Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt

Fashion designer Susanne Kuemper established the Department of Fashion at Helwan University in Cairo. According to her, the most daring design ideas often come from her most strictly religious students. Ute Meinel reportsMore

Morocco has made itself one of the two biggest users of solar-generated electricity in the world. Not because it's the most environmentally-friendly solution but because it's the cheapest. John Laurenson reportsMore

Dear Dr Ghazala Irfan,

Since returning from a recent trip to Pakistan, I have been bewildered by the situations, images, and stark contrasts I encountered in your country. When I visited you in Lahore, I brought with me a Pakistani daily newspaper to show you what was causing my growing confusion. In this newspaper, an ultra-conservative epistle about Islamic dress codes on the opinions page was flanked by images of half-naked fashion models on the lifestyle pages.

"Well," you shrugged in response, "that just shows how divided our society is." But what is it like to live in a society that is so divided and torn apart?

I am currently busy sorting the notes I made in Pakistan; most of them relate to women and their lives. My notes ...More

The Tharwa Project is an independent initiative that seeks to foster better relations between minority groups and the majority population across the Arab World. Kristin Helberg interviewed Tharwa coordinator Ammar Abdulhamid in DamascusMore

Most Muslims in Germany pray in mosques that are hidden from view in old factory buildings and basements. The Muslim community would like that to change, but projects to build traditional mosques are often controversial. By Deanne CorbettMore

Christoph Luxenberg's book on the history of the origins of the Koran has found wide resonance internationally. But scholars of Islam are skeptical about the work. Michael Marx summarizes the results of a Berlin conference on the subject.More

This year's general election has highlighted Malaysia's acceptance of the ruling party's so-called "progressive" style of Islam. The election went ahead without incident, showing that the country's religious mix of Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism can be stomached. Ben Fajzullin reports from LangkawiMore

According to a study commissioned by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), anti-Semitic manifestations increased in five European countries in the years 2002 and 2003. Igal Avidan talks with EUMC director Beate Winkler about the study’s findings and recommendations.More

This year's Erasmus Prize, which is endowed with € 150,000, goes to Sadik Al-Azm, Fatema Mernissi and Abdulkarim Soroush. Martina Sabra spoke to laureate Al-Azm, who currently teaches in Antwerp, Belgium.More