Author: Brian Rhoads and Jerry Norton

Source: The New York Times

Wire Service: Reuters

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Islam Online

Author: Tom Heneghan

Source: Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSL748164520080727

Senior Christian and Muslim scholars and leaders are meeting in the United States this week seeking common ground in their different faiths to foster better understanding between Islam and the West.

Hosted by Yale University Divinity School, the conference is the first public dialogue launched by Muslim intellectuals in the...

Author: Elizabeth Bryant

Source: The Washington Post/Religion News Service

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/25/AR2008072503004.html

Like most young French women, Wafa Ben Salem goes out to movies and dinner, dates men, albeit usually with a chaperone, and is an avowed fashion maven.

But it's not hard to see how she stands out with her form-covering clothing, a headscarf tied under...

Author: Samuel G. Freedman

Source: The New York Times

Author: Duke Helfand

Source: The Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/features/religion/la-me-beliefs26-2008jul26,0,664713.story

"A Jihad for Love" may not be the blockbuster movie of the season, but the new documentary about the plight of gay and lesbian Muslims is enjoying a degree of acclaim as it casts light on a subject often shrouded in mystery.

The film's gay Muslim director, Parvez Sharma, has spent...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/25/mcdonalds.usa

Two Muslim women said they were denied jobs at a McDonald's restaurant in Dearborn, Michigan, because they wore Islamic headscarves, according to a discrimination lawsuit filed yesterday in Wayne County Circuit Court.

Toi Whitfield, 20, and Quiana Pugh, 25, said they applied for jobs at the McDonald's on Ford Road in the eastern...

Author: Michael Conlon, Todd Melby and Bill Trott

Source: Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1730916220080725

Barack Obama should be able to count on heavy support from U.S. Muslims in the November election, if polls are correct, but he risks offending some members of that faith by having to explain he is not one himself.

The number of votes at stake is small since Muslims account for only a fraction of the U.S....

Author: Deborah Horan

Source: The Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/religion/chi-six-flags-muslims-25-jul25,0,2161842.story

On any other day, Sobia Ahmed would opt to forgo many of the snacks on offer at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee. To perform the Islamic prayers she recites five times a day, she likely would slip onto a secluded path at the amusement park or look for solace under a...

Author: Maurice Malanes

Source: Ecumenical News International

http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=2117

An Indonesian religious leader has told a visiting World Council of Churches delegation that Christians in his country are praying for the US Democratic Party presidential candidate, Barack Obama.

"We are praying for Obama because we feel he can help reduce the widespread stigma and misperception that Muslims in Indonesia are...

Author: Akor Sylvester

Source: AllAfrica.com/Daily Champion

http://allafrica.com/stories/200807240603.htmlica.com/stories/200807240603.html

African leaders have condemned in totality violence against women, saying it is unreligious and against the law of natural justice.

The leaders also concluded to form a network across national border[s] that would tackle issues, beliefs and traditions that infringe on the...

Author: Tim Murphy

Source: Religion News Service

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=16141

Citing changing demographics and a steady increase in complaints from people of faith, a federal agency on Tuesday (July 22) released an updated compliance manual on religious discrimination in the workplace.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued the guidance after consultation with religious groups, employers, and labor...

Author: Lawn Griffiths

Source: East Valley Tribune

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/121467

When the holy month of Ramadan arrives Sept. 1, about 400 Muslim families in the south East Valley will finally have their own masjid, or mosque. They'll gather there for their nightly prayer services and cultural activities, meals and events that traditionally make a mosque a center of Islamic community life.

It's been 12 years of delays and setbacks...

Author: Mallika Rao

Source: Religion News Service

http://www.pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=16109

Mosques across the country are beginning to use a model similar to the one used by some suburban and downtown megachurches, operating multiple sites to serve a large and dispersed congregation.

Many of these "mosque chains" brand themselves as progressive, and sometimes feature gymnasiums and mixed-gender prayer areas for men and women...

Author: William Roller

Source: The Yuma Sun

http://www.yumasun.com/news/abroad_43132___article.html/trip_aimed.html

An Arizona legislator's trip abroad next month is designed to strengthen cultural bonds that may help the lawmaker better represent the diverse base of residents living in the Yuma area.

District 24 Rep. Theresa Ulmer, D-Yuma, will leave for Istanbul, Turkey, on Aug. 4 for a 10-day tour to broaden her...