(RNS) When Oklahoma voters overwhelmingly approved a 2010 ballot measure that prohibits state courts from considering Islamic law, or Shariah, the Council of American-Islamic Relations filed a lawsuit within two days challenging the constitutionality of the measure, and won.
Muslims in America are much less inclined to support suicide bombing than Muslims abroad and are more likely to believe that people of other faiths can attain eternal life in heaven, according to a new report released by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
Ever since she was a little girl, Savannah Uqdah longed to pose for pictures and strut down a runway with flashbulbs bursting. But as an observant Muslim who didn't want to violate Islam's tenets on modesty, the aspiring model assumed that designers wouldn't hire someone who was unwilling to show some skin.
Worried about exposure to foul language, immodest dress, peer pressure, and other inappropriate behavior, Susan Brown didn't want her two daughters attending public schools – even though she's a substitute teacher in a public school in Minnesota.
(RNS) There are more Muslims from America than any other country on this year's "The Muslim 500: The World's 500 Most Influential Muslims," compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, a respected think tank in Jordan, including two in the top 50.
American Muslims are celebrating the ouster of two congressmen known for their anti-Islamic rhetoric, and heralding the outcomes as a sign that Muslim voters, at least in some districts, are a political force to be reckoned with.
Hindu Americans have run America's major companies and universities, won Nobel prizes and Olympic gold medals, directed blockbuster movies, and even flown into space. But one profession has so far been out of reach: Member of Congress.
The one thing that Afrah Farah will tell you about her genital cutting experience is that it happened. She doesn’t want to say how old she was, where it happened or who was or wasn’t with her.
Yet despite the painful memories that the experience evokes and her concerns about people’s reactions, Farah said she knows she has to speak out.
Coptic Christian leaders in the United States distanced themselves from an anti-Muslim film that has sparked protests in more than 20 countries and denounced the Copts who reportedly produced and promoted the film.
c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS) Muslim and Coptic Christian leaders in the U.S. are pledging not to let a spate of violent protests in some 20 Islamic countries derail recent efforts to improve the sometimes troubled relations between the two communities.
c. 2012 Religion News Service
(RNS) Muslim Americans condemned violence in Egypt and Libya that left four Americans dead, but remain concerned that the deaths could rekindle anti-Muslim sentiment just as post-9/11 resentment was starting to ebb.
c. 2012 Religion News Service
(RNS) The number of Muslim delegates attending the Democratic National Convention has quadrupled since 2004, according to a Muslim advocacy group.
c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS) The Taliban in Afghanistan shocked the world this week (Aug. 27) when they beheaded 17 people, allegedly for the crime of dancing at a mixed-gender gathering.
Which prompts the question: Does Islam forbid dancing? While Islamic scholars are divided on the answer, it's easy to find Muslims in America and abroad who love to boogie down.
Muslim and Coptic Christian leaders in the U.S. are calling on the Egyptian government to exclude any mentions of Islamic law or language that discriminates against minorities in its draft constitution.
c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS) Americans cheered when Aly Raisman of Needham, Mass., won a gold medal on Tuesday (July 31) in the women's all-around gymnastics competition, but at least some American Jews likely cheered a little louder.
c. 2012 Religion News Service BOSTON (RNS) Malika Rushdan was at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center the morning Mohamed Hassan's body arrived to be washed before burial, in accordance with Islamic law.
The Islamic Center of New England has always been led by imams born outside America. The two-campus mosque would like to change that, but it’s proving harder than leaders had thought.
c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS) Muslim civil rights activists are headed to court to end a New York City Police Department program that they say violates their constitutional rights by spying on Muslims based only on their religion.
c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS) Sikh civil rights activists will unveil a mobile phone application next week (April 30) that they say will allow travelers who believe they have been profiled by airport screeners to file complaints directly from their cell phones.
