President Sisi, the Grand Imam and Al-Azhar
Egypt’s eternal conundrum – reforming religious thought
The grim legacy of the Yugoslav Wars
Reflecting on Srebrenica – genocide denial concerns us all
No end to conflict on the Hindu Kush?
Islamic State threatens long-term peace in Afghanistan
Fourth Brussels Syria Conference
After nine years of war, who is helping the Syrians?

President Sisi, the Grand Imam and Al-Azhar

Egypt’s eternal conundrum – reforming religious thought

How long can Al-Azhar University mount guard over orthodox Islamic learning, fending off Sisi’s attempt to assert control while also curtailing the influence of oil-rich Gulf states? By Muhammed Nafih WafyRead more

President Sisi and Al-Azhar: Wresting religious authority from the Grand ImamIslam, Al-Azhar and the terrorists′ ideology: If the cap fitsInterview with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar University: "What the Islamist armed movements are doing is wrong"

The grim legacy of the Yugoslav Wars

Reflecting on Srebrenica – genocide denial concerns us all

Protecting the truth from deniers and serving justice for victims of the Srebrenica genocide is our best bet to prevent genocides from occurring again, writes Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Dunja MijatovicRead more

Politics of remembrance: Cracks in the edifice?Islam in Bosnia: ''We belong to the West, culturally and mentally''The rise of right-wing populism in Europe: A continent divided

No end to conflict on the Hindu Kush?

Islamic State threatens long-term peace in Afghanistan

A recent surge in attacks by Islamic State Khorasan Province in Afghanistan, claimed or otherwise, suggests the terrorist group is intent on disrupting any long-term peace initiatives between Kabul and the Taliban. By Emran FerozRead more

Negotiating peace with the Taliban: Any deal will doAfghanistanʹs political future: Is peace with the Taliban possible?U.S.-Taliban peace deal: Bleak days in Afghanistan

Fourth Brussels Syria Conference

After nine years of war, who is helping the Syrians?

Twelve million Syrians are dependent on humanitarian aid, a sombre figure that conceals much suffering and high costs, of which Europe bears 80%. With an aid shortfall looming, the EU is mobilising donations and counting on civil society. Christian Hanelt argues that Brussels must take a stronger stance politically if the suffering is to stopRead more

Ending the civil war: For a different SyriaThe destruction of Idlib: "I'd rather suffer bombs than Assad"Fighting for democracy and a free Syria: "Ideas cannot be killed with weapons" – remembering Raed Fares

Politics

Syymbolic image of the threat to peace in Afghanistan; suicide attack in Kabul, August 2019 (photo: AFP/W. Kohsar)

No end to conflict on the Hindu Kush?

Islamic State threatens long-term peace in Afghanistan

A recent surge in attacks by Islamic State Khorasan Province in Afghanistan, claimed or otherwise, suggests the terrorist group is intent on disrupting any long-term peace initiatives between Kabul and the Taliban. By Emran FerozMore

Negotiating peace with the Taliban: Any deal will doAfghanistanʹs political future: Is peace with the Taliban possible?U.S.-Taliban peace deal: Bleak days in Afghanistan
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/Council of Europe/S. Weltin)

The grim legacy of the Yugoslav Wars

Reflecting on Srebrenica – genocide denial concerns us all

Protecting the truth from deniers and serving justice for victims of the Srebrenica genocide is our best bet to prevent genocides from occurring again, writes Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Dunja MijatovicMore

Politics of remembrance: Cracks in the edifice?Islam in Bosnia: ''We belong to the West, culturally and mentally''The rise of right-wing populism in Europe: A continent divided
A Pakistani soldier collects information from an Ahmadi Muslim resident (photo: Getty Images/A. Ali)

Endemic anti-Ahmadiyya discrimination

Pakistan's "Commission for Minorities" without the Ahmadis

Pakistan’s conduct towards the Ahmadis and its obsession with religious identity is symptomatic of the radicalisation of society that permeates all areas of life and is reflected in the laws of the land, says Mohammad LuqmanMore

Human rights in the Islamic world: Battle cry "blasphemy"U.S. panel urges commitments from Pakistan on religious freedomThe Ahmadiyya community in Germany: Admonitions from the Caliph
A UN aid convoy arrives in northern Syria (photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Fourth Brussels Syria Conference

After nine years of war, who is helping the Syrians?

Twelve million Syrians are dependent on humanitarian aid, a sombre figure that conceals much suffering and high costs, of which Europe bears 80%. With an aid shortfall looming, the EU is mobilising donations and counting on civil society. Christian Hanelt argues that Brussels must take a stronger stance politically if the suffering is to stopMore

Ending the civil war: For a different SyriaThe destruction of Idlib: "I'd rather suffer bombs than Assad"Fighting for democracy and a free Syria: "Ideas cannot be killed with weapons" – remembering Raed Fares
more Politics »

Society

Grand imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb addressing the Al-Azhar International Conference on Renovation of Islamic Thought (photo: Al-Azhar Alumni UK; https://www.facebook.com/pg/WAAGUK/photos/?ref=page_internal)

President Sisi, the Grand Imam and Al-Azhar

Egypt’s eternal conundrum – reforming religious thought

How long can Al-Azhar University mount guard over orthodox Islamic learning, fending off Sisi’s attempt to assert control while also curtailing the influence of oil-rich Gulf states? By Muhammed Nafih WafyMore

President Sisi and Al-Azhar: Wresting religious authority from the Grand ImamIslam, Al-Azhar and the terrorists′ ideology: If the cap fitsInterview with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar University: "What the Islamist armed movements are doing is wrong"
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, one of the speakers at Festival Lavaro in Italy in 2019 (photo: Zumapress/picture-alliance)

Interview with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi

"Ruhollah Zam's death sentence is a political judgement"

The death sentence against journalist Ruhollah Zam in Iran has been criticised worldwide. Iran has said it will not accept any interference in its "internal affairs". Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi takes Tehran to task over the matter. Interview by Shabnam von HeinMore

Foreign academics risk arrest in Iran: Tehran's new hostage policyQantara photo essay: Iran's female political prisonersIran upholds five-year jail sentence for French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah
Cover of Mikhal Dekel's "Tehran Children" and the author herself (source: W.W. Norton & Company/Twitter)

Non-fiction: Mikhal Dekel's "Tehran Children"

The Jews who fled Nazi Germany to finally end up in Iran

Mikhal Dekel’s father was part of a contingent of Jewish children who went on an odyssey from Poland to Iran as a result of the Holocaust. Dekel has now written a book exploring the story of the "Tehran Children". By Daniel WalterMore

The Islamic Republicʹs Jewish minority: Celebrating Sabbath in IranUneasiness among Iran's Jews: The dilemma of Choosing between integration and emigration″Haymatloz″ – a film documentary: How Ataturk rescued the Jews
Demonstration against racism in Tunisia (photo: Getty Images/AFP/F. Belaid)

Black Lives Matter in Egypt

The controversy surrounding racism – are Arabs racist?

The Arab world suffers from a system in which people are intolerant of "the other". This racist environment contributes to the growth of hostility and antagonism towards anyone who differs from our sense of what is "normal" or "conventional". By Khaled al-KhamissiMore

Human rights and civil society in North Africa: Tunisia joins George Floyd protests to say 'no' to racismEmancipation and music: Black Tunisiansʹ bitter heritageInterview with Bakary Sambe: ''In the Arab World, we Africans are viewed as inferior Muslims''
more Society »

Culture

Concert given by the Morgenland All Star Band (photo: Andy Spyra/laif)

16th Morgenland Festival Osnabruck

A virtual journey of sound across the Balkans

As a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic, the Osnabruck Morgenland Festival took place via YouTube for the first time – transporting us to new cultural regions through music. Marian Brehmer attended several of the virtual concertsMore

Online edition of 16th Morgenland Festival Osnabruck on YouTubeInterview with Michael Dreyer of the Osnabruck Morgenland Festival: A hub connecting the Orient and the OccidentMorgenland Festival Osnabruck 2016: From the Balkans to the Levant
Franco-Moroccan band Bab L'Bluz (photo: Bab L'Bluz)

Album review: Bab L'Bluz's "Nayda"

Rocking the gateway to the desert

The Franco-Moroccan band Bab L'Bluz has named their debut CD "Nayda!" after the musical youth movement. Stefan Franzen introduces the unique music comboMore

Gnawa World Music Festival in Essaouira: A kind of "Moroccan Woodstock"Album review: Imarhanʹs "Temet": Keeping it realThe master musicians of Joujouka: The faded myth of the goat-God
Forough Farrokhzad, "Poem about love", by Michael Ghahari (graphic design) based on Majid Mehdizadeh's calligraphy (photo: Michael Ghahari/Majid Mehdizadeh)

Book review: Kurt Scharf's "Halt aus in der Nacht bis zum Wein"

A window on modern Iranian poetry

Iran’s contemporary poets are less well known in Germany than the old Persian classics. Kurt Scharf has now translated 32 of them into German. Marian Brehmer dipped into the anthologyMore

Goethe and the Orient: Why did the poet's mind wander to far-off climes?Interview with the Iranian writer Abbas Maroufi: ″Self-censorship is the worst″The "Green Memories" project of Forough Farrokhzad: Desperation and hope set to music
Turkish TV series" Suleyman the Magnificent" (photo: imago/Seskim Photo)

Islamic popular culture

A match for Bollywood – the rise of Turkey's dizis

Turkey is the second-largest exporter of TV series in the world, boasting a growing presence on international screens from Pakistan to Chile. The "dizis" offer audiences an elaborately staged alternative to Hollywood and Bollywood. Marian Brehmer reports from IstanbulMore

Pakistanʹs premier Imran Khan: Playboy turned politicianErdogan and Turkish foreign policy: Neo-Ottoman rumblingsReligion and media in Turkey: Reviving Sufism with Yunus Emre
more Culture »

In brief

More

Most Recent Photo Essay

Architectural milestone: in 532, Roman Emperor Justinian ordered the construction of an awe-inspiring church in his residence Constantinople – "one that has never existed since Adam's time, and one that will never exist again". Roughly 10,000 workers were involved in the construction work. For a millennium, the Bosphorus basilica remained Christendom’s biggest church

Museum, church or mosque? The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul

The Hagia Sophia, with its massive dome and four minarets, is nearly 1,500 years old. Turkey's top court has now paved the way for the museum to be converted back into a mosque. By Klaus Dahmann

Islam’s anti-racist message from the 7th century still resonates today

Pilgrims gather on Mount Arafat near Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on 20.08.2018 (photo: Getty Images/AFP/A. Al Rubaye)

One day, in Mecca, the Prophet Muhammad dropped a bombshell on his followers: he told them that all people are created equal.More

Faith leaders call to keep EU's religious freedom envoy

Pinchas Goldschmidt, President of the European Conference of Rabbis (photo: Getty Images/H. Foerster)

Christian, Jewish and Muslim representatives have criticised the European Union's decision to drop its special envoy for religious freedom. A leading Jewish figure called it "the wrong signal for Europe."More

Israel's contentious annexation plan for the West Bank

.Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the West Bank settlements "an integral part of the historic Jewish homeland." Palestinians say the plan is an "existential threat" and have threatened to respond with their own measures.More

Where’s the beef? Lebanon’s currency crash puts desperation on the menu

Cropped section of Manakish zaatar (photo: Serge Melki/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0))

Meatless meals are another example of the fraught calculus that has become daily life for most Lebanese, as they face a crumbling economy, dwindling savings and a political class seemingly intent on stopping reform and beggaring the country.More

Egypt: a state serving the military

The Egyptian flag on the uniform of an Egyptian paratrooper (photo: Mike Pryor/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain)

Since the coup of 2013, there has been a process of structural change within the Egyptian state, where civilian institutions have fallen under the sway of the security apparatus.More

Researcher Adrian Zens defends Chinese Uighur birth control expose

 

Forced sterilisation has led to a steep decline in birth rates among China’s Uighur community, claims researcher Adrian Zens. A senior fellow at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, Zens says he based his report on Chinese government documents, family planning documents, reports and witness testimonies, describing the policy as "drastic, horrific and unprecedented".More

UAE author Ahmed Mansoor made honorary member of PEN

UAE author Ahmed Mansoor (photo: Martin Ennals Foundation)

Germany's PEN has appointed blogger, poet and human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor, imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates since March 2017, as an honorary member and is demanding his unconditional and immediate release. Mansoor is one of the few independent voices to have publicly denounced human rights violations in the country.More

Egypt's culinary history: what have Egyptians been eating for the last 7000 years?

RAWI (source: Facebook)

In the tenth issue of its online magazine. RAWI – Egypt's Heritage Review – delves into Egypt's fascinating culinary past, while also dishing up a few contemporary treats.More