Phenomenology is “arguably the most influential approach to the study of religion in the twentieth century.” (Partridge) The term is first found in the title of the work of the influential philosopher of German Idealism, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, entitled The Phenomenology of Spirit. In 2007, a study by the Integrationsverket government agency showed that 55% of respondents among the population of Sweden expressed reservations about moving to districts where many Muslims live. In 2006, a survey by the SOM Institute showed that half the Swedish population was negative towards Islam, where 7% expressed a positive attitude, 40% were undecided and 53% were negative. In the last SOM survey in 2016 by Gothenburg University, the perception of Islam among the public had become more negative. The report stated that “The question seems to arouse strong feelings against oppression versus the right to wear the clothes you want.” The poll showed a slight increase in acceptance for the public wearing of veils. The poll showed that 48% were positive towards Christianity, the most positively rated religion. According to a 2018 poll by Sifo, 60% of the 1000 participants wanted to ban the Islamic call to prayer using loudspeakers, while 21% responded they should be allowed and 19% were undecided.

In the 2000s, according to Europol, Islamists in Sweden were not primarily seeking to commit attacks in Sweden, but were rather using Sweden as a base of operations against other countries and for providing logistical support for groups abroad. Headmaster Hassan Meri immatriculated children to the school and received funding from the Jönköping Municipality but sent the pupils to school in their home countries instead, keeping the difference. The Al-Azhar school also caused controversy in 2016 when its school in Vällingby had gender segregated gym classes for children. In 2017, the Swedish National Board of Student Aid (CSN) eased its longtime grants and loans to students going to Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia, a religious school for missionaries proselytising the wahhabist variant of Islam. In December 2017, 30-year-old Alftaf Yasin Tarid, a KTH Royal Institute of Technology alumn who was born in Iraq, travelled on a flight from Stockholm to Schiphol and he was later arrested when travelling in a car in Rotterdam after meeting other individuals. Once Shaw is dealt with, Brian, Mia and Jack can finally settle down to a life without car chases or insane heists. In Judeo-Christian tradition, the story of the fiery furnace shows just what can happen when you inject God into a tale of martyrdom.

As the people of God, we believe the word of God can be trusted in every way to speak what is true, command what is right, and provide us with what is good. According to the Swedish Defence University, most of these militants were affiliated with the Islamic State, with around 300 people traveling to Syria and Iraq to join the group and Al-Qaeda associated outfits like Jabhat al-Nusra in the 2012-2017 period. According to the Swedish Defence University, since the 1970s, a number of residents of Sweden have been implicated in providing logistical and financial support to or joining various foreign-based transnational Islamic militant groups. The Danish Security and Intelligence Service judged the number of jihadis in Sweden to be a threat against Denmark since two terrorists arriving from Sweden had already been sentenced in the 2010 Copenhagen terror plot. In 2017, Swedish Security Service director Anders Thornberg stated that the number of violent Islamic extremists residing in Sweden to number was estimated to be “thousands”. In 2017, the school received a 500 000 SEK fine from the Swedish Schools Inspectorate due to deficiencies in its teaching practises.

Boys and girls are segregated into groups along gender lines for several subjects due to religious reasons. And if regions are experiencing drought due to climate change, isn’t effort better spent tackling the causes of global warming? As religion a few decades earlier was viewed as receding phenomenon, during the decade leading up to 2016 religion was again in the mainstream discourse due to international conflicts being interpreted in religious terms. In 2017 the school wanted to fire the chairman of Al-Risalah Scandinavian Foundation, the foundation that funds the school, due to him not being able to be present for meetings. This rule applies to other OIC meetings as well. Ahimsa also applies to speaking, as one’s words can cause harm and suffering. Muslims began entering the country on work visas, and Belgium offered a liberal family unity program that helped the Muslim population grow significantly. This week’s National Secular Society e-newsletter quotes Irish writer Jennifer Johnston saying, “Personally I think that religion should be abolished and I think when you look around we’re doing not too bad a job of it in this country at the moment. It is also stressed that Muslims should not integrate into wider Swedish society.