PAS is tarnishing image of Islam
Terengganu, under PAS rule, is again in the limelight for the wrong reasons. The recent public caning meted out to two women accused of attempting to commit a lesbian sexual activity (sihaq in Arabic) is uncalled for, and has brought criticism and caused ripples of unease across the country. This caning has given a bad […]
Indonesian Woman’s Jailing Over Mosque Noise Sparks Backlash
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s jailing of a woman for complaining about the volume of a mosque loudspeaker has sparked a wave of criticism, with a petition calling for her release gaining more than 100,000 supporters. Rights groups and the Muslim-majority country’s biggest religious organization slammed the 18-month blasphemy sentence handed out Tuesday to the defendant, an […]
Violent extremists tarnish image of their own faith, cardinal says
ROME – Meeting with a top Muslim leader in Saudi Arabia, the Vatican’s chief interreligious dialogue official called for the equal treatment of people of all religions, saying discrimination and double standards based on religious affiliation only increase Islamophobia and Christianophobia. And, religious leaders “have a duty to keep religions from being at the service […]
Pope advisors attack Trump’s aide Steve Bannon and US religious right
Rome (dpa) – Donald Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon and Christian extremists that have sided with the US president have a dangerously “fundamentalist” world view, according to two confidantes of Pope Francis. In a Sunday comment on Italian daily La Repubblica, church historian Alberto Melloni said the papal aides have laid bare “an unprecedented conflict” […]
As Africa Faces More Terrorism, Experts Point to Saudi-spread of Fundamentalist Islam
On June 5, Saudi Arabia and its allies, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of funding extremist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic State. In response, Qatar said it was the victim of a policy of “domination and control” by its larger neighbor and […]
Google reveals new plans to combat online extremist content
New York (dpa) – Google pledged to crack down on extremist content online Sunday as the internet giant unveiled a new four-pronged approach. The search engine will follow in the footsteps of online giant Facebook by deploying artificial intelligence to more quickly detect and review extremist content. For its YouTube platform, this will mean ramping […]
Recognizing World War II Muslims that sheltered fleeing Jews
WASHINGTON, April 27, 2017 – One of the little-known stories of the Holocaust is that of Muslims who risked their lives to save Jews from the Nazis. Fortunately, on this year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, more attention is being paid to this important record of bravery and idealism. At Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C.., Holocaust […]
Who exactly are ‘radical’ Muslims?
Indian Muslim woman Shagufta Sayyd prays in Mumbai, India. AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool The Trump administration has been using the phrase “radical Islam” when discussing the “war on terror.” From his inauguration address to remarks to military leaders, President Trump has been warning against “Islamic…
Politics, not theology, at root of Islamism, says French scholar
“Never in our recent history [has] the gap between the politically correct discourse about political Islam in France and in the Arab world been so profound,” said . A French political scientist, Arabist and senior researcher at the French Institute for Scientific…
Americans Have Double Standards On Religious Violence
Americans exhibit a double standard when it comes to religious violence, extending far greater benefit of the doubt that attackers claiming to be Christian aren’t really Christian than they do for attacks carried out in the name of Islam, a survey has indicated. Responding to a survey from the Public Religion Research Institute, released Thursday, […]