News and Analysis on Islam in Europe and North America
Milan police arrested two Moroccan-born men on charges of plotting attacks against Italian targets. These targets included a supermarket, police barracks, and Milan’s Piazza del Duomo. The two men were said to have no ties to international terrorist groups, but did admire the work of such groups as Al Qaeda. Wiretaps of the two men
The Al-Sahaba mosque in the northern Belgian city of Verviers has granted female Muslim professor Hawaria Fattah to fulfill the position of imam at the mosque. The move is the first of its kind both in Belgium, and in greater Europe. Fattah, along with two male imams, will supervise the preaching activities for women at
Anne-Marie Lizin of the Walloon Socialist party is acting against state subsidies for “virginity operations.” The senator proposed a law requesting that hymen reconstruction operations no longer be reimbursed by the national RIVIZ health insurance. The so-called “virginity operations” have been popular among the Muslim and immigrant community in Belgium, for women seeking to torn
Reports about the possible establishment of first-ever Sharia courts in Scotland are sparking debate among proponents and critics of a paralegal legal system. “Those using Sharia law are fully entitled to religious freedom as long as it doesn’t conflict with criminal law,” said Aamer Anwar, a civil rights lawyer in Glasgow. The Church of Scotland
Thousands of Spaniards, especially academics, intellectuals, and anti-globalization activists are finding solace in Islam. “Embracing Islam is on the rise despite ferocious Western media campaigns,” Abdul-Nour Brado, the head of the Islamic Society of Catalonia. It is estimated that three to four thousand Catalonians have accepted Islam recently, with some suggesting that the numbers are