According to a video from Al-Jazeera, Taliban fighters in Afghanistan are viewing negotiations with the United States and NATO as a victory.

 According to the below news video, an Iraqi mother has been arrested and charged with a felony-for allegedly tying up and padalocking her daughter to a bed and then beating her. This punishment, it has been alleged, is in response to one of her daughters talking to a man.  The mother is seen in the video below saying,  ”In America not allowed to hit the girls, we don’t know about this.”

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CBS-Denver

According to an article in the Guardian, dated 10 February 2012, the government of Saudi Arabia used the Interpol system to arrest a journalist. Twenty-three year old, Hamza Kashgari, was arrested in Malaysia.

Here are some brief excerpts from the article:

Kashgari, a newspaper columnist, fled Saudi Arabia after posting a tweet on the
prophet’s birthday that sparked more than 30,000 responses and several death
threats. The posting, which was later deleted, read: “I have loved things about
you and I have hated things about you and there is a lot I don’t understand
about you … I will not pray for you.”

More than 13,000 people joined a Facebook page titled “The Saudi People Demand
the Execution of Hamza Kashgari”.

Clerics in Saudi Arabia called for him to be charged with apostasy, a religious
offence punishable by death. Reports suggest that the Malaysian authorities
intend to return him to his native country (Saudi Arabia)…

Interpol, which has 190 member countries, has a series of coloured notice systems
that police forces around the world use to pass on requests for help. Contacted at
its headquarters in Lyon, France, the organisation did not immediately reply to
requests for comment on the Kashgari case.

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The Guardian

According to an article at The Daily Caller, the US Department of State is meeting with numerous Islamic countries who demand the USA curb individual free speech and punish people who criticize Islam and its prophet. Among these countires is Pakistan, Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Here are some brief excerpts from the article:

The State Department began a three-day, closed-door meeting Monday to talk about
U.S. free speech…with representatives from numerous Islamic governments that have
lobbied for 12 years to end U.S. citizens’ ability to speak freely about Islam’s history
and obligations.

Free speech advocates slammed the event…but it was defended by Hannah Rosenthal,
who heads the agency’s office to curb anti-Semitism.

The meeting is a great success, she said, because governments in the multinational
Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have dropped their demand that criticism
of Islamic ideas be treated as illegal defamation. Member countries include Pakistan,
Iran, Saudia Arabia and Qatar.

In exchange for dropping the demand, she said, they’re getting “technical assistance
[to] build institutions to ensure there will be religious freedom” in their countries, she
told The Daily Caller.

“That’s a joke,” said Andrea Lafferty, a conservative activist…

Rosenthal’s claim that the OIC is accepting freedom of speech and religion implies
revolutionary changes in Islamic countries…because Islamic texts set myriad laws for
behavior, and sharply restrict non-Muslim religions, free speech and women’s rights…
If the OIC countries are giving up on their religious obligation to ban criticism of Islam,
she said, “does this mean that Pakistan is no longer going to kill Christians and kill
religious minorities? … Are women in Saudi Arabia going to vote, to drive, …?”

“We hope so,” said Rosenthal, who added that such progress will not occur rapidly…

Clinton’s statement was issued at Istanbul, where the United States and the OIC launched
the joint project to combat “religious intolerance.”

…OIC officials spent 12 years lobbying for a U.N. resolution that would declared criticism
of religion to be defamation…

In March, the OIC dropped the defamation resolution in exchange for passage of a
resolution in the Human Rights Committee, dubbed 16/18.

This week’s State Department meeting is intended to begin implementing the 16/18
decision…

Another meeting is slated for February or March…

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The Daily Caller
Creeping Sharia

The BBC reports that the Canadian government has banned the wearing of veils for individuals wishing to take the oath of citizenship. One of the reasons given by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration-according to the article-appears to be that question of whether or not the applicant was actually reciting the oath.

Here are some brief excerpts from the article:

Canada’s government has introduced a ban on the wearing of veils while
swearing the oath of citizenship.

Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney told a news conference
in Montreal anyone wanting to become a Canadian would have to show their face.
He said citizenship judges and MPs had complained it could be hard to tell if
veiled applicants were actually reciting the oath…
Mr Kenney dismissed the idea that the ban could infringe the religious freedom
of those taking the oath…

“This is a public act of witness in front of your fellow citizens, in front of the law
and you should be willing to show yourself in that public act of witness. I think
it’s very straightforward.”

Mr Kenney also announced further language requirements for new immigrants.
Some European countries are also debating the issue. France and Belgium have
introduced a ban on wearing the full Islamic veil in public.

Links to more articles, on this story, can be found below…
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BBC
Reuters

An interesting video popped-up on the website of the folks over at CreepingSharia. The YouTube posted video appears to be part of a documentary on Muslims in the United Kingdom (UK).

Links to more articles, on this story, can be found below
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CreepingSharia

The Hajj season begins. An article at CNN goes over some of the details of this year’s Hajj activities. Here are some brief excerpt from the article.

Millions of Muslims from around the world were in the holy city of Mecca on
Saturday for the first day of Hajj, the annual pilgrimage that every
able-bodied Muslim is expected to perform at least once in his or her life…

This year’s pilgrimage is unique as it is the first to happen since the Arab
Spring began last year.

Some experts are watching for potential flare-ups in Saudi Arabia, a country
governed by an unelected royal family and where freedoms are limited.

The pilgrims this year have come from 183 countries, the Saudi Press Agency
reported. About 54% of the pilgrims are male.

U.S. President Barack Obama released a statement of (sic) Saturday to coincide
with the start of Hajj…

“Michelle and I extend our greetings for a happy Eid al-Adha to Muslims
worldwide and congratulate those performing Hajj…

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CNN

An article in the St. Petersburg Times (25 October 2011) reports that a Florida Appeals court has apparently upheld the use of Islamic Law (Sharia) by a judge considering the disposition of Mosque assets. Surprisingly, it was actually the intneded use, by the judge, to use sharia that prompted the Islamic Education Center of Tampa to challenge its use.

Here are some brief excerpts from the article:

In a case that has attracted national attention, the 2nd District Court of
Appeal on Friday denied without comment a petition to prevent Judge Richard
Nielsen from invoking Islamic law.

The petition, filed by the Islamic Education Center of Tampa, contested a
March ruling by Nielsen announcing his intent to use “ecclesiastical Islamic
law” in the case…

Like everything else in the litigation, the meaning of the appeals court
ruling is in dispute.

Attorney Paul Thanasides, representing the mosque, said an appeals court
decision without a written opinion means the court wasn’t addressing the merits
of the case.

Thanasides said the U.S. Constitution and Florida law prevent Nielsen from
following Islamic law. On Monday, he filed a motion with the judge asking him
to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction…

“Florida law is clear that courts may not decide corporate governance disputes
involving religious organizations,” the motion said…

At the time of Nielsen’s original decision, the political atmosphere was already
charged with debate that Islamic law had gained a toehold in U.S. courts.

Even before Nielsen’s ruling, two Florida lawmakers, Sen. Alan Hays and Rep. Larry
Metz, announced legislation to prevent the use of any foreign legal code being
applied in state courts.

The legislation was not adopted by Florida lawmakers.

In May, the Center for Security Policy released a study that evaluated 50 appellate
court cases in 23 states involving issues related to Islamic law.

The study noted Islamic law has been “formally recognized” in state courts.

Links to more articles, on this story, can be found below:
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St. Petersburg Times

According to an article at the Heritage Foundation, the new internationally recognized transitional government of Libya has released a draft version of Libya’s new constitution.

A copy of what is reported to be the draft constitution is available for viewing on their website.

Here is a brief excerpt from the article:

But despite the Lockean tenor of much of the constitution, the inescapable
clause lies right in Part 1, Article 1: “Islam is the Religion of the State, and
the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence (Sharia).”

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The Heritage Foundation

According to an article in the British publication Daily Mail (28 July 2011) these stickers are cropping up in areas the government has said violent extremism is a problem.

Here are some brief excerpts from the article:

Islamic extremists have launched a poster campaign across the UK proclaiming
areas where Sharia law enforcement zones have been set up…

The bright yellow messages daubed on bus stops and street lamps have already
been seen across certain boroughs in London and order that in the ‘zone’ there
should be ‘no gambling’, ‘no music or concerts’, ‘no porn or prostitution’,
‘no drugs or smoking’ and ‘no alcohol’…

In the past week, dozens of streets in the London boroughs of Waltham Forest,
Tower Hamlets and Newham have been targeted, raising fears that local residents
may be intimidated or threatened for flouting ‘Islamic rules’…

the banned militant group Islam4UK, warned: ‘We now have hundreds if not
thousands of people up and down the country willing to go out and patrol the
streets for us and a print run of between 10,000 and 50,000 stickers ready for
distribution.

‘There are 25 areas around the country which the Government has earmarked
as areas where violent extremism is a problem. ‘We are going to go to all these
same areas and implement our own Sharia-controlled zones.

The campaign comes just months after stickers proclaiming a ‘gay-free zone’
and appearing to reference the religious Islamic text of the Koran appeared in
Tower Hamlets.

Women in parts of East London including Tower Hamlets have been threatened
with violence and even death by Islamic extremists if they did not wear headscarves.

Links to more articles, on this story can be found below.
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MailOnline

Links to more articles, on this story, can be found below.
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Fiqh Council of North America

Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that Yosef Nadarkhani,
a 32 year-old Iranian evangelical pastor, must reject his Christian faith
or be put to death. It’s the latest incident in the Islamist Republic’s
continuous and increased assault on its small Christian population.

Nadarkhani was first arrested on the charge of apostasy (leaving Islam for
another faith) in October 2009 and sentenced to death by hanging for his
refusal to teach Islam to Christian children. While Nadarkhani hadn’t practiced
any faith before he became a Christian at age 19, he was born to Muslim parents
and thus considered to be a Muslim under Islamic law.

As such, Nadarkhani’s conviction was upheld in September 2010 by a lower
Iranian court when it found that he had proven his apostasy by “organizing
evangelistic meetings, sharing his faith, inviting others to convert, and
running a house church.” At that point, Nadarkhani appealed to Iran’s Supreme
Court to have his death sentence reversed but that appeal has now been rejected.

…Nadarkhani now stands to be the first Iranian Christian executed for
apostasy since 1990.

Ironically, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah finds himself unable to provide his client
further legal assistance…he has just been sentenced by an Iranian court
to nine years in jail and a ten year ban on practicing law for “actions and
propaganda against the Islamic regime.”

…Nadarkhani’s case has also brought an outcry of protest from
a bevy of Christian organizations and human rights groups. One such group,
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), has pressed the Iranian government to
honor its adherence to the International Covenant for Civil and Political
Rights (ICPPR), a treaty which Iran signed and one which “guarantees freedom
of religion and freedom to change one’s religion or belief.”

…While Iran’s government has claimed that it tolerates other religions –
often citing Christians “protected” religious minority status under the
Iranian Constitution — the reality is far different. According to the 2010
State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report, Iran’s religious
minorities — which represent 2 percent of its population — face “substantial
societal discrimination.”

…the Iranian government has been targeting Iran’s growing network of “house
churches.” While the Iranian government allows officially sanctioned Christian
churches, they are closely monitored by Iranian authorities. To avoid that
scrutiny, Iranian Christians — many of whom are former Muslims — congregate
in private residences for prayer and Bible readings.

…For a regime whose survival necessitates total control over its citizenry,
that poses a particularly difficult problem for Iran’s Islamic authorities.
Moreover, that threat has only grown stronger since the internal unrest that
began in 2009 after the disputed election of Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad.

…in the fall of 2010 when Iran’s Islamic leaders began publicly attacking
the house churches. That verbal assault culminated in a speech in October
2010 by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in which he denounced
the growth of private house churches that “threaten Islamic faith and deceive
young Muslims.”

…From December 2010 through January 2011, it has been estimated that Iranian
authorities arrested over 120 Iranian Christians, most of whom were converts
from Islam. Since January 2011 an additional 285 Christians in 35 Iranian cities
have reportedly been arrested.

One of these detainees is Farshid Fathi who — according to the Iranian Christian
news agency Mohabat — was jailed without charge in December 2010, kept in
solitary confinement, and subjected to psychological torture in an effort to
“extract information on Christian networks in Iran.”

However, the whereabouts of people like Fathi are at least known. Others aren’t
so lucky. According to Iranian Pastor Hormoz Shariat of the International
Antioch Ministries, “Most often the Revolutionary Guards arrest and don’t even
tell their family. They can’t have a lawyer, not even a formal charge. Sometimes
they get killed without even a formal charge.”

…Iranian Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi declared only last week, “We
must end the Christian movement.”

Links to more articles, an this story, can be found below.
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Assyrian News Agency

According to an article at Arab News, the Kuwaiti government has suspended thousands of citizenship applications. These applications for citizenship, made by foreign women who have married Kuwaiti men, appear to be causing problems. Kuwait is rushing to fill in some legal loopholes they seem to be slipping through. According to the article, the final legislation is being complicated by the Kuwaiti Fatwa and Legislation department.

Here are some brief excerpts from the article:

About 3,000 citizenship applications of expatriate women who are married
to Kuwaitis have been suspended since 2007 for the Interior Ministry to
adopt an alternative proposal to grant the Kuwaiti citizenship according
to Article 8 of Citizenship Law and file loopholes in the current law…

Sources revealed two proposals in this domain. First of all, the wives of
Kuwaiti citizens will be treated as Kuwaiti women. However, this proposal
has been rejected by the Fatwa and Legislation Department, seeing the
proposal includes many loopholes that contradict the Kuwaiti Constitution…

According to the proposal, foreigners who are married to Kuwaiti men will
be granted the citizenship and passport. However, the citizenship will be
withdrawn in line with an Interior Ministry decision if the woman is
involved in any case of dishonor and dishonesty…

…wives holding this category of citizenship will not be allowed to sponsor
another husband, in case of divorce, or hold commercial licenses. They will
neither be allowed to bring in visitors through commercial or work visas.

Sources indicated that the prerogatives will be restricted to gaining
assistance as a Kuwaiti citizen, obtaining the Kuwaiti passport, education and work.

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Arab News

According to an article at CNS News (03 June 2011), a Muslim group called MyPeace is starting an ad campaign.  Here are some of the headlines they will reportedly be putting on billboards and buses:

• JESUS a Prophet of Islam
• Holy Quran: The Final Testament
• Muhammed: Mercy to Mankind
• Islam: Got Questions? Get Answers

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CNSnews.com

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According to a report by WJBK Fox News-Detroit (02 May 2011), a twenty year-old woman was killed by her step-father in what appears to be an honor killing. Jessica Mokedad was apparently killed by her stepfather, Rahim Alfetlawi. Jessica, assisted by friends, fled her family home in Minnesota and settled in Michigan. Despite the distance, and after several failed attempts, her stepfather finally tracked her down.
 
 
Here are some brief excerpts from the article:

“I was in Minnesota, and he called me, my husband, and said, ‘I am turning myself into
the police. I smacked Jessica,’” said mother Wendy Alfetlawi.

However, Warren Police say Rahim Alfetlawi didn’t slap his stepdaughter, he shot her.

Police discovered 20-year-old Jessica Mokedad’s lifeless body inside her grandmother’s
home…

Jessica’s friends say this tragic ending was years in the making. Mokedad grew up in
Minnesota with her mother and her stepfather.

“He won’t let her out of his eyesight,” Ali Alfetlawi said.

“He was too overbearing, over controlling — things I thought that were just normal,
strict parenting really. Now, when I look back, I say no, it was too much,” Wendy
Alfetlawi said.

He forced her to wear a traditional head scarf instead of allowing her to make that
decision on her own, and when she stopped wearing a scarf, friends say he became
furious…

She packed up all her stuff. She told me she put it in a bush. She acted like she was
taking out the garbage so he wouldn’t see all her stuff packed,” Chuba said.

Jessica left Minnesota and moved to Michigan, but despite the hundreds of miles
between them, friends say he tracked her every move.

“Every time he would call her, it would just seem like he had just like some sick
obsession. It wasn’t just like a stepfather-daughter relationship. It was something
else,” one friend said.

“He came here a couple times, but never found her,” Chuba told FOX 2.

That is until last Friday…

Alfetlawi has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bond.

 
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WJBK Fox News-Detroit

The Copenhagen Post (03 May 2011) reports that the President of the Free Press Society, Lars Hedegaard, has been found guilty by the Eastern High Court of making “racially offensive” remarks.

 
 
Here is a brief excerpt from the article:

The Eastern High Court today fined Lars Hedegaard, the president of the Free Press
Society, 5,000 kroner for making racially offensive comments in December 2009.

“Girls in Muslim families are raped by their uncles, their cousins, or their fathers,” and
“When a Muslim man rapes a woman, it is in his right to do so,” were among the
comments Hedegaard made during a 35-minute interview at a Christmas party with the
author of the blog snaphanen.dk, who subsequently published the comments on the blog.

Today’s decision overturns a decision in January by the Frederiksberg District Court,
which stated that while it found Hedegaard’s comments to be insulting, Hedegaard did
not know that his controversial comments would be made public.

Links to more articles, on this story, can be found below.
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Copenhagen Post

According to an article by the Associated Press (06 May 2011), an Atlanitc Southeast airlines flight in Memphis returned to the terminal and two Muslim Imams were removed from the flight. The article states that the two men were taken to a lounge and then booked on a later flight.

 
Here are some brief excerpts from the article:

Two Muslim religious leaders say they were asked to leave a commercial airliner in
Memphis on Friday…

Masudur Rahman, who is also an adjunct instructor of Arabic at the University of
Memphis, said by phone from the terminal at Memphis International Airport that
he and another imam had already been allowed to board their Delta Connection
flight to Charlotte, N.C., before they were asked to get off the plane…

The men contacted the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights
and advocacy group in Washington, D.C…

“We take security and safety very seriously and the event is currently under
investigation,” Atlantic Southeast spokesman Jarek Beem said Friday evening.

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Yahoo News

According to an article in Harretz (dated 28 April 2011), fourteen people were killed by an explosion at what the article describes as a popular tourist location. The Moroccan Interior Ministry says the initial evidence points to a criminal act.

Here are some brief excerpts from the article:

An explosion killed at least 14 people on Thursday in a busy cafe in the Moroccan city of
Marrakesh, a favorite destination for foreign tourists, a Moroccan official source said…

The interior ministry said foreigners were among 14 people killed and 20 wounded in the
blast that rocked Argana cafe in the city’s main Jamaa el-Fna square.

“Early evidence collected at the site (of the explosion) indicates that it was a criminal
act,” the ministry said in the statement carried by the official MAP news agency.

A Reuters photographer who was at the scene of the blast in the city’s main Jamaa
el-Fna square said he saw rescue workers pulling dismembered bodies from the
Argana cafe.

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Haaretz