Islam is the 2nd largest religion of the world, and its followers are increasing day by day. This is a good sign, but the threat is that some Muslims show hatred towards the west, and this hatred often becomes the cause of conflict between the Muslims and the west.

This is a very serious issue, and very deep research is needed to get to the root of the problem as maintaining peace in the world would not be that easy with the existence of hatred.

The western culture provides all citizens with complete freedom to live their lives they way they want. There is no law to control one’s personal life. You are not bound by anyone, and you can live they way you like. In the western civilization, the concept of God exists, and people can call him in their prayers.

When it comes to Muslims, things are entirely opposite. Muslims believe in oneness of God, and getting the pleasure of God is the most important thing for a Muslim. When Muslims observe such ignorance of God by the western people, quite naturally, they start hating their ideas, and that leads them to hate the westerns.

This is just a simple example. As a matter of fact, the ideas of Muslims and the Western people are exactly opposite as far as religion and general ethics are concerned. West has a culture which allows them full freedom, whereas Muslims are bound by the teachings of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) and those of the Holy Quran. For Muslims, a better life in the coming world is important while westerns try to seize all pleasure in this lifetime. Due to such differences in the ideas and mental approaches, there is a mutual hate between the two being discussed here.

If we peep into the annals of history, we see that it was Islam that came after Christianity, and from that time to this time, Christians have been trying to eliminate the followers of Islam and the religion itself as they consider it necessary for their own survival. Due to this, from the 6th century to this century, they have always made efforts to get rid of Islam. These efforts of them have given rise to the hatred in the Muslims. Moreover, the actions such as drawing the cartoons of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W), the burning of Holy Quran and other actions of disrespect and the attitude of the Government of western areas regarding these actions is what makes Muslims hate the western people.

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Jews in the United Kingdom have been reporting incidents of antisemitism for years, and Muslims have finally decided to follow suit. With the backing of the UK government, a project has been set up to monitor and record incidents of anti-Muslim hate. In its first year of operation, it has recorded a staggering 632 incidents all over the United Kingdom. Based on the Community Security Trust model which is well known for recording such incidents, “Tell Mama” is operated by an interfaith organization  called “Faith Matters”.

“Faith Matters” reports that the victims of anti-Muslim hatred vary in age from the five-year-old to the 89-year-old Muslims. According to its records, women are more prone to such incidents. Almost three-quarters of anti-Muslim attacks occurred on the world wide web in the last year. The organization hopes that by Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks (Mama), it will be able to bring about a significant change in what people in the UK consider acceptable behavior. Director of Faith Matters Fiyaz Mughal, speaking to the media, said:

By highlighting these incidents we want people to realize that Islamophobia is equally as disgusting and poisonous as anti-Semitism and I think that people do not take it to that level right now – at least some people don’t.  We need to reduce the volume of online hate towards Muslim communities. We also should create frameworks for the police and other institutions to get them up recording and prosecuting in this area.

Tell Mama is planning to go smart, with its free smartphone app expected to be released within a few days. According to Faith Matters, this will make it easier for more Muslims to report incidents of hate on their phones. Mughal hopes this will lead to more people reporting any hate crimes against them, without which he believes Islamophobia can never be tackled and eliminated from British society.

The organization says that the 632 incidents were of varying degrees and differing natures. For example, in January 2013, a pig’s head was thrown into a London-based Afghan family. Several other incidents involving pig-based items have occurred in the United Kingdom over the past year, including one in which a cross wrapped in ham was left just outside a Muslim home in Nottinghamshire. 39-year old Murad Alam was forced to leave his home and two young sons after the incident.

To be honest I don’t think Islamophobia is taken very seriously – it feels like if what had happened to me happened to a Jewish family there would have been outraged. There’s a sense that because of history of terrorism, that is attached to Islam, non-Muslims feel that all Muslims deserve to be abused.

Alam reported the incident to the police, he felt as though he needed to take action in order to prevent other Muslim families in the United Kingdom from going through the same pains as himself. He is grateful to Tell Mama for the service it is providing to the ever-growing Muslim population in the UK.

I looked online and found the service so called and told them what had happened. They spoke to the media and it was great for me; I needed people to know what had happened.

According to the UK Home Office, 82% of hate crimes were based on race, whereas merely 1621 hate crime incidents were based on religious differences. A census conducted in 2011 showed that there were a total of 2.7 million Muslims living in England and Wales, 4.8% of the total population. Compared to 2001, when there were just 1.5 million Muslims, this is a marked increase. That is why it is all the more important to start tackling intolerance towards Muslims.

Although the Jewish community in the United Kingdom is much smaller than the Muslim population, the Community Security Trust (CST) has been recording hate crimes against its members for almost three decades. Tell Mama hopes to make up lost time, something that Mark Gardiner of the CST appreciates.

CST is glad that our work countering antisemitism has helped Tell Mama provide the Muslim community with a proper mechanism, for reporting and understanding anti-Muslim hate crimes. It has taken CST nearly 30 years of focus and professionalism to reach success today. What Tell Mama has achieved with wroking for one year is very impressive.

About the author

Human. Pakistani. Law Student. Muslim.

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Randolph Linn is behind bars after pleading guilty to federal arson and related crimes committed at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, but local Muslim leaders are concerned there may be more people like him out there.

Linn, a 52-year-old truck driver and ex-Marine from St. Joe, Ind., was initially charged with one count each of intentionally damaging religious property and using fire or explosives in commission of a felony for the Sept. 30 arson attack. A third charge, of using a firearm to commit a crime of violence, was added by a grand jury Dec. 18.

He pleaded guilty to all three counts in U.S. District Court in Toledo on Dec. 19 as part of a binding agreement and could be sentenced to 20 years in prison in April. He will also be required to pay a $250,000 fine and restitution that may exceed $1 million.

"Yes, justice has been served and the Islamic Center will be rebuilt and we will meet inside it and continue to do so. But the actual problem hasn't been dealt with," said S. Zaheer Hasan, a spokesman for the United Muslim Association of Toledo.

"There's a bad feeling, first of all because of the environment, which is becoming hateful," he said. "The arson attack was an isolated incident, but it was a product of that hatred."

Mahjabeen Islam, president of the Islamic Center, said it was "upsetting" to sit through Linn's hearing, during which the suspect vented his hatred of Muslims. "It was terrible because he was guilty, but he has no remorse at all," Islam said. "It was very apparent to everyone that he blamed the media; he blamed Fox News; he tried to blame alcohol."

Linn told U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary that prior to his crime he drank 45 beers in seven hours. He then said he spontaneously decided, after seeing a wounded U.S. soldier on television, to get into his Chevrolet Sonic and drive 82 miles from St. Joe to Perrysburg.

He brought three firearms and stopped along the way to fill three gas containers, authorities said.

Linn said in court that he had hauled his truck many times past the domed mosque at the junction of Interstates 75 and 475.

According to Islam, when Zouhary asked Linn if knew any Muslims personally, he replied, "No, I only know what I hear on the radio and see on Fox News." He told the judge that Muslims are "going around killing us," Islam said.

Zouhary told Linn that the attack on the mosque was an attack on all places of religion. "You are no better than the terrorists or extremists you sought to punish," the judge told Linn.

Islam said she believes irresponsible media coverage fanned Linn's hatred and distorted his view of her faith. "My feeling is that the media needs to be more responsible. The combination of ignorance about Muslims and Islam, and hate and alcohol, and then whipping up all of this hatred in the media, is a lethal combination," Islam said.

Damage to the mosque from the blaze and from the building's sprinkler system and firefighters' hoses is estimated at $1.5 million, Islam said, adding that insurance is covering the expenses. Repairs are scheduled to be completed by the end of March. In the meantime, the mosque is holding Friday prayers at a Rossford indoor sports complex – with added security – and the center's Islamic school meets at Owens Community College.

Islam said surveillance cameras showed Linn, wearing a camouflage hat and sweatshirt, walking through the mosque with a pistol in his left hand. He left a beer can in the women's hijab room, she said, before pouring gasoline on the carpet in the main prayer room and igniting it.

"Had somebody been there, I dread to think about what could have happened because he had a gun. If people had been there, it might have been like the [Oak Creek, Wis.] Sikh temple shooting."

Toledo Free Press, 28 December 2012

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The Reverend Alan Clifford of Norwich Reformed Church first came to prominence back in 2004 when the local paper published a front-page article under the headline "I Think Islam Is Evil, Says Pastor", with the subheading "Church leader backs BNP view on faith".

The story concerned a letter Clifford had written to the Norwich Evening News declaring his support for the views on Islam expressed by Nick Griffin. The British National Party leader had been exposed in a BBC TV documentary which showed him telling a party meeting that Islam is a "wicked, vicious faith" and accusing Muslims of raping white girls as "part of their plan for conquering countries". In his letter Clifford said that Islam was indeed an "evil religion" and that Griffin had been correct to describe it as "a monster in our midst".

Clifford again attracted publicity earlier this year when Norwich council withdrew permission for Norwich Reformed Church to hold its stall at a site on Hay Hill owned by the local authority, and also banned them from holding further meetings on its premises. The council's action was prompted by a complaint that the church was distributing anti-Muslim hate literature from its stall.

Specifically, the objection was to a leaflet by Clifford titled "Why Not Islam". This accuses religious and political leaders of being "gripped by cowardice in the face the Muslim menace", condemns governments for "ignorantly distinguishing between militant and moderate Islam", and warns that "seemingly-benign Muslim communities will always be breeding grounds from which their more militant members can recruit jihadists".

Clifford was immediately hailed as a hero by the BNP and the English Defence League, both of which fully supported his views on Islam and denounced Norwich council for attempting to suppress them. The EDL provided a link to "Why Not Islam" on its Facebook page, while the BNP reproduced the full text on its website. The EDL also announced that it would hold a national demonstration in solidarity with Clifford, which is now set for 10 November. Clifford, for his part, has stated that the EDL have "rightly" endorsed his views on Islam.

It should be obvious that the right to free speech does not include the right to incite hatred against minority ethno-religious communities, and anti-racists and anti-fascists would be the first to support Norwich council's firm action on this issue.

Or so you might think. However, Hope not hate Norfolk have come out strongly against the council's decision. An article posted on their website by one Barbara Suzuki on behalf of the "HNH Norfolk Team" poses the questions: "Did Norwich City Council act too quickly against a soft target? Did the NCC consider the wider issues? Is this an attack on Free Speech?"

According to HNH Norfolk, Norwich council was indeed at fault in withdrawing permission for Clifford and his friends to distribute anti-Muslim hate literature on local authority property: "Not only has the NCC been ridiculed and criticised, it has also handed on a silver platter an excuse for a rag-tag rabble like the EDL to propose a march on the City on November 10."

So Norwich Council is apparently to blame for provoking the EDL by launching an unwarranted attack on the Rev Clifford's right to free speech. Moreover, as evidence of the "ridicule and criticism" to which Norwich council has been subjected, Suzuki provides us with a link to the right-wing Cranmer blog.

As for Clifford's hate-filled publication, HNH Norfolk can't understand what all the fuss is about. "Why anyone would want to make a complaint about it beats me", Suzuki writes. "There is literally no limit to the number of things that give offence to someone or other, and are we then to complain to the council about each and every one of them? Is this the way grown-ups in a secular democracy behave?"

The explanation for this disgraceful position can be found on Suzuki's Facebook page, which shows that she is an active supporter of the National Secular Society, an organisation that staunchly defends the right of racists to attack Islam – not least because a number of prominent NSS members share their views.

The NSS has long promoted the so-called "comedian" Pat Condell, who is given to posting YouTube rants against "Muslim immigrant rapists". NSS president Terry Sanderson once applauded a Sunday Telegraph columnist who denounced a ban on incitement to religious hatred on the grounds that it was being proposed "at the behest of Muslim foreigners who have forced themselves on us". Sanderson himself has expressed his concern that "immigrants are importing their own brands of religion into Britain" which are "primitive, hysterical, fanatical and alien".

So it's not exactly surprising that Suzuki should uphold Alan Clifford's democratic right to incite hatred against Muslims. What is disturbing, however, is that she has been allowed to publish these views on the website of a leading anti-racist and anti-fascist organisation which receives generous financial backing from the trade unions.

Meanwhile, in east London, the Jewish community has reacted angrily to the appearance of a clearly racist mural featuring antisemitic caricatures of scheming Jewish bankers. Quite rightly, Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman has strongly supported the Jewish community on this issue, issuing a forthright condemnation of the mural and demanding its removal. As the mayor has stated: "Where freedom of expression runs the risk of inciting racial hatred then it is right that such expression should be curtailed."

It's just as well for the Jewish community that the antisemitic mural appeared in Tower Hamlets rather than Norwich, otherwise they would no doubt have faced a campaign by Hope not hate Norfolk to defend the democratic right of antisemites to incite hatred against Jews.

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Immigration Minister Chris Bowen will not block the visit of Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders, claiming Australia is robust enough to withstand his strong anti-Islamist views.

Writing in The Australian today, Mr Bowen says Mr Wilders is wrong and his views are offensive. "To read his writings is to be struck by their ignorance and their wrong-headed views of other people's beliefs," Mr Bowen says.

Mr Wilders is the founder and leader of the Party for Freedom in The Netherlands and he has campaigned to stop what he claims is the "Islamisation" of his country. His strong views saw him charged in The Netherlands with incitement to hatred and discrimination but he was acquitted in June last year.

Mr Wilders is scheduled to give two speeches in Australia this month and he applied for a visa in August. Members of his staff and police assigned to protect him received visas within three days but Mr Wilders has been waiting until now.

In his piece today, the minister says it has been accurately reported in recent weeks that Mr Wilders has applied for a visa to undertake speaking engagements in Australia.

"Mr Wilders is a provocateur who no doubt revels in the spotlight and would like nothing more than to be denied entry to Australia and garner his cause more attention," Mr Bowen says.

"I have decided not to intervene to deny him a visa because I believe that our democracy is strong enough, our multiculturalism robust enough and our commitment to freedom of speech entrenched enough that our society can withstand the visit of a fringe commentator from the other side of the world," Mr Bowen says.

He says the way to deal with extremist commentators like Mr Wilders is to defeat his ideas with the force of arguments and not by denying him entry into Australia.

"Mr Wilders and people who agree with him are very simply wrong in their beliefs. But in a democracy such as Australia's, you are entitled to be wrong, as long as you don't vilify people or encourage and incite violence. This man, like others who have visited Australia on speaking tours, are subject to Australian law."

The Australian, 2 October 2012

See also "Geert Wilders delays Australia trip to next year", Dutch News, 1 October 2012

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A Berlin court has rejected an emergency appeal by three mosques to prohibit a far-right group from displaying caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad at a demonstration this weekend.

The Berlin administrative court ruled Thursday the caricatures were protected by laws allowing artistic free expression and their display alone did not violate laws against slander nor those against inciting hate or violence.

Three mosques had filed the appeal after the far-right "Citizens Movement – Pro Germany" had said it would display the caricatures during its Aug. 18 demonstration in the capital, being held under the slogan "Islam does not belong in Germany – stop Islamization".

Associated Press, 16 August 2012

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The American forces when did not achieve the required result in the war against terror in Afghanistan, they got panicked and start taking some wrong decisions. One of them is their policy of making drone attacks to make a targeted attack on the main culprits who are hiding in tribal areas of Pakistan. As for the purpose of making target, the required Taliban who was hiding in the tribal territory, it was successful at the start of their doing pin pointing attacks at the exact location of Taliban hideouts and their compounds.

After the initial successful attack against al-Qaida and their allied groups, now the Taliban has changed the strategy of continuously shifting their position and also hiding themselves in the public area and making the civilian public as their protective shield against attack from drones. Though it is the responsibility of the general people public not to allow the Taliban to get mixed up in the residential area, but due to the tribal area customs and having there no such organized setup general public is being suffered due to drone attacks.  In these attacks a lot of civilian public is being killed and victimized due to these attacks. By this way there has been a lot of chaos and sense of hatred against the drone attacks. The purpose of a drone is being spoiled as the killing of unnecessary civilian public due to these attacks.

For that matter there is no use of carrying out such attacks which are bringing a sense of hatred against the United States. As the area where drone attacks are targeting, the Taliban and the surrounding people are all Muslims, so the general public facing unwanted consequences. It has given the impression of such attacks are against the Muslims.  In order to get success the USA troops need to redesign their strategy. It can be done with the help of engaging Pakistani military forces to assist the United States in this regard. Another option of providing the drone technology access to the Pakistan, This will help the to save the life of innocent people. It has been seen that most of the drone attacks missed their actual target and a lot of kids and women got killed in these drone attacks. There is lot agitation carried out and a chain of protest has been done against such activities which are given the label of attacks against Muslims community.

This hatred among Muslim is increasing day by day and it seems this strategy is losing the support of America Muslim and America people as well. If no remedial action is taken then it will boost the extremism in the continent. Now it is a good time for America to redesign its policy and get some sort of support from Muslim. This can be a source of bringing much better result in the restoration of good relation with the Muslim nations of the world. US department of Defence must think about chaging it now.

About the author

Jawad Ahmad

I am 24 years old and i have done Masters in Business Administration (Finance) from a recognized university.
Right now i am doing freelancing and writing articles on different projects.

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The leader of the far-right English Defence League has come under fire after racially abusing a girl who told him she was 15-years-old on Twitter.

Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, told Twitter user 'Asianish' "You're pretty fit for a Muslim". Defending herself, she wrote back "I'm 15 and you've got the cheek to call Muslims paedos."

Robinson's Twitter abuse comes after the EDL boss highlighted the race of the Asian men convicted in Rochdale grooming case, linking their Pakistani and Afghan origins to the sexual exploitation of under-age girls.

Huffington Post, 16 May 2012

See also EDL News, 16 May 2012

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Free training is being offered for Derby's voluntary and public-sector workers on how to tackle Islamophobia.

The University of Derby's multi-faith centre, in Kedleston Road, will be holding three workshops. They are each designed to identify and tackle Islamophobia, defined as prejudice against Muslims or the hatred or irrational fear of Islam.

Sessions will be held on Wednesday, May 23, for Derby's voluntary sector; Wednesday, June 20, for the East Midlands voluntary sector; and Thursday, July 26, for Derby's public sector. Each session will run from 9.30am to 4.30pm.

For a booking form, contact Yessenia Aguilera by e-mailing mfc@derby.ac.uk or visit the centre's website at www.multifaithcentre.org.

Derby Telegraph, 3 May 2012

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