Criticism of Islam is a protected belief

Agree @Signalbox unfortunately there's substantial evidence that female ethnic minority violence victims are less likely to be taken seriously by authorities and more likely to be victims of serious violence.

With Sara rather than "respecting her belief" it also shows a lack of any understanding.

Muslims girls/women only wear hijab in front of unrelated men. There is absolutely no reason for her to be hiding her hair in front of a female teacher or social worker who also could have asked her to take it off in private.

Unfortunately it's very likely though if one had they would have been accused of racism.

Or if it turned out to be innocuous (which based on the info they had may have been, safeguarding is risk management) may even have lost their jobs.

He's more worried about the rights of men in dresses than women.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/trans-women-supreme-court-ruling-khan-b2756071.html

The recently published Sara Sharif report is horrifying. Details that healthcare workers were anxious about to ask about her wearing the hijab through fear of causing offence, that neighbours were too anxious to report for fear of being called racist and that the hijab was actually used as a way to hide bruising. Worryingly the report appears to blame "white fragility" for the reluctance of others to be involved.

"This occupational therapist recalls seeing Sara as she was keeping the younger children quiet and calm. She noted that Sara was the only person wearing a hijab but did not think this was unreasonable at the time although she has reflected that she may have been reticent to talk about it for fear of causing offence."

"It was within this context that the decision of Sara to start wearing the hijab in 2021 took place. She was eight years old. The school showed appropriate curiosity by talking to Sara and Stepmother and accepted the explanation that this was linked to Sara’s interest with Pakistani culture following a visit to her paternal grandparents in Pakistan. Expert advice given to the review by the local Muslim community suggests that it would have been highly unusual for such a young child to decide to wear the hijab without either members of their family or peers doing the same. The need for easy access to such advice for all practitioners who may lack knowledge about the impact of race/culture/religion on children is an area for further discussion within Surrey and is explored further in finding six. We now know that the wearing of the hijab did, in the later period of Sara’s life, hide bruising and injuries to her face and head."

"The neighbours of the family spoke to both the criminal investigation and the review, saying that they were worried about reporting concerns about what they heard within the family’s home. They feared being branded as being racist, especially on social media."

https://surreyscp.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/SS-CSPR-SSCP-Report-for-publication-13.11.25.pdf

@Bangbangwhizzbang The whole left played down the issue of the grooming gangs because they didn't want to be seen as racist. Of course it angers me a lot, but it's to do with certain extremism within the left, more than with his religion.

In what other ways was Khan misogynistic?

Khan denied the existence of grooming gangs in London and has a very misogynistic attitude to women.

The craziest American pastors are not as murderous and determined as the Islamic fanatics.

Yes exactly.

I think the issue comes when you have entire countries brutalised by these fanatics and some of the fanatics are here in the UK and Europe and trying to kill us.

France is currently remembering the victims of the Bataclan massacre and has foiled a new terrorist plot by the girlfriend of the surviving terrorist.

The craziest American pastors are not as murderous and determined as the Islamic fanatics.

From the BBC - apologies for the source but hopefully this is reasonably honest.

A former girlfriend of the only jihadist to survive the November 2015 attacks has been arrested on suspicion of plotting her own violent act.
The woman - a 27 year-old French convert to Islam named as Maëva B - began a letter-writing relationship with Salah Abdeslam, 36, who is serving a life sentence in jail near the Belgian border following his conviction in 2022.
When prison guards discovered that Abdeslam had been using a USB key containing jihadist propaganda, they traced its origin to face-to-face meetings that the prisoner had with Maëva B.
Detectives then looked into Maëva B's own computer and telephone, where they found evidence she may have been planning a jihadist attack, and on Monday she was placed under judicial investigation along with two alleged associates.
With France commemorating 10 years since the worst attack in its modern history, the arrest has focused minds on the enemy that never went away.
Six plots have been thwarted this year, says Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, and the threat level remains high.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6291204278o

Well yes. Not every Muslim or Christian (or whatever) is going to become a 'fanatic' or extremist. But in the case of Islam it's the shadow of Sharia law that could possibly become a reality in the future if the population of Muslims outstrips other faiths. However I expect there would be Muslims, particularly women, who would not welcome that in this country. I just hope it never comes to pass!

@GentleSheep I am not religious, but I'd say it's wrong to conflate Iranian fanatics with, I don't know, someone like London Mayor Sadiq Khan. There are many reasons to dislike Khan and and he sure has many flaws, but he remains a moderate left-wing liberal, not a fanatic.

Just like you cannot conflate these crazy American Christian pastors with the loads of Christians who are not fanatics.

I know several women who escaped from Iran back in the 80s (one was my best friend at the time) and subsequently became Christians here in the UK. I also know of a couple of men who did the same. a lot were escaping them. They don't have anything good to say about Islam. My friend lost 2 of her brothers to the regime (they were 'political prisoners' who were later executed.)

And a colleague of hers was shot in the head for making a film which was critical of Islam.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/nov/02/filmnews.islam

There's also the story of the girl in Canada who was hit by her stepfather for not memorising the Quran, but the judge sent her back to him because this was normal in "their culture".

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210905876-unveiled

The law on smacking children has changed since then, so I'd like to think this wouldn't happen today, but, still...

Sayan Hirsi Ali worked on the documentary which got Theo van Gogh killed in Amsterdam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submission_(2004_film)
She has now converted to Christianity, so the most deranged atheists now no longer like her - proof that idiocy and fanaticism can be found in every camp.

She grew up in Somalia but also lived in Saudi Arabia. At one point she was an Islamic teacher and scholar. She knows her stuff. She eventually sought asylum in the Netherlands after seeking to escape an arranged marriage and became involved in politics. She has written an excellent series of memoirs ( The Caged Virgin, Nomad, Infidel). She still lives with heightened security - though now in the U.S

Really, that’s so awful. I don’t know her work but I have seen posters on here criticise it and her. I wonder how they can endorse this.

Quite! When Ayan Hirsi Ali cricticised Islam ( based on a lifetime's experience) she was issued with a fatwah and had to go into hiding.

Similarly, if a movement arose that said that people unable to work, maybe due to age, or infirmity, or infants, were no longer fully human and could be discarded by society, and most people came to believe it, it would become reflected in the law in all likelihood.

It did arise. Almost in living memory.

Do you remember when Mariam Namazie was disinvited by a university? Because an Iranian woman talking about how the Iranian theocracy oppresses women is... offensive. Of course, right? https://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2017/02/43-percent-of-universities-restrict-speech-that-might-offend-religious-people

Agreed, for obvious reasons those I know who are most critical of Islam are themselves of Muslim-heritage.

I also know a few Iranian female refugees, as well as a man who was disillusioned after belonging to a mosque that was supporting terrorism.

I'm not sure it occurs to some of the left that someone can be brown, grow up in a religion and then become critical, or even leave that religion!

You can always start your own thread.
I think freedom of speech and the attempt to control who can say what is central to the opposition of gender ideology and misogyny in general.
I'm not keen on silos.

Yes! Indeed, the far-left activists who cheered when the slightest suspicion of anti-trans sentiment was enough to have someone fired, cancelled or recorded in the Orwellian "non-crime hate incident" database, then realised that the same illiberal laws were being used against them when 80-year old grannies were being arrested for protesting on Palestine.

Do you remember the case of the guy whose tweet about being born a mammal but identifying as fish was recorded as a non-crime hate incident? He went to court and won, with the Judge giving a dressing down to the police, because the police criteria for non-crime hate incident were so loose as to stifle legitimate free speech.

No one has a right not be offended, criticised, and ridiculed.

The parallels between laws to restrict criticism of Islam and gender ideology have been repeatedly pointed out.

Thread not relevant to sex and gender discussions- a board created to siloise a particular issue amid much faff- can't we now keep it for its intended purpose?