Author: Vern Barnet

Source: KansasCity.com

[kansascity.com/255/story/798378.html]]

Last week the world lost one of the most transformative figures in the recent history of Islam, Warith Deen Mohammed, sometimes called “America’s Imam.” He was the first Muslim to offer the invocation for the U.S. Senate.

He had been scheduled speak in Kansas City last May but at the last minute was called to an international consultation.

I cherish a photo I have when he was here in 1997 for the...

Author: Azhar Usman

Source: Muslim American Society

[masnet.org/views.asp?id=5203]

On September 11, 2008, while countless American flags whipped in the wind and the television and radio waves were dominated by remembrances, recordings, and stories about the terror attacks of seven years ago, I attended the funeral of Imam W.D. Mohammed (may God be pleased with him). For me, it was a somber day, but I found myself mostly lost in thought: about African-American Muslim communities, about the challenges...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Associated Press

[ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jN9P7bJvEAwgj4WE5c5X2LhwvfKgD938QEFO0]

President Bush told a dinner honoring American Muslims that his administration has partnered with those practicing Islam around the world to promote tolerance and spread freedom to millions.

"We reject bigotry in all its forms," the president said before sitting down for dinner Wednesday with about 110 guests in the White House State Dining Room.

During the past eight...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Associate Press

[blog.beliefnet.com/news/2008/09/union-muslim-workers-reach-dea.php]

A meatpacking plant has agreed to accommodate Muslim workers' request for prayer time during Ramadan, union officials said Wednesday.

Earlier this week 300 Muslim JBS Swift & Co. workers, most of Somali background, walked off the job in protest of the prayer dispute. No one was fired after the protest.

Dan Hoppes, president of the local United Food and Commercial...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Reuters

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/world/europe/18pew.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish feelings are rising in several major European countries, according to a worldwide survey released on Wednesday.

The Washington-based Pew Research Center’s global attitude survey found that 46 percent of Spanish, 36 percent of Poles and 34 percent of Russians viewed...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Middle East Online

[middle-east-online.com/english/features/?id=27925]

The mass mailing of a controversial DVD "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" has sparked anger among many in South Florida.

The hour-long video began turning up in mailboxes last week as a direct mailing, and also as an advertising insert in dozens of newspapers, including The Miami Herald and the South-Florida Sun-Sentinel.

The DVD is promoted by Clarion Fund, a non-profit...

Author: Raymond Carlson and Greta Stetson

Source: Yale Daily News

http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/25202

On Tuesday evening, Commons Dining Hall was transformed into something “between Hogwarts and Medina,” in the words of Eboo Patel, the keynote speaker at Yale’s seventh annual Ramadan Banquet.

Nearly filling the room to capacity, more than 500 Yale students, faculty and staff and New Haven residents crowded into...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7619642.stm

British Muslims are guilty of a "victim mentality" and should take greater responsibility for their lives, a Muslim Labour MP has argued.

Sadiq Khan also said more British Muslims must tackle sexism, learn English and condemn forced marriages.

The representative for Tooting, south London, made his comments in a report for the Fabian Society think tank...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: All Africa

http://allafrica.com/stories/200809180319.html

The Office of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has begun the distribution of rice to several mosques in Monrovia and its environs in commemoration of the Holy month of Ramadan. The distribution which began early this week covered the United Dawah Ummah mosque on 17th street, and the Unity Foundation Mosque, located around the Fish market in Sinkor. Mosques in central...

Author: Matthew Rusling

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0916/p17s01-lign.html

When Junaid Bin Masood, a 17-year-old Pakistani exchange student studying in southern California, was asked whether he had a gun in his backpack, he was speechless. He had never been out of Pakistan before, so this question from a schoolmate was jolting. But he kept his cool and explained that most Pakistanis are not jihadists.
...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: KETV.com

http://www.ketv.com/news/17492026/detail.html

A big problem brewing at a Grand Island meat packing plant over religious rights appears to have been resolved.

Local United Food and Commercial Workers Union President Dan Hoppes says management at the JBS Swift...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: A CAIR Press Release

http://www.cair.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?ArticleID=25474&&name=n&&currPage=1&&Active=1

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) today called on a Macy's department store in that state to clarify a new "English only" policy under which Muslim workers were allegedly threatened with termination if they spoke “even one word”...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Middle East Online

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/culture/?id=27910

The majestic citadel atop Syria's ancient city of Aleppo, the Masyaf fortress of the sinister order of the Assassins and the castle of Saladdin have all been given a new lease on life as part of a project by the Aga Khan to promote Islamic sites.

"We don't do enough to illustrate to the peoples of our world the greatness of...

Author: David Harris

Source: Religion News Service

http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2008/09/muslims-criticize-film-adverti.php

A movie being distributed as an advertising insert in more than 70 newspapers nationwide is drawing protests from Muslim groups who call it an attempt to stir up hate.

The movie, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War on the West," argues that radical Islam is the greatest threat to American society and...

Author: Janet I. Tu

Source: The Seattle Times

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008180020_islam15m0.html

Running on the sides of several Metro buses, they merely say: "Q: Islam. A: You deserve to know," with a phone number and Web site.

For Bilal Aijazi, a Bellevue software developer, the ads are meant to stir conversation and steer people toward information on Islam.

As a Muslim, Aijazi...