STATE AND RELIGION

Bahraini blogger Mahmood reports that Bahrain has taken primary steps to separate Mosques from the state. He quotes the Islamic Affairs Ministry from the Gulf Daily News:

Mosques are places of worship and their religious sanctity should not be breached.

Meanwhile Omar of 'Iraq the Model' argues the demands of religious quarters that 'Islam has to be declared as the official religion of Iraq'. He cites example that in the 1st constitution written for a dominantly Muslim society there was no mention of Islam as the official religion of the state! This state established by the prophet Muhammad himself at Yethrib was named "Al-Madina" (which means "The City") and was based on a kind of civil governance free from coercion or oppression.