Rolled-up Trousers

Muslims refusing MRSA gel

The Sun have today uncovered instances where Muslims visiting people in hospital would not wash their hands on entry to wards because the handgel provided contains alcohol.

It would have been a good idea for the Sun to actually ask some Islamic scholars for some rulings on the matter. It is forbidden to consume alcohol, but there is no such prohibition on its external use.

This goes back to reasoning. Any course of action which would lead to the mind being impaired in intoxication is considered haraam. This is why drinking alcoholic beverages is prohibited, but even if you had to consume the soap, it would leave you ill yes, drunk no.

Normally you would take what the Sun says with a pinch of salt. However, I can believe this one as this kind of petty misguided scrupulousness is present amongst all too many Muslims. Ignorance would be putting it mildly when we come to an issue where rather that look at what their faith actually says, they would risk spreading vicious hospital bugs.

Islam favours community benefit, making this an especially sad story. For more info, see this fatwa about the external use of perfumes (not even something with a health benefit) containing alcohol.

Is Blair pandering to Muslim sectarianism?

Tony Blair said in his Dubai speech, that in wanting to "pin back" Iran:

... we need the open and clear backing of the countries in this region who know better than we what is happening and why.

It's however an ambiguous statement and could mean any number of things, no matter how strange it seems on the face of it.

But on the back of the tour, Sky's Adam Boulton also said that the PM's people were forced to deny that the speech "amounts to calling for a Sunni Moslem alliance against Shia Iran".

Then yesterday, in responding to the Archbishop of Canterbury's criticism of the Iraq war, this:

'It's not the policies of the UK which are causing suffering for Christians in Iraq or the Middle East,' said a Foreign Office spokesman. 'It's the fact that there are intolerant extremists inflicting pain and suffering on people. These extremists are indiscriminately killing Christians, moderate Muslims, Sunnis and peoples of all faiths.'

Why the special emphasis for sunnis? After all the fuss made about rescuing shias in Iraq, now that the boot is being aimed at Iran, are the sunnis now in favour? The words don't mean much to a British audience, but are statements being carefully crafted for the anti-shia elements in the Arabian peninsula?

Livingstone vs Pipes

This one's not to be missed. Mayor of London Ken Livingstone will be taking on Islamophobe Daniel Pipes in a head-on debate. It will be part of the clash of civilisations conference organised by the GLA on 20 January.

Merry Christmas everyone

Yep, I'm not afraid to say it, despite the stories which seem to gain more and more currency every year that Muslims are offended by Christmas.

We're used as a figleaf of political correctness I believe by a) ardent secularists who want to turn it into a general 'Winterval' and b) by bah-humbug people who can't be bothered.

Sections of the media love it because it conforms to the stereotype of Muslims being joyless and soulless creatures (that said the Daily Record were good enough yesterday to pass on a message that we were not offended by the Christ part of Christmas). The truth is that even in Islam we have two festivals punctuating the year, where we can throw of the burkas and let our hair down.

Personally I love this time of year. While it's lovely to get together with family and do all the trimmings, Eid in this country is just like any other day normally. At Christmas you get the lights up everywhere, people are in a good mood, the whole country gears up and is on holiday. This year, Eid falls on 30/31 December depending on where you are so will be even more cool.

So best wishes to everyone, hope you and yours have a good one.

Memorialising the Holocaust

Salma Yaqoob has written in today's Guardian that the MCB should attend the Holocaust Memorial events on January 27th. She's not out to lynch the MCB and clearly isn't an Uncle Tom. As such the words need to be taken seriously.

Factions within the MCB have been pushing this view for a while now. An attempt was made to put this through at the weekend, but what was voted for was a motion that a "wider consultation" of British Muslims should be made.

Speaking to people who are involved with the MCB, the debate seems to either go along the lines of maintaining the MCB position since the inception of HMD that it isn't inclusive enough and that we need a "Genocide Memorial Day" instead, or adopting a complete u-turn and just deciding to take part all of a sudden.

Fresh elections are needed

Tony Blair has backed Abu Mazen's call for fresh elections in Palestine. However, serious questions need to be asked closer to home. It is pretty clear that peerages were sold for tens of millions of pounds worth of donations to the Labour Party. This money went towards them winning the General Election last year. This breaking of the law destroys the legitimacy of the result. We need fresh elections here.

Meanwhile, in Palestine, where they did have free and fair elections earlier this year, Israel, the US and UK are determined to destroy the victors Hamas. Abu Mazen has been supported by them in his long sulk at defeat. Laila El-Haddad rightly reminds us that just a few years ago, the same Mahmoud Abbas resigned as Prime Minister because of the interference from President Yasser Arafat. Abbas has become his former boss and then some. At least he didn't have to survive any assassination attempts.

In conversation with Alex Salmond

A couple of months ago I bumped into Alex Salmond in Glasgow's George Square. He was recording some YouTube broadcasts, and was good enough to take the time out to recording something with me. You can view it here.

We talked about he state of community relations on the back of the Jack Straw niqab "debate".

For those outside of Scotland, Alex Salmond is the leader of the Scottish National Party, whom the polls show are on course for victory in next year's Scottish elections. If you're interested in moving to a country where the political leadership is as enlightened as this, please note that Scotland is welcoming of those wishing to bring their talent here.

Incidentally, Alex was nominated by the BBC Politics Show for their poll of political heroes - no mean achievement in a London based programme. You can vote among the final seven here.

Quick comment on the Sunday Times article about my supposed comments on Islamophobia and the Holocaust last week. Under the headline Treatment of Muslims 'echoes Jews under Nazis', the newspaper averred that:

ONE OF Scotland’s most prominent Muslims has compared the treatment of Asians in Britain with that of Jews in Nazi Germany.

Except I didn't, and as Martin Sullivan at IW pointed out, if you read my actual comments in the article, you'll see I didn't. The headline of the article contains quotation marks, but again, as you'll see, there is no such quote contained therein.

Jonathan Steele:

Baker-Hamilton contains some important warnings to policy makers. It points out that out of the 1,000 US embassy staff in Baghdad only six speak Arabic fluently. Fewer than 10 analysts in the Defence Intelligence Agency have more than two years' experience in charting the insurgency, so it is no surprise that they consistently misunderstand it.

The report says 61% of Iraqis approve of attacks on US and British forces. If one assumes crudely that Kurds (who form around 20% of the population) oppose such attacks, and Arab Sunnis (who also form about 20% of the population) support them, this means that two-thirds of Iraq's Shias also support them - a very high proportion among a population that suffered under Saddam and now dominates the government. Faced with such widespread hostility, is a US or British military presence sustainable?

Crossing makes them cross

The Scotsman led today with the issue of Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc blessing himself before the second half of yesterday's Old Firm match in front of the Rangers support.

I know somebody who was sitting on that stand who confirmed this was the case, and given the controversy earlier this year, eagle eyes also say that he did not do this in front of the Celtic support at the start of the match.

Let's assume for a second that Boruc is out to provoke the Rangers support. He wants to anger them, but what in his actual action is there to get offended about? What is there to get all hot and bothered about with a Catholic performing a very common ritual? Me feels it just confirms a stereotype - which other fans in the world would care if a player did this?

Bled to death

The Sun have been particularly active with the Muslim stories of late. One of their favoured themes has been halal meat, which they say involves animals being "bled to death" - see the stories about halal food in Reading schools and about McDonalds planning halal "Big Meccas" (the proper Arabic name of Makkah would have been even better here).

From the former article:

Islamic law insists on halal meat, produced by slashing an animal’s neck with a single cut. Animals are not stunned beforehand.

Parents are furious at the revelation. One said: “I have nothing against halal meat — especially for religious reasons — but my daughter is Christian not Muslim.”

Emmm your point then mate? You want meat slaughtered according to Christianity?

I don't know where the Sun coined this "bled to death" phrase, but it tends towards an interpretation where a minor incision is made while mad mullahs stand around waiting for the animal to die writhing in pain. In fact, the meat is not halal unless the animal dies instantly. If it suffers then it simply isn't, pardon the expression, kosher.

O, Muslim town of Bethlehem

The Daily Mail discovers that life is not great in Bethlehem:

The town's Christian population has dwindled from more than 85 per cent in 1948 to 12 per cent of its 60,000 inhabitants in 2006.

There are reports of religious persecution, in the form of murders, beatings and land grabs.

Meanwhile, the breakdown in security is putting off tourists, leading to economic hardship for Christians, who own most of the town's hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops.

The situation has become so desperate that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, are to lead a joint delegation to Bethlehem this week to express their solidarity with the beleaguered Christian populace.

The town, according to the Cardinal, is being "steadily strangled".

They identify the problem, but its cause?

The sense of a creeping Islamic fundamentalism is all around in Bethlehem.

Let me say this. The head of the CoE and the Catholic Church better not be going over there only to condemn "Islamic fundamentalism" and to ignore the wall running through the living room. There have been all sorts of strange pronouncements from both churches regarding Islam in recent months, but such an act would be simply beyond the pale.

Muslim law reaches Britain

So says the Daily Express, who must have been kicking themselves that they got the story a full day after the Telegraph. No matter, they still put it on their front page.

Islamic law does indeed exist in many forms in this country. I'm married under it, have a bank account arranged under its principles, and I eat meat slaughtered according to it. Panic stations everybody. Now.

The Express speaks of local religious 'courts' sitting and giving rulings on civil matters (the reports mention a Somali court ruling on a criminal matter, but it sounded like it had no relationship with shariah). When people go through other forms of arbitration rather than take legal action, it's called settling out of court. When Muslims do it, it's called a two-tier legal system that is threatening the very fabric of our society.