Canadian Mayor dances bhangra, ties turban in viral video

A Sikh man has taught his local mayor in Canada how to tie a turban and dance bhangra – and the video of the process has gone viral with more than a million views. Gurdeep Pandher suggested the idea to the mayor of the City of Whitehorse, Yukon, Dan Curtis, who described it as the […]

Hindu and Sikh villagers rebuild mosque shut since 1947

Sikh and Hindu villagers in a Malla village in Ludhiana, India helped renovate and re-open a historic mosque. The mosque had closed in 1947 due to partial building collapse. But a communal rebuilding effort led to its inauguration on February 29. Both faiths assisted with fundraising and construction. Muslims are a tiny minority in a village where 90 per cent of residents are Sikh and 9 per cent Hindu. In the past, Muslims had to travel out of the village to pray at a mosque. The Majlis Ahrar Islam Hind Party of Ludhiana had contacted Maulana Habib Ur Rehman Sani Ludhianavi to assist. Ludhianvi told the Time of India that “Even as the village has just one Muslim family, the response had been overwhelming”. Villagers arranged a communal langar during the inauguration. Ludhianavi then published photos of the event on Facebook. The villagers in Ludhiana highlight how communities work together. Iqbal Hussain, a local Muslim in the village, expressed his gratitude and the bonds of affection for other faiths in his village.

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Asian, Muslim and Hindu holidays added to school calendars in Howard County, Maryland

A Maryland county will allow Muslim and Hindu students a day off from school to celebrate Diwali and Eid al-Adha. The Howard County Board of Education faced a tough decision: to foster inclusion by removing all religious holidays from the academic calender; Or add extra days to include non-Abrahamic celebrations. A unanimous decision in favour of the latter will result in school closings or professional development days for staff in the 2016/17 academic year. The board also voted to allow staff to take a professional development day off for Lunar News Years Eve, after requests from the local Chinese and Korean communities. As it falls on a Saturday, students remain unaffected. Schools in the county have shut during Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  But a recent motion threatened to end this  tradition. It proved controversial enough to attract more than 300 people to a public hearing in December. State and federal laws prevent schools from closing on religious holidays (unless mandated otherwise). Adjusting academic calenders requires a secular reason. Baltimore County had recorded a large levels of absenteeism during these Jewish holidays. Art Abramson, Executive Director of Baltimore’s Jewish Council, welcomed changes to academic calenders on the [...]

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A Study of the English Defence League: The Faith Hate Report

What Draws People of Faith to Right Wing Organisations & What Effects Does the EDL Have on Interfaith Relations? Key findings of the report include: EDL attempts to recruit among faith communities Christian leaders should publicly stand up to EDL UK government should examine group’s international funding Jewish Defence League should be banned Christian organisations […]

The Muslim and Sikh Media Monitoring and Response Project

The Muslim and Sikh Media Monitoring and Response project was primarily targeted towards Sikh and Muslim communities within West London and targetted a variety of groups such as students, parents, religious and organisational leaders and individuals involved in the political life of this country. The programme has worked primarily within the London Borough of Ealing […]

Party accused of exploiting Sikh-Muslim tensions

The Adab research, released by Faith Matters, called for effective dialogue between the two groups and for the two communities to “rediscover” their shared cultural heritage, including a common Punjabi heritage, history and culture. Funding for Muslim and Sikh organisations in areas with a significant presence of the two groups should be conditional on promoting […]

Adab Research Report

A PERSPECTIVE OF SIKH & MUSLIM RELATIONS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM & CAUSES OF TENSIONS & MISTRUST BETWEEN THE TWO COMMUNITIES Click to view report The Adab (Respect) research report builds on the work that Faith Matters undertook in Corrymeela in 2008 where a group of Sikhs and Muslims took part in facilitated discussions sessions […]

Cohesive Communities: Bridging Divides Between Muslim and Sikh communities:

Faith Matters investigated tensions amongst young Sikh and Muslim men which threatened to create local and national hotspots of tension. Conducted in 2008, it took Sikhs and Muslims to Corrymeela in Northern Ireland to explore some of the issues causing tension in some parts of the East and West Midlands and to look at commonalities between the […]

Faith Matters International Projects:

Faith Matters has numerous branches across the globe. We undertake the following: Faith Matters has also overseen two international ‘micro-finance’ projects which support the development of small businesses in Jerusalem, Israel and the West Bank in Palestine. The Jerusalem Interest Free Fund: The fund provides small business and study loans to. The fund offers the […]

Sikh and Muslim Media Monitoring Project

The Sikh and Muslim Media Monitoring group regularly meets in Ealing and has been looking at key themes that have included (i) the EDL and its attempts to drive a wedge between Muslim and Sikh communities in England (ii) Outreach by the EDL towards Black and Minority Ethnic communities in order to promote the false […]