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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Islamic Sharia law

Islamic Sharia law stories: 52 news summaries

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Pakistan, Taliban Call Indefinite Truce

Militants agree to extend ceasefire in Swat valley

Feb 24, 09 4:37 AM CST
(Newser) - Taliban militants and Pakistani officials have agreed to an indefinite ceasefire in the country's troubled Swat valley, Reuters reports. The agreement extends an earlier 10-day truce in which the Taliban agreed to lay down their arms in return for Islamic sharia law being enforced in the area. Militants in the... More »

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Pakistan • Islamic Sharia law • ceasefire • Pakistan army • Swat Valley • peace deal

 Pakistan Peace Deal 
 Imposes Sharia Law 

Agreement creates new 'order of justice' for Swat region

Feb 16, 09 7:32 AM CST
(Newser) - A peace deal between Pakistan and the Taliban will bring the country's troubled Swat valley under Islamic Sharia law, the BBC reports. The agreement "was reached after realization that it was the demand of the people," a regional official says. Since a violent Taliban campaign to impose Sharia... More »

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Taliban • Pakistan • Islamic Sharia law • Swat Valley • peace deal

 2 Afghans Face Death
 Over Koran Translation 

Clerics say book aims to replace holy text

Feb 6, 09 11:23 AM CST
(AP) - A pocket-size translation of the Koran has landed six men in prison in Afghanistan and left two of them begging judges to spare their lives. They're accused of modifying the Koran, and their fate could be decided Sunday in court. The trial illustrates what critics call the undue influence of... More »

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Afghanistan • death penalty • Islam • trial • Islamic Sharia law • Muslim • Koran • translation • cleric • Bill Maher Grid

No PDA, Cheating in Muslim Nations, UK Warns Travelers

Booze, drugs are also no-nos, Foreign Office reminds would-be vacationers

Dec 26, 08 3:45 PM CST
(Newser) - Extra-marital sex and public displays of affection might be OK in France or Spain, but it’s a big no-no in Dubai and other Muslim nations, the British government is reminding citizens. The Foreign Office has released a list of do’s and don’ts for Britons planning a trip... More »

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Mexico • United Kingdom • Europe • Islamic Sharia law • United Arab Emirates • holiday travel

 Saudi Girl, 8, Can't 
 Divorce Husband, 58: Court 

Case must wait until girl hits puberty; she still lives with mother

Dec 22, 08 2:10 PM CST
(Newser) - An 8-year-old Saudi girl will remain married to her 58-year-old husband after a court struck down her mother’s request for a divorce, the Daily Mail reports. The hard-up father, who is divorced from the mother, signed a contract in August and received a dowry of about $7,400. The... More »

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Saudi Arabia • divorce • Islamic Sharia law • court • arranged marriage • dowry • minor • marriage contract

 Girl Group Rocks Saudi Taboos 

The Accolade still underground but gaining popularity as youth push boundaries

Nov 24, 08 12:02 PM CST
(Newser) - The Accolade sounds like a typical female rock band: Its members have teased hair and facial piercings, and their clothing shocks passers-by as they tell a New York Times reporter about their new song with lyrics about a failed relationship. But the Accolade’s home base is conservative Saudi Arabia,... More »

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Saudi Arabia • Islamic Sharia law • Muslim women • taboo • rock music • religious police

 Islamists Take
 Somalian Port, Near Capital

Insurgents encroach Mogadishu

Nov 12, 08 1:18 PM CST
(Newser) - Islamist rebels in Somalia captured the port city of Merka today as they continue to move in on Mogadishu, the weak transitional government’s stronghold, the New York Times reports. Hundreds of militants entered Merka, unopposed because government forces had fled the city the previous night. After weeks of steady... More »

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Somalia • Africa • insurgents • Islamic Sharia law • militia • rebels

Afghan Writer's Death Sentence Reduced

Student gets 20 years for 'blasphemy' about women's rights

Oct 22, 08 2:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - Parwez Kambakhsh won’t be executed for distributing literature on women’s rights, but the student and part-time journalist will spend the next 20 years in prison, an Afghan appeals court ruled yesterday. “This is arguably worse for him,” one human-rights advocate told the Los Angeles Times of... More »

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Afghanistan • free speech • Islamic Sharia law • blasphemy • Parwez Kambakhsh

Holy Season for Two Faiths Intersects in Jerusalem

Jewish new year coincides with Muslim month of Ramadan in city special to both

Sep 29, 08 11:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - This year’s intersection of Jewish new-year holidays and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan—a rarity due to Islam’s changing calendar—is felt particularly keenly in Jerusalem, a sacred city for both religions, Ethan Bronner notes in the New York Times. Night has become “a kind of... More »

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Israel • Islam • Jews • Muslims • Jerusalem • Judaism • Islamic Sharia law • holiday • Ramadan • Dome of the Rock • lunar new year • Western Wall • Rosh Hashanah

GLOSSIES

Clerics Shake Up Islamic Finance

Concern bonds violate Sharia causes crisis despite stable market

Sep 24, 08 9:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - Of the challenges facing Western financial markets, fear of divine intervention isn’t one. The Middle East’s booming debt market is considered one of the most stable in the world, but investors there are getting a taste of “religious interpretation risk,” Portfolio reports. Islamic scholars are declaring... More »

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Middle East • debt • Islamic Sharia law • Islamic finance

Saudi Judge:
Kill Offending Broadcasters

Sheik urges fatwa on owners of channels
with 'corrupt beliefs'

Sep 12, 08 4:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - The highest judge in Saudi Arabia says “it is permissible” to murder owners of satellite TV networks that broadcast questionable material during Ramadan, the Guardian reports. When a caller to his radio show asked about channels featuring “bad programs,” Sheik Saleh al-Lihedan responded, “What does the... More »

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Saudi Arabia • censorship • Islamic Sharia law • satellite TV • fatwa • Ramadan

US Firm Calls
for Islamic Law in Lawsuit

Blackwater boss seeks Sharia law to dodge Afghan plane crash suit

Jun 19, 08 7:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - An American firm blamed for the death of three US soldiers in a plane crash has asked a federal court to apply Islamic law to a lawsuit brought by their widows, the Raleigh News & Observer reports. Presidential Airways, Blackwater's sister company, argues that since its plane crashed in Afghanistan,... More »

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Afghanistan • Blackwater • Islamic Sharia law • Islamic law • Erik Prince • court cases

Guardian System Has Saudi Women 'Perpetual Minors'

Doing almost anything requires male consent in kingdom, report finds

Apr 21, 08 3:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Women in Saudi Arabia need to gain a male guardian’s consent to do almost anything, living as “perpetual minors,” the Telegraph reports. Research by Human Rights Watch found that male permission is needed to go to a doctor, travel, and even get dressed. In addition, strict segregation... More »

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Islam • Saudi Arabia • women • women's rights • sexism • Islamic Sharia law • Human Rights Watch • gender discrimination • repression

OPINION

Bravo to Harvard for Women-Only Gym Hours

Islam-friendly policy fits 'regime of reasonable accommodation'

Mar 26, 08 7:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - Harvard was right to close a gym to men for six hours each week so Muslim women can exercise in comfort, Ruth Marcus writes in the Washington Post. Bloggers might be charging “Sharia at Harvard” and some students might be exercised about another decision to broadcast calls to prayer... More »

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Muslims • Islamic Sharia law • Harvard • gyms • hijabs

 In Saudi Arabia, 
 a Hotel for Women 

Men-free Luthan Hotel 'meeting a very big demand' in conservative Muslim kingdom

Mar 21, 08 5:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - Saudi Arabia’s first hotel catering exclusively to women—right down to its plush spa—opened this week in Riyadh, the Independent reports. The conservative kingdom enforces strict Islamic segregation of sexes in public, but women can stay at the Luthan Hotel without a male guardian—nor any men on... More »

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Middle East • Saudi Arabia • Riyadh • Islamic Sharia law • hotel • spa • spas • Muslim women • Wahhabism • Luthan Hotel

Tehran's Top Cop Nabbed
in Brothel

Man charged with 'moralizing' Iran capital caught with prostitutes

Mar 12, 08 4:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - The man in charge of "moralizing" Iran's capital city is out of a job after being arrested during a raid on a Tehran brothel, Ynetnews reports. Police chief Reza Zarei, who had led crackdowns on women who disobeyed strict Islamic dress codes, was caught naked with six prostitutes in... More »

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Iran • Tehran • Islamic Sharia law • irony • Muslim women • brothel • Reza Zarei • Farda News

Unmarried, Frustrated, and Turning to Islam

More in Middle East heal economic pains with religious fervor

Feb 17, 08 6:10 PM CST
(Newser) - Facing a feeble job market, many Middle Eastern youths can't afford pricey marriages—and end up single, frustrated, and devoted to Islam, the New York Times reports. Several countries are trying to stem the religious tide by funding weddings, but thousands are left unmarried and isolated. “People don’t... More »

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education • Islam • Egypt • Islamic Sharia law • employment • job market • conservative Islam

Fury After Head of Anglicans Condones Sharia in UK

Archbishop calls Islamic law 'inevitable'

Feb 8, 08 7:49 AM CST
(Newser) - The Archbishop of Canterbury made the cover of almost every British newspaper today after condoning the application of sharia law in Muslim communities in Britain. Although Rowan Williams rejected the extreme versions of sharia practiced in parts of the Muslim world, he said in a lecture last night that the... More »

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Islam • United Kingdom • Gordon Brown • Islamic Sharia law • Jacqui Smith • Archbishop of Canterbury • Rowan Williams

Turkey to Lift Head Scarf Ban at Universities

Agreement alarms secular elite, which fears Islamist rule

Jan 25, 08 4:54 PM CST
(Newser) - Turkey is expected to do away with a 2-decade-old ban on women wearing head scarves at the nation’s universities as early as next week. The prospect alarms the country’s secular elite, who see the country on a slippery slope to Islamist rule, Der Spiegel reports. “The logic... More »

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Islam • Turkey • Islamic dress code • Islamic Sharia law • AK Party • Muslim women

UPDATED

Sudan Will Jail, Deport Teddy Bear Teacher

Gibbons gets 15 days and the boot for bear named 'Muhammad'

Nov 29, 07 1:08 PM CST
(Newser) - A Sudanese court sentenced British schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons to 15 days in prison and deportation from Sudan for inciting religious hatred by allowing her students to name a class teddy bear Muhammad, the Guardian reports. The sentence represented something of a success for British officials, who had said they would... More »

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Sudan • Islamic Sharia law • Britain • teddy bears • Gillian Gibbons

21 - 40 of 52 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 Next >>


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