Tag: Islamic extremism

UNHCR accused of ‘negligence’ after Pakistani Christian dies in Thai detention centre

June 9, 2017 Asylum seekers, Bangkok, Blasphemy, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Malaysia, Migrants, Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad, Quran, Refugees, Sri Lanka, Thailand, UK, UN

Thailand’s government and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Bangkok have been accused of “negligence” after a Pakistani Christian asylum seeker died in a detention centre last month. Ijaz Masih, 35, was reportedly refused medical treatment on 26 May, after complaining of chest pains, and died of a heart attack . . . Read More

Archbishop of Canterbury: ‘Conservative attitudes can be passport for misogyny’

June 8, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Belgium, Boko Haram, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Justin Welby, Kidnapping, Nigeria, Pakistan, Punjab, Religious freedom, Trauma, Women

Women are often subject to discrimination and rejection due to social, legal and cultural norms, especially in patriarchal societies. (Photo: Open Doors International)

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has said that sometimes “[religiously] conservative attitudes are a passport for misogyny, while at other times they are simply inherited attitudes”. His comment came two days after a consultation about Christian women under pressure for their faith, where speakers noted that women living in highly . . . Read More

Kidnapped Philippines priest pleads: ‘Please consider us!’

May 31, 2017 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Teresito Suganob, Zamboanga

As the battle for the southern Philippines city of Marawi continues, a priest being held hostage by Islamist militants has appeared in a video, pleading for the President to “consider” hostages’ lives and stop bombing the city. A spokesman for the Philippines army dismissed the video, which was released yesterday . . . Read More

African mission leader searches for positives despite deadly surge of jihadist violence

May 30, 2017 Africa, Boko Haram, Burkina Faso, Europe, Garissa, Gloria Argoti, Islamic extremism, Ivory Coast, Jeff Woodke, Ken Elliott, Lagos, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia

Attacks attributed to radical Islamic groups are happening on a weekly, or even daily, basis in Africa, posing security concerns across a vast swathe of the continent. The phenomenon has dramatically affected Church activities in various regions. But Rev. Reuben E. Ezemadu, Coordinator of the Movement for African National Initiatives . . . Read More

Pakistan: 3 months in prison for eating, drinking in public during Ramadan, $250 for providing food

May 26, 2017 Pakistan Gujrat, Islamic extremism, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Punjab, Ramadan, Sindh

As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins, religious minorities in Muslim-majority countries such as Pakistan have to be more careful about eating and drinking in public in the scorching heat: on the one hand, it can cost them physical public ire and physical violence; and on the other, in . . . Read More

Jakarta’s Christian ex-governor drops blasphemy appeal ‘for sake of the people’

May 23, 2017 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Indonesia, Islamic extremism

Jakarta's Christian ex-governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known as 'Ahok', with his wife Veronica and son Nicholas cast their votes in Jakarta on April 19, 2017. Ahok announced today not to appeal his two year prison sentence for blasphemy. Photo: Getty Images

Jakarta’s Christian ex-governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (also known as “Ahok”), has withdrawn his appeal against his two-year prison sentence for blasphemy in a controversial case that has challenged religious pluralism in Indonesia, with repeated clashes between Ahok’s supporters and radical Islamic groups. It was for this reason, said Ahok, that . . . Read More

Second church in 10 days torn down in Sudan

May 23, 2017 Sudan Algadisia, Islamic extremism, Khartoum, Sudan, Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church

A Sudan Church of Christ (SCOC) building has been demolished in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, ten days after the destruction of another SCOC building in nearby Soba, 12 miles south of the city Christian charity Middle East Concern (MEC) reports that the second demolition took place on 17 May in Khartoum’s . . . Read More

Trump calls on Arab, Muslim leaders to end ‘slaughter of Christians’

May 22, 2017 Saudi Arabia Donald Trump, Islamic extremism, Middle East, Riyadh

U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, 21 May. He mentioned the situation for Christians in the Middle East twice during his remarks: “Numerous Arab and Islamic scholars have eloquently argued that protecting equality strengthens Arab and Muslim communities. For many centuries, . . . Read More

Turkmenistan’s secret additions to already restrictive Religion Law

May 18, 2017 Turkmenistan Azerbaijan, Central Asia, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Islamic extremism, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists, Turkmenistan

It’s been over a year since the Central Asian state of Turkmenistan added further restrictions to its Religion Law, but the changes were introduced in such secrecy that few knew about them until well after the event. It wasn’t until January this year that regional news agency Forum 18 shed . . . Read More

‘We have failed to protect non-Muslims’ – Pakistan government spokesman

May 18, 2017 Pakistan Islamic extremism, Punjab

An official from Pakistan’s Punjab province has acknowledged that the authorities have failed to protect Christians and other non-Muslims from Islamic extremists. “The intolerance, anger on religious matters and culture of lynching disturbs us,” Punjab government spokesman Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan told journalists and activists at a 12 May discussion in . . . Read More

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