On September 17, a pastor and dozens from his congregation were kidnapped from a Christian church in northwest Nigeria. Less than a week before, fifty-seven Christians were kidnapped at another church in a north-central state. In fact, the last few years have shown a marked increase in attacks and abductions in the country of both Christian church members and their clergy.
Southeast Asia is home to 250 million Muslims. According to a new report, 1 in 3 consider themselves more religious than their parents.
“The New Muslim Consumer” was released on September 21 by the marketing, research, and advertising company Wunderman Thompson Intelligence. The report explores how religious observance affects consumer market trends.
Reports say at least 35 young people were killed and more than eighty wounded when a suicide bomber targeted a school in Kabul, Afghanistan. Local journalist Bilal Sarwary says the number of dead is much higher. He reported that one hundred had been counted so far.
A Muslim Member of the Greek Parliment now faces a threat of thorough surveillance for national security reasons. New Democracy deputy parliament speaker said, "If a Muslim MP might give information to [Turkey], from where migrants can enter the country, why should he not be checked [surveilled]? Here national security takes precedence."
The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran handed down a verdict of more than three years to an Iranian women's rights activist for protesting the hijab.
Twenty-two-year-old Melika Qaragozlu has been sentenced to three years and eight months in jail and fined 8 million tomans (US$ 246.59) for protesting against the mandatory hijab rules of the country.
Egypt has decided to introduce sexual education courses into the primary education curriculum. Although on the surface, this may seem highly progressive for the middle-eastern country, its main aim is to stop the spread of "homosexuality." Homosexuality is considered "deviant" behavior and extremely frowned upon in the country.
A young Ex-Muslim man who converted to Christianity was sentenced to death on September 4 under an "anti-apostasy" law by the Misrata Court of Appeal in Libya. The law condemning the man of apostasy is controversial in the country.
A new children’s rights bill passed the lower house on September 19, but Jordan’s parliament is still divided over the bill that has been debated since 2015 and reintroduced this past July.
On September 12, The Danish Commission for the Forgotten Women's Struggle, an organization of Denmark's ruling Social Democratic Party, announced a proposal to ban hijabs for students across Danish elementary schools. They believe that banning hijabs in elementary schools will put a stop to religious discrimination and promote equality.
On August 24, the proposal was approved by the Social Democratic Party, which reviews the policies of many European countries. It is one of the nine recommendations to prevent "honor-related social control" of women from minority backgrounds.
Communal tensions erupted in Leicester city, United Kingdom, in reaction to a cricket match. The match between India and Pakistan on August 28 in the Asia Cup is said to have sparked numerous protests, some of which turned very violent. While which side started the violence is highly debated, community leaders have called for calm as animosity between the Hindu and Muslim groups persists.
