Tag: struggle within Islam

Greater Middle East
Qatar

Qatar: Baha’i dignitary imprisoned for social media posts

Human Rights Watch condemned the five-year prison sentence handed down to Remi Rowhani, a Baha’i religious dignitary, following a a months-long trial by Qatari authorities. Rowhani was charged for “promoting an ideology that casts doubt on the foundations of Islam,” an accusation stemming from several social media posts by members of the Qatari Baha’i community. The court cited article 259 of the Penal Code—which states that whoever casts doubt on the tenets of Islam, or “calls upon, or favors or promotes another religion,” faces a maximum of five years in prison. (Photo via ECDHR)

North Africa
Betty Lachgar

Moroccan feminist arrested for ‘blasphemy’

Prominent Moroccan feminist Ibtissam Lachgar was arrested by the kingdom’s Judicial Police after posting a photo of herself on social media wearing a t-shirt with the word for God in Arabic (Allah) followed by the English words: “is a lesbian.” This reference to the international feminist catchphrase “God is a lesbian” won her “blasphemy” charges from the Rabat prosecutor’s office. The charge carries penalties ranging from six months to two years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to $20,000. The penalty can be increased to five years if the offense is committed publicly or electronically. (Photo via Twitter)

Afghanistan
Afghanistan women

Russia recognizes Taliban regime in Afghanistan

Russia became the first country to formally recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan, with the Taliban flag raised at the Afghan embassy in Moscow. Earlier this year, Russia removed the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations, citing “the need for cooperation in combating drug trafficking and terrorism, as well as building economic ties.” The move to recognize the regime comes weeks after the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan shared evidence of systematic discrimination against women under Taliban rule. (Photo: 12019/Pixabay via Jurist)

Syria
ISIS

Syria: ISIS launches attacks on ‘apostate regime’

Presumed ISIS militants attacked a police station of the Kurdish autonomous administration at al-Sabha in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province. The attack with grenades and small arms was repulsed by the local police force without loss of life. But this was only the latest in a spate of new ISIS attacks in Syria. In a first attack on central government forces since the ouster the Assad dictatorship last December, ISIS boasted in a communique last week that its fighters had killed several soldiers of the “the apostate Syrian regime” at a road checkpoint in Talul al-Safa, in southern Suwayda province. One member of the Free Syrian Army faction was also killed in an ambush by ISIS militants on an FSA patrol in al-Tanf Deconfliction Zone, a US military outpost near the Jordan border. (Photo: SOHR via Kurdistan4)

Syria
Syria

Israel escalates Syria strikes —in name of protecting Druze

Syrian Druze leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri accused the interim government of carrying out a “genocidal attack” on his community following two days of sectarian violence that left 100 dead. Clashes broke out in the Damascus suburbs of Jaramana and Sahnaya, and armed residents began to mobilize in the Druze-majority southern city of Suwayda before a truce was reached. But by then Israel had escalated its military intervention in Syria, launching air-strikes on targets around Damascus. In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the IDF had “struck an extremist group” that was killing members of the Druze community. This is presumably a reference to the now ostensibly disbanded Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the leading faction in the forces that took power in Syria and formed the transition government late last year. It is unclear who launched the attacks that sparked the fighting, which were condemned by the interim government. (Map: PCL)

Syria
Sharaa

UN Syria envoy: ‘fragile’ moment in transition process

The UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, warned of grave consequences for the country’s future without genuine political inclusion and urgent economic support for a successful political transition. During a briefing to the Security Council, Pedersen noted the legacies of misrule, conflict and exclusion in Syria, stating that “the situation is inherently still extremely fragile.” The new government announced by President Ahmad al-Sharaa in March is more diverse, but still includes one woman in the 22-member cabinet: Hind Kabawat, a Catholic, who was appointed as minister of Labor & Social Affairs. Recalling the recent violence in the coastal region, Pedersen urged the new government to ensure that all segments of Syrian society are protected, and to prevent individuals or groups from taking justice into their own hands or committing revenge-driven attacks. The statement noted that such sporadic incidents continue to be reported. (Photo: SANA)

Afghanistan
Afghan refugees

Pakistan forcibly deporting Afghan refugees

The International Organization for Migration reported that nearly 60,000 Afghan refugees have been forcibly deported from Pakistan so far this month. The latest wave of deportations comes amid a nationwide effort to expel foreigners, whether they are residing in Pakistan legally or illegally, in the name of “national security.” Amnesty International criticized the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan (IFRP) for being ambiguous in its criteria for deportation. Last year’s previous wave of deportations under the IFRP saw 800,000 Afghans, many of whom have resided in Pakistan for decades. While Afghan refugees face growing stigmatization and discrimination in Pakistan, they often face persecution and violent reprisals at the hands of the Taliban after their repatriation. (Photo: IOM)

Africa
Azawad

Jihadists and separatists to form alliance in Mali?

Talks are reported to be underway between JNIM, the main jihadist coalition in Mali, and the Tuareg-led secessionist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) over a possible alliance against the Malian army and its Russian mercenary allies. Mali’s military regime terminated a peace deal with the separatists last year after driving them out of their northern strongholds. The junta has consistently labelled secessionist groups as “terrorists'” and accused them of collusion with jihadists. Separatists deny this, though combatants from both groups share family and community ties, have allied opportunistically at times in the past, and operate in the same areas. According to France 24, current points of negotiation include JNIM softening its demands, especially regarding the application of sharia law, and breaking ties to al-Qaeda. A sticking point may be the FLA’s goal of an independent Azawad—the name they give to northern Mali. Intensified fighting in the north over the past year has had severe humanitarian consequences, driving tens of thousands of people to neighboring Mauritania. (Map of Azawad, the claimed Tuareg homeland, via Twitter)

Afghanistan
afghanistan

Taliban rejects ICC jurisdiction

The Taliban announced that Afghanistan will no longer recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), stating that the country’s 2003 accession to the Rome Statute is declared to be legally void after ICC prosecutor Karim Khan sought arrest warrants for Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and the Chief Justice of Afghanistan Abdul Hakim Haqqani. The Taliban accused the ICC of political bias and failing to hold foreign occupiers accountable for wartime atrocities committed during the US-led campaign in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021. However, the United States also faces a war crimes investigation related to the Afghanistan conflict at the ICC, and has similarly denied the body’s jurisdiction. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)

Africa
ISIS

Trump’s first air-strikes hit ISIS base in Puntland

US fighter jets launched from the USS Harry Truman in the Red Sea struck a hidden base of the local ISIS franchise in the interior mountains of Somalia’s northern autonomous enclave of Puntland. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the “initial assessment is that multiple operatives were killed” in these first US air-strikes under the new Trump presidency. The strikes were carried out with the cooperation of the governments of both Puntland and Somalia, whose President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud expressed his “deepest gratitude.” The Puntland Dervish Forces have for some five years been fighting the self-declared “Islamic State Somalia” in the enclave’s Cal Miskaad mountains. (Photo via Garowe Online)

Africa
Lakurawa

SahelExit raises regional fears amid new ISIS threat

Dubbed “Sahelexit,” the decision by Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to leave the West African regional community known as ECOWAS is now official. The three members of the newly formed Alliance of Sahel States (AES)—sanctioned over coups that overturned their elected governments—are out. It leaves the 12 other countries in ECOWAS, one of Africa’s most economically integrated blocs, rethinking the organization’s relevance. Like ECOWAS, the new group will allow free movement between their shared territories—now derisively referred to as the “coup belt.” But it is in the field of security cooperation that the AES states will be especially missed. Jihadist insurgents are on the march. So-called “Islamic State” forces have set up in northwest Nigeria, where they are known as Lakurawa. With neighboring Niger now pulling out of a regional Multilateral Joint Task Force, there are fears that countering the threat will be all the harder. (Photo via Sahara Reporters)

Iran
Tataloo

Iran: pop singer sentenced to death for ‘blasphemy’

Tehran’s First Criminal Court sentenced the popular singer Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, known as Tataloo, to death on appeal after he was convicted of “blasphemy” for “insulting Prophet Muhammad.” The case was reopened after the prosecutor rejected the original sentence of five years imprisonment. The 37-year-old musician is famous, particularly among young audiences, for openly expressing political statements in his music. Tataloo’s supporters argue that the government’s attempts to suppress his influence with several legal actions stem from his outspoken criticism of Iran’s conservative regime. (Photo via YouTube)