Sharia Police Roam Small City In Germany

"Sharia police" in Germany. More radicals roaming the streets of European cities. This time in Wuppertal- a small city in North Rhine-Westphalia.

A group of radical young Islamists has recently caused concern on the streets of a German city. The "Sharia police" have been observed trying to deter young Muslims from doing things like drinking or gambling.

Police in Wuppertal are seeking ways to stop the group of men who have been seen patrolling the area around the western city's main train station on several evenings recently. The bearded fundamentalists have declared the sleazy nightlife area of the city of 340,000 to be a "Sharia Controlled Zone."

The young men, who are followers of Salafism, a puritanical form of Islam, walked around the area in orange traffic safety vests with the words "Sharia police" written in English on the back.

They have also been observed distributing leaflets urging people to refrain from alcohol, drugs, gambling, attending concerts, watching pornography or visiting prostitutes.

The rest here.

But the government is striking back.  Apparently, the 33-year-old who is behind the patrols, though he claims they're not actually patrols, is Muslim convert, ex-firefighter Sven Lau aka Abu Adam.  More on that here.

West Java City To Force Women To Wear Hijab (Islamic Veil)

Indonesia, a supposedly moderate Islamic region, is slowly turning conservative. The island of Aceh went south a long time ago, but other Indonesian islands are following suit. Tasikmalaya (a city in the southeastern area of West Java famous for its Islamic religious schools), will now start enforcing a dress code for women, both Muslim and non-Muslim alike, and this will also include any visitors to the city.

“We are finalizing a city regulation so that [the 2009 Ordinance on Islamic-based Values of Community Life] can come into effect as soon as possible,” Tasikmalaya City Secretary Tio Indra Setiadi told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

“Hopefully, it will be finalized this month so it can be immediately promulgated.”
He said the city administration might need to establish a sharia police force to ensure enforcement because the National Police were not able to handle sharia violations.

Tio said the enforcement of the ordinance would be different from that in Aceh because cases would still go to existing courts.

“Law enforcement here will be different from that in Aceh. For example, there will be no canning. This ordinance is aimed more at educating people to live in an Islamic way,” he said.

No beating up violators? How civilized.
The ordinance includes fifteen other official taboos including:

"... corruption, prostitution and adultery, homosexuality, gambling, drinking alcohol, drug abuse, witchcraft, pornography, usury, thuggery, propagating cults and abortion."

City Council members claim they were not pressured by Islamic groups to pass the law. They did so because 99 percent of Tasikmalaya is Muslim, and they could care less about the one percent who are not Muslim.

"Non-Muslims account for only one percent”. “According to the regional administration law, we have the authority to determine our own administrative visions,” Ruhimat said.

West Java is culturally rich- I wonder how this ruling will effect tourism? I know if I was forced to wear a veil as a tourist, I'd scratch that country off my travel bucket list.