The oldest US Mosque dedicated Feb.1934 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

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Getting corporate America to recognize the purchasing power of Muslims, rather than running scared because of stereotypes, was difficult but not impossible, said Michael Hastings-Black, the co-founder of the Desedo Advertising Agency, which specializes in minority markets. Addressing more than 200 delegates at the American Muslim Consumer Conference recently, he recounted a tale illustrating the high passions generated by a television advert last year by Dunkin’ Donuts, which did not even specifically address Muslims.

The American Muslim Consumer Conference, held at a conference hall at Rutgers University in New Jersey, was billed as the first of its kind by its volunteer organizers, a group of US Muslim professionals. Their aim was to educate non-Muslim businesses about the demand for Islamic products and encourage Muslims to exert their market power.

Note EU-Digest: There are between 6 and 7 million Muslims in America today. Muslims outnumber some Christian denominations and are equal to the number of Jews. America now has about 1,209 mosques, most of which were constructed very recently. Thirty percent of these mosques were built in the 1990s, and 32% were built in the 1980s. Other statistics show that in 1994, the total number of mosques in America was 962; in 2000, there was a 25% increase in this number. Islam is said to be the US's fastest-growing religion, fueled by immigration, high birth rates and widespread conversion. One expert estimates that 25,000 people a year become Muslims in the US.

Labels: Corporate America, Islam, Muslims, USA

Silvio Berlusconi faces Muslim clash - by Malcolm Moore

Silvio Berlusconi is facing a row with the Muslim world over his plans to appoint a member of the far-Right to his cabinet. Roberto Calderoli, 52, a senior member of the Northern League, enraged Muslims two years ago during the row over a set of Danish cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammed. He appeared on television wearing a T-shirt printed with one of the cartoons. The Italian consulate in Libya was set on fire and 11 people died in riots. Mr Calderoli has also threatened to defile the proposed site of a mosque in Padua by walking a pig over the ground. When Italy beat France in the 2006 World Cup, he said France had "sacrificed its identity by fielding niggers, Muslims and communists".

Note Turkish Digest: with friends like Mr.Berlusconi who needs any enemies?

Labels: Italy, Muslims

Anti-Islam film fails to provoke Dutch Muslims

In the crowded shopping streets of Lombok in the fourth largest Dutch city, Muslims appeared much less motivated to take action against Wilders. Friday's shopping continued as usual. "No, we are not talking about Fitna," a man standing among a large group of Muslims standing outside a local mosque after prayers on Friday, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. "We are talking about my new car. That's really more important than some film by a Dutch legislator about the Koran."

Dutch Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists seem to have found a common denominator: EU Citizenship, Democracy, and Free Enterprise. It might not be perfect, but its better than cutting each others throat or having some fanatic blow up your family.

Labels: EU, Geert Wilders, Muslims, Netherlands

Dutch/Turkish TV presentator Senay Özdemir

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The right of young Turkish Muslims to have sex

Muslim parents in the Netherlands tell their daughters to stay virgin until the day of their wedding. An impossible requirement, says Senay Özdemir. It only leads to hypocrisy and disturbed family relations. Young Muslim women should have more freedom to experiment with sex before marriage.Former tv-presenter Senay Özdemir is a young Dutch woman of Turkish origin. As the editor of a digital magazine for women of immigrant background, SEN Magazine, she knows very well what is going on in the minds of young Muslimas in the Netherlands. Last week she published her view in an opinion article in the Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad. What many Muslim parents in the Netherlands are forgetting, writes Ms Özdemir, is that they themselves were mostly married at a young age and thus could legitimately have sex. In modern Dutch society, however, the age at which young Muslim women marry is steadily rising. The average age is now 23 years, but more educated women often do not marry before 30.

Ms Özdemir knows what she is talking about. As editor of SEN Magazine she daily receives e-mails in which young Muslim women speak freely about their love-life. "Young women of immigrant background increasingly consider oral sex as something quite normal and feel they can't refuse their boyfriends when they ask for anal sex, as that would not damage their virginity."She calls it the 'virginity paradox'. The prohibition of sex, argues Ms Özdemir, is totally ineffective. It has in fact the reverse effect that young Muslim women as well as men become obsessed by sex.

Labels: Muslims, Netherlands, Sex, Turkey

Discussions with the groups focussed on the issues of being Muslim within Europe and the training of Imams and Christian clergy. For more from Christian Today click here

Labels: Christians, Europe, Muslims