Author: Robert F. Worth

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/world/middleeast/19syria.html

As darkness falls over the vast Syrian desert and the first winter stars emerge, a trail of modern-day pilgrims is slowly climbing the stone steps of this remote cliff-top monastery.

They are a motley crew of religious seekers and backpackers from a dozen countries, some hoping for divine wisdom, others merely...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Oklahoman

http://www.newsok.com/anchorages-first-halal-grocery-opens/article/feed/124794

On an icy winter day when the sun barely rose higher than the peaks of the Chugach Mountains, one store in a sleepy strip mall near the airport was abuzz with activity. The hand-lettered cardboard sign outside told the story: Alaska's First Halal Grocery.

Inside, owner Lamin Jobarteh...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8465694.stm

Plans to build Britain's biggest mosque in east London have collapsed.

The Islamic missionary group Tablighi Jamaat wanted to create a place of worship close to the Olympic site which could have accommodated 12,000 people.

Newham Council said planning permission for land in Abbey Mills expired in 2006 and a January deadline...

Author: Rachel Zoll

Source: The News-Times

Wire Service: AP

http://www.newstimes.com/default/article/US-Shiites-tentatively-make-a-home-in-America-326354.php

Sayyid Haider Bahar al-Uloom paces before his students seated in two neat rows — men in one, women in the other. They meet each week in a small but growing office in an old storefront downtown, its shelves...

Author: Mary Garrigan

Source: Rapid City Journal

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/lifestyles/article_ed9bd4fe-0224-11df-8958-001cc4c002e0.html

It’s always hard for Baktash Aazami to think about the religious persecution that Baha’i believers suffer back in his native Iran, but Tuesday was an especially difficult day for him and other Baha’i in the Black Hills.

“It’s really...

Author: Kevin Wiatrowski

Source: Tampa Bay Online

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/jan/17/na-local-coptic-christians-protest-persecution/

A fatal shooting last week in southern Egypt drew hundreds of Coptic Christians to the streets of Tampa in protest Saturday afternoon.

Members of Coptic churches from Clearwater, Tampa and Sarasota attended the rally. People waved posters...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Google News

Wire Service: AFP

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jXIQ9JvnslGT10QTKUHdgEFW562Q

The United States said it was "deeply concerned" at the arrests Saturday of Coptic Christians heading to show support for fellow Copts killed and injured in Egypt earlier this month.

"The United States is deeply concerned by today's arrests of...

Author: Luigi Sandri

Source: Ekklesia

http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/11030

Pope Benedict XVI has called for the Roman Catholic Church to be given legal recognition in Muslim-majority but politically secular Turkey, which has faced criticism of its treatment of religious minorities as it seeks to become a member of the European Union.

Receiving Kenan Gürsoy, the new Turkish ambassador to the Vatican, on 7 January 2009, Pope Benedict said that Catholics...

Author: Edward Cody

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/15/AR2010011503775.html

France, which regards itself as the cradle of human rights, is moving to impose legal restrictions on Muslim women who wear Afghan-style burqas or other full-face veils.

The restrictions, likely to apply to many public places, come in response to resentment in France and other...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Washington Post

Wire Service: AP

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/16/AR2010011600848.html

Vandals threw a rum bottle at a mosque in the first attack on a Muslim house of worship after almost a dozen similar assaults on churches in Malaysia the past week, police said Saturday.

Police have dismissed the attacks as...

Author: Carrie Coppernoll

Source: The Oklahoman

http://www.newsok.com/islamic-council-discusses-needs-of-oklahoma-muslims/article/3432562#comments

Muslims gathered Friday night to discover ways to build stronger relationships with the non-Muslim community.

The Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations hosted a town hall meeting to address concerns of the...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: USA TODAY

Wire Service: AP

Author: Surapan Boonthanom, Ambika Ahuja and Alan Raybould

Source: Reuters

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-45385320100114

A series of drive-by shootings and bombings killed three people and wounded 17 in Thailand's restive Muslim south, police said on Thursday.

Unknown assailants shot dead and burned the bodies of a Buddhist couple who were riding to work on a motorcycle on Thursday morning in Pattani province...

Author: Ben Schmitt and Todd Spangler

Source: Detroit Free Press

http://www.freep.com/article/20100114/NEWS02/1140430/1001/News/Conyers-Review-FBI-case-on-imam

While federal prosecutors were trying to protect vital evidence in a case against a group they described as Islamic extremists, U.S. Rep. John Conyers asked the U.S. Attorney General on Wednesday for a thorough investigation into the shooting death...

Author: Mike Puccinelli

Source: CBS 2 Chicago

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/muslims.chicago.threats.2.1427330.html

Islamic rights advocates say there's been a rise in the number of threats directed at local Muslims. And some of these threats are being delivered right to their doors. CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports. 

When Ahmed Rehab walks up to his suburban home these days it's with a new sense of awareness. That's...