Religious Extremism

Pakistan Delays Professor's Trial for Blasphemy

February 07, 2018

Human Rights Watch has published an article criticizing Pakistan's prolongation of a blasphemy case against university professor Junaid Hafeez for alleged comments posted on social media platform Facebook as one example of the more general abuse of the law used to jail and sentence to death people exercising their right to freedom of expression.
Reform of Pakistani Madrassas Is Key to Islamist Extremism's Defeat

February 06, 2018

Reform of Pakistan's extensive network of Islamic religious schools, madrassas, is an essential linchpin of combating the fundamentalist, anti-pluralist, violent teachings at the core of extremist, violent Islamism, a challenge that will require overall pedagogical and curricular approaches and a crackdown on Saudi funding sources committed to the globalization of Wahhabi Islamism.
Afghan Council Omits Taliban from Suicide Attack Condemnation

February 05, 2018

Following another recent spate of deadly suicide terrorist attacks carried out by a range of Islamist militant groups in Afghanistan, a council of 100 prominent Islamic clerics in the country condemned suicide bombing as an “act against Islam and humanity” but did not condemn the Taliban, which has been a key perpetrator of these incidents.
UK Report Calls for Civil Recognition of Sharia Marriages

February 02, 2018

The Guardian reports that a review commissioned by the UK Home Office has advised British lawmakers to require that couples conducting marriages under sharia law register them with the civil authorities and, in a recommendation rejected by the UK government, pushed for government officials to regulate sharia councils as arbiters of Islamic law in Britain.
US Legislation Targets Hateful Language in Saudi Textbooks

January 31, 2018

Human Rights Watch has published an article on US congressional legislation called the Saudi Educational Transparency and Reform Act, which places pressure on the US State Department to push Saudi authorities to remove violent and intolerant speech in the country's textbooks targeting non-Muslims and Muslims who do not practice the country's "official brand" of Islam.
Skeptics Criticize Motive of New Saudi Rules on Religious Fundraising

January 30, 2018

Skeptics of a draft law under consideration by the rulers of Saudi Arabia’s theocratic regime tightening rules on fundraising for religious charities suggest that the new rules aim at cracking down Islamists who have targeted the Saudi royal family while continuing to channel monies to global groups propagating Sunni sectarian fundamentalism.
Archive Shows Iran Persecutes Baha’is as Religious Minorities

January 30, 2018

A new internet archive released by the Baha’i International Community details systematic, decades-long persecution of the religious-minority community in Iran’s Islamic Republic and under the previous regime, including denial of education, pension, employment, and other rights.
Iranian Women Protest Islamic Dress Restrictions

January 30, 2018

Iranian women are ramping up their civil disobedience campaign, White Wednesday, against compulsory Islamic dress symbolized by head coverings, with growing numbers of participants provoking the Islamist government to replace initial punishments of jail time with relaxed penalties of required attendance in classes on "Islamic values."
Indian Groups Accuse Saudi Arabia of Politicizing Pilgrimage

January 29, 2018

India’s diverse Islamic organizations have called out Saudi Arabia for using control over pilgrimage (haj) polices for Islamic holy places inside the Kingdom as political leverage to pressure Muslims worldwide to adhere to the extremist Wahhabi Sunni Islamism propagated by the Saudi theocratic regime.
Turkish Religious Body Promotes Political Islam

January 24, 2018

An article in The Economist examines how Turkey's directorate of religious affairs, called Diyanet, has moved under the presidency of Recep Tayyip Erdogan from its position as a moderating influence on radical, political Islam to one of its "main platforms," illustrated by a recent entry on the body's website stating that Islamic law permits the marriage of girls as young as nine.