The regional government, which had opposed the measure, now has to implement the result of the vote, which drew turnout of about 36 percent. It is expected to follow the example of the southern canton of Ticino, where a law was introduced two years ago. Full-face coverings such as niqabs and burqas are increasingly across being banned in Europe.

It’s Ramadan and my mother is in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove preparing a big feast. She’s fasting even though she is a 64-year-old diabetic. As for myself? Earlier in the day, I had a huge fish and chips platter for lunch, but my Muslim family believes I’m fasting with them. This has gone on for years.

The fast, in which food and even a sip of water is prohibited, is intended to bring the faithful closer to God and remind them of those less fortunate

A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found a sizable shift in the views of American Muslims when it comes to homosexuality and found them to be more accepting of it than white evangelicals. In a survey conducted between January and May, 52 percent of U.S. Muslims said homosexuality should be accepted by society — an increase of 25 percentage since 2007. Comparatively, only 34 percent of white evangelical Protestants said they believed homosexuality should be accepted, the smallest percentage of any group surveyed.

"The Muslims are nothing but devil satan worshippers."

In the series of Abbottabad files, discovered in Osama bin Laden's house which was raided by the US military in Abbottabad, northern Pakistan in 2011, one document has exposed particularly sensitive information. It reveals that al-Qaeda targeted “common” and “ignorant” recruits worldwide, as stated by the group’s Libyan military commander Abu Yahya al-Libi. Abu Yahya was al-Qaeda’s second-in-command after Ayman al-Zawahri and was killed in a US drone attack in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan.

A politician in the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), known for its anti-Muslim rhetoric, has resigned from its board and converted to Islam, the party said on Wednesday. But while Arthur Wagner quit his AfD leadership post in the eastern state of Brandenburg, he remained a member of the party, which says Islam is incompatible with Germany's constitution, and wants a ban on minarets and the face-covering burqa.

More than 1,800 Muslim clerics in Pakistan have jointly issued a fatwa against suicide bombings in the country and labelled such attacks "un-Islamic". All the clerics or ulemas belong to various Islamic schools of thought.

The US State Department on Thursday, January 4, announced that it had put Pakistan on a Special Watch List for "severe violations of religious freedom." An official statement from department spokesperson Heather Nauert also said the country had "re-designated Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan as Countries of Particular Concern on December 22, 2017."

Egypt’s Grand Mufti Shawki Allam said in an official fatwa on Monday that trading with Bitcoin was "unlawful" according to Islamic rulings. He explained that using the virtual currency is not allowed as it is not legalised by the Egyptian government.

Detractors and admirers alike embrace the same misunderstandings. By H.A. Hellyer.

Engare started out life as a question posed by Bahrami’s high school geometry teacher. By Chris Priestman.

Books that sanction domestic violence and say women should never refuse their husbands sex are among a series of sexist materials that inspectors have found in Britain’s Islamic schools. The education watchdog has compiled a file of the worst examples.

The complex and thriving world of Islamic fashion. The images of Turkish Islamic fashion (known as Tesettür) reveal a strong preference for tailored outfits which conceal the flesh and elongate the body. By Emma Tarlo.

Fide, the World Chess Federation, has been accused of "total moral degredation" after awarding this year's $2 million world speed chess championship to Saudi Arabia. A raft of top players have now revealed they will boycott the blitz and rapid event, one of the most exciting in the chess calendar, over concerns about safety and human rights in the ultra-conservative regime.

The beating that ended Pehlu Khan’s life was televised nationwide. Cell phone video captured a group of men punching and slinging Khan around the middle of a road in north India, stomping on him and then slamming the 55-year-old farmer down on concrete as he begged for mercy. Khan had been stopped by the lynch mob of right-wing Hindus as he rode home from a market in April with two cows and two calves in the back of a truck.

An ISIS unit has been exposed in Kerala, the police said today after the arrest of five suspects in Kannur. UK Hamsa or Taliban Hamsa, believed to be the key terrorist handler, is among the five men arrested since yesterday.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has promised a return to "a more moderate Islam," as the Kingdom continues to push ahead with sweeping cultural and economic reforms. Speaking at Riyadh's Future Investment Initiative conference on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia's crown prince said he would be prepared to "destroy" extremist ideologies in order to put the country in unison with other nations around the world.

Our enduring deference to religion, despite its toxicity and phony explanations for the cosmos, lets it survive. “Yes, it is freedom of speech, but,” said Inna Shevchenko, the 24-year-old leader of the topless, fiercely atheist activist group Femen in France. On Feb. 14 she was addressing the conference on art, blasphemy and freedom of expression held at the Krudttønden, a café and cultural center in Copenhagen. She continued. “Why do we still say 'but' when we..."

US had early, detailed and ongoing knowledge of anti-communist purge in which army and Muslim groups massacred hundreds of thousands