Latino, Muslim Leaders Warn about Immigration Laws
A Latino pastor and a local Muslim leader presented together a workshop about the consequences the enforcement of current immigration laws are having on American citizens and legal residents of the two communities these two leaders represent. During an inter-faith service organized by We Believe COLORADO on Thursday, June 12, 2008, Pastor Fidel “Butch” Montoya, […]
Historic Mosque Loses Prized Artifacts in Flood
Cedar Rapids, Ia. — Imam Taha Tawil slipped off his muddy shoes and padded across the cream-colored carpet marred by someone else’s muddy footprints. He turned to the northeast and began to pray. Below him, in the basement of the Mother Mosque of America, are the soggy heirlooms of the oldest mosque in America, which […]
Duke Adds Muslim Religious Leader
In a sign of the changing makeup of its students, Duke University has hired its first imam, or Muslim religious leader, becoming one of only a handful of universities in the United States that have full-time Muslim clergy. Abdullah Antepli, a native of Turkey who is completing his doctoral work at Hartford Seminary in Hartford, […]
TX: Racist Anti-Obama Pin Sold at GOP Convention
While a number of speakers — such as Railroad Commission chairman Michael Williams and Mike Huckabee — have praised the advance of Barack Obama and what it means towards a colorblind society, at least one vendor hasn’t gotten the message. At the Republican state convention, a booth hosted by Republicanmarket was selling a pin Saturday […]
The Beauty of Islam
Several readers of last week’s column asked why I called Islam “incredibly beautiful.” Based on decades of study, world travel and long friendships with Muslims, I answer with three hints. Our indebtedness to Muslim culture is extraordinary. Try doing your finances using Roman instead of Arabic numerals, and you’ll get the idea. Have you had […]
MI: Muslims Barred from Picture at Obama Event
Two Muslim women at Barack Obama’s rally in Detroit Monday were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women’s headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate. The campaign has apologized to the women, all Obama supporters who said they felt betrayed by their treatment at […]
Will Narendra Modi Get US Visa This Time?
Will Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi be second time lucky? His supporters here want the US to grant him a visa to enable his participation in a world Gujarati meet though he was denied visa three years ago thanks to the controversy over his handling of communal violence in 2002. “It is not just a […]
CAIR-MI: Campaign Apologizes for Excluding Women in Hijab
Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign apologized Wednesday for incidents in which Muslim women were asked not to stand or sit behind the candidate at a rally in Metro Detroit this week out of concerns about the appearance of traditional Muslim dress associated with the Democratic candidate in published and broadcast visuals of the events.“This is of […]
DE: Newark Mosque Hosts Food Bank Drive
A monthlong drive to restock the shelves of the Food Bank of Delaware is starting on Sunday at the Masjid Ibrahim (Mosque of Abraham) in Newark. The drive runs until July 15. The organization aids a growing number of Delawareans struggling to pay for food and rising energy costs. Jamil Tourk, a mosque leader, hopes […]
CAIR: Rights Advocates Cheer Ruling on Gitmo Detainees
US civil rights champions cheered the Supreme Court’s decision Thursday that allows “war on terror” prisoners to petition civilian courts over their detention, calling it a loud and clear rebuke to the Bush administration.But President George W. Bush decried the ruling, which overturned a key part of White House-backed legislation on trying detainees at the […]