As Iran’s government continues to crack down on dissent against its mandatory hijab laws and enforce them more strictly, the policy created an unintended negative economic consequence: Massive unemployment among tens of thousands of Iranians.
The considerable loss of jobs comes as the Islamic Republic closed down at least 2,000 businesses in March alone after women refused to comply with its mandatory hijab rules, resulting in tens of thousands losing their jobs.
Almost a year after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died under the custody of Iran’s morality police after not wearing her hijab correctly, another woman lost her life after a fight over a forced hijab dispute last April 23rd.
An Australian Islamic scholar slammed Muslims for allegedly “abandoning jihad,” and describing Hindus and Jewish people with disparaging remarks.
Wissam Haddad, also known as “Abu Ousayd” on social media, made his statements during an address in Sydney, Australia, last April 14th. The sermon, titled “The Month of Victory,” was uploaded to the YouTube channel of Al Madina Dawah Center, a religious center in Sydney, Australia.
Abdul Nafee Al-Rifai made these statements in a show aired on Qanat TV/Channel 9, an Arabic-language channel in Turkey connected to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The show aired on April 8th.
Japan’s Muslim population doubled in just over a decade.
Islam remains one of the smallest minority religions in Japan, representing around 0.15% of the 126 million people living in Japan. But that may soon change as it grows rapidly in the East Asian country.
The Islamic Republic has recently unveiled new plans to further impose its strict mandatory hijab laws despite massive backlash from Iranian women after the death of Mahsa Amini last September 2022, promising to further crackdown on dissent against the rule.
Some of these proposed policies include setting up hijab enforcement groups in the stations of the Tehran metro, which would ban any woman not wearing a headscarf from entering and effectively ban them from going to work or school.
The Taliban has recently proposed a strict Sharia-compliant dress code for school students, prescribing long, traditional clothing in different colors that covers the body for male and female students.
The proposed policy comes when the Taliban continues to impose harsh restrictions despite initial promises of a softer rule when the group seized power in August 2021 after the withdrawal of the US-led forces in Afghanistan.
Authorities arrested a Muslim woman in Pakistan on April 14th after claiming to be a prophet of Islam. Pakistani police accused her of blasphemy, a charge that could carry the death penalty under the country’s expanded blasphemy laws.
Authorities in Pakistan arrested a Chinese man on the night of April 16th for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad and Islam. This charge could carry the death sentence if proven guilty.
Two men in Afghanistan were forced to wear a full-length hijab traditionally worn by Afghan women as a form of public “humiliation,” amidst the Taliban’s growing suppression of human rights and implementation of more brutal executions and public punishments after seizing power more than a year ago.
Public executions and torture: ‘The Taliban have reverted to their true nature’ https://t.co/eWH2EuztXF
