The Multi-Million Dollar War on Islam | Focal Point with Imam Tom Facchine

 

Who profits from making people fear Muslims? In this Focal Point episode, Imam Tom exposes the multi-million dollar network fueling Islamophobia—fake experts, front organizations, and political actors who weaponize misinformation for profit and power.

This isn’t ignorance, it’s strategy. Who funds the fear? Who benefits? And how do we counter it?

From being bullied to racially abused

From a young age society taught us to separate different people rather than make us feel as a unified group. Separate yourself from others, do not trust anyone other than yourself, and make sure you use everyone to you personal gain; there is no “common good”.

If you were blond and blue eyed, you were automatically one of the ‘elite’. We immigrants were always considered as scum, of no worth and no use. One of the biggest issues was that teachers were technically able to racially abuse students with no backlash. An example was that when teachers would want to organise a class activity, they would split the classroom in two. I know what you are thinking: “down the middle right?”- no, not at all. They would split the classroom from Germans and non-Germans or “foreigners”.

It would break my heart as I remember vividly my best-friend was a German and he would ask “Sir, can I go to the other team with Hassan?” – “No, you are better than him.” I didn’t realise back then what it meant as I thought maybe he meant that he was academically better than me, even though my grades were always higher.

It was extremely difficult when the other ‘German’ students were encouraged to bully us as the ‘foreigners’. With table tennis, although my friends and I would get there first, we would be pushed and punched aside as they had a right over us, because we were not German enough. For God’s sake, I was born in Germany, I speak German better than Arabic, and all my friends are German. This was not the end of it though, what really made me mad and started to make me brush all the Germans with the same brush although it wasn’t right was the incident that my sister had to go through.

Imagine being 9 years old and in year 4, you start wearing the hijab proudly and can’t wait to show your friends as this is a sign of maturity. To be greeted to the worst fear at that time. So she starts wearing the hijab and goes to school, the day starts with an assembly. The deputy headteacher of the primary school calls you up and asks you to remove your hijab. She was shocked, yet still had the power in herself to stand up to that adult and refuses to do so. What happens then? The Deputy Headteacher forcibly rips off her headscarf in front of her friends, classmates, and year group.

The school calls my parent in for a meeting. They were greeted in a very disrespectful way. “Hello, what do you want?” my father replied: “You wanted to talk to me, not I to you. If it were up to me I would not speak to you.” When they realised that my father was able to not only speak German fluently but also was able to confront them comfortably, they began to look a bit uncomfortable. He started to ask why they physically abused her as they forcibly removed the hijab from her head. They tried to convince my father that she should not wear the hijab at that young age, as this could damage her character whereas the only thing that could damage her character at that time was their actions towards my sister.

She refused to go back to that school but eventually believed that her cause was very important and carried on wearing her hijab in school as my father threatened to go legal. We started to see something very encouraging, in that because my father and sister stood their ground and defended their belief, other young girls started to wear their hijab in school as well which showed that it only takes one small spark of courage to make a change in a community.

All in all, life was like a roller-coaster, with my ups and downs. I’ve learned from them, and they have shaped me into who I am today, and if it wasn’t for those experiences, I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to pursue my life dreams. My time in Germany shows that despite the hardships in life, it may well be the very thing that pushes you to appreciate life just a little bit more.

Link

Abulhawa: For 36 hours I was detained on a dirty bed in my homeland, then deported

In 2015, I traveled to Palestine to build playgrounds in several villages and to hold opening ceremonies at playgrounds we had already built in the months previous. Another member of our organization was traveling with me. She happened to be Jewish and they allowed her in. Several Israeli interrogators asked me the same questions in different ways over the course of approximately 7.5 hours. I answered them all, as Palestinians must if we are to stand a chance of going home, even as visitors. But I was not sufficiently deferential, nor was I capable of that in the moment. But I was certainly composed and – the requirement for all violated people – “civil.” Finally, I was accused of not cooperating because I did not know how many cousins I have and what are all their names and the names of their spouses. It was only after being told that I was denied entry that I raised my voice and refused to leave quietly. I did yell, and I stand by everything I yelled. According to Haaretz, Israel said I “behaved angrily, crudely and vulgarly” in 2015 at the Allenby Bridge.

What I said in 2015 to my interrogators, and which was also reported in Haaretz at the time, is that they should be the ones to leave, not me; that I am a daughter of this land and nothing will change that; that my own direct history is steeped in the land and there’s no way they can extricate it; that as much as they invoke Zionist mythological fairy tales, they can never claim such personal familial lineage, much as they wish they could.

I suppose that must sound vulgar to Zionist ears. To be confronted with authenticity of Palestinian indigeneity despite exile, and face their apocryphal, ever-shifting colonial narratives.

My lack of deference in 2015 and choice not to quietly accept the arbitrary decision of an illegitimate gatekeeper to my country apparently got appended to my name and, upon my arrival this time on November 1st, signaled for my immediate deportation.

The true vulgarity is that several million Europeans and other foreigners live in Palestine now while the indigenous population lives either in exile or under the cruel boots of Israeli occupation; the true vulgarity is in the rows of snipers surrounding Gaza, taking careful aim and shooting human beings with no real way to defend themselves, who dare to protest their collective imprisonment and imposed misery; the true vulgarity is in seeing our youth bleed on the ground, waste in Israeli jails, starve for an education, travel, learning, or some opportunity to fully be in the world; the true vulgarity is the way they have taken and continue to take everything from us, how they have carved out our hearts, stolen our everything, occupied our history, and tamp our voices and our art.

In total, Israel detained me for approximately 36 hours. We were not allowed any electronics, pens or pencils in the jail cells, but I found a way to take both – because we Palestinians are resourceful, smart, and we find our way to freedom and dignity by any means we can. I have photos and video from inside that terrible detention center, which I took with a second phone hidden on my body, and I left for them a few messages on the walls by the dirty bed I had to lay on. I suppose they will find it vulgar to read: “Free Palestine,” “Israel is an Apartheid State,” or “susan abulhawa was here and smuggled this pencil into her prison cell”.

Link

Piers Morgan Debates Headscarf Ban With Muslim Women | Good Morning Britain

How racism is making a comeback, and exploiting tensions between Sikhs and Muslims

 

 DISGRACE!!

Around four months ago, 12-year-old Armaan Singh Sarai and his parents moved to a suburb in Dallas, Texas and they enrolled him into the local school. They were especially worried about his future, as he had a condition that had already required three open heart surgeries.

Last Friday, another child at school made a joke about Armaan concealing a bomb. The school immediately called the police without even questioning him. They in turn put him in a juvenile facility without informing his parents, who only found out after he was late that evening and called the school. Their child spent three days in the facility. 

When Armaan’s parents complained of excessive force, the local police blamed the pupils for making a joke and said they had to take every threat seriously. The episode only came to light after a cousin took to Facebook to express shock at the way the family had been treated and her post went viral.

Such incidents are being shared on social media with alarming regularity. On 3 December, another American Sikh, Valarie Kaur, was almost pulled off a flight after a man complained about suspicious activity while she was using her breast-pump. On the same day a Muslim woman in Boston, Massachusetts was taking the bus when a man shouted: “She has a bomb in there! Women are doing it too now, don’t you see the news?” She wrote on Facebook that she had to show her Harvard ID and computers to other passengers before they backed off.

Source

Here are 6 crazy things Israel has done to maintain racial purity

Israel bills itself as the Middle East’s only democracy, but it is increasingly clear that this label depends a lot on how you define the Middle East, and how you define democracy. Perhaps the sharpest dissonance between the description of Israel as a liberal democracy and its actual policies is the drive for racial purity.

Israel insists on being the historic homeland for the world’s Jews, something few would disagree with. But it also insists on being a Jewish-majority country, at all costs. In order to maintain its Jewish majority, it must demonize non-Jews, particularly Muslims and Christian Arabs, as “demographic threats.”

Here are six crazy things the Israeli government or the Israeli people have done to maintain this racial makeup.

1. No-Sex Contracts: In 2003, an Israeli company importing Chinese workers required them to sign a contract agreeing not to marry or have sex with any Israelis. No legal action was taken against the company, as Israel has no laws protecting workers from such demands.

2. Birth Control Without Consent: For years, the Israeli government was injecting Ethiopian Jewish immigrants with birth control, “often without their knowledge or consent.” When the practice was exposed in 2013, it was ordered to be halted.

3. Deporting Non-Jews: Anyone in the world with Jewish lineage can move to Israel and claim citizenship. But if you’re not Jewish, things can be dicey. Many refugees from African conflicts have fled to Israel to claim asylum. Israel has locked many of them into massive camps in the desert. It has granted asylum to 0.07% of those seeking it, deporting many others. NPR recently did a story on some refugees who were deported, only to be slain by ISIS.

4. Stripping Palestinians of Land Rights: The Israeli Supreme Court recently laid out two decisions essentially allowing Israel the right to demolish Palestinian communities within Israel itself—not the Occupied Territories—to clear land for Jewish Israelis.

5. Discriminatory Marriage Laws: In the United States, marriage is one of the ways a spouse can gain legal entry through a green card and citizenship. Israel prohibits its citizens from marrying Palestinians in the territories, by refusing to recognize their spouses as citizens. Israel also has no civil marriage law, leaving the institution in the hands of religious clerics who work to prevent interracial marriage.

6. Right Of Return, For Jews Only: The most systematic policy designed to maintain a Jewish majority is the Law of Return. Under this law, Jews can come to Israel from anywhere in the world and claim citizenship, but Palestinians expelled after various wars from homes that were in Israel cannot. The double standard was expressed by Ghada Karmi and Ellen Siegel, a Palestinian woman and a Jewish woman who met in London in the early 1970s. They have posed multiple times with these signs over the years:

These laws, norms, and practices form a matrix with one goal: to maintain a Jewish majority in Israel. (In the case of the birth control given to Ethiopian Jews, it was also an example of trying to maintain a certain type of Jewish majority.)

Source

Women attending the Masjid

 

The virtues of attending the Masjid

Abu Huraira narrates the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) as saying, “Shall I not tell you about that which will obliterate your mistakes and bring your near to Allah?” They replied, “ Yes! Surely O Messenger.” He said, “it is to perform the ablution properly in difficult circumstances. A lot of foot steps to the Masjid and waiting for the next prayer after performing one that is the Ribat. That indeed is Ribat” (Muslim).

In the Muslim community the Masjid is the centre of Islamic activities. It is a place of worship and learning, a place for meditation, devotion, service and remembrance of Allah. In the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him) it even had the role of the supreme court where the Chief Justice (peace be upon him) would issue his legal injunctions. It was also the military headquarters where the Messenger (peace be upon him) would plan the Jihad against the forces of unbelief. This Hadith directs us to the Masjid in order to have our minor sins erased and spiritual station raised, the Prophet (peace be upon him) orders us to do the wudu properly too. “The wudu is the key to the prayer and the prayer is the key to the heavens” (Hadith).

This state of physical purification is a prerequisite for a state of spiritual purification. After offering his devotion and humble prayer he sits in the Masjid waiting for the next prayer, this is spiritual vigilance, in Allah’s house absorbed in His thought. He is far from the temptations of the devil, the whispers of the uncouthed self and the lures of the glittering world. “This is Ribat, indeed the Ribat”, says the Prophet (peace be upon him). Ribat is the fort from where the soldiers use to keep a watch. The blessed Messenger (peace be upon him) equates this Ribat to the sitting in the Masjid waiting for the next prayer.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is recommending a perfect method for self-purification and defining the limits of Islamic asceticism, i.e. solitude and austerity. Not to abandon life, home, family and friends but to live amongst them, yet find time for solitude and communion with Allah. The one who attends the Masjid regularly has been praised by the Mustafa (peace be upon him) in these words:

“Whoever you see coming and going to and from the Masjid, you must give testimony of his faith being complete”. He then recited, “surely the one who builds the masjid is the one who has faith in Allah, the hereafter and fears no one except Him. They are the one who are rightly guided” (Tirmidhi).

In another tradition narrated by Abu Haraira he (peace be upon him) says: “Whoever attends the Masjid, Allah prepares a special hospitality for him” (Muslim).

Praying with the Congregation

Abu Darda says he heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saying, “When there are three people in a village or in the desert and they do not pray as a group the devil takes control of them. You must be with the group. Surely the wolf attacks the sheep that is alone and separate from the flock” (Abu Dawud).

We have already read that the prayer is one of the most important qualities of the believer. It is the flavour of faith, the food of the soul and gives peace of mind. It is a personal devotion but should be offered in a congregation. This Hadith is emphasising this group aspect of the prayer.

How valuable it is to offer the prayer in congregation is explained by the Prophet (peace be upon him) when he said, “the group prayer is twenty seven times superior than the individual prayer” (Muslim).

The Hadith under discussion instructs that even when there are only three people they should pray together as a group rather than pray separately. The Prophet (peace be upon him) then gives the similitude of the lone sheep cut off from the flock. The devil who is depicted here as the wolf attacks the lone wanderers, those who are not with the Muslim community or those who live only at its peripheries not taking active part in its affairs.

The congregational prayer has many benefits such as; fostering love and compassion for fellow Muslims, thus strengthening the bonds of brotherhood, equality, since everyone stands humbly together whether he is a pauper or wealthy, big or small. Prayer gives training in being punctual and regular in ones daily affairs. Congregational prayer is one of outstanding features of Islam, the row upon row of believers standing humbly, bowing in unison and then prostrating together, it is a moving experience for any onlooker. The congregational prayer also teaches obedience to a leader (Imam) and gives the sense of belonging to the community.

From Bukhari and Ibn Hajar

Chapter 162- Women going to the Masjids at night and darkness

Abdullah ibn Umar narrates the messenger (peace be upon him) said ”When your women seek your permission to attend the Masjid at night then give them permission” (Hadith no. 865).

Ibn Hajar Asqalani (d.761 AH) is perhaps one of the greatest commentators of Bukhari. Here is a summary of his commentary on this topic:

1. The permission to attend the Masjid hints to the fact that it is not compulsory, since if it was there would be no need to seek husbands permission.

2. He quotes another Hadith from Muslim. Abdullah ibn Umar narrates the Messenger (peace be upon him) said “don’t stop women from getting their share of the Masjid when they seek your permission”. Bilal (his son) said “By God we certainly will stop them”. According to Tabarani Bilal said “I will not let my wife and whoever wishes can let his wife do as she likes”.

3. According to the narration in Muslim, when Bilal said this to his father Abdullah ibn Umar, he was furious at him, he turned to him and cursed him three times and thereafter never spoke to his son until he died.

4. Ibn Hajar comments on this “father and son fight” by saying that “Bilal saw mischief in some women of his time and that made him react in that way to protect his sense of honour and self respect and Abdullah disapproved because he was clearly opposing the Prophetic tradition”.

Chapter 164- Women’s prayer standing behind men

Umm Salma said “when the Prophet (peace be upon him) finished his prayer by saying salaam the women would get up and leave. He would stay for a while in his place. This was done so that women could leave before the men could see them”.

Anas said, “The Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed in Umm Sulaim’s house, I and an orphan stood behind him and Umm Sulaim behind us” (Hadith no.874).

Chapter 165- The quick departure of women after Morning Prayer and their short stay in the Masjid

Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said “the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to pray morning prayer in darkness, Muslim women used to come and go without being recognised in the dark” (Hadith no. 872).

Abdullah Ibn Umar said ”There was a woman who used to attend the Morning and night prayer with the congregation in the Masjid. It was said to her why do you come yet you know that Umar does not like that. She said he has not stopped me! She said the Prophet (peace be upon him) said “Don’t stop God’s maids from attending the Masjids” (Hadith no. 900).

Commenting on these two Ahadith Ibn Hajar says “if women are permitted to attend Masjids at night despite that night is time of suspicion, the permission during daytime is even foremost”.

Full Article

No discrimination between man and woman?

"Islam is the religion which gives woman highest level of priority in her life which she actually deserves. There is no discrimination of man and woman in Islam.

And their Lord responded to them, "Never will I allow to be lost the work of [any] worker among you, whether male or female; you are of one another. [3:195]

This verse clearly shows no discrimination between man and woman. But regretfully the leader of Islamic society who are known as scholars are contributing in such concepts which only oppress a woman from her real rights which is given by Allah and never be un-declared by Prophet Muhammad. 

Some Hadith source might show you women were oppressed like woman beating or slave sex concept where 1st wife would have to see her husband’s romance with slave without marriage or the polygamy concept where no special condition is necessary or the concept of wife can’t refuse her man’s call for intercourse in anyway (even she is sick too or passing in bad mode too) or women are source of fitna etc. Can you believe these are authentic hadith proclaimed by Prophet Muhammad? No other words beside Quran could be authentic in 100 %. These are all fabricated hadith where really a woman is oppressed!! After Prophet’s death People who were in support of woman oppression (as it is a law of society) mixed their own words with his noble words and made this hadith where a man is shown as superior to woman.

But if you really look in Quran word’s (direct translation of the verses) nowhere you will find such conditions. Allah says in verse 2:228 that man and woman have similar rights over them. 
What is less from man a woman is only the physical structure, woman are weaker than man. This weakness is only for the pleasure of carnal relationship between man and woman. For the strength of man which more than woman, Allah also gives the man more trials than us in the same verse “But the men have a degree over them, women” which means man are responsible for financial activity and also for giving their wives pleasure in every possible way and also they will be protector of their women in verse 4;34.

Now some Islamic website and scholars held their opinion basing on some fabricated hadith and by some wrong interpretation of quranic words in chance of woman persecution, that Polygamy can be practiced for lust only by offering it to a younger woman. Which is the wrong concept of islam they are delivering to people. Allah in Quran 4:3 told “With respect to marrying widows, if you are afraid of not being able to maintain justice with her children, marry another woman of your choice or two or three or four (who have no children). If you cannot maintain equality with more than one wife, marry only one or your slave-girl. This keeps you from acting against justice”. Where it is clear plural marriage can be practiced only then when a man will be able to sacrifice his boundless love for his 1st wife because of humanity to give protection another woman who is widow and has orphan child. If he can’t take care of her orphan child then he should marry that woman who has no child. Now, the possibility of childless woman only goes to a woman who is widow or divorced not a younger wife. Or he can marry his slaves (for giving her freedom). So, all of the points for polygamy are only for humanity, not for lust. And also about permission of 1st wife Allah clearly denotes in 4:19 not to make any difficulty in his wife’s life to those services which he can deliver her. The service is not only confined in mahr but also in love/sex/passion. Now if a man gets married 2nd time without 1st wife’s permission will not it create difficulty in her life? 

And also For loving 1st wife more than other wives whom they marry for humanity, they will not be accused in Allah’s eye as per the verse 4:129, only they need to serve them equally in other services except love which will only be for the 1st wife whom he married for love or sexual desire.

And also on slave sex which is proclaimed by Islamic mollahs are also a wrongful or lustful thought by contributing themselves in a belief man need more than 4 women in their life, so they are permitted to take infinite number of women in bed as concubines from slaves. This is the most hateful speech of them which conflict with quran. But in Quran verse 23:5-6 Allah told by noble word “right hand possess” to those female slaves who are attached to you wedlock or who are legally your wives from your slaves.
According to their thought Allah prepared beautiful hoor only for them, men in jannah as their lust is infinite or they are not satisfied with the number of women whom they get in duniya (including 4 wives and many concubines), But women will not get any hoor in jannah. Do u really think allah can discriminate in giving gifts to the believers (men and women) who will get jannah?? Or Allah can grow the attitude in man’s mind not to be chaste-full but to be lustful?
What actually quran says hoor is both for man and woman. Al-Ahzab verse 35,

“Surely the men who submit and the women who submit, and the believing men and the believing women, and the obeying men and the obeying women, and the truthful men and the truthful women, and the patient men and the patient women, and the humble men and he humble women, and the charitable men and the charitable women, and the fasting men and the fasting women, and the men who guard their chastity and women who guard their chastity, and the men who remember Allah much and the women who remember — Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a mighty reward.”
And also in quran 2:282 Allah told for adding 1 man with two women in case of financial witness. Here Allah doesn’t show woman are less intelligent/less dutiful. But here Allah told to guard those women from any danger by adding a man with them, from which they will not be able to protect as they are physically weaker than men. 
And also about the inheritance woman also have the right to get equal property as man in some circumstances too. 

(http://www.quran-islam.org/articles/part_3/writing_a_will_(P1413).html)
And also about beating wife: Quran never uses word for beating wife. 
(http://quransmessage.com/articles/a%20deeper%20look%20at%20the%20word%20dharaba%20FM3.htm)

- Farhana Hossain (Bangladesh)"

Taken from Muslim Feminists page on Facebook  

For  full comment pls see http://muslimfeminist587.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/islam-feminist.html
 

Aung San Suu Kyi's Comments on Muslims Expose Endemic Anti-Muslim Prejudice

I admired this woman since I was a child now I'm horrified by her. :(

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's interview with the BBC during her visit to the UK, has shocked many of her admirers. Despite being repeatedly pressed to do so, she repeatedly avoided giving a clear unequivocal condemnation of the anti-Muslim violence that is engulfing Burma.

Given the opportunity to clearly condemn attacks against Muslims, she repeatedly refused to do so. Instead she generalised by saying she condemned all violence and hatred. She has moral authority like no other person in Burma. When she speaks, people listen. If she strongly condemned attacks on Muslims it would make a difference. It could calm the situation. But she didn't. Instead, she went beyond just trying to explain why the violence was taking place, and sounded like she was making excuses for it. First she did this by saying it was because Buddhists were also living in fear. How can this be true? Buddhists are by far the biggest majority in Burma. Secondly she talked about Buddhists also being subjected to violence and having to flee Burma. The overwhelming majority of violence has been Buddhists attacking Muslims, not the other way around. No Buddhists have fled Burma because of attacks by Muslims. They fled because of repression by the Buddhist led dictatorship. Even if there was real fear as she claims, that doesn't justify people taking to the streets and burning alive their Muslim neighbours.

In the past 16 months alone, 140,000 Rohingya Muslims have been forced to flee to squalid temporary camps. This compares to less than five thousand Rakhine Buddhists who fled homes after tit-for-tat attacks when violence against Rohingya began in June last year. Why is Aung San Suu Kyi trying to portray this as two sides suffering equally, when the facts prove this is not the case?

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi also started talking about global Muslim power, as if this is some kind of threat to Burma? To hear a Nobel Peace Prize winner talking in the same way about Islam as bigots and racists is very disappointing. There are conspiracy theories about a global Muslim conspiracy to take over Burma, but these kind of things are spread by crazy people on Facebook. It is not what you expect from a University educated leader of a democracy movement. Instead of dismissing these claims as the dangerous nonsense they are, she gave them credibility in the eyes of many Burmese.

When Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was asked about the Monk Wirathu, who incites hatred and violence against Muslims, she also avoided criticising him, again just using generalisations saying she condemns hate of any kind. This hasn't gone unnoticed in Burma.

Perhaps one of her most revealing comments was when she talking about Muslims integrating. She was not only talking about the Rohingya. She was talking about Muslims generally. How and why do people who are native to Burma, having lived there countless centuries, need to integrate? They are Burmese, and unlike most Rohingya Muslims, they have Burmese citizenship. Most have never even travelled abroad, and nor have any of their ancestors. But Aung San Suu Kyi doesn't seem to see them that way. She sees them as different and needing to integrate. Seeing as the only difference is their religion, does she share the common view among many Buddhists in Burma that Muslims are not real Burmese?

Full article:

Female students in Indonesia may be forced to undergo 'virginity tests'

What a disgrace!! I will never understand this obsession so many men have with viginity, its truly disgusting!

Education chief Muhammad Rasyid, of Prabumulih district in south Sumatra put forward the idea, describing it as "an accurate way to protect children from prostitution and free sex". He said he would use the city budget to begin tests early next year if MPs approved the proposal.

"This is for their own good," Rasyid said. "Every woman has the right to virginity … we expect students not to commit negative acts."

The test would require female senior school students aged 16 to 19 to have their hymen examined every year until graduation. Boys, however, would undergo no investigation into whether they had had sex.

The plan has met with some support from local politicians, who said the test would help cut down on "rampant" promiscuity in the district.

"Virginity is sacred, thus it's a disgrace for a [female] student to lose her virginity before getting married," Hasrul Azwar of the Islamist Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) told the Jakarta Post.

The proposal seems to be in response to increasing cases of premarital sex, local website Kompas reported, including the recent arrest of six senior high school students for alleged prostitution.

It is the third plan of its kind in Muslim-majority Indonesia, where similar drafts were proposed in West Java in 2007, and again in Sumatra in 2010, but dropped after a public outcry.

Local and national MPs, activists, rights groups and even the local Islamic advisory council have all denounced Rasyid's plan as potentially denying female students the universal right to education, in addition to targeting girls for an act that may not have even been consensual, such as sexual assault.

 Full article:

Muslim helpline reveals majority of faith attacks on women

The majority of Muslims physically attacked, harassed or intimidated because of their faith are women, according to the first results from the UK's official helpline for victims of Islamophobia.

More than 630 incidents were logged during the first 12 months of the helpline, launched in an attempt to quantify the scale and nature of anti-Muslim violence in Britain.

Some of the most egregious attacks recorded include a family being forced from their Nottinghamshire home, a five-year-old girl knocked over by a hit-and-run driver and a Somali lady who had dog faeces placed on her head by a white man while shopping in south London.

The attacks, collated by the helpline, Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks), show that Muslim women were targeted in 58% of all incidents.

The majority of physical assaults committed in the street were on women wearing Islamic clothing, with most victims describing the nature of the attacks as seemingly "random".

High-profile female targets have included communities minister Lady Warsi who was threatened online by an English Defence League (EDL) member and journalist Jemima Khan, whose 14-year-old son received anti-Muslim comments on Twitter.

Of the perpetrators, the majority were subsequently found to have had links to recognised far-right groups such as the British National Party (BNP) or the EDL. So far, information provided to the helpline has led to the arrests of 21 far-right EDL supporters, with more than 40 incidents reported against EDL leader Tommy Robinson alone.

Members of the BNP or EDL were involved in 54% of all incidents, of which three-quarters were committed by men. The average age of perpetrators were between 21 and 30.

The results follow a report by think-tank Chatham House which identified a considerable Islamophobic sentiment in the UK, detecting a "wide reservoir of public sympathy for claims that Islam and the growth of settled, Muslim communities pose a fundamental threat to the native group and nation."

The majority of incidents received by the helpline related to what it described as "abusive behaviour" with 74% of recorded incidents occurring online. However, experts agree that even non-violent incidents have a profound adverse impact on peoples' lives.

Fiyaz Mughal, co-ordinator of Tell MAMA and director of non-profit group Faith Matters said he was "shocked" by the amount of racial hatred they had detected in their first year of monitoring, particularly online.

Mughal, a former advisor to the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, added: "We are calling on police and politicians to do more to tackle this shameful wave of fear and prejudice. From the internet, to the workplace, the street and even houses of worship, too often Muslim women and men are becoming the target of vicious, sometimes violent, abuse.

He added: "Recent history shows us what happens if we allow our fears to run unchecked. Demonisation of 'the other', misguided beliefs that Muslims are somehow a monolithic block, unchecked lies that Islam is a violent religion or that British Muslims wish to abuse white girls must be challenged."

He is now calling on police forces to drastically improve their recording of Islamophobic crimes. At the moment just two forces, the Metropolitan police and City of London police, currently record anti-Muslim crimes separately. Mughal also wants the Home Office to take over monitoring of online hate and far-right groups from the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Other areas that the Muslim community believe could be improved include more prosecutions against online-based hatred.

"The police frequently fail to take victim statements, fail to appreciate the terrifying effects of these incidents upon women and vulnerable children. Few police forces even bother to record Islamophobia as part of their reporting systems. More training is needed at a time when police are facing budget cuts; we need more leadership too from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which, unhelpfully, has talked about fewer rather than more social media prosecutions," added Mughal.

During 2011 2,000 hate crimes were recorded against different faiths in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by police with officers at the time admitting that they were unclear how many were against Muslims because separate figures were not recorded.

Source