Islam Net is a

Salafi The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...

Islamic organisation in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, founded by Pakistani-Norwegian engineering student Fahad Qureshi in 2008. It has local chapters in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Akershus Akershus () is a traditional region and current electoral district in Norway, with Oslo as its main city and traditional capital. It is named after the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. From the middle ages to 1919, Akershus was a fief and main county ...

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

and

Bodø Bodø (; smj, Bådåddjo, sv, Bodö) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø (which is also the capital of Nordland count ...

, and is initiating a fifth in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

. By 2011, the organisation had more than 1,400 paying members, centred on

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...

s. The organisation is under the surveillance of

Norwegian Police Security Service The Norwegian Police Security Service (, ) is the police security agency of Norway. The agency was previously known as ''POT'' (' or Police Surveillance Agency), the name change was decided by the Parliament of Norway on 2 June 2001. History an ...

(PST).

Activities

In 2010, Islam Net set out a "missionary expedition" to

Nordkapp ), North Cape, Norway, other uses, North Cape (disambiguation) Nordkapp ( en, North Cape; sme, Davvinjárga or ; fkv, Kappa or ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town o ...

Finnmarksvidda Finnmarksvidda ( sme, Finnmárkkoduottar; en, Finnmark plateau/highland) is Norway's largest plateau, with an area greater than . The plateau lies about above sea level. Approximately 36% of Finnmark lies on the Finnmarksvidda. Geography Fr ...

and

Hammerfest Hammerfest (; sme, Hámmerfeasta ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. Hammerfest is the northernmost town in the world with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hammerfe ...

, in order to "spread the message of the prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

" and solve misunderstandings about Islam. Several Norwegians have converted to Islam at their meetings, and it runs a school in Oslo for new converts to Islam. Islam Net has received support for this position by the Muslim Student Society (''Muslimsk Studentsamfunn'') and Young Muslim (''Ung Muslim''). In 2010, the

Oslo University College Oslo University College ( no, Høgskolen i Oslo; HiO) was the largest state university college in Norway from 1994 to 2011, with more than 18,000 students and approximately 1800 employees.

denied Islam Net free use of its rooms due to their position on hosting such meetings, but they have gotten the permission back as they have held events there afterward. Islam Net student has not been allowed to register as a student association at the University of Oslo due to its gender segregated practices and attitudes towards others' religious beliefs and sexual orientation. On January 8, 2015, after the massacre of the ''Charlie Hebdo'' magazine in France, Qureshi, after condemning the attacks, tore apart a drawing from the magazine, stating that while Muslims do condemn the attacks, the magazine had abused freedom of speech to engage in the bullying and harassment of Muslims by mocking the Prophet

and depicting muslims and particularly Arab muslims in a racist manner. Islam Net has extensive advertising on Facebook that encourages muslims to donate for their cause. Islam Net has been accused by Norwegian Muslim politicians Abid Q Raja and

Akhtar Chaudhry Haque Nawaz Akhtar Chaudhry (born 23 July 1961) is a Pakistani-Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party and 4th Vice President (deputy speaker) of the Norwegian parliament from 2009 to 2013. He came to Norway from Pakistan in 1982. Cha ...

, respectively, of taking Norway "into a dangerous direction" and "deliver ng extreme interpretations of Islam."

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Official website
2008 establishments in Norway Islamic organizations established in 2008