This year, almost three million Muslims are making the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It’s considered one of the five fundamental obligations of Islam. An estimated 15,000 Muslims from the U.S. traveled last year, and considerably more were expected this year. Imam Shaker Elsayed of ...

There's a battle underway in the state of Nevada over the proper use of water. Las Vegas wants water so it can keep growing. But farmers and ranchers fear Las Vegas's thirst will destroy their livelihood.

Scott Neeson is a former movie executive who now runs a school for kids living in the slums around Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Pope Benedict XVI called his trip to Turkey “a mission of dialogue, brotherhood and reconciliation,” and in his first visit to a predominantly Muslim country, the pope took every opportunity to express his respect for the Islamic faith.

The outspoken president of the National Association of Evangelicals Ted Haggard resigned because of a sex and drug scandal. His interim successor, Rev. Leith Anderson, insists the resignation will have no effect on the health of the NAE, which he describes as a group that is increasingly diverse.

If you’re homeless in Washington, D.C. and sick, perhaps close to dying, and you end up in a city shelter, the people who work there might telephone a place called Joseph’s House and ask if they can take you in.

Science and religion are sometimes at odds over the environment, but this prominent biologist is pleading for both to work together in order to protect the earth's biodiversity.

It's not hard to tell that these days, there are more women than men attending church services. Some churches are now attempting to bring back the missing men through programs that encourage them to be better husbands, fathers and friends. The meetings also sometimes emphasize more masculine ...

Monu Harnal describes the Hindu holiday of Diwali, celebrating the end of the year and many events in the lives of the some of Hinduism's most important deities.

The story of a radical change in Minnesota's fifth congressional district in Minneapolis. A seat long-held by a Norwegian-American was taken over in the November 2006 election by an African American Muslim. This story aired prior to Ellison's victory.

In late 2006, Congress passed a controversial bill that gave the president power to order trials of suspected terrorists in military tribunals, not regular courts, and it denied suspects the right to challenge their detention. But is the law constitutional?

During the month-long Muslim holiday of Ramadan, these two teenage boys led prayers and recited the entire Qur'an from memory.

Hispanics are now the largest minority in America. Most Latinos are Democrats, but in recent elections, more and more have voted Republican. But the debates over immigration reform could change that, as many Hispanics favor more liberal immigration policies than most Republicans have supported.

While religious conflict is dominating the headlines, there are some who are trying to find understanding and respect across religious lines. A group of women in Cambridge, Massachusetts is doing just that. They have founded a book club to learn from each other's Jewish, Christian and Islamic ...

The conflict between Sunnis and Shiites goes back nearly 1,400 years and today, it is tearing Iraq apart. But the two branches of Islam have not always been openly hostile, and in many parts of the world they live together peacefully.

In his speech at Pepperdine University in California, John Kerry outlined his vision of how faith can—and should—play a role in public life.

American Muslims have developed a variety of strategies to combat ignorance and prejudice against their community, from grassroots political pressure to high-profile media campaigns. But Azhar Usman has chosen a more unorthodox route — stand-up comedy.

In northern California, Rabbi Alan Lew encourages Jews to borrow from the Buddhist tradition of meditation to enhance their practice during the High Holidays and all year round. Says Lew, “what really makes Jewish prayer powerful is something inexpressible, and meditation really sensitizes you ...

Like many places across the African continent, the tiny fishing village of Hamburg in South Africa has been devastated by HIV/AIDS. Carol Hofmeyr is the doctor who treated many of the villagers there. She enlisted the women of Hamburg to create a massive altarpiece as a symbol of hope and ...

Thousands of people every week are still visiting the site where the World Trade Center once stood. But five years since 9/11, Lucky Severson says, there's still so much traffic and construction and so much controversy about how to rebuild that it's hard to feel Ground Zero as sacred space.