The debate over the integration of the Muslim community into Swiss society is not new and has long been the subject of considerable political tension. The most recent controversy is no different and has already fuelled a heated discussion on whether the construction of minarets in Switzerland should be banned. The Democratic Union of the…
French imams have launched a new body to confront problems facing Muslim religious leaders in the European country. “It is high time for France’s imams to take the initiative in playing a genuine and effective role and filling in the gap left by Muslim groups,” said Drancy imam Hassan Chalghoumi, chairman of the “Conference of…
Working in Pakistan after September 11, 2001, former Wall Street Journal reporter Asra Nomani faced a double shock. First came a surprise pregnancy and abandonment by the Pakistani man she thought would be her husband, then the murder of her dear friend and colleague Daniel Pearl at the hands of Muslim extremists. Still reeling and with a son to raise, she returned to her hometown in West Virginia and discovered the mosque had been taken over by men she saw as extremists. THE MOSQUE IN MORGANTOWN chronicles what happens when she decides to fight back — unexpectedly pitting her against the mosque’s moderates. As the film unfolds, it tells a story of competing paths to social change, American identity, and the nature of religion itself.
The quotations below have been collected by the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy. “President Obama’s Cairo speech was unprecedented in a number of ways. Firstly, it sought to establish common ground with Muslims by stressing that human rights and democracy, for example, are shared universal concerns and that there are strong historical…
