Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV2fNDWAnYs

A flourishing Muslim population, combined with increased attendance during Ramadan, has lead to a severe shortage of mosques. In Northern Virginia, one congregation has found a unique way to address its lack of prayer space. 

Author: Waqar Gillani and Sabrina Tavernise

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/17/world/asia/17pstan.html

A Christian man detained on blasphemy charges was found dead in his jail cell on Tuesday in eastern Pakistan. Human rights groups here said he appeared to have been killed, perhaps in collusion with the authorities.

The death of the Christian, Robert Fanish, 20, is part of a rising trend of violence against...

Author: Solange De Santis

Source: Religion News Service

http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/rnstext/during_ramadan_30_mosques_in_30_days/

How many spiritual pilgrimages also include food reviews?

During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, New Yorkers Aman Ali, 24, and Bassam Tariq, 22, are breaking the 12-hour daily fasts at iftar dinners and prayer services at a different mosque each evening.

Their...

Author: Suzanne Sataline

Source: The Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125297372149610431.html

Muslims groups here are pressing city officials to close public schools on two of the faith's holiest days, just as schools do for major Jewish and Christian holidays. But the groups have yet to persuade the man in charge of New York City schools, Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Muslim groups have asked the city to cancel classes on...

Author: Anne Brockhoff

Source: The Kansas City Star

http://www.kansascity.com/255/story/1446081.html

Shortly after 7 p.m. one recent Thursday evening, guests filtered into the warehouse-like Yummy’s Choice kitchen on 39th Street. A grinning Yahia Kamal, chef and owner of the Mediterranean foods company, is still cooking, so he bumps elbows with arriving friends, family and Facebook fans instead of shaking hands.

Kamal already has set out...

Author: Kirk Semple

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/nyregion/13drummer.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

A few hours before dawn, when most New Yorkers are fast asleep, a middle-aged man rolls out of bed in Brooklyn, dons a billowy red outfit and matching turban, climbs into his Lincoln Town Car, drives 15 minutes, pulls out a big drum and — there on the sidewalk of a residential...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Islam Online

Author: Shawn D. Lewis

Source: The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090911/METRO02/909110344/1041/lifestyle04/Post-9/11-discrimination-plagues-Detroit-area-Sikhs

Metro Detroit Sikhs say they have cause for concern today as they, too, reflect on the tragedy of 9/11.

Sikhs, who wear turbans as part of their religion, say they are frequently assumed to be...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: American Muslim Voice

http://www.amuslimvoice.org/index.html

To pay homage to the 9/11 terrorist attack victims, the American Muslim Voice Foundation along with Multifaith groups and community organizations held a candle light vigil, on Sept. 11, at Lafayette Park, SE Quadrant (in front of the White House) in Washington DC.

The event included an Iftar (breaking of the Ramadan fast) as the...

Author: Annysa Johnson

Source: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

http://www.jsonline.com/features/religion/59089632.html

When the local Somali Bantu community began arriving in Milwaukee in 2003, people came with little more than the clothes on their backs.

Largely illiterate, few spoke English. And little in their decade in the refugee camps of Kenya, where they'd fled Somalia's civil war, prepared them for life in the United States.

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Google News

Wire Service: AFP

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jOauREYO-pnsKGlhSblF0ys0679A

Dutch-language public schools in Belgium will ban the wearing of Muslim headscarves in classes, school officials in the Flanders region announced Friday.

The ban affects 700 schools in the northern region of Flanders, including some in Brussels...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Islam Online

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1252187975629&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout

Joining the chorus of voices opposing a minaret ban, Switzerland’s Roman Catholic bishops have urged voters to reject a far-right campaign to ban minaret construction in the country.

"A general ban on minaret construction...

Author: Dalia Mahmoud

Source: Muslim Public Affairs Council

http://www.mpac.org/article.php?id=897

It was perhaps the best microcosm of what both Islam and New York City represent: a kaleidoscope of ethnic backgrounds. MPAC-NYC was the proud sponsor - for the 2nd consecutive year - of last week's annual Ramadan Iftar with Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer attended by 350 people at the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational center in...

Source: Examiner.com

Wire Service: AP

http://www.examiner.com/a-2210059~Man_gets_3_years_for_vandalizing_Islamic_Center.html

A man has been sentenced to three years in prison for vandalizing the Islamic Center in Cape Girardeau. 

Thirty-two-year-old Nicholas T. Proffit of Cape Girardeau was sentenced Tuesday on two counts of property damage under Missouri's hate crimes law, a...

Author: Salman Masood and Waqar Gillani

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/world/asia/10pstan.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Police officials said Wednesday that four militants belonging to two banned groups had been arrested and accused of involvement in the killings of Christians and riots in a Punjabi town on Aug. 1.

At least seven people were killed when armed mobs of...