Tag: Islamic extremism

Bangladesh: 12 militants charged with Catholic’s murder

November 17, 2017 Bangladesh Bangladesh, Catholics, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Jamaat-ul-Mujahedin Bangladesh

Street in the capital Dhaka, February 2016. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Police in Bangladesh’s northern Natore district have charged 12 militants with the murder of a Catholic shopkeeper in June last year. The charges followed a reported confession by a militant leader in custody, who is said to have admitted that members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, an organisation affiliated to the Islamic . . . Read More

Religious minorities’ struggles the focus of Morocco conference

November 17, 2017 Morocco Converts, Greek Orthodox, Islamic extremism, King Mohammed VI, Minorities, Morocco, Rabat, Religious freedom, Sunni

Square next to the Hassan II Mosque in the city of Casablanca in 2010. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A conference taking place in Rabat, Morocco, tomorrow (18 November) will focus on the problems religious minorities are facing in the Muslim-majority country. Muslims account for 99 per cent of the population, according to US Department of State figures, and the remaining 1 per cent experience “marginalisation and exclusion”, according . . . Read More

Saudi Arabia to reopen ancient church as ‘gift’ to visiting Lebanese Patriarch

November 16, 2017 Saudi Arabia Churches, Islamic extremism, King Salman, Mohammad bin Salman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman, has reportedly announced plans to restore and re-open a 900-year-old church as a “gift” to the Lebanese Patriarch. The church is to be used as a centre for inter-religious dialogue, according to Catholic news agency Fides. The Maronite Patriarch, Bechara Boutros al-Rai, has . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian sent to prison for ‘insulting Islam’ despite mental ill-health

November 10, 2017 Pakistan Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Lahore, Pakistan

A Christian man was arrested on the day of his son’s funeral in Pakistan last weekend, and charged with insulting Islam – blasphemy – despite being recognised as mentally ill. He is now in prison. Iqbal Masih, 65, a retired father of nine, is from the Fazlia Colony of Lahore, . . . Read More

‘Mutual respect’ needed to combat radicalisation in Indonesia

November 10, 2017 Indonesia Catholics, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Religious freedom, Sumatra

Altar of the Stasi Kinali Catholic Church, West-Sumatra, Indonesia, which was attacked in May 2014. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Religious leaders should be more involved in creating an inclusive and pluralistic Indonesia and “leave the ‘comfort zone’” of their community, Catholic bishops were told at a conference this week. What the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation needs from its religious leaders now “is greater commitment to get involved more . . . Read More

Indonesia High Court in ‘milestone’ ruling for religious freedom

November 9, 2017 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Religious freedom

Young men joining the protest march against Jakarta's former Governor Ahok in December 2016. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

In a “milestone” ruling, Indonesia’s High Court on Tuesday (7 November) said all religious groups should be treated equally before the law in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, and that failing to do so would be “unconstitutional”. A law adopted in 2013 requires Indonesian citizens to declare their religious . . . Read More

Pakistan: Christians flee village after death threats against teenager accused of blasphemy

November 7, 2017 Pakistan Blasphemy, Gujranwala, Islamic extremism, Pakistan

Five Christian families in rural Pakistan have gone into hiding after death threats were made against an 18-year-old because of his alleged blasphemy against Islam. Sonu Arshad, who lives in the remote village of Sukheki, 200 kilometres north of Lahore, belongs to one of the families – the only Christians . . . Read More

‘Pakistan’s blasphemy law here to stay’ – Minister of Religious Affairs

November 2, 2017 Pakistan Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Minorities, Pakistan

Pakistan’s Federal Minister of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony says the country is under “no pressure” to scrap its controversial blasphemy laws and that religious minorities enjoy equal rights. “The law cannot be revoked,” Sardar Muhammad Yousuf said at a Pakistan-American Press Association dinner. “It’s there to stay, as it has . . . Read More

Egypt: another Coptic church closed after flyer causes riot

October 31, 2017 Egypt Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Minya, Sohag

A broken statue in the Coptic Church of Mallawi, south of Minya city, that was vandalised during riots in 2013. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Police in Egypt’s Minya governorate closed another church and arrested 15 people in the village of Ezbet Zakariya last Friday (27 October) after a mob attacked Copts with stones and destroyed some of their property. The violence appears to have been fuelled by a flyer that was distributed on Friday, . . . Read More

Bangladesh orders removal of ‘jihad’ from madrassa textbooks

October 30, 2017 Bangladesh Al-Qaeda, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Education, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Madrassas

In a move to curb the growth of Islamic extremism in Bangladesh, the government has ordered chapters on jihad to be removed from next year’s textbooks for madrasas (Islamic schools), reports UCAN. According to the news agency, the National Committee on Militancy Resistance and Prevention, which advised the government on . . . Read More

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