(RNS) — Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive former public health official, who won the Michigan Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, made history Tuesday (April 4) by becoming the the first Muslim to win a Senate primary. If El-Sayed, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Egypt, succeeds over his Republican challenger, former Congressman Mike Rogers,…
The president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque said he was subjected to “dehumanizing” treatment during more than 80 days in federal immigration custody – treatment that reminded him of the time he spent in Israeli military prisons in occupied Palestine nearly four decades ago. “It all brought back old memories of things that happened to me…
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. (RNS) — When Abdul Wahab talks about the proposed Crescent Gardens Cemetery, a dedicated Muslim burial site, he often returns to a simple reality. “People are going to leave this world anyway,” he said. “We don’t have a choice. We need the graves.” Wahab is a board member of the Muslim Mortuary…
AUSTIN, Texas (RNS) — It was just past 9 p.m. on June 22, during the Texas State Board of Education meeting, when Shaimaa Zayan, a staffer with the Austin chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, was called up to testify. She braced herself, knowing what was coming. “Can we have a leader of a…
(RNS) — More Muslim women across the United States are turning to the courts to challenge prison and police policies that force them to remove their hijabs for booking photos, arguing the practice violates their religious freedom and leaves them exposed to lasting harm. In the last two months, at least five such cases have…
Shorouk Express France has in recent days gone to great lengths to protect its secular nature. Earlier this week, France’s Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad called for tighter checks on the way the EU allocates grants following allegations that Brussels funded campaigns that did not respect the country’s secular values, and purportedly entities linked to Islamist…
