Islam

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Foes Gear to Fight New Bid By Ex-Islamist to Lead Turkey

Critics fear extreme religious shift for nation

(Newser) - Turkish secularists are bracing for another clash over the presidential candidacy of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, a devout Muslim and one-time Islamist party member who critics fear plans to enforce extreme religious principals in public life. The last time he was nominated as the ruling party's candidate, just three months...

Muslim Creationists Damn Darwin
Muslim Creationists Damn Darwin
Aug 2, 2007 6:31 PM CDT

Muslim Creationists Damn Darwin

Turkish anti-evolution tract distributed worldwide

(Newser) - A Muslim group in Turkey is widely disseminating a 768-page tome that slams evolution and promotes Islam-inflected creationism, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The Council of Europe has issued warnings—particularly to schools—against the "Atlas of Creation," which has been published in 80 countries and 59 languages.

Muslim Donut Franchisee Fights Pork

Owner told to serve breakfast sandwiches or lose stores

(Newser) - The owner of two Chicago-area Dunkin' Donuts is locked in a legal dispute with the company over conflicts between his religious beliefs and his breakfast menu, the Chicago Tribune reports. A franchisee since 1979, Walid Elkhatib has never served pork products; it wasn't until 2002 that Dunkin' Donuts insisted he...

Hitchens: Stop Fearing (and Coddling) Islam

'Threat of violence' behind Muslims' demand for religious respect

(Newser) - Unflappable contrarian Christopher Hitchens asks why he's accused of "insulting 1.5 billion Muslims" whenever he challenges their faith in public. Arguing that no other group takes such umbrage when its empirical beliefs are questioned, the militant secularist concludes that the appeal to Muslims' feelings has an "unmistakable...

France Shuts Islamic Camp for Kids
France Shuts Islamic Camp
for Kids
Jul 25, 2007 8:30 AM CDT

France Shuts Islamic Camp for Kids

Religious regimen was 'excessively rigorous,' officials say

(Newser) - French officials have sent home 96 children after determining that they were subjected to an "excessively rigorous" religious regimen at summer camp in the Vosges mountains, reports AFP. "We had information that children were being physically threatened," said one official. One child called police to say he...

Turkish Elections Boost PM
Turkish Elections
Boost PM
Jul 22, 2007 6:00 PM CDT

Turkish Elections Boost PM

Islamist-rooted, pro-EU ruling party sees mandate in results

(Newser) - Turkey’s ruling party dominated parliamentary elections today despite its perceived threat to the nation’s entrenched secularism. The elections were moved up after the secular opposition foiled PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan's attempt to install an ex-Islamist ally as president. The results, seen as a mandate for the AKP, also...

Pope Pounds Protestants
Pope Pounds Protestants
Jul 11, 2007 5:32 AM CDT

Pope Pounds Protestants

(Newser) - In a remarkable nod to the 16th century, Pope Benedict XVI’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which he once led, said of Protestant denominations, 'it is nevertheless difficult to see how the title of 'Church' could possibly be attributed to them." The document restates Benedict's position...

Radicals Kill Pakistani Colonel
Radicals Kill Pakistani Colonel
Jul 8, 2007 11:00 AM CDT

Radicals Kill Pakistani Colonel

Mosque crisis continues, as Islamic students remain barricaded inside

(Newser) - A Pakistani colonel leading an attempt to breach the walls of a mosque where Islamic students are holed up has been shot and killed, the BBC reports. Since last Tuesday, when the standoff began, 20 people are believed to have died. Pakistan's President Musharraf has said the Islamic fighters "...

Pakistan Mosque Battle Kills 9
Pakistan Mosque Battle Kills 9
Jul 3, 2007 4:35 PM CDT

Pakistan Mosque Battle Kills 9

Islamic students clash with security forces in shootout; 140 wounded

(Newser) - A heavy gun battle between Pakistan's government and armed students at a radical mosque has left nine dead, the BBC reports. The melee lasted throughout the day as soldiers traded fire with militant students at Islamabad's controversial Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque. Among the dead were three female students, a...

Egypt Suffers From a Fatwa Free-for-All

Urine-drinking, breastfeeding edicts jeopardize religious authority

(Newser) - The credibility of fatwas, the religious rulings that guide daily life for Muslims, is being strained in Egypt, the New York Times reports.  A flap ensued recently when one authority ruled in favor of  drinking the Prophet Mohammed’s urine and another approved co-ed workplaces if the women breast-fed...

Face It: Court Approves Full Veil at Cairo U

Panel lifts ban imposed for security

(Newser) - Women at the American University in Cairo cannot be barred from wearing the traditional Islamic veil covering the entire face, or niqab, a court has ruled after a lengthy battle, reports the BBC. While some hailed the ruling as a blow for religious freedom, others blasted it as a dangerous...

Pope Backtracks on Muslims
Pope Backtracks on Muslims
May 29, 2007 5:31 AM CDT

Pope Backtracks on Muslims

Benedict rebuilds demoted department the leads dialog with Islamic world

(Newser) - The Pope applied some salve to wounded relations with the Muslim world yesterday after neglecting and then appearing to slander Islam in a speech last fall. In a surprising reversal, Benedict XVI announced he is restoring the Vatican department responsible for Muslim affairs, which he demoted in importance last year.

Tolerant Swiss to Ban Minarets?
Tolerant Swiss to Ban Minarets?
May 28, 2007 9:57 PM CDT

Tolerant Swiss to Ban Minarets?

(Newser) - The Swiss have gone NIMBY (not in my back yard) on minarets.  While Switzerland's constitution guarantees freedom of religion, a number of leading politicians want to ban them via a referendum this fall.  There are now exactly two minarets in all of Switzerland.

Iran Charges American Scholar
Iran Charges American Scholar
May 22, 2007 11:20 AM CDT

Iran Charges American Scholar

Imprisoned academic accused of working against government

(Newser) - The Iranian government has charged an Iranian-American scholar already in custody in Tehran with working for "the soft-toppling of the country." Haleh Esfandiari, 67, was arrested May 8 after being under house arrest since January. The accusations come just days before American and Iranian diplomats are to meet...

Nigerian Prez Accuses VP of Death Threat

President's mind full of "cobwebs of juju," replies former #2

(Newser) - The president of Nigeria and his former vice president are locked in a jihad of words, after the latter allegedly consulted Islamic holy men about when the former would die, and assured other ministers the date was not far off. President Olesugun Obasanjo decried the treasonous consultation, but added that...

Lebanon Seeks Aid in Fighting Islamists

Minister asks foreign governments for cash as troops shell refugee camp

(Newser) - Lebanon's finance minister appealed to Arab and Western governments yesterday, begging for money and supplies to help fight militants in a Palestinian refugee camp. Thirty Lebanese troops, 15 members of the group Fatah al-Islam, and more than 25 civilians have been killed in two days of clashes.

Between The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea

Tension between secularism, democracy roils Turkey

(Newser) - If the choice is between somewhat more religion in public life and democracy in Turkey, choose the latter, argues the Economist. The ruling party's choice of an Islamist candidate, Abdullah Gul, for president set off a familiar confrontation between the Turkish military and the political establishment. The Economist asks, "...

Turkish PM Backs Election Overhaul
Turkish PM Backs Election Overhaul
May 1, 2007 7:38 PM CDT

Turkish PM Backs Election Overhaul

Court annuls vote with sole Islamist candidate for president

(Newser) - Turkey's prime minister put his weight behind a new, popular presidential vote, hours after a court invalidated Friday's election by parliament. The secular opposition had boycotted that vote because of the Islamist background of the lone candidate, foreign minister Abdullah Gul.

Million Turks Rally for Secularism
Million Turks Rally for Secularism
Apr 30, 2007 6:35 AM CDT

Million Turks Rally for Secularism

(Newser) - Secular Turks staged an enormous rally yesterday amid a constitutional crisis over the election of the next president, the BBC reports. As many as a million protesters turned out in Istanbul to oppose ruling-party candidate Abdullah Gul, who they're afraid is orchestrating an Islamic coup in the country even as...

Gunmen Execute 23 In Kurdish Sect
Gunmen Execute 23 In Kurdish Sect
Apr 22, 2007 3:54 PM CDT

Gunmen Execute 23 In Kurdish Sect

Yazidis pulled from bus and shot in reprisal for stoning

(Newser) - Gunmen in northern Iraq stopped a bus carrying workers home from a textile factory  today, identified 23 members of a tiny religious sect on board, and shot them to death. The bus was filled with Christians and Yazidis, a mostly Kurdish sect that worships an angel, the AP reports.

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