At least 482 people have been killed in fighting between the Al-Qaeda-linked Syrian rebel group Islamist State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) and other Syrian rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported. Eighty-five civilians were among the dead, along with at least 240 non-ISIS rebels and 157 ISIS members. The
A recent survey of 7 Muslim-majority Middle Eastern countries has revealed conflicting viewpoints in Saudi Arabia, a country that doesn't let women drive and is often considered one of the most repressive nations in terms of women's rights. While nearly 2 out of 3 in Saudi Arabia think women should cover all but their
Morocco’s government on Thursday adopted a bill regulating Islamic banks and sukuk issues after months of delays, paving the way for a final vote by the parliament of the North African kingdom later this year. Approval of the law will be the last step before establishing full-fledged Islamic banks in Morocco, be they subsidiaries
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued a fatwa (religious edict) banning online chatting between unrelated men and women, Iranian media reported on Monday, according to Al Arabiya. Ironically, Khamenei’s ruling came a day after Iran’s Foreign Minister touted his country as a “model for democracy” in the region. “Given the immorality
Controversial British Muslim extremist Anjem Choudary has been helping to "vet" potential jihadis for combat in Syria, according to a veteran Islamist leader and associate of his. Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, who spent 20 years in the UK before fleeing to Lebanon in 2005, offered an insight into the workings of the "Al Muhajiroun"
The premier Dutch soccer team Vitesse left for training in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this year - without its best defender, after UAE authorities refused to allow him into the country. The reason: he is Israeli. Spokeswoman Esther Bal told a Dutch radio station that the team had originally been given permission to
Syria is undergoing an accelerated process of Islamization, which is led by extremist Islamist rebel groups that follow sharia courts, and who operate a morality police force that enforces law and order Islam-style. In Haleb, two men were convicted of failing to take part in the Friday prayers, and were sentenced to 25 lashes
Human rights groups report that thousands of women have been raped by Syrian army soldiers in the ongoing war, which is now in its third year and has left 130,000 dead. That trend appears likely to only increase, as a deputy to the Chief Mufti (Islamic scholar) of Syria has given religious permission to rape.
One Jewish woman converted to Islam after immigrating from the Caucasus; the other, from Croatia. Al-Jazeera reports that an organization in the Arab Israeli village of Kafr Qara has been, systematically and slowly, spreading Islam to Jewish women. The group is called Dar Al-Islam (lit. "house of Islam"), and is located in the village
A car bomb targeted a church in the Iraqi capital Wednesday as worshippers left after a Christmas service, killing at least 35 people, most of them Christians, security officials said. The blast in the Dura area of south Baghdad also wounded dozens of others. "The attack targeted the church, and most
