Author: Aisha Qidwae

Source: Muslim American Society/Islam Online

http://www.masnet.org/takeaction.asp?id=5452

Leading American Muslim organizations and community leaders are planning to launch a website and organize a summit where young Muslims can ask mainstream scholars questions as part of renewed efforts to combat extremism.

"The idea is really to refute and counter the misuse of certain ayahs [verse of the Qur'an] and hadith [sayings of...

Author: Dianne Solis

Source: The Dallas Morning News

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/121009dnmetismaili.3c42e82.html

Class springs to attention with the Pledge of Allegiance. Five-year-old Saniya Khoja takes the lead, twirling a red-white-and-blue flag the size of a napkin. Little ones with hands over hearts recite "... one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all...

Author: Catrin Nye

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8403245.stm

A charity is offering one-to-one support for Muslim criminals on their release from jail in a bid to cut reoffending.

The scheme is being run by Mosaic, which runs programmes to support young Muslims living in deprived areas.

A study of Muslim prisoners found many were rejected and stigmatised by their communities on leaving custody.

About 12% of...

Author: Edward Cody

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/08/AR2009120802018.html?sub=AR

Faced with swelling unease over the place of Muslim immigrants in France, President Nicolas Sarkozy called Tuesday for tolerance among native French people but warned that arriving Muslims must embrace Europe's historical values and avoid "ostentation or provocation...

Author: Ralph Blumenthal and Sharaf Mowjood

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/nyregion/09mosque.html?hp

On that still-quiet Tuesday morning, the sales staff was in a basement room eating breakfast, waiting to open the doors to the first shoppers at 10 a.m.

There was no immediate sign of the fiery cataclysm that erupted overhead starting at 8:46. But out of a baby-blue sky suddenly stained with smoke, a...

Author: Julia Zappei

Source: The Baltimore Sun

Wire Service: AP

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-as-philippines-muslim-rebels,0,2399940.story

The Philippine government and a Muslim separatist group Tuesday resumed peace talks that collapsed 16 months ago, restoring formal efforts to end a decades-long rebellion that has claimed at...

Author: Amita Verma

Source: Deccan Chronicle

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/national/hindu-muslim-wedding-under-one-roof-663

For those who preach communal harmony, this was a fantastic premier.

The Muslim Maulvi and the Hindu Pandit sat side by side to solemnize the wedding of a Muslim couple and a Hindu couple under the same roof.

This unique event took place in Dalel Purwa locality in Kanpur on...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Washington Post

Wire Service: Reuters

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/06/AR2009120601381.html

Swiss liberals are considering a new referendum to overturn the ban on building new minarets in the country, Sunday papers reported, as Libya's Muamar Gaddafi warned the ban played into the hands of terrorists.

Club...

Author: Omar Sacirbey

Source: NewsOK

http://www.newsok.com/group-reports-more-anti-muslim-bias-fewer-hate-crimes/article/3422532#comments

Muslim Americans faced more anti-Muslim bias but fewer physical assaults in 2008, according to a report released Thursday by the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations

"In 2008, Muslims continued...

Source: Zee News

http://www.zeenews.com/news584553.html

Several Hindu and Muslim groups have decided to take out a march on the 17th anniversary of demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6 to promote peace and communal harmony, even as many political parties will be observing the day as "dhikkar" and "kalank" diwas. 

"With a message of peace and communal harmony we will start Karwan-e-Aman from Ayodhya to Ajmer Shareef on December 6 to promote Hindu...

Author: Bradley S. Klapper

Source: Google News

Wire Service: AP

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jSvKwQU-w3j6Gp8PWHRzV2hnh54QD9CAHSV80

The United Nations called Switzerland's ban on new minarets "clearly discriminatory" and deeply divisive, and the Swiss foreign minister acknowledged Tuesday the government was very concerned about how the vote would affect the...

Author: Jamie Tarabay

Source: NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120752667

As families come together over the holidays, the victims of domestic abuse are often sequestered in shelters — a situation that's especially difficult for Muslim women, because few facilities meet their cultural and religious needs.

At one home for Muslim women in Baltimore, women from different backgrounds recently gathered in...

Author: Andrew Welsh-Huggins

Source: The Fresno Bee

http://www.fresnobee.com/641/story/1731279.html

A runaway Christian convert and her Muslim family must listen to each other's views about religion if they are to reunite, a possibility that appears in jeopardy since the girl continues to refuse any contact with her parents or siblings, a caseworker says.

A case-management plan filed Monday said Rifqa Bary and her parents should hear what each...

Author: Peter Capella

Source: Brisbane Times

http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-world/switzerland-confronts-backlash-over-minaret-ban-20091130-k0ub.html

Switzerland confronted an international backlash and charges of intolerance on Monday as the country's Muslim leaders urged calm over a shock vote to ban new minarets.

The Vatican joined Muslim leaders in...

Author: Peter Capella

Source: Brisbane Times

http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-world/switzerland-confronts-backlash-over-minaret-ban-20091130-k0ub.html

Switzerland confronted an international backlash and charges of intolerance on Monday as the country's Muslim leaders urged calm over a shock vote to ban new minarets.

The Vatican joined Muslim leaders in...