Haj is mentioned in the Hadith as one of the Pillars of Islam. Haj is an imperative duty (Fardh) for all Muslims who have the resources to carry it out. It is to be performed during the days of Haj, once in a lifetime. However, one may perform it more than once. Haj is an ibadah in which money is spent in Allah’s way and strength is sacrificed for the pleasure of Allah. At the same time it is... 

WASHINGTON - Pope Benedict XVI, turning immediately to substantive matters on his first full day in the United States, last night offered a wide-ranging and at times withering assessment of the challenges facing Catholicism here, warning of the perils of secularism, materialism, and individualism; decrying the separation of religion and public life; and bemoaning the decline of marriage. Benedict... 

Islam has overtaken Roman Catholicism to become the world’s largest single religious denomination, according to L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper. In an interview with the paper Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, compilier of the Annuario Pontificio, the Vatican yearbook, said “For the first time in history, we are no longer at the top: Muslims have overtaken us.” He said... 

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — A Dutch lawmaker whose anti-Quran film drew worldwide condemnations will edit out a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad after complaints of copyright infringement, his office said Monday. Geert Wilders used the cartoon by Danish artist Kurt Westergaard twice in the film “Fitna.” The drawing, which depicts Islam’s prophet wearing a bomb-shaped turban with a... 

BERLIN, March 19 — In a new audiotape released Wednesday, Osama bin Laden warned Europeans that they will face a “severe reckoning” for repeatedly publishing cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in newspapers and magazines. The five-minute speech was the second time in four months that bin Laden has delivered threats to European countries. He made only one oblique reference to President...