Religious Extremism

Wars Within Islam Raise Questions about Stability and Leadership in Saudi Arabia

August 12, 2015

Serious leadership and regime stability questions regarding Saudia Arabia are being highlighted by the multiple, simultaneous wars within Islam, including Saudi Arabia's ineffective intervention in Sunni-Shiite violence in Yemen, Islamic State ("IS") attacks against Saudi state and Shiite mosques inside the Kingdom, and the apparent lack of coordination between key Saudi ministries on domestic counter-radicalization policy.
US-Egypt Diplomacy Highlights Complexities in Countering Violent Islamism

August 03, 2015

The recent meetings between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his counterpart in Egypt focused on how to help the Cairo government balance robust human-rights practices against the need for proactive security measures to effectively combat the spread of extremist Islamist ideas and violence in the critical territory of the Sinai Peninsula.
Turkey's Destruction of Non-Muslim Religious Sites Is Cultural Jihad

August 03, 2015

By systematically destroying and expropriating non-Muslim religious sites and/or converting them into Sunni mosques, Turkey's Islamist government has continued the policies of cultural jihad practiced by its secularist predecessors.
Saudi Clerics Condemn Israel for "State Terrorism" Against Muslim Sites

July 31, 2015

Saudi Arabia's Council of Muslim Scholars issued a vitriolic condemnation of Israel's "state terrorism," citing the entry of Israeli settlers and security personnel into Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound while Muslims were worshipping there.
Forced Female Conversions to Islam a Serious Problem in Pakistan

July 31, 2015

Nongovernmental organizations in Pakistan report that the abduction and forced conversion of girls and young women to Islam is a widespread problem systematically ignored by the country's police and judiciary.
Saudis Maintain Push for Global Blasphemy Law

July 28, 2015

The government of Saudi Arabia continues to pressure international organizations to pass a global blasphemy law that would criminalize free speech related to religion, although the rubric of "defamation of religion" contradicts international human rights law.
Pew Survey Shows Growing Popular Concern About Islamist Extremism

July 21, 2015

A newly released survey by the Pew Research Center indicates a worldwide increase in popular concerns about Islamist extremism and violence, with numbers highest in countries in the West and slowly rising in Muslim-majority countries.
Seattle Approves Sharia Finance Proposal for Housing

July 21, 2015

The Mayor of Seattle, Washington, has announced the approval of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' ("CAIR") proposal for sharia-compliant/compatible finance options for housing loans to accommodate the city's "Muslims who follow sharia law."
Pakistan's Draconian Blasphemy Laws Used for Social Control

July 16, 2015

The six-plus-year imprisonment of Asia Bibi, a prisoner of conscience accused of blasphemy against Islam for allegedly drinking out a Muslim's bowl, underscores the continuing use of draconian Islamic blasphemy laws by the Pakistan government for purposes of social control and religious monism.
Turkey Battles Islamists in Court over Religious Education

July 15, 2015

The ongoing struggle for Islamist hegemony between Turkey's AKP, the authoritarian Islamist party led by the country's President, and the global grassroots Islamist "Hizmet" movement led by US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, is being played out in Turkey's courts, which recently ruled that the vast network of Gulenist parochial middle and high schools could continue to operate in Turkey.