Prague: Al-Yaman releases new album The band Al-Yaman, meaning Yemen in Arabic, was the outcome of a meeting between two distant worlds: Czech musician and music producer Aleš Hyvnar and Ashwaq Abdulla Kulaib, a Yemeni woman who has lived in Prague since the fall of communism. This unlikely connection led to their first CD in 2004, and they have since performed at clubs and festivals in the Czech Republic and beyond.
London: Muslim councillor faces death threats over Western dress A SECULAR Muslim woman councillor has been forced to dress more conservatively after receiving death threats and sexually harassing phone calls from members of her own community. Shiria Khatun, 38, has called in the police over the sinister calls in which threats were made not only against her, but also her four young children. In one they warned they would dig up parents’ graves and bury her there instead.
France/Belgium: Women’s organizations want burka ban In Paris, sixty activists of Ni Putes ni Soumises made an early start on International Women’s Dyy by marching with liberty caps in the place de la République, and then symbolically covering the statue there with a giant burka (picture here), later removed by the police. They were protesting what they see as a delay in enacting the law against wearing the burka in public places
Denmark: Politiken staff rejects prophet drawing apology Thirty-eight staff members of the Danish daily Politiken issued a letter on Saturday saying they are against the newspaper's apology for offending Muslims by reprinting a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb-shaped turban. In a letter published in the newspaper, the editorial staff said “Politiken has nothing to apologize for.” “The settlement gives the impression that we regret our journalism, something there is no basis for whatsoever,” they wrote, saying democratic journalism entails “describing reality as precisely as possible and to encourage social debate.” They also said they fear the settlement could interfere with their editorial freedom. Politiken, which has around 200 staff members, last week apologized for offending Muslims with the 2008 reprint but did not apologize for reprinting the cartoon
Norway: Youth suffer from religious coercion Related stories: * Norway: Education minister against hijab in elementary school * Norway: Debate on headscarf in school continues Youth from both Christian and Muslim families say that they forced to use religious symbols. Girls at the Hersleb school in Oslo say that they themselves choose to wear the hijab. But they too know of others who are forced.
Norway: After three weeks, woman’s body found Update on this story: Norway: Woman abducted Not really mentioned in the article, but I understand the 25 year old is Norwegian. There had been various theories during the past three weeks. One was that Faiza had ’set up’ her abduction.
Moscow: Muslim Slums Breeding Grounds for Despair An increasing number of Muslim guest workers in the Russian capital “are living in inhuman conditions, suffering from cold, hunger and disease,” harassed by government officials, and largely ignored by the traditional Muslim hierarchies, a combination that is turning them into breeding grounds for despair and possible radicalization. In a report carried on the Islamnews.ru portal, Rustam Dzhalilov describes the settlement of Chelobityevo, where some 3,000 Muslims from Central Asia, whose misfortunes people in Moscow “either do not know or do not want to know,” live only 200 meters from the Garden Ring Road. Many of the buildings there are little more than crude huts, the journalist notes, assembled from found materials, lack any indoor plumbing or heating and often have as many as ten people to a room.
By Ismail Kamdar A few days ago, I was feeling very sad about an accusation somebody made against me. Although I knew it was false, it still hurt me that somebody would think like that about me so I turned to the best words for advice…the Quran. I opened the Quran randomly asking Allah to guide me and looked down at the verses in front of me, which read, “We definitely know the grief their words cause you, it is not you they deny but it is the signs of Allah that the oppressors deny.
This is the story of a Muslim named Mo. It’s a symbolic story that many of us may know. He was born in a Muslim family but they were weak in the deen.
Finland: Killings just tip of honour violence iceberg “It is a coincidence and good luck that nobody in Finland has been murdered for the honour of the family”, says Rewbar Karimi, an expert in honour conflicts working at the Finnish League for Human Rights.