In The News

“Ahmed Toufiq, Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, affirmed . . . before the House of Councillors that the official Hajj fees for the current season are determined based on a clearly defined set of services provided to Moroccan pilgrims.” “Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani has stated that the group’s rise to power was not… CONTINUE READING

“The Grand Mufti [of Saudia Arabia] emphasized that performing Hajj without a permit constitutes a grave violation of Islamic law, as it violates the system and the public interest.” Meanwhile, “Muslim students from the Islamic University of Madinah in the Hejaz Region [have been asked to] participat[e] in the Hajj rituals of Hady and Adahi… CONTINUE READING

“The Afghan Taliban . . . issued a strong rebuke to the militant group Fitna Al-Khawarij, declaring that any armed activity particularly in Pakistan without the Emir’s explicit approval is impermissible under Islamic law.” Taliban commander Saeedullah Saeed, speaking at a recent event, stated that fighting against the orders of the Amir, particularly in countries… CONTINUE READING

In Malaysia, “Muslim children born out of wedlock are given the generic surname of Abdullah (which means God’s servant in Arabic) on their birth certificate. . . . The reason the National Registration Department (NRD) gave Mazlan, who was in Sabah when he got married but now lives with his family in Selangor, was that… CONTINUE READING

In Sri Lanka, “[a]ctivists working in the field of gender, human rights, and family law, such as the Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law (GCEFL) and Equality Now, [have] repeatedly point[ed] out that the law has multiple gaps that leave women and children vulnerable to exploitation, detract from Islamic legal practices, and fail to take into account… CONTINUE READING

In Iran, “[t]he Islamic Revolution swept through the country like a tempest, bringing with it strict interpretations of Islamic law that deemed dance, especially by women, immoral and forbidden.” “[Young women’s] dance is a quiet rebellion against the rules the Islamic Republic has enforced for over four decades.” A new news story on Iran‘s famous… CONTINUE READING

“On April 21, 2025, the Islamic State released a video in the Arabic language accusing al-Sharaa and its transition government of apostasy and calling the local fighters to ’embrace the true Islam.'” In India, “BJP national general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam said the [Waqf] Act was aimed at transforming waqf properties into welfare institutions benefiting the… CONTINUE READING

Commenting on Saudi Arabia‘s art scene, one commentator noted: “A paradox remains: how to foster a creative art scene within the setting of state control. Artists are no longer subject to the Inquisition-like Mutawa, the morality police charged with enforcing Islamic law, banned in 2016.” “The General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars in… CONTINUE READING