Islam
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.
Smithsonian Folklife Festival on National Mall explores often-unfamiliar spirituality
By Adelle M. Banks — June 30, 2023
WASHINGTON (RNS) — The lead curator of the 'Creative Encounters' program hopes it will give the public a chance to 'pull back the curtain' on spiritual practices.
With Muslim members away for Eid, Minneapolis City Council kills rent control measure
By Associated Press — June 30, 2023
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Wednesday meeting was scheduled more than a year ago to accommodate Eid, which at the time had been predicted to fall on Thursday, Minnesota Public Radio reported. But the date is subject to change depending on lunar observations.
Protesters briefly storm the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad in protest over Quran burning
By Qassim Abdul-zahra and Ali Jabar — June 30, 2023
BAGHDAD (AP) — The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it had summoned the Swedish ambassador and called on Sweden's government “to take the necessary measures to stop the repeated insults to the Holy Quran.”
Supreme Court ruling in favor of mail carrier celebrated across religious spectrum
By Yonat Shimron — June 29, 2023
(RNS) — Many U.S. religious minorities said the ruling was a much-needed corrective to the challenges they face in balancing their work with their sincerely held religious practices.
France’s highest administrative court says the soccer federation can ban headscarves in matches
By Samuel Petrequin — June 29, 2023
(AP) — The ruling is likely to refuel the lingering debate on secularism — still volatile more than a century after the 1905 law on separation of church and state that established it as a principle of the French Republic.
Muslims at Hajj brave intense heat to cast stones at pillars representing the devil
By Riazat Butt — June 29, 2023
MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Temperatures soared past 45 degrees Celsius (113 F) on Tuesday, as Muslims marked the spiritual high point of the pilgrimage by spending the day praying at Mount Arafat, where there was no breeze and almost no shade.
The Rev. Amos Brown, vice chair of California’s reparations task force, calls for action
By Adelle M. Banks — June 29, 2023
(RNS) — ‘We’ve got to act and stop just talking, not just saying we are sad,’ Brown said.
Saudi Arabia’s new Hajj booking process has left many foreign pilgrims frustrated
By Fiona André — June 27, 2023
(RNS) — After postponing their trip for three years, many American Muslims expected a return to normalcy for this year’s Hajj, but a new online platform intended to streamline the process has instead brought complications.
The search for gender identity, say trans seekers, brought them closer to God
By Emma Ryan — June 27, 2023
(RNS) — As opposition to recognition for transgender Americans has become politicized, so have clashes between people with transgender identities and faith leaders. But it’s not always the case that faith and transgender don’t mix.
Hajj pilgrims perform final rituals in Mecca before heading to Mina
By Riazat Butt — June 26, 2023
MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia has restored full pilgrim capacity for this year’s Hajj, following three years of dramatically reduced numbers due to the pandemic, with more than 2 million Muslims expected to take part
Ambitious Saudi plans to ramp up Hajj could face challenges from climate change
By Riazat Butt — June 23, 2023
MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — The increased number of pilgrims, with the associated surge in international air travel and infrastructure expansion, also raises sustainability concerns, even as the oil giant pursues the goal of getting half its energy from renewable resources by 2030.
