[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating about Islam and reflects a wide variety of opinions and approaches. It does not reflect the views of the Critical Currents in Islam page or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week`s roundup to cci@jadaliyya.com by Saturday night of every week.]
The role of Iraq’s influential Shiite clerics is changing. Here’s how.
The Washington Post
The ascendancy politician-preachers like militia leader Qais al-Khazali raises questions about the role of the Shiite religious establishment in contemporary Iraqi politics.
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Rights campaigners seek U.N. probe on China's Xinjiang camps
Reuters
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other groups have called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to send a fact-finding mission to China. Beijing, which faces growing international concern over its “de-radicalization” program for Muslims in its far western province, said t would welcome U.N. officials if they avoided “interfering in domestic matters”.
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Many people in mostly Christian countries believe values clash with Islam – poll
The Guardian
Large numbers of people in Christian-majority countries in the west see a fundamental clash between Islam and the values of their nation, according to a survey. This opinion is less prevalent among residents of the Middle East and North Africa.
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Life under ISIS-led these Muslims to Christianity
NBC News
“If heaven is made for ISIS and their belief,” said one convert, “I would choose hell for myself instead of being again with them in the same place, even if it’s paradise.”
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High-profile Muslims have a right not to expect an inquisition
The Guardian
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was linked to an anti-Semitic voicemail that came to the office of one of her peers. All Omar had done to deserve this outrageous association, argues Nesrine Malik, was to express opinions on Israel.
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Al-Azhar's Imam calls on Muslims in the Middle East to 'embrace' Christians
Reuters
“Continue to embrace your brothers the Christian citizens everywhere, for they are our partners in our nation,”Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb urged Muslims, “You are part of this nation.” He told Christians, “You are citizens, you are not a minority. You are citizens with full rights and responsibilities.”
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‘I Wanted a Steak Burrito’: Halal Restaurants Put Mexican on Menu to Sate Expanding Palates
The Wall Street Journal
As a fan of Mexican food, Abul Hashem has often found himself frustrated that many popular menu items at restaurants specializing in the cuisine were off-limits. The reason? Mr. Hashem, a 35-year-old Brooklyn resident who was born in Bangladesh, adheres to the dietary laws of his Muslim faith.
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Dutch former anti-Muslim politician converts to Islam
Politico
A former member of Geert Wilders’ far-right Dutch party announced Monday that he has converted to Islam. Joram van Klaveren is the second ex-PVV politician to convert. His change of heart came while doing research for a new book.
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'The Guest' gets cold shoulder from Egyptian Islamic scholars
Al-Monitor
Some clerics are calling for the award-winning 2018 film El Deif, in which the suitor his daughter brings to dinner turns out to be her father’s worst nightmare, to be banned on the grounds that it misrepresents Islam.
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Why is Nigeria cracking down on peaceful religious protests?
The Washington Post
The Nigerian government appears to be taking a hard line on religious opposition — though not against the usual suspects. Even as the Boko Haram insurgency persists in the north, peaceful demonstrations by the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) sparked a recent round of state repression.
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'Space to coexist': Inside South Africa's LGBT-friendly mosque
Reuters
Neatly laid out and facing Mecca, it is the colorful prayer mats arranged in a rainbow pattern that offer the first clue that the Masjid Ul-Imam mosque in Cape Town, South Africa, is not a typical place of worship.
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Ankara imam offers Turkey’s only English sermons
Al-Monitor
Professor Mehmet Akif Koc has been delivering Friday sermons in English at the Hasan Tanik Mosque in Ankara’s Embassy district for the past five years.
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Pope and grand imam sign historic pledge of fraternity in UAE
The Guardian
Pope Francis and al-Azhar’s Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb have signed a historic declaration of fraternity, calling for peace between nations, religions and races, in front of a global audience of religious leaders from Christianity, Islam, Judaism and other faiths.
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‘I Had No Options’: The Rohingya Man Who Smuggled Himself
The Atlantic
Myanmar has pushed out Rohingya Muslims for decades. One of them chose to flee within his own country.
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Indonesia’s Opposition Takes Up the Uighur Cause
Foreign Policy
The detention of a million or more Uighurs has made headlines around the world, but the liberal media in Indonesia has given the issue very soft treatment. That’s partially because of a deliberate propaganda effort by China to target Indonesian journalists—and partially because of domestic politics in the world’s largest Muslim nation.
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From Celebrated to Vilified, House’s Muslim Women Absorb Blows Over Israel
The New York Times
Representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota are uncompromising in their criticism of Israel, and this has led to Congress’ first two Muslim women becoming two of the most embattled members of the new class.
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‘We’re not the enemy’: Muslim fans respond to Chicago Cubs patriarch’s emails
Religion News Service
Leaked Islamophobic emails from the Chicago Cubs’ billionaire owner Joe Ricketts have lead Muslim fans to explore ways bring their religion to the ballpark to show how wrong his jokes and conspiracy theories were.
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Pope hopes his Arabian trip will help Islam-Christian relations
Reuters
Pope Francis said on Wednesday he hoped his historic trip to the Arabian peninsula will help dispel the notion of an inevitable clash of civilizations between Christianity and Islam.
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West Ham and police investigate alleged Islamophobic abuse of Mohamed Salah
The Guardian
London’s Metropolitan Police and West Ham United Football Club are investigating a video in which a supporter can be heard aiming Islamophobic abuse at Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah at the London Stadium on Monday night. Salah’s Muslim teammate Sadio Mane scored Liverpool’s goal in the 1-1 draw.
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Top Iraqi cleric rejects Trump's plan for US troops in Iraq
AP News
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said Iraq “rejects being a launching pad for harming any other country,” his country aspires to have “good and balanced relations” with all of its neighbors “based on mutual interests and without intervention in internal affairs.” he said during a meeting with a U.N. envoy in Najaf.
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What is Islamic dispute resolution and why is it controversial in Australia?
The Conversation
“Islamic dispute resolution involves resolving disputes without going to court and is similar to alternative dispute resolution, or ADR.”
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Nikahnama wants to bring back a lost Islamic marriage tradition
Religion News Service
“I wanted to create a project that makes being Muslim a more beautiful experience,” says Nushmia Khan, who is bringing back beautifully stylized marriage contracts.
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Muslim Voters Brave Terrorism Threats in Southern Philippines
The Wall Street Journal
Dozens of poor towns in the southern Philippines voted Wednesday on whether to join a new self-governing Muslim region in a test of a fragile peace process that has come under attack from suicide bombers linked to Islamic State.
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She Fled China’s Camps—but She’s Still Not Free
Foreign Policy
Sayragul Sauytbay, the only person to have worked inside an internment camp in Xinjiang and spoken publicly about it, now faces an uncertain future in Kazakhstan.
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Alabama executes Muslim inmate who wanted imam present
AP News
A Muslim inmate who filed a legal challenge because Alabama wouldn’t let his Imam be present in the execution chamber was put to death Thursday after the Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 decision.
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The Islamic Revolution Succeeded, Iran Not So Much
Haaretz
The revolution’s success still nourishes the dreams of Sunni movements as well, but ‘Shi’ite flexibility’ went by the wayside, and many Iranians feel their country is imprisoned in an Arab and Muslim circle of hostility.
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Quebec City mosque shooter sentenced to at least 40 years in prison
CBC
Alexandre Bissonnette, who pleaded guilty to killing six men at a Quebec City mosque two years ago, will be allowed to ask for parole at the age of 67, a judge decided Friday.
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Pope Francis just made history by visiting the Arabian Peninsula. But was he a pawn?
The Washington Post
Dalla Hatuqa suggests that the famously humble and open pope may have allowed himself to be a pawn as his Gulf interlocutors use him to bolster their facade as a tolerant, liberal society while suppressing diversity and freedom and waging war in Yemen.
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'Shame for humanity': Turkey urges China to close Uighur camps
Al Jazeera
Turkey’s foreign ministry has condemned China’s detention of over a million Uighur Muslims and asked it to close the “concentration camps.”
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Uighurs fled persecution in China. Now Beijing’s harassment has followed them to Australia.
The Washington Post
On Friday, Uighurs across Australia rallied in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide to highlight the plight of their communities in China, but also to protest against their treatment by Beijing abroad.
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Aasia Bibi can't leave Pakistan despite acquittal
Al Jazeera
A Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy after spending eight years on death row in Pakistan has been transferred from a secret location near the capital to another in Karachi, but is still unable to leave the country to join her daughters in Canada, a friend said on Saturday.
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Is Religious Freedom for Christians Only?
The New York Times
Domineque Hakim Marcelle Ray wanted an imam by his side when he was executed. The Supreme Court said no.
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Pope Francis and Grand Imam unveil two additions to Louvre collection, including famous Blue Quran manuscript
The National
Pope Francis and Dr Ahmed Al Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, have unveiled two works of art, both of which will be displayed at Louvre Abu Dhabi.
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When the Camera Was a Weapon of Imperialism. (And When It Still Is.)
The New York Times
When we speak of ‘shooting’ with a camera, we are acknowledging the kinship of photography and violence, writes Teju Cole.
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Pope in UAE: Reject wars in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya
Al Jazeera
In the first-ever visit to the Arabian Peninsula by a Catholic pontiff, Pope Francis said, ‘No violence can be justified in the name of religion.’
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The battle to build a mosque in Athens
Financial Times
The city has about 250,000 Muslims – but no official place for them to worship. Madeline Speed asks why.
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Their parents joined ISIS. They were raised in the caliphate. Can they come home?
The Washington Post
For Belgium, France and other countries that saw some of their nationals gravitate toward Islamic State territory as it expanded across Syria and Iraq, the plight of children who have claimed to citizenship has ignited questions that would test the most Solomonic of judges.
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UK university unveils country's first sports hijab to encourage Muslim women to participate
The Independent
London’s Brunel University is the first in the UK to offer a sports hijab after it found that only eighteen percent of Muslim women are taking advantage of the University’s free sports program.
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Swiss burqa ban campaigner calls for ban on Muslim prayers in public
The Local
Giorgio Ghiringhelli has responded to social media complaints about Islamification in the Swiss canton of Ticino by launching a campaign to ban Muslims from praying in public.
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Chicago Cubs chairman meets local Muslim leaders after racist email scandal
Middle East Eye
The Cubs and the Chicago branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) have announced a joint agreement to combat Islamophobia, bigotry, and racism, after leaked emails embroiled the professional baseball team in scandal earlier this month.
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Israeli Researcher Proposes New Explanation to Why Dome of Rock Was Built on Temple Mount
Haaretz
It has dominated the Jerusalem skyline for 1,300 years, but there is no single accepted explanation for why it was built.
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Islamophobia behind a far-right rise in the UK, report says
BBC News
The State of Hate report blames the 2017 terror attacks in London and Manchester for a “lasting negative impact” on attitudes towards Muslims.
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The Creeping Liberalism in American Islam
The New York Times
Mustafa Akyol argues that far from spreading Shariah, as Islamophobes have suggested, America’s Muslim clerics are focusing on a more familiar trend: youngsters blending into American life.
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Prevent's work on far-right extremism does not make it worth saving
Middle East Eye
Proponents say the UK’s anti-terrorism strategy is successfully tackling right-wing extremism, but this is a red herring that distracts from its disproportionate focus on Muslims.
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Linda Sarsour reflects on the power and risks of being a Muslim activist
Washington Post
The Washington Post Magazine interviews activist Linda Sarsour, who co-chaired the 2017 Women’s March and is a board member of the Women’s March national organization.
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Tracing the history of Mozambique’s mysterious and deadly insurgency
The Conversation
One of the biggest problems, writes lecturer Eric Morier-Genoud, is that nobody really knows who the insurgents are. They don’t make public statements, so their motives are unclear.
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'Free pass for mobs': India urged to stem vigilante violence against minorities
The Guardian
Complicity by local officials and police inertia mean dozens of vigilante murders of religious minorities in India have gone unpunished over the last four years, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.
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The fraught and unforgettable: How Malcolm X's legacy lives on in America
Middle East Eye
Some credit the autobiography of the Black Muslim icon, who was shot dead 54 years ago, with bringing more Americans to Islam than the Quran itself.
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Exposed Chinese database shows depth of surveillance state
AP NewsDutch cyber-security researcher Victor Gevers found a compilation of real-time data on more than 2.5 million people in western China, updated constantly with GPS coordinates of their precise whereabouts. Alongside their names, birthdates, and places of employment, there were notes on the places that they had most recently visited.
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Jordan Expands Managing Body of Temple Mount to Stop Israel From Changing Status Quo
Haaretz
Amman announced that it was adding seven additional seats to the Waqf council for the al-Aqsa compund.
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How would I deradicalize Shamima Begum? With Islamic scholarship
The GuardianImam Dr. Usama Hassan, a counter-extremism researcher, draws on his experience as a former recruiter for radical groups to help de-radicalize those like Shamima Begum, who was brainwashed by ISIS.
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In Milwaukee, Muslim girls’ basketball team courts a broader understanding
The Washington Post
With the state regional playoffs opening this week, the team from Salam School doesn’t quite fit the profile of a girls’ basketball powerhouse, but perhaps they are redefining it.
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Malcolm X at Oxford: 'They're going to kill me soon'
The Guardian
Just before his assassination, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz took part in a debate at Oxford. Tariq Ali recalls their meeting, which left him in a state of shock – and is now the subject of a TV show.
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Hamas leadership woos Egypt's top imam
Al-Monitor
As Hamas continues efforts to bolster its relationship with Egypt, a Hamas delegation visited Al-Azhar headquarters this month. Led by the head of Hamas’ politburo, Ismail Haniyeh, the delegation arrived at Egypt’s highest religious authority to meet the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb.
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Muslim group seeks congressional probe on terror watchlist
AP News
The Council on American-Islamic Relations has urged Congress to look into an FBI watchlist CAIR believes is riddled with errors. “This is wholesale profiling of a religious minority community,” said Nihad Awad. “To share private information of citizens and non-citizens with corporations is illegal and outrageous”.
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Alabama Woman Who Joined ISIS Can’t Return Home, U.S. Says
The New York Times
President Trump said Wednesday the United States would not re-admit Yemeni-American 24-year-old Hoda Muthana, who traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State and now wants to come home.
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Chechen religious leaders re-open landmark mosque in Syria
AP News
Religious leaders of Russia’s republic of Chechnya have inaugurated a re-opened landmark mosque in Syria’s Homs, once the symbol of the rebellion against President Bashar Assad.
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In Detroit, one organization is schooling Muslims on racial justice
Religion News ServiceThis article profiles anti-racism campaigners MuslimARC. African American Muslims make up twenty percent of the US Muslim community, and Pew data shows that eight in ten of them see “a lot” of racism against Blacks and Muslims in the US.
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How to tackle Islamophobia – the best strategies from around Europe
The Conversation
In a new, pan-European research project, University of Leeds researcher Amin Essat Daas and her colleagues set about to devise a toolkit that can be used to counter Islamophobia. It summarises a range of the best methods and tools we saw being used to challenge Islamophobic thought and actions in Europe.
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Wary of Xinjiang backlash, China invites waves of diplomats to visit
Reuters
China is stepping up its diplomatic outreach over controversial camps in its heavily Muslim region of Xinjiang, inviting more foreign diplomats to visit as it seeks to head off criticism from Muslim-majority countries and at the United Nations.
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Israeli police arrest 60 fearing Al-Aqsa unrest
Al-Monitor
Israeli police rounded up 60 “suspects” in Jerusalem overnight and promised more arrests Friday, after what a spokesman said were calls for unrest at the city’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound.
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China Uses DNA to Track Its People, With the Help of American Expertise
The New York Times
The Chinese authorities turned to a Massachusetts company and a prominent Yale researcher as they built an enormous system of surveillance and control.
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Rohingya: killings should remind all nations of their responsibility to protect victims of mass atrocity crimes
The Conversation
At present, more Rohingya Muslims live outside Myanmar than inside it, Maria Jellinek says there are no guarantees that those forced to return will not face the same violence and persecution that drove them away to begin with.
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Iran’s Khamenei moves to usher in new generation of revolutionaries
Al-Monitor
Iran’s supreme leader’s vision of a “Second Step of the Revolution” has led to increased emphasis and analysis of the role of youth in its implementation.
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The Salman Rushdie affair: Thirty years and a novelist later
Al Jazeera
Hamid Dabashi says the novel The Satanic Verses was assassinated on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1989.
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Is Libya's revolution anniversary cause for celebration?
Al-Monitor
If revolutions are judged by the progress they make and progressive changes they initiate in their societies, then Libya’s so-called “February 17 Revolution,” has very little to show for itself.
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The American Woman Who Joined ISIS
The New York Times
They left to join the so-called caliphate and took an oath of allegiance to a terrorist group intent on destroying the West. Now they want to come home. What should the United States do with the American wives of Islamic State fighters?
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Why Pakistan should not take Saudi money
Al Jazeera
Journalist Taha Siddiqui argues that Pakistan needs to rethink its decades-old transactional relationship with Saudi Arabia.
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Fears for Uighur comedian missing amid a crackdown on cultural figures
The Guardian
Adil Mijit worked for a government arts troupe for 30 years, but his family fears he has been taken into a re-education camp.
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Hijab in Indonesia – the history and controversies
The Conversation
The hijab, a veil worn by Muslim women to cover their heads, has become more popular in Indonesia in the last two decades. History records that the hijab-wearing culture in Indonesia goes back to the 17th century. However, despite many Indonesian women wearing it, controversies surround the hijab.
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Will Uighurs upend Turkey-China relations?
Al-Monitor
Turkey’s scorching condemnation of China on Feb. 9 over the treatment of the Turkic Uighur minority in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region caught many, including Uighur activists in Turkey, by surprise. Few expected such an outburst after Ankara’s prolonged period of silence despite China’s well-documented and ongoing repressive policies against the Uighurs.
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Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman Defends China's Use of Concentration Camps for Muslims during Visit to Beijing
Newsweek
“China has the right to carry out anti-terrorism and de-extremization work for its national security,” the crown prince was quoted as saying on Chinese television.
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Israel releases top Muslim cleric arrested after al-Aqsa scuffle
The New Arab
Israeli police arrested and later released a top Palestinian Muslim official in Jerusalem on Sunday after scuffles around the al-Aqsa compound in recent days.
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Jews and Muslims say Belgian animal cruelty law trammels religious freedom
Religion News Service
Jewish and Muslim communities in Belgium are seeking to overturn a recent ban on the ritual slaughter of animals that they say is really discrimination cloaked in an animal protection mantle.
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The Essential Black Muslim Reading List
Teen Vogue
With this list of ten must-read titles, Vanessa Taylor shows that Black Muslims are not lost in history, even if their history has been disregarded.
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UK to ban Lebanon's 'terrorist' Hezbollah's political wing
Al Jazeera
The United Kingdom said it will add the political wing of Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah to its list of banned “terrorist” organizations, despite the role it plays in the government and parliament.
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The U.S. denied tens of thousands of more visas in 2018 due to travel ban: data
Reuters
The U.S. State Department refused more than 37,000 visa applications in 2018 due to the Trump administration’s travel ban, up from less than 1,000 the previous year when the ban had not fully taken effect, according to agency data released on Tuesday.
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Vaccine hesitancy is not a 'Muslim problem'
Al Jazeera
Jonathan Kennedy says the data shows that stereotypes about resistance to vaccine programs mask a much larger problem.
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China has put 1 million Muslims in concentration camps. MBS had nothing to say.
The Washington Post
A Washington Post editor reminds us that the Saudi Crown Prince’s defense of China’s anti-Muslim policy should not come as a surprise, in light of the fact that authoritarianism, not religious solidarity is Riyadh’s priority.
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West Bank: Muslims saying access to holy sites restricted
Al Jazeera
Twenty-five years after scores of Muslim worshipers were shot by an Israeli extremist at Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque, security forces continue to intimidate those seeking to access holy sites in the west bank.
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Arkansas high school students use art to learn Islamic faith
AP News
Students in an AP World History Class contributed to an exhibit displayed at the University of Arkansas, titled, Putting a Face on Islam.
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Turkey, Britain raise China's treatment of Uighurs at U.N. rights forum
Reuters
Turkey and Britain voiced concern on Monday at China’s alleged mistreatment of Uighurs and other Muslims in its Xinjiang region, with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu calling on Beijing to protect freedom of religion and cultural identity.
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Is Egyptian parliament encouraging alcohol consumption?
Al-Monitor
Parliament’s decision to ease restrictions on the sale of alcohol has stirred controversy in a country where Shari’a is held up as a source of legislation.
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'They have punished the victims': Hebron struggles 25 years after Ibrahimi mosque massacre
Middle East Eye
The repercussions of the attack are still felt keenly by Palestinians in Hebron, who have seen their rights eroded and their formerly bustling city centre turn into a ghost town.
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Most Ferrero chocolates halal-certified, all factories to be halal ‘in two or three years’
Global Islamic Economy Gateway
Family-owned Italian chocolate company Ferrero has said that 33 of its products and 19 of its plants are already halal-certified, a number that is set to grow.
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Ex-Muslim rebels now governing volatile Philippine region
AP News
Former Muslim guerrillas are now governing poverty- and conflict-wracked Muslim autonomous region under a peace deal partly aimed at combating Islamic State group-aligned militants in the southern Philippines.
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Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib show Muslim women don't need saving
Al Jazeera
The two US congresswomen are shattering all kinds of damaging stereotypes about Muslim women, says Sahar Aziz.
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Boxing body approves religiously respectful women’s uniform
AP News
The international governing body for amateur boxing says it has approved new uniforms for female boxers to wear for religious reasons. In a statement, they said that “hijabs and full body form-fitting uniforms” have been designed “that do not compromise the competition and therefore the health of the boxers.”
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Cairo to set design standards for mosques
Al-Monitor
Egypt’s Ministry of Religious Endowments announced on February 7th that it is unveiling a plan to standardize design of new mosques as part of the government’s efforts to modernize Egyptian cities.
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Israeli minister tours Al-Aqsa days after Palestinian arrests
Al Jazeera
Israel’s far-right Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel and a number of Jewish settlers forced their way into occupied East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Tuesday, according to a Palestinian official.
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A hijab for Muslim runners? In France, that’s a scandal.
The Washington Post
Yet again, France has descended into histrionics over the prospect of what Muslim women might choose to wear.
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China urges 'objective' view of Xinjiang after Turkey criticism
Reuters
Countries should take an “objective” view of Chinese policy in Xinjiang and stop saying the wrong thing, China’s government said on Wednesday, after Turkey and Britain voiced concern at China’s alleged mistreatment of Uighurs and other Muslims there.
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Dutch court rules against Muslim man who refused to shave beard for job
The Guardian
A Dutch court has backed the suspension of a Muslim man’s benefits over his refusal on religious grounds to shave his beard while training for a job.
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Halal and ‘Organic’ Don’t Mix in EU Ruling
The Wall Street Journal
A decision on Tuesday by the European Union’s top court expanded the body of EU case law restricting certain Muslim practices, as the continent’s Muslim population grows and compatibility with the bloc’s laws is increasingly tested.
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French sports store pulls hijab for women joggers over furor
Reuters
A French sporting goods chain pulled a hijab for women joggers from its shelves after it came under fire from politicians and on social media.
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Jerusalem governor detained by Israeli forces as Al-Aqsa tensions escalate
Middle East Eye
Adnan Ghaith, who was also detained by Israeli forces late last year, was arrested when police stormed his home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, according to the Palestine Prisoners Society.
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Meet the Muslim family who looks after a Jewish synagogue in India
National Geographic
Muslims have been the caretakers of the Magen David Synagogue in Kolkata, India for generations.
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Why Does No One Care That China Is Ethnically Cleansing Uyghur Muslims?
Forward
This editorial says that China’s policy of housing close to two million Muslims in concentration camps bears all the hallmarks of some of the 20th century’s worst racial atrocities.
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Somali sheikh leads a seven-year campaign to end female genital mutilation
Religion News ServiceWhen Sheikh Ibrahim Hassan returned to Somalia seven years ago after studying Islam in Yemen, he began a campaign to end the genital mutilation of his country’s young women.
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Why it’s OK for young Muslims to be radical
The GuardianRadical thought, Ali Nabil Ahmad reminds us, can be positive and progressive, it doesn’t have to mean joining a death cult.
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Muslim Immigrants Sue ICE for Getting in the Way of Religious Observance
The InterceptSomali immigrants detained in a Florida jail are taking legal action after their requests for religiously compliant meals, prayer rugs, access to the Qur’an, and the right to pray have been ignored.
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Court rejects state secrets claim in FBI mosque surveillance suit
PoliticoA federal appeals court has ruled that a judge was too deferential to the U.S. government’s national security claims when he dramatically scaled back a lawsuit charging the FBI with conducting illegal and unconstitutional surveillance at Southern California mosques.
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A Sports Hijab Has France Debating the Muslim Veil, Again
The New York TimesA French store dropped a plan to sell a hijab designed for runners after becoming embroiled in the country’s debate about what Muslim women wear.
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Tensions ramp up on Temple Mount ahead of Trump’s peace plan
Al-MonitorAn Israeli crackdown and the arrests of many Palestinian officials after they reopened part of the al-Aqsa compound which had been closed since 2003 comes on the eve of announcements about the Trump administration’s much-hyped plan for solving the conflict.
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Police chief slams Muslim fitness class death threats
BBC NewsRacist abuse heaped upon Bianca Jade, a trainer who set up a fitness class aimed at Muslim woman has been branded “utterly disgraceful” by a Nottinghamshire police chief.
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Border Patrol Fed Pork To Muslim Detainee For 6 Days
HuffPostA permit allowing Adnan Asif to stay with his American wife and work legally wasn’t enough to keep Adnan Asif Parveen from landing in detention.
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ISIS and Denial: We British Muslims Still Aren’t Facing Up to Islamist Radicalization
HaaretzShamima Begum, a British teenager, joined ISIS; now, she wants to come home. Can she, and other extremists, really be de-radicalized? Why do so many U.K. Muslims still respond to the threat of toxic homegrown Islamists with appeasement or denial?
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GOP's anti-Muslim display likening Rep. Omar to a terrorist rocks W. Virginia capitol
NBC NewsArguments broke out in the West Virginia statehouse on Friday after the state Republican Party allegedly set up an anti-Muslim display in the rotunda linking the 9/11 terror attacks to US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
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China’s expanding war on Islam: Now they’re coming for the Kazakhs.
The Washington PostChina isn’t limiting its anti-Muslim campaign to its own borders or citizens, now, many across the border in Kazakhstan are at risk from the conflict.
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He Needed a Job. China Gave Him One: Locking Up His Fellow Muslims.
The New York TimesChina’s vast detention of Muslims has required more and more police officers. And recruits are coming from the very ethnic groups that are being suppressed.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Calls on Leaders to Denounce 'Blatant' Islamophobic Attacks on Ilhan Omar
NewsweekThe freshman Congresswoman condemned both a poster displayed at the West Virginia legislature falsely tying Congresswoman Ilhan Omar to the September 11 attacks, and the muted response from the West Virginia GOP.
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Israel bans senior Islamic clerk from entering Aqsa Mosque
AP NewsIsraeli police have banned several Islamic officials appointed by Jordan from entering a Jerusalem holy site following clashes between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli authorities in recent weeks.
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Maydan editors selected some of the most thought-provoking news items on issues around Islam, religion and public-life for you. Let us know what you have been reading. Drop us a line at mediaroundups@themaydan.com!