Author: Stephen Magagnini

Source: The Sacramento Bee

http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1738648.html

The recession gripping the nation has taken less of a toll on American Muslims who follow age-old Islamic laws against paying – or charging – interest.

They've also been shielded by socially responsible retirement plans because Shariah– Islamic law – forbids investments in banks and mortgages as well as tobacco,...

Author: Alexa Olesen

Source: The Washington Post

Wire Service: AP

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/30/AR2009033000857.html

An overseas rights activist said Monday that authorities in China's predominantly Muslim far west are closing unregistered Islamic schools and conducting house-to-house searches in a new security crackdown in the restive region.
...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7972892.stm

A graffiti artist and teenage martial arts participant have been honored in a ceremony recognising "unsung heroes" of the Muslim community in Britain.

Other award recipients included an alternative therapist, a Church of Scotland minister, and a master player of the Middle East instrument, the Oud.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, facing a row...

Author: Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah

Source: The Chicago Tribune/The Boston Herald

Author: Charles Honey

Source: The Grand Rapids Press

http://www.mlive.com/living/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/03/east_grand_rapids_man_challeng.html

Muhammad Rasoul, chief operating officer of Global Forex Trading, has been in back-to-back meetings since 5:30 a.m., starting with a conference call to Japan and London. He hopes to be home in time to put his two younger kids to bed.

But in this typical...

Author: Jacqueline L. Salmon

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/27/AR2009032702178.html

A behind-the-scenes controversy has broken out among Muslim American leaders over a coalition of Muslim organizations' threat to cut off contact with the FBI because of what it calls the agency's "McCarthy-era" tactics.

The coalition of two dozen Muslim American groups...

Author: George Conger

Source: Christianity Today

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/marchweb-only/112-53.0.html

Jesus saves, the Episcopal Church teaches, but a growing number of its clergy and leaders believe other faiths may lead to salvation as well. Long divided and distracted by questions of sexual ethics, the Episcopal Church (along with most mainline Protestant communities) are facing a cultural and theological shift...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Balkan Insight

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/17752/

The Bulgarian government has approved a draft bill banning the Muslim head-dress for women and other religious symbols in schools.

"We express our disagreement and bitterness with this decision," Hussein Hafazov of the Chief Mufti office told the Reuters news agency.

"It completely damages the rights as well as the responsibilities of Muslim...

Author: Michael Slackman

Source: The New York Times

Author: Frank Jordans

Source: SikhNet

Wire Service: AP

http://www.sikhnet.com/news/un-body-oks-call-curb-religious-criticism

The U.N.'s top human-rights body approved a proposal by Muslims nations Thursday urging passage of laws around the world to protect religions from criticism.

The proposal put forward by Pakistan on behalf of Islamic countries — with the backing of Belarus and...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Economist

http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13375938

Like every good school, Palfrey Junior urges its 360 pupils to spend time on extra-curricular things such as crafts, hobbies and special computer lessons. But here they have to happen before school starts; time after class is spoken for. When the bell goes in mid-afternoon, most pupils head straight to a madrassa...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Economist

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13377308

By American standards, German culture wars are mild affairs. A spat in Berlin over teaching religion in schools may be an exception. Next month the city will vote on whether schools should teach the subject as an alternative to an ethics course. The debate is only partly about how God fits into the classroom; it is...

Author: Hamza Hendawi

Original Source: The Chicago Tribune

Wire Service: AP

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna29880634

The streets are calmer now. The fighting between Shiites and Sunnis has largely ceased. But this is not a sign of normalcy in the Iraqi capital. It's fear that keeps the peace.
...

Author: Hassan Alaoui

Source: The Washington Post

Wire Service: AP

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/24/AR2009032402419.html

Morocco's government is clamping down on homosexuality and alleged Shiite propaganda, saying it will tackle any group that threatens moral and religious values in the Sunni Arab kingdom.

A weekend statement from the Interior...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Baptist Press

http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/BPnews.asp?ID=30128

Religious expression in the Central Asian country of Tajikistan may soon become even more restricted, according to a warning from a nonpartisan federal panel that keeps tabs on the global status of faith groups.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has reported that Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon is preparing to sign a religion...