Tag: Islamic extremism

World Council of Churches condemns persecution of other religions

April 9, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Berlin, Germany, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Kurds, Religious freedom, Syria, Turkey

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, has condemned efforts to incite violence against people who practise other faiths as “abhorrent and ungodly”. “Freedom of religion is as much about Christian minorities in Muslim countries as it is about followers of Islam . . . Read More

Nigerian Christian schoolgirl ‘escaped’, only to be sent back to Boko Haram

April 4, 2018 Nigeria Boko Haram, Dapchi, ECWA, Fulani herdsmen, Islamic extremism, Kidnapping, Leah Sharibu, Nigeria, Religious freedom, Yobe

Leah Sharibu, 14, was abducted by Boko Haram on 19 February 2018. (Photo from family)

The only Christian among the 110 Nigerian schoolgirls abducted last month by Boko Haram ran away from her kidnappers but was caught and brought back three days later, according to fellow captives, reports the UK’s Guardian newspaper. Leah Sharibu, 14, and two other girls walked for three days and, hungry and exhausted, . . . Read More

Persecuted Christians celebrate Easter with mixed emotions

April 3, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Aleppo, Bashar Warda, Catholics, Easter, Erbil, Gaza, Hanoi, Hmong, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Israel, Jakarta, Jerusalem, Ludhiana, Maluku, Marawi, Middle East, Mindanao, Minorities, Philippines, Pope Francis, Prince Charles, Southeast Asia, Syria, Vietnam

Flag of Syria is waving as sign of victory over the destroyed heavily damaged city of Aleppo. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Easter this year was a time of mixed emotions for the Christians who live under pressure for their faith. While political and religious leaders called for peace, reconciliation and brotherhood, Christians in countries like Syria and the Philippines continued to face violence and its consequences. Below, World Watch Monitor gives . . . Read More

Indonesia church bomb attack victim Trinity, 5, healing well, father says

March 29, 2018 Indonesia Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Kalimantan, Samarinda

Five-year-old Indonesian Christian girl Trinity, who was badly injured in a bomb attack on a church yard in November 2016, is healing well, her father told World Watch Monitor. After completing the first phase of treatment in China last month, she is soon to return for a second phase. Trinity . . . Read More

Ahok to stay in jail, Indonesian Supreme Court rules

March 28, 2018 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Jakarta, Quran

Jakarta’s former governor 'Ahok' is scheduled to be released from prison on 24 January. (Photo: Open Doors International)

Indonesia’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by the Christian former governor of Jakarta to review his conviction for insulting Islam, reports Reuters. The ruling means Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known as “Ahok”, will serve out his two-year prison sentence for suggesting a passage from the Quran had been misinterpreted . . . Read More

Saudi school textbooks still ‘promote hatred toward religious minorities’ – USCIRF

March 27, 2018 Saudi Arabia Apostasy, Education, Islamic extremism, Minorities, Mohammad bin Salman, Prophet Muhammad, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia

A school complex in Medina, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Ikhlasul Amal via Flickr; CC 2.0)

School textbooks in Saudi Arabia still include content “promoting violence and hatred toward religious minorities and others”, according to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Even though the Saudi government has been “engaged in textbook reform for the last 15 years”, a new study by USCIRF found . . . Read More

Alexandria Palm Sunday bombing, one year on – lone dad who lost his wife, uncle and nephew

March 23, 2018 Egypt Alexandria, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Palm Sunday

On Palm Sunday 2017, Magid was selling palm branches with his wife and son by the gate of St Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria, Egypt, when a suicide bomber detonated his device near them, killing Magid’s wife, Hannan. Eight worshippers, four Muslim police officers and four Muslim passers-by were killed, and 35 . . . Read More

Saudi Arabia to ban ‘extremist ideologies’ from schools and universities

March 23, 2018 Saudi Arabia Education, Islamic extremism, King Salman, Mohammad bin Salman, Muslim Brotherhood, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Sunni, UK, USA

Sign portraying Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who wants to be known as a reformist, in the capital Riyad. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Saudi Arabia has pledged to ban the “extremist ideologies” espoused by the Muslim Brotherhood from school curricula and books, and to dismiss staff who support the group’s views. In a statement released on Tuesday (20 March), the Minister of Education, Ahmed bin Mohammed al-Isa, said the ministry is working to . . . Read More

Bangladesh set to further ‘thwart’ freedom of expression

March 23, 2018 Bangladesh Bangladesh, Blasphemy, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Minorities, Pope Francis, Religious freedom, Terrorism

Traffic in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Bangladesh is considering the introduction of a new law that would further limit freedom of expression and belief in the country, a senior Bangladeshi journalist warns. The Digital Security Act, a draft of which has been approved by the government, will include a section that “criminalizes online content regarded as defamatory . . . Read More

Coptic teacher charged with contempt of religion for questions about Muhammad

March 22, 2018 Egypt Beni Suef, Blasphemy, Children, Copts, Education, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Prophet Muhammad

A Coptic teacher at an Egyptian state school has been charged with contempt of religion after including wordplays in a set of questions about Islam’s prophet, Muhammad. Magdy Farag Samir, 49, a teacher of social studies at Barot Preparatory School for Girls in Beni Suef Governorate, asked his students: “Where . . . Read More

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