Sharia law

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Taliban Wield Mighty New Weapon: Class Warfare

Militants exploit tensions in areas where feudalism still holds sway

(Newser) - Taliban militants are exploiting the deep class divisions in Pakistani society in a push to expand their power, the New York Times reports. The militants gained control of the Swat Valley in part by organizing landless peasants into gangs to force out wealthy landlords. It's a strategy that many fear...

Thousands of Fighters Train in New Taliban Haven

(Newser) - Militants have been pouring into Pakistan’s Swat Valley, thanks to a controversial peace deal between the Taliban and Pakistan’s government, the Wall Street Journal reports. President Asif Ali Zardari signed a bill yesterday to impose Islamic law in Swat, effectively sealing his agreement with the militants. Training camps...

Taliban Execute Young Couple for Eloping

Afghan clerics accuse them of 'immoral acts,' order firing squad

(Newser) - The Taliban executed a young couple in front of a firing squad for trying to elope in a lawless, militant-controlled region of southern Afghanistan, officials said today. The woman, 19, and the man, 21, were accused by the militants of immoral acts, and a council of conservative clerics decided that...

Saudi Man Divorces Wife—by Phone Text

(Newser) - This was probably inevitable: The world's first known divorce via phone text is on the books. A Saudi man informed his wife of the split by text, then called two relatives to let them know, the Telegraph reports. This apparently jibes with the practice under Sharia law that allows a...

Pakistan Squirms Over Public Flogging

Video shows woman being beaten in militant-controlled area

(Newser) - Authorities in Pakistan today ordered an investigation into a video showing a 17-year-old woman, accused of having sex, being publicly flogged in the country’s Swat Valley. The two-minute video, widely aired on local television today, shows a man whipping a woman lying face down on the ground, pinned by...

Iran Says It Will Release US Journalist in 'Next Few Days'

31-year-old imprisoned for buying bottle of wine

(Newser) - Iran will soon free Roxana Saberi, a journalist imprisoned more than a month ago, Reuters reports. Saberi was jailed after buying a bottle of wine, but held on concerns over her working papers. Tehran said its investigation is finished and that the 31-year old Iranian-American’s release is imminent, but...

US Journalist Vanishes After Wine-Buying Bust in Iran

Father hasn't heard from her since call from jail in January

(Newser) - A North Dakota woman working as a freelance journalist has disappeared in Iran following her arrest for buying wine, her distraught dad told the New York Daily News. Roxana Saberi, 31, called her father from an Iranian jail in January and he hasn't heard from her since. A store owner...

Somalia Will Impose Sharia Law
Somalia
Will Impose
Sharia Law
Mar 1, 2009 10:40 AM CST

Somalia Will Impose Sharia Law

Prez submits to rebel demands, but vows loose enforcement

(Newser) - In a move to broker peace between his troops and insurgents, Somalia’s president has agreed to militants’ call to impose Islamic law, CNN reports. The law bars girls from school, requires beards for men and veils for women, and bans TV and music. But President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed,...

Pakistan, Taliban Call Indefinite Truce

Militants agree to extend ceasefire in Swat valley

(Newser) - Taliban militants and Pakistani officials have agreed to an indefinite ceasefire in the country's troubled Swat valley, Reuters reports. The agreement extends an earlier 10-day truce in which the Taliban agreed to lay down their arms in return for Islamic sharia law being enforced in the area. Militants in the...

Pakistan Peace Deal Imposes Sharia Law

Agreement creates new 'order of justice' for Swat region

(Newser) - A peace deal between Pakistan and the Taliban will bring the country's troubled Swat valley under Islamic Sharia law, the BBC reports. The agreement "was reached after realization that it was the demand of the people," a regional official says. Since a violent Taliban campaign to impose Sharia...

2 Afghans Face Death Over Koran Translation

Clerics say book aims to replace holy text

(Newser) - A pocket-size translation of the Koran has landed six men in prison in Afghanistan and left two of them begging judges to spare their lives. They're accused of modifying the Koran, and their fate could be decided Sunday in court. The trial illustrates what critics call the undue influence of...

No PDA, Cheating in Muslim Nations, UK Warns Travelers

Booze, drugs are also no-nos, Foreign Office reminds would-be vacationers

(Newser) - Extra-marital sex and public displays of affection might be OK in France or Spain, but it’s a big no-no in Dubai and other Muslim nations, the British government is reminding citizens. The Foreign Office has released a list of do’s and don’ts for Britons planning a trip...

Saudi Girl, 8, Can't Divorce Husband, 58: Court

Case must wait until girl hits puberty; she still lives with mother

(Newser) - An 8-year-old Saudi girl will remain married to her 58-year-old husband after a court struck down her mother’s request for a divorce, the Daily Mail reports. The hard-up father, who is divorced from the mother, signed a contract in August and received a dowry of about $7,400. The...

Girl Group Rocks Saudi Taboos
 Girl Group Rocks Saudi Taboos 
Nov 24, 2008 12:02 PM CST

Girl Group Rocks Saudi Taboos

The Accolade still underground but gaining popularity as youth push boundaries

(Newser) - The Accolade sounds like a typical female rock band: Its members have teased hair and facial piercings, and their clothing shocks passers-by as they tell a New York Times reporter about their new song with lyrics about a failed relationship. But the Accolade’s home base is conservative Saudi Arabia,...

Islamists Take Somalian Port, Near Capital

Insurgents encroach Mogadishu

(Newser) - Islamist rebels in Somalia captured the port city of Merka today as they continue to move in on Mogadishu, the weak transitional government’s stronghold, the New York Times reports. Hundreds of militants entered Merka, unopposed because government forces had fled the city the previous night. After weeks of steady...

Afghan Writer's Death Sentence Reduced

Student gets 20 years for 'blasphemy' about women's rights

(Newser) - Parwez Kambakhsh won’t be executed for distributing literature on women’s rights, but the student and part-time journalist will spend the next 20 years in prison, an Afghan appeals court ruled yesterday. “This is arguably worse for him,” one human-rights advocate told the Los Angeles Times of...

Holy Season for Two Faiths Intersects in Jerusalem

Jewish new year coincides with Muslim month of Ramadan in city special to both

(Newser) - This year’s intersection of Jewish new-year holidays and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan—a rarity due to Islam’s changing calendar—is felt particularly keenly in Jerusalem, a sacred city for both religions, Ethan Bronner notes in the New York Times. Night has become “a kind of...

Clerics Shake Up Islamic Finance
Clerics Shake Up Islamic Finance
GLOSSIES
Sep 24, 2008 9:49 AM CDT

Clerics Shake Up Islamic Finance

Concern bonds violate Sharia causes crisis despite stable market

(Newser) - Of the challenges facing Western financial markets, fear of divine intervention isn’t one. The Middle East’s booming debt market is considered one of the most stable in the world, but investors there are getting a taste of “religious interpretation risk,” Portfolio reports. Islamic scholars are declaring...

Saudi Judge: Kill Offending Broadcasters

Sheik urges fatwa on owners of channels with 'corrupt beliefs'

(Newser) - The highest judge in Saudi Arabia says “it is permissible” to murder owners of satellite TV networks that broadcast questionable material during Ramadan, the Guardian reports. When a caller to his radio show asked about channels featuring “bad programs,” Sheik Saleh al-Lihedan responded, “What does the...

US Firm Calls for Islamic Law in Lawsuit

Blackwater boss seeks Sharia law to dodge Afghan plane crash suit

(Newser) - An American firm blamed for the death of three US soldiers in a plane crash has asked a federal court to apply Islamic law to a lawsuit brought by their widows, the Raleigh News & Observer reports. Presidential Airways, Blackwater's sister company, argues that since its plane crashed in Afghanistan,...

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