Religious Extremism

US Commission Condemns Pakistan's Blasphemy Laws

October 20, 2017

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom officially condemned Pakistan for using draconian blasphemy laws to target the country's Ahmadiyya religious minority community, following a Pakistani court decision condemning three Ahmadiyya to death as apostates from the country's majority Sunni version of Islam.
NGO: Saudi Schools Promote Religious Hatred

October 20, 2017

The nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch has conducted a review of Saudi Arabia’s Education Ministry-produced school religion books and found that textbooks routinely teach hatred of anyone who does not follow the version of Islam promoted by national authorities.
Turkish Parliament Considers Islamizing Marriage, Divorce Law

October 18, 2017

Turkey’s Parliament is considering legislation that would Islamize laws for marriage and divorce, a move by the ruling Justice and Development Party to expand Islamist law and patriarchy by allowing Muslim clerics to perform civil marriages, by permitting child marriages, and by limiting women’s rights to divorce and alimony.
Coptic Christians Face Islamist Assault in Egypt

October 18, 2017

The sustained assault against Coptic Christians in Egypt at the hands of supporters of the country’s Islamist extremist groups continued this week, when a Coptic Orthodox priest in Cairo died from head wounds after being attacked with a meat cleaver.
Saudi Wahhabi Fundamentalists May Face Broader Challenge

October 09, 2017

If the Saudi Arabian monarchy follows through on its recent announcement to allow women the legal right to drive, this change may well usher in a broader challenge to the unchecked power of the Islamist fundamentalist religious caste's use of Wahhabism to impede moves towards sociopolitical tolerance and pluralism in the Kingdom.
Advocates Criticize Bulgaria’s Anti-Islamist Proposals

October 09, 2017

Religious freedom advocates and diverse religious communities in Bulgaria are pushing back against legislative proposals in Bulgaria to criminalize support for sharia law and jihad and to ban full-face religious coverings, underscoring the complexities of legal approaches to countering the spread of Islamist radicalism.
Denmark Will Ban Full Face Coverings

October 09, 2017

The Danish Parliament has voted to restrict the burqa, niqab, and other Islamic full face coverings in public spaces, joining a growing number of EU member-states that ban public "face masking."
UN Agent: Boko Haram Is Decimating Education in Nigeria

October 06, 2017

The Deputy Director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported that the guerrilla war by the Islamist jihadi group Boko Haram to impose sharia law throughout Nigeria is decimating the country's school system and is creating the conditions for a new generation of youth extremists brainwashed by Boko Haram's Islamization propaganda and traumatized by the country's humanitarian crisis.
Saudi Conservatism Continues Despite Lift of Driving Ban

October 06, 2017

International human rights officials hailed last week's announcement by state officials in Saudi Arabia granting women the right to drive, but experts on the Islamic theocracy warn that the hard-fought "win" may be a public-relations flourish that does little to reform the continuing influence of Wahhabi Islamist conservatism and tribal patriarchy on all aspects of Saudi Arabia's domestic and foreign policies.
Austrian Program Aims to Prevent Islamist Radicalization

October 06, 2017

Austria is implementing a new immigration regime to counter the "explosion of radical Salafist Islamism" in the EU member-state, requiring Muslim refugees and asylum-seekers to comply with a two-year integration protocol that tests competency standards of language, civic, and social integration.