Free Republic

The leaders of Moscow's 1.5 million strong Muslim community say they desperately need more places of worship. But a plan to build a new mosque has run into local opposition which is being fuelled by nationalists calling for a "clean Moscow" without Muslims and foreigners. Small trees are supposed to be keeping the Muslims out of Tekstilshchiki, a district in south eastern Moscow. A young man sets to work with his shovel, pushing it into the earth with a determined kick. Then he places a seedling into the hole and sprinkles earth over it. Using her watering can, Maria Sotova...

United States President Barack Obama has extended his best wishes to Muslims in America and around the world and announced that he will host a fast-breaking dinner at the White House this week. “I want to extend my best wishes to the 1.5 billion Muslims around the world – and your families and friends – as you welcome the beginning of Ramadan,” Obama said in an official statement issued by the US State Department. “Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality. And here in the United States, Ramadan is a reminder that Islam...

SNIPPET - quote: Obama's Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism speaks out against "Islamophobia" If Hannah Rosenthal really wants to end "Islamophobia," here is an easy way. She can call upon Muslims to: 1. Focus their indignation on Muslims committing violent acts in the name of Islam, not on non-Muslims reporting on those acts. 2. Renounce definitively not just "terrorism," but any intention to replace the U.S. Constitution (or the constitutions of any non-Muslim state) with Sharia even by peaceful means. In line with this, clarify what is meant by their condemnations of the killing of innocent people by...

Muslim praise for Obama dries up a year after Cairo speech By Miret el Naggar and Margaret Talev, McClatchy Newspapers Miret El Naggar And Margaret Talev, Mcclatchy Newspapers 47 mins ago CAIRO , Egypt_A year ago Friday, President Barack Obama stood in Cairo and vowed "a new beginning" in a speech about how he'd change U.S. relations with the Muslim world. Egyptian vendors sold T-shirts portraying Obama in King Tut regalia, and Muslims throughout the region thrilled at his middle name: Hussein. Now, many Muslims in Egypt and the rest of the Middle East say they're dismayed that the promise...

SNIPPET: "Do we arrest potential terrorists too early and allow them to plead to lesser charges? Or do we wait and risk an attack?" SNIPPET: "The case raises important questions about how domestic terrorism should be fought. Should law enforcement wait until a threat becomes “imminent” before acting? If not, then at what point should law enforcement intervene given that much of a plot’s details may remain unknown? It also raises important questions about just how much faith law enforcement can place in the cooperation of some Muslim clerics in terrorism-related cases." SNIPPET: "In either case, this means that law...

Terrorist’s name is Rian, number two in the Afghan Jemaah Islamiyah. Another terrorist dies and nine are arrested in the same police operation. Jakarta (AsiaNews) – A police officer was killed in Poso (Central Sulawesi) by a mob during the funeral of terrorist leader, an veteran of the Afghan Jemaah Islamiyahi¸ who died this morning in an Indonesian police operation. The officer, Brinda Dedi Hendra, died instantly in the cemetery. The incident began when a rumour spread among Muslims who had gathered for the funeral that a prominent Muslim community leader, an ustadt, had been killed by the police. Police...

The parents of a 16-year-old boy who was taken off life support after reportedly swallowing cocaine is expected to announce a $50 million lawsuit against the Dearborn Police Department Monday afternoon. Quantrell Pryor was stopped by Dearborn police Tuesday at Fairlane Mall when officers believed he was in a stolen vehicle, Local 4 reported. The vehicle was not stolen, but Pryor panicked and swallowed cocaine he had in his possession, according to the report. Pryor's mother said police admitted to seeing her son swallow the cocaine, but he was not taken to the hospital until hours later. The family has...

City Journal Our Islamic Fifth Column Farrukh Dhondy Autumn 2001 My first name gives rise to confusion. It’s a common Muslim name, so people I meet, or who read my byline, assume that I am of the faith. Most recently, in response to a column I write for an Indian paper, in which I confessed to having met a few terrorists in my time and attempted to analyze their limited grasp of the world, I received a lot of hate mail. Some of the e-mailers clearly thought I was a Muslim apostate and reminded me that the penalty for that...

By their actions and their words, those choosing to represent the Muslim community have only succeeded in bringing negative attention to those they speak for.