Tag: Sharia

Nigeria: Kebbi Christians face latent pressure to abandon faith

December 13, 2016 Nigeria Islamic extremism, Sharia

While violent attacks on Christians at the hands of Islamist militants Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen in the northeast and Middle Belt of Nigeria have captured media attention, the persistent social pressures Christians face elsewhere go mostly unnoticed. Despite common misperceptions that they are a minority across the north . . . Read More

Nigerian girls abducted, forced to convert, marry

November 24, 2016 Nigeria Bauchi, Bayelsa, Children, ECWA, Kaduna, Kano, Kidnapping, Nigeria, Sharia, Sultan of Sokoto

More details have emerged of the scale of abductions, forced conversions and then marriage of Christian girls in northern Nigeria. For instance, in the state of Kano in the last five years, over 40 Christian girls have been abducted and Islamised, and many married to Muslims. But locals say many . . . Read More

Mariam Ibrahim: ‘Sharia causing many to suffer’

November 22, 2016 Sudan Apostasy, Islamic extremism, Mariam Ibrahim, Sharia, Sudan

Mariam Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman , says her story represents the ordeals of “many” Christians in Islamic countries forced to live under Sharia. In a rare public appearance since she was helped to travel to the US two years ago, she told a congregation in Washington DC last Saturday: “My . . . Read More

Child marriage becoming a ‘cloud of crisis’ – N. Nigerian Christian leaders warn President

November 15, 2016 Bayelsa, Boko Haram, Chibok girls, Children, ECWA, Hisbah, Katsina, Marriage, Nigeria, Sharia, Sultan of Sokoto

When the Northern States’ Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) recently met President Buhari at his Presidential Villa (3 Nov), they asked him to warn Northern Nigeria’s traditional rulers against child marriage. They said the trend was already gathering “a cloud of crisis” and would cause a serious crisis if not . . . Read More

‘Worship in the woods’ a year after Islamic extremists destroy Aceh churches

November 10, 2016 Indonesia Aceh, Churches, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Sharia

Churches destroyed a year ago by Islamic extremists and police in Aceh Singkil – a rural ‘regency’ in Indonesia’s only Sharia-ruled province – have still not been rebuilt because of discrimination against Christians by local authorities, say church leaders. However, despite the troubles, church membership is climbing. Hardliners started destroying . . . Read More

Libyan Christian arrested for proselytising

November 8, 2016 Libya Benghazi, Blasphemy, Converts, Islamic extremism, Libya, Sharia

A Libyan man who converted to Christianity has been arrested in the eastern city of Benghazi, local sources have confirmed to World Watch Monitor. The man is accused of “proselytising on social media and denigrating Islam”. His arrest was announced on the Facebook page of a branch of Libya’s General . . . Read More

UPDATE: Nigeria: suspects in blasphemy case released

November 4, 2016 Blasphemy, Boko Haram, Hisbah, Imo, Jama'atu Nasril Islam, Kano, Muhammadu Buhari, Niger, Nigeria, Ramadan, Sabon Gari, Sharia, Sultan of Sokoto

Christian Center in Abuja, Nigeria, Feb. 2016 (World Watch Monitor) A court in Nigeria’s northern city of Kano has freed five people detained in relation with the killing of a pastor’s wife who had been accused of blasphemy. Bridget Agbahime, 74, wife of Mike Agbahime, pastor of Deeper Life Bible . . . Read More

Sharia by-law in Indonesia ‘biased against poor’

October 28, 2016 Indonesia Aceh, Indonesia, Sharia, Sumatra

Residents of the Indonesian province of Aceh, in north-western Sumatra, have complained that the implementation of Sharia there appears to disproportionately target people of low status. The Islamic criminal code stipulates punishments such as caning for actions outlawed under Sharia, such as homosexual activity, adultery, drinking alcohol, gambling, rape and . . . Read More

Sudan’s trial of pastors for ‘spying’ continues

September 27, 2016 Sudan Abdulmonem Abdumawla, Hassan Taour, International Criminal Court, Khartoum, Kuwa Shamal, Nuba Mountains, Omar al-Bashir, Petr Jašek, Sharia, South Sudan, Sudan

The trial of four defendants, including two local pastors and a foreign Christian worker, accused of “spying” continued in Khartoum yesterday (26 Sep.), with the prosecutor presenting more “evidence”. The hearing against Rev. Hassan Taour, Rev. Kuwa Shamal (both ethnic Nuba), Czech aid worker Petr Jasek and Darfuri graduate Abdulmonem . . . Read More

Despite human rights abuse, Sudan wants US talks

September 22, 2016 Sudan Abdulmonem Abdumawla, Churches, Genocide, Hassan Taour, Kadugli, Khartoum, Kuwa Shamal, Nuba Mountains, Omar al-Bashir, Petr Jašek, Religious freedom, Sanctions, Sharia, South Kordofan, South Sudan, Sudan, USA

Senior Sudanese and US officials are due to meet today (22 Sep.) in New York to discuss a possible partial lifting of sanctions on Khartoum, Sudanese media reports have said. The hint at possible “rapprochement” between Washington and Khartoum comes despite continued human rights violations by the latter; the Islamist . . . Read More

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