Author: Kim Gamel

Source: The Houston Chronicle

Wire Service: AP

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/6476262.html

The moderate leader of the largest Sunni bloc in parliament was assassinated Friday after delivering a sermon at a Baghdad mosque, a killing that could set back efforts to reconcile differences between the two Muslim sects before national elections.

Harith al-Obeidi, 47,...

Author: Purva Patel

Source: The Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/6470251.html

Aleena Charania can choose from traditional shwarmas and kebabs when she visits Busy Boy Sandwiches, a 4-year-old cafe on Hillcroft.

But Charania, an observant Houston Muslim who eats only halal, the Islamic version of kosher, usually opts for the hamburger or Philly cheesesteak.

“Definitely, when...

Author: Hany Salah

Source: Islam Online

Author: Martin Petty

Source: Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSSP361306

A Buddhist monk was killed and another seriously injured when they were gunned down while collecting alms as more violence erupted in Thailand's restive south, police said on Friday.

The attack was the latest in a recent flare-up of bloody violence in the Muslim-majority region near the Malaysian border, where nearly 3,500 people have been...

Author: Aftab Mughal

Source: The Sikh Times

http://www.emgonline.co.uk/news.php?news=5554

Sikhs and other non-Muslims living in Pakistan are facing huge challenges at the hands of the Taliban,

The Bara-based Lashkar-e-Islam (LI, an Islamic militant group) has imposed jizya, an Islamic tax, on the non-Muslim communities, including Sikhs, Hindus and Christians living in the Khyber Agency, a tribal region of North West Frontier Post (NWFP) near...

Author: Theo Emery

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/us/11fairfax.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

For years, children’s voices rang out from the playground at the Islamic Saudi Academy in this heavily wooded community about 20 miles west of Washington. But for the last year the campus has been silent as academy officials seek county permission to erect a new classroom building and move hundreds...

Author: Mohamed Mohamed

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8077725.stm

Since they began to capture large swathes of southern Somalia, radical Islamists have been undertaking a programme of destroying mosques and the graves of revered religious leaders from the Sufi branch of Islam.

The destruction of non-approved religious sites started last year when they began to knock down an old colonial era church in the town of Kismayo....

Author: Salvador Hernandez

Source: The Orange County Register

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/fbi-muslim-mueller-2457464-organizations-local#

Local Muslim organizations disagreed Tuesday with FBI Director Robert Mueller's assertion that relations between the groups and the agency are "very good."

Despite continued concerns from Muslim organizations about the FBI's use of informants and surveillance in U.S....

Author: Paul Lauener

Source: Reuters

http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-40173620090608

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair launched a project on Tuesday to get schoolchildren of different religions and countries talking to each other using video-conferencing.

The "Face to Faith" initiative, undertaken by the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, will involve more than 1,000 secondary school students in Asia,...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The New York Times

Wire Service: AP

Author: David Yonke

Source: The Toledo Blade

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090609/NEWS10/906090363/-1/OPINION04

Toledo mosque Masjid Saad has elected a female president, the first woman to hold the leadership position at the 30-year-old mosque.

Salmenna Sediqe, a businesswoman and mother of five, was elected last month and will serve a one-year term as president of the mosque on...

Author: Cecelia Mason

Source: West Virginia Public Broadcasting

http://www.wvpubcast.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=9946

When Morgantown native Asra Nomani walked through the front door of the local mosque - something women were not allowed to do - she created tension in the community. Her story is now a PBS documentary premiering Wednesday.

Journalist and Morgantown native Asra Nomani saw Islamic extremism up close when her friend and former Wall...

Author: Joe Ryan

Source: The Star-Ledger

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/us_justice_department_nj_woman.html

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today accusing Essex County officials of illegally firing a Muslim corrections officer for refusing to remove her head scarf.

The suit, filed in federal court in Newark on behalf of Yvette Beshier, asks for a court order forcing the county to accommodate...

Author: Manya A. Brachear

Source: The Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-church-safety-08-jun08,0,5828362.story

Dr. George Tiller wore a bulletproof vest as he handed out bulletins in his church's lobby on May 31. But it wasn't enough to save the abortion provider when a man aimed a gun at his head and pulled the trigger.

Fortunately for the other members of Reformation...

Author: Staff Writers

Source: Reuters

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2009/06/08/french-us-imams-talk-about-being-muslim-military-chaplains/

Both are Muslims. Both are chaplains. Both are in the military. But one is French and one is American. That alone ensured there would be enough to talk about when Mohamed-Ali Bouharb and Abu- hena Saifulislam met in Paris to discuss their work with...