Islam news stories on Newser

Pakistan Blocks Twitter

Polly Davis Doig — Sun, 20 May 2012 07:56:06 CDT

Pakistan has decided it's had about 139 characters too many of Twitter, yanking the microblogging site over material it says is offensive to Islam, reports al-Jazeera . The material in question was promoting a Facebook contest to post images of the prophet Mohammed—which are considered blasphemous, even those framed in...

Islamist Website: Kill This Rapper, and We'll Pay $100K

Evann Gastaldo — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:47:58 CDT

Most rappers hope their songs will be a hit—not make them the target of one. That's the situation facing Shahin Najafi, an Iranian rapper living in Germany who's accused of having "grossly insulted" an important Shi'ite Muslim religious figure in one of his songs. He now has a $100,...

Saudi King Fires Adviser After Remarks on Women

Sat, 12 May 2012 07:34:15 CDT

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has dismissed an ultraconservative adviser after he publicly criticized reforms aimed at easing restrictions on women. Sheik Abdul-Mohsen al-Obeikan had told a local radio station that officials were working to Westernize and secularize the country's laws by "legalizing taboos." The "situation is a very dangerous one...

US Military Class Suggested 'Hiroshima' Answer to Islam

Rob Quinn — Fri, 11 May 2012 03:47:15 CDT

A course for American military officers took a position on Islam so extreme that it sounds like the invention of al-Qaeda propagandists. Future military leaders were taught that to protect America, "total war" on all the world's Muslims may be necessary, and holy cities like Mecca may have to be...

Uproar Erupts Over Michigan 'Honor Killing' Meeting

Mary Papenfuss — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 02:51:46 CDT

A Michigan conference called to discuss a possible "honor killing" and women in Islam has triggered an uproar from local Muslims and civil rights groups who say it's an excuse to bash Islam. The " Jessica Mokdad Human Rights Conference on Honor Killings " in Dearborn—home to a thriving American Muslim...

US Home to 74% More Mosques Since 2000

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:55:47 CST

Even as protests against new mosques got quite a bit of attention, their numbers in the US grew from 1,209 in 2000 to 2,106 in 2010, USA Today reports. And most of the leaders of those Islamic places of worship believe America is not hostile to Islam, according...

Malaysia Cancels Concert Over Erykah Badu's Tattoo

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 10:34:28 CST

Erykah Badu's Malaysia concert has been canceled, and it's all thanks to the singer's tattoo. A newspaper photo revealed that Badu has the Arabic word for "Allah" inked on her upper body; officials called it "an insult to Islam" and canceled tomorrow's planned performance in Kuala Lumpur. The newspaper that...

Oliver Stone's Son Converts to Islam

John Johnson — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:28:21 CST

Oliver Stone's filmmaking son has converted to Islam in Iran, reports AFP . "The conversion to Islam is not abandoning Christianity or Judaism, which I was born with," 27-year-old Sean Stone told the news agency. "It means I have accepted Mohammad and other prophets." In the ceremony, he became Shiite and...

More Than 1K NYPD Cops Trained With Anti-Muslim Film

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:24:17 CST

Not one, not two, but at least 1,489 NYPD officers viewed an anti-Muslim film during their training, the New York Times reports in a disturbing look at The Third Jihad . The film, funded by a nonprofit group, features images including Muslim terrorists shooting Christians and a doctored photo of...