Latest Islam News

Probe finds carelessness caused Jewish student group's omission from New Jersey high school yearbook

Jun. 19, 2024 21:15 PM EDT

An investigation into how and why a Jewish student group was erased from a New Jersey high school yearbook found the omission was caused by negligence and carelessness, but was not done on purpose or out of malice, the school district announced Wednesday. East Brunswick Public...

Jihadis from Africa’s Sahel have crossed into Nigeria’s north, a new report says. A lot is at stake

Jun. 19, 2024 18:55 PM EDT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Jihadi fighters who had long operated in Africa’s volatile Sahel region have settled in northwestern Nigeria after crossing from neighboring Benin, a report said Wednesday, the latest trend in the militants' movements to wealthier West African coastal nations. ...

Hundreds died during this year's Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia amid intense heat, officials say

Jun. 19, 2024 16:06 PM EDT

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Hundreds of people died during this year's Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced intense high temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom, officials said Wednesday as people tried to claim their loved ones' bodies. Saudi...

Muslim pilgrims wrap up the Hajj with final symbolic stoning of the devil and circling of the Kaaba

Jun. 19, 2024 02:05 AM EDT

MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Muslim pilgrims wrapped up the Hajj in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the last circumambulation around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest site, in the city of Mecca. The three-day stoning ritual in...

Religious and cultural mentions removed from names of China's Xinjiang villages, rights groups say

Jun. 18, 2024 19:05 PM EDT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Authorities in China’s western Xinjiang region have been systematically replacing the names of villages inhabited by Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities to reflect the ruling Communist Party’s ideology, as part of an attack on their cultural identity, a report released...

A Swedish diplomat says his release from a 2-year detention in Iran is like a dream

Jun. 18, 2024 11:27 AM EDT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Swedish European Union diplomat who was held in Iran for two years and freed in a prisoner swap over the weekend said Tuesday that his release was “the dream that I sometimes did not dare to believe in." Johan Floderus and a second Swedish citizen,...

Muslim pilgrims resume symbolic stoning of the devil as they wrap up Hajj pilgrimage in deadly heat

Jun. 17, 2024 22:28 PM EDT

MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Muslim pilgrims used the early morning hours Monday to perform the second day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, hoping to escape the noontime summer heat that caused heatstroke and sunburns among thousands wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage. The final...

Muslims in Asia celebrate Eid al-Adha with sacrifice festival and traditional feast

Jun. 17, 2024 22:26 PM EDT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Muslims in Asia on Monday celebrated Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, with food and prayers for people in Gaza suffering from the Israel-Hamas war. One of the biggest Islamic holidays, the occasion commemorates Prophet Ibrahim’s test of faith...

Reclusive Taliban leader warns Afghans against earning money or gaining 'worldly honor'

Jun. 17, 2024 10:02 AM EDT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader on Monday warned Afghans against earning money or gaining worldly honor at a time when the country is in the grip of humanitarian crises and isolated on the global stage. Hibatullah Akhundzada gave his warning in a sermon...

Pilgrims commence the final rites of Hajj as Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha

Jun. 16, 2024 18:51 PM EDT

MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Masses of pilgrims on Sunday embarked on a symbolic stoning of the devil in Saudi Arabia under the soaring summer heat. The ritual marks the final days of the Hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage, and the start of the Eid al-Adha celebrations for Muslims around the world. ...