The Guardian’s interest in Muslim fashion continues in an article published yesterday.

I was recently contacted by a girl who was preparing a portfolio about British Muslim fashion. This was part of a project whereby girls from different Islamic schools in London took part in fashion workshops, and then had to create a portfolio in order to enter a competition and win a place at a 3-day course at the London School of Fashion! You can read more about it below. If you were one of the girls on the course, tell us more about it!

Muslim schoolgirls show that faith and fashion are not incompatible

Sarfraz Manzoor
Wednesday 21 July 2010

In a first floor classroom in the Hackney campus of the London School of Fashion a small group of young schoolgirls are wrapping clothes on to tailor’s dummies.

They are using conventional clothes in unconventional ways – turning ties into belts and baggy T-shirts into neckwear. The idea is to challenge traditional notions of normality in fashion.

The approach is a common one for aspiring designers but it feels especially appropriate for the 20 assembled schoolgirls, all of whom are British and Muslim and all of whom are in traditional Islamic dress.

Read the rest here.

Book Review: The Future of Islam

LibertyPhile posted a review of The Future of Islam by John L. Esposito. I have not yet read the book, but one point based on this review: Anybody who brings radicals such as Qaradawi and Ramadan as exemplary reformers, should also deal with the fact that they continuously threaten Europe and the Western World with a ‘Muslim takeover’. In fact, by claiming they are moderates, Esposito encourages ‘Islamophobia’ and the idea that there are no real moderate Muslims.

I bring here an excerpt:

(4) Muslims in the West

Esposito’s treatment of Muslims in the West is totally inadequate. We get the standard condemnation of hate preachers but what we mainly get is special pleading and an exiguous failure to understand the depth of the problem and to suggest any solutions.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

(4.1) Integration or What?

Despite the talk of integration and the idea of “European Muslims” or “American Muslims” rather than “Muslims in Europe” or “Muslims in America”, the discussion, the language, the examples, the arguments are always about Muslims as somehow different, a distinct and different class of people. They need understanding, consideration, because they are Muslims, a separate community!

The message seems to be, it is you Europe, you America, that has to change if we are to fit in. We are only going to identify with you if you change to suit us.

Esposito poses a question.

“Whether Muslim communities in America and Europe will be able to supply the financial and human resources necessary to build a strong self-sustaining community in the twenty-first century remains an important and unanswered question.” (p35)

Would Esposito speak about American black people in this way as if they should exist in some “community” of their own. Could that mean separate neighbourhoods, resources, institutions, just for them? Calling the community self-sustaining even requiring financial and human resources seems to say so. I think that’s called segregation. Perhaps segregation is what Muslims want. Surely Esposito should be talking about how individuals integrate into the community of all citizens.

The comments of Esposito’s reformers are instructive.

“For Mustafa Ceric, as for Ramadan and others, the successful encounter of Europe and Islam has two interconnected prerequisites: Muslims must embrace their European identity, and European governments must facilitate Muslims’ integration by accommodating and institutionalising their religious needs. [emphasis added]

…. European governments, he believes, will only gain the trust of the Muslim community when they institutionalize Islam through state sponsorship of Muslim schools, state councils, and mosques. [emphasis added] Ceric also emphasizes the importance of training European imams in Europe rather than in Muslim countries ..” (p114-115)

Winter starts by asking a sensible question:

“Are we Americans, or Canadians, or Britons, simply by virtue of holding a passport and finding employment? Or is this our emotional home?”

But then crassly rubs in Muslim separateness. He warns:

“An insulting guest will not be tolerated indefinitely even by the most courteous of hosts…. A measured, concerned critique of social dissolution, unacceptable beliefs, or destructive foreign policies will always be a required component of Muslim discourse, but wild denunciations of Great Satans or global Crusader Conspiracies are, for Muslims here, not only dangerous, but are also discourteous scarcely a lesser sin.” (p116)

Yes, Muslims are outsiders. It’s just that they need to improve their manners. And those denunciations, apparently acceptable if made by Muslims elsewhere, are dangerous (to the denunciator) and discourteous in the West itself.

Mustafa Ceric is more ambitious and even blunter. He says:

“Muslims must become educated and get organized. The strength and unity of Muslims in one country will strengthen the Muslim community in other countries.

…. If you are strong, united and organized here we will naturally be strong, united and organized in Bosnia, Kashmir, Palestine, and the rest of the world…. It is useless if only parts of that body are functioning and others are not: we all need to get our acts together.” (p115–117)

What does he mean by strength and unity? What are they going to do with this strength and unity? Would the leader of the Catholic Church in England speak like this about Catholics? The leaders of the Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, would they?

Many individual Muslims themselves seem set on marking themselves out as distinct and separate from the rest of their fellow citizens. I am a Muslim and I am different. We do this. We don’t do that. For a start, we dress differently and women don’t show their hair in public.
It is an appalling idea to ban a piece of clothing in a liberal democracy but the headscarf is a political badge and it represents something. It represents I believe I’m different from you and I’m superior. I don’t flaunt myself in front of strangers. You do.

On many western Muslim women a headscarf is also close to rank hypocrisy. The idea that it retains their modesty by concealing what men find attractive is a laugh. It was fascinating to see the headscarfed young Muslim women attending the recent British Council and Intelligence Squared debate [Ref 6] when Tariq Ramadan proposed the motion “Europe is failing its Muslims” (he lost, 51% to 37%, 12% undecided). So many of those headscarves were fashion items, some even flamboyant, designed to draw attention to the wearer. And some wearing jeans!

(more)

Source: LibertyPhile

EU: Seeking to combat homegrown terrorism

Five years after the London bombings, in which 52 people died, homegrown terror remains a concern across Europe. More dialogue and a coordinated strategy is how EU countries hope to tackle the problem.

Homegrown terrorism is a relatively new term – and a new phenomenon. But Europe has learned through experience that it is a danger from within that cannot be ignored.

Five years ago, on July 7, 2005, four bomb attacks on the London transport system left 56 dead and countless wounded. One year earlier, the Madrid attacks claimed the lives of 191 people.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

In Germany, the so-called Sauerland terror cell had devised attacks on airports that were only prevented because the group’s plans were uncovered shortly before they intended to carry them out.

Homegrown terrorism is different from attacks like those in the United States on September 11, 2001. The perpetrators come from the very countries they attack, where they grew up and went to school. Most come from secular immigrant families and are brought up without religious zeal.

They seem well integrated into society – until they come into contact with Islamist extremists. Some of these homegrown terrorists do not even have a Muslim background and only convert to Islam when they become adults.

Some argue that the crucial lesson learned in the wake of the London and Madrid attacks was that efforts to foster closer cooperation with Muslims in European countries need to be stepped up.

“It’s essential that we work with those parts of society where trends toward radicalization can occur,” says Ole Schroeder, a parliamentary state secretary in the German Interior Ministry. “For instance we have to directly work with mosques or with groups close to radical Islamists.”

The best protection, Schroeder says, is to ensure that Muslim communities in European countries are not susceptible to extremist tendencies. The German government has tried to take a step in this direction by founding a forum on Islam aimed at creating a dialogue with Germany’s Muslim population on shared societal values.

(…)

After the London attacks, European Union member states decided to join forces on the issue; Spain with its large Moroccan population is, for example, to devise a model on how such training can best be done.

“The Spaniards have the responsibility for expertise on the training of imams and passing it along to the other countries,” said Magnus Ranstorp of the Swedish Defense College in Stockholm.

In Britain, the authorities are also working together with mosques and Muslim communities to prevent the radicalization of young men. The British government has initiated a program with more than 260 publicly funded projects aimed at reaching out to the Muslim population. Mentoring schemes are one aspect.

(…)

Some argue that if a person is not susceptible to extremist ideologies, he or she won’t turn to terrorism. Among those who subscribe to this line of thought is Judith Sunderland of Human Rights Watch.

Her group says that banning minarets or the burqa only leads to further radicalization. Terror suspects, they say, must never be treated with disrespect to the rule of law – as has been the case in several western counties.

(…)

“Measures that are taken to counter terrorism that ultimately violate human rights, in the long run, feed the grievances and the sense of injustice that can fuel radicalization.”

(more)

Source: DW-World

UK: Terrorism mostly homegrown

Most terrorism in Britain is homegrown, according to the most comprehensive survey of those convicted of offences over the last 10 years.

The Centre for Social Cohesion has compiled profiles of 124 individuals convicted of Islamic terrorism offences since 1999.

It found that 69 per cent of offences were perpetrated by individuals holding British nationality.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

Robin Simcox, co-author of the report, said their aim was to “focus the government’s counter-terrorism efforts.”

“There are clear trends emerging with those involving themselves in terrorist activity in the UK,” he added. “It is crucial that this is recognised and then acted upon by the relevant authorities.”

His comments follow private remarks by Assistant Commissioner John Yates, Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism officer, that the country faces “eye-watering cuts” in counter-terrorism funding that could hand an advantage to al-Qaeda.

Douglas Murray, Director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, said: “The report proves how great a threat violent Islamism poses to the world – and the fact that Britain is at the centre of this global struggle.”

The Social Cohesion report outlines the links individuals had to terrorist groups, their nationality and ethnic origin, their age, hometown, occupation and education, which other radical Islamists they were connected to and what legislation the government used to jail them.

The report also shows how Britain’s links to violent Islamism are almost two decades old by profiling almost 100 other offences committed abroad since 1993 that are connected to Britain, including terrorist convictions, terrorist training, suicide attacks, and extraditions.

The survey found almost half (46 per cent) of offenders had their origins in south Asia including 28 per cent who had Pakistani heritage – of whom at least 80 per cent were British nationals.

Six of the eight plots, 75 per cent, contained individual members who had trained in Pakistan and four of the leaders of those plots were directly linked to one or more Pakistani based terrorist groups.

The next most common origin for offenders was Somalia, accounting for 6 per cent, demonstrating a growing threat from East Africa.

(more)

Source: Telegraph

London: Gay nightclub owner slammed for Muslim boycott

Community leaders have slammed XXL club owner Mark Ames today after he vowed to boycott British Muslims.

The London nightclub entrepreneur promised to snub Muslim-owned businesses in response to racial unrest in East London. He also tried to justify his decision by reference to the death toll of British troops in Afghanistan, which has risen above 300.

He wrote on Facebook: “From today I will be boycotting any shops, petrol stations restaurants or businesses I know are owned by Muslims this also includes holidays to muslim [sic] countries today see [sic] our death toll up to 300, so why the hell are we not just flying this scum back out to there beloved states and pull out and let them fight out there [sic] own issues!”

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

PinkPaper.com has repeatedly invited Ames to speak to us but he has refused saying he has already been “tried and convicted” and adding, in an email to us, “i [sic] dont [sic] want to see anyone race or creed [sic] being kicked out of the country.”

There is no suggestion that others involved in XXL club share his views but one representative did say they would be supporting his right to freedom of speech.

Now, leading members of London’s gay community have criticised his original comments.

Ali Hili of IraqiLGBT said: “I don’t think it’s acceptable from anyone, especially someone with a high profile. This is especially when the people he’s talking about could be deported to a country which, in turn, may cause them harm. I am in this country because I have fear for my life and I still face discrimination – even here.”

Royston Ford, secretary of gay group Imaan, agrees: “If he [Mark Ames] holds the views attributed to him, he has shown himself to be a rather unpleasant, but unrepresentative example of the LGBT community in London and further afield.

“Whilst racist and Islamophobic views like this do exist amongst a minority of LGBT people, he is not representative of the majority of fair-minded and decent people. If Mr Ames chooses – whilst most of are preparing to celebrate the diversity of our communities in Pride 2010 – to descend into his own gay shame, then that is his loss.

“He is as representative of LGBT people as the drug-peddling, murdering gangsters of Afghanistan are representative of ordinary Muslims – whether gay, straight, in this country or elsewhere. Imaan, and LGBT Muslims are preparing to celebrate Pride 2010 with our brothers and sisters of all communities, both in the parade and with events in London and in Bradford. We suggest Mr Ames is best ignored.”

(…)

And Joseph was worried that the comments would make gay Muslims feel unwelcome at XXL.

“Gay Muslims are a minority amongst a minority and we should be supporting them,” he said. I hope gay Muslims stand up against what he says because their voice isn’t heard enough in this country. I would say boycott XXL if you support gay Muslims.”

However, some PinkPaper.com readers have backed Ames. In response to our exclusive yesterday, one forum user wrote: “whats the big deal? [sic] and why does a phoney pc liberal, pink paper [sic] reader find it disturbing? the reader should be more disturbed by the evil persecution and hate murder on a par to genocide of lgbt people in islamic states.” [sic]

(more)

Source: PinkPaper

UK: Tory MP bids to ‘ban the burka’

A Tory MP has launched an effort to pass a law banning Muslim women from wearing the burka.

Philip Hollobone will attempt to steer legislation through the Commons to regulate the wearing of “certain facial coverings”.

The Kettering MP said his Bill would make it illegal for people to cover their faces in public “which would obviously have a big impact for those who wear full-face Islamic veils”.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

He told the Press Association: “I think it’s inappropriate to cover your face in public, whether it’s a burka, a balaclava or anything else.

“We are never going to get along with having a fully integrated society if a substantial minority insist on concealing their identity from everyone else.”

Mr Hollobone has previously described the burka as “offensive” and “against the British way of life”.

His comments have attracted criticism but also a “great deal of support”, he said.

The MP said the British public like to smile and greet one another in the street but “you simply can’t have that degree of interaction with people if you can’t see their face”.

(more)

Source: UKPA

By Shaykh Sayyid Abul Hasan Aboo Nadwi
Sincere Muslims invariably act upon Qur’aanic injunctions like the following:

“0 you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or (your) parents or (your) kin…” (surah 4;verse 35)

“And let not the hatred of any people make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice; be just, that is next to piety; and fear Allah…” (surah 5;verse

And when you judge between mankind (Allah does command), that you judge with justice. ” (surah 4;verse 58)

“Whatever you say, speak justly, even if near relative is concerned…” (surah 6;verse 152)

Once, during the early days of the British administration, in India, there arose in Kandhla, in the Muzaffarnagar District (ie. in the State of Uttar Pradesh), a dispute between the Hindus and the Muslims over a plot of land which both of them claimed as their place of worship. The English Collector of the district privately inquired from the Muslims if they could name a Hindu in whose honesty they had full confidence, so that that the case might be decided on the basis of his evidence. The Muslims said that they knew of no such Hindu.

The collector then asked the Hindus whether there was a Muslim upon whose word they would be willing to let the decision of the dispute be made. The Hindus said that, grave as the matter was, there was a Muslim divine who had never uttered a falsehood and it could be hoped that he would not compromise his integrity over the issue in hand. The Divine came from the family of Mufti Ilahi Bakhsh, who was a pupil of Shah Abdul Aziz and a Khalifah of Sayyid Ahmed Shahid.

The Collector, thereupon, summoned him to his court, but he declined, saying that he had sworn never to look at the face of an Englishman. The Collector said that he need not look at his face if he did not want to, but come he must, because the matter in dispute was serious and its settlement hinged on whether he came or not. At last, the Moulana agreed. He came with his face covered with a mask and stood in the court, his back turned towards the Collector so that there could be no possibility of his vow being broken. The case was explained to him, and he was asked to state whether he knew anything about the ownership of the plot. The Moulana declared that the plot in dispute belonged to the Hindus; the Muslims had nothing to do with it. The Collector decided accordingly. The Muslims lost the case, but ‘truth’ scored a magnificent victory. A number of Hindus embraced Islam on that very day at the hand of the Moulana.

Learning and wisdom were held sacrosanct in those days. Those who occupied a high place in the field of learning were not disposed to sell their intellectual wealth at any price, because it was regarded by them as a precious gift and a sacred trust of Allah. To lend one’s ability or knowledge, directly or indirectly, to serve the cause of injustice and unbelief was in their view tantamount to an open betrayal of religion.

Source: Riyadul Jannah Magazine

Related posts:

1. The fruits of Honesty
2. Fruits of Charity

Norway: Sharia courts a possibility

In the UK, local Sharia councils have been operating for many years, but in 2007 the Muslim Arbitration Tribunals (MAT) were established. Recognized by the UK’s justice ministry and the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Sharia councils were officially allowed to judge in civil – not criminal – cases, based on the British Arbitration Act of 1996. They judge cases relating to economy, divorce, domestic violence, inheritance and forced marriage – with the framework of British law.

“It’s probable that this will exist in Norway. It wouldn’t surprise me if it already exists. Imams counsel Muslims today, and it’s natural that they use Sharia because it’s the legal tradition they’re accustomed to,” says director Tor Langbach of the Courts Administration.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

In the spring he visited the Muslim Arbitration Tribunals in London. There more and more Muslims solve conflicts using Islamic law instead of going to British courts. The headquarters are in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bradford and Nuneaton. MAT say they’re working on setting up a new branch in Scotland. Currently they have not received inquiries from Norway, but were visited by Muslims from both Belgium and the Netherlands.

On their website, MAT assures that they offer ‘a real and true opportunity to settle disputes in accordance with Islamic Sacred Law with the knowledge that the outcome as determined by MAT will be binding and enforceable’. This requires that both parties want it.

The critics fear parallel legal systems. They think that women are at risk of being pressured by their family or others in their community to solve conflicts via the Sharia council instead of British law, because women end up more badly than men in Islamic legislation. Women, for example, inherit half of what men do. Divorce isn’t as easy for women to obtain.

Norwegian imams use also much of their time giving counsel, says Senaid Kobilica, head of the Islamic Council of Norway (IRN), and chief imam of the Bosnian community. The imams that Aftenposten spoke to can see Sharia councils like those in the UK – within the framework of Norwegian law.

Ten years ago Islam expert Kari Vogt wrote in the book “Islam in Norwegian” (Islam på norsk) that the question isn’t whether Islamic law is applied, but how, by whom and in which cases. According to Vogt, the IRN took the initiative to set up Sharia councils in Norway, but the time wasn’t ripe.

Senaid Kobilica says that the IRN didn’t consider the matter in principle nor taken a position on an eventual mandate or guidelines for such a body. He stresses that it would eventuality have to harmonize with Norwegian law.

He thinks that the British system is in reality not different than the counseling and mediation bodies which can also function as arbitration bodies if both parties want it to.

Kobilica says that such mediation bodies could systemize and ensure the quality of the work which is already being done by the mosques.

The Moroccan Faith-Society and the World Islamic Mission (WIM) say that Sharia councils per the British models are the way to go, but they stress that Norwegian law must have the last word. The imam in Minhaj-Ul-Quran, Sadagat Ali, can also see Sharia councils. Imam Najeeb Naz of WIM points out that Sharia enjoins Muslims to respect the laws of the country in which they live.

“For me as a Muslim in Norway, it’s Norwegian law which applies, but we should take Sharia into account,” says Jamal Moussaoui, head of the Moroccan Faith-Society.

Norwegian judges and courts also increasingly note that Sharia is an important part of the life of Muslims. PhD student Katja Jansen Fredriksen of Bergen reviewed cases which went through the Norwegian legal system.

“Sharia is resorted to in Norwegian law today too. In Norwegian court decisions, especially in family cases, I see that Muslims argue in the same way in Norwegian courts as they would in Sharia courts in Muslim countries.”

For example, the judge, in order to invalidate a forced marriage, has to know if the marriage was entered into legally in the country where the marriage ceremony was performed. Fredriksen wanted to create a guide to Sharia for Norwegian judges.

Source: Aftenposten (Norwegian)

Scotland: Find wives in Britain, says Islamic scholar

Muslim men have been told to marry women born in Scotland rather than import wives from Pakistan and India.

Shaykh Amer Jamil, a Glasgow-born Islamic scholar, warned that Asian women who have grown up in Scotland are being left on the shelf in favour of wives from outside the country.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

Parents often prefer their sons to have arranged marriages with women who grew up in the Indian sub-continent, as they are seen as better partners. But this means there are increasing numbers of British women unable to find a husband.

Islamic dating events have been set up to try and address the situation, but the balance is so heavily weighted towards women that few marriages result from these events.

Shaykh Jamil, an Islamic scholar who set up a family counselling service called Unity Family Services, said: “I would say the situation is at a critical level. There are many well-educated women up and down the country who want to get married but are not finding the right match. There is an acute shortage of suitable male options and the ones who are available are getting married from back home.

“Consequently, this leads to many women reluctantly having to bring someone over from south Asia and that can lead to problems. The men coming over have a different mentality and are not used to seeing a female working or having a life outside of the home. It makes sense to marry from within the UK as both partners will speak English and will be familiar with British culture. This will also make raising children much easier.”

There are also community cohesion implications to the trend, as women come over from Pakistan who cannot speak English and are unused to the culture.

(…)

Figures from the Home Office show that 12,700 husbands or fiances were admitted in 2008, a 16% reduction from 2007. Almost twice the number of wives or fiancees were admitted, with 24,100 in 2008, although this still represents a 14% decrease from 2007. A high proportion of these partners were from Asia.

Source: Herald Scotland, h/t London Muslim

UK: Choudary threatens new Muslim minister

NEW Tory chairman Sayeeda Warsi has been slammed by Islamic fundamentalists who warned she could be in physical danger if she visits Muslim communities.

The 39-year-old baroness is the first female Muslim to be given a full Cabinet position.

But controversial preacher Anjem Choudary accused her of “betraying” her religion.

He told the Daily Star Sunday: “Sayeeda Warsi is not a Muslim in my eyes.

“She may look like a Muslim and have a Muslim-sounding name but she does not ­represent Islam or anyone in this country who is a Muslim.

“She is a ‘coconut’, brown on the outside but white on the inside.

“In fact, she is whiter than most of the other white people in government.

“How can she be a Muslim and support the military involvement of the British Army in Islamic countries?

“She is somebody who ­pretends to be a practising Muslim but, from her views and statements, she is clearly against Sharia.

“She is a disgrace and many true Muslims are angry that she claims to stand for Islam despite betraying Allah.”

Choudary – whose group Islam4UK was banned by the last government – predicted that Baroness Warsi would become the focus of hate.

He said: “She will be attacked by eggs every time she goes near a Muslim community.

“Some more extreme protesters may take the attacks further. There is no doubt she is in danger.”

(more)

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

Source: Daily Star