Muslims
Woman in face veil detained as France enforces ban
April 11, 2011A woman has been detained in France for wearing an Islamic veil across her face, after a law banning the garment in public came into force. Police said she was held not because of her veil but for taking part in an unauthorised protest against the ban...
Increased religiosity hasn’t cut share of marriages between Muslims and Christians
June 30, 2010by Paul Goble The share of marriages between Christians and Muslims in Tatarstan has not changed despite the increasing religiosity of the population, according to a Muslim leader there, but the consequences of these marriages now for the country&rsquo...
Kazan Tatars launch websites to promote modernist Islam
June 16, 2010by Paul Goble Tatar Muslims, for more than a century distinguished by their commitment to modernist Islam, have launched two websites to promote that understanding of the faith both within their republic and across the Russian Federation, even as the...
Newly crowned miss USA has family roots in South Lebanon
May 24, 2010By Paige Kollock The new Miss USA, Rima Fakih, has family roots in a Shi'ite town in south Lebanon. Despite some of the controversy in the wake of her selection, many Lebanese say they are happy with her win, that she has brought honor to Lebanon, and...
Rima Fakih, Arab American Miss USA, at center of controversy
May 21, 2010By David Byrd For the first time since it was founded in 1952, the Miss USA beauty pageant has crowned an Arab American as its winner. Twenty-four-year old Rima Fakih - who was born in Lebanon - has been at the center of controversy since winning the...
France Moves to Impose Ban on Burqa
June 19, 2009By Lisa Bryant The French government says it may impose restrictions on wearing the burqa, or face-and-body-covering veil, if a parliamentary probe finds the garment degrading for women. The burqa debate is dividing politicians and the Muslim community...
Moscow Wants to Unite Muslims of the Post-Soviet Space
June 18, 2009By Paul Goble For the first time since the end of the Soviet Union, Moscow this week is hosting senior Muslim leaders from eight post-Soviet states to discuss the formation of a coordinating council among them, a step Russian government officials...
Orthodox Christians, Muslims in Russia Split on Marriages
January 20, 2009by Paul Goble Many Russian Orthodox priests believe that "mixed" marriages between committed Christians and committed Muslims are unlikely to work, while many Muslim leaders are convinced that such marriages are not only possible but...
Millions of Muslims begin hajj pilgrimage in Mecca
December 29, 2006Riyadh (dpa) - An estimated three million Muslims from around the world began the annual hajj pilgrimage in Islam's holiest city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia Thursday. After donning the traditional white robes of the hajj the pilgrims set out from Mecca...