A 32-member multiparty panel led by André Gerin presented a panoply of recommendations aimed at dissuading Muslim women from wearing full-face covering headscarves in this report. Another recommendation: denying resident cards and citizenship to women who wear all-encompassing veils. The panel was bitterly divided over recommending a ban on face-covering veils on the street, and…
The imam of the El Algar mosque in Cartagena has been accused of sexually abusing up to five underage girls during their Arabic and religious lessons. The imam, originally from Morocco, has been working in El Algar since September of last year. The imam is currently missing and is being sought by Spanish police. Meanwhile…
Germany’s Science Council has proposed anchoring Islamic theology at the German universities – rightly and fortunately so, writes Matthias Drobinski for Qantara.de. In the juncture of religion and science Islam has the chance to win back the ability for reflection and self-restriction that the faith once had. The author argues that Islam has forgotten and…
This week’s appeal court ruling disclosed CIA-based intelligence showing that MI5 knew that British resident Binyam Mohamed had been subjected to treatment “at the very least cruel, inhuman, and degrading”. Mohamed is a former Guantánamo detainee who claims to have been tortured by US authorities with the knowledge or even support of MI5. The appeal…
The New York Times calls Hassen Chalghoumi, 38, “the imam of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s dreams” because he supports the possible ban on full-face veils and has been involved in a great deal of ecumenical work with the French Jewish community. Chalghoumi claims, “A man who knows nothing about religion and sees a woman hidden from…
