This post was originally made in the Muslim Times by our Japan Editor: Mrs. Abida Rehman, in 2012. I have copied it in this post, to be able to put it in slide show again.

Original Post dated: August 2010

Italy has denied religious status to Islam. Politicians cited extremist (fundamentalist) imams, polygamy and failure to uphold women’s rights by Muslim immigrants as obstacles to recognizing Islam as an official religion in Italy.

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Until now, the government had earmarked 8 percent of income tax revenue for Italy’s established churches. The great majority of these funds go to the Catholic Church, although if they wish, individual tax payers may elect to give the money to charities and cultural projects instead.

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Islam is not an established religion in Italy and there is only one official mosque in the country, Rome’s Grand Mosque. Politicians from the ruling coalition cite radical imams, polygamy and failure to uphold women’s rights by Muslims immigrants as obstacles to recognising Islam as an official religion in Italy.

Until now, only the Catholic Church, Judaism and other established churches including Lutherans, Evangelists, Waldensians and 7th-day Adventists have received the income tax revenue from the Itallain government.

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