Koran

McDonald's inadvertently offended thousands of Muslims by printing a Koran scripture on its hamburger bags, then staged a retreat Tuesday after Islamic leaders complained. The stir caused by the world's leading purveyor of fast food began with a World Cup promotion featuring the flags of the 24 nations competing in this summer's soccer championship. One of the flags was that of Saudi Arabia.

Prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility told FBI interviewers in 2002 and 2003 that guards repeatedly desecrated the Koran, and that perceived abuses of the Muslim holy book triggered unrest at the prison as well as possible suicide attempts, government documents showed Wednesday. The allegations include an incident in which guards "flushed a Koran in the toilet," FBI documents show.

Ignorance about Islam has been lamented by Muslims and non-Muslims alike as they struggle to open interfaith dialogue in increasingly pluralistic societies. Many non-Muslims know little about Islam beyond that its adherents "pray to Mecca" and that the Koran is its holy book. Islamic leaders hope that a new work by a Los Angeles scholar will make their religion a bit more accessible.

The Pentagon late Friday confirmed five incidents of Koran desecration at the prison for detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, wrapping up a high-priority investigation. The findings concluded that one soldier deliberately kicked the Muslim holy book, other guards hit it with water balloons, and a soldier's urine splashed on a prisoner and his Koran. Details of the incidents are contained in the final report of the inquiry headed by Army Brig. Gen.

On his lap, Muneeb Baig cradled his copy of the Koran, held together with silver duct tape and covered with pencil scrawls. Although the 13-year-old Garden Grove boy hasn't needed to refer to the holy book since this summer when he first recited the Koran by heart, its thick binding and worn, gold-trimmed pages comfort him.

Senior Bush administration officials reacted with outrage to a Newsweek report that U.S. interrogators had desecrated the Koran at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility, and the magazine retracted the story last week. But allegations of disrespectful treatment of Islam's holy book are far from rare. An examination of hearing transcripts, court records and government documents, as well as interviews with former detainees, their lawyers, civil liberties groups and U.S.

Sheik Hamad Ibrahim al Hadaad squeezes one eye shut, leans forward and taps a leathery finger against his skull. "I am famous for my sharp memory," he says with a sly grin. "Famous enough to be brought all the way to America." The 75-year-old, barefoot Egyptian rests before prayers in his spartan bedroom at the Islamic Center of the Conejo Valley in Thousand Oaks. Night after night, chapter by chapter, he recites the Koran from memory.

The most widely used English translation of the Koran, Islam's holy book, employs an antiquated prose replete with "thees" and "thous." Yet another popular translation uses colloquialisms so much that Allah tells Adam and Eve to "clear out" of Paradise. Declaring that previous translations "have fallen far short," the president of the Islamic Society of North America this month formally launched a unique project to produce a more relevant Koran complete with commentary.

A Culver City woman said Wednesday that a secondhand Koran she ordered through a book dealer working with Amazon.com contained anti-Islamic hate messages, including profanity and "Death to all Muslims!" Azza Basarudin, a 30-year-old UCLA graduate student, said Amazon apologized, sent a new book and offered her a refund and gift certificate.

Newsweek should be held responsible for damage caused by violent anti-American demonstrations that followed its now-retracted report about U.S. interrogators desecrating the Koran at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prison camp, an Afghan government spokesman said Tuesday. Pakistan's government spurned the magazine's apology as "not enough," and the White House called for Newsweek to do more to repair the damage to America's image in Muslim nations.