Islam
Flooded with sightseers, Europe’s iconic churches struggle to accommodate both worship and tourism
By Giovanna Dell'orto — July 21, 2023
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — With tourism reaching or surpassing pre-pandemic records in Barcelona and across southern Europe, iconic sacred sites are struggling to accommodate the faithful who come to pray and the millions of visitors who often pay to view the art and architecture.
Officials file more charges, but not hate crimes, against man accused of attacking Muslim lawmaker
By Dave Collins — July 19, 2023
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Desmond was initially charged with misdemeanors, including third-degree assault and unlawful restraint, after the June 28 attack on Khan outside a Hartford arena where the Muslim prayer service was held.
When the ‘left’ lectures Muslims on the ‘right’ on LGBTQ curriculums
By Suleiman Hani — July 18, 2023
(RNS) — Are American Muslims conservative or liberal? Democrat or Republican?
In Thailand, ‘socially engaged Buddhism’ goes beyond meditation to seek justice
By Kalpana Jain — July 17, 2023
BANGKOK (RNS) — A network of socially conscious Buddhists is challenging conceptions of personal devotion to tackle pressing problems in the faith and even beyond their country's borders.
The man who threatened to burn holy books outside the Israeli Embassy in Sweden abandons the plan
By Associated Press — July 17, 2023
STOCKHOLM (AP) — At the scene, he said he was a Muslim and threw a lighter he held in his hand to the ground, saying he never intended to burn holy books.
28 years after genocide, Bosniak Muslims mourn their dead but celebrate a return of Islamic life to Srebrenica
By David I. Klein — July 13, 2023
SREBRENICA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (RNS) — Though the area was depopulated of Muslims by the genocide, many survivors and their children have come back.
Afghan Taliban suspend all activities of Swedish aid groups over burning of Islam’s holy book
By Munir Ahmed — July 13, 2023
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The announcement left a Swedish non-governmental aid group perplexed about the future of its programs in Afghanistan, which provide education and medical facilities to thousands of people across the country.
After Quran burnings, UN rights body calls for more action to combat religious hatred
By Associated Press — July 12, 2023
GENEVA (AP) — After the vote, Ambassador Khalil Hashmi of Pakistan insisted the measure “does not seek to curtail the right to free speech,” but tries to strike a “prudent balance” between it and “special duties and responsibilities.”
Why do we remember Srebrenica?
By Omar Suleiman — July 11, 2023
(RNS) — We must recall the daily, routine dehumanization that leads to genocide.
A gunman opens fire at a Lebanon mosque, killing one person and wounding several others
By Bassem Mroue — July 10, 2023
BEIRUT (AP) — The Lebanese army issued a statement saying that the armed man opened fire at a group of people as they were leaving the mosque, killing one of them.
Muslims across Pakistan hold anti-Sweden protests to denounce burning of Islam’s holy book
By Munir Ahmed — July 10, 2023
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Anger has grown in Muslim countries since last Wednesday when a man, identified in Swedish media as an Iraqi Christian immigrant, burned a Quran outside a mosque in Stockholm on the festival of Eid al-Adha.
Storytelling, cooking biryani: How displaced Shia Ismaili Muslim women rebuilt community
By Kathryn Post — July 7, 2023
(RNS) — Shenila Khoja-Moolji's new book records the histories of women in her faith community that are absent from religious archives.
Technology remains at the heart of the hajj
By Andrea Stanton — July 5, 2023
(The Conversation) — The Saudi government is using digital technology to help the hajj run smoothly and safely – the latest updates in a 200-year history of technology and the hajj.
Christians in Pakistan risk greater persecution from blasphemy laws, while living in poverty
By Myriam Renaud — July 5, 2023
(The Conversation) — Consigned to jobs in sanitation and other hazardous fields, Christians, the largest religious minority group in Pakistan, face a difficult time in the country.
Thousands protest in Iraq for a second day over burning of Quran in Sweden
By Ali Jabar and Nabil Al-jurani — July 3, 2023
BASRA, Iraq (AP) — The protests came a day after hundreds of protesters briefly stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad.
