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Islam prohibits the depiction of God or prophets, and some Muslims believe drawing any animate being is also forbidden. Certainly no such images appear in the Qur’an, its central holy book.

So there are no pictures in the first major exhibit of Qur’ans in the United States, The Art of the Qur’an, at the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on the National Mall until February 20. But the more than 60 Qur’ans on display present a visually stunning tour of more than 1,000 years of Islamic history, told through the calligraphy and ornamentation that grace the sacred folios.

(The Christian Science Monitor) Indigenous people and their supporters have been blocking construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline for months in an effort to protect their water supply as well as sacred and historical sites. 

When Betty Thompson arrived in New York City in 1950, she soon got a job with the Methodist Board of Missions on Fifth Avenue in a stretch she called “Protestant Rome.”

c. 2016 Religion News Service

(RNS) Religious leaders are joining a pilgrimage to rural South Carolina to mark the centennial of the lynching of a successful black farmer, hoping to draw attention to the history of killings of African Americans and begin healing of racial divisions.

Black faith leaders and social justice advocates are commemorating the lynching of Anthony Crawford, a man who owned 427 acres in Abbeville, South Carolina, when he was killed on October 21, 1916.

Kanti Sarvaiya left his Hindu heritage behind and became a Buddhist.

“Hinduism has done nothing for us,” said Sarvaiya, 20, who lives in the western Indian state of Gujarat. “So our family elders have decided to convert.”

In July, upper-caste men publicly flogged a group of Dalits—formerly considered “untouchables”—in the village of Mota Samadhiyala on the suspicion of slaughtering a cow, a sacred animal in Indian religions. Some of the victims were Sar­vaiya’s relatives. Fed up with Hindu­ism’s caste system—en­trenched for centuries—he and his family want out.

(The Christian Science Monitor) Families reunited with 21 of the 276 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by the terrorist group Boko Haram after they were released in mid-October to the Nigerian government.

In the time since militants captured the girls in April 2014, some escaped their captors and made their way home, while others were liberated by Nigerian forces. This is believed to be the largest group released by Boko Haram since the initial kidnapping.

Three interconnected U.S. shows, taken together, represent the most extensive display of Martin Luther–related materials ever collected outside of Germany.

The exhibits run through mid-January. One at the Minneapolis Institute of Art focuses on the cultural and historical context of the Protestant Reformation. Another at Emory University in Atlanta examines the debates over law, grace, and salvation that animated Luther and his followers.

Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, won a prestigious award and became a visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City as she focuses more on partnership with religious groups.

She received the 2016 Heinz Award for Public Policy, one of five awards honoring the late Senator John Heinz of Pennsyl­vania. The prize includes $250,000 in “unrestricted cash,” according to the mid-September awards announcement.

When it comes to contraception, a clear majority of Americans say employers should be required to cover it in their health-care plans, even if they have religious objections.

But a recent survey by the Pew Research Center reveals a sharp division on another hot topic: whether wedding service providers should have to serve same-sex couples. And Americans also disagree on whether transgender people should have to use the public restroom of the gender assigned to them at birth.

c. 2016 Religion News Service

(RNS) Undoing the election of the first openly lesbian bishop in the United Methodist Church will be a primary goal when 1,500 Methodist evangelicals gather this week in Chicago to found a new renewal group, according to organizers.

At the inaugural meeting of the Wesleyan Covenant Association on Friday (October 7), charter members will outline their expectations for a soon-to-be-appointed denominational commission to discuss the conflict over sexuality.