Unknown persons entered a mosque and allegedly tortured and killed the imam in Ajmer, India.
The 30-year-old imam of the mosque, Mohammad Mahir, was allegedly tortured and killed by three masked men, according to Indian media.
Police say that the killing took place on Saturday morning when the Imam was present in the mosque along with a few students. The suspects allegedly entered the mosque and assaulted the imam with sticks and then fled, as per the local police.
The imam succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. The reasons for the murder have not yet been revealed. However, suspects are being identified with the help of the CCTV camera footage of the area.
A case has been registered under Section 302 of the incident. “This is a case of senseless violence, and we are utilising all available technical and investigative resources to identify the perpetrators,” said Ajmer SP Devendra Kumar Bishnoi.
An attack on a mosque in eastern Burkina Faso has killed dozens of Muslims on the same day as another deadly attack on Catholics attending mass, local and security sources told AFP on Monday.
“Armed individuals attacked a mosque in Natiaboani on Sunday around 5:00 am, resulting in several dozen being killed,” a security source said.
“The victims were all Muslims, most of them men” who had come for morning prayers, a local resident said by telephone.
Another local source said “The terrorists entered the town early morning. They surrounded the mosque and shot at the faithful, who were gathered there for the first prayer of the day.”
“Several of them were shot, including an important religious leader,” the source added.
Soldiers and members of the Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP), a civilian force that supports the military, were also targeted “by these hordes who came in large numbers”, the same source said.
The source described it as a “large-scale attack” in terms of the number of assailants, who also wreaked substantial damage.
Natiaboani is a rural community about 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of Fada N’Gourma, the main town in Burkina’s eastern region, which has seen regular attacks by armed groups since 2018.
On the same day as the attack on the mosque, at least 15 civilians were killed and two others injured during an attack on a Catholic church during Sunday mass in northern Burkina Faso, a senior church official said.
Jean-Pierre Sawadogo, vicar of the Dori diocese, said in a statement that the “terrorist attack” occurred in the village of Essakane while people were gathered for Sunday prayer.
Essakane village is in what is known as the “three borders” zone in the northeast of the country, near the common borders of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
A white supremacist committed terrorism when he ran down a Muslim family out for an evening stroll, a Canadian judge said Thursday as she sentenced him to life in prison for the murders.
The ruling is the first in Canada to make a link between white supremacy and terrorism in a murder case.
Nathaniel Veltman, 23, was convicted in November of four counts of first degree or premeditated murder, and one count of attempted murder in the killing of three generations of the Afzaal family that also left a young boy orphaned.
He acknowledged striking the family with his pickup truck in June 2021 in London, Ontario.
The prosecution argued at trial that he sought to intimidate and terrorize Muslims, while the defense said he’d suffered a mental decline — which did not, however, meet the requirements for an insanity plea.
His lawyers also said he was in “a state of extreme confusion” after consuming hallucinogenic psilocybin mushrooms that weekend.
Judge Renee Pomerance of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice at his sentencing said Veltman “had planned a murderous rampage for months and took steps to ensure that he would kill as many Muslims in this brutal manner as he could.”
Recalling Veltman’s statements to police, she said: “He wanted to intimidate the Muslim community. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of other mass killers, and he wanted to inspire others to commit murderous acts.”
“I find that the offender’s actions constitute terrorist activity,” she concluded.
The jury in the almost 10-week trial heard Veltman had penned a “terrorist manifesto,” found on his computer, in which he espoused white nationalism and described his hate for Muslims.
The judge noted that he wore “combat gear” including a helmet and bulletproof vest during the attack.
Veltman passed the Afzaal family on a London street on that warm Sunday evening, turned his newly purchased truck with a heavy grill guard around, jumped the curb and slammed into them.
Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their 15-year-old daughter Yumnah and her grandmother Talat Afzaal, 74, were killed. A nine-year-old boy orphaned in the ramming suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The slaying was the deadliest anti-Muslim attack in Canada since a shooting at a mosque in Quebec City in 2017 that left six dead. The perpetrator of that shooting was not accused of terrorism.
Anti-Muslim hate incidents in the UK more than tripled following the Israeli genocide in Gaza, a monitoring group said Thursday.
Tell MAMA recorded 2,010 such cases in the four months since Hamas’s attack against Israel on October 7 which resulted in intensified Israel bombarding Gaza.
That was the largest recorded number of cases in a four-month period, said a statement from the organisation, which was set up to monitor and report such incidents.
The latest figures were up from 600 incidents over the same period in 2022-2023, a rise of 335 percent.
“We are deeply concerned about the impacts that the Israel and Gaza war are having on hate crimes and on social cohesion in the UK,” said Tell MAMA director Iman Atta.
“This rise in anti-Muslim hate is unacceptable and we hope that political leaders speak out to send a clear message that anti-Muslim hate, like anti-Semitism, is unacceptable in our country.”
Tell MAMA said that 901 cases occurred offline while 1,109 were online. Most of the offline incidents took place in the British capital London, it added.
They included abusive behaviour, threats, assaults, vandalism, discrimination, hate speech and anti-Muslim literature.
Women were the target in 65 percent of cases, the group said.
Earlier this month, a Jewish charity reported that anti-Semitic incidents in Britain hit record levels last year, with a surge after Hamas’s attack.
The Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors anti-Semitism in Britain, recorded 4,103 “anti-Jewish hate incidents” in 2023, its highest annual tally since it began counting them in 1984.
That represented a 147-percent increase on the 1,662 incidents recorded in 2022.
Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza and sustained military campaign has killed at least 29,410 people, mostly women and children, according to the latest health ministry figures.
An Indian court weighed in on one of the country’s most sensitive religious disputes Wednesday by permitting Hindu worshippers to pray inside a mosque in the city of Varanasi.
The Gyanvapi mosque is one of several Islamic houses of worship that Hindu activists, backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, have sought for decades to reclaim for their religion.
It was built in the 17th century by the Mughal empire in a city where Hindu faithful from across the country cremate their loved ones by the Ganges river.
The court in Varanasi ruled that Hindu worshippers — who believe the mosque replaced a destroyed temple to the deity Shiva — could pray in the building’s basement.
Its verdict ordered district authorities to “make proper arrangements within the next seven days” to facilitate worshippers.
The decision is the latest in a long-running legal saga over Gyanvapi’s future.
This month, India’s official archaeological agency said a survey of the site appeared to corroborate the belief that it was originally home to a temple, according to local news reports.
Emboldened right-wing Hindu groups have laid claim to several Muslim sites of worship they say were built atop ancient temples during Mughal rule.
Last week, Modi presided over a grand inauguration ceremony in the nearby city of Ayodhya for a Hindu temple built on grounds once home to the centuries-old Babri mosque.
Hindu zealots had torn down that mosque in 1992 in a campaign spearheaded by members of Modi’s party, sparking sectarian riots that killed 2,000 people nationwide, most of them Muslims.
The decades-long court battle that ensued over the future of the Babri site ended in 2019 when India’s top court permitted the construction of a temple to the deity Ram, who according to Hindu scripture was born in the city.
Members of Modi’s party routinely refer to India’s history of Muslim rule under the Mughal emperors as a time of “slavery”.
The prime minister described last week’s opening of the temple as “the advent of a new era”.
Calls for India to enshrine Hindu supremacy have rapidly grown louder since Modi took office in 2014, making its roughly 210-million-strong Muslim minority increasingly anxious about their future.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has ignited controversy by announcing his intent to “liberate” the 700-year-old Haji Malang dargah, a historic Muslim shrine situated on the outskirts of Mumbai, exclusively for Hindus. The shrine, known for its Sufi heritage and cultural significance, has become the focal point of a heated religious dispute.
After the inauguration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invoked a significant amount of “divine” support from his followers for upcoming elections. The next target to double the effect is the Sufi shrine. This is aimed to polarize the voters even more.
CM Shinde while speaking at the annual Malang-gad Harinam Mahotsav in Thane distinct, broke away from the late Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena to lead a BJP-backed coalition, said he is “committed to liberate Malang-gad”, adding he would not rest till he has fulfilled the promise.
Malang-gad (’gad’ means a fort in Marathi) is famous for its 12th-century shrine of Sufi saint Haji Abdul Rahman, popularly known as ‘Haji Malang’. According to Kashmir Media Service, Haji Malang dargah, atop a hill, is believed to house the tomb of an Arab missionary who arrived in India over seven centuries ago. On the contrary, Hindus believe the place holds the samadhi of Machindranath, a revered deity in the Nathpanthi sect, which was later converted into a dargah.
An article published in The Times of India on Feb 14, 1993 reveals the arrest of Thane’s top Shiv Sena leader late Anand Dighe while leading an agitation demanding the renaming of Malang-gad as Shri Malang. Dighe was Mr Shinde’s mentor and the promise to liberate Malang-gad is a logical political move on the chief minister’s part to claim his master’s legacy, quotes Dawn.
Nasir Khan, chairman of the Peer Haji Malang Saheb Trust, refers to the Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency which mentions the structure as the shrine built in honour of Arab missionary Haji Abd-ul-Rahman. “It is only in the 1980s that the Shiv Sena began making claims of it being a Hindu temple. If it was a Hindu temple, why did the Peshwa kings send gifts to the shrine?” asks Mr Khan. According to the chairman of the Trust, Haji Malang is equally revered by Hindu and Muslims. He says that even Christians and Parsis visit the shrine to seek blessings.
A number of violent incidents have been reported in at least six states after the consecration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, India.
A report published by the Indian outlet The Quint says that from a graveyard in Bihar to a mosque in Telangana, India saw multiple attacks and violent incidents on 22 January. The incidents were of varying scales, ranging from sandals allegedly thrown inside a mosque and a shop being burnt in Telangana to a graveyard set on fire in Bihar, to violent skirmishes in different parts of Maharashtra.
In the capital of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, a video of a hateful song being played in Narhi, Hazratganj, surfaced on social media. The song was allegedly played by a procession celebrating the consecration of Ram Temple.
Journalist Rana Ayyub shared the video with a caption stating, “Trigger warning for abusive, misogynistic language. Do listen to this song. To go to a Muslim locality and celebrate Ram Mandir’s inauguration with this song. And you still think this is about faith? Is this how you want to raise your kids? Is this the culture you want to normalise? Why send your kids to Ivy League, why give them quality education, let them be a part of this crass revelry.”
Famous Indian actor Aisha Ahmed, popular for her roles in web-series ‘Adulting’, shared her experience via an Instagram story of Sarah Sham, the influencer and wife of Indian Tennis player, Mustafa Ghouse who shared her heartbreaking experience of getting a message from a fellow parent about their kid being harassed in school for being Muslim.
Sarah said it had taken a lot of effort to share her experience of feeling like a second-grade citizen in her country. She went on to explain that the persecution has exacerbated after the establishment of Ram Mandir.
Indian publication The Wire posted two days ago that activist and journalist Umar Khalid’s bail plea got adjourned yet again. He has been detained since September 2020. Commenting upon this, Professor of Peace Studies at Uppsala University Dr. Ashok Swain said, “If you are a Muslim in India, you have no one, I repeat no one to save you from the wrath of Modi!”
If you are a Muslim in India, you have no one, I repeat no one to save you from the wrath of Modi! https://t.co/fChuboRnlP
Extremist Hindus in Pune University beat up students of the Film and Television Institute of India for putting up banners that read “Remember Babri, death of constitution.”
Hindu supremacists beating up students of the famous Film and Television Institute of India in Pune for putting banners that read “Remember Babri, death of constitution.” pic.twitter.com/8v1MWjE3X5
One of the Khans of Bollywood, Aamir Khan, once slammed fellow countrymen for their growing intolerance. He later redeemed himself to the extremists by praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Yusra Hussain, a freelance journalist from Lucknow told Al-Jazeera, “After Ayodhya, there might be a snowballing effect on other disputed places like Mathura and Kashi,”.
Mathura and Varanasi – Modi’s parliamentary constituency also known locally as Kashi – are also home to historic mosques that the prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its Hindu majoritarian allies say were built on demolished temples.
Ram Mandir in India is being inaugurated today (Monday) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with state-sponsored fanfare.
“This will be our Vatican City, the holiest site for Hindus across the world,” said Sharad Sharma, spokesperson for Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), a rightwing Hindu group, and member of the Hindu trust building the temple. “After 500 years of Hindu oppression, Lord Ram will finally be returned to Ayodhya,” The Guardian cites him as saying.
Considering the importance the event holds, the ceremony is going to be attended by a huge number of Bollywood celebrities, cricketers, politicians and leading businessmen of the country. A newly commissioned airport in Ayodhya is also in the works. Security has been tightened, while the fear of violence has prompted Muslim residents of Ayodhya to send their children and women to relatives in neighbouring towns.
Bollywood celebrities at the inauguration of Ram Mandir
The temple is a reminder of the very inception of this controversy built on the ruins of 16th-century Babri Masjid. It was demolished by a Hindutva-infused right-wing mob in 1992 after decades of disputes. The riots that happened following the demolition killed more than three thousand Muslims.
The mosque was built in 1527 by Mughal Emperor Babur and was a rare surviving example of the architecture of the early Mughal Empire, which ruled India from 16th to 19th centuries. Muslims worshipped in the mosque for more than 300 years.
Summarising the history of the site, Dr. Audrey Truschke wrote in Time: “In the 1850s, when India was largely under British colonial rule, the first signs of trouble arose as the Babri Masjid emerged as a key site of Hindu nationalist attempts to rectify perceived historical wrongs by Muslims, an idea inherited from British colonialists. Hindus claimed that Lord Ram, a major god and mythological hero, had been born at the very spot on which the mosque stood. Competing claims of Ram’s birthplace were once attached to many sites in Ayodhya, but the Babri Masjid drew particular fervor because it was a mosque. Some imagined further historical wrongs associated with the Babri Masjid, including claiming that the mosque was built after Babur’s general destroyed a Hindu temple at that location. None of these claims stand up to historical scrutiny. But in the 1980s, Hindu nationalist groups began tapping into these claims to argue that the mosque needed to be destroyed to clear the way for a new Hindu temple, declaring Mandir wahi banayenge (‘The temple will be built right there!’). After years of agitation, their efforts resulted in an explosion of Islamophobic violence on December 6, 1992, when a Hindu mob numbering at least 75,000 descended on Ayodhya and dismantled the Babri Masjid, brick-by-brick.
Modi’s BJP benefitted from the situation and came to power in 2014. After the second victory in BJP in 2019, India’s Supreme Court—laden with judges affiliated with BJP- the court called the mosque’s destruction ‘an egregious violation of the rule of law,’ but nonetheless ruled that a Hindu temple could be built on the mosque’s ruins.”
Modi laid the foundation stone at a groundbreaking ceremony in August 2020.
Posed as a divine moment this is interpreted as a political gimmick by The Guardian because general elections are going to be held in April in India and by invoking the religious sentiments of the 80 per cent majority of the country, Modi is seeking a third term in power. Prime Minister Modi has also declared that God had chosen him as an instrument to be “representative of all Indians” and he had begun 11 days of “strict vows and sacrifice” to prepare for the event.
Even though many Indians have given in to the political gimmickry, most are reminded that this Vatican City is nothing but a monument built after demolishing Babri Masjid by force with the help of brute majority.
Celebrate #RamMandir how much you want but no one can change the fact that it has been built after demolishing Babri Masjid by force with the help of brute majority.
A Twitter user commented that this is the win of Jinnah’s two-nation theory.
The happiest man right now would be Mohammad Ali Jinnah, his two nation theory has finally been proven right without doubt by the current torchbearer of that ideology in India.
Pratesh from India shared a clip from ANI where a teacher was teaching dance steps on bhajans in schools to celebrate the inauguration. He commented, “Now what happened to no religion in school? Was it only applicable for hijab?”
Now what happened to no religion in school? Was it only applicable for Hijab? https://t.co/OcVP6vYzbE
Writer and Educationist Raju Parulekar lamented the state of India has lost its secular spirit in a tweet.
To whomsoever it may concern:
As a citizen of this country, I was under the false impression that we live in a democracy with tolerant people who lead lives with respect, humility and compassion. Sadly it appears that I was mistaken as we as a people have set out to celebrate… pic.twitter.com/ZVozQozIRE
British radio presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer has been slammed on social media for an unprofessional and racist interview after a clip from her show went viral.
During an interview on Wednesday with Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, leader of the Palestinian National Initiative, Hartley-Brewer raised her voice while he was speaking to say he was “not used to women talking” and disrespectfully spoke to him throughout the interview.
While Julia’s tone was aggressive and harsh, Dr Barghouti kept his tone calm and listened to her patiently, winning over the hearts of netizens with his courtesy.
In the clip, Julia can be seen aggressively counter-arguing, not letting him speak, and using the rhetoric of telling Muslim men that they are not used to hearing women.
Barghouti was interrupted several times by the journalist, who prevented him from finishing his remarks on Benjamin Netanyahu and the moral imperative of supporting Palestinians’ struggle for a dignified life in their homeland.
“Please don’t say that again, we don’t have time for that, you’ve made that point five times already,” she said in one instance.
When Barghouti attempted to respond, she screamed, saying: “For the love of god, let me finish a sentence man.”
She then made a sexist accusation: “Maybe you’re not used to women talking, I don’t know, but I’d like to finish the sentence!”
Barghouti remained calm during the interview while stressing that the journalist has been attempting to “mislead the public.”
In response, the presenter raised her voice again: ‘If you don’t think Israel’s reaction is acceptable, what would have been an acceptable reaction to you? You’ve got ten seconds left.”
The Palestinian politician then replied calmly, calling for ending the occupation and oppression of Palestinians to allow peace to prevail for both people. Seemingly unsatisfied with the reply, the presenter sarcastically responded: “Brilliant.”
Hartley-Brewer’s haughty attitude throughout the interview has been heavily criticized, with many pointing out that the show was a display of Islamophobia.
Social media user Nadene commented that Julia is an utter disgrace in this interview, showcasing Islamophobic tropes 101.
Julia Hartley-Brewer is an utter disgrace in this interview.
Another pointed out that she is using imagined sexism to hide her racism.
“Maybe you’re not used to women talking!”
Casual racist micro aggression towards Arab/Muslim men. What an awful and patronising comment and a terrible way to reinforce sexism towards women in Arab and Muslim communities.
Sana Saeed posted, “What an absolutely disgusting, racist display of whatever “journalism” this is supposed to be.”
“Maybe you’re not used to women talking!”
What an absolutely disgusting, racist display of whatever “journalism” this is supposed to be. Her explicit contempt for Arab/Muslim men is indicative of how many/most journalists like her – esp white women – engage with Palestinians. https://t.co/wlto4XVPHM
An imam who was shot Wednesday outside a mosque in New Jersey has died, the US state’s attorney general said, adding that the killing did not initially appear to be driven by “bias” or domestic terrorism.
The shooting was reported at Masjid Muhammad-Newark at South Orange Avenue.
Imam Hassan Sharif was shot multiple times near a mosque in Newark, just west of New York, before being taken to hospital where he later died, New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said.
“We do not yet know the motivation for this crime (but) the evidence collected thus far does not indicate that this was an act motivated by bias, or an act of domestic terrorism,” said Platkin.
He added that “in light of global events, and with a rise in bias that many communities are experiencing across our state — particularly the Muslim community — there are many in New Jersey right now who are feeling a heightened sense of fear.”
The state is home to 300,000 Muslim Americans, he said.
Since the outbreak of the War on Gaza, there has been an increase in Islamophobic and anti-Semitic attacks across the United States.
The Essex County prosecutor, Ted Stephens, confirmed Sharif was shot more than once, and that “it does not appear the imam was the victim of a bias crime or that this is related to terrorism.”
“We are dedicated to bringing justice for the imam’s family,” said Stephens, who called it a “dastardly crime.”
Famous Muslim scholar Dr. Omar Suleiman posted about the death of the Imam and paid tribute to him as a beloved Imam of the Newark Community.
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon.
Imam Hassan Sharif, a beloved Imam of the Newark community, was shot and killed outside of his masjid. We ask Allah SWT to grant him Al-Firdaws and to grant his family patience. May Allah protect our communities and imams. pic.twitter.com/xhnxQdK5l0
The United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) earlier confirmed that Sharif had worked as a security screener at Newark airport since 2016.
“We are deeply saddened to learn of his passing and send our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues,” said Lisa Farbstein, a TSA spokeswoman.
Images published by the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) showed police vehicles deployed outside the Masjid Muhammad-Newark, a two-story yellow and green complex.
Our New Jersey chapter’s Communications Manager Dina Sayedahmed: “We are deeply concerned about this incident and pray for the speedy recovery of the imam.”https://t.co/oYAcyR7k92
In a statement, CAIR described Sharif as “a beacon of leadership and excellence.”
“As always, and irrespective of this specific incident, we advise all mosques to keep their doors open but remain cautious, especially given the recent spike in anti-Muslim bigotry,” the organization said.
