Religious Extremism

Blasphemy Accusation Provokes Deadly Riot Against Minority Muslim Sect in Pakistan

August 04, 2014

Social media accusations of blasphemy against two individuals from Pakistan's Ahmadi community, a minority sect of Islam considered heretical by Sunni Muslims, provoked a deadly mob attack in the city of Gujranwala, continuing the spate of vigilante violence against "non-conforming" Muslims and non-Muslim minorities in Pakistan.
Christian Woman Condemned to Death under Sharia in Sudan Free

July 30, 2014

Mariam Ibrahim, the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian sentenced to death for apostasy under sharia law in Sudan, was finally freed, and traveled to Italy with her family, where she met with Pope Francis en route to the United States.
ISIS/Islamic State Orders Female Genital Mutilation

July 28, 2014

The United Nations is making efforts to investigate the current reports that The Islamic State (formally, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has issued a fatwa (an Islamic religious directive) requiring all women and girls up to the age of 49 in the new entity to be subjected to female genital mutilation.
Taliban Sunnis Kill Shiites as Apostates from Islam

July 28, 2014

A group of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan killed Shiites hauled from a bus leaving the Afghan capital of Kabul, targeting Shiites for death as apostates from the Sunni version of Islam followed by the Taliban militants.
U.K. Legal System Faces Challenges over Conformity with Sharia

July 28, 2014

Key government and non-governmental legal actors in the U.K. (the Solicitors' Regulation Authority, the Law Society, and the Lawyers' Secular Society) remain at loggerheads over proposals to provide formal guidance to attorneys in England and Wales about adjustments to specific U.K. legal practices to conform with Islamic legal regulations (sharia).
Islamist Militants to Iraqi Christians: Convert, Pay, Die, or Flee

July 23, 2014

Jihadi fighters from The Islamic State (formerly, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) have seized the fourth-century Mar Behnam Monastery near Mosul, offering monks there the same ultimatum being imposed by Islamist militants on Christians throughout the region: conversion to Islam, payment of a protection fee as second-class subjects, death, or flight from home.
Turkey's Islamists Turn to Anti-Semitism in Domestic and Foreign Policy

July 23, 2014

Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan and senior members of the country's governing Islamist party have condemned Israel's actions in Gaza as "surpassing Hitler in barbarism," using anti-Semitic tropes to bolster Erdogan's presidential campaign and to try to position Turkey as the regional protector of Muslims.
British Education Reforms to Deal with Islamist Extremism in Schools

July 23, 2014

In response to recent findings from a British government inquiry into the penetration of Islamist extremist views in schools in Birmingham, the government announced a program of immediate education reforms designed to safeguard schools and students against Islamism.
OIC Denounces Boko Haram Kidnappings as Contravention of Islamic Law

July 14, 2014

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation ("OIC"), a 57-member-state organization representing the global umma (community of Muslims), condemned the kidnapping of over 200 schoolgirls by Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram as a contravention of Islamic teachings.
Saudis Punish Apostasy with Prison and Lashings to Stifle Free Speech

July 14, 2014

Signaling continued efforts to stifle free speech and regulate social media under the religious justification of apostasy, a Saudi Arabia appeals court recently announced imprisonment and lashing as penalties for apostasy charges against a prominent internet critic of the Saudi religious regime.