France has closed twenty mosques since December

French authorities shut down 20 mosques and prayer halls they found to be preaching radical Islamic ideology since December, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Monday. “Fight against the #radicalization: since December 2015, twenty Muslim places of worship have been closed,” the Interior Ministry tweeted. Of the country’s 2,500 mosques and prayer halls, approximately 120…

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Nathalie Goulet discusses foreign financing and recent Senate report (pdf)

Following the recent attacks on French soil several politicians have proposed measures to reform Islam’s structure and the financing of Islam in France. For Nathalie Goulet, UDI senator from Orne who recently published a report on foreign financing, the priority should be to end the practice of ‘supplied’ imams and to establish a foundation to…

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Halal food tax proposed in France to fund mosques

Anouar Kbibech, president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), outlined plans for a new foundation that would help reduce foreign benefactors amid concerns over extremism. The idea has been supported by politicians on both the right and left, although there are doubts where such a tax could be implemented. “The idea has existed…

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Man who criticized church’s Ramadan message goes to mosque

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania politician who apologized for criticizing a church that posted a message wishing Muslims a “blessed Ramadan” attended a worship service and dined at a Harrisburg mosque. School board member Matthew Jansen, invited to attend the Hadee Mosque on Friday, told members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community that his remarks earlier…

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Michigan mosque takes in homeless Unitarian Church

(RNS) The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Lansing is getting a new church this spring — but not quite soon enough. Hearing of construction lags and its neighbor’s need for a temporary home, a mosque in East Lansing offered up its worship space — for free. “No charge whatsoever,” said the Rev. Kathryn Bert. “It’s…

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