Religious Extremism

IPD: Islamist Radicalization in US Prisons Correlated to Violence on Release

December 15, 2020

The International Policy Digest reports that data for US prison populations and Islamist violence indicate a positive correlation between time spent incarcerated and perpetration of Islamic violence after release, underscoring the need to develop more sophisticated tools to counter the radicalization mechanisms used in prison.
Saudi Arabia Sentences U.S. Doctor to Six Years In Prison

December 11, 2020

Saudi Arabian courts signaled that a Saudi-US national, a well known physician and social media activist, was sentenced to six years imprisonment for "illegally obtaining US citizenship".
Singapore Deradicalization Leaders Focus on Countering Islamist Ideology as Priority for Preventing Violence

December 09, 2020

Leadership associated with Singapore's Religious Rehabilitation Group (RGG), a decades-old program, are calling for sustained focus on countering Islamist radicalization in educational contexts and social media platforms.
Global Terrorism Report Shows Africa as Emerging Epicenter of Islamist Violence

December 07, 2020

The African Continent is emerging as the new geographic epicenter of violent Islamism, as a diverse constellation of competing jihadist groups take advantage of the continent's poverty, criminal networks, and failing states to expand Islamist extremist control in areas rich in natural resources.
Social Media Platforms in Indonesia Pitch Call for Jihad Following Hardline Imam’s Return from Saudi Arabia

December 02, 2020

Since the return of the head of the Islamic Defenders Front from Saudi Arabia, diverse social media platforms across Indonesia have been filled with videos calling on the country’s majority-Muslim populations to undertake jihad, raising concerns by the Jakarta government and domestic human right groups about intensifying Islamist militancy.
Islamic Blasphemy Climate in Pakistan on Display as Muslim Teen Murders Ahmadi Doctor

December 01, 2020

AP News reports that Pakistan’s Islamic blasphemy laws have created a climate of impunity for Islamist extremist attacks by Muslims against the country’s Ahmadi minority considered heretical by the Sunni majority.
Egypt Arrests Christians and Muslims for Blasphemy

December 01, 2020

Al-Moniter writes that, after a spate of recent arrests of Egyption citizens, both Christian and Muslim, on charges of insulting Islam, Human rights activists are pushing for the abolishment of blasphemy as a crime under the country’s constitution.
Saudi Interior Ministry's Bans a list of Names Citing Sharia Law

December 01, 2020

Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry issued a long list of banned names in the Islamic theocratic kingdom, using sharia law to outlaw, among others, compound names, nicknames, and names preceded by titles.
Islamic Police in Nigeria Announce Prohibition on the term "Black Friday"

December 01, 2020

Nigeria's hizbah police, mandated to enforce sharia law, announced a prohibition on the shopping term "Black Friday" in the country's Muslim-majority northern state of Kano, arguing that the clearance shopping day produces immoral activities
Iran Takes Long View in Using Soft Power to Expand Islamist Revolutionary Commitments Across Asia

November 30, 2020

Iran's Islamist regime is using soft power tools and a longterm strategy to promote Islamism across south, central, and east Asia, combinging pragmatic economic relations to build influence within states to deveop expansive ideological networks in mosques, seminaries, and other institutions that can mobilize social change.