World

“Don’t they treat us like animals?” It’s a hot Friday morning, in the third week of Ramadan, and we’re at Qalandiya checkpoint, monitoring access for Palestinian women, children, and the elderly (including men over 45) who are traveling to Jerusalem for Friday prayers at al-Aqsa. It is for one day only, and men under 45…

It has been a devastating few weeks, with Daesh led violence claiming the lives of hundreds around the world. Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh all have seen growing death tolls as the so-called “Islamic State” propogates its vehemently un-Islamic ideology through violence and death. Iraq in particular has felt the brutality of Daesh’s attacks, with a death toll beyond 300 and still…

Pakistan’s most well-known philanthropist and activist, Abdul Sattar Edhi, who dedicated his entire life to serving the poor of Pakistan, passed away Friday evening at the age of 88. Edhi Sahab, as he is commonly called out of respect in Pakistan, was diagnosed with kidney failure in 2013. Edhi Sahab refused to be taken abroad for treatment,…

It’s been just over a week since Britain voted and decided to leave the European Union. And while the drama plays out in Westminster of what this could potentially mean for the UK, what’s happening on the streets of Britain feels slightly scarier. Since the results came out, there has been a dramatic increase in…

The recent attacks in Iraq highlight our Muslim community’s act of selective mourning. With the death toll rising above 250, the bombings targeted a predominantly Shia neighborhood in Karrada, Baghdad. The bombing took place at a multi-level mall that was turned to rubble during a busy time where many women, children, and youth were either…

This is a developing story.  We will update it as more information becomes available.     UPDATE 5:54 PM EST: The Saudi Interior Ministry confirms a suicide bombing in Medina. BREAKING: Saudi Interior Ministry says 4 security officers killed, 5 wounded in earlier suicide bombing outside Islamic holy site in Medina. — The Associated Press…

I was first introduced to Elie Wiesel as a junior in high school. Our teacher – like the other thousands of teachers across the globe – assigned us to read his Memoir Night with the intention of exposing us to the horrors of the Holocaust. I had been introduced to the subject multiple times before,…

It seems almost everyday that I wake up to see another massacre of hundreds of innocent victims of what has become a war against humanity. In the wake of the recent terror attacks in Turkey and Bangladesh, a bomb struck the capital city of Baghdad late Saturday night as crowds of people were gathering to…

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has been growing globally. BDS allows individuals to take a stand for justice, and make politically conscious decisions to boycott companies that are complicit in Israel’s occupation. Friends of Al-Aqsa have been calling for a boycott of Coca-Cola for several years in response to its support of Israel,…

This week, fifty prominent Pakistani clerics issued a fatwa offering conditional rights for transgender people under Islamic law. The men, associated with the Tanzeem Ittehad-i-Ummat sector based out of Lahore, declared that under their branch of law, it be necessary for a transgender person to be granted equality in terms of marriage, inheritance, and funerals….

On Friday evening, a group of about nine gunmen attacked the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka’s Gulshan district, and took about 20 to 35 hostages, according to Sumon Reza, a member of the restaurant staff. Reza and ten others escaped via the cafe’s roof before the hostage crisis was fully underway. Armed with grenades as well…

In negotiations since December, the newly formed Turkey-Israel deal refortifies relationship between the two countries. Formerly hailed as Israel’s greatest Muslim ally, Turkey became Gaza’s greatest national humanitarian advocate in the region after a deadly Israeli Defense Force attack ultimately killed 10 Turkish activists aboard the Flotilla Mari Marmara, part of a ten ship humanitarian…

In the West Bank, limited access to the global marketplace prevents many talented Palestinian women artisans from building careers with their sewing, embroidery, and design skills. Dr. Janette Habashi, Associate Professor in educational psychology at the University of Oklahoma, is determined to change that. She created the Child’s Cup Full artisan center in Zababdeh, a…

A suicide gun and bomb attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport, the third busiest airport in Europe, has killed 41 people and injured more than 230 more. Officials are saying that one or two attackers had blown themselves up at the entrance to the international terminal at the airport after police fired at them. The majority…