Religious Extremism

Islamic Republic of Gambia Creates Openings for Political Islamism in Africa

January 27, 2016

Following on the President of Gambia's December 2015 declaration of the state as an Islamic Republic and his early 2016 moves to pass sharia dress rules for state employees, Gambia's political leadership is creating new openings for the penetration of political Islamism into West Africa by moving to tighten economic and security ties with globalist sharia states in the Arabian Gulf and with Turkey.
Threats of Extremist Political Islamism Extend Far Beyond IS

January 27, 2016

Security analysts warn that the jihadi project of the Islamic State ("IS") is part of a far more extensive set of global threats from extremist political Islam, in the form of sectarian states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Iran, and their non-state, violent Islamist proxies, such as Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda, and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Boy Amputates Hand to Adhere to Islamic Blasphemy Laws

January 21, 2016

A 15-year-old boy presented his self-amputated right hand as a repentance offering to a Pakistani cleric who falsely accused the boy of blasphemy, raising renewed debate in Pakistan about the chilling effects on free speech and shocking acts of corporal punishments associated with the Islamic blasphemy ordinances.
Saudi-Iran Feud Marks Dangerous Escalation in Geopolitics of Competing Islamisms

January 12, 2016

The rupture in diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, provoked by Saudi Arabia's execution of a popular Shiite clear and subsequent Iranian mob attacks against the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, reflects a dangerous geopolitical escalation in the competition between two extremist versions of Sunni and Shiite Islamism associated with the globalization of violent jihad.
Turkey's Islamist Factional Struggles Penetrate US Lobbying and Politics

January 08, 2016

Rising social tensions and violence inside Turkey, between the governing AKP Islamist party and the transnational Islamist movement of US-based Turkish Muslim cleric Fetullah Gulen, are playing out inside Washington politics, as both Islamist factions are spending millions on lobbying efforts to influence US policymakers' stance toward the competing Islamist factions.
Islamic Sectarian Tensions Spike with Saudi Execution of Shiite Cleric

January 04, 2016

Largely Shiite protests rocked the Mideast after Saudi Arabia executed a high-profile Shiite cleric on charges of terrorism, with Shiites condemning Saudi Arabia's fundamentalist Wahhabi regime as another version of the Sunni jihadist Islamic State ("IS").
Members Raise Questions about Intentions of "Islamic Military Coalition"

January 04, 2016

Saudi Arabia's announcement of its lead in forming an Islamic Military Alliance to "fight against terrorism" perpetrated by the Islamic State ("IS") has met intense skepticism by some Nigerian political analysts, who critique the alliance as cover to ensure the dominance of Saudi extremist Wahhabism among the world's Muslim populations, to perpetrate a Sunni war on Shia-majority countries, which are not invited to join the alliance, and for potentially aggravating Muslim-Christian tensions in demographically mixed countries.
Saudis Lead Gulf Countries and US-Arab NGO in Denouncing American Presidential Candidates as Islamophobic

December 28, 2015

Saudi Arabia has taken the lead, along with heads of state from every member of the Gulf Cooperation Council ("GCC") and a prominent American nongovernmental organization the National Council on US-Arab Relations, in denouncing "prospective presidential nominees and other prominent American national personalities" for fomenting Islamophobia and instigating violence through "bigotry, demagoguery, and fear mongering directed against Muslims, immigrants, refugees, and communities of color."
Malaysian Launch of Sharia-Compliant Airline Signals Broader Trend

December 28, 2015

The launch of a new privately owned, sharia-compliant airline in Malaysia, which follows strict Islamic dress, dietary, and prayer practices, seems to be following trend lines in Mideast airline travel and was heralded by an announcement from a Bangladeshi business that intends to launch a UK-based sharia-compliant airline.
Islamism Crushes Christmas in Somalia

December 28, 2015

The Somali government has banned all public celebrations of Christmas and New Year as "anti-Islamic," following the lead of other Islamist dictatorships, such as Tajikistan and Brunei.