The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started July 20 in many countries, is a time of fasting, prayer and repentance, when Muslims distance themselves from worldly activities in an effort to align their lives more closely with God and his laws. According to the Vatican’s point man for dialogue with Islam, Ramadan is also Read more
Media reports present the Syrian conflict as a battle waged by President Bashar al-Assad against his people struggling for human rights, but Christian observers warn the situation is much more complicated, with foreign interests — including al-Qaeda — playing key roles. “The situation is much more complex and difficult to assess than the media in Read more
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of New Zealand will lay the foundation stone of a new Mosque in Manukau on Friday. It will be the largest purpose built Mosque in New Zealand which will accommodate over 600 worshippers. Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the Supreme Head of Worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, approved the project which is being funded Read more
The Muslim religion has been established in the south and east of Malaita for some time. Now 12 young people in North Malaita have become Muslims. John Kiri, National broadcaster SIBC correspondent in North Malaita said 12 young people from the Bita’ama area had converted. The group told Kiri that being a Muslim means to Read more
Last week there was shock and outrage around the globe at the massacre of scores of women and children in Syria by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Part of the tension causing the present conflict is the fact that Assad and his supporters belong to the minority Shia Alawite sect, about 10 per cent Read more
With the collapse of the Dutch centre-right government, the Netherlands may now drop some of its most eye-popping proposals aimed at Muslims and other immigrants and could soften its strong anti-immigration rhetoric. A ban on Muslim face veils, such as the Arabic-style niqabs that leave the eyes uncovered and Afghan-style burqas that cover the face Read more
The Pope’s representative in Britain has urged Roman Catholic leaders to form a united front with their Muslim and Jewish counterparts to oppose gay marriage. Archbishop Antonio Mennini, the Apostolic Nuncio, called for closer co-operation with other faiths as well as Christian denominations to put pressure on the Government over its plans to allow same-sex Read more
A leading German conservative politician said on Thursday that Islam did not belong in Germany. “Islam is not part of our tradition and identity in Germany and so does not belong in Germany,” Volker Kauder, head of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives in parliament, told the Passauer Neue Presse. “But Muslims do belong in Germany. As Read more
Former New Zealand prime minister Jim Bolger has told an audience in Washington the world will be “browner” in the future and the white race is dying out.
Mr Bolger was speaking at a lunch organised in his honour by the United States-New Zealand Council.
He says western nations need to improve their understanding of the Asia-Pacific, especially the region’s Muslim populations.
Mr Bolger says the greatest challenge the world faces is to understand what its demography will be.
Read the article...Children spilled out of Beth Hanna Jewish school under a spring sun and the watchful eyes of armed police. Leah Chicheportiche mingled with other waiting parents in this northeastern Paris neighborhood, including many men sporting the trademark black hat of Hasidic Jews.
“We’re a bit worried — even here in Paris — after the incident,” said Chicheportiche, a mother of five, keeping a watchful eye on two daughters licking ice-cream cones on Tuesday (March 20).
A day after a motorcycle gunman mowed down three children and a rabbi in the southern city of Toulouse, she added: “We hope they’ll arrest him quickly.”
As schools across France marked a moment of silence for Monday’s victims and the government notched up its terror alert for the southwestern region and increased security around religious institutions, many ordinary French are grappling for answers.
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