To the long list of things that everyone else loves but that Muslims are supposed to hate — democracy, dogs, women with uncovered hair — we can now add yoga. A council of muftis in Malaysia issued a fatwa over the weekend banning yoga for Muslims, claiming that the sweaty 'Oms' and other Hindu elements of a standard 60-minute yoga class could "destroy the faith of a Muslim." For a moment, this news had me selfishly worried. I've been ...

While Western governments have been worrying about bearded men with bombs in caves, a new jihad has quietly gained strength in the Muslim world: Islamic feminism. Earlier this week, 350 women and men gathered in Malaysia to launch Musawah — "Equality" in Arabic — a movement for justice in the Muslim family. Organized by the Malaysian Muslim feminist group Sisters in Islam, the conference, two years in the planning, is a kick-off to a campaign to enshrine Muslim women's ...

The first time I went jogging in Tehran, I nearly hyperventilated after four blocks, despite wearing the gauziest of head scarves and a decidedly immodest Nike capris. The fabric covering my ears and neck stoked my body temperature unbearably, and the pleasurable strain of running gave way to acute discomfort. "How am I going to stay fit here?" I wailed to my Iranian girlfriends, experts in the dilemma of balancing exercise with Islamic modesty codes. They offered me a ...

They are not war refugees, not displaced by violence; rather they believe they're here because they are Christian. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- They are not war refugees, not displaced by violence; rather they believe they're here because they are Christian. A mother of two sobs as she tells us, "I have no money. No money for books or uniforms to send my children to school." It's around 110 degrees Fahrenheit in this squalid camp in downtown Islamabad, where ...

At first, no one seemed to notice the young man who walked into the hotel lobby at around 7:45 that Friday morning. He wore a baseball cap, a backpack and dragged a wheeled suitcase behind him. He casually checked his watch as he calmly walked toward a hotel restaurant filled with Western business executives. A hotel security camera caught what happened next. In a matter of moments, the lobby was engulfed in billowing white smoke and flying debris. Another suspected ...

The guitarist stands in front of a mirror messing with his mohawk. The drummer strikes a wild tempo. The singer rips off his T-shirt and begins to scream the lyrics. They're young. They're punk. And they're rocking both their Muslim and American worlds with their music, lyrics and style. "A lot of times people say, 'Oh wow, look, brown people playing music' [but] it's more than that," said 25-year-old Pakistani-American Shahjehan Khan, the lead singer for a Muslim punk band, ...

Kuwaiti security forces arrested six Kuwaitis linked to al Qaeda who planned to attack a U.S. military installation, the country's state-run news agency reported Tuesday. The suspects had planned to bomb Camp Arifjan during the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Kuwaiti security sources said. It is unclear when the arrests took place. The plot also involved an attack on Kuwait's State Security Service headquarters and other government facilities, according to the Kuwait News Agency, which cited a statement ...

Hundreds of excited music fans wait in line on the lookout for their favorite singers on a hit television show. Instead of spending the time outside a New York venue or Hollywood soundstage though, these fans braved barbed wire and gun-toting guards in Kabul to attend Afghanistan's premier pop music event: the finals of "Afghan Star," the embattled country's answer to "American Idol." In line, bright mod outfits have replaced Kabul's normally conservative dress code. Onstage, men sport the latest ...

Israeli police launched a citywide manhunt through Tel Aviv for the masked, black-clad gunman who opened fire with a pistol at a gay youth club on Saturday night, Aug. 1, killing two and wounding 15 more. While the authorities have been careful not to speculate on a motive for the crime, the city's stunned gay community was not hesitant about assigning blame for the atmosphere they believe was conducive to the crime. Pointing to Orthodox Jewish gay-bashers, gay activists ...

About 780 people killed in clashes with Islamic militants in the northeast Nigerian area of Maiduguri have been buried in mass graves, an aid official said Monday. The Red Cross urged an environmental agency to bury them as soon as possible because of the dangers of so many bodies being exposed to northern Nigeria's heat, said Mohammed Zannah Barma, secretary of the Red Cross in Borno state. About 3,600 people were displaced in the attacks, Barma said, adding that almost ...