On Monday, BBC News reported from Aceh province in Indonesia that a new law was passed to make adultery punishable by stoning to death. According to the BBC report, “Sharia law was partially introduced in Aceh in 2001, as part of a government offer to pacify separatist rebels.” Now, the regional parliament for Aceh has passed sharia compliant criminal laws. Al Jazeera has reported that the sharia law on stoning adulterers was adopted after pressure from Islamic groups. The Jakarta Globe, thereafter, also reported that human rights activists in the country are protesting the adoption of the law because they believe the law “undermines the secular basis of Indonesia’s law.”

The central government might, though, might actually strike down the law – particularly after all the negative international coverage. Another article in the Jakarta Globe analyzes the peculiarity of the central government’s situation:

“The central government has been walking a fine line between enabling Aceh to exercise self-government as part of a 2006 autonomy law and ensuring the independently minded province remains under national control.”

Earlier this year, Pakistan also permitted Sharia law regionally as part of a peace deal with the Taliban in the North West Frontier Province. It is a particularly interesting question to analyze how within a single country “parallel systems of justice lead to social fragmentation.” In the case of Pakistan, the concessions made to the Taliban actually led to further conflict and did not prevent the occurrence of massive military confrontation.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of September, there were many reports about Lubna Hussein, a journalist who was found guilty of violating Sudan’s decency laws for wearing pants. Jeffrey Gettleman reported for the New York Times that “Sudan is partly governed by Islamic law, which calls for women to dress modestly.” Gettleman then references Sudan’s penal code which says that acts violating public morality or indecent clothing can lead to fines or lashes. What was particularly interesting about Hussein’s case is that she was arrested with 12 other women. I always find the absence of information about the group as a whole unusual. Hussein probably attracted more attention and managed to get publicity because she was willing to do time in jail instead of paying the 200 dollar fine, and she was a previous employee of the United Nations office in Sudan.

Finally, we also have another highly publicized case of religious authorities in Malaysia deciding to cane a Muslim woman for drinking alcohol. A Reuters article reports that an analyst with the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies has said that “there is a general push toward the implementation of sharia laws.”

This past week Pope Benedict XVI took his first trip to Africa, and yesterday, he celebrated a mass for 1 million in Angola. There were three major headlines from the Pope’s trip to Cameroon and Angola. The first was the controversial statement about condoms and how they do little to help fight AIDS. The second was a stampede on his last day in Africa (Saturday) that killed two young women. Finally, the Pope made various comments about violence to the Muslim minority in Cameroon. These stories have been reflected on by the media, and some writers have come to the conclusion that the mishaps of the trip to Africa have left the impression that the Pope’s public relations department is very weak. Richard Owen has written that “the abiding impression, however, is once again of a Vatican public relations operation left trying – belatedly – to explain or even correct the Pope.” PR is a particular concern after the infamous comments in 2006 about Islam that enraged the Muslim world.

Moreover, once again, a Leader for the Christian world is telling Muslims how to view life and religion. Specifically, the Pope met with 22 representatives of Cameroon’s Muslim minority and told them that there is “no incompatibility between faith and reason.” Reason and how it plays a part in faith is one of the main differences between Islam and Christianity. It is hard to imagine a Christian leader lecturing Muslims effectively on Reason. Either way, much of the Pope’s visit to Africa was overshadowed by the comments made about condoms and how they were not a solution to fighting AIDS. The solution to the disease apparently lies in “spiritual and human awakening.” Women’s rights were also a topic for the Pope, but without fail, he mentioned the evils of abortion for African women.

The Pope is scheduled to visit a mosque next month in Jordan.

Somalia has now faced 17 years of bloodshed and chaos. This past week news agencies have been reporting on and questioning the ongoing power struggle (between the Western-backed government and armed "Islamist militias") and the effects of Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys' proclamation that he is the leader of the country's opposition. Aweys is designated a terrorist by Washington, and according to Agence France Press, on July 22, the head of the opposition ARS or "Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia," dismissed Aweys' move. This official head of the ARS, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, was chosen as the leader in September 2007. Ahmed and Aweys "fell out after Ahmed decided to participate in UN-sponsored peace talks in Djibouti." In other major newspapers, reports have come out this past week about "Islamic insurgents" targeting foreign aid workers. This means, according to the sources, that the country is being pushed even closer towards a "full-scale famine" - the number of people needing assistance soon reaching 3.5 million. The Christian Science Monitor has reported that the attacks on aid workers are now part of "a deliberate terror campaign." For example, on July 7, as reported by Al Jazeera, the head of the UNDP in Somalia was shot dead in Mogadishu as he was leaving a mosque. The Djibouti Agreements were signed at UN-sponsored talks on June 9 and should have come into force on July 9. The signatories to the agreement were Ahmed, the head of the ARS and the Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein. On July 19, Agence France Press reported that Ahmed said the ARS wanted "the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from the Horn of Africa nation and a deployment of UN forces before implementing the Djibouti agreement." The majority of the ARS appears to back the agreement, while hardliners have rejected the peace deal. The AFP article reminds readers that "Ethiopian forces came to the rescue of an embattled Somali government in late 2006 to oust an Islamist movement that controlled much of southern and central Somalia" and was accused of being connected to Al Qaeda. The New York Times on July 20 estimated that seventeen aid workers have been kidnapped this year and reported that workers are leaving Mogadishu after leaflets were found in the city calling them infidels and threatening their lives. In this NYT article, by Jeffrey Gettleman, there is an excellent analysis of the source of such warnings and the theories behind the "violent murkiness" which has overtaken the country.

This blog discussed briefly the situation in Somalia on June 28 after it was listed as the world's most unstable country by Foreign Policy magazine.