Egypt Suffers From a Fatwa Free-for-All

Is Metropolitan Museum of Art getting jihad jitters?

(NEWSER) - New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art may be burying its collection of Islamic art, all in the name of political correctness.Three ancient renderings of the prophet Mohammed are no longer on display. “This is typical of the Met—trying to avoid any controversy,” an inside source tells the New York Post , while a museum rep insists the pieces simply don’t fit within the current theme. More»

(NEWSER) - Most of America wasn’t even awake when it happened, but Barack Obama’s Cairo speech got people talking anyway, the Washington Post reports. The New York Times says Obama delivered a "sweeping and forceful—at times scolding and combative" message, which included what the Wall Street Journal called a “shrewd” statement about women's rights. But overall, it was part of Obama’s détente with the Muslim world, and earned a standing ovation from the crowd. More»

President to tackle US-Muslim relations on first Middle Eastern trip

(NEWSER) - President Obama will travel to Egypt next month to deliver a speech aimed at mending America's relationship with the Muslim world, McClatchy Newspapers reports. Egypt is a politically risky choice due to President Hosni Mubarak's heavy-handed autocratic rule, but a White House spokesman said the country "in many ways represents the heart of the Arab world" and that the speech would be pitched at ordinary Muslims, not their leaders. More»

But Shahin Najafi denies 'O Naqi' is insulting to Islam

(NEWSER) - Most rappers hope their songs will be a hit—not make them the target of one. That's the situation facing Shahin Najafi, an Iranian rapper living in Germany who's accused of having "grossly insulted" an important Shi'ite Muslim religious figure in one of his songs. He now has a $100,000 bounty hanging over his head, compliments of an Islamist website that says the rapper spoke of Ali al-Hadi al-Naqi, one of the 12 imams, irreverently in the song, Reuters reports, citing Iranian media. More»

New census also finds mosque leaders feel comfortable in US

(NEWSER) - Even as protests against new mosques got quite a bit of attention, their numbers in the US grew from 1,209 in 2000 to 2,106 in 2010, USA Today reports. And most of the leaders of those Islamic places of worship believe America is not hostile to Islam, according to a census of US mosques and poll of mosque leaders released today. "This is a very healthy community," says the lead researcher and study author. "Mosque leaders feel very positive, more positive than they did in 2000," when a similar survey was taken. More»