At a Delhi temple, Afghan Sikhs gather in prayer, their voices rising in unison, yet their hearts weighed down with longing for a homeland they were forced to leave. Among them is Daya Singh. He fled Afghanistan twice — first in 1992 when the Taliban seized control, and again in 2006 after facing persecution for being Sikh.
Read More(ANALYSIS) It’s been over a decade since Boko Haram abducted 276 girls from a school in Chibok, Borno, in April 2014. The abduction received international attention, with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirl being shared globally, including by Michelle Obama.
Read MoreThe U.S. designation of Nigeria as an egregious violator of religious freedoms has not gone far enough to stem violence there, top persecution watchdogs said amid an intense uptick in attacks on Christians in the African nation.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In the most talked-about film from the final year of the 20th century, “The Matrix,” a computer hacker named Neo finds that the world he lives and works in isn’t real. It’s a virtual reality, created by artificial intelligence.
Read MoreA group of faith leaders has sent a letter to President Donald Trump thanking him for his recent designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern.”
Read MoreThe shrine, once crowded day and night with devotees, now stands eerily deserted. For weeks, it has remained sealed as a crime scene after a mob attack left one of his followers dead. Since August 2024, more than 100 shrines have been attacked or vandalized, according to rights groups.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Around me, bodies pressed together. Sweat mixed with tears as the chant intensified: “Allah ... Allah ...” What I experienced that evening mirrors a broader phenomenon in Morocco: Some young, educated urbanites are returning to Sufism, Islam's mystical tradition, seeking spiritual depth in an age of digital distraction and ideological exhaustion.
Read More(ANALYSIS) President Trump recently designated Nigeria as a "Country of Particular Concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act. Like most of his acts, this ignited major controversy, much of it reflecting longstanding and now renewed disputes about what is really happening in that country.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Bad Bunny is more than a global music phenomenon; he’s a bona fide symbol of Puerto Rico. The church choir boy turned “King of Latin Trap” has songs, style and swagger that reflect the island’s mix of pride, pain and creative resilience.
Read MoreIn the last decade, more than a dozen coups have shaken West Africa and the Sahel. Amid this turmoil, religious leaders are emerging as stabilizers who are guiding dialogue and providing a moral compass in societies caught between soldiers and fractured civilian states.
Read MoreWhen she began wearing the hijab, critics accused Wafaa Al-Khudari of abandoning her sect, but now she and other Syrian women are leading the charge to ease religious tensions in their communities. The country, which recently ousted a regime, regularly experiences violent conflicts among the political and religious sects.
Read MoreZohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose campaign was powered by youthful energy, a surge of new voters and a promise of unconventional change, completed his yearlong journey with a decisive victory — to be elected mayor of New York City and the first Muslim to hold the office.
Read MorePresident Donald Trump designated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) Oct. 31 for tolerating religious freedom violations especially against Christians, and threatened sanctions and military force to discourage such persecution.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, published a statement condemning the latest public execution in Afghanistan and calling on the de facto authorities to immediately impose a moratorium and abolish the use of the death penalty.
Read MoreAblution, or wudu, is often performed before prayer and involves washing the hands, face, mouth, nostrils, arms, and feet in a certain sequence with running water. “I always travel across Africa with work. Many buildings and public spaces have no wudu facilities. This makes most Muslims uncomfortable,” said one frequent traveler.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Compassion loses nothing by being partial, only when it turns self-righteous. Empathy must be guided by conscience, not by those who claim the right to decide whose pain counts.
Read MoreThe competition — called “FIFA Unites: Women’s Series 2025” — had been originally scheduled to be played in Dubai with teams from Chad, Libya and the host nation UAE. FIFA confirmed that the tournament would instead be be played in Morocco, starting on Sunday, with a revised lineup that includes the Afghan refugee squad, Chad, Tunisia and Libya.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In Myanmar, when the military has a hard time conscripting enough residents into their ranks, they turn to monks for help. The religious leaders — many of whom have been well-connected to the government — are backing the recruitment drive. The regime has been targeting men across all segments of society — including the urban poor, displaced populations and ethnic and religious minorities.
Read More(REVIEW) Like most mainstream, organized religions, Islam is a big tent. Corralling the various ideologies, sects, divisions, major players and developments over the course of some fourteen hundred years into a digestible narrative is no easy job, and Tolan’s effort is both daunting and admirable.
Read MoreIn 2006, I was able to travel to Israel for the first time. Even as a child, I had learned from my father about the spiritual legacy of the Jewish people, the land God had given them, and how He had protected them. And, best of all, during that amazing year, I was able to set foot on the land myself. There I began to meet and come to know Israelis as friends and allies, and to see with my own eyes the biblical heritage I had inherited as a Christian believer.
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