Met examining MP’s comments for hate speech

01 Mar 2024
The Metropolitan Police is ‘assessing’ a report of hate speech made against MP Lee Anderson after comments which he made on 23 February. The force said it had received the report after the…

Syria: Alewite people in Latakia

30 Mar 2023
Located on the Mediterranean Sea, Latakia is a port city of Syria. Its population of 340,000 includes a large community of Alewite people. Alewite Islam is a sect of Islam that is related…

Nigeria: dangers of being religious in a religious nation

20 Oct 2022
Religious intolerance in one of the most religious countries in Africa is dominating debates ahead of next year's elections. It is rare to find anyone not devout in the mainly Muslim north or…

From infidels to brothers and sisters

12 Aug 2021
Sidqi’s family had strong ties to Islamic extremists and hated Christians. He harassed his Christian school friends - but they responded with love. When he beat up a boy and stole his jacket,…

Indonesia: Islamic hijab not mandatory in schools

25 Mar 2021
Indonesia has banned schools from forcing girls to wear Islamic hijab headscarves after the case of a Christian pupil pressured to cover up sparked outrage in the world’s most populous Muslim nation (90%…

France: religious transformation of schools

04 Feb 2021
A French low-intensity war is bubbling around radicalising education. At a school in Saumur, a student told his teacher, ‘My father will behead you’. It is impossible to make a precise list of…

France: secularism causing divisions

05 Nov 2020
The text of the 1905 French law that lays down the separation of church and state in the country doesn't specifically mention secularism. Nevertheless, the principle is a key part of the country's…

Saudi Arabia: Hajj - 29 to 31 July

23 Jul 2020
The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam that all Muslims must perform at least once in their lifetime if they are able. On the Hajj Muslims seek the forgiveness of…

Burkina Faso: Islam gains as churches close

20 Sep 2019
When the Burkinabe people gained independence in 1960, the motto ‘Unity, progress, justice’ embodied hope for them. Currently almost eighty ethnic groups embrace religious practices: earth priests, fortune tellers, healers, witchcraft, and animal…

Iran: The real story isn’t political, it’s spiritual

01 Jul 2019
Iran (MNN) — Tensions surround Iran’s current political affairs, and a spirit of fear grips people on the streets. Muhammed*, the leader of a Persian house church, says many Iranians live in constant…
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