Muslims in the Fresno area will cast their eyes skyward Friday morning in search of the crescent moon that will signal the start of Islam's holy month of Ramadan. As happens every year, there will be prayers, fasting, and feasting for the next 30 days. But because of the COVID-19...
Must Muslims Fast for Ramadan During COVID-19?
When Islam's holy month of Ramadan begins next week, there will still be prayers, fasting, and feasting, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic the prayers and celebrations will be in the homes of the Muslim faithful instead of in mosques. Shelter-at-home orders prevented communal gatherings of Christians and Jews celebrating...
Muslim Millennial's Site Dispels Stereotypes for Millions
NEW YORK — Today she travels the world, attends a red-carpet movie premiere and sits on panels with astronauts, former presidents and feminist icons. But in the years after 9/11, Amani Al-Khatahtbeh was just a New Jersey teenager, writing a blog from her bedroom. She used the blog to connect...
US Growth of Islam Creates Need for Religious Scholars
DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. — Imam Mohammad Qazwini's deep understanding of Islam and his formal training at a seminary in the holy city of Qom, Iran, draws students to this suburban Detroit classroom just off the large prayer room of a mosque. But there's another attraction. The Quran, Islam's holy book,...
Islamic Center Dinner To Feature Texas TV Reporter Who Wears a Hijab
The first television reporter to wear a hijab on-air will be the featured speaker at the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno's semi-annual Fundraising Dinner on Saturday. Tahera Rahman, who recently joined the news staff at KXAN-TV in Austin, Texas, previously worked for television stations in the Quad Cities area on...
Can Gen Z Figure Out How to End Islamophobia?
Muslims and Christians gathered last week at Fresno Pacific University to talk about Islamophobia, its causes, and what Generation Z — the generation of Americans now of college age, who are said to be the nation's most ethnically, racially and religiously diverse generation — can do about it. Listen to...
Muslim Youth Have a Place to Call Their Own at My Deen
Eighteen-year-old Salman Khan is outside shooting hoops with a handful of friends, some of them his buddies since elementary school. Like Khan, the other players are Muslim young men; their basketball "court" is in a parking lot behind My Deen (it's Arabic for "My Faith"), a nonprofit organization founded over a...
Feds Threaten University Funding Over Islam Focused Studies
The Trump administration is threatening to cut funding for a Middle East studies program run by the University of North Carolina and Duke University, arguing that it's misusing a federal grant to advance "ideological priorities" and unfairly promote "the positive aspects of Islam" but not Christianity or Judaism. An Aug....
What Ramadan Means to Muslims: 4 Essential Reads
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims around the world will not eat or drink from dawn to sunset. (GV Wire publisher Darius Assemi offers a personal perspective on the Ramadan tradition of fasting in the video above.) Muslims believe the sacred text of Quran was first revealed to Prophet Muhammad in...
Refugee Ministry, Clovis Funeral Director Receive Spirit of Abraham
The Rev. Zach Darrah stood in the meeting hall of the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno and smiled the biggest smile. "I mean, we're a Christian organization," Darrah said of Fresno Interdenominational Christian Ministries, which he serves as executive director. "And they're a Muslim organization. And we don't have to...