Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Pope Francis flies to Egypt Friday for a visit aimed at fostering reconciliation with the Muslim world against the backdrop of recent jihadist attacks on the Middle East’s biggest Christian community. The 80-year-old pontiff is due in Cairo around 1400 (1200 GMT) and his 27 …
Read More »German MPs approve partial burqa ban, security measures
Berlin, Germany | AFP | German lawmakers on Thursday approved a partial ban on the full-face burqa Islamic veil and a package of security measures aimed at preventing extremist attacks. The new laws follow several jihadist attacks, including a truck rampage through a Berlin Christmas market that claimed 12 lives, …
Read More »Saudi raises $9 bn in first global Islamic bond issue
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Saudi Arabia raised $9 billion in its first global Islamic bond issue, the government announced on Thursday, a move analysts say could ease pressure on foreign reserves. The sale of Islamic bonds, known as sukuks, comes after the kingdom in October turned to the …
Read More »Tunisia gives British call-to-prayer DJ year in jail
Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | A Tunisian court handed a British DJ a one year jail term in absentia Thursday after he played a remixed recording of the Muslim call to prayer, a judicial source said. Dax J, who left Tunisia after last weekend’s set in the northeastern town of Hammamet, …
Read More »Tunisia shuts nightclub over call to prayer remix
Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | Tunisian authorities have shut down a nightclub and begun an investigation after a DJ played a remix recording of the Muslim call to prayer, an official said Monday. A video, widely shared online since Sunday, shows clubbers dancing at the weekend to music that includes …
Read More »Tanzanians protest detention for 4 years without trial
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | AFP | Some 60 Tanzanian Muslims say they have been held for four years without trial on terror charges and have threatened to boycott any future hearings, local media reported Wednesday. The majority of the suspects, who include preachers, were arrested in the mainly Christian …
Read More »Canada lawmakers pass anti-Islamophobia motion
Canada | AFP | Lawmakers in Canada’s House of Commons, with strong encouragement from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, passed a motion Thursday paving the way for future measures to combat Islamophobia. The motion, which passed easily, asks the government to “recognize the need to quell the increasing public climate of …
Read More »ANALYSIS: Education is the biggest gap between Muslims, Christians
New study shows why it is important to bridge the gap Ugandan media has devised ways of getting the most out of readers whenever results of national examinations are released. This year, the most innovative was possibly The New Vision newspaper of Jan. 24. Under the rather ambiguous heading; “Decade’s …
Read More »Tabliq sect sues govt over mosque raids
The leadership of the Jamu-iyyat Daawat Ssalafiyyah Muslim Community has dragged government to the High Court in Kampala, challenging the manner in which its security operatives raided Nakasero Mosque at dawn on December 27, 2016. Led by the Nakasero Mosque Publicity Secretary Habib Buwembo, the man behind the ongoing Rubaga South …
Read More »Seeking halal contraception in Kenya’s Muslim northeast
Wajir, Kenya | AFP | Swaddled in colourful hijabs the women exchange puzzled looks and suppress embarrassed giggles. “You’re sure it’s halal?” asks one, peering at a collection of birth control pills, condoms and IUDs. Such everyday forms of contraception are little known and rarely seen in Kenya’s arid and …
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