I’m following the growing animosity towards conservative Muslim female attire with interest and trepidation. Burqas and Niqabs are far from en vogue with the authorities in many European countries, including France, Belgium and Turkey.

Another story of Burqa-based friction hit the news in December last year in Belgium as a Muslim woman was fined for wearing the full-body covering in public in Brussels.

Uncovering the Debate

The Belgian Muslim woman in question was stopped while taking her kids toa n Islamic school in the Etterbeek municipality of Brussels. She was spot fined 35 Euros for violating a local ban that prohibits covering the face in public places.

When she was detained for wearing her burqa a second time, the woman was fined 200 Euros. She refused to pay up and the issue went to court.

“The rule is the rule, and we must obey it,” local mayor Vincent De Wolf said, in an statement to Belgium’s La Capital Newspaper, recounted in RIA Novosti.

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I know what you’re thinking, and trust me: the exact same thing flashed through my mind when I read about the Russian baby boy whose skin reportedly reveals verses from the Koran. “That’s gotta be a hoax right?”

Half an hour of Google-mining later and it seems various news sources covered the story at the end of October ’09. The boy, who hails from the Yakubov family, members of Dagestan’s Muslim community, has sparked controversy and intrigue across Russia.

Sayings from the Qur’an apparently appear on 9 month old Ali Yakubov’s back, arms, legs and stomach, fade and are replaced with new ones.

While some hail the inscriptions “miraculous” other Russians (like me) are downright confused. According to the Daily Mail, Russian doctors have been ruminating without conclusion over the cause of the marks on Ali’s skin. Apparently, it all started when Ali was a few weeks old and the word Allah appeared on his chin.

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I’ve been following the success of French fast-food chain “Quick” as eight of its 362 restaurants in France have stopped serving pork and started offering Halal burgers instead.

You won’t get bacon on your burger at any of these 8 outlets, each of which are located in Muslim neighbourhoods. Whilst French Muslims didn’t make the choice, sales indicate that the Muslim community appreciates the gesture, which has been in place since last November.

The pork-less Quick isn’t the first fast-food chain in France or indeed anywhere else to offer concessions to religious dietary concessions: Kosher McDonalds and Burger Kings have been around in Israel and the US for some time.

For Muslims, the move to purge pork from the menu means families can take their kids to fast food restaurants without having their choices limited to fish or vegetarian options.

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As you’ve probably gathered from the spectrum of different topics we cover at Love Habibi, we’re a site dedicated to all Muslims and Arabs trying to find their way in the world, a world that, at times has some very fixed ideas about our faith.

We consider ourselves proud Muslims who enjoy participating in any debate, and looking at our faith from inside and out. There are some topics, that repeatedly come up, and which we aim to present subjectively, but most of all objectively. One of these for me, as a Muslim woman is the burqa/niqab/hijab debate. These are actually three very different debates. Today I’m going to concentrate on a story about a Muslim woman in the Netherlands from Gulf News that spoke to me on a very deep level.

A Woman From the Netherlands who Chose Islam

The Netherlands has a population of around 1 million Muslims, who constitute around 5.5% of the population. It is home to the second largest European Muslim population after France.

The article, which is based on another from Reuters, focuses on Rabia Frank, a Dutch woman in her thirties, who converted to Islam in 1994. Rabia has a Moroccan husband and the couple have 3 sons.

In 2005 Rabia chose to join a total of just  50  women in the Netherlands and wear the niqab veil. I was intrigued by this woman’s decision. As the article unfolded it became apparent that this was her personal choice, just as so many women like myself choose not to wear a veil.

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I’ve been following the development of the new controversial Malian family code with interest.

The adoption of the new code in this majority Muslim country in August ‘09 has sparked a great deal of hullabaloo. It consists of more than 1,100 new articles geared towards increased equality between men and women. They reform laws on land ownership, inheritance, education, employment and marriage.

Hot topics that have caused friction include articles that set the legal minimum age for marriage at 18, recognize only civil marriages, allow joint property ownership, expand parental rights, and extend inheritance rights to girls.

Family Code or Family Law?

Muslims make up 90% of Mali’s 12 million-strong population. Tens of thousands of Malians have protested the code. Now it’s up to Mali’s President Amadou Toumani Toure whether or not to sign it into law, but Muslim leaders warn that such a move could divide the population and destabilize the country.

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India’s (now former) Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh surprised the whole of India when he resigned last month to look after his health and his family.

Even more astounding was his parting comment, as reported by Rediff.

“For an apology to Muslims, a Muslim Prime Minister is needed”, said Mr Singh, as he quit leadership of in his party.

The apology he was talking about was for the Indian government’s failure to stop the 1992 Babri Masque demolition. This led to the death of more than 2000 people in ensuing riots in many major Indian cities including Mumbai.

Religious tensions began rising again in India a year ago after the Mumbai terrorist attacks that left many members of India’s Muslim community terrified they would be blamed. Bollywood stars came out and joined India’s Muslim community in wearing black to condemn the attacks.

Not surprisingly, opinions on Amar Singh’s recent apology remain divided within and beyond India’s Muslim community. Like many others, I’ve been trying to make sense of the situation from the outside.

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I just found this incredible site for Canadian Muslims: Young Muslims. It’s a directory, news-source, and one-stop research nucleus for Canadian Muslim young folk.

I found it hard to tear myself away, as the page’s creators successfully covers a broad spectrum of relevant topics for young Muslims. While many services it lists are in Canada, there are plenty of poignant and universal news and topics. I think the Young Muslim’s is a great resource for any young members of our faith who have questions and want to explore their roots in parallel with their everyday existence and practice.

The site also also introduced me to the Canadian TV Sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie, and now I’m utterly hooked.

Turn On, Turn Up, Tune In

Little Mosque on the Prairie is a Canadian sitcom on CBC, which premiered in 2007 and began airings its fourth season in September 2009 and it’s simply sublime.

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I don’t know about you but I find this Swiss ban on the construction of Muslim Mosque minarets really peculiar. Swiss voters approved the ban in November last year and I’m still utterly bewildered.

There are only 4 Swiss mosques (out of a total of 150) that even have minarets. And these minarets won’t be removed according to the ban; Swiss Muslims just can’t put up new ones.

So what’s all the fuss about? Are they really so hard on the eye?

The Anti-Minaret (Il)logic

As the wise women at Muslimah Mediawatch point out, Switzerland doesn’t share the colonial history with Arab or Muslim countries that nations such as for example, Spain does.  Over half of the Muslims in Switzerland came from the Balkans, predominantly from Bosnia and Kosovo.

While this may  explain why some Swiss citizens aren’t accustomed to their Muslim compatriots it still doesn’t really cut the mustard when it comes to why minarets have been banned. I was curious to find out when the controversy began. If I couldn’t find a why, I decided to at least look at a when…

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I just found a really interesting Al Jazeera article and video on Muslims in Azerbaijan. The programme is part of a series in which the news station follows Muslims from around the world preparing for Hajj.

An Ancient Land with an Ancient Landmark…

I only found out through this fascinating article that Azerbaijan, the meeting point of Europe and Central Asia was where the Garden of Eden was! Or that Azerbaijan was one of the first countries to embrace Islam in the 7th century…

When Azerbaijan became part of the USSR in 1920, atheism became state policy; many Muslim leaders were exiled or killed and mosques were closed down or destroyed.

But, when it regained independence in 1991, many Azerbaijanis rediscovered their Muslim roots. The result is that today, 95% of Azerbaijanis are Muslims and Islam is experiencing a real revival in the country.

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I love finding out about how Islam has made its way around the world and changed cultural landscapes: particularly if it took an unusual route. Take for instance Australia. It’s a well-known fact that Australia has a significant Muslim population (340,392 in 2006). Given as to the best of my limited geographic and historical knowledge, the crusades didn’t get down under, how did Islam arrive in Oz?

We Go Back, Way Back…

Muslims got to mainland Australia in the 16th and 17th Centuries, predating European settlers. The first contacts between Aborigines and Muslims include some of the first links Aborigines had with the outside world.

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