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NEWS ABOUT: fatwa

Islamists Call for Execution of Young Tweeter

Hamza Kashgari, 23, tweeted that he wants to talk to Mohammed as a 'friend'

(Newser) - Islamists are calling for the execution of a young Saudi Arabian who tweeted last week about the Prophet Mohammed. "I have loved the rebel in you, you’ve always been a source of inspiration to me," Hamza Kashgari, 23, wrote in a tweet addressed to Mohammed. But "... More »

14-Year-Old Beaten to Death for Adultery Was Raped

Doctor listed Hena Akhter’s death as a 'suicide'

(Newser) - The family of a 14-year-old girl who was beaten to death in Bangladesh says she didn’t commit adultery—she was raped. Hena Akhter’s family talked to CNN this week, and offered a heartbreaking story of the girl’s death. In their telling, Akhter’s much older cousin, Mahbub... More »

Bangladeshi Girl, 14, Dies After 100 Lash Punishment

She was spotted talking to married man

(Newser) - A 14-year-old Bangladeshi girl has died after a sentence of 100 cane lashings imposed when a village woman accused the teen of talking to her husband. "What sort of justice is this? My daughter has been beaten to death," sobbed the girl's father. Some media reports said the... More »

Sheik Issues Fatwa Against Terrorists

Suicide bombers are hell-bound, warns Islamic scholar

(Newser) - An influential Islamic scholar has issued a sweeping and unreserved condemnation of terrorism in all its forms as un-Islamic. "Terrorism is terrorism, violence is violence and it has no place in Islamic teaching and no justification can be provided for it," Sheik Tahir ul-Qadri wrote in his 600-page... More »

Muslims Issue Fatwa Against Airport Scanners

Machines violate rules on modesty

(Newser) - Body scanners at airports violate Islamic rules on modesty and Muslim-American groups have barred the faithful from using them. “It is a violation of clear Islamic teachings that men or women be seen naked by other men and women," an influential Muslim council said in a fatwa forbidding... More »

Ian McEwan: I Sheltered Rushdie After 1989 Fatwa

Novelist reveals how he protected his friend

(Newser) - Twenty years after the Iranian leadership declared a death sentence on Salman Rushdie, fellow novelist Ian McEwan reveals that he sheltered the writer in a house in the English countryside. In a long profile of McEwan in the New Yorker, the novelist describes how the pair listened to news of... More »

Fatwa Against Rushdie Set Off Self-Censorship

Edict brought Muslim culture war to the West: Hitchens

(Newser) - When Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie, Christopher Hitchens knew what it meant: "This was not just a warning of what was to come,” he writes in Vanity Fair, “it was the warning.” A global culture war, between Muslim fundamentalists and everyone else, had... More »

Fatwa Bans Yoga for Muslims in Malaysia

(Newser) - Islamic authorities in Malaysia issued a fatwa today against Muslims practicing yoga, BBC reports. The chair of Malaysia's National Fatwa Council said Hindu elements are essential to yoga and could destroy a Muslim's faith. "We are of the view that yoga combines physical exercise, religious elements, chanting and worshipping... More »

Zardari Slapped With Fatwa for Flirting With Palin

Pakistani feminists also angry at president for 'shameful' behavior

(Newser) - Asif Ali Zardari’s overly-friendly interaction with Sarah Palin earned Pakistan’s president a fatwa from a conservative mosque for salacious behavior, not to mention the scorn of feminists who accuse him of objectifying the US vice-presidential candidate, the Christian Science Monitor reports. At the UN last week, Zardari told... More »

Saudi Judge: Kill Offending Broadcasters

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

(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 »

Extremists, Militias Target Gays in Iraq

Officials, human rights groups dispute extent of escalating violence

(Newser) - Gays in Iraq are the targets of increasing violence by militias, police, and religious extremists, a largely unreported consequence of the 2003 US invasion. A fatwa is in place, reports the Chicago Tribune, and gays are fighting to emigrate to Sweden, Germany, and other countries. Recent reports by the... More »

Egypt Suffers From a Fatwa Free-for-All

Urine-drinking, breastfeeding edicts jeopardize religious authority

(Newser) - The credibility of fatwas, the religious rulings that guide daily life for Muslims, is being strained in Egypt, the New York Times reports.  A flap ensued recently when one authority ruled in favor of  drinking the Prophet Mohammed’s urine and another approved co-ed workplaces if the women breast-fed... More »

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