Hijabistas

Jerome Taylor, Independent, Beautiful and Islamic: the new look on the catwalk, 2 Jul 2010 "Welcome to the world inhabited by the “Hijabistas”, a trendy set of up and coming Muslim fashion designers who are doing their bit to forge an indigenous British Islamic identity."

Abu Hamza

BBC News, Abu Hamza US extradition halted, 8 Jul 2010 "The European Court of Human Rights has ordered a halt to the extradition to the US on terror charges of radical cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri."

National Portrait Gallery appeal

Guardian, National Portrait Gallery launches appeal to keep freed slave's portrait, 8 Jul 2010 "A portrait of a freed African slave has gone on display for the first time at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) as a £100,000 appeal is launched to keep it in the collection.

"The bright eyes of Ayuba Suleiman Diallo who had been a slave-owner and trader, are mesmerising gallery visitors, just as they did when he met King George II and leading intellectuals of the 1730s. Diallo translated Arabic documents and inscriptions for Sir Hans Sloane, whose collections would form the basis of the British Museum."

Also see NPG, Ayuba Suleiman Diallo - Appeal "This exceptional portrait has never been exhibited in public before. If acquired it would become a highlight of the Collection, attracting public attention as a work of aesthetic quality and historical interest. Diallo's story of personal resilience, dignity and faith when faced with enslavement, displacement and redemption at the hands of the British is richly evoked by this sensitive portrait. The portrait will offer the opportunity to explore some of the otherwise missing black and Islamic histories in the Collection and create a more sustained sense of connected British history and identity in the displays."

Centre for Social Cohesion report

prnewswire.com, Britain is hub of Violent Islamism Worldwide, Says Centre for Social Cohesion's New Report, 5 Jul 2010 Press release. "Islamist Terrorism profiles 127 Islamism-inspired terrorist convictions and attacks in the UK, spanning the decade 1999 to 2009. It outlines the links the individuals had to terrorist groups; their nationality and ethnic origin; their age, hometown, occupation and education; which other terrorists they were connected to; the legislation used to convict them; and more. This data is analysed to show the trends among those involved in Islamism-inspired terrorism."

Also see Centre for Social Cohesion, Islamist Terrorism: The British Connections

"Al-Qaeda inspired terrorism is the greatest national security threat facing the UK. Islamist Terrorism: The British Connections presents the most comprehensive ever overview of the UK's connections to violent Islamism worldwide."

There is a link to a preview pdf. The report apparently runs to 500+ pages, although I've only had a chance to glance at this preview. I haven't got a copy of the full report, so cannot really comment on it. The Centre self-publishes a variety of reports, including several relating to the themes of this blog. Information on the Centre is profiled on this Wiki page.

From Hizb ut-Tahrir to the Three Faiths Forum

Guardian, Hadiya Masieh: How 7 July bombings made me question my beliefs, 4 Jul 2010

"Hadiya Masieh was recruited by Hizb ut-Tahrir radicals, but 7/7 bombings five years ago opened her eyes."

Hadiya Masieh is associated with the Three Faiths Forum

Music in school

Daily Mail, Muslim pupils taken out of music lessons 'because Islam forbids playing an instrument', 2 July 2010 "Muslim pupils are being withdrawn from music lessons because some families believe learning an instrument is anti-Islamic."

Also see Abdul Rahman Shaheen, gulfnews.com, Scholars divided over imam's fatwa on music, 29 June 2010 which I linked to in VirtuallyIslamic recently: ""A fatwa (religious ruling) issued by Shaikh Adel Al Kalbani, a former imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, in which he claimed that Islam does not forbid singing and music has split Saudi scholars, Islamic thinkers and secularists..."

Cardiff mosque 'myth'

Sophie Gilliat-Ray, ‘The first registered mosque in the UK, Cardiff, 1860’: the evolution of a myth, Contemporary Islam, Volume 4, Number 2, July, 2010 [scroll down for article, subscription/payment required] "This paper describes how a simple transcription error ‘created’ what appeared to be the earliest recorded mosque in Britain. Research in 2008/9 for a project about the history of Muslim settlement in Cardiff included a check of mosque registration data that revealed the origin of the factual inaccuracy. However, the paper does not simply concern itself with debunking the myth that has evolved concerning a mosque, said to have been registered in the Cathays district of Cardiff in 1860 (which in fact was not registered until 1991). Rather, it seeks to explore its contemporary resonances."