IRIC Statement on the Passing Away of Pope Francis

In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

In the Holy Quran, Chapter Aal-i-Imran, Verse 64, Allah talks to Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him):

Say, O People of the Book! Come to a word common between us and you:

“That we will worship no one but Allah, and that we will not ascribe any partner to Him, and that we will not take each other as lords besides Allah”

The Islamic Research and Information Center (IRIC) would like to express its heartfelt condolences to all Christians of the world on the passing away of Honorable Pope Francis. The Pope was a respected leader who dedicated his whole life to peace, humanity, and sincerity amongst people of the world.

Pope Francis’s endeavors and his invaluable creativity for proximity between Abrahamic religions, particularly Islam and Christianity, was a significant approach in combating Islamophobia and any religious extremism. The end result of such an important stance was respect among the believers and strengthening spirit of faith and piety in combating transgressors and unjust people of our time.

The Islamic Research and Information Center, IRIC, would like to take this opportunity to convey its sincere condolences to all benevolent and peace-loving people of the world for the unfortunate loss of such an honorable religious leader.

At the end, we would like to pray for the return of the Promised Savior of all Abrahamic religions who brings peace and tranquility to all peoples of the world.

Islamic Research and Information Center (IRIC)

After apologizing for a rant where he said Palestinians belong to an ‘inferior culture,’ the popular streamer will no longer hold a leadership position at the streamer-owned publisher he helped create.

Streamer-affiliated publisher Mad Mushroom has announced that cofounder “Asmongold” (real name: “Zack,” last name withheld) will be stepping away from the company following an anti-Muslim rant this week that led to him being temporarily banned on streaming platform Twitch.

The company shared the news in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter). “As an indie game publisher, we exist to empower developers from all cultures and backgrounds to share their stories and passions through their art,” it wrote.

“The viewpoints shared by Asmongold are antithetical to our mission. Zack will be stepping away from his leadership role in Mad Mushroom to work on himself and hold himself accountable.”

The comments in question concerned the fate of Palestinian people in Gaza who are dying by the thousands as Israel expands its invasion in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas in 2023. Some human rights organizations have described the invasion as a genocide. In response to a viewer question about the invasion, Asmongold stated that he “did not care” if Gazans were being “genocided,” claiming that Islamic Sharia Law itself is a foundation for genocide.

“If you want to consider a genocide as a systematic killing of a group of people they have genocide built into Sharia law right now, so no I’m not going to cry a fucking river when people who have genocide that’s baked into their laws are getting genocided,” he said, going on to call Gazans “terrible people.”

His comments refer to an interpretation of Islamic Sharia law wielded by right-wing groups that push hatred of Muslims. According to groups like the Council for Foreign Relations, Sharia law is a religious and legal framework used by some nations and communities to guide their laws, but its stricter interpretations are not universally representative of the faith.

Asmongold apologized for his rant in a video on YouTube. “I was making a criticism of religious extremism and I almost made an effort not to draw a distinction between the two things…whenever I categorize everybody in the area as this like group then I’m the asshole and I was the asshole.”

Mad Mushroom’s post quoted a statement made by streaming organization OTK, whose various cofounders and streaming personalities make up Mad Mushroom’s founding group. OTK said that it “denounces all forms of discrimination and violence, and that sort of behavior cannot be tolerated.”

It said that Asmongold will also be “stepping away” from OTK’s other affiliate companies Starforge and Mythic Talent. A spokesperson for Mad Mushroom declined to answer if the streamer was divesting his ownership stake in these companies, only repeating that he would be “stepping away” from leadership.

Asmongold’s behavior highlights risks of streaming-based businesses
Asmongold’s tirade is the latest in a string of hateful videos posted by the popular content creator. In February, he platformed the ongoing hate campaign targeting narrative consultancy studio Sweet Baby Inc in an interview with Karbrutus, the creator of the Steam Group named “Sweet Baby Inc. Detected.”

He would spend the following months railing against “diversity, equity, and inclusion” efforts, lashing out at reporting on the alleged culture of sexism at Black Myth: Wukong developer Game Science and casting diversity and inclusion initiatives as being cover for “predatory” monetization mechanics. He would regularly promote his work at Mad Mushroom and games he was publishing alongside these videos (he properly disclosed his ownership of the company when doing so).

The sharp contrast between these two types of videos spotlights the risks of “authenticity” that Mad Mushroom pitched to developers, as his authentically-held views about topics like inclusion or Israel’s invasion of Gaza and Lebanon lived side-by-side with promoting games at the company.

Asmongold’s apology video appears to indicate a desire to reshape that authenticity and turn over a new leaf. “For the last two years I think I’ve been slowly devolving into the most mean-spirited…rude, nasty, callous, psychopathic version of myself,” he said.

“Maybe this is too far, maybe I need a course correction,” he added later on. “I [hope] getting suspended is one of the best things that ever happened to me. I don’t know whether that’s going to be true but I’m going to try and do things differently and make sure to live up to that reality.”

Developers suspicious of the streamer’s overtures toward reform likely won’t be comforted by follow-up comments to the video he posted on Reddit. “If you think that means my first stream back is going to be playing Dustborn and promoting Sweet Baby, I think you’ll be very disappointed,” he wrote, seemingly taking a swipe at Red Thread Games’ latest title (which he slammed on his channel) and Sweet Baby Inc.

“I’m not changing anything other than trying to be more positive and less mean-spirited.”

Source: Game Developer

Muslim groups in Australia have criticized the disparity in the police response to two stabbing attacks in Sydney this month, saying it created a perception of a double standard and further alienated the country’s minority Muslim community

The Australian National Imams Council said an attack at a Bondi Junction shopping center was “quickly deemed a mental health issue” while the stabbing of a Christian bishop at a Sydney church two days later was “classified as a terrorist act almost immediately.”

“The differing treatments of two recent violent incidents are stark,” the council’s spokesperson, Ramia Abdo Sultan, said in a statement with the Alliance of Australian Muslims and the Australian Muslim Advocacy Network.

“Such disparities in response create a perception of a double standard in law enforcement and judicial processes,” she said.

A 16-year-old boy is accused of repeatedly stabbing Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and a priest at the Christ the Good Shepherd Church on April 15, two days after the Bondi Junction attack, in which six people were killed and a dozen others seriously wounded by a lone assailant with a history of mental illness.

The boy was charged last week with committing a terrorist act, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Sultan called for an inquiry into the processes leading up to the police raids to ensure transparency and accountability within the judicial system and to prevent marginalization of different ethnic and religious groups.

“We must also address the problematic and longstanding issue of racial and religious profiling, which has been part of the societal fabric for decades,” Sultan said. “The presumption that terrorism is inherently tied to religion is not only inaccurate but harmful.”

New South Wales state Premier Chris Minns agreed that it was important for allegations of terrorism to be correctly made but rejected any need for changes.

“The truth of the matter is, in some instances and it’s only some instances where there are terrorist activities, they are as a result of religious-based extremism,” Minns said at a news conference in Sydney on Friday.

More information on: ABC News