A 28-year-old German man of Russian descent was jailed for life for the murder of an Egyptian woman in a Dresden courtroom last July, after stabbing her 16 times with a kitchen knife. The defendant, Alex W., who has been living in Germany since 2003, also seriously injured the woman’s husband, stabbing him at least 15 times with the same knife as he tried to protect his pregnant wife.  Because of the severity of the crime and his self-confessed xenophobism, the Dresden state cour...

The Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) has denounced a NATO-led military operation at its office in Qalat, capital of the southern province of Zabul, on November 7. In a press statement NATO said its soldiers killed one “enemy militant” and detained a few “suspected militants” at the compound which, it said, was “historically used by Taliban commanders”. ARCS said the person killed was the guest of an ARCS staff driver. Three ARCS employees who were detai...

In a 4-page memorandum sent to OIC Head office, Jeddah, Turkish Foreign Ministry, Indonesian Foreign Ministry, Indonesian Embassy in London and New Delhi, Council of Indian Muslims UK (CIM) has urged the 25th OIC Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation being held in Istanbul, to declare the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi persona non grata, who, according to Indian newspapers, has been invited for a visit by one of OIC member countries, Indonesia. In November 2008, the me...

After years of controversy, the Muslim community in Cologne in the western Germany has taken the first concrete step towards building a grand mosque. Members of the Turkish Islamic organization, Ditib, laid the foundation stone for a 25-million-euro for what is expected to be one of Europe’s biggest mosques. The futuristic design is said to include a large dome and two 55-metre minarets.  The construction of the mosque, which is expected to be completed in two years’ time, ...

Exiled Chinese Muslim leader Rebiya Kadeer will travel to Palau to visit six fellow Uighurs released from Guantanamo Bay. The six detainees arrived in Palau as part of US President Barack Obama’s drive to close the controversial Guantanamo Bay detention centre. Palau President Johnson Toribiong said three members of the World Uighur Congress would be arriving in the country to visit the six men, possibly as soon as next week. Mampimin Ala, the translator for the six former detainees, ...

R and B singer Beyonce, has brought her world tour to Egypt where she faced the ire of Islamists. Hamdi Hassan, a lawmaker from the Muslim Brotherhood, has written to the speaker of the house and the interior minister labelling her planned night show a “sex party” and demanding to know why she was allowed to perform. Western singers regularly perform in Egypt. Last month, Beyonce postponed a concert outside Kuala Lumpur after an official of the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) expr...

That modesty can be beautiful is the message that organisers of the Islamic fashion festival in Kuala Lumpur want to send to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The Islamic fashion festival is part of Malaysia’s international fashion week. It will show Muslim women different ways of covering themselves, says the chairman and founder Raja Rezza Shah. Malaysian designer Tom Abang Saufi says many non-Muslims equate Islamic wear to draping yourself in black. But one can be religious and fashio...

Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, president of PAS, the Islamic party of Malaysia, told its supporters that they will remain in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) as it has gained more with the opposition pact than by struggling alone. He explained in a seminar to 1,000 party delegates at the PAS Markaz Tarbiyyah in Gombak that PAS will remain in Pakatan Rakyat due to the reality of politics where there are Muslim and non-Muslim voters. “PAS has gained more ground with Pakatan Rakyat even by just losing ...