Islam – Page 3

Iraq: Mecca Charter unlikely to stem sectarian violence

By Sumedha Senanayake - RFE/RL, 25 October 2006

Last week, approximately 50 Iraqi religious leaders signed a text in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia in the hopes that it would lead to the end the sectarian bloodshed that has been raging in Iraq for eight months. However, many questions persist as to whether this document can seriously affects the security situation in Iraq.

© 2006 RFE/RL, Inc. for the article. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Website: http://www.rferl.org/

Religion in Europe: EU searches for correct terms on Islam

By DPA-IANS, 24 April 2006

It may be just words, but European Union policymakers struggling to build better ties with Muslim nations have set themselves a new task – hammering out guidelines to ban the use of terms considered derogatory to Islam. The focus is on stopping the bloc’s officials and documents from using words that are considered offensive to Muslims or give the impression that Europe’s drive against terrorism is specifically aimed at Muslims.

© 2006 IANS India Private Limited, New Delhi. Posted on Religioscope with permission. — Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) is India’s first multinational and multilingual wire service. Website: www.ians.in. Subscription enquiries: contact IANS (mention Religioscope).

Islam: Muslim scholars divided over Islam’s penalty for apostasy

By Joyce Davis - RFE/RL, 24 March 2006

How Afghanistan deals with the case of Abdul Rahman, the former Muslim turned Christian who is standing trial in Kabul for apostasy, is being closely watched around the globe, and could have a profound impact on the interpretation of Islamic law in the modern world. Islamic scholars may agree that apostasy is a heinous crime, but they differ on whether the punishment should be death.

© 2006 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Website: http://www.rferl.org/

Women and Islamic Cultures: an ambitious academic project – Interview with Suad Joseph

By Religioscope, 20 March 2006

‘An interdisciplinary, transhistorical, global project covering women and Islamic cultures’ – this is how Suad Joseph, Professor of Anthropology and Women and Gender Studies at the University of California, Davis and Director of the Middle East/South Asia Studies Program, describes her ambitious project. The author of several books, Prof. Joseph – a native of Lebanon – is General Editor of the Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures (EWIC).

United States: negative perception of Islam increasing

By Indo-Asian News Service, 9 March 2006

A growing number of Americans have unfavourable views about Islam, a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed Thursday. The poll, results of which were published in the Washington Post, found that 46 percent Americans have a negative view of Islam, seven percentage points higher than the figure during the months after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, when Muslims were often targeted for violence.

Islam: rage over cartoons – spontaneous or political?

By Anne-Beatrice Clasmann and Thomas Borchert - DPA/IANS, 7 February 2006

It took four months before Muslims around the world began protesting against 12 cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that first appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. These were four months in which Islamic preachers and diplomats spread the word from Copenhagen to the villages of Upper Egypt and Afghanistan that “the Prophet has been insulted”.

Islam: Danish daily’s Prophet cartoon sparks anger, boycott in Gulf

By IANS - DPA, 30 January 2006

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has joined other Muslim governments in condemning the publication in a Danish newspaper of cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammad as a terrorist, the Gulf News reported on 30 January. The cartoons have sparked a wave of denunciations and boycott of Danish products across the Muslim world.

South Africa: controversial Muslim missionary dies

By Fakir Hassen - Indo-Asian News Service, 12 August 2005

South African Hindu and Christian leaders paid tributes to controversial Indian origin Muslim missionary Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, who had in earlier years earned the ire of both communities for his fiery attacks on the two religions.

© 2005 IANS India Private Limited, New Delhi. Posted on Religioscope with permission. — Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) is India’s first multinational and multilingual wire service. Website: www.ians.in. Subscription enquiries: contact IANS (mention Religioscope).

Turkmenistan: “virtual catastrophe” for Muslim theological faculty

By Igor Rotar - Forum 18 News Service, 22 July 2005

President Niyazov has ordered “a virtual catastrophe” for Turkmenistan’s only official institution for training Muslim imams, a local staff member has told Forum 18 News Service. All Turkish staff members must return to Turkey, 20 students are being expelled, and the Muslim Theological Faculty’s status is to be downgraded. The move is possibly part of an overall government attempt to tighten the already harsh controls over the country’s officially registered religious communities.

© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved. – Forum 18 News Service (F18News, Oslo, Norway) is a Christian initiative which is independent of any one church or religious group. F18News is objective, presenting news in a deliberately calm and balanced fashion, and presenting all sides of a situation. Website: www.forum18.org/index.php

Russia: opening of country’s biggest mosque highlights Kazan’s millennium

By RFE/RL, 24 June 2005

The biggest mosque in Russia opens on 24 June in Kazan as part of festivities marking the city’s 1,000th anniversary. The rebuilding of the Qol Sharif Mosque began nearly 10 years ago. Its opening prayers Friday will be one of the main events during the Tatarstan capital’s celebrations.

© 2005 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Website: http://www.rferl.org/