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hyphenonline.com | The leading media platform on Muslim life in the UK and Europe
The Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra began as a way of connecting musical heritage to the present. Now it is challenging ideas of what belongs in the canon. Tom Flanagan on its influence on the Dutch classical mainstream ⬇ hyphenonline.com/2026/10/08/a...
Dutch ensemble brings Arab-Andalusian music into the mainstream - Hyphen
The Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra is bringing centuries-old musical traditions to concert halls and challenging ideas about the western canon
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Comedian Ola Labib talks Portsmouth, Sudanese food, comedy and writing her memoir in Hyphen’s latest Weekend With Q&A. Read the full interview ⬇️ hyphenonline.com/2026/10/09/w...
Ola Labib on her favourite Sudanese dishes and her new memoir - Hyphen
For the comedian, Saturdays are for housework — except doing the laundry — and reflection, before evening gigs
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Ryan Marley’s documentary The Blind Couple from Mali, about Amadou & Mariam, offers a joyful and intimate look inside one of the world’s great musical marriages. hyphenonline.com/2026/10/09/n...
The Blind Couple from Mali — Amadou & Mariam documentary - Hyphen
Ryan Marley’s film offers a joyful and intimate look inside one of the world’s great musical marriages
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Lucha libre wrestler Marduk Malik’s persona in the ring is carefully crafted, based on an ancient Mesopotamian god. Now, he’s opening the sport up to other young Muslims. hyphenonline.com/2026/10/08/m...
Meet Marduk Malik, Muslim lucha libre star - Hyphen
Malik Waseem has carefully crafted a unique persona, based on an ancient Mesopotamian god, and become a Lucha Britannia champion
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Luton locals including a priest and community organisers have rubbished claims by Tory MP Blake Stephenson that there are ‘no-go zones’ in the town where ‘white people won’t go’. hyphenonline.com/2026/10/08/l...
Luton rejects Tory MP's claim that town has ‘no-go zones’ - Hyphen
Faith and community leaders and local police rubbish Blake Stephenson’s allegation, made at the Conservative Party Conference
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Religious hate crimes in England and Wales targeting Muslims are up 15%, new Home Office figures show. Aisha Rimi has the full story. hyphenonline.com/2026/10/08/a...
Reports of anti-Muslim hate crime up 15% in a year — Home Office - Hyphen
Government statistics published as British Muslim Trust reveals that attacks on mosques are getting worse in severity
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Ahmed Masoud’s satirical play, Application 39, is set in the near future and follows two characters in Gaza who hack the bidding process for the 2048 Olympics as a joke. Read more ⬇ hyphenonline.com/2026/10/07/a...
Ahmed Masoud on bringing Gaza’s stories to global audiences - Hyphen
The UK-based playwright’s latest production, Application 39, imagines a future where Gaza hosts the 2048 Olympics
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Muslims in Holborn and St Pancras feel disrespected by the Labour Party, one mosque leader has told us. Will it influence today's byelection result? hyphenonline.com/2026/10/06/h...
Holborn and St Pancras: Labour and Greens vie for Muslim votes - Hyphen
Council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali, for Labour, and Green Party leader Zack Polanski are favourites to win Thursday’s byelection
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‘Not having a mosque at all in 50 kilometres, it takes you back to the 1960s, to our parents’ generation.’ A group of cyclists raised an astonishing £79,000 at the weekend to help Cumbria’s first purpose-built mosque open its doors. hyphenonline.com/2026/10/07/d...
Dalton mosque to open in November after cyclists raise £79,000 - Hyphen
Riders from two Preston cycle clubs have been raising cash for the South Lakes Islamic Centre in Dalton-in-Furness for five years
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📚What is #ESOL? The abbreviation stands for English for speakers of other languages. @bwhyphen.bsky.social, our editor in chief, explains how funding for ESOL provision has been cut over the years, and invites you to keep an eye out for our series of articles covering this important topic.
‘I want people to know that ESOL is building people’s capacity to participate in civic life.’ Dermot Bryers, founder of the charity English for Action London, speaks to Hyphen about government cuts and the importance of accessible language education. hyphenonline.com/2026/10/07/e...
ESOL: 'a crucial pillar of a fairer society' - Hyphen
Dermot Bryers, teacher and founder of English for Action charity, on why high-quality and accessible language education is good for everyone
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London’s first purpose-built mosque celebrates its centenary. https://hyphenonline.com/2026/10/07/fazl-london-mosque-putney-centenary-100-years-1926-ahmadiyya-community/
London’s first purpose-built mosque celebrates its centenary - Hyphen
Fazl Mosque in Putney has been welcoming worshippers with a message of openness and diversity for the last century
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‘Labour look like they’re reaching out to the Muslim community by putting forward a Muslim woman, but she isn’t willing to come and pitch her policies to the Muslim community.’ Saman Javed reports from Holborn and St Pancras ahead of Thursday’s vote. hyphenonline.com/2026/10/06/h...
Holborn and St Pancras: Labour and Greens vie for Muslim votes - Hyphen
Council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali, for Labour, and Green Party leader Zack Polanski are favourites to win Thursday’s byelection
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Turkish cuisine in the UK has long revolved around the charcoal grill, but that’s now changing. Zaynab Asaadi goes beyond the ocakbaşı to track down regional street foods, pop-up restaurants and breakfast specialists ⬇️ hyphenonline.com/2026/10/06/t...
Turkish food in London: looking beyond the ocakbaşı - Hyphen
Regional street foods, dessert cafes and breakfast specialists are joining charcoal-grilled kebabs in the capital city's culinary landscape
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Aspiring English speakers in parts of West Yorkshire are being forced to wait up to two years for beginner ESOL classes because funding has lagged behind demand. Full story by @lucascumiskey.bsky.social. hyphenonline.com/2026/10/06/e...
ESOL beginners in West Yorkshire face two-year waits - Hyphen
One provider said there had been a ‘massive boom’ in demand for ESOL in 2024-25 while college warned of ‘more demand than we can deliver’
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‘At this point, it’s not mine, it belongs to the 5,000 performers.’ Nassim Soleimanpour on 15 years since the premiere of White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, one of the most performed plays in the world. hyphenonline.com/2026/10/05/n...
Nassim Soleimanpour on writing one of the most performed plays in the world - Hyphen
White Rabbit, Red Rabbit has been played by more than 5,000 performers since its premiere in 2015. The playwright reflects on its legacy
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🔴Exclusive: spending on English language courses aimed at non-native speakers has been slashed by nearly 40% in real terms since 2009, Hyphen can reveal. hyphenonline.com/2026/10/05/e...
Revealed: ESOL budget has fallen 39% in real terms since 2009 - Hyphen
Department for Education funding for English lessons has dropped by equivalent of £117m despite rising demand, exclusive data reveals
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‘Going for a kebab after a gig was my night out.’ Weekend With is our series asking well-known faces how they really spend their downtime. This week: comedian Prince Abdi, on biryani, onion-induced tears, and his upcoming show at The O2 with Mo Gilligan. hyphenonline.com/2026/10/02/w...
Weekend with Prince Abdi: ‘Going for a kebab was my night out’ - Hyphen
The standup on why he hates cooking, being woken up early by the kids and his favourite comedy venue and places to eat out in London
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‘It shows that our community has the power and the voice to make a change.’ A Sheffield school has revised new uniform rules after weeks of pressure from parents and the local Muslim community over pupils wearing abayas. hyphenonline.com/2026/10/01/f...
Sheffield school relents on abayas after dispute over uniforms - Hyphen
Recent guidance from Fir Valley Academy led parents to understand that pupils could no longer wear abayas over the school uniform
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Lebanese poet Nur Turkmani’s new collection, October, available from @hajarpress.bsky.social, explores political instability, displacement and family in Beirut. hyphenonline.com/2026/10/01/n...
Nur Turkmani on Beirut: 'a city constantly exposed to violence' - Hyphen
The Lebanese poet's new collection, October, offers a deeply personal take on the capital's place in an increasingly volatile world
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‘We’re putting ourselves forward and we're breaking into the industry on our own terms.’ Birmingham hijab brand Iftin marked London Fashion Week with a film reimagining fashion for hijab-wearing women. hyphenonline.com/2026/09/30/i...
Hijab brand Iftin puts Muslim women at the forefront of fashion - Hyphen
A new generation of hijabi designers and models are making their own rules and defining what style means to them
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These five books show why migration is a natural and essential part of being human. https://hyphenonline.com/2026/09/30/five-books-on-about-migration-novels-memoirs-megha-majumdar-cecile-pin/
Five books to read on migration - Hyphen
Novels and memoirs to remind us that migration is a tale as old as time and is essential to our survival, from. authors including Cecile Pin
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Muslims are organising their own peer support to bridge gaps in NHS mental health services. Full story: https://hyphenonline.com/2026/09/29/muslim-mental-health-inpatients-prayer-packs-wudu-mlxn/
Muslim mental health inpatients given prayer packs - Hyphen
More than 80 prayer packs have been given out by the Muslim community group MLXN, which also runs cultural competency workshops for NHS staff
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'The building's not going anywhere, the community isn't going anywhere, the artists aren't going anywhere.' Rohan Rakhit on Here to Stay, a celebration of east London’s Asian underground scene, kicking off Rich Mix London’s 20th anniversary events. hyphenonline.com/2026/09/29/r...
Asian underground: Rich Mix celebrates east London music scene - Hyphen
The Shoreditch venue marks its 20th year by paying tribute to the communities and culture that make the area a hotbed of musical innovation
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Home secretary Shabana Mahmood told an audience at a Labour conference event hosted by the Tony Blair Institute last night that her Muslim faith gives her a sense of accountability as an MP. Full story ⬇️ hyphenonline.com/2026/09/29/s...
Shabana Mahmood: Muslim faith gives me sense of accountability - Hyphen
The home secretary discussed the role of Islam in her decision-making during an event at the 2026 Labour conference
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‘We have lost much of the pride and collective power that once came with being part of the working class.’ @tajali1.bsky.social traces a line from the 1976 Grunwick strike to today and asks what it will take to rebuild working-class power: hyphenonline.com/2026/09/24/u...
Minister to explore cash for Northern Ireland communities hit by race riots. https://hyphenonline.com/2026/09/28/sarah-owen-northern-ireland-keen-explore-cash-belfast-racist-riots/
Minister to explore giving cash to riot-hit Belfast communities - Hyphen
Sarah Owen, parliamentary under-secretary for Northern Ireland, made comments at Labour conference after Belfast was hit summer of violence
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Rami Islami is one of the video game industry’s most prominent Muslims. He tells Hyphen why money, language and geography still limit who gets to make games — and why he’s working to change that. hyphenonline.com/2026/09/28/r...
Rami Ismail is trying to change who gets to make video games - Hyphen
The Dutch-Egyptian developer is one of the gaming industry's most prominent Muslims — and he's giving others like him a helping hand
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Thousands of people will receive free lifesaving training at more than 100 mosques across the UK this weekend as part of efforts led by British Islamic Medical Association to make emergency skills more accessible. hyphenonline.com/2026/09/25/b...
Thousands to receive free lifesaving training at UK mosques - Hyphen
The British Islamic Medical Association’s Lifesavers programme aims to slash inequality in survival rates for cardiac arrest
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Alex Gibney's new documentary, Knife, deals with Salman Rushdie’s recovery after his 2022 attack. Leila Latif reviews the film for Hyphen and concludes that it finally gives Rushdie back his place as a human being rather than a symbol. hyphenonline.com/2026/09/25/s...
Knife highlights the human tragedy of Salman Rushdie’s stabbing - Hyphen
Director Alex Gibney’s documentary offers an intimate, nuanced and moving view of the author’s life after the shocking 2022 attack
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