In recent years USCIRF has reported that religious freedom conditions in Algeria have continued to deteriorate with the government increasingly enforcing blasphemy laws and restricting worship. These laws particularly impact religious minorities, such as Protestant Christians and Ahmadiyya Muslims. In 2022, the U.S. Department of State placed Algeria on its ... Show More
Mar 23
Religious Freedom Under Threat: Enforced Disappearances in Malaysia
On November 5, 2025, the High Court ruled in favor of the family of missing Pastor Raymond Koh, finding the Malaysian government and police liable for his abduction and enforced disappearance in 2017. While the court’s decision brought comfort to Koh’s family, his whereabouts rem ... Show More
31m 23s
Mar 6
A Conversation with a Legal Expert on Vietnam: FoRB in Focus
Vietnam’s government strictly regulates and controls religious affairs through state-approved religious organizations. Vietnamese authorities have frequently harassed, detained, arrested, and imprisoned members and advocates of unregistered religious communities that have sought ... Show More
30m 54s
Jan 2024
Judith Surkis, "Sex, Law, and Sovereignty in French Algeria, 1830-1930" (Cornell UP, 2019)
Judith Surkis's Sex, Law, and Sovereignty in French Algeria, 1830-1930 (Cornell UP, 2019) traces the intersection of colonialism, law, land expropriation, sex, gender, and family during the century after the French conquest of Algeria in 1830. Seeking to assimilate Algerian land ... Show More
1 h
Feb 2023
The cost of being an atheist in Nigeria
When Mubarak Bala posts criticism of Islam on social media, it sparks a landmark legal case and leaves him facing 24 years in jail. Raised in a Muslim family, Mubarak is the son of an Islamic scholar in the religiously conservative Kano state. But in 2014, Mubarak renounces Islam ... Show More
26m 25s
<p>The concept of "jihad" in Islam is often oversimplified, and in this episode we explore one example of a "pacifist" tradition within Islam assoicated with Salim Suwari and the Suwarian tradition.</p><br><p>Sources/Suggested Reading:</p><ul><li>Babou, Cheikh Anta (2007). "Fight ... Show More
