On Friday, October 22, Muhamad Tahir, the Director-General of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), ordered local tv channels in Pakistan to censor objectionable content in their television dramas.
Abdullah Rushdy, an Egyptian Muslim preacher, issued a fatwa against bodybuilding and bodybuilding competitions. In an October 11 tweet, Rushdy explained that bodybuilding makes men display their “awrah.” Competitive bodybuilders are “showing intimate parts, which should be covered according to the Sharia,” Rushdy tweeted.
On Monday, October 25, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the interior minister of Pakistan, made a bizarre claim about his country's cricket victory. In a video posted on Twitter, Ahmed claims that "Pakistan's triumph against India is a victory of Islam." "All Muslims throughout the world are rejoicing," he added.
Two policemen and two demonstrators were killed in a recent surge of violence in Pakistan. Rana Arif, a police spokesman, said two police officers were killed and another injured when protesters started throwing stones on Friday, October 22, 2021. Several demonstrators were also wounded during the ensuing violence.
On October 16, 2021, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon, the senior national coordinator for counter-terrorism policing, officially declared Sir David Amess's murder as an incident of terrorism. According to Haydon, the Metropolitan police's early investigation revealed "a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism."
At least seven people were confirmed killed during the violence last week in the city of Cumilla in the Chittagong Division, Bangladesh. On Wednesday, October 13, the city government deployed paramilitary troops for the Durga Puja festival, a significant Hindu festival in Bangladesh. Four Muslims were killed on Wednesday after the police opened fire on the crowd.
Germany's largest mosque, the Cologne Central Mosque, has been permitted by Cologne to broadcast the call to prayer every Friday afternoon. The permission to broadcast the Muslim call to prayer, or adhan as it’s called in Arabic, came as part of the agreement to ease restrictions between the Muslim community and the city of Cologne.
A letter from the Justice Ministry of the Mazandaran province in Iran called for an organized reporting of women who tested positive for pregnancy. The goal, according to the letter, is to fend off criminal abortions.
ABC News reported that Mahdiar Saeedian, an Iranian medical journalist, leaked the Justice Ministry's letter through Twitter. Critics are speculating that Iran is using this order to bolster the population despite poor public welfare. Women and women's rights advocates quickly took to social media to show their opposition to Iran's plan.
Lars Vilks, the Swedish artist who became controversial in 2007 for drawing the Prophet Muhammad with a dog’s body, died in a car accident on Sunday, October 3, 2021. According to investigators, the collision also killed two police officers who were escorting Vilks. The accident happened in the municipality of Markaryd, Kronoberg County, in southern Sweden.
The economic marginalization of Muslims in India is becoming more apparent while their livelihood suffers frequent attacks from Hindu nationalists. The attacks encompass small-time ambulant vendors, shop owners, and even industrialized businesses.
