After every extremist attack in the West, there are invariably questions asked of Muslim communities. The questions are, by and large, rather baseless, ranging from "why haven’t Muslims condemned terrorism?" (they have, countless times) to "why don’t Muslim report on terrorists?" (they have, and did, many times and were ignored). But sometimes, there are also questions within the Muslim communities of the West and when a group of imams in the UK recently declared that they would not offer the ritual funeral prayer for the deceased London attackers, they gave an answer to one of those questions.
There are two major questions that have been asked within the Muslim British community post-London Bridge. The first is quite simply this: if the UK government’s current counter-extremism policy is flawed, which many Britons feel it is, what are the more useful alternatives on offer? There will be those who will try to dodge the question, and focus almost solely on social and political factors in how Muslims are drawn into extremism, which effectively does away with the need to tackle it. But thoughtful members of the Muslim British community are also clear that while such factors are no doubt at work in the wider configuration of the radicalisation universe, there is an ideological component and it needs to be tackled. Where that component is, how it is expressed, how widespread it is – all of those remain legitimate questions, but the fact that it exists is not a subject of debate. It is about how to tackle it.
But there is a secondary question that hasn’t really been discussed openly before. In the aftermath of the London attacks, there are three corpses of the attackers and they are supposed to be prayed over and buried. On Monday, more than 100 Muslim religious leaders and preachers in the UK, with a range of perspectives and qualifications, declared they wouldn’t pray over the bodies. And here the question is raised: how are British Muslims to relate to extremists who not only think radical things, but die in the course of carrying out atrocities? Does the decision to not pray over the terrorists of the London Bridge attack bring us closer to that course of excommunication, which so many outside the Muslim community have been calling for? To put it quite simply: no. And moreover, it shouldn’t.
There is something akin to excommunication in Islam. It is called takfir. It is exceedingly rare in Islamic history, because the standard is set very high. Moreover, it has little to do with actions and everything to do with belief. To put it simplistically: a Muslim who does bad things is still a Muslim, even if he does bad things.
The question of whether he or she leaves the faith has everything to do with faith, not with actions.
Perhaps one of the most crucial deviances of radical extremists in the Muslim fold is their willingness to indulge in takfir so liberally, they consider massive swaths of Muslims as having rejected Islam.
For years, there have been calls for Muslim religious institutions to excommunicate groups such as ISIL and others. The religious leadership has largely rejected the option. To do otherwise is a slippery slope indeed, and it is wholly unnecessary in any event. Takfir is not necessary in order to arrest, pursue or wage war against criminals, Muslim or not – and indeed, stigmatise them as well.
The funeral prayer denial is a perfect example. By refusing to pray over the London Bridge attackers, the imams weren’t declaring they weren’t Muslim. They were, however, declaring that the crimes were so odious, public religious leaders and authorities should shun any public prayer over their bodies and they encouraged all mosques and imams to do the same.
It’s not a difficult position to justify. The funeral prayer is, according to Muslim religious authorities, a religious obligation upon the Muslim community to fulfil – but anyone can fulfil that obligation. The deceased family; those who actually place the body into the ground; it doesn’t necessarily need to be religious authorities or scholars, in order to fulfil the communal obligation. In that regard, the imams and preachers are not denying any religious duty.
Moreover, classical Islamic jurisprudence also makes it clear that religious authorities are justified in denying a public burial. There can be a variety of reasons to deny burials to criminals who are still considered to be Muslims, and they are mentioned in orthodox manuals of Islamic law. In that regard, these religious authorities are not coming up with some sort of new-fangled opinion.
But in this case, there is also an added, even if not critical, community factor involved. The British Muslim community is a demographically minor one that faces a significant amount of anti-Muslim sentiment and Islamophobia. If any mosque did actually carry out the funeral prayer, one can only imagine how the community of that mosque would be scandalised.
The media may have taken this move to have been unique and exceptional, heralding some kind of new era. It isn’t. The imams and preachers who took this step relied on established, orthodox religious tools to address a key issue – how to publicly relate to Muslims who are openly guilty of heinous crimes. The application of those tools will no doubt require sagacity and wisdom, and certainly they can be and have been abused – but at least in this circumstance, it seems these Muslim religious authorities have acted prudently indeed.
Dr HA Hellyer is a senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington and the Royal United Services Institute in London
On Twitter: @hahellyer
RESULTS
Bantamweight title:
Vinicius de Oliveira (BRA) bt Xavier Alaoui (MAR)
(KO round 2)
Catchweight 68kg:
Sean Soriano (USA) bt Noad Lahat (ISR)
(TKO round 1)
Middleweight:
Denis Tiuliulin (RUS) bt Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
(TKO round 1)
Lightweight:
Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR) bt Joachim Tollefsen (DEN)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 68kg:
Austin Arnett (USA) bt Daniel Vega (MEX)
(TKO round 3)
Lightweight:
Carrington Banks (USA) bt Marcio Andrade (BRA)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 58kg:
Corinne Laframboise (CAN) bt Malin Hermansson (SWE)
(Submission round 2)
Bantamweight:
Jalal Al Daaja (CAN) bt Juares Dea (CMR)
(Split decision)
Middleweight:
Mohamad Osseili (LEB) bt Ivan Slynko (UKR)
(TKO round 1)
Featherweight:
Tarun Grigoryan (ARM) bt Islam Makhamadjanov (UZB)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 54kg:
Mariagiovanna Vai (ITA) bt Daniella Shutov (ISR)
(Submission round 1)
Middleweight:
Joan Arastey (ESP) bt Omran Chaaban (LEB)
(Unanimous decision)
Welterweight:
Bruno Carvalho (POR) bt Souhil Tahiri (ALG)
(TKO)
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
THE RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: Alnawar, Connor Beasley (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: Raniah, Noel Garbutt, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 2,200m
Winner: Saarookh, Richard Mullen, Ana Mendez
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown (PA) Rated Conditions Dh125,000 1,600m
Winner: RB Torch, Tadhg O’Shea, Eric Lemartinel
7pm: Al Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap Dh70,000 1,600m
Winner: MH Wari, Antonio Fresu, Elise Jeane
7.30pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,600m
Winner: Mailshot, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Scorecard:
England 458 & 119/1 (51.0 ov)
South Africa 361
England lead by 216 runs with 9 wickets remaining
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
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Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
Hurricanes 31-31 Lions
Wellington Hurricanes:
Tries: Gibbins, Laumape, Goosen, Fifita tries, Barrett
Conversions: Barrett (4)
Penalties: Barrett
British & Irish Lions:
Tries: Seymour (2), North
Conversions: Biggar (2)
Penalties: Biggar (4)
If%20you%20go
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Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
Director: Kushan Nandy
Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami
Three stars
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
