Iran's Mohammad Reza Shajarian
Force of nature and symbol of freedom
Islam’s conscientious thinkers
People of reason vs. people of the hadith
Politics, Qatar and FIFA
Is criticism of Qatar's World Cup racist?
Afghanistan under the Taliban
"Girls continue to attend our schools"
Still from "The Voice of Dust and Ash" showing Mohammad Reza Shajarian, voice of the Iranian people.

Iran's Mohammad Reza Shajarian

Force of nature and symbol of freedom

"The Voice of Dust and Ash" draws us into the life and times of Iranian maestro Mohammad Reza Shajarian with passion and joy, focusing on the man who stood, and still stands, for a nation. By Richard MarcusRead more

Mohammad-Reza Shajarian: The master rebelMusic and power in Iran: An instrument of propaganda and controlObituary: Iranian singer Mohammad Reza Shajarian: The voice of the poets
Today’s Muslims have the right to look at this complex Islamic tradition not only with respect but also with critical reason, in order to find the best inspirations they can, to rearticulate Islam for a radically different millennium.

Islam’s conscientious thinkers

People of reason vs. people of the hadith

Past attempts to reconcile logic and belief within Islam tend to be dismissed today – not because they lack merit, but because they were politically defeated, argues Mustafa AkyolRead more

Reforming Islam: Islam′s path to modernityCritical Koran edition "Al-Mushaf wa Qiraʹatuh": Explosive potentialAlgerian scholar Said Djabelkhir: For a critical appraisal of Islamic lawIslamic reformer Mustafa Akyol: "Islam needs its own enlightenment"
Commentators from both inside and outside the Arabic-speaking world are asking why Qatar is being so harshly criticized, suggesting it has less to do with political issues and more to do with racism, Orientalism, even Islamophobia.

Politics, Qatar and FIFA

Is criticism of Qatar's World Cup racist?

Locals in the Middle East have said European critics are showing bias and hypocrisy when they condemn Qatar. Observers agree that Qatar has had to deal with more criticism than usual for a World Cup host. Cathrin Schaer and Emad Hassan ask whyRead more

Qatar and FIFA World Cup 2022: The limits of liberalisation2022 FIFA World Cup and human rights: Pointing the finger at Qatar's rulers is not enoughQantara dossier: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

Afghanistan under the Taliban

"Girls continue to attend our schools"

Education for girls and women is still possible in Afghanistan, says Reinhard Eroes of the Kinderhilfe Afghanistan initiative. In interview with Elisa Rheinheimer, he talks about skewed media portrayals, the great hunger gripping the country and why aid organisations should returnRead more

"The Lionesses of Afghanistan": No more 'white saviours', pleaseTaliban Afghanistan: Afghan girls attend "secret school"Negotiating with the Taliban for girls′ education: Treading carefully

Politics

World Cup fans from Ecuador holding "I love Qatar" placards (photo: dpa/picture-alliance)

Politics, Qatar and FIFA

Is criticism of Qatar's World Cup racist?

Locals in the Middle East have said European critics are showing bias and hypocrisy when they condemn Qatar. Observers agree that Qatar has had to deal with more criticism than usual for a World Cup host. Cathrin Schaer and Emad Hassan ask whyMore

Qatar and FIFA World Cup 2022: The limits of liberalisation2022 FIFA World Cup and human rights: Pointing the finger at Qatar's rulers is not enoughQantara dossier: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
The Pakistani city of Mingora, in the Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on the border with Afghanistan (photo: Abdul MAJEED/AFP)

Extortion and intimidation in Swat Valley

Pakistan Taliban racketeering hits borderlands

A lawmaker in Pakistan's rugged northwest was sipping tea with voters when his phone chirped to life – the Taliban were calling with a demand for 'donations'. "We hope you won't disappoint" read the chilling text from a shady go-between of the Pakistan chapter of the Islamists, known as Tehreek–e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)More

Terrorism in Pakistan: Afghan Taliban do little to stop Pakistan TalibanThe Swat Peace Accord in Pakistan: "A dangerous precedent"Pakistan at a crossroads: A people's uprising against the Taliban?
Arab fans in Doha ahead of the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar (photo: Dunja Ramadan)

Qatar 2022 and the Arab world

"It’s our World Cup"

In Doha, Arabs from Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria are gathering to celebrate the first ever FIFA World Cup to be held on Arab soil. The criticism from Europe? Over the top, they say. Dunja Ramadan reports from DohaMore

Lamya Kaddor on the Qatar World Cup: "Address problems, but acknowledge progress"Qatar and FIFA World Cup 2022: The limits of liberalisationSoft power and football: Qatar vs. UAE: The not-so-beautiful game
British-Egyptian human rights activist Alaa Abdel Fattah (photo: Mahmud Khaled/AFP/Getty Images)

COVID-19, COP27 and World Cup 2022

Crisis management in the Arab world

November 2022 sees the Arab world firmly in the spotlight with the COP27 in Egypt and the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Public trust in MENA governments is weak, thanks to their miserable record in protecting citizens’ rights, which leaves nations ill-equipped to handle complex crises like climate change or COVID-19. By Jan VoelkelMore

Arab states in crisis: The ruling classes' dereliction of dutyPolitical scientist Tobias Zumbraegel: How are Middle East countries coping with climate change?The Middle East's "Axis of Failure": Arab autocrats – ruining their own statesIslamic law: The trust deficit
more Politics »

Society

Reading the Koran (photo: Ulrike Hummel)

Islam’s conscientious thinkers

People of reason vs. people of the hadith

Past attempts to reconcile logic and belief within Islam tend to be dismissed today – not because they lack merit, but because they were politically defeated, argues Mustafa AkyolMore

Reforming Islam: Islam′s path to modernityCritical Koran edition "Al-Mushaf wa Qiraʹatuh": Explosive potentialAlgerian scholar Said Djabelkhir: For a critical appraisal of Islamic lawIslamic reformer Mustafa Akyol: "Islam needs its own enlightenment"
Year 12 girls' class in Afghanistan (photo: Kinderhilfe Afghanistan)

Afghanistan under the Taliban

"Girls continue to attend our schools"

Education for girls and women is still possible in Afghanistan, says Reinhard Eroes of the Kinderhilfe Afghanistan initiative. In interview with Elisa Rheinheimer, he talks about skewed media portrayals, the great hunger gripping the country and why aid organisations should returnMore

"The Lionesses of Afghanistan": No more 'white saviours', pleaseTaliban Afghanistan: Afghan girls attend "secret school"Negotiating with the Taliban for girls′ education: Treading carefully
Migrant builders take a break while working at a construction site by the Corniche in Doha during the World Cup (photo: CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP/File)

Qatar 2022

Migrant workers enjoy FIFA World Cup on the cheap

Shafeeq Saqafi paid $3 for the Argentina shirt he proudly wore when he sat with 15,000 other migrant workers in a hidden corner of Doha to watch Lionel Messi's side salvage their World CupMore

Politics, Qatar and FIFA: Is criticism of Qatar's World Cup racist?Qatar 2022 and the Arab world: "It’s our World Cup"Qatar and FIFA World Cup 2022: The limits of liberalisationQantara dossier: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
Cover of Gudrun Kramer's "Der Architekt des Islamismus. Hasan al-Banna und die Muslimbrüder" (published by C.H. Beck)

Hasan al-Banna and the Muslim Brotherhood

Who was the architect of Islamism?

Renowned scholar of Islamic Studies Gudrun Kramer has just published the first well-founded biography of Hasan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. Joseph Croitoru read the bookMore

Egyptian army and the Muslim Brotherhood: Competitors in commonMuslim Brotherhood texts: Once valued, now proscribedEgypt′s Muslim Brotherhood: The seed of violence
Canan Topcu in 1972 in Turkey, shortly before her migration to Germany. She stands beside her class teacher on the school grounds in Gemlik, south of Istanbul (photo: private)

Integration versus racism

I don't see myself as a victim

Canan Topcu came from Turkey to Germany as a child. In her essay, she describes how bothered she was by the racism she encountered in her country of origin when she travelled there recently. She describes her very personal take on identity, racism and exclusionMore

Integration in Germany: Finally growing upDaughters and Sons of Gastarbeiters writers′ collective: "When I go to Germany, I will buy a red tractor" 55 years of German-Turkish labour recruitment: Integration is a crossroadsWhat it means to be German: Recognise the potentialIslamisation, a racist conspiracy theory: The hatred of Hanau and its enablers
more Society »

Culture

Still from "The Voice of Dust and Ash" showing Mohammad Reza Shajarian, voice of the Iranian people (source: Matilda Productions)

Iran's Mohammad Reza Shajarian

Force of nature and symbol of freedom

"The Voice of Dust and Ash" draws us into the life and times of Iranian maestro Mohammad Reza Shajarian with passion and joy, focusing on the man who stood, and still stands, for a nation. By Richard MarcusMore

Mohammad-Reza Shajarian: The master rebelMusic and power in Iran: An instrument of propaganda and controlObituary: Iranian singer Mohammad Reza Shajarian: The voice of the poets
Adam, the main character, is played by Palestinian actor Tawfeek Barhom (source: Cannes Film Festival)

Cairo Conspiracy a.k.a. Boy From Heaven

Al-Azhar, a Catholic monastery...and the Dalai Lama

Palme d’Or winner "Boy from Heaven" is a classic crossover film in which cultural elements are mixed together in haphazard and random fashion. Shady Lewis Botros bemoans the director’s use of various formulaic and cliche-ridden templates dominant in global mass cultureMore

Cancelling "The Lady of Heaven": Why the fuss over the Prophet's daughter?The filming of Rumi: Everybody's darlingHollywoodʹs flirtation with 1001 Nights: The Aladdin controversy
Iranian actor Hengameh Ghaziani (source: Instagram)

Iran protests 2022

Female film stars show solidarity

In Iran, two famous actresses, Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi, were arrested recently. These days anyone who shows solidarity with the protesters is a target to be silenced. By Kevin TschierseMore

Protests in Iran: Arab women in solidarity with their Iranian sistersAsef Bayat on the Iran protests: "A movement to reclaim life"Golineh Atai's unsung heroines: In Iran, freedom is female
Turkish writer and journalist Nedim Turfent (source: English PEN)

Nedim Turfent’s freedom of speech

Beyond the walls of Van

Kurdish journalist Nedim Turfent has been in prison in Turkey since 2016 – because he reported on police violence. A collection of his writings penned while behind bars is now available in German. Gerrit Wustmann read the bookMore

The Turkish-Kurdish conflict: Friend and foeFreedom of the press in Turkey: Recep Tayyip Erdogan tightens the media thumbscrewsViolence against journalists increasing: Press freedom under fire in TurkeyCreeping authoritarianism: Turkeyʹs one man band
Scene from the play "The Queen Commanded Him to Forget" by Ofira Henig (photo: Peter Adamik)

Israeli director Ofira Henig

"We don’t give any answers, we ask questions"

A leading light of Israeli theatre, Ofir Henig has directed the Israel Festival and is the only female director to have been awarded the Israel Theatre Prize. These days, however, she rarely works in her home country. By Ceyda NurtschMore

Jaffaʹs Arabic-Hebrew theatre: Model for a democratic, secular IsraelThe West-Eastern Divan Orchestra: Consoling concertosLiraz Charhi’s "Roya": An Israeli-Iranian act of rebellion
more Culture »

Editor's picks

Egypt, Alaa Abd El-Fattah and democracy: "You have not yet been defeated"

Climate change in the Islamic world: Of infernal proportions

Southeast Asia: Autocratic versus democratic Islam

The "Azura" restaurant in Jerusalem: Cooking between the extremes

Refugees'...More

APPLY NOW: Germany's IPS Programme for Arabs 2023

The International Parliamentary Scholarship Programme for Arab (IPS) countries offered by the German Bundestag (closing date 15 December 2022) affords young and talented Arab graduates the opportunity to get to know the German parliamentary system.More

Qatar World Cup and Western double standards

A mural in Katara Cultural Village, Doha (photo: Francois Nel/Getty Images)

Ayman Mohyeldin from MSNBC asks: Is this truly about human rights, or is it that Western pundits can’t stomach the idea that an Arab Middle East country is hosting the World Cup?More

The people of Iran raise their voice

The protests that have shaken Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini are one of the boldest challenges to Iran's clerical leaders in decades, and they are gaining steam, frustrating the authorities who blame Iran's foreign enemies and their agents for orchestrating the disturbances.More

Iran protests: Graffiti from Tehran to Mexico City

Supporters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) hold a portrait of Iranian Mahsa Amini with an Arabic placard reading "Women are life. Life, don't kill life", during a protest against her death in Iran in Beirut on 9 October 2022

Iran protests: Graffiti from Tehran to Mexico City

Graffiti and protests in support of the women of Iran who have risen up against their oppressors are indicative of the solidarity felt by many around the globe. By Shabnam von Hein

Goethe Institute|Ruya: Focus on COP27

Focus COP27 (source: Ruya/Goethe Institut)

Ruya casts the spotlight on climate change, water pollution, overfishing and deforestation in MENA, examining the region's specific problems and existing initiatives to redress the balance.More

Iran's revolutionary feminist backlash

Demonstrators protest in solidarity in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin (photo: DW)

Controlling women's bodies has been a pillar of the Islamic Republic from its inception, writes Nader Hashemi.More

Carl Rommel's "Egypt’s Football Revolution"

Carl Rommel examines the politics of football as a space for ordinary Egyptians and state forces to negotiate masculine Egyptian chauvinism, demanding or preventing reform.More