All posts tagged: mosque

Many churches, synagogues and mosques are built around families – and they’re struggling to respond to rising singles

Many churches, synagogues and mosques are built around families – and they’re struggling to respond to rising singles

Published by Sam Flores

(The Conversation) — When a couple marry in a church, synagogue or mosque, the ceremony does more than sanctify a union. Often, it binds two families to an institution. For centuries, marriage and child-rearing have been among the main ways adults are integrated into congregational life. Couples who share the same faith tend to be more observant, and they often raise children within that tradition – bringing the next generation into congregational life. More marriages mean more families in pews and more children raised in the faith. That helps explain why the rise of single adults is so unsettling for many faith communities today. In the United States, 42% of adults were not married or living with a partner in 2023, up from 38% in 2000. This shift is unlikely to change soon: A quarter of 40-year-olds have never been married, and a third of Gen Z are projected to never marry. At the same time, the share of unmarried Americans who belong to a religious congregation has fallen well below that of married Americans. …

Suffolk village braces for thousands of Muslim pilgrims from fundamentalist mosque

Suffolk village braces for thousands of Muslim pilgrims from fundamentalist mosque

Published by Sam Flores

A Suffolk village is braced for the arrival of up to 100,000 Muslim pilgrims at a festival organised by a fundamentalist mosque. Residents of Barham, near Ipswich, have demanded the cancellation of the Islamic meeting at Shrubland Hall, a Georgian manor house, in July. Muslims are expected to travel from around the world to attend the three-day “ijtema”, or gathering, which is being organised by an ultra-conservative Dewsbury mosque. Two of the July 7 London bombers attended prayers at the Sunni place of worship, and it was home to a school that Ofsted reprimanded in 2021 after a book calling for gay people to be killed was found in its library. Locals have now called for the festival to be cancelled, arguing the village of 1,600 people cannot host so many people and that nearby roads will be gridlocked. Robert Stanper, 69, told The Telegraph: “I hope it doesn’t happen because they’re on my doorstep. The environment would suffer because of all the things people leave behind, intentionally or unintentionally. “That amount of people on …

Pope’s upcoming Africa odyssey takes him to a mosque, a prison and the site of a deadly 2021 blast

Pope’s upcoming Africa odyssey takes him to a mosque, a prison and the site of a deadly 2021 blast

Published by Sam Flores

ROME (AP) — The Vatican released on Monday details of Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming four-nation Africa tour, suggesting Christian-Muslim relations, comforting victims of violence and encouraging the Catholic community in former European colonies will be key themes. The April 13-23 trip begins in Algeria, which has never before welcomed a pope. It includes a visit to the Great Mosque in Algiers as well as a meeting with Leo’s fellow Augustinians in the place most associated with St. Augustine of Hippo, the 5th-century inspiration for their religious order. Leo will preside over a peace meeting in northwest Cameroon, visit an important Marian shrine in Angola and pray at a memorial to victims of a 2021 blast in Equatorial Guinea that killed more than 100 people and was blamed on negligence. All the while, he’ll meet with local bishops, celebrate Masses for the faithful and have private talks with the four nations’ leaders, two of whom have been in power for decades. Here’s a look at some of the key stops in each of the countries. The …

Jerusalem Braces For Unrest After Wartime Closure Of Al-Aqsa Mosque Through Ramadan

Jerusalem Braces For Unrest After Wartime Closure Of Al-Aqsa Mosque Through Ramadan

Published by Jenni Sidey

Via Middle East Eye Israel is set to keep Al-Aqsa Mosque closed through the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr and beyond, Middle East Eye has learnt. Sources familiar with the occupied East Jerusalem mosque’s affairs said Israeli authorities informed the Islamic Waqf, the body responsible for administering the site, of the decision in recent days. Al-Aqsa Mosque, deemed one of the holiest sites in Islam, was closed by Israeli authorities earlier this month, citing the “security situation” amid the US-Israeli war on Iran. The unprecedented closure, particularly during the month of Ramadan, has been condemned by Palestinians as the latest attempt by Israel to exploit security tensions to impose further restrictions and consolidate control over Al-Aqsa. via Reuters This has been the first Ramadan since Israel seized East Jerusalem in 1967 that Palestinians have been unable to perform Friday prayers at the mosque. Last week, eight Muslim-majority countries condemned the “unjustified” closure, saying Israel has “no sovereignty” over the revered site and must lift the restrictions immediately. However, the closure has continued unchecked. Friday prayers and Ramadan night prayers …

Muslim leaders argue Al-Aqsa Mosque closure during Ramadan may be politically motivated

Muslim leaders argue Al-Aqsa Mosque closure during Ramadan may be politically motivated

Published by Sam Flores

JERUSALEM (RNS) — Living in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, Mohammed Mahmoud enjoys a privilege other Muslims around the world can only dream about: the ability to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque every day. For the first two weeks of Ramadan, Mahmoud, who works in a bakery across the street from the Muslim Quarter, did just that. But worshippers’ access to Israel’s holy sites came to a sudden halt last week after the U.S. and Israel coordinated a joint attack against Iran, and Iran retaliated by launching ballistic missiles at Israel, U.S. military assets and almost a dozen other countries.    While Home Front Command, the Israel Defense Forces’ civil protection arm, has now deemed it safe to permit workplaces, stores, restaurants and virtually all of the country’s mosques, churches and synagogues to reopen — provided that no more than 50 people congregate and there is a nearby bomb shelter — the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Sharif, the Western Wall and its plaza and the Church of the …

Closing Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan sets a dangerous precedent

Closing Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan sets a dangerous precedent

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — The decision by the Israeli authorities to close the third-holiest mosque in Islam came as fasting worshippers were in the middle of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. Muslims fear Israel, which said the Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif closure was over security amid the war in Iran, will misuse the situation to normalize and further tighten the Israeli police grip on the mosque and its management. They are also concerned that the closure will be abused to dig inside and below the mosque, as Israel did when it placed electronic gates at the mosque’s entrance in 2017, and during the COVID-19 pandemic. An estimated fewer than 5% of worshippers from all over Palestine have had access to Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan anyway. In addition to age restrictions for Palestinians living in Jerusalem and inside the Green Line to visit the mosque, almost 5.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have been denied access during the last two decades, except for a very small number allowed to enter Jerusalem …

Fury as UK mosque linked to Iran hosts tearful Khamenei vigil | UK | News

Fury as UK mosque linked to Iran hosts tearful Khamenei vigil | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

Footage shows how candles flickered and mourners broke down in tears outside a north London mosque linked to the Iranian regime as tributes to dead supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spread across Britain. The Islamic Centre of England, which the Express reported is currently under investigation by the Charity Commission, became a focal point for grief, with photographs of Khamenei placed at its entrance and one mourner’s voice cutting through the crowd: “we will obey you Khamenei.” Services, vigils and remembrance events for a man who spent decades crushing internal dissent and funding terror networks abroad were held at religious centres and various universities from cities as far afield as London and Nottingham, with leaflets advertising gatherings in Birmingham and Manchester also circulating online. At one service, footage reviewed by reporters captured worshippers in tears beneath a wall-mounted portrait of Khamenei adorned with a black ribbon. The date of the recording could not be independently confirmed. One leaflet promoted the occasion as a moment for the Muslim community to come together in “deep sorrow and …

A Texas student turns abandoned school into mosque in 45 days

A Texas student turns abandoned school into mosque in 45 days

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — On the first night of Ramadan, worshippers stood shoulder to shoulder on rows of blue prayer rugs beneath the glow of string lights in a former elementary school gym in Lubbock, Texas. Just weeks earlier, the building had been abandoned and in disrepair.  Mohamad Altabaa, a third-year medical student at Texas Tech University, and his physician friend bought the former Arnett Elementary School in January with an ambitious goal: open a mosque and community hub in 45 days, just in time for Ramadan.  “It was in horrible condition,” he said, noting the building had been unused since a church sold it in 2024. “But I just had a feeling like we need to purchase it and turn it into a community center, to do good in the community.” After purchasing the building, Altabaa took to Instagram to share the renovation process through a nine-part witty video series featuring volunteers and crews hauling debris, opening an underground water main and tackling a steady stream of odd jobs.   “I just bought an elementary school, and that’s …