Press Releases

December 10, 2008		Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain joins One Law for All Campaign against Sharia Law in Britain The One Law for All campaign, which is seeking legislation to curb the influence of sharia law in Britain , will be launched at the House of Lords on International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2008. Gina Khan (activist), Maryam Namazie (campaign organiser), Carla Revere (Lawyers’ Secular Society), Joan Smith (writer), Ibn Warraq (writer), and Keith Porteous Wood (National Secular Society) will be speaking at the event, which will be chaired by Fariborz Pooya (Iranian Secular Society). The campaign has already received widespread support including from Nazanin Afshin-Jam, Mina Ahadi, Sargul Ahmad, Mahin Alipour, Susan Blackmore, Nazanin Borumand, Austin Dacey,... Filed as: Press Releases
October 10, 2008		Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain’s Conference on Political Islam, Sharia Law and Civil Society, Conway Hall, London Filed as: Press Releases
September 29, 2008		October 10 Conference on Political Islam, Sharia Law, and Civil Society, The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) will present its first all day international conference on Political Islam, Sharia Law, and Civil Society on Friday 10 October 2008. Since apostasy is punishable by death under Islamic law, the conference coincides with the International Day against the Death Penalty. Speakers at the conference, including Richard Dawkins, AC Grayling, and Maryam Namazie, Spokesperson for the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, will focus on Apostasy; Sharia Law; and Creationism, Faith Schools and Religious Education. Dawkins will also present his criticism of Harun Yahya’s Atlas of Creation, for which Dawkins’ site has been banned... Filed as: Press Releases
September 1, 2008		CEMB issues its first annual report [PDF] Filed as: Press Releases
July 1, 2008		Faith schools are bad for children Cristina Odone’s report on faith schools published by the Centre for Policy Studies misses the point. The point of is not that faith schools have discriminatory admission codes and employment practices, cream-skim pupils, or turn away children in care although they do. Rather, what makes faith schools fundamentally bad for children is that they are more concerned with the inclusion of religion – the religion of the child’s parents – than the inclusion, wellbeing and educational needs of the child. According to Ms. Odone, Islamic schools are crucial to the emancipation of girls because they give parents the confidence to... Filed as: Press Releases
June 22, 2008		We need your help Dear friends The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain was one year old on June 21. [We are asking members and supporters to join executive committee members for drinks to celebrate our anniversary in central London on 5th July 2008 from 2pm onwards. For more details, please RSVP by emailing us.] For many, this will come as a surprise given the organisation’s importance and the scope of its activities so far. In the short time since the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain was launched in June 2007, it has achieved much with volunteers alone. Some of the highlights are: We currently... Filed as: Press Releases
May 20, 2008		An Update on Fitna Remade, important events and a call for help, from CEMB Executive Committee Members Hello Here is an update for you on some important matters and upcoming events: Events – Hold these dates One year anniversary celebration: We are asking members and supporters to join CEMB executive committee members for drinks to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the establishment of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and to meet other like-minded people in central London on 5th July 2008 from 2pm onwards. For more details, please RSVP. International Conference entitled Challenging Islam and Political Islam, October 10, 2008 at Conway Hall, London: The CEMB is busy organising an international conference on 10 October –... Filed as: Press Releases
March 3, 2008		The CEMB gives me hope, letter from Maryam Namazie Hello I should have written sooner but we have been inundated with emails and calls from ex-Muslims, supporters and others. Here are just a few we have received: Ali says: ‘I’m a closet apostate of Islam… Hearing of your movement gives me hope.’ Amal says ‘…it’s about time we ex-Muslims came together and had our voices heard.’ And they are not only joining from Britain but from Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait… Imran from Saudi Arabia says: ‘I don’t find the words to express my joyful feelings about the council… today by chance, luckily I found the council. I saw the... Filed as: Press Releases
February 11, 2008		There is no place for sharia in Britain The Council of ex-Muslims of Britain condemns the comments made by the Archbishop of Canterbury suggesting that Sharia law is ‘inevitable’ and may be welcome in civil cases. The distinction that he makes between civil and criminal cases does not exist within Sharia law. Sharia law encompasses all aspects of the life of those deemed Muslim. Suggesting that the UK would not, of course, allow the more barbaric aspects of Sharia law, such as amputation or stoning, ignores the fact that it is the family/civil areas of law in the Sharia that are some of the most iniquitous. In the... Filed as: Press Releases
December 4, 2007		Taslima Nasreen’s freedom to speak and write must be protected The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain condemns the attacks by the political Islamic movement on Taslima Nasreen in Kolkata, and calls for the vigorous prosecution of those who led the assault and threatened to kill her. It is in the context of sustained death-threats and a campaign to cancel her visa, that Ms Nasreen has now withdrawn two pages from her book, Shodh. We further condemn the government in Bengal for responding to the Islamist mob’s demands by pressurising her to leave her adopted home in Kolkata, and we call on the Indian government to support her return to Bengal... Filed as: Press Releases