Religious Extremism

Saudi Women's Driving Activist Goes Missing

February 14, 2019

The disappearance of Saudi women's rights and women's driving activist Louhain Al-Hathloul, who has been detained without charge since last June in Riyadh, raises red flags about continuing violations of civil and political liberties in Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan Announces Islamic School Reform

February 14, 2019

The Pakistani government's announcement of a plan to integrate public schools and Islamic parochial schools (madrassas) has generated a debate about the significance of external funding aiming to use education as a mechanism for Islamist radicalization and revolution.
Turkey Targets Police with Another Round of Arrests

February 14, 2019

Turkey's ruling party mainly targeted police officers in a new round of over 1000 arrests allegedly aimed at supporters of the Islamist Gulen group blamed by the party for perpetrating a failed coup attempt in 2016.
Review of Iran Reveals Gaps Between Islamist Politics and Society

February 11, 2019

The 40th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution, which ousted the country’s secular ruler and ushered in the theocracy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, shows a political regime still defined by strict Islamist ideology but a society increasingly flexible about the impacts of religion on daily life.
Canadian Asylum Decision Highlights Extremism in Pakistan

February 05, 2019

The preparation by the Canadian Foreign Ministry to grant asylum to Asia Bibi, a PakistanI Christian woman recently acquitted of blasphemy charges for alleged comments about Islam’s prophet Mohammed, speaks to the inordinate influence of Islamist radicals and extremist groups in Pakistan.
Islamist Cleric in Australia Preaches Against Public Urinals

February 04, 2019

A Sunni Islamic cleric affiliated with Australia's fundamentalist Islamist organization Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah Association is preaching in one of Syndey's large mosques that Muslim men are imitating "non-believers" by using public urinals, as he uses Islamist discourse to change social norms and practices of Australia's Muslim population.
Footwear Becomes Latest Battleground in Blasphemy Disputes

January 30, 2019

Global sports apparel and footwear colossus Nike is under fire for "insulting Islam" because of the Nike sneaker Air Max logo that, according to an online Change.org petition started by a UK technology consultant, resembles the word for God in Arabic and, therefore, must be pulled by Nike from its global product line.
Indonesia Case Shows Ongoing Problems with Blasphemy Laws

January 30, 2019

The release of the former governor of Indonesia's capital of Jakarta after serving most of a two-year prison sentence for blasphemy against Islam highlights ongoing problems with the use of blasphemy legislation to embolden hardline Islamist groups opposed to democratic civil and political liberties for non-conforming Muslim groups and non-Muslim communities.
Critics: Egypt Is Limited to Symbolic Gestures on Religious Pluralism

January 30, 2019

Critics charge that the formation by Egypt's military government of a state-run committee to ameliorate Islamist sectarianism is an empty gesture, given that the committee's composition excludes religious minorities and human rights groups in favor of intelligence and security officials favorable to Islamist majoritarianism.
Islamist Factionalism in Turkey Extends to Pressure on NBA Player

January 30, 2019

A Turkish player on the New York Knicks basketball team has declined to accompany his team to play in a National Basketball Association (NBA) game in London for fear that Turkish government agents might arrest or assassinate him because of his public support for Turkish cleric Fetullah Gulen and his self-styled liberal Islamist movement.