Pope Encourages Dialogue and Mutual Respect with our Muslim Brothers...
Muslims are “our brothers” and Christians must cultivate “mutual respect” with them. These were the words of Pope Francis yesterday during the Angelus, a message which could signal a turnaround in the relationship between the Catholic Church and Islam. This changing tide can even be seen in the words used in addressing Muslims. This is the first Pope to have referred to Muslims in such direct and explicit terms as “our brothers”. This would have been practically unthinkable even up until the recent past. During the Angelus, the pontiff made reference to the message sent to Muslims to mark the end of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr feast, which was published on 2 August, which he asked to...
Dallas Mosque Feeds the Hungry at a ‘Day of Dignity’...
Not even the recent furlough of federal workers was enough to snuff out the latest community outreach effort of Masjid al Islam mosque in Dallas. On a weekend in early October, the mosque was participating in a national initiative known as the Day of Dignity, an annual event during which mosques feed, clothe, and equip people living in poverty. But federal workers who had been scheduled to attend to speak about the details of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) healthcare legislation had been forced to cancel because of a partial federal government shutdown. It was a blow to the mosque’s boosters, says Muhammad Abdul-Jami, treasurer of Masjid al Islam and coordinator of the Day of Dignity event. But...
UK Study: Muslim Students More Tolerant Than Non-Muslims...
“The Burnley Project: Evaluating the Contribution of Interfaith Dialogue to Community Cohesion” is a Home Office-funded study (August 2005 – July 2007) conducted by Lancaster University’s Department of Religious Studies, with a research team headed by Dr. Alan Billings and Dr. Andrew Holden. The study is funded in the wake of the Burnley riots. In contradiction to reports of Muslim youth being vulnerable to terrorist recruitment tactics, the Burnley Project, whose findings are to be published in April 2007 suggests that Muslim pupils in Lancashire are more moderate, forbearing, and tolerant than their white counterparts. In contradiction to reports of Muslim youth being vulnerable to terrorist recruitment tactics, the Burnley Project, whose findings are to be published this year, suggests that...
Muslim Students Help Stock Food Pantry at Episcopal Church...
Nameera Perwez picked up on her lesson fast, and she was eager to put it in action. This is the season for sacrifice in the Muslim community, and the fifth-grader from the Iqra Academy of Virginia had something in mind she wanted to share: food. For more than an hour Friday, she and 10 classmates from the small Muslim primary school in South Richmond were at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church helping sort canned goods and other nonperishable items they’d just donated to the community food pantry. “Other people need your help, and you need to help them,” Nameera said as she and classmate Fatin Salman prepared paper grocery bags. “You can’t be greedy. You need to help them.”...
Arnoud van Doorn to Produce Pro-Islam Film...
Arnoud van Doorn, a former member of the Dutch right-wing Freedom Party and producer of anti-Islam and blasphemous movie ‘Fitna’, has performed Haj this year after converting to Islam. He also plans to produce a pro-Islam film on the teachings of holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the Saudi Arabia daily Okaz reported. After arriving in the holy city of Makkah, he said now he was living as one of the most pleasant persons, and he will produce another film about the morals of the Holy Prophet. Van Doorn said he found in Islam what he was yearning for and what he had missed in his former life (before converting to Islam). He said he came to...
Jewish Filmmaker to Head Philadelphia Chapter of CAIR...
A national Muslim civil-rights organization has named a Jewish filmmaker as executive director of its Philadelphia chapter. In introducing himself online, Jacob Bender writes “Asalaam Alaykum!” (“peace be upon you” in Arabic), quotes the Quran, and states he brings “a decades-long commitment to promoting peace and justice between Abraham’s Children (Abna’ Ibrahim) and a long resume of professional accomplishments.” In announcing the appointment, the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) referred to Bender, its highest ranking non-Muslim, as “a bridge builder between the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities,” noting that, “in the wake of the attacks on September 11, 2001, Mr. Bender undertook a series of outreach initiatives to the Muslim community, both in the U.S. and abroad....
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