1) Over 30,000 Muslims in the UK Marched Against Extremism: More than 30,000 Muslims from all over the world came together in the UK for a three-day event protesting religious extremism (and yes, ISIS). This was all part of the 40th annual Jalsa Salana gathering of Ahmadiyya Muslims. The Ahmadiyya sect was founded in India in 1889, and though often victims of extremism themselves, their official motto is “Love for all, hatred for none.”
2) New PEW Report On America and Refugees: The Pew Research Center has just put out a report on refugee resettlement in the United States. Here are some of the findings (taken directly from report): The U.S. has received 28,957 Muslim refugees so far in fiscal year 2016, or nearly half (46%) of the more than 63,000 refugees who have entered the country since the fiscal year began Oct. 1, 2015. That means that already this year the U.S. has admitted the highest number of Muslim refugees of any year since 2002.
3) During His Life, Prince Helped The Girl Scouts… Of Afghanistan: Marni Gustavson is the executive director of Parsa, an independent charity that runs projects across Afghanistan including reviving the Girl and Boy Scouts. Back in 2007, Parsa’s building needed great repair and Ms. Gustavson was put in touch with the singer Prince who wrote a check for $15,000 which paid for the foundations of a new building. Up until the singer’s untimely death, Prince made annual contributions to Parsa that, according to Ms. Gustavson, were “fundamental to expanding our scout program to what it is today.”
4) And lastly, “Polarizing Elections” Brings Intense Focus On Muslim Americans: This article from the New York Times brings to light the intense focus on Muslim Americans during this “polarizing election.” “It’s all become very politicized,” said Hafsa Kanjwal, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Michigan. “We have Humayan Khan as the ‘good Muslim’ at one end, and Omar Mateen as the ‘bad Muslim’ at the other end. Islam is being played up in both instances.”
