“Your Hijab is Bondage” says Hotel owner- How Free is Speech?

By Majed Iqbal- A court has cleared two Christian hoteliers accused of religiously insulting a Muslim guest at their Hotel. Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang were hauled into the dock after a white British convert to Islam complained they had called the prophet Mohammed ‘a warlord’ and told her that Muslim women were oppressed.

Supporters broke into applause as Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang were found not guilty of religiously aggravated abuse.

They had been accused of insulting the religious beliefs of white convert Erika Tazi, 60, asking if she was a terrorist and describing her Islamic dress as a form of “bondage”.

Disabled Mrs Tazi, who converted 18 months ago, said the pair laughed when she wore a hijab and Ben, 53, called the Prophet a murderer and likened him to Saddam Hussein and Hitler.

Sharon, 54, admitted suggesting the hijab was a form of bondage but said Mrs Tazi insulted Jesus by calling him a minor prophet.

ASIAN NEWS ARTICLE- MP declares Muslim segregated weddings as signs of ‘Intolerance’

Published on the Asian News Website

By Majed Iqbal- A government minister last week joined the list of Politicians in raising, once again, allegations that Muslims lead ‘segregated’ lives.

Following a similar line of discussion to his colleague, Jack Straw who raised similar comments on women in Blackburn attending his surgery with Niqaabs and dubbed it as a sign of segregation, Jim Fitzpatrick, the minister for food, farming and environment, stormed out of a constituent’s wedding at the London Muslim Centre after being told that male and female guests were to be segregated and that he could not sit with his wife.

Fitzpatrick said it was “strange” he could not sit with his GP wife Sheila at the ceremony on Sunday. “We’ve been attending [Muslim] weddings together for years but only recently has this strict line been taken. We left so as not to cause offence,” he said.

But the newly weds at the wedding ceremony did take offence after the minister contacted his local newspaper straight after the walkout to tell them he was “disappointed” by what had happened. “We are trying to build social cohesion in a community but this is not the way forward,” he said.

BBC ‘The Big Questions’ Appearance

On Sunday morning 19 July i participated in the BBC programme, The big Questions’. The show can be seen on the link HERE. my comments appear at 36.30 during the show.

Three areas were looked at- 1. Should the Government introduce marriage  2. Are Faith schools divisive and 3. Is there a North and south Divide. All three areas were topical and i had plenty of views that i would have liked to express in each area.

ASIAN LEADER ARTICLE- “Renting while Muslim”- India’s new Conundrum

The following article was published in the Asian Leader Newspaper examining if India had really progressed as a secular democracy in light of revelations of further discrimination of Muslims in housing.

The full Article can be read here. Read the newspaper online on the Look Asia Website .

“Renting While Muslim”- India’s new Conundrum!

By Majed Iqbal- Indian Elections are in full Swing as the Worlds largest democracy takes its course to decide the future of its 1.1 billion populous.

India’s marathon elections entered the penultimate phase of the five-stage election with parties going head to head in the last rounds. In this festival like Election fever, feelings around politics and the future of India have been mixed as citizens and observers abroad put their thoughts forward.

“Indian democracy is nothing but a miracle” said one person.

“It is a shinning example that how 1.1 billion people with different ethnicity, religion, caste and language can vote together is a victory of democracy and its institutions”

“The greatest democratic operation in the world is a model to every country” said another”

Some had more deeper and sceptical views about the whole Election process.

“In this country the educated don’t vote because they think it will make no difference and the poor don’t seem to realize the reason of voting”

Chief Justice Lord Phillips and his Misconceptions on Shariah Law

By Majed Iqbal- What was sparked off as a major discussion in February this year by Archbishop Rowan Williams on Shariah law has once again re-surfaced in the Media. However, this time its not a religious figure who will be maligned by the nation for promoting values of Islam instead of his own faith.

Joining the discussion this time round is Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers who has said “There is no reason why sharia principles, or any other religious code, should not be the basis for mediation or other forms of alternative dispute resolution“.

The judge said the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, had been misunderstood when it was reported in February that he said British Muslims could be governed by sharia law. “Dr Williams suggested that sharia could play a role in aspects of marital law, the regulation of financial transactions and authorised structures of mediation and conflict resolution. It was not very radical to advocate embracing sharia law in the context of family disputes” he said.

Whilst one would warm to the comments made by the Chief Justice in appreciating how Shariah has the ability to resolve disputes in a manner in personal lives in a decent and befitting manner, much to the contrary of what is seen in wider society, his understanding of how shariah deals with crime and punishment in societal life seems to be marred with the same images of ‘Kangaroo courts’ displayed in Tabloid press and documentaries that have hit our screens.

NEW CAMPAIGN in Rochdale- “Stand for Islam” launched

By Majed Iqbal- A new campaign has been launched in Rochdale which plans to open up discussion and debate over the increasing levels of intolerance currently witnessed throughout Europe against Muslims and their way of life, Islam.

Hizb ut-Tahrir has launched this campaign, titled ‘Stand for Islam’ in Rochdale to tackle the various challenges dawning over the Muslim Community. Majeds Blog will be providing exclusive coverage of the whole campaign and the messages being relayed to the Rochdale Muslim Community.

In recent years, especially the last few, have seen many attempts which have mocked Shariah law, equated the Niqab to segregation of British Society, a ban on the Hijab in France, Mosque applications denied in Italy, caricatures of the Prophet of Islam arrogantly published by Danish Media, the British Government trying to threaten islamic grous with bans after being heavily challenged on Foreign Policy in the Muslim World, Dutch MP Geert Wilders calling for the ban of the Quran, and the viable alternative of governance in the Muslim world, the Caliphate (khilafah) heavily attacked as being outdated, irrelevant and a system which demonises minorities, denies womens rights and equated to a dictatorship.

Can Muslims take a joke?

By Maqsood Ahmed and Majed Iqbal- Borat approached a passer-by in a New York street and said in the style of his Kazakh alter ego: “I like your clothings. Are nice! Please may I buying? I want have sex with it.” But the target of his joke didn’t see the funny side and punched Cohen repeatedly in the face.

This is not the first time Americans failed to get the Borat joke. Two US students who appeared in the Borat movie are suing Sacha Baron Cohen, the architect and player of the notorious Kazakh Borat character claiming they have suffered “mental anguish” after they were filmed making racist and sexist remarks.

Borat aired international reputation after the launch of his film ‘Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan’ where audiences apparently laughed non-stop as he poked fun at Jews, feminists, gays, blacks, US President George W. Bush’s “war of terror”, frat boys, evangelicals, Kazakhstan and its neighbour Uzbekistan and included a clip where he goes into a redneck bar and sings “a song from my country, ‘Throw the Jew down the well’”.

New aged liberal intolerance

By Moh Bloggs - Just like Kryptonite to Superman, there are some things British society just can’t stand. In the last week one of these seems to be Islam I say this having considered the gravity of the statement very carefully.

Ever since the comments from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowen Williams, regarding the possible use of some aspects of Sharia law for Muslims in the areas of marriage and the like, there has been a frenzy of anti-muslim sentiments. These have been expressed by the media (both written and visual) and by the average person on the street.

The very idea of Muslims using Islam to solve their own problems has been lost in the noise about how supposedly backward Sharia is, conjuring up scenes of hand chopping and public floggings in the streets of Britain.

REPORT- Integration of Faiths under the Islamic Civilisation

The following report below was written as part of the Islamic Awareness Day hosted in the Rochdale Town hall In September 2006. The report covered the various discussions on a stall that i was doing which celebrated the Scientific, Educational, Technological and Societal achievements made under the Islamic civilisation- more better known as the Caliphate.

The report was also presented to the Rochdale Mulit-Faith forum during inviting them to attend the forthcoming Event. The report broke away many misconceptions on the treatment of minorities under Islam and set forward a promising future for the various regions and countries in the world.

Please click on link to view the report

Faiths and Islam- The Integration of Of Faiths and People under the Islamic Civilisation