Turks Examine Their Muslim Devotion After Poll Says Faith Could Be Waning
NPRTurkey has been governed for most of the past two decades by a party steeped in political Islam. So when a pollster recently surveyed personal beliefs, there was a finding that stood out: Levels of piety were flat, or even declining, compared with a decade ago.
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A far-right politician converted to Islam. It’s not as surprising as it sounds.
The Washington PostKhaled Diab examines the fascinating case of Joram van Klaveren.
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No court has used it, but SC lawmaker continues lonely push to ban Sharia law
The News & ObserverState Sen. Larry Grooms last month introduced a bill to prevent the use of “foreign law” in South Carolina. The country’s largest group of legal professionals opposes the effort, which the Council on American-Islamic Relations says is part of a thinly veiled national movement to demonize the Islamic faith.
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Iraqi Christians fear returning home, wary of Shiite militia
AP NewsThirty years ago, the population of Bartella, Iraq was entirely Christian. Demographic changes over the decades left the town split between Christians and an ethnic group known as Shabak, who are largely Shiites. When the Islamic State group overran the town and the rest of northern Iraq in 2014, Bartella’s entire population fled — since both communities were persecuted by the radicals.
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China rejects Turkey criticism on Uighurs, denies poet's death
Al JazeeraAnkara had condemned Beijing’s treatment of its Muslim ethnic Uighur minority, calling it a ‘shame for humanity’.
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Iran’s revolution bridged sectarian rift before deepening it
AP NewsIslamists initially saw Iran’s revolution as the start of an effort to push out the strongman Arab nationalism that had taken hold across the Middle East.
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Forty years on from the Iranian Revolution, could the country be at risk of another one?
The ConversationIran’s ruling clergy are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1979 revolution, during which Shi’ite Islamists, led by religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini, toppled Mohammad Reza Shah’s secular monarchy.
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US Muslim leaders call on China to end persecution of Uighurs
Religious News ServiceMore than 130 American Muslim leaders and scholars have signed an open letter condemning the Chinese government’s continued persecution and detention of the mostly Muslim Uighur minority.
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Conflict over Shiite and Sunni endowments erupts in Mosul
Al-MonitorSunni endowments in Mosul are complaining about Shi’ite control over the city’s religious sites.
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Rohingya activists bemoan failure of Muslim countries to address Myanmar crisis
Middle East EyeActivists are accusing Muslim-majority governments of neglecting Rohingya after Riyadh deports another set of refugees to Bangladesh.
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Australia called to act against Chinese detention of Uighurs
Al JazeeraMembers of the Uighur Muslim community in Australia are renewing calls for action from the government amid reports that a number of Australian permanent residents are effectively trapped in China’s Xinjiang province.
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The Religious-Liberty Claim the Justices Didn’t Want to Hear
The AtlanticIf the free-exercise clause allows you not to bake and sell a cake, argues Wajahat Ali, maybe it should also allow you to have an imam at your own execution.
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Uighurs to China: Post a video of my missing relatives, too
AP NewsMembers of the Uighur Muslim ethnic group have launched a social media campaign calling on China to post videos of their relatives who have disappeared into a vast system of internment camps.
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Revolution at 40: Qom seminary at crossroads over clergy’s future in Iran
Al-MonitorForty years after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the holy city of Qom is once again caught in a struggle over the future of the seminary — and perhaps the country. But while the essence of the clash may not be novel, the camps — and indeed the broader composition of the seminary — have vastly changed.
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In Pictures: Iran celebrates 40 years of Islamic revolution
Al JazeeraAfter four decades of political and economic difficulties, Iranians put on a brave face and vow to defend the Islamic Republic.
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Christian student challenged a school history lesson on Islam and lost in court
The Washington PostA federal appeals court in Maryland has sided with the school district after the family of a high school student who claims she was “forced to convert” to Islam in a history class that “denigrated her Christian beliefs.”
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Islam vs Societal Ethics: Scholars on How Public Perception Affects Religion
SputniknewsSpeaking to Sputnik, UK researcher Hamza Andreas Tzortzis and US academic Joshua Landis shared their views on the pontiff’s journey and the results of a YouGov poll on Americans and Europeans’ attitudes towards Islam.
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Explainer: factors that foster conflict in Nigeria’s Kaduna state
The ConversationNigeria’s Kaduna State has been embroiled in conflict for decades. The violence has its roots in ethnic tensions between the state’s Muslim and non-Muslim populations, says Damilola Agbalajobi.
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Gay Muslim comic gone from Instagram after Indonesia warning
AP News An Instagram account that published comic strips depicting the struggles of gay Muslims in Indonesia has disappeared following a frenzy of outrage online in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
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Bangladesh proposes safe zone in Myanmar for Rohingya refugees
Al JazeeraForeign Minister AK Abdul Momen has called on Russia, China and India to help Dhaka in tackling the Rohingya refugee crisis.
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Forty years for a mosque killer, when murderers of white victims get 75?
The GuardianEmer O’Toole argues that Canadian justice is rightly in the dock over inconsistencies involving the race or religion of victims.
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MIT faces backlash over invited speaker’s anti-Muslim comments
Religion News Service Indian-American and Muslim groups are pushing the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to revoke a speaking invitation given to the BJP’s Subramanian Swamy over his record of anti-Muslim remarks.
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Cubs’ Theo Epstein confronted Joe Ricketts’ hate head on — and it was very good
Chicago Sun-Times“If you want to win in baseball,” says Epstein, “you have to embrace diversity fully. Being around people from different backgrounds has to help you increase your empathy and understand people, or else you won’t last long in this game. That’s honestly what I think of when I think about baseball.’’
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Why some young Muslim women are leaning into arranged marriages
Religion News ServiceThe co-founders of a “halal” dating tool claim that at least 15,000 users have gotten married after meeting through Muzmatch. And dozens of other options, from Salaam Swipe to Minder, are gaining traction among young Muslims looking to find a life partner while staying within the bounds of their faith.
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Iranian revolution: world’s reactions show that four decades on, tensions remain as high as ever
The ConversationThe 40th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic revolution in February 1979 was greeted by an extraordinary tweet from US president Donald Trump. In both English and Arabic, it referred to “40 years of failure” and said the Iranian people deserved a “much brighter future”.
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A milestone in the complex dialogue between Islam and Christianity
Middle East EyePope Francis and Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb have signed a declaration forging a united front against attempts to manipulate religion.
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Indonesia’s Next Election Is in April. The Islamists Have Already Won.
The New York TimesIndonesian novelist Eka Kurniawan explains how religion has come to dominate politics in the world’s largest Muslim democracy.
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How Islam in the West is influenced from abroad
The EconomistThis article, part of an Economist Special Report on Islam and the West, explains how foreign funding of Europe’s mosques is a mixed blessing.
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The politics of Shīʿīsm: New religious challenges to Iran's theocracy
ABCForty years after the establishment of an “Islamic Republic” Naser Ghobadzadeh observes that Iran’s ruling clergy have lost their unrivalled position in the country’s politico-religious landscape, and are struggling to compete with two other religious discourses which undermine and challenge the ruling clergy’s own religious and political credibility.
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The West is encouraging a vicious war between Sunnis and Shias — that's the real truth about Iran and Saudi Arabia
The IndependentFor correspondent Robert Fisk, it is pitiful to listen to Netanyahu blathering on about ‘the last anniversary of the revolution [the Iranians] will celebrate’ if Iran attacks Tel Aviv. It is equally pitiful to listen to a Revolutionary Guards commander claiming that Iran could demolish entire cities in Israel if the US attacked Iran.
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Anti-Semitism has spread through the Islamic world like cancer
The Washington PostFareed Zakaria examines the complex and largely misunderstood history of anti-Semitism in the Islamic world, and says now as much as any other time, we should all be aware of it.
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Celebrating Valentine’s Day isn’t always straightforward for some Muslims – here’s why
The IndependentMuslim communities of the UK, especially young people, have organically developed a sense of cultural maturity that would be unimaginable amongst earlier generations.
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My Father Faces the Death Penalty. This Is Justice in Saudi Arabia.
The New York TimesAbdullah Alaoudh says the kingdom’s judiciary is being pushed far from any semblance of the rule of law and due process.
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Meet Sadaf Jaffer, America’s first female Muslim mayor
Religion News ServiceLast month Sadaf Jaffer was sworn in as mayor of a New Jersey town just north of Princeton. She is America’s first female Muslim mayor and the first Pakistani-American one as well. She holds a Ph.D. from Harvard in Islam, gender studies and South Asian history.
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Blinded by the Israel-Palestine conflict, American Muslims and American Jews overlook the need for domestic unity
The Washington PostAn atmosphere of hatred, and debates about the U.S.-Israel alliance wrap Jewish and Muslim Americans into an international conflict at the cost of domestic unity. And we simply can’t afford that, says Elisabeth Becker-Topkara.
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Myanmar court sentences two to death for Muslim lawyer's murder
Al JazeeraA Yangon court sentenced two men to death for the 2017 murder of Ko Ni, an aide to Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
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Muslims, Christians in Nigeria pray for peaceful elections, disagree over candidates
Religion News ServiceAs elections draw near in the West African nation, thousands of worshipers continue to gather at mosques and churches to pray for peace, unity, and stability.
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The 30m Muslims living in Europe and America are gradually becoming integrated
The EconomistMuslims have had a significant presence in the West for three generations, says Nicolas Pelham. Though both sides remain wary, they are getting closer.
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Third of Britons believe Islam threatens British way of life, says report
The GuardianAnti-fascist organization Hope Not Hate’s annual “State of Hate” report, which will be launched on Monday, argues that anti-Muslim prejudice has replaced immigration as the key driver of the growth of the far right.
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Maydan editors selected some of the most thought-provoking news items on issues around Islam, religion and public-life for you. Let us know what you have been reading. Drop us a line at mediaroundups@themaydan.com!