Religious Extremism

Banana Republic's New Hijab Line Sparks Debate

August 02, 2019

Banana Republic's launch of a new clothing line of hijabs has sparked online debate among Muslim Instagram influencers who see the clothing as a sign of cultural inclusion against those who criticize the clothing retailer for failing to follow appropriate Islamic dress codes for the models showing the hijabs.
Saudi Policies Fall Short on Women’s Equality

August 02, 2019

A royal decree issued by Saudi Arabia's Islamic theocratic regime announcing that women will no longer require permission from a male guardian to travel abroad is another step in dismantling the Wahhabist Islamist system that treats women as second-class citizens but does nothing to recognize women’s civil and political rights.
Tunisia's Islamist Party Considers Presidential Bid

August 01, 2019

The leader of Tunisia's Islamist Ennahda Party announced that he may run for president in the country's upcoming elections, signaling the possibility that the progenitor of the Arab Spring events may soon have an Islamist government whose platform has "exited political Islam" in favor of "democratic Islam."
Saudi Policies Sustain Domestic Support for Yemen War

August 01, 2019

Saudi Arabia's Islamist theocratic regime has developed policy measures, including spending packages and messaging from imams and soldiers, to sustain domestic support for its Sunni sectarian war in Yemen begun four years ago at a massive humanitarian cost.
Turkish Public School Textbooks Use Islamist Tropes

August 01, 2019

Nordic Monitor reports that textbooks used in Turkey's public high schools are replete with Islamist tropes, explaining al-Qaeda's 9/11 attacks against the US as justifiable retaliation for what is characterized as American hegemonic aspirations and condemning the EU as a Christian club of "infidels."
Islamist Clerics Decry Late Tunisian President as a “Secularist”

July 30, 2019

Radical Islamist clerics in Algeria and Turkey have issued religious rulings (fatwas) against Tunisia’s recently deceased president denouncing him as a “secularist” and calling for a prohibition against his burial in a Muslim cemetery.
Turkey Spies on Critics of Regime in US

July 30, 2019

Nordic Monitor reports that Turkey’s Islamist regime conducts extensive spying activities from its embassies and consulates in the US against critics of the regime in Ankara and uses the information gathered through these activities to apprehend, kidnap, and imprison critics abroad or in Turkey.
Activist Conference in DC Draws Criticism for Islamist Bent

July 29, 2019

Prominent advocates and academics charged the Muslim Caucus Educational Initiative, which launched a conference in Washington, DC on the “Muslim Collective for Equitable Democracy,” with creating a platform for American Islamists to “crush dissenting Muslim voices.”
Turkey Organizes Muslim Brotherhood Event in New York

July 29, 2019

Turkey’s Islamist government is organizing a major event in September on uniting the ummah (Muslim community) to coincide with the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to New York for the annual opening of the UN General Assembly.
Islamist Discourse Targets Political Authoritarianism in Mideast

July 24, 2019

Political Islamists and putatively apolitical Salafist Islamic groups across the Middle East are engaging in regular discussions, with a dose of skepticism about each other’s motives, about possible cooperation to oppose the region’s authoritarian political regimes.