VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH
Volume 206, October 23, 2011
St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful


(www.xeniagreekmuslimah.blogspot.com)

ED NOTE:

In this issue we have started off highlighting the positive news, followed by news relating to interfaith relations, Islam in Europe and extremism.

PART - I

POSITIVE NEWS:

PART I-a

UNITED KINGDOM:
FIRST FREE SCHOOL FOR MUSLIMS GETS THE GO-AHEAD
September 19, 2011

Via the Daily Mail:

First free school for Muslims gets the go-ahead amid fears over 'segregated schooling'

The first free school for Muslims in the country will open in Blackburn, Lancashire, next year. The business case for Tauheedul Islam Boys' School in Darwen has been approved by the Government. But opponents have described the decision as 'extremely bad news' for community cohesion and claim it will deprive state schools of vital funds.

PART I-b

(ED NOTE: We appreciate below initiative taken in Sweden for the Police to learn Arabic and Muslim culture. It will be a positive step in communication with the large Muslim population in Malmo.)

SWEDEN:
MALMO: POLICE TO LEARN ARABIC, MUSLIM CULTURE
September 5, 2011


Via the Local:

Police who patrol Malmö's Rosengård district are being offered a special Arabic language class to help them better understand and communicate with local residents in the predominantly immigrant area.

So far 45 officers have signed up for voluntary twelve-week class, which will provide training on a number of common greetings and pleasantries in Arabic, the local Skånska Dagbladet newspaper reports.

“It's about dealing with immigrants in a more dignified and little more civil manner,” local police chief Bengt Hersler told the newspaper.

PART II:

INTERFAITH RELATIONS:

PART II-a

NETHERLANDS:
JEWS AND MUSLIMS JOIN FORCES TO DEFEND RITUAL SLAUGHTER

Via RNW:

Dutch Jews and Muslims have joined forces in their fight against a bill banning ritual slaughter.

The Lower House of parliament has already approved the bill, which will be debated in the Senate on Tuesday.

The initiative for the Jewish-Muslim platform was taken by Ibrahim Wijbinga, Chair of the umbrella organisation of Islamic undertakers, and Rabbi Lody van der Kamp.

The Jewish-Islamic platform wants to defend shared religious values and promote dialogue between Judaism and Islam.

PART II-b

(ED NOTE:

When we talk about peace, we need to realize that there are millions of people of other religions and cultures and we need to truly practice Islam for what it really stands for - TOLERANCE. Part of such tolerance is being more accepting of people of other faiths. They are not asking you to change your faith and join them, all they ask is to respect their faith as you would like them to respect your faith. Practicing tolerance is one of the easier attributes to follow and we all should sincerely strive to exercise more tolerance towards people of other faiths. Below article gives both the Muslims and Jews a common platform to work together and take a common stand against extremists who are working against both Jews and Muslims).

SWEDEN: JEWS, MUSLIMS FACE SIGNIFICANT DISCRIMINATION
August 22, 2011
(www.islamineurope.blogspot.com)

Via the Local:

The number of xenophobic web sites have almost doubled since 2007 and Jews and Muslims wearing apparent religious symbols are subjected to significant discrimination in Sweden today, according to a new report from the Living History Forum (Forum för levande historia). “Sweden as a whole is a tolerant country but this report shows that racism is growing and is being professionalized on the internet. There is today a small but growing minority that harbour hatred against Muslims and Jews,” minister for integration, Erik Ullenhag, wrote in a statement on Monday.

According to the report, these are characterized by anti-Semitic and Islamophobic views, where conspiracy theories are the most recurring elements. The Jewish group is often cast as world conspirators whereas the Muslim group is seen as physical occupiers, actively are on their way to taking over society through mass-immigration and rising nativity figures.

PART II-C

GERMANY:
POPE MEETS WITH MUSLIM LEADERS, EMPHASIZES COMMON VALUES

Via M&C:

Pope Benedict XVI on Friday emphasized the similarities between values held by Christians and Muslims during a meeting with Muslim leaders in Berlin and said they should work together to build a better world.

'We can offer an important witness in many key areas of life in society,' the pope told a gathering of 15 Muslim representatives from Islamic associations and charities and Islam teachers.

'I am thinking, for example, of the protection of the family based on marriage, respect for life in every phase of its natural course or the promotion of greater social justice.'

Those present included the head of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, Aiman Mazyek, as well as members of the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB).

PART III

ISLAM IN EUROPE:

PART III-a

RUSSIA:
MOSCOW: CITY'S OLDEST MOSQUE DEMOLISHED TO MAKE WAY FOR NEW MOSQUE

Via RFE/RL:

Moscow authorities have demolished the Central Mosque, the Russian capital's oldest, RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service reports.

The mosque on Moscow's Vypolzovy Street was built in 1904 on the initiative and with the financial support of Tatar businessman Salikh Yerzin. It was torn down on September 11.

Rushan Abbasov, the head of the Central Mosque's communications department, told RFE/RL the building was demolished after it became clear that deep cracks in its walls made it unsafe.

He said the mosque will be replaced by a new and much-larger building, which is badly needed by Moscow's growing Muslim population.

The Central Mosque was the residence of Ravil Gainutdin, the chairman of Russia's Council of Muftis, who is also the mosque's imam.

Gainutdin supported the building's demolition, saying it would free the space to build a larger Islamic center.

Meanwhile, the leader of an unofficial Islamic congregation in Moscow, Albir Krganov, said the destruction of the historic building is a barbaric act that will lead to the de-Tatarization of Moscow's Muslim community.

PART III-b

ALBANIA
(www.theprovince.com)

ALBANIA MUSLIMS PROTEST OVER NUDE EXHIBITION NEAR MOSQUE

Agence France-Presse
August 3, 2011

TIRANA - Muslims in an Albanian coastal town have protested against the opening of an exhibition of nude photographs and sculptures in a gallery a few metres from the local mosque, media reported Wednesday.

"This exhibition is unacceptable. It should not be opened next to the mosque of the town" of Durres, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) northeast of the capital Tirana, local mufti Redi Quku was quoted by media as saying.

Quku said the opening of the exhibition of works by Albanian artist Mustafa Biduli was offensive to Muslims, in particular as the show takes place during the holy month of Ramadan.

The local Muslim community has said it will file a complaint against local authorities who have "severely provoked believers" with the exhibition.

Most of Albania's population are Muslims, but the country also has a significant Christian minorities, both Orthodox and Catholic.

PART III-c

ITALY:
ISLAM EXPO PLANNED FOR DECEMBER CALLED A PROVOCATION
August 25, 2011

Via La Repubblica, il Resto del Carlino (Italian):

The Young Muslims of Italy organization announced its Islam Expo will be held in December in Bologna. The Northern League says this is a provocation. Manes Bernardini of the Northern League asked the Bologne municipality not to approve the expo, and in any case, not to partner with it. Bernardini added that he wouldn't do such a thing in a Muslim country, and that that having the expo might lead to requests to remove the Christmas tree in the nearby square.

Yassine Lafram of the Young Muslims of Italy says that the expo is not a provocation against the Catholic Church, and that Christmas time was chosen because people are on holiday, and it would allow more people to come. He said that the event is not only for Muslims and that everybody is invited to come.

Lafram compared the expo to the Festa de l'Unità and said it will be a gathering of young people from all over Italy who will come to discuss and affect integration. The expo will offer discussions on the situation of Muslims, how they should behave and integrate and what added value they bring.

PART IV

EXTREMISM RAISES ITS UGLY HEAD AGAIN:

PART IV-a

FRANCE:
RACIST SLOGANS FOUND ON MUSLIM GRAVES IN FRENCH MILITARY CEMETERY
September 18, 2011

By RFI

(PHOTO)The battlements of Carcassonne's medieval old town
Tony Cross

About 30 Muslim graves have been desecrated in Carcassone, south-west France. A legal inquiry has been launched to find the perpetrators and punish them.

PART IV-b

FRANCE:
TWO FINED FOR INCITING ANTISEMITISM IN McDONALD'S
September 25, 2011

Via AFP (French):

Two members of the radical Islamic group "Forsane Alizza" were convicted of "inciting racial hatred' by a court in Limoges for organizing an invasion into a McDonald's branch in 2010, and haranguing the crowd with antisemitic statements. Nassir Mokhtari (27) and Boumediene Nebah (31) were found guilty of "inciting to national, racial, religious discrimination in speech, writing, picture or electronic means of communication to the public".

They were sentenced to 800 euro and 1500 euro respectively. On June 12, 2010, the two men organized on the Internet an invasion of the McDonald's restaurant in Limoges, where they distributed leaflets. A dozen people, most of whom masked their faces, harangued the consumers to stop eating in the chain, which they said financed the Israeli army.

A video of this event was later posted on the Internet. In addition the leader of Forsane Alizza ('Knights of Pride'), Mohamed Achamlane from Nantes (nicknamed 'Brain' on the Internet), will appear in court for a hearing on Sept. 27 for inciting discrimination and racial and religious hatred. He's accused of hate speech and of inciting to burn the penal code during a demonstration Sept 17, 2010. The hearing was scheduled for June 8th, but was postponed due to several minor incidents. The defendants and their supporters refused to remove their headgear inside the courthouse.

THE END