Secularism under fire: Nigeria’s courts, U.S. schools. And Arab heritage in Islam.

No images? Click here [link removed]

Welcome to This Week’s Dispatch

This week brings a sobering look at the global state of secularism. In a landmark move, the ECOWAS Court of Justice ruled that Nigeria’s Kano State blasphemy laws—laws that allow for the death penalty for “insulting Islam”—violate international human rights. But even in victory, there’s frustration: Kano State refuses to comply, and enforcement remains unclear. Meanwhile, theocratic impulses grow stronger in Nigeria’s Jigawa State, where a hijab directive for women security guards flirts with compulsion. And in the U.S., the Supreme Court is set to hear cases that could erode the wall between church and state further, including one about public funding for an explicitly Catholic charter school. EXMNA Insights discusses Arab American Heritage Month.

Unbelief Brief

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a union which consists of a dozen West African countries including Nigeria, has issued a ruling via its Court of Justice against the blasphemy law [[link removed]] of Nigeria’s Kano State, which prescribes the death penalty for insulting Islam. The court expressed the opinion that Nigeria’s blasphemy laws must be either struck down or revised, since in their current form, they are “against Nigeria’s international human rights commitments.” This represents a remarkable legal verdict against blasphemy legislation at a time when such laws frequently seem untouchable in the Islamic world. Unfortunately (but predictably), Kano State has refused to comply [[link removed]] with the ruling, and what power the ECOWAS Court of Justice has to enforce it is murky at best.

Indeed, the forces of theocracy in Nigeria still remain influential, as evidenced by a new directive from the state of Jigawa, which, like Kano, lies in the country’s Muslim-majority northern region. According to [[link removed]] the State Commissioner of Information, Youth Sports and Culture, the “state government has directed three private security firms operating in the state to allow their female workers to wear hijabs while on duty.” However, some Nigerian media outlets have reported [[link removed]] that the directive goes a step further and mandates compulsory hijab for women security guards. It seems likeliest that this is a misinterpretation of the original statement. While both of these scenarios represent an exceeding level of comfort with religion in public life, a mandate—even if applied only to Muslim women—would be a particularly disturbing manifestation of theocracy.

Finally: in the United States, the Supreme Court—which, in its current iteration, has been very friendly to Christian groups seeking to tear down barriers between church and state—is set to hear a case [[link removed]] which will decide if an explicitly Catholic charter school can open with government funding and support in Oklahoma. American Atheists has rightly filed an amicus brief [[link removed]] in the case “urging the Court to uphold longstanding precedent to protect secular public schools in the United States.” They have also filed a similar brief in a second case which “will decide if it is a violation of parents’ rights for public schools to not provide an opportunity for them to opt their children out of lessons that they may have a religious objection to.” A longer piece from Vox about the Oklahoma “charter school” case can be found here [[link removed]].

EXMNA Insights

Commemorating Arab American Heritage Month: Reckoning with the Cultural Colonialism of Arab Supremacy in Islam

April marks Arab American Heritage Month [[link removed]] in the United States, an opportunity to celebrate the diverse contributions of Arab Americans. But commemoration must also allow space for critical reflection—particularly on the legacy of Arab cultural hegemony within the global Muslim community. While colonialism is often understood as Western imperialism, Arabs themselves have historically engaged in forms of cultural and social colonialism, especially through Islam’s expansion and the prioritization of Arab norms as a standard for religious piety.

Across much of the Muslim world, Arab culture has been elevated as the authentic expression of Islam, while the indigenous customs of non-Arab Muslims have been dismissed as inferior or heretical. This is especially evident in South Asia, where Muslim communities often shed regional languages, dress, and customs in favor of what is perceived as more "Islamic" Arab alternatives. South Asian women increasingly adopt Arab garments like the abaya or jilbab, forsaking local dress. Common expressions like “jazakallah” replace “shukriya,” and terms such as “Allah Hafiz” supplant “Khuda Hafiz”—a shift rooted in the rejection of “Khuda” as insufficiently monotheistic, despite its Persian roots and usage by generations of Muslims.

This pursuit of piety through Arab mimicry often overlooks the irony that Arab Islam itself is deeply infused with pre-Islamic and polytheistic practices. The Hajj, Islam’s most sacred ritual, includes symbolic acts with roots in pagan traditions, such as circling the Kaaba—a shrine that once housed idols. Belief in jinns, spirit possession, and the evil eye are all holdovers from pre-Islamic Arabian folklore. Even the word “Allah” predates Islam and was used by polytheists and continues to be used by Arab Christians and Jews alike.

By uncritically aligning religious authenticity with Arab culture, non-Arab Muslims not only erase their own rich cultural heritages, but also ignore the layered, syncretic reality of Islamic history. This April, as we recognize Arab American heritage, we should also examine how Arab cultural dominance continues to shape—and sometimes distort—how Islam is practiced, understood, and policed in non-Arab societies.

Until next week,

The Team at Ex-Muslims of North America

P.S. We’d love to hear from you! Share your feedback at [email protected].

make a contribution [[link removed]]

Whether it’s giving $5 or $500, help us fight for a future where all are free to follow their conscience.

get to know more about our mission [[link removed]]

[[link removed]] Share [link removed] Tweet [link removed] Share [[link removed]] Forward [link removed]

© 2024 Ex-Muslims of North America. All rights reserved.

Read EXMNA's Privacy Policy [[link removed]] here

You're receiving this because you've subscribed to EXMNA for regular updates and insights. If you no longer wish to receive our emails, you can unsubscribe below.

Preferences [link removed] | Unsubscribe [link removed]