Tag: Mohammad bin Salman

US religious freedom report shows ‘no progress’ in Myanmar

May 30, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Aung San Suu Kyi, Iran, Islamic extremism, Kachin, Middle East, Mike Pompeo, Minorities, Mohammad bin Salman, Myanmar, Prisons, Refugees, Religious freedom, Rohingya, Sam Brownback, Saudi Arabia, USA

Displaced Kachin residents cross the Malikha river on 26 April to escape the fighting between the Kachin Independence Army and the Myanmar government troops. (Photo: ZAU RING HPARA/AFP/Getty Images)

Myanmar, Saudi Arabia and Iran are among the countries criticised for their religious-freedom records in the US State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report for 2017, launched yesterday (29 May) in Washington DC. The report references the violence against the predominantly Muslim Rohingya ethnic group in Myanmar, whose situation is still . . . Read More

Saudi Arabia told: ‘Christians are not second-class citizens’

April 27, 2018 Saudi Arabia Catholics, Education, Justin Welby, King Salman, Minorities, Mohammad bin Salman, Pope Tawadros II, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia

There are no churches in Saudi Arabia and Christians have to meet in secret. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A senior Vatican official told Saudi officials during a visit last week that Christians must not be treated as second-class citizens. “During my meetings, I insisted very much on this point, that Christians and non-Muslims are spoken of well in schools and that they are never considered second-class citizens,” the . . . Read More

‘No better time’ for growth of Christianity in Saudi Arabia

April 12, 2018 Saudi Arabia Justin Welby, Mohammad bin Salman, Saudi Arabia

Emad Al Abdy, one of the leaders of the Saudi Christian Association, believes “there is no better time than now” for growth of Christianity in Saudi Arabia, despite the pressure on Christians, Mission Network News reports. Al Abdy who was jailed in 2014 for becoming a Christian, said there is . . . 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

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

Saudi Prince ‘commits’ to interfaith dialogue

March 9, 2018 Saudi Arabia Apostasy, Converts, Islamic extremism, Mohammad bin Salman, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia

As part of his first public trip abroad as the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman visited the UK and had a private meeting with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby yesterday, 8 March, at Lambeth Palace in London. As part of his reforms to modernise his country, the . . . Read More

Saudi Crown Prince makes ‘unprecedented’ visit to Coptic Pope

March 6, 2018 Copts, Egypt, Mohammad bin Salman, Pope Tawadros II, Saudi Arabia

On his first public trip abroad as the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman yesterday (5 March) visited close ally Egypt and met the leader of the Coptic Church, Reuters reports. Saudi’s al-Arabiya TV channel showed Prince Mohammed and Pope Tawadros II walking together in Cairo’s St. Mark’s . . . Read More

Saudi Arabia is modernising, but will this mean greater freedom for religious minorities?

February 23, 2018 Saudi Arabia Apostasy, Bibles, Churches, House churches, Houthis, Iran, Islamic extremism, King Salman, Minorities, Mohammad bin Salman, Muttawah, Religious freedom, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sunni, Syria, Wahhabism, Yemen

The political landscape in the strict Islamic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is changing, and quickly. A charismatic crown prince seems determined to modernise his country and even speaks of a shift towards a more “moderate” Islam. But will the changes taking place in Saudi also ease the situation for members . . . Read More

How serious is Saudi Arabia about religious freedom?

November 22, 2017 Saudi Arabia Islamic extremism, King Salman, Mohammad bin Salman, Religious freedom, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman, says he wants to move his conservative Muslim country towards a more moderate version of Islam, but how serious is he about religious freedom? Speaking at a conference for investors in Riyadh last month the 32-year-old Crown Prince said the conservative version of . . . Read More

Saudi Arabia to reopen ancient church as ‘gift’ to visiting Lebanese Patriarch

November 16, 2017 Saudi Arabia Churches, Islamic extremism, King Salman, Mohammad bin Salman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman, has reportedly announced plans to restore and re-open a 900-year-old church as a “gift” to the Lebanese Patriarch. The church is to be used as a centre for inter-religious dialogue, according to Catholic news agency Fides. The Maronite Patriarch, Bechara Boutros al-Rai, has . . . Read More

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