Author: Barbara Karkabi

Source: Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/4279586.html

When Zulayka Martinez left the Roman Catholic Church and converted to Islam six years ago, she was happy and at peace with her decision. But she felt like an outsider in her new faith.

Looking back, she realizes her problem was more of a cultural and language barrier. Most members of Houston mosques were of Arab or...

Author: Joseph Williams

Source: The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/10/23/muslim_could_be_a_1st_in_congress/

While there is no such thing as a sure thing in politics, congressional candidate Keith Ellison is a good bet to join the freshman class of 2006 in the US House of Representatives.

If he does, Ellison, who is the Democratic nominee in an overwhelmingly Democratic...

Author: Martin Marty

Source: Martin Marty Center

http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/sightings/archive_2006/1023.shtml

Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, a.k.a. Paracelsus, was challenged by authorities who called him the Luther of medicine. "Why do you call me a medical Luther?... I leave it to Luther to defend what he says, and I will be responsible for what I say." I thought about P.A.T.B.v.H. this week while...

Source: Beliefnet

Wire Service: AP

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/202/story_20230_1.html

Women in southern Lebanon wept at the graves of loved ones killed in the Israel-Hezbollah war, while many Iraqis stayed home amid fears of violence Monday at the start of a major holiday marking the end of Ramadan.

The three-day holiday of Eid al-Fitr is customarily celebrated with family gatherings, presents and lunchtime feasts, but fighting...

Source: Army Times

Wire Service: AP

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2304993.php

Muslims at the U.S. Military Academy numbered just two in 2001. This year, there are 32. Now West Point has opened its first space dedicated to Muslims, a worship hall complete with a pulpit facing Mecca. The space officially opened Thursday.

“I knew the Army had a policy of religious tolerance, but I didn’t know it was to...

Author: Amit R. Paley

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/21/AR2006102100334.html

Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, is drawing to a close. But for many Iraqis, it never really began. One by one, 1,000-year-old rituals have fallen by the wayside this year, lost to the sectarian violence that has paralyzed this city.

There was majinah , an Iraqi version of...

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/world/europe/15schools.html

The sports hall doubles as a prayer room and dining hall for male teenagers, at other times for young women, but never the two together. In the kindergarten, female teachers, warned of an impending visit by a man, draw full facial veils before receiving their guest. When the guest arrives, the children offer a chorus in Arabic: “As salaam aleikum” -- peace be upon you...

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6054152.stm

A Christian priest has been shot dead on Indonesia's Sulawesi island, where religious tensions are high after the execution of three Catholic militants.

The Rev Irianto Kongkoli was shot in the head while shopping in Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi province.

Relations between Christians and Muslims in Central Sulawesi have been fraught since the execution of the three militants...

Author: John M. Glionna

Source: Los Angeles Times

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/4261380.html

After the government executed three Christians, many in divided nation wonder if Muslims convicted in Bali bombings will meet same fate: An eye for an eye in Indonesia?

Maringan Simanjuntak wipes his brow in Bali's equatorial heat and talks in measured words about the fear and frustration of being Christian in the...

Author: Azra Haqqie

Source: Times Union

Author: Stephen Then

Source: The Star

Author: Mark Rice-Oxley

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1020/p01s03-woeu.html

Until recently, Rahmanara Chowdhury turned few heads on the street. Shrouded under a full-face Islamic veil, or niqab, she went about her business untroubled. "Occasionally, you get called 'ninja,' but I got used to that," she says.

But in recent weeks, she has noticed a change. "In public, I'm a lot more self-conscious, even...

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6053826.stm

Five people have been killed in western Ethiopia in violence between Christians and Muslims. It is the latest in a series of religious clashes near the town of Jimma, around 450 km (280 miles) from the capital, Addis Ababa. Last month 10 people were killed and more injured in four days of fighting between rival religious groups. Hundreds of homes were destroyed in the violence, as well as three religious centres.
...

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6055184.stm

A lecturers' union is warning of an "anti-Muslim McCarthyism" after reports that university staff are to be encouraged to inform on students.

A leaked report suggested government guidelines for universities on tackling extremism would encourage staff to inform on students to Special Branch.

Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly denied it was about "picking on" individual students....

Author: Michael Luo

Source: The New York Times