Tehmina Kazi talks about fighting homophobia while nurturing understanding and respect for diversity within British Muslim communities. Over the last two weeks, a flurry of amateur YouTube videos have emerged, chronicling the activities of self-appointed ‘moral vigilantes.’ Storming the streets of Tower Hamlets, they took it upon themselves to ‘confiscate’ bottles of alcohol in the…
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During the past week, the media spotlight has zoomed in heavily on rape. Everyone – from Salma Yaqoob to Laurie Penny – has weighed in on the subject. George Galloway sparked off the debate in the UK, with a video podcast describing the allegations against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange as “bad sexual etiquette.” The feverish…
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Islam is not a sword or shield for the global political stage, but a belief system designed to purify the human heart. As of 6pm (UK time) today, 7,894 people had signed a petition urging the Saudi government to drop all charges of blasphemy against Hamza Kashgari, a columnist for the Jeddah-based daily Al-Bilad. Kashgari,…
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Tehmina Kazi argues equality must be at the forefront of the Arab revolution Last October, I attended a hugely productive discussion on women in the Arab revolutions at the ‘Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society’ in Normandy. Over a thousand delegates listened, enraptured by spirited activists from Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen. Iranian Nobel Laureate…
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This week, Queen Mary University is due to re-host an event which should never have been cancelled. Anne-Marie Waters, of the One Law for All campaign, had originally been due to speak on ‘Sharia and Human Rights’ on 16 January. As the event was about to start, a man entered the lecture theatre, raced up…
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Progressive activists in the ‘critical Muslim’ movement are growing in strength and number Tehmina Kazi guardian.co.uk Friday 13 January 2012 When I last logged into Facebook, I was delighted to see a surge of posters featuring a Muslim woman with the tagline “Occupy the mosque”. This does not mean I support the physical occupation of…
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Last week, the Home Office closed their three-month consultation on the criminalisation of forced marriage. When I initially posted the consultation document in the Facebook group for my organisation, British Muslims for Secular Democracy, there were cries of shock that forced marriage was not already a criminal offence. The right to choose who you will…
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A Muslim, a humanist and an Anglican gave us their equivalent of the card printed up for Catholics. Over to you The card supplied by the Catholic bishops’ conference of England and Wales The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has printed up a million wallet-sized cards for people who want to be “card-carrying…
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And the patron saint of this country on Saturday night became a skinny man called Mohamed who was born in Mogadishu, a devout Muslim who last weekend said the best moment of his life was not winning a gold medal but seeing his daughter, Rihanna, and pregnant wife, Tania, walk on to the track to…
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(24 May 1962 – 12 July 2012) All of us at bmsd are deeply saddened by ‘the sudden and untimely death’ of Cassandra Balchin, our friend and colleague. Below is the text of the address delivered by Dr. Ghayasuddin Siddiqui at her memorial. We are gathered here today to remember Cassandra Balchin. Her sudden and…
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