Islamabad, Pakistan
Clerics at the biggest mosque in Pakistan’s capital city have set up a Taliban-style Islamic court and threatened suicide bombings if their edicts are not followed. Some 11,000 students attend the Lal Masjid mosque’s madrasa, and many of them have already begun enforcing their version of sharia, Islamic law. Recently, female students who were veiled and armed with sticks kidnapped a woman who allegedly ran a brothel. When police tried to free her, the students took several officers hostage. The mosque’s latest fatwa calls for the country’s female tourism minister to be fired because she hugged her parachuting instructor, a man, after her first jump.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What to know about the 'no tax on tips' policyThe Explainer The new bill would make tip income exempt from federal income taxes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study findsSpeed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
'Constantly shifting regulations are a nightmare'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
