Omar Sacirbey is a Boston-based correspondent for Religion News Service and other publications. In 2008, he was a finalist for the Religion Newswriters Association Templeton Reporter of the Year award, and in 2007, he placed third in the American Academy of Religion news writing contest. In 2005, he was an Alicia Patterson Foundation Journalism Fellow, focusing on Muslims in North America. Before journalism, he was an advisor with the Bosnian Foreign Ministry, serving at the United Nations in New York, and in Sarajevo and The Hague. He holds masters degrees from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and the Columbia University School of Journalism. He also writes about business, foreign affairs, politics, and food.
(RNS) Muslim Americans routinely provide emergency aid following natural disasters, but the Oklahoma tornado is special because of the anti-Muslim sentiment in the state. Muslims increased their outreach, convinced that when Oklahomans meet Muslims, prejudices will fade.
(RNS) After losing steam in recent years, the anti-Shariah movement has scored a string of victories by, ironically, leaving the words “Shariah” and “Islam” out of bills that restrict state courts from considering foreign law.
(RNS) Muslims in America are much less inclined to support suicide bombing than Muslims abroad, and are more likely to believe that people of other faiths can attain eternal life in heaven, according to a new survey.
BOSTON (RNS) Karen Hunt-Ahmed is part of a growing sorority of female American converts to Islam, especially those who are or were married to Muslim men, who must deal with the perception that they converted to Islam because of domineering boyfriends or husbands.
(RNS) A new poll shows that the Islamic political party known as the Muslim Brotherhood has soured American attitudes towards Egypt, arguably America’s most important Arab ally, since its candidate Mohamed Morsi won presidential elections there in June 2012.
Just as many Catholics have connected Pope Francis’ humility and austere lifestyle with that of St. Francis of Assisi, those seeking clues on the new pontiff’s approach to Christian-Muslim relations see another example in his iconic namesake.
(RNS) In a new report, Muslims detail how fears of being spied on compelled them to refrain from social activism, and change how they dress, and sowed intracommunity mistrust.
(RNS) The selection of the 266th pope comes at a critical juncture in Muslim-Catholic relations, which have been marred by persecution of Christians in the Muslim world, Islamophobia in Western countries and rioting between Muslims and Christians across Africa.
(RNS) Fighting in the Muslim country of Mali in northern Africa has delayed the American tour of a unique exhibit featuring centuries-old texts and artifacts from Timbuktu, an ancient center of Islamic learning.
(RNS) Nailah Lymus argues that there’s greater demand for modesty than perhaps the fashion industry realizes, and that it will need models to respond. Since launching her Underwraps modeling agency, she’s received more than 400 queries from aspiring Muslim models from the U.S. to Indonesia to Great Britain.
