Quakers Call for Legal Recognition of Same Sex Marriages
NEWSMAKER: Australian Quakers, meeting in their annual meeting in Adelaide today, called on the Federal Government to amend the Marriage Act to give full and equal legal recognition to all marriages, regardless of the sexual orientation and gender of the partners.

‘Australian Quakers celebrated our first same sex marriage in 2007 and seeking legal recognition for such unions is consistent with our long held spiritual belief in the equality of all people’, said Lyndsay Farrall, Presiding Clerk of Australia Yearly Meeting.

‘Ongoing discrimination against people on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender under Australian law is a matter of growing disquiet for Quakers’, Lyndsay Farrall said.

Quakers agreed today to practise full marriage equality within Quaker Meetings around Australia, including celebrating the spiritual aspects of same sex weddings, and expressed their hope that the Marriage Act will be amended as soon as possible to allow Quakers to support such couples to full legal recognition. >>> | Monday, January 11, 2010

Great Australian Website
AUSTRALIAN ISLAMIST MONITOR – Objectives: Islam in its current form, as preached, taught and propagated by the mainstream Muslim elites, is incompatible with the existing political system in Australia. This is because Islam in this form is not just a religion but an entire political system, and regulatory force, controlling every aspect of the life of its followers and requiring them to actively secure for Islam the dominant, privileged position.

This is not confined to religious dominance, but most importantly it aims to replace our Australian political system and democratic principles with Islamic ones. Moreover, Muslims living in Australia are instructed by their religious leaders that Islamic law (Sharia) has primacy over Australian law. This process has already begun. There is considerable evidence that (here and elsewhere) Muslim leaders use covert means to achieve their goals by subverting existing democratic processes and procedures. Misleading information is given to our political leaders, the community and religious leaders about Islam's final intent. The involvement of other countries with financial and political support poses an additional threat to our nation.

We at AIM believe that this form of Islam (called Islamism) has become a serious threat to the viability of Australia as a Western Democracy, to our egalitarian values, and our freedom. Furthermore we believe that if this process is not stopped now, Australia will become yet another part of the world suffering chronic violence, intolerance (discrimination against non-Muslims which has its basis in the Qur'an) and declining legal and intellectual freedom. On behalf of Australians who cherish their freedom and democracy, we reject Islamism and Shariah in any form.

We urgently call on truly moderate Muslims to reform Islam, so that it becomes a true, personal religion, not an ideology, and can take its place alongside the peaceful religions which make up our multifaith community. Click over and discover a great site! >>>

Australian Islamist Monitor – Homepage >>>

New York: Metropolitan Museum entfernt Mohammed-Bilder
Mohammed und der Erzengel Gabriel. Persische Miniatur. Bild: Welt Online
WELT ONLINE: Aufregung in New York: Das Metropolitan Museum of Art will einem Medienbericht zufolge Kunstwerke mit Mohammed-Bildern nicht mehr zeigen. Außerdem soll die Abteilung für "Islamische Kunst" umbenannt werden. Ein Islamwissenschaftler von der Yale Universität spricht von einer "Schande".

Das Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will Kunstwerke mit Mohammed-Bildern nicht mehr zeigen. Außerdem werden diese Bilder wohl auch nicht mehr in der neuen Ausstellung, die 2011 nach der Renovierung des Museums eröffnet werden soll, hängen, berichtet die „New York Post“.

Momentan sind wegen des 50 Millionen Dollar teuren Umbaus des Hauses nur etwa 60 von 60.000 islamischen Kunstwerken im Metropolitan zu sehen. Weil aber konservative Muslime am Abbildungsverbot für ihren Propheten Mohammed festhalten, seien die Kunstwerke „unter Beobachtung“, heißt es. Außerdem habe das Museum angekündigt, seine Abteilung für „Islamische Kunst“ in „Arabische Länder, Türkei, Iran und Zentralasien“ umzubenennen. >>> Von Uta Baier | Montag, 11. Januar 2010

’Jihad’ Jitters at Met
NEW YORK POST: Mohammed art gone

Is the Met afraid of Mohammed?

The Metropolitan Museum of Art quietly pulled images of the Prophet Mohammed from its Islamic collection and may not include them in a renovated exhibition area slated to open in 2011, The Post has learned.

The museum said the controversial images -- objected to by conservative Muslims who say their religion forbids images of their holy founder -- were "under review."

Critics say the Met has a history of dodging criticism and likely wants to escape the kind of outcry that Danish cartoons of Mohammed caused in 2006.

"This is typical of the Met -- trying to avoid any controversy," said a source with inside knowledge of the museum.

The Met currently has about 60 items from its 60,000-piece Islamic collection on temporary display in a corner of its vast second-floor Great Hall while larger galleries are renovated. But its three ancient renderings of Mohammed are not among them. >>> Isabel Vincent | Sunday, January 10, 2010

Europe's Gay Leaders: Out at The Top
TIME: When Iceland installed Johanna Sigurdardottir as Prime Minister last February, newspapers around the globe printed variations of the same headline: ICELAND APPOINTS WORLD'S FIRST GAY LEADER. Everywhere, that is, except Iceland. The Icelandic media didn't mention Sigurdardottir's sexuality for days, and only then to point out that the foreign press had taken an interest in their new head of state — a 67-year-old former flight attendant turned politician whom voters had consistently rated Iceland's most trustworthy politician. Sure, she was gay and had entered a civil partnership with another woman in 2002. But Icelanders hardly seemed to notice. "The media silence echoed the sentiment of the public. Nobody cared about her sexual orientation," says Margret Bjornsdottir, the director of the Institute for Public Administration and Politics at the University of Iceland. "Being gay is a nonissue here. It's considered unremarkable."

Buoyed by liberal attitudes such as those, politicians across Western Europe are stepping out of the closet and into their country's highest political offices. Eleven openly gay men and women now serve in the British Parliament, including two in the Cabinet. Last June, Nicolas Sarkozy appointed Frédéric Mitterrand, a gay television presenter, to the post of Minister of Culture. Paris' Mayor Bertrand Delanoë, tipped by some to contest the 2012 presidential race, is gay. And Guido Westerwelle, chairman of Germany's Free Democratic Party, has just become his country's Foreign Minister, joining a gay élite that includes the mayors of Berlin and Hamburg, Germany's two largest cities. Klaus Wowereit, Berlin's mayor, says coming out ahead of the 2001 mayoral race while under pressure from tabloids strengthened his campaign. "My confession might have contributed to my popularity," he says. "Many people appreciate honesty."

That's a far cry from the climate in most of the U.S., where — despite the recent election of Annise Parker, a gay woman, as mayor of Houston, America's fourth largest city — honesty can still end a gay politician's career. Openly gay politicians such as San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk began winning seats in U.S. cities with large gay populations in the 1970s. Progress has since slowed, says David Rayside, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto. He believes that the relative strength of incumbency in the U.S. creates a barrier to the corridors of power, as does "the strength of religious conservatives." Of the 511,000 elected offices in the U.S. — from local school boards way up to President — openly gay men and women occupy just 450 of them, according to the U.S.-based Victory Fund, an organization that offers financial support to gay political candidates. No openly gay person has ever sat in the Senate, and only three hold seats in the House of Representatives.

The gap between the U.S. and Europe doesn't just exist at the top: 49% of Americans polled by the Pew Research Center in 2007 believed that society should "accept" homosexuality. Contrast that with attitudes in Europe where more than 80% of French, Germans and Spaniards had such a view. Only Catholic and conservative Poles felt as uncomfortable with the idea as Americans. Denis Dison, a spokesman for the Victory Fund, says those attitudes can make it difficult for gay people to campaign — let alone obtain office. "In places where the climate isn't friendly, it's hard for them to even go into a town hall meeting or public forum because they get such nasty questions." The European Difference >>> William Lee Adams | Monday, January 18, 2010

Le pape en remet une couche sur l'homosexualité
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: SOCIÉTÉ | Benoît XVI a dénoncé lundi les lois qui, selon lui, aboutissent à nier la différence entre les sexes. Cette intervention du pape fait suite à l'adoption par le Portugal d'un texte autorisant le mariage homosexuel.

Lors de sa traditionnelle audience de début d'année au corps diplomatique accrédité auprès du Vatican, Benoît XVI a qualifié d'«attaque» envers ce que Dieu a créé, les «lois ou des projets qui, au nom de la lutte contre la discrimination, portent atteinte au fondement biologique de la différence entre les sexes». >>> AFP | Lundi 11 Janvier 2010

Pope Slams Gay Marriage as 'Attack' on Creation
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Pope Benedict XVI has called laws ignoring the difference between the sexes an "attack" on creation just days after Portugal moved to legalise gay marriage.

Creatures, including humans, "can be protected or endangered", the Pope, 82, told the Vatican diplomatic corps in a traditional January address focusing mainly on environmental issues.

"One such attack comes from laws or proposals which, in the name of fighting discrimination, strike at the biological basis of the difference between the sexes," he said, citing "certain countries in Europe or North and South America". >>> AFP | Tuesday, January 12, 2010

LE MONDE: Le pape dénonce les lois qui, selon lui, nient la différence entre les sexes: L ors de sa traditionnelle audience de début d'année au corps diplomatique accrédité auprès du Vatican, Benoît XVI a qualifié, lundi 11 janvier, d'"attaque" envers ce que Dieu a créé, les "lois ou des projets qui, au nom de la lutte contre la discrimination, portent atteinte au fondement biologique de la différence entre les sexes". >>> LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | Lundi 11 Janvier 2010

Caricatures de Mahomet: islamiste inculpé de terrorisme
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: DANEMARK | La justice a annoncé lundi l’inculpation pour terrorisme d’un islamiste somalien qui avait tenté de tuer le 1er janvier un auteur de caricatures du prophète Mahomet.

L’homme de 28 ans, soupçonné de liens avec Al-Qaïda, était entré par effraction au domicile du dessinateur Kurt Westergaard à Aarhus, la deuxième ville du pays, à 200km au nord-ouest de Copenhague. >>> AP | Lundi 11 Janvier 2010

Le prince saoudien Al-Walid veut bâtir une tour de 1000 mètres
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: RYAD | La course se poursuit dans le Golfe. Alors qu'une tour de 828 mètres vient d'être inaugurée à Dubai, l'Arabie pourrait bien dépasser largement l'émirat...

Le prince milliardaire saoudien Al-Walid ben Talal a annoncé lundi que son groupe, Kingdom Holdings, préparait des investissements dans l’hôtellerie et l’immobilier, y compris une tour d’un kilomètre de haut dans la ville portuaire saoudienne de Jeddah.

Si cette tour voit le jour, elle battra en hauteur la tour Khalifa de Dubaï, haute de 828 m, et qui a été inaugurée le 4 janvier.

Le prince, l’une des plus grosses fortunes du monde, a indiqué avoir transféré 180 millions de ses actions dans Citigroup au Kingdom Holdings, soit 597 millions de dollars, pour financer les nouveaux investissements. >>> AFP | Lundi 11 Janvier 2010

France Set on Banning Muslim Niqab in Public
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Sarkozy's party, opposition in unison about need to curb use of ‘prison for women,' but disagree about how to do so without violating constitutional rights

A bruising battle is shaping up in France over whether fully veiled Muslim women should be banned from appearing on the street or in any other public setting, a proposal already endorsed by many of President Nicolas Sarkozy's rightwing allies.

The fight is not over whether the face-covering niqab , or burka , as it is commonly called in France, should be tolerated.

Mr. Sarkozy has said the head-to-toe garment is unwelcome on French soil. The leader of his party bloc in the National Assembly called it a “negation of life in society.” The spokesman for the Socialist opposition condemned it as “a prison for women,” a description only slightly less damning than that of his Communist colleague who termed it “ambulatory prison.”

Five months after setting out to ban the burka , French politicians are with few exceptions divided only over how to go about it without violating constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression.

The Socialists' spokesman, Benoît Hamon, said on Wednesday that while his party opposes the niqab , it has decided that an outright ban would be unenforceable. But a number of leftwing deputies have indicated they will refuse to follow the party line if a ban comes up for a vote.

Several members of Mr. Sarkozy's party have said they plan to introduce a bill to outlaw the wearing of the niqab in the next few days.

Jean-François Copé, the party's parliamentary leader, called the garment a threat by radical Islamists to the nation's security. “Extremists are testing the republic by encouraging a practice they know to be contrary to the essential principles of our country,” he said.

Women wearing the head-to-toe covering, which leaves just a narrow opening for the eyes, are a rare sight in France. The French domestic intelligence agency said late last year it has even counted them, and found precisely 367 niqab-wearers in a country with a Muslim population estimated at close to six million.

Still, the garment has become a red flag, feeding a more generalized unease over the visibility of Islam that has dominated a continuing government-sponsored debate on France's national identity. >>> Susan Sachs | Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Pat Condell: Islam in Europe

Former Muslims United: Nonie Darwish


Former Muslims United >>>

Obama’s New Year Gift to the Saudi King
FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE: Islam is in trouble at the heart of its birthplace, Saudi Arabia, and consequently in other Muslim countries. Muslim leaders and media are desperately trying to regain control both internally and externally. Muslims are starting to openly and defiantly ask questions about their religion and rulers; while the international image of Islam is being tarnished daily with by every act of Islamic terror, hate speech and calls for jihad from the pulpits of mosques. The traditional Muslim call for violence and jihad that Islam got away with for centuries is now under increasing — scrutiny especially after 9/11. Islam is now under the microscope. That is the quagmire of Muslims today. How can they continue teaching their basic religious jihad education but still save Islam’s reputation in a culture where image and honor is everything?

The West is not fully aware of what is happening in the Muslim world today, where taboo topics are being discussed by brave Muslim reformists and former Muslims. There are ground-breaking Arabic TV and internet shows aired inside homes in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Algeria, etc, discussing what ordinary Muslims were never allowed to hear before.

The brilliant Rachid Hmami, a former Muslim-turned-Christian and originally from Morocco, has a show, Suaal Garii ‘Daring Question,’ that is making shock waves across the Middle East. Another equally effective show is that of the brave Coptic priest, Father Zakareya Botros, who was imprisoned in Egypt for proselytizing to Muslims. Father Botros’s show is a huge success in exposing tyranny, contradictions and weaknesses in Islam. Muslims who call in are often shocked by what they hear for the first time about their own religion, yet another proof that the Muslim establishment intentionally spreads misinformation and ignorance about basic Muslim doctrines to Muslims. Many Muslims, even from Saudi Arabia, call in to renounce Islam.

Unprecedented defiance is happening in the heart of the Muslim world. Recently a prominent Egyptian female attorney and human rights advocate, Nagla Al Imam, announced she left Islam and became a Christian and insists that she will remain in Egypt, in defiance of Islamic law condemning her to death. She is now under intense 24-hour security. Islam is in trouble from within.

Both King Abdullah, custodian of the two Holy Mosques of Islam in Mecca and Medina, and the Islamic establishment everywhere, are extremely alarmed by the status of Islam today. Their power to control Muslims, trained for centuries to blind submission, is slipping away. Huge sums of oil money dedicated to rescue Islam’s image, is not enough to do the job.

That is where Obama’s services come to the rescue of King Abdulla. Obama’s bow to the king was no small matter, but of great significance in Muslim culture. It is a Muslim symbol of subjugation and inferiority. >>> Nonie Darwish | Monday, January 11, 2010

France: The Banning of the Burqah


Inside Story: The Burqah in France

Jewish Burqa Trend: The Frumka
Part 1:



Part 2:



JTA: >>> Ami Eden | Friday, February 08, 2008

High Cost of Leaving Ultra-orthodox Judaism
Ultra-orthodox communities often have their own neighbourhoods, away from secular society. Photograph: BBC
BBC: "The kids, that's the highest cost," says Ido Lev, 30, who hasn't seen his two children for five years.

It's hard to imagine the software engineering student, now wearing jeans and a checked shirt, in the black hat and suit of the ultra-orthodox Jew he used to be.

It is seven years since he walked out of his home, cut off his curly side locks in a public toilet and slept in a shopping mall for a week.

Israel's ultra-orthodox Jews, also known as Haredim, make up roughly 10% of the population. Most live their lives in voluntary isolation from the secular world.

Men tend to spend their days studying the Jewish scriptures, which are the primary focus of education for both genders.

Posters on the walls of ultra-orthodox areas pass on community news, as many residents shield themselves from what they see as the secular influence of television and radio.

Images of women are banned, and anyone driving on the Jewish Sabbath is likely to have stones thrown at their car.

Every detail of life is determined by religious observance, says Mr Lev, "even how you put on your shoes". >>> Heather Sharp, BBC News, Jerusalem | Monday, January 11, 2010

Young UK Men 'Tortured' While Held in Yemen
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: LONDON: A group of British Muslims who were detained and allegedly tortured last month while travelling in Yemen say their interrogators demanded detailed information about mosques in London and their associates in Britain.

The three young men and a teenage boy were held for almost five weeks after being dragged off a bus outside the capital, Sana'a, where they had enrolled in an Arabic language institute a few days earlier.

They say that while being held at a prison run by one of the Yemeni Government's intelligence agencies they were beaten, deprived of sleep and forced to watch others being tortured. They allege that they were then ordered to write a list of mosques they attended in London, told to describe those mosques and some of the people who pray there, and instructed to hand over the names and telephone numbers of some of their associates in Britain.

They were released without charge. The men are angry that the British Foreign Office has made no complaint about their alleged mistreatment to Yemeni authorities, although they reported it to Scotland Yard and Foreign Office officials.

They are also angry that the Foreign Office denies any of them had visible injuries when they were visited by a British consular official shortly before their release. >>> Ian Cobain | Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Homosexual Africans Face Prison, Intolerance and the Death Penalty
THE TELEGRAPH: In Africa 38 out of 53 countries have criminalised consensual homosexual sex.

Matuba Mahlatjie is gay, African and married, which is unheard of outside liberal South Africa, because the continent's governments are clamping down on homosexuality.

Gay pride parades, same-sex marriages and the famously gay-friendly city of Cape Town puts South Africa way ahead of countries such as nearby Malawi, where a gay couple was thrown in jail this month for trying to marry.

But scratch the surface and sexual intolerance and hate crimes still riddle the continent's powerhouse.

"We still have hate crimes perpetrated against gay and lesbian people in our communities. The legalisation of same-sex unions did not make our life any easier," said Mahlatjie, who feels gays are still "under siege" in the country.

Across Africa governments are laying down the law against homosexuality and 38 out of 53 countries have criminalised consensual gay sex, in what Human Rights Watch says is a method of "political manipulation".

Uganda has been criticised for the tabling of a bill against the "sinful lifestyle" that would toughen penalties for gays and also punish anyone who "promotes" homosexuality.

In Malawi, where discussing sex is taboo, the attempt by the gay couple to get married was labeled a matter of "gross indecency". A judge is expected to decide next week whether they will face trial. >>> Fran Blandy, in Cape Town for AFP | Monday, January 11, 2010

Nahost: Israel baut Zaun an der Grenze zu Ägypten
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Israel will seine Grenze zu Ägypten befestigen: Ein Zaun soll künftig das Eindringen von Extremisten und illegalen Einwanderern verhindern, kündigte Ministerpräsident Netanjahu an. Damit solle der "jüdische und demokratische Charakter" Israels bewahrt werden.

Jerusalem - Israel will nach den Worten von Ministerpräsident Benjamin Netanjahu entlang der Grenze zu Ägypten eine Grenzbarriere bauen. Damit sollen "Eindringlinge und Terroristen" daran gehindert werden, ins Land zu gelangen. Der "jüdische und demokratische Charakter des Staates Israel" solle so bewahrt werden, sagte der israelische Regierungschef in einer am Sonntag veröffentlichten Erklärung.

Israel stehe zwar weiterhin für Flüchtlinge aus Konfliktgebieten offen, könne es aber nicht zulassen, dass tausende illegale Arbeiter in das Land strömten, so Netanjahu. Die israelische Polizei geht nach eigenen Angaben davon aus, dass jede Woche 100 bis 200 illegale Arbeitssuchende, Flüchtlinge und "Kriminelle" die israelisch-ägyptische Grenze passieren. Entlang des Grenzzauns sollen auch Bewegungsmelder angebracht werden. >>> anr/dpa/Reuters | Montag, 11. Januar 2010

Al-Qaida menace de tuer un otage français au Mali
Pierre Camatte (à droite sur la photo) a été enlevé au Mali le 27 novembre dernier. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: La branche de l'organisation terroriste au Maghreb islamique affirme qu'elle exécutera Pierre Camatte, capturé le 27 novembre dernier, si quatre de ses prisonniers au Mali ne sont pas libérés sous 20 jours.

Al-Qaida au Maghreb islamique (Aqmi) a dévoilé ses revendications dans l'affaire Pierre Camatte. Le groupement terroriste menace d'exécuter l'otage français enlevé fin novembre, si quatre de ses prisonniers au Mali ne sont pas libérés sous vingt jours, ont affirmé lundi les centres américains de surveillance des sites islamistes, SITE et Intelcenter.

Pierre Camatte a été kidnappé le 27 novembre dernier, en pleine nuit, dans un hôtel de Ménaka, au Mali. Agé de 61 ans, le ressortissant français préside notamment l'association «Gérardmer-Tidarmene». Il se rendait «régulièrement» au Mali où il s'impliquait dans la culture d'une plante thérapeutique contre le paludisme.

En décembre, l'Aqmi avait revendiqué son enlèvement, de même que celui de trois autres humanitaires espagnols, enlevés quatre jours plus tard en Mauritanie, un pays frontalier du Mali. Un «risque sérieux d'enlèvement» au Mali >>> M.B. (lefigaro.fr) avec AFP | Lundi 11 Janvier 2010

China's First Gay Pageant Gives Glimpse of New Acceptance
THE GUARDIAN: Contest aims to boost community's confidence in country where homosexuality was classed as illness until 2001

Contestants in China's first gay pageant, to be held in Beijing this week. The winner will compete for the title of Worldwide Mr Gay in Norway. Photograph: The Guardian
There's a swimwear round and a talent section where contestants can show off their singing and dancing. But organisers insist the contest to be held this Friday is a serious business. It is China's first gay pageant.

The event is a striking sign of how far attitudes in China have changed and of gay people's increasing confidence. Gay sex was illegal until 1997. Homosexuality was classed as a mental illness for four years after that. Now an emerging gay community is busting stereotypes.

"We are intelligent, we're professionals, we're gorgeous – and we're gay," said contestant Emilio Liu, from Inner Mongolia. "I want the audience to know there are a whole bunch of people like us living in China. It's a wonderful life and it's not hidden any more."

These days there are gay support groups and websites helping people to explore their sexuality and meet potential partners. There are gay venues in most major cities; last year, the first government-backed bar opened in Kunming, in south-western Yunnan. Shanghai held the first Gay Pride week and in Beijing, campaigners called for same-sex marriages.

Now comes Mr Gay China, reported in approving terms in English-language state media. Eight finalists will take to the stage of a Beijing nightclub to strut their stuff in casual clothes and swimwear, exhibit their talents and answer questions. The winner – picked for his ability to represent gay issues as well as his skills, personality and looks – will head to Norway for next month's finals of Worldwide Mr Gay. >>> Tania Branigan in Beijing | Sunday, January 10, 2010

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: Licentiousness Breeds Extremism
THE INDEPENDENT: The collapse of all restraint in society is pushing some Muslims to the edge of reason

Last week I once again condemned the burkha and will do so till the end of my days. By that time, with the unstoppable rise and rise of Wahhabi Islam, they will probably have incarcerated me in black polyester and turned off my voice.

I unconditionally hate fanatical proselytisers – male and female – what they do to my faith and the faithful. The way they ban pleasures and progress, fill young minds with strictures to paralyse the will and suppress god-given desires in lands of freedom and autonomy. Their inner lives are stormy, psychological dramas which turn dangerously unstable. Some of the resulting turmoil and sexual unrest may be swelling the seething brain of the next terrorist manqué.

On blogs now thought to be written by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a plane over Detroit, you are given the impression from news reports that he was a lonely boy, unhappy with his peers who drank and partied. At university he apparently cut himself off, tried to hold on to Islamic Puritanism in a country of no shame, no restraint. Millions of Britons of all backgrounds are alarmed by the dissipation and debauchery that now defines Britain.

For Umar Farouk and many other Muslim men like him, living in such a landscape is literally intolerable. He confesses that he does try to lower his gaze in front of females, wonders if he should get married because he is getting too aroused. You could make a movie, a Taxi Driver for our times, about just such an anti-hero, the hormonal male who is expected to live a life of total abstinence in the middle of licentiousness.

The Pakistani journalist Maruf Khwaja describes this inner chaos in an Open Democracy blog. In some homes they cannot watch television, listen to music, dance or indulge in anything pleasurable: "[Muslims] want to do what their secular friends do, have nights out, go clubbing, have boyfriends and girlfriends. Many are depressed by social isolation and attempt to escape by leaving parents and Islamic legacies behind."

Others, like Asif, revert. He says he had a contact list full of willing white women whom he chatted up to "get into their knickers" and now that he is a good Muslim, he talks to covered-up ladies and can "really communicate with them". The saintly Muslim female has desexualised herself, protects herself in the polluted land she lives in full of mad, bad and dangerous sinners.

Women who are not coerced but choose to cover themselves are expressing that revulsion and fear of contamination. Their solutions are as bad as the problems they are trying to escape, sometimes worse. Sexual abuse, rape and forced homosexuality remain the dirty secrets of British Muslim communities, kept under wraps as it were, while they flap around proclamations of purity.

I cannot stand these false virtues and self-reverential pieties nor am I pleading on behalf of screwed-up men who would murder us naming Allah. I am saying that the collapse of all restraint in our societies is breeding sicknesses and madness, and may be pushing some Muslims to the edge of reason. >>> Yasmin Alibhai-Brown | Monday, January 11, 2010