What is Hajj? The annual Hajj pilgrimage is one of the world’s largest gatherings, as hundreds of thousands of people flock to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to participate in one of Islam’s five pillars of faith. Muslims from all over the world will gather together for five days to pray as one community, celebrating their history Read more
Daniel O’Connor, a Columban priest from New Zealand working in the Diocese of Hyderabad in Pakistan, reports on the aftermath of the Peshawar church bombing two weeks ago. Dan has been Columban priest for 25 years. Last year he ran in the London Marathon “Life will not be the same for their loved ones again, and Read more
Indonesia’s religious affairs minister has called for the Miss World beauty pageant to be cancelled, as opposition in the Muslim-majority country mounts the week before the contest opens in Bali. Suryadharma Ali said that the organisers should follow the advice of the nation’s top Islamic clerical body, which last week called for the contest to Read more
Churches and other Christian properties around Egypt had already been looted, so when Catholics in Berba were tipped off that their southern village could be next, they acted fast. They and other Christian leaders got on their phones and called their Muslim friends, neighbors and colleagues who all had the same message: “They were told, Read more
To mark the the feast of Eid al-Fitr Pope Francis called for “mutual respect” between Christianity and Islam and an end to “unfair criticism.” “We are called to respect the religion of the other, its teachings, its symbols, its values,” he said. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community hopes that an exhibition it is putting on will Read more
This is the second article in a series of three instalments, comprising Aftab A. Malik’s reflections on his three month stay in Lakemba, Sydney. Even before I began giving lectures, controversy had spread concerning my presence in Lakemba. Who was I? Why was I here? What was my agenda? Needless to say, some emails that Read more
Wednesday is an important day for Muslim faithful around the world. They will be celebrating Eid ul-Fitr, the breaking of the fast to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. For 30 days, starting this year on July 9, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, and abstain from smoking, swearing and sex. But Read more
South Asian Muslims living in Auckland reported feeling safe and secure but some said they had received “prejudicial treatment” in their dealings with New Zealand police because of their ethnicity. In the research for an AUT University study on ethnicity and policing, all but one of the 16 people interviewed by researchers Sameer Nisar and Read more
The new papal nuncio to Malaysia has landed in the midst of an intense row over whether Christians in the country should be allowed to use the word “Allah” to refer to God. Archbishop Joseph Marino, the first nuncio appointed to the Muslim-majority nation, said during a press conference that he supported the arguments in Read more
The European relationship between religion, law and politics is a strange creature. Religious influence over political life is weaker in Europe than in almost any other part of the world. To adapt the phrase first used by Alastair Campbell when he was spokesman for the British prime minister Tony Blair, politicians in Europe generally ‘don’t Read more