Belgium plans to set up a school for imams by the end of the academic year to offer civic training to the Muslim spiritual leaders. The school, requested by the Muslim Executive in Belgium, will be run by a mufti, an Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law. The mufti will not be allowed to issue any fatawa -- which would normally be one of his privileges -- because such decrees would violate Belgian law, the government said.
A similar structure exists in France, the Expatica news service reports. A Belgian professor will give civic training in both French and Dutch, and 15 trainers from Morocco, Turkey and Egypt will give training in Arabic, Turkish and Urdu, the national language of Pakistan. The school will be subsidized by the Belgian government, which seeks to control the foreign financing of Belgian mosques to reduce outside ideological influences on Belgian imams.
http://www.washtimes.com/upi/20061108-080754-4194r.htm
UK: Policeman Demoted For Links With Extremist Islam
November 8, 2006
News from various sources, inlcuding the Daily Mail, This is London, Guardian, and the BBC reports that a UK policeman removed from duties guarding high profile public figures, is suing the Metropolitan Police. The reason for 39-year old PC Amjad Farooq being removed from the Diplomatic Protection Group (SO16 or DPG) is that he was considered a security risk.
Excerpted
(MIAMI, FL, 11/7/06) - On November 12, the Florida office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL) and the Muslim Students at University of Miami will host a public event focusing on Hispanic Muslims in America.
Imam Benjamin Perez, President of CALMA (California Latino Medical Association), Imam Ali Siddiqui, noted peace and labor Activist and Mario Nunez, Director of CALMA, will discuss the trend of Hispanics converting to Islam.
"As the number of Hispanic Muslims grows, it is clear that the American Muslim community is more diverse than many people might imagine," said CAIR-FL Communications Director Melissa Matos.
WHAT: Forum on Hispanic Muslims
WHERE: University of Miami's University Center Flamingo Ballroom, 1252 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL
WHEN: On Sunday, November 12, 2006, from 5-8 p.m.
CONTACT: Melissa Matos, CAIR-FL Communications Director, 954-990-3644 melissa@cairfl.org; Rafael Alexander, 561-549-7440; Amir Abdelzaher, 786-853-9476