Muslims News

Angola's government has denied it had banned Islam and closed mosques in the country, after media speculation that sparked outrage among Muslims worldwide. "There is no war in Angola against Islam or any other religion," said Manuel Fernando, director of the National Institute for Religious Affairs, part of the ministry of culture, onTuesday.

A committee at Al Azhar, a prestigious Islamic university in Cairo, studying fatwas issued by the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis, reports that the fatwas regard women as strange creatures, who are created solely for sex. Some of these fatwas prohibit women from swimming in the sea, using air conditioners in absence of their husbands, or even touching cucumbers or bananas.

While the Home ministry is keen to bring the Prevention of Communal Violence Bill in Parliament's winter session beginning Dec-5, BJP and non-Congress ruled states have opposed the bill terming it as "anti-federal". According to BJP's Arun Jaitley, the bill was skewed against the majority community as it only recognized religious and linguistic minorities as "groups" victimized by communal violence.

Bowing to criticism from the BJP and regional parties, the government on Thursday agreed to rework the Prevention of Communal Violence Bill. The new draft bill uses a community-neutral definition to identify a group that may fall victim to communal violence. Centre's role in control of communal violence in states will be limited to that of a coordinator and facilitator.

Many Muslims in India complain they face religious discrimination in the country's Hindu-dominated job market. Many of them have secured jobs pretending to be Hindus, and are mostly found in menial jobs in unorganised sector where worker's identity documents are not usually sought. Moreover, some placement agencies are helping Muslims find jobs in Hindu workplaces by introducing them as Hindus.

The Army on Wednesday initiated court martial proceedings against six of its men, including a Colonel and a Major, for their alleged involvement in the 2010 Machchil fake encounter case that had triggered a two month-long agitation in which 123 people were killed. The accused personnel had killed three 'infiltrators', who were later identified residents of Nadihal in Baramulla district.

At least 34 children aged below 12 have perished in the relief camps for people displaced during the riots in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts, according to a high-level committee constituted by UP government. The report says 4,783 people are still living in these camps. It rejected Mulayam Singh Yadav's allegations that "conspirators and political activists" were living in the camps.

District administration drove away 60 families from Kandhala and Timarsa refugee camps in Shamli (UP). Although, CM Akhilesh Yadav denied of any such order, an officer in home department said there were unwritten orders to drive them away. He said there were possibilities of deaths due to winter in these camps and the government didn’t want to take the blame.