New state law in Michigan bans hooka, the Arabic water pipe with flavored tobacco, from cafes serving their customers with food. Hooka will be offered only in specialty tobacco stores. The law is to be enforced on May 1, 2010. In Arab-American capital of the United States, the change implies important social impacts.
A man has been barred from all municipal buildings in Hoogezand-Sappemeer for one year, after aggressively insulting an employee wearing a headscarf. The man refused to be helped by a woman wearing a headscarf and spoke to her with “discrimination and contempt”. When an invitation for dialogue failed, the municipal council decided to ban the…
A prominent French group of imams is backing a possible ban on the burqa. “We support any law that bans the wearing of a face veil in France,” said Hassan Chalghoumi, Chairman of the Conference of French Imams. The imam group, launched last year, says it fully supports a legal ban, basing their stance on…
The Bellevue mosque in Gothenburg has banned political discussion on the premises. The new policy states that all politics are to be kept outside of the mosque and its congregation, and that no one can stay in the mosque after a fifteen minutes period before and after prayers, to prevent “unofficial meetings and ambiguous messages.”…
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: The recent Swiss referendum that bans construction of minarets has caused controversy across the world. There are two ways to interpret the vote. First, as a rejection of political Islam, not a rejection of Muslims. In this sense it was a vote for tolerance and inclusion, which political Islam rejects. Second, the…
