Source: The Courier-Journal

On December 9, 1999, The Courier-Journal published an article on the Ramadan fast. Nabil Saba, manager of a Middle Eastern restaurant in Crescent Hill, Kentucky, stated: "Fasting is supposed to get you closer to God and also to feel how the needy...feel." Saba also emphasized that one must also "fast from speaking bad language or backbiting...because if you do (speak it), your fasting is not valid." Aly Farag, a volunteer at the Louisville Islamic Center, stated: "The whole purpose of fasting is to train people to obtain the...

Source: USA TODAY

On December 8, 1999, USA Today published an article on the growing presence of Islamic children's books on Ramadan in the mainstream market. Available at most book stores is the best-selling Ramadan by Suhaib Ghazi, which won 1997 book-of-the-year honors from the National Council for Social Studies. Other titles that are gaining prominence are Magid Fasts for Ramadan, First, Zaki's Ramadhan Fast, and Id-u-Fitr. Laleh Bakhtiar of Kazi Publications in Chicago, which sells to Borders, Barnes...

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On December 6, 1999, The San Francisco Chronicle published an article on how Muslims are trying to raise awareness of Islam and Ramadan. The Islamic Networks Group in San Jose, California gives more than 200 lectures each year to Bay Area schools and organizations. With an estimated 200,000 Muslims in the Bay Area, San Francisco Muslim organizations want City Hall to include Muslim holidays and Ramadan on the official city calendar in government offices. Souleiman Ghali, vice president of the Islamic Society of San...

Source: The Seattle Times

On December 4, 1999, The Seattle Times published an article on how Seattle Muslim students from other countries are allowed to practice Islam throughout the school day and observe Ramadan. The Seattle School District's Secondary Bilingual Orientation Center serves approximately 340 immigrant and refugee teens, many of whom have come from war-torn countries of Africa where Islam is prevalent. The Center was established to accommodate those students who aren't proficient enough with English to handle most high school studies....

Source: The Times-Picayune

On December 4, 1999, The Times-Picayune published an article on the public acceptance of Islam in America. Some, like Sulayman Nyang, a professor of African studies at Howard University, are highly optimistic about the place of Islam in America: "Islam in America now is safer than in its lands of origin...In America the cultural and economic systems are not threatened by religious expression the way they are in many Muslim nations where the impulse of the power structure is to control Islam and manipulate it for political use......

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On December 4, 1999, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published an article on the beginning of Ramadan and the St. Louis Muslim community. The Muslim community in St. Louis has grown to more than 50,000 - up from just 25 families in 1965. In the past two years, about 10,000 Muslims have moved to St. Louis, mostly Bosnians and Somalians. The majority of area Muslims are immigrants, or first generation Americans under 30, and they come from more than 40 countries. Special efforts have been made by the St. Louis Muslim community to...

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On December 3, 1999, The Columbus Dispatch reported that there is a new Islamic Center in Columbus to serve Muslims in central Ohio, where there are an estimated 15,000 Muslims, including about 7,000 Somalis. Ramadan celebrations will be the first major events held in the new Islamic Center, which will include an open house to bring Muslims and non-Muslims together to ask questions about the new center. Community concerns were raised in the planning stages of the center over parking and increased traffic. The Maize-Morse Tri-...

Source: New York Daily News

On November 2, 1999, the Daily News reported that a memorial service was held at the Islamic Cultural Center in Manhattan on Monday, November 1st for the victims of EgyptAir Flight 990, primarily attended by members of the Egyptian community in New York.

Source: The Boston Globe

On November 1, 1999, The Boston Globe reported that 80 men and a few women gathered at the Islamic Society of Boston in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Sunday, October 31st to pray for the victims of the EgyptAir crash. Mohammed Abderrazzaq, an architect from Medford, MA who attended the service, stated: "As Muslims, we believe that the death of one person, no matter where they're from - whether Egyptian or American - is like the death of all mankind...It's the same reaction if it's something in Palestine or Chechnya. We're all...

Source: The Washington Post

On October 22, 1999, The Washington Post reported that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has asked for an investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportation into the denial of prayer space for Muslim tax drivers at Reagan International Airport. CAIR estimates that 70 to 80 percent of the 1,700 taxi drivers who are permitted to pick up passengers at Reagan are Muslim. In March of 1998, a notice was posted at the airport's taxicab holding facility prohibiting taxi drivers from using that building "or related...

Source: New York Daily News

On October 18, 1999, the Daily News reported that the Supreme Court upheld a ruling by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of two Sunni Muslim officers in the Newark Police Department who sued after growing beards almost got them fired from the Department. The decision upheld the right of Muslim police officers to practice their religion. Attorney Christopher Dunn of the New York Civil Liberties Union stated: "As a result of this decision, Muslim police officers have a very strong right to wear a beard if their...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On October 16, 1999, The Houston Chronicle reported that eight American Muslim and Arab groups are cooperating on a voter drive for next year's presidential election. The American Muslim Council, which launched the voter drive last month, teamed up with the Arab organizations to try and get all Arabs - Muslim, Christian, or other religious affiliation - registered to vote. The drive has thus far taken place in mosques, schools, and community centers across the nation.

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On October 16, 1999, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that Ava Muhammad has been appointed by Louis Farrakhan to lead the Nation of Islam's Southern region. "Farrakhan's appointment not only defied 1,400 years of Muslim custom - traditional Muslims do not allow women to lead mean in a mosque - but it offered graphic evidence that the Nation is moving away from its pit bull approach to race and religion." Muhammad, an attorney who has formed alliances with Black clergy and still insists that she's a...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On October 13, 1999, The Houston Chronicle reported that The Woodlands Religious Community, Inc. has voted to unanimously change its mission statement so that it can include non-Judeo-Christian faiths. The language of the statement was changed from Judeo-Christian to "people of faith, called by our traditions to compassion." Joy Jamaluddin, a member of the Islamic congregation who applied to participate in the interfaith organization, stated: "I believe that this will clear the way for our participation in Interfaith." The...

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

On October 5, 1999, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Harper Community College in Palatine, IL installed footbaths in bathrooms at the student center for Muslim students. Footbaths, which are used to cleanse the feet of Muslims before the beginning of their daily prayers, were installed as a matter of health and safety. Bob Getz, physical plant director for the college, stated: "Our custodians would walk in and see [students] with one foot on the ground and one foot on the facial sink...It was kind of a dangerous situation."...