Author: Jean Gordon

Source: The Clarion-Ledger

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070407/FEAT04/704070307/1022/feat04

Inside a Jackson State University classroom, Tony Bland slipped off his shoes, climbed on top of the teacher's desk and folded his legs into a lotus position.

Gently joining his hands at his lap, Bland sat upright, closed his eyes and said nothing.

...

Source: Houston Chronicle

Wire Service: AP

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/4694503.html

PARIS — French presidential front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy has backed off his proposal to modify French law to allow state support for mosques, but said in an interview he wants to keep Islam in France "cut off from foreign influences."

Sarkozy, of Jacques Chirac's ruling conservative party, has upset many in...

Author: TOM KEYSER

Source: Times-Union

Author: The Baltimore Examiner

Source: The Baltimore Examiner

http://www.examiner.com/a-653393~Editorial__Eliminate_all_school_holidays.html

BALTIMORE - Here’s a simple solution to the controversy in Baltimore County public schools about which religious holidays to officially recognize: Eliminate them all.

The question comes up because the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee wants to add at least one...

Author: BRADLEY HOPE

Source: The New York Sun

http://www.nysun.com/article/51736

The New York Police Department has hired a 24-year-old Muslim leader to become the Islamic chaplain for the thousands of Muslims in the department, officials announced yesterday.

Khalid Latif is the second Islamic chaplain ever hired by the police.

"Because of the life-and-death nature of police work, the role of the chaplain in the police department takes on...

Source: The Star

http://thestaronline.com/news/story.asp?file=/2007/4/3/courts/17328068&sec=courts

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) will hold special prayers in light of the Court of Appeal decision where a Hindu woman was asked to seek marital recourse in a Syariah Court.

President Datuk Chee Peck Kiat told a press conference that “a brief...

Author: Ron Grossman

Source: Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0704020465apr03,1,5001380.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- This year as every year, the tiny Jewish community here will utter the age-old symbolic invitation for a needy stranger to share its dinner tables during Passover, which began at sundown Monday.

"For you...

Source: CNN International

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/04/02/malaysia.religion.ap/

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) -- The cavernous pink Putra Mosque with its soaring minaret is one of the most commanding sights and popular tourist photo backdrops in the city of Putrajaya.

A house of worship for thousands of Muslims in the eight-year-old administrative capital of Malaysia, it is a showcase of the nation's dominant faith -- Islam.

...

Author: John Chadwick and Martha McKay

Source: North Jersey

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MTA0NTY0JnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Mg==

Jews, Muslims and Christians joined together Sunday in an interfaith Passover seder rarely attempted in North Jersey.

"Let us help one another overcome hardness of...

Author: Anne Wilson

Source: The Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_5577656

An Islamic group from Turkey scheduled to perform tonight at Kingsbury Hall won't be appearing because of visa problems, according to a spokesman for the sponsoring organization.

Etga Ugur, of the Utah nonprofit Multicultural Arch Foundation, said the Order of the Whirling Dervishes of Turkey was unable to secure visas in time for the Utah concert, the first in a...

Author: Christina M. Woods

Source: The Wichita Eagle

http://www.kansas.com/212/story/34441.html

Teaching Arabic is Yassin Shourbaji's method of building bridges between communities.

Shourbaji, a retired engineer and member of the Islamic Society of Wichita and the Islamic Association of Mid-Kansas, has been teaching Arabic to English-speakers for four years.

He expanded his course offerings in March to include an introductory course for...

Author: Margaret Gabriel

Source: Lexington Herald-Leader

http://www.kentucky.com/158/story/31013.html

Rumi, an 11th-century Persian mystic and spiritual teacher, is also an oft-quoted poet and philosopher who promoted unity among people of faith 1,000 years ago.

Rumi's reflection "Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart," describes the work of artist Haydar Hatemi, whose exhibit "...

Author: Jessica Ravitz

Source: The Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.sltrib.com/faith/ci_5563234

The custom-made pin on Troy Molling's blazer tips off that this evening will be different. It's a Star of David with the Angel Moroni, a fixture on most LDS temples, mounted in the middle.

Baskets outside the Salt Lake LDS Stake Center's main room are filled with kippot or yarmulkes, religious head coverings customarily worn by Jewish men. A sign encourages "All...

Source: Independent Catholic News

http://www.indcatholicnews.com/rab213.html

Rabbi Leon Klenicki, Director Emeritus of Interfaith Affairs of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), has been named a Papal Knight of the Order of St Gregory by Pope Benedict, for his historic contributions in improving relations between Catholics and Jews.

Rabbi Klenicki is the second ADL interfaith official to receive papal knighthood. In 1986, the late Dr Joseph L. Lichten became the first American...