Tag: Muslim

Islamic fundamentalists are embracing democracy, alarming those who believe that they are seeking to put in place strict Islamic law through ballots.

The depressing public reaction to the assassination of Pakistani politician Salman Taseer.

It’s irrelevant whether Barack Obama is a Christian or a Muslim — as long as he governs like he’s neither.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claims the promotion and teaching of the artform is not compatible with country’s sacred regime.

A young Muslim, who had been investigated by his employers at Male International Airport in the Maldives for apostasy, was found hanged from the airport’s control tower yesterday.

The former Elizabeth Arden account analyst testifies to being a “Muslim soldier” intent upon punishing the West for attacking “Muslim lands.”

In Pakistan, gunmen attacked two mosques of a Muslim sect.

Opponents of a bid by Muslim states to “protect religion” claim a small success

More than one hundred people were feared dead in Nigeria following violent clashes between Christian villagers and Muslim herders near the central city of Jos. Ethno-religious violence claimed 326 lives in January in Jos, according to police although other observers put the overall toll at more than 550 in Jos.

A group of 30 Mauritanian Muslim leaders have issued a religious edict banning female genital mutilation in the West African country. Shaikh Ould Zain, head of the Forum of Islamic Thought, says the scholars believe cutting young girls’ genitals to limit their sexual activity as women is against religious beliefs. He said the leaders also agreed to preach against the practice at their mosques.

Authorities in Kyrgyzstan keep a tight grip on religion, fearing both Christian and Muslim fundamentalism. Bolot, a young evangelical preacher in Kyrgyzstan, says he already been arrested twice this year after setting up a new church. He says he is the victim of a new law on religion, which critics say severely restricts religious freedoms and is forcing some groups underground. Under the law, new religious groups have to have at least 200 members before they can register with the authorities and operate legally - previously the figure was 10.

A Muslim MP has opened up divisions within the Islamic community by saying it is reasonable for Muslims to be singled out for extra airport security measures following the Detroit bomb attempt. Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, said it has become necessary to ‘profile’ passengers from certain racial and religious groups in order to weed out possible terror suspects.

Somali Muslim tried to kill the Danish cartoonist who drew cartoon of Mohammed, but was shot by the police in the attempt.  The Somali Islamist insurgent group Shabab applauded his efforts.

A group of 20 Chinese Uighurs who fled to Cambodia after ethnic riots in July will be expelled, a Cambodian official says. The Uighurs fled China for Cambodia following clashes with Han groups, who have moved into the Xianjiang region by the millions in recent years. The mainly Muslim Uighurs have been seeking greater autonomy and religious freedom. Human rights groups fear the group will face persecution upon its return to China.

Scientists from around the world gather in Alexandria to discuss evolution – but is religion getting in the way?

Mayors in several French towns say they are under pressure from Muslim residents to oppose the proposed ban on burqas and niqab veils - as they fear it will prompt even more women to cover up in defiance.

A leading Muslim scholar in Egypt has called for the death penalty for those caught smuggling into the country a device which allows women to feign virginity.

A prominent Muslim cleric has criticised a new Saudi university launched by King Abdullah for allowing men and women to take classes together.

THE Central Asian “stans”, as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are known by the Western diplomats and oilmen who frequent them, conjure images of megalomaniac rulers, exotic nomads and mineral riches beyond compare. There is some truth in the caricature, as Dilip Hiro makes clear in this new study (which also includes sections on Turkey and Iran), but it is not the whole truth.

London has become one of the world’s biggest centres for Islamic finance since the 9/11 terror attacks eight years ago.