Tag: Islamic extremism

Blasphemy rumour leads to arson, 8 dead

August 24, 2016 Nigeria Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Prophet Muhammad, Zamfara

A mob, outraged by reports that Islam’s holy prophet had been insulted, burned down a house in northwest Nigeria 22 Aug., killing eight people inside. Police confirmed the incident, the news organization . It began when a student of Abdu Gusau Polytechnic school in Nigeria’s Zamfara state was alleged to . . . Read More

Egypt’s Coptic Church rejects amendments to long-awaited church-building law

August 24, 2016 Egypt Copts, Islamic extremism

The Coptic Orthodox Church has voiced its dismay at amendments to a draft law that was hoped to put churches on a par with the country’s numerous mosques. “The Church did not expect to see so many unacceptable amendments and impractical additions,” the country’s largest Christian body said in a . . . Read More

Fulani attack kills 10 in Christian area

August 17, 2016 Nigeria Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen, Islamic extremism, Kaduna, Nigeria

Ten people have been killed after another attack by ethnic Fulani herdsmen in the early hours of 16 Aug. in the Christian-dominated Jema area of Nigeria’s Kaduna state. Earlier this month, after an attack on three villages in the same area. Attacks by the herdsmen have claimed hundreds of lives. . . . Read More

Coptic priests in Gulf meet to discuss challenges

August 13, 2016 Alexandria, Arabian Peninsula, Bahrain, Cairo, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates

Egyptian priests serving in the Arab Gulf region have held their first conference to discuss challenges faced in the heartland of Islam: “Challenges facing Gulf priests and their wives”. The head of the largest group of Christians in the Middle East, Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II led bishops and priests . . . Read More

Libya ‘chaos’ makes it one of world’s most dangerous places to be a Christian

August 12, 2016 Libya Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Muammar Gaddafi

An anti-Gaddafi rally in Libya, 2011.Flickr / CC / Mojomogwai It’s five years this month since Muammar Gaddafi’s government in Libya was overthrown when rebels stormed his compound and he went into hiding. However, despite high hopes, the ongoing anarchy there now makes it “one of the most dangerous . . . Read More

Nigerian Fulani attacks ‘kill 1,269 since 2013’

August 12, 2016 Nigeria Agatu, Benue, Boko Haram, Christian Association of Nigeria, Fulani herdsmen, Islamic extremism, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria

Attacks by Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria’s central state of Benue have claimed at least 1,269 lives, a study by Premium Times magazine has shown. On February 21, in an attack in Agatu, for instance, one of the most serious in Nigeria in recent years – over 500 villagers were reportedly . . . Read More

Convert explains journey to Christianity, and why he left Iran

August 11, 2016 Iran Converts, Islamic extremism, Migrants

The Fatema Mæ’sume shrine in Qom, a religiously conservative city 150km south of Tehran.World Watch Monitor In Iran, converting from Islam to Christianity can land you in prison or even get you killed. However, many Iranians – considered “Muslims” regardless of personal beliefs – still “convert”. World Watch Monitor . . . Read More

Egypt parliament urged to ease church-building

August 8, 2016 Egypt Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism

The Egyptian parliament should affirm equality and freedom of religion, a US-based Coptic group has said, urging Egypt to “abandon the historically systematic discrimination against Copts”. “Draconian stipulations, related to the historical condition of Dhimmitude, make construction or even renovation of a church in Egypt a near impossibility,” Coptic Solidarity . . . Read More

Existence of Eastern Churches ‘at risk’

August 4, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Canada, France, Islamic extremism, Jacques Hamel, Middle East, Quran, Religious freedom

Christians are now an “endangered species” in lands where their faith was first rooted, a prominent ancient church leader warned on 3 August. “The very existence of Eastern Churches, those Churches that come from the apostles’ time, is at stake,” said Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan of the Syriac Catholic . . . Read More

Doctor has to leave Pakistan for treating Christian

August 4, 2016 Pakistan Islamic extremism, Minorities, Pakistan

A Muslim doctor in Pakistan who gave life-saving treatment to a Christian using medicine donated via zakaat (Islamic alms-giving) had to seek asylum in the US following death threats for his ‘misuse’ of the funds. The man whose life he saved arrived at the clinic seeking urgent dialysis, which the . . . Read More

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