Source: The Deseret News

On September 28, 2002 The Deseret News reported that "religious groups around the country are finding ecological issues hard to ignore. Clergy are speaking from the pulpit on global warming and Arctic drilling, and practicing what they preach in their own churches, synagogues, temples and mosques... Across faiths, the environmental movement has been evolving slowly over the past decade or more. Denominations have started looking into their traditions, examining how their beliefs could be applied to ecological issues and...

Source: Omaha World-Herald

Source: State-Times/Morning Advocate

On September 28, 2002 the State-Times/Morning Advocate reported on different religious traditions and their beliefs about cremation. It stated, "cremation is common among Eastern religions. Hindus in India have crematoriums that are open all the time. The families quickly prepare the body, and family and friends go to the funeral pyre. Since the Buddha was cremated, most Buddhists follow this example. In Islam, cremation is forbidden, based on rituals regarding the dead found in the Quran and Sunnah. Muslims consider...

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On September 27, 2002 The Columbus Dispatch reported that "the [Glenmary] study estimates that Ohio has 142,255 Jews, 41,281 Muslims and 2,004 Bahais. It found 34 Buddhist, 19 Hindu, nine Sikh and seven Jain groups in the state but gave no membership estimates... This year's study included groups such as Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs for the first time. For Muslims, the 1.6 million national figure included only those who regularly attend mosques that reported figures; for Eastern religions, it included only the...

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

http://www.dispatch.com/news/religion/faith-story.php?story=dispatch/news/features02/sep02/1508151.html

On September 27, 2002 The Columbus Dispatch reported that "Sundown Thursday marks the beginning of a Muslim holiday commemorating the Prophet Muhammad's ascent to heaven and return to earth on the same night. Muslims believe the stone from which Muhammad rose is in the Dome of the Rock...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On September 27, 2002 the Los Angeles Times reported that "a year after the Sept. 11 attacks, American Muslim leaders increasingly fear their community is being pushed to the margins of the American political system. Until the attacks, Muslims had been making steady gains in moving into the American mainstream... In the weeks directly following the attacks, it seemed possible that trend would continue. National leaders, following the lead of President Bush, insisted that the U.S. war on terror should not become an occasion for...

Source: St. Petersburg Times

http://www.sptimes.com/2002/09/27/TampaBay/2nd_man_jailed_in_mos.shtml

On September 27, 2002 St. Petersburg Times reported that "agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms arrested Samuel 'Val' Shannahan, 42, at his Dunedin apartment Wednesday night. He is charged with illegally giving Seminole podiatrist Robert Goldstein two machine guns and other firearms accessories [to damage or destroy 50 Islamic centers...

Source: India Abroad

On September 27, 2002 India Abroad reported that "the Texas chapter of the Chinmaya Mission Houston hosted a delegation of university professors and high-level administrators from Saudi Arabia, and presented to them a lesson on the fundamentals of Hinduism... The 10-member delegation was on tour of the United States under a project titled 'Religious Pluralism and American Education,' sponsored by the State Department's bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and coordinated by the Institute of International Education."

Source: Democrat and Chronicle

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/news/0922story1_news.shtml

On September 26, 2002 the Democrat and Chronicle reported that "in the year after the 9/11 tragedy, many Rochester [NY]-area Muslims join their counterparts nationwide in feeling very much under the microscope, singled out, under scrutiny -- their most cherished beliefs often misunderstood. Yet those feelings have only strengthened their conviction to reach out to...

Source: The Association of Indian Muslims of America

In a press release dated September 26, 2002 The Association of Indian Muslims of America stated that "We the Association of Indian Muslims of America, Washington, DC, have been shocked to learn of the horrible terrorist attack on the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. On behalf of about 150,000 Indian Muslims in US, we categorically condemn this most reprehensible and cowardly attack, in the strongest possible terms. The violent attack on civilians, especially inside a place of...

Source: Citizen-Times

http://cgi.citizen-times.com/cgi-bin/story/news/20730

On September 25, 2002 Citizen-Times reported that "Franklin Graham does not see himself picking up the mantle of his father's legacy. Nor does he consider himself a crusader against Islam, though Graham said he worries too few people realize the extent to which the country has been 'Islamized.' 'I do have experiences in my life that formulated why I believe what I believe but I am not on an...

Source: The Associated Press

On September 25, 2002 The Associated Press reported that "Alpine Lodge co-owner Mazhar Tabesh has been charged with starting the July 21 fire that caused $100,000 damage to the motel. Tabesh, 39, had claimed that the fire was a hate crime by people prejudiced against him and his family because they are Muslims from Pakistan. The motel, owned by Tabesh and his father-in-law, had been on the market for a while and Tabesh had more than once said he 'wanted out from under it,' [Heber City police Sgt. Jason ] Bradley said."

Source: The Boston Herald

On September 25, 2002 The Boston Herald reported that "the number of hate crimes in Massachusetts rose dramatically in the year of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, largely as a result of a backlash against Muslims and Arabs, according to a new state report. A total of 576 incidents were reported in 2001, up 24 percent from the 463 reported in 2000, according to the Governor's Task Force on Hate Crimes. Among them were 133 crimes motivated by religious bias, a 43 percent increase over the previous year's...

Source: The Associated Press

On September 25, 2002 The Associated Press reported that "where they once were an unrecognized 'other' in demographic studies of American Muslim communities, the number of Hispanic converts to Islam is growing... 'This phenomenon is quite old,' said Sheikh Zoubir Bouchikhi, Imam of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston's Southeast mosque. 'It's not only in Houston [TX] but also all over the United States,' he said. 'In the last five years we have an increase in the number of people embracing Islam: Latinos.' A study of...

Source: The Beacon Journal

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/4146439.htm

On September 25, 2002 The Beacon Journal reported that "on Tuesday, several Kent children and their parents began going door to door to gather money and words of support for the mosque, which vandals attacked early Friday... 'The mosque has been a good neighbor,' said David Odell-Scott, whose children are taking part in the effort. 'We just wanted them to know that we care, and they have our support. And...