Editing Freemasonry (section)

====Islam and Freemasonry====
{{Unreliable sources section|date=December 2022}}

Ottoman Caliph [[Mahmud I]] outlawed Freemasonry in the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1748 and since that time Freemasonry was equated with [[atheism]] in the [[Ottoman Empire]] and the broader Islamic world.<ref name=FitIW>Layiktez, Cecil "[http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/layiktez1.html Freemasonry in the Islamic World] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801073731/http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/layiktez1.html |date=1 August 2019 }}", Pietre-Stones Review of Freemasonry, 1996</ref>

Many [[Islamic]] anti-Masonic arguments are closely tied to [[Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory|antisemitic conspiracy theories]], though other criticisms are made, such as linking Freemasonry to [[Al-Masih ad-Dajjal]] (the false Messiah in Islamic Scripture).<ref name="freemasonryinSHIraq"/><ref name="SFMNAD">{{Cite book | url = http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/prescott03.html | title = The Study of Freemasonry as a New Academic Discipline | pages = 13–14 | first = Andrew | last = Prescott | access-date = 18 December 2008 | archive-date = 13 February 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090213214218/http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/prescott03.html | url-status = live }}</ref> [[Syrians|Syrian]]-[[Egyptians|Egyptian]] Islamic theologian [[Rashid Rida|Mūhammād Rashīd Ridâ]] (1865–1935) played the crucial role in leading the opposition to Freemasonry across the [[Muslim world|Islamic world]] during the early twentieth century.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rickenbacher|first=Daniel|date=6 December 2019|title=The 'War Against Islam': How a Conspiracy Theory Drove and Shaped the Islamist Movement|url=https://eeradicalization.com/the-war-against-islam-how-a-conspiracy-theory-drove-and-shaped-the-islamist-movement/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818054514/https://eeradicalization.com/the-war-against-islam-how-a-conspiracy-theory-drove-and-shaped-the-islamist-movement/|archive-date=18 August 2021}}</ref> Influenced by Rida, Islamic anti-Masons argue that Freemasonry promotes the interests of the Jews around the world and that one of its aims is to destroy the [[Al-Aqsa|Al-Aqsa Mosque compound]] in order to rebuild the [[Temple of Solomon]] in [[Jerusalem]].<ref>[http://wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/4119 "Can a Muslim be a Freemason"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329180953/http://wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/4119 |date=29 March 2014 }} ''Wake up from your slumber'', 2007, retrieved 8 January 2014</ref> Through his popular [[Pan-Islamism|pan-Islamic]] journal ''[[Al-Manār (magazine)|Al-Manar]]'', Rashid Rida spread anti-Masonic ideas which would directly influence the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] and subsequent Islamist movements, such as [[Hamas]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rickenbacher|first=Daniel|date=6 December 2019|title=The 'War Against Islam': How a Conspiracy Theory Drove and Shaped the Islamist Movement|url=https://eeradicalization.com/the-war-against-islam-how-a-conspiracy-theory-drove-and-shaped-the-islamist-movement/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818054514/https://eeradicalization.com/the-war-against-islam-how-a-conspiracy-theory-drove-and-shaped-the-islamist-movement/|archive-date=18 August 2021 }}</ref> In article 28 of its Covenant, [[Hamas]] states that Freemasonry, [[Rotary International|Rotary]], and other similar groups "work in the interest of Zionism and according to its instructions ..."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp |title=Hamas Covenant 1988 |publisher=Avalon.law.yale.edu |date=18 August 1988 |access-date=15 January 2011 |archive-date=17 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117074547/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp |url-status=live }}</ref>

Several predominantly Muslim countries have banned Freemasonry within their borders, while others have not. [[Turkey]] and [[Morocco]] have established Grand Lodges,<ref>Leyiktez, Celil. [http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/layiktez1.html "Freemasonry in the Islamic World"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801073731/http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/layiktez1.html |date=1 August 2019 }}, ''Pietre-Stones'' Retrieved 2 October 2007.</ref> while in countries such as [[Malaysia]]<ref>[http://dglea.org/ "Home Page", ''District Grand Lodge of the Eastern Archipelago''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109161530/http://dglea.org/ |date=9 January 2014 }}, retrieved 9 January 2014</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thestar.com.my/Story.aspx/?file=%2F2005%2F4%2F17%2Ffocus%2F10649415&sec=focus |date=17 April 2005 |access-date=13 February 2014 |title=Mystery unveiled |work=The Star Online |archive-date=27 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227051801/http://www.thestar.com.my/Story.aspx/?file=%2F2005%2F4%2F17%2Ffocus%2F10649415&sec=focus |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[Lebanon]],<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130822221554/http://freemasonlb.net/Lodges.html ''Freemasonry in Lebanon'']}} Lodges linked to the Grand Lodge of Scotland, retrieved 22 August 2013</ref> there are District Grand Lodges operating under a warrant from an established Grand Lodge. In 1972, in [[Pakistan]], [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto|Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto]], then [[Prime Minister of Pakistan]], placed a ban on Freemasonry. Lodge buildings were confiscated by the government.<ref>[http://www.dawn.com/news/508406/masonic-mystique Peerzada Salman, "Masonic Mystique"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214091520/https://www.dawn.com/news/508406/masonic-mystique |date=14 February 2020 }}, December 2009, ''Dawn.com'' (News site), retrieved 3 January 2012</ref>

Masonic lodges existed in [[Iraq]] as early as 1917, when the first lodge under the [[United Grand Lodge of England]] (UGLE) was opened. Nine lodges under UGLE existed by the 1950s, and a Scottish lodge was formed in 1923. However, the position changed following the revolution, and all lodges were forced to close in 1965.<ref>[http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/freemasonry-islamic-countries.html Kent Henderson, "Freemasonry in Islamic Countries"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113180408/http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/freemasonry-islamic-countries.html |date=13 November 2013 }}, 2007 paper, ''Pietre Stones'', retrieved 4 January 2014</ref> This position was later reinforced under [[Saddam Hussein]]; the death penalty was "prescribed" for those who "promote or acclaim Zionist principles, including freemasonry, or who associate [themselves] with Zionist organisations."<ref name="freemasonryinSHIraq" />