April 24, 2017
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain is outraged that Islamist Yasir Qadhi spoke in Harrogate, Yorkshire on the 22nd of April, and in London on the 23rd of April in events organised by Muslim Engagement and Development (Mend), a front group for extremists. American-born Yasir Qadhi has been recorded saying:  “…definitely this is a part of our religion to stone the adulterer and to chop the head off of the sorcerer and so many other things, and to kill, by the way, the homosexual – this is also our religion. The fiqh rulings say that the homosexual is be killed, OK?”...
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April 19, 2017
A group of individuals, who chose to leave the religion they were born to – Islam, owing to different reasons, joined as a group to form ‘Ex-Muslims of Sri Lanka’ (EMSL), two days prior to bidding farewell to the year 2016. Coming out to the public for the first time in Sri Lanka’s history as the very first organization for those who left and wish to leave the religion of Islam was formed on 30th of December, 2016 at an undisclosed location closer to the country’s commercial capital, Colombo. Meeting for the first time as a group, almost all its...
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April 8, 2017
LifestyleBooks The Enemy Within: A Tale of Muslim Britain by Sayeeda Warsi – review A blinkered view of Islamism, says Maryam Namazie Evening Standard 6 April 2016 Sayeeda Warsi’s new book catalogues some of the hypocrisy and double standards of the British Government, the rise of the far-Right and bigotry against Muslims, yet has a glaring blind spot when it comes to Islamism. According to Warsi, Islamist terrorism is the result of everything but Islamist ideology. Since most of those killed by Islamists are “Muslims” in the Middle East, South Asia and North Africa, her argument that terrorism is the...
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March 28, 2017
The following is a translation of an article on the arrested freethinkers in Pakistan published in Daily Ummat Karachi/Hyderabad, Rawalpindi,Peshawar #FreeAyazNizami and #RanaNoman! Arrested bloggers happened to be members of International organizations Two days before, two bloggers were arrested from Karachi because of criticising Islam and Holy Prophet Muhammad. FIA Cyber crime wing transferred those bloggers to Islamabad for physical remand. When “Ummat” started investigating about arrested bloggers, they came to know about shocking information. According to got information, there is a planned network and organisation of blasphemous bloggers who promote hatred against Islam and Holy Prophet.The name of organisation...
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March 23, 2017
Dear friend We hope you are well. Increased attacks on Freethinkers On 16 March, ex-Muslim atheist H Farook, a father of two, was hacked to death in India. He was known to our Sri Lanka affiliate organisation and was killed for his views. Several men have been arrested for his murder. In Pakistan, Ayaz Nizami and Rana Noman have been arrested by the government on 22 March. A report in a Pakistani paper says they were arrested for uploading “blasphemous content”, including on ” Atheist & Agnostic Alliance Pakistan and CEMB forum” sites. This follows the Pakistani government’s request that...
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February 27, 2017
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) is concerned to learn that one of its members and activists, Aftab Ahmed (DOB: 20-10-1986; Home Office Reference: A1879243; Tribunal reference: PA/00448/2016), has been refused asylum and protection. As a CEMB activist, Ahmed has been involved in numerous public actions, conferences and events, including a fast-defying protest during Ramadan in solidarity with those persecuted for breaking fasting rules at the Pakistani embassy – where the Friday prayers leader said he would “not waste his breath on [us] if he knew we were apostates”  and an #ExMuslimBecause “flash-dance” at Kings Cross. Having opening renounced and...
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February 23, 2017
The below is a post by Spokesperson Maryam Namazie on restrictions faced when speaking at universities. According to a recent report, more than nine in 10 UK universities are restrictive of free speech. This doesn’t surprise me at all. I continue to face restrictions of varying degrees, though this is changing due to the widespread push-back in defence of free expression. Nowadays, I find that universities don’t bar me outright as Warwick University initially did nor do Islamic Societies (ISocs) organise to cancel and threaten my talk as at Goldsmiths. Their efforts are often more covert though no less sinister....
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December 13, 2016
Supplementary written evidence submitted by One Law for All RE: New Submission by Maryam Namazie to Home Affairs Select Committee Inquiry into Sharia Councils See Submission on Home Affairs Select Committee Website I am writing to raise serious concerns over the Home Affairs Select Committee hearing on 1 November 2016 at which I gave oral testimony and to provide further and new evidence on the matter at hand, particularly with regards the transnational Islamist links with Sharia courts as well as the discriminatory content and intent of the courts, which violate the UK’s gender equality obligations and commitments to freedom...
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December 2, 2016
The below was published in The Freethinker. I gave oral evidence at the Home Affairs Select Committee evidence session on Sharia Councils on November 1 on why Sharia courts in Britain are an Islamist project to control women, are discriminatory and should be dismantled. (This was preceded by a written statement.) When questioned by MP Naz Shah, above, though, one would have thought it was I and not Sharia courts that were under investigation.  She said: But Ms Namazie, according to your blog, which I read earlier, this isn’t just about Sharia courts. If we were to look at implementing...
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November 13, 2016
Dear friend We are writing to give you a brief update on our work. Islam’s Non Believers If you haven’t already seen it, watch Islam’s Non Believers, a new documentary by award-winning filmmaker Deeyah Khan. It’s a stunning in-depth look into the CEMB and the situation of ex-Muslims in Britain and internationally. See some media coverage around the film, including “Blaming the Victim” and on how long-term shunning of ex-Muslims – promoted by Muslim Association of Britain President Omer El Hamdoon in the film – amounts to psychological torture. In light of increasing attacks on CEMB after the film’s broadcast, we...
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