Fethi Benslama on the radicalisation of young Muslims
Islamic civilisation and its discontents
Waste separation and recycling in Morocco
Morocco's recycling pioneers
Interview with Turkish writer Aslı Erdoğan
"It's my country too"
Book review: Henner Fürtig on Iran
Through Realpolitik-tinted glasses

Book review: Fethi Benslama's book on the radicalisation of young Muslims

Islamic civilisation and its discontents

In his new book, recently published in German as "Der Übermuslim" (The Super-Muslim), the French-Tunisian psychoanalyst Fethi Benslama explores what drives young people to become radicalised. He concludes that they seek meaning, stability, orientation and identity in radical Islamism. By Herbert CsefRead more

Hamza Meddeb on the "No Future" generation: Tunisia's ticking time bombFrench Muslims against radicalisation: Fight the good fightQantara dossier: Radicalisation

Waste separation and recycling in Morocco

Morocco's recycling pioneers

Morocco is exemplary in North Africa for its role in promoting the use of renewable energy such as wind and solar power. However, just like its neighbours, the country has a major problem with waste. A co-operative based just outside the capital has set out to change things. By Alexander Göbel in RabatRead more

Recycle Beirut and Lebanon′s rubbish crisis: Green awakeningsIslam and environmental protection: Embracing a greener RamadanEco-Islam pioneer Fazlun Khalid: "Allah does not love the wasters"Islam, environment and sustainability: "The environmental crisis is also a spiritual crisis"

Interview with Turkish writer Aslı Erdoğan

"It's my country too"

Celebrated Turkish novelist Aslı Erdoğan was imprisoned for four months in Turkey last year. Despite the awful experience and the pressure being exerted on her, she refuses to be cowed. Writing, she says, is a responsibility. Interview conducted by Ceyda NurtschRead more

Freedom of speech in Turkey: Journalists under siegeKemal Kiliçdaroğlu's "Justice March": Turkey's emboldened oppositionFreedom of expression in Turkey: Academics on the run

Book review: Henner Fürtig on Iran

Through Realpolitik-tinted glasses

In his book "Großmacht Iran – Der Gottesstaat wird Global Player" (Iran: a major power – from theocracy to global player), Henner Fürtig, director of the GIGA Institute for Middle Eastern Studies, predicts a promising future for the Islamic Republic of Iran as the most important regional power in the Middle East. Miriam Abdollahi read the bookRead more

Interview with Iranian dissident Abolhassan Banisadr: Selling the revolution onSunnis in Iran: The Zahedan networkWomen's rights in Iran: Freedom by stealth – and its public impactIran's female political prisoners

Politics

Iranians walk past the Khomeini Mausoleum in Tehran (photo: picture-alliance)

Book review: Henner Fürtig on Iran

Through Realpolitik-tinted glasses

In his book "Großmacht Iran – Der Gottesstaat wird Global Player" (Iran: a major power – from theocracy to global player), Henner Fürtig, director of the GIGA Institute for Middle Eastern Studies, predicts a promising future for the Islamic Republic of Iran as the most important regional power in the Middle East. Miriam Abdollahi read the bookMore

Interview with Iranian dissident Abolhassan Banisadr: Selling the revolution onSunnis in Iran: The Zahedan networkWomen's rights in Iran: Freedom by stealth – and its public impactIran's female political prisoners
A woman walks past Egyptian army tanks in downtown Cairo (photo: dpa)

Authoritarian rule in the Arab world

Fear of change

Given their poor records in so many areas, how is it that authoritarian regimes in the Arab world manage to cling so successfully to power? In this essay, Amr Hamzawy examines how the ruling elites in the countries of the Arab spring use a mixture of oppression and fear of chaos and disorder to nip any demands for democratic change in the budMore

Violence in the Arab world: Born of a barbaric stateArab identity crisis: What is left of the Arabs?Political transformation in the Arab world: Forget the people
Cumhuriyet employees protest at the imprisonment of journalists on 24 July 2017 (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/L. Pitarakis)

Freedom of speech in Turkey

Journalists under siege

A tragedy is slowly unfolding in Turkey. Since the failed coup attempt in 2016, more than 120 journalists have been arrested. "It's time we speak out for them," say the journalists from Al Jazeera who were imprisoned in Egypt. By Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher MohamedMore

Erdogan's Turkey: The repression goes onErdogan's "Nazi" accusations: Politically motivated provocationGerman–Turkish relations in crisis: Fraying at the edgesGerman–Turkish relations: No real leverage
Kemal Kiliçdaroğlu and his wife during a rally along the route of the "Justice March" (photo: picture-alliance/abaca)

Kemal Kiliçdaroğlu's "Justice March"

Turkey's emboldened opposition

In Turkey, where President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government has been working to centralise political power, opposition parties have lately had few reasons to be optimistic. This month's massive rally in Istanbul was a rare exception. By Sinan ÜlgenMore

Turkey one year after the attempted coup: In a mental state of emergencyErdogan's Turkey: The repression goes onTurkey post-referendum: Reconciliation – not a chance!
more Politics »

Society

Muslims in a mosque near Fréjus in France (photo: Getty Images/AFP/B. Horvat)

Book review: Fethi Benslama's book on the radicalisation of young Muslims

Islamic civilisation and its discontents

In his new book, recently published in German as "Der Übermuslim" (The Super-Muslim), the French-Tunisian psychoanalyst Fethi Benslama explores what drives young people to become radicalised. He concludes that they seek meaning, stability, orientation and identity in radical Islamism. By Herbert CsefMore

Hamza Meddeb on the "No Future" generation: Tunisia's ticking time bombFrench Muslims against radicalisation: Fight the good fightQantara dossier: Radicalisation
Waste collected by Moroccan "chiffonniers" (photo: ARD)

Waste separation and recycling in Morocco

Morocco's recycling pioneers

Morocco is exemplary in North Africa for its role in promoting the use of renewable energy such as wind and solar power. However, just like its neighbours, the country has a major problem with waste. A co-operative based just outside the capital has set out to change things. By Alexander Göbel in RabatMore

Recycle Beirut and Lebanon′s rubbish crisis: Green awakeningsIslam and environmental protection: Embracing a greener RamadanEco-Islam pioneer Fazlun Khalid: "Allah does not love the wasters"Islam, environment and sustainability: "The environmental crisis is also a spiritual crisis"
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im (photo: scholarblogs.emory.edu/aannaim)

Interview with Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im

"We are in the middle of a transformative process"

Islamic scholar Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im of the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, USA, has done extensive research into the ways in which Sharia can be reconciled with the modern secular state. Claudia Mende spoke to him about the different faces of the secular, the separation of state and religion in early Islamic history and why he feels Muslims are in the middle of a reformation processMore

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im: "The future of Sharia is the secular state"Interview with Islamic studies scholar Armina Omerika: "Muslims need new ways to approach their religious heritage"Qantara dossier: Reform Islam
Cannabis cultivation in the Larache region of Morocco (photo: DW)

Attempts to decriminalise hashish in the Arab world

To legalise or not to legalise

In a number of Arab countries, people have launched campaigns to have hashish legalised. So far, their efforts have met with little success: there is still stiff opposition from both conservative politicians and religious circles. By Reda GhoneimMore

Drug dealing in Lebanon: At home with a drug baronAfghanistan: Drugs problem deeply ingrained in societyDrug trafficking in Tajikistan: Fighting a losing battleDrug economy in Afghanistan: "It's a matter of development, not counter-narcotics"
more Society »

Culture

Turkish writer Aslı Erdoğan (photo: Getty Images/AFP)

Interview with Turkish writer Aslı Erdoğan

"It's my country too"

Celebrated Turkish novelist Aslı Erdoğan was imprisoned for four months in Turkey last year. Despite the awful experience and the pressure being exerted on her, she refuses to be cowed. Writing, she says, is a responsibility. Interview conducted by Ceyda NurtschMore

Freedom of speech in Turkey: Journalists under siegeKemal Kiliçdaroğlu's "Justice March": Turkey's emboldened oppositionFreedom of expression in Turkey: Academics on the run
Rebetiko performance by singer Manolis Dimitrianakis in the Hamam Club, Petralona, Athens (photo: Mey Dudin)

Rebetiko between East and West

Melancholy makes a comeback

The music traces its origins back to a refugee tragedy and is a melange of Orient and Occident. The Greek blues known as rebetiko has experienced a comeback since the country's economic crisis. Mey Dudin reports from AthensMore

Portrait: the singer Cigdem Aslan: Songs of the outcastsThe Tabadoul Orchestra: Worldwide "Wahab"World music from Istanbul: Light in Babylon: Ambassadors of peace
Egyptian film-maker Mohamed Rashad (photo: Goethe-Institut Cairo/Hasan Amin)

Interview with Egyptian film director Mohamed Rashad

A homage to life

In his first documentary film, "Little Eagles", director Mohamed Rashad moves from Alexandria to Cairo and back. On his journey, he links up the past and the present, raising many questions about the individual and society. Interview by Islam AnwarMore

Dina Hamza′s documentary film "Gaye El Zaman": A daughter's tributeAhmad Abdalla′s film ″Decor″: Let the audience decide what′s real″Cinema Clubs″ in Egypt: Rediscovering the silver screenQantara dossier: "Arab cinema"
The kick-off event for "Wiki Gender" at the Goethe-Institut in Cairo (Goethe-Institut Cairo/Roger Anis)

"Wiki Gender"

The first Arabic online lexicon for gender issues

"Wiki Gender" is a collectively-run Internet lexicon. The activists behind it hope to create a digital and participatory knowledge platform that not only provides freely accessible information to the public, but above all serves to initiate discourse. By Sofian Philip NaceurMore

The Wiki Gender websiteQantara dossier: Women in the Islamic WorldWomen′s rights in Islam: Can feminism be Islamic?
more Culture »

In brief

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Protesters call for justice: tens of thousands of protesters make their way to Istanbul. The march is in response to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ongoing purges following last year's failed coup and was sparked when opposition party MP Enis Berberoglu was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The march kicked off three weeks ago in Turkey's capital Ankara and is headed to the prison in Istanbul where Berberoglu is held

On the road with Turkey's march for justice

Ongoing purges and the jailing of elected officials recently spurred tens of thousands to march hundreds of kilometres from the Turkish capital Ankara to Istanbul. Diego Cupolo caught up with protesters on Highway D100

Cairo on the brink of revolution

Everyone thought Tamer El Said had gone mad in the decade it took him to make his film "In the Last Days of the City". Now finally his award-winning movie about Cairo in the months before the 2011 Egyptian revolution is being released after being hailed as a remarkable portrait of a city on the brink.More

India's Oscar-winning A.R. Rahman: "Islam is an ocean"

Oscar and Grammy-winning Indian musician A.R. Rahman (source: arrahman.com)

As he celebrates 25 years in the music industry, the Oscar and Grammy-winning Indian musician A. R. Rahman says his religious beliefs have helped define and shape his career. Rahman, who converted to Islam in his 20s, is in London with a show called "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow". He told journalists in...More

Jerusalem in 1967 and 2017

Mount of Olives then: if it weren't for the ancient Ottoman city wall and the shrine in the background, viewers might not realise this is the same site. The picture was taken on 7 June 1967, when the peak was this brigade's command post at the height of the Six-Day War, or Arab-Israeli War

Jerusalem in 1967 and 2017

This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Six-Day War. In less than a week, Israel seized control of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Since then, throughout countless attempts to establish peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, the Occupied Territories have remained a bone of contention.

Beyond the veil: Bold art by Persian-Arab women

Breaking with tradition: this also means challenging perceptions. Feminist issues are less the focus of the exhibition than a questioning of the relationship between body and space. The works especially deal with the exploitation of history and identity in a globalised world

Beyond the veil: Bold art by Persian-Arab women

Super heroes, mythical female figures in the desert: the Suspended Territories exhibition at the Marta Herford museum shows contemporary women's art from the Arab World, Iran and North Africa

TELL MAMA UK: Measuring anti-Muslim attacks

"Tell Mama" UK logo (source: Wikipedia)

TELL MAMA supports victims of anti-Muslim hate in the UK and is a public service which also measures and monitors anti-Muslim incidents.More

D+C Development and Cooperation

Development and Cooperation (source: D+C)

D+C Development and Cooperation is a website and a monthly print magazine that seeks to provide a credible forum of debate, involving governments, civil society, the private sector and academia at an international level. It contains interesting articles and reports on politics and society all over the world.More