DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar's prime minister denounced Israel on Sunday as foreign ministers from Arab and Muslim nations met to …
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban said Saturday it discussed normalizing relations between Afghanistan and the United States in a meeting …
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Archeologists studying ancient civilizations in northern Iraq during the 1930s also befriended the nearby Yazidi community…
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates summoned Israel's envoy in the country on Friday to condemn Israel's attack on Ham…
In this photo released by the Press and Media Bureau of the Indonesian Presidential Palace, an Islamic cleric holds a holy book of Quran over the head of newly appointed Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa as he takes his oath during his swearing in ceremony at the State Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (Muchlis Jr., Indonesian Presidential Palace via AP)
In this photo released by the Press and Media Bureau of the Indonesian Presidential Palace, an Islamic cleric holds a holy book of Quran over the head of the new Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa as he takes his oath with other newly appointed ministers and vice ministers during a swearing in ceremony at the State Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (Cahyo Bruri Sasmito, Indonesian Presidential Palace via AP)
Shiite men hold up posters that read in Arabic: "America is the mother of terrorism", during a protest against Tom Barrack, U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy to the Middle East, who was supposed to visit Tyre city in south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) — Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar living in dozens of camps in Bangladesh marked the eighth a…
The first mosque built from the ground up in the United States was erected in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, almost a century ago by immigrants from present-day Lebanon. Today, their descendants and newcomers from Afghanistan, East Africa and beyond are continuing to redefine what it means to be both Muslim and American in the heartland. The Muslim community that founded the “Mother Mosque” keeps growing. Its prayer and cultural centers are key spaces as they seek to maintain and transmit their faith and heritage, while also embracing in varying degrees the diversity of U.S. culture.
In Cedar Rapids, Grant Wood painted “American Gothic,” the iconic portrait of a man and a woman standing in front of a white frame house. Almost 100 years later, the residents of this Iowa river town strike many different profiles after more than a century of migration and faith-based resettlement efforts. On an August weekend, a grocery store owner attends Friday prayer alongside the descendants of Middle Eastern families who built the US first mosque here. Refugee families from Central and West Africa go to Methodist services and volunteer at a Catholic church’s sweet corn festival. And two churches belonging to the same Catholic parish celebrate Masses attended by the descendants of Czech migrants from the 19th century and new arrivals from Latin America.