December 18-24

Protocols of the Elders of Mecca

Protocols of the Elders of Mecca

The Islamic Monthly

Under fierce debate, legislation to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as an FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organization) is being considered by lawmakers in the U.S., amid increasing tensions.
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Chinese Muslims Shackled by Police State, High-Tech Surveillance

Chinese Muslims Shackled by Police State, High-Tech Surveillance

Religion News Service

Speaking under anonymity from fear of being reprimanded by the state, Uyghur locals report that Chinese authorities have begun arresting and beating students and young people for vague to little reason.
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Reciprocal Rage: Why Islamist Extremists and the Far Right Need Each Other

Reciprocal Rage: Why Islamist Extremists and the Far Right Need Each Other

Vox

In an interview about religion and nationalism, Julia Ebner argues that two complementary extremes feed each other: Islamist extremism and far right nationalism.
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Trump has Led the Way for Schoolyard Bullying of American Muslims

Trump has Led the Way for Schoolyard Bullying of American Muslims

Middle East Eye

A new report finds that Muslim American children are twice as likely to be bullied as Jewish or Protestant kids, in a society seeing increasing animosity to Muslims and Islam.
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The Difference Made by Muslim Charities is Often Ignored – Especially Over Christmas

The Difference Made by Muslim Charities is Often Ignored – Especially Over Christmas

The Independent UK

In light of tragedies and other misfortunes, a staggering number of Muslims and their Islamic based charities is often underreported by the media and overlooked by society at large as they provide an immense contribution to public welfare.
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Catalonia Election: Muslim Woman on a Political Mission

Catalonia Election: Muslim Woman on a Political Mission

BBC News

As one of the first Muslim political leaders of Catalonia, Najat Driouech discusses the challenges of tackling Islamophobia, the Catalan independence movement, and social integration for Muslims living in Spain.
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What Makes Muslim Ban 3.0 So Dangerous

What Makes Muslim Ban 3.0 So Dangerous

Foreign Policy in Focus

The White House has demonized the global Muslim community to justify extreme measures against them. By positing Muslims as a threat to the safety and security of the United States — even when they’re the victims of a terrorist attack — Trump builds support for the idea that restricting Muslim rights will always be the solution.
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Malaysia No Longer an Example to Muslim Countries

Malaysia No Longer an Example to Muslim Countries

The Malaysian Insight

In light of increasing tensions, Malaysia must return to its traditions of compromise, conciliation, tolerance and compassion in Islam as it has diverged from the path despite the government’s push for moderation, said constitutional law expert Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi.
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Malaysia Will Help Safeguard Islam’s Interests in the Middle East, Hishammuddin says

Malaysia Will Help Safeguard Islam’s Interests in the Middle East, Hishammuddin says

Yahoo News

Malaysia is sending soldiers to ensure peace and stability in the Middle East region, Defense Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today he said the presence of Malaysian soldiers will also ensure the image of Islam is not tainted by unscrupulous parties.
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Defying Algeria's Odds to Become a Female Mayor

Defying Algeria's Odds to Become a Female Mayor

BBC News

Coming from an Islamic political party, Zahai Benkara has made her mark to reach to many across a diverse spectrum to become one only four women to become a mayor in Algeria.
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Somalia's Islamic Courts Union

Somalia's Islamic Courts Union

BBC World Service

The Islamic Courts Union (ICU) came to power after defeating rapacious American-backed warlords. They had no unified ideology or leadership. Some were moderates, some were hardline Islamists. But they brought law and order to the capital unseen since civil war began in 1991. But their rule would only last for six months and from the ashes would emerge the radical militant group Al-Shabab.
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New Jersey Imam Suspended Over Anti-Semitic Sermon

New Jersey Imam Suspended Over Anti-Semitic Sermon

AP News

A New Jersey Islamic group has suspended an imam who delivered an anti-Semitic sermon earlier this month over remarks about President Trump’s controversial Jerusalem decision.
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European Court: EU Rules Don’t Cover Sharia Law Divorces

European Court: EU Rules Don’t Cover Sharia Law Divorces

AP News

The European Union’s top court ruled Wednesday that the bloc’s divorce regulations don’t cover private agreements, throwing a case back to a Munich court to decide whether to recognize a divorce granted under religious Sharia law to a couple who are both Syrian-German.
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German Ex-Rightist Jailed for Plotting Islamist Attack on Police

German Ex-Rightist Jailed for Plotting Islamist Attack on Police

Reuters

A German court sentenced a 27-year-old German supporter of Islamic State to three years and three months in prison on Monday for plotting to lure police or soldiers into a trap and kill them with a homemade bomb.
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Barbie Brush-Off: Tajik Officials Warn Against Dolls In Islamic Dress, Push National Look Instead

Barbie Brush-Off: Tajik Officials Warn Against Dolls In Islamic Dress, Push National Look Instead

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

The first commercial batches of dolls in Tajik national dress have arrived in shops and bazaars across the country in time for the New Year’s shopping season, part of an intensified government effort against overt displays of conservative Islam.
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Inside The “Spiritual Abuse” Allegations Against A Celebrity Preacher

Inside The “Spiritual Abuse” Allegations Against A Celebrity Preacher

Buzzfeed News

A popular figure in non-traditional Islamic education, Nouman Ali Khan is being investigated for misconduct and inappropriate behavior with his female colleagues.
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The Yemenis Trapped Between War and US Extreme Vetting

The Yemenis Trapped Between War and US Extreme Vetting

AlJazeera

Stuck in a limbo between governments, applications, and the visa process, life for Yemeni people trying to escape the conflict is what one refugee describes as ‘hell.’
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The Perils of #MeToo as a Muslim

The Perils of #MeToo as a Muslim

The Atlantic

Along the #MeToo movement, Muslim women are speaking up about Islamic scholars and clergymen who have allegedly preyed on their piety, and their stories are forcing a reckoning about the fallibility of these outsized personalities.
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Trump's Year in Islamophobia

Trump's Year in Islamophobia

Alternet

In reviewing a tumultuous year for both Muslims and Islam from the U.S. Presidency, Alternet provides the five most troublesome provocations of tensions among Muslims in the West.
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Why are British Muslim Marriages Unprotected by Law?

Why are British Muslim Marriages Unprotected by Law?

AlJazeera

With about Sixty percent of Muslim marriages unregistered in Britain, there must be legal and social reconciliation between the legal and religious institutions of marriage.
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Charity Launches Festive TV Ad to Challenge View of British Muslims as Anti-Christmas

Charity Launches Festive TV Ad to Challenge View of British Muslims as Anti-Christmas

The Guardian UK

The first mainstream television advertisement by a Muslim charity will be aired over the festive period, a development many hope will help to challenge the misconception that Muslims are anti-Christmas.
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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!