Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8132320.stm

A Turkish game show is challenging atheists to reassess their views and win "the biggest prize ever".

Penitents Compete will bring together an Islamic imam, a Jewish rabbi, a Buddhist monk and a Greek Orthodox priest seeking to convert the atheists.

The prize for any converted contestants is an expenses-paid pilgrimage to a holy site of their chosen...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: PBS Religion & Ethics Newsweekly

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/july-3-2009/faith-communities-and-disability/3440/

Reverend BILL GAVENTA (Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities): In every faith community there is a scriptural basis for welcome and hospitality. But you’ve also got congregations who live in cultures where people with disabilities...

Author: Reynolds D. Graves

Source: The Bay State Banner

http://www.baystatebanner.com/local13-2009-07-02

Area residents of various religious backgrounds gathered in Roxbury last weekend to celebrate the inauguration of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC), an event that Mayor Thomas M. Menino said was not only the ceremonial opening of a building that has been in use for months, but also an official welcome of the Muslim community to...

Author: Ben Eisen

Source: Inside Higher Ed

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/07/02/discrimination

Slma Shelbayah always wanted to be a Middle East television analyst. Now the former Georgia State University doctoral student and visiting instructor at the university's Middle East Institute is finding herself in the media for a different reason -- discrimination against her because of her Middle Eastern background.

Georgia...

Author: Norimitsu Onishi

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/world/asia/03jilbab.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

The three parties competing in Indonesia’s presidential election next week have plastered this city with campaign billboards and posters depicting, predictably, their presidential and vice presidential choices looking self-confident.

But one party, Golkar, has also put...

Author: Anli Serfontein

Source: Ecumenical News International

http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=3146

Renounce Islamophobia, the general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, the Rev. Ishmael Noko, has urged world religious leaders at an inter religious congress in Kazakhstan.

Noko, a Zimbabwean, commended U.S. President Barack Obama for reaching out to Muslim communities and moving away from the language of the "war against terror...

Author: Niraj Warikoo

Source: Detroit Free Press

http://www.freep.com/article/20090702/NEWS02/90702070/1005/NEWS03

Shi’ite Muslims from across the U.S. are coming to Dearborn for a conference this weekend centered on the life of Imam Ali, the son-in-law of Islam’s prophet.

Organized by the Muslim Congress, the three-day event starting Friday is expected to draw up to 1,500 Muslims, say conference organizers. And it...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8130624.stm

At least three people have been killed in violent clashes between mobs of Hindus and Muslims in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

Two people died in the riots in the city of Mysore and a third was killed when police opened fire.

Violence began when the carcass of a pig was thrown into a mosque. A curfew has been imposed in the affected...

Author: Mark Reynolds

Source: Daily Express

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/111055/Police-give-Muslims-in-cells-compasses-to-pray-towards-Mecca

Police will issue a compass to all Muslims detained in cells – so they can face Mecca when praying.

To make sure they face the holy site, the Norfolk force has already painted the ceiling of some cells to point them in the right direction...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/8129612.stm

A dentist told Muslim patients he would only treat them if they wore Islamic dress, a disciplinary panel has ruled.

Dr Omer Butt, of Prestwich, Greater Manchester, ordered two women to wear head scarves before he would see them, the hearing was told.

The professional conduct committee of the General Dental Council...

Author: Julia Zappei

Original Source: Syracuse.com

Wire Service: AP

Author: Kirk Semple

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/nyregion/01muslim.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Spurred by a broad coalition of religious, labor and immigrant groups, the City Council overwhelmingly passed a resolution on Tuesday to add two of the most important Muslim holy days to the public schools’ holiday calendar.

But the vote, which was nonbinding, put the Council in conflict...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8125927.stm

A report on the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque, which sparked nationwide communal riots, has been submitted to the Indian government.

The Liberhan commission was set up to investigate the events that led to a Hindu mob tearing down the disputed mosque in the town of Ayodhya.

The commission has taken 17 years to complete its...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Buddhist Channel/Pattaya Daily News

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=52,8325,0,0,1,0

Sattahip Buddhists joined in a special ceremony on 27th June 2009 to donate offerings to 1500 Buddhist monks of the 226 temples in the Southern part of Thailand. The ceremony was a gesture of support to the region which has suffered from 4 years of violence.

The ceremony was supported by various local...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: WA Today

http://www.watoday.com.au/breaking-news-national/muslim-school-approved-for-sydney-20090630-d2pp.html

A Muslim school for 800 students has been approved for Sydney's southwest despite strong opposition from local residents.

Residents on both sides of the issue packed a Liverpool City Council meeting on Monday evening (AEST) to learn the fate of the...