Umme Kalsoom, a 16-year-old student in Burnley, Lancashire, started the campaign after she felt “vulnerable” when expected to take off her hijab while playing sport at her school.

The young Muslim was struck by the attention her campaign achieved, said: “I did it to bring comfort to myself and the other girls. I didn’t know it would go this far.”

As the school has since changed its policy, Umme Kalsoom hopes her campaign will have a nationwide impact.

“(The hijab) makes me feel like myself,” she said. “Taking it off to do something I love didn’t enable me to feel my full self and I lacked confidence without it.”

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations. In general, Islam promotes good health and fitness and encourages both men and women to engage in physical activity to maintain healthy lifestyles.

Source: AboutIslam.net

With a current annual global shortage of approximately 40 million units, donating blood is almost critical in most parts of the world, especially developing nations. IHBDC run numerous blood donation drives across the UK and around the world.

By joining the #HussainSavesLives campaign, people’s blood donation can have a two-fold benefit of saving lives as well spreading the message of Karbala. Many of the local jamaats will have already organized a blood drive and have been encouraging this same act for many years. In Europe, the Imam Hussain Blood Donation Campaign (IHBDC) have blood donation drives across the country.

More information at: www.HussainSavesLives.org

“Today we are at war whether you like it or not and we have to fight it with whatever we have,” said Daniela Santanche, a lawmaker from the center-right Forza Italia party who joined protesters in Pisa last weekend (Aug. 20). “Mosques should be closed, not opened, because they are not places of worship but places that preach hatred.”

Those leading the “No Mosque” campaign say they have gathered more than 2,000 signatures, which they claim is enough for a referendum to overturn the council decision. But Izzedin Elzir, the president of the Union of Italian Islamic Communities, said any referendum would be “unconstitutional” and threaten Muslims’ religious freedom.

“Our rights should be protected,” Elzir told RNS. “This campaign is based on prejudice and opposition generated by politicians who want to win votes by exploiting fear after the recent attacks in France, Belgium and Germany. “They need to take responsibility for fanning the flames of prejudice and creating panic,” he added. Elzir said around 300 Muslims attend Friday prayers regularly in Pisa but he estimates there are as many as 3,000 Muslims in the town, including migrants who have moved there from Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco and Bangladesh.

The mayor of Pisa, Marco Filippeschi, said any move to block the project would be in contravention of freedom of worship, which is enshrined in the Italian constitution. “For 20 years Muslims from Pisa have been coming together in a small mosque in the center of town and no one has ever protested,” Filippeschi said. He also stressed that “not one cent will be spent by the council administration to build the mosque.”

The dispute over the mosque made headlines just days after Italian authorities ordered the expulsion of a Tunisian man who they accused of planning an attack on the Leaning Tower. Bilel Chiahoui, 26, was arrested after posting messages on social media praising the terrorists behind recent jihadist attacks in Europe and sharing plans to attack the monument. One of Italy’s most recognizable landmarks, the Leaning Tower sits beside the city’s cathedral and baptistery. Construction of the eight-story tower, which tilts dramatically to one side, was begun in 1173 and completed in 1399.

Source: Religious News Service (RNS)

The United States has only about 3.3 million Muslims, but campaign organizers say Muslim voters could have an outsize impact in swing states that are key to the November general election, such as Virginia and Florida.

“We want the Muslim community to understand that if you give up your rights voluntarily, no one will come and give it back to you,” said Osama Abu Irshaid, a member of the board of the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations, which is spearheading the drive. Imams have been asked to encourage their congregations to register to vote. Organizers have sent canvassers to college campuses, bus stations and gas stations in Muslim neighborhoods. The campaign began in December and is part of an effort among U.S. Muslims to combat an “unprecedented rise in Islamophobia,” said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

CAIR’s database showed that 300,000 Muslims had registered since November, he said.

Awad said anti-Muslim sentiment had grown since the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, last year that authorities have said was inspired by Islamist militants, and due to comments by Trump. He has called for a ban on Muslim immigrants. Campaign volunteers were outside the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in suburban Washington this month to get worshippers to register.

Source: Reuters