Reader’s Contribution My name is Samia, I’m 22 and I am currently residing in the UAE. I was born and brought up in the UAE although I’m originally from Bangladesh. I recently graduated from university and will start work soon InshaAllah
UK: Police attend Friday prayers Via Halesowen News : POLICE officers took off their size nines and observed Friday prayers at a Cradley Heath mosque to build better community relations. Sergeant Colin Gallier and PC Brian Steatham, from the Cradley Heath and Old Hill Neighbourhood team, joined worshippers at the Baitul Mahdi mosque on School Street. Dr Masood Majoka, President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association Cradley Heath Branch, said: “We were delighted when officers from the local neighbourhood accepted our invitation as part of an ongoing commitment to learn more about each other and to discuss ways in which we could work together in creating a harmonious society.” He added: “Indeed that is the very purpose of Islam which means ‘peace’ and is a duty for every Ahmadiyya Muslim Man or Woman where ever they live.” Sgt Gallier explained that the visit was part of a longer process of familisation with local muslims
Lower Saxony: Concerns about controversial Islamic school Via Deutsche Welle : Security agencies are watching with concern as a controversial Islamic school attempts to move to another location in Germany. They say the school threatens the German constitution and democracy. The town council of Moenchengladbach has put a temporary stop to the renovation of a building intended as the new location of a controversial Islamic school
Sweden: Education minister against veil in school Back in 2003 the national Education Agency decided that an individual school could ban the face-covering veil (SE) if it prevents the school from fulfilling its duties to the student.
Norway: Neighbors fighting over hijab Police in the Norwegian town of Drammen were called in twice over the past two weeks to intervene in a neighbor’s quarrel about wearing a hijab. One of the families are Kurdish-Iranian Sunnis.
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.
Denmark: Immigrants moving their children to Danish-majority schools Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten reports that immigrant families are moving their children away from schools which have many bilingual children and to places where Danes are in the majority. According to the Kolding municipality, 39% of the city’s immigrant children will start the school year in a school outside their own district
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
Germany: Extensive report on immigrants People sometimes focus on Muslim demographics in Europe. However, as this report shows, Muslims make up just a quarter (25%) of immigrants in Germany.
EU: Ethnic diversity at school has a negative effect on learning Fifteen-year-old pupils from schools with high ethnic diversity perform worse than comparable pupils from schools with homogenous student populations. This applies not just to the immigrant children, but also to the pupils from the country in question