Tag: Sharia

ASEAN nations told to ‘end blasphemy laws that inspire violence’

October 4, 2017 ASEAN, Blasphemy, Borneo, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Religious freedom, Sharia, Singapore, Southeast Asia, Sunni, Thailand, USA, Vietnam

A right for all - USCIRF report on ASEAN nations

On its 50th anniversary, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should repeal blasphemy laws, release prisoners of conscience and strengthen interfaith relationships, says the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). In a new report, USCIRF highlights regional “arrests, detentions, and imprisonments based on religious belief, practice, or activities, . . . Read More

Fulani’s family had him jailed on false charges – because he’s a Christian

September 11, 2017 Nigeria Converts, Fulani herdsmen, Islamic extremism, Jos, Nigeria, Sharia

A Fulani boy herding cattle in Bauchi State, northern Nigeria.

Belonging to the ethnic Fulani tribe means you are almost certainly Muslim. When Bulus*, a Nigerian living in northern Bauchi State, decided he wanted to become a Christian, he was not only ostracised by his family – they also made sure he ended up in prison on false charges. Bulus’ . . . Read More

Central Asian mother beaten while pregnant, afraid to lose her child – for being a Christian

September 6, 2017 Central Asia, Divorce, Islamic extremism, Sharia, Women

The narrow room in the old hostel in this Central Asian city is too small for the four women who live there: 23-year-old Sameda*, her mother, sister, and little daughter. Although they are in the capital, their room has no access to water or gas, and the authorities refuse to . . . Read More

Malaysia withdraws law clause that could have ‘resolved inter-faith child custody conflicts’

August 25, 2017 Malaysia Converts, Divorce, Islamic extremism, Malaysia, Marriage, Sharia

A Muslim family in Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur. (Photo: Open Doors International)

Malaysia’s government has removed a clause from the new Marriage and Divorce Law that would have prohibited the conversion of children to Islam with consent of just one parent after conservative Muslims protested against it, reports the Malay Mail Online. The new Article 88 (A) had stated that should a non-Muslim . . . Read More

Sweden to Iranian convert it plans to deport: ‘It’s not our problem you chose to become a Christian’

August 16, 2017 Aideen Strandsson, Amin Afshar Naderi, Apostasy, Asylum seekers, Converts, Europe, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Migrants, Netherlands, Refugees, Sharia, Sweden, UK

Iranian convert, Aideen Strandsson, is still waiting for an appeal hearing after her asylum request in Sweden was rejected. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

An Iranian convert to Christianity has been refused asylum in Sweden, placing her at risk of deportation and “torture and rape” in jail in her home country. Aideen Strandsson, 37, who was baptised in Sweden in 2014, said officials at the country’s Migration Board did not believe her life would . . . Read More

Archbishop of Canterbury speaks ‘strongly’ to Sudan President of religious freedom for Christians

July 31, 2017 Sudan Apostasy, Episcopal Church of Sudan, Islamic extremism, Justin Welby, Kadugli, Khartoum, Mariam Ibrahim, Omar al-Bashir, Pentecostals, Refugees, Sharia, South Sudan, Sudan, Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, Uganda

Archbishop of Canterbury in Sudan, 29 July, 2017 (Credit: Archbishop of Canterbury)

The advent of the world’s newest country, South Sudan, in 2011 has not been without its impact. Not only has it spawned a civil war and one of the world’s biggest current humanitarian crises, but also the need for a new Province in the global Anglican Communion. This weekend, the . . . Read More

Saudi intellectual urges Muslim nations to treat Christians as equal citizens

July 28, 2017 Saudi Arabia Islamic extremism, Jizya, Saudi Arabia, Sharia

Saudi scholar Tawfiq writes that in the modern state, all citizens are equal in rights and obligations, regardless of their religion and social affiliation. (Photo: Dr Al-Sayf in a 2013 interview, MEMRI-TV)

The official designation of Christians as “protected people” in Islamic law is out of step with the modern concept of citizenship and should be abandoned, a Saudi intellectual has argued. Tawfiq Al-Sayf, a columnist for the Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat* noted that statements condemning the bombing of two Egyptian churches on . . . Read More

Sudanese woman who escaped 100 lashes for adultery and death for apostasy, three years on

June 23, 2017 Sudan Apostasy, Europe, Exile, Islamic extremism, Mariam Ibrahim, Sharia, Sudanese Church of Christ

(Full transcript of video at bottom.) Three years ago today, a young Sudanese mother was freed from prison after narrowly escaping being hanged, first having been lashed 100 times for adultery. The delay on carrying out Mariam Ibrahim’s double sentence was due only to the fact that she was heavily . . . Read More

75% of north-east Nigeria’s water and sanitation infrastructure destroyed

May 18, 2017 Nigeria Bauchi, Boko Haram, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Plateau, Sharia

Gloria Shehu is one of the people in north-east Nigeria set to benefit from the UN’s humanitarian fund targeting the devastation from the conflict with Boko Haram. Yesterday (17 May) the agency stepped up a call for more money, reminding that “the number of people close to sliding from emergency . . . Read More

Part of church compound in Sudan illegally occupied

May 2, 2017 Sudan Bahri, Churches, Khartoum, Lutheran Church of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, Omdurman, Pentecostals, Sharia, Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, Younan Abdulla

Unidentified men torched the Sudanese Lutheran church in the town of Gadaref situated in the east of the country late night Oct 17, 2015 when no one was around to douse the flames. Local Christians suspect this to be the handiwork of Muslim extremists who want to eradicate Christianity from the region.

Police and an armed mob occupied part of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) compound last Wednesday (26 April), reports Middle East Concern (MEC). It is the same location where, earlier this month, two church members were stabbed during a protest against appropriation of a school there. The compound in . . . Read More

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