All our articles, organised by category.
UNESCO, the Taliban government in Afghanistan is the only regime in the world that formally bans girls from attending secondary school past the sixth grade and attending universities.
In March 2024, supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada pledged to flog and stone women in public. Rights groups now count 2,745 people subjected to corporal punishment between February 2022 and April 2026, and the U.N. says 2025 broke every previous record.
Anti-blasphemy laws, extreme penalties, and infringements on freedom of expression.
Six and a half years after sharing a song on WhatsApp, a young Nigerian musician is still waiting for his country's Supreme Court to find a slot on its calendar.
A Pakistani court has asked prosecutors to justify the admissibility and authenticity of the digital evidence used to convict Junaid Hafeez, a former lecturer on death row for blasphemy since 2019, whose appeal has been pending since 2020.
A Saudi appeals court has sentenced Sri Lankan Tamil worker Sivarasa Anojan to death for blasphemy over a Facebook comment, replacing an earlier five-year prison term. A Sri Lankan MP is now questioning how the government handled his appeal.
Laws, decrees, morality police and violence used to impose religious dress codes on women and girls in the name of Islam, documented case by case.
In March 2024, supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada pledged to flog and stone women in public. Rights groups now count 2,745 people subjected to corporal punishment between February 2022 and April 2026, and the U.N. says 2025 broke every previous record.
In Islam, sexual relations outside of marriage are strictly prohibited and considered a major sin, known as "zina".
In Banda Aceh, a man and a woman convicted of adultery were caned 100 times each before a crowd that included children. It is the province's latest reminder that holding hands can be a punishable offence.
In March 2024, supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada pledged to flog and stone women in public. Rights groups now count 2,745 people subjected to corporal punishment between February 2022 and April 2026, and the U.N. says 2025 broke every previous record.
Corporal punishment prescribed in traditional Islamic law (Sharia) for specific offenses.
In Banda Aceh, a man and a woman convicted of adultery were caned 100 times each before a crowd that included children. It is the province's latest reminder that holding hands can be a punishable offence.
In March 2024, supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada pledged to flog and stone women in public. Rights groups now count 2,745 people subjected to corporal punishment between February 2022 and April 2026, and the U.N. says 2025 broke every previous record.
The consumption of pork is strictly forbidden (haram) in Islam and is classified as inherently unclean (najas).
An Iraqi court has jailed a butcher for ten years for passing off wild boar as beef in Najaf, one of Shia Islam's holiest cities. That is more than some officials convicted of illicit enrichment recently got. Was he punished for cheating his customers, or for the animal itself? The court isn't saying.
Islam has a reputation for mistreating minority communities in various ways. These articles help determine whether this reputation is deserved.
In Faridpur, thieves made off with a Kali idol and its gold while the temple's cameras were out of order. In Kolkata, Indian rights groups counted more than a hundred minority members killed in Bangladesh since early 2025 and four of their defenders jailed or hounded. Dhaka has changed governments. Its Hindus are still waiting for the change.
In September alone, one Ahmadi was shot dead and two others were wounded in Pakistan's Punjab province, with no arrests reported. Meanwhile, the country's Federal Constitutional Court found the time to uphold a ban on the community's sacred texts. Priorities.
Sentences and executions.
Six and a half years after sharing a song on WhatsApp, a young Nigerian musician is still waiting for his country's Supreme Court to find a slot on its calendar.
A Pakistani court has asked prosecutors to justify the admissibility and authenticity of the digital evidence used to convict Junaid Hafeez, a former lecturer on death row for blasphemy since 2019, whose appeal has been pending since 2020.
A Saudi appeals court has sentenced Sri Lankan Tamil worker Sivarasa Anojan to death for blasphemy over a Facebook comment, replacing an earlier five-year prison term. A Sri Lankan MP is now questioning how the government handled his appeal.
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