Two LGBTQ rights activists were sentenced to death in Iran for allegedly promoting homosexuality. Activists Zahra Sedighi-Hamadani and Elham Chobdar were charged with “Corruption on Earth,” a vague yet lethal charge.
The Urmia Revolutionary Court handed the ruling in Urmia City, western Iran, close to its borders with Turkey.
On August 15, Saudi actor Abdullah Al-Sadhan posted a video on Twitter of a woman wearing a full-face veil singing and conveyed his unwavering support for her performance. The video of a Niqab-clad woman singing went viral on social media platforms which caused massive outrage in Saudi Arabia.
A self-proclaimed member of the Islamic State has been arrested in Russia for planning a terrorist attack in India. The Russian Federal Security Service released information regarding the would-be attacker’s plan to kill a leader of India's ruling government in a suicide bombing. The attack was planned as retaliation for the insults aimed at the Prophet by the now ex-BJP spokesperson, Nupur Sharma.
Continuing the crackdown on women, Iran’s Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has released a 119-page document outlining new rules women must now observe.
IranWire called the new order, titled Hijab and Chastity Project, unhinged, calling out its most important goal: "cleansing society of the pollution caused by nonconformance with Islamic dress codes."
On August 17, a Nigerian federal appeals court ruled that Islamic Sharia (law) does not violate the country’s secular constitution in a two-to-one decision. It was also decided that Sharia courts have jurisdiction over blasphemy cases.
It was an empty promise. This was what undercover journalist and filmmaker Ramita Navai said about the promise of the Taliban to defend women’s rights according to Islamic law.
Islamic law is seen to implement God’s commands for Muslims. Sharia, which means “the way,” are laws that represent conduct that is intended to guide Muslims.
Amid an intense campaign of the Iranian government on the proper and strict wearing of the hijab, arrests of protesters, mainly women activists, have also started to increase.
Under Iran’s 1980 Islamic Sharia law, women are obliged to cover or disguise their figures by wearing long, loose-fitting clothes, ensuring that this also covers their hair. Women who violate this dress code are met with public rebuke, fines, and even arrests.
On June 26, a 20 years old woman from the northeastern African country of Sudan was sentenced to death by stoning for cheating on her husband. She was convicted on charges of adultery, being the first case of stoning in the country after almost a decade.
An honor-based family murder in a small town in the Fars province of Iran has once again sparked debates on the lack of laws to prevent “honor-killing” in Iran.
On June 27, the father of Ariana Lashkari shot the sixteen-year-old girl in the chest with a hunting rifle for allegedly laughing with a boy at a park, which he considered a disgrace to the family.
A 70-year-old man and two other gay men were sentenced to death by stoning in Bauchi, Nigeria. The accused were charged and convicted for engaging in acts of homosexuality. They were arrested by the religious police force of the state on June 14.
