A hundred Muslims at prayer in Galway’s Masjid Maryam mosque were traumatised when it was attacked on Monday evening. Rocks hurled through the windows terrified the worshippers, who included women and children. Imam Ahmad Noonan said “The rocks came smashing through the windows and could have seriously injured one of my members. “We have had Read more
A battle between good and evil, rather than between religions is behind the global war on terror, President Donald Trump says. It is not a war between “different faiths, different sects, or different civilizations,” he said in a speech to leaders from Arab and Muslim-majority nations. Read more
Not for the first time, Sonny Bill Williams has resorted to hijama, an ancient Middle Eastern treatment to fix his rugby wounds. Hijama has been around for millennia. It was recommended by the Prophet Muhammad. Williams left the field just before halftime in the Blues Super Rugby match against the Waratahs in Sydney on Saturday Read more
One of the happiest days in my life was the day in 1999 when I became an American citizen. Born in Italy while my Syrian father, then a medical student, was doing his residency there, I had later met and married a Syrian-American U.S. citizen, Rashid Jijakli, the father of my three American-born children. Three Read more
An English Cardinal and four Muslim leaders from the UK met with Pope Francis this week. They discussed interfaith relations between the religious communities in Britain. Cardinal Vincent Nichols and other Catholic leaders have been working for the past 30 years to develop strong ties with the UK’s local Muslim communities. Francis greeted the group Read more
A Dominican priest and a great imam have been held up as models “to the entire African continent for interreligious harmony active in daily work”. The African branch of United Religions Initiative (URI) presented Father James Channan and Abdul Khabir Azad, the great Imam of the royal mosque in Lahore, with the “Award for Interreligious Read more
A leading world critic of Muslim extremism says New Zealand should establish “assimilation centres” for migrants and refugees from Muslim countries. Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Netherlands MP for the right-wing People’s Party, has been under police protection since she made a film in 2004 about violence against women in some Muslim cultures. Continue Read more
Respecting and working with those who practice the Muslim faith is important, Islam scholar Father Thomas Michel says. Michel says Catholics need to do this in recognition of the truth and goodness Muslims possess as well as for the aspects of the faith Muslims and Christians share. Read more
Holland’s far right presidential candidate, Geert Wilders, wants to prevent the spread of Islam and Muslim “scum” from the Netherlands. Islam is an ideology that “poses an existential threat to core European values”, he says. Wilders wants to close all mosques, ban the Quran and seal the Dutch borders to asylum seekers and immigrants from Islamic countries. He Read more
An Iraqi archbishop has been caught by President Trump’s temporary ban on citizens from several Muslim countries from traveling to the US. Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, Iraq, was due to visit the US at the invitation of New Jersey politician, Chris Smith. He intended visiting Washington DC and New York. He was Read more