Twenty Ahmadis still inside Bekasi Mosque- Religious minorities unite for freedom
The Jakarta Post: Next to a sealed Ahmadi mosque in Bekasi is a plot of land with leafy trees and damp earth. To get in one has to squeeze through […]
Court Documents Detail a Deadly Family Feud From Brooklyn to Pakistan
Source: NY Times. By MOSI SECRET She fled her husband and her family, sneaking out of her home in Pakistan to take sanctuary in the American Embassy, which then whisked her to a secret hide-out in the United States. The thrilling escape seemed to end the harrowing ordeal of Amina […]
Religious Freedom On The Decline Worldwide
Radio Free Europe WASHINGTON — Religious freedom is on the decline in many parts of the world, according to a new report from the U.S. State Department, which calls the trend “worrying.” The 2012 International Religious Freedom Report alsodocuments what it calls “a continued global increase in anti-Semitism.” Secretary of State […]
Hefajat leader -‘Siege was designed to oust govt’
Source: The Daily Star A top leader of Hefajat-e Islam has told a court in Dhaka that the group’s May 5 Dhaka siege programme was designed to oust the Awami League-led alliance government, according to court sources. The BNP-led 18-party opposition combine financed the programme, Hefajat Secretary General Junaid Babunagari […]
State Dept. Report Says Countries Have Repressed Religious Freedom With Laws
Source: NY Times By STEVEN LEE MYERS WASHINGTON — Countries around the world, including allies of the United States, have used laws on blasphemy and apostasy to suppress political opponents, the State Department said on Monday in an annual report chronicling a grim decline in religious freedom that has resulted in rising […]
Islam could be dominant UK religion in 10 years – census analysis
Source: RT One in 10 people under 25 are Muslim, while Christianity is in decline, the 2011 UK census reveals. An explosion in the Muslim population and an aging Christian […]
Church of Scotland revises controversial Israel report
BBC: A controversial Church of Scotland report which questioned the divine right of Jews to the land of Israel has been rewritten. The 10-page discussion paper is due to be […]
Award of Tolerance for SBY the President of Indonesia
SBY ‘Undeserving’ of Award for Tolerance: Rights Group The Jakarta Post: An Indonesian human rights organization has blasted a US-based interfaith group’s decision to recognize President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for […]
PEW Report: Muslims back Islamic law, disagree on meaning
Source: USA Today By Cathy Lynn Grossman Devotion to Islam shapes the lives of most Muslims but their views on democracy, religious law known as sharia, and family life are varied, a new study finds. The research report on Muslim views on religion, politics and society was released Tuesday by The […]
Religion and Politics: A Combustible Concoction
Huff Post: by Michael Rohrer. Believing in God is a personal choice. One should be able to display it or not. Much the same as there are people who don’t feel comfortable with public displays of affection, there are people who don’t feel comfortable participating in public displays of religious […]
The Christian Theology and Nature of Jesus
Epigraph: “The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a Messenger; surely, Messengers like unto him had indeed passed away before him. And his mother was a truthful woman. They both […]
Islam Under Siege: Almost four weeks later Bekasi Ahmadis remain in sealed mosque
“The administration has to protect and enforce religious freedom for minority groups, instead of being one of the actors attacking religious minority groups,” The Jakarta Post, Jakarta: Twenty Ahmadiyah followers […]
Belief in God May Boost Treatment of Mental Illness- Harvard Study
Epigraph: “Those who believe, and whose hearts find comfort in the remembrance of Allah. Aye! it is in the remembrance of Allah that hearts can find comfort; ‘Those who believe and […]
Richard Dawkins and the Unbearable Smugness of Tweeting
Huff Post: by Scott Stephens. Dawkins’ views on religion are by now extremely well-known, to the point of cultural saturation thanks to the media’s fixation with him. Dawkins makes for good copy — that’s why journalists love him. But the dogmatic assertions and withering dismissals that made Dawkins a media-darling, […]
Bali festivals: tradition of co-existence
Bali festivals showcase interfaith bonding …………. Pointing to the recent incident where the Islamic Defender’s Front pressured the closure of three Ahmadiyah mosques in West Java, Suratna stated “ We […]
Bangladesh PM vows to maintain secularism
Source: Indian Express. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed to maintain secularism as Bangladesh’s state policy, amid countrywide celebrations Sunday to mark the Bengali New Year, seen by right-wing Islamists as […]
‘Objectionable’ publication: Four held on blasphemy, terrorism charges
The Express Tribune: LAHORE: Islampura police on Friday registered a case against six Ahmedis on blasphemy and terrorism charges and arrested four of them including a hawker and editor and […]
Islam Encourages Scientific Progress
by Harun Yahya HUFFINGTON POST The word Islam conjures up a disturbing picture in the minds of some people outside the Muslim world. It is a fact that many in the West imagine Islam to be a faith far removed from modern life, closed to science and that attaches no […]
Pope Benedict’s sudden retirement and St. Malachi’s prophecy
Source: Digital Journal By Eliott Elwas Pope Benedict XVI announced his retirement from the papacy in February 2013. The Pope’s sudden retirement reminds many biblical eschatologists of St. Malachi’s famous prophecies for the 112 Catholic popes. Pope Benedict XVI retired on Thursday, 28 February 2013. He is the first pope […]
Easter and new pope: Good time to renew dialogue
Source: New Haven Register, Connecticut. By Dr Sohail Husain As a child, I looked forward to March and April. Because that’s when our local pharmacy would sell Cadbury Creme Eggs. Being a Muslim, I had no idea at the time that the eggs were a symbol of Easter or even […]