After the Second World War, the world was shocked and astounded by the amount of atrocities committed against their fellow man in regards to violating what were seen as fundamental human rights. As a result, on 10 December 1948 the United Nations came together to draft and publish the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with over 50 states participating in its drafting. While in recent years, violations of human rights have not reached the depths of that seen in the Second World War, but there are still many rights being infringed upon to date. In Saudi Arabia, a country is flourishing in wealth under the rule of a theocratic government where public officials are divinely guided to enforce the law in the country in line with the Islamic faith. Although Saudi Arabia stands as a prospering country, the infringements on not only secular but religious rights are quite apparent as well. With infringements on the freedom of religion, speech and expression, and the right to work apparent to the outside world, the question to be answered is what role does the Islamic religion play in the Saudi Arabian theocracy resulting in violations of universally recognized human rights?…
The internment of Japanese Americans could certainly be considered as one of the lowlights of American History. With just one executive order, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the entire country embarked on what many historians call one of the largest violations of civil liberties in the country’s history; over 120,000 Japanese Americans, many of whom were American citizens, were forced to flee from their homes and became incarcerated in concentration camps on American soil; all too often Americans forget about the gravity and lasting effects of this event and just how universal the lessons one can learn from this event are.…
Saudi Arabia has the world’s largest concentration of oil deposits; most are concentrated on the eastern part of the county along the Persian Gulf Coast. One choke point, the Strait of Hormuz is located at the southern end of the Persian Gulf where it meets the Gulf of Oman. The oil and ease of transportation of it to the Saudi Arabian government and the Western World. The Saudi regime is friendly with the West; the Islams are friendly with the Christians. According to the scriptures of Islam, this friendship is not acceptable. Mecca is located in Saudi Arabia. The city is the Holy City of Islamic faith. Medina is also located in Saudi Arabia. Medina is the second Holiest City of Islamic faith. There have been uprisings across the realm due to Islamic dislike of Western culture.…
“He that taketh not his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me” (Pope Urban II, 1095). Are these the words the spark that fueled a wave of destruction and unjustly persecuted Islam? Most historians consider the sermon preached by Pope Urban II at Clermont- Ferrand in November 1905 to have begun the wave of military campaigns to wrest the Holy Land from Muslim control. Known as the Crusades, these campaigns, considered to be divinely sanctioned in the Christian view, were led by the desire for Christian access to the shrines associated with Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior of the Christian Faith. Out of the eight to nine crusades, only the first truly fulfilled the purpose that Pope Urban II wished to fulfill. While, there were positive effects of the Crusades – such as the opening of the Mediterranean to commerce and…
During my time working in the Middle East, the people of Saudi Arabia (Arabian Nationals in particular) is not required to work so I never had a chance to work with them. I remember before I left, there was a news to implement Saudization. I referred Saudi Arabian culture as old testaments (backwards), Men and Women are not allowed to share room in all aspects such as restaurants, movies, public entrance. Gender are highly segregated from each other and never to have a mix crowd.…
Religious Persecution of Christian Beliefs What is religious persecution? At the beginning of this project, I thought religious persecution was a black and white topic with a clear definition. I thought that religious persecution was simply the persecution of a group because of their religious faith. However, I discovered that there are no simple explanations of religious persecution, and it is a much more complex and controversial issue than I had imagined. In fact, some events categorized as religious persecution reveal only shades of grey and ambiguities and do not neatly fit this simple definition. I wanted others to come to this same understanding. Therefore, I have formulated my own definition of religious persecution. It is the persecution of individuals within a group in the struggle to maintain their religious identity, or the abuse of power by an individual or organization that causes members of a religious group to suffer.…
Delong-Bas, N. (2004). Wahhabi Islam: From revival and reform to global jihad. Oxford: Oxford University Press.…
But they were held back by the presence of twenty or so policeman who had been sent to protect Shemr. When Ali’s father had been a youth the crowd killed an unlucky Shemr” (Mottahedeh, 142). Not only does this teach the reader about Islamic history, but also provides a description of Shia culture in…
Islam and the Judeo-Christian West have had a challenging relationship for centuries and today's conflicts in the Middle East are religiously charged. Thus a focus on the facts and efforts towards mutual understanding are particularly important when it comes to Islam.…
Throughout history innocent people were persecuted because of religion, race, gender, or beliefs. It has been proved that between the first persecution under Nero in 64 to the Edict of Milan in 313, Christians experienced 129 years of persecution. Since the fifth century, there have been ten major persecutions and that is not counting the minor ones. The Holocaust started in the late 1938s and ended in 1945 during World War II and was one of the major persecutions. The events of The Crucible and the Holocaust both occurred because of the strong mindset of awful leaders (Persecution in the Early Church).…
Sunni and Shia Islam are the two major denominations of Islam. Sunnis are a majority in most Muslim communities: in Southeast Asia, China, South Asia, Africa, and most of the Arab world. Shia make up the majority of the citizen population in Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Bahrain, as well as being a politically significant minority in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Azerbaijan is predominantly Shia; however, practicing adherents are much fewer. Indonesia has the largest number of Sunni Muslims, while Iran has the largest number of Shia Muslims in the world. The historic background of the Sunni Shia split lies in the division that occurred when the Islamic prophet Muhammad died, leading to a argument over sucession to Muhammad as a caliph of the Islamic…
How accurate is it to say that the persecution of Jews in Germany steadily increased in the years 1933-42?…
The Shia Sunni conflict was one of the major contributing factors to the Saudi Arabia and Iran war. The Saudi Arabia and Iran war started with the execution of Nimr al Nimr, who was a religious and political leader. He was a Shiite yet lived in Saudi Arabia and wanted to ally with Saudi Arabia’s enemy, Iran. The death of Nimr al nimr outraged Shiites and caused the small population of Shiites who lived in Saudi Arabia, to turn to Iran’s side, because Iran is Shiite populated. This created the continued violence between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Violence during the war caused shootouts, the Saudi Arabia security once shot 25 Shiite men. As the tension between the…
References: Ahmed, A.S. (2002). Islam Today: A short introduction to the Muslim World. I.B. Taurus…
Shia Muslims also feel animosity towards some of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad, based on their positions and actions during the early years of discord about leadership in the community. Many of these companions (Abu Bakr, Umar, Aisha, etc.) have narrated traditions about the Prophet's life and spiritual practice. Shia Muslims reject these traditions (hadith) and do…