, there is a small department of intelligence analysts who monitor and report on incidents and trends relating to anti-Semitism and violence perpetrated against Jewish communities worldwide. During my 13 years with the Mossad, I was privy to the reports of this department. They invariably concluded that modern anti-Semitism has very little to do with the reawakening of National Socialism, and everything to do with the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Western countries -- with occasional collusion from elements of the radical left, not the radical right. During my career overseas with the Mossad, the only blatant example of anti-Semitism I personally encountered was while sitting across from a Syrian gentleman -- not aware that I was Jewish -- who launched without provocation into a 20-minute diatribe about how Jews (not Israelis) were responsible for every horror in world history since the Hebrews first appeared in the desert some five millennia ago. This gentleman recited his litany of lies as if it had been taught to him word-for-word in a classroom -- which of course it was……(National Post, 17 Mar 08)

Murderous Muslim Mothers

Texas-born Patricia (“Tissie) Said, formerly of the Owens family, is the mother who lured her two teenage daughters, Sarah and Amina, to their deaths at the hands of their own father this past New Years Day in Dallas. How can a mother do such a thing? Even if her own life was threatened, even if her husband Yasser had literally held a gun to her head and told her to trick her daughters into returning, isn’t a mother supposed to sacrifice herself for her children? Or at least to protect them? What can explain such a perversion of maternal instinct and of the life force itself?....(FrontPage, 18 Mar 08)

Saudi 11-year-old marries 10-year-old cousin

An 11-year-old boy has married his 10-year-old cousin in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. Mohammed al-Rashidi and his unidentified cousin will seal the marriage they contracted under the sharia laws of Islam and move in together after a ceremony to take place in the summer, Al-Shams newspaper said……(AFP, 18 Mar 08)

England’s Lost Daughters
British government plans national strategy to prevent forced marriages of schoolgirls…….(FrontPage, 18 Mar 08)

Killing Jews of Banu Quraiza

…..This article will attempt to investigate just two (Banu Qurayza and Khaybar) out of many historical incidents happened in the process of total extermination of Jewish tribes from the Arabian Peninsula……(Islamist Monitor, 17 Mar 08)

Woman escapes stoning for adultery

IRAN has freed a woman convicted of adultery who faced being stoned to death like her male partner whose execution by stoning last year caused international outrage, her lawyer said today. Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, who had spent a total of 11 years behind bars, was released from a prison in the city of Qazvin last night on the orders of Iranian judiciary's amnesty commission, lawyer Shadi Sadr said. She was freed along with the son she had conceived with her partner Jafar Kiani, whose stoning in July 2007 was carried out by the local authorities in apparent defiance of the central judiciary. Under Iran's Islamic law, adultery is still theoretically punishable by stoning, which involves the public hurling stones at the convict buried up to his waist……(AFP, 18 Mar 08)

Vicar attacked for 'being a Christian' after hate campaign by yobs who claimed his church 'should be a mosque'

A vicar was in hospital last night after being attacked in his churchyard by two youths in what is being treated as a 'faith hate' crime. Canon Michael Ainsworth, 57, was kicked and punched in the head as one of the attackers screamed "f***ing priest". He was left lying on the ground with deep cuts, bruising and two black eyes…….(Daily Mail, 16 Mar 08)

UK Congregation in fear after faith-hate attack on canon by Muslim youths

The wife of a clergyman beaten up in a faith-hate attack outside his church described the community’s shock and distress yesterday after taking the Palm Sunday service on her husband’s behalf. Canon Michael Ainsworth is expected to be released from hospital early this week after being attacked 12 days ago in East London. The attack has led to fears of an increasing number of religiously aggravated attacks on Christian clergy and concerns that the problem is overlooked by police and prosecutors……(Times of London, 17 Mar 08)

Jihad in east Londonistan

……. Indeed, there appear to have been many attacks on vicars or churches by Muslims who are clearly intent on turning east London into a no-go area for Christians…..(Melanie Phillips/Spectator, 16 Mar 08)

Top Saudi cleric calls for writers' deaths

Saudi Arabia's most revered cleric said in a rare fatwa this week that two writers should be tried for apostasy for their "heretical articles" and put to death if they do not repent. Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak was responding to recent articles in al-Riyadh newspaper that questioned the Sunni Muslim view in Saudi Arabia that adherents of other faiths should be considered unbelievers. "Anyone who claims this has refuted Islam and should be tried in order to take it back. If not, he should be killed as an apostate from the religion of Islam," said the fatwa, or religious opinion, dated March 14 and published on Barrak's Web site…….(Reuters, 15 Mar 08)

Another attempted Israeli-Arab honor killing

Male members of an Israeli-Arab Mulsim clan on Saturday attempted to murder a female relative for having allegedly brought dishonor to the family by engaging in a romantic relationship with a local Jewish man following her recent divorce to a Palestinian Arab. In the latest of three attempted "honor killings" over the past week, several men ambushed and shot 40-year-old Sara Abu-Ghanem as she drove to work in the central Israel town of Ramle. The victim sustained light wounds to her head and neck, and was listed in stable condition at a nearby hospital. Early last week, a Muslim family in northern Israel proudly hailed their son after he announced having shot and beaten his young sister to death for dating other men following her recent divorce. However, the girl survived the attack, and was rescued by an Israeli medical crew…..(Israel Today, 16 Mar 08)

Bin Laden Follower Declares Jihad on Accountants

……Malcolm Hodges, who is engaged to an American, pleaded guilty and was recently jailed in Britain for recklessly encouraging terrorist attacks against accountants. He was given a two-year jail sentence last month for sending dozens of letters to mosques around the U.K. urging Muslims to launch terror attacks on the bean-counters. Ironically, the 44-year-old was a wannabe accountant himself. After failing his accreditation exam, he held a “festering grudge” for more than a decade against professional accountancy. One of his letters offered constructive criticism of past Al Qaeda attacks: “Brothers, you are right to kill the infidels but you are making a mistake to try to attack planes and other targets.” The terrorists should redirect the jihad, he wrote, because the "infidels" were expecting such places to be attacked…….(Fox News, 14 Mar 08)

Qatar Set to Open First Catholic Church

This tiny, wealthy Arab Gulf country is opening its first Roman Catholic church, ending decades of clandestine worship for tens of thousands of foreign workers….Qatar's ruler has also approved five churches for other Christian denominations, all under construction next to the Catholic one. Attracted by a booming oil economy, expatriate workers make up at least 70 percent of Qatar's population of about 1 million……..Qatar follows the rigorous Wahhabi teachings of Sunni Islam, and like neighboring Saudi Arabia had not previously authorized Christians to practice their faith openly……..Out of respect for local sensitivities, the church will not feature any religious symbols — neither a cross or a bell tower — that would identify the building as a place of Christian worship……(AP, 13 Mar 08)