Global Scans · Religion · Weekly Summary

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WHAT'S NEXT?: Huge growth is expected over the next several decades as the world's Muslim population grows faster than every other major religious demographic, and as urbanization and rising incomes in developing countries with large Muslim populations mean more will be buying, rather than producing their own food.

• The United Kingdom, in coordination with the United States, has imposed fresh sanctions on senior Iranian officials who are members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in a bid to tackle what it says is a threat to U.K. domestic security. Just Security
• Washington and Baghdad will soon hold working group meetings to evaluate the status of the US-led coalition mission to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Institute for the Study of War
• As Islamic finance remains concentrated in oil exporting countries that aim to reduce their carbon footprints, S&P Global Rating expects the increase in sustainable sukuk issuance will continue. Times of Oman
• Trump's antics with Iran - pulling out of the nuclear deal and threatening to bomb Iranian cultural heritage sites - seemed to do little to deter the Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions. The Conversation
• Washington fears that a fast withdrawal may create a security vacuum that could be filled by arch-rival Iran or Islamic State, which maintains sleeper cells in desert areas and has continued low-level attacks despite holding no territory. The Times of Israel
• Under Iran's relatively moderate former President Hassan Rouhani, the Islamic Republic slowed its space program for fear of raising tensions with the West. The Mercury News
• Key Takeaway: A potential localized truce between Islamic State and al Qaeda-linked militants near the Malian-Nigerien border is likely aiding both groups' efforts to strengthen their support zones in the Sahel and increasing their transnational threat risk. Institute for the Study of War
• Under the current circumstances in Palestine, where the Israeli regime is committing crimes against the oppressed nation, influential countries of the Islamic world such as Iran and Pakistan are expected to maintain unity. DAWN.COM
• The success of anti-Islam extremist Geert Wilders in elections in the Netherlands in November means many analysts are now predicting the far right will enjoy a surge in support in European parliament elections in June and national elections in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, and Finland. Dhaka Tribune
• Pakistan, which is currently grappling with a significant influx of Tehreek-i-Taliban terrorists in the tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is facing threat of the Islamic State, which is making efforts to establish a presence. FirstPost
• Even if the dramatic demise of al-Qaeda and Islamic State has meant that the radical Islamist terrorism threat has reduced significantly, there is no doubt that Benbrika will likely remain influential within radical Islamist circles. The Sydney Morning Herald
• The Islamic asset management industry welcomes the auction of Islamic bonds on the PSX platform because it will popularise Islamic instruments of debt among the general public. DAWN.COM
• With no jobs, no hope and no future, some young Palestinian men see a job with an armed group like Hamas or Islamic Jihad as the only option left to them. ABC News
• Until Congress stops the White House from ignoring US law on Iran, there will be no end to the inflow of cash to the Islamic Republic. American Enterprise Institute - AEI
• Nasrallah added that its current operations on the southern borders opened a historic opportunity for Lebanon to liberate its land occupied by Israel and that the Islamic resistance in Iraq also has a historic opportunity to get rid of the U.S. presence in that country. The Telegraph
• The Dubai Islamic Bank is just one institution that has issued a Sustainable Finance Framework explaining how it will finance projects on principles similar to the Green Loan Principles. Allen Overy
• India is treading a careful path, trying to reconcile its long-held positions on countering terrorism with its recent hopes to build bridges to the Islamic world as a way of outflanking its old enemy Pakistan. The Guardian
• The large population of Islamic State-affiliated fighters, spouses, and children detained in northeast Syria constitutes a major threat to regional and international security. Default
• Attacks on freedom of religion is not new to Central Asia, with all government's keen to supress Islamic groups, which they see as a threat to their power. Platform for Peace and Humanity
• Although Iran has denied helping militants attack commercial ships, the Islamic Republic has vowed that Israel will pay a price for an airstrike in Syria on Monday that killed a senior commander of its Revolutionary Guard. The Business Standard
• Turkey was often seen as an equalizing force to the Arab autocrats of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, which see political Islam as a threat to their survival. War on the Rocks

Last updated: 05 February 2024