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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United States, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has hit back against Donald Trump after the president criticized her and renewed his attacks on the Somali-American community in Minnesota, meanwhile in Germany, a court has ruled that a Muslim woman cannot serve as a judge or prosecutor if she refuses to remove her headscarf during court proceedings, and in India, many mosques which were abandoned during the 1946 partition are being cared for by the local Hindu community. Our recommended read of the day is by Jack Dolan, Hailey Branson-Potts and Richard Winton for The Los Angeles Times, on the lasting legacy of the 2015 San Bernardino mass shooting and how President Donald Trump and others used the tragedy to “redefine America’s immigration debate”. This and more below:
United States
San Bernardino: The mass shooting that helped Trump redefine America’s immigration debate | Recommended Read
The U.S. has suffered deadlier shootings since San Bernardino — including the 2016 massacre at Pulse, an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Orlando, Fla., in which another American inspired by online terrorist propaganda killed 49 — but the December 2015 California attack had the most sweeping impact on American politics, and ushered in the nation’s current era of divisive immigration enforcement. Less than a week after the killings, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump used the tragedy to call for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.” His proposed “Muslim ban” was widely criticized, including from members of his own party. But Trump stood by his words, saying on “Good Morning America” that “we are now at war.” That proposal was so popular with Republican voters, it helped propel Trump to the party’s nomination the following summer and helped win him the election in November 2016. A week after taking the oath of office in January 2017, Trump imposed a ban on people traveling from seven majority Muslim countries, but not Pakistan or Saudi Arabia, where Malik had lived. “I disagreed with it completely,” said Renee Wetzel, who was 32 years old when her husband, Mike, was killed in the attack, leaving her to raise their six kids without him. Wetzel said she was shocked that the entire populations of those countries — amounting to millions of people — could be banned from traveling to America because of an evil act committed by two individuals, one of whom was born and raised in the U.S. and another who didn’t come from any of the countries on the list. “That just blows my mind,” Wetzel said. For a lot of people who immigrate, America is a “last resort,” she said. “When did we stop caring about other people?” read the complete article
Ilhan Omar denounces Donald Trump for calling Somali immigrants ‘garbage’
Progressive United States Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has hit back against Donald Trump after the president criticised her and renewed his attacks on the Somali community in Minnesota. During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump embarked on a racist tirade, describing Omar and other Somali immigrants as “garbage” and calling for them to leave the US. “His obsession with me is creepy,” Omar wrote on social media in response. “I hope he gets the help he desperately needs.” Trump has been ramping up his anti-immigration rhetoric in recent weeks, particularly after the deadly shooting of two National Guard troops in Washington, DC, last month. The suspect in the shooting is an Afghan man who was evacuated from the country in 2021, after the withdrawal of US and allied forces. Trump has used the shooting as the basis for tightening immigration from what he described as “third-world countries”, including Somalia. “We’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country. Ilhan Omar is garbage. She’s garbage. Her friends are garbage,” the US president said. “These aren’t people that work. These aren’t people that say, ‘Let’s go, come on. Let’s make this place great.’ These are people that do nothing but complain. They complain, and from where they came from, they got nothing.” read the complete article
International
Pope Leo criticizes anti-Muslim sentiments in Europe, US
Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday criticized anti-migrant activists who stoke “fears” of Islam and said co-operation between Christians and Muslims in Lebanon should be an example for Europe and the United States. The 70-year-old pope spoke to reporters on the plane at the end of his visit to Turkey and Lebanon – his first trip outside of Italy since becoming head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics in May. Leo said anti-Muslim sentiment was “oftentimes generated by people who are against immigration and trying to keep out people who may be from another country, another religion, another race.” He said his visit to Lebanon was intended to show “that dialogue and friendship between Muslims and Christians is possible.” read the complete article
Germany
German court bars Muslim woman from judgeship over headscarf
A German court has ruled that a Muslim woman cannot serve as a judge or prosecutor if she refuses to remove her headscarf during court proceedings, a decision critics call a violation of religious freedoms. The administrative court in Hesse announced its ruling on Monday, upholding the authorities' decision to reject the woman's application. In a statement, the Darmstadt court acknowledged that the lawyer's religious freedom carries significant constitutional weight. However, it ruled that this right is outweighed by competing constitutional principles—including state neutrality and the religious freedom of trial participants. Hesse authorities rejected her application, arguing that wearing a religiously symbolic garment during judicial proceedings violates the principle of state neutrality and could undermine public confidence in the justice system's impartiality. read the complete article
India
The Hindu caretakers of India's abandoned mosques
Most Muslims left the Indian state of Bihar during the partition ofIndia and Pakistan between 1946 and 1947. RemainingMuslims migrated to other parts of Bihar during communal riots in 1981. They left behind the evidence of a diverse religious community in the form of mosques, which have fallen into disrepair. But these houses of worship have found unlikely guardians among local Hindus who are dedicating time and resources to restoring and taking care of these buildings. For them, the mosques remain a place to be respected, regardless of faith. read the complete article
Scotland
"A pattern": Muslim charities ask why they have been excluded from fund for a second time
Leading Muslim-led voluntary sector groups are demanding an inquiry into why they have been shut out of a major fund – for the second time. Amina Muslim Women’s Resource Centre, Al-Meezan, Boots and Beards and Sufi Festivals have not been recommended for funding in the Glasgow Communities Fund (GCF) 2026–2029 cycle. This mirrors the 2023–2026 round, where no Muslim-led organisation was approved, despite submitting applications they say aligned with GCF priorities: health and wellbeing, culture and creativity, and tackling violence against women and girls. Three of them – excluding Amina - have now endorsed a letter of complaint to Glasgow City Council’s (GCC) chief executive and are demanding an “independent equity audit” of GCF assessments and decisions. Tariq Mahmood, chair of Sufi Festival, said: “This is now a pattern, not an anomaly. Our services are culturally competent, trusted, and directly address GCF priorities. Repeated exclusion raises serious questions about fairness and the robustness of equality safeguards.” Glasgow hosts Scotland’s largest Muslim population — around 48,766 people or 7.9% of residents, concentrated in areas of high deprivation such as Pollokshields and Govanhill. read the complete article