http://www.religionnewsblog.com Religion news about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:40:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23868/muslim-terrorist-nalid-malik-husan http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23868/muslim-terrorist-nalid-malik-husan#comments Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:49:39 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23868 An American imam who once led the mosque attended by Nalid Malik Hasan, the man suspected of shooting 13 people dead at the Fort Hood military base in Texas, has said the army major did not seem to be an extremist.

But a former aremy colleague quoted Hasan as saying Muslims should "rise up" and attack Americans in retaliation for the US war in Iraq. ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23868/muslim-terrorist-nalid-malik-husan/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23856/mohammad-movie http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23856/mohammad-movie#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:07:04 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23856 An epic film about Islam's Prophet Mohammad backed by the producer of "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Matrix" is being planned with the aim of "bridging cultures".

Movie producer Barrie Osborne told Reuters, "The film will educate people about the true meaning of Islam."]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23856/mohammad-movie/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23853/islamic-hate-group-calls-cancels-pro-sharia-demonstration http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23853/islamic-hate-group-calls-cancels-pro-sharia-demonstration#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:08:02 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23853 A demonstration of Muslim hardliners calling for sharia law to be imposed in Britain was cancelled in London over the weekend amid planned counter-protests by democratic Muslims.

Anjem Choudary, leader of the radical Islamic group Al Muhajiroun, said that organisers of the Islam4UK demo had cancelled the march from the Houses of Parliament to Trafalgar Square on 31 October 2009 because of security concerns.

The Islamic Society of Britain, which was planning to join other organisations in staging a "dignified, non-violent" counter-demonstration, hailed the cancellation as a "great success".]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23853/islamic-hate-group-calls-cancels-pro-sharia-demonstration/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23851/blogger-hani-nazeer-forced-islam-conversion http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23851/blogger-hani-nazeer-forced-islam-conversion#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:03:34 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23851 A Coptic Christian blogger in Egypt entering his second year of prison without charge is being pressured to convert to Islam in exchange for his freedom, his attorneys said.

On Oct. 3, 2008, Hani Nazeer, a 28-year-old high school social worker from Qena, Egypt and author of the blog “Karz El Hob” (“Love Cherries”), was arrested by Egypt’s State Security Investigations (SSI) and sent to Burj Al-Arab prison.

Although police never charged him with any crime, Nazeer has been detained for more than a year under Egypt’s administrative imprisonment law.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23851/blogger-hani-nazeer-forced-islam-conversion/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23825/pakistan-police-torture-christians-arrested-in-islamic-attack http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23825/pakistan-police-torture-christians-arrested-in-islamic-attack#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:19:07 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23825 Two Christians in Gojra, Pakistan who allegedly fired warning shots as an Islamist mob approached that burned seven Christians to death on Aug. 1 told Compass they were tortured after police arrested them.

From his jail cell, Naveed Masih told Compass that he and his brother were taken to the Police Training Centre in Choong, where they were kept in illegal detention for 18 days and were tortured “in so many ways ruthlessly and in inhumane ways.” ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23825/pakistan-police-torture-christians-arrested-in-islamic-attack/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23823/judge-orders-fathima-rifqa-bary-to-return-to-ohio http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23823/judge-orders-fathima-rifqa-bary-to-return-to-ohio#comments Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:00:15 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23823 Fathima Rifqa Bary, the Ohio teenage runaway whose story of Muslim-to-Christianity conversion and charges of family abuse sparked debates about personal freedom, is going back to her home state.

Meanwhile a taped interview has been released in which the girl told Florida investigators about her religious conversion, explained how and why she ended up in Florida and detailed a fearful life with her Muslim family, including the fact she was supposed to be in an arranged marriage.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23823/judge-orders-fathima-rifqa-bary-to-return-to-ohio/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23817/couple-blackmail-muslim-girl-over-western-dress http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23817/couple-blackmail-muslim-girl-over-western-dress#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:44:35 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23817 A couple blackmailed a Muslim girl by threatening to show her family pictures of her in Western dress.

The woman, in her 20s, wore a veil in public in line with her parents' strict beliefs.

But she changed into a T-shirt and jeans for an "innocent" but secret seaside day trip with Emal Ismaeli and Joanne Richards.

Asylum seeker, Ismaeli 34, and ex-wife Richards, 22, claimed she owed £7,000 they lent during their friendship. They threatened to show the photos to her family and fiancé unless she paid them back, Wolverhampton crown court was told.

The pair, from Lye, West Mids, admitted blackmail. Ismaeli was jailed for 15 months. Richards got 12 months.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23817/couple-blackmail-muslim-girl-over-western-dress/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23816/baby-quran-hoax http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23816/baby-quran-hoax#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:36:03 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23816 A "miracle" baby has brought a kind of mystical hope to people in Russia's mostly Muslim southern fringe who are increasingly desperate in the face of Islamist violence.

From hunchbacked grandmas to schoolboys, hundreds of pilgrims lined up this week in blazing sunshine to get a glimpse of 9-month-old baby Ali Yakubov, on whose body they say verses from the Koran appear and fade every few days. [video]]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23816/baby-quran-hoax/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23811/faith-based-council-muslim-celebrity-dalia-mogehed http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23811/faith-based-council-muslim-celebrity-dalia-mogehed#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:08:29 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23811 Dalia Mogahed, a Muslim, is one of 25 people President Obama tapped to advise him on faith issues. She may have met the president exactly once, but to Muslims, she's a celebrity — thanks to the headscarf, or hijab, she wears every day.

Muslims everywhere see her voluntary appointment as a backstage pass to the White House. She hears everything from "My father is in jail, and I want you to ask Obama to pardon him" to "I need a visa," she says.

What Mogahed actually does for the president is work on his faith-based council. They're supposed to come up with ideas on how the American government can partner with communities and social groups. What she brings to the table is research from her polling of Muslims at her day job with Gallup.

Mogahed says she's not there to represent Islam.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23811/faith-based-council-muslim-celebrity-dalia-mogehed/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23797/taliban-threatens-to-kill-more-christians http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23797/taliban-threatens-to-kill-more-christians#comments Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:58:45 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23797 In a letter sent to the Christian community in the northeastern city of Sargodha, Taliban militants said Christians should convert to Islam, pay an Islamic tax imposed on religious minorities, known as 'Jizya tax', or leave the country.

If Christians refuse to accept these choices, Christians “will be killed, their property and homes will be burnt to ashes and their women treated as sex slaves,” said the letter.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23797/taliban-threatens-to-kill-more-christians/feed 0