The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has deplored an anti-Islam conference to be held in Germany next month, urging all segments of the German society to take a firm stand against the proponents of hatred. “The OIC expresses serious concern over reports of the holding of ‘Anti Islamisation Congress’ in Cologne, Germany,” the world’s biggest Muslim body said in a statement. Koeln members were associated with neo-Nazi parties or groupings. OIC has war...

Italy’s top Cardinal has denounced a far-right lawmaker for making anti-Islam statements in a church planned to host interfaith prayers in the northern city of Genoa. “(I express) total disapproval (of Italian and Euro MP Mario Borghezio’s vow to) defend Christianity against profanation by Islam,” Angelo Bagnasco, the Bishop of Genoa and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, told Italian daily Corriere della Sera on August 9. During a rally on Augus...

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim walked out of a court on RM20,000 personal bond without surety after he pleaded not guilty to a charge of sodomising his former aide Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan. The Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor was charged under Section 377B of the Penal Code which under ordinary circumstances, an accused will not be allowed bail. Sessions Court Judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah said that it was an elementary provision in criminal justice that a man was innocent until proven guilt...

The public image of Muslims in Holland has improved in the last two years with some 20% of the population ‘positive’ about this group compared to 14% in 2006, according to a TNS Nipo survey conducted for RTL Nieuws. The percentage of people with negative feelings about Muslims has fallen to 24% from 40% two years ago. A possible reason for the improvement in intercultural relations is that there is more contact between various groups, said the researchers. In 2006, 61% said they...

China will hold a 4-day international festival for Halal Food and Muslim Commodities. According to the organisers of the festival, the 3rd China (Ningxia) International Festival for Halal Food and Muslim Commodities will be organised by the People’s Government of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region from September 10-13. On the occasion, the organisers have also planned to hold an Investment Trade Fair. With the main theme of ‘opening up, friendship, cooperation and mutual win’, ...

An Indonesian Muslim who preaches religious tolerance and a crusading governor from the Philippines are among the winners of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award. A Thai man who makes prosthetic limbs from recycled plastic bottles was also honoured at the awards. Mr Ahmad Shafii Maarif, retired leader of one of Indonesia’s biggest Muslim organisations the Muhammadiyah, was named winner for promoting peace and international understanding. The Magsaysay foundation said the 73-year-ol...

Muslim leaders in South Florida Metropolitan are meeting to discuss motivating Muslims for more involvement in civil life. “We are encouraging people to get more involved in their communities,” Altaf Ali, executive director of the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Florida chapter, the organiser, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel daily. The meeting tackles Muslims’ contributions to their communities and how to make their voices heard in the local civic...

Protesters forced lawyers in Malaysia to abandon a conference on religious conversion decrying it as an effort to challenge the official status of Islam in this Muslim-majority country. Police instructed the Bar Council to halt the conference for security reasons after more than 300 demonstrators gathered outside the headquarters of the legal association. Council President Ambiga Sreenavasan ended the forum less than an hour after it began, saying the lawyers respected the opinions of the p...