Author: Staff Writer

Source: PTI News

http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/1BA120C88AF8FA376525752000494540?OpenDocument

With several Muslims expressing resentment over a decree which declared Yoga as 'haram' for them, Malaysia's National Fatwa Council has said the edicts issued by it were only "views" and are "not binding" on any state.

Some Malaysian states like Sarawak had banned Yoga while...

Author: Tom Pfeiffer

Source: The Washington Post

Wire Service: Reuters

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/15/AR2008121500008.html

A new breed of undercover Christian missionary is turning to Muslim north Africa in the search for new converts, alarming Islamic leaders who say they prey on the weak and threaten public order.

Missionary groups say the...

Author: Paul Edward Parker

Source: The Providence Journal

http://www.projo.com/news/content/ISLAMIC_SCHOOL_12-15-08_8BCKSPR_v15.359aebe.html

Rhode Island’s Islamic community paused yesterday afternoon to mark a milestone: the purchase of a former Catholic school and adjacent gymnasium building to serve as an Islamic elementary and middle school.

The Islamic School of Rhode Island — the state’...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Times of India

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Court_grants_custody_of_Hindu_girl_to_Muslim_foster_father/rssarticleshow/3836522.cms

A Muslim man was granted custody of his Hindu daughter, by a local court here, whom he had brought up as his own after finding her abandoned on a railway station 13 years ago.

Judge H K Ghayal of...

Author: Yonat Shimron

Source: The News...

Author: By Henry Chu and Mark Magnier

Source: The Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-india-muslims14-2008dec14,0,6568609.story

The Muslims of terror-plagued Mumbai know the drill.

First there is bloodshed. Then come the whispers, the accusing stares, the scarcely veiled hostility.

"They are going to say that all Muslims do this," restaurateur...

Author: Jim Fitzgerald

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jk0K5Yvz2_qJ9MBhvzqe0VPyq5qwD95208E00

When they light the town Christmas tree in Armonk on Sunday, there will be a Jewish menorah right alongside, as usual. There will also be something new this year — an Islamic crescent and star.

And if there are any Buddhists or Hindus in town who want to see...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Toledo Blade

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081213/NEWS10/812130339

Toledo Muslims are donating more than 1,500 pounds of meat slaughtered for an Islamic holiday to the area's poor and needy.

"Fresh meat is something that is really missing in most food banks and shelter homes," Dr. M. Razi Rafeeq said.

The goats, sheep, lambs, and cows were...

Author: Sam Hodges

Source: The Dallas Morning News

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/121308dnmetrabbi.39cd99f.html

Rabbi Jeremy Schneider spends a lot of time talking to Muslims, and wants other Jews to do the same.

At age 32, the assistant rabbi at Dallas' Temple Shalom has emerged as a national leader in Jewish-Muslim dialogue.

"He has been in the forefront...

Author: Jonathan Adams

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1212/p06s02-woap.html

On a muddy, shaded track between fertile farmlands, 30 men lounge in flip-flops and tattered camouflage, displaying their beaten-up M-16 and AK-47 assault rifles.

They call themselves ilaga or "rats" in a local Philippines dialect. They're vigilantes: Christian farmers who have taken up arms to protect their land and...

Author: Noor Toorani

Source: Gulf Daily News

Author: Jennifer Garza

Source: The News Tribune

[thenewstribune.com/tacoma/24hour/religion/story/564506.html]

The meeting was well into its second hour when Tamir Sukkary let out a loud sigh, put his head in his hands and asked about chaperones.

Should we have them?

He knew this was a sensitive subject for some Muslims.

"Mahram? Of course," answered one man, an outspoken member of the committee.

After a 40-minute discussion the Matrimonial Singles Task Force unanimously...

Author: Peter H. King

Source: The Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-moment11-2008dec11,0,7546013.story

Masjid As-Sabur, sometimes called "the black mosque" by Las Vegas Muslims, sits on the backside of downtown, amid a mishmash of housing projects, run-down apartments and abandoned lots. Across the freeway looms the Lady Luck casino, its neon sign seeming to mock the...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Miami New Times

[blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2008/12/south_florida_muslims_use_bus.php]

Remember when a copy of the DVD Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West -- a film decried as Christian propaganda that seems to suggest Islam leads to terrorism -- was included in a Sunday Herald? And we ripped the daily a new one for not initially explaining the controversial inclusion -- and then later ran an ad for the DVD ourselves (oops, our bad)?

Well, South...

Author: Mohamed Elshinnawi

Source: VOA News

[voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2008-12-10-voa37.cfm]

What do American Muslims expect from President-elect Barack Obama? What can they do to help redefine their role in U.S. society? Those questions topped the agenda at the recent annual meeting of the private Council on American Islamic Relations, or CAIR, in Washington D.C., attended by more than 700 Muslim-American activists from across the country.

In his opening remarks at the annual fund-...