Trevor Blake: Islam in the News
Terror suspect refuses to stand in court: the men were seeking a fatwa, or religious ruling, to justify their plot.
Kidnapped boys ‘brainwashed’ to die as suicide bombers: They had all been kidnapped by the Taliban and taken to camps where they would be trained to kill; trained to be suicide bombers.
Woman journalist rejects offer of immunity from prosecution for wearing trousers: She was arrested in a restaurant in the capital with other women earlier this month for wearing “indecent” clothing – trousers. She said ten of the women arrested with her, including non-Muslims, each received ten lashes and a fine.
Muslims welcome police scarf move: Avon and Somerset Police is issuing head coverings to its female officers so they can enter mosques. The force says the move will help its officers respect Muslim religious customs while carrying out their job.
Man loses his tongue, and blinded in one eye after Muslim ‘honour’ attack in London: Two men have appeared in court after the suspected lover of a married Muslim woman in east London had acid thrown in his face and was stabbed twice in the back in a possible “honour attack”.
Arrests in submerged car deaths: The Whig-Standard learned that Kingston Police have been investigating, for at least two weeks, the allegation that the deaths were an honour killing.
Taliban buying children for suicide bombers: Pakistan’s top Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, is buying children as young as 7 to serve as suicide bombers in the growing spate of attacks against Pakistani, Afghan and U.S. targets, U.S. Defense Department and Pakistani officials say.
Syria amends honour killing law: The new law replaces the existing maximum sentence of one year in jail with a minimum jail term of two years.
Ezra Levant talks about his fight for freedom of speech: Canadian magazine publisher Ezra Levant became famous as the first and only person prosecuted for printing the controversial “Danish Mohamed” cartoons.
Somalis watch double amputations: Hardline Islamists in Somalia have carried out double amputations on four men for stealing phones and guns. They have each had a hand and foot cut off after being convicted by a Sharia court in the capital earlier this week.
Muslim Countries Lead in Human Trafficking: Muslim countries in the Middle East and north-central Africa lead the world in human trafficking, according to a new U.S. State Department report. Of the 17 countries that were given the “Tier 3″ listing reserved for the worst offenders, nine were Muslim countries or countries with a large Muslim population from these two regions.
Police arrest ‘homosexuals’ at party: While the kingdom has faced criticism from human rights organisations, it insists that it always acts in accordance with Sunni Islamic law.
Taliban beat musicians, shaved their heads and left them tied to trees overnight because they performed at a wedding: They believe music is un-Islamic. Why? Hadith Qudsi 19:5: “The Prophet said that Allah commanded him to destroy all the musical instruments, idols, crosses and all the trappings of ignorance.”
Here is hope for the Muslim world: secular reform, in the way that Christianity has undergone secular reform in the West. The Bible of Christianity contains all manor of absurd and atrocious commandments, but the Christian world has found it possible to ignore them. Leading the way out of darkness are Irshad Manji, the Institution for the Secularization of Islamic Society, and the nation of Turkey among others. The alternative is for the Muslim world to keep on killing its own, keep on killing others and keep on its mission to conquer the world or die trying.
