Author: Louisa Lim

Source: NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128544048

Alongside China's astonishing economic boom, an almost unnoticed religious boom has quietly been taking place.

In the country's first major survey on religious beliefs, conducted in 2006, 31.4 percent of about 4,500 people questioned described themselves as religious. That amounts to more than 300 million religious believers, an...

Author: Bill Sherman

Source: Tulsa World

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=14&articleid=20100718_18_A1_Viewsd561266

A proposed amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution that would ban Sharia law in the state court system is either a pre-emptive strike against encroaching Islamic law in the U.S. or an expression of Islamophobia, depending on who you ask. 

State Rep. Rex...

Author: Elisabeth Hulette

Source: The Capital

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/top/2010/07/18-47/No-student-tests-ontwo-Muslim-holidays.html

No tests will be scheduled in the county's public schools on two Muslim holidays this year: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.

Local Muslim leaders have been requesting the change for two years, arguing that students who practice Islam and are granted...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Muslim Public Affairs Council

http://www.mpac.org/article.php?id=1167

In an unprecedented statement of united opposition to religiously-motivated violence, nine diverse and highly respected Muslim American scholars and religious leaders have lent their voices to a special video message produced by the Muslim Public Affairs Council called "Injustice Cannot Defeat Injustice." 

Author: Prerna Suri

Source: Al Jazeera English

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/07/2010714144652155297.html

Muslim separatist groups have been fighting Indian rule in Kashmir for two decades. New Delhi blames Pakistan for supporting them. Pakistan denies the claim.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict.

In the lead-up to talks between the two countriesin Islamabad on Thursday...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us+canada-10641970

Two US TV networks have refused to air a controversial advert condemning plans to build a mosque near the site of the 9/11 terror attacks in New York.

Author: Aubrey Belford

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/world/asia/15iht-indo.html?_r=1&ref=religion_and_belief

In Indonesia’s crowded world of celebrity Muslim preachers, it often pays to have a trademark. For Koko Liem, his ever-present Chinese-style outfits — garish satin tunics paired with matching skullcaps — play the role.

Whether in television...

Author: Travis Loller

Source: The Syracuse Post-Standard

Wire Service: AP

Author: Staff Writer

Source: CAIR Press Release

Author: Megan Milstead and Megan Weiland

Source: Miami Student

http://www.miamistudent.net/mobile/2.8199/miami-brings-middle-east-to-midwest-1.1152892

Hoping to connect Cincinnati to Israel and Detroit to Saudi Arabia, the "Middle East in the Midwest" forum Thursday brought race, religion and politics together in one room.

Author: Javier Hernandez

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/nyregion/14center.html?_r=1&ref=religion_and_belief

The Cordoba House was supposed to be a monument to religious tolerance, an homage to the city in Spain where Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together centuries ago in the midst of religious foment.

Its 15 stories, home to a Muslim community center and a...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/07/13/france.burqa.ban/index.html?hpt=T2

France's lower house of parliament Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a ban on any veils that cover the face -- including the burqa, the full-body covering worn by some Muslim women.

The vote was 335 to 1.

The measure must still go to the French Senate before it becomes law. The Senate is expected to vote...

Author: Omar Sacirbey

Source: The Pew Forum/Religion News Service

http://pewforum.org/Religion-News/Muslim-women-fed-up-tell-men-to-lower-their-gaze.aspx

It was a moment Laila Al-Marayati wishes she had back. 

Standing outside the Islamic Center of Southern California in Los Angeles following Friday prayers, a male worshipper approached and chastised her for not wearing a headscarf. 
...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Baha’i World News Service

http://news.bahai.org/story/782

Following the demolition of Baha'i homes in the Iranian village of Ivel –reported last week – there is another story that must also be told: that of sympathetic villagers who have commiserated with their Baha'i neighbors over the injustices they have been forced to endure.

It is also the story of an undaunted spirit and a commitment to social good that...

Author: Jeff Horseman

Source: The Press-Enterprise

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_sislamic12.1deeaa4.html

Heated debate over the nature of Islam is overshadowing plans to build a mosque in northeast Temecula.

Critics, including the pastor of a church next to the mosque site, say the worship center is a bad fit for the area. They're also concerned with what they describe as Islam's...