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In a sermon during Ramadan Sheikh Taj Aldin al-Hilali, Australia's most prominent Muslim cleric, said that women invite rape by not covering themselves head to toe: "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside ... and the cats come to eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats' or the uncovered meat's?" "The uncovered meat is the problem. If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would have occurred" … Australia's Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward said al-Hilali's comments encouraged rape and that Muslims should force him to quit. If The...

ISLAMABAD - Nearly 80 per cent of the more than 6,000 women and juvenile girls on trial in Pakistan are facing charges under the controversial strict ’Hudood’ Islamic laws that mainly deal with crimes of adultery and rape, said a human rights report published on Monday. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) report also noted an increase in the killings of women in the name of honour, English ’Daily Times’ reported. Most such killings targetted women and girls who contracted marriages against family’s will. Human-rights and civil-society organizations are demanding the repeal of the Hudood laws that were introduced...

An Afghan man who recently admitted he converted to Christianity faces the death penalty under the country's strict Islamic legal system. The trial is a critical test of Afghanistan's new constitution and democratic government. The case is attracting widespread attention in Afghanistan, where local media are closely monitoring the landmark proceedings. Abdul Rahman, 40, was arrested last month, accused of converting to Christianity. Under Afghanistan's new constitution, minority religious rights are protected but Muslims are still subject to strict Islamic laws. And so, officially, Muslim-born Rahman is charged with rejecting Islam and not for practicing Christianity. Appearing in court earlier...

Pakistani Kids Rally Over Prophet Cartoons By ZARAR KHANThe Associated PressTuesday, February 28, 2006; 6:56 AM KARACHI, Pakistan -- About 5,000 children chanting "Hang those who insulted the prophet" rallied in Pakistan's largest city on Tuesday in the latest protest in the Islamic nation against the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.The children, ages 8 to 12, burned a coffin draped in U.S., Israeli and Danish flags at a traffic intersection in the port city of Karachi as police in riot gear looked on.

We were brought up to hate -- and we do. The controversy regarding the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed completely misses the point. Of course, the cartoons are offensive to Muslims, but newspaper cartoons do not warrant the burning of buildings and the killing of innocent people. The cartoons did not cause the disease of hate that we are seeing in the Muslim world on our television screens at night -- they are only a symptom of a far greater disease. I was born and raised as a Muslim in Cairo, Egypt and in the Gaza Strip. In the...

Egyptian director Khaled Yousif claims the controversy surrounding his most recent film “Waiga” was created intentionally by people to affect its success, especially at a time when competition for movie goers is so high. Yousif stated, “The film in no way insults Islam, or demeans the Islamic headdress the hijab, and those who spread the rumors and made such accusations against the film, obviously did not see it to make such a judgment.” The scene that has created the commotion features Egyptian actress Muna Shalabi while she is wearing a hijab, with her faced covered. She goes to meet her...

Feeding 1,200 people with no kitchen requires a bit of preparation. You need to light fires, boil rice and cook meat. It takes several hours. You have to get going in advance. But one of the local mullahs did not see it that way and he paid Mohammed Mustafa a visit. "What are you doing?" he shouted. "Don't you know it's Ramadan now? This is just not permitted. "You can't cook food during the day. It's against Islam. Stop or I'll burn this place down - your tents, your pots, everything."