Islam

'Makes a Difference': More Muslims in Tennessee are voting, candidates are paying attention

November 1, 2022

Tennessee’s Muslim community could benefit from more representation and Tennessee’s lawmakers could benefit from more Muslim support.

That message is at the heart of ongoing efforts to engage Muslims about voting and civic involvement by area mosques and Muslim advocacy groups.

 “We’re tired of being an ignored community. We feel our issues should be front and center,” said Sabina Mohyuddin, executive director of the American Muslim Advisory Council, or AMAC.

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Religious polarization in India seeping into US diaspora

October 16, 2022

In Edison, New Jersey, a bulldozer, which has become a symbol of oppression of India’s Muslim minority, rolled down the street during a parade marking that country's Independence Day. At an event in Anaheim, California, a shouting match erupted between people celebrating the holiday and those who showed up to protest violence against Muslims in India.

Indian Americans from diverse faith backgrounds have peacefully co-existed stateside for several decades. But these recent events in the U.S. — and violent confrontations between some Hindus and Muslims last month in Leicester,...

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Teacher at Center of Hijab Uproar Sues Olympic Medalist for Defamation

October 18, 2022

A seconds-long interaction in a New Jersey classroom unleashed a national firestorm last October as it ricocheted across social media platforms. A 7-year-old girl had come home from school upset, telling her mother that her teacher in Maplewood, N.J., had tried to pull off the hijab the girl wears as an observant Muslim.

Her mother recounted the story on Facebook, and Ibtihaj Muhammad, an Olympic medalist who fences in a hijab,...

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MN med student's suggestions on religious-appropriate OR garb become Mayo standard

October 17, 2022

She's not even a doctor yet, but a young Minneapolis woman is already a changemaker in hospitals all over the country. She's turned one really bad day at medical school into something great.

The OR of the top hospital in the country is a place southwest Minneapolis native Rewan Abdelwahab has dreamed of since she was in undergrad at Harvard University.

"I fell in love with the sciences, started volunteering in a clinic in Chelsea, and from there immersed myself in the pre-med track," she said.

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At new Minnesota facility, Amazon takes small steps to welcome Muslim workers

October 13, 2022

A new Amazon sorting facility in Woodbury, Minnesota, is taking its employees’ religious needs seriously, adding new “ablution stations” for ritual hand and foot washing and three rooms that people of any faith may use for prayer or meditation.

The 550,000-square-foot facility, which opened this month, employs about 300 Somalis and Somali Americans, many of them refugees from the generation-long civil war in the east African nation. Minnesota is home to ...

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Islamic Society of Baltimore's first female resident scholar makes clear religion is not holding her back

October 11, 2022

Huda Hasan can trace the confidence she has both in herself and in her Islamic faith to time she spent in a classroom with Maryam Azam.

Azam taught Hasan Islamic and Quran studies at the Al-Rahmah School in Windsor Mill. Hasan, 21, and her friends found themselves looking forward to Azam’s class every day, drawn by what Hasan called her “practical, friendly approach.”

“A lot of youth struggle with religion, especially in this day and age. So the way she taught us, we were able to grow in love in our religion,” Hasan said. “And she always told us that no matter where...

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An Anti-Muslim Symbol From India Is Paraded on Main Street, New Jersey

September 25, 2022

The India Day Parade featured a pretty standard lineup of festival fare.

A Bollywood actress waved to fans from the top of a handmade float. Indian flags fluttered in the breeze. Flashy cars and quirky ads (“Kidney donors are sexy,” read one) passed by.

Then, toward the middle of the caravan, came a small, yellow piece of construction equipment decorated with photos of India’s prime minister and a hard-line protégé who has been called “...

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Prom or Passover? Schools making progress on accommodating the diversity of Santa Cruz County

September 26, 2022

Debra Feldstein is a bit frustrated, and cautiously optimistic.

Since her older child started going to school 11 years ago, she’s been asking teachers, principals and administrators if they could consider not having picture day, school dances or crucial testing happen on important Jewish holidays, such as the Rosh Hashana New Year’s celebration happening this week.

“I have been fighting this battle every year for 11 years,” she told Lookout on Wednesday. Now, given new efforts to respond to such concerns by both the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and some...

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Biden leaves American Muslims wanting

September 12, 2022

When President Biden was elected in 2020, Muslim Americans hoped to see a change in representation in government.  

At the time, hate crimes against Muslims were on the rise, and anti-Islamic rhetoric was surging, which critics attribute, in part, to former President Trump.

The former president took a hardline stance on Muslims, signing an executive order in 2017 banning foreign nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries and sending shockwaves throughout the Muslim American community....

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ISNA Convention in Rosemont is nation's largest gathering, networking event for Muslim community

September 3, 2022

A long time tradition for the Muslim community makes a grand return to Rosemont after two years of virtually gathering during the pandemic.

The Islamic Society of North America is bringing in thousands of people from different states and countries for its 59th annual convention.

"Just a great opportunity for not just the adults, but the young kids and kind of coming together in a social setting," said attendee Habeeb Quadri.

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Most Colleges Do Not Offer Campus Organizations for Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, or Muslim Students

August 16, 2022

A recent study by researchers at Pennsylvania State University and Oklahoma State University has revealed that the majority of U.S. colleges and universities do not offer campus clubs or groups for Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, or Muslim students. 

The researchers assessed religious organizations at 1,953 four-year, not-for-profit colleges and universities. They found that 66 percent have no minority religious student group of any type. Buddhist and Hindu student groups each exist at only 5 percent of campuses. One-quarter of the schools have Jewish student organizations, and...

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The Future of Religion in the Metaverse

August 9, 2022

Tech companies are investing in the metaverse and increasingly recognizing that religious communities, some which have already been meeting in virtual reality, will play a key role in the digital future. Many questions remain, however, as to whether that relationship will be good for the religious communities themselves or merely prioritize profits through engagement at any cost.

The metaverse is an immersive virtual world where people can...

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Muslim Killings in Albuquerque Stir Sectarian Ghosts

August 15, 2022

Five years ago, Muhammad Syed was eyeing a new life with his family in a new land. They had fled war-torn Afghanistan and resettled as refugees into a small duplex near the airport in Albuquerque. Mr. Syed found work as a truck driver. But then the troubles began.

Coming from a culture where women largely stayed at home, he grew enraged with his wife as she was learning how to drive, grabbing her hair and kicking her out of the car, according to one of several reports of domestic violence the police were called to investigate. A security camera showed him slashing the tires of...

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Muslim men sue Alaska airlines for removal from flight over Arabic texts

August 9, 2022

Two Black Muslim men have sued Alaska Airlines for discrimination after they said the airline removed them from a flight following a fellow passenger’s complaint over text messages in Arabic and would not allow them to travel together on rebooked flights.

Attorneys with the Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which first ...

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Albuquerque Welcomed Muslims. Then Four of Them Were Killed.

August 9, 2022

Tahir Gauba attended funerals on Friday for two members of Albuquerque’s largest mosque, victims in a spate of apparently targeted killings that have shaken this Southwestern city, which in recent years has welcomed a growing community of immigrants and refugees.

Afterward at the mosque, Mr. Gauba ran into Naeem Hussain, a 25-year-old from Pakistan. “Naeem asked me, ‘Brother, what’s happening in Albuquerque?’” said Mr. Gauba, 43, who also came to New Mexico from Pakistan. “I told...

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