The Senate... confirmed Nusrat Choudhury, a longtime civil rights attorney, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, making her the nation's first female Muslim federal judge.

Choudhury, a former American Civil Liberties Union attorney, was confirmed 50-49 on a mostly party-line vote. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, joined Republicans in opposing her.

Choudhury has served as the legal director...

A lawsuit brought by a former Hamline University art history instructor who showed images of the Prophet Muhammad in class is raising new questions about how to interpret laws prohibiting religious discrimination.

An attorney representing Erika López Prater told a federal judge Wednesday that he believes the private university in St. Paul would have treated his client differently had she been Muslim. The university decided not to renew her contract and in a campus email an administrator called her actions "undeniably inconsiderate, disrespectful and...

Tazeen M. Ali was a graduate student in Boston when she first learned about the opening of the Women’s Mosque of America in Los Angeles, believed to be the nation’s first women-only mosque.

Ali recalls the social media debates that ensued around the mosque’s 2015 opening, with people arguing over the Islamic legality of woman-led prayers as well as news coverage about “Muslim women ‘fighting back’ against the patriarchy.”

These media narratives informed Ali’s assumptions that the mosque was a “radical space” made up of younger women who carried traumatic and...

Growing up in the United States, Selaedin Maksut would skip school on Eid to go to the mosque, attend festivities with his family and celebrate one of the most joyous days for Muslims across the world.

While he said he never regretted the decision, he was burdened by having to miss classes.

Now, as the director of the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ), Maksut has been helping a new generation of Muslim-...

During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, marked by 30 days of fasting, imam Azam Akram says he’s opening the doors of the Bait-ul-Aafiyat Mosque in North Philadelphia so it may be a beacon of safety — especially for teenagers at risk of engaging in violence.

“We have young Black men here who are a product of this neighborhood,” he said. “We’re trying to develop a little bit of righteousness so that at least that could become something in vogue, that when our young men walk in the communities, they walk with righteousness.”

The mosque is set back from the corner of...

Vivid illustrations of the underworld are currently on view at the Asia Society, where in a new exhibition the dead dance among the flames in illustrated manuscripts and other artworks, some dating to the 16th century.

The society describes its show, “...

President Joe Biden has appointed Mazen Basrawi as a senior adviser and White House liaison to American Muslim communities, making good on a campaign promise to fill a slot eliminated by former President Donald Trump, according to a spokesperson for the National Security Council, where Basrawi currently serves.

Multiple Muslim groups have publicly hailed Basrawi’s expected appointment in recent weeks. 

“With his extensive background in civil rights and advocacy, this is a great step forward in the push for Muslim representation and inclusion, and we are excited...

Minneapolis on Thursday became the first major American city to permit unfettered broadcast of the Muslim call to prayer, allowing the adhan to be heard over speakers five times a day, year-round.

The Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to amend the city's noise ordinance, which had prevented some morning and evening calls at certain times of the year because they occurred at times of the day when tighter noise restrictions are in place.

"The Constitution doesn't sleep at night," said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of...

As darkness fell over Saturday’s Major League Soccer match between the Columbus Crew and Real Salt Lake, the referee briefly halted play while Crew defenders Mohamed Farsi and Steven Moreira knelt on the sideline, eating pitted dates and sipping sports drinks.

The stoppage — a rarity in a sport that frowns on “timewasting” and reserves pauses in play primarily for injuries, substitutions and exuberance after goals — allowed the two to break their daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan before going on to play the game’s remaining 70 minutes. 

The...

A Muslim convert, Mustafa Dustin Craun cherishes a brown prayer rug he bought on his first Umrah pilgrimage to the sacred site of Mecca more than 15 years ago.

Unlike the Hajj, the mandatory pilgrimage to Mecca, Umrah is a voluntary spiritual journey, which Craun performed in 2007. While in Saudi Arabia, he ventured to Medina, where the Prophet Muhammad is buried and where Craun found his prayer mat. It has been with him everywhere he has moved since — Mexico, Ghana, Morocco and San Diego, California, where Craun has been working on a documentary about a Muslim group he helped...

It took the US consulate seven minutes to reject Nabil Ahmed Shabbir’s visa application.

Shabbir, a British Shia scholar, had applied for his US visa to assist with the birth of his first child. His wife, an American Shia Muslim, wanted to have the birth in the US.

Shabbir hadn’t even left the embassy gate after handing in his visa application when he got a text message saying it had been rejected.

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After being on pause for the past several years because of COVID-19, the Muslim Association of Greater Pittsburgh opened its doors for Interfaith Iftar – Ramadan 2023.

People of all faiths were invited to the open event in Gibsonia.

“In our religion, in our culture in Islam, Ramadan is our holy month. We fast the whole month. We break fast at sunset, and we break fast with our friends, family and neighbors. This is very special for us to be able to break our fast with our neighbors of different faiths, share our culture, our food with everyone,” said Syeda Raisa, of...

When Natasha Khan Kazi was a student at the University of Pittsburgh in the early aughts, Eid al-Fitr — a major Muslim holiday that marks the end of a monthlong fasting during Ramadan — fell just before Christmas break. So while many of her classmates went through finals week anticipating the warmth of holiday gatherings a few days later, Khan Kazi spent her Eid in a crowded classroom bent over her exams.

“There were so many moments growing up where I wasn’t seen or acknowledged, or all the joy I felt for my celebration was quieted,” she told Religion News Service recently....

It's a somewhat familiar story: A group of religious leaders last month filed an abortion-related lawsuit. They argued their religious freedoms were being violated.

But, instead of challenging abortion rights, they wanted to see an abortion ban overturned. The leaders are seeking to reverse Missouri's abortion ban, arguing lawmakers imposed their religious beliefs on others through passing it.

“We want this not just to be a lawsuit but also a public awareness campaign to show people they can be religious and also in support of abortion rights,” said the Rev. Cindy...

Haajar Abdullah-Aziz was 8 or 9 when her mother, a Philadelphia public school teacher, told her she might lose her job.

Her mother, Aisha El-Mekki, was a devout Muslim. El-Mekki’s principal approached her, she said, and told her she was violating Pennsylvania’s school code by wearing a hijab and modest dress.

“I learned that no teacher can wear anything that symbolizes their religion,” the principal reportedly said. “What are we going to do about this?”

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