Muslims in German political parties
The diversity trend
Music and power in Iran
An instrument of propaganda and control
Interview with M'Hammad Bennaboud
The Muslims and Jews of Tétouan
The Islamic faith
When Muslims renounce their faith

Muslims in German political parties

The diversity trend

In Germany, both the Greens and the Christian Democrats have had working groups for Muslim members for some time now. In February, the Social Democrats followed suit. Are these new groups really and truly different? Or are Germany's main political parties simply jumping on the diversity trend bandwagon? By Ulrike HummelRead more

Young Islam Conference: Interface between politics and society Muslims in Germany: The Future Chancellor-MakersChanging the orientation of Germany's Islam Conference: New agenda, same old faces

Interview with M'Hammad Bennaboud

The Muslims and Jews of Tétouan

M'Hammad Bennaboud is a historian who knows the Medina of Tétouan in Morocco inside out. He is also familiar with the great changes the city has undergone over the past hundred years. Nathalie Galesne spoke to him about the long history of Jewish–Muslim co-existence in the cityRead more

Interreligious Dialogue in Morocco: Peaceful Co-existence between Divine ReligionsIbn Rushd and Maimonides in ''Out of Córdoba'': The Muslim-Jewish Heritage of Islamic SpainThe Writer Edmond Amran El Maleh: A Moroccan Jew with Arabo-Berber RootsInterview with Simon Levi: "A Culture is Never Lost"

The Islamic faith

1

When Muslims renounce their faith

Fearing ostracism or even death, many former Muslims keep their lack of faith a secret. A German organisation offers support to people who choose to turn their back on Islam for whatever reason. By Naomi ConradRead more

The German Islam Scholar Lamya Kaddor: Why I as a Muslim Woman Don't Wear a Headscarf Afghan Convert Controversy: A Counter-Perspective on Apostasy in IslamQantara dossier: Islam in GermanyWebsite of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims (German only)

Politics

Members of the Working Group for Muslims in the SPD (photo: Hendrik Rauch)

Muslims in German political parties

The diversity trend

In Germany, both the Greens and the Christian Democrats have had working groups for Muslim members for some time now. In February, the Social Democrats followed suit. Are these new groups really and truly different? Or are Germany's main political parties simply jumping on the diversity trend bandwagon? By Ulrike HummelMore

Young Islam Conference: Interface between politics and society Muslims in Germany: The Future Chancellor-MakersChanging the orientation of Germany's Islam Conference: New agenda, same old faces
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan greets his supporters in Ankara on 31 March 2014 (photo: Reuters)

Erdogan and the Turkish presidential election

His toughest challenge yet?

Following the ruling AKP's success in March's local elections, attention is now focused on Turkey's presidential election in August. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is widely expected to stand. Dorian Jones considers what this would mean for the Turkish political system and for the countryMore

Eleven years of Erdogan: Hard times for the "champion" of political IslamLocal elections in Turkey: An erosion of Erdogan's legitimacyThe Erdogan administration: Turkey's paradigm shift
Yasmina Khadra (photo: Getty Images)

Interview with Yasmina Khadra

"The Algerian regime is pulling all the strings"

The renowned Algerian writer, Mohammed Moulessehoul, who goes by his pen name Yasmina Khadra, wanted to stand as an independent candidate for the presidency of Algeria. He funded his own campaign and criss-crossed the country seeking nomination. Unfortunately, he only managed to win the support of 43,000 people, 17,000 short of the minimum number needed to be able to contest the election. Regina Keil-Sagawe spoke to the author about his campaign and about the situation in AlgeriaMore

Presidential election in Algeria: Out with the old, in with the oldAlgeria and the Arab Spring: Opting for the Status Quo Rather than ExperimentationInterview with the Algerian Novelist Yasmina Khadra: "There Is a Life after Defeat"
Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika (right) inspecting a military guard in Algiers (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Presidential election in Algeria

Out with the old, in with the old

On 17 April, Algeria goes to the polls to elect a new president. However, it seems as if the new president will be the old one: Abdelaziz Bouteflika. But even though the outcome seems like a foregone conclusion, political resistance is forming. By Kersten KnippMore

Algerian Paralysis: Bouteflika's Uncertain Future Interview with Werner Ruf: "Algeria is a Thoroughly Corrupt Country"Literature and Collective Trauma in Algeria: Moving Beyond the Examination of History
more Politics »

Society

The Moroccan city of Tétouan (photo: public domain)

Interview with M'Hammad Bennaboud

The Muslims and Jews of Tétouan

M'Hammad Bennaboud is a historian who knows the Medina of Tétouan in Morocco inside out. He is also familiar with the great changes the city has undergone over the past hundred years. Nathalie Galesne spoke to him about the long history of Jewish–Muslim co-existence in the cityMore

Interreligious Dialogue in Morocco: Peaceful Co-existence between Divine ReligionsIbn Rushd and Maimonides in ''Out of Córdoba'': The Muslim-Jewish Heritage of Islamic SpainThe Writer Edmond Amran El Maleh: A Moroccan Jew with Arabo-Berber RootsInterview with Simon Levi: "A Culture is Never Lost"
The advertisement on a British bus claiming that "there is probably no God" was part of a campaign backed by the British Humanist Association (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

The Islamic faith

1

When Muslims renounce their faith

Fearing ostracism or even death, many former Muslims keep their lack of faith a secret. A German organisation offers support to people who choose to turn their back on Islam for whatever reason. By Naomi ConradMore

The German Islam Scholar Lamya Kaddor: Why I as a Muslim Woman Don't Wear a Headscarf Afghan Convert Controversy: A Counter-Perspective on Apostasy in IslamQantara dossier: Islam in GermanyWebsite of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims (German only)
Memorial service for Mayada Ashraf, who was killed recently in Cairo (photo: picture-alliance/AA)

Attacks on journalists in Egypt

Caught in the crossfire

Once again, a young woman journalist has been killed in Cairo, and once again, no one is being held responsible or brought to justice. Karim El-Gawhary reports from Cairo on the case of the murdered journalist Mayada AshrafMore

Al Jazeera journalists face terrorism charges: Egypt settles scores with Al JazeeraMedia in Egypt: Fall into Line or Switch OffInvestigations against a cloth puppet in Egypt: Theatre of the absurd
more Society »

Culture

Mohammad-Reza Shajarian (centre) performing on stage with the Shahnaz Ensemble in Dubai in February 2011 (photo: AP)

Music and power in Iran

An instrument of propaganda and control

In her essay, Maria Koomen examines the important role played by music in the history of Iran, in particular since the Islamic revolution of 1979More

Interview with Mohammad Reza Shajarian: ''Humanity Is What Art Is All About'' Ban on Western Music in Iran: Return to the Khomeini Era?Iranian musician Shahram Nazeri: The Persian nightingale and the flowers of hope
Sign and logo of the Hakawati bookshop in Amman (photo: Claudia Mende)

The Hakawati bookshop for children and young people in Amman

Huge appetite for exciting stories

Since opening ten years ago, the Hakawati bookshop in Amman has become an institution in the Jordanian capital. Nowhere else in the city offers such a wealth of books for children and young people. Claudia Mende took a look around this fascinating shopMore

The Egyptian Author Safaa Abdelmenem: "The Characters in My Novels Talk in Dialect"Islamic Children's Books: Integration through Early ReadingQantara dossier: Arabic literature
The British-Pakistani author Nadeem Aslam at lit.cologne in Cologne (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Interview with Nadeem Aslam

Shadows of the past

"The Blind Man's Garden" is the fourth novel to be published by the British–Pakistani author Nadeem Aslam. In this book, he returns to the days, weeks and months immediately following 9/11 and relates them from the perspective of a Pakistani family that is subsequently drawn into the ensuing war in Afghanistan. Claudia Kramatschek spoke to Aslam about his new novelMore

Book review: Nadeem Aslam's "The Wasted Vigil": Ravaged LandInterview with Nadeem Aslam: "Within Three or Four Years the Texture of Pakistani Life Changed"Nadeem Aslam's "Maps for Lost Lovers": A Cosmos of Traditionalist Muslim Migrants
more Culture »