[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.]
Politics
The Supreme Court Upheld Trump’s Muslim Ban. Let’s Not Forget That.(28 January 2021)
An opinion piece by 1998 Pulitzer Prize winner Linda Greenhouse where she discusses that no one who cheers the end of the ban should forget the Supreme Court’s role in keeping it alive for so long.
An opinion piece by 1998 Pulitzer Prize winner Linda Greenhouse where she discusses that no one who cheers the end of the ban should forget the Supreme Court’s role in keeping it alive for so long.
Few foreigners welcomed President Biden’s election victory as enthusiastically as the tens of thousands of Muslims who have been locked out of the United States for the past four years.
Singapore detains teen for intending to attack mosques (28 January 2021)
Singapore has detained a 16-year-old for intending to attack two mosques, plans authorities said were inspired by the killing of Muslim worshippers in Christchurch, New Zealand in March 2019.
U.S. soldier arrested for attempting to assist Islamic State: Department of Justice (19 January 2021)
A U.S. Army soldier was arrested on federal terrorism charges for allegedly attempting to assist Islamic State conduct a deadly ambush on U.S. troops, the Department of Justice said in a statement on Tuesday.
Caliphate: How the New York Times' Islamic State scoop unravelled (15 January 2021)
On 18 December, the Times admitted that key parts of Caliphate fell short of its "standards of accuracy” after it concluded that its key source, Shehroze Chaudhry had fabricated his account of travelling to Syria and joining the Islamic State.Laila al-Arian writes for Middle East Eye on how the Caliphate podcast has revealed again that the paper needs to confront unpleasant truths about how it handles stories at the nexus of Islam, the Middle East and terrorism.
‘An honorary Muslim’: The police spy who monitored London's mosques in plain sight (08 January 2021)
As undercover officers, Bob Lambert and his fellow detectives adopted the identities of dead children and had relationships with women they spied on. Then they turned their attention to British Muslims.
Marjorie Taylor Greene tried to force Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib to retake their oaths on a Bible in a resurfaced video (27 January 2021)
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a QAnon-supporting Republican who is known for pushing conspiracy theories and making racists comments, previously tried to force Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib to retake their congressional oaths on the Bible.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a QAnon-supporting Republican who is known for pushing conspiracy theories and making racists comments, previously tried to force Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib to retake their congressional oaths on the Bible.
Turkish top religious authority under fire for ‘spreading extremism’ via Islam courses for children in Syria's Azaz (27 January 2021)
Turkish top religious authority's Islam courses given to Syrian children in Azaz became under fire for "spreading extremism." Footage aired by Turkey's state-run TRT showed boys sitting separately from girls, who were seen wearing burqas.
Turkish top religious authority's Islam courses given to Syrian children in Azaz became under fire for "spreading extremism." Footage aired by Turkey's state-run TRT showed boys sitting separately from girls, who were seen wearing burqas.
Women, Gender and Sexuality
Review: A Weho doctor balances sexual identity and Islam in the rom-com ‘Breaking Fast’ (22 January 2021)
A review of “Breaking Fast,”, the thorny intersection of homosexuality and Islam is highlighted with charm and wit in writer-director Mike Mosallam’s lively tale — based on his 2015 short film — of one man’s fraught romantic journey over the course of the holy month of Ramadan.
Indonesia's Aceh province publicly canes two gay men (29 January 2021)
Authorities in Indonesia’s Aceh province publicly caned six people accused of breaching Islamic law, including two men who received 77 lashes for having a same sex relationship.
Authorities in Indonesia’s Aceh province publicly caned six people accused of breaching Islamic law, including two men who received 77 lashes for having a same sex relationship.
Bangladeshi vows to fight bar on women conducting weddings (14 January 2021)
A Bangladeshi woman barred from becoming a marriage registrar because she is female vowed to fight for her job after the High Court said women would face “practical difficulties” conducting Islamic weddings.
One year on, Muslim women reflect on wearing the niqab in a mask-wearing world (03 Febrary 2021)
Anna Piela writes about how she conducted three research projects that relied on interviews with women who wore the niqab, and discusses her findings.
Anna Piela writes about how she conducted three research projects that relied on interviews with women who wore the niqab, and discusses her findings.
Turkey’s Erdoğan denies existence of LGBT community (03 February 2021)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday dismissed the existence of the LGBT while speaking at a provincial congress for his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
COVID-19
Indonesia Islamic council hopes for halal ruling before mass vaccination (06 January 2021)
Indonesia’s highest Muslim clerical council sought to issue a ruling on whether a COVID-19 vaccine is halal, or permissible under Islam, before the country was due to start a mass inoculation programme using a Chinese vaccine.
Pandemic feared fuelling child abuse at Nigeria's Islamic schools (28 January 2021)
According to campaigners, efforts to stop abuse and forced begging of pupils at Islamic schools in northern Nigeria are at risk as the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic could push more struggling families to enrol their children.
According to campaigners, efforts to stop abuse and forced begging of pupils at Islamic schools in northern Nigeria are at risk as the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic could push more struggling families to enrol their children.
Instagram influencers are a vaccine priority in wary Indonesia (14 January 2021)
Among the first in the queue for coronavirus vaccines in Indonesia are social media influencers, a government effort to encourage the general public to have the vaccine. There has been scepticism around the safety and efficacy of any vaccine, and in the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation, whether it is halal, or allowed under Islam.
Birmingham mosque becomes UK's first to offer Covid vaccine (21 January 2021)
The Al-Abbas Islamic Centre in Balsall Heath, Birmingham, has become the first in the UK to open as a Covid vaccination centre.
The Al-Abbas Islamic Centre in Balsall Heath, Birmingham, has become the first in the UK to open as a Covid vaccination centre.
Covid: Side-by-side in a London mosque - funerals and a food bank (22 January 2021)
A piece discussing what is currently happening at the Masjid Ibrahim and Islamic Centre in London. Situated on a busy road, with the noise of ambulance sirens regularly shattering its peaceful interior, the mosque has closed to communal prayer and is open for two other purposes - to provide a funeral service and a food bank to the local community.
Arts and Culture
Afghanistan's first female breakdancer sets sights on Paris Olympics (27 January 2021)
When 18-year old Manizha Talash joined a small but ardent breakdancing community in Afghanistan a few months ago she was the only woman, but she already aims to represent her country in one of the latest sports to be admitted to the Olympics.
Supermodel Halima Aden: ‘Why I quit’ (14 January 2021)
Halima Aden, the first hijab-wearing supermodel, quit the fashion industry in November saying it was incompatible with her Muslim religion. Here, in an exclusive interview, she tells BBC Global Religion the full story - how she became a model, and how she reached the decision to walk away.
Halima Aden, the first hijab-wearing supermodel, quit the fashion industry in November saying it was incompatible with her Muslim religion. Here, in an exclusive interview, she tells BBC Global Religion the full story - how she became a model, and how she reached the decision to walk away.
Mental Health
A long-read about large influxes of asylum seekers and other migrants to Europe from Muslim-majority countries have led to a significant rise in the number of Muslims in Germany. This has reduced religious tolerance towards the growing Muslim community in Germany, and continues to have significant national implications for promoting integration of recently arrived refugees.
Religious Thought and Practice
He made sure the bodies of the Muslim dead faced Mecca. COVID-19 claimed his life (31 January 2021)
For over 30 years, Hashem Ahmad Alshilleh helped to bury a generation of Southern Californian Muslims. He washed and shrouded the corpses of men per Islamic customs and drove the bodies of men and women to cemeteries from Rosamond to Victorville, San Diego to Orange County.
Pope Francis to meet Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric on March visit (28 January 2021)
Pope Francis is set for an historic meeting with Iraq’s top Shi’ite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, during a trip to Iraq planned for March.
Nigerian appeals court throws out blasphemy convictions that caused outcry (21 January 2021)
A Nigerian court threw out two blasphemy convictions on Thursday that had caused an international outcry, freeing a teenager from a 10-year prison sentence and ordering a new trial for a man sentenced to death.
A Nigerian court threw out two blasphemy convictions on Thursday that had caused an international outcry, freeing a teenager from a 10-year prison sentence and ordering a new trial for a man sentenced to death.
Kuwaiti broadcaster converts to Christianity from Islam (29 January 2021)
Kuwaiti broadcaster Mohammed Al Momen posted a video on social media declaring his conversion from Islam to Christianity, promting mixed social media reactions.
Parents threatened with legal action after Muslim schoolgirl refuses to wear shorter skirt (12 January 2021)
The parents of a Muslim girl have been threatened with court action because their daughter refuses to wear a knee-length skirt to school.
The parents of a Muslim girl have been threatened with court action because their daughter refuses to wear a knee-length skirt to school.
Report clears Muslim charity of institutional antisemitism (29 January 2021)
The UK’s largest Muslim charity has been exonerated of institutional antisemitism in an independent report after its reputation was badly damaged and government funding suspended over the social media posts of two trustees and a senior member of staff.
Islamophobia
Pompeo says China’s policies on Muslims amount to ‘genocide’ (19 January 2021)
Just 24 hours before president-elect Joe Biden took office, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo has hit China with new sanctions by declaring that China’s policies on Muslims and ethnic minorities in western Xinjiang province constitute a “genocide.”
Trump's Twitter ban: 10 Islamophobic posts by outgoing president (09 January 2021)
Twitter permanently suspended Trump's account on Friday to prevent 'further incitement of violence'; Ali Harb revisits some of his controversial tweets for Middle East Eye.
Rights group calls on US Muslims to be 'extra vigilant' in wake of Capitol riot (13 January 2021)
Council on American-Islamic Relations says threat posed by far-right white supremacist violence is high and Muslims may be targets.
Council on American-Islamic Relations says threat posed by far-right white supremacist violence is high and Muslims may be targets.
The politics of refusal: How Muslims can resist the West's hostile gaze (25 January 2021)
Rebecca Ruth Gould, Professor of Islamic World and Comparative Literature at the University of Birmingham talks in this opinion piece about how the book, I Refuse to Condemn, shows how the call to condemn terrorist acts of violence functions as a bludgeon, quelling innocent Muslims into silence.
Remembering the Québec City mosque attack: Islamophobia and Canada’s national amnesia (28 January 2021)
On Jan. 29, 2017, six Muslim men were shot dead in a Québec City mosque. An armed white nationalist terrorist went on a shooting rampage in the Islamic Cultural Centre in Sainte-Foy, Québec, just after evening prayers. It remains the worst mass murder in a house of worship in Canada’s history.
On Jan. 29, 2017, six Muslim men were shot dead in a Québec City mosque. An armed white nationalist terrorist went on a shooting rampage in the Islamic Cultural Centre in Sainte-Foy, Québec, just after evening prayers. It remains the worst mass murder in a house of worship in Canada’s history.
The problem with India’s ‘love jihad’ laws (27 January 2021)
Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the Bharatiya Janata Party government has put forward several anti-Muslim policies. The latest is a clampdown on what it sees as “love jihad,” the belief that Muslims are seeking to deceive Hindu women through marriage and convert them to Islam.
Muslim headscarves barred in all public areas in France under new measures proposed by Marine Le Pen (31 January 2021)
Muslim headscarves would be prohibited in all public areas in France under new measures proposed by French far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
Muslim headscarves would be prohibited in all public areas in France under new measures proposed by French far-right leader Marine Le Pen.