All posts tagged: Quran

Young ‘huffaz’ carry Ramadan’s most demanding tradition

Young ‘huffaz’ carry Ramadan’s most demanding tradition

Published by Sam Flores

ST. LOUIS (RNS) — By day, he’s a third‑year medical student, hustling between operating rooms and cramming for exams. By night, he trades his scrubs for a thobe — an Islamic robe for men — and steps to the front of a carpeted prayer hall, leading rows of worshippers in prayer as he recites pages of the Quran from memory. For Besher Jabri, Ramadan is not a time to slow down. Across the country, young men like him are balancing school and work as they step into quasi-imam roles, leading Taraweeh prayers deep into the night. The task is demanding and involves hours of daily review and a grueling schedule that stretches to near midnight. Yet these student reciters say leading a congregation is about more than filling a need at local mosques — they see it as a spiritual responsibility to preserve the sacred text and share it with their communities.  “As someone who’s studied the Quran, I think it’s a duty for us to give back,” Jabri, 25, said. “It’s not just like, …

In Trump’s Iran conflict, it’s prosperity gospel vs. the Quran

In Trump’s Iran conflict, it’s prosperity gospel vs. the Quran

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — The 1979 collapse of the Iranian monarchy coincided with the publication of Christopher Lasch’s blockbuster book of ideas, “The Culture of Narcissism,” a critique of American celebrity, grandiosity and spiritual emptiness. In retrospect, the book explains the reasons Iran’s young radicals rose up against the Shah’s regime and the results of the revolution that put the first ayatollah, Ruhollah Khomeini, in power. It may also explain the reasons for the current war. In the United States, a narcissistic “cult of the self,” as Lasch puts it, tended then (and clearly tends now) to self-aggrandizement and an unhealthy focus on personal image and consumption. The current administration is a case study of the problem, even as it wraps itself in so-called Christian nationalism. In pre-revolutionary Iran, the overwhelming wealth of the monarchy, combined with aggressive modernization, presented Iranians with a worldview tilted toward an unattainable consumerism. They overthrew the Shah and his petrodollar trappings and replaced him with the austere presence of the supreme leader, a position that now appears to have become hereditary. …

High Court upholds acquittal for Quran burning – Humanists UK

High Court upholds acquittal for Quran burning – Humanists UK

Published by Sam Flores

Hamit Coskun, who burned a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in London, has had his acquittal for religiously motivated harassment, alarm or distress upheld by the High Court. Humanists UK welcomes the outcome, but remains concerned that public order laws can be used to criminalise acts that cause religious offence without having sufficient safeguards to protect the right to freedom of expression.  The story so far In February 2025, Hamit Coskun, a half-Kurdish and half-Armenian man from Turkey, burned a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in London. He said he did it in protest against the President of Turkey for failing to uphold Turkey’s secular constitution. Notably, Coskun was attacked with a knife during his protest, for which he was taken to hospital before being arrested. Humanists UK regularly cautions that blasphemy-motivated extremism and violence are growing problems, and that such violence is inevitably encouraged when prohibitions on ‘blasphemy’ are legitimised by authorities. Nonetheless, in June he was convicted of a public disorder offence, likely to cause harassment, alarm, or distress, that was motivated at …

Judgment reserved on CPS Quran burning appeal – Humanists UK

Judgment reserved on CPS Quran burning appeal – Humanists UK

Published by Sam Flores

Today was the latest hearing in the case of Hamit Coskun, who burned a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in London. Last year, he had his conviction for religiously motivated harassment, alarm or distress overturned on appeal, but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has taken the case to the High Court. The case was heard today. The judge has reserved judgment, and will deliver his decision at a later date. The story so far In February 2025, Hamit Coskun, a half-Kurdish and half-Armenian man from Turkey, burned a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in London. He said he did it in protest against the President of Turkey for failing to uphold Turkey’s secular constitution. Notably, Coskun was attacked with a knife during his protest, and was taken to hospital before being arrested. Humanists UK regularly cautions that blasphemy-motivated extremism and violence are growing problems, and that such violence is inevitably encouraged when prohibitions on ‘blasphemy’ are legitimised by authorities. Nonetheless, in June he was convicted of a public disorder offence, likely to cause harassment, alarm, …

High Court to hear Quran burning case today – Humanists UK

High Court to hear Quran burning case today – Humanists UK

Published by Sam Flores

Today, the High Court will hear the case of Hamit Coskun, who burned a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in London. In June last year, he was convicted of religiously motivated harassment, alarm or distress, which was overturned on appeal in October. However, the Crown Prosecution Service has continued to pursue the case to the High Court. Humanists UK has expressed its alarm at the CPS’s move, which risks reintroducing a blasphemy law in England and Wales by the back door. When handing down his judgment at the appeal in October, the judge affirmed that the burning of a Quran is not a crime in and of itself as there is no actual victim of hostility on a racial or religious basis. In this case, the appeal judge stated that Coskun’s conduct was found not to be aimed at a specific person or specific people. The Turkish Embassy is a known political building and is therefore a reasonable place to protest. The defendant was by himself so could not be said to be intimidating. No …

Iraqi calligrapher’s handwritten Quran ends 6 years of artistry and craft

Iraqi calligrapher’s handwritten Quran ends 6 years of artistry and craft

Published by Sam Flores

ISTANBUL (AP) — Iraqi calligrapher Ali Zaman gazes with pride at his masterpiece — a colossal, handwritten manuscript of the Quran that has taken six years of craft and devotion to complete. The finished work consists of 302 double sided scrolls, each measuring 4 meters (13 feet) in length and 1.5 meters in width. The sheets, resembling heavy parchment, were custom made for Zaman with a blend of traditional materials including eggs, corn starch and alum. “Anytime I think of this Quran … it gives me very nice feeling that the mighty God gave me the life to be able to finish this thing and complete it. I feel very proud,” the 54-year-old told The Associated Press at a mosque in Istanbul l where the manuscript is kept. Islamic calligraphy is regarded as one of the most valued artistic traditions in the Muslim world. The art form served to preserve and embellish Islam ’s holy book and was later also used to adorn mosques, palaces and manuscripts. In Turkey, it flourished during the Ottoman era …

Quran Revolution founder sentenced to 80 years on child pornography charges

Quran Revolution founder sentenced to 80 years on child pornography charges

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — A former Texas imam and online Quran instructor who was charged with conspiracy to produce child pornography has been sentenced to 80 years in prison, according to federal court documents.  Wisam Sharieff was sentenced on Wednesday (Jan. 28) in the Alabama Northern District Court, more than six months after he entered a guilty plea on three federal child sexual exploitation charges. He was also ordered to pay $135,000 to a fund for victims of child sexual abuse. His co-defendant, Blake Miller Barakat, was sentenced to 70 years last October. The former high-profile imam’s arrest two years ago and details of allegations made available in court records sparked outrage for some Muslim Americans and led to conversations about how to hold alleged spiritual abusers accountable.  According to the indictment, Sharieff and Barakat, an Alabama woman he was teaching, allegedly conspired together to coerce Barakat’s child to engage in sexually explicit behavior for the purpose of producing pornography. FBI special agent Eric Salvador reported in a sworn affidavit that electronic devices and sexual toys were …

Zohran Mamdani Uses Historic Qur’an at His Swearing-In Ceremony

Zohran Mamdani Uses Historic Qur’an at His Swearing-In Ceremony

Published by José Betancourt

At midnight on New Year’s Eve, incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdami took his oath of office on the Qur’an, Islam’s most important religious text. He is the first Muslim to hold the position of Mayor of New York City. One of the two Qur’ans used in the ceremony came from Mr. Mamdani’s grandfather. The other was lent by the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. According to the New York Times, the latter book was selected by Rahim and Rama Duwaji, Mamdani’s wife, with the help of Hiba Abid, curator of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at the NYPL. Related Articles Executed in red and black ink and thought to have been produced in the late 18th or early 19th century in Ottoman Syria, the Schomburg’s copy is modest in design and scale. As such, it was meant for everyday use, reflecting a central tenet of Mamdani’s winning campaign for mayor. “The significance of this Qur’an extends far beyond the beauty of its pages,” Abid said in a statement. “Its importance …

Zohran Mamdani takes oath as New York mayor with historic Quran | Politics News

Zohran Mamdani takes oath as New York mayor with historic Quran | Politics News

Published by Sam Flores

Incoming mayor uses edition symbolising New York City history; to use two family Qurans in public ceremony on Friday. Zohran Mamdani on Thursday became the first New York City mayor to be sworn in using a Quran. The first Muslim and South Asian mayor of the United States’ biggest metropolis, Mamdani used his grandfather’s Quran and a 200-year-old copy on loan from the New York Public Library (NYPL) for the private swearing-in event held at a disused subway station under Times Square. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list He then plans to use two copies of the Quran that belonged to his grandfather and grandmother for a daytime ceremony at New York City Hall on Friday. The historic Quran, borrowed from the library, once belonged to Arturo Schomburg, a Black historian and writer who sold his collection of 4,000 books to the NYPL in 1926. His collection became the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Schomburg was born in Puerto Rico in the 1870s to parents of German and Afro-Caribbean descent. He …

CPS appeals ‘not guilty’ verdict of man who burned Quran – Humanists UK

CPS appeals ‘not guilty’ verdict of man who burned Quran – Humanists UK

Published by Sam Flores

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is to appeal the decision by the Crown Court to find Hamit Coskun not guilty of religiously motivated harassment, alarm, or distress after he burned a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy. Humanists UK has expressed its alarm at the CPS’s move, which risks reintroducing a blasphemy law in England and Wales by the back door. In June, Hamit, a half-Kurdish and half-Armenian man from Turkey, was convicted by Westminster Magistrates Court for burning a copy of the Quran while shouting disparaging remarks about Islam within hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm, or distress. The judge stated that the burning of a religious book was not in and of itself unlawful, even if it is offensive to some. But the location of the burning, outside the Turkish Embassy, and Coskun’s associated actions, made his behaviour disorderly. His actions were found to be motivated at least in part by hostility to Muslims due to comments he made in his police interview that were prejudicial towards Muslims. …