Malaysia upholds ban on Christians using word ‘Allah’

The Federal Court of Malaysia in June refused the country’s Roman Catholic Church leave to appeal against the ban of the use of the word “Allah” in their weekly newspaper, The Herald. Christians argue they have used the word, which entered Malay from Arabic, to refer to their God for centuries and that the ruling violates their…

Muslims denounce Iran’s persecution of Bahá’ís

Prominent Muslims have recently spoken out against the persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran. Led by Iranian Ayatollah Abdol-Hamid Masoumi-Tehrani, a number of senior Muslim figures from Iraq, South Africa and France have spoken out in favour of peaceful co-existence with members of the Bahá’ís religious movement. Eurasia Review reports that in Baghdad, in an extended interview…

Muslims killed in sectarian clashes in Sri Lanka

On 16 June at least three Muslims were killed and around 80 seriously injured in clashes following a rally by the BBS, the Buddhist Brigade, in Aluthgama on Sunday. Supporters of the BBS were reported to have marched into Muslim areas chanting anti-Muslim slogans. Witnesses say Muslim homes and a mosque were stoned. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has announced an investigation…

Egypt’s new constitution under scrutiny

Blasphemy charges brought against Kerolos Shouky Attallah, 29, for ‘liking’ a Facebook page has prompted human rights activists to question the government’s commitment to a new constitution guaranteeing freedom of belief and thought. The Facebook page is in Arabic, run by anonymous converts from Islam. Faced with threats, Attallah ‘unliked’ the page, but the next day villagers…

BAHÁ’ÍS PERSECUTION BY IRAN INCREASING

May 2014 marked six years since seven adults were taken from their homes and thrown into the notorious Evin prison in Iran, “For the Bahá’ís imprisoned in Iran, freedom and human rights seem remote,” noted Nazil Ghanea in the New Statesman on 6 June. Mr. Kenneth E. Bowers, Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United…