Religious Extremism

UN Body Calls on Pakistan to End Blasphemy Laws

September 07, 2016

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has called on the Government of Pakistan to end the country's laws criminalizing freedom of expression and conscience deemed insulting to Islam, which have created a widely documented climate of impunity, discrimination, and violence.
Botched Turkey Coup Puts Spotlight on Islamist Schools in US

September 07, 2016

Law enforcement officials are investigating the wide network of Islamist charter schools in the US affiliated with the Turkish Muslim cleric Fetullah Gulen based on charges leveled by the Turkish government that Gulen and his supporters masterminded the recent failed coup attempt against Ankara.
Mosque Project Raises Questions About African Islamization

August 31, 2016

The Algerian government's $1.5 billion project to build the world's third-largest mosque in the country with the largest landmass and biggest defense budget in Africa is raising significant concerns among regional security experts about the Islamist-versus-secularist direction of society on the African continent.
Saudi Arabia Confronts Dilemmas of Exporting Islamism

August 31, 2016

Saudi Arabia's singular impact on the globalization of Islamist extremism - through the international export of oil-financed mosques, radical preachers, fundamentalist textbooks, and jihadist organizations - has produced serious threats to world peace and paradoxically is fueling huge domestic instability in the Kingdom.
Turkish Islamization Extends to Performing Arts

August 30, 2016

The Director-General of Turkey's national theater companies has announced that the new season will only include plays that "contribute to the integrity and unity of the homeland" and "strengthen national, and spiritual feelings," a decision described by one prominent Turkish artist as a form of Islamist-nationalist fascism.
US Official Warns of Widespread Blasphemy Laws

August 26, 2016

David Saperstein, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom at the US State Department, writes of threats to religious freedom and freedom of speech in countries with laws that criminalize forms of "blasphemy" and "defamation of religion," including recent persecution of Christians and Muslims in Egypt, Iran, Indonesia, and other Muslim-majority states.
Malaysia Detains Rapper for "Insulting Religion"

August 25, 2016

AP reports that Malaysia has detained rapper Wee Meng Chee while it investigates complaints that he insulted Islam by using the Malay word for God and performing in front of places of worship in his latest music video.
German Report Highlights Turkey's Support for Islamism

August 25, 2016

An internal report from the German Ministry of the Interior highlights the Turkish Government's statements of support for and "ideological affinity" with the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups and accuses Turkey of financing terrorist organizations.
Jordan Arrests Satirist for Blasphemy Against Islam

August 24, 2016

A well-known Jordanian satirist widely known in the country for his public declarations of non-belief has been arrested on charges of blasphemy against Islam after he published an anti-Islamic State cartoon depicting an IS member in conversation with God.
Observers Blame Migration, Neoliberalism for European Islamization

August 24, 2016

Some social science experts warn that the combination of neoliberal economic elites committed to a post-national, borderless Europe on the one hand and massive migration of Muslims into European countries on the other is facilitating the Islamization of Europe via the creation of "Islamic moral economies" and sharia zones antithetical to the modern nation-state.