As the commission into the wearing of the burqa in France led by André Gerin continues, five banlieusard mayors from Monfermeil, Cachan, Rillieux-la-Pape, Clichy-sous-Bois and Gonesse were interviewed to express their positions on French secularism and the impact of a possible ban. Generally, they noted an increase in the number of parents and students who…
Dutch parliament member Samira Bouchibti has reacted to the release this month of Imhalal.com, a search engine which provides starred ratings of results according to their acceptability in Islamic law. The PvdA (Dutch Labour Party) parliament member says that the new engine should not be used in schools, since it encourages discrimination of gays by…
A newly launched internet search engine, Imhalal.com, enables Muslim web users to be spared from viewing offensive content online. The website will only return results that the engine rates as halal, approved by Islamic rules. The Imhalal website uses a star rating system. One or two stars count as a warning for the users, although…
The world’s most popular Islamic hotline, the Egyptian based ‘dial-a-sheikh’, is launching in Britain to help the nation’s 1.6 million Muslims deal with everyday dilemmas. At just 75 pence a minute, British Muslims will be able to access scholars from Egypt’s al-Azhar University through al-Hatef al-Islami helpline where they can call in and seek help…
Muslim women in the northern Italian province of Bergamo will now have private access to a local swimming pool, where they are able to swim freely without traditional clothing and without the company of men. At the Siloe pool, men are not permitted to swim at designated times each week, when women’s-only hours are in…
