- The BBC recently reported that a leading U.S. doctor has called for cancer warning labels on alcoholic beverages. Similarly, in 2026, Ireland will become the first country to implement a nationwide alcohol health labeling policy. This development led one expert to suggest that Western nations are gradually aligning with an Islamic perspective on alcohol, as Islamic law strictly prohibits its consumption.
- “Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared 2025 as the ‘Year of the family.’ Promoting a conservative image of the family is another attempt by his Justice and Development party (AKP) to shape Turkish society according to its own worldview.”
- “Dozens of Syrian writers, artists and academics signed a petition posted online on Friday calling for the respect of public freedoms after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December. . . . ‘The state must neither impose nor interfere in people’s customs regarding food, drink, clothing, or other aspects of daily life,’ it added, alluding to fears that the new authorities might impose Islamic law.” “Syria‘s new leaders are recruiting a fledgling police force to replace Bashar al-Assad’s feared, corrupted and now disbanded forces. But their focus on Islamic law and teachings as they recruit has observers and minorities worried.” “Police they brought into Damascus from their former rebel enclave in the northwestern region of Idlib are asking applicants about their beliefs and focusing on Islamic sharia law in the brief training they offer.”
- “In a shaky video recorded in 2015, a woman cloaked in black and kneeling on a public street begs to see her children for the last time. Instead, a man identified as Shadi al-Waisi, Syria’s new justice minister, motions to a gunman, who shoots her in the back of the head.”
- “Recently, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim made headlines when he urged young IT developers and tech professionals to incorporate Islamic values into artificial intelligence (AI) systems, arguing that this would ensure that AI serves humanity in a more ethical and just manner.”
- “Four men were flogged in Indonesia‘s conservative Aceh province on Jan. 30 for engaging in online gambling, local officials said, the first public lashing of the year under the region’s strict Islamic law.” For more content and context on harsh interpretations and applications of Islamic criminal law, consult our Editor-in-Chief, Professor Intisar Rabb’s “Resource Roundup: Islamic Criminal Law.” For more news blurbs relating to harsh applications of Islamic criminal law, consult our “Islamic Criminal Law in the News Roundup.”
- “Saudi Arabian girls will be allowed to play sports in private schools for the first time, according to a decision announced this weekend, the latest in a series of incremental changes aimed at slowly increasing women’s rights in the ultraconservative kingdom.”
- “Etiqa Insurance Pte Ltd. has launched Singapore’s first takaful insurance product in more than a decade, as it tries to bridge the market gap in Shariah-compliant funds.”
- “The 8th World Islamic Economics and Finance Conference (WIEFC), held at Minhaj University Lahore from 25th to 26th January 2025, marked a groundbreaking milestone in the global discourse on Islamic finance.”
- “Afghan taekwondo star Marzieh Hamidi said the death threats she has received, forcing her to live under French police protection, show how effective her stinging criticism of the Taliban has been.” For more content and context on the recent developments in Afghanistan, consult our Editor-in-Chief, Professor Intisar Rabb’s “Resource Roundup: Afghanistan, the Taliban, and Islamic Law.”
- “On January 23, 2025, KH Yahya Cholil Staquf, also known as Gus Yahya, delivered a speech at the Annual Meeting of the European Union (EU) Member States’ Advisors on Religion and Diplomacy. In his address, Gus Yahya underscored the critical role of religion in addressing today’s complex humanitarian challenges, advocating for bold and innovative solutions. He further urged EU member states to collaborate with Nahdlatul Ulama on various initiatives designed to promote peaceful religious movements across the globe.”