Word: prayers
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...devoted Muslim who took his religion seriously and was a committed student," Alfred told TIME. "Some people call him ustaz [Arabic for teacher], others call him alfa [Muslim scholar], but he is a complete gentleman." Alfred says that the banker's son took seriously the Islamic recommendation for prayer five times a day. The son was also known for his strong views on the U.S. and Israel. According to a source close to the family, it was an alleged threat to blow up an American plane that apparently alarmed his parents and supposedly resulted in his father going to warn...
...First came the salavat, an Arabic prayer for the Prophet and his family, its gentle rhythm and cadences imprinted indelibly in the minds of all Iranians. It is a unifying call to attention, since when one begins, it is customary for all to follow. Tonight it was also a vocal exercise. Four, five times it was repeated before stage two: "God is great," the battle cry. The thoughts of all turned to tomorrow...
...teach their faith without state approval, according to a U.S. State department report. Official figures put the number of practicing Christians at 13,000 in 2001, but South Korean church groups estimate about 100,000 Christians practice in secret churches across the nation now. "We always met for prayer at peoples' homes, in groups of two to keep it private," Jeong says. "When we met in bigger groups, we went far away to the mountains where no one could find us." (See rare pictures from inside North Korea...
Muslim and European leaders have denounced a Swiss referendum to block the construction of minarets--mosque towers from which Muslims are called to prayer--as discriminatory and xenophobic. More than 57% of voters supported the ban, put forward by the far-right Swiss People's Party. "It is a bad answer to a bad question," an official from the Organization of the Islamic Conference told reporters. "I fear that this kind of thing is simply a gift to extremism and intolerance...
Karr is the last person who would call her story inspirational--you can almost hear her dry snort at the word--but ultimately, she can't deny it. Lit chronicles her finding first her higher power, then cautiously calling that God and finally embracing Catholicism. She adopts prayer grudgingly and often hilariously ("I'll keep at this perfunctory gratitude the way a stout girl drinks diet sodas while stuffing her face with cheese fries") but is so convincing of her need for it that even an atheist would have trouble arguing her out of her Sunday pilgrimages...