UK: Healthy heart training for imams

Via Manchester Evening News:

The British Heart Foundation and QUIT are working together to encourage the Muslim community to stop smoking and lead a healthier lifestyle this Ramadan.

Statistics suggest that South Asians in the UK are 50 per cent more likely to die from heart disease than those in the general population .

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

As part of the Ramadan campaign, the BHF will be training 300 imams in major cities across the UK.

Trainees will receive information they need to help their congregation make positive lifestyle changes including stopping smoking, improving their diet and exercising more. The initiative will take place in Manchester, London, Blackburn and Bradford.

Qaim Zaidi, Ethnic Strategy Manager for the BHF said: “During Ramadan Muslims do not eat, drink or smoke from sunrise to sunset for 30 days. For many it’s the ideal time to kick the smoking habit and lead a healthier lifestyle. Stopping smoking is one of the most important things you can do to benefit your health.

(more)

UK: EDL members arrested in mosque bomb plot

Via Daily Mail:

Seven men were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to blow up a Bournemouth mosque.

The men, six of whom are members of the England Defence League, were taken to Poole and Southampton police stations for questioning before being released without charge.

Among those arrested was EDL member John Broomfield, 27, who was pulled from his stationary vehicle after armed police opened fire on his van in Corfe Castle village.

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

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: ‘Dorset Police can confirm that as part of an investigation surrounding threats to a Bournemouth mosque a total of seven people were arrested for conspiracy to cause an explosion.

‘Following an investigation police can now confirm these people have been released without charge.’

He added: ‘One of the people arrested was detained safely by armed officers in the Corfe Castle area.

‘We’ve been working very closely with the Muslim community and our local safer neighbourhood teams have been providing advice and reassurance throughout.

‘At this stage there is no indication whatsoever that any of the mosques in Dorset are under threat of attack.’

(…)

Broomfield, the head of the Dorset EDL, said yesterday: ‘While travelling home from work I was stopped and arrested by armed police.

(…)

Of the alleged plan to blow up the mosque, he added: ‘There has been no conspiracy, there has never been any conspiracy.

(more)

UK: Prison apologizes for serving pork meat

Via BBC (h/t Al-Kanz):

A prison governor has apologised to Muslim inmates after they were served non-halal burgers.

A number of Muslim inmates at HMP Ford, an open prison in West Sussex, are claiming they were served pork burgers by prison staff on Saturday evening.

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

A prison service spokesman said: “On Saturday a problem in the kitchens resulted in Muslim prisoners being mistakenly served non-halal food.”

It is still not clear exactly what meat was used.

The spokesman added: “The governor is apologising to the prisoners affected and an investigation is under way. The prison is working closely with the Muslim chaplain on this matter.”

(more)

Surrey: Muslims pay less for burial

Via Telegraph (h/t NRP):

Christian churchgoers have complained about the “discriminatory price” of burial plots in the Greenlawn Memorial Park cemetery in Warlingham, Surrey.

The cemetery – which is managed by Croydon Council – offers Muslims a graveyard plot for £2,383, but charges non-Muslims £2,927 – a hike of £544.

(…)

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

The cemetery has a specially-designated area of land for Muslims, who as part of their religion only allow one body to be buried in any one plot and must be buried apart from non-Muslims and facing Mecca.

(…)

A spokesman for Croydon Council said that the reason for the price difference was that Muslims only allow one person to be buried in a grave, whereas people of other religions can use the plot for more than one person.

(more)

Leicestershire: Increase in report abuse against Muslims

Via BBC:

Muslims in Leicestershire are facing increasing abuse, according to figures from the police.

Between April 2008 and March 2009, officers recorded 25 offences against Muslims but in the following 12 months, the figure rose to 42.

Most incidents involved verbal abuse but there was a small number of cases in which veils were pulled off.

Police said they treated all types of hate crime as a priority and urged victims to report any problems.

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

(…)

Rehana Sidat, from Leicester, who wears the niqab, said: “I think there are two things going on. There is more Islamophobia, people are becoming more intolerant.

“But also more people are reporting this sort of thing, having more confidence to bring it to the police.”

(more)

UK: Burka ban ‘un-British’

Banning the wearing of burkas in public would be ‘rather un-British’, the Immigration Minister said today as he attacked efforts to make it illegal in this country.

Damian Green said it would be ‘undesirable’ for Parliament to try to pass such a law, which would be at odds with the UK’s ‘tolerant and mutually respectful society’.

Fellow Tory MP Philip Hollobone introduced a private members’ bill which would make it illegal for people to cover their faces in public.

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

More than two thirds of voters back a ban like that approved almost unanimously by French MPs last week, according to a recent opinion poll.

But Mr Green insisted such a move was ‘very unlikely’ to be copied here.

(Photo, BBC)

‘Telling people what they can and can’t wear, if they’re just walking down the street, is a rather un-British thing to do,’ he told the Sunday Telegraph.

‘We’re a tolerant and mutually respectful society.’

(…)

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman today also spoke out against the prospect of a ban.

‘I take a strong view on this, actually, that I don’t, living in this country, as a woman, want to be told what I can and can’t wear,’ she said.

‘That’s something which both myself and (community cohesion minister Baroness) Sayeeda Warsi have argued very strongly, that one of the things we pride ourselves on in this country is being free – and being free to choose what you wear is a part of that.

‘So actually banning the burka is absolutely contrary, I think, to what this country is all about.’

(more)

Source: Daily Mail

Manchester: Mall introduces squat toilets

Via Daily Mail:

From next week, shoppers in Rochdale who push open the cubicle door expecting the reassuring sight of a modern, clean lavatory could instead be faced with little more than a hole in the ground.

Bosses of the Greater Manchester town’s Exchange mall have installed two as part of an upgrade costing several thousand pounds after attending a cultural awareness course run by a local Muslim community activist.

A familiar sight in parts of the Middle East, and still sometimes seen in France and Italy, the toilets require users to squat above them, rather than sitting.

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

With one in ten of Rochdale’s population of Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin, centre managers say they have been told some members of the local Asian community prefer them for cultural reasons.

News of the introduction of squat toilets was met by disbelief, however.

‘This strikes me as a classic case of excessive pandering to a politically correct minority,’ said Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley.

‘We in Britain are rightly proud of our toilets, and the onus is on people who come to this country to appreciate them for what they are.

‘It’s absolutely ludicrous – Thomas Crapper would be turning in his grave!’

The Exchange shopping centre is in the process of refurbishing its ladies’ and gents’ toilets, and the changes were made after managers went on a cultural training course.

It was hosted by Ghulam Rasul Shahzad, a retired Rochdale Council training officer who runs courses for the groups including the police on cultural understanding and community cohesion.

(more)

UK: Imams helping Muslim gays get religious recognition

Via BBC:

Some British Asian gay Muslims are embracing a new identity, based as much on race and religion as on sexual orientation with a number trying to do it with the help of their local imams.

When Khalid Habib decided it was time to come out about his sexuality, the first person he chose to confide in was not anyone in the family but his local imam.

“It was really important to me because I am a practising Muslim. It was about my personal relationship with Allah,” said the 35-year-old media professional from the north of England.

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

“I sat in his sitting room struggling to get the words,” he said.

“I told him I have issues, but couldn’t bring myself to utter the words ‘with my sexuality’. We spent many hours sitting in silence,” he recalled

When Khalid finally told him, he was struck by the imam’s reaction.

“He was really honest. He told me that in his 25 years of experience as a leader in a British Muslim community, he had never thought about homosexuality in a practical sense.

“So, he had approached it in the textbook sense, preaching that it was immoral, wrong and ‘haram’ in Islam. But he had never looked at it in a human sense.”

(…)

Asif Qureshi, a key worker at The Naz Project, a London-based support group working with British Asian gay men said: “In my experience, the number of Asian gays coming out has almost tripled over the last three years.”

In fact, there is some evidence to suggest that those who dare to come out and seek long term same-sex relationships are sometimes not content with the idea of civil partnerships.

They desire religious recognition of their union, with some reportedly taking the daring step of entering into nikkahs (Muslim marriage contracts).

Mr Qureshi said he was aware of couples who had opted for such nikkahs but stressed that these were performed by imams in absolute secrecy.

Muslim gay activist Ibrahim Ismail has been working on sexual health issues for many years.

He said: “Some of their families and friends may even attend these nikkahs, but they would never publicly admit it for fear of being ostracised by mainstream Muslims.

Even though it is something entirely covert, the idea of Muslim gay marriages sheds light on the role some imams could be playing in helping people reconcile their sexuality and their faith.

As Khalid Habib said, when he came out to his imam three years ago, little did he know that this would be the beginning of a long process to come to terms with sometimes uncomfortable aspects of his faith.

He said, since then, he’s been engaged in an ongoing dialogue with three separate imams to discuss what Allah would have to say about various aspects of his lifestyle.

“It has been a difficult but a mutually rewarding process.

“At least I have found an imam who has agreed to perform my nikkah when I get married,” he said with a smile as he discussed his plans of having a traditional South Asian wedding one day.

(more)

UK: Local council issues Ramadan guide for schools

via BBC:

Swimming lessons in some Staffordshire schools should stop during Ramadan to ensure Muslim pupils “do not swallow water”, a council has suggested.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has issued an 11-page Ramadan guide for schools to help pupils who may be fasting when the school year starts in September.

It said swimming was acceptable to Muslims but posed a high risk of swallowing water that may break a fast.

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

Islam requires Muslims to fast from dawn until dusk for one month per year.

This year’s Ramadan is expected to begin on or around 11 August and finish 30 days afterwards.

The council guide states: “Schools with a significant number of Muslim pupils should try to avoid scheduling swimming lessons during Ramadan to remove unnecessary barriers to full participation.”

It also suggests re-scheduling sex education classes during the holy lunar month, as Muslim followers who have reached puberty are required to avoid sexual thoughts during this period.

(…)

The council said the document, produced by its Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education, was based on information from the Muslim Council of Great Britain, an umbrella organisation that claims to represent up to 500 Muslim groups in the UK.

“The overriding consideration should be that children do not feel disadvantaged in school activities because of their religious observance,” the council added.

(more)

Cambridge: Europe’s first Eco-Mosque

Via Green Prophet:

Architect Marks Barfield is to design a £13 million “eco” mosque on a 0.4 hectare brownfield site in Cambridge.

England’s historic city of Cambridge, with its world-famous university and idyllic countryside, will soon count a mosque amidst its stunning skyline of spires. But this isn’t just any old mosque. In fact it is the first-purpose built mosque in the city which also happens to be environmentally-friendly!

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

After years of dealing with overcrowding at various small sites across the city, the growing Muslim community decided that it was time to take action. By the summer of 2008, a strip of land and an old warehouse has been purchased and plans for the new mosque were underway. However rather than simply building a mosque as quickly as possible, it was decided from the very start that the mosque would follow environmental sustainability principles.

“Islamic civilization has been based on the rejection of waste as an under-estimation of God’s blessing and so in the construction of the new mosque here in Cambridge, we were very much in the forefront of the local environmental movement in that we are using the latest heat pumps, conservation technology and green roofs so that we’ll have an almost zero carbon footprint,” commented Chairman of the Trust, Tim Winter who is also known as Abdul Hakim Murad.

Winters also added that they intended to build Europe’s first truly ecologically-responsible mosque and encourage Muslims world-wide to take up their environmental responsibilities.

(more)