Islam – Page 5

Bangladesh: increasing number of women using the veil

By Ershadul Huq - Indo-Asian News Service , 27 September 2003

Walk down the streets of this Bangladeshi capital city and you will see a large number of women looking at the world from behind the veil.

Uzbekistan: harsh border cuts Muslims off from Turkmen holy sites

By Igor Rotar - Forum 18 News Service, 20 July 2003

High Turkmen visa fees make it prohibitively expensive for many Uzbek Muslims living close to the western border with Turkmenistan from crossing over to visit family graveyards and places of pilgrimage.

Forum 18 News Service (F18News, Oslo, Norway) is a Christian initiative which is independent of any one church or religious group. Its independence is safeguarded by a board whose members are Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic Christians. F18News is objective, presenting news in a deliberately calm and balanced fashion, and presenting all sides of a situation. The overriding editorial objective of F18News is to as accurately as possible present the truth of a situation, both implicitly and explicitly.

Website: http://www.forum18.org/index.php

Dagestan: Islamic schools prospering

By Nina Agayeva - IWPR, 23 May 2003

Repelled by the corruption of state colleges, many young Dagestanis are turning to Islamic higher education.

Nina Agayeva is a reporter for the Makhachkalinskie Novosti newspaper in Dagestan.

This article was originally published by the IWPR (Institute for War Peace Reporting), London, in the Caucasus Reporting Service (CRS No. 180, 22 May 2003). The Institute for War & Peace Reporting strengthens local journalism in areas of conflict. Religioscope has been allowed by the IWPR to repost its articles.
Website: http://www.iwpr.net/

Uzbekistan: total state control over Islamic faith

By Igor Rotar - Forum 18 News Service, 20 May 2003

After a major investigation, Forum 18 News Service established that the Muslim clergy is almost completely under the control of the Uzbek authorities, while the leadership of the muftiate’s spiritual administration is virtually an agency of state authority. Imams do not have the right to compose the Friday addresses themselves, but are obliged to read out texts approved by the muftiate. Ironically, Islam is the faith in Uzbekistan that is most thoroughly controlled by the authorities.

Website: http://www.forum18.org/index.php

Albania: Imam killing exposes Muslim divisions

By Lutfi Dervishi - IWPR, 31 January 2003

Murder of cleric appears to have exposed rift between moderate Muslim establishment and youthful hard liners.

Lutfi Dervishi is editor-in-chief of the Albanian newspaper “Albania”.

This article was originally published by the IWPR (Institute for War Peace Reporting), London, in its Balkan Crisis Report (BCR No 402, 31 January 2003). The Institute for War & Peace Reporting strengthens local journalism in areas of conflict. Religioscope has been allowed by the IWPR to repost its articles.
Website: http://www.iwpr.net/

Afghanistan and Islamic values: ban on cable TV seen as symptom of power struggle

By Ron Synovitz - RFE/RL, 25 January 2003

A ban imposed on cable television in Afghanistan is seen by some observers as part of a series of measures taking the country a step back toward the restrictive codes of the Taliban era. Others see the edict as a symptom of a power struggle between conservative Islamic fundamentalists and pro-Western moderates. The chief justice who issued the edict denies both interpretations and is defending his decision.

Website: http://www.rferl.org/

Russia: destruction of Orthodox church in Tatarstan

By Geraldine Fagan and Tatyana Titova, 9 November 2002

Although not the first such incident in Naberezhnyye Chelny, the destruction of the Orthodox Church of St Tatyana on 1 October was “the first time the authorities took any notice,” the secretary of the Moscow Patriarchate’s local deanery has told Keston News Service. Naberezhnyye Chelny is the second largest city in the republic of Tatarstan, […]

Islam: Muslims prepare for holy month of ramadan

By Zamira Eshanova, 5 November 2002

This week, Muslims around the world mark the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, the most significant Islamic holiday. Muslims believe that Ramadan — the ninth month of the Islamic year, as determined by the lunar calendar — represents the time when the Koran was sent down from heaven as “a guidance unto men, […]

This article was first published on 5 November 2002 by RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty). Posted on RELIGIOSCOPE with permission. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a private, international communications service to Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East, funded by the United States Congress. RELIGIOSCOPE highly recommends the RFE/RL website, with its informative daily newsline and various other reports: http://www.rferl.org/

Nigeria: first Shari’ah flogging in the South

By IRIN, 1 November 2002

A 29 year-old man became the first person in southern Nigeria to be punished under Islamic law when he was given 100 lashes on Thursday for indulging in pre-marital sex. Suleiman Shittu was flogged before a crowd of hundreds in front of the main mosque in the southwestern town of Ibadan, Oyo State, which has […]

This article comes via IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks), a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies.

Tajikistan: further mass closures of mosques

By Igor Rotar, 23 October 2002

Over the past three months, the local authorities in Isfara district of Tajikistan’s northern Sogd region have closed down 33 of the district’s 152 mosques, the chairman of the Isfara branch of the Islamic Revival Party, Abdusator Boboyev, told Keston News Service in the town of Isfara on 10 October. Keston News Service – 21 […]