In India, some fear lawmakers are stoking anti-Muslim fervor

A lawmaker from India’s ruling party called the Taj Mahal a blot on Indian culture, saying in October that the famous tourist site had been built by Muslim traitors. In November, another party member offered a bounty for the heads of two people involved in a movie featuring a Muslim sultan. Then, this month, a laborer was hacked to death and set afire while his alleged attacker ranted against Muslims.

The series of incidents this fall has reinforced fears that anti-Muslim sentiment has hardened in India in the three years since a Hindu nationalist party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi swept to power. Some say it has reached a point where Hindu extremists believe they can get away with murder. Others worry that hard-line Hindu leaders want to rewrite the country’s rich Muslim history.

India’s top court: Instant divorce among Muslims unlawful

India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down the Muslim practice that allows men to instantly divorce their wives as unconstitutional.

The bench, comprising five senior judges of different faiths, deliberated for three months before issuing its order in response to petitions from seven Muslim women who had been divorced through the practice known as triple talaq.

Indian law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on NDTV that since the court deemed the practice unconstitutional there is no need for any further legislative action by the government.

Jakarta governor sentenced to 2 years prison for blasphemy

An Indonesian court sentenced the minority Christian governor of Jakarta to two years in prison on Tuesday for blaspheming the Quran, a jarring ruling that undermines the reputation of the world’s largest Muslim nation for practicing a moderate form of Islam.

In announcing its decision, the five-judge panel said Gov. Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama was “convincingly proven guilty of blasphemy” and ordered his arrest. He was taken to Cipinang Prison in east Jakarta. At the court, supporters of the governor wept and hugged each other amid shouts of jubilation from members of conservative Islamic groups.

Muslim pilgrims begin hajj, but this year without Iranians

Close to 2 million people from around the world began performing the first rites of the Islamic hajj pilgrimage on Saturday, which calls for entering into a state of physical and spiritual purity and circling the cube-shaped Kaaba with their palms facing upward in supplication and prayer.

Notably absent this year are Iranian pilgrims. Last year, some 64,000 Iranians took part in the hajj, but disputes with the Saudi government prompted Tehran to bar its citizens from taking part this year.

Q&A: What is Ramadan and why do Muslims fast all day?

Millions of Muslims around the world on Monday marked the start of Ramadan, a month of intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts. Others will begin fasting a day later, Tuesday, due to a moon-sighting methodology that can lead to different countries declaring the start of Ramadan a day or two apart. 

Here are some questions and answers about Islam's holiest month:

Many Muslims to begin fasting for month of Ramadan on Monday

Millions of Muslims around the world will mark the start of the holy month of Ramadan on Monday, a time marked by intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts.

Saudi Arabia's state TV announced the new moon of Ramadan was spotted Sunday evening. Local media in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, also said Muslims there would begin fasting Monday, as will Muslims in Singapore, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories, among others.

Sikhs feel vulnerable, join with Muslims to combat backlash

Pardeep Kaleka spent several days after 9/11 at his father's South Milwaukee gas station, fearing that his family would be targeted by people who assumed they were Muslim. No, Kaleka explained on behalf of his father, who wore a turban and beard and spoke only in broken English, the family was Sikh, a southeast Asian religion based on equality and unrelated to Islam.

But amid a new wave of anti-Islamic sentiment since the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Kaleka is vowing to take an entirely different approach.

Saudi Arabia accused of neglect over deadly disaster at hajj

Saudi Arabia faced new accusations of neglect Friday in the hajj disaster that killed over 700 people, the second tragedy at this year's pilgrimage overseen by the kingdom's rulers who base their legitimacy in part on protecting Islam's holiest sites.

Leading the criticism was regional Shiite powerhouse Iran, which always seeks an opportunity to undermine its Sunni adversary.

Muslims worldwide to mark the start of Ramadan on Thursday

Muslims around the world will mark the start of Ramadan on Thursday, a month of intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts.

Muslims follow a lunar calendar and a moon-sighting methodology that can lead to different countries declaring the start of Ramadan a day or two apart. However, this year religious authorities in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia and most other parts of the world announced based on their sightings of the moon that daily fasting would begin Thursday.

Pakistan frees on bail alleged mastermind of Mumbai attacks

The suspected mastermind of the deadly Mumbai attacks in 2008 was released on bail Friday by a Pakistani court — a move likely to further strain relations with India, which has accused Islamabad of turning a blind eye to Islamic militancy.

The release of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who has been held since his arrest in 2009, drew expressions of concern from both India and the United States.

Ramadan (Pakistan)

Pakistani girls show their hands painted with henna ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, July 28, 2014. Pakistani Muslims will celebrate the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.  

Ramadan (Sri Lanka)

Sri Lankan Muslim girls pray as they celebrate Eid al-Fitr in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, July 29, 2014. Millions of Muslims across the world are celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the month-long fast of Ramadan.  

Ramadan (India)

Indian Muslims offer Eid al-Fitr prayers near the Quli Qutub Shahi tombs in Hyderabad, India, Tuesday, July 29, 2014. Millions of Muslims across the world are celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the month-long fast of Ramadan.  

Ramadan

An Indian Muslim girl displays her henna decorated hands at a roadside stall ahead of the Muslim festivities of Eid al-Fitr, in Mumbai on July 28, 2014. Muslims around the world are preparing to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

AP PHOTOS: As Ramadan fast ends, the feasts begin

This Sunday, July 6, 2014 photo, shows an Iraqi family waiting to break their fast during the hold month of Ramadan in Basra, Iraq. For the millions of Muslims abstaining from food and drink from sunrise to sunset every day during Islam’s holiest month of Ramadan, that first sip of water after a grueling fast is by far the most anticipated moment of the day.

Ramadan

Ramadan