Germany: ‘Germany is destroying itself’ ‘Germany is destroying itself – how we’re jeopardizing our country’ Via Spiegel : (…) This week, though, the Social Democrat (SPD) seems to have outdone himself. German media outlets, including SPIEGEL, have published excerpts of his soon-to-be-published book on Germany’s supposed demise.
Lyon: ‘Allah Akbar’ gargoyle on the Lyon Cathedral ( Novopress ) A new gargoyle was put up on the Lyon cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop of Lyon, in honor of Benzizine Ahmed, the Muslim foreman who led the restoration work on the cathedral tower. The gargoyle stands over a sign saying “Allah Akbar” (God is greatest) in both Arabic and French. ” ‘Allah Akbar’, everybody agrees with that! It’s not as if we wrote that Mohammed is our prophet…” says one of the diocese people
Spain: Inside a Muslim summer camp Via CNN : (…) In Spain, “new Muslims”–converts to Islam–are clustered in the country’s southern Andalusia region.
Taraweeh Salaah – Night 1 By Sheikh Abdul Hamid Lachporia – Canada In the Name of Almighty Allah Most Gracious, Most Merciful “Blessed is He Who hath revealed unto His slave the FURQAN [the Criterion of Right and Wrong], that He may be a warner to mankind.
Odense: “Many are actually afraid of Danish culture” Hana Al-Khamri with another report from the Odense neighbohood of Vollsmose. See also: Odense: “We are only Danish on paper” I know that the woman before me was born and raised in Denmark
Spain: Moorish revival Via BBC : A thousand years ago North African Muslims ruled southern Spain. Now some of their descendants are contributing to a “Moorish revival” that is regenerating parts of Andalucia, says the BBC’s Sylvia Smith. Sitting in Abdul Hedi Benattia’s tea shop you forget for a moment where you are.
Amal Murad is a talented abaya designer from the UAE, whose work is frequently on the runways at Dubai Fashion Week (see her website for photos). Below is a recent interview of hers, and unfortunately it’s in Arabic, but you can forward to 5:15 to see some video footage of her runway shows: Amal has also recently been involved in judging an abaya design competition called Arwa’a Abaya on MBC
Germany: Exit programme for Islamists Germany aims to tackle a growing threat from Islamic extremists with an exit programme modelled on assistance for repentant neo-Nazis, authorities said Monday. “We plan to offer a hotline and a website for people who have fallen under the influence of fundamentalists, Islamists or terrorists,” Heinz Fromm, head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the domestic intelligence agency, told reporters.
Sweden: Manifesto for Muslim Social Democrats The Swedish Social Democrats established a special section on their site (h/t Snaphanen ) for Muslim social democrats, which includes a manifesto, information about their journal “Islam and Politics” and a clip from a conference the party held in the fall about why 70% of Muslims vote for the party, and why Muslims should vote for left-wing (red) parties.
France: Muslim girls flee to private school When 17-year-old Shainez Dib announced she wanted to start wearing a hijab as a deeper expression of her religious faith, her mother advised against it, telling her daughter she was not yet mature enough.