The conservative government in Greece announced Thursday its decision to give a salary to 240 imams who serve the Muslim minority in Thrace, in the north-east of Greece, in a gesture of goodwill towards this population, which will also serve to better regulate the sermons. At present, only Orthodox priests are salaried by the Greek…
In the northern city of Vitoria, Spanish police arrested three people suspected of trying to promote radical Islam on Thursday. According to police, the three distributed CD’s and MP3 files calling for a jihad or holy war among the city’s Muslim population. The group had allegedly been distributing the recordings before their computers, hard drives,…
An imam in Turin was expelled from Italy to his native Morocco, after his sermons were secretly filmed and deemed a threat to public security. Mohamed Kohaila has been living in Italy for several years according to the Interior Ministry, and that checks from local and national anti-terrorism authorities showed that Kohaila was inciting violently…
Foreign imams who do not learn English should be banned from giving sermons in UK mosques, a Labour peer has said. Lord Ahmed’s comments come as a survey suggests imams lack professional and language skills to tackle the threat of radicalism among young British Muslims. Only 8% of imams preaching in British mosques were born…
Tariq Ramadan, professor at Oxford and the University of Rotterdam, participated in a conversation on state regulation of mosques in Switzerland. He acknowledged the growing fears of Swiss society of Muslims in their midst, yet urged thoughtful policy. In an effort to clarify the situation and appease tensions, Ramadan cites the work of sociologist Jocelyn…
