Headlines:
- Germany’s Top Court Rules Muslim Schoolgirls Must Join Swimming Lessons
- Obama Admits US Can’t Defeat Taliban, End Violence in Afghanistan
Germany’s Top Court Rules Muslim Schoolgirls Must Join Swimming Lessons
Germany’s highest court ruled on Wednesday that ultra-conservative Muslim girls must take part in mixed swimming classes at school, finding against an 11-year-old pupil who had argued that even wearing a burkini, or full-body swimsuit, breached Islamic dress codes. The Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe rejected an appeal by the girl’s parents that she should be excused the classes because a burkini did not conform with Islam’s ethic of decency, German media reported. A spokesman for the court could not be reached for comment. Germany is in the grip of a heated public debate about the role of Islam in society as it seeks to integrate more than a million mainly Muslim asylum seekers fleeing war and persecution who have entered this year and last. Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose conservatives have been punished at the polls in regional elections by voters angry at her open-door policy, on Tuesday proposed a ban on full-face Muslim veils. Her Christian Democrats, who have been bleeding support to the AfD, a populist party that says Islam is incompatible with the constitution, toughened their tone on integrating migrants at a party conference this week. Wednesday’s ruling could give more credibility to future attempts by the government to ban the full-face veil after a parliamentary election next year. The girl had argued before lower courts that swimming in a burkini revealed the shape of her body, something that goes against her religion. The Constitutional Court noted that lower courts had found this to be untrue, and further found there were “no binding rules in Islam” to define appropriate clothing. [Source: Huffington Post]
One of the tenets of Western liberalism is freedom of religion, which allows people to worship whatever they want. Associated with this act is clothing. Hence, under liberalism, such items are protected. But Germany’s Islamophobia has made the application of liberal ideas to protect Muslims are complete failure. In contrast, Islam not only recognizes the right of non-Muslims to practices their faith and wear religious clothing but also safeguards these rights. The Christian population of Egypt and the Levant bears witness to the capacity of Islam to offer such rights for over a thousand years.
Obama Admits US Can’t Defeat Taliban, End violence in Afghanistan
U.S media has reported that President Barack Obama admitted in an address on Tuesday that the United States could not wipe out the Taliban militant group in Afghanistan, but could help it end years of instability by supporting the government in Kabul. In his final speech on national security as commander in chief of the US Armed forces Obama said despite U.S efforts, the situation in the war-plagued country remains unstable, the president said. “I don’t want to paint too rosy a picture. The situation in Afghanistan is still tough. War has been a part of life in Afghanistan for over 30 years. The U.S cannot eliminate the Taliban or end violence in that country,” Obama said before U.S soldiers at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. “But what we can do is deny al-Qaeda a safe haven and what we can do is support the Afghans who want a better future, which is why we have not only worked with our military but we backed a unity government in Kabul,” he added. Afghanistan is in a state of political and social turmoil, with Taliban insurgents and other extremist factions, such as Daesh, are operating in the country. [Source: The Nation]
After fighting the longest war in American history, America the world’s super power has admitted defeat in Afghanistan. Allah سبحانه وتعالى says,
يُرِيدُونَ أَن يُطْفِئُوا نُورَ اللَّـهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَيَأْبَى اللَّـهُ إِلَّا أَن يُتِمَّ نُورَهُ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَ
“They (the disbelievers, the Jews and the Christians) want to extinguish Allah’s Light (with which Muhammad has been sent – Islamic Monotheism) with their mouths, but Allah will not allow except that His Light should be perfected even though the Kafirun (disbelievers) hate (it).”
(at-Tawba: 90)