Supporters of Iraq’s Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) group take part in a protest denouncing the burning in Sweden of the Quran, near Baghdad’s Green Zone. Image Courtesy: www.thearabweekly.com

Quran Burning Sparks International Outrage and Diplomatic Strain

Since June 2023, multiple acts of desecration of the Quran in Sweden and Denmark have ignited a global furor and raised profound questions about the limits of freedom of expression. This provocative act, marked by Quran burning and demonstrations, has unleashed a wave of condemnations from Muslim-majority nations and triggered a cascade of events with…

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The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Europe: Book Launch

The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Europe was launched online by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs on January 27th 2022. The Handbook was co-authored by Grace Davie, Professor Emeritues in Sociology at the University of Exeter, UK, and Lucian Leustean, Reader in Politics and International Relations at Aston University, UK. The…

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The never-ending debate on the hijab: Latest trends in Europe

For decades now, the hijab has become a symbol of the tensions between Islam and secular European cultures [1]. Out of the 27 EU member states and the United Kingdom, 9 countries currently enforce some type of restriction on religious dress for Muslim women. Some of these are national bans (Austria, Denmark, France, the Netherlands)…

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British Muslim leaders are reluctant to reopen mosques despite government plans to lift restriction for places of worship

A senior Imam has advised mosques not to open until they can hold congregational prayers, despite government plans for places of worship. The government is expected to announce that churches, mosques and synagogues in England can open their doors for private prayer from 15 June. But as mosques are primarily for congregational prayers Muslim leaders…

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The closure of an Islamic Institute in Paris’s region

More than one month ago (the 26thof November), the IESH (the European Institute of Human Sciences) [Institut Européen des Sciences Humaines] has been forced to close its doors for preventive security measures under the order of the prefecture. The institute, located in Saint-Denis near from Paris, which was created in 2001, is an emblematic centre…

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