1411, 2015

Speaker’s Corner: Nohoudh scholar Farrah Sheikh on “The futility of politicising Remembrance Day”

By Myriam Francois|November 14, 2015|Speaker's Corner|1 comments

The futility of politicising Remembrance Day Above: Farrah Sheikh On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the Western Front finally fell silent after four years of continuous warfare. This week marks Armistice Day followed by Remembrance Sunday marking an important point in British history. A time to pause, to remember, and to reflect upon the horrors of war, and the sacrifices of

0911, 2015

Trevor Phillips OBE – Keynote address at the “Muslim Integration Conference – engaging with the discourse”

By Myriam Francois|November 9, 2015|Uncategorized|1 comments

Muslim Integration Conference – engaging with the discourse Trevor Phillips OBE – 05 11 2015 As delivered: Thank you… I’d like to start by congratulating the new Director of SOAS on her appointment. Such a distinguished institution needs a great leader, and there are few who have Valerie Amos’ mix of wisdom, experience and steel, all of which are sorely needed in Higher Education today. I’m grateful for your invitation.

0911, 2015

Question Time: Ben Stanford – Prevent on Campus: Stopping Extremism or Stifling Debate?

By Myriam Francois|November 9, 2015|Question Time|1 comments

Prevent on Campus: Stopping Extremism or Stifling Debate? Ben Stanford, Legal Fellow, Rights Watch (UK) At a recent event on the Prevent Strategy in universities, the former Business Secretary Vince Cable suggested that efforts to combat campus extremism may worsen the problem. Opposition to terrorism-related interventions in universities is not new: During the 2010-2015 Coalition Government, the then Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg personally vetoed the plan to block extremist

0211, 2015

Speaker’s Corner: Ziad Amir on “Polygamy, Pragmatism, Lust and Love”

By Myriam Francois|November 2, 2015|Speaker's Corner|0 comments

Nohoudh scholar Ziad Amir discusses the concept of polygamy in Islam, in light of recent public statements by Baroness Cox that “in some communities with high polygamy and divorce rates, men may have up to 20 children each.” Above: Baroness Cox The issue of Muslim polygamy has been a consistent point of contention for critics of Islam since the earliest European polemical writings. Both morally-sensitive themes of women’s social position

0211, 2015

Question Time: MEND’s Shenaz Bunglawala tackles Baroness Cox’s claim that British Muslim men have ‘up to 20 children’

By Myriam Francois|November 2, 2015|Question Time|0 comments

Shenaz Bunglawala, Head of Research at MEND, offers her thoughts on recent comments in the press by Baroness Cox that British Muslim men have ‘up to 20 children’. Above: Shenaz Bunglawala Accelerating ‘Eurabia’? It is almost par for the course that we often see some peers of the realm engage in behaviour that one might reasonably consider as bringing the House of Lords into disrepute. Whether it is the former UKIP

2110, 2015

Idea’s Hub: Challenging Islamophobia: The video that went viral with a Message of Hate

By Myriam Francois|October 21, 2015|Ideas Hub|0 comments

Dr Imran Awan and Dr Irene Zempi (above) Now that hate crime awareness week has gone, it’s time for deep reflection and also action in how best we tackle intolerance, bigotry, prejudice and discrimination. Crucially, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron announced that the Government will now make it a legal requirement for all UK police forces to record Islamophobia as a separate category of crime. This means that

1210, 2015

Speaker’s Corner: Fatima Begum Rajina on “The aesthetic challenge to Britishness: Nadiya’s victory on Great British Bake Off 2015”

By Myriam Francois|October 12, 2015|Speaker's Corner|0 comments

The aesthetic challenge to Britishness: Nadiya’s victory on Great British Bake Off 2015 by Fatima Begum Rajina, SOAS-Nohoudh PhD candidate Above: Nadiya Hussain winner of this year’s Great British Bake Off Where do I start with this? She started off the show on shaky grounds and was certainly not one I thought would win the show but it is through her dedication and perseverance that she won the minds and hearts of the

0810, 2015

Ideas Hub: Dr. Katy Sian on “Preventing violent extremism in educational establishments”

By Myriam Francois|October 8, 2015|Ideas Hub|0 comments

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author in her/his private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of SOAS or the CIS. Dr. Katy Sian – University of York on “Preventing violent extremism in educational establishments” If Franz Kafka was alive today, would he not have set “The Trial” in the British educational system, and perhaps even retitled his novel, Prevent, since the

0210, 2015

Speakers Corner: PhD student Farrah Sheikh responds to Charles Moore, former editor of the Daily telegraph, on “anxieties” related Muslim immigration

By Myriam Francois|October 2, 2015|Speaker's Corner|0 comments

SOAS Nohoudh scholar Farrah Sheikh responds to Charles Moore, former editor of the Daily Telegraph’s recent article in which he wrote: “One of the biggest anxieties about the current immigration is its high Muslim element. Is it wrong to have such an anxiety, let alone to express it publicly, let alone to want to have a system of immigration based on it?” “One of the biggest anxieties about the current

0110, 2015

RIPOSTE: Dr Chris Allen comments on recent MET statistics indicating a 70% rise in islamophobic attacks in London

By Myriam Francois|October 1, 2015|Ripostes|0 comments

Dr Chris Allen comments on the recent MET statistics which indicate a 70% rise in islamophobic attacks in London and responds to our recent blog by Tell Mama’s Fiyaz Mughal. In the past couple of weeks, much has been made of the Metropolitan Police data showing that the number of Islamophobic hate crimes recorded increased by 70% in the past year. Amounting to 816 Islamophobic hate crimes in total, this was the second

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