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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United States, January has been declared Muslim Heritage Month in New York, meanwhile in the United Kingdom, a history teacher who branded Islam ‘satanic’ and told pupils that ‘cocaine was purer back in the day’ has been banned from the profession, and in Nepal, a curfew was imposed on a key border city in southern Nepal after Hindu and Muslim groups began protesting against each other following the vandalism of a mosque over the weekend. Our recommended read of the day is by Yashraj Sharma for Al Jazeera, who discusses the 2020 Delhi riots case, noting that it has become emblematic of the institutional persecution of Muslims under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This and more below:
India
Delhi riots case: Why won’t India release Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam? | Recommended Read
A change to India’s citizenship law in 2019, which Muslims say is discriminatory, had sparked nationwide peaceful protests. Muslims – the country’s largest minority, with a population of more than 200 million – demanded that a secular nation like India should not make faith a basis for citizenship. But the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi cracked down on the peaceful protesters, arresting hundreds, many of them under “anti-terror” laws, and killing dozens. The prolonged detention of students and rights activists without a trial has become emblematic of the institutional persecution of Muslims under Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government, political analysts and rights advocates say. On Saturday, New York City’s newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote a letter to Khalid, saying, “We are all thinking of you.” So what is the case about? Who are the accused? And why did the case become so controversial in India and beyond? read the complete article
India's top court denies bail to 2 Muslim activists after 5 years in jail without trial
India’s Supreme Court on Monday denied bail to two Muslim student activists who have spent years in detention without trial over a conspiracy case linked to one of the country’s deadliest outbreaks of religious violence. Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam were arrested five years ago under India’s harsh state security law and accused of conspiring to incite the communal violence that swept parts of Delhi in February 2020. The riots left 53 people dead, most of them Muslims, and took place amid massive months-long protests against a controversial 2019 citizenship law that critics said discriminated against Muslims. While bail was granted to the other five accused in the same case, the court noted that Khalid and Imam had a “central role in the conspiracy.” It also said that the delay in their trial was not a sufficient ground for granting them bail. The two student activists were a leading voice in nationwide protests against the citizenship law, which marked one of the most significant challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government. Their detention has been widely seen as emblematic of a broader crackdown on dissent under Modi, drawing criticism from rights groups over the use of anti-terror laws against activists and student leaders. read the complete article
United States
New York State marks January as Muslim American Heritage Month
January has been declared Muslim Heritage Month in New York, and one local religious leader says it’s an important recognition for the Muslim community. Muslim Public Affairs Council of Western New York President Khalid Qazi says the proclamation brings positive recognition to the Muslim community. “Events like this bring us even closer, and there's a uniform recognition of the Muslim heritage month that you know people take pride in," he said. "And as Governor Hochul mentioned, New York remains a beacon of hope, tolerance, and celebrates its diversity of Muslim population.” read the complete article
From Minarets to City Hall: Zohran Mamdani and the Long Muslim Thread in the American Story
America’s story has always been a story of struggle—for liberty, for justice, for recognition. On a cold January afternoon outside City Hall, Zohran Mamdani stepped into that struggle. Raising his right hand, he took the oath of office as mayor of New York City—the first Muslim ever to hold the city’s highest office—embodying Douglass’ truth: progress demands courage, perseverance, and the relentless pursuit of inclusion. The headlines captured the surface: a 25-minute inaugural address, roughly 4,000 spectators, a private swearing-in just after midnight at the Old City Hall subway station, appearances by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders. But the moment ran far deeper. Mamdani’s inauguration was not only a municipal milestone; it was the latest chapter in a debate as old as the republic itself: where Muslims belong in the American story—and whether they ever truly have. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Teacher banned indefinitely for calling Islam satanic
A teacher who described Islam as "satanic" and told pupils that "cocaine was purer back in the day" has been banned from the profession. A Teaching Regulation Agency, external hearing in December found Patrick Lawler, 62, who taught in Northumberland and Bristol, was guilty of professional misconduct and also brought the teaching profession into disrepute. The panel heard there was an interest in banning him "in respect of the safeguarding and wellbeing of pupils". Lawler previously featured in an undercover BBC Wales investigation into extreme far-right views among a group's members in Wales and England, in which he said race war was "inevitable". Lawler did not engage with the proceedings or express remorse. He replied to an earlier BBC request for comment but did not directly address the points raised in the hearing. His views appeared in BBC Wales documentary Unmasked: Extreme Far Right, in which an undercover reporter infiltrated far-right group Patriotic Alternative (PA) and met members in parts of south Wales, and in England. Speaking in 2024 to the undercover reporter at an event held by the group, he said a race war was "absolutely inevitable". read the complete article
Islamic scholar banned from entering UK after pro-Gaza support
A leading Islamic scholar was reportedly banned from entering the UK for a speaking tour over comments related to his support for Palestine. Dr Shadee Elmasry was set to arrive in Birmingham on Sunday for a three-day tour to Bolton and Ilford, organised by the Global Relief Trust. However, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has revoked his travel authorisation over his "controversial" social media posts relating to the Gaza war and allegedly justifying Palestinian resistance. "There is no place in the UK for foreign nationals who spread hate or push extremist ideas," a spokesperson for the Home Office toldThe New Arab when asked about Elmasry's ban. read the complete article
Syria
The Unlikely Place Where Syrian Muslims And Christians Become Friends
The climb to Mar Musa al-Habashi monastery is deliberate and demanding — 340 stone steps wind up a stark, treeless mountain ridge in the Qalamun region, north of Damascus, offering nothing to the weary except an expanding vista and the growing certainty that you are meant to be here, or you are not. For Father Paolo Dall'Oglio, an Italian Jesuit who arrived in Syria in 1982, those steps represented something far more significant than a physical challenge. They were a pathway to a calling that would reshape how an entire generation understood the possibility of religious dialogue in the Muslim world. Walking where a fifth-century saint once walked, Dall'Oglio discovered not just history, but a blueprint for a different way of being together. "In Syria generally, and in Syrian Christianity and in Syrian Islam," he said, “I discovered the embodiment of my spiritual dreams and desires.” He learned Arabic. He sat in Islamic law classes at Damascus University. He studied the Qur'an and between 1984 and 1991, with volunteers from Syria, Lebanon, and Italy, he rebuilt the monastery, not as a museum to the past, but as a platform for something unprecedented in the region: a systematic, authentic interfaith encounter rooted not in argument, but in shared spiritual experience. Father Jihad, who now leads the monastery, describes it with precision: "We were not trying to convince others that Christianity is right and they are wrong. We were not debating the theological differences we already know exist. Instead, we work on building friendship and harmony through respect for religion. read the complete article
Occupied Palestine
Israeli settlers vandalize graves at Islamic cemetery in Jerusalem
Israeli settlers vandalized graves at an Islamic cemetery in occupied East Jerusalem on Monday. They destroyed numerous headstones and caused significant damage to others, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported. Several Islamic cemeteries near the ancient eastern and southern walls of Jerusalem and have been damaged by vandals or excavation works by authorities since 2021. read the complete article
Nepal
Curfew imposed in southern Nepal border city after mosque vandalism sparks protests
A curfew was imposed on a key border city in southern Nepal after Hindu and Muslim groups began protesting against each other following the vandalism of a mosque over the weekend, officials said Tuesday. The curfew orders issued by the Parsa District Administration said that no one will be allowed in the streets and all gatherings and demonstrations are banned. read the complete article