Islam

A cryptic email, then a confession: How a Muslim group uncovered moles

January 12, 2022

It started with a cryptic August 2019 email with no name and the subject line: “Info you may want.” It took more than a year for the emailer to reappear with something more specific: There is a mole inside your organization.

For many U.S. Muslim organizations, surveillance by government and other informants became a regular feature of life in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But groups such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s biggest Muslim civil rights group, said the most...

Read more about A cryptic email, then a confession: How a Muslim group uncovered moles

'Reach the Nones wherever they are': How religious leaders are trying to stem the tide

December 22, 2021

It's a Sunday afternoon in Fort Worth, Texas, and a flock of young people wander into a bar to kick back a few beers, sway to live music and mingle.

And then, they recite the Lord's Prayer.

It's quite a departure from traditional services, which have driven so many away from church in recent years. There's no confession, no fire and brimstone, and nobody's wearing their Sunday best.

Source:...

Read more about 'Reach the Nones wherever they are': How religious leaders are trying to stem the tide

How the effect of anti-Muslim bias on campus harms students' education

December 28, 2021

For Amna Omar, who recently graduated from San Diego State University, the worst moment came in her freshman year, when a classroom discussion about religion turned to Islam. One student singled out Omar, telling her she was “oppressed” because of her jilbab, or full-body covering. Far from being concerned about her oppression, the student told Omar, she said, to “go back home” because her attire was not mainstream.

No one else objected to her treatment, she recalled. “The professor did not say anything. Nor did any students get involved. It was as if nothing happened,” Omar...

Read more about How the effect of anti-Muslim bias on campus harms students' education

Michigan city gets ready to inaugurate all-Muslim government

December 18, 2021

For decades, Hamtramck was known as Michigan's "Little Warsaw," a city of just two square miles of tightly-packed houses and factories, spitting distance from downtown Detroit.

The Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla visited once, back in 1969, before he became Pope. A statue of Wojtyla, arms outstretched, still casts a shadow over what's now called Pope Park, where a huge mural of Polish folk dancers stretches almost an entire city block.

In the 99 years since its incorporation,...

Read more about Michigan city gets ready to inaugurate all-Muslim government

Rashad Hussain confirmed as first Muslim US religious freedom ambassador

December 17, 2021

Rashad Hussain has been confirmed as the U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, making him the first Muslim American in the role.

Hussain was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday (Dec. 16) by an overwhelming vote of 85 to 5.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom hailed the decision on Hussain, who has been director for partnerships and global engagement at the National Security Council.

Source:...

Read more about Rashad Hussain confirmed as first Muslim US religious freedom ambassador

Rep. Pressley to introduce resolution to condemn Rep. Boebert

December 7, 2021

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) plans to introduce a resolution Wednesday to strip Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) of her committee assignments for repeatedly making anti-Muslim remarks aimed at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), hoping the action forces House Democratic leadership to punish the lawmaker before the end of the year.

Pressley’s resolution, first obtained by The Washington Post, comes amid mounting pressure by House Democrats for Boebert to be reprimanded for Islamophobic attacks that surfaced in a video in which the Colorado...

Read more about Rep. Pressley to introduce resolution to condemn Rep. Boebert

A quiet revolution: the female imams taking over an LA mosque

November 23, 2021

When Tasneem Noor got on the stage at the Women’s Mosque of America in Los Angeles, she felt butterflies in her stomach. Facing about fifty women on praying rugs, ready to deliver a sermon – khutba in Arabic – she took a deep breath.

During the prayers, the women would follow Noor’s lead, but several would pray four more times after it ended, to make up for any potentially invalid prayers. That is the result of a 14-century-old disputed hadith that leads some to believe women are forbidden to lead prayers and deliver sermons.

“I don’t mind,” Noor told me later. “...

Read more about A quiet revolution: the female imams taking over an LA mosque

Progress? Next NJ Legislature may include two Muslims, and author of anti-Islam posts

November 10, 2021

Shama Haider of Tenafly notched a milestone in New Jersey politics last week, becoming the first Muslim to win a seat in the state Legislature. Soon, she may not be alone in that historic feat: Sadaf Jaffer, the former Montgomery Township mayor, now leads in a close state Senate race in Central Jersey.  

Yet while Muslims cheered the...

Read more about Progress? Next NJ Legislature may include two Muslims, and author of anti-Islam posts

Atlanta-area Episcopalians, Ismaili Muslims forge relationship through community service

November 4, 2021

 Back in February, when the Rev. Nicole Lambelet invited nearby faith leaders to participate in a virtual tour of Decatur, Georgia, through the lens of displaced Black and Jewish communities, she didn’t expect her Episcopal church to form a new relationship with Decatur’s Ismaili Muslim community.

“Probably five faith leaders responded to the mass email I sent, and 150 people came to our event, but Behnoosh Momin’s response was different,” said Lambelet, associate rector for family ministry and outreach at the ...

Read more about Atlanta-area Episcopalians, Ismaili Muslims forge relationship through community service

A new generation of Muslim American media puts women in focus

November 1, 2021

East London-born Rifat Malik was recently appointed as the editor in chief of a new American publication centering the work of Muslim women journalists. 

“Muslim women are often vilified, obsessed over, become the target of speculation or are infantilized in the media and sometimes within the Muslim community,” Malik told RNS. 

The Texas-based American Muslim Today hopes to change that narrative by placing women at the heart of the storytelling. 

...
Read more about A new generation of Muslim American media puts women in focus

Woman sues Ferndale, claims cops forced her to remove hijab for booking photo

October 29, 2021

A Muslim woman who claims Ferndale police forced her to remove her Islamic headscarf for a booking photo in June has filed a federal lawsuit against the city.

Helana Bowe filed the suit Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Her lawsuit names the city, Ferndale Police Chief Dennis Emmi, two Ferndale police officers and a police sergeant as...

Read more about Woman sues Ferndale, claims cops forced her to remove hijab for booking photo

GOP stalls pick who'd be government's highest-ranking Muslim

October 13, 2021

The nomination of a Pakistani-born businessman who would be the highest-ranking Muslim in the U.S. government is in jeopardy because Senate Republicans have repeatedly blocked his confirmation. The stalemate has led to Democratic charges of anti-Muslim bias and galvanized some Muslim and Jewish organizations to condemn the delay.

President Biden is so far standing behind his selection of ...

Read more about GOP stalls pick who'd be government's highest-ranking Muslim

American Girl releases doll outfits for Eid, Diwali, Hanukkah celebrations

October 5, 2021

This holiday season, American Girl characters Samantha, Addy and Josefina can celebrate the Christian holiday of Christmas, the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah or Diwali, the festival of lights observed by Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs.

Next year, they’ll be ready for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, too.

The religious holidays are part of a capsule collection of doll clothes and accessories for six cultural celebrations and were released last week by American Girl, the popular line of dolls and books telling the stories of American girls throughout history to the...

Read more about American Girl releases doll outfits for Eid, Diwali, Hanukkah celebrations

Muslims recall questionable detentions that followed 9/11

October 4, 2021

Around New York City in the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, as an eerie quiet settled over ground zero, South Asian and Arab men started vanishing.

Soon, more than 1,000 were arrested in sweeps across the metropolitan area and nationwide.

Most were charged only with overstaying visas and deported back to their home countries. But before that happened, many were held in detention for months, with little outside contact, especially with their families. Others would live with a different anxiety, forced to sign what was effectively a Muslim registry with no idea what...

Read more about Muslims recall questionable detentions that followed 9/11

Pages