Safiyyah's blog

  A Qatar World Cup ambassador and former player, Khalid Salman, described homosexuality as “damage in the mind”. With the FIFA 2022 World Cup kicking off next week in Qatar, there are growing concerns over the country’s treatment and attitudes towards homosexuality. The event, scheduled to start from 20th November to 18th December, will be the 22nd edition of the World Cup. It was postponed to winter due to the extreme heat the Arab country faces during the summertime. Though it is an exciting and well-anticipated event for football fans around the world, many are concerned about Qatar’s hosting. In Qatar, same-sex relations are prohibited under multiple parts of the Penal Code. Most notably, Article 285 criminalises acts of “sexual intercourse” between those of the same sex. Those caught could face up to seven years in prison. The country’s legal system is governed by a combination of civil law and Islamic law. Therefore, under Sharia law, Muslim men could face the death penalty ...

France-Presse - Getty Images Who are the Uighurs?  They are a Muslim minority who live in Xinjiang, an autonomous region of China located in the northwest. In Xinjiang, there are around 11 million Uighurs. Xinjiang has been controlled by China since it was annexed in 1949. However, many Uighurs still proudly identify their homeland by its previous name, East Turkestan.  In 2017, the Xinjiang Government passed a law prohibiting women from wearing veils and men from growing long beards. Many mosques have been destroyed and it is estimated that over 1 million Uighurs have been imprisoned in camps since 2017, in at least 85 identified camps within Xinjiang. In case you're unaware, China has been accused of keeping the Uighurs in concentration camps but they have only admitted to keeping them in "re-education centres" as they believe that the Uighurs hold extremist views and are a threat to security. Their reasoning comes from attacks in 2013 and 2014 which Uighur militants cl...