Muslims

It was one of the darkest moments in the modern history of the Arab world. More than four decades ago, Hafez Assad, then president of Syria, launched what came to be known as the Hama Massacre. Between 10,000 to 40,000 people were killed or disappeared in the government attack on the central Syrian city. It began on Feb 2, 1982, and lasted for nearly a month, leaving the city in ruins. The memory of the government assault and the monthlong siege on the city, which at the time was a stronghold of Syria's Muslim Brotherhood, remains visceral in Syrian and Arab minds. Now Islamist insurgents have captured the city, tearing down a poster of Hafez Assad's son, President Bashar Assad, and swarming security and government offices scenes unimaginable 40 years ago. The moment carried great symbolism in Syria's long-running civil war, which began 13 years ago but many say is rooted in Hama. A dark history Hama, Syria's fourth-largest city, is known for its quaint waterwheels, a landmark .

Amid escalating tensions at the Uday Pratap College here over a mosque located on its premises, police on Thursday restricted outsiders' entry to the campus, allowing only students with valid identity cards. The move follows Tuesday's unrest after students recited Hanuman Chalisa when namaz was being offered near the mosque. Seven men were briefly detained after the row on Tuesday, according to the local police. Student leader Vivekanand Singh on Thursday said, "Police personnel are stationed at the college gate, checking identity cards to ensure that no outsiders enter the campus. A group of students is also monitoring the gate." He added that no one came to offer namaz on Thursday and that additional precautions will be taken on Friday during the "Jumma" prayers. In a related development, students of the college have formed a "student court" and sent an 11-point letter to the Uttar Pradesh Waqf Board, demanding a response within 15 days regarding the status of the mosque and its

An FIR has been registered against Vishwa Vokkaliga Mahasamastana Math seer Kumara Chandrashekaranatha Swamiji for his remarks on voting power to Muslims, police said on Friday. He made the statement during a protest meeting organised by the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh here on Tuesday against notices issued by Karnataka's waqf board. Urging everyone to unite to protect farmers and their land, Swamiji said that a law should be brought in where Muslims community don't have the voting power. Stating that it should be ensured there is no Waqf board, he said someone taking away someone else's land is not "Dharma". "...everyone should fight against injustice being caused to farmers...it is said that the Waqf board can claim anyone's land. It is a big injustice...someone taking away someone else's land is not Dharma... So, everyone should fight to ensure that farmers' land remains with them," the seer had said. However, on Wednesday, Swamiji expressed regret over his statement, calling it a "s

Muslim support for Trump helped him win Michigan and may have factored into other swing state wins

The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has denied claims that it extends reservation on religious grounds to Muslim candidates in admissions and recruitment, asserting that it has no such system in place. The university said this in a statement on Monday, days after the Supreme Court held that the legal question over the AMU's minority status would be decided by a new bench and overruled a 1967 judgment that said the university cannot be considered a minority institution since it was created by a central law. AMU officials have been denying for the last three days claims that a system of reservation of seats for Muslims is being implemented in student admissions and employment of staff at the university. "The Aligarh Muslim University gives no reservation to Muslim candidates either in admissions in different courses offered by the university or in the recruitment, as has been reported by some media outlets, after the recent judgement of the seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court of ..

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Saturday alleged atrocities against minorities in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to implement his words on unity in society in true letter and spirit. Addressing a press conference here, the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister accused the state authorities of meting out step-motherly treatment and harassing minorities in the state and demanded justice for them. In a letter to Prime Minister Modi, Singh alleged that crimes against a particular community are on the rise and he must act to stop them. He cited several incidents of atrocities and violence against people of the Muslim community in Madhya Pradesh and said the actions of the authorities in BJP-ruled states like Madhya Pradesh are not only dangerous for national unity, but are against the Constitution that grants equal rights to all. "I hope that to maintain communal harmony and national unity, you will implement the guidelines of the Supreme Court

In its order, the bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula also instructed the Chief Secretary of GNCTD to personally oversee the implementation of directive

Amid opposition to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill from several Muslim bodies, senior leader of key NDA ally TDP, Nawab Jan, on Sunday said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will not let any bill that harms the interests of Muslims be implemented. Addressing the 'Samvidhan Bachao Sammelan' organised by Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here, Jan said everyone should come together unitedly to stop the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 from being passed in Parliament. Chandrababu Naidu has always said he has two eyes -- one Hindu and one Muslim, Jan said. "He (Naidu) says any harm done to one eye affects the whole body and we must keep this in mind as we move forward on the path of development," Jan said. The benefits that Muslims got under Naidu's rule are unprecedented since the independence of the country, Jan, a senior leader of the Telegu Desam Party, said. "Chandrababu is a person of a secular mindset -- such a person is our chief minister, (he) will n

The true value of Hilal Ahmed's book on the condition, plight, choices, and compulsions of Muslims in today's India lies in its refusal to see every issue as either black or white

Don't the Muslims of Chamoli have the right to live with equality and respect? he further noted.

Amid the ongoing controversy around priest Yati Narsinghanand's remarks against Prophet Muhammad, Ittehad-e-Millat Council president Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan has said that a big demonstration will be held at Delhi's Ramlila Ground. Khan said "people like Narsinghanand are insulting the Prophet but no action is being taken against him". "After the Dussehra fair, the whole country will come out on the streets of Delhi and there will be a huge demonstration at Ramlila Maidan. Not only people from Bareilly but from the entire country will participate in it," Khan told reporters on Monday night after the 24th foundation day of the Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC). "Now there will be a big movement instead of dharna or memorandum against the current situation of the country," he added. Khan accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of working only for Sanatan Dharma, while the people of other religions are being discriminated against. He said that derogatory comments are being made against th

European, Arab and Islamic nations have launched an initiative to strengthen support for a Palestinian state and its institutions, and prepare for a future after the war in Gaza and escalating conflict in Lebanon, Norway's foreign minister said Friday. Espen Barth Eide told The Associated Press that there is a growing consensus in the international community from Western countries, from Arab countries, from the Global South, that we need to establish a Palestinian Authority, a Palestinian government, a Palestinian state and the Palestinian state has to be recognized. Eide said many issues need to be addressed, including the security interests of Israel and the Palestinians, recognition and normalization of relations after decades of conflict and the demobilization of Hamas as a military group. These are pieces of a bigger puzzle, Norway's chief diplomat said. And you can't just come in there with one of these pieces, because it only works if all the pieces are laid in place. But e

At least 25 people have been killed in days of clashes between armed Shiites and Sunni Muslims over a lingering land dispute in northwest Pakistan, officials said. The clashes which started over the weekend in Kurram, a district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan continued on Wednesday. Officials said dozens of people from both sides have been wounded since Saturday. Kurram has been a scene of sectarian violence in recent years. Authorities said they were trying to prevent the land dispute from turning into sectarian violence in the restive northwest, where extremist groups from the two sides have a strong presence. Barrister Saif Ali, a spokesman for the provincial government, said authorities with the help of tribal elders were trying to defuse tension and both sides had agreed to a cease-fire following peace talks in Kurram. Shiite Muslims make up about 15 per cent of the 240 million population of Sunni-majority Pakistan, which has a history of

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Muslim parties to apprise it whether an appeal before a division bench of Allahabad High Court would lie against the single-judge order which rejected their petition challenging the maintainability of 18 cases related to the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar, which was initially inclined to issue notice to the Hindu side on the appeal filed by Muslim parties against the August 1 order of the high court, posted the matter for further hearing on November 4. Senior advocate Madhavi Divan and advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, appearing for the Hindu side said that the top court had earlier stayed the operation of order, appointing court commissioner for survey of the Idgah complex and now it should be vacated. The bench said that there are several legal issues in the matter, which needs detailed consideration and directed that all the pending matters on the dispute will be taken up ..

The Islamic festival of Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi celebrates the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad. As per Islamic calendar, this day is celebrated on Sept 16, 2024, starting in the evening of Sept 15

The Assam Assembly on Thursday passed a bill to repeal a law to register marriages and divorces of Muslims. Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Jogen Mohan had on August 22 tabled The Assam Repealing Bill, 2024 in the Assembly to abolish The Assam Moslem Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935 and the Assam Repealing Ordinance 2024. Taking part in the discussion, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said: "Our aim is not only to abolish child marriages, ... also to get away with the Kazi system. We want to bring registration of Muslim marriages and divorces under the government system." He said that registration of all marriages has to be done as per a Supreme Court order, but the state cannot support a private body like that of Kazis for this purpose. Mohan in the Statement of Object and Reasons of the Repealing Bill said, "There remains a scope of registering marriages of intended person below 21 years (in case of male) and 18 years (in case of female)." It hardly had a

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Wednesday slammed Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his "will not let 'Miya' Muslims take over the state" remark, saying his comment was "pure communal venom" and silence was not the answer to such a statement. Asserting that he would take sides, Sarma on Tuesday said he would not let 'Miya' Muslims "take over" Assam. Sarma was speaking in the assembly on the admissibility of adjournment motions moved by the opposition parties to discuss the law and order situation in the state in the wake of the gangrape of a 14-year-old girl in Nagaon. Reacting to the remarks, Sibal said on X, "Himanta (Assam CM): 'Will take sides. Will not let Miya Muslims take over all of Assam'. My take: Pure communal venom. Actionable. Silence not an answer." 'Miya' was used as a pejorative term for Bengali-speaking Muslims initially, and the non-Bengali-speaking people generally identify them as Bangladeshi immigrants. In recent years, activists from the community ha

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that he would take sides, and won't let 'Miya' Muslims "take over" the Assam. Sarma was speaking in the assembly on adjournment motions brought by the opposition parties to discuss the law and order situation in the state in the backdrop of the rape of a 14-year-old girl in Nagaon. Replying to the motion, he said the crime rate has not increased if the population growth is taken into account. When the opposition charged him of being partisan, Sarma retorted, "I will take sides. What can you do about it?" "Why will people from Lower Assam go to Upper Assam? So that Miya Muslims can take over Assam? We won't let it happen," he asserted. Amid the heated debate, members of both treasury and opposition benches stormed into the Well of the House, prompting Speaker Biswajit Daimary to adjourn the proceedings for 10 minutes. MLAs of Congress, AIUDF, and CPI(M), and lone Independent legislator Akhil Gogoi had moved four adjournment motion

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was charged Tuesday with sedition over a speech he made that allegedly questioned the integrity of the country's previous king. Muhyiddin, who led Malaysia from March 2020 until August 2021, pleaded not guilty in a court in northeast Kelantan state. According to the charge sheet, Muhyiddin made the seditious remarks last month during a by-election campaign in Kelantan. Nine ethnic Malay state rulers take turns as Malaysia's king for five-year terms under the country's rotating monarchy, which began when Malaysia gained independence from Britain in 1957. The monarchy plays a largely ceremonial role, but are revered by the nation's majority Muslims. In his speech on Aug. 14, Muhyiddin had questioned why then-King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah didn't invite him to be prime minister following a hung Parliament in November 2022. Muhyiddin had claimed he had the backing of majority lawmakers. Sultan Abdullah appointed then-opposition .

Describing the deity of the ancient Dhakeswari Temple here as a "mother to all humans", a priest of the revered shrine said several Hindus, Muslims and others from the local community had come together to guard it soon after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh. The centuries-old temple in old Dhaka has many mosques in its vicinity and chimes of temple bells at times merge with the sound of 'azaan' emerging from nearby mosques. PTI on Friday visited the Sree Sree Dhakeswari National Temple, one of the prominent shakti peethas', and interacted with priests and members of the Hindu community who visited the shrine. While a young married couple had come to seek blessings for their two-month-old daughter, a woman lit candles at a corner of the temple courtyard facing the sanctum sanctorum and diligently prayed. "People of many religions come here to pray. And, Maa (Goddess) is mother to all humans whether it is Hindus, Muslims, Christians or Buddhists. They come here