Religious Extremism

Kazakhstan Prosecutes Utterance of "Amen" in Mosques

March 30, 2017

Kazakhstan state officials are prosecuting citizens for speaking the word "amen" in mosques, and the state's Muslim Board is seizing mosques charged with such speech violations, based on the finding that the word is an offense to the state-monopoly version of Sunni Islam sanctioned by the country's authoritarian regime.
Turkey's Islamist Purges Extend to Human Rights Group

March 30, 2017

Turkey's main Islamic human rights organization, Mazlumdee, has undergone an internal purge of individuals and local branches critical of the ruling AKP Islamist government, with new personnel installed who are loyalists to the AKP's Islamist hardline rejection of human rights as a Western invention and connivance.
Pakistan Plays Key Role in Islamic Military Cooperation

March 30, 2017

The new Pakistan command over the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism could be a game changer for the 41-member-state security arrangement, as Islamabad moves to give strategic heft to a "Muslim NATO" by engineering a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran over Sunni-Shiite conflicts.
Islamic Groups Push Back on US Anti-Sharia Measures

March 29, 2017

Islamic organizations in the US are intensifying opposition to proposed bills in US state legislatures to ban the application of any foreign law that contradicts US state and federal constitutions, arguing that banning sharia because of its severe limitations on gender and family rights is "a stupid solution to a non-existent problem."
Turkish Islamist Battles Spur Espionage in Germany

March 28, 2017

The effort by Turkey's Islamist government to stamp out the alternative Islamist movement of Fetullah Gulen has expanded to espionage inside Germany and further deterioration in Turkish-German bilateral relations, as Turkey's intelligence agencies demanded support from Germany on surveillance.
Saudi, Turkish Interests Counter US Goals on Islamist Extremism

March 27, 2017

Saudi Arabia and Turkey continue to view their short-term geopolitical goals in Yemen and Syria as justification for supporting Islamic State and al-Qaeda proxies, creating long-term staying power to the Islamist extremist ideology and jihadi terrorism that the US is working to defeat.
Iran Uses Venezuela as Islamist Gateway

March 24, 2017

Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah have made progress in using Venezuela's vulnerabilities as a failed narco-state as a point of penetration for planning jihadi activities and spreading Islamist radical ideology in the Western Hemisphere.
Saudi King's Junket Shows Dangers of Islamist Diplomacy

March 20, 2017

The recent Asia junket of Saudi Arabia's King Salman, a comprehensive initiative meant to use infusions of petrodollars to reinforce the Wahhabi Kingdom's global monopoly over fundamentalist Islamism, also reinforced the dangers consequent to creating ripe breeding grounds for competing versions of militant Islamism defined by religious intolerance and sectarian violence.
Turkey's Islamists Stoke Clash of Civilizations with Europe

March 20, 2017

Senior officials in Turkey's Islamist government are stoking a clash-of-civilizations perspective that pits Turkey against the West, warning EU Muslims that Dutch politicians are "Nazi remnants" who are driving Europe to wars of religion "between the cross and the crescent."
Pakistan Pressures Social Media on Blasphemy

March 20, 2017

Pakistan has deployed its embassy in Washington, DC, to request Facebook and Twitter to provide personal tracking data on social media users targeted by the Islamic Republic as perpetrators of blasphemy in order to prosecute them for what is a capital crime in that country.