Ahmed Marcouch, chairman of the Amsterdam neighborhood of Slotervaart, said that Dutch politics and society should give orthodox Muslims space to practice their faith, and subsequently, show that the values of freedom of religion are high on their agenda. According to Marcouch, freedom of religion in modern society is demonstrated by its connection with the orthodox…
Over fifty leading Muslim and Catholic scholars and religious leaders from the Middle East, Europe, and America sat behind closed doors in a Vatican building, discussing issues about what divides, and can unite the two faiths. The landmark talks were a hopeful attempt to establish new, positive dialogue after a fall out two years ago…
Leading cardinal Angelo Scola called on the Islamic world to allow individual Muslims the freedom to convert to Christianity. The call comes following the death threats posed against Italian journalist Magdi Allam, concerning his conversion from Islam to Catholicism. Scola said that no one, including Muslims could impose the identity of the community to a…
A shortage of teachers of Islam is leading Islamic community leaders to question the government’s commitment to the freedom of religion. In the current school year, there are only 41 Islamic teachers in Spain’s schools, compared to almost 120,000 Muslim children in Spanish schools – more than half in the North African enclaves of Melilla…
Calls from countries with a largely Muslim population to ban Geert Wilders film Fitna have fallen on deaf ears in the Netherlands, where freedom of expression is seen as an unassailable right. NRC Handelsblad’s legal affairs correspondent, explains the options. No, at least not in principle. The Dutch constitution does not allow censorship, which is…
