Author: Greg Trotter

Source: Religion News Service

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=14954

Congress is again considering a bill to protect religious expression in the workplace, but the bill, which has been bandied about for a decade or more, continues to draw steep opposition from business interests.

The Workplace Religious Freedom Act would require employers to be more accommodating of employees who wish to wear religious headgear...

Author: Ken Kusmer

Source: Daily Breeze

Wire Service: AP

http://www.dailybreeze.com/lifeandculture/ci_8250963

A convert to Islam stands an election victory away from becoming the second Muslim elected to Congress and a role model for a faith community seeking to make its mark in national politics.

Political newcomer Andre Carson is the Democratic nominee in a March 11 special election to succeed his late...

Author: David Charter

Source: The Timees

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3355938.ece

Denmark’s three main newspapers will take the provocative step today of reprinting a cartoon showing the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb instead of a turban after the arrest yesterday of three suspected Islamic terrorists for plotting to murder the artist.

The cartoon by Kurt Westergaard was one of 12...

Author: AMIR SHAH

Source: The State

Wire Service: AP

http://www.thestate.com/372/story/314894.html

Afghanistan needs more international help to build Islamic schools so fewer students will attend more radical ones outside the country, President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday.

Karzai said parents would not know what their children study in Islamic schools or madrassas outside the country - an apparent reference to...

Author: Mudassir Rizwan

Source: Indian Muslim News and information

http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2008/feb/11/india_story_hindu_christian_sikh_blood_muslim_patient.html

A Muslim girl suffering from thalassemia in Bihar has found a new lease of life after three officials of a central paramilitary force, belonging to the Hindu, Sikh and Christian communities, gave her blood.

In a...

Author: BOB SMIETANA

Source: The Tennessean

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080212/NEWS06/802120364/1006/NEWS01

Daoud Abudiab walked through the ashes of the Islamic Center of Columbia on Monday and gave thanks that the three men blamed for destroying the mosque were behind bars.

"They have proven that they are a danger to our community," he said. "They do not need to be roaming...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Wire Service: Reuters

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/ruling-against-islamic-law-on-conversion/2008/02/10/1202578601077.html

In a landmark case, an Egyptian court has ruled that the state must recognise the right of Christians who convert to Islam to change their minds and revert to Christianity.

Until...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Times of India

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Remove_religious_restriction/rssarticleshow/2772049.cms

As long as religious restriction continues on Article 341 of the Constitution of India, the dalit Christians and dalit Muslims will remain marginalised from the national mainstream. They have to bear the brunt of fascist forces sometimes in Gujarat and sometimes in...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: WKRN Nashville

http://wkrn.com/nashville/news/church-offers-support-to-mosque-members/136117.htm

The First Presbyterian Church in Columbia is opening its doors to members of the Islamic Center of Columbia after a fire over the weekend destroyed their place of worship.

When news of the fire spread, church members at the First Presbyterian Church in Columbia pitched into to help....

Author: Staff Writer

Source: AFP

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iNOYHO_OlQv9TQDsrQ9tB5YeJo7g

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born former Dutch deputy threatened with death for her outspoken criticism of Islam, sought European protection and possible French citizenship at the start of a visit to Paris on Sunday.

French star philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy has spearheaded a campaign for Hirsi Ali to receive honorary French...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7237663.stm

A minister who warned about birth defects among children of first cousin marriages in Britain's Asian community has sparked anger among critics.

Phil Woolas said health workers were aware such marriages were creating increased risk of genetic problems.

The claims infuriated the Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC) which called on the prime minister...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: STLtoday/St. Louis Post-Dispatch

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/world/story/650DBF3370472CA1862573EA0015F54F?OpenDocument

The Dutch Cabinet said Friday it wants to ban burqas from all schools and prevent government employees from wearing the head-to-toe Islamic robes, but said it was impossible to outlaw them altogether.

In a policy...

Author: SHERRI DAY

Source: St. Petersburg Times

http://www.sptimes.com/2008/02/09/Hillsborough/America_s_Muslim_popu.shtml

Before the women can begin, they must pray.

Propped up by pillows, they sit in a circle on the floor, cup their hands upward and close their eyes.

"Give us clarity, Allah," a woman intones. "Give us truth and honesty. And, help us to succeed in our humble mission."

The women...

Author: Michelle Boorstein

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/08/AR2008020803233.html?hpid=sec-religion

For more than a decade, interfaith efforts have been on the rise in the United States, fueled by the growth of newer religious minority groups and by post-Sept. 11 interest in Islam. But participants and experts say a new credo is changing the...

Source: Herald Tribune

Wire Service: AP

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080209/APN/802090674

The only Muslim in the Alabama Legislature said he hopes he is an example of how religion is becoming less a factor as people judge political candidates and that some of the paranoia caused by the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks is evaporating.

State Rep. Yusuf Salaam, D-Selma, said he believes he has helped make the religion...