Author: Michael Slackman

Source: The New York Times

Author: Frank Jordans

Source: SikhNet

Wire Service: AP

http://www.sikhnet.com/news/un-body-oks-call-curb-religious-criticism

The U.N.'s top human-rights body approved a proposal by Muslims nations Thursday urging passage of laws around the world to protect religions from criticism.

The proposal put forward by Pakistan on behalf of Islamic countries — with the backing of Belarus and...

Author: George Conger

Source: Christianity Today

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/marchweb-only/112-53.0.html

Jesus saves, the Episcopal Church teaches, but a growing number of its clergy and leaders believe other faiths may lead to salvation as well. Long divided and distracted by questions of sexual ethics, the Episcopal Church (along with most mainline Protestant communities) are facing a cultural and theological shift...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Balkan Insight

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/17752/

The Bulgarian government has approved a draft bill banning the Muslim head-dress for women and other religious symbols in schools.

"We express our disagreement and bitterness with this decision," Hussein Hafazov of the Chief Mufti office told the Reuters news agency.

"It completely damages the rights as well as the responsibilities of Muslim...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Economist

http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13375938

Like every good school, Palfrey Junior urges its 360 pupils to spend time on extra-curricular things such as crafts, hobbies and special computer lessons. But here they have to happen before school starts; time after class is spoken for. When the bell goes in mid-afternoon, most pupils head straight to a madrassa...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Economist

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13377308

By American standards, German culture wars are mild affairs. A spat in Berlin over teaching religion in schools may be an exception. Next month the city will vote on whether schools should teach the subject as an alternative to an ethics course. The debate is only partly about how God fits into the classroom; it is...

Author: Hamza Hendawi

Original Source: The Chicago Tribune

Wire Service: AP

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna29880634

The streets are calmer now. The fighting between Shiites and Sunnis has largely ceased. But this is not a sign of normalcy in the Iraqi capital. It's fear that keeps the peace.
...

Author: Hassan Alaoui

Source: The Washington Post

Wire Service: AP

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/24/AR2009032402419.html

Morocco's government is clamping down on homosexuality and alleged Shiite propaganda, saying it will tackle any group that threatens moral and religious values in the Sunni Arab kingdom.

A weekend statement from the Interior...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Baptist Press

http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/BPnews.asp?ID=30128

Religious expression in the Central Asian country of Tajikistan may soon become even more restricted, according to a warning from a nonpartisan federal panel that keeps tabs on the global status of faith groups.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has reported that Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon is preparing to sign a religion...

Author: Electa Draper

Source: The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_11974138

Call it a leap of faiths — there's a reason a committed Muslim such as Emad Hussain attends a Methodist church and why he will raise his Muslim children in its sanctuary.

Hussain fled Iraq in 2007 after he survived an attack by militants on his workplace and became a target, but he left without his wife and two young sons.

It...

Author: Riazat Butt

Source: The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/23/islamic-studies-leadership-course

A course to help classically trained imams use their skills more effectively in the UK has been launched in Cambridge, with its first students enrolling in September.

The one-year diploma in contextual Islamic studies and leadership is aimed at helping imams to be more responsive to the values and...

Author: Kathryn Marchocki

Source: New Hampshire Union Leader

Author: Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah

Source: The Chicago Tribune

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2009-03-22-0903210140-story.html

Relations between Muslim American groups and the FBI have approached a breaking point in the...

Author: Scott Wyman

Source: Sun-Sentinel

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/state/epaper/2009/03/21/0321busislamad.html

In the wake of controversial bus ads saying Jesus followed the principles of Islam, Broward County inspection reports commissioners are considering a ban on advertising religious messages on public transportation and all other government property.

The new policy would still permit...

Author: Gregg Krupa

Source: The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090321/LIFESTYLE04/903210336/1041/LIFESTYLE04/Muslims+heartened+by+Obama+greeting

The thought weaved through excited conversations in mosques throughout Metro Detroit on Friday, as Muslims gathered for their weekly, public prayer: Is this the beginning of the new era that local Muslims and Arab-American leaders...