(WASHINGTON DC - November 8, 2012) Begun in 2006, Islam in 60 Seconds has been an important news source for Muslims in 30 countries, including the United States, Canada, England, France, and Pakistan. The New IIC returns with Volume VI of Islam in 60 Seconds. Each story is an abbreviated summary of the news, allowing readers to quickly digest a large amount of information relating to Muslims around the world.
Americas and Europe
Anti-Islam film protest outside Google's London HQ
Protest groups say more action is planned outside Google headquarters worldwide. Buckingham Palace Road in Victoria was closed for three hours by the demonstration. The protesters called for the trailer for the US-made film, Innocence of Muslims, to be removed from YouTube, which is owned by Google. Google has said the video is "clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube". The trailer for the film has provoked anger for its portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad.
After Vatican screening of ‘Muslim Scare’ video, a call for dialogue
When he presented an amateur and xenophobic film about the threat of “rising Muslim demographics” a few weeks ago at the Vatican’s Synod to a group of more than 200 prominent bishops, Cardinal Peter Turkson sent an implicit message: religious pluralism and dialogue with Muslims pose an inherent danger to the Vatican’s New Evangelization, a papal call for the renewed sharing of the Gospel message throughout the world. The video — which has been viewed over 13 million times on YouTube — intends to incite fear among Christians by pointing to untrue statistics about Muslim population growth. Insisting that Europe and North America will eventually become “Islamic states,” the film calls on “believers” to “wake up” and “share the Gospel message with the world.
Middle East
Radical Saudis fund $100m Kabul mosque
Members of the radical "Salafi" Sect of Saudi Arabia are funding a $100m (Dh367,300 million) alleged mosque and Islamic education centre in Kabul that will teach thousands of students a year and help bolster Saudi influence in Afghanistan as the west withdraws. Work on the sprawling 30-hectare hilltop complex is due to be completed by early 2016. “This ... centre has several aims, one is to ensure good relations between Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia,” said the acting Saudi minister of Haj and Islamic affairs, Dr Dayi Al Haq Abed.
Salafist Muslims Demand Sharia Law in Egypt's New Constitution
Several hundred Salafist Muslims have demonstrated in the Egyptian capital Cairo with demands for Islamic law or sharia in Egypt's new constitution. The number of protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square was small because the main Salafist groups decided to postpone their demonstration on the issue to a later date, according to international media correspondents. Egypt's new constitution is set to replace the 1971 charter suspended by the military which took power when long-time President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February 2011.
Great Asia
In Corner of Myanmar, Muslims Seek Relief
A Muslim enclave in this scrappy port town on the Bay of Bengal is quickly turning into a prison-like ghetto, highlighting the risk that Myanmar's dramatic democratic revival could unleash centuries-old ethnic hatreds that had partly been held in check by nearly 50 years of military rule. Sittwe, a town of around 250,000 people, is supposed to be one of Myanmar's new boomtowns. The main drag is dotted with brand-new banks and India is funding a $214 million new port to open up a route up the Kaladan River to its eastern border, with an eye to turning this strip of Myanmar's coastline into an international trading hub. But a couple of hundred meters back from where the river empties into the ocean, 7,000 Muslim Rohingyas are crammed into a steadily shrinking neighborhood called Aung Min Glar.
Malala Yousafzai and the Media Frenzy- Exploring Selective Muslim Coverage
In recent days, the incident of Malala Yousafzai shot by the Taliban for promoting education for girls has flowed across all media outlets. It was the story of a young girl who bravely campaigned for female education under the rule of the Taliban. Charging her for “promoting secularism” the Taliban ordered a gunman to shoot her in the head on the 9th of October, 2012. Now, Malala has been flown to the UK for treatment. Former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has launched a UN petition in her name using the slogan, “I am Malala” demanding that all children worldwide be in school by 2015.
Africa
Ethiopia Muslims rally on Fridays as tension rises
As midday prayers came to an end at the Grand Anwar mosque in Ethiopia's capital, worshippers continued on to what has become a regular second act on Fridays - shouting anti-government slogans.The demonstrations this Friday did not turn violent. But tensions are rising between the government in this mostly Christian country and Muslim worshippers. On Monday, federal prosecutors charged a group of 29 Muslims with terrorism and working to establish an Islamic republic.
Ripping Off the Faithful - the Hajj and Umrah Tour Scam
Going on hajj at least once in the lifetime of a Muslim who could afford it is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. However, fraudsters masquerading as travel agents are on the prowl defrauding intending pilgrims in the guise of facilitating the pilgrimage. MAIRO MUHAMMAD MUDI, Abuja and MIDAT JOSEPH, Kaduna beam the klieg light on this multi-million naira scam. The Maharam fiasco has been the major talking point of this year's hajj operations in the country. However, as the pilgrims are airlifted back to the country after hajj, LEADERSHIP Weekend can authoritatively reveal that thousands of would-be pilgrims failed to make this year's hajj because they were swindled by fraudulent travel agents. According to an Abuja-based victims who pleaded anonymity, "the agents charged N300,000 for the Saudi visa and N320,000 for the flight tickets. The intending pilgrim could pay more if she also wants the agents to make accommodation arrangements for her in Saudi." The scam is nationwide and victims cut across all strata of society. Sheik Muhammadu Fadlu, is the Chief Imam of Suleja Main Mosque and one of the intending pilgrims defrauded by the travel agents.
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