American Fatwa

" A fatwa issued in August 2007 by the secretary-general of the Assembly of Muslim Jurists in America (AMJA), Dr. Sheikh Salah Al-Sawy, states that marriage between a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim man is forbidden and invalid, and that children born of such a union are...

al-Aqsa: A Simmering Intifada

Previously, I've written about the issue of Israeli work on the al-Aqsa mosque. The Israelis say that the repairs are necessary to maintain the structural integrity of the buildings, but many Muslims believe just the opposite. They don't see a work of restoration, but a...

Arab haj pilgrims outraged at Saddam execution on Religious…

Arab pilgrims in Mecca expressed outrage on Saturday that Iraqi authorities had chosen to execute former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on a major religious holiday, saying it was an insult to Muslims. Sunni Arabs at the haj were shocked at Saddam's hanging which followed his...

An interview with Salah Choudhury, who faces death in Bangladesh

In the New York Sun on Friday, Daniel Freedman interviewed Salah Choudhury, the Bangladeshi writer and journalist who is on trial for, inter alia, "praising Jews and Christians" and "spying for Israel".  It is a frightening situation: the court can condemn him to...

Another journalist, another Muslim state

Pieter Dorsman at Peaktalk notes the case, in Bangladesh, of the journalist Salah Choudhury. Bangladesh is generally considered a relatively "moderate" Muslim country, but it is also one in which radical Islamist parties and movements are gaining increasing influence....