On Friday, Federal Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson ruled that an American who was convicted of fighting with the Taliban should be allowed to pray in congregation everyday within the premises of the high security prison. John Walker Lindh joined a suit initiated by two other prisoners against the prison authorities, arguing that not allowing him to pray violated a federal law that disallowed the government from limiting religious speech without showing a compelling interest.

Although the court accepted the argument that such arrangements for daily prayers five times a day were only possible in cases where security was not a concern, they said that the government had failed to prove that allowing prisoners to leave their cells to pray was causing a reasonable security concern. Other inmates were permitted to pray in congregation on special religious events, and no incidents of trouble had ever been reported.

The losing party intends to appeal the decision, claiming that Judge Magnus-Stinson’s verdict would have a massive impact on prison security all over America. Joe Hogsett, the legal representative of the prison facility argued, “This case deals with critically important issues that have significance both inside and outside the walls of our federal prison facilities. Our concern continues to be the safety and security of both our federal prison system and the United States of America.”

Lindh argued that Islam requires him to pray five times a day in congregation, and the prison’s ban was interfering with his right to practice his religion freely. Praying alone in his cell, he argued, was not permitted according to the school of Islam that he adheres to. Although officials from the prison facility said that such a verdict would have to be extended to all prisoners, the court was not in favor of curtailing the right of prisoners to practice their religion. One of the arguments brought forward by the state in the trial was that Muslim inmates use religion as a cover to carry out gang-like activities. The court rejected this plea on a lack of evidence.

Even though people in prisons in the United States do not have all rights guaranteed by the constitution, they are guaranteed a number of rights by the Constitution as well as federal and state laws. Judge Mangus-Stinson’s verdict is not the first protecting the religious freedom of convicts in the United States. In Mayweathers v. Newland, the court sought an injunction to stop a corrections facility from disciplining a Muslim inmate who missed work because he was attending Friday prayers.

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A constitutional court in Poland reportedly has ruled against allowing Jewish and Muslim ritual slaughter in the country. The Warsaw court's ruling, which was made known on Tuesday, said the government had acted unconstitutionally when it exempted Jews and Muslims from stunning animals before slaughtering them as their faiths require, according to Piotr Kadlcik, president of the Union of Jewish Communities in Poland.

JTA, 27 November 2012

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A German dental practice which refused to hire a young Muslim woman because she insisted on wearing a headscarf at work broke the law, it was reported on Thursday. The court ruling is the first of its kind for the country.

A young Berlin woman applied last summer for a traineeship to become a dental assistant. Despite being qualified and getting along with staff, she was told that she could not have the position unless she removed her headscarf, the Tagesspiegel newspaper said.

This was religious discrimination, the city's labour court ruled. A headscarf was not an "arbitrary piece of clothing" but an expression of her beliefs and wearing it was part of her right to religious freedom. Refusing to employ because of her headscarf was in breach of the Equal Treatment Act, the judge said.

The court also rejected the suggestion that headscarves could pose a hygiene risk to patients. There was no more chance of transferring bacteria with a scarf than there was via human hair, the judge said.

The Spandau-based dental surgery argued that they had a right to religious neutrality in the clinic. But the judge said that as "it was in no way a religious institution," this was not valid.

Other women who had appealed for the right to wear a headscarf at work have lost in the past, generally because they had taken church-related employers to court.

The woman applied for the position in the summer of 2011. When she was rejected she decided, with help from the Turkish Association of Berlin and Brandenburg, to take the practice to court.

The Local, 18 October 2012

See also "German court rules in favor of headscarf freedom", Today's Zaman, 18 October 2012

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A Muslim protester is calling for revision of the frisking process at the Houston Police Department after she said she was stripped of her religious headscarf during a recent arrest this month while rallying for janitor wages.

The incident highlights the varying policies local police agencies have regulating when religious head coverings are allowed during the arresting and booking process. It also shows the fine line law enforcement must straddle when trying to respect one's faith while ensuring that people who are arrested do no harm to themselves or others.

Ilana Alazzeh, 23, was arrested by HPD Aug. 1 while participating in a roadblock protest at a busy intersection in the Galleria area. She and two dozen other protesters sat in the middle of the intersection with arms interlocked.

Alazzeh, who has Israeli, Palestinian and Pakistani roots, was the only protester wearing a hijab – the headscarf – worn by female adherents of the Islamic faith while in the presence of men.

After their arrest for obstruction of traffic, HPD officers took the handcuffed protesters to the Police Department's gymnasium to ID and process them before incarceration.

"Initially they were very cordial," said Alazzeh, a communications specialist from Washington, D.C., who works for the Service Employees International Union.

She was called up to a table of officers for basic identification questions. One officer chatted with her about Ramadan, she said, and another asked about her headscarf.

A female officer at the table noted down in her file, "headscarf religious reasons," Alazzeh said. "She told me, 'I put that in there so you won't be bothered because of it.' "

Minutes later, Alazzeh was approached by a different female officer who began the frisking process and started unwrapping her headscarf in plain view of male officers and protesters.

"Whoa, whoa! This is my religious headscarf," she told the officer as she tried to back away. "Can't you just feel through it?" she asked. "The officer said, 'No, if you want your religious headscarf, you shouldn't protest,' " Alazzeh said.

She said she pleaded with the officer, asking if a nun would be treated the same way, to which Alazzeh said the officer replied, "This is just procedure … I don't know what you have in there. You might be hiding a gun."

Houston Chronicle, 19 August 2012

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A Berlin court has rejected an emergency appeal by three mosques to prohibit a far-right group from displaying caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad at a demonstration this weekend.

The Berlin administrative court ruled Thursday the caricatures were protected by laws allowing artistic free expression and their display alone did not violate laws against slander nor those against inciting hate or violence.

Three mosques had filed the appeal after the far-right "Citizens Movement – Pro Germany" had said it would display the caricatures during its Aug. 18 demonstration in the capital, being held under the slogan "Islam does not belong in Germany – stop Islamization".

Associated Press, 16 August 2012

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When one wants to know how to recite the Qur’an well, they need to follow the Tajweed rules, and they will end up knowing on the vowels, the pronunciation, and the entire context. Many people want o know how to recite this but they need to make sure that they follow all that is indicated in the Quran. One needs to be a true Muslim and love the words of Prophet Muhammad who was one of the leaders of the Islamic faith. When one recites these verses to others, they end up doing the good deeds and this, will make them and others to grow up knowing more on the services and principles of Allah.

According to tajweed rules, you need to know its definition and this means that you should pronounce all the letters well and this will give you the world and end up knowing more on the definition and end up translating and reading it to the other listeners. This is very common on the Mosques where the faithful followers take time to listen to the sheik as they read and translate to them. They end up knowing what the holy book states and this gives them the spiritual knowledge.

The tajweed rules became known when the Muslim faith found out that it would be mixed with the Arab language, and this would get hard for one to interpret the right message and the tajweeds will be used outside the mosque. These principals claim that the messages should be used in the mosques or when one is reciting the Quran and not used to spread any negative message to the masses. It is a very strict enforcement, which the Muslim people observe since it is a holy language, which aims to honor Allah.

With the tajweed rules, it gets very easy for one to follow the real message of Allah and this is through the proper pronunciation, following the stories as they are portrayed in the holy book. Many young Muslims want to know the correct way to interpret the message in the Quran and this means that they need to take time to master the syllables and the pronunciation well. It is an easy context but when it is not used in the correct matter, you will end up not getting the right message.

Many people want to find out more on the tajweed rules, and how, they can recite them using the online resources, they can follow the messages of the popular sheiks who have installed the reading tutorials, and it gets very easy for one to read them online. Others prefer to visit the mosques to get to learn it and they have the opportunity to end up knowing more in the Quran. When you take time to understand all this, you will end up gathering more knowledge, and you will grow knowing the teachings of the prophet and more about Allah. It is good when every Islamic family grows up knowing the rules and follow them to the latter.

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People have different opinions when it comes to the role of proper grammar rules in the Arabic language proficiency level. They should be aware of the fact that learning Arabic requires the same amount of effort and persistence as any other foreign dialect.

The reasons for which people decide to begin learning Arabic are very different also. Some need to learn it because of a romantic involvement or friendship, while others do it for a job. A lot of the cases when people want to learn Arabic are when they are planning a travel to Middle Eastern countries or countries in North Africa. Another reason might be the simple fact that someone sees learning a new language as a hobby.

No matter the reason for which one wants to learn Arabic, there are several techniques for becoming proficient in Arabic. At least one of these methods will suit your individual needs and will help you getting to a more advanced level. The basics of the Arabic language can be learned on your own. At first, one should try to attempt only a few words to assess if learning this language is something you want to spend your time on, and also to get a general idea before deciding to spend money on traditional trainings.

Many people that have their doubts about whether to start learning Arabic or not, want to know just how useful the language will be and for what purpose it will be used. Arabic is spoken by Muslims even in parts of India and Indonesia. Some countries that use some form of the Arabic dialect are as follows:Kyrgyzstan,Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan,Uzbekistan, Bangladesh,Turkmenistan, Malaysia,Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.

Certain places have Islam as their main religion, and a lot of people study the Arabic Language dialect to be able to read the Qur’an. These countries are:Tanzania,Nigeria,Djibouti,Somalia,Niger,Senegal,Ethiopia,Gambia,Sudan,Mali,Ghana and Guinea.

If someone is very interested in becoming proficient in the Arabic language, he should keep in mind that some components will be very easy to learn, while the rest will be very hard to learn. Another thing to remember is that some individuals are able to take in new languages a lot easier in comparison to other individuals. People that use the Hebrew dialect will find it easier to learn Arabic, because of some similarities between the two languages while English or Spanish speaking people will need more time to accommodate to the Arabic grammar. This might be valid for people that are proficient in another dialect because their brain already comprehends other expressions and rules.

The Arabic language has 28 consonantal phonemes and two semi-vowels. Any dialect of the Arabic language is read from right to left, as opposite to the English language. The Arabic language also includes sounds that don’t exist in the English language. For example, the Arabic glottal stop is non-existent in the English language. Typically the apostrophe represents the glottal stop in Arabic.

Even though the Arabic Language grammar is nothing like the one in the English language, it is not hard to learn it. Some rules of the Arabic grammar are actually easier than the English rules of grammar. Once the person has gained a significant amount of proficiency in the essentials of the Arabic language and decides to commit more time to studying the language, he must discover a method to improve the level of proficiency that is suitable for his individual needs. An advanced level of the Arabic language might include some expenses, but they are worth it if they will help one become very proficient in Arabic.

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The Federal Court says an anti-Islam group has the right to give out leaflets from an information booth if it wants – and the local authorities must protect them.

Fribourg Council banned the group – The Movement Against the Islamization of Switzerland – from setting up an information booth Place Georges-Python during the anti-minaret campaign in 2009. It said it refused to give permission because of a fear that violence and unrest would break out as a result, provoking a legal challenge.

The Federal Court upheld the group's complaint that the authorities had impinged on its freedom of expression as well as on freedom of information, newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported.

The court said the local authorities should instead have taken additional measures to safeguard against such an event. In particular, the court said that the authorities could have drafted more police in to safeguard the site. Although public law does grant local authorities powers to ban demonstrations from public spaces, the court confirmed that they may not do so simply because they disapprove of the ideas being communicated.

The Local, 21 May 2012

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