Faith Digest

Muslims in North America don't want Sharia. Muslims in the United States and Canada are more than satisfied with the secular legal system and do not want a set of parallel courts for Islamic law, according to a new study of North American Muslims by a Washington-based think tank. The study, by University of Windsor law professor Judy Macfarlane for the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, would seem to refute critics' claims that American Muslims want to impose Shariah, or Islamic law. Macfarlane interviewed 212 Muslim Americans, including 41 imams and 70 community leaders who used aspects of Shariah in their daily lives. The other 101 people interviewed were divorced Muslim men and women. About a quarter of the Muslims interviewed were from Canada, and the rest from the United States. When asked whether they thought American courts should apply Shariah to non-Muslims in the legal system, all of the respondents answered no. Just three of the 41 imams said they wanted parallel Shariah tribunals where Muslims could handle civil issues like marriage, divorce and inheritance.

Vatican promotes science in Galileo's hometown. Nearly four centuries after the Roman Catholic Church branded Galileo Galilei a heretic for positing the sun was the center of the universe, the Vatican is co-hosting a major science exhibition in his hometown. The Vatican is teaming with Italy's main physics research center to sponsor "Stories from Another World. The Universe Inside and Outside of Us" in Pisa. The exhibit will illustrate the progress of knowledge of the physical universe, from prehistoric times to recent discoveries. The exhibit is organized by the Specola Vaticana—the Vatican-supported observatory—and Italy's National Institute for Nuclear Physics, together with Pisa University's physics department. Objects on display include rock fragments from the moon and Mars, and original copies of the books of Isaac Newton. The exhibition runs from March 10 to July 1.

Tourists urged to dress modestly. The U.S. State Department is advising visitors to Jerusalem to dress modestly when visiting certain neighborhoods, or to avoid the areas entirely, in hopes of not provoking local sensitivities. The Jerusalem advisory says travelers "should exercise caution at religious sites on holy days, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays" and "dress appropriately" when visiting ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods and the Old City of Jerusalem, where religious Jews, Muslims and Christians live in distinct quarters. The warning notes most roads into ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods are blocked off on Friday nights, Saturdays and Jewish holidays, and that "assaults on secular visitors, either for being in cars or for being 'immodestly dressed' have occurred in these neighborhoods." The advisory was added to the State Department's website for travel to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. It comes in the wake of many recent incidents in which ultra-Orthodox Jewish extremists physically or verbally attacked women they said were dressed immodestly. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish women cover up everything except their faces, necks and hands.