Author: Saadia Khan

Source: Muslim Public Affairs Council

http://www.mpac.org/article.php?id=1012#axzz0dMB4zuyA

This week, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa reminded the faith-based leaders that Los Angeles was the second most "under-counted" city in the 2000 Census. During the 210 Census Citywide Interfaith Breakfast, he told leaders of Muslim, Christian, Catholic, and Jewish communities many Los Angeles residents did not receive their fair share of...

Author: Toby Sterling

Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Wire Service: AP

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/dutch-anti-islam-lawmaker-278820.html

Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders sat in the defendant's dock Wednesday, nodding his head as prosecutors read aloud a hundred remarks he has made condemning Islam, Muslims and immigrants — notably one comparing the Quran to Hitler's "Mein...

Author: Tara Hagan

Source: The Observer

http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2268897

Members of the local Baha'i community are keeping a close eye on a controversial trial underway in Iran.

"We're deeply concerned," said Afsaneh Yazdani, secretary for the Baha'i community in Sarnia, where, members are praying for seven fellow Baha'is currently on trial.

The group -- two women and five men -- have been jailed since...

Author: Larry Neumeister

Source: The Washington Post

Wire Service: AP

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/20/AR2010012002692.html

Two prominent Muslim scholars once accused of having ties to terrorism can reapply to travel to the United States now that the State Department has concluded they pose no danger to the country, federal spokesmen said Wednesday....

Author: Adam Nossiter

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/world/africa/20nigeria.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Armed with guns, machetes, torches, and bows and arrows, Christian and Muslim antagonists in central Nigeria’s religiously volatile city of Jos have been fighting for three days in sporadic clashes that have left dozens dead, witnesses and local news a...

Author: Cindy Carcamo

Source: The Orange County Register

http://www.ocregister.com/news/muslim-229011-community-matar.html

In light of the Fort Hood killings and recent arrests of suspected radicalized Virginian youths in Pakistan, perceptions of American Muslims have taken a beating lately.

Closer to home, recent vandalism at a Costa Mesa Muslim mosque and an interfaith display in Mission Viejo delivered yet another blow to a...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: United Press International

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2010/01/19/American-Copts-plan-White-House-rally/UPI-86521263936600/

The Coptic Christian community in the United States said it would protest Egyptian suppression of religious minorities at a rally in front of the White House.

Cairo faced an international backlash for its treatment of the...

Author: Martin Vennard

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8446662.stm

Bolot, a young evangelical preacher in Kyrgyzstan, says he has already been arrested twice since setting up a new church.

He says he is the victim of a new law on religion, which critics say severely restricts religious freedoms and is forcing some groups underground.

Under the law, new religious groups have to have at least 200 members before...

Author: Cindy Carcamo

Source: The Orange County Register

http://www.ocregister.com/news/muslim-229902-muslims-station.html

The first English-only Muslim radio station of its kind in the Western world plans to devote an entire show Wednesday to address what the owner calls an "avalanche of anti-Islam comments" in reaction to an OCRegister.com story about the station's Irvine debut.

"We didn't expect so much negative...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: United Press International

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/01/19/Muslims-Tenn-incident-a-hate-crime/UPI-94181263923435/

Vandalism at the site of a proposed mosque in Tennessee should be investigated as a hate crime, Muslim-American leaders say.

A sign marking the future site of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, Tenn., was spray-painted with the words, "not...

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...