Imam Leads Campaign Against Forced Marriages...
Shaykh Amer Jamil says the practice has no place in Islam. During the next few weeks leaflets and sermons are being given in mosques as part of an initiative to educate the community. “In the Muslim community there’s a misconception amongst some people that religion allows this, that parents have an Islamic right to choose partner of their children, and that they don’t have a choice in this,” says the Glasgow-based Imam. Every week he receives calls, e-mails and texts from concerned young people at risk of being forced to marry against their will. Today is no exception. In a corridor of a Glasgow building, he speaks to a distressed young woman in her early 20s. Her parents...
All Terrorists are Muslims…Except the 94% that Aren’t...
CNN recently published an article entitled Study: Threat of Muslim-American terrorism in U.S. exaggerated; according to a study released by Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “the terrorist threat posed by radicalized Muslim-Americans has been exaggerated.” Yet, Americans continue to live in mortal fear of radical Islam, a fear propagated and inflamed by right wing Islamophobes. If one follows the cable news networks, it seems as if all terrorists are Muslims. It has even become axiomatic in some circles to chant: “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but nearly all terrorists are Muslims.” Muslims and their “leftist dhimmi allies” respond feebly, mentioning Waco as the one counter example, unwittingly affirming the belief that “nearly all...
Massachusetts Catholics Revoke Invitation to Islam Critic...
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester has rescinded an invitation to a speaker at a men’s conference after Muslims objected to what they call the speaker’s anti-Islamic views. The diocese on Wednesday withdrew an invitation for Robert Spencer to speak at the March conference. Spencer, a Catholic, runs blogs and has written books that some consider anti-Muslim. A spokesman for the diocese says Spencer’s appearance at the conference ‘‘is being seen as harmful to Catholic-Islamic relations.’’ A spokesman for the Islamic Council of New England called Spencer a ‘‘hatemonger’’ and lauded the diocese’s decision. Spencer in emails to The Boston Globe (http://b.globe.com/11a1CKU ) said there is ‘‘nothing hateful or bigoted’’ about his views, and called...
Survey: Muslim Americans Happier with Conditions in US than Broader Public...
For the most part, Muslim Americans disavow Islamic extremism, are happy with the way things are going in the country and in their lives, and are about as religious and educated as the general American public. Those are a few of the lessons from a new report from the Pew Research Center that surveyed Muslim Americans and paints a detailed portrait of their demographics, experiences, opinions, and perceptions. Pew’s last survey of this group was in 2007, and the current one was sparked, in part, by a desire to know whether recent concerns about home-grown terrorism and other pressures had led to increased alienation and anger among Muslim Americans and support for extremism, says Scott Keeter, Pew’s director of survey research and a...
CNN Covered Interfaith Call to Oppose Koran Burning. Who Didn’t?...
Despite the passions stirred by the Islamic center near ground zero and a plan to burn Korans on Sept. 11, cable news outlets showed limited interest Tuesday afternoon in a press conference where church leaders from a variety of faiths called for a united religious front against perceived examples of Islamophobia. The Islamic Society of North America organized a press conference at the National Press Club in Washingtonwhere leaders from the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths argued against what organizers called “an atmosphere of fear and intolerance” toward Islam. C-SPAN and CNN carried the interfaith press conference live. Fox News Channel had no live coverage, but instead had commentator Lou Dobbsholding forth on President Obama and the “sad isolated state this president has put himself in.” Meanwhile, rather than live coverage, MSNBC offered talking heads...
From Fear of Islam to Outreach: How 9/11 Prompted Interfaith Efforts...
After the deadly attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the first person Rabbi Ted Falcon called was his friend, Jamal Rahman, a Sufi imam. On the following Sabbath, the rabbi invited the imam to hisSeattle synagogue to speak to the congregation. Soon after, the two spiritual leaders, along with Pastor Don Mackenzie, commenced a series of frank conversations about their beliefs, both shared and exclusive. The talks eventually inspired a radio show, a pair of books, and worldwide speaking tours. The men’s willingness to ask and answer tough questions about faith in the wake of 9/11 had clearly struck a nerve with many Americans. In particular, many people wanted to talk about a religion they had barely considered before the attacks, but which now...
Quick Links
