When dealing with a "disobedient wife," a Muslim man has a number of options. First, he should remind her of: the importance of following the instructions of the husband in Islam. If that doesn't work, he can: leave the wife's bed. Finally, he may "beat" her, though it must be without hurting, breaking a bone, leaving blue or black marks on the body and avoiding hitting the face, at any cost.

Such appalling recommendations, drawn from the book Woman in the Shade of Islam by Saudi scholar Abdul Rahman al-Sheha, are inspired by as authoritative a source as any Muslim could hope to find: a literal reading of the 34th verse of the fourth chapter of the Koran, An-Nisa , or Women. [A]nd (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them, reads one widely accepted translation.

Mahmoud Shalash, an imam from Lexington, Kentucky, stood at the pulpit of my mosque and offered marital advice to the 100 or so men sitting before him. He repeated the three-step plan, with "beat them" as his final suggestion.

At the sermon's end, I approached Shalash. This is America, I protested. How can you tell men to beat their wives?

They should beat them lightly, he explained. It's in the Koran.

Australia's most senior Muslim cleric has prompted an uproar by saying that some women are attracting sexual assault by the way they dress.

Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali said women who did not wear a hijab (head dress) were like "uncovered meat".

But he has now apologised for any offence caused by his comments.

Leading Muslim women condemned the comments and PM John Howard said the remarks were "appalling": The idea that women are to blame for rapes is preposterous.

In a statement released on Thursday, Sheikh Hilali said he had been quoting another, unnamed, source and did not mean his words to condone rape: I unreservedly apologise to any woman who is offended by my comments. I had only intended to protect women's honour. Women in our Australian society have the freedom and the right to dress as they choose.


A copy of the cleric's comments delivered in a sermon to some 500 worshippers in Sydney last month during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan was initially published in The Australian. If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside... and the cats come and eat it... whose fault is it, the cats' or the uncovered meat? he asked. The uncovered meat is the problem, he went on to say.

Sheikh Hilali also condemned women who swayed suggestively and wore make-up, implying they attracted sexual assault.

Australia Muslim cleric suspended after comparing immodestly dressed women to "uncovered meat".

Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali's comments, suggesting that women who did not wear a headscarf attracted sexual assault, have caused a storm of protest.

Sydney's mosque association said the suspension would give the cleric time to consider the impact of his words. Mosque Association president Tom Zreika said the board was "basically satisfied with the notion that certain statements made by the mufti [were] misrepresented".

But Australian Premier John Howard said the action was insufficient.

Many people - including some Muslim leaders - have called for the cleric to be dismissed from office.

Sheikh Hilali sparked more controversy on Friday when, asked by reporters if he would resign, he responded: After we clean the world of the White House first.

Meanwhile Abduljalil Sajid, a senior figure in the Muslim Council of Britain, offered support for Sheikh Taj Din al-Hilali’s views, saying that “loose women like prostitutes” encouraged men to be immoral. Sajid, visiting Australia, said that Sheikh al-Hilali was attacking immodesty and loose dress, or standing in the streets, inviting men to do these bad acts.

A Muslim girl of 13 and her father have been arrested on suspicion of murdering her boyfriend. Sumon Miah was beaten to death with a table leg when he went to visit the youngster at her home.

All four members of the girl's family were in police custody over his death.

Neighbours said that the schoolgirl's parents had been 'deeply unhappy' their daughter had started a relationship with a man eight years her senior: Although the relationship was in its very early stages, they wanted it to stop as soon as possible.

On the day of the murder, the girl's family made several calls to the police - telling 999 staff of their anger that Miah was planning to visit their home.

But by the time police arrived, Miah was on the brink of death after suffering severe head injuries. He later died in hospital and Scotland Yard detectives have now arrested the 13-year-old's entire family.

While the youngster and her father have been quizzed over the murder, her brother, also 13, and 41-year-old mother have been held over allegations that they conspired to pervert the course of justice. The girl is also being questioned over conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

International Muslim scholars and clerics in Uttar Pradesh have expressed diverse opinions over the court verdict on Imrana who's father-in-law was jailed for raping and attempting to murder her last year.

Bizarre family law has now resulted in a court order from Muzaffarnagar district court that: after being raped by her father-in-law, Imrana ceased to remain Noor Ilahi’s wife. Instead she acquired the status of Ilahi’s mother. So irrespective of the court order, the Shariah would not permit her to cohabit with Ilahi.

While some clerics including those representing the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) have welcomed the order. AIMPLB member and head of the Lucknow-based Firangi Mahal Islamic seminary Maulana Khalid Rashid: I welcome the court verdict and it must be followed in true letter and spirit.

He, however, did not elaborate on the key question of letting Imrana stay on with her husband. That is a question which I am not empowered to decide, it can be dealt with only by a Darul-Qaza, which is the highest Islamic court.

Maulana Mohammad Yasoob of the All India Shia Personal Law Board condemned the “distorted” view. Imrana continues to remain the legally wedded wife of Noor Ilahi and under no Islamic tenet is she disentitled to enjoy that status after what has happened.

The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) were not impressed

Subhashini Ali of AIDWA said: the decision of the Maulanas to separate Imrana from her husband was surely not acceptable to us. Such an attitude was bound to dissuade women from raising their voice against such exploitation and violence in future because of the fear of being literally ostracised from their families.

Can a child raped by her grandfather would be declared a grandmother by the same logic? she wondered.

International Christian Concern (ICC) has just been informed that 50+ Christians in Henno, Ethiopia, were brutally attacked on 20 July by 7 Muslim leaders.

ICC said the latest attack was just one example of the increasing violence against Christians in Ethiopia and that Muslim leaders in the area were urging fellow Muslims to kill any full-time Christian evangelists.

ICC, who also reported that local Muslim have authorities failed to take action against the Muslim attackers.

Tensions between Muslims and Christians in the region intensified after two prominent Muslims in Henno converted to Christianity in 2005.

Muslims in the region were further angered when on 20 July, 2006, the convert hosted a service for the other Christians in Henno and invited a choir from the Sidama region. Muslim leaders responded violently by instigating a riot using gangs in the area. The gangs were carrying local weapons such as knives, stones, and metal rods.

The convert was beaten badly, receiving five deep wounds to his head. Because he was beaten with an iron rod, he was also missing teeth. He suffered deep lacerations to his legs, where several ligaments protruded from the skin. His daughter-in-law was pregnant at the time but lost her baby because she was also severely beaten. In total, twelve people were seriously injured.

The Christians reported the riot to the district government administrative office, which took no legal action. Instead, the officers warned Christians not to worship in a region that is predominately Muslim. ICC said it was important to note that all officers who heard the case were in fact Muslim.

The case was then taken to a higher police authority. The police responded by arresting 26 gang members. However, they were released quickly because tribal elders appealed to the government.

From Pink News

A Manchester Imam has allegedly stated that the execution of sexually active gay men is justified.

Arshad Misbahi, who is based at the Manchester Central Mosque, is said to have confirmed his views in a conversation to Dr John Casson, a local psychotherapist.

Casson told PinkNews I asked if the execution of gay Muslims in Iran and Iraq was an acceptable punishment in Sharia law, or the result of culture, not religion.

He told me that in a true Islamic state, such punishments were part of Islam: if the person had had a trial, at which four witnesses testified that they had seen the actual homosexual acts.

It is part of the central tenets of Islam: that sex outside marriage is forbidden; this is stated in the Koran and the prophet Mohammed had stated that these punishments were due to such behaviours.

George Broadhead, secretary of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association, said he was appalled by these comments. Given the explicit condemnation of homosexual practices and the punishments meted out to their perpetrators in Islamic holy texts, it is hardly surprising. GALHA has written to Manchester City Council asking it to publicly condemn this outrageous and dangerous expression of homophobia."

Peter Tatchell, of gay rights group OutRage!, said he was disturbed that British Islamic clergy would endorse the executions of gay and lesbian Muslims: Muslim and gay people know the pain of prejudice and discrimination. We should be working together to challenge homophobia and Islamophobia. I hope liberal Muslims will speak out in defence of the human rights of lesbians and gay men

From All Headline News

The editor of an English-language newspaper in Bangladesh was attacked and beaten by a Muslim mob earlier this month over his advocating ties with the Jewish state.

Weekly Blitz Editor Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, himself a Muslim, was attacked by a gang of at least 40 people on October 5 while working in his office in the capital city of Dhaka.

He was briefly hospitalized with a fractured ankle.

A statement released by the Weekly Blitz said that senior officials associated with the ruling Bangladeshi National Party took part in the lynching. One of them reportedly called Choudhury an "agent of the Jews" while mercilessly beating him.

Police made no arrests following the assault, and refused to allow Choudhury to press charges against his assailants.

Instead, Choudhury is the one going on trial, on charges of blasphemy, sedition, treason and espionage. Choudhury could be sentenced to death if found guilty.

Choudhury has won the hatred of many of his countrymen for publicly criticizing Muslim extremists and urging his government to recognize Israel and establish diplomatic relations with it.

From The Independent

A staff revolt at the Daily Star prevented publication of a spoof Islamic version of the paper called the "Daily Fatwa".

Muslim commentators said yesterday that the newspaper's attempt on Monday evening to mock Sharia law could have sparked international protests similar to those that followed publication by a Danish newspaper of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.

The mock-up "Daily Fatwa", which promised a "Page 3 Burkha Babes Special" and competitions to "Burn a Flag and Win a Corsa" and "Win hooks just like Hamza's", was prepared to run as page 6 in Wednesday's edition of the Daily Star.

But shortly before the Star was due to go to press on Tuesday evening, concerned members of the National of Journalists (NUJ) called an emergency meeting. After 25 minutes, the NUJ chapel passed a motion saying that the article was "deliberately offensive" to Muslims.

The motion read: The chapel fears that this editorial content poses a very serious risk of violent and dangerous reprisals from religious fanatics who may take offence at these articles. This may place the staff in great jeopardy. This chapel urges the management to remove the content immediately.

To the surprise of some of the journalists, the newspaper's management promptly complied.

Yesterday Ahmed Versi, editor of Muslim News, said that publication of the "Daily Fatwa" would have had major repercussions for the Star: This would have been like the cartoons issue. It would have created a huge, huge backlash and outcry. I'm quite sure there would have been huge demonstrations outside the paper by the weekend and internationally outside the British embassies because the paper would be seen as a British institution.

From The Guardian
See complete article

Every year, hundreds of schoolgirls disappear from the classroom. Should teachers be doing more to protect their students from forced marriages?

Barely able to speak for holding back tears, 16-year-old Nabila Hussein looks away as she struggles to keep herself together. She is shaking. She is contemplating how she would feel if her parents managed to force her to marry on a trip they are planning back home to Pakistan. Her parents are saying that they want to take her on the hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), but she is convinced this is a pretext for marrying her off to someone she has never met.

Nabila is one of many victims of "honour-based" violence, which, at its most extreme, can see young women of south Asian and Kurdish origin being murdered by their families. This kind of abuse has its roots in the cultural concept of women's chastity being in the control of the men in her family; any suggestion of independence is seen as defiling the family's reputation or "honour". It can occur in strict Muslim and also Sikh families.

When Aisha Ali, also 16, protested at her family's plans to marry her off, her father transformed from loving parent to violent abuser. She had already seen her sisters forcibly married on what they had all been told was a family trip to Pakistan. My dad used to always encourage me to get a job, do further education, and then he just changed and said I had to get married. He got violent, abusive, and said I'd lost the honour of our family. And once a girl does that, parents can do anything - they get the younger people in the family to do the killing, they don't do it themselves, they get the younger ones to do it

In June this year, the Home Office rejected calls by women's groups to criminalise forced marriage; however, following his speech at the Labour party conference, it seems the home secretary, John Reid, may be set to reconsider this decision.

The Forced Marriage Unit, launched in January 2005 and part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, deals with between 250 to 300 cases a year, most of which involve girls of school age. This figure, however, does not reflect the reality of the crisis; some cases will be dealt with by NGOs, others by social services, and many will never be discovered at all. At times, girls simply disappear.

At West Yorkshire police, former inspector Philip Balmforth, now the Bradford district's vulnerable persons officer responsible for Asian females, highlights a statistical analysis done several years ago by Bradford city council. It tracked 1,000 boys and 1,000 girls with Muslim names as they moved through school; at primary, for 1,000 boys on roll, there were 989 girls; by secondary, the 1,000 boys were still around, but the number of girls had dwindled to 860. Across the report the analyst had written: Where have all the girls gone? Balmforth, who gives talks to teachers and social workers, says the answer is that the girls have been taken to Bangladesh or Pakistan.

In such cases, by the time teachers notice girls have disappeared, it is frequently too late to do anything. The pattern that leads to forced marriage tends to run as follows: emotional blackmail, threats, beatings, imprisonment and kidnap. Young women can be experiencing all of these and still be attending school, albeit intermittently. And this offers a crucial window of opportunity for teachers to notice, assess and address the danger their charges may be in.

From The Independent

Forced marriage is on the rise within some of Britain's most isolated and radicalised communities - and the girls involved can be as young as 13.

The location of a safe house is a closely guarded secret. Its occupants are sworn to silence, its visitors forced to sign a strict confidentiality agreement. To break it would be to risk serious injury, even death, for those hidden inside.

Such near-paranoid caution might suggest its occupants are secret agents or violent criminals. In fact its inhabitants are teenage girls, sporting slogan T-shirts, reading fashion magazines and watching soap operas; all punishable crimes in the eyes of their strict Asian fathers. They have fled an increasingly recognised problem in Britain today - the practice of forcing young women into marriage with threats of violence, even death, if they disobey. Often naïve youngsters from protective communities, all the girls in the refuge were desperate enough to come here with nothing more than a small bundle of personal items, knowing they might never see their families - or return to their communities - again.

One of the last things 20-year-old Leyla Bashir's father said to her was, If you ever ran away I would find you and I would kill you. I would slit your throat. I wouldn't want anyone to think you got away with it. I don't care if I go to jail. After years of violent abuse, she believed him. Yet, three days later she walked out with a handful of clothes and cash.

Last year a bounty hunter, hired by the family of one girl, discovered the refuge. As he banged loudly on the front door, the charity managed to smuggle her out the back. Another girl was grabbed off the street. No one from the house has seen her since, powerless to do anything but inform the police.

During a maximum 1 year stay, the girls are taught basic living skills from learning to drive to finding homes for themselves. They are given counselling, take courses and search for work. The charity is determined to empower them rather than make them dependent, and the lack of facilities means they must move on as soon as they can stand on their own two feet.

The first refuge for victims of forced marriage in this country, Ashiana Network's safe house has only four beds. Clearly, it could do with more.

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office's Forced Marriage Unit hears of about 250 new cases of forced marriage every year - some of girls as young as 13. Ashiana dealt with 86 new cases in 2005. This, they believe, is just the tip of the iceberg - they only hear from those who have had the courage to walk away. Many more become victims of kidnap, marital incarceration, rape and abuse, or even the now all-too-familiar "honour killing".

Instead of the tradition of forced marriage dying off with the older generation it appears that some young men - isolated and radicalised in the current climate - are returning to such outmoded customs. A recent survey of 500 young British Asians - Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Muslims - provided a frightening insight into such thinking. One in 10, the BBC Asian Network survey revealed, believed that honour killings could be justified in cases where the family had been treated with disrespect.

Scotland Yard is taking the problem increasingly seriously, reopening murder cases to check whether they involved honour killings and investigating claims of forced marriages.

Only three months ago, the brother and cousin of Samaira Nazir, 25, were jailed for life after murdering her because they disapproved of the man she wanted to marry. They repeatedly knifed her in a "frenzied attack". More than 60 per cent of cases involve Muslim families, particularly Pakistani Muslim families, yet there is no faith foundation for it. A forced marriage in Islam is no marriage at all. The community has a responsibility. I hear dialogue from victims but I don't hear a great deal from Muslim men, says Nazir Afzal, the Crown Prosecution Service director for London West who was closely involved in the case.

Yet recently Commander Steve Allen, head of the Metropolitan police violent crime directorate, said the decision to drop proposed legislation to make forced marriages illegal - for fear of being culturally insensitive and stigmatising communities - had sent the wrong message out that such methods were condoned.

We need political and faith leaders from within these communities to stand up and utterly reject these practices, he said.

Ubhi believes the solution rests in more funding for refuges, counselling as well as education and raising awareness. In addition to finding safe houses where these women can build their confidence and learn to fend for themselves, there is also an outreach service for women in the community. While they find places for victims with other charities - or within their own domestic violence refuge - they insist the ideal situation is to place them in dedicated homes with others who understand their unique situation.

Surely Lloyds should ensure that people who refuse to supply legal medicine for whatever reason are not left in sole charge of a dispensary

From The Telegraph

A Muslim chemist repeatedly refused a mother the "morning after" pill because of his religious beliefs.

A woman with two children, was told that even though the item was in stock she should go to her doctor for her supplies.

When she was denied the pill at a Lloyds Pharmacy near her home in Thurcroft, Rotherham, she asked why and says she was told the pharmacist was a "deeply religious Muslim".

She said: I am a 37-year-old woman, not a daft girl who doesn't know what she's doing, and the chemist has no right to tell me whether I can or can't take the pill.

"It's my choice, not his. It's his religion, not mine. He's a dispensing chemist and his job is to dispense drugs.

A spokesman for Lloyds, which runs 1,300 UK pharmacies, apologised to the woman for her inconvenience.

But he referred to a "conscience clause" in the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain's ethics code, saying: It states that if supplying the morning-after pill is contrary to a pharmacist's personal, religious or moral beliefs they are entirely within their rights not to supply it.

Based on an article from Gulf Times

Indonesian lawmakers have amended controversial pornography legislation that would have jailed women for up to 10 years for showing their arms and legs, and banned public kissing and artwork depicting nudity.

The extremely repressive bill, pushed by Islamic-based political parties and which did not do much to combat the creation and distribution of pornography, caused public outrage and a national debate on Indonesia’s morals and religious values.

A special House of Representatives committee has completed a new version of the bill that members say is more amenable to women, artists and non-Muslims, The Jakarta Post reported.

Rustam Tamburaka, a committee member from the ruling Golkar faction, was quoted as saying traditional body-hugging Javanese attire for women and organ gourds worn by indigenous tribes in Papua were fine.

He also said the bill would not consider art exhibits depicting nudity or events like fashion shows as violating public morality.

Should this version of the bill be endorsed as it is, those models could stay in their professions without having to worry, Rustam said. However, it remained unclear whether articles banning women from wearing skirts or tank tops in public, or swimsuits on Indonesia’s countless beaches, were removed.

However, conservative Islamic political parties, backed by fundamentalist Muslim groups, continue to push legislation based on Islamic law, in hopes of turning Indonesia into an Islamic state by stealth.

See The Observer for complete article by Peter Beaumont

Abduction, rape and murder are the punishments for any woman who dares to hold a professional job. The Observer reveals the terrible reality of life after Saddam

They came for Dr Khaula al-Tallal. she was a woman in a country where being a female professional increasingly invites a death sentence. As al-Tallal walked towards her house she was raked her with bullets.

A women's rights campaigner, Umm Salam was the target of 15 bullets which were fired into her own car as she drove home from teaching at an internet cafe. Umm Salam saw the gun - a police-issue Glock. She is convinced her would-be assassin works for the state.

The shootings of al-Tallal and Umm Salam are not isolated incidents. Iraqis do not like to talk about it much, but there is an understanding of what is going on these days. If a young woman is abducted and murdered without a ransom demand, she has been kidnapped to be raped. Even those raped and released are not necessarily safe: the response of some families to finding that a woman has been raped has been to kill her.

Iraq's women are living with a fear that is increasing in line with the numbers dying violently every month. They die for being a member of the wrong sect and for helping their fellow women. They die for doing jobs that the militants have decreed that they cannot do: for working in hospitals and ministries and universities. They are murdered, too, because they are the softest targets for Iraq's criminal gangs.

Iraq's women live in terror of speaking their opinions; of going out to work; or defying the strict new prohibitions on dress and behaviour applied across Iraq by Islamist militants, both Sunni and Shia. They live in fear of their husbands, too, as women's rights have been undermined by the country's postwar constitution that has taken power from the family courts and given it to clerics.

After a month-long investigation, The Observer has established that in almost every major area of human rights, women are being seriously discriminated against, in some cases seeing their conditions return to those of females in the Middle Ages. Some women have been threatened with death unless they wear the full abbaya, the black, all-encompassing veil.

Strong anecdotal evidence gathered by organisations suggests rape is also being used as a weapon in the sectarian war to humiliate families from rival communities.

Similar stories are emerging across Iraq. 'Of course rape is going on,' says Aida Ussayaran, former deputy Human Rights Minister and now one of the women on the Council of Representatives. 'We blame the militias. But when we talk about the militias, many are members of the police. Any family now that has a good-looking young woman in it does not want to send her out to school or university, and does not send her out without a veil. This is the worst time ever in Iraqi women's lives. In the name of religion and sectarian conflict they are being kidnapped and killed and raped. And no one is mentioning it.'

Women activists are convinced there is substantial under-reporting of crimes against women in some areas, particularly involving 'honour killing' - there is a massive increase against a background of pervasive violence - and that families often seek death certificates that will hide the cause.

The situation has been exacerbated by the undermining of Iraq's old Family Code, established in 1958, which guaranteed women a large measure of equality in key areas such as divorce and inheritance. The new constitution has allowed the Family Code to be superseded by the power of the clerics and new religious courts, with the result that it is largely discriminatory against women. The clerics have permitted the creeping re-emergence of men contracting multiple marriages, formerly discouraged by the old code. It is these clerics, too, who have permitted a sharp escalation in the 'pleasure marriages'. And it is the same clerics overseeing the rapid transformation of a once secular society - in which women held high office and worked as professors, doctors, engineers and economists - into one where women have been forced back under the veil and into the home. The result is mapped out every day on Iraq's streets and in its country lanes in individual acts of intimidation and physical brutality that build into an awful whole.

From Blogger News

Due to the protests of a Christian group, the Indian distributor of Slayer’s new album, Christ Illusion, has recalled all copies of the CD. The company does not plan to re-release it in any form.

This is, officially, a private decision between the distributor and a non-governmental activist organization, the Catholic Secular Forum. However, a strong cloud of censorship hangs over the issue, as India has a “Censor Board” that forced distributors of The Da Vinci Code to include a warning with the text. CSF has, in the past, lobbied for the government to ban controversial works.

A more insightful update from MediawatchWatch

Indian Christians have forced EMI to withdraw American thrash metal band Slayer’s new album because the cover art offended them.

Joseph Dias of the Catholic Secular Forum denounced Slayer’s Christ Illusion album as “offensive and in very bad taste”.

EMI have released a censored version of the album, with the offending image obscured by the band’s name. [See above, It seems that most online shops etc seem to prefer the censored version]

Thanks to Dan for pointing out the most hate filled Christian website on the planet: www.godhatesfags.com

From Patriot News who do such sterling work to oppose these hateful nutters

Members of a Kansas-based church that has picketed funerals of fallen American soldiers are expected to protest at the funerals of the Amish girls killed Monday in Lancaster County, according to a news release issued by the church.

The Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka blamed Gov. Ed Rendell for the mass murder of the five girls in a one-room schoolhouse because he ridiculed the church on a national television news show, the news release said.

The church said nothing about the man who shot and killed the girls and wounded five other girls. He was identified as Charles Carl Roberts IV of Bart.

Members of the church have been in the national spotlight after picketing at funerals of soldiers killed in action. The church says the military deaths are God's punishment for tolerance of gay people.

Update: The picket was eventually cancelled after the nutters were given a slot on TV

Based on an article from Rediff News

The Markaz-ud-Dawa, the political wing of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, is reported to have issued a fatwa calling upon Muslims to kill Pope Benedict XVI for his September 12 speech, which has been projected as anti-Islam by Al Qaeda and other jihadi terrorist organisations.

A report on the the fatwa, carried by the Pakistani journal Ausaf says: Pakistan's Jamaat-ud-Dawa has issued a fatwa asking the Muslim community to kill Pope Benedict for his blasphemous statement about Prophet Mohammad.

The Jamaat-ud-Dawa has declared death to Pope Benedict and said that in today's world blasphemy of the Holy Koran and the Prophet has become a fashion. The leaders of the Jamaat were speaking at a Martyrs' Islamic Conference in Karachi. Prominent Jamaat leader Hafiz Saifullah Khalid said that in the present circumstances, jihad has become obligatory for each Muslim. Muslims are being declared terrorists and our battle for survival has already started. The Muslim world has rejected the Pope's apology and decided to continue protests and demonstrations in big cities.

The Pope's apology is just a drama and no political leader has any power to pardon him. It is part of a crusade initiated by the US in the name of terrorism. Instead of accepting fake apologies, Muslims should realise Europe's enmity towards Islam and Muslim Ummah should prepare itself to defend its faith. Jamaat-ud-Dawa leader Hafiz Abdur Rahman Makki said the West and Europe have started a campaign against the Holy Koran and the Prophet and have abused jihad. We should take appropriate steps to deal with the champions of crusade. It is time for Muslim leaders to open their eyes and understand that the West had never been a friend of the Muslims and will never be so.

Based on an article from Florida Baptist Witness

NBC is planning to show the Madonna concert in its entirety while winding up nutters by requiring biblical messages to be edited out of the popular VeggieTales children's show, Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council, said in a letter to an NBC executive Sept. 20.

A centerpiece of Madonna's global "Confessions" tour has been where she performs a song called Live to Tell while suspended on a giant cross wearing a crown of thorns, and NBC plans to air the concert in November.

Bozell said Madonna's mock crucifixion is the entertainer doing her utmost to deliberately insult the Christian faith. What he is saying, loudly and unequivocally, is that NBC's official position is that it is appropriate to insult Christians. This attitude toward Christianity is inexcusable. It's also a shocking double standard.

Meanwhile, NBC has started airing episodes of VeggieTales in its Saturday morning cartoon lineup but has asked that all references to biblical or evangelical messages be edited out.

The show's creator Phil Vischer said there was some initial miscommunication about what would have to be edited before the heavily Bible-centered cartoons could be broadcast on NBC, according to AgapePress: We can tell Bible stories, what we can't do is really turn to the audience and preach at them.

Based on an article from The Bosh

The NBC network is planning to censor Madonna. The portion of the 'Live to Tell' song in which Madonna sings suspended from a giant cross and wearing a crown of thorns will not be shown in the broadcast. Instead, cameras will cut to other shots or images while Madonna is on the cross.

She steps away from the cross to finish the song.

A spokeswoman says the network doesn't discuss how its editorial decisions are made.

NBC did the right thing, but the fact that it did not say why the offensive part of Madonna's concert was cut shows cowardice, said Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League

From The Telegraph

Spanish villages are abandoning the centuries-old tradition of burning effigies of the Prophet Mohammed for fear of offending Muslims.

The annual festivals, across Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands, feature locals donning medieval costumes to re-enact battles between "Moors and Christians" during the Reconquista (reconquest) period.

The fiestas celebrate events in 1492, when the Catholic kings of northern Spain defeated and expelled Muslim forces, ending more than 800 years of Moorish rule in the Iberian peninsula.

Traditionally the festivities have culminated with the burning of mannequins of the Mahoma, a figure based on the Prophet Mohammed to represent the final defeat of Islam in the region. In some villages the head of the figure was stuffed with gunpowder and detonated with a cigar, while in others the dummy was decapitated and its head flung from the castle walls.

But, according to reports, local authorities have toned down the rituals to preserve Muslim sensibilities and avoid a repeat of the furore that followed last year's publication of Danish cartoons of the Prophet.

From NCRI

Amnesty International is maintaining a list of women in danger of being killed by stoning in Iran.

The Iranian Head of the Judiciary announced a moratorium on the use of stoning in December 2002, but reports indicate a man and a woman may have been stoned to death in May 2006.

Parisa was arrested in April 2004, while working as a prostitute in the city of Shiraz in southern Iran. She confessed to the charge of adultery during the preliminary investigations, claiming that she had been forced into prostitution by her husband due to the family’s poverty. Her trial took place in June 2004, during which Parisa retracted her confession. Nevertheless, on 21 June 2004, Branch 5 of Fars province Criminal Court sentenced her to death by stoning for adultery. The sentence was upheld by Branch 32 of the Supreme Court on 15 November 2005. Her case is currently being reviewed by the Supreme Court. Parisa is detained in Adelabad prison in Shiraz.

Iran, an Ahwazi Arab from the Bakhtiari clan, was reportedly talking to the son of a neighbour in the courtyard of her house, when her husband attacked her with a knife. She was badly beaten and left bleeding and unconscious on the floor. While she was unconscious, it is alleged that the man killed her husband with his own knife. While police were interrogating her about the killing, Iran reportedly confessed to adultery with the son of her neighbour. However she later retracted her confession. A court in a city in Khuzestan sentenced her to five years' imprisonment for being an accomplice in the murder of her husband, and to execution by stoning for adultery. The verdict was upheld by the Supreme Court in April 2006. Her lawyer has appealed against the sentence. She is detained in Sepidar prison, in Ahvaz city.

Khayrieh, an Ahwazi Arab, was reportedly subjected to domestic violence by her husband. She allegedly began an affair with a relative of her husband, who then murdered him. She was sentenced to death by Branch 3 of Behbahan Court, in Khuzestan in southwestern Iran, for being an accomplice in the murder of her husband, and death by stoning for adultery. Khayrieh has denied any involvement in her husband’s murder, but confessed to adultery. The sentence was upheld, and the case has reportedly been sent to the Head of the Judiciary for permission to be implemented. Talking about her fate, Khayrieh said “I am ready to be hanged, but they should not stone me. They could strangle you and you would die, but it is very difficult to have stones hitting you in the head”.

Shamameh Ghorbani (also known as Malek), arrested in June 2005, was sentenced to execution by stoning for adultery by a court in Oromieh in June 2006. She is reportedly held in Oromieh prison. Her brothers and husband reportedly murdered a man that they found in her house, and she too was nearly killed after they stabbed her with a knife. Shamameh Ghorbani’s case is reportedly being re-examined.

Kobra Najjar, who is detained in Tabriz prison in northwestern Iran, is at imminent risk of execution. She was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment for being an accomplice to the murder of her husband, and execution by stoning for adultery. She was scheduled to be executed after serving her prison sentence, which was finished two years ago. She has reportedly written to the Judicial Commission for Amnesty to ask for her sentence of execution by stoning to be commuted, and is awaiting a reply. Kobra Najjar was allegedly forced into prostitution by her husband, a heroin addict who was violent towards her. In 1995, after a severe beating by her husband, she told one of her regular customers that she wanted to kill her husband. The customer allegedly murdered her husband after Kobra Najjar took him to an arranged meeting place. He was sentenced to death, but he was pardoned by the victim’s family, to whom he paid diyeh (blood money).

Soghra Mola’i was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for being an accomplice to the murder in January 2004 of her husband Abdollah, and to execution by stoning for adultery. During interrogation she said “My husband usually tormented me. Nevertheless, I did not intend to kill him. On the night of the incident … after Alireza killed my husband, I ran away with him because I was scared to stay at home, thinking that my brothers-in-law would kill me.” Alireza was sentenced to death for the murder of Soghra Mola'i’s husband, and to 100 lashes for "illicit relations". The sentences are pending examination by the Supreme Court. It is believed that Soghra Mola’i is detained in Reja'i Shahr prison, Karaj, near Tehran.

In May 2005, Branch 71 of the Tehran Province Criminal Court sentenced Fatemeh (surname unknown) to retribution (qesas) for being an accomplice to murder, and execution by stoning for having an ‘illicit relationship’ with a man named Mahmoud. Her husband was sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment for being an accomplice to the murder of Mahmoud. The case is currently being examined in the Supreme Court. According to a May 2005 report in the newspaper Etemad, an altercation occurred between Mahmoud, and Fatemeh’s husband. Fatemeh confessed to tying a rope around Mahmoud’s throat, which resulted in his strangulation. She has claimed that she intended merely to tie his hands and feet after he was unconscious and hand him over to the police.

From the BBC

One year on from the publication of 12 cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, Danes are still trying to understand how the images led to the country's biggest international crisis since World War II.

Many Danes point the finger at a small group of extremist imams who travelled to Egypt and Lebanon to tell Muslims about the provocative pictures.

It was the trip that ignited a campaign against all things Danish. Others blame Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen for refusing to meet Muslim ambassadors in Copenhagen early on in the row.

The Danish government has consistently argued the cartoon row was about freedom of expression. One year on, the prime minister is confident he handled the crisis correctly.

My conclusion is that freedom of speech is the most valuable right of liberty. We must defend it to the very last, Rasmussen said: Across the world, there is respect that we didn't give in to the pressure of fanatical Muslim groups. In many places, the story has put Denmark on the map and, except for a few countries, we have seen almost exclusively positive reactions.

As the row turned international, traders and supermarkets across the Arab world began boycotting Danish goods. The latest figures from Danish Industry suggest that export of Danish foods to Muslim countries has fallen 35% while other European countries have seen a 10% rise in exports to the same region.

However, the diplomatic crisis seems to have passed. Last week, the Saudi Arabian ambassador returned to the Danish capital and all Danish embassies have re-opened.

For most Danes, the row is in the past. However, 10 of the 12 cartoonists have still not appeared in public - for them the crisis is not over yet.

From MediawatchWatch

Norwegian TV channel TV2 will tonight air a documentary about the Mohammed cartoon crisis. Entitled Threatened To Silence, the documentary wouldn’t make much sense if it didn’t actually show the 12 cartoons about which a large number of Muslims were encouraged to throw a collective hissy fit - so it will.

The journalist behind the doc, Per Christian Magnus, says: I believe this is a very important act in the fight for freedom of speech. I can personally vouch for the finished product, and I guarantee that only journalistic considerations has been taken into account when considering what’s going to be shown and what’s not.

From the China Post

A Danish court ruled on Thursday that a newspaper did not libel Muslims by printing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad that unleashed a storm of protests in the Islamic world.

Seven Danish Muslim organizations brought the case, saying the paper had libelled them with the images by implying Muslims were terrorists. One cartoon depicted Mohammad with a bomb in his turban.

Jyllands-Posten, which published the 12 drawings in September last year, hailed the ruling, saying any other outcome would have been a catastrophe for a free press.

Of course it cannot be excluded that the drawings offended some Muslims, the Aarhus court said in its ruling: But there is no sufficient reason to assume that the cartoons are or were intended to be insulting ... or put forward ideas that could hurt the standing of Muslims in society.

The ruling said some of the cartoons did not depict Mohammad or have a religious subject, while others fell outside the scope of defamation laws. But the court did find that three of the cartoons fell within what the law could deem as insulting.

The court ordered the seven organizations to pay the paper's court expenses. A Muslim imam said the plaintiffs would continue to fight in higher courts.

In March, Danish prosecutors declined to press charges against the newspaper under Danish blasphemy and anti-racism laws

From Christian Today

Attacks on Iraq Christians Intensify as Extremists Call for More Violence During Ramadan.

A car bomb has exploded outside a cathedral in Baghdad, Iraq, as anti-Christian violence continues in the troubled nation. In addition to this bomb, two further attacks took place on a church in Mosul.

The car bomb in Baghdad killed 2 and injured in 17, with the death toll rising further as attacks on Christians in Iraq occur on a regular basis.

Attacks are committed so frequently now that western media often no longer reports on the alarming situation. Christians groups in the area are pleading for help, and as a small minority in the country they remain highly vulnerable.

The Barnabas Fund offers support to Christian communities in places where they face persecution and poverty. The organisation reported that a cathedral of the Ancient Church of the East suffered a double attack apparently designed to maximise casualties, on Sunday 24 September.

Barnabas Fund reports: “First, there was a small explosion under the car of the church minister as worshippers were leaving the church. Shortly after this, a much larger car bomb exploded on the other side of the narrow street seemingly intended to target the crowd who had gathered to help with the casualties caused by the first attack.

These two explosions resulted in two people being killed, one a security guard for the church and the other a child. There were also at least 17 injured, of whom 9 were members of the church. Two of these remain in a critical condition. The cathedral itself was badly damaged.

In addition, in the Iraqi city of Mosul, a church was attacked when armed men fired around 80 shots.

Barnabas Fund explains: There was no service in progress at the time and no one was killed or injured. Some damage was done to the eastern part of the church building and some windows were broken. Christians courageously went to the church for an evening service later in the day. Two days later on Tuesday, September 26 the same church was attacked with rockets and an explosive device detonated outside a door. There were no casualties.

Barnabas Fund told: It should also be noted that the latest three attacks have fallen with the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began last Sunday. Ramadan is often a time when Christians experience greater hostility from Muslims. Some Islamists in Iraq have called for more violence during Ramadan.”