 An attorney for the man charged in the deadly shootings at Fort Hood says the Army has prohibited his client from praying in Arabic with his family. Attorney John P. Galligan said police stopped a phone conversation between Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan and his brother on Friday because it was not in English.
Galligan told the San Antonio Express-News that police at Brooke Army Medical Center refused to let Hasan pray in Arabic. Galligan says he thinks that's illegal and violation of Hasan's religious rights. Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the Nov. 5 attack. The military has imposed restrictions requiring Hasan to speak only in English on the phone or with visitors unless an interpreter is present. SFGate
 "Michelle and I would like to send our best wishes to all those performing Hajj this year, and to Muslims in America and around the world who are celebrating Eid-ul-Adha. The rituals of Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha both serve as reminders of the shared Abrahamic roots of three of the world’s major religions. During Hajj, the world’s largest and most diverse gathering, three million Muslims from all walks of life – including thousands of American Muslims – will stand in prayer on Mount Arafat. The following day, Muslims around the world will celebrate Eid-ul-Adha and distribute food to the less fortunate to commemorate Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son out of obedience to God. This year, I am pleased that the Department of Health and Human Services has partnered with the Saudi Health Ministry to prevent and limit the spread of H1N1 during Hajj. Cooperating on combating H1N1 is one of the ways we are implementing my administration's commitment to partnership in areas of mutual interest. On behalf of the American people, we would like to extend our greetings during this Hajj season – Eid Mubarak. " LATimes 
 Thousands of police officers have deployed in Jerusalem Friday in advance of Muslim prayers on the Temple Mount. Police are on high alert following a week in which Muslims rioted in and around Jerusalem, as Muslim and Arab leaders accused Israel of attempting to harm the al-Aksa Mosque atop the Mount. In an attempt to reduce the chance of riots, police have limited access to the Temple Mount to Muslims only - only females, or men who are under age 18 or over 50.
In addition, only those with Israeli or Jerusalem identity cards will be allowed in, while foreign Muslims will be told to pray elsewhere. Tensions remained high on Thursday. While relative quiet was maintained in Jerusalem's Old City, attacks on Jews were reported in the nearby neighborhood of Mei Shiloach (Silwan) and across Judea and Samaria. Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Movement call to 'Defend Al-Aksa'
As Israel attempts to reduce tensions, Hamas, Fatah and the Israel-based Islamic Movement have each called on Muslims to “defend al-Aksa.” Hamas declared Friday a “Day of Rage” and called on followers to protest, while Fatah called for a general strike on Friday on behalf of the al-Aksa mosque. Fatah, the party of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, accused Israel of working with “Jewish extremists” by allowing them to enter the Temple Mount compound. The Islamic Movement, an Israel-based Muslim organization that does not recognize Israel, has called for Israeli Muslims to arrive in Jerusalem for Friday prayers, and to ignore police limitations on the number or age of worshippers to be allowed in.
UN Called to Intervene
The Palestinian Authority has called on the United Nations to intervene in Jerusalem in order to prevent Israel from taking action regarding the Al-Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount. PA officials, along with senior members of Fatah and Hamas, have accused Israel of planning to allow religious Jews increased access to the Mount. PA minister Riyad al-Maliki relayed the request to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday during a visit to New York. “I informed him of the escalation of Israel's policy against Palestinians and against the al-Aksa Mosque,” he told AFP. The PA and Muslim leaders have accused Israel of sparking Muslim riots in and around Jerusalem by allowing religious Jews – described in PA media as “extremist settlers” - to visit the Temple Mount. Source: INN
 Berlin school officials and parents are disappointed after an administrative court granted a Muslim high school student the right to pray in between lessons, daily Berliner Morgenpost reported on Wednesday.The court on Tuesday ruled in favour of 16-year-old Yunus M., who attends the city's Diesterweg Gymnasium. During a four-hour hearing, Judge Uwe Wegener said he was aware that the case was quite significant and could set a precedent. Lawyer Margarete Mühl-Jäckel, who argued on Berlin’s behalf, insisted that allowing prayer in schools would compromise the religious neutrality of the state institutions. But the court found that the basic right to religious freedom was in conflict with Article 7 of the constitution, which requires school neutrality. Wolfgang Harnischfeger, head of the VBS association of Berlin school leaders called the ruling “a naïve decision that misses reality in schools,” the paper reported. Meanwhile the state parents committee said it feared the ruling would mean further reduction of a willingness to integrate among Muslim students. Head of the committee, André Schindler, told Berliner Zeitung he feared it would divide students and said the group was considering an appeal. Berlin city government school administrators also said they would review an appeal. “We feel we’ve been left alone on the question of space considerations,” spokesperson Jens Stiller told the paper. He explained that because prayer has a demonstrative character, schools must make extra rooms available and criticised that the court ruling did not address that issue. Source: The Local
 Par Jeff Diamant La mosquée Dar-ul-Islam située à Elizabeth est le fer de lance d'une assemblée nationale de prière qui se tiendra le mois prochain à Washington, DC. Selon les organisateurs, il s’agit du premier événement du genre – l’organisation de la prière pour des dizaines de milliers de musulmans sur la colline du Capitole. Il n’y aura pas de discours politiques ni de pancartes, juste la prière, a déclaré Hassen Abdellah, président de Dar-ul-Islam et le principal organisateur de l'événement, prévu pour le 25 septembre.
«La plupart du temps, les musulmans qui se rendent à Washington le font pour protester contre un événement quelconque », a déclaré Abdellah. « Il ne s'agit pas ici d'une manifestation. La communauté musulmane n’a jamais prié pour l'âme de l'Amérique sur la colline du Capitole. Nous sommes Américains. Nous devons changer le visage de l'islam afin que les gens ne pensent pas que tous les musulmans voient l'Amérique comme « le grand Satan », car nous aimons l'Amérique. »
Abdellah a dit s'attendre à ce que 50.000 personnes se présentent, en provenance de mosquées à travers le pays, mais que les non-musulmans sont également les bienvenus. Environ 400 personnes de sa propre mosquée viendront. Sa mosquée collecte des fonds pour aider à payer le coût de l'événement, qui devrait dépasser les 200 mille dollars. Lire la suite...
Source: New Jersey News (traduction par Poste de veille)
 By Jeff Diamant A mosque in Elizabeth, Dar-ul-Islam, is spearheading a national prayer gathering next month in Washington, D.C., that organizers are billing as the first event of its kind — organized prayer for tens of thousands of Muslims outside the U.S. Capitol building. The event will not include political speeches or placards, just prayer, said Hassen Abdellah, president of Dar-ul-Islam and a main organizer of the event, which is scheduled for Sept. 25. A permit from the Capitol Hill police, granted July 28, allows access to the area by the West Front of the Capitol building from 4 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sept. 25, but the main gathering will occur at 1 p.m., for the Friday prayer service. Abdellah said he expects 50,000 people to attend, from mosques around the country, though non-Muslims are welcome, too. About 400 people are expected from his own mosque, which is raising money from donors to help pay the cost of the event, expected to surpass $200,000. The gathering will occur by the site where presidents have been inaugurated since 1981. In fact, it was President Obama’s words at his inauguration in January, and then his speech in Egypt in June, that led Abdellah and an area imam, Abdul Malik, to begin discussing the idea, Abdellah said. “For the first time in my lifetime,” Abdellah said, “I heard someone of his stature speaking about Islam and Muslims not in an adversarial sense, but in the sense of being welcome and acknowledging we are integral citizens in the society — that we’re gainfully employed, we’re educated.” Read more here ...
 Jonathan Dart | December 27, 2008
LOCAL councils around Australia have been warned they risk imposing a "ghetto mentality" on the Islamic community if they continue to oppose religious projects such as the controversial proposals to build Islamic schools at Camden and Bass Hill.
The warning was issued yesterday by the founder of the Islamic Friendship Society, Keysar Trad, as he opened a prayer centre at St Marys.
Mr Trad said the centre, which took 3½ years to be approved by Penrith City Council, will participate in a number of multi-faith and community events, such as Clean Up Australia Day.
Asked about recent controversies surrounding other developments - such as a proposal for a Muslim school at Camden and a stalled project by sportsmen Anthony Mundine and Hazem El Masri to convert a church into a mosque in Canterbury - he said their rejection would hurt his community.
"As long as we're able to establish centres like this one [in St Marys], then we're able to keep safe from the ghetto mentality," he said. "Islam is not about ghettoes, Islam is about being part of society and contributing to every aspect of society. As long as we're able to do that, it's great. When we're not able to do that in some places, where the approach is unfairly delayed and unreasonably delayed, then it's forcing people to go to one particular area, even though they don't live in that particular area.
"Historically, we have been very resistant to ghettoisation. We have always been a part of our wider communities and we want to always contribute."
Mr Trad said that wrangling with local councils has meant that Muslim residents in remote parts of Sydney face barriers to settling into their communities, and other challenges such as an increased travel burden.
He also said there was a wider psychological impact of being rejected. Using the example of an attempt by Mr El Masri, a prominent Canterbury Bulldogs footballer, to convert a church in Ludgate Street, Roselands, he said some councils and residents were focusing on trivial planning issues to sink projects that would have an otherwise broad appeal.
"Generally, when you think of Hazem El Masri, if he was establishing a youth centre, most people would want to send their kids there regardless of their religion because he's a sporting hero who could teach their children discipline and help them have sporting success," Mr Trad said.
"But it seems in that area, the conjunction of his name with the word Muslim has created a situation where council took objection to something that relates to that centre. We don't do those things to our sporting heroes in Australia; in Australia our sporting heroes are good role models, they deserve to continue to have our respect."
The Mayor of Penrith, Jim Aitken, said there was no community objection to the new prayer centre at St Marys but said planning regulations are not the only reason some developments are delayed.
"The issues are the same in any area. Some people will be against other religions coming into our society, and other people just don't care," he said. "You just have to keep explaining to everyone what's going so they understand."
The vice-president of the new prayer centre, Mohammad Ruhulamin, said there would be an emphasis on hosting events that involved people outside the Muslim faith.
"If our people want to be part of the community, the community must be accessible to us," he said. "It will take some time to build relationships with people. It will not be easy." Source: Brisbane Times
 The postal workers are taking legal action against Royal Mail
By Dan Parkinson Two Islamic postal workers launched legal action against Royal Mail after being refused extra breaks to pray up to five times a shift. The devout Muslims were told they were not entitled to more rest periods than non-Muslim colleagues. Abdinour Omer and Guled Bashir, who insisted they had insufficient time for prayer, took Royal Mail to an employment tribunal, claiming religious discrimination. The hearing in Bristol was told that the Somali agency workers, who cannot speak English, wanted three additional breaks during their 4pm-to-midnight shift at the city’s main sorting office. But they dropped their claim just hours into the case, after being told they had “no chance of winning”. Read more ...Source: Daily Express
 By David Migoya
A [Muslim Brotherhood front that claims to be a] civil-rights group holds little hope that a week-old dispute between Muslim workers and their bosses at a Greeley slaughterhouse will end quickly, based on the company's recent response in a similar standoff in Nebraska.
A mediation session between Brazilian-owned JBS Swift & Co. and the Council on American-Islamic Relations to discuss issues involving Muslim employees at its Grand Island, Neb., plant ended Wednesday without progress, CAIR officials said.
"They were completely uncooperative," said Christina Abraham, director of civil rights at CAIR's office in Chicago, which is handling both Swift disputes.
"Though we're hopeful, the issue in Greeley may follow the same route and it could take years," she said.
There was no date to resume the mediation.
It was the first hearing on 20 complaints that CAIR filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over problems Muslim workers say they had with Swift over prayer breaks at the plant last year.
Each complaint is offered mediation before the EEOC investigates, and Wednesday's was the only session Swift agreed to attend so far, Abraham said. Source: The Denver PostH/T: Shariah Finance WatchJBS Swift Plant
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An attorney for the man charged in the deadly shootings at Fort Hood says the Army has prohibited his client from praying in Arabic with his family.
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