Last Friday, the Singaporean government decided to go ahead with the hanging of 25-year-old Australian drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4490754.stm. The Australian people and government were outraged by it. Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock described the punishment as being “barbaric”. Australian PM John Howard made five personal pleas to the Singaporean leadership. Such statements and [...]

The funny thing is that a practising Muslim would be the best employee and best citizen Britain has seen – no drink-driving, no stealing, no drugs, etc, etc. There is the small issue of the anti-terror legislation that is coming into effect. One minute I’m the best citizen ever, the next minute I’m a criminal wanted for believing in Shariah. Just believing in something can get you banged up for seven years – talk about tolerance!

The obvious answer is, yes. But, what I mean by this question is, do people change after they listen to us? All of us would have different experiences with regards to this question and I would like to share some of mine with you. As many Muslims might have experienced in recent months, the new [...]

Today Egypt will hold its first Presidential “democratic” election. Although not being perfect, this election has been hailed a landmark in the history of Egyptian politics just like the Iraqi parliamentary elections held in January. This analysis made by the Western media and commentators is somewhat bizarre in comparison to the coverage of the elections [...]

Tonight BBC2 will air a 90 mins documentary entitled “Battle for Islam”. It will show the broadcaster, writer Ziauddin Sardar, travel to Morocco, Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia in order to explore and create “different interpretations of Islam”. Among the interviewees is Sheikh Musharraf, who provides thoughtful insights into his brand new enlightened moderation path [...]