Interfaith Program Joins Muslims and Jews in Prayer...
On Feb. 7, at Shabbat services at Temple Beth Hillel (TBH) — a Reform shul in Valley Village — a small, attractive woman sang religious songs she had coauthored. In a sweet, self-assured voice — with undertones of depth and strength — Ani Zonneveld, brimming with heartfelt energy, sang about light and prayer and soul, words the 50 or 60 congregants had often heard during Jewish services. There was one word, however, that stuck out, one word that most weren’t used to hearing in the shul’s sanctuary: Allah. “Oh, Allah, increase my light everywhere. … Oh, Allah, Oh, Allah.” TBH Senior Rabbi Sarah Hronsky — flanked by overhead screens projecting Zonneveld’s lyrics — suggested that congregants, if they...
Muslims in Brazil
Muhammad Mumtaz Brazil, a country of 200 million people, is well known for its leading economy in the world. It is famed for its diversity in culture, people, faith, religions and much more. The constitution of Brazil adopted a secular government system, where people are free to choose and practice their religions. There is no official religion in Brazil; majority of Brazilian follow Roman Catholicism. Various other religions, including Islam, are also practiced in the country. Islam is one of the earliest religions in Brazil. It is believed that the earliest significant Muslim presence was the result of African slaves in the 16th century. In the 19th century, a large number of immigrants traveled to Brazil from the...
Islamic Scholars Call for Access to Vaccinate Children...
Amman, Feb.27 (Petra) – Protection against diseases is obligatory and admissible under the Islamic Shariah, and that any actions which do not support these preventive measures and cause harm to humanity are un-Islamic, Islamic scholars said Thursday. During the first meeting of the Global Islamic Advisory Group for polio eradication, religious leaders denounced violence against health workers involved in polio vaccination campaigns, saying that such violence caused lasting harm to children and communities. The scholars led by the Grand Imam of the Holy Mosque of Mecca, adopted a strong “Jeddah Declaration” and a focused six-month Action Plan to address critical challenges facing polio eradication efforts in the few remaining polio-endemic parts of the Islamic world: a ban on...
Muslims Share Same Sentiments with Catholics on Assisted Suicide...
TORONTO – There’s about one million Canadians who know suicide is wrong, assisted suicide turns doctors into murderers, the state has an obligation to protect life until natural death and that not everything in medicine depends on the freely chosen wishes of the patient. These people are not Catholic. They’re Muslim. Striking similarities between Catholic and Muslim bioethics were on show at a Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute lecture by Dr. Shabbir Alibhai at Toronto’s University of St. Michael’s College March 5. Alibhai practises geriatric and family medicine within Toronto’s University Health Network, but he’s also a cancer researcher and published bioethicist. There are differences with Catholic bioethics, often in approach or emphasis, but on end-of-life issues Islamic scholars...
London Jews Host Islam Awareness Week
LONDON – Joining hands to help poor and needy, a London Jewish group announced plans to host Islam awareness week to showcase some of the social action projects taking place across the country. “It seemed appropriate to use JW3 as a venue to launch Islam Awareness Week this year,” Julie Siddiqui, executive director of Islamic Society of Britain, told Jewish News on Wednesday, February 19. “The Jewish community have done a brilliant job at putting faith into real action with projects that really help others who need it.” Culminating on years of positive cooperation between the two faiths, this year’s Islam Awareness week will revisit the most important achievements in offering help to the community. Siddiqui – who...
Haitians Find ‘Peace, Guidance’ in Islam...
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Schoolteacher Darlene Derosier lost her home in the 2010 earthquake that devastated her country. Her husband died a month later after suffering what she said was emotional trauma from the quake. She and her two daughters now live in tents outside the capital of Port-au-Prince, surrounded by thousands of others made homeless and desperate by the disaster. What’s helped pull her through all the grief, she said, has been her faith, but not of the Catholic, Protestant or even Voodoo variety that have predominated in this island country. Instead, she’s converted to a new religion here, Islam, and built a small neighbourhood mosque out of cinderblocks and plywood, where some 60 Muslims pray daily. Islam...
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