Religious Extremism

Indonesia Tries Woman for Blasphemy over Noise Complaints

August 15, 2018

Two years after her complaints about the volume of loudspeakers in a local mosque in Sumatra Province in Indonesia sparked massive riots that targeted Buddhist temples, a woman is on trial for blasphemy against Islam and faces multi-year imprisonment in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.
Turkey Constructs Foreign Mosques for Intel, Intimidation

August 15, 2018

Fox News reports that Turkey's Islamist regime is building mosques in the US, Europe, and elsewhere as spaces for intelligence gathering and intimidation of Turkish citizens deemed enemies of the state for their failure to support the Islamist regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Author Explores “Islamic Feminism” as Unintended Tool for Extremists

August 15, 2018

A new book by Afiya Zia, a well-known scholar of feminism and Islamism in Pakistan, analyzes the paradoxical effects of Islamic feminism in facilitating the consolidation of Islamist extremist political and social trends that exacerbated violations of women's civil and political rights in Southwest Asia's Islamic theocracy.
Turkish Intimidation Results in Positive Letter on Religious Freedom

August 15, 2018

Fehim Tastekin of Al-Monitor reports that Turkey's Islamist regime intimidated the country's vulnerable religious minority communities into signing a letter claiming their right to religious freedom is intact, used as a tool to push back on US sanctions aimed at Turkey's protracted detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson.
Pakistan Strengthens Ties with Islamist Bloc Countries

August 15, 2018

Pakistan's newly elected Prime Minister has secured a $4 billion emergency loan from the Saudi Arabia-backed Islamic Development Bank in return for training and advising Saudi troops just as he accepted an invitation by Iran's theocratic regime to visit Tehran to discuss expanding Pakistan-Iran bilateral ties.
UAE Jails Travelers for Drinking Wine on Flight

August 15, 2018

The Daily Mail reports that authorities of the United Arab Emirates imprisoned a UK mother and her four-year-old daughter traveling from London to Dubai for three days because the mother consumed a glass of wine on the flight, only releasing them after the mother expended significant legal fees and relinquished her passport.
Indonesia's Election Campaign Points to Increased Islamist Influence

August 15, 2018

The ongoing campaign for Indonesia's 2019 presidential election shows the influence of Islamists in the world's largest Muslim-majority country, as the current President named as his running mate the leader of the country's largest mass Muslim organization and of the Indonesian Ulema Council, which has a record of hostility to religious minorities.
OIC Supports Saudi Decision to Rupture Ties with Canada

August 08, 2018

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) issued a statement supporting the Islamic theocratic regime’s decision to rupture diplomatic relations with Canada for urging the Saudi government to release civil-society rights activists arrested without charge, endorsing Saudi claims that the Canadian comments were a violation of Saudi sovereignty.
Saudi Arabia Transfers Medical Patients from Canada

August 08, 2018

The diplomatic flap between Saudi Arabia and Canada over Ottawa's criticism of the Islamic theocratic kingdom's human rights record has expanded beyond the rupture of diplomatic ties, as Riyadh has announced that it is pulling the plug on all medical treatment programs in Canada and is transferring all Saudi hospital patients outside of Canada.
Malaysia Closes Saudi-Funded “Center for International Peace”

August 08, 2018

The Malaysian government’s abrupt closure of the Saudi-funded King Salman Center for International Peace in Kuala Lumpur is sending mixed signals about the East Asian country’s commitment to combating Islamist extremist views.