The Islamic World

An overdue agreement to teach Islam at a few public Spanish schools is finally seeing the light this academic year in Spain with promises that more schools will join the club once the tools are there. The agreement between the Spanish government and the Union of Islamic Associations has been effective since the second term of 2004-2005 school year. But only two schools implemented the deal. Islam was first taught in Melilla and Ceuta; two Moroccan cities under Spanish rule where Muslims make up more than 40 per cent of the population. Lack of qualified teachers, coupled with the Spanish government’s decision not to allow teachers from Morocco or other Islamic countries, made teaching Islam limited to three cities; Andalusia, Aragon and Basque, according to the Spanish Education Ministry. Only 17 teachers met the Spanish government criteria, and will be teaching in 40 schools in the three cities. The Spanish capital of Madrid has a Muslim population of 100,000 while Barcelona has more than 150,000 Muslims, yet Islam will not be taught there this school year. Lack of qualified teachers is to blame.

Pakistan Cricketer, Yousuf Yohana has stated that he had embraced Islam three years ago, but had not made this public. He said he had taken a new name, Mohammad Yousuf. He stated this while talking to a private TV channel here in the third week of September. He said even his wife had converted to Islam and would like the rest of his parental family to give up Christianity and join the new faith. The private channel showed him making ablution and joining namaz with Cricketer Inzamamul Huq and others. He said he had been attending the annual Ijtima at Raiwind in Punjab for the last three years.

In a continuing Muslim show of solidarity, a US Muslim comedian group has allocated their performance revenues to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.


The Muslim Comedy Tour performed their famous show “Allah Made Me Funny” at Richardson’s Charles W. Eismann Center for Performing Arts in Texas and did not hesitate to donate the proceeds to Katrina victims. The tour, co-founded by Moss and fellow comics Azhar Usman and Azeem, is aimed at bridging gaps of bias, intolerance and other social ills that spread in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Hurricane Katrina hit the US Gulf Coast just outside the city of New Orleans on August 29, 2005 and swept devastation through the area with winds of up to 145 mph (233 km/h).

As the fourth Women’s Islamic Games opens in Tehran soon, among the delegations from Asia, Europe, America and Africa is a 15-strong British squad.


In 2001, Britain became the first non-Muslim country to attend the event. The Women’s Islamic Games were launched in 1993 to give athletes from Muslim countries an opportunity to play sport at an international level, while not violating the Shariah law by competing in front of men in inappropriate attire. At the Tehran games, the athletes must wear the headscarves in presence of men, but once males are excluded from the audience and there are no male referees and no media coverage, women are free to wear their sports attire.

Yusuf Islam, previously British pop star Cat Stevens, opened the Cardiff University’s pioneering Islamic Research Centre which aims at promoting understanding of Islam and Muslims in Britain. “I think it’s important for non-Muslims to walk a little bit closer towards understanding Islam, and for Muslims to come closer to explaining it in a better, more academic and understandable way,” he said. The Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK (CSI-UK), which begins teaching in October 2005, is the first of its kind in Britain. It will lead research on Muslims in the UK and the centre will offer a post-graduate course called Islam in Contemporary Britain. It will also offer professional development courses for specific groups such as prison officers, police officers and teachers. Centre director, Sophie Gilliat-Ray said Cardiff was an ideal location for the venture because the city is home to one of the oldest Muslim communities in Britain. “Few people know that the first mosque in the UK was established in Cardiff in 1860,” she added.

Tens of thousands of American demonstrators took to the streets in several major cities last fortnight protesting the US-led invasion of Iraq and demanding the withdrawal of American troops. “We need a people’s movement to end this war,” Cindy Sheehan, an anti-war mom whose son was killed in fighting in Iraq, told more than 100,000 protestors, who stretched for several blocks around the White House.


“Bring the troops home now,” chanted the protestors, flying a sea of signs and banners rebuking the Bush administration. The Washington rally drew several prominent figures including Rev. Jesse Jackson and actor Martin Sheen.


More than 15,000 protesters gathered in Los Angeles and thousands others marched in San Francisco and Seattle, demanding an end to military action in Iraq nearly 30 months after the invasion-turned-occupation.

A policeman will become the first Muslim to take a service at a North Wales cathedral. Moroccan-born Mohammed al-Arabi Lachiri regularly leads Friday prayers at Bangor’s Islamic Centre. The Llangefni-based officer is now taking up an offer to take the pulpit during a service at Bangor Cathedral. The invitation came from the Bishop of Bangor, Rt Rev Anthony Crockett, and the Dean of Bangor, Alun Hawkins after they attended the Islamic Friday prayers at the Bangor mosque - just 24 hours after the London terrorist attacks, to show their support to the local Muslims. It is believed to be the first time in the cathedral’s centuries old history (the first church was established in Bangor in the sixth century), that a Muslim will take part in a service. The 36-year old police officer, also deputy chairman of the Muslim council in North Wales will take part in the full service procession and will be alloted 15 to 20 minute sermon slot to say whatever he likes.

‘A Muslim firefighter cannot wear a beard on the job because of the safety risk that facial hair poses’, was a ruling from a judge recently here. Curtis De Veaux sued the City on grounds that the ban infringed on his Muslim faith. But the state judge sided with the City, calling safety a compelling interest that warrants an exception under the Pennsylvania Religious Freedom Protection Act. The City had argued that beards interfere with the tight seal, firefighters need on their respiratory masks, which deliver oxygen and keep out dangerous toxins.


The American Civil Liberties Union’s local chapter, which represented De Veaux, plans to appeal the ruling to Commonwealth Court, said lawyer, Mary Catherine Roper.