South Korea

  

 

   

1.  First Muslim School to Open Next Year
[By Park Si-soo, Staff Reporter THE KOREA TIMES]

The Korea Muslim Federation (KMF) said Friday that it would open the first Islamic primary school named ``Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz Elementary School'' next March with the objective of helping Muslims in Korea learn about their religion through an official school curriculum. Plans are underway to open a cultural center, secondary schools and even university

 

2.  Islam in Korea
[By WIKIPEDIA ]
In South Korea, the Muslim population has been steadily increasing since the introduction of the Islamic faith shortly after the Korean War. The Muslim (both Korean and foreign born) community is centered around Seoul, where the first large 20th-century mosque was built in 1976 using the funds of the Malaysian Islamic Mission and other Islamic countries.

   
 

3. Islam Takes Root and Blooms
[BY The Korea Times 11-22-2002]
From Japanese colonial times, Itaewon has been a major residential area for people from abroad. It once housed Japanese army barracks, and after 1945 a large compound in the district became the property of the U.S. army. Its neighborhood developed as a magnet for all kinds of foreign residential activity in Seoul. Itaewon is dominated by a building that is unmistakably a mosque. This impressive building is a reminder of the resurgence of the Muslim community here.

4.  Khilafah al-'Alam al-Islami
[By Islamic-world.net]
Korea was full of poverty, sorrow and pain resulted from Korean War which broke out on June 25, 1950. In such ruins of war, Islam began planting its seeds by brother Zubercoch and Abdul Rahman who participated in the Korean War as military service members of the Turkish Army of the United Nations stationed in Korea. During his service he built a Quonset hut used as Masjid,  

   
 

5. Muslim community finds refuge in religion
[By Ben Jhoty Staff reporter of The Korea Herald]
The Central Mosque in Itaewon was full to overflowing last Friday with men who represent the face of Islam in Korea. Hailing mostly from the sub-continent and southeast Asia, theirs is a story of hardship and struggle, as they flee poverty in their native lands to come here and fill the jobs that others would rather not do. Working long hours for little return, their faith is as central to their existence here as it is to those back home. Now, as Islam once more faces scrutiny and prejudice, labeled for acts of unspeakable barbarism, they grieve for those who have perished, while at the same time defending their faith against hostility and misunderstanding.

Ambassador Abdullah A. Al-Aifan 

6.  Misconceptions on Arabs
[By Kim Se-jeong Staff Reporter Of The Korea Times]
During his two-year of stay as an ambassador in Korea, a fast-growing country, the Saudi Arabian ambassador finds Koreans' perception of Arabic and Islamic culture rather slow to change. For Ambassador Abdullah A. Al-Aifan, "Korean people's perception of Arab and Islam are marred with distortion and misunderstanding," and that must change.

   
 

7. Muslim Community Gets New Recognition
[By Yoon Won-sup Staff Reporter Of The Korea Times]
Most Muslims living in Korea think that South Korean people’s general level of understanding about Islam improved a lot after the 9/11 attack. However, there is still a long way to go before Koreans fully understand what Islam is, according to Muslims here. ``Since the 9/11 terrorist attack, so many Koreans have visited our mosque to satisfy their curiosity about Islam that we started giving open lectures on Islam to the public in the weekend,’’ said Abdul Raziq Sohn, president of the Korea Muslim Federation

 

8. Muslim society in Korea is developing and growing
[By Pravda (2002)]
As it is well known, Korea is a country with only one nationality. However, there are a lot of religions there. Protestant Christianity has held the leading position in the religious life of Korea for 50 years now. Yet, there are many Buddhists and Catholics in Korea. Orthodox Christianity and other religions are very hard to find. There are even Muslim Koreans as well.

   
 

9.  Muslims Celebrate 50 Years in Korea
It was half a century ago that two Muslims, Imam Zubercoch and Abdul Rahman, fought for peace in the Korean War as part of the UN forces and in the process introduced Islam's holy book, the Koran, to Korea. On Friday, the country celebrated the golden anniversary of their mission. Sponsored by the Korea-Middle East Association, prominent figures in Korea's Islamic community along with foreign dignitaries and Korean lawmakers gathered to commemorate the anniversary.

 

10.Muslims, a minority among minorities 
[By The Jakarta Post]
Indonesians and Koreans living in this country are likely to know more about Korean movies than the existence here of a Korean Muslim community. "There are very few Korean Muslims in Indonesia," said Ahn Ali, 43, a member of the Korean Muslim Federation in Indonesia. Among some 30,000 Koreans living in this country, only 50 are Muslims, including those who converted to because they married Indonesian women.

   
 

11.Pillar of the Muslim Community 
[By Lizette Potgieter, The Korea Times]
The Seoul Central Masjid remains a hive of activity; even though the number of foreign Muslims in Korea has diminished from approximately 150,000 to 100,000 since the International Monetary Fund (IMF) crisis in the late 1990s, and new immigration laws are making it increasingly difficult for foreign workers to enter the country. Adorned with gleaming blueand- white mosaic tiles, the Central Mosque perches Escher-like on top of a hill overlooking Itaewon.
 

 

12. South Korea Muslim
[By Ben Jhoty Staff reporter ,The Korea Herald]

The Central Mosque in Itaewon was full to overflowing last Friday with men who represent the face of Islam in Korea. Hailing mostly from the sub-continent and southeast Asia, theirs is a story of hardship and struggle, as they flee poverty in their native lands to come here and fill the jobs that others would rather not do. Working long hours for little return, their faith is as central to their existence here as it is to those back home. Now, as Islam once more faces scrutiny and prejudice, labeled for acts of unspeakable barbarism  

   

Seoul mosque

13. To Attend a Khutbah in Seoul
[By ISLAMONLINE(IOL)]
In our Farrukh Travels series we will follow Farrukh Younus as he travels around the globe. Farrukh is a young British Muslim from a Pakistani background who has to travel a great deal in his work. In this monthly series Farrukh will share his adventures, cultural observations, and spiritual contemplations in his search for that which we share and that which is unique to each place and community.