Letter- Cameron jokes about Shariah Law after bike is stolen

By Waseem Aslam- David Cameron is famed for his biking riding adventures. He will tell you all that is a part of his new green image for the future of Britain and the world. Mr Cameron will tell us all a lot of things. He is a man of many forthright views, most of these views (he would call them policies) when put to the test fail miserably.



There was his 'hug a hoody' fiasco when Mr Cameron's attempt to reach out to the disaffected youth of the council estate in Britain backfired. The only problem here was that the hoddies quite frankly didn't want to be hugged. They seemed more content on expressing their Democratically won freedom by displaying their knives and gang signs on You Tube (15 minutes of fame and all that).

The hoodies got their own back on Mr Cameron by stealing his bike from outside a Tesco store in London, the bike had been chained to a 3ft high bollard and the theives simply lifted it up and over the bollard for an easy steal.

What was Mr Cameron's response? Did he announce he wanted to give the thives a big old fashoined bear hug? No!

Rochdale Observer Coverage on Hazel Blears Citizenship Courses for mosques

Rochdale Observer has run the story on Hazel Blears new initiative of introducing Citizenship courses in Mosques in Rochdale to combat "Radical Extremism". She has raised eyebrows with her speech at the policy Exchange seminar on 'Preventing Violent Extremism: the Government's Approach' as well as through her views expressed against not attending the Islam Expo event.



The observer article details views of Rochdales residents who primarily expressed real concern on the government agenda for Rochdale Muslims and its consequences on damaging rather than furthering relations with the Muslim community. Comments from the blog also appeared in the article highlighting a clear misrepresentation of the the governments views on tackling issues in Rochdale.

Despite the unsuccessful attempts of the previous communities secretary, Ruth kelly with her "Nasiha Project" to convince the Muslim community of the need for government sponsored courses for Mosques, Ms Blears believes somehow she will be succeed. This is despite the pilot area, Bradford, for the last project making a united stand against it.

Once again like her predecessor, Ms blears is working on galvanising support from individuals in the Muslim community to buy her idea and implement it.

Asian Leader Article- "Are British Muslims 'attention seekers?'"

The following article was published in the Asian Leader article discussing the recent Dispatches program titled "It shouldn't happen to a muslim" aired on Channel 4. The article written describes the documentarys findings on the treatment of Muslims in media, Politicians and host society and evidences how Muslims are subject to discrimination despite the echoes of Integration and community cohesion.



Read the Full article here and add in your comments on how you feel about the documentary and its findings. Alternatively, access the Asian Leader Newspaper online on the Look Asia Website to read the whole story.

Rochdale’s Answer to Hazel Blears Citizenship Courses for Rochdale Mosques- "No thanks"

By Majed Iqbal- Today's news story of Muslim Children being taught citizenship in mosque schools as part of a bid to prevent them being turned into "extremists" comes as a real surprise. Surprising because Rochdale has been mentioned specifically as an area where such an initiative will be rolled out in "one mosque". Other areas include London, Leicester, Birmingham, Oldham, and Bradford.



"We have made significant progress working with communities to build an alliance against violent extremists," Ms Blears says.

Talking of this "Alliance", in Rochdale meeting after meeting which debated the "Violent Extremism" pathfinder fund which was proposed by the then Communities secretary, Ruth Kelly, was unanimously rejected by Influential Community Leaders in Rochdale. So who exactly is Ms Blears referring to when she mentions she has been "working with communities to build an alliance against violent extremists"?

The initiative also includes a new independent board of academic and theological experts and a group of community leaders to advise on local responses to tackling extremism. Who exactly are the personalities in Rochdale doing this and where was their presence in the community meetings that took place in this town amongst major decision makers?

Are British Muslims "Attention Seekers"?

By Majed Iqbal- A report issued this month has found eye-opening evidences that Muslims living in Britain suffer disproportionately more from discrimination, racial abuse and racial attacks than any other faith group, and the more openly devout they are, the more likely they are to experience harassment and abuse.



The Study titled "Muslims under siege- Alienating Vulnerable Communities" was used as part of the Channel 4 Dispatches program aired this month which went out actively to prove that Islam and Muslims are used as political tools for Politicians, Propaganda stories by press and consequently left open to ridicule.

Report commissioners Peter Oborne and James Jones in their Report Introduction write "The seed for this pamphlet was planted in October 2006 when Jack Straw and other cabinet ministers raised the issue of Muslim women wearing the veil. It soon became clear that this was more than a random rumination from a member of the government. Rather Labour appeared to have made the extraordinary decision to try to identify with a general mood of resentment and anxiety about the presence of Muslim communities in this country and to intervene in the politics of religious identity".

Summer Events to help Empower Muslim Youth

A SERIES of rap contests, football tournaments and graffiti sessions are being organised over summer to help Muslim youths empower themselves. The events are being organised regionally by Hizb-ut-Tahrir as part of their Stand For Islam campaign.

Organisers hope the activities will better equip the youngsters against any backlash towards Muslims by helping them to understand their own religion better and to be able to stand up to negative portrayals of Muslims by being able to engage in positive dialogue with the wider community.



The events are taking place throughout the north west including Rochdale, Bolton, Accrington, Oldham, Manchester, Bradford, Halifax and Leeds and is starting this July.

The football tournament will involve each town organising a mini tournament with the winners playing off each other in the 'Champions League' final.

Organisers are asking budding artists to express their art form in a more positive way instead of on buses or public walls. Instead they are invited to take part in the Islam graffiti competition in the aim that the pieces of work could be displayed in local libraries, community centres or sport clubs.

Rochdale Event Review- Is Shariah just about Punishments?

By Majed Iqbal- Crime- the topic of discussion which is hot in the press, on the lips of Politicians and the subject of detailed disocourse on Television was brought into the limelight on Saturday 6th July in Rochdale.

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Organisers, Hizb ut-Tahrir, deliberated upon the subject issue, presenting a case of facts, figures and analysis on the growing endemic of crime to a crowd of 90 people.

Mazhar Khan, touched upon key ideas which had allowed crime to flourish. "Were the existing punishments a detterrant or an incentive?" he asked the audience. He cited examples of how teenage crime amongst youth was seen as an easy alternative.

You steal, get caught, put into prison for a couple of months where you socialise with like minded individuals, no rent to pay, free food, Nintendo Wii's to fill your time with, free holidays for repeat offenders to Blackpool and most importantly you keep the money made out of the theft.

"How are these measures supposed to curb crime?" asked Mazhar.

Chief Justice of India praises Islamic penal code

The Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan has hailed the Islamic penal code saying they were effective in deterrence against the criminal offenders. Addressing a workshop on "Growing Crimes – deterrent punishment : search for appropriate theory of punishment", organized by the organization of Retired Judges and NALSAR University at the Andhra Pradesh High Court Balakrishnan gave the example of Gulf countries.

"People say the laws in those countries were harsh but it is a fact that because of the harsh punishments, the crime rate in those countries is very low".

"Women can move around even at midnight with out any fear", he said. "Even traffic rules were so strict that there were very few traffic accidents in those countries".

He recalled that till 1857, Islamic penal system was in force in India and the law and order situation in the country was very good.

"The introduction of Indian Penal Code was a good move but the law and order situation in the country did not remain the same", Chief Justice said. Pointing out that in contrast to the Gulf countries, India was a democratic country. "But in our country neither the women can move around with out fear nor there is any respect for the traffic rules", he said.

Chief Justice Lord Phillips and his Misconceptions on Shariah Law

By Majed Iqbal- What was sparked off as a major discussion in February this year by Archbishop Rowan Williams on Shariah law has once again re-surfaced in the Media. However, this time its not a religious figure who will be maligned by the nation for promoting values of Islam instead of his own faith.

Joining the discussion this time round is Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers who has said "There is no reason why sharia principles, or any other religious code, should not be the basis for mediation or other forms of alternative dispute resolution".

The judge said the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, had been misunderstood when it was reported in February that he said British Muslims could be governed by sharia law. "Dr Williams suggested that sharia could play a role in aspects of marital law, the regulation of financial transactions and authorised structures of mediation and conflict resolution. It was not very radical to advocate embracing sharia law in the context of family disputes" he said.

Whilst one would warm to the comments made by the Chief Justice in appreciating how Shariah has the ability to resolve disputes in a manner in personal lives in a decent and befitting manner, much to the contrary of what is seen in wider society, his understanding of how shariah deals with crime and punishment in societal life seems to be marred with the same images of 'Kangaroo courts' displayed in Tabloid press and documentaries that have hit our screens.