Islamophobia

  • Iffat Mirza Rashid, Bentley Certain debates seem to arise out of nowhere. And though as a fairly indignant teenager I would have bothered arguing about (quite literally!) anything, until the cows came home, now I find myself learning to pick and choose my battles. Having said that, I think it’s important to address certain non-issues,

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  • Ban the Burqa?

    A Response to Julia Hartley-Brewer’s Comments on Talk TV Iffat Mirza Rashid, Bentley It is reasonable for any civilised society to expect the journalists and spokespeople of their country and media to report with integrity and truth. When claims are made, that there is some sort of evidence to back any claims made, and indeed,

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  • Podcast 21: Immigration and Integration Unpicked

    Following the anti-immigration riots that swept across the UK some weeks ago Iffat Mirza Rashid and Nooresahar Ahmad talk about the disconnect they felt between the disorder and the tragic news story which appeared to have sparked it. They discuss their identity as British Muslim women of immigrant background, what integration really means to them

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  • Iffat Mirza, Raynes Park I wish I could in earnest say that I was surprised to read that the top EU court had upheld the decision that employers have the right to dismiss or fire employees should they choose to wear the hijab. However, unfortunately, I am not shocked. The attack on a Muslim woman’s

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  • Kholood Tahir, Morden The latest in France’s long-standing history of issues against Muslim Women, has been the voting on the “Separatism Bill” which bans girls under the age of 18 from wearing a hijab in public places. Ironically, under the guise of protecting and liberating young Muslim girls from Islam, which itself teaches, the bill

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  • Khanssa Ahsan, Thornton Heath 10 years ago, the French government passed a law which stated that Muslim women were not permitted to wear the niqab, a piece of clothing that covers the face. Ironically in August of 2020, the government made it compulsory for people to start wearing a mask which covers the same part

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  • Enlightening Islam

    Iffat Mirza, Cambridge The French President, Emanuel Macron, did more than just raise eyebrows when he stated that ‘Islam is a religion which is experiencing a crisis today, all over the world.’[1] Prompting boycotts of French products all over the Islamic world and protests also, his words definitely ignited a fire. Though this is nothing

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  • Misled by the Mainstream

    Nadia Ghauri, Bournemouth The narratives informing our views on the world are produced and perpetuated by media outlets, books, TV programmes, even our education system. It’s often the case that we unthinkingly embrace these viewpoints. However, we need to take a step back and adopt a more critical lens. Mainstream narratives frequently use language which

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  • Islam in News Media

    Shumaila Iftikhar, London When we hear about Islam in the news media, the chances are it isn’t going to be positive news. Many of us in the West will be accustomed to hearing associations of Islam to, at best, backwardness and a lack of integration, and at worst, terror and resentment. Seeing coverage of the

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  • Islam: A Dividing Force?

    Iffat Mirza, Cambridge The word ‘history’ in many languages is the same word as the word ‘story’, thus signalling the question ‘do we ever have a neutral history?’ Or are all histories just narratives that have been spun in order to entrap their prey? Quite often we attribute the horrendous terror attacks of 9/11 as

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