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The British monarchy should be reformed to represent modern, secular Britain

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The British monarchy should be reformed to represent modern, secular Britain

By Khadija Khan British society remains grief-stricken after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, who was widely admired for the commendable service to her country. Her eldest son, King Charles III, will be crowned on May 6. The new King has been receiving much adoration and reverence from the British people, as well as some criticism for having a Coronation amid a current cost of living crisis in the UK. But whatever your opinion of the coronation or indeed the monarchy, this is the beginning of a new era in…

The BBC’s podcast on Shamima Begum ignores the true victims of ISIS atrocities

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The BBC’s podcast on Shamima Begum ignores the true victims of ISIS atrocities

By Khadija Khan Shamima Begum has been making the headlines ever since she left the UK as a 15-year-old to join Islamic State. And if you thought you hadn’t heard enough of her sob stories and tales of remorse, she has offered a window into her life in the terrorist group in the BBC podcast ‘The Shamima Begum Story’. Over the course of 10 episodes, Josh Baker and his team have conducted numerous interviews with Shamima in Syria, to try and uncover who the now 23-year-old is today, and whether…

To Fast Or Not To ‘Let Others’ Fast

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To Fast Or Not To ‘Let Others’ Fast

By Shamila Ghyas It’s that time of the year again when everyone starts fighting whether it is Ramzan Mubarak, Ramadan Kareem or a chutney of the two – Ramzan Kareem. Call it whatever you like, but one thing is certain: we will once again spend this year not bathing in the spirituality of fasting, but rather worrying if the neighbor’s aunt’s daughter’s husband is fasting or not. Whether cousin Shabana really can’t fast or is she just lying about it. Why that guard outside my favorite shoe store took a…

Wakefield ‘blasphemy’ incident is a wake-up call that we could lose the the freedoms we enjoy in Britain

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Wakefield ‘blasphemy’ incident is a wake-up call that we could lose the the freedoms we enjoy in Britain

By Khadija Khan Nearly 400 years ago, the Italian astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei was convicted of heresy. His crime was to confirm the view that the sun rather than the earth was the centre of the solar system. While today we believe this to be a scientific fact, the Catholic Church at that time believed it was the sun that moved around the earth – a fact of scripture that could not be disputed. Galileo caused huge offence to the Church and, as a result, was prosecuted and put under house…

After Mahsa Amini’s death, it’s time for hijab apologists to take a back seat

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After Mahsa Amini’s death, it’s time for hijab apologists to take a back seat

By Khadija Khan When 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was visiting family in Tehran on September 13, she had no idea that she would fall foul of Iran’s notorious “morality police”. She was with her brother Kiarash when she was arrested by the regime’s ‘Guidance Patrol’ and transferred to the ‘Moral Security’ agency, for wearing “inappropriate” hijab. Mahsa’s brother was told she would be taken to a detention centre to undergo a “briefing class” and released shortly afterwards. But she never made it. She instead arrived at Kasra Hospital, where she died…

The Lady of Heaven: Have we become desensitised to the threat posed by Islamists

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The Lady of Heaven: Have we become desensitised to the threat posed by Islamists

By Khadija Khan Cinemas in the UK have caved into the demands of Muslim fundamentalists and refused to show an allegedly “blasphemous” film: The Lady of Heaven, a historical epic about Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. When the film first released, protesters across England aggressively picketed cinemas, claiming The Lady of Heaven hurts “the feelings and the sentiments of a billion people around the world”. The furious offence-takers made provocative speeches outside the cinema houses threatening “repercussions”. Cineworld then pulled the film from all of its venues nationwide, and other cinema chains…

India’s hijab row has been hijacked by the Hindu and Muslim right wing to score political points

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India’s hijab row has been hijacked by the Hindu and Muslim right wing to score political points

By Khadija Khan For months now, a debate around hijab and free choice has been raging in India. This all was instigated in January, when a group of teenage girls at a Karnataka college claimed that they had been barred from entering their classroom while wearing a headscarf. The issue soon snowballed. The college’s decision sparked protests, forcing the state to shut schools and colleges for several days. These students started campaigning outside the college gates. Predictably, it provoked a counter demonstration from Hindu nationalist students who turned up outside…

No Hijab Day: What liberals need to know

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No Hijab Day: What liberals need to know

By Arshia Malik February 1st has been designated as No Hijab Day by liberal, reforming Muslims, as well as atheist/agnostic men and women of Muslim heritage, to counter the World Hijab Day — misleadingly started amidst rising concerns of anti-Muslim bigotry or Muslimphobia in the West by Nazma Khan, a Bangladeshi-American and New York resident. Anti-Muslim bigotry, or Muslimphobia, is a real and rising concern after 9/11 and ought to be addressed. But for non-Muslim feminists, liberals and rationals, it is important to understand the nuances of the debate on…

The dishonesty of the debate on “Islamophobia” and the threat to free speech

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The dishonesty of the debate on “Islamophobia” and the threat to free speech

By Khadija Khan We are barely a month into 2022, and already we face the same old social and political challenges that have plagued us for centuries. Among them is a crucial battle to protect our right to free speech from the influence of religious ideologues who remain hell-bent on normalising their theocratic beliefs by silencing dissent. However, what makes this struggle against fundamentalism even more strenuous is that the left, once champions of free speech, seems to have abandoned the values of liberalism. Debate is often stifled so as…

The UK must ban child marriage or it will undermine its commitment to ending violence against women and girls

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The UK must ban child marriage or it will undermine its commitment to ending violence against women and girls

By Vareen Ismail   At the age of 16, Payzee Mahmod should have been like other teenagers in London: studying for her exams, and deciding if she wanted to go on to university. Instead, her conservative, Kurdish Muslim family married her off to a man who was “so old he was losing his hair”.   On the wedding night, she was trapped in a hotel room with her husband, a stranger nearly twice her age who started to make violent sexual advances. She locked herself in the bathroom, called her…