Posts Tagged ‘Islam’

Australia ‘dealing’ with cultural difference?

Tuesday, July 26th, 2016

I was passing through airport security somewhere in North America in October 2001 when I realised it: I was no longer the face of terrorism, and might never be selected for one of those comprehensive “special clearance procedures” again. Until then, that’s what a passport with a Northern Irish birthplace had got me – it Read more

Cardinal from US says Islam is not a religion but a form of government

Tuesday, July 26th, 2016

Islam is “fundamentally a form of government” rather than a religion because when a state finds itself with a majority population of Muslims they have a duty to submit the whole population to Sharia law, the  Raymond Burke, the controversial American cardinal, has said. Burke said individual Muslims “are lovely people” and can speak “in Read more

Aussie senator calls for royal commission into Islam

Friday, July 22nd, 2016

An outspoken politician has called for a royal commission into Islam in Australia, noting how such a body is helping uncover child abuse in the Church. Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie’s office released a graphic comparing a “big problem”’ with Islamic radicalisation to child molestation in the Australian Catholic Church. The graphic asks if a royal Read more

Thinking about religion and ISIS

Friday, July 15th, 2016

In his Atlantic article on “What ISIS Really Wants” last March, Graeme Wood insisted that “the Islamic state is Islamic. Very Islamic.” Wood’s detractors have been similarly emphatic, arguing that ISIS is a perversion of the Islamic faith. For Wood’s critics, secular politics, far more than religion or religious ideology, is the key to understanding Read more

‘Mosque-mobile’ makes praying easier in gridlocked Jakarta

Tuesday, July 12th, 2016

JAKARTA: As the call to prayer rang out across the Indonesian capital, Sutikno faced a dilemma – the devout Muslim needed to set off through Jakarta’s notorious traffic to pick up his wife but did not want to miss out on worshipping. However for him and others juggling the demands of hectic, 21st century life Read more

Muslims take to the streets to find out what NZers think about Islam

Friday, July 8th, 2016

A Muslim imam and missionary has taken to Auckland’s streets to gauge what New Zealanders think about Islamic culture, and to try and change perceptions. Mustenser Qamar and a group of friends used a white board displaying the text, “I am a Muslim so that makes me…” to invite members of the public to share Read more

Sonny Bill Williams is happiest at prayer time

Friday, July 1st, 2016

All Black Sonny Bill Williams has said he is most happy when he is saying his prayers. In an article in the UK Daily Mail, Williams admitted to having to fit his Islamic diet and prayer around an intensive rugby schedule. “When I’m most happy is when I’m doing my prayers,” he said. “When you Read more

Samoa too open-minded to ban Islam

Friday, June 3rd, 2016

Aarif Rasheed, a Muslim New Zealander of Indo-Fijian ethnicity, says the Samoan government is too open-minded to ban Islam. He says the Samoan government was represented at the recent G20 interfaith summit in Fiji. Rasheed said he was going to help organise a dialogue with churches in Samoa and hoped to bring them together to Read more

Imam says proposed constitutional change may affect aid

Tuesday, May 24th, 2016

An imam in Samoa has questioned whether the proposed constitutional change to reinforce Samoa as a Christian country would mean it would no longer do business with non-Christian countries. Imam Mohammed Bin Yahya said there are a lot of non-Christian countries that give aid to Samoa. “Will they say no aid because you are not Christians, keep Read more

Samoa a Christian country – PM calls for constitution review

Friday, May 20th, 2016

Samoa’s ruling party is considering constitutional amendments so Christian principles, values, culture and traditions are legally recognised. This after the office of the prime minster has been advised that Islamic extremists could cause future instability. Muslims accounted for 0.03 percent of the population at the 2001 census. At present there is a small muslim population in Read more