Two Pakistani columnists sparked a fierce debate about Islam's role in society as defined by Islamists and the perception of Islam by the West and liberal activists. The two writers presented their views on Islam, society, and the West in their respective Urdu-language newspapers.
While countries such as the United States are seeing a decline in religiosity and certainty about belief in God, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is seeing a significant resurgence in religiosity, particularly among the country’s youth.
That’s according to the new results of the Arab Barometer’s seventh wave of surveys, conducted between 2021 and 2022. These surveys by the nonprofit research network aimed to get a view of rates of religious observance among those living in the Arab world.
A new survey discovered that only half of all Americans are sure of the existence of God, revealing the dynamic and changing religious landscape in the United States.
The transition from insurgency to governance was never easy for the Taliban when it seized power in Afghanistan after a coalition of foreign forces led by the United States fled in 2021.
Some of the Taliban’s fighters were so used to jihad and fighting they reportedly felt bored when they had to switch their weapons to paperwork. In an Afghan valley that raised some of the organization’s best and most ardent fighters, some regret that they haven’t fulfilled their duties as suicide bombers for the Taliban.
Oklahoma gave the green light to establish the first religious charter school in the United States on June 5th, opening a new set of debates on the separation of church and state in public education.
The United Nations has called on schools in the United Kingdom to end the selective admission of students based on their faith and provided other recommendations to prevent religious discrimination in schools across the country.
Almost three months after an unnamed parent from Utah submitted a book challenge to a school district last March requesting to remove the Bible from bookshelves in schools using a state law that prohibits “pornographic or indecent” materials in schools, the district responded by banning the religious book in elementary and middle school libraries.
A Canadian imam delivered a speech describing disbelievers as “living like animals” and claimed Allah commands Muslims to hate them.
The imam, Younus Kathrada, made these remarks during a sermon he delivered at the Muslim Youth Victoria Islamic Center on May 26, 2023. The video of him saying these comments was transcribed and shared by the Middle East Media Research Institute or MEMRI.
Authorities in Saudi Arabia arrested and jailed a popular female fitness instructor for her posts on social media, becoming the latest victim of the crackdown against dissent in the Muslim-majority kingdom.
Saudi fitness instructor Manahel al-Otaibi latest targeted in crackdown on dissent in kingdom | AP News https://t.co/E9iC89rlAO
A new bill was recently passed in the Texas Senate that would allow religious chaplains to work and provide support to students in public schools, raising concerns about the eroding separation between church and government in the southern US state.
