Islam in Media Roundup | 1 June – 7 June 2020

India

Pregnant Elephant's Death in India Triggers 'Hate Campaign'

Pregnant Elephant's Death in India Triggers 'Hate Campaign'

Al Jazeera

Amid anger over an elephant dying from eating pineapple filled with firecrackers, top Kerala leader flags ‘hate campaign’.
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COVID-19 Shatters Hajj Dreams of Thousands of Indian Muslims

COVID-19 Shatters Hajj Dreams of Thousands of Indian Muslims

Gulf News

This year, an estimated 200,000 Muslims from India were planning to perform Hajj.
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Bangladesh

Rohingya Refugees Running Scared From Coronavirus Tests

Rohingya Refugees Running Scared From Coronavirus Tests

The Globe Post

Rohingya refugees infected with coronavirus are fleeing quarantine in their Bangladesh camps because they fear being transferred to an isolated island in the Bay of Bengal, community leaders said Thursday.
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Indonesia

Indonesia's Muslims to Skip Hajj this Year

Indonesia's Muslims to Skip Hajj this Year

Anadolu News Agency

Religious affairs minister explained this decision was made after much consideration, especially regarding health concerns.
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United States

Protest Cost Him His Career. Still, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf Urges On The Protesters

Protest Cost Him His Career. Still, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf Urges On The Protesters

Huffington Post

The former NBA player talks about the anti-racism movement, demands for real change and how his faith keeps him grounded.
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Muslims Against Police Brutality Protest: Bay Ridge To Barclays Center

Muslims Against Police Brutality Protest: Bay Ridge To Barclays Center

Bklyner.

It was a peaceful protest. And it was organized by three Black Muslim women: Esraa Elzin, Nicole Najmah Abraham, and Nazahah Booth. “That’s like the three most hated identities,” Elzin laughed. “Muslim, women, and Black… It’s like society wants to erase us in every form.”
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Non-Black Muslims Must Care About Black Liberation

Non-Black Muslims Must Care About Black Liberation

Muslim Co

For non-Black people of color and for Muslims in general, this moment is of the utmost importance.
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5 Political Reasons Why Non-Black Muslims Must Challenge the Racism In Their Communities

5 Political Reasons Why Non-Black Muslims Must Challenge the Racism In Their Communities

The Muslim Vibe

In 1960s United States, the biggest opponents to Israel and Western-backed Arab dictators were black liberation activists. They quickly learnt that if they were to be free from White Supremacy, they must oppose it in all its forms. Their political support for Palestine is the main reason why Zionists opposed the Black Civil Rights movement.
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'Day of Outrage': NJ Mosques Will Preach Against Racism, Police Brutality on Friday

'Day of Outrage': NJ Mosques Will Preach Against Racism, Police Brutality on Friday

North Jersey

Friday’s “Day of Outrage” is part of a larger effort from Muslim organizations and houses of worship to express solidarity with black Americans after the death of George Floyd, organizers said.
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I'm a Black American Muslim. After the Killing of George Floyd, I Hope That My Community Will Speak out Against Injustices Faced by Black People

I'm a Black American Muslim. After the Killing of George Floyd, I Hope That My Community Will Speak out Against Injustices Faced by Black People

Insider

As a twenty-eight-year-old Black American Muslim woman, I’ve spent a large part of my life uncovering the complexities of my multi-layered identity. My parents both converted to Islam before I was born. My Afro-Latina mother was introduced to Islam as a child.
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Black Mauritanians Protest Against Us Racism, After Fleeing Racial Violence at Home

Black Mauritanians Protest Against Us Racism, After Fleeing Racial Violence at Home

The Middle East Eye

Demonstrating outside the White House, 12-year-old Abdoul Sanghott references killings in the US and Mauritania.
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'We Gotta Call out Racism': Milwaukee Muslim Students Lead March Against Police Violence

'We Gotta Call out Racism': Milwaukee Muslim Students Lead March Against Police Violence

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Last spring, Milwaukee teenagers Dana Sharqawi and Sumaya Abdi organized protests after mass shootings at mosques in New Zealand. On Wednesday, they brought people together again at the Islamic Society of Milwaukee — this time to remember George Floyd and to protest police violence. They said they were guided by their Muslim faith.
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The Role of Black Muslims in the American Civil Rights Movement

The Role of Black Muslims in the American Civil Rights Movement

TRT World

From Malcolm X to Keith Ellison, Black Muslims have played an important role in the fight for the wider community’s rights.
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Who is Keith Ellison, the Black Muslim Leading the Floyd Prosecution?

Who is Keith Ellison, the Black Muslim Leading the Floyd Prosecution?

TRT World

Before he was a top state prosecutor and the first Muslim to be elected to Congress, he was a student who fought for the rights of Black people.
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Joe Biden's Muslim State of Exception

Joe Biden's Muslim State of Exception

Al Jazeera

Joe Biden has to commit to go beyond lifting the Muslim ban to address discriminatory policies Muslim communities face.
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Muslim Voters Are Getting Organized for the 2020 Election

Muslim Voters Are Getting Organized for the 2020 Election

Christian Century

While African American Muslims have long been active in US politics, over the last five years rising Islamophobia has spurred a new wave of Muslim organizing, one that also includes people from immigrant backgrounds.
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Uighur Bill 'Message' of Support to China's Muslims, US Lawmakers Say

Uighur Bill 'Message' of Support to China's Muslims, US Lawmakers Say

Daily Sabah

United States lawmakers on Tuesday said legislation targeting Chinese officials over the treatment of the country’s Uighur Muslim minority sent a “clear message” of support from Washington, seeking to prod the Trump administration to push Beijing on human rights.
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'Do Not Tell Anybody You're Muslim': 'Ramy' Stars Reflect on Hollywood's Longtime Neglect

'Do Not Tell Anybody You're Muslim': 'Ramy' Stars Reflect on Hollywood's Longtime Neglect

Yahoo

No one looked more surprised than “Ramy’s” Ramy Youssef when he won a Golden Globe — over Michael Douglas no less — for his performance in Hulu’s comedy about an aimless, Muslim American millennial in suburban New Jersey. And no one was more shocked than Youssef when Mahershala Ali signed on for Season 2 of the half-hour series, in a central role, playing a Sufi sheikh.
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How Muslims Are Mourning Without Proper Death Care Rituals

How Muslims Are Mourning Without Proper Death Care Rituals

Yes Magazine

The coronavirus outbreak has unleashed a collective sense of grief, whether we mourn a loved one or the life we had planned for ourselves. The Muslim community is feeling this, compounded with the loss of our death care practices.
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Mali

Thousands in Mali's Capital Demand President Keita Step Down

Thousands in Mali's Capital Demand President Keita Step Down

Al Jazeera

Various political groups organise mass demonstration, which has the backing of influential Muslim leader Mahmoud Dicko.
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Malian Migrants Stranded by COVID-19 Border Closures Now Home

Malian Migrants Stranded by COVID-19 Border Closures Now Home

Voice of America

Dozens of Malian migrants stranded for nearly three months in Niger by COVID-19-related border closures have returned home. Earlier this week, the International Organization for Migration was finally able to repatriate 179 migrants who had been waiting at IOM transit centers in Niamey and Agadez.
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Nigeria

Nigeria Reopens Churches, Mosques and Hotels Amid Rising Cases of COVID-19

Nigeria Reopens Churches, Mosques and Hotels Amid Rising Cases of COVID-19

CNN

The Nigerian government has lifted restrictions placed on religious gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic. The previous ban on religious and social gatherings was placed on Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial center, Abuja, its capital city, and Ogun state by President Muhammadu Buhari in March.
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Israel/Palestine

Amid Pandemic, Israel Expands Control Over Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque

Amid Pandemic, Israel Expands Control Over Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque

Middle East Eye

The recent expropriation of land near the flashpoint mosque comes amid ever increasing restrictions on Palestinian movement in the area, seen as part of Israeli annexation efforts.
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Palestinian Islamic Scholars Reject Family Protection Bill

Palestinian Islamic Scholars Reject Family Protection Bill

J Post

The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Women’s Affairs is drafting the new law, which seeks to impose harsher penalties on abusers and provide protection systems for women from gender-based violence. The law also will require all PA ministries and institutions to participate in the effort to reduce domestic violence.
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Iraq

Caring for the Dead: Christian, Muslim, and COVID

Caring for the Dead: Christian, Muslim, and COVID

https://news.yahoo.com/caring-dead-christian-muslim-covid-171105392.html

Iraqi paramedic Sarmad Ibrahim used to treat fellow militiamen in the war against the Islamic State. Now, he buries COVID-19 victims. While this enemy is very different, the work is both physically and emotionally draining. The team work at a new cemetery in the southern Shi’ite holy city of Najaf. It is Iraq’s only graveyard specifically for those who have died of COVID-19.
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Saudi Arabia

Saudi Cleric: ‘It Is Prohibited to Protest in Islam’

Saudi Cleric: ‘It Is Prohibited to Protest in Islam’

Middle East Monitor

A prominent Saudi cleric, Shaikh Assim Al-Hakeem, has come under fire on Twitter over his response to a question posed to him by a user regarding the permissibility of protesting in Islam, specifically in light of the on-going demonstrations in the US over the murder of an unarmed black suspect by Minneapolis police officers.
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Iran

The Afro-Iranian Community: Beyond Haji Firuz Blackface, the Slave Trade, & Bandari Music

The Afro-Iranian Community: Beyond Haji Firuz Blackface, the Slave Trade, & Bandari Music

Ajam Media Collective

Afro-Iranians and those of African descent are often ignored. Perhaps this stems from their limited exposure in mainstream Iranian culture. Or maybe it is because the legacy of African slavery in Iran contradicts the ever-so-pervasive Aryan myth of perfection and civilization.
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Turkey

Rumi: Islamic Scholar, Poet and Mystic

Rumi: Islamic Scholar, Poet and Mystic

Daily Sabah

The great philosopher Mevlana Jalaladdin Rumi managed to become both an Islamic scholar with wide knowledge and a Sufi mystic whose influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions.
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United Kingdom

We Need to Discuss Anti-Blackness in Muslim and South Asian Communities

We Need to Discuss Anti-Blackness in Muslim and South Asian Communities

i News

Many of us have grown up in homes that have been fixated on having fair and lovely skin tones.
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NHS Thanks the Muslim Staff Who Worked Through Ramadan

NHS Thanks the Muslim Staff Who Worked Through Ramadan

Health Service Journal

The covid-19 crisis has required sacrifices from all NHS staff, but Muslims and other faith communities have met additional challenges working without sustenance during working hours.
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Mum Why Are There No Female Prophets?

Mum Why Are There No Female Prophets?

Amaliah

I hope that by starting this kind of discussion with not only our girls but especially our boys they would both come to know that one doesn’t have to be a prophet to have Allah communicate directly with them and that Allah chose many women to change the course of history with their faith and action.
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Black, Asian Londoners More Likely to be Fined under Coronavirus Laws

Black, Asian Londoners More Likely to be Fined under Coronavirus Laws

Reuters

That came a day after an official study found black, Asian and minority ethnic people in England were up to 50% more likely to die from COVID-19, sparking calls for action on racial inequality.
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Germany

Coronavirus Outbreak Traced to German Hookah Bar

Coronavirus Outbreak Traced to German Hookah Bar

Deutsche Welle

City officials in Göttingen have traced a coronavirus outbreak to a hookah lounge. According to restrictions, the shisha bar shouldn’t have been open. More than 300 people have now been put under quarantine.
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Austria

Austria's Rising Islamophobia Worries EU experts

Austria's Rising Islamophobia Worries EU experts

Daily Sabah

The high level of anti-Muslim hatred in Austria is a rising concern, according to an expert commission of the Council of Europe.
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Italy

How a Kidnapped Aid Worker Who Converted to Islam Shook Italy

How a Kidnapped Aid Worker Who Converted to Islam Shook Italy

Al Jazeera

Silvia Romano kidnapped in Kenya faced a hostile welcome when she returned to Italy.
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Italy’s First Islamic Burial Place Planned for Rome

Italy’s First Islamic Burial Place Planned for Rome

Arab News

The burial place — to be built on a 400 hectare area near the border between Fiumicino, close to the international airport, and the city of Bracciano —  will be the first cemetery dedicated to Muslims in a country where Islam is the second-largest religion.
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International

Sport and Hijab: How Athletes Like Egypt's Doaa Elghobashy and UAE's Zahra Lari Are Breaking Down Barriers

Sport and Hijab: How Athletes Like Egypt's Doaa Elghobashy and UAE's Zahra Lari Are Breaking Down Barriers

The National

Governing bodies must continue to make sure they are creating an inclusive environment for all.
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How Clipping Turkey's Religious Reach Has Boosted Erdogan in Europe

How Clipping Turkey's Religious Reach Has Boosted Erdogan in Europe

Al Monitor

Western moves to curb Turkey’s official religious body’s activities in Europe are boosting support for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan among the Turkish diaspora in Europe.
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Muslim Representation in Video Games Still Not Diverse Enough, Says Indie Developer Rami Ismail

Muslim Representation in Video Games Still Not Diverse Enough, Says Indie Developer Rami Ismail

IGN Southeast Asia

The co-founder of Vlambeer weighs in on Muslim representation as well as the game design philosophy of his explosive games.
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Was the Medieval Order of Assassins a Real Thing?

Was the Medieval Order of Assassins a Real Thing?

National Geographic

Tales of a Muslim group of drug-fueled, stealth killers stir imaginations, but stray far from the true history of the Nizari Ismaili state.
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Maydan editors selected some of the most thought-provoking news items on issues around Islam, religion and public-life for you. Let us know what you have been reading. Drop us a line at mediaroundups@themaydan.com!