Islam in Japan

The history of Islam in Japan is relatively brief in relation to the religion's longstanding presence in other nearby countries. Islam is one of the smallest minority faiths in Japan, having more adherents in the country than the Bahá'í faith, but fewer than Christianity. There were isolated occasions of Muslims in Japan before the 19th century. Today, Muslims are made up of largely immigrant communities, as well as, though smaller, the ethnic Japanese community.
History.
Early history.
There are isolated records of contact between Islam and Japan before the opening of the country in 1853, possibly as early as the 1700s; some Muslims did arrive in earlier centuries, although these were isolated incidents.
Medieval records.
The earliest Muslim records of Japan can be found in the works of the Muslim cartographer Ibn Khordadbeh, who has been understood by Michael Jan de Goeje to mention Japan as the "lands of Waqwaq" twice: "East of China are the lands of Waqwaq, which are so rich in gold that the inhabitants make the chains for their dogs and the collars for their monkeys of this metal. They manufacture tunics woven with gold. Excellent ebony wood is found there.” And: “Gold and ebony are exported from Waqwaq."
Mahmud Kashgari's 11th century atlas indicates the land routes of the Silk Road and Japan in the map's easternmost extent.
During that period there was contact between the Hui, general Lan Yu of the Ming dynasty and the swordsmiths of Japan. According to Chinese sources, Lan Yu owned 10,000 Katana, Hongwu Emperor was displeased with the general's links with Kyoto and more than 15,000 people were implicated for alleged treason and executed.
Early European accounts of Muslims and their contacts with Japan were maintained by Portuguese sailors who mention a passenger aboard their ship, an Arab who had preached Islam to the people of Japan. He had sailed to the islands in Malacca in 1555.
Modern records.
The first modern Muslim contacts were with Indonesians who served aboard British and Dutch ships in the late 19th century.
In the late 1870s, the biography of Muhammad was translated into Japanese. This helped Islam spread and reach the Japanese people, but only as a part of the history of cultures.
Another important contact was made in 1890 when Sultan and Caliph Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire dispatched a naval vessel to Japan for the purpose of saluting the visit of Japanese Prince Komatsu Akihito to the capital of Constantinople several years earlier. This frigate was called the "Ertugrul", and was destroyed in a storm on the way back along the coast of Wakayama Prefecture on September 16, 1890. The Kushimoto Turkish Memorial and Museum are dedicated in honor of the drowned diplomats and sailors.
Early 20th century.
In the wake of the October Revolution, several hundred Turko-Tatar Muslim refugees from Central Asia and Russia were given asylum in Japan, settling in several main cities and formed small communities. Some Japanese converted to Islam through contact with these Muslims. Historian Caeser E. Farah documented that in 1909 the Russian-born Ayaz İshaki and writer Abdurreshid Ibrahim (1857–1944), were the first Muslims who successfully converted the first ethnic Japanese, when Kotaro Yamaoka converted in 1909 in Bombay after contacting Ibrahim and took the name Omar Yamaoka. Yamaoka became the first Japanese to go on the Hajj. Yamaoka and Ibrahim were traveling with the support of nationalistic Japanese groups like Black Dragon Society (Kokuryūkai). Yamaoka in fact had been with the intelligence service in Manchuria since the Russo-Japanese war. His official reason for traveling was to seek the Ottoman Sultan and Caliph's approval for building a mosque in Tokyo. This approval was granted in 1910. The Tokyo Mosque, was finally completed on 12 May 1938, with generous financial support from the zaibatsu. Its first imams were Abdul-Rashid Ibrahim and Abdülhay Kurban Ali (Muhammed-Gabdulkhay Kurbangaliev) (1889–1972). However, Japan’s first mosque, the Kobe Mosque was built in 1935, with the support of the Turko-Tatar community of traders there. On 12 May 1938, a Mosque was dedicated in Tokyo. Another early Japanese convert was Bunpachiro Ariga, who about the same time as Yamaoka went to India for trading purposes and converted to Islam under the influence of local Muslims there, and subsequently took the name Ahmed Ariga. Yamada Toajiro was for almost 20 years from 1892 the only resident Japanese trader in Constantinople. During this time he served unofficially as consul. He converted to Islam, and took the name Abdul Khalil, and made a pilgrimage to Mecca on his way home.
Japanese nationalists and Islam.
In the late Meiji period, close relations were forged between Japanese military elites with an Asianist agenda and Muslims to find a common cause with those suffering under the yoke of Western hegemony. In 1906, widespread propaganda campaigns were aimed at Muslim nations with journals reporting that a Congress of religions was to be held in Japan where the Japanese would seriously consider adopting Islam as the national religion and that the Emperor was at the point of becoming a Muslim.
Nationalistic organizations like the Ajia Gikai were instrumental in petitioning the Japanese government on matters such as officially recognizing Islam, along with Shintoism, Christianity and Buddhism as a religion in Japan, and in providing funding and training to Muslim resistance movements in Southeast Asia, such as the Hizbullah, a resistance group funded by Japan in the Dutch Indies. The founded in 1930, was the first official Islamic organisation in Japan. It had the support of imperialistic circles during World War II, and caused an "Islamic Studies Book". During this period, over 100 books and journals on Islam were published in Japan. While these organizations had their primary aim in intellectually equipping Japan's forces and intellectuals with better knowledge and understanding of the Islamic world, dismissing them as mere attempts to further Japan's aims for a "Greater Asia" does not reflect the nature of depth of these studies. Japanese and Muslim academia in their common aims of defeating Western colonialism had been forging ties since the early twentieth century, and with the destruction of the last remaining Muslim power, the Ottoman Empire, the advent of hostilities in World War II and the possibility of the same fate awaiting Japan, these academic and political exchanges and the alliances created reached a head. Therefore, they were extremely active in forging links with academia and Muslim leaders and revolutionaries, many of whom were invited to Japan.
Shūmei Ōkawa, by far the highest-placed and most prominent figure in both Japanese government and academia in the matter of Japanese-Islamic exchange and studies, managed to complete his translation of the "Qur'an" in prison, while being prosecuted as an alleged class-A war criminal by the victorious Allied forces for being an 'organ of propaganda'. Charges were dropped for his erratic behaviour officially; however historians have speculated that the weakness of the charges against him was more likely the true reason. While Okawa did display unusual behaviour during the trial such as rapping on the head of Hideki Tōjō, he also stated that the trial was a farce and unworthy of being called one. He was transferred to a hospital on official claims of mental instability and then prison, and freed not long thereafter, dying as Muslim in 1957 after a quiet life where he continued lecturing, on his return to his home village and his wife, who survived him. He claimed to have seen visions of Muhammad in his sleep.
Post–World War II.
The Turks have been the biggest Muslim community in Japan until recently. The Japanese invasion of China and South East Asian regions during the Second World War brought the Japanese in contact with Muslims. Those who converted to Islam through them returned to Japan and established in 1953 the first Japanese Muslim organisation, the "Japan Muslim Association", which was officially granted recognition as a religious organization by the Japanese government in June 1968. The second president of the association was the Umar Mita, who was typical of the old generation, learning Islam in the territories occupied by the Japanese Empire. He was working for the Manshu Railway Company, which virtually controlled the Japanese territory in the northeastern province of China at that time. Through his contacts with Chinese Muslims, he became a Muslim in Peking. When he returned to Japan after the war, he made the Hajj, the first Japanese in the post-war period to do so. He also made a Japanese translation of the Qur'an from a Muslim perspective for the first time. Aljazeera also made a documentary regarding Islam and Japan called "Road to Hajj – Japan".
The economic boom in the country in the 1980s saw an influx of immigrants to Japan, including from majority Muslim nations. These immigrants and their descendants form the majority of Muslims in the country. Today, there are Muslim student associations at some Japanese universities.
In 2016, Japan accepted 0.3% of refugee applicants, many of whom are Muslims.
Muslim demographics.
In 1941, one of the chief sponsors of the Tokyo Mosque asserted that the number of Muslims in Japan numbered 600, with just three or four being native Japanese. Some sources state that in 1982 the Muslims numbered 30,000 (half were natives). Of the ethnically Japanese Muslims, the majority are thought to be ethnic Japanese women who married immigrant Muslims who arrived during the economic boom of the 1980s, but there are also a small number of intellectuals, including university professors, who have converted. Most estimates of the Muslim population give a range around 100,000 total. Islam remains a minority religion in Japan, and there is no evidence as to whether its numbers are increasing. Conversion is more prominent among young ethnic Japanese married women, as claimed by "The Modern Religion" as early as the 1990s.
The true size of the current Muslim population in Japan remains a matter of speculation. Japanese scholars such as Hiroshi Kojima of the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research and Keiko Sakurai of Waseda University suggest a Muslim population of around 70,000, of which perhaps 90% are resident foreigners and about 10% native Japanese. Of the immigrant communities, in order of population size, are Indonesians, Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. The Pew Research Center estimated that there were 185,000 Muslims in Japan in 2010. For 2019 it was estimated that the numbers rose to 230,000, due to the more friendly policies towards immigration, the Japanese converts being estimated at around 50,000, and Japan now has more than 110 mosques compared to 24 in 2001.
Mosques.
According to japanfocus.org, there were 30 to 40 single-story mosques in Japan plus another 100 or more apartment rooms set aside for prayers in the absence of more suitable facilities. 90% of these mosques use the 2nd floor for religious activities and the first floor as a halal shop (imported food; mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia), due to financial problems, as membership is too low to cover the expenses. Most of these Mosques have only a capacity of 30 to 50 people.


Female genital mutilation in India

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is practised in India by some Islamic groups. The procedure is generally performed when a girl is seven years old and involves the total or partial removal of the clitoral hood. Consequences of FGM may range from discomfort to sepsis.
Practice.
Occurrence.
FGM is practised by the Dawoodi Bohra, a sect of Shia Islam with one million members in India. Known as "khatna", "khafz", and "khafd", the procedure is performed on six- or seven-year-old girls and involves the total or partial removal of the clitoral hood. The spiritual leader of the Dawoodi Bohra, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, stated in 2016: "Religious books, written over a thousand years ago, specify the requirements for both males and females as acts of religious purity." The statement also emphasized the need to "respect the law of the land". Other Bohra sects including the Sulemani Bohras and the Alavi Bohras, as well as some Sunni communities in Kerala, are reported as practising FGM.
Consequences.
Dr. Meghana Reddy J, a gynaecologist, reported in 2018 that "khatna" can lead to complications in later life, including difficult deliveries and urinary infections. In one case a girl had developed sepsis after having had "khatna" and great effort had been required to revive her.
In conjunction with a small study, the first of its kind in India, twenty Bohra women were examined by Dr. Sujaat Vali, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, who reported that only a specialist would be able to separate and cut the clitoral hood without also cutting the clitoris, and the clitoris had been cut in most cases examined. According to Vali, "[h]alf of them feel some kind of irritation, while 30% either feel discomfort while walking/urinating or have lost sensitivity in the area." The study covered 83 women and 11 men from five Indian states and found that 75 percent of the respondents' daughters who were at least seven years old had been subjected to FGM.
Activism.
Opposition.
In November 2011 a Bohra woman posted an online petition requesting that Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, religious leader of the Dawoodi Bohras, ban FGM. A spokesman ruled out any change saying "Bohra women should understand that our religion advocates the procedure and they should follow it without any argument."
Two Mumbai-based groups, Sahiyo and We Speak Out, launched a campaign in February 2016 called "Each One Reach One"; the campaign was repeated during Ramadan in 2017. The campaign promoted conversations about female genital cutting. In an online survey of Bohra women, Sahiyo found that "khatna" had been performed on 80 percent of participants, with most cut when aged six or seven; 81 percent wanted the practice to stop.
On 10 December 2016 (Human Rights Day), a group of Dawoodi Bohra women started an online petition calling for FGM to be banned. A similar petition was conducted by the group a year earlier; that petition was submitted to India's Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi. Also that month, Dawoodi Bohra women petitioned the United Nations demanding that India be recognised as a country where Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or Female Genital Cutting (FGC) is practised. In September 2017, when the 36th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) was conducting a Universal Periodic Review of India, a written submission on FGM in India was presented at a side event. That was the first time the issue of FGM in India had been raised at the United Nations.
Support.
The Dawoodi Bohra Women for Religious Freedom (DBWRF) was established in May 2017 by six Bohra women to support their "beliefs, customs, culture and religious rights". It claims to represent the views of nearly 75,000 women who are followers of Mufaddal Saifuddin. The DBWRF states that the form of FGM practiced by the Dawoodi Bohra is a harmless procedure and not mutilation.
DBWRF's stated mission is to "stand for the rights of Dawoodi Bohra women in India" to ensure they have the same freedom as other citizens, particularly by defending women who are victimised for their religious beliefs, practices, customs and culture. In the face of controversy, DBWRF has taken the lead in ensuring that the practice of FGM is protected. In July 2018, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi represented the DBWRF during proceedings in the Supreme Court and stated that "the practice of "khafz" is an essential part of the religion as practised by Dawoodi Bohra Community and their right to practise and propagate religion is protected under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India".
Supreme Court.
In May 2017, a public interest litigation (PIL) case was raised in India's Supreme Court. Sunita Tiwari filed the case, a lawyer based in Delhi, seeking a ban on FGM in India. The Supreme Court received the petition and sought responses from four states and four central government ministries.
An advocate for the petition claimed the practice violated children's rights under Article 14 (Right to Equality) and Article 21 (Right to Life) of the Constitution of India, while an advocate opposing the petition argued that "khafz" is an essential part of the community's religion, and their right to practise the religion is protected under Articles 25 and 26.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development reported in December 2017 that "there is no official data or study which supports the existence of FGM in India." Earlier, in May 2017,
Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi announced that the government will ban FGM if it is not voluntarily stopped.
In April 2018 India's Attorney General K. K. Venugopal asked a bench of the Supreme Court to issue directions regarding the case, saying that FGM was already a crime under existing law. The bench adjourned the case and issued notices to Kerala and Telangana, having earlier notified Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Delhi.
In September 2018 the Supreme Court referred the PIL to a five-judge constitution bench at the request of Venugopal and the counsel for the Dawoodi Bohras. In November 2019, the Supreme Court decided that the issue of FGM be referred to a larger seven-judge bench and that it be examined alongside other women's rights issues. The court said it was a "seminal issue" regarding the power of the court to decide whether a practice is essential to a religion.
Film on FGM.
Based on this pending case with Supreme Court of India, In 2018, a short film Shinaakht with a duration of 40 minutes was produced and directed by Film Director Pragyesh Singh which won several accolade and was premier at Jagran Film Festival at Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Indore, Jamshedpur, Raipur and Hisar. This film was certified by CBFC with U Certificate.


Mount Soma

Mount Soma is a 435-acre Vedic Vastu community in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina established in 2011.
Description.
The Mount Soma center includes a visitor's center, a meditation hall and the Vedic Sri Somesvara Temple. The temple was built using 46 tons of hand-carved Indian granite and Vastu architecture. The temple grounds include hand-carved black granite Navagrahas (nine planets) and a 20-foot statue of Lord Hanuman.


Agnishala, Patan

Agnishala, Patan (Agniśālā aka Agnimatha or Agiṃmatha) is known as the temple of eternal fire, mostly worshiped by Newars of Kathmandu valley. It is located at Thabu near Kumaripati, Lalitpur.
The temple is over six hundred years old and has recorded history of renovation by Prince Dharma Malla during 15 century CE.


Religion in Vojvodina

The dominant religion in Vojvodina is Orthodox Christianity, mainly represented by the Serbian Orthodox Church, while other important religions of the region are Catholic Christianity, Protestant Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
Christianity.
Orthodox Christianity.
The absolute majority of the population of Vojvodina (77.2%) are adherents of Orthodox Christianity. Most of the adherents belong to the Serbian Orthodox Church, and smaller number of them to the Romanian Orthodox Church. The ethnic groups whose members are mostly adherents of Orthodox Christianity are: Serbs, Montenegrins, Romanians, Yugoslavs, Romani, Macedonians, Ukrainians, Russians, Greeks, Vlachs, etc.
The Fruška Gora, a mountain in Vojvodina, is considered by some as one of the three Holy Mountains of the Orthodox Christianity (The other two being Athos and Sinai). There are as many as sixteen Orthodox monasteries located on the Fruška Gora. During the Ottoman rule in the 16th and 17th centuries, the number of Orthodox monasteries on the Fruška Gora was as high as 35. There are also two Orthodox monasteries in the part of Syrmia that belong to Belgrade (but which historically belonged to Vojvodina), three Orthodox monasteries in the Bačka, and seven in the Banat.
The roots of Christianity in this region date back to the 3rd century when the Episcopate of Syrmia was established. This Episcopate existed until 1183, when the region of Syrmia was included in the Catholic Kingdom of Hungary. The 11th century Bulgaro-Slavic rulers of the territory of the present-day Vojvodina region, Ahtum and Sermon, were Orthodox Christians.
The Orthodox population which lived in the region was an impediment to the establishment of Catholic Church organization in the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary. The Catholic inquisitor, Jacob de Marki, tried in 1483 to forcibly convert Orthodox Christians in the region to Catholicism.
With the Ottoman conquest of the region in the 16th century, the Catholic population mostly fled, and during Ottoman rule, the population of the region was mostly composed of Orthodox Christians, with some Muslims living in the cities.
At the end of the 17th century, the Muslim Ottoman Empire was replaced with the Catholic Habsburg Monarchy, and during the Habsburg rule many Catholic settlers came to the region. Catholics then became the majority in the northern parts of the region, while Orthodox Christians remained the majority in the southern parts.
Catholicism.
Catholic Christians constitute 17.4% of the population of Vojvodina. The ethnic groups whose members are mostly adherents of the Catholic Church are: Hungarians, Croats, Bunjevci, Germans, Slovenes, Czechs, Šokci, Poles, Banat Bulgarians, etc. A smaller percentage of Romani, Yugoslavs, and Slovaks are also adherents of Catholicism. The ethnic Rusyns and a smaller part of the ethnic Ukrainians are adherents of the Eastern Catholic (Uniate) Greek Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia, of which the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Ruski Krstur is based in Ruski Krstur in Vojvodina.
Catholic Christians are mostly concentrated in the northern part of the region, notably in the municipalities with a Hungarian ethnic majority and in the multiethnic city of Subotica and multiethnic municipality of Bečej. The population of Subotica, the second largest city in Vojvodina, is 63.02% Catholic.
The Catholic population which lived in the region during the time of the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary mostly fled from the region following the Ottoman conquest in the 16th century, and was replaced by Orthodox and Muslim inhabitants. A new Catholic population started to settle in the region with the establishment of Habsburg rule at the end of the 17th century. The 18th century colonizations were base for the current religious composition of Vojvodina, where there is a Catholic majority in several of the northern municipalities.
Protestant Christianity.
Protestant Christians makeup 3.3% of the population of Vojvodina. Most of the ethnic Slovaks are adherents of Protestant Christianity. Some members of other ethnic groups (especially Serbs in absolute terms and Hungarians and Germans in proportional terms) are also adherents of various forms of Protestant Christianity.
The largest percentage of Protestant Christians in Vojvodina on municipal level is in the municipalities of Bački Petrovac and Kovačica, where the absolute or relative majority of the population are ethnic Slovaks.
According to the 2011 census, the largest Protestant communities were recorded in the municipalities of Kovačica (11,349) and Bački Petrovac (8,516), as well as in Stara Pazova (4,940) and the Vojvodinian capital Novi Sad (8,499), which are predominately Orthodox. While Protestants from Kovačica, Bački Petrovac and Stara Pazova are mostly Slovaks, members of Slovak Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Serbia, services in most of the Protestant churches in Novi Sad are performed in the Serbian language.
Protestantism (mostly in its Nazarene form) started to spread among Serbs in Vojvodina in the last decades of the 19th century. Although, percentage of Protestants among Serbs is not large, it is the only religious form besides Orthodoxy, which is today widely spread among Serbs.
Islam.
The ethnic groups whose members are mostly adherents of Islam are: ethnic Muslims, Albanians, Gorani, Bosniaks, Ashkali, and Egyptians. A smaller number of ethnic Romani are also adherents of Islam.
During Ottoman rule (16th-18th centuries), the Muslim population of the region was quite large and was mostly concentrated in the cities. Many cities of the region thus had a majority Muslim population, such as Sremska Mitrovica, which according to the 1566/69 data had a population composed of 592 Muslim and 30 Christian houses. According to the 1573 data, this city had 17 mosques and no Christian church. Following the establishment of the Habsburg rule at the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century, the Muslim population fled from the region. The current Muslim inhabitants of the region are mostly 20th century settlers from the Muslim areas of the former Yugoslavia.
Judaism.
As elsewhere in the world, the Judaism is primarily associated with ethnic Jews. In the village of Čelarevo archaeologists have also found traces of people who practiced a Torah religion. Bunardžić dated Avar-Bulgar graves excavated in Čelarevo, containing skulls with Mongolian features and Judaic symbols, to the late 8th and 9th centuries. Erdely and Vilkhnovich consider the graves to belong to the Kabars who eventually broke ties with the Khazar Empire between the 830s and 862.
Today numbering only 329 people in Vojvodina, the Jewish population of the region numbered about 19,000 before the World War II. As elsewhere in Axis-occupied Europe, those Jews who did not flee were mostly killed or deported in the war.


John Wu Shi-zhen

John Wu Shi-zhen (; January 19, 1921 – August 25, 2014) was a Chinese Roman Catholic archbishop.
Born in China, Wu Shi-zhen was ordained a priest in 1949. On September 6, 1987, he was clandestinely consecrated as bishop, and from 1990 to 2011 was an archbishop ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nanchang.


Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina () is a religious organisation of Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is also recognised as the highest representative body of Muslims in the region, especially in Serbia (Sandžak), Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Hungary and Bosniak diaspora.
It was established in Sarajevo in 1993, when a group of imams of the Islamic Community of Yugoslavia, supported by the Party of Democratic Action, established a separate organisation on 28 April 1993. The new organisation was registered on 5 May 1993.
The current leader is Husein Kavazović.
History.
The Islamic Community was established in 1882 during the Austrian-Hungarian rule over Bosnia and Herzegovina. After creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the seat of the Islamic Community was moved from Sarajevo to Belgrade but was moved back to Sarajevo in 1936.
During the breakup of Yugoslavia, the organized community on Yugoslav level broke up, while the majority of local and regional Muslim communities accepted the historic authority of the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina .
The Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina was initially weak, but with the help from Alija Izetbegović, Bosnia and Herzegovina's president, as well as key military leaders, it became a pillar of the Bosniak national identity. Under tenure of the Grand Mufti Mustafa Cerić, who held this office from April 1993 until November 2012, the Islamic Community promoted Bosniak culture, politics and identity, with its influence extending beyond the faithful and attracting many who were not practicing Muslims during the socialist period, as well as Bosniaks and other Slavic Muslims living in the region of Sandžak and elsewhere.
Jurisdiction.
The Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina and head of the community, Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are highest religious authorities for approximately 4 million Bosnian Muslims in the world.
The Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina has jurisdiction over the entire Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Croatia through muftiluk of Zagreb, headed by Aziz Hasanović, Slovenia and Bosniak religious communities and mosques around the world. However, there is a dispute in Serbia over what Islamic Community has jurisdiction over the country, Bosnian or Serbian. Sandžak Mufti Muamer Zukorlić, who is supported by the ex-Grand Mufti Mustafa Cerić, wants that they remain under the jurisdiction of the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Grand Mufti Adem Zilkić wants to expand the jurisdiction of the Islamic Community of Serbia to the entire country. He was supported by the deceased Grand Mufti of Yugoslavia Hamdija Jusufspahić, and later by Hamdija's son Muhamed.
Islamic Community of Montenegro, although not formally under jurisdiction of Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina, recognizes Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina as the highest religious and moral authority of Muslims in the region.
The highest body of Muslims in Hungary, Hungarian Islamic Council, have expressed willingness to become part of Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina and for Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina to act as supreme religious authority for Hungarian Muslims.
Sufi orders in areas under jurisdiction of Islamic Community are operating within Tariqa Center (Tarikatski centar) and are autonomous but subordinated to the Islamic Community and the Grand Mufti.
Media.
Beside BIR TV, Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina is, via "Media centar d.o.o. Sarajevo", also owner of Preporod weekly newspapers, Islamic radio station - Radio BIR, MINA News agency and Preporod.info website.


Tagadhari

Tagadhari () are members of a Nepalese Hindu group that is perceived as historically having a high socio-religious status in Nepalese society. Tagadhari are identified by a "sacred thread" (Janai) around the torso, which is used for ritualistic purposes in Hinduism. In Sanskrit the sacred thread is called "yajñopavītam" and in Nepali "Janai" (). The cord is received after the Upanayana ceremony. Tagadharis were historically favoured by the government of Nepal and various religious and caste-based legal provisions were enacted on their behalf. The legal code of 1854, "Muluki Ain", which was introduced by Chhetri Maharaja and Prime Minister of Nepal, Jang Bahadur Kunwar Ranaji made it impossible to legally enslave Tagadharis and decreed fewer punishments for them in comparison to Matawali (liquor drinkers) and Dalits.
Background.
"Tagadhari" means "wearers of the sacred thread" or "wearers of the holy cord". The sacred thread called "Yajñopaveetam" is bestowed during the Upanayana ceremony. Upanayana is an elaborate ceremony that includes rituals involving the family, the child, and the teacher. The ceremony is a rite of passage for the start of formal education in reading, writing, arithmetic, Vedangas, arts, and other skills.
Eligibility criteria.
Many medieval-era texts discuss the sacred thread ceremony in the context of only three varnas (caste, class): Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas. In the modern era, the Upanayana rite of passage is open to anyone at any age.
Sacred Thread.
The "sacred thread" ( "yajñopavītam" or "upavīta") is a thin cord, composed of three cotton strands.
Two ancient Sanskrit texts offer a divergent view in their description of the "yajñopavītam" or upavita. The term upavita was originally meant to be any upper garment, as stated in verse 2.2.4.22–2.2.4.23 of "Apastamba Dharmasutra" or, if the wearer did not want to wear a top, a thread would suffice. The thread identified a person who was studying at a school or had graduated. The "Gobhila Gryha Sutra" similarly states, at verse 1.2.1 in its discussion on Upanayana, that "the student understands the "yajnopavita" as a cord of threads, or a garment, or a rope of kusa grass", and it is the method by which the "yajnopavita" is worn and its significance that matters. The proper manner of wearing the upper garment or thread, state the ancient texts, is over the left shoulder and under the right arm.
The "Dvija" status of Tagadharis.
Upanayana is a ceremony in which a guru (teacher) accepts and draws a child towards knowledge and initiates the second birth, that is, of the young mind and spirit. Thus, the
person completing the Upanayana ceremony and receiving the sacred thread is referred to as Dvija ("twice-born").
History.
After the Gorkhali conquest of the Kathmandu valley, King Prithvi Narayan Shah expelled the Christian Capuchin missionaries from Patan and renamed Nepal as "Asil Hindustan" (pure land of Hindus). The Tagadharis enjoyed a privileged status in the Nepalese capital and greater access to the authorities following these events. Subsequently, Hinduisation became the main policy of the Kingdom of Nepal. Prof. Harka Gurung speculates that the presence of Islamic Mughal rule and Christian British rule in India compelled the foundation of Brahmin Orthodoxy in Nepal for the purpose building a haven for Hindus in the Kingdom of Nepal.
The Nepali civil code, "Muluki Ain", was commissioned by Jung Bahadur Rana after his European tour and enacted in 1854. It was rooted in traditional Hindu Law and codified social practices for several centuries in Nepal. The law also comprised "Prāyaścitta" (avoidance and removal of sin) and "Ācāra" (the customary law of different castes and communities). It was an attempt to include the entire Hindu as well as the non-Hindu population of Nepal of that time into a single hierarchic civic code from the perspective of the Khas rulers. The "Muluki Ain" divided the Nepalese into five main castes:
The Nepalese "jati" arrangement in terms of Hindu varna takes the Tagadhari to be the highest in the hierarchy. The ethnolinguistic group of people of Mongoloid origin were tagged under the title "Matwali" ("Liquor Drinkers"), while those of Indo-Aryan origin were termed "Tagadhari" ("Wearers of the Sacred Thread"). The Tagadhari castes consisted of the three upper varna: Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya. The civil code stated that if members of the Tagadhari castes consumed food and water touched by a person from the “Pani Na Chalne Chhoichhito Halnuparne’’ (Impure and Untouchable) category, then the member should undergo a purification process. Assault upon Tagadhari castes was fined heavily and a perpetrator from lower in the social hierarchy could be punished with enslavement per the "Muluki Ain". The Tagadhari castes could not be enslaved following any criminal punishment unless they had been expelled from the caste. The main broad caste categories in Nepal are Tagadharis (sacred thread bearers), Matwalis (liquor drinkers) and Dalits (or untouchables).
Tagadhari Castes.
Within the Tagadharis, Tarai Brahmins were ranked below Newar Brahmin while Newar Brahmin were ranked below Chhetri. The hierarchy was more favourable to Parbattias within the Tagadharis.
Tagadhari castes in Nepal according to "Muluki Ain" (1854):
Diet and Tradition.
The main diet of the Tagadhari consists of rice while Matwali prefer millet. The Tagadhari eat more milk-based foods in comparison to the Matwali preference for meat-based foods. The Tagadhari follow Hindu festivals while the Matawali follow Buddhist festivals. Brahmins and Chhetris do not practice any kind of cousin marriages while Thakuris practice maternal cross-cousin marriages frequently and paternal cross-cousin marriage is also allowed among them.
Status and Culture.
The three Tagadhari and Dvija castes among the Parbattias are Brahmin, Thakuri and Chhetri. These three Tagadhari castes were influential in political, social and religious developments in the Kingdom of Nepal. The royal Shah dynasty and their allied aristocrats are drawn from Thakuri and Chhetri families. Among the Parbattia Tagadharis, Brahmins (Bahun) enjoy the highest hierarchical rank, with their major occupations being governmental services, agriculture and priestly works. Most of the Brahmins are, however, cultivators and are generally more economically backward than other Chhetri, Newar and Magar farmers. Thakuris are politically and socially ahead of others and have been developed from the miscegenation of Khas, Magars and some possible Indian Rajput immigrants. Chhetris are a homogeneous and endogamous caste whom are devoid of subdivisions, which is considered uncharacteristic among other Indian castes. Major occupations of Chhetris include governmental services, agriculture and military. Chhetris and Thakuris claim descent from the ancient Indian Kshatriyas and form the ruling and warrior classes of Nepal.
The ethnicities of the officers at and above the Under-Secretary level in governmental positions of Nepal in 1969 showed Chhetri and Brahmin as dominant in the top two highest positions, with 102 (35.17%) and 97 (33.45%) officers respectively among the total of 290 officers. As per the Public Service Commission of Nepal, Brahmins (33.3%) and Chhetris (20.01%) were two largest caste group to obtain governmental jobs in the fiscal year 2017-18 even though 45% governmental seats are reserved for women, indigenous groups, Madhesis, Dalits, people with disability and those from the backward regions. Chhetris are highly dominant in the military sector of Nepal. Of the senior officers of the Nepal Army, 74.4% of the total in 1967 consisted of Chhetris. Similarly, Chhetris were 38.1%, 54.3% and 55.3% of the senior officers in the years 2003, 2004 and 2007 respectively.
Income and wealth.
Tagadhari (NRs. 33,130.0) had the highest annual income (1991), followed by Matwalis (NRs.30,300.0) and untouchables (NRs. 25,910.0).
Demographics.
The population of Tagadhari castes as per 2011 Nepal census are as below:
Dominance in civil services.
As per the Public Service Commission of Nepal, Brahmins (33.3%) and Chhetris (20.01%) were two largest caste group to obtain governmental jobs in the fiscal year 2017-18 even though 45% of governmental seats are reserved for women, indigenous groups, Madhesis, Dalits, people with disability and those from the backward regions. Bahuns have a representation in the civil service which is 3.2 times that of their presence in the population; the fourth largest ratio in Nepal. The caste with the largest ratio, Rajputs, have a presence in the civil service that is 5.6 times that of their presence in the population. Terai Brahmins also have a presence in the civil service that is 3.2 times that of their presence in the population; this is the third highest ratio in Nepal.
Districtwise statistics.
According to the 2011 Nepal census, Bahun or Brahmin-Hill appear as the second most populous group after Chhetri with 12.2% of Nepal's population (or 32,26,903 people). Bahun (Hill-Brahmins) are the second largest Hindu group with a population of 3,212,704 (99.6% of Bahuns). Hill-Brahmins are the largest group in 11 districts in Nepal: Jhapa, Morang, Kathmandu, Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Kaski, Syangja, Parbat, Gulmi and Arghakhanchi. Among these, Bahuns in Parbat (35.7%), Arghakhanchi (32.8%), Syangja (30.9%), Chitwan (28.6%), Kaski (27.8%) and Gulmi (25.2%) consist more than 25% of the district population. Kathmandu has largest Bahun population with 410,126 people (23.5%).
Chhetris are largest caste group in 21 districts of Nepal as per the 2001 Nepal census and 24 districts as per the 2011 Nepal census. These twenty-four districts are: Dhankuta district, Sankhuwasabha district, Okhaldhunga district, Udayapur district, Ramechhap district, Dolakha District, Salyan district, Surkhet district, Dailekh district, Jajarkot district, Dolpa district, Jumla district, Mugu district, Humla district, Bajura district, Bajhang district, Achham district, Doti district, Kailali district, Dadeldhura district, Baitadi district, Darchula district, Kalikot district and Kanchanpur district. Among these, Chhetris in Bajhang (66.5%), Darchula (64.5%), Jumla (61.2%), Bajura (57.8%), Doti (57.7%), Kailali (57.7%), Salyan (57.0%), Achham (55.5%), Dadeldhura (53.6%) and Baitadi (52.2%) consist more than 50% of the district population. The district with largest Chhetri population is Kathmandu district with 347,754 people (i.e. 19.9% of the total district population). The literacy rate among Chhetris is 72.3% as per the 2011 Nepal census.


Nazmi Mehmeti

Nazmi Mehmeti (1918-1995), also recorded as “Mehmetovitch” on the SS Goya.
Biography.
Mehmeti was an Albanian born on 25 March 1918 in Rečane, Macedonia, near Gostivar. He went to New Zealand in 1951, at the age of 33. Mehmeti was a very well known wrestler in Macedonia in his youth: he was tough, strong, and fought in the rugged mountains of the Balkans until the end of 1948 when he crossed the border into Greece. He had eight wounds in his body from fighting the communist secret service in Macedonia and Albania. Apart from being a staunch patriot and firmly committed anti-communist, he was also a devoted Muslim, praying five times a day. He urged others to fast during Ramadan and to love their fellow man, “whoever says Amen”, irrespective of faith.
By trade, Mehmeti was a carpenter and worked around Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, and Wellington. To start with, he built a house in Upper Hutt and he later moved on to Auckland. He also worked at the Meremere power station as a carpenter for a period. He made a marked contribution to the leadership of the New Zealand Muslim Association during the 1960s and is particularly remembered for his constant efforts to maintain the NZMA Islamic Centre property on Hargreaves Street.
Nazmi Mehmeti is largely responsible for securing the first Muslim cemetery in New Zealand. Beforehand, Muslims were buried in various plots and even in the Chinese allotments. A few days before the festival of Eid al Adha in 1963, a Muslim burial plot was officially established in the Waikumete Cemetery in western Auckland. The Auckland City Council Parks and Library Committee confirmed a New Zealand Muslim Association petition for 100 places on 29 April 1963, following two meetings in March between the Director of Parks and several members of the Executive Committee, led by Nazmi Mehmeti, as president of the Association.
He shifted to Australia, worked in Sydney as a carpenter, and then bought a small farm. Later, he sold everything and went to Istanbul, Turkey. He returned to his native village of Rečane in Macedonia in the early 1990s after the fall of Communism there, and worked his father’s land together with his brothers. He later died and was buried in Gostivar in 1995.


Ali Dhere

Sheikh Cali Sheikh Maxamuud Sheikh Cali Dheere (, ), also known as "Sheekh Cali Dheere", was a Somali cleric and religious fundamentalist based in Mogadishu. He was instrumental in the establishment of the first Islamic courts in Mogadishu in 1996. Often called the Sheikh Ali-Dhere court, it brought together scholars, elders, business leaders and politicians as a reaction to the deteriorating security situation in North Mogadishu, and Siisii street in particular. Its success brought popular support to him, which was used in turn to challenge political leaders of the Muddolod clan, and ended in a clash with Ali Mahdi which eventually brought down the court. Many people confuse between Sheikh Ali Mahmoud better known as Sheikh Ali Dheere () who established the first Islamic Courts in Mogadishu in 1996, and another man called Sheikh Ali Dheere who is the spokesperson of the Al Shabaab. The Al Shabaab speaker is from the majeerteen omar Maxamuud clan,


Islam in Sudan

Islam is the most common religion in Sudan and Muslims have dominated national government institutions since independence in 1956. According to UNDP Sudan, the Muslim population is 97%, including numerous Arab and non-Arab groups. The remaining 3% ascribe to either Christianity or traditional animist religions. Muslims predominate in all but Nuba Mountains region. The vast majority of Muslims in Sudan adhere to Sunni Islam of Maliki school of jurisprudence, deeply influenced with Sufism. There are also some Shia communities in Khartoum, the capital. The most significant divisions occur along the lines of the Sufi brotherhoods. Two popular brotherhoods, the Ansar and the Khatmia, are associated with the opposition Umma and Democratic Unionist Parties respectively. Only the Darfur region is traditionally lacking the presence of Sufi brotherhoods found in the rest of the country.
Shari'a law has been installed by various military regimes, and its application to non-Muslims in the capital was a contentious issue during the negotiations, but it and the other major issues underlying the north–south conflict have been largely resolved in the agreements. Shari'a is to continue to be the basis of the national legal system as it applies in the north; national legislation applicable to the south is to be based on "popular consensus, the values, and the customs of the people." In states or regions where a majority hold different religious or customary beliefs than those on which the legal system is based, the national laws may be amended to accord better with such beliefs. Throughout the country, the application of Shari'a to non-Muslims is to be limited, and courts may not exercise their discretion to impose the harsher physical forms of Shari'a penalties on non-Muslims. Sudan has had three democratic governments since 1956, all of which abolished Shari'a law.
In September 2020, Sudan constitutionally became a secular state after Sudan's transitional government agreed to separate religion from the state, ending 30 years of Islamic rule and Islam as the official state religion in the North African nation. This new legislation also ended the former apostasy law and public flogging.
History.
There had been cultural contact between Nubians and Arabs long before the rise of Islam. Islam spread to Sudan from the north, after the Islamic conquest of Egypt under the government of Amr ibn al-Aas . Nubia had already been Christianized, also from Egypt, hence the old Nubian church followed Coptic Christianity. The Nubian Christian kingdoms of Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia fell to the Islamic invasions in 650, 1312 and 1504, respectively. From 1504, northern Sudan was ruled by the Muslim Funj Sultanate.
Southern Sudan, i.e. South Kordofan and what is now South Sudan was neither Christianized nor Islamized until the 19th century. This region fell under Islamic rule under Muhammad Ali, and there has been religious and ethnic conflict ever since; the Mahdiyah uprisings (1881-1899) can even be seen as the origin of political Islamism and resulted in British control during 1899–1955. Racial and religious conflicts between the Arab Muslim north and the Black African Christian South re-erupted in the First Sudanese Civil War (1955-1972), the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005), the War in Darfur (2003-2010) and the ongoing conflict since 2011.


Spring of St. Anna, Rivne region, Ukraine

Spring of St. Anna is located one kilometer from the village Onyshkivtsi, Rivne region, Ukraine. The spring of St. Anna is a hydrological nature monument of local importance. Stable water temperature is 6С (43F). This temperature remains the same, regardless of season. The spring of St. Anna is protected by the government.
History.
The healing features of spring water in the St. Anna spring have been recognized since 16th century. There are several legends that explain how the spring and church appeared in this place.
The first legend is about a former owner of the village Onyshkivtsi, whose name was Skorbnyk. He was seriously ill and spent a lot of money on doctor visits. Fearing for his life and no longer relying on human help, he finally asked God for help. Shedding many tears, he prayed to the Virgin Mary from his home. Skorbnyk asked for the forgiveness of his sins and healing of his disease. In a dream, he saw the Virgin Mary and promised her he would build a small chapel after he becomes healthy again. She pointed to a place where the chapel should be erected.
Legend has it that the Virgin Mary was sighted at that exact place. The Virgin Mary ordered Skorbnyk to take the icon he was praying to when his healing was received, and place it in the chapel. After his healing, Skorbnyk immediately built a chapel on the specified location and moved there with a procession from his house. Shortly thereafter, Skorbnyk presented the village of Onyschkivtsi to another owner and moved to different village. When Skorbnyk was moving, he wanted to take his beloved icon with him, so he sent a boy to the chapel to retrieve it. With the icon of St. Anna in hand, the boy attempted to leave the chapel, however, an invisible force blocked the exit. The boy was terrified and could not move. In tears, he placed the icon back in the exact spot he had taken it from. The news of this miracle spread quickly and many people started to come with a hope of healing.
The second legend is slightly different. It was said that long ago, at the place where the spring is, there was a church. When the land suffered devastating attacks from the Tatars, the church was destroyed, but remained at the same place as if it were hiding somewhere underground. In time, Onyshkivtsi rebuilt the church, however, a miracle took place at the location of the old chapel. Sightings of the icon of St. Anna appeared first to the children-shepherds. The farmers gathered where the sightings had taken place and brought the icon to the new church. However, the next day the icon appeared back in the place where it was originally found, which happened to be the site of the old church. Local people attempted to bring it back to the new church, this time with all the rituals. But again, the very next day, the icon had reappeared at its original location. It became clear to the people that Saint Anna herself had chosen this place. As a result of this revelation, a chapel was built in the location St. Anna had chosen and soon after, the healing spring appeared.
Modern times.
In 1991 a new stone church was opened in honor of St. Anna. Where the springs are, a wooden platform was later replaced by concrete slabs and cement walkways were constructed for visitor’s convenience. An asphalt road now leads to the spring. On the south side of the church, there is a pool where people can immerse after prayer. On the north side there is a wall in the form of the iconostasis, displaying icons. By the springs, there are changing rooms and an enclosed pool.
In 2000, the St. Nicholas monastery for women opened. Future plans for the construction of a larger monastery are in the development stages as well.
St. Anna Spring and Health.
Water temperature in the spring is always 6С (43F) degrees, regardless of the weather conditions.
One of the secrets of healing springs is the presence of silver and flint in the water. Silver ions have antibacterial features. Organic remains of flint are capable of processing light energy in the tens of thousands of times the speed of regenerating reactions. Normal tap water, processed through flint, becomes healthier and can be preserved for many years. Flint water is bactericidal. It destroys the influenza virus, quickly stops external bleeding, soothes a toothache, is effective for angina and running nose, paradontosis, and eliminates heartburn.
It is also effective for chronic diseases of stomach and duodenum. Flint water can reduce the sugar level in blood, eliminate sand from the kidney and gall bladder, affect the normalization of liver and kidney functions, improve metabolism, and significantly improve the overall health. It has also been said that water from St. Anna spring can heal women from sterility.


Pierre de Gondi

Pierre de Gondi, cardinal de Retz (1533–1616) was a French bishop and cardinal of the Gondi family.
Life.
Born in Lyon, he was a brother of Albert de Gondi (two of whose sons, Henri and Jean-François, succeeded Pierre as bishop of Paris) and a protégé of Catherine de Médicis. In turn, he became bishop of Langres (1565), bishop of Paris (1570), chancellor and grand almoner to Elisabeth of Austria, wife of Charles IX of France.
He was created cardinal in 1587.
Gondi undertook several missions to Rome under Henry III of France and Henry IV of France and attended the 1592 papal conclave.


Christianity in Kyrgyzstan

Christianity has a long history in Kyrgyzstan, with the earliest archaeological remains of churches belonging to the Church of the East in modern-day Suyab dating back to the 7th century. By the 9th century an archdiocese of the Church of the East cared for the Christians of Kyrgyzstan and adjacent areas in eastern Turkestan. Although primarily Turkic there was also an Armenian community in what today is Kyrgyzstan by the 14th century. By the 15th century, however, there were no longer ecclesiastical structures of any church caring for what is today Kyrgyzstan and Islam gained the ascendancy amongst the Kyrgyz people.
Today Eastern Orthodox Christianity is the largest Christian denomination in Kyrgyzstan, with between 700,000 and 1.1 million followers primarily comprising the country's ethnic Russians and Ukrainians. A small minority of ethnic Germans are also Christian, mostly Lutheran and Anabaptist, with a Roman Catholic community of approximately 1,500. A 2015 study estimates some 19,000 Christians from a Muslim background residing in the country, though not all are necessarily citizens of Kyrgyzstan. While other scholars estimated the total number of Muslim Kyrgyz converts to Christianity between 25,000 to 50,000, although the government disputes that figure. Exact numbers of Muslim Kyrgyz converts to Christianity vary but an estimate of around 20,000 is generally accepted among scholars.
Orthodox Christian Church.
The modern history of Orthodoxy in Kyrgyzstan dates back to the country's incorporation into the Russian Empire in the late 19th century. The first parishes in Kyrgyzstan were opened in Bishkek, Naryn, and Osh in the 1870s to serve the Russian forts being built in the country. The military parishes were eventually recognized as regular parishes as the Russian Orthodox Church presence in Kyrgyzstan grew. In 1871 the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church established a diocese - the Eparchy of Tashkent and Turkestan - for its new communities in Central Asia, with the new parishes in Kyrgyzstan coming under its authority. By the time of the Russian Revolution in 1917 there were over 30 churches in what today is Kyrgyzstan. It was also home to one of three Orthodox monasteries in Central Asia at the time, Holy Trinity Monastery on the shores of Lake Issyk Kul.
During the Soviet era Orthodoxy in Kyrgyzstan suffered from persecution as it did elsewhere in the USSR. Clergy and laity alike were murdered by the new authorities and many churches were closed and destroyed. As part of the easing of the persecutions during World War II many churches were reopened, with thirty-two active in Kyrgyzstan by 1946. Eight were later closed in the renewed persecutions under Khrushchev.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union the number of Orthodox parishes in Kyrgyzstan has nearly doubled to forty-four. A new women's monastery has also been established in Kara-Balta in northern Kyrgyzstan. In 2011 the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided to separate the Orthodox Church in Kyrgyzstan from the Eparchy of Tashkent and establish it as its own diocese, the Eparchy of Bishkek under the Bishop of Bishkek and Kyrgyzstan. The new diocese was included in the Russian Orthodox Church's Ecclesiastical province of Central Asia.
Roman Catholic Church.
The Catholics are mentioned in this region since 14th century, mainly on the territory of today’s Kazakhstan. The Roman Catholic missionaries came in Kyrgyzstan mainly from China, till turn of 19th and 20th centuries. Since 1918 to 1930, the area of Kyrgyzstan came under the parish of Tashkent. In 1937, there started the persecution of Roman Catholic Church, the churches were destroyed and all priests were deported or executed. In that time, because of mass deportations into Central Asia (that had no parallel even in tsar era), came to influx of Catholics from Volga area, Ukraine, Poland and Baltic Sea area.
On 13 May 1991, there was created apostolic administration of Kazakhstan and Central Asia that included five post-Soviet Central Asian republics, from which four gained a status of mission sui iuris later – church in Kyrgyzstan on 22 December 1997. Status sui iuris means that it is an autonomous unit – independent juristic person, based on own discipline, heritage, or culture, but it is always dependent on Roman pope.
In Kyrgyzstan, there were 268 Christians in 1999. Part of them were descendants of German, Polish, Latvian and Lithuanian deportees and part are citizens of other states (diplomats, workers of international organisations).
On the other hand, it is necessary to mention that for the whole time of existence of the Catholic Church in Bishkek (it was officially registered already in 1969), there took place no one christening of any Kyrgyz.
On 18 March 2006, there was found the apostolic administration in Kyrgyzstan (region under administration of any clergyman authorised by pope), now under administration of bishop Nicolas Messmer, which was born (similarly as his predecessor in the administration of Kyrgyzstan Alexander Kan) in Kazakhs Karaghanda. The relationship to Kazakhs bishopric was always very strong; also the Catholic literature or songbooks are printed in Kazakhstan.
In the capitol Bishkek, there is a church (among the associated societies belong e.g. Belovodskoe, Chaldybar, Tuz, Nurmanbet, Ivanovka, Iskra, Niznevostochnoe, Kamyshanovka, Oktjabrskoe), the worships in Talas take place in a bought house, newly was found the parish on the south of Kyrgyzstan (Djalalabad and Osh) too and another parish is in Karakol.
In Bishkek, up to now, the Roman Catholic Church is connected with German population and therefore also the church uses to be marked as “German” by the Kyrgyz (немецкая церковь) – in contrary to Orthodox church that is “Russian” (русская церковь). Among the visitors of the church are (except the foreigners) really such a Bishkek citizens that have German origin (although they do not speak German) and next, there are here also descendants of Poles.


St. Teodora de la Sihla Church

The St. Teodora de la Sihla Church () is a cathedral in Central Chișinău, Moldova.
Overview.
Formerly the chapel of a girls gymnasium, the church of St. Teodora de la Sihla is an architectural masterpiece by Alexander Bernardazzi. It boasts the elements of his favorite neoclassic byzantine architecture.


Committee of Cooperation for Peace in Chile

The Committee of Cooperation for Peace in Chile (), was a Chilean peace organization founded in October 1973 by an inter-religious group led by the Archdiocese of Santiago in order to support human rights of those persecuted by the regime of General Augusto Pinochet.
It was the first active human rights organization in Chile and it lasted for two years, supporting thousands of people persecuted by the regime. It dissolved under pressure from the regime in November 1975, but the Vicariate of Solidarity was formed in its wake shortly thereafter, and it took up the baton of protection of human rights in Chile.
Background.
On a military junta toppled President Salvador Allende in a coup d'état and installed General Augusto Pinochet as head of the new regime. This was a dictatorial, authoritarian regime which trampled on human rights with the use of torture, disappearances, illegal and secret arrest, and extrajudicial killings. Thousands were being detained, and hundreds killed by the regime. It was in this context, that the first opposition to the Pinochet regime appeared.
Founding.
The first organized opposition to the regime came from the churches. The committee, more commonly known as "Committee for Peace" (; also Comité Pro Paz en Chile) was founded by the Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Orthodox, and Pentecostal Churches, as well as the Jewish community in Chile.
It was formalized by Archbishop Raul Silva Henriquez in Order 158-73 on , with the goal of "helping Chileans, who, as a result of recent political events, are in dire economic or personal straits," and also to provide "legal, economic, technical, and spiritual" assistance. Its charter also called for ecumenical links to other religions to help carry out its work in favor of those who were persecuted by the regime. The Committee carried out its pro-human rights activity in the face of harassment and intimidation by the government, and was a risky proposition for those involved.
A year later, a couple dozen members of the committee, mostly women who were looking for their "disappeared" relatives, went on to form a new group focused on pressuring the government for information about their "disappeared" relatives. This was formalized into a new group, the Association of Families of the Detained-Disappeared by Clotario Blest the next year.
Activities.
The chief activity of the Committee of Cooperation for Peace in Chile was the legal support for those persecuted by the government, as well as people arrested for political reasons without a trial. It also played a support role for those who lost their job for political reasons, and provided medical care. In the two years of its operation, it provided legal services to over 17,000 people, and medical care for an equal number.
Links with other groups.
The Committee was the first such human rights group, but others followed, to the point where there were at least fifteen human rights groups operating in Chile by the mid-1980s. One that grew directly out of the Committee, was the Association of Families of the Detained-Disappeared.
At the end of 1974, a group of mostly women applied to the Committee for Peace to find out the whereabouts of their missing family members, the "desaparecidos" (the "disappeared"), who had been detained or killed. The Association of Families of the Detained-Disappeared coalesced unofficially out of this group of people. Clotario Blest formally established the group in 1975 out of her home in central Santiago.
Dissolution.
When the Committee was dissolved at the demand of the government. At the same time as the government was arresting its lawyers, Pinochet wrote to Cardinal Raul Silva Henriquez on 11 November 1975 claiming that the Committee was being "used by Marxist-Leninists" to cause an appearance of division between the government and the Roman Catholic Church, and used this as an excuse to demand its dissolution.
Follow-up.
The Archbishop established its successor organization, the Vicariate of Solidarity in January 1976, which took over the responsibility of defending human rights in Chile and was less subject to pressure than the Committee for Peace had been, because it was under the full protection of the Roman Catholic Church.


Paul Hisao Yasuda

 was a Japanese prelate of the Roman Catholic Church.
Yasuda was born in Kurume, Japan and was ordained a priest on May 21, 1955. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archidocese of Osaka on February 5, 1970 as well as titular bishop of Tucci and was consecrated bishop on March 21, 1970. Yasuda was appointed archbishop of the Archidocese of Osaka on November 15, 1978, where he served until his retirement on May 10, 1997. He died in April 2016 at the age of 94.


Fitra Ismu Kusumo

Fitra Ismu Kusumo is a promoter of Indonesian art and Culture in Mexico, since 2002 and founder of Indra Swara, introducing Indonesia through Gamelan (Indonesian traditional Music), Indonesian traditional dances and also through its puppeteering art (Wayang Kulit and Wayang Golek). As a researcher his area of specialty is Muslims and Islam in Mexico and Latin America.
Early time in Mexico.
He founded Indra Swara, introducing Gamelan to young art students from Centro Nacional de las Artes, the Escuela Nacional de Musica, and from the Conservatorio de Musica of Mexico City inviting them to be a part of the ensamble.
In 2002 he began studying his Master´s Degree at the Escuela Nacional de Antropologia e Historia(ENAH) in Mexico City.
In 2003 he started working at the Indonesian Embassy in Mexico City, and in 2004 was contacted by the Topos de Tlatelolco, Mexican Rescue team to be part of them in the Aceh Tsunami aid Mission-2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, in the Jogyakarta 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake relief mission and in the Padang 2009 Sumatra earthquakes relief mission.
Studies.
Bachelor of Arts in French Literature from the Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Indonesia. He completed his master's and doctorate degrees (earning an honorific mention) in History and Ethno-History at the National School of Anthropology and History (ENAH) in Mexico, his field of specialization being Muslims and Islam in Mexico and Latin America.
Career.
Since 2016, he's been working to promote halal products from Mexico to Muslim countries. Likewise, he is constantly promoting and raising awareness regarding the Halal issue and Halal certification. He has worked at OMECEGA (2016-2017) and at RACS, a certification body of the United Arab Emirates (2017-2019), and in July 2019, with support from Muslim communities in Mexico, he founded the Mexican Halal certification body "Halal Quality Mexico S.A. de C.V." in Mexico City.
He has worked at the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia(2003-2012) promoting the image and culture of his country, and as a liaison between the Embassy and institutions in Mexico and Central America. He has also taught Indonesian traditional music, dance and culture in different institutions throughout the country, including the Conservatorio Nacional de Música (Mexico). Within Indra Swara he is coordinator and teacher of Gamelan music and Traditional Puppet Art of Indonesia (wayang).
His publications include: "Islam in Latin America" volumes I, II and III, "Islam in Contemporary Mexico" and "Islam for Beginners", all of them available in electronic format.
He is a contributor to the magazine FMPM Magazine Indonesia, correspondent for detik.com, the largest and most important online news program in Indonesia, as well as a permanent correspondent for Aktual Network, aktual.co
He has made several presentations (including conferences, seminars, workshops, exhibitions, performances, etc.) as a means to promote Indonesian art and culture amongst Spanish speakers. Throughout his career he has also participated as a speaker and lecturer in different venues in Mexico (including the Research Center on Latin America and the Caribbean of National Autonomous University of Mexico, the Autonomous University of Yucatán (Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán), the ENAH, the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, among others) in relation to his field of study.


List of churches in Sweden

"This is an alphabetical list of churches in Sweden".
A B C D E F G H
I J K L M N O P
Q R S T U V W X
Y Z Å Ä Ö


Jean Charton de Millou

Jean Charton de Millou (1736–1792) was a French Jesuit.


Soemba Mission

The Soemba Mission was a mission on the Indonesian island of Soemba, intended to convert the population to Christianity.


Abdul Karim Paz

Abdul Karim Paz (born Santiago Ricardo Paz Zuberbühler Bullrich) is an Argentine Shi'i sheikh, head imam of the At-Tauhid ("the Oneness") mosque in the Floresta neighbourhood. He is known for holding pro-Iran views on AMIA bombing case. Paz serves also as a representative of Organización Islámica Argentina.
He holds close links with social leader Luis D'Elía and "piquetero" leader Fernando Esteche, as well as with Mohsen Rabbani, former cultural attaché at the Iranian embassy in Buenos Aires and accused in the AMIA trial.
Biography.
Paz is descended from an aristocratic Argentine family. He was educated at the elitist Catholic school San Martín de Tours but later converted to Islam, at the age of 18, after becoming acquainted with Arab and Islamic cultures through a college professor, while pursuing philosophy studies at UBA. He then spent 5 years studying in Qom, Iran, studying Islamic jurisprudence and theology at the Al-Mustafa International University, returning to Buenos Aires in 1993 with the honorific title of Hujjat al-Islam and a master's degree in Islamic theology. He then briefly moved to Santiago Chile, where he set up an Islamic cultural centre. His wife, Masuma Assad Paz, is the head of the Argentine Muslim Women's League, the editor of Moazzen, and director of the activities of the Argentine Islamic Aid and Relief Committee and the Argentine Islamic Cultural Institute.
Paz is a cousin of Patricia Bullrich and close relative to Esteban Bullrich, both of them being Ministers of the Macri administration.


Al Eslah Society

The Al Eslah Society () is an organization in Bahrain that represents a modern and moderate conservative Islamic views. Its political wing is the Al-Menbar Islamic Society.
The president and patron of the Al Eslah Society is Shaikh Isa bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, a member of the Al Khalifa royal family and former labor minister of Bahrain.
The name of the society is sometimes transliterated as "Al Islah Society"


Veron ka Math

Veron ka Math is the starting point of Banas River situated in the Kumbhalgarh block of Rajsamand district in the state of Rajasthan. It is 8 km west of the Kumbhalgarh on the NH 162 Ext.


Association of Shinto Shrines

The is a religious administrative organisation that oversees about 80,000 Shinto shrines in Japan. These shrines take the Ise Grand Shrine as the foundation of their belief.
Description.
The association has five major activities, in addition to numerous others:
It currently has an administrative structure including a main office and branches. Its headquarters in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, adjacent to Meiji Shrine. Its leadership includes the , the head priestess of the Ise Shrine, presently Sayako Kuroda. The is Kuniaki Kuni, and the post of or Secretary-General is currently held by Masami Yatabe, the chief priest of the Mishima Shrine. The association maintains regional offices in every prefecture. They handle financial and personnel matters for member shrines.
History.
The Association was established following the Surrender of Japan at the end of World War II. On 15 December 1945, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) issued the "Shinto Directive", ordering the Disestablishment of Shinto as a state religion. On February 2, 1946, to comply with the SCAP order, three organizations – the , , and – established the nongovernmental Association, assuming the functions of the Jingi-in, a branch of the Home Ministry.
Political links.
The Association has many contacts within the Liberal Democratic Party and is a successful lobbyist; its influence can be seen in recent conservative legislation, like the legal recognition of the National Flag (Hinomaru) and National Anthem (Kimigayo), their use for official school events, or the revision of Fundamental Education Law, and it is behind some actions by conservative politicians, like visits to Yasukuni Shrine by Junichirō Koizumi, then Prime Minister of Japan.
Sources.
This article incorporates material in ("Jinja Honchō") in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on January 27, 2008.


Hijab protests in Azerbaijan

The Hijab protests in Azerbaijan are a consequence of changes in the formal and social aspects of Azerbaijan with the banning of the hijab in schools and universities. The hijab ban lead to protests by some religious activists and to their subsequent arrests, due to their opposition to the new laws.
Background.
The two main factors in the protests were Azerbaijan's hijab ban and the arrests of religious activists.
Hijab ban in schools.
On December 10, 2010, Misir Mardanov, from the Azerbaijan's Education Ministry, announced the ban on hijab. According to the new law, students are forbidden from wearing hijabs in schools and universities. The government also brought Soviet-era uniforms back into schools.
The Republic of Azerbaijan is a secular state. The hijab was effectively banned in schools by rules defining what kind of uniforms pupils should wear in this mainly Shiite Muslim country, which emerged as one of the most secular in the Islamic world after decades of Soviet rule.
Arrest of religious activists.
The government of Azerbaijan arrested several leaders of the religious opposition and this caused a new round of protest by their supporters which led to them being arrested.
The Parties involved included: the Popular Front, Musavat Party and Islamic Party. Leaders of these parties face long prison terms. Movsum Samadov, leader of the banned Islamic Party of Azerbaijan, was charged with preparing an act of terror.
Protests and further arrests.
Several demonstrations and rallies took place in different cities of Azerbaijan to protest against the policies of the Azerbaijan government, which resulted in a new arrest wave.
Anti-government activists used social media to call for street protests inspired by the Arab uprisings on Friday March 11, 2011. Activists inspired by the overthrow of autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt by pro-democracy protests vowed to stage more demonstrations as they were being arrested by police outside Baku's Oil Academy.
Azerbaijan security forces detained 43 people in the event.
On Saturday the 2nd of April 2011, another protest took place.
Riot police seized protesters near the Fountains Square in Baku, where the opposition had wanted to hold a rally but failed to receive approval from the authorities.
One of the opposition leaders said after the protest that about 1,000 people had taken part and more than 200 were arrested.
On 6 May 2011, some protesters in Baku, chanted "God is great" and "Freedom to hijab", before being arrested by the police.
International reactions.
There were international protests against the government's actions.
Europe.
The European Union criticized Azerbaijan for "lack of respect of fundamental freedoms" after the 2 April rally was broken up by security forces. The supranational body called on authorities to allow for freedom of speech, free assembly, and freedom of the press, rights it suggested the government's response disrespected. On 13 April, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov summoned the head of the EU delegation to Azerbaijan to express his government's displeasure over the statement.
Human rights organizations.
Amnesty International has also called upon the government to allow peaceful protests. In a letter published in British daily The Guardian on 20 April, its UK affiliate called for the release of Eynulla Fatullayev and other detained journalists and insisted the government should "comply with international standards on human rights – specifically the right to assembly and the right to free expression". The International Press Institute echoed Amnesty's criticisms, condemning the Azerbaijani government's deportation of three Swedish journalists for reporting on the 17 April demonstration in Fountain Square.
Other countries.
United States Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza expressed concern over the Azerbaijani government's response to protests in March.
The Iranian Ayatollahs have criticized Azerbaijan's decision to ban the hijab.


Victor White (priest)

Victor Francis White (1902–1960) was an English Dominican priest who corresponded and collaborated with Carl Gustav Jung. He was initially deeply attracted to Jung's psychology, but when Jung's "Answer to Job" was published in English, he gave it a very critical review. White's works include "Soul and Psyche" and "God and the Unconscious". Jung and White enjoyed a series of correspondence, and Jung was so impressed with some of White's ideas that he invited White to his retreat house at Bollingen, where only Jung's very close friends were allowed. The correspondence between Jung and White has been published by Lammers and Cunningham (2007). While White was a great admirer of Jung, he was at times very critical of Jung. For example, he criticised Jung's essay "On the Self", and accused Jung of being too bound to a Manichaean dualism. He was also somewhat critical of Jung's Kantianism. At the same time, Jung was quite critical of White, for example, over his commitment to the doctrine of "privatio boni" as means of understanding the problem of evil.
Letters.
When Jung published "Answer to Job", and again when it was published in English, White's fellow Roman Catholics reacted and what was once a ripple became a tidal wave. The Book of Job, a Wisdom book of the Bible, explores the problem of evil. White's correspondence with Jung made Jung refer to him as "my white raven", inasmuch as he was the only theologian who really understood something of the problem of psychology in the present world. He invited him to his retreat in Bollingen.
White followed the Classical philosophy and Thomistic theology that defined evil as the absence of good ("privatio boni"). God, the ever-existing being, is himself good, whereas evil did not exist until it took origin in the devil and man.
Jung's thought was that evil is not the absence of anything, but the active and dramatically impressive presence of something, personified and named the Devil. Evil ought to be considered a real force, not written-off as an opposite. For Jung a dogma could not be valid unless backed by empirical evidence, showing that it is prime, anything else had to be a dodge.
According to some, Jung's greatest letters were written to White.
Jung could see no evidence of 'privatio boni", but plenty of evil – devils, demons and other evil characters. The two, good and evil, are locked in an eternal duel for supremacy. Thus if one believes in just one God, He must contain the two within Himself.
White could not accept this and just stated: God is light; in Him there is no darkness.(1John1:5–7).
The conflict produced the "Answer to Job", which some say is Jung's best work.
White published a review of "Answer to Job" in the journal "Blackfriars" in March 1955. It was clear from this review that by this stage, White's feelings on the book were ambivalent, and he even seems to have had mixed feelings about his publication of the review, wondering how Jung would take the review.
Jung, who trained as a psychiatrist at Zurich (First University), shows in his letters the reserved professional at work, yet often gives way to the poet and preacher.
He is clear, though, that it would be beyond the competence of scientific empiricism to talk about the divine entity. He says that he does not preach but attempts to establish psychological facts. He can confirm and prove inter-relationship of the God image with other parts of the psyche, but he cannot go further without committing the error of a metaphysical assertion which is far beyond his scope. He is not a theologian and he has nothing to say about the nature of God.
Their letters also touched on non-theological matters, such as their mutual acquaintance, Barbara Robb, who founded (1965) and organised the highly effective pressure group Aid for the Elderly in Government Institutions (AEGIS). (citation needed & relevance.)


Faith Community Baptist Church

Faith Community Baptist Church (), or FCBC, is an independent charismatic megachurch in Singapore founded by Pastor Lawrence Khong in 1986.
The church was one of three megachurches to make it to a list of Singapore's 10 largest charities, according to a report by The Straits Times in 2019.
History.
FCBC was founded in 1986 following the sacking of Pastor Lawrence Khong from the mainline Grace Baptist Church over theological differences on practices such as baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues in the early days of the charismatic movement in Singapore.
It became a cell group church in 1988 and has since 2002 transitioned to become a Government of 12 or "G12" church, a model first formulated by Colombian pastor César Castellanos of the International Charismatic Mission Church.
After years of conducting worship services in commercial venues, the church opened its first place of worship in 1993, with the launch of the 1,600-seat Touch Centre in Marine Parade. Four years later, it opened a second place of worship with the opening of Touch Community Theatre in Redhill.
In 2019, Daniel Khong, son of Lawrence Khong was installed as the senior pastor of the church. His wife, Serene Tang was named deputy senior pastor.
Lawrence Khong and his wife Nina Khong remain active within the church as "Apostolic Overseers".
Ministries.
FCBC conducts multiple services at three locations: Touch Centre in Marine Parade, Gateway Theatre (formerly TOUCH Community Theatre) in Bukit Merah currently for its Chinese services and Nicoll meeting rooms 1–3 in Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre under a lease agreement.
FCBC has a community arm, TOUCH Community Services (TCS). TCS serves the local community in Singapore in a variety of ways, including providing various services and help to troubled youth, children, senior citizens, the visually challenged, mentally challenged, physically disabled, family services and in character development. TCS also has an international arm, TOUCH International (TI), that provides aid and relief to disaster spots and areas that need help around the world. TI also supports long-term involvement in global communities and is deeply involved in the rebuilding process in the tsunami stricken areas and others. TCS is a non-profit, non-religious community organisation, which has served over 100,000 individuals since its establishment. In 2007, TCS won the Outstanding non-profit Organisation Award.
FCBC also has a media branch known as Gateway Entertainment that produces various movies and stage productions which teach moral values and Christianity. Its pioneering magic & theatre show, The Magic of Love (MOL), toured the United States. As of 2007, over 208,000 people worldwide had watched the show. Gateway's second show, titled "MAGICBOX", performed at The Esplanade Theatre in July 2008. Gateway's latest production, "Vision", performed at the same venue in July 2011.
Reverend Khong was appointed as the Singapore Coordinator of VISION 2001 in 1994, which was renamed as the LOVESingapore Movement in 1995, a Unity movement among the churches in Singapore. There are over 150 churches in this movement united in prayer for Singapore. Other major churches involved include Victory Family Centre and Covenant Evangelical Free Church.
Controversies.
Views on homosexuality.
In January 2013, church founder Lawrence Khong issued a statement to ex-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong against repealing Singapore's laws that criminalises gay sex. He described the potential repeal of Section 377A of the Penal Code as "a looming threat to this basic (nation) building block by homosexual activists." and regards the "homosexual act" as "the greatest blasphemy against the name of God".
In 2014, LoveSingapore,a network of 100 local churches that Khong, chairs, created a guide to support Section 377A of the Penal Code, criminalising sex between men. He also wrote an open letter to the Health Promotion Board, criticising that their webpage on sexual health "condones same-sex relationships and promotes homosexual practice as something normal". He has also actively protested against the annual Singapore gay pride event Pink Dot SG, and has supported the counter-campaign and encouraged his followers to speak out against the normalisation of homosexual relationships in Singapore.
Support for Creationism.
In 2016, Lawrence Khong delivered a series of sermons at Faith Community Baptist Church, describing Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution as "a real deception from the Devil". The church's support for creationism in its pulpit and on its social media channels prompted a discussion on the spread of the idea by certain groups of Christian evangelicals in secular Singapore. The Ministry of Education has since clarified that creationism is not taught in local schools.
Unfair dismissal of employee.
In August 2013, FCBC was fined by the Ministry of Manpower and made to compensate a former staff whose employment was terminated 7 months into her pregnancy, depriving her of wages and maternity benefits. The married woman had been dismissed after she was discovered to be pregnant with the child of another former male staff. Employment Act in Singapore protects an expectant mother from the fourth month of pregnancy and requires employers to pay maternity benefits if she is dismissed without sufficient cause during this period. Reverend Khong disagreed with the ministry's judgement, but the ministry said that "employment legislation has to be kept secular because of Singapore's multi-cultural and multi-religious society."
In October 2013, the church announced plans to file papers requesting a judicial review of the original judgement, believing the ministry had acted unconstitutionally in the way it interfered in the church's affairs. The ministry expressed disappointment, saying that "We live in a secular society where laws have been put in place to protect individuals while not depriving religious organisations and individuals of the space to carry out their practices."


List of churches in Pakistan

This is a list of churches throughout Pakistan, at present. It is a dynamic list, in alphabetical order by names of cities/towns etc. and can be added to as per the accepted format below.


Mazzucco Sanctuary

The Mazzucco Sanctuary (Italian "santuario del Mazzucco") is a sanctuary devoted to Saint Anne, the Virgin Mary and Bernard of Menthon.
Together with the Banchette Sanctuary (Bioglio), the Brughiera sanctuary (Trivero) and the Brugarola sanctuary (Ailoche), it is one of the minor sanctuaries of the Biellese territory, all connected by the ways CoEur - In the heart of European paths and Path of Saint Charles.
Characteristics.
The sanctuary is in a beechwood at 919 m altitude in the Camandona municipality.
The building has one aisle and a small belltower and was built in 1662. In the 18th century a portico was added to the façade, above which a hermit lived. The structure was modified during the 19th and 20th centuries.
The main altarpiece is a canvas depicting "Saint Anne" by Carlo Sogno (1900); the other paintings were made by local artists. The façade was frescoed in 1988 with a representation of the "Virgin Mary and baby Jesus".
Since its foundation this small sanctuary was inhabited by hermits, from the mid-1700s to 1901, when the last heremit died.
The area is surrounded by beeches. In front of the sanctuary there is a fountain, like in all the others sanctuaries of the Biellese territory.


Islamic Religious Community of Macedonia

The Islamic Religious Community of North Macedonia or IRC ( or BFI, or ИВЗ) is an independent religious organisation of Muslims in the Republic of North Macedonia. The headquarter of the community is in Skopje and the current leader, titled Reis-ul-ulema, is Sulejman Rexhepi.
History.
There has been organized Islamic religious life in Macedonia since the time when Ottoman Empire started administering this region. All(Sunni) Muslims who lived in the Ottoman Empire were part of the Muslim community headed by the sultan, who replaced the role of the caliph. During the reign of the Sultan Murad II the competences of the caliph were transferred to the "grand mufti". Since then, the grand mufti was titled "Sheykhul-Islam" and was considered the highest religious authority within the Ottoman Empire. However, every region inhabited by Muslims had its own mufti, who was in lower position than the Sheykhul-Islam. After the First World War, North Macedonia was under the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The Islamic community of the Kingdom was headed by "Reis-ul-ulama", whose office was in Sarajevo. The "Reis-ul-ulama" responsibility was to organize the Islamic Religious life in Bosnia and Hezegovina, Croatia and Slovenia, whereas in Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo the Islamic Religious life was organized by the "Supreme Mufti" (that was in a lower position than the "Reis-ul-ulama"), whose office was in Belgrade. After the creation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the competences of the "Supreme Mufti" were transferred to the "Ulama Majlis" in Skopje and the competences of the "Reis-ul-ulama" were transferred to the "Ulama Majlis" in Sarajevo. The newly formed "Ulama Majlises" formed the Rijaset of Islamic Community with its head office in Sarajevo. After the Second World War the Islamic Community of Macedonia became part of the Islamic Community of Yugoslav Federation ("Rijaset"), with its office in Sarajevo. After the Breakup of Yugoslavia and the independence of Macedonia, this community continues to act as an independent religious community in North Macedonia, based in Skopje.
Arabati Baba controversy.
In 2002, a group of armed members of the Islamic Community of Macedonia invaded the Shiʻi Bektashi Order Arabati Baba Tekke in an attempt to claim the Shia tekke as a mosque for their followers, although the facility has never functioned as such. Subsequently, the Bektashi Order of Macedonia has sued the Macedonian government for failing to defend and later, to restore the tekke to the Bektashi community, pursuant to a law passed in the early 1990s returning property previously nationalized under the Yugoslav government. The law, however, deals with restitution to private citizens, rather than religious communities. The ICM claim to the tekke is based upon their contention to represent all Muslims in Macedonia; and indeed, they are one of two Muslim organizations recognized by the government, both Sunni. The Bektashi Order filed for recognition as a separate religious community with the Macedonian government in 1993, but the Macedonian government has refused to recognize them.
In March 2008, there were reports that the ICM members squatting on the facility grounds have taken control of additional buildings, have been intimidating visitors to the "tekke", and have discharged their weapons on the grounds.
Modern period.
On 26 November 2019, an earthquake struck Albania. The Islamic Religious Community of Macedonia organised a fundraising effort for victims on 29 November after Friday prayers across all its mosques within North Macedonia.
Structure.
Islamic Religious Community of North Macedonia is divided into 13 muftiships:


Kartik Purnima

Kartika Purnima is a Hindu, Sikh and Jain cultural festival, celebrated on the Purnima (full moon) day or the fifteenth lunar day of Kartik (November–December). It is also known as Tripuri Purnima and Tripurari Purnima. It is sometimes called Deva-Diwali or Deva-Deepawali, the festival of lights of the gods. Karthika Deepam is a related festival celebrated in South India and Sri Lanka on a different date.
Significance in Hinduism.
Tripuri Purnima or Tripurari Purnima derives its name from Tripurari - the foe of the demon Tripurasura. In some legends of Kartik Purnima, the term is used to denote the three demon sons of Tārakāsura. Tripurari is an epithet of god Shiva. Shiva in his form as Tripurantaka ("Killer of Tripurasura") killed Tripurasura on this day. Tripurasura had conquered the whole world and defeated the gods and also created three cities in space, together called "Tripura". The killing of the demon(s) and destruction of his/their cities with a single arrow - by Shiva overjoyed the gods and they declared the day as a festival of illuminations. This day is also called "Dev-Diwali"—the Diwali of the gods. Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights.
Kartik Purnima is also the birthday of Matsya, god Vishnu's fish-incarnation (avatar). It is also the birthday of Vrinda, the personification of the Tulsi plant and of Kartikeya, the god of war and son of Shiva. This day is also considered special for goddess Radha, the lover and eternal consort of god Krishna. It is believed that Krishna and Radha danced rasa and Krishna worshipped Radha on this day. This day is also dedicated to the pitrs, dead ancestors.
Underhill believes that the origins of this festival may lie in ancient times, when a sacrifice called "Shakamedhah" was performed to attain victory over enemies.
The festival has even more significance when the day falls in the Nakshatra (lunar mansion) Krittika and is then called "Maha Kartik". The nakshatra is Bharani, the results are stated to be special. If it is Rohini nakshatra, then the fruitful results are even more. Any philanthropic act on this day is supposed to bring benefits and blessings equal to the performing of ten yajnas (sacrifices).
Hindu rituals.
Kartik Purnima is closely associated with Prabodhini Ekadashi which marks the end of Chaturmas, a four-month period when Vishnu is believed to sleep. Prabodhini Ekadashi signifies the awakening of the god. Chaturmas penance ends on this day. Many fairs that begin on Prabodhini Ekadashi end on Kartik Purnima, Kartik Purnima usually being the most important day of the fair. Fairs that conclude on this day include Prabodhini Ekadashi celebrations at Pandharpur and Pushkar Fair. Kartik Purnima is also the last day to perform Tulsi Vivah ceremony that can be performed from Prabodhini Ekadashi.
Also, it is believed that Vishnu, on this day, returns to his abode after completing his stay in Bali. Hence, the day is known as Deva-Diwali.
In Pushkar, Rajasthan, the Pushkar Fair or "Pushkar mela" commences on Prabodhini Ekadashi and continues till Kartik Purnima, the latter being the most important. This fair is held in honour of god Brahma, whose temple stands at Pushkar. A ritual bath on Kartik Purnima in the Pushkar Lake is considered to lead one to salvation. It is believed circling the three Pushkars on Kartik Purnima is highly meritorious. Sadhus gather here and stay from Ekadashi to full moon day in caves. About 200,000 people and 25,000 camels assemble in Pushkar for the fair. Pushkar fair is Asia's largest camel fair.
A ritual bath at a tirtha (a sacred water body like a lake or river) at a pilgrimage centre is prescribed on Kartik Purnima. This holy bath is known as "Kartik snana". An holy bath at Pushkar or in the Ganges river, especially at Varanasi is deemed as most auspicious. Kartik Purnima is the most popular day for bathing in the Ganges at Varanasi. The devotees also take a bath in the evening during moonrise and offer worship by way of six prayers such as Shiva sambuti, Satait and so forth.
Annakuta, an offering of food to the deities, is held in temples. People who have taken vows on Ashvin full moon day, end them on Kartik Purnima. God Vishnu is also worshipped on this day. Any form of violence ("hinsa" or "himsa") is prohibited on this day. This includes shaving, hair-cutting, cutting of trees, plucking of fruits and flowers, cutting of crops and even, sexual union. Charity especially donation of cows, feeding of Brahmins, fasting are religious activities prescribed for Kartik Purnima. Giving gift of gold is said to fulfill all desires of people.
Tripuri Purnima is only next to Maha Shivaratri, amongst festivals dedicated to Shiva worship. To commemorate the killing of Tripurasura, images of Shiva are carried in procession. Temple complexes in southern India are lit up throughout the night. "Deepmalas" or towers of lights are illuminated in temples. People place 360 or 720 wicks in temples, to secure escape reaching hell after death. The 720 wicks symbolizes the 360 days and nights of the Hindu calendar. In Varanasi, the ghats come alive with thousands of diyas (brightly lit earthen lamps). People gift lamps to priests. The lamps are kept throughout the night in houses and Shiva temples. This day is also known as "Kartik Diparatna" - the jewel of lamps in Kartik. Lights are also floated in miniature boats in rivers. Lights are placed under Tulsi, Sacred fig and Amla trees. The lights in the water and under trees are believed to help fishes, insects and birds who saw the light to attain salvation.
In Telugu households of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karthika Maasalu (month) is considered very auspicious. The Kartika month starts on the day of Deepawali. From that day till the end of the month, oil lamps are lit every day. On Karthika Puranam (full moon of Kartheeka month) oil lamp with 365 wicks, prepared at home, are lit in Lord Shiva temples. Apart from that, Kartika Puranam is read and fasting is observed till sunset, every day for the whole month.
Swaminarayan Sampraday also celebrates this day with faith and fervor.
Boita Bandana.
In Odisha, on Kartik Purnima, people celebrate Boita Bandana (Odia: ବୋଇତ ବନ୍ଦାଣ boita bandāṇa) by heading for the nearest water body to set afloat miniature boats, originally made out of banana stem and coconut stick, lit with "Deepak" (lamps), fabric, betel leaves. "Boita" stands for boat or ship. The festival is a mass commemoration of the state's glorious maritime history when it was known as Kalinga and tradesmen and mariners known as sadhabas traveled on "boita"s to trade with distant island nations that share borders with the Bay of Bengal like Indonesia, Java, Sumatra and Bali.
Karthika Deepam.
In Tamil Nadu, Karthika Deepam is celebrated where the Purnima corresponds to the Krittika nakshatra. People light rows of lamps on their balconies. In Tiruvannamalai, a ten-day annual festival is held to celebrate Karthika Deepam.
Jainism.
Kartik Purnima is an important religious day for Jains who celebrate it by visiting Palitana a Jain pilgrimage centre. Thousands of Jain pilgrims flock to the foothills of Shatrunjay hills of Palitana taluka on the day of Kartik Purnima to undertake the auspicious yatra (journey). Also known as the Shri Shantrunjay Teerth Yatra, this walk is an important religious event in the life of a Jain devotee, who covers 216 km of rough mountainous terrain on foot to worship at the Lord Adinath temple atop the hill.
Considered to be a very auspicious day for Jains, the day also assumes more significance for the walk, as the hills, which are closed to the public during the four months of Chaturmas, are thrown open for the devotees on Kartik Purnima. The day of Kartik Purnima is very significant in Jainism. As devotees are kept away from worshipping their lord for four months of the monsoon season, the first day attracts the maximum number of devotees. Jains believe that Adinath, the first tirthankara, sanctified the hills by visiting it to deliver his first sermon. According to Jain texts, millions of sadhus and Sadhvis have attained salvation on these hills.
Sikhism.
Kartik Purnima is celebrated as Gurupurab or Prakash Parva of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the first Guru of the Sikhs. Bhai Gurdas Ji, Sikh Theologist within his Kabitt has testified that Guru Nanak was born on this day. This, it is known worldwide as Guru Nanak Jayanti and is also a public holiday in India.