mosques | Common News Update

May292020 by adminNo Comments

Turkey reopens some mosques, prayers held in ex-cathedral

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Worshipers in Turkey have held their first communal Friday prayers in 74 days after the government reopened some mosques as part of its plans to relax measures in place to fight the coronavirus outbreakByThe Associated PressMay 29, 2020, 8:30 PM3 min read3 min readShare to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleANKARA, Turkey -- Worshipers in Turkey have held their first communal Friday prayers in 74 days after the government reopened some mosques under an easing of pandemic restrictions. Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan participated by video conference in events to mark the 567th anniversary of the Muslim conquest of Istanbul — then named Constantinople — by Ottoman Turks. The events included a controversial prayer recital inside the Hagia Sophia, built as a Byzantine cathed...

Apr32020 by adminNo Comments

Mosques stay open in Pakistan even as virus death toll rises

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Mosques were allowed to remain open in Pakistan on Friday, the Muslim sabbath when adherents gather for weekly prayers, even as the coronavirus pandemic spread and much of the country had shut downBy KATHY GANNON Associated PressApril 3, 2020, 10:08 AM3 min read3 min readShare to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleISLAMABAD -- Mosques were allowed to remain open in Pakistan on Friday, the Muslim sabbath when adherents gather for weekly prayers, even as the coronavirus pandemic spread and much of the country had shut down. Prime Minister Imran Khan is relying on restricting the size of congregations attending mosques and advice to stay at home from religious groups like the country's Islamic Ideology Council. However, some provinces have issued their own lockdown orders to prevent M...

Feb282020 by adminNo Comments

Prayers at fire-bombed mosques as India’s riot toll grows

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NEW DELHI -- Muslims in a northeastern neighborhood of India's capital returned for weekly prayers at fire-bombed mosques on Friday, two days after a 72-hour clash between Hindus and Muslims that left at least 40 dead and hundreds injured. Five days after they started, authorities have not said what sparked the riots — the worst communal violence in New Delhi in decades — hospitals were still trying to identify all the dead, and the toll continued to rise. "If they burn our mosques, we will rebuild them again and pray. It’s our religious right and nobody can stop us from practicing our religion,” said Mohammad Sulaiman, who was among about 180 men who prayed on the rooftop of a mosque that was set on fire in the unrest. Tensions between Hindu hard-liners and Muslims protesting Prime Minis...

Jun82018 by adminNo Comments

Austria to close 7 mosques, expel imams in crackdown

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Austria's government said Friday that it is closing seven mosques and plans to expel imams in a crackdown on "political Islam" and foreign financing of religious groups. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the government is shutting a hardline Turkish nationalist mosque in Vienna and dissolving a group called the Arab Religious Community that runs six mosques. The actions by the government are based on a 2015 law that, among other things, prevents religious communities from getting funding from abroad. Interior Minister Herbert Kickl said the residence permits of around 40 imams employed by ATIB, a group that oversees Turkish mosques in Austria, are being reviewed because of concerns about such financing. Kickl said that, in two cases, permits have already been revoked. Five more imams were d...