Muslims in the European Union: Discrimination and Islamophobia

“What happened on 11 September was like a catalyst, you know. Things which they never thought of saying publicly, from one day to another, they say it publicly now. Before, there was a lot of ‘political correctness’ but after 11 September all political correctness went within seconds.” (Male, Germany)
“I have heard it many times – [...]

Islamophobia 101–Episode 13–Wafa Sultan: Reformist or Opportunist?

 Rafik Beekun
 To put into perspective Wafa Sultan’s attacks against Islam,  I am first including as comprehensive a list of video clips as I can.   Her attacks on Islam focus on the Islamic Sources (specifically the Qur’an), the civilizational role of Islam and at times on Muslims.  Since her knowledge of Islam is very limited, and her attacks [...]

What You Should Never Include In A Work E-mail

By Rafik Beekun at the Islamic Workplace blog.
We are often careless when using e-mail at work. Sometimes, we write stuff we should not because we are under stress, or we may communicate personal, confidential information. Unfortunately, in the U.S., all work e-mails remain the property of the company or organization we work for. As U.S. [...]

The United States, For All Its Faults, Has Contributed Greatly To Islam And Muslims

By Muqtedar Khan
American foreign policy sins are numerous and some are even unforgivable — like the invasion of Iraq, which was based on false accusations and has resulted in much death and destruction. But to judge America by its neo-conservative foreign policy would be like judging Islam by what some radical, violence-prone Muslims have done [...]

Migrant Workers in Saudi Arabia: Similarities Between Sponsorship and Slavery

Source: Arab News
Abeer Mishkhas
A SAUDI teacher in Samta Governorate has confessed to the police that she tortured an Indonesian house cleaner who was hospitalized and later died due to the severity of her injuries. The woman torched the cleaner and also struck her a number of times on the head; the cleaner suffered from broken [...]

Canadians Interact Least with Muslims and Favor Hijab Ban

by  JEFF HEINRICH
Source: The Gazette (Montreal), p. A3, News
[In an Environics poll conducted recently], Canadians said they interact with blacks most – 69 per cent said they’re in contact with them often or occasionally. Chinese were next (65 per cent), then East Indians and Pakistanis (54 per cent), aboriginals (54 per cent), Jews (50 per [...]

Profiling At US-Canadian Border Hampers Livelihood of Muslims

Source: The Globe and Mail (Canada)
March 20, 2007 Tuesday
The federal government must pressure U.S. border authorities to stop racial and religious profiling of Canadian Muslims and Arabs, the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations said yesterday. [more]
“The livelihood and future of Canadian citizens cannot be halted without just cause.”
Mahmoud Zeitoun, a student at Lakehead University in [...]

Target Stores Offer Muslim Employees Acceptable Alternatives

Steve Karnowski, Associated Press, 3/19/07
Muslim cashiers at some Minneapolis Target stores who object to ringing up products that contain pork are being shifted to other positions where they don’t need to, the discount retailer said Saturday.
The Star Tribune reported last week that some Muslim cashiers at local Targets had declined to scan pork products such [...]

Muslims Look To Athletes As Faith Ambassadors

By Omar Sacirbey
Religion News Service
[...] “It can be a struggle growing up Muslim in America,” said Saleem, whose family emigrated from Pakistan shortly before he was born. “So when you see other Muslims doing and succeeding at the sports you love, that can’t help but give you a lift.”
In their primes, Ali and Abdul-Jabbar gave [...]

Contradicting Islam, Some Muslims Are Violating The Laws of the Country They Reside In

Source: ABC Premium News (Australia)
Australia: Federal Assistant Treasurer Peter Dutton has asked the Tax Commissioner to investigate reports that some hardline Muslim clerics are encouraging people to cheat the tax system. A newspaper report today suggests some extremist clerics are advocating tax avoidance because they say paying tax is contrary to Islamic law.
Mr Dutton says [...]

Investing in Islamic Mutual Funds Based on Iman (Faith)

Morningstar.com
Putting Faith in Religious Mutual Funds
Tuesday March 13, 7:00 am ET
By David Kathman, CFA
Socially responsible investing has become increasingly popular in recent years, with lots of mutual funds available for investors who want to keep their portfolios in line with their ethical beliefs. Most such funds avoid alcohol and tobacco stocks, but what they do [...]

For Muslim Women, Education and Economic Empowerment Are Keys to a Better Life

By Margaret Besheer, VOA
Washington
05 March 2007
International Women’s Day Thursday highlights women’s struggle for equality, justice, peace and development. For many it is a day to celebrate progress. For others, it is a reminder of just how far they still must travel. (Note from Rafik Beekun: As an example of how far our Muslim sisters have [...]

Report: FBI Has Repeatedly Misused the Patriot Act

By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
The FBI has repeatedly misused the Patriot Act’s extraordinary surveillance powers by obtaining information on Americans unlawfully, the Justice Department’s inspector general said Friday in a report that already has drawn promises of a congressional investigation.
The 199-page report, which found “serious misuse” of the surveillance power (please click here to [...]

The Cost of ‘Progress’: Commercialization of Islam’s Holiest Site in Makkah

Source: The New York Times
by Hassan M. Fattah
Five times a day across the globe devout Muslims face this city in prayer, focused on a site where they believe Abraham built a temple to God. The spot is also the place Muslims are expected to visit at least once in their lives.
Now as they make the [...]

Serious Considerations in Mixed Groups: Interacting with Members of the Opposite Sex At Work

Source: Arab News. Reprinted here with permission.
Dr. Abd Al-Haleem Abu Shuqqah
Note from Rafik Beekun: This article is reproduced here because of the increased interaction between men and women in the workplace, and the need for Muslims and Muslimahs to understand and abide by the Islamic etiquette of conduct among members of the opposite sex.
Men and [...]

Ranking of Flexibility of Labor Regulations in Middle Eastern and North African Countries

The dimension of worker employment in this World Bank survey measures the flexibility of labor regulations, and is summarized in the fifth column in the table below. It examines the difficulty of hiring a new worker, rigidity of rules on expanding or contracting working hours, the non-salary costs of hiring a worker, and the difficulties [...]

Faith-based versus Faith-friendly Companies in the US

By Marc Gunther, Fortune senior writer
January 17 2007
NEW YORK (Fortune) — [...] [According to] David Miller, a minister, author and former business executive. Ford, American Express and Tyson Foods are among the better-known faith-friendly firms.
Minister, author and former business executive David Miller is currently executive director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. More [...]

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Human Resource Overview: Salaries, Cost of Living and Loyalty

February 2007
Regional economies continue to enjoy an unprecedented boom with growth in 2006 and 2007 projected at an average of 6-7%, similar to the rate of the past 3 years, and exceeding the global growth rate which is projected at slightly over 5% for the period. It is against this backdrop that Bayt.com and YouGovSiraj [...]

Saudi Arabia Declares War on Corruption

JEDDAH, 20 February 2007 — Saudi Arabia’s Council of Ministers yesterday approved a National Strategy to Protect Honesty and Combat Corruption.
It also decided to facilitate administrative procedures and question dishonest officials, irrespective of their positions, as part of a major move to root out all forms of corruption from the country.
The weekly Cabinet meeting, chaired [...]