The New Inquisition: Italy’s Right-Wing Unveils Neo-Colonial Law to Criminalise Islam
Rome’s Lega party weaponises state security to police the faith, language, and existence of its Muslim citizens.
While Western capitals continue to lecture the Global South on human rights and freedom of expression, the reality within Europe’s borders tells a vastly different story. Behind the veneer of liberal democracy, the imperial core is actively constructing an architecture of neo-colonial surveillance designed to criminalise, silence, and erase its own Muslim populations.
The latest manifestation of this systemic Islamophobia is unfolding in Italy, where the ruling right-wing currents are advancing a draconian legislative proposal that strips away the fundamental rights of religious minorities under the guise of “national security.”
The Architecture of Pre-Crime
Currently being examined in the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Italian Parliament, Draft Law 1385 is a flagship initiative of the right-wing Lega party, championed by representatives like Igor Iezzi and Riccardo Molinari. Masked by the deceptive rhetoric of “combating religious fundamentalism,” the bill is, in reality, a naked assault on the sovereignty of the Muslim faith in Italy.
The architects of this law are driven by a deep-seated demographic panic. Citing estimated statistics that Italy’s Muslim population will reach three million by 2030, the Lega party frames the mere existence and growth of the Muslim community as an inherent security threat. Rather than addressing actual criminality, the bill establishes a pre-crime inquisition. It mandates the intrusive recording of the number of worshippers, the auditing of mosque finances, the profiling of community assets, and the surveillance of the very principles taught within Islamic centers. It is a colonial policing mechanism designed to treat an entire religious demographic as a suspect class before a single crime has occurred.
State-Sponsored Thought Control
The most insidious provisions of Draft Law 1385 are found in Articles 1 and 2, which seek to establish a “National Registry of Imams and Preachers” under the direct control of the Ministry of Interior. Under this Orwellian framework, any individual whose name is not state-approved would be legally barred from leading congregational prayers or conducting religious rites.
To be registered, an imam must jump through a series of humiliating, state-mandated hoops: obtaining an Italian B1 language certificate, proving five years of continuous residency, and possessing no open judicial cases (even without proof of a crime). Most egregiously, the state demands an expression of loyalty and a “heartfelt sharing of the values of the Charter of Citizenship and Western integration.” This is not integration; it is ideological subjugation. The Italian state is demanding the authority to dictate who is permitted to speak to God on behalf of the community, effectively holding the theology of the Ummah hostage to Western secular dogma.
Erasing the Mosque and the Tyranny of the Majority
When it comes to the physical spaces of worship, the bill’s clauses are equally ruthless. Article 3 explicitly bans any sermon or speech delivered in a language other than Italian, threatening violators with exorbitant fines of up to 10,000 euros and the immediate closure of their place of worship. By outlawing Arabic or other native tongues in the pulpit, the state seeks to sever the linguistic and spiritual ties of Italian Muslims to the broader Islamic world.
Furthermore, the bill denies the inherent right to build a mosque. The construction, renovation, or change of use of Islamic centers is subjected to the approval of regional councils and, most appallingly, a “public referendum.” By officially holding religious freedom hostage to the prejudices and whims of the local majority, the Lega party has institutionalised the tyranny of the mob. The designers of the law deliberately link religious needs to the statistics of “resident foreign nationals,” intentionally framing Islam as an alien contagion to strip Italian-born Muslims of their inherent citizenship rights.
The Hypocrisy of the Imperial Core
Perhaps the most glaring hypocrisy of this legislative push is the Italian government’s own failure to uphold its legal and bilateral commitments. While Rome rushes to pass garrison-like laws to control the thought and faith of Muslims, it simultaneously stalls the legal recognition of reputable Islamic organisations such as COREIS and UCOII, despite their technical approval by the Council of State. The state has also inexplicably halted the review of changes to the statute of the Islamic Cultural Center of Rome (the Grand Mosque of Rome).
The ruling right-wingers have closed the doors of interaction, suspended dialogue councils, and replaced them with a surveillance state designed to police the minds of the faithful.
The Fear of Sumud
Draft Law 1385 is not merely a domestic Italian issue; it is a symptom of a dying Western hegemony that is terrified of the resilient, unbreakable identity of the Muslim Ummah. From the steadfastness (Sumud) of Gaza to the growing consciousness of Muslims in Europe, the empire realises that it can no longer conquer the hearts and minds of the oppressed through soft power alone.
As the American and European empires scramble to maintain their declining global dominance, they resort to authoritarian inquisitions at home. They can draft their 15-point capitulation plans for Gaza, and they can pass their inquisition laws in Rome, but they cannot legislate away the faith of the people. The Axis of Resistance and the global Muslim community remain a single, unbroken beat that no neo-colonial decree can ever silence.
Reference: ABNA24