Tag: Sharia

Boko Haram ‘flies flag 2 hours from Abuja’ warned Governor, as Nigerian captive teen turns 18

May 14, 2021 Nigeria Boko Haram, Chibok girls, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Sharia, Women

Leah Sharibu was 14 when she was abducted, Feb 19, 2018

Today (14 May), Leah Sharibu is 18 years old; it’s her fourth birthday as the captive of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Nigerian Leah is the girl who defied one of the most globally well-known terrorist groups, a splinter group of Boko Haram. The then-14 year old was among . . . Read More

NGOs say changes to Sudan’s Islamic laws don’t go far enough

August 18, 2020 Sudan Apostasy, Blasphemy, Converts, Human rights, Minorities, Religious freedom, Sharia, Women

Despite the abolition in July 2020 of Sudan’s apostasy law (under which the case of Christian doctor Mariam Ibraheem, sentenced to hang in 2014, became global headline news), a group of 29 Sudanese NGOs says that its transitional government’s amendments to many of its laws do not go far enough. . . . Read More

Nigeria’s Kano State Governor converts Christian under-age girl to Islam

April 22, 2020 Nigeria Converts, Kidnapping, Nigeria, Sharia, Women

A video showing the Governor of Kano, a state in the far north of Nigeria, leading an under-age Christian girl through the act of becoming a Muslim inside his State Government House has sparked outrage on Nigerian social media. World Watch Monitor has independently confirmed the video is genuine and . . . Read More

Indonesia: Christian politician accused of blasphemy for opposing Sharia-based bylaws

November 22, 2018 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Indonesia, Jakarta, Quran, Sharia, Tangerang

A young Christian politician has been accused of blasphemy in Indonesia after criticising Sharia-based bylaws, Catholic news agency UCAN reports. Grace Natalie, 36, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), was reported to police by a conservative Muslim organisation after delivering her speech at her party’s gathering in Tangerang, near . . . Read More

Pakistan PM appeals for calm after Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy

October 31, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Constitution, Imran Khan, Islamic extremism, Lahore, Pakistan, Pakistan Peoples Party, Prophet Muhammad, Punjab, Quran, Sharia, Sindh, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan

Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, this evening urged the nation not to let a fraction of people incite them to take the law into their own hands over the decision of the Supreme Court to release a Christian woman who had been facing the death penalty for blasphemy. The security . . . Read More

Religious minorities fear backlash as Sunni Islam declared state religion of Comoros

August 3, 2018 Comoros Comoros, Constitution, Sharia, Shia, Sunni

On Monday 30 July, the “Yes” vote recorded an overwhelming victory in the referendum on constitutional reforms in the southeast African island nation of Comoros, declaring Sunni Islam the “religion of the state”. “The state draws from this religion the principles and rules of Sunnite observance,” the amended constitution reads. . . . Read More

Syria: Christians and Yazidis among 250,000 displaced in Afrin

June 19, 2018 Syria Afrin, Aleppo, Damascus, Free Syrian Army, Islamic State, Kobani, Kurds, Maaloula, PKK, Raqqa, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Sharia, Syria, Turkey, Yazidis

Turkish-backed Syrian rebels walk past a burning shop in Afrin on 18 March. (Photo: BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)

Significant numbers of Christians and Yazidis have fled their homes in northern Syria’s Afrin enclave, World Magazine reports, ever since Islamist militants joined with the Turkish military this past January to oust Syrian Kurdish fighters from the region along Turkey’s border. Turkey considers the Kurdish YPG (People’s Protection Units) to . . . Read More

Coptic Christians harassed for drinking water during Ramadan fasting hours

June 13, 2018 Egypt Asyut, Cairo, Copts, Egypt, Giza, Helwan, Islamic extremism, Ramadan, Sharia

In one of three incidents reported to World Watch Monitor, an Egyptian photographer was detained by police for carrying a bottle of water during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims are required not to eat or drink anything from the first light of dawn until sunset. He claims . . . Read More

Malaysian bishops: ‘We need leaders who truly care for the people’

April 30, 2018 Malaysia 'Allah', Catholics, Elections, Hudud, Islamic extremism, Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Malaysia, Najib Razak, PAS, Proselytism, Religious freedom, Sharia, UMNO

For the first time in six decades, several high-profile Malaysian church leaders have publicly called for a change of government. On 24 April the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia issued a pastoral letter, saying: “We need to choose leaders who truly care for the rakyat [people], promote justice and equality, stand . . . Read More

Tunisia’s religious freedom curbed by societal pressure – UN Rapporteur

April 23, 2018 Tunisia Ahmed Shaheed, Apostasy, Blasphemy, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Religious freedom, Sharia, Tunisia, UN

The Malik ibn Anas Mosque in Carthage, near the capital Tunis. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Old laws and societal pressure pose the greatest challenges to religious freedom in Tunisia, concluded the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Ahmed Shaheed, after a ten-day visit. Though Tunisia’s 2014 Constitution guarantees religious freedom, there is still work to be done to align its laws and . . . Read More

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