In 2011, France was the first European country to enforce the Concealment Act which statesthat any type of face concealing clothing in the public sphere is banned. France is a memberof the European Union, and the right to freedom of thought, religion and conscience is one ofthe significant fundamental human rights. Thus, questions arise whether this legislationinterferes with the religious liberty of Muslim women. This research is evaluating how thecontemporary ban is related to religious liberty when accounting for the historicalbackground. The research addresses the continuous attempt of France, especially afterIslamic terror attacks, to restrict the Islamic clothing and assimilate the French andwesternized identity to Muslim women. The principle of laicite and France’s historicalbackground shows the country's strong separation of religion and state.

The freedom of speech, caricatures and satire, bans on veils and burning of the Koran have been reported and portrayed in different ways in several news media. The aim of this study was to analyze how the burnings of the Koran in Sweden are portrayed in Swedish media (Dagens Nyheter) compared to English-language Arabic media (Al Arabiya). With the framing theory and postcolonial theory as a theoretical basis, we asked the following research questions: What themes can be found in the reporting of the Koran burning in Dagens Nyheter and Al Arabyia? How is Sweden represented in the various news media? The analysis method we have used is qualitative thematic analysis. In the analysis, four themes emerged: Sweden's image, freedom of speech and blasphemy, Koran burners and demonstrations. Based on a postcolonial-, orientalist-, and occidentalist approach the results show that there was often an “us and them” feeling from both sides. It may also depend on which media logic is used in the various media newsrooms and which audience the media outlets are targeting.

The Quran burnings in Sweden have made international headlines and have taken its place as one of the most controversial happenings of the year 2023. Due to this, the phenomena have made its way into the political arena of Sweden, being widely discussed by the main political actors of the country. This study aims to analyze Magdalena Andersson (Social Democrats) and Jimmie Åkesson’s (Sweden Democrats) communication regarding the matter with the key objective to analyze the usage of Populism as well as Blame and responsibility when the two actors speak about the Quran crisis. The thesis main method will be a rhetorical analysis. The study found that both Andersson and Åkessons communication regarding the Quran burnings contains populistic traits. Andersson uses more blame in her communication and Åkesson more accountability. Åkesson does unlike Andersson not construct the Quran burnings themselves as a crisis, but rather the sequence of events the phenomena consequently started as such. Due to the results in how blame is communicated, recommended suggestions of further studies could be analyzing if the Swedish political communication has become more hostile by doing a comparative analysis on the present and previous years of political actors communicating.

Information influence from authoritarian states poses significant challenges for democracies all around the world. The projecting of strategic narratives has become a key-strategy in cross border influence. Utilizing the theoretical framework of strategic narratives, this study seeks to comprehend information influence in Russian state media. Specifically, how state-owned Sputnik portrays Sweden concerning the Quran burnings in the country during year 2023. With the use of a narrative analysis the study has investigated how the narratives were constructed and were able to identify recurring patterns in the news reporting. The strategic narratives that was found were (1) Sweden as an Islamophobic country, (2) Ridiculing of Sweden (3) Sweden as a divided country (4) Positive image of Russia (5) Sweden as a country in conflict (6) Sweden as a state in decline.

Year 2023 saw significant international attention on Sweden due to Quran burnings, with over 2 million posts and articles recorded. This event, reminiscent of the 2005 Muhammad cartoon controversy, emphasizes the need to study governmental crisis communication strategies. Our research aims to analyze Sweden's response and identify communication patterns for improvement. The purpose of our study is to, through qualitative content analysis and theories within crisis communication and framing, examine how the government figurated the Quran burnings in 2023 and attempt to identify patterns, changes, and areas for improvement in their communication. We opted for qualitative content analysis to dissect various text materials. This method enables careful examination and categorization of extensive text, deepening our understanding of the subject. Our study examines press releases, press conferences, and social media posts from 2023. The diverse selection allows for nuanced insights into governmental actions and responses, enhancing our analysis. Using a coding scheme, we systematically categorized the collected data, providing a comprehensive view of their approach. The government employed a combination of strategies and communicative measures to address the Quran burnings and their effects. Initially emphasizing the protection of the constitution as paramount, the government later shifted focus to combatting the portrayal of Sweden as incapable of handling such events. Following the Brussels terrorist attack, the messaging underscored the severity of the situation and the government's collaborative security measures, including legislative changes. Throughout the year, the government maintained a dual strategy of highlighting the seriousness of the situation while emphasizing constitutional protection. The study's findings offer insights into crisis communication and framing within the context of the Quran burnings in 2023. While specific to this case, they may inform similar crises for governments or organizations needing effective communication strategies to manage situations and build public trust.

Quran burning is a new phenomenon in Sweden first executed by Rasmus Paludan, the leader of a far-right, anti-immigrant political party - Stram Kurs. These burnings are still a subject of debates and cause a lot of controversy due to the vandalism caused by the local muslim protesters and because many muslims and non-muslims believe that it should be categorized as incitement of hatred against muslims. The purpose of this study is to illuminate how young muslims in Skania, Sweden, perceive the Quran burnings that are protected by the Swedish Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression. The purpose of this study is also to get a picture of how the burnings affect them and to show how this demonstration of freedom of speech affects their freedom of religion. Five semi structured interviews were done to conduct this study. The chosen relevant theories that were used were stigma, islamophobia, the argument from truth and the argument from autonomy. The most important findings of this study are that the interviewed young Swedish muslims believe that there is an error in the Swedish system where laws against incitement of hatred are only applied in some cases, but not other. And that the interviewees feel angry about the police protecting a man who is trying to provoke them by mocking them and their religion. They also question whether they belong in Sweden and are convinced that the Quran burnings will only cause further division in the society of which muslims are a large part of. Another problem that they pointed out is that the media uses the pictures of the vandalizing protesters to spread a negative image of muslims and Islam. Another finding is that the interviewed young Swedish muslims feel that the Quran burnings are a new and legitimate way for islamophobes to attack and offend them. They also feel, however, that their freedom of religion remains unaffected. The last finding is that based on the argument from truth and the argument from autonomy, the Quran burnings do not justify limiting the freedom of expression. The conclusion is that these islamophobic attacks in the form of Quran burnings are a consequence of a tribal stigma that, according to the interviewed young Swedish muslims, muslims in Sweden have to live with. This stigma can even be found in how the interviewed muslims feel the government and the media are treating them. Even if the Quran burnings don’t justify limiting freedom of expression, the problem remains that the interviewees feel that freedom of expression is being used against them. / <p>Mångfaldsstudier</p>

This diploma thesis attempts to explain the background of the origin of Islamic interest-free banking, where the first part of the thesis is devoted to the attitudes of ancient jurisdictions towards interest in the Old Testament and the Christian middle ages. It also tries to explain the basic principles of Islamic banking's functioning, the specific products it offers, and to show its position and practices in selected Muslim and European countries.

The purpose of this study is to examine and analyze the depiction of women in Quran from an Islamic feminist perspective. The questions that my study is based on are: How is the woman accounted in the Quran according to Islamic feminists? How do Muslim feminists argue and what do they base their reasoning on? My study is based on analyzes of the feminists’ works and statements. The results were analyzed with the help of different theories including Miriam Cookes “multiple critique”, Jan Hjärpes “The Islamic basket”, Jonathan Potters “methodological relativism” and Luckman &amp; Bergers “social construction of reality”. The main result of this study is that it highlights how different Islamic feminists interpret the Quran in relation to the present and how their interpretations have created debates internationally. I also discuss the importance of new interpretations and the globalization for Muslim women.

於人類社會，自最初的濟貧行為乃至當代國家主動介入實施的社會福利政策，宗教中關於慈善的價值觀點與其所施行之慈善行為長期發揮著重要的功能。然而，於全球化與經濟發展日趨緩和的情況下，吾人也面對著必須檢討與嘗試削減社會福利支出之難題。在這當中，宗教所提供的社會福利並未因此缺席，其價值觀也仍持續影響著部分福利政策。而本研究之宗旨即在於探討伊斯蘭教法下之社會福利思想，以《古蘭經》及《聖訓》為基礎，展開伊斯蘭教與當代社會福利政策間的對話。 本研究採經典文獻分析法，整理及分析伊斯蘭教的主要法源：《古蘭經》、《布哈里聖訓集》與《穆斯林聖訓集》三大全本，並以伊斯蘭傳統教法學分析其社會福利思想與措施，包含「宗教功修」、「家庭關係」與「繼承和經濟系統」，扒梳整理伊斯蘭教的特點，藉此理解伊斯蘭教如何因應所發生的社會問題，再與現代福利制度做對照比較，以提供另一種思維。期待藉由其與當代社會福利思維的對話，找出伊斯蘭教發展社會福利的艱困因素，並希冀從伊斯蘭教的觀點出發，析理出在今日社會下發展伊斯蘭教的社會福利模式的方法。 / To help the poor at the beginning to national social welfare policy, the value and practice of charity in religions play an important function in human societies. However, social welfare policy has to face to reduce and review due to globalization and slowing economic growth. Welfare of religions always exists and the value keeps taking effect on welfare policies. Therefore, the aim of this study is to discuss the thoughts of social welfare in sharia (Islamic law). Also, this study is the proceeding the dialogue with the interpretation bases on Quran and Hadith between Islam and contemporary social welfare. This study is based on documentary analysis. It sorts and analyzes the sources of law in Islam: Quran, Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. To analyze the thoughts and social welfare practices in Islam based on Fiqh, including al-ibadat, family relationship and the system of economic and inheritance. The study tries to recognize t the distinguishing characteristics in Islam and to understand how the Islam responses to social problems. It compares with contemporary social welfare system and provides the thinking of the other side. Also, it tries to find out the difficulties of social welfare developing in Islam world by dialogue with contemporary social welfare. At the end, t this study is based on the point of view in Islam to find the methods of developing social welfare in today’s Islam society.

The purpose of this bachelor thesis was to examine how traditional news media vis-à- vis alternative news media in Sweden portrayed the Quran burnings and the riots which followed during august in the summer of 2020. With the basis in framing theory and intermedia agenda setting we examined these research questions: How do the news papers frame the Quran burnings? What discourses are reproduced? How do the traditional news papers and the alternative news papers framing of the Quran burnings differ from each other?  The qualitative methods used in this bachelor thesis were Robert Entmans framing theory combined with Rens Vliegenthart &amp; Stefaan Walgraves intermedia agenda setting theory. Also, we used different theories regarding populism, clash of civilizations and freedom of speech in order to find various themes in the reporting. For instance, the study applies Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of the carnivalesque to examine how the alternative news paper Samnytt framed the Quran burnings.  Through examining news articles, we discovered several preexisting frames and some additional ones. The results showed that the traditional news papers framed the Quran burnings in a laconic way as an intolerant act against Muslims, while the alternative news papers framed the Quran burnings as a clash of civilizations and simultaneously as an act of freedom of speech. In relation to the alternative news papers overly dramatic and sensationalistic discourse, the traditional news papers discourse was more moderate. In this way the populist discourse in the alternative news media and their focus on the “man on the street” is an example of how the alternative news media defines itself as an opposition to the hegemonic “elite” news media institutions. In the alternative news papers, we also found one specific frame concerning anti-Semitism in Malmö, which was not given the same amount of attention by the traditional news papers.  The result of this study shows differences in framing, in line with previous research regarding alternative news media and populism, that could be an example of how the alternative news media is born and defines itself as an alternative to a narrative they deem wrong or lacking in traditional news media. This is primarily an effect of the fact that the traditional news papers lacked diversity in their interviewees since they mostly relied on authority sources, or in one case their own opinion piece writer, to tell the story. The results of this study highlights processes and effects that lies at the core of several phenomenon in this sphere, therefore it should be used to further the research on framing, alternative news media and populism. / <p>En kvalitativ analys av traditionella kontra alternativa nyhetsmediers gestaltning av koranbränningarna i Malmö 2020. </p>