Islamic research

Influential Iraqi Shia cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, has called for the formation of a special force to defend religious sites in Iraq. Sadr, who once ran the powerful Mahdi Army, said in a statement on Wednesday that he was ready to help create “peace units to defend the holy sites of …

IHRC believes that all criminal defendants should enjoy the fundamental right to open justice The impending trial of two suspects charged with terrorism offences in secret in a closed court would amount to an abandonment of the fundamental right to a fair trial and disproportionately impact Muslims. The trial of …

The Moroccan sales manager Madiha Zoubiri is like many Abu Dhabi residents. She prefers not to travel during Ramadan. “My concept of a holiday is to take a break from everything related to real life,” she says. “If I was fasting, I wouldn’t be able to do all of the …

Iraqi security forces have repelled a large-scale attack by militants on the central city of Samarra, officials say. Gunmen travelling in dozens of vehicles attacked checkpoints on the east and west on Thursday morning before taking control of several areas. The army responded with helicopter strikes in which officials said …

A statement by the Royal College of Psychiatrists that people are not born gay has been welcomed as “a major admission” by a Christian charity that helps men and women change unwanted same-sex feelings. Core Issues Trust (CIT), which is campaigning against a ban on therapy being offered to people …

Aminur Chowdhury from Bradford was racially abused by Ben Gallon, but instead of insulting him back, he decided to engage in conversation by inviting the homeless man for a drink. Mr Chowdury said: “Initially I turned the other cheek but then I was challenging Ben about what he had said to …

Asda seems to have scored an own goal with a “wearable England flag” launched for the World Cup that shoppers have compared to a Ku Klux Klan outfit. Yours for £3, the accessory has a large St George’s Cross with the world “England” and a triangular white hood. Members of …

In 2006, at the height of the hysteria over the face veil, the Guardian‘s Jonathan Freedland imagined what it must be like to be a Muslim in Britain. “I wouldn’t just feel frightened,” he wrote. “I would be looking for my passport.” On Sunday, as the European election results began to …

The UK Independence Party (UKIP) has been victorious in the European elections, marking their first national election win and pushing the Labour party and the Tories into a position of having to vie for second place — for the first time since 1906. Posing as quintessential nationalists, UKIP spokespersons have run …

Dr. Ghulamali Haddad Adil, the representative of the people of Tehran in Parliament, spoke in a gathering for ‘A world free of extremism and terrorism from the viewpoint of the Abrahamic religions’. He stated: “For the world to be free of terrorism, religion needs to be the governing force, and …