Free Republic

BANGKOK, Thailand -- A music distributor recalled two Thai rap CDs from stores Tuesday after Muslims complained the tracks insult their faith. An article on the Thai-language Muslim Web site http://www.muslimthai.com said a song recorded on CDs in 1998 and 2005 "clearly insults the Quran," the Muslim holy book. It said the CDs contain verses from the Quran and "the Quran strictly forbids the use of its verses in songs."

Challenging the Qur’anA German scholar contends that the Islamic text has been mistranscribed and promises raisins, not virginsBy Stefan TheilNEWSWEEK INTERNATIONAL July 28 issue — In a note of encouragement to his fellow hijackers, September 11 ringleader Muhammad Atta cheered their impending “marriage in Paradise” to the 72 wide-eyed virgins the Qur’an promises to the departed faithful. Palestinian newspapers have been known to describe the death of a suicide bomber as a “wedding to the black-eyed in eternal Paradise.” But if a German expert on Middle Eastern languages is correct, these hopes of sexual reward in the afterlife are...

The state's judges will be asked this week to decide whether witnesses in North Carolina courtrooms can be sworn in on a Quran rather than a Bible. The move comes after Guilford County judges rejected an offer last week by the Greensboro Islamic center to donate copies of the Quran, the Muslim holy book. The Administrative Office of the Courts will ask the opinion of the state's judges when they meet this week at judicial conferences in Asheville and Wrightsville Beach, said Dick Ellis, a spokesman for the office. "We'll take the input of the judges and bring it together...