Editing Religious persecution (section)

===Persecution of Muslims===
{{Main|Persecution of Muslims}}
{{See also|Sectarian violence among Muslims|Exodus of Muslims from Serbia (1862)|Violence against Muslims in independent India}}

Persecution of Muslims is the religious persecution that is inflicted upon followers of the [[Islam]]ic faith. In the early days of Islam at [[Mecca]], the new Muslims were often subjected to abuse and persecution by the [[pagan]] Meccans (often called Mushrikin: the unbelievers or [[polytheists]]).<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia | edition = 2nd| publisher = [[Brill Academic Publishers]]| volume = 7| pages = 360–376| last2 = Welch| first2 = A.T.| last1=Buhl | first1 = F.| title = Muḥammad| encyclopedia = [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]| isbn = 9004094199| year = 1993}}</ref><ref>''An Introduction to the Quran'' (1895), p. 185</ref> Muslims were persecuted by [[Meccans]] at the time of [[Muhammed]].

Currently, Muslims face religious restrictions in 142 countries according to the PEW report on rising religious restrictions around the world.<ref name="Pew report">{{cite web |title=July 15, 2019 A Closer Look at How Religious Restrictions Have Risen Around the World |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2019/07/15/a-closer-look-at-how-religious-restrictions-have-risen-around-the-world/ |website=Religion and Public Life |publisher=PEW Research Center |access-date=16 August 2020 |date=July 2019}}</ref> According to the US State Department's 2019 freedom of religion report, the [[Central African Republic]] remains divided between the Christian anti-Balaka and the predominantly Muslim ex-Seleka militia forces with many Muslim communities displaced and not allowed to practice their religion freely.<ref>{{cite web |title=2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: Central African Republic |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/central-african-republic/ |website=OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Report |publisher=U.S. Department of State}}</ref> In Nigeria, "conflicts between predominantly Muslim Fulani herdsmen and predominantly Christian farmers in the North Central states continued throughout 2019."<ref>{{cite web |title=2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: Nigeria |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/nigeria/ |website=OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Report |publisher=U.S. State Department}}</ref>
[[File:After Hama Massacre 18.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Antireligion|Anti-religious]] slogans written by [[Ba'athist Syria]]n regime on the walls of [[Hama|Hama city]] following the [[1982 Hama massacre|Hama Massacre]] in 1982. The propaganda writing, which translates to "There is no god but the homeland, and there is no messenger but the Ba'ath party", mocked the ''[[Shahada]]'' (Islamic testimony of faith). Hama massacre is estimated to have killed over 40,000 Muslims]]

Shia-Sunni conflicts persist. [[Indonesia]] is approximately 87% Sunni Muslim, and "Shia and Ahmadi Muslims reported feeling under constant threat." Anti-Shia rhetoric was common throughout 2019 in some online media outlets and on social media."<ref>{{cite web |title=2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: Indonesia |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/indonesia/ |website=OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Report |publisher=U.S. Department of State}}</ref>

In [[Saudi Arabia]], the government "is based largely on sharia as interpreted by the Hanbali school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. Freedom of religion is not provided under the law." In January and May 2019, police raided predominantly Shia villages in the al-Qatif Governorate... In April the government executed 37 citizens&nbsp;... 33 of the 37 were from the country's minority [[Shia Islam in Saudi Arabia|Shia community]] and had been convicted following what they stated were unfair trials for various alleged crimes, including protest-related offenses... Authorities detained&nbsp;... three Shia Muslims who have written in the past on the discrimination faced by Shia Muslims, with no official charges filed; they remained in detention at year's end... Instances of prejudice and discrimination against Shia Muslims continued to occur..."<ref>{{cite web |title=2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: Saudi Arabia |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/saudi-arabia/ |website=OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Report |publisher=U.S. Department of State}}</ref>

[[Islamophobia]] can refer [[prejudice]] against Muslims, which can be distinct from [[persecution of Muslims]]. In Finland, "A report by the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) said hate crimes and intolerant speech in public discourse, principally against Muslims and asylum seekers (many of whom belong to religious minorities), had increased in recent years... A Finns Party politician publicly compared Muslim asylum seekers to an invasive species." There were several demonstrations by neo-Nazis and nativist groups in 2019. One neo-Nazi group, the NRM (the Nordic Resistance Movement), "continued to post anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic statements online and demonstrated with the anti-immigrant group ''Soldiers of Odin''."<ref>{{cite web |title=2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: Finland |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/finland/ |website=OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Report |publisher=U.S. Department of State}}</ref>

The ongoing [[Rohingya genocide]] has resulted in over 25,000 deaths from 2016 to present.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Burmese government 'kills more than 1,000 Rohingya Muslims' in crackdown|work=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/burma-rohingya-muslims-crackdown-government-crackdown-campaign-reuters-un-report-a7570116.html|access-date=30 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Former UN chief says Bangladesh cannot continue hosting Rohingya|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/chief-bangladesh-continue-hosting-rohingya-190710191318011.html|access-date=30 June 2020|website=www.aljazeera.com}}</ref> Over 700,000 refugees have been sent abroad since 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|title=OHCHR {{!}} Myanmar: UN Fact-Finding Mission releases its full account of massive violations by military in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States|url=https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23575&LangID=E|access-date=30 June 2020|website=www.ohchr.org}}</ref> [[Gang rape]]s and other acts of [[sexual violence]], mainly against Rohingya women and girls, have also been committed by the Rakhine Buddhists and the Burmese military's soldiers, along with the arson of Rohingya homes and mosques, as well as many other human rights violations.<ref>{{Cite web|title='They raped us one by one,' says Rohingya woman who fled Myanmar|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/167613-They-raped-us-one-by-one-says-Rohingya-woman-who-fled-Myanmar|access-date=30 June 2020|website=www.thenews.com.pk}}</ref>

The [[Government of China|Chinese government]] has [[Persecution of Uyghurs in China|persecuted the majority-Muslim Uyghur people]] and other ethnic and religious minorities in and around the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of the [[China|People's Republic of China]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=3 October 2020|title=Uyghur American Association holds rally in US to raise awareness about Muslim genocide in China|work=[[Hindustan Times]]|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/uyghur-american-association-holds-rally-in-us-to-raise-awareness-about-muslim-genocide-in-china/story-3CudRMYaUrcvHUpUO3BeBO.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Allen-Ebrahimian|first=Bethany|date=10 February 2021|title=Norway's youth parties call for end to China free trade talks|work=[[Axios (website)|Axios]]|url=https://www.axios.com/norways-youth-parties-call-for-end-to-china-free-trade-talks-cd070721-7390-4e7e-a6e9-b6494793d411.html|quote=...[O]pposition to China's Uyghur genocide is gaining momentum in Norway, where some politicians are fearful of jeopardizing ties with Beijing.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=8 February 2021|title=Uighurs: 'Credible case' China carrying out genocide|work=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55973215|access-date=8 February 2021}}</ref> Since 2014,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Davidson|first=Helen|date=18 September 2020|title=Clues to scale of Xinjiang labour operation emerge as China defends camps|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/18/clues-to-scale-of-xinjiang-labour-operation-emerge-as-china-defends-camps}}</ref> the Chinese government, under the direction of the CCP during the [[Xi Jinping Administration|administration]] of [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP general secretary]] Xi Jinping, has pursued policies leading to more than one million [[Muslims]]<ref name="aj2018">{{Cite news|date=10 August 2018|title=One million Muslim Uighurs held in secret China camps: UN panel|publisher=[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]]|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/8/10/one-million-muslim-uighurs-held-in-secret-china-camps-un-panel}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Welch|first1=Dylan|last2=Hui|first2=Echo|last3=Hutcheon|first3=Stephen|date=24 November 2019|title=The China Cables: Leak reveals the scale of Beijing's repressive control over Xinjiang|publisher=[[ABC News (Australia)]]|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-25/china-cables-beijings-xinjiang-secrets-revealed/11719016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Mourenza|first=Andrés|date=31 January 2021|title=Los exiliados uigures en Turquía temen la larga mano china|work=[[El País]]|url=https://elpais.com/internacional/2021-01-31/los-exiliados-uigures-en-turquia-temen-la-larga-mano-china.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Child|first=David|date=27 January 2021|title=Holocaust Memorial Day: Jewish figures condemn Uighur persecution|publisher=[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]]|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/27/holduk-jewish-leaders-use-holocaust-day-to-denounce-uighur-abuses}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=28 June 2020|title=Trump signs bill pressuring China over Uighur Muslim crackdown|work=[[The Daily Star (Lebanon)]]|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2020/Jun-18/507667-trump-signs-bill-pressuring-china-over-uighur-muslim-crackdown.ashx|access-date=12 April 2021|archive-date=12 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212004618/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2020/Jun-18/507667-trump-signs-bill-pressuring-china-over-uighur-muslim-crackdown.ashx|url-status=dead}}</ref> (the majority of them Uyghurs) being held in secretive [[Xinjiang internment camps|internment camps]] without any [[legal process]]<ref name="Xi Jinping">{{Cite news|last=Stroup|first=David R.|date=19 November 2019|title=Why Xi Jinping's Xinjiang policy is a major change in China's ethnic politics|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/11/19/why-xi-jinpings-xinjiang-policy-is-major-change-chinas-ethnic-politics/|access-date=24 November 2019}}</ref><ref name="hrw._UN:U">{{Cite web|date=10 July 2019|title=UN: Unprecedented Joint Call for China to End Xinjiang Abuses|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/10/un-unprecedented-joint-call-china-end-xinjiang-abuses|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217070044/https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/10/un-unprecedented-joint-call-china-end-xinjiang-abuses|archive-date=17 December 2019|access-date=18 December 2020|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]}}</ref> in what has become the largest-scale and most systematic detention of ethnic and religious minorities since [[the Holocaust]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=McNeill|first=Sophie|date=14 July 2019|title=The Missing: The families torn apart by China's campaign of cultural genocide|work=[[ABC News (Australia)]]|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-14/chinas-crackdown-on-uyghurs-tearing-families-apart/11221614|quote=It appears to be the largest imprisonment of people on the basis of religion since the Holocaust.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Rajagopalan|first1=Megha|last2=Killing|first2=Alison|date=3 December 2020|title=Inside A Xinjiang Detention Camp|work=[[BuzzFeed News]]|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/meghara/inside-xinjiang-detention-camp}}</ref><ref name="auto4">{{Cite magazine|last=Khatchadourian|first=Raffi|date=5 April 2021|title=Surviving the Crackdown in Xinjiang|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/12/surviving-the-crackdown-in-xinjiang}}</ref> The Chinese Government has subjected hundreds of thousands of members of Muslim minority groups living in Xinjiang to [[forced abortion]]s, [[Compulsory sterilization|forced sterilizations]], and the forced administration of contraceptives (including contraceptive implants), methods of birth control that had exempted ethnic minorities up until that point.<ref>{{Cite news|date=29 June 2020|title=China cuts Uighur births with IUDs, abortion, sterilization|work=[[Associated Press]]|url=https://apnews.com/article/269b3de1af34e17c1941a514f78d764c}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=29 June 2020|title=China imposes forced abortion, sterilisation on Uyghurs, investigation shows|work=[[ABC News (Australia)|Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-30/china-forces-birth-control-on-uyghurs-to-suppress-population/12404912}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Allassan|first=Fadel|date=29 June 2020|title=AP: China engaging in campaign of forced birth control against Uighurs|work=[[Axios (website)|Axios]]|url=https://www.axios.com/china-uighurs-birth-control-genocide-1d817193-5d8d-4599-a3e2-70bab45411ce.html|quote=China regularly conducts pregnancy checks, forces intrauterine devices, sterilization and even abortion on some of the Xinjiang region's minority women.}}</ref> Uyghurs and members of other minority groups have been made subject to a widespread forced labor apparatus.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chaudhury|first=Dipanjan Roy|date=15 December 2020|title=China forcing Uyghurs, other minorities into manual labour, shows BBC research|work=[[The Economic Times]]|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/china-forcing-uyghurs-other-minorities-into-manual-labour-shows-bbc-research/articleshow/79735747.cms}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=24 March 2021|title=Facebook finds Chinese hacking operation targeting Uyghurs|work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/facebook-finds-chinese-hacking-operation-targeting-uyghurs-76658710}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Davidson|first=Helen|date=15 December 2020|title=Xinjiang: more than half a million forced to pick cotton, report suggests|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/15/xinjiang-china-more-than-half-a-million-forced-to-pick-cotton-report-finds}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Hoshur|first=Shohret|date=7 April 2021|title=Wife of Imprisoned Uyghur Taxi Driver Jailed For Weeping in Front of a Foreigner|work=[[Radio Free Asia]]|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/weeping-04072021144503.html}}</ref><ref name="auto4"/> Uyghurs and other religious minorities detained within the [[Xinjiang internment camps]] have also been subjected to systematic rape and torture.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Hill|first1=Matthew|last2=Campanale|first2=David|last3=Gunter|first3=Joel|date=2 February 2021|title='Their goal is to destroy everyone': Uighur camp detainees allege systematic rape|work=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55794071}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Davidson|first=Helen|date=9 April 2021|title=China hands death sentences to Uyghur former officials|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/09/china-uyghur-death-sentences-xinjiang-education-directors|quote=there is evidence of authorities running enforce labour transfer programmes, as well as systemic rape and torture, forced sterilisation of women, child separation and mass surveillance and intimidation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Qing|first1=Han|last2=Long|first2=Quai|date=6 April 2021|title=China Launches Compulsory Film Screenings to Mark Party Centenary|work=[[Radio Free Asia]]|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/films-propaganda-04062021081649.html}}</ref>

In China, General Secretary [[Xi Jinping]] has decreed that all members of the [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP) must be "unyielding Marxist atheists". In [[Xinjiang]] province, the government enforced restrictions on Muslims. The U.S. government estimates that
{{blockquote|... since April 2017, the Chinese government arbitrarily detained more than one million Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Hui, and members of other Muslim groups, as well as Uighur Christians, in specially built or converted internment camps in Xinjiang and subjected them to [[forced disappearance]], political indoctrination, torture, physical and psychological abuse, including forced sterilization and sexual abuse, forced labor, and prolonged detention without trial because of their religion and ethnicity. There were reports of individuals dying as a result of injuries sustained during interrogations...

Authorities in Xinjiang restricted access to mosques and barred youths from participating in religious activities, including fasting during Ramadan... maintained extensive and invasive security and surveillance... forcing Uighurs and other ethnic and religious minorities to install spyware on their mobile phones and accept government officials and CCP members living in their homes. Satellite imagery and other sources indicated the government destroyed mosques, cemeteries, and other religious sites... The government sought the forcible repatriation of Uighur and other Muslims from foreign countries and detained some of those who returned... Anti-Muslim speech in social media remained widespread."<ref>{{cite web |title=2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: China (Includes Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Macau) |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/china/ |website=OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Report |publisher=U.S. Department of State}}</ref>}}