I May 2012
I 15
Conversion to Islam growing dramatically in Austria
Passion Islam
WORLD NEWS
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Malaysian government repeals Internal Security Act
Official records suggest a dramatic growth in conversions from Christianity to Islam, in the predominantly Christian European country of Austria, Press TV reports. “We see that people have spiritual longing that they feel there is something missing in their lives, if there is no dimension, no horizon as to the hereafter, or where am I? Why am I here?” Says Mr. Bagajati, an Austrian convert to Islam. Austria is a predominantly Catholic Christian European country of over eight million people with strong and deep historical roots in Christianity. Many Christians express that they were disillusioned and had lost their faith in Christianity, and of course the recent recurring sexual scandals of Catholic Church has played a major role in their exodus,
which at the end led to many of them convert to Islam, where they could find comfort. Most non-Muslim, European citizens have always been presented with an ugly and awful image of Islam, linked mainly to extremism and fundamentalism, by the Western culture. Meanwhile, Ms. Bagajati believes that it is the “perfect time” for Islam to show its “peaceful nature” to nonMuslims, in a time when the United Nations has expressed concerns over growing religious discrimination and violence against religious groups. Estimations show that almost half a million Austrian Christians have converted to Islam since roughly two years ago, with the numbers of conversions keeping thriving. Photo shows; Masjid in Telfs, Aus
The Malaysian government has repealed the country’s controversial Internal Security Act (ISA) which legalized indefinite detention without trial. “We welcome the amendment to the Internal Security Act and the Police Act, but we really feel that there is a lot of room for us to improve the current situation. We are really serious about improving human rights in this country…” Amnesty International’s Nora Murat said. The new Security Offences law allows 28 days of detention without trial. Malaysians say the new law still allows abuse, as detainees are not given access to a lawyer for the first 48 hours of detention. During the leadership of current Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his predecessor Abdullah Badawi, the ISA has been mostly used to track down militants. The ISA was introduced during the nation’s British colonial era in the 1950s. It became dominantly used for political purposes, mostly against social activists and political opponents under the leadership of Malaysia’s fourth Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Islamic education for youth discussed in Ukraine
A national conference on educating the younger Muslim generation in Islamic thoughts was held on April 12 at the University of Engineering and Teacher Training in Simferopol, Ukraine. According to IQNA’s branch in Europe, the program was called
“spiritual and moral education of the youth using innovative educational programs in kindergartens, schools and educational institutes”. It was attended by some 200 eminent scientific figures, experts, lecturers and teachers from Ukraine and its neighboring countries.
Heydar Ismailov, deputy of the Mufti of the region, a number of experts of the National University of Trainers in Kiev, and lecturers of the University of Psychology in Moscow and the National University of Simferopol made speeches at the program.